Gem

Child hood

Warning!! Suicidal thoughts and actions are mentioned!! Viewer discretion advised!!
*Daniels POV*

I sat, huddled in the bath. I was shaking violently, and the blood from my wrists was turning the golden water to ruby. It had been three weeks since the funeral already. My voice was becoming hoarse and choking as I cried out for Theo through my tears. He rushed into the bathroom and dragged me out of the bath. He held me close as I cried and cried. He cleaned my wrists and bandaged them and surprised me, when he picked me up and carried me to my room where he dressed me and then laid me down on the bed. He started to sing lullabies and I began to drift off to sleep...

In the morning I woke up and he was asleep on a chair by the balcony. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Theo suddenly awoke and rushed to my side, "are you alright Danny?"
He hadn't called me that since I was a kid. He was like a father to me, since my actual father was always busy.
"I'm fine..."
He sat on the bed beside me and hugged me, "I miss them too."
I began to cry again.
"It's alright Son, I'm here."
He comforted me and then there was a knock at the door, "come in!" I say.
My father walks into the room, "Hello my Son! Butler, you may leave."
"No, he can stay here. He's helping me with my grief."
"Ah yes, I got the news this morning. That's why I'm here. When was the funeral?"
"Just under three weeks ago..."
"Oh. Sorry I'm late son, but you shouldn't dwell on the past! Now, did you find a Queen?"
"They're who died..."
"Oh."
He says nothing more.
"What do you want father?"
"Just came to check how your doing as king."
'Better than you, you piece of shit.' . "Quite well, thank you."
"The people seem to care about you. Also, who's the man wandering aimlessly through the halls?"
"Oh, that's probably James."
"Who?"
"The dead Queens father."
"He looks like a farmer."
"He is."
"Did you marry a farm girl?"
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"They weren't a girl."
"What?"
"They used gender neutral pronouns."
"Okay..."
"And where born male."
"WHAT!? You married a man!?"
"They weren't a man, and why do you care?"
"Because, you were supposed to marry a princess! Not a farm boy!"
"It's not up to you who I marry. You are no longer king, and therefore have no power over me anymore."
"So you like boys then?"
"I don't care about what's between their legs. I only care about what they're like."
"Oh yeah? Well I bet this boy of yours couldn't read could he?"
"THEY could read a bit."
"A bit? What's that supposed to mean?"
"They had only just started learning to read a month ago."
"So he couldn't read, and he was lazy? You're much better off without him son."
"Don't call me son. And get out. I know longer see you as my father, so leave."
"What!?"
"You disrespected the person I loved, and who died because of me, so get out!"
"Son-"
"GET OUT!!"
He leaves and I begin crying again. Theo hugs me again. When I stop crying, he helps me get dressed for the day and I go to the balcony in Damiens room and look over the village.
I then decide to go on a walk. I find myself at the edge of the field, looking at the farmhouse. James is beside me, as he wanted to come along.
"Come on son, let me show you Damiens childhood. Right from the beginning." He Leads me to the centre of the field where there a small circle fence with white roses in it.
"This is where I found Damien. They were on the roses wrapped in a little blanket. I looked up and on the horizon was a woman walking away. She was too far away for me to run to her and then I noticed the letter. It said that their name was Damien, and that their mother could not keep them." We go inside and to a room where their are scribbles all over the walls, and they become more interpretable drawings as they get higher. Theirs even drawings on the ceilings. "Damien would come here when they were stressed. Their was the time they were in here for several days on end, because they were trying to tell us about not wanting an assigned gender. They were six when they decided that. We knew their birthday because it was written on the letter. When they were seven, my wife died unexpectedly and they spent most of their time in here." He points to some scribbles in the corner of the room. They're just scribbles, but look like they were drawn slower than the rest, and they seem sad.
"At eight, they started going to the public school next to the church. They wanted to wear a dress. We had several girls clothes of all ages that had been made for when we hoped to have a daughter but she couldn't get pregnant, so I let them wear the clothes. I'd also made boys clothes in case they wanted to wear those. When I introduced them to the class, I introduced them by their chosen pronouns and I heard some of the other children laughing. I still don't know how much they were bullied by the other kids. They never told me. But since then, a lot of the drawings seem sad."
I looked around and was overwhelmed with sadness. I wanted to leave the room. James seemed to sense this and brought me out of the room. He pointed outside to the patio, "they'd stand there a lot, looking at the sunsets. They were never up early enough to see the sun rise though. I just hope that they eventually got to with someone they love."
"They did..." I smile weakly.
"That's good then... " he points to the stairs, "when they were ten, they once came home from school and sat on that stairs for god knows how long. It's also where Edmund asked out Damien. And where my wife died in my arms. Where I first noticed the bruises that Damien claimed where from falling over or bumping into things. Everything happened on that stairs... tell me... did they tell you where the bruises came from?"
"No..."