Gideon had been making it work since the coppers came for his dad. He managed to avoid the cops so far, not wanting to go to juvie or a home or whatever else. Instead, he crashed with his dad's mates or he slept in the park, he stole cash and food and he avoided any adults. It was mostly going well for him. Mostly. He could probably use a shower and he hadn't been eating much more than candy so his stomach was a bit off lately but otherwise, not bad. Better than dad.
He was a little bruised and battered, as he often was, sniffing idly as he looked at the comics at the news agents. He was idly scanning the Beano they had on a display outside, looking at the pictures when he heard someone say his name.
Eyes wide, Gideon put the comic back and looked at Holden for a few moments before he held his hands up.
"I wasn't doing nought wrong! I didn't do anything to you, I helped." Gideon protested, already expecting that Holden would be pissed. "I didn't even nick from you!"
"I know you helped." Holden wasn't surprised by the reaction, so he tried to show his sincerity plainly. "You probably saved my life, Gideon. I owe you big time."
It was maybe not even an exaggeration. Who knew when someone would have called an ambulance otherwise? "I want to say thank you properly." Gideon looked as if he'd been sleeping rough. Not surprising. Damn, he hoped he'd manage to help him. "Come in the store with me, yeah? I'll buy you whatever you want."
Then he just needed some way to get him to come with him. To trust him.
He did save his life. He knew that. He called the ambulance and it did pissed off his dad something fierce but he didn't mind. Dad was mad but Holden was alive and he didn't want anyone to die that night. Besides, dad might be arrested now but he wasn't a murderer so there was always a chance he'd get out of this and come pick him up. Then life could get back to normal.
"... You mean that?"
Gideon looked sceptical but he was hungry and thirsty, running low on cash and he yielded pretty quickly. "I guess I can, if you ain't messing me about."
"Yeah, I mean that." Holden held a hand out to Gideon, not surprised when he didn't take it. Instead Holden was the one to reach down and take Gideon's hand in his. A clammy, dirty hand, but he held it carefully as they entered the store.
He remembered a time when adults were all sort of things to him, but never caretakers. Never somewhere to feel safe and protected. He was hoping that he could turn that around for Gideon, just a little. "I'm here to get milk." And that was it, essentially. "Sahll we get a cart or a basket? What do you want, Gideon?"
"I dunno, why are you asking me?" He shrugged his shoulders and then looked for a second before nodding at the basket. "I'll get a basket, I can hold it and you just want milk anyway." And Gideon, even when offered the chance to have anything here, mostly had his mind set on small items. A fanta, maybe a sandwich, some chocolate and crisps. Nothing big, nothing difficult to carry around town.
He held the basket with both hands, not sure what to do about Holden holding his hand. It felt weird, he didn't do that much. Holding hands.
"That's the milk there." He pointed towards the fridge, trying to be helpful. "You want a pint or just a half?"
"Half is fine. Just need it for coffee and cocoa." Well, Remus was coming in, he didn't want to leave him without his chocolate fix. He let Gideon carry the basket, as he seemed to want to, setting the milk carton inside. "Now, what do you want to get? They got sandwiches over there." He wanted something of nutritional value for the boy as soon as possible.
"We can get you a drink too. And maybe something sweet?" He was just trying to figure out what a boy that age could want. "And you want to get a comic? They sell them near the checkout."
Gideon looked at the sandwiches and tried to work out which ones looked safe before he picked up one that had chicken on it and added that to the basket. Then he grabbed a fanta and a bag of walkers crisps. There, a healthy lunch. "I don't need a comic, I was just looking, yeah. I don't see the point of 'em, never can make heads nor tails of it."
It would help if he could read but he couldn't, he just saw pictures and tried to tell his own story in his head. He grabbed a few Cadbury's chocolate bars and added them too before looking at Holden, not sure if he meant his promise or not. "I don't read. It's for gay boys and girls."
"Yeah? That must be why I like reading so much." Added up, he supposed. And yes, here he was, loudly talking about being gay. Whatever, who was he kidding anyway? He ran a gay bookstore, he dressed like an aging twink and they knew him at this store. They knew him and Felix. He wasn't going to hide here. "It's brilliant, reading, when you can do it. Like telly in your head. I have a bookstore, I could teach you how fun it is. We've got readings."
Aziraphale was an especial hit when he did his readings, of course. And he'd rather introduce Gideon to Aziraphale than listen to Felix persuade him to pay for lawyers again. The thought of having to go to court over all this was anxiety-inducing.
"So you really are one, then? You're queer?" Gideon raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of that. He heard all sorts about that lot, they were a dodgy sort but Holden seemed all right. He had kind eyes, he smiled nicely and he seemed to care in some weird way or another. He doubted he was a full on faggot or whatever. "You got AIDS?"
He was just wondering, he didn't mean to be rude. He lugged the heavy cart along as he stopped at the sweets and grabbed himself some fruit pastilles. "My dad says all gays got AIDS and if you can catch it if they cough on you but it's usually just from up the arse stuff."
"No, I don't got it. But I know a lot of folk who do. Good people. It's shit." Well, he didn't want to explain the nuances and details of HIV and AIDS to the boy, he doubted he'd get it. Still, the most important thing could be said. "Your dad knows nothing. You get it from blood, actually. He shouldn't be beating up us fags if he's so worried."
Just saying. There would be some karmic justice. He slowed down in the aisle that had comics, grabbing a few anyway and adding them to the basket. Maybe Gideon would be interested. If not, he was sure Felix would be. "Are you hungry, Gid? Because I got lunch waiting for me at home."
Felix had prepped something or other for him to heat up. He'd no idea what, but he assumed it'd taste good.
"I got a sandwich now, mate, I should be fine." Gideon explained as he entered the queue and set the basket down, looking at the comics Holden had put into it. "You get it from blood? Woah. Yeah, if you got it, my dad definitely does." Gideon laughed cause to him, it was pretty funny. He smiled at Holden, wondering if he was still in loads of pain. Probably.
His arm was all bandaged and his face was black and reddish. He knew how that sort of pain felt.
"I'll carry the shopping back for you." Gideon told him, happy to carry his milk home. "... What you eating for lunch?"
"You gonna carry it? Good lad." He was a sweet kid. Rough, for obvious reasons, but so caring underneath. Setting aside how he'd just laughed at his dad catching AIDS. Couldn't blame him for that one, honestly.
Holden finished paying, smiled at the sympathy he was getting from the cashier and assured her he'd send Felix her love - women always loved Felix - and then he handed the bag to Gideon, heading for the door.
"You know, I'm not 100% sure, but I think Felix made stew, maybe?" It had smelled like stew. He was sure Felix had told him, but while the concussion had mostly faded, it still left him feeling drowsy in the morning. "With dumplings. It's well good, you should try."
"I ain't never had that before. It sounds kinda uppity, I dunno." He wasn't sure what to think but it did sound nice. He hadn't had anything warm to eat in ages and that was before he ran off from his dad's place. He carried the carrier bag in his hand as he walked beside Holden, wondering if everyone knew he was queer. That lady clearly did, she commended on his boyfriend. Felix. The bloke who had a picture in his wallet.
"Why'd you pick to be gay? Seems like a silly sort of thing to do." Why would anyone want to set themselves apart like that? Seemed like madness. "You really don't like girls? Cause I get it, girls are kinda gross but just, like, you know, find one who ain't and make it work."
"I didn't pick it. I just am. I realised when I was a bit older than you are now. Just started fancying some boys. Only the cute ones." Well, he had standards. "Never fancied any of the bullies neither, I got taste."
He knew that there were people with different experience, but personally he could never like anyone who was a homophobic bastard. Even if some were secretly queer. "I like being who I am."
Even if it got scary sometimes. "And Felix is beautiful. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him. And he's an actor, so then I started to go see so many odd plays to see him more."
"Ew." Well, to him any adult dating was gross so this didn't make him pull a face any more than his dad so -- he decided he was okay with it. Holden seemed to be happy about it and he didn't seem bothered by AIDS or his dad decking him so... well, why should he? "Dunno why adults are always gushing about love and all that rot. When I'm older, I'll never date. I just wanna buy legos."
So yeah, he had his priorities straight.
"I wouldn't hit a lad for being queer, myself. I ain't like my dad. I don't much care what anyone does and no one cares about me neither. That's the way it is." He kept away from people and people happily kept away from him.
"Smart lad. It's better to buy legos." Couldn't deny that. Seemed like a lot less hassle, anyway. "You're not right though, Gid. Cause I care about you. Can't help it. First thing I did when I woke up in hospital was ask about you. I wanted to know you're all right."
And now he knew for a fact that he wasn't all right, but maybe he could help with that. He wanted to help with it, anyway. "That's my store coming up there." He pointed it out. It wasn't a very busy day, so he'd felt all right with closing for a little bit. Remus should come in soon now, so things would be easy to handle. Even with Gid staying. Which he was hoping he would.
"You're dead weird, you are." Gideon laughed a little and followed Holden along, looking at the store as he got closer. It was all white outside and looked nice, with books in the window, and flags on either side of the door. And they were multicoloured. He had no idea what it meant but it sure did look nice.
"I'm doing all right, promise. My dad is away for a bit but I know where my mom is about and I can drop in when she ain't working with her Johns, you know. And I got my mates place to crash so I'm all fine." Gideon didn't have friends, he didn't even go to school, all of his 'mates' were much older and not the best role models.
"Uh-huh. Well, I could be a mate too then. At least I don't get drunk all the time." Which he assumed all of those other so called mates did. Holden led Gideon inside and immediately up the stairs, so he could put the milk in the fridge and get the pot with, yes, stew, out of it. He put it on the stove and started heating it up, then started setting the table.
"We got a guestroom. Bet your mates don't." Seemed like a safe bet. Their flat here wasn't the biggest, but it was cosy and very lived in. Colourful and homey, lots of pictures of them and friends, of all the found family. "You can look around, if you want. Food will be ready in a bit."
"You got loads of mates." He tilted his head back and looked at all the pictures on the wall, curious how Holden could know so many people. All sorts. And they were all holding and touching, sometimes kissing. It was so weird. His dad would hate for him being here - it made it almost more fun. "Are they all gay?"
Coming around the room, he looked at all the books and art with disinterest. And then he saw it and his eyes widened. "You got a well big telly!" Well, it was pretty big, Felix had insisted the bigger the better.
"Most of them are gay, yeah. Not all." He wasn't about to explain the nuances of gender expression and sexuality to the boy right now, Holden was just glad to hear him express interest without being repulsed. Just curious, like any kid that age would be.
Especially about the telly. "Yeah... We got it for Felix's birthday. He wanted the biggest and best." It wasn't bad at all, admittedly. Holden loved it for getting to play some video games as well as for watching movies together with Felix. Sometimes they had movie nights with friends. "You can turn it on, if you want. There's probably some cartoons playing."
"We used to have one but my dad said it's expensive, cause you gotta pay for electric, license and it's all garbage anyway." Gideon turned it one and then used the remote to skip around. There was one cartoon on but it was for babies, given the time of day and all. Most kids were supposed to be in school. "Your boyfriend is dead smart, big telly is a good birthday present."
He smiled at Holden and then looked back at the TV, sitting on the floor to marvel at it. Well, to him, it was like seeing a beautiful view or a rare piece of art. "Do you watch normal TV or gay TV?" Was there a gay TV? He wasn't sure.
"Hm. To be honest with you, usually we pop in a VHS or I just play Nintendo." Well, it was true. "There's not much gay TV, but there's brilliant movies. Gay and otherwise." Often the gayness might be hidden, but that could be fun to discover too. Holden stirred the pot, but kept an eye on Gid, making sure he was enjoying himself. "Felix would always want something fun over anything else. Think you and him have that in common."
Like that love for a big telly. "You want to have your stew while you sit and watch telly?"
"Yeah, sure." Gideon didn't mind. Eating hot food and watching TV sounded fun, even if it was a baby show with puppets, he still liked it. He liked anything he could watch. "You can come sit with me, like. If you fancy it."
He looked at Holden for a moment before he sniffed, wiped his face with his sleeve and then smiled awkwardly. "It's for kids but it's okay." Holding his hand out, he accepted the food happily.
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He was a little bruised and battered, as he often was, sniffing idly as he looked at the comics at the news agents. He was idly scanning the Beano they had on a display outside, looking at the pictures when he heard someone say his name.
Eyes wide, Gideon put the comic back and looked at Holden for a few moments before he held his hands up.
"I wasn't doing nought wrong! I didn't do anything to you, I helped." Gideon protested, already expecting that Holden would be pissed. "I didn't even nick from you!"
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It was maybe not even an exaggeration. Who knew when someone would have called an ambulance otherwise? "I want to say thank you properly." Gideon looked as if he'd been sleeping rough. Not surprising. Damn, he hoped he'd manage to help him. "Come in the store with me, yeah? I'll buy you whatever you want."
Then he just needed some way to get him to come with him. To trust him.
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"... You mean that?"
Gideon looked sceptical but he was hungry and thirsty, running low on cash and he yielded pretty quickly. "I guess I can, if you ain't messing me about."
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He remembered a time when adults were all sort of things to him, but never caretakers. Never somewhere to feel safe and protected. He was hoping that he could turn that around for Gideon, just a little. "I'm here to get milk." And that was it, essentially. "Sahll we get a cart or a basket? What do you want, Gideon?"
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He held the basket with both hands, not sure what to do about Holden holding his hand. It felt weird, he didn't do that much. Holding hands.
"That's the milk there." He pointed towards the fridge, trying to be helpful. "You want a pint or just a half?"
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"We can get you a drink too. And maybe something sweet?" He was just trying to figure out what a boy that age could want. "And you want to get a comic? They sell them near the checkout."
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It would help if he could read but he couldn't, he just saw pictures and tried to tell his own story in his head. He grabbed a few Cadbury's chocolate bars and added them too before looking at Holden, not sure if he meant his promise or not. "I don't read. It's for gay boys and girls."
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Aziraphale was an especial hit when he did his readings, of course. And he'd rather introduce Gideon to Aziraphale than listen to Felix persuade him to pay for lawyers again. The thought of having to go to court over all this was anxiety-inducing.
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He was just wondering, he didn't mean to be rude. He lugged the heavy cart along as he stopped at the sweets and grabbed himself some fruit pastilles. "My dad says all gays got AIDS and if you can catch it if they cough on you but it's usually just from up the arse stuff."
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Just saying. There would be some karmic justice. He slowed down in the aisle that had comics, grabbing a few anyway and adding them to the basket. Maybe Gideon would be interested. If not, he was sure Felix would be. "Are you hungry, Gid? Because I got lunch waiting for me at home."
Felix had prepped something or other for him to heat up. He'd no idea what, but he assumed it'd taste good.
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His arm was all bandaged and his face was black and reddish. He knew how that sort of pain felt.
"I'll carry the shopping back for you." Gideon told him, happy to carry his milk home. "... What you eating for lunch?"
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Holden finished paying, smiled at the sympathy he was getting from the cashier and assured her he'd send Felix her love - women always loved Felix - and then he handed the bag to Gideon, heading for the door.
"You know, I'm not 100% sure, but I think Felix made stew, maybe?" It had smelled like stew. He was sure Felix had told him, but while the concussion had mostly faded, it still left him feeling drowsy in the morning. "With dumplings. It's well good, you should try."
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"Why'd you pick to be gay? Seems like a silly sort of thing to do." Why would anyone want to set themselves apart like that? Seemed like madness. "You really don't like girls? Cause I get it, girls are kinda gross but just, like, you know, find one who ain't and make it work."
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He knew that there were people with different experience, but personally he could never like anyone who was a homophobic bastard. Even if some were secretly queer. "I like being who I am."
Even if it got scary sometimes. "And Felix is beautiful. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him. And he's an actor, so then I started to go see so many odd plays to see him more."
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So yeah, he had his priorities straight.
"I wouldn't hit a lad for being queer, myself. I ain't like my dad. I don't much care what anyone does and no one cares about me neither. That's the way it is." He kept away from people and people happily kept away from him.
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And now he knew for a fact that he wasn't all right, but maybe he could help with that. He wanted to help with it, anyway. "That's my store coming up there." He pointed it out. It wasn't a very busy day, so he'd felt all right with closing for a little bit. Remus should come in soon now, so things would be easy to handle. Even with Gid staying. Which he was hoping he would.
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"I'm doing all right, promise. My dad is away for a bit but I know where my mom is about and I can drop in when she ain't working with her Johns, you know. And I got my mates place to crash so I'm all fine." Gideon didn't have friends, he didn't even go to school, all of his 'mates' were much older and not the best role models.
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"We got a guestroom. Bet your mates don't." Seemed like a safe bet. Their flat here wasn't the biggest, but it was cosy and very lived in. Colourful and homey, lots of pictures of them and friends, of all the found family. "You can look around, if you want. Food will be ready in a bit."
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Coming around the room, he looked at all the books and art with disinterest. And then he saw it and his eyes widened. "You got a well big telly!" Well, it was pretty big, Felix had insisted the bigger the better.
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Especially about the telly. "Yeah... We got it for Felix's birthday. He wanted the biggest and best." It wasn't bad at all, admittedly. Holden loved it for getting to play some video games as well as for watching movies together with Felix. Sometimes they had movie nights with friends. "You can turn it on, if you want. There's probably some cartoons playing."
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He smiled at Holden and then looked back at the TV, sitting on the floor to marvel at it. Well, to him, it was like seeing a beautiful view or a rare piece of art. "Do you watch normal TV or gay TV?" Was there a gay TV? He wasn't sure.
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Like that love for a big telly. "You want to have your stew while you sit and watch telly?"
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He looked at Holden for a moment before he sniffed, wiped his face with his sleeve and then smiled awkwardly. "It's for kids but it's okay." Holding his hand out, he accepted the food happily.