Same, but Different

•Chapter II•

"And then there were two." I said, picking up Titan's' plate to wash up.

Levi drank more of his coffee. "I have a friend that's going to watch the kids while we're both out. Would you like to meet them before you leave Tobias with them?"

I nodded. "I doubt I'll go out for any reason other than job searching, seeing as there isn't much out there for me, but if that's okay with you and them then I'd definitely feel more comfortable meeting them first."

The raven nodded. "I don't have too much work today, but I usually go to the gym. I could have you meet my friend instead."

"Thank you," I replied.

"You and Titan need clothes," Levi announced, getting up to put his stuff away and get cleaned up.

"I can sew," I told him, "I mean, it's not amazing sewing but if you have any old clothes you don't want or fabrics then I can just use that instead of you spending money. Really, I don't want to burden you anymore than I already have."

Levi's eyes bore into mine. "I want to."

"But there's no reason behind that!" I replied, "Other than what I could probably guess is pity. There's no need to just buy stuff for us, we haven't done anything to earn it."

"I've never seen Aki so happy," Levi explained. "You made Tobias, so it's a thank you."

"Letting us stay is a thank you, giving us free clothes is charity."

"How are you going to get a job without professional clothes." Levi quirked an eyebrow. "You can't make shoes too, can you. Children are ruthless. Aki will stand up for Tobias, but that won't necessarily stop other children's' words from getting to him."

I bit my lip. I didn't have an answer.

"I'm a lawyer. I have money to spare. I'll just add it to your tab." Levi winked, grabbing his keys.

"I'm sorry..." I sighed, washing Titan's and my dishes, "Guess my sorry ass really can't look after my own son."

Levi threw a paper towel roll at me. "Don't apologize. Just try harder."

"They weren't my words in the first place," I mumbled, drying off my hands.

"Tobias! Aki!" Levi called.

"Yeah? What?" Titan shouted back.

"Do you want to go to the mall?"

Titan ran down the stairs, appearing in front of us. "The dumpster by Wendy's does good food."

"What?" Aki asked.

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "Scavenging... They throw out food at the end of the day, so it was where we went until they caught us and," I turned and pulled up the side of my ragged sweater, showing a purple-y bruise, "I got hit by a broom. Stupid really, not like it affected how much they earnt. Nobody else was gonna eat it."

Levi ran his fingers along the bruise, maintaining eye contact with me. "You two won't need to do anything like that ever again."

"So you'll scare away the nasty broom man next time we go to the dumpsters?" Titan asked. "That's nice."

I knelt down to wrap my arms around my son. "Titan, he means we won't have to go to the dumpsters at all." I turned to Levi. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Aki frowned. "We should go to the ramen place in the mall."

"What's a ramen?" Titan asked, squirming out of my grasp.