Helping Out a Young One
\Jay’s POV/
I hummed a small happy tune as I walked down the sidewalk in town, Archie walking alongside me with him carrying a small bag. I was just on my way back home after hanging out with Talia for a good chunk of the afternoon. With my eyes closed, I continued to hum and walk while burying my snoot into my scarf, far too happy at the current moment. I stopped completely though once I heard Archie’s faint squeak. I opened my eyes and was about to ask Archie what was wrong but didn’t do so when I looked in front of me. There was a young Katragoon sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, colored black and many shades of blues with a small set of wings. I frowned, seeing the child’s eyes closed and crying. Carefully walking towards them, I quietly asked them. “Are you okay little one..?” They just continued to cry, not even acknowledging me in the slightest. I narrowed my eyes slightly, wondering why they didn’t respond. Getting close enough to them, I decided to try out something. I stomped on the ground and the child’s eyes snapped open as they turned to look at me. My own eyes widened, slowly putting together the pieces but wanted to do one more thing to confirm my suspicions. Sitting down on the sidewalk, I unfurled my fingers and carefully signed while speaking at the same time. “Can you hear me?” The child watched my hands and they shook their head. I frowned once again. “The poor child…” I proceeded to start looking around, hoping to find someone who was looking for a child. I felt Archie’s metal foot scraping against the ground and glanced over at him, just to see him nuzzling the child’s face and they appeared to be giggling. Their tears seemed to have stopped for now… Getting a better look at them, my eyes widened when I noticed a small scrape on their arm and it was bleeding a bit. I stomped on the ground to gain the child’s attention again. Once I had it, I signed to them. “What’s your name little one?” They turned themselves so that they were facing me and signed back to me.
“My name is Claude.” I smiled at them and continued the conversation.
“Nice to meet you, Claude. My name is Jay and this Sikeri is Archie.” They smiled then carefully reached their hand towards Archie and he nudged his head against their hand, allowing them to pet him. “I could take care of your little scrape if you’d like?” They blinked, just staring at me. I carefully approached Claude and Archie, reaching for the bag that Archie has been carrying around. Opening the bag, I took out a first aid kit. Placing it on the ground and opening it, I held my hand out to them. They just stared at me, fear in their eyes. I gave them a reassuring smile and signed to them. “It’s alright. I won’t hurt you. I just want to help.” They slowly nodded their head then lifted up their arm that had the scrape on it. I gently took their arm and proceeded to treat the little scrape. After cleaning it up and putting a bandaid on it, I nodded and signed. “There you go Claude.” They clapped happily, a bright smile on their face. They then signed back to me.
“Thank you Mr. Jay!” I bowed slightly to them then looked around again. Still no one… Returning my gaze to Claude, I asked them.
“May I ask… Who is taking care of you?” I chose to ask in a roundabout way instead of being direct, afraid of their reaction if I were to ask directly. They tilted their head to the side then responded.
“Some lady back home. She takes care of me and a bunch of others until someone comes to get us.” My eyes widened but then I frowned, thinking back to Onyx and their life.
“Orphaned at a young age…” I huffed to myself then glanced at Archie, who was looking at me, curiously. “Let’s take them back.” Archie nodded, his tail wagging. I looked back at Claude and smiled. “Do you know your way back?” They nodded. “Would you like me to escort you back? Wouldn’t want you getting hurt again on your way back home.” Their eyes widened then they stood back on all fours and started jumping up and down, happily. Once they calmed down, they furiously nodded their head, a bright grin visible. I chuckled to myself then stood up then nodded my head in the direction of the nearest orphanage I know of. I was about to start walking when I felt something brush by my leg. I looked down to see what it was but I was soon greeted by Claude’s happy blue and yellow eyes. I blinked, surprised then noticed that they’ve chosen to stand underneath me and in between my arms. I just chuckled to myself. “Well, that’s certainly one way of keeping yourself safe I guess…” I saw Archie’s blueish grey form enter my peripheral vision and when I glanced over at him, he was sitting down and he carefully signed to me.
“Didn’t think you be good with kids.” I smiled and shrugged.
“I guess watching Pick and Asugi care for Morgan had its perks. Now come on, before it gets any later…” Archie nodded then all three of us started making our way to our new destination.
*Time Skip*
After about an hour or two, we finally made it to the orphanage and saw another Kat, quite a bit older than me, standing outside and looking around worriedly. When their eyes landed on us, their eyes lit up and they ran towards us. My eyes narrowed as I took a few steps forward and moved my arms closer to each other, putting them in front of Claude. The other Kat stopped right in front us and started talking, but, me being deaf, could not hear a word they were saying. I did hear Archie’s squeak very faintly, which for others was prolly extremely loud. The older Kat turned their gaze to Archie and just glared at them. My eye twitched then I noticed they were about to start talking to him. I let out a low growl. “Don’t you dare be rude to him.” Their eyes widened and they slowly returned their gaze to me, shocked. I heard Archie’s faint squeak again earning the Kat’s attention again. Watching him from my peripheral vision, he signed to the Kat.
“Jay be deaf. He no hear you.” This time, I heard a very faint ‘eep’ sound come from the Kat in front of me. They instantly sat down and signed to me.
“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t aware you were deaf!” I just sighed in response.
“Most people don’t…” I mumbled to myself.
“I was just saying that I’m so glad someone found Claude!” I slowly nodded. “I was afraid we’d have to call for assistance or something. Even her poor sikeri was worried sick about her and upset that they let her out of their sight.” I just stared at the Kat in front of me before moving my arms enough for Claude to poke their head out again. She did so and I watched her reaction to the Kat in front of us. I saw the recognition in her eyes as she walked out from underneath me and towards the Kat. I watched the older Kat sign some things to Claude, but I didn’t really pay attention to it, looking at Claude. Morgan tends to be annoying… But that’s prolly mostly cause she’s Pick’s kid… Other children tend to be cuter and sweeter… Heh… I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but I might actually miss this kid. I just shook my head but before I could be on my way, I felt a slight tug on my scarf. I blinked then looked down to see Claude, looking up at me with hopeful eyes. I sat down on the sidewalk with my head tilted to the side. The little one shocked me by jumping at me and hugging me. I yelped and quickly wrapped my arms around her to make sure she didn’t fall. I felt her tighten her grip on me and it caused a small smile to appear on my face. I gently returned her hug and watched her tail start wagging. I chuckled then gently placed Claude back on the ground and once her feet touched the ground, she sat down and signed to me.
“Will you come and visit me?” I stared at Claude for a few minutes, considering her question. I chuckled and nodded. Her eyes widened and she clapped happily. She signed one more thing before going back to the other Kat. “Thank you, Mr. Jay!!” Both of them waved goodbye before going back into the building. I smiled and shook my head.
“Now why can’t Morgan be more like her?” I glanced over at Archie and saw he was snickering. I tilted my head to the side once more. “What are you laughing about?” He stopped and signed.
“You like kids?” I blinked, confused by his question.
“Well, yeah. Morgan may be annoying sometimes, but she’s still a good kid.” I saw an evil glint flash in Archie’s eyes for a moment. “Why are you---” My eyes widened when I saw watch Archie said next.
“Make you want one of your own?” Archie started snickering again as I felt my face heat up. This damn…!! I rolled my shoulder then quickly started making my way back to our home.
“H-HURRY UP! BEFORE I L-LEAVE YOU H-H-HERE!!” I yelled, and partially stuttered, back at Archie and soon felt his metal leg hitting and scraping the ground, indicating that he was following me. I huffed then took a glance back at the orphanage. I let a small smile grace my features before looking forward again. See you soon Claude…