A Real Boy [Yshvold]

[Aurin]

The Central Bank of Kalzasi
1 Frost 121

Pressed against the eastern edge of the Commons, one could see the Cloudhaven District rising to the north. Thankfully, he hadn't had to drag Yshvold all the way up the thousand stairs from the ground to the top of the hill where it perched like a palace itself, a palace of financial power in the city. Great House Veyl had a roundabout hand in founding the thing, at least helping Finius Mellhaven with part of it—if Aurin didn't know better, the story sounded like something he would have tried to pull off. Saint Finius of the Confidence Game. He almost laughed.

"I should make you run up and down those stairs for exercise," he mused, though he was joking. "Put some muscle on those legs."

But instead, he held the door open for the kid and followed him in. Aurin was dressed for his day job, and he had made sure Yshvold wore something clean and respectable, though it wasn't flashy by any means. In a sense, he was an apprentice. He was an employee, but Aurin was also trying to train him to survive. Yshvold had done a good job of that so far, but it would only get more difficult as he got older, bigger, and a more apparent danger. The Lysanrin were not welcome anywhere, really. But Aurin didn't give a shit whether someone had horns or a tail so long as they didn't fuck with him.

Aurin was known here, at least by a few people, both through his work at the Theater and his own keiretsu.

A bank officer took them into a small office to conduct their business. When they were urged to take a seat, Aurin eyed Yshvold and nodded to one of them, sitting in the other. The woman sat behind her desk.

"How can I help you today, Master Kavafis?"

"First of the season, Mistress Nyssa," he said with a charming grin. "Payroll." He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and slid it across the desk to her. "Everything should be clear, I hope. Wages can be transferred directly to most of their accounts, but my new employee doesn't have one." He glanced to Yshvold.

If Yshvold's horns bothered her, she didn't show it. Professional courtesy was like breathing to her.

"He's the final line item on the payroll there. He's opted for a lump sum of 409 gold and 5 silver for his Ash wages. I don't like to carry that much around, of course."

"Yshvold, is it?" she asked, looking to the boy to make sure she had pronounced it correctly from reading his name in the ledger. "I can draft a bank note for you, easier to conceal than coin and still liquid enough to be spent in many places, or we can open you an account and you can keep your gold in our secure vaults until such time as you need to make withdrawals."

"I would suggest the account, kid," Aurin opined. "Better than hiding it under your pillow for burglars to find." But he wasn't going to force him to do anything he didn't want to.

[Yshvold]

Much of the financial jargon went over Yshvold's head as she went over the many options he had open to him. None of it made sense.

Why would he wish for someone else to hold onto his coin? What of other thieves that would loot this place, they would get not only his coin but others as well. The rich were foolish indeed.

"If I put my money with others money, how do you tell if it is mine? Do you put it in a pile? Why would I not protect it myself? This is how I've always done it, and it's worked fine until now." Yshvold's brain is working overtime, you could practically see smoke billowing out of his ears as this brand new world is shown to him.

"I don't understand, so I will trust this man's opinion. This account. If my coin is taken, do I get a receipt to seek vengeance against those who stole it? Wait." As he said that last part he realized this must not be how it works above ground. Again he lowers his head in deep contemplation, discord over this decision racked his mind greater than any task given to him before.

"The... account. Yes." He seems unsure about his decision and looks back up to Aurin for confirmation. "Yes?"

He didn't trust the look in the woman's eyes as she looked on him, nor did he expect fair treatment from those who would build a place like a fort so far up a hill. Elitist that hold themselves higher than others simply for their standing in society. He did feel he could trust this mans judgement in the matters of financial stability, his own had already been described to him.

Simply sleeping upon his gains would not serve him well in the future.

[Aurin]

Aurin listened to Yshvold's concerns gravely, and Nyssa didn't roll her eyes or make any sort of judgmental faces. She seemed polished and professional, but it was anyone's guess where she had grown up and with how much money to her name. When the boy looked to him for guidance, Aurin gave him a curt nod, and another when he followed his guidance.

"Well, Master Yshvold," she began, pulling a sheet of parchment out of her desk, "I am also a notary public vested by the government of the city. That means the powers that be have vetted me and found me to have the integrity necessary to witness signatures and contracts and such. Now, that might not assuage all your fears, but hopefully some of them. Your account will be under your name, but under the auspices of Master Kavafis' keiretsu. He won't have access to your funds without your permission, though if something happens to you and you don't have an heir designated, then 'tis likely the city will offer whatever outstanding balance you have to be returned to the keiretsu.

"We can change that now if you would rather designate someone else?"

She put a form in front of Aurin so he could indicate the willingness of his company to sponsor this account. As for the other form, Mistress Nyssa was filling it out for Yshvold and would only require his signature. Aurin wondered if the boy could even read. If not, that was something that ought to be rectified.

For his part, Aurin began to fill things out—information about the keiretsu mostly, and its willingness to sponsor Yshvold. Aurin wasn't a citizen either, but at least he was fully grown and human. Yshvold was a minor and a Lysanrin, so Aurin could only hope that he could shield the kid from some of the worst that life might throw at him just for being what he was.

[Yshvold]

"No, that's fine. I know where he lives anyway." Yshvold threatens out of habit more than anything, he barely even registers what he said or how he said it.

Looking down on his contract reminds him of one crucial detail he had deigned to mention to Aurin. Something he had neglected in his training to become strong and vicious, a true scourge to the strong that would prey on weaklings like him. A fact that haunts him every time he looked upon parchment.

He cannot read.

A bead of sweat starts to roll off the side of his head as he stares at his paper. He knew where to sign but he did not know how to spell his name. Would spelling it wrong void the contract? What would happen if he entrusted these people the money and his name was spelt wrong?

Taking pen and putting it to paper didn't help him gain the confidence he needed to incorrectly spell his name and all he could think to do was buy time, for what he knew not.

"Right here?" Yshvold asked with a slight shake in his voice, and Nyassa nodded her head to confirm. Yshvold looked down at the paper and waited a bit before looking up again.

"On this spot?" His eyebrows twitched nervously, he knew the jig must be up now. Should he flee?

An unknown situation with no known ways of escape without looking the fool. How will he overcome this obstacle with his pride unscathed.

On their side of the desk Yshvold slowly pushed his feet against the desk and let the chair squeak as it slid back. The death grip on his pen looked more like he was holding his dagger as his eyes burnt a death glare into the paper for mocking him so.

To flee, or to write something. He decided on a third option.

A quick flourish of ink upon paper gave intelligible scribbles and a finale of him piercing his thumb with the pen and pressing it upon the end should give enough evidence that the deal had been sealed. He had seen gangs come to agreements via the signing of blood before, so this must be something similiar, right?

[Aurin]

The man snickered at the implied threat and Nyssa just smiled urbanely in the face of what might have been a feral Lysanrin child for all she knew. Aurin was paying attention to the paperwork in front of him, but at Yshvold's repeated questions, he glanced sidewise at him. He was cagey at the best of times, but his new behavior, the sweat, and the strange signature seemed to corroborate his supposition. Once again, Nyssa's aplomb wasn't perturbed by the strange behavior. Aurin considered her for a moment, wondering if it would set a hair out of place if he fucked her, but he wasn't sure some of the rules of engagement he had learned in his youth would apply in the halls of financial power.

He signed the document in front of him and she replaced it with the document Yshvold had signed so bloodily.

"Master Kavafis," she said.

Once again, he read carefully through the new document before signing it himself. His signature was legible, but he pulled a small knife out from somewhere secret on his person and pricked his own thumb before mashing it next to the ink. Hazel eyes made staid contact with Yshvold's, one aspect of their growing working relationship signed and sealed with both their blood. There was a foxfire flash of a smile, then carefully peeled his thumb from the document, secreted his knife away, and passed it to the woman.

She looked from boy to man to their signatures as if this were more than just a formality, signed her name on another line, and, surprising Aurin, at least, used her letter opener to prick her thumb and seal it with a bloody thumbprint. Setting that aside to dry, she quickly assessed the other paperwork Aurin had filled out, nodded, and signed it as well. Her stamp came out; this one needed only ink, and she notarized everything.

"Your paperwork and the transfer of funds will be processed by the morrow, Master Yshvold. In the meantime..." She wrote and notarized a receipt of sorts for him in case he needed to make any transactions before then.

When they had bid her adieu and Aurin escorted him outside, the tall man paused in the sunlight before their inevitable descent down the thousand stares.

"Didn't expect her to open a vein for a couple of jumped up street urchins. 'Twas hot. Anyway... I'll explain sex to you when you're older. I'll teach you to read and write, as well. And figures. You'll be a better spy for it. More difficult for people to pull one over on you. All right, let's go find you a place to live. What neighborhood are you thinking of? I've done a bit of scouting already."

[Yshvold]

So much relief could be seen on Yshvolds face as he witnessed both adults sign their papers in the same manner as him. He wasn't sure for a moment but after all was said and done he was sure he had followed the proper ritual to sign ones name, by blood.

He kept silent through the rest of their proceedings and followed Aurin down the steps, listening to the man talk about Yshvold's future and training. He frowned at the idea of being taught something so mundane as reading and writing, a truer waste of time if there ever was one.

"Spies? Is that something like a person who listens to others and tells someone what they heard? I don't need to read to use my ears and I won't allow anyone to pull anything over me, I will cut it." Yshvold sniffed after proclaiming his confidence in his abilities, and the unnecessary lessons that are to be pushed onto him.

"I also don't have any places in mind. I would prefer a place I can get to the roof easily, it is better exercise to go through the town up there than on the ground. Most houses look the same, I've only marked a few that I found to be nice to lay on or to hide with if any of the winged soldiers get to close. I'm not sure which neighborhoods they belong too, just that they are convenient." Yshvold drools on as he looks over a few rooftops from the stairs.

"Like that one there." He points at a particular roof with a balcony overhang and a place where the roof allows something small to squeeze into. "If I'm being chased than I have options. I can go into the small hole and hide for hours until they move on, if that is not an option than a quick jump down and swing will bring me onto the balcony. If you are quick enough then they will think that you've fallen onto the street and search for you there."

He eyes more homes as they make their decent and felt the urge to go for another moonlit walk amongst the ceramic tiles of Kalzasi.

[Aurin]

"Spies find out things they aren't supposed to know. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they read... sometimes they have to cut people if things go awry and they need to escape. You're a good little sneak, though." He said it with a modicum of respect rather than judgment. "But you'll grow, and sneaking won't be quite so easy. Best develop skills for the future."

But he wasn't going to force him to learn to read, write, and do arithmetic. Hopefully, he would begin to see their value.

Aurin looked at the example of a home and considered some of the options he had looked at. First, he had helped Torin find his forge and home, then he had scoped out places for Arry and his lover, and so he had gotten into the habit of paying attention to real estate. Once Yshvold moved into his cottage, it seemed as though he would have to look more carefully again, and now it might have paid off.

"I think I know a place."

It wasn't all that far from the Bank, really. The Commons were the largest swath of the urban area that made up the city-state of Kalzasi. They came to a corner and Aurin stopped, pointing cater-corner across the intersection to a bakery.

"Look up," he said. "The baker and her family live above the storefront, but above that... The third floor is smaller, but it's enough for one person. About the same size as my cottage before the additions. That door to the side of the storefront leads up to the top floor, and I guess they closed off the door that leads to the baker's home because they have access through the bakery. So you have the entrance to yourself, and there's a fire escape around the back if you need to sneak in and out. The baker has a key in case people want to see it, but she doesn't own the building, so you wouldn't even have to interact with them if you don't want to. It's close enough you can get to me quickly if you need me."

He glanced at the Lysanrin's profile to gauge his interest.

"Want me to go borrow the key so you can see it?"

[Yshvold]

Isolated and with many exits for him to leave from. It sounds too good to be true. Indeed the location looks promising but would the couple not be suspicious of a lone child living on his own there?

"If you would, I'll meet you there. I'm not sure what they would say if they thought I was going to be there on my own. So I think I'll go in from the roof." Yshvold suggests as he walks beside him.

Melding into his new life has its challenges, and he is prepared to meet those and surpass them in every way. Perhaps though he feels as though he must take baby steps when confronting strangers and potential benefactors outside of Aurin.

"I would like to think of it as learning to gain information, or something." He lies through his teeth, looking away fully from Aurin and trying to come up with more to excuse him from meeting them face to face.

"Having a secret base means people not knowing that you live there, and if they think you live there then they wouldn't suspect me. I think." His mechanical speech talks of made up bullcrap. Yshvold reaches for straws to help keep some semblance of his normalcy and, as such, comfort.

He isn't sure as to why he is reluctant but something in his mind tells him to be careful in this regard. Every hole he made a home was a secret to others, hiding and waiting for morning to come. This place Aurin speaks of is no hole, but it should be a secret nonetheless. He doesn't know if the guards are still pursuing him in some capacity but having a child suddenly have a residence on his own might raise an eyebrow or two after a certain night a while ago.

[Aurin]

"All right," he said, giving Yshvold a look but not pressing him. If he was acting strangely, that was normal. Strange for Yshvold was hard to pin down as he was always strange. "I'll get the key, go up the front stairs, and let you in from the fire escape. Or if you manage to find a way in from the roof, then you'll have proven more skilled than I had thought."

He smirked because a simple smile was usually beyond him, nudged Yshvold toward the alleyway that would lead to the fire escape and roof access, and walked toward the bakery. After all those years being the one skulking, he was still getting used to being the frontman of the con, even as benign a con as this one. It wouldn't bother him to be the one renting the place, either as himself or through his keiretsu, so Yshvold could feel safe coming and going as he pleased. And then Aurin would have his own place back; he didn't think either of them wanted to share space.

If the Lysanrin trusted him a bit, he didn't think it was enough to play at being a family, even if Aurin was looking out for him more than his own father had.

The baker recognized him from previously and happily gave him the key and seemed amenable to a businessman renting it for temporary storage; she just didn't want noisy upstairs neighbors, it seemed. With a cavalier and rakish grin, he left her to her dough and let himself up the stairs and into the empty flat on the top floor. He moved immediately through the place, opening the back door that would let Yshvold in if he had found the place.

[Yshvold]

The little nudge gave Yshvold the hint, but he couldn't stop the knee jerk reaction to hiss back. He gave himself a quick slap against his own mouth to stop him from going back to old sewer habits and ran down the alleyway.

Finally away from prying eyes and in his own element. Yshvold jumped up to small ledges and bound from wall to wall until he reached a roof. The building in question wasn't far away, but he made sure to shadow Aurin, just in case. Keeping low and quiet as he stalked around with eyes on his target, he wondered if the man knew he was there. Watching him in the short distance right until he entered the bakery and met the people who would give him the key inside.

Yshvold didn't know how to pick locks, or any other silent means to enter a locked door. If he ever had to get into something with a lock he would usually break something and get what he needed as quickly as he could manage, so long as he wasn't caught.

Instead he peaked his head over the edge of the roof and waited for Aurin to unlock the door for him. Once he saw that he flipped down and landed on his feet.

"I like the roof. I hope it isn't as cold later." Yshvold says offhandedly as he enters the building.

"Did you see me follow you?" The curiosity overtook him, he scratched the back of his head as he eyed the man up and down. He wasn't sure if he could tell if Aurin ever lied to him before, and he didn't think he could tell now if he wished to let the boy feel good about himself.