It broke his heart, seeing his son so distraught. He hadn’t meant for the boy to even notice. He’d meant to slip out of the hut they lived in while the boy slept. But it was obvious that he was trying to leave, to go somewhere. And his poor son probably thought he was just too much of a coward to face it when the guards came to take Bae away in the morning. But that wasn’t it. He’d just wanted to slip outside, to call on the last person he could think of to help them, even if Bae would be against it.
“Bae, it’s okay,” he promised. “I just needed to step outside, get some fresh air.” And ask to make a deal with the Dark One, not that he’d admit that to his son. He didn’t know what he could offer to a being like the Dark One, but he’d give anything he could if it meant saving his boy. “I’ll be right back, alright son?”
Baelfire’s brown eyes looked up at his father, desperate for some form of answers. “I-If it’s alright, then why do you need to step outside?” The boy asked, slowly releasing his father from the wall to look at his parental figure. It was safe to say that Baelfire was concerned. He had every right to be so. Nothing good rarely came from his Papa stepping outside beyond the walls of their home. “We can open a window if you’d like? Or go for a walk together?” His Papa always seemed to come back more distraught or concerned each time he ventured alone, and Bae didn’t want to see him go through that again.
“You always tell me that, that I don’t have to go outside because all I’d ever want is in here. Why aren’t you taking your own advice?” Baelfire pleaded, gesturing to their front door. “What’s out there that’s not in here, Papa?” He said before gesturing to himself, “What’s going on that you’re not telling me?”