In His Name

Chapter 74 - The intent to do harm

After dinner they all sit around the table sipping coffee. Tansy and the yellow soul sitting on Rosco's shoulders. Hayden sits beside him, not drinking coffee but holding one of Rosco's hands over his, using the other to trace the lines of Rosco's palm. Both Flynn and Barren giving him looks that dare him to deny there is anything going on between them. Rosco is doing his best to ignore them, and the molten warmth Hayden's languid actions cause in the depths of his belly.

The deep sound of heavy brass bells make Rosco jump in his seat,

"It's only someone at the door." Barren soothes, sipping at his coffee, "Flynn."

"I'm going." Flynn stands with a little sigh.

Rosco's curious eyes track the other boy to the door.

"You want to come with?" Flynn pauses in the threshold.

Rosco's back straightens, shooting a pleading look at Hayden, seeking permission. Hayden looks to Barren who shrugs.

"No one can inter with the intent to do harm to those staying here," the older man offers, "It's reasonably safe."

Rosco is on his feet in seconds, chasing after Flynn.

Flynn gets to the door first, motioning for Rosco to stop, "So a lot of the people that come here are scared and a little bit hostile because of it, don't be upset if they say something rude."

Rosco nods, heart thudding in anticipation, half hiding behind the taller boy. Flynn opens the door. The young couple waiting outside jump back, nervously looking at each other.

"You've come to see the witch?" Flynn asks in much the same manor he'd asked Rosco just a few days before.

"We shouldn't have come," the woman whispers aggressively to her partner.

"It's our only chance." He whispers back, putting his hands on her shoulders for reassurance. "We have," speaking a little louder, "my grandmother sent us. She said we could find a miracle."

Rosco's fingers tap nervously against his mug, eyeing the couple sitting at the table from where he loiters by the stove with Flynn, "How much longer are they going to stay?" he asks, leaning close to whisper in Flynn's ear. Rosco is a lot shorter than Flynn and has to push up on his toes to reach, earning him yet another glare from the man, whose name is not worth the effort to remember.

Flynn shrugs, "Infertility's not always something I can treat, she's lucky she's just all out of balance. But fixing it takes lots of tweaking and then waiting," Matching the man's glare until he notices and immediately backs down, "Hopefully only another day or two."

Tansy giggles evilly, rubbing their tiny hands together in anticipation. Every time the man lets go of his cup, Tansy nudges it just out of place, so that when he reaches for it again, he bumps it with his hand, sloshing the hot liquid over his fingers. Tansy has spent almost every moment since the couple arrived mildly tormenting the man. Rosco tries not to giggle when the inevitable hiss rings out.

Elsie, the wife, is alright. She is generally polite and never tries to grab at Rosco like girls have been known to do. Nor does she make endless jokes that Rosco never understands but always seems to be the butt of. But she isn't very fun either. She almost never speaks and when she does, it's almost always some perfectly pleasant way of asking Rosco to shut up. That didn't earn her any points with Tansy, but the wildflower also doesn't bother tormenting her. Her husband, however, is the definition of unpleasant. He'd treat Flynn with the upmost respect, but Rosco like some kind of vermin. Everything he says to Rosco is a thinly veiled insult and he'd glare whenever Rosco got close to Flynn or so much as looks at him, but he still expects the boy to act like his servant. Barren had said to treat their guests with hospitality, so Rosco tries his best to be accommodating, even while Flynn tells Rosco repeatedly not to let them treat him like he's the help, and that letting that guy boss him around wasn't what Barren had meant.