Chapter Text
It was a great day in the beginning of May, a little bit of sun, a light breeze and birds chirping. Alastor was planning on enjoying the weather on his balcony with a good book and a cup of delicious high quality black coffee until he had to get ready for his shift for his job as restaurant manager. He usually did the evening shifts, that way so he had enough time during the day for his hobbies.
It had been a while since the weather had begun to turn out this enjoyable, so he had decided to make the most of it. After all nothing could ruin this fine day. He had just made his own coffee and made his way to the balcony, grabbing his book from the book shelf on his way. The balcony door was open, only a screen door in between to keep all the insects out. He valued his fresh air after all. He opened the screen door, closing it behind him once he had set foot on the balcony. The balcony itself wasn’t that much decorated. he had placed a wooden floor over the original stone floor, there was a square rattan table that had a wooden surface, a rattan chair for when he had the rare occasion of having someone over and a hanging rattan egg chair that was big enough for him to stretch out his legs in. The rattan all were in anthracite and matched perfectly with one another.
The pillows were a deep red color and on top of the table there were a few candles. In the middle of the ceiling of the balcony, which was there due to the balcony of his upstairs neighbors being right above his, was a lamp that he often used when sitting outside late at night. It used to be some basic lamp that was very close to the ceiling and way too bright. So Alastor had changed it to a classic looking metal outdoor lamp that gave warmer and softer light.
He got over to his egg shaped chair and sat down, stretching his legs as he made himself comfortable in the chair. The sunlight touched his tanned skin. He opened his book where he had previously marked it with his bookmark, placing the thing next to him on the pillows. He was holding the book in one hand while holding his coffee cup in the other. He was about to take a sip but just as he had brought the cup to his lips, his peace got disrubbed.
“Papa!” Some kid was calling out while sobbing and being distressed. “Papa!”
Alastor put his cup down on the table. He put the marker back in his book, placing it next to his cup before he stood up from his chair. He walked to the vance of his balcony and leaned over it. He lived on the first floor so it was easy to see what was going on. When he looked he saw a little blonde haired girl walking on the streets in front of the apartment building. She most likely would be around 6 years old. She was wearing a red coat and had a little backpack that was in the shape of a rubber duck. He looked at his watch, it was half past three. The kid must have been on the way home from school and gotten lost? Although he was definitely judging whatever parent would let a kid that young walk on their own.
Alastor sighed as he turned around, leaving his balcony and making his way out, grabbing his keys on the way. There was no one else around that could help her, most of his neighbors of the small apartment building had a 9 to 5 job as far as he knew. If he had to judge it on the amount of packages he had gotten from the mailman so his neighbors could pick it up at his place. So it basically came down to him, he could always walk back up when someone else from another building had approached the girl before he could.
By the time he walked out of the entrance of the building he let out another sight. The girl had actually sat down in the middle of the streets, sniffing every now and then. First the girl was walking on it and now she sat down… She really needed to get off the road before someone would actually accidentally hit her.
“Good afternoon, is everything alright?” He said the moment he stood in front of the girl.
The girl looked up at him with big blue eyes. she shook her head. It seemed like she had given up on crying now.
“What is your name?” He then asked.
“Ch- Charlie.” She answered this time.
“Well Charlie, we should get off the road.”
He held out his hand for Charlie to take, which she took in a heartbeat. He helped her back on her feet before they walked towards the pavement. He let go of her the moment they got off the road.
“How old are you Charlie?”
“Seven.”
Alastor closed his eyes for a split second as he let out a breath. She was a bit older than he had taught in the first place, but still she was very young to just walk around unattended by an adult. Especially as she was just walking in the middle of the road. It was also pretty concerning as far as he knew there weren’t any primary schools near by, so who knows where she came from and how long she had been walking.
“Okay… and why are you here on your own?”
“School was over and papa wasn’t there… So I decided to go home myself… But I got lost… and I don’t know where to go…” She said as tears began to form in her eyes again.
“Do you know the name of your school?”
She stayed quiet for a moment.
“No…” She said softly.
“Okay… that’s unfortunate.”
“Is it a bad thing I don’t know?”
“No, it's fine. we will figure it out.”
How he had no idea. He was kind of a Luddite, he didn’t have a tv, computer or smartphone. He never saw the point in having them, but in situations like this it would have been nice to have something where he could look things up with. All he had was an old fashioned house phone and an old Nokia which the battery lasted for weeks before it needed to be charged again. Maybe he should give Rosie a call? Ask her to look up the primary schools nearby?
“Um… Mister… I’m thirsty… Do you have ice tea…?” Charlie asked shyly, not looking at Alastor.
“What did you just say?” Did he hear that correctly?
“Do you have ice tea…? I would like to have some…”
He was baffled that the little girl just asked him that. Did her parents never teach her about stranger danger or something? She’s lucky she hadn’t run into anyone with bad intentions. Not that his intentions were the best, after all he only helped because he wanted to get the peace and quiet back so he could return to his coffee and book as soon as possible.
He let out a sigh, debating if it would be a good idea to take her with him to his house or not. He needed to call Rosie and both of his phones were still upstairs. He also couldn’t leave the girl alone on the streets again, but he also wasn’t looking forward to babysitting some random stranger’s kid. Guess he didn’t really have a choice.
“Alright… I have some upstairs.” He said defeated, there goes his day of enjoying a good book. “Let’s go.”
Charlie cheered happily. She sure had quite the energy and in the very least this was better than her crying. He made his way back to his apartment, Charlie following suit.
“Please take off your shoes.” He said to the girl after he had taken off his own and switched to his house slippers.
Charlie took off her black boots, revealing a pair of rubber duck patterned bright blue socks. Seems like the girl loves rubber ducks. She also took off her backpack and coat. under it the girl was wearing a pink dress with a flower pattern and black leggings. Which made her socks stand out even more. She had just dropped her jacket on the floor, on top of her backpack, as she wouldn’t be able to reach the coat rack.
Alastor sighed again as she just straight on walked towards the living room. He wanted to stop her as there are quite some pieces in there that he wishes no damage to. But he didn’t know if that kid would even listen to him, so he just hoped she wouldn't break anything while he would get her her drink. He went to the kitchen and quickly poured in the drink.
“It’s like a forest!” he heard Charlie say excitedly, causing him to spill a bit of the drink onto the kitchen counter.
He knew exactly what she was referring to. It was his collection of set up animals. Not giving a damn about the spillage he took the glass and rushed into the living room. He was relieved to see the girl just standing in front of the collection.
“Is that Bambi?” She then asked, pointing to his favorite piece in his whole collection. Which was a roe deer that had a shoulder height of 67cm.
“No… that’s no Bambi…” he said, taken back by that question. He absolutely did not want to upset the girl by giving her the idea that it is Bambi from the Disney movie.
“Okay! It’s still cute!” She wasn’t upset to his surprise. “Can I pet it?”
“No. You can’t touch it.” He said. He could feel himself getting a bit anxious as the girl was already reaching out for the deer.
“But it's so cute I want to pet Bambi.” She said and pouted, she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Please just take a seat on the couch.” Alastor said in a more strict way.
The girl walked slowly to the deep red couch, still pouting. She took her seat and didn't say a word. Alastor gave her the glass and instructed her to sit still and keep a good hold onto it since it was glass. Since he is just on his own and doesn't need any plastic cups. The only people he had over some times were Rosie and Mimzy who didn't have any children either.
Charlie was still pouting, holding the glass in her hands and eyes still were glued onto his collection. Next to the roe deer was a cabinet that had a few set up rabbits, a hedgehog and squirrel. Above it were some shelfs which had some different types of birds and a few doves. He had decorated it with some faux flora so it gave off the vibe of a forest. He was glad that Charlie seemed to be interested in it, instead of getting upset over the fact he had set up dead animals in his living room. But he absolutely doesn't want anyone to touch it. He had hunted these animals himself as well as set them up so he could display it. So those pieces mean quite a lot to him.
He got over to the cabinet that had the old fashioned phone on it. He took the phone from the horn and dialed Rosie’s number one by one. He waited for Rosie to pick up.
“Alastor! How are you doing?” Rosie greeted him. She owned a smartphone and was able to see that he called from his house phone.
“Hello, I could be doing better on this fantastic day. I hope yours is going way better.”
“Oh… What’s the matter?”
“Nothing all that bad. I actually need your help.”
“Of course, what can I help you with?”
“Could you look up the address from primary schools nearby? A kid got lost and didn't know the name of her school. I’m hoping to find her parents by dropping her off there.”
“Gosh Alastor, you really should get at least something that you can use the internet on. I’m more than happy to teach you how to use it.”
“You know that I don’t have any interest in that. I’ve been doing fine without it.”
“You’re so stubborn…” She sighed. “Okay give me a bit, I’ll text you the address when I find something.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your help.”
“You’re welcome, but wouldn’t it be better to call the police or something?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?” He sighed. “This stuff never happens to me. So I just don’t know what to do.”
Rosie laughed. Alastor felt a bit embarrassed. It was moments like this that he realized that he had mostly been out of touch with society. He just didn’t have any interest in interacting with other people,. Apart from work, but to him that kind of interaction was just work. Rosie and Mimzy were the only exception when it came to people he actually cared about, but only because they went way back. He didn't really needed more people in his life, he was well capable of just being on his own.
“Papa. I can hear Papa!” Charlie shouted happily as she rushed towards the balcony.
Alastor watched as she was still holding the glass as she opened the screen door, which caused her to drop the glass. She stopped in her tracks for a little as the glass shattered on the floor, before she continued her way outside.
“Never mind Rosie, it seems like her father is out there searching. I have to hang up now.”
“No problem. Go reunite the family.”
They said their goodbyes and Alastor then hung up the phone. He then followed Charlie outside, stepping over the broken glass.
When he got out he saw Charlie waving and calling at her dad, who had soon noticed her and set his attention to her. So this was the man that had forgotten about his kid and then lost it? The man was wearing knee length shorts and a simple t-shirt with a rubber duck pattern, both pieces were colored in white. He was wearing sandals with colorful sock. His skin was pretty pale and his hair was blond, just like his daughter. The man looked like a mess as his hair was standing in all kinds of directions and over his clothes he was wearing an apron for some reason.
“Oh god, Charlie! There you are.” he shouted, relieved that nothing had happened to her. “How did you get up there?”
“A kind deer man found me and gave me iced tea!”
Alastor looked at Charlie the moment she called him a kind deer man. Did she seriously just call him that? He then looked back at the man’s who's eyes widened in shock before he glanced over at him. He now looks worried with a mix of anger? Alastor wasn't really sure how to read him, he didn't know him after all but in the very least he was pretty sure that the blond was not happy.
“I’ll bring her down.” He said before the man could say anything.
He didn't feel like having this man accuse him of whatever and shout it for whoever was still at home to hear that.
“We should go downstairs,” he then said.
“Okay!”
Before Charlie could run through the door opening Alastor had picked her up. The man downstairs already seems to be upset with the fact Alastor took Charlie in, he didn't want to have to deal with him when Charlie happened to have gotten hurt by shattered glass.
He put her back down the moment they were out of the living room. They got to the front door and then they both put on their shoes and coats. Alastor then grabbed his house key before going down stairs with Charlie.
Once Charlie got outside she ran to her father and hugged him. He hugged her back tightly while telling the girl how worried he was that she wasn't there at school the moment he arrived. Alastor just let them be, just standing there.
Once they let go of one another the blond put his attention on Alastor.
“Why did you take her to your house?” He questioned.
“Why did you let your daughter wander the streets on her own.” He countered back.
“I'm asking you first.”
“And I'm asking you second, what's your point?”
“Urgh, You tacky piece of sh- chips. Answer my question.”
Alastor raised an eyebrow. Not only was the man messy, judged by his appearance, but he also seemed to be someone who falls into cursing quickly? Like he barely knows him and was already ready to call him a piece of shit, with his kid around… He caught himself before he did though and changed it to chips. Which to Alastor was pretty silly.
“Can you just answer my question? Why did you take her in? Did you do anything to her?”
Ah so he is accusing him of doing harm to the girl now too. Kind of rude to assume such a thing… even if this would be caused by his father's instincts or something. It was still plain rude.
“Thank you for accusing that I'd do anything like that.” He said sarcastically. “But no, I did nothing to her. She was crying on the streets disrupting my time with a good cup of coffee and a good book. No one seemed to help her and since I wanted it to be done with as soon as possible I decided to help. To me it's more worrying that your daughter would ask a stranger if they have iced tea because she's thirsty and then go home with said stranger. She is fortunate that I'm not someone who has bad intentions.”
The blond stared at him for a few seconds, he put a hand in his face and sighed.
“Sorry.” He said. “I keep telling her not to go along with strangers and I had hoped that by now it had gotten through to her. I hope she wasn't in too much trouble.”
“No worries, she was well behaved.”
Alastor left the part out where Charlie accidentally broke one of his crystal glasses. He didn't feel like having to deal with someone being overly apologetic or being overly worried about what could have gone wrong.
“Thank God…" he said and smiled. “How should I pay you back? You're definitely a lifesaver! And I'm so glad you helped out!”
“No need to pay me back. I'm glad you two found each other again. But if you don't mind I'd like to go back home, the book I was planning to read is waiting for me.”
“Oh of course! Really thank you so much once again!”
Alastor smiled at the man and waved goodbye to Charlie, before he went back to his apartment. By that time he had sweeped up the shattered glass and got back on his balcony. He could see the blond and Charlie walk at the far end of the street.
That sure was an interesting meeting. Not that it mattered that much, he most likely wouldn't be seeing them again anyways. And hopefully something like this will never happen again.
He sat back down in his chair, grabbed his book and now cold coffee. He took a sip of his coffee, he thinks it's such a waste to throw such a good cup of coffee away. He then opened his book and began to read, taking sips of his coffee every now and then as he enjoyed the time he had left before getting ready for work