The Antiquity Shop down the Street

Skapii entered the antiquity shop once again. She quietly headed to the counter, and looked at Agamemnon. She articulated quietly, “hi”. 

She looked absolutely terrible.

The Sphinx looked up at her, raised an eyebrow, frowned softly. “Are you okay, Skapii ?” She just stared at him. Silently. Wide-eyed. Tears starting to stream down her face.

Admittedly, he lowkey freaked out. But remained very calm. He stood up and passed by the counter to sit by her. “Is that because I’ve been terrible last time ?” She shook her head from left to right, without blinking. She started shaking, after a few seconds she hid her face and curled up on her chair.

He looked around, cringing. They were alone. He picked up the kid, held her firmly into his arms and disappeared into the backroom. She started sobbing loudly, crying from the top of her lung. What the fuck was going on.

He silenced her abruptly, made her sit into a chair and cupped her cheeks with his hand. He didn’t look… Gentle. He was actually quite terrifying. She stopped her silent scream, trembling, sobbing and panicking completely. She was going to get killed.

To her greatest surprise, he immediately gave her voice back to her. He was deadly calm and cold… With a strong panic undertone. “Skapii, what’s going on ? What happened ?” She started melting into his hand, falling forward. He hugged her, trying to keep calm. What the fuck was going on.

“Skapii, it’s going to be okay. Please try to breathe.” His tone was incredibly harsh, but she obliged and started to take big breath between two hiccups. “Tell me what happened now. I’m not gonna get any more mad than I already am.”

She tried to look up at him, terrified. He kept doing, still trying to remain calm but clearly freaking out. “Did somebody do something to you ?” She shook her head. He at least looked a bit reassured. He stroked her back. “Keep breathing.” She nodded, kept trying hard. 

He wrapped his wings around her and held her firmly. He wasn’t gentle. But she started calming down a bit, resting against him looking as limp as a rag doll.

He took a big breath, trying to calm down as well. He closed his eyes…Opened them again. When he started talking again, his voice was a lot softer than the usual.

“What’s going on, Skapii ?”

She didn’t answer right away, but he stayed there and didn’t add anything this time. After a while, she managed to stutter a few words. “I.. D-Don’t f-feel well.”

‘I noticed’, he almost answered, but he held it back. Tried to keep going more softly. “What happened ?” She took a big breath, she was breathing okay by now. Tears were still streaming down her face, but she was breathing okay. “N-Not going… too great… a-at the o-o-orphanage.”

He let go of her a bit, pushing her back into the chair to look at her face to face. He took a big breath again. Looked at her right in the eyes. Tried to speak softly. “Do you want me to call someone ?”

She shook her head. “Skapii, we can call the police if they hurt you.” She didn’t answer. “Do they beat you or something ?” She didn’t move. “Show me your arms. “ 

She shook her head again. He grabbed her arm and abruptly rolled her sleeve up. She had old scars on her forearm. Cigarette burns.

“Did they do that to you at the orphanage ?” She blinked. “No.” 

A piece of the puzzle took place. He didn’t know what happened exactly, but the reason why the kid was placed in an orphanage started to appear. “How old are these, Skapii ?” She gulped. “Very old.”

He made a break. Looked at her quietly for a few minutes. She kept sobbing quietly. “Skapii, what happened to make you feel like that ? Answer me. This is getting extremely worrying.”

She took her time to answer. “I… I ran away from the orphanage because I-I’m tired…” She sobbed a bit louder. “I’m so tired…” 

He put a hand on her shoulder, wide eyed in horror. “Skapii, we can call an ambulance.” She didn’t answer but looked back at him. “I-I…”

He kept going, still horrified. “You’re not doing okay, Skapii. You need help.” She wiped away her tears. “Do you want me to call an ambulance ?” She stuttered. “N-No.”

He took a big breath. “Do you need a few minutes ?” She didn’t answer. “Okay. I’ll give you a moment. Don’t move.”

He stood up and walked back into the shop. Made sure no customers were inside, and closed the store for the day. He grabbed a blanket under the counter and went back to the backroom.

Skapii was sitting on the chair, stiff. She wasn’t crying anymore. He pulled another chair to sit in front of her, and handed her the blanket.

She squeezed the blanket and looked up at him. Opened her mouth, closed it. After a few second, she managed to speak. “I ran away from the orphanage last night.” He looked at her, stern, but somehow looking a bit worried. He let her continue.

“I’m… I’m very tired of all the people there… They don’t like me because I’m a monster. They just… They… The other kids, they constantly make me feel terrible and they do bad stuff.”

He grabbed the blanket she was holding, wrapped her in it. She looked up at him. “I ran away and I didn’t want t-to go back. And I cried a lot.” He flipped out again, horrified. “In the STREET ?” She nodded. “Oh dear lord.”

She kept going. “Then… A man showed up and he-” Agamemnon stared at her with the most explicit horrified look he’s had up until now. She panicked. “H-He didn’t d-do anything bad h-he was nice he…”

He sighed in relief, kept listening to her. “He just listened to me and… He was really nice… He walked me back to the orphanage and he told me to text him if I need anything.”

The Sphinx frowned. “That’s extremely bad. You didn’t know him. That’s not his job to get buddy-buddy with a depressed kid without even telling said kid’s guardians.”

“Do you think I-I’m depressed ?” He closed his eyes, sat more comfortably. Sighed softly. “Skapii, you are extremely clearly depressed.” She started sobbing quietly again. “I-I’m broken ?” He sighed, but with a lot more heart. Tried to talk very softly. “No, you just need help.” She sniffled. “W-what if help isn’t enough and my life still sucks ?...” 

“I’m calling an ambulance, Skapii.” She jumped on him, grabbed his wrist and started crying louder, hitting her head against his chest, screaming ‘NO NO NO’. He sat back into his chair, held the kid in his arm and stared at the ceiling. Never in his life he planned on having to deal with that.

“Why not ?” She curled up against him, started to melt. “I’m s-scared…” He wrapped his wings around her again. “They wouldn’t hurt you.”

She didn’t answer, starting to go limp into his arms again. “I-I’m tired…” He looked down at her, stern. Weary. “Which kind of tired ?” She pushed her forehead against his chest. “A-all the tired.”

“Do you need to take a nap ?” She calmed down again. “I-I don’t know.” He started stroking the back of her head, stiffly. “I can call the orphanage if you want. Staying there isn’t good for your health. They need to find you a foster home as soon as possible.”

“Can I stay here ?” He nearly choked. “Why would you want to stay here ?? That’s not possible.” She just looked sad. “It feels s-safe.”

He went limp as well, kept stroking the back of her head. “Why do you like me so much ? I literally make effort to not have to deal with people like you.” She sat more comfortably into his arms and stuttered her response. “Y-You look like me, a-and you don’t… Force me to feel bad… A-And you...” She stopped. “I ?”

She whispered. “You don’t pluck my feather, you don’t hit me, you don’t pull on my tail…” He frowned. She started trembling again. “A-and you don’t pshh your cigarettes on me…” He opened his eyes all wide, horrified again. She kept going, lower by the second. “You don’t pull out my teeth with the dentist stuff…” His breath started to get harsh, but he tried to stay calm. “You don’t cut my back with the surgeon stuff…” 

“Skapii.”

“You don’t. Gun.”

“Skapii.”

“You don’t try to kill me.”

He breathed out sharply. She was an abuse survivor. That was why she was placed in an orphanage. “Do your guardians know ?” She gulped. “Yes.” He held her close, to calm her down. He was horrified. One of his loudest thought was to get rid of her as soon as possible to avoid further problems. But even Agamemnon Drakos himself wasn’t that much of a monster.

“Do you have therapy ?” She nodded. “Do you tell the therapist ?” She buried her face into his chest. “No.”

He tried to focus, to think efficiently. It took longer than expected, but when he stopped staring at the ceiling absent-mindedly, she was a lot calmer.

“Are you feeling better ?” She nodded quietly. “I can still call the orphanage.” She opened her mouth, without a sound. She tried, but didn’t manage to speak. He didn’t force it, sighing and holding her still. 

She articulated quietly. ‘I am tired.’ He looked down at her. “Sleep.” He adjusted the blanket on her shoulders, and started stroking her head.

After a long while, he realized he could listen to her breathing slowing down. She was probably… Incredibly exhausted. 

He headed back to the shop and put the little kid into a chair, wrapped into her blanket still. What the fuck did he get into.