That night was cold and quiet. Not exactly as cold as one would usually expect for a night in the middle of winter but still quite cold nonetheless.
For Tei, it had been a long and busy day at work. Even though the bakery was still small and not extremely popular, boy it sure got filled up on Friday evenings with people who just got out of work wanting a quick snack for the trip home.
Tei let out a soft sigh. “At least it’s done.” she thought out loud to herself as she closed the cash register. “All the money counting is done and the kitchen is clean.” The girl let out a smile as she untied her hair, which was in a high ponytail, her smile widening as she did. She surely wasn’t fond of having her hair tied up but she had to do it during work hours. "Now… To take out the trash…”
Quickly, Tei took a set of keys out of her pocket and shifted towards the kitchen, gathered the trash bags and quickly opened the back door of the room which lead outside where the garbage cans were. She was really eager to finish soon so she could finally go home and call it a day so she walked quickly towards the containers, opened them and threw the bags in. “There we go~” Tei thought, wiping the dirt of her hands on her shirt.
Now that she had everything done, Tei turned around ready to lock the bakery’s doors and leave. However, before she could grab the door knob, she heard something coming from the garbage cans which startled her quite a bit. “…A cat…maybe..?” she pondered, not moving a single muscle.
Slowly, she turned her head, looking back at the containers. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary: Garbage cans, bags, old newspapers, dirt, empty boxes, the smell of filth, bottles, bandages…
What were those doing there? She didn’t remember any accidents occurring in the bakery in the past week. Why were there bandages on the floor? The bandages came from under a pile of boxes which also caught Tei’s attention. Something about the whole situation felt incredibly off to her.
Her curiosity increased and she decided to check what was up with the strange bandages. Tei slowly walked towards them, trying to not make much noise and then crouched once in front of the pile of boxes. Tilting her head to the side, she started moving the boxes “Where did these even come from–”
Her words and train of thought got abruptly interrupted by a sudden discovery. When she begun moving one of the boxes she noticed something alarming. Hair, blond hair. Tei remained frozen for a moment, staring at the dirty strands of hair right in front of her a bit shocked.
Tei could feel anxiety starting to up inside of her, although, her curiosity grew bigger than her fear. Swallowing nervously, she moved the box completely to the side. Revealing something even more alarming. A bruised, bandaged and cold body was laying under all those boxes. “Is… is that a –” Tei wanted to say something but only one word came out of her mouth…
All he could see in his vision is blurry, unrecognizable objects. His eyelids ached from the fatigue, his ripped clothes are his only protection from the cold. Oliver is practically a mess, stumbling around the streets like some sort of zombie. Ever since his escape from the incident, the only place he called home is the streets.
His hand is placed against the walls of buildings for a guide and support as he roamed around. He feels week in his knees, his head is dizzy. If he did came across an alleyway, a temporal “home”, they would be occupied. ‘Can I please find somewhere to rest?’
It seems that his secret wish has been granted when he came across another alleyway. In an instant he stumbles further. He ceases his steps to try his best to see the surroundings. There were trash cans and cardboard boxes surrounding them, some on top of the cans. There doesn’t seem to be any living person around.
He fell to his knees, ignoring the pain scorching throughout his body from the impact. He’s slowly losing his adrenaline to continue moving. Right now, he’s just relieved that he can rest without any disturbance. On his hands and knees he crawls towards the trash can, settling himself beside it. He then began to make a small wall with the cardboard boxes in attempt to keep himself warm.
Finishing building his little house, he gently leans his head against the brick wall behind him as he lets a soft sigh escape from his chapped lips. His eyelids are half open now. For once in the past few days, he can feel his body relaxing. It’s such a beautiful sensation. Oliver takes this moment to savor feeling. His vision is going dark now; he can feel sleep approaching fast. He eagerly lets it devour his body, his eyes slowly closing as he goes in a deep slumber.
His senses are still active, however. He hears movement. He gets a sudden chill when the cardboard boxes are moved away. Huh, it seems some of them landed on his head from the trashcan by accident. Then, he hears a voice, a female one to be exact.
‘My beautiful sleep...’ he sorrowfully thought. Might as well prove to the voice that he is no corpse. Hah, he isn’t planning on dying yet. Within a moment, he open his eyelids, luckily his vision is a little better due to having some sleep. Slowly he turns his head to the right to meet legs. So he lets his eyes travel up to see a face.
He finds no will in him to talk, so he just silently stares at the person who dares interrupt his sleep. Ah, still hard to see their face. He lazily raises up his arm and rubs his eye, getting rid of the crust and dirt. There, much better. He return his gaze to the person.
...Hold on. Her hair is... grey? It’s hard to tell due to the lack of light, but her eyes... are red. Those particular colours are strangely making him reach into his memories. Just in case, he rubs his eye, a bit more quicker than last time and looks up at the stranger.
No. It-- it can’t be. There’s just no possible way! He can feel his body slowly waking up, the familiar adrenaline rush pumping in his veins. He’s being hopeful now, but dammit it can’t be true! It can’t be her who saved him from the burning asylum! He looks down, letting his fingertips gently graze at the nape of his neck in thought. He just needs proof that its her. It seems she has her beautiful features, those perfect red eyes that can stand out in any fire.
‘Dammit Oliver.’ the proof that he lives, his heart, is thumping in a fast pace. Just thinking about her... His hand that once is grazing his neck is now clutching his jacket. ‘Please calm down.’ he thought. He once again looks up at the person, his features softening to a tired look.
“I am very much alive, miss.” he finally said, a little surprised on how tired he sounds. Well wandering around without any sleep can be a problem. “Is there... anything you need?” there must be a legitimate reason for waking someone up.
