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William to the right for no apparent reason ~<3 he so cute! Like a mini Ruberman Rodriguez! Jus' look at that cheeky bastar'! Adoo! Adoodoo-

What's wrong with me...

     Matthews and William were walking down the hallway, heading towards the big dining room for lunch. Matt looked amused at his friend, who was fumbling with his scarf since his hands were awkward without a book to hold.

     Will looked back, head rising less than it used to, since the boy proved to be growing quite fast, almost managing to reach Matthews's shoulder now at his 10 years, and Matt's 12.

     But the growth in age wasn't as pleasant for everyone, much less for Veronique. Most boys had reached that rude age in which they would try and bully for dominance, and poor Veronique was one of the easiest targets, the stockings on his slender legs always getting unwanted attention.

     And that day proved to be no different, so it seemed.

     "Matthews..." William warned, tugging his friend's sleeve upon entering the cafeteria and looking ahead uneasily. After following his gaze, Matt's expression hardened along with his fists.

     They entered just in time to see Dimitri -a 14 years old boy with spiky brunette hair, his strands only staying up thanks to the coat of filth- pull at Veronique's stocking strap roughly before letting go of it, the material whipping at his skin with a loud slap. Another boy was holding his arms behind his back, so there wasn't much he could do but wriggle and scowl as he tried to keep tears back.

     Matthews took long strides towards the four bullies and stopped next to Dimitri, patting his shoulder as to get his attention. The boy turned to look at him, both of them the same height despite the two years difference in age.

     "Oh, would you look at that. Since you came to save the fairy, that must make you the drunken leprechaun." he remarked, his friends snorting like pigs at his attempt of an insult.

     "I can't help but wonder how you managed to pass the IQ test, you know." Matt monotonously said, crossing his arms as another bully, Jonathan, butted in.

     "Well at least we passed it, unlike this bullock who only got in because his parents bribed Bogeyman to take his sorry ass in."

     "Yeah, bet they would have payed anything to get rid of him." Dimitri continued.

     "You don't know shit!" Veronique spat, raising his legs to try and kick at the boy, but only managed to get himself dropped on the floor on his butt.

     As soon as he did, he gasped loudly and froze in his position, eyes tearing up. Matthews was taken aback by that, seeing as the last time he knew Veronique to have been spanked was a week ago. But then again, he didn't catch glimpse of him yesterday evening, and the current pain in his expression was telling enough.

     "D'aw, what's wrong, Veronica? Did Bogeyman spank you again?" Dimitri cooed, leaning lower and proping himself on his knees. "What did you do this time?"

     "Didn't swallow?"

     Matthews gripped at the boys collar and pulled him up to look him straight in the eyes with a glare as cold and menacing as a 12 years old could muster.

     "Listen here, I could punch your guys' faces in and then let Grimerson finish it by whipping your sorry asses for making a scene, but that would get me in trouble as well. So how about you just back off before I kick y'all so bad you'll shit out of your mouths?"

     With that, he roughly pushed him away, watching as he stumbled on his untied grey striped shoelaces. Dimitri's posture shrank when he mentioned the principal, so he just walked away, his buddies on his trails- not before one of them spit on the floor, next to Veronique.

     Will helped the black-haired boy up, who in turn pulled away and stomped to a table, crouching up on the bench and ignoring the looks received from the other occupants.

     Matt hurried to him, Will on his trails, and he sat down next to him with a questioning grip of his knee. Seeing as he was crouching on the seat, Veronique didn't have to raise his head in order to make eye contact.

     "You didn't have to do that. I had everything under control!" he complained, picking at the mashed potatoes in his plate.

     "Did you?" Matthews asked nonchalantly, tracing a finger down the red stripe on his thigh. Veronique swatted his hand away, moving his leather strap on top of the mark in order to hide it.

     "Whatever. Now they'll just see me that much girlish thanks to you. I could have taken it like a man and then they would have let me be."

     "Taken it like a man? A true man doesn't take it." Matt stated. "A true man fights back."

     Veronique looked at him in consideration, William peeking from behind his shoulder.

     Matthews swung the umbrella around as he waited for Veronique to get up from the metal floor. They were standing on a wide platform, the intersection of four metal paths. One of them led to the door they came through, from a hidden storage room that in turn connected to one of the dorms hallways. Another path led to an elevator, which would offer access to other floors and the roof. The other two paths led to other paths that eventually led to rooms containing levers and mechanisms they knew nothing of.

     Around them they could see the skeleton of the Airship's huge balloon, and despite the white material, they were mostly surrounded by darkness since the clouds seemed to be forever dirty, letting no light sneak through the white material.

     Veronique was panting as he propped himself on the railing, holding the cane he borrowed from the tailor lady, without her knowing. Not that she needed it while sleeping.

     "It's not fair! Your weapon is better." he justified, rubbing at his sore rib.

     "We switched weapons three times now. It's not the weapon that counts, it's-"

     "Oh don't even!" Veronique groaned, getting back in position.

     William sighed, knowing he had to offer the start. He looked up from his book, taking the thumb out of his mouth with a plop. "You're really going to hurt-"

     "What's that? I can't hear you over the sound of me about to beat Mattie!" Veronique yelled louder than necessary, his voice echoing in the darkness around them, only stopped from swallowing them thanks to the dull bulb light above the door they came through.

     William sighed.

     "Fight..."

     Now, Matthews knew that Veronique was near giving up, it was clear by the desperate glow in his turquoise eyes. The older child knew that his friend had to built up some courage and dignity, so he planned on letting him win that time.

     And so he strode forward, aiming for his hip, but the boy managed to stumble away and lounge at him. Matt knew the cane would get him in the eye if he didn't act, so he opened the umbrella as a shield and hid, then closed it and tried not to get out of the way as Veronique swung again.

     Trying to take the hit as little painful as possible, Matthews covered his head and took the cane to his shoulder. The blow was powerful enough to send him to the floor, the thud echoing in the dead silence that followed.

     Veronique gaped at his defeated posture for a good few moments, before it finally sunk in.

     "Yes! Yes! I defeated you! Victory!" he exclaimed, skipping to him and straddling his waist before he got the chance to pick himself up. "Hey, how's the weather down here, loser?" he yelled in his face, and with a groan Matt let his head backwards, letting the boy enjoy himself.

     "See if anyone's going to talk shit about my parents and get away with it again." he scowled into distance, crossing his arms.

     "Do you even know them?" Matthews asked, sitting up, Veronique not moving from his position. "I thought you've been brought in the orphanage as a baby."

     "No I don't know them, but I know they had their reasons..." he trailed off, tugging the clock out from his hoodie and letting it drop back on his chest, this time on top of his clothing. "They must have cared for me since they gave me this."

     "Speaking of which..." William began, jumping down from the railing he was sitting on. "How'd you manage to get in here at such a young age, considering the IQ test required?"

     Veronique fumbled with the collar of Matthews's shirt, his chest waving quickly as he still tried to catch his breath. His expression was confused and uncertain as he answered.

     "Whenever I ask Bogeyman about it, he says he accepted me in the orphanage because I had pretty eyes." he murmured, with that standing up from Matthews and walking around, swinging the cane. "But screw Bogey. Now that I know how to fight, might as well turn the tables." he grinned wickedly at the thought, but knew too well that would be outrageously stupid.

     Matt stood up as well, gripping at his sore shoulder. "Sure thing, friend, but let's stick to the bullies from now. Which, by the way, won't offer you a 6th chance of beating them." he stated, having counted the times he failed.

     "William." Veronique declared, getting in the fighting position.

     Will looked at Matt knowingly, having deduced he only let him win to boost up his confidence, and leaned on the railing, opening his book again. "Fight."

     Veronique didn't make the first move this time, instead choosing to jump from one foot to the other, gripping the cane tightly and slowly moving around Matthews, who was watching him with the umbrella resting on his good shoulder.

     The moment his friend got to his back, he knew he'd strike since he wasn't turned, so as he heard him step, he crouched down and avoided the swing of the weapon. Veronique wasn't really playing strategically, he'd most probably kick him with any chance he got, no matter how vital the spot was, so Matt was kind of on edge.

     He then stood up and swung the umbrella, planning to just hit his upper arm and announce victory, but Veronique, instead of jumping backwards, dodged downwards, which caused the umbrella to get him in the face.

     Matthews gasped in shock as the boy fell down, and watched in horror as a small, white pearl gingerly skipped on the floor. Veronique held a hand against his bleeding mouth and watched with wide eyes as his tooth fell in one of the small holes of the platform.

     "My moving tooth!" he cried, eyes tearing up as he sat on his heels to look at his red hand. "I've been trying to pull it out forever and now it's gone!"

     Matthews hurried towards him and crouched down, hands roaming on his friend helplessly. "I'm so sorry Veronique! I didn't mean to hurt  you!"

     Will also walked towards them, looking at the blood uneasily as he sat down on his butt. "But at least it's finally gone now, so what's the matter?"

     Veronique stared at him as if he had spoken a foreign language. He pointedly wiped his bloody hand on Matthews's shirt with a glare and replied. "The tooth fairy won't give me anything now that the tooth is gone!"

     With that, he pushed at Matt's chest and stood up, wiping at his tears. "Tooth fairy?" William asked incredulously. It was an orphanage for geniuses after all, Will didn't expect anyone would believe in such nonsense, but Matt just shushed his friend up and watched as Veronique stomped away.

     "I'm sorry!" he tried, but watched helplessly as his friend shut the door behind him.

     As he and Will were walking towards their room, though, Matthews came with an idea.

     That night, Matthews opened his eyes to look at the bed above him, in which Will slept. As usually, his friend's scarf dangled by the side of his mattress, which on Matt's first night there was what got him into interacting with the boy in the first place, as he had tugged at the striped material curiously.

     He smiled at the memory and silently scooted out of bed, kneeling next to it and sliding a hand under his pillow to retrieve 8 candies.

     Whenever the cafeteria ladies felt generous, they would offer each kid one candy next to their meals. It wasn't much, and it happened rarely, but the gesture always brightened their days.

     Matthews didn't like having to cherish one single candy at a time, since he would be left longing for more because of the lingering taste in his mouth, so he would just keep them and stock them up, then enjoy the bunch at once.

     He was beyond happy he'd made that decision, now, as he sneaked down the hall towards Veronique's room, candies rustling in the pocket of his brown baggy shorts.

     Matt placed his hand on the doorknob, pulling the door towards him and twisting the knob, the gesture making the action more silent. He then pushed it open slowly, stopping as the first creak happened. He managed to slip in the small opening, not wanting to move the door any further since it would make noise.

     He let it open as he approached the three tripe bunks, 9 small figures breathing peacefully with occasional puffs.

     Matthews tip toed to Veronique's bed, thankful his was at the bottom of the bunk, and knelt next to it. His friend was turned with his back towards him, curled up, blanket forgotten at his legs, which were still covered by the stockings- which was curious, considering he didn't have to wear them at night.

     The 'tooth fairy' slowly slipped a hand under the boy's pillow, pushing it further and further at the slowest pace possible. He then gently raised it, enough for his other hand to put the candies underneath without touching the cushion.

     He then gently slid his hands out, sitting back on his heels with a victorious grin. He was about to stand up, but instead did a double take at the sight.

     Matthews reached a hand to the boy's stocking, tugging it a bit to see a glimpse of more thigh skin. He then let go of it, his fingers sliding down his slender, femininely delicate leg, until he reached his name, written on his calf, point at which he gripped the blanket at his feet and stood up, raising the comforter and softly sliding it up his friend, freezing as the boy curled more, head disappearing under the blanket.

     After a few beats, he took a silent breath and sneaked out of the room, fingers and stomach tingling.

Don't mind me while I'm being a weirdo, writing about kids touching each other and whatnot :Y Not to mention I now have that picture of a small cute little kid in my computer... This is...

Soooo yaes. This whole sugary-sweetery-honey-pie chapter happening? Next one will be... not that.

Achoo~

I actually sneezed not even kidding. Gotta love Autumn <3 srslyit'smyfavseason.

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