"She's the little one, yeah. Over two now, our Rhia." And what a cheerful ray of sunshine she was, when she didn't make a pest of herself. He watched Gid hold the teddy bear and he felt it inside him. That pain in his heart. The one that made alarm bells go off somewhere over the hill inside Jonathan's head, he was certain. "You don't know me, sure, but all you really need to know is that I'm about to go sleep. Already stayed up too late because of that man from the council, usually I'm in bed by nine thirty these days."
"Your boyfriend." Gideon shot back, defensively, because it probably was. No wife but a kid somehow and they were kissing and all. So it had to be something like that. God, if his dad knew that queers could be near kids, he would have murdered his bloke. Like he had wanted to murder him. He set the teddy bear down and turned to Holden, shoulders pulled up and trying to look intimidating.
"How'd I know you ain't just a nonce or something, eh? Praying on young boys like this? Is that why you want me to stay so bad." If he hurt Holden, pushed him away, he kept himself safer. If gay people were evil perverts, would that help him to keep those thoughts away. Cause he didn't want to be that.
"Hm. I see." All right, he could work with this. Not as if he hadn't expected something like that, given that the boy had definitely witnessed their kiss. "Let's consider a thought experiment, shall we? That's a theoretical scenario. Just thinking about what could be. So, in your opinion, given you've just seen Felix Faust, do you think that anyone who was with him in that way would really also want a young boy?"
Seemed like a lateral move, honestly. "If Mr Faust was my type, I don't think you'd hit the same buttons. So to say."
"Could be hard up and eager for anyone. Plenty of blokes do that with girls." Gideon pointed out but he had to admit, he kind of had a point. He was a scrawny little sod and that bloke was tall, well put together and talked all nice. And he had impressive cheek bones. "But-- how far is to get to Ollie's place?"
He would decide that way. It was fucking freezing and he had no idea how far he had to go but he was dead knackered.
"Uphill and in the dark? I'd wager around twenty minutes if you don't take any wrong turns." Which, given that the boy clearly didn't know his way around, he highly doubted. "Listen, I've got some sausage rolls in the fridge. Do you want one or two of those? You can eat, drink your tea and then sleep on the sofa. Telly is right there and both me and the little one are deep sleepers, so odds are we won't hear you."
Seemed like a sweet deal to him. "I'll wake you tomorrow for breakfast."
"All right, maybe. But my nan lives just down the road so you try anything and I will tell her." Gideon threatened as he sipped his tea, his stomach grumbling at the idea of sausage rolls. He had just been eating whatever Ollie could get him without suspicion and it wasn't much. Not that Ollie didn't try - he was a top lad.
"Can I really have a sausage roll?" Gideon was already eyeing up the fridge hungrily. "My nan can pay you back." Whatever it took to get some decent food.
"Tell your nan not to worry about it. I've still got two shepherd's pies in the freezer that she made for us, I can spare some of my rolls." Holden opened the fridge and, upon having heard the lad's stomach even from over here, decided to get three of the packaged rolls out. He kept them around for when he drove into town and needed something for on the way, mostly, so sometimes he bought them in bulk.
He held them out to Gideon, then decided to simply put them down on the counter near him. "Just help yourself to what you want. I ain't got much else in the fridge other than baby food though, for the record."
"I ain't after your booze. I don't want to get pissed in your house, mate. I barely know you." Gideon waggled his eyebrows playfully and then unwrapped a sausage roll, eating happily now he had something he could eat that wasn't entirely foreign to his palate. What Ollie had at home was a bit weird, fresh veggies and weird cuts of meat. He was used to cheap stuff. Hoops, beans, chips, maybe a microwave dinner or two.
Once he had eaten his sausage roll, he pocketed the other two and drank some tea to wash down what he ate. "I can take the couch then?"
"Yea, you can. You've got pillows and blankets right there. It's not a half-bad place for sleeping, Lord knows I've kipped there more often than I'd like to admit." He gestured to the living room as he finished his own tea, looking at the boy in amusement. "So, Jip."
What a thing to call him. "How on Earth can a lad like you even understand a word Ollie says? That boy can't tune down the accent, can he? Can't tune down anything about himself."
"I can't understand half of it but he's happy to yell it again when I'm a bit confused." He did think at first he was in Scotland but after hearing the locals and checking sign posts, he knew he wasn't. He was getting the hang of the accent. Slowly. "Sometimes he doesn't understand me anyway."
A northern and a scot, trying to make sense of what each other was saying - comedy gold, he was sure. He headed into the living room and dropped down onto the couch, it was actually pretty nice. He eyed up the TV and then looked at Holden. "Are you Scottish too?" He hadn't heard that accent before.
"Nah, my boy. I'm Irish. I'm an Irish traveller, really. Gypsy." Like Gideon might be somewhere in that heritage to have that nickname, though he doubted there was any Irish in it. Might be Roma, which he was certain Jon would have some choice words about. Whatever, not like that was surprising. He got the blanket ready for Gideon and gave him some pillows to try out, then actually just handed him the remote. There, that should ensure that teen would still be there in the morning after staying up way too long watching television.
"I'm Holden O'Shea. Not a drop of English in me and no Scottish either. Although my family would mind that one less, I reckon."
"Gypsy?" He looked at Holden curiously and then gave him an awkward half smile. "My dad is a gypsy. Calls himself the gypsy king." Now he had a place to live and all, no longer travelling, but he was allergic to work and refused to get a job, no matter how much the social went for him. Him and the other gypsy lads scammed around town. Everyone in the area knew his dad. Especially the kids at school.
No one thought he was worth anything, thanks to his dad. He didn't realise he had just admitted he was 100% not related to the very non-gypsy Mrs Applewhite. "My name is Gideon but, like, you know... they call call me Jip. Or Gypo. I prefer Jip, it's easier. Well, nah, I like Gideon but like... no one uses that. Not even my dad."
"Nice to meet you, Gideon. It's worth a lot, that. Having your own proper name. And Gideon's a nice name. Suits you." A lot better than Jip. Much, much better than Gypo. He wanted to get Gideon away from accepting those kind of names as soon as possible. "Don't think we really have any king around here, though I reckon my brother Jonathan may well be our leader."
For better or worse. "I'm not living that life though. Caravans and all that. I'm just here, working my job. With Rhia."
"Sounds nice. I'm just visiting my nan until the train comes back around. Then I'm gonna go back north." He had no idea what he was doing but he just didn't want to go home. His dad would kill him. He kissed a bloke, he got caught and his dad would fucking kill him. Maybe he just go and see if he could blag being 16 and get himself a flat.
"Thanks for the sofa." He really did appreciate it. He turned on the telly and started to skip through the channels. "I'll be quiet. Promise."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Not that he wanted to admit that to Felix.
no subject
"How'd I know you ain't just a nonce or something, eh? Praying on young boys like this? Is that why you want me to stay so bad." If he hurt Holden, pushed him away, he kept himself safer. If gay people were evil perverts, would that help him to keep those thoughts away. Cause he didn't want to be that.
no subject
Seemed like a lateral move, honestly. "If Mr Faust was my type, I don't think you'd hit the same buttons. So to say."
no subject
He would decide that way. It was fucking freezing and he had no idea how far he had to go but he was dead knackered.
no subject
Seemed like a sweet deal to him. "I'll wake you tomorrow for breakfast."
no subject
"Can I really have a sausage roll?" Gideon was already eyeing up the fridge hungrily. "My nan can pay you back." Whatever it took to get some decent food.
no subject
He held them out to Gideon, then decided to simply put them down on the counter near him. "Just help yourself to what you want. I ain't got much else in the fridge other than baby food though, for the record."
no subject
Once he had eaten his sausage roll, he pocketed the other two and drank some tea to wash down what he ate. "I can take the couch then?"
no subject
What a thing to call him. "How on Earth can a lad like you even understand a word Ollie says? That boy can't tune down the accent, can he? Can't tune down anything about himself."
no subject
A northern and a scot, trying to make sense of what each other was saying - comedy gold, he was sure. He headed into the living room and dropped down onto the couch, it was actually pretty nice. He eyed up the TV and then looked at Holden. "Are you Scottish too?" He hadn't heard that accent before.
no subject
"I'm Holden O'Shea. Not a drop of English in me and no Scottish either. Although my family would mind that one less, I reckon."
no subject
No one thought he was worth anything, thanks to his dad. He didn't realise he had just admitted he was 100% not related to the very non-gypsy Mrs Applewhite. "My name is Gideon but, like, you know... they call call me Jip. Or Gypo. I prefer Jip, it's easier. Well, nah, I like Gideon but like... no one uses that. Not even my dad."
no subject
For better or worse. "I'm not living that life though. Caravans and all that. I'm just here, working my job. With Rhia."
no subject
"Thanks for the sofa." He really did appreciate it. He turned on the telly and started to skip through the channels. "I'll be quiet. Promise."