strange {michael}

[neo]

Neo had been curious about the strange pub for quite some time, it was mostly unremarkable, old and appearing from the outside to be in a state of disrepair, but what was odd, was that his mother didn't seem to see it. Whenever they'd pass she'd demand to know what he was looking at before grabbing him by the arm and yanking him away, and no matter how Neo insisted that the build was there, she'd act like he was being stupid. But when she'd finally blacked out from the alcohol and drug combo, Neo had found his way back to the shabby-looking pub and gone inside.

He always went on adventures while his mother was passed out, knowing he'd scored a few hours of freedom, and he was far too curious for his own good. Neo had seen the odd people in the pub, followed in old man in a cloak through a stone archway into a part of London he'd never seen before. Really, it was amazing. So much to look at, so many odd things, people talking about something called "Quidditch," and some old ladies squabbling about the price of dragon liver. He hadn't known that grownups played pretend, too...

Peering in shop after shop and seeing the fantastic things they held, Neo finally selected the one that appeared emptiest, though it didn't look like it had any food. Though there was a display of some small, pretty bottles. He could probably swap it to the right person for food... Looking around to make sure that he was alone, Neo grabbed a few bottles and stuffed them in his pocket, but gasped when he heard the sound of footsteps. Not really thinking about it, Neo ducked behind the display, crouching down, he couldn't afford to be caught stealing, not when his mother was miles away from here...

[michael]

It was close to the end of the day by that point. Michael had a habit of closing earlier during such a down time of the year. No one was in school, and, more than likely, no one was looking to buy a wand at that point. But, soon enough, his store would be once more flooded with the young witches and wizards who were buying their first wand for their years at Hogwarts. Those were always the busiest months and where he got most of his profits from. But, as he had no worry about that at the time, the man quietly cleaned up a few things in the back of his shop before he headed out to perhaps go see one of the newest films that had come out, or maybe simply go out for a dinner of sorts. After going through his inventory that had just been mailed to him, he decided to put them all away later that night or sometime tomorrow morning.

Being in the back, it was difficult to hear the sound of the bell that hung above his door, so if anyone had come in, he wouldn't have known. Of course, though he had yet to lock the door, he had placed the 'Closed' sign up on the window. Sighing faintly, Michael gradually made his way back up to the front, waving his wand around a bit to place a few of the wand boxes back into their original places. As he came to the front desk, he smiled as he gently ran his fingers over Knockers, his beloved pet owl. He really was a beautiful bird, and as far as he was concerned, he was the prettiest of them all. The owl gave a soft hoot as it stirred from it sleep, ruffling his feathers. "How's my boy, hmm?"

[/color], he asked with a smile as he gently tickled the own beneath his beak. The bird gave a sort of happy sounding chitter, its feathers ruffling out once more before calming down. Michael laughed faintly, offering his arm, then, allowing the owl to climbed up onto his shoulders.

He organized a few more things on the desk before grabbing his keys and going to leave his shop. He made a brief glance at the display he had in the window, stopping midstep as he counted the bottles once more. ....There were four missing. His eyes narrowed faintly, quickly sliding in the key and locking the door from the inside. He wasn't quite sure, but he had some hopes that whoever this thief was, they were still inside. Bringing his wand out, he held it out evenly. "Accio, Wand Oil."[/color], he called, and no sooner had the words left his mouth, the bottles that were on the display came to him, but so did the ones from the boy's pockets, tugging at the fabric as they tried to obey the spell that had been cast.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

Neo almost held his breath as the footsteps became heavier, covering his mouth and nose to muffle the sound as he saw a man's feet from his spot beneath the table. He was in for it now, deep trouble, and he was far away from his mother who knew how to manipulate shop security to let him get away. Now he'd go to the bad place, and they'd do bad things to him there, just like his mother had always told him. All she was doing was trying to keep him safe. And all he'd wanted to do was help, so they wouldn't go hungry for once...

Maybe, if he was found, he could cry his way out of it. Yes, that was what he would do. He might not be as smart as his mummy, but he was a kid, and he knew how to act innocent. Lying and acting were two different things, lying was bad, but acting was sort of like playing pretend, and that was something that Neo knew how to do. However, all logical five-year-old thought went straight out the window when the bottles in his pocket began lurching forward, as if they were being pulled by a giant magnet.

What on earth was happening? Was it because he had stolen them? Neo had stolen lots of things before and this had never happened... He had been unable to help but emit a tiny gasp, he knew what this was, every time he tried to talk about it his mother would give him a good smack to get him to shut up. Obviously, this was magic. Thinking quickly, Owen placed his hand over the opening of his pocket, keeping the bottles trapped, though they pulled ever more eagerly. He couldn't be found, then all would be lost...

[michael]

Michael's frowned deepened as the last four still hadn't come to him. He quickly grabbed the others as they floated in the air and placed them down, missing the quiet gasp that came from beneath the table. Knockers, though, hadn't missed the slight sound. Hissing faintly, the bird shifted anxiously on the man's shoulders, which quickly grabbed his attention. Furrowing his brow faintly as he looked at his dear pet, he lightly shook his head in confusion. What was wrong with him? Did he see something he himself hadn't? He looked around for a moment, lowering his wand and letting the spell fade off. "What's gottin' into you now"

[/color], he asked the bird, receiving only a sharp screech before the owl fluttered off his shoulder. He landed on the floor quite clumsily, not having the time or space he had needed to make the necessary land, but it was good enough. The bird looked directly at the boy from where he hid beneath the table.

Knocker's feathers ruffled as he puffed out his chest, screeching loudly as he hopped from one side to the other. At that point, Michael was quick to understand. Tightening his wand, he quickly bent down to the ground, ready to catch whoever dared to try to steal from him, but he froze as he saw who sat under the table. It was not a man nor a woman, but a small boy. The man was obviously surprised by this, having expected...well, someone much older than him. Blinking a few times, it took him a moment to respond. His owl was still screech at the poor thing and he was quick to shoo him off. The boy was clearly frightened, and he knew Knockers wasn't helping at all.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

Heart thrumming against his chest, Neo pressed himself against the wall beneath the table, as if under the impression that he would slip through it if he tried hard enough. This was not good, not good at all. At least the bottles of some sort of liquid he had pocketed had once more fallen inanimate, his denying their request, and were no longer trying to escape the confines of his pocket. Though that relief was very short-lived, as suddenly a feathery mass flunked down in front of him, scrambling upward and screeching at him. Unable to keep quiet, Neo emitted a short burst of a scream, mentally slapping himself for doing so.

He couldn't help it, being suddenly confronted by such an odd creature that made such a terribly loud noise. The man was quick to follow after the bird, shoving it aside and looking right at him. Neo could only gape back, trembling from being so terrified, and pressed himself further against the wall, eager to have as much space between him and the man. Oh he had done it now, he should have listened to his mother, should have put the lid on his curiosity just this once. Whatever was happening, it couldn't possibly end well.

[michael]

At that point, Michael felt terrible. He could see the fear in the small boy's eyes and it was clear that he was expecting something horrible to come from this. He glanced lightly over the boy, and that was when he finally took note of his unfortunate, unkempt state. His hair was dirtied and oily, his skin seemed pale and thin, and that was only based on what he could see from there. His pants had holes in them and were muddied and stained in a number of places. Good Lord, what was it that had put this poor thing into such a state. He backed up a bit, sitting back on his heels as he gave the small boy a soft smile. "Hey, don't have to be afraid, buddy. Can you come out here for me?"

[/color], he asked softly, actually giving the boy a choice. He wouldn't force him out if he didn't want to, that was not a wise way to deal with a frightened child.

Knockers fluttered back to them, hooting a bit harshly at the boy again. "Knockers. I said no. Go on, shoo. You're scaring the poor thing."[/color], he said as he waved his hand at the bird again, getting an irritating hoot as he fluttered back onto the desk, chittering faintly as he puffed out his chest. Michael watched the bird for a moment to make sure he stayed there, and when he was sure that he would stay, he looked back at the boy, his gentle smiling returning to his lips.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

Neo wasn't sure if he had ever felt fear like this before, the times where he had been caught, he hadn't been alone and defenseless. And now that he had encountered what he was utterly convinced was magic, he was scared out of his mind. Sure, in the stories magic was fun, but it could also be very evil indeed. Neo shifted uncomfortably on his spot on the floor, expecting any moment to be shouted at, to have the man reach forward and drag him out by the front of his shirt. Take him to the bad place where the bad people were, though surprisingly enough, he had very kind eyes.

The man even, very gently, requested him to come out, not an ounce of harshness in his tone. Neo almost didn't know what to do with it, people didn't usually talk that way to him. He might be a kid, but he knew what they thought when they saw him, dirty, scrawny, in ill-fitting clothes and an assortment of suspicious bruises on his body. Though before Neo processed the request, the owl was back, screeching at him some more. He pressed back against the wall until the man shooed it away again and then slowly, reluctantly, Neo crawled out, feeling the tears sting at his eyes. With fumbling fingers, he pulled the bottles out of his pocket and laid them on the floor, looking down at his knees and bracing himself to be struck.

[michael]

Michael scooted back a few inches as the small child gradually crawled out from under the table. Michael pitied him in a sort of way. The boy was clearly trembling and frightened out of his mind, but the man did his best to not encourage his fears. As the boy pulled out the four missing bottles of wand oil, the wizard softly smiled, quietly picking them up. "Thank you. It was very kind of you to return these to me."

[/color], he said, praising the child for returning them rather than scolded him for trying to steal them in the first place. Punishing a child for doing wrong was one way of handling such situations, but that could also back fire on the punisher. The child could instead become angered by the punishment and try to retaliate in a way. Michael was fully aware of that as he had done the same thing when his parents had yelled and scolded him for when he did something wrong. But, if you praised them for correcting said wrong instead...Well, then perhaps they wouldn't commit that wrong in the first place.

Michael gently put the four bottles off to the side, sliding completely down onto the floor and sitting on the wooden surface. "Will you tell me your name?"[/color], he asked, his voice still as soft and gentle as it had been. "My name is Michael."[/color] The man honestly didn't completely expect the boy to give him his name, but he wasn't going to force him to tell. If he didn't want to right now, then he would keep it that way. At least, for the time being. He knew he would have to get his name sooner or later if he planned on returning him to his parents, though...in the poor state he was in, the man couldn't help but wonder if the small child actually had a true home...[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

Neo squirmed a bit in his spot on the floor, the child had never been able to sit still anyway, but under the gaze of the man he had tried to steal from he was particularly uncomfortable. But there hadn't really been any harm done, had there? He'd given back the strange bottles that had tried to leap from his pocket, though he still wanted to run. The man's voice and his eyes were kind, but Neo had an inherent mistrust of strangers, mother said they wanted to bad things, everyone except the ones that gave her her special powder and pills that he wasn't allowed to touch, even if he had stolen to get the money she needed for them.

Neo had learned to not mind so much anymore, he was sharing with his mummy, sharing was a good thing, wasn't it? He bit his lip, fidgeting some more as the man asked for his name, and told him that his was Michael. He about wanted to get up and run away, but something told him the man would stop him before he got very far. Looking around, trying to focus anywhere but on the man, though he couldn't lock his gaze on any one thing for more than a second or two. "Mummy says I shouldn't tell," said Neo.

[michael]

As the man quietly and patiently sat in front of the boy, he could easily read his nervousness, but there was something else about him as well. Michael knew that small children could have a bit of a difficult time with paying attention to one thing for a long amount of time, but this boy...Well, he seemed to reach a bit of an extreme. He was fidgeting a large amount more than he'd seen most kids, even those who were in nervous positions. And, the way his eyes moved from one thing to another in such a hurry was interesting to say the least. Watching and almost observing him in a way, he almost missed the child's words. Blinking and taking a moment to register his words, a faint smile crossed his lips as he nodded his head. "Well, she is right. And, I'm sure she's doing that to protect you. But, if you want me to help you get home, then I'm going to need your name."

[/color], he said, keeping his voice even and not making it sound like an order.

Michael wasn't sure how he'd help the small boy back home if he didn't even have a first name. He didn't want the little boy to get into any more trouble, knowing perfectly well that most others wouldn't be as gentle as he was. Many shopkeepers could be very cold and mean when it came to thievery no matter who it was who committed it. The man just wanted to be sure he would get back to him mother without causing any more trouble "But, you know what. How about we just not worry about the name for now then, yeah?"[/color], he offered, realizing he didn't actually need a name. At least not for now. "How about you tell me where you live instead? I can take you back to your mummy then."[/color][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

Neo chewed on his lip a bit as he continued to squirm, as if he were trying to find a way to sit comfortably on a pine-cone. The man, Michael, was very nice, but he still couldn't help but be anxious, Mummy had warned him about other people, about how they could try and trick him like the witch in Hansel and Gretel. Though people's eyes didn't lie. But he wasn't supposed to talk anyone, if Mummy weren't taking her long nap, she'd smack him good for talking to a stranger. He looked down at his hands, nervously fidgeting with them.

Michael was offering to help him home, little did he know that Neo didn't have much a home. They had gone to the shelter last night, but they would let them in if Mummy had been doing her special pills or powders, so tonight it would probably be the alley where she was sleeping. And Neo could get back all by himself. But when Michael asked where he lived, Neo vigourously shook his head. He couldn't say that. He brought his hand to his face, biting down on one of his scraggly, dirty fingernails. "I can do it myself," said Neo, returning to gnawing his fingernail.

[michael]

Man, this boy really was proving to be a bit stubborn. It seemed a bit odd for such a small child as him to be so...maturely secluded and it almost frightened him, but he obviously didn't say anything about it. Quietly sighing as he watched the boy, he lightly tapped his fingers against his knee, taking a moment to figure out what to do. He wasn't sure how to handle all of this any more. At least, not without being a bit harsh. And, being the man that he was with children, Michael really didn't like being hash to small kids. But...well, perhaps he wouldn't really have too much of a choice. Raising his hand to rub the back of his neck, the man let out a puff of air before speaking. "Alright...Look, lad, I'm sure you could get yourself home alone, but I need to tell your mother where you've been. I'm sure she's worried sick."

[/color], he said, looking the boy in the eye.

He was sure the boy wouldn't be very happy with this, but he knew his mother had to know about her son's whereabouts. He didn't like the idea of ratting the poor thing out, but he knew if and when he ever had a child of his own, he would want to know what they had been doing even if it wasn't a very good deed. [/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

After biting down the nail of his index finger to a stub he could no longer grasp with his teeth, Neo instead went for the nail of his middle finger, chewing on it, still not sitting in the same position, it was not something that most five-year-olds were good at, though Neo took it to a new extreme. He went to looking around the shop, barely listening as Michael spoke again, though he had paid enough attention to catch all the words. He shook his head again, when Mummy took a nap after the pills and the bottles with the bad-smelling stuff, she didn't wake up for hours.

Neo still didn't know how long he'd been gone, though he knew that he would be fine. He just needed to be back before she woke up. If he wasn't she'd beat him for sure. He released his fingernail from his teeth before speaking. "Nope," said Neo, putting emphasis on the "p," making a popping noise, "I always go on adventures when Mummy's sleeping, she doesn't care." That was a bit of a stretch of the truth, he would be quite severely punished if she knew that he had wandered so far when she was blacked out.

[michael]

Michael would have to be honest that he was a bit thrown off by the boy's words. Not care? How on earth could a mother not care that her five year old son was out wandering around alone? And, it worried him deeply at the thought that the boy apparently seemed to sneak off a lot when she slept...But, how much did she sleep in the first place? Frowning deeply as his sense of concern grew, the man was obviously scrambling for a solution. He didn't know what to do with this boy now. He seemed to be just completely shut off from him no matter how he handled this and that worried him more than anyone could imagine. There was clearly something more playing here, but what, he couldn't quite determine. It was clear to Michael that this boy wasn't living in a well-cared for life style, and that in itself had him wanting to do something to help. But, with all these things that the boy had said and the things he hadn't, he was beginning to assume the worst.

"Alright, I'm sure you aren't going to like this, but I can't just let you go off like this."

[/color], he said with a defeated sigh, running his hand through his hair. He felt defeated, and he certainly didn't like that. He almost always had a solution to solve something. Though, clearly this was the small part of the almost that he couldn't "I know you're scared, buddy. But, I need to tell your mum what and where you have been And, I just want to be sure you make it home alright."[/color], he went on, his voice soft as it had been the whole time, but there was a bit more of a demanding edge to it. He just hoped the boy would finally listen to him and allow him to help.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[neo]

Neo again switched the finger at his mouth, though this time he went for a hangnail on his middle finger, his eyes continually darting about the shop, as if he were scheming an escape route, something, anything to get away from this man. Not because he was mean, he'd been very nice thus far, but because Neo knew he was in well over his head. Grownups were smart, Michael would probably find a way to get him in trouble. If not at the bad place with the people that would hurt him, but with his mother, who would still hurt him. He'd really messed it up this time, and reality was beginning to sink in.

Fear again crept up in him as Michael became more firm, his tone as close to harsh as Neo had ever heard it. He instinctively inched away, as if the man might turn suddenly savage, but if his mother was anything to go on, it might not be an entirely inaccurate assumption. Neo finally managed to tear off the hangnail, pulling a little bit too far and making himself bleed, but he hardly noticed. Neo more fervently shook his head this time. "Mummy gets real mad if I bring strangers," Neo said in a soft whisper, scooting backwards from Michael, scuttling on his hands and feet like a crab. "She'll still be sleeping, anyway," Neo added, assessing his situation. The man was between him and the door, but he was small and speedy, he might be able to get past him...