Late Night Trouble [Matthew]

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

The very second Aleksander Holst saw the cabinet Berwald had just finished building, a wide grin spread across his face. “This is the fourth piece of high quality furniture you've made this week, kid! Oh, not that the stuff you usually make isn't high quality, of course! It's just that... this... this... Ah, just look at this! The carvings, the detail, the everything! I'm going crazy here! This new one should sell for at least a hundred and fifty Sol! We could get that Highland retailer to come and have a look at it. He'd buy it in a heartbeat, definitely,” the middle-aged man said excitedly. “S'nothin' much, Aleks,” Berwald mumbled, sounding embarrassed. “You should learn how to accept some praise, kid, seriously! Take it from me, it's spectacular. Good job,” Aleksander said happily, patting the young woodworker on the back roughly. Berwald, who had never been the type to be good with words, just grunted gratefully in response. 'S'all thanks ta T'mo,' he thought to himself as he looked closely at the intricate details carved into the cabinet's edges. Ever since he and Timo had been reunited after several years of being apart, he had been feeling extremely inspired.

“Oh, yeah, nearly forgot to bring this up... Uh, kid, you remember that club from last week, right? The one that ordered all those tables? Well, you sorta have to go over to their place... uh, right now and... pick up our pay... I-I'm sorry, I know it's getting really late but...” Aleksander trailed off awkwardly as he shifted his gaze to the floor. “S'okay. I'll do it,” Berwald said. The middle-aged man visibly sagged in relief. “Ah, kid, you're a lifesaver!” he exclaimed happily. “'m goin' straight home aft'r gettin' our pay, though, so I'll give it ta ya t'morrow,” the tall blond added. “Ah, that's fine, that's fine! As long as you get it tonight! Really, kid, thanks!”

---

“Thank you fer yer business,” Berwald said politely, dipping his head a little. “A-a-ah! Y-you're w-welcome! Ummmmm, c-can I expect those t-tables to be d-delivered here s-soon?” a cowering bartender asked nervously. “Two days,” the tall blond replied promptly. The bartender nodded furiously, looking as if he was fighting back tears of fear. “I'll be goin', then,” the bespectacled man announced, standing up from his seat and moving to exit through the club's backdoor.

Berwald sighed softly as he looked down the street he was walking on. He really disliked this part of town. It wasn't-- Wh-what? Was that the sound of... someone shouting? The tall blond strained his ears. Nothing... Was he imagining things? It had just sounded like... someone was in trouble. He didn't hear anything anymore but... what if...?

The mere thought of someone needing his help made Berwald burst into motion. He made a run for where he thought the “shouting” had come from.

[goldfiiish]

Tonight was a night like any other for Matthew, except with less to do. He was simply sitting at home. No school assignments were unfinished and he had left not a single thing in his house was uncleaned. Fiddling with his fingers, he thought about what to do. Nothing seemed particularly appealing in his house, so he went for walk. His walk turned into him getting very lost. Once lost, he just kept looking around until he realized he definitely wasn't in the highlands anymore.

Matthew started to panic. Walking around the lowlands at night was basically like committing suicide for someone who doesn't know how to handle the area very well. Matthew was basically screwed anyway he looked at it. He would probably get mugged. Maybe shot. Possibly raped. Matthew could feel his legs shaking. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and baby stepped his way into what was probably the stupidest moment of his life. No one simply walks into the lowlands, not at night when your unprepared. Well, criminals might. At least, that's what Matthew thought, it's all he's ever heard growing up.

Once he stepped into the glow of flashing, neon lights, Matthew figured out where he was. The lowland's clubs. Matthew always pictured the area's with clubs being filled with hookers and drug lords. He wasn't really sure if he was right or not, but it seemed like he would find out soon.

"Hey hun, how you doin'?" A man stepped out from the alley in front of Matthew. He leaned against a wall and leered down at the small blonde. The guy reeked of alcohol, cigarettes and really should have been wearing more clothes. Oh no. I'm going to get raped. Matthew thought and looked around. Maybe if he pretended to be a wall the man would go away. "You deaf?" Matthew swallowed. "Uh, I-I... no." He shook his head. "I-I-I'm just looking to get home." The guy leaned down at breathed in Matthew's face. He really needed to learn what a tooth brush was. "Well, I can give you a ride... that'll make you forget you were ever looking for home." He grinned.

"He said he wasn't interested, maybe not everyone is gay for you, Idiot." A skimpily dressed woman wrapped an arm around Matthew from behind. "Would you take a look at this cutie? He's obviously straight." She licked Matthew cheek, making him cringe. "I-I... I really, um, need to get home..." He mumbled, trying to push himself out of her grip. "I-if you know where the train station is I-" She interrupted him with a finger placed on his mouth. "Ten bucks for me will be cheaper than taking that home, and more fun." She grbbed his bottom with a giggle. Matthew could feel his breaths speeding up with his growing panic. What had he gotten into? In the heat of the moment, Matthew let his instincts take control as he shoved the woman away from him. "Stop!" He yelled, feeling a bit proud that he managed to speak so loud. It was the first thing that came to mind to do.

"I guess he's mine after all. Didn't think he could be into ladies anyway." The same man grabbed Matthew's arm. "N-no, that's not what..." Matthew tried to say, but it came out too quiet for anyone to really hear. "Trust me, by the end, you'll be enjoying yourself so much it won't even feel like rape." The guy winked at Matthew. This really wasn't what he had planned when he started walking.

(Wow, this is really long, sorry about that D:)

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

When Berwald caught sight of three figures in the not-so far off distance, he stopped running to assess the situation. However, after observing the small group for no more than three seconds, the tall blond realized that something was very wrong. He walked briskly towards the trio, keeping his strides long but incredibly silent so as to avoid drawing too much attention to himself. When he was near enough to see their faces, he noted the look of terror on a young blond's and the sly, smug looks on a scantily clad woman's and an intoxicated-looking man's. Berwald's sharp turquoise eyes narrowed in disgust and anger. He unconsciously broke into a half-run. The next thing he knew, he was forcefully yanking the intoxicated man away from the young blond and inhaling the unpleasant smell of tobacco and stale alcohol.

Berwald used one hand to grip the front of the man's shirt. He kept him at arm's length, partly to keep himself safe and partly to relieve his nose of as much of the foul smell as possible. He heard the woman let out a short but terrified scream. “Scum,” the tall blond hissed under his breath, glaring hard at the fear-stricken man who looked just about ready to fall on his knees and beg for mercy. Berwald snorted softly, derisively. As much as the guy probably deserved a good punch, the bespectacled blond didn't condone violence – in situations that didn't call for it outright at least. He tightened his grip on the man's shirt front threateningly before harshly shoving him away. The man clumsily stumbled backwards and ended up falling on his ass with a small yelp. He hastily collected himself and promptly ran away. The tall blond sighed, relaxing a little.

He turned around and was surprised to see that the young blond he had just saved was still standing there. The woman, however, had predictably fled during the scuffle. Berwald was internally glad for that. He didn't think he had it in him to seriously threaten a woman.

He quietly studied the young man he had just saved. Wavy blond hair with an odd curl sticking out from the base of where his hair parted somewhat neatly in the middle. Frightened violet eyes behind a set of round glasses. Lanky frame and average height but seemingly petite and fragile due to the way he carried himself. Because of the young man's hair color and eye color, Berwald couldn't help but be reminded of Timo. Even the way he had just “met” this stranger was painfully similar to the way he had met the small, cheerful blond many years ago. For a brief moment, he recalled the day he had rescued his old friend from some boys who had tried to steal his wallet. He did his best to fight down oncoming waves of nostalgia in order to finally speak to the scared-looking stranger.

“Sorry 'bout tha'... Y'alright?” he mumbled, consciously trying to keep his tone light so that the other blond wouldn't become more frightened than he already was. Berwald vaguely noted that he was inwardly impressed with the young man for not running away yet.

((That's OK! I'm sorry that mine didn't turn out as long as yours, though! ;;)

[goldfiiish]

Matthew was pulled by the arm around him to keep moving, but he dug his feet into the ground and refused to go along with this. Usually he wouldn't just do as someone asked, but there was no way in hell that he would go through with this. He gave in for a moment, his brother had to go through this before he died. Why should Matthew get off easy? It didn't seem fair...

Suddenly, the arm around his waist disappeared. At first, Matthew thought that the man realized there was no a single chance Matthew would go with him. He glanced to his side to see a tall, blonde man holding the creep up by the collar of his shirt. He stood there, amazed that someone would help a stranger out. He also felt a bit scared because he had no idea if this was good or bad thing happened. They really didn't look like a good person... He would probably get mugged, or shot. Maybe both. He stood glued to his spot, unsure of whether it was a good idea to move or not.

After some roughing up, the man ran off into the dark night. When his savior turned to look at Matthew, he almost had a heart attack. The tall, blonde man who had just saved him didn't look like someone who you needed to be saved from. Maybe it wasn't his looks exactly, he had short, blonde hair and icy, blue eyes behind glasses. Not exactly menacing features. It was more how he used them, almost like he had an aura of scary around him. And he just looked really angry.

Matthew stopped himself from thinking like that. This weird, scary guy couldn't be all that bad, he hadn't done anything wrong yet. Maybe he just had the same issue as Matthew with holding himself correctly. Matthew ended up looking invisible most of the time and this guy made people wish he was invisible. Or he could be a murderer. Either one was plausible.

"I-I'm fine..." Matthew stuttered, still not sure if this was a good guy or not. "Sorry for the trouble..." He mumbled. He thought the guy might know how to get him back to the highlands, but he wasn't sure... It couldn't be too painful to ask, but he was more afraid of how he would react after the question. "D-do happen to know how to get to the highlands from here?" He quieted down as he asked the question. This was really scary.

(Pshaw, don't worry about the length, it's fine! :) )

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

The other blond spoke in an almost startlingly small voice. Berwald noted how the young man failed to manage a proper thank you but was quick to utter an apology. It was either this guy had some serious self-esteem issues or was incredibly wary of whether the tall blond would murder him within the next few minutes or not. It could very well be both, Berwald thought somewhat offhandedly. “S'okay,” he mumbled, silently hoping his tone came off as sincere. It really hadn't been any trouble for him; he was glad he'd been able to help. As much as he hated this part of the Lowlands, he now knew that something terrible would've happened to the trembling blond in front of him if Aleks hadn't sent him here in the first place.

The terrified look on the young man's face didn't waver in the slightest and Berwald kind of wanted to reassure him that he wasn't going to hurt him. He normally didn't care when people reacted to him like this. It was something the tall blond had gotten used to a long time ago. But the look on the other blond's face was, for some reason, a little bit different from the usual expressions of fear he got from other people. The timid man looked quite... pitiable, for lack of a better term for it. Berwald didn't necessarily like pitying people as he, himself, loathed being pitied. But he couldn't exactly help it. He ended up becoming extremely cross with himself for thinking the poor blond might cry.

He was broken out of his brief half-reverie when the still scared-looking man asked him a question. 'The Highlands?' Berwald repeated incredulously in his thoughts. How did this guy get himself so lost? A few minutes ago, nothing sounded better than just going home and falling asleep in his bed. Of course, the universe worked in strange ways and, apparently, it wanted Berwald to arrive home as late as possible. The tall blond briefly thought of just giving the young man directions and leaving him to fend for himself but he hurriedly banished the idea from his mind. His conscience would never allow it. Though he was terrifying and intimidating on the outside, he was really quite a softie on the inside.

“Yeah... D'ya mind if I walk ya ta the neares' tram station?” he asked gruffly. “Don't want ya gettin' jumped again. S'not safe here,” he mumbled as he slowly glanced around the place, disdain evident on his already stern face. “And don't... don't worry,” he said lamely as he shifted his gaze to the ground, looking very embarrassed. “Won't mug ya or anythin' like tha',” he said, trying his best to sound reassuring. “M'name's B'rwald.”

((This pretty much took half an eternity. Sorryyyyy! ;A;))

[goldfiiish]

(Oh, God, I'm so sorry this took so long, I thought I wrote it, and now it came out so short OTL I'm really sorry.)

Matthew glanced around himself, how he even managed to get himself here was beyond him. He wondered exactly what time it must have been then, most likely more than a few hours had passed. He honestly just wanted to get home, there was no way he would survive unscathed through this mess though. When the taller man asked to take him to the tram station Matthew couldn't believe it.

"Oh, um, yes, that would be helpful. Thank you." He nodded. "And, if you mugged me, it probably wouldn't make my night any worse, to be honest." Matthew laughed, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. "Nice to meet you, Berwald. I'm Matthew. I'm sorry to be such a burden."

[Berwald Oxenstierna]

“T'night must've been really rough on ya,” Berwald mumbled, trying his best to sound as sympathetic as he felt. He couldn't help but feel bad for the poor guy, really. What happened earlier really must have rattled him if he thought getting mugged wouldn't make his night any worse. All the more reason to help him, the tall blond figured. Showing the young man a bit of kindness might even make him feel better. Berwald quickly realized, however, that there wasn't much chance of that happening. His, to be blunt, terrifying outward appearance nearly always succeeded in making strangers – and sometimes even acquaintances – extremely uncomfortable. He decided to settle for getting the young man to the tram station as quickly as possible.

“Matthew,” Berwald echoed quietly, nodding a little. “Yer not a burd'n,” he added simply before gesturing for Matthew to follow him. The two bespectacled blonds walked side-by-side without saying a word to each other. Berwald appreciated the peaceful silence but strangely felt like getting his new acquaintance to speak. “Ya feelin' alright? D'ya want ta talk or somethin'?” he offered kindly, hoping his sudden breaking of the silence didn't startle Matthew too much.

((Please don't worry about it! I also apologize for taking so long to reply... ;;; I tried my best but my post still came out pretty short. OTL I'm sorry for that, too!))