{"sf1_id":940042,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 8: The Street Urchin","author":"Andre Valias","words":2884,"posted_at":"2015-12-02T14:06:00.000Z","tags":["Bondage","Dark","Dragon","Dragonian","Elf","Fantasy","Inn","Male","Medieval","Thoughts","bath","tavern"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/940042-chapter-8-the-street-urchin","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/940042","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=940042\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Akalgan made it to the inn very quickly, or at least the\nraucous ruckus and noisy merriment echoing into the street he traversed made it\nseem close indeed. Akalgan slipped into the inn and in amongst the heat of\npeople bustling to celebrate the end of the day, as it were. It was like any\nother tavern to Akalgan, but apparently the Dark Elves especially enjoyed being\nat the publican establishment of their choosing every night. The reason for\nthis is an established norm of celebrating surviving another day in the\nwasteland, and at the end of every week of celebrations the drinks were\nespecially in abundance for the merry-making. Whatever the reason, Akalgan just\nsaw it as another excuse for the general population to get drunk. At least in\nDark Elven inns, however, the crowded room was somehow orderly. Every table\nonly had enough drink for the night and never asked for more, the servers and\nworkers managed to navigate the maze of people to do their job, and the\nminstrels performing for the inn were well-received. This odd presence of\ncourtesy in merry-making intrigued Akalgan for a brief moment, before he\nreturned to what he needed to do.\n\"A bowl of stew,\nplease.\" Akalgan ordered from the counter, and the barkeeper nodded. He\npicked up a wooden bowl and scooped up some ready-made stew from one of a few\npots on the fire. Upon slapping a wooden spoon in the bowl, Akalgan exchanged\nthe amount of coins needed for the bowl, before nodding in thanks and making\nhis way toward upstairs. As he ascended, the atmosphere of the noisy tavern\nslightly faded out. Akalgan went to his room and entered slowly, shutting the\ndoor behind him as he looked over his prisoner of crime. As Akalgan thought,\nthe boy was awake and struggling to be free of his bonds, more-so at Akalgan's\nentrance. The Dragonian chuckled and stepped closer as the boy made muffled\ncries. The boy then paused as his eyes widened and then narrowed as his nose\nwrinkled at the stench that followed Akalgan, who was not any more pleased than\nthe boy was. \n\"My apologies--Not\nevery mercenary gets a job that leads to them smelling like flowers.\" He\napologised to the boy, before setting down the stew and his sheathed weapons,\nalong with the pouch containing his smaller items and more importantly his\npayment. \nHe stepped towards the boy, who was still struggling a\nlittle against the bondage that Akalgan had assigned him. Akalgan sat down\nbeside him with a sigh and put his hand to the boy's gag. \"Look, I'm going to trust you not to scream as soon as I take this off\nso I can feed you.\" Akalgan murmured. The boy quietened and stiffened\nafterward, as if in sudden realisation of Akalgan's size and potential to\nquickly smother him to death if he didn't comply. \"Good boy.\" Akalgan added with a tiny smile. He then pulled the\nboy's gag out of his mouth and picked up the bowl of stew. The boy exercised\nhis sore mouth by moving his jaw for a moment, before looking up at Akalgan as\nhe posed a question. \"Do you have a\nname?\" Akalgan asked politely. The boy hesitated before answering.\n\"Yes... My name is\nBrendas.\" He replied. \nAkalgan then nodded in acknowledgement as he held out the\nbowl of stew and offered a spoonful of the hot meal to Brendas. The smell of\nsewage was replaced pleasantly by the smell of a delicious stew, and Brendas\nwas more than happy to open his mouth. However when Akalgan spoon-fed him the\nstew, his mouth burned fiercely and Brendas panted to compensate for the heat\nof the stew. Akalgan chuckled and put the spoon back into bowl which he left on\nthe end table. \n\"Too hot, huh? That's\nalright then, we'll let it cool down.\" Akalgan observed. He then stood up,\nand as he did, Brendas took in his every feature illuminated by the room's candlelight.\nBarring the foul odour, the Dragonian actually was not, by any means,\nhorrifyingly ugly. Terrifying, perhaps, but he was at least quite handsome\ncompared to the fire-breathing beast the boy imagined in his head. It was a\nstrange thought to surface, but perhaps the Dragonian's current kindness of at\nleast providing a meal for him was more than the boy expected. \nAkalgan turned away and moved to leave the room, not\nbothering to replace the boy's gag. Brendas bit his lip before calling out\nafter the Dragonian.\n\"You haven't told me\nyour name, or where you're going!\" He called. Akalgan paused and spared the\nboy a look. \n\"Akalgan is my name,\nand I'm going for a quick hot bath while your food cools down, Brendas. I'll be\nright back.\" He replied, with a miniscule hint of unorthodox caring in his\nvoice. This reply alone satisfied the boy, who then became as quiet and meek as\na mouse. Akalgan then flashed a smile before leaving the room to have a bath,\nand Brendas remained quiet in his absence. \nWisps of steam danced off the surface of the boiling hot\nwater in the tub while Akalgan unfastened his armour, pulling off the pieces\nand washing them one by one with a wash basin until he was fully naked and his\narmour was more or less clean. He then used the damp cloth and the hot water in\nthe basin to scrub himself down, eager to clear himself of the off-putting\nsmell he had kept souvenir for long enough. He took the time to wipe down his\nwings as well. Once all the dirt was scrubbed off him, Akalgan stepped into the\nbathtub and relaxed within its steaming confines, comfortably nestled in what\nwould be a fatally heated bath for the Dark Elves but just right for Dragonkin\nsuch as him. \nAs the heated and soapy water washed over his scales,\nAkalgan began to think about the hot springs of the mountainous north. The\nbath's heat served only to remind him of the fond memory, but could never\ncompare to the feeling of being immersed in the waters of the spring. Akalgan\nlet out a soft exhale of air, mentally exhaling his thoughts with it and\ndecided upon making his hot bath a quick one. As fond as his memories may be,\nAkalgan had no intention of possibly even beginning to miss them. Akalgan\npulled himself out of the bath carefully and dried himself off. He then\ncasually washed his armour with the soapy bath water in a timely manner, before\ndonning it once more. He then left the hot bath to cool down for the next user,\nand returned to his room. \nBrendas was startled when the door opened so suddenly. As he\nsaw Akalgan, he wondered how long he had gone. It could not have been longer\nthan ten minutes, which surprised Brendas as he believed Akalgan had abandoned\nhim for some reason. The Dragonian simply showed a gentle smile as he stepped\ninside, and Brendas calmed down slightly. He also noticed how pleasant Akalgan\nlooked and smelled in comparison to when he first walked in. Everything about\nthat time and moment was enough to outweigh the feeling of being a prisoner. It\nfelt more like he was a child locked in a room as a form of discipline, and it\nworked. \nAkalgan resumed his place sitting beside Brendas and he\npicked up the bowl of stew once more. There was still enough heat within the\nstew to make it comfortable to eat, and not as harsh to try and swallow as it\nwas before. Akalgan picked up a spoonful once more and continued his act of\nspoon-feeding Brendas, and the boy complied by opening his mouth each and every\ntime in respect of the kindness Akalgan was displaying. Every now and again,\nthe boy would pause to speak, as he felt that Akalgan would leave again once\nthe stew was gone. \n\"Why are you doing\nthis?\" He blurted out after a few spoons of stew. Akalgan tilted his head\ncuriously as he did before, but with a quaint chuckle.\n\"You would rather I\nlet you starve?\" He posed as a wiseass would. Brendas did not answer for a\nmoment, and then figured it was better not to push the matter unnecessarily. \nAkalgan decided to humour him though as he lowered the bowl\nof stew. \"I travel from city to city,\ntown to town, and sometimes even village to measly village.\" Akalgan began\nexplaining. \"What I do varies but\nregardless of what it is, I expect to be paid for what I do. The curse of\ntravelling so much is that I do not have the luxury of bringing vast amounts of\nwealth with me, as convenient as it would be for me and thieves such as your\nown self in other settlements.\" He continued, and as he mentioned thievery,\nBrendas cast his eyes elsewhere with a feeling of shame. Akalgan noticed, but\ndecided not to make anything of it at the moment in respect to getting to the\npoint. \"The point is, I only get paid to\nspend what I earn as much as possible before I set off on my next adventure,\nbarring only the amount of gold coins I need for my journey.\" He concluded.\n\nBrendas nodded in acknowledgement.\n\"I see...\" He\nreplied. Akalgan nodded in return and continued to spoon-feed the boy once\nmore. Another few spoons passed and Brendas spoke once more. \"What kind of adventures?\" He asked.\nAkalgan realised what the boy was doing and was so very amused and admirable of\nit at the same time, he decided to humour the boy once again by lowering the\nbowl to answer the question.\n\"Have you ever stayed\nin a tavern long enough for a barkeeper to warn travellers of dangerous places\nin the area, or eavesdropped on a conversation in the market speaking only in\nhushed whispers of dreaded people or creatures?\" Akalgan asked. Brendas\nnodded slowly, recalling one or two times it may have happened, but he just\nthought nothing of it. \"That is what I\ntravel from place to place for. The odd jobs I do are just for me to get by and\nmaybe enjoy the place I have chosen to reside at a little more than a poor\nlabourer might experience.\" Akalgan started to elaborate. \"What I am the best at is not necessarily\nfighting, but surviving--I survive and overcome whatever obstacle in my way so I\nlive to tell my story somewhere people will hear me out. I could tell you\nstories of how I took down fallen kings in their forlorn halls, or of the\nwondrous sky temples on the Isle of the Blessed, for they are but little of\nwhat I have seen in my lifetime.\"  He\nwent on. \nAkalgan painted not necessarily vivid images, but wondrous\nbeginnings to what would be fantastic tales. It was just enough for Brendas to\ntry and imagine, and in turn long for the chance to hear of the adventures\nAkalgan had been on. He was so busy picturing the seemingly legendary\nencounters that he was not prepared for Akalgan to ask him a question of his\nown, instead of presenting a spoonful of stew as Brendas expected.\n\"But perhaps I have\ngone on long enough about what I do. Perhaps you would care to tell me what\nkind of life you led before unfortunately running into me.\" Akalgan asked\nwith a sharp smirk.\nBrendas was a little stunned, merely by how engrossed he was\nin learning more about his captor-apparent that he was not prepared for any\nquestion about him. \n\"Guh--I--Well...\" He\nstammered. \"I- I'm a pickpocket.\" Brendas\nreplied basically. Akalgan chuckled. \n\"So I noticed. It is\nthe reason you're in this predicament.\" He observed. Brendas sighed.\n\"Yeah, well... I don't\nreally have any other choice being a street urchin.\" He began to explain.\nAkalgan angled in, interested to hear the boy out, and Brendas delivered. \"See, it wasn't always life for me. I once\nlived with my parents, who sent me to school and had me educated. I can\nactually read and write, I just... Don't really need it.\" Brendas told\nAkalgan. This explained a lot to Akalgan, and possibly partly why he was\nintrigued by the boy. \"But my parents\nabandoned me. It turns out that I wasn't good enough for them. They left me\nalone one day of school, and I had to find out by returning to an empty home.\" Akalgan\nfelt a slight pang, and his brow furrowed partially. \"I decided to leave it all behind and start a new life of my own. I\nsmuggled myself amongst a trading caravan that brought me here, and once I was\non the streets and on the lam constantly, I started doing the only thing I\nbelieved I could do. Steal. And now here I am.\" Brendas concluded. \nAkalgan however was still trying to get past how strangely\nfamiliar the story was to him in some form or another, but after a moment he\nlet go of it and then nodded at Brendas slowly. \n\"I see. I'm sorry to\nhear about that.\" Akalgan murmured. But Brendas simply grinned.\n\"Don't be. Otherwise,\nI wouldn't have gotten caught by someone as interesting as you!\" He\nremarked. For a moment, Akalgan was taken aback by the seeming compliment. \n\"Ah... I suppose not!\" He\nreplied. Brendas laughed softly, and so did Akalgan. After a short while,\nAkalgan simply smiled and continued to spoon-feed Brendas. \"You should finish the rest of your dinner before it gets cold.\" He\nnoted. \nBrendas nodded and complied, and the bowl of stew was almost\nempty spare two spoons more, when he decided to pose one more question or two. \n\"Do you think-- You\nwould let me hear at least one of your tales sometime?\" He asked, before\nrealising he was still tied up for the first time since he first came to. \"And... What are you going to do with me\nnow...?\" Brendas wondered with uncertainty. Both questions struck Akalgan a\nlittle hard, as he had started to have doubts in using the boy as he originally\nintended. The story probably would not have actually induced any guilt in him,\nwere it a tale of any other plight that he was not personally familiar with and\neven more-so if the boy did not interest him as much as he currently did. What\nwas most unlike Akalgan at the moment was how... Affectionate he was of Brendas.\nIt was not an easy feeling to bear, and he was not very comfortable possessing\nthe feeling. \n\"Akalgan?\" Brendas\nmentioned, urging for an answer. Akalgan glanced to the door as he made his\ndecision.\n\"Well. I promised a\nnew friend of mine that I would regale him with some of my tales over a few\ndrinks. So as it were, I will set you free, and then you can join us if you\nlike.\" Akalgan suggested. He then looked the boy over, but stilled any\nthoughts of desire. \"You should probably\nhave a bath, while you have the chance. Afterwards, I can't keep you. I think\nyou've been through enough.\" He finally answered. Brendas was surprised by\nthe sudden compassion, but now that he felt a sort of attachment to the kind\nDragonian, he was indecisive about whether or not he wanted to leave him.\nAkalgan would not hear any more and instead held up the bowl once more, urging\nthe boy to finish his meal. \nOnce Brendas swallowed the last spoon's worth of stew,\nAkalgan leaned over and undid the boy's bonds as carefully as he had tied them\nup earlier in the day. Brendas rubbed his wrists a little once they slipped\nfree of his bindings, and moved to stand when Akalgan did. However, all that\ntime spent trapped on the bed and being fed his dinner had made him forget that\nhe was wearing nothing, and suddenly Brendas felt conscious about it. He\nhastily picked up the ragged cover of the bed and pulled it up to cover\nhimself. Akalgan snorted with amusement and shrugged. \n\"Here, let me get you\nsome clothes then. I threw away your rags from before since I didn't think you\nneeded them.\" He mentioned. Akalgan then pulled out one of the drawers and\ntook out enough clothes for Brendas, passing them over to the nervous lad. \"Here, these should fit. I doubt the\nbarkeeper expected the patronage of a giant like me.\" Akalgan remarked. \nBrendas nodded in thanks upon catching the clothes, and used\nthem instead of the blanket to cover his privates. It seemed silly to Akalgan,\nbut he knew that most races felt embarrassed to be without clothing. He\nshrugged once more and pulled Brendas along to the bathroom. \n\"Here, the water\nshould probably warm rather than boiling by now.\" Akalgan noted. Brendas\nglanced at him, but before he asked, Akalgan responded. \"I'll be right here until you're done. Don't take too long.\" He\nadded. Brendas finally nodded, and stepped into the bathroom to get himself\nwashed and clean. Akalgan leaned against the wall and simply waited as he said\nhe would. After a few moments, he sighed heavily. \nSometimes\nI really just need to be stopped. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/940039-chapter-7-bounty-of-work.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/953244-chapter-9-the-vagabond-mercenary.json"}