"Yeah, sure. We've always got some food around, I'll raid the kitchen for ye." Ollie headed for the door, book under his arm. Calling out, he addressed Ainsley. "I'll see you later, bonnie lass!"
She mooed in understanding, he thought, and he opened the door, holding it for Gid. "I get it. I've tried running off a couple times myself. Always kinda fell apart once I got too hungry, truth to be told. I'm mostly ruled by my stomach."
Alas. He had noticed the black eye, but for now he chose not to comment on it. He did have tact after all, contrary to what his brother had accused him of.
"Never said I was running away. I could be going home for all you know. I just overshot my train and I ain't got money for a way back. Gonna try and sneak on the train tomorrow." He wasn't sure what else he could do so that was the only idea he had. Ride the trains until it wasn't below freezing outside.
He walked beside Ollie, wondering how he knew where anything was here. It was pitch black, he couldn't see a sodding thing. "I'm Jip, by the way. Nice to meet you." He gave Ollie a half smile and then looked ahead. "Why'd you read to those cows? Bit odd."
"Cows are pretty damn smart, you know? I'm convinced they like the sound of my melodious voice, if nothing else. Ain't anyone else gonna bother listening, are they? You certainly couldn't hold still through it." He winked at him as they reached the house, then quietly opened the door.
"You donnae gotta be too silent. I told you, Greg sleeps like a stone. One time I sled doown the stairs in the middle of the night and he dinnae find me until the next day."
"You're well bonkers, aren't you?" Whatever, he was getting a bed and free food, like he was going to complain. The house looked so weird, it was all stone instead of concrete and it had wooden window frames. As they got inside, it looked even weirder. He'd never been in a house before, especially not a house like this.
Wood everywhere, carpets, pictures hanging on the wall. It was bloody mental.
He walked behind Ollie, following him up the stairs in awe. It was so fucking warm too, it was lovely. "You got a dead nice house, mate."
"I was a lot younger than, so..." Did that make it less bonkers? Hard to say. Ollie led the way up the stairs towards his room, looking around with furrowed brows. Dead nice? "It's old. Makes a lot of sound, that old house." He wasn't sure what else he felt about it. Mostly wished he lived somewhere less dull, he supposed.
Ollie opened the door when they reached it, ushering Gid in first and following behind him. "All right, mate."
Jip. He wasn't sure he could say that, seemed like a dangerous choice with the O'Shea family living close by. "I'm gonna be your waiter this evening, Ollie McDonald. Feel free to crack wise about that but make it actually wise, I've already heard everything dumb to say about it. Any allergies, dietary restrictions or preferences, sir?"
"Ollie McDonald?" He snorted and then grinned, he kind of liked it. "It's not how I imagined the farm as a kiddie but I appreciate the central heating." Hence why he walked right over to the radiator and crouched by it, leaning against it. First time he felt hot in days.
"I'll eat anything. No dietary issues or the like. I don't care." He ate whatever was cheap and around, so did his dad. They weren't exactly a picky sort. "I'm not a big pineapple person but I assume you weren't planning a fruit cocktail."
And if he was, he was 100% correct after all - bonkers.
"Alas, yet another day I can't contribute to the culinary world with my miraculous pineapple creations. A shame, truly, as I believe that anything can be Hawaiian if you only believe hard enough." Ollie sighed, dramatically, and then grabbed the duvet from his bed to sling it Gid's way, as he stayed crouched down by the radiator. "Warm up!"
He turned and left the room and it took him about ten minutes to return, balancing a plate, a glass and a pitcher. He managed to set it all down on the ground, gesturing down. "There. That's bread made by the local bakery who buy our wheat, that's milk from our cows, that's cheese made from the milk of our cows and then there's some kinda pickle my brother makes. Can't vouch for that, but the bread's nice."
Greg didn't tend to believe much in buying outside food. Ollie disagreed, but clearly his opinion could be ignored.
"It's all from your stuff? Like... you grow the wheat?" That was so weird. Bread was made from wheat, he knew that, but how did that even happen? The world was so weird, he knew nothing about countryside stuff. He was a bit thick, all he knew about was football and how to get into trouble.
He shuffled closer, taking some break to eat quite eagerly. "It's so weird out here. When I got in at the train station, I didn't see a single person about. It's like the end of the world came."
Gid was used to a sea of people, rushing all over the city. Not this sort of peaceful quiet. "Must be nice to live here."
"It's got a certain post-apocalyptic snoozefest vibe about it, I suppose." Ollie wasn't certain he saw that as much of a bonus, though he could acknowledge that it might be a matter of perspective.
He sat back, leaning against his bed and watching Gideon eat food as if he hadn't eaten in days. Maybe he should have brought some more food. He figured he could get more if really needed. "Some may find it charming. Others suffocating. Ye know, depending on your dependency on oxygen."
"I suppose it's a bit boring. I'm from the city. Manchester. Non-stop people. You got the work rush, the after work commute, the late night drunks and homeless people after your cash. Cars honking, blokes yelling, girls screaming while pissed off their head. It's weird but like, sometimes boring ain't so boring." To Gideon, it was almost a relief to have some quiet. It seemed like someone was always yelling at him. His dad, the lads at school, his teachers, his dad's mates. It was an endless list of loud voices.
"I live near a nightclub. It's always loud in the streets outside. I'm like top floor on a fucking massive apartment complex and all I can hear is the pissed wankers." Gideon laughed and ate more of the bread, making short work of what he'd been given. "I bet you just hear cows and the like, eh?"
"Yeah, you hear the cows. In summer you hear the deer going at it all randy-like, that's always seasonal. Very romantic." Ollie wasn't sure how much nicer that was than the kind of noise Gid was talking about, but he was lacking any basis of comparison. "We've also got a rooster that thinks the sun rises at two am and then again at 3 and also any time I wanna focus, so he's a real treat."
What an annoying little fucker that rooster was. Ollie was kind of rooting for the fox in that case. "There ain't no noise like what you're saying. They haven't even got a nightclub any closer than half an hour by car."
"Well... you show me your world and later, I'll show you mine. Manchester's good for a visit, especially if you like football. I'm a cliche, Man U all the way but they earned my love last season." Gid boasted merrily as he finished off the last of the bread and looked at Ollie, grinning. "I know what nightclubs are easy to sneak into as well. I went to my first night club when I was like 7 or 8. My dad took me for business."
He had hated it and whined the whole night because all he wanted to do was sleep but when he said it to people, it sounded way cooler than it was. "How long until the train comes? Like tomorrow morning?"
"Football's not for me. Honestly think that if they'd just let me watch the grass grow for ninety minutes it'd be more riveting and also I'd not have to sit through penalties." That was his take on that, which he was never shy about and which didn't exactly help him fit in with other boys. Good, else he might have to start playing football with them and he didn't see himself as a team player. "Cheers. We can go clubbing."
Better than football, so there was that. He snorted at Gideon's question, than realised he was serious. "No way, mate. Tomorrow's Sunday, aye? Train ain't gonna stop again until next Saturday. Quiet little village, remember?"
"Seriously? Next Saturday?" Then what on Earth was he supposed to do? He didn't know where he was, he didn't even know where to start getting anywhere he could reasonably navigate. "What about buses? You gotta have buses... right? Or like-- I mean, how does anyone get anywhere?"
Did they only go out on a Saturday? What was the point? How did people get into the city and work? What sort of work could they even do here?
"With their car," Ollie explained while miming sitting in a car and moving the wheel around, as apparently that idea was deeply confusing for Gideon. "Unless you are my brother, than you only go around by tractor and never go too far cause you might actually start living life instead of scraping cow dung and we cannae have that, can we?"
He found it annoying himself. "People do grocery runs and there's a lot of commuters. Think some carpool. Although most people here are just ancient and walk around slowly, sit on benches and judge everyone."
"So I'm stuck for a week? Christ. Well. I guess thanks for the place to kip, not sure what I'm gonna do the next few days." He sighed and then flopped onto the duvet he had been given by Ollie, lying back and looking up at the ceiling. It was all wooden and slanted. Cosy. It was so nice.
"When can I leave on Saturday? I gotta make sure I don't miss my chance or I'll freeze to death here." No home, no good place to hide and nowhere to get food and drink. He needed a city, not this.
"Train leaves at 8:33. I know it cause there ain't a week that goes by where I ain't got watchful eyes on me during that time. Seriously, get woken up and called down for breakfast than just to make sure I ain't taking off." It was rather frustrating but he supposed Greg had his number. Couldn't blame him for that.
He moved forward, leaning on his hand as he looked at Gid. "You can sleep here for the weak. I donnae mind."
"Really? Cheers, mate. Hey, I'd say you could come into the city with me on Saturday, if you want. It's just I don't have a proper place to go yet. When I got it all set up, you can come over." He just needed to work out where he was going to live and how he was going to pull it off. "I'll take you raving. It's brill."
He smiled as he settled himself on the floor and then frowned. "Can I have a pillow? I'll sleep down here. I don't mind, I've slept on the floor before."
"Don't be daft, just come up on the bed." Ollie climbed up himself now, hair falling into his face as he got under the sheets. "We can do top to tail if you feel precious about it. Plenty space there and I got an extra pillow. You sleep on the floor and you'll wake up as stiff as all the grannies in this damn place."
He certainly heard them complain about their old bones all the time. "If you wanna I can show you round the farm tomorrow. Greg's always busy anyway. Not as fun as a rave, but we have ducklings."
"Uh, yeah. If you're sure." Gideon climbed up the bed and lay at the bottom, taking the offered pillow and getting himself comfortable. He liked Ollie, he seemed like a nice enough sort of guy, even if he was a bit mental. He supposed someone had to be mental to live here and stay sane.
"Thanks, mate. I'd be fucked without you." He settled himself down and closed his eyes, surprised at how warm this place was. It was so fucking cosy. "Goodnight."
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She mooed in understanding, he thought, and he opened the door, holding it for Gid. "I get it. I've tried running off a couple times myself. Always kinda fell apart once I got too hungry, truth to be told. I'm mostly ruled by my stomach."
Alas. He had noticed the black eye, but for now he chose not to comment on it. He did have tact after all, contrary to what his brother had accused him of.
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He walked beside Ollie, wondering how he knew where anything was here. It was pitch black, he couldn't see a sodding thing. "I'm Jip, by the way. Nice to meet you." He gave Ollie a half smile and then looked ahead. "Why'd you read to those cows? Bit odd."
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"You donnae gotta be too silent. I told you, Greg sleeps like a stone. One time I sled doown the stairs in the middle of the night and he dinnae find me until the next day."
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Wood everywhere, carpets, pictures hanging on the wall. It was bloody mental.
He walked behind Ollie, following him up the stairs in awe. It was so fucking warm too, it was lovely. "You got a dead nice house, mate."
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Ollie opened the door when they reached it, ushering Gid in first and following behind him. "All right, mate."
Jip. He wasn't sure he could say that, seemed like a dangerous choice with the O'Shea family living close by. "I'm gonna be your waiter this evening, Ollie McDonald. Feel free to crack wise about that but make it actually wise, I've already heard everything dumb to say about it. Any allergies, dietary restrictions or preferences, sir?"
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"I'll eat anything. No dietary issues or the like. I don't care." He ate whatever was cheap and around, so did his dad. They weren't exactly a picky sort. "I'm not a big pineapple person but I assume you weren't planning a fruit cocktail."
And if he was, he was 100% correct after all - bonkers.
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He turned and left the room and it took him about ten minutes to return, balancing a plate, a glass and a pitcher. He managed to set it all down on the ground, gesturing down. "There. That's bread made by the local bakery who buy our wheat, that's milk from our cows, that's cheese made from the milk of our cows and then there's some kinda pickle my brother makes. Can't vouch for that, but the bread's nice."
Greg didn't tend to believe much in buying outside food. Ollie disagreed, but clearly his opinion could be ignored.
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He shuffled closer, taking some break to eat quite eagerly. "It's so weird out here. When I got in at the train station, I didn't see a single person about. It's like the end of the world came."
Gid was used to a sea of people, rushing all over the city. Not this sort of peaceful quiet. "Must be nice to live here."
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He sat back, leaning against his bed and watching Gideon eat food as if he hadn't eaten in days. Maybe he should have brought some more food. He figured he could get more if really needed. "Some may find it charming. Others suffocating. Ye know, depending on your dependency on oxygen."
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"I live near a nightclub. It's always loud in the streets outside. I'm like top floor on a fucking massive apartment complex and all I can hear is the pissed wankers." Gideon laughed and ate more of the bread, making short work of what he'd been given. "I bet you just hear cows and the like, eh?"
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What an annoying little fucker that rooster was. Ollie was kind of rooting for the fox in that case. "There ain't no noise like what you're saying. They haven't even got a nightclub any closer than half an hour by car."
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He had hated it and whined the whole night because all he wanted to do was sleep but when he said it to people, it sounded way cooler than it was. "How long until the train comes? Like tomorrow morning?"
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Better than football, so there was that. He snorted at Gideon's question, than realised he was serious. "No way, mate. Tomorrow's Sunday, aye? Train ain't gonna stop again until next Saturday. Quiet little village, remember?"
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Did they only go out on a Saturday? What was the point? How did people get into the city and work? What sort of work could they even do here?
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He found it annoying himself. "People do grocery runs and there's a lot of commuters. Think some carpool. Although most people here are just ancient and walk around slowly, sit on benches and judge everyone."
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"When can I leave on Saturday? I gotta make sure I don't miss my chance or I'll freeze to death here." No home, no good place to hide and nowhere to get food and drink. He needed a city, not this.
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He moved forward, leaning on his hand as he looked at Gid. "You can sleep here for the weak. I donnae mind."
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He smiled as he settled himself on the floor and then frowned. "Can I have a pillow? I'll sleep down here. I don't mind, I've slept on the floor before."
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He certainly heard them complain about their old bones all the time. "If you wanna I can show you round the farm tomorrow. Greg's always busy anyway. Not as fun as a rave, but we have ducklings."
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"Thanks, mate. I'd be fucked without you." He settled himself down and closed his eyes, surprised at how warm this place was. It was so fucking cosy. "Goodnight."