darker_london | [Backstory, Part Two] The Freeze Begins (MalFlynn and ArdalQuinn)

The belief that if you show kindness to a homeless person, they'll try to get more out of you was proving to be correct in the instance of Malachy O'Reilly. He, however, wasn't trying to take advantage of the kindness Caitlin had shown him when she'd bought him a meal out of nowhere. He was a 16-year-old kid who'd been kicked out of home. What else was he supposed to do? So he returned to the cafe where a woman named Caitlin had bought him the world's best pancakes and he kept returning for a week. He never saw her again, however. And the cafe's manager was starting to get annoyed by his constant presence there.

Mal didn't waste his time there simply standing around, waiting for the red haired goddess to come back. No, he used it to busk when his fingers were warm enough. He made some money, but most of the patrons of the upper class cafe wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn't surprised, either. They had picture perfect lives, didn't they? SUVs and trips to London and jobs with benefits and 2.3 children who got perfect results, of course. Why would they be bothered with him and his rather desperate situation?

Ardal, Mal's boyfriend, seemed to acknowledge the reality of this situation before Mal did. He was leaning against the building beside Mal as Mal finished one of their songs and received a rude gesture from a seven-year-old girl in pigtails who happened to be walking by. "That bitch was rude!" Mal said, his face incredulous as he pointed at the little girl and then stiuck his tongue out at her.

"She's seven!" Ardal admonished, shaking his head sadly. "Leave her alone."

"She started it!" Mal returned glumly, and then he mouthed to the girl quite obviously, 'may the devil eat you and spit out the bones'. Immediately, as one would expect, the girl burst into tears.

"Oh, Malachy..." Ardal watched as the girl's father rapidly pulled her away from the 'evil boys'. "Somehow, I think that's one of the friendlier encounters we've had here..."

Mal sighed and he leaned against the wall too, putting away his guitar as he did so. "I have no sympathy for yuppie larvae."

"Mal, I'm not worried about the kid!" Ardal reached out for Mal's arm. "How much have we made today?"

Malachy sighed and he stared at the little hat with money in it. Not much money... "Erm...about four quid...and thirty pingin."

"Fantastic, we can share half a sandwich." Ardal muttered. "We should find somewhere else-"

"But what if Caitlin comes back!?" Mal interrupted, looking quite distressed.

"Mal, even if she did come back, she might not remember who you are. And she'll probably wonder what the hell it is you want. You're a brilliant musician, you should be getting more than 4 pounds 30. Or you know...so says I." Ardal smiled at his lover even though it was hard to at the moment. He was hungry, but he knew Mal was too. And Malachy deserved smiles. "We should find somewhere else. Maybe somewhere warmer..." Ardal looked up at the sky, frowning at the clouds which threatened to dump snow all over them quite soon. "And we should probably do it now, it looks like a storm."

Mal hadn't wanted to hear all that stuff about Caitlin and giving up and blah blah blah, but Ardal was smart and right, and he himself was just being fanciful and wishing to made another human connection where there wasn't one to be made. He just wanted a friend. And pancakes. But also a friend. Her kindness had done much for him, but it was gone now, and the cold was creeping in again, in more ways than one. And Ardal looked like he was a step away from freezing to death too. His hands were balled up in the sleeves of his jacket, hidden away from the harsh wind that was picking up as they sat there on the cold cement walkway. "Your ears are red." Mal commented.

"They're about to fall off in a rage. Come on, let's get inside...somewhere." They'd find an abandoned building somewhere nearby and hunker down in their sleeping rolls, as they didn't like to stay in the same place for more than a few days at a time. That was asking for trouble...especially considering who Mal was. If any PIRA members found their ex-member here in Dublin...

Mal reached out and he covered Ardal's ears with his hands, which didn't actually do much to keep them warm, as Mal's hands were cold too... But Ardal smiled anyway. "I don't want to give up yet. Maybe I can make enough to get some dinner and we can hide from the storm with soup or something."

"Or you can die of hypothermia trying!" Ardal said, standing then and offering Mal a coat-covered hand up. Mal couldn't stay out here, it was too dangerous. And Ardal couldn't lose him, he just couldn't. "Come on, Mal. Come with me."

"But-"

"I need you." Ardal said, his eyes pleading. "Please...don't stay out here." Wind whipped around the corners of the cafe now, and Ardal cuddled down into his jacket, shivering visibly. He let out a breath around his chattering teeth. "We can eat the things we have in your pack."

Mal bit his lip, completely torn. Stay out here by himself, and try to beg money out of the few people caught in the storm by sheer force of looking pathetic, and be able to buy something hot for them to share for dinner? Or go with Ardal and hide from the cold...as much as possible anyway...even though they'd be doing it with hungry stomachs? The 'food' they had with them was pathetic and would do little for them, but they'd be together. Mal hated the situation. It made him feel like he'd failed Ardal in some way because they couldn't have both. "Alright." He finally conceded, because he never could deny Ardal something he asked for as long as he could provide it. "I'll come with you." He stood then, wrapping one arm around Ardal for the extra warmth while the other held tight to his guitar, despite the fact that his hand felt ready to fall off, the cold reaching him even through his woolen mittens.

"Bitch of a day, huh?" Ardal asked, voice quivering with cold, but he was determined to make Mal feel better so he was trying to keep things light.

Mal chuckled as best he could. The snow had begun and it was coming at them sideways, stinging faces and eyes. "I think you could get away with saying that!"

They walked quickly along in silence until the snow became so heavy, it was like they were in an all white world. A very cold one. "To hell with this!" Mal yelled, in order to be heard over the wind. They couldn't be choosy at a time like this, and he grabbed Ardal's jacket, pulling him into an alley and right up to the building they'd been sleeping in for the past few days. They could look for a new place when the storm ended. They needed to get to shelter now, so Malachy started to run, slipping on the frozen ground but it only impeded their progress a little.

It was a long run, and Ardal closed the door behind them once they were inside, and he leaned up against it, trying to catch his breath. "Fuck!" He hissed, wrapping his arms around himself and doing a crazed little dance to get all the snow off of him. Mal simply shed his jacket, leaving it on the floor beside his guitar because it was wet. The cold knocked the air out of him without the jacket's protection, but he reached for his bag and the sleeping rolls they had. He pulled them into the middle of the little abandoned house, and he crawled into one, holding it open for Ardal too. "Get in here before I die!" Malachy insisted.

"Drama queen." But Ardal did exactly as Mal had, crawling into the sleeping bag and cuddling up close to Mal for warmth. They were both shaking, but they'd been through this before. It would be a long night. But it would be over by morning...or so they hoped. "So...do you think we should eat those crisps?" Malachy had bought a few things to carry with them with some of the money he'd earned a few days ago, and then there hadn't been anything else so only the crisps were left. He refused to steal things, and while he wasn't above taking things that were given to him for no reason...that had pretty much happened once. And he didn't take things that weren't given. It made life harder, yes. But that's just who he was.

Malachy bit his lip and he snuggled against Ardal's shoulder. "Don't you think we should save them?"

"For when?" Ardal asked, raising his eyebrows. "Sometime when we're both starving and have nothing else to eat?" He asked pointedly.

"Yeah..." Mal said, letting out a breath which still created a tiny temporary cloud in front of his lips. "Good point."

"It'll be alright." Ardal said, taking his turn to be reassuring, even though he didn't feel like it would be alright in the least. Mal looked like he could do with hearing it anyway. "Tomorrow we'll find a better place for you to busk and I'll...try to do something helpful-"

"You do help." Mal said gently, leaning forward to kiss Ardal's forehead. "All the time. Give me some crisps!" Mal grinned as Ardal dumped a handful into his waiting hands. "I got the ones that had the most flavours listed so it might feel like we were eating more things. Like...cheese and potatoes and shit."

Ardal looked over at Mal then. His nose was red from the cold, but his smile was beautiful. He shoved a handful of the cheddar cheese, cracked pepper and sour cream crisps in his mouth and he let out a soft chuckle as he chewed. "You're slightly mad, you know?"

"I've been told." Mal winked and he helped himself to more crisps. And as the wind howled around the burned out building, the boys inside it felt lucky that they at least had each other.