It wasn't easy. Tonic was at school and Moonshine probably skipped school and was doing only gods knew what. Lately they hadn't been home. That's why Gin was out here. It wasn't easy, but he'd managed.

He skittered out into the street, a bag slung over his shoulder. He was dressed in something similar to what he'd first met Matteo in. Except this time he wore a wifebeater and a black flannel shirt to cover his arms. Then, there were those hot-topic Goth pants that I need not describe. He wore black boots as well. He was well-covered from head to toe.

His fingertips were slightly bloody. He hadn't managed to wipe all of the blood off yet. He'd ran the whole way down the sidewalks, but suddenly skidded to a stop.

Phone booth. Empty.

He entered in and dug out the change he'd made sure he had beforehand.

He glanced briefly down at the bag and peeked inside to make sure everything was still there, then caught his breath and put the coins in the phone. Didn't want to seem like he was out of breath whilst calling someone...

He dialed the number and put the phone to his ear.

Ring, ring.

Click.

"...'lo?" came Matteo's timid voice, faintly staticky over the phone.
He held the receiver slightly away from his face, as if afraid it would bite. There was actually dust on the black plastic receiver, and shiny spots where his fingers had wiped off the dust. Yes, he really doesn't use it that often.

He was home, and therefore not very dressed - he only had on a t-shirt, and his hair was unkempt and hanging about his face, curling around the now very visible horns. 'Home' was a basement apartment in what could be called the bad end of town,... but it's more like the abandoned end of town, really. Where anyone who's no one goes.

"Hi, 'Teo. 's Gin," he was still faintly out of breath. He couldn't help it. Running so much hurt. But it was worth it to get away from that monster.

He held his abdomen with one of his arms while holding the phone to his ear with the other.

"Um, do you mind if I come over...?"

That called for directions, but Gin didn't care. He just wanted to see Teo and get away. He didn't notice the fact that his body was shaking.

He glanced down at his bag again.

"Oh, hi!"
Matteo grinned broadly, though there was no one to see. He hadn't expected a call so soon. He was glad to get it, though.

"Uh..." Over? Over at his apartment? That would mean Gin would know where he lived, and he might come back, or he might bring someone with him and...
Matteo pushed back all his objections.
"Sure you can come over," he said, and gave his address and directions to it, adding as an afterthought, "Be careful, alright?... It's not exactly a... safe neighbourhood."

Gin was really counting on Matteo saying yes, so if he said no he'd be slightly sad. Read: More than a little upset. So when Matteo said yes, Gin just had to grin.

He nodded as Matteo gave him directions, even though he couldn't see him, and didn't mention the fact that it wasn't that far from here.

"Okay, Teo. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Thanks, by the way. B'byes." He said good bye quickly only because he only had about five seconds left of phone time.

And he was out of the phone booth within seconds after hanging up, heading towards Matteo's apartment.

"Bye," Matteo said, and hung up the phone. He sat there staring at it for a moment before the realization sunk in, that someone was actually coming over to his apartment. He lifted his head to look around.
The place was a mess.
Someone was going to see the mess.
Uh-oh. Cleanup time!

His apartment had been created by simply partitioning off part of the basement, so the walls were mostly bare cement. One plus of having a basement apartment? The furnace was close, which made for a very warm living space during the winter.

It wasn't a long walk and it wasn't raining or snowing. It was just very cold and he was afraid someone was following. Gin was pararnoid. Very, very paranoid, but he couldn't help it. He sort of trotted down the sidewalks now, following Matteo's directions.

It was maybe about ten, fifteen minutes later when he showed up at Matteo's apartment. He'd taken the stairs and was now at Matteo's door, knocking.

Matteo had been pacing in dizzying circles around the small apartment. He'd taken the first few minutes to clean up, which meant, sort things into piles and push them off to the sides. He gave a jump when he heard the knock on the door.

"Coming!"
He opened the door, smiling faintly.
"...Hi."

The bag was still slung over his shoulder. The blood on his fingers had dried for the most part.

Gin grinned when Matteo opened the door.

"Hi. I got you something."

Pay no attention to the way he's wearing clothing that covers all of his body and how his hair particularly on purpose covers his face today.

He rocked forward on his toes a little.

"C'mon in," he said cheerfully, getting out of the way and nodding Gin inside.

Matteo gave him a curious look, as much because of what he said as the way he looks.
"You did?"
He didn't mean to sound ungrateful, but...
"...Why?"

Gin walked in when he was invited in and nodded, looking at 'Teo.

"Yep, I did." Matteo's inquiry didn't seem to dampen his spirits. "'Cause you said your birthday was last month," he explained.

He offered Matteo the bag, his fingers subconsciously wrapped around it so he wouldn't see them.

In the bag were an assortment of things, actually. Cupcakes, and peanut butter cups in case Matteo didn't like cupcakes. There was a card, and a gray wool hat sort of thing that came down to cover most of any human's ears. It was for Matteo to wear to cover his horns in case he wanted to.

"It's not much, but..." Gin shrugged.

He took the bag, bemused. He caught a glimpse of Gin's fingers, but they didn't quite register.
"Oh, but..oh, you didn't have to..." Matteo protested faintly (Ooh, peanut butter cups!), looking into the bag. He lifted his head and grinned at Gin. "...You didn't have to, but thank you."

He nodded to the array of large pillows against one wall that passed for a couch. "C'mon, sit down and stay a while," Matteo said, smiling and flopping on a worn cushion. He rummaged in the gift bag and held out a cupcake, as if it was bait to coax the younger boy into following. "..'n have a cupcake."

"S'ok. I wanted to." He inserted his hands into his pockets after he'd given Matteo the bag. (It kind of hurt to do so, too.) He grinned a little bit more. "You're welcome."

"...'kay." Very much grin. He padded to the couch and flopped down beside Matteo after taking the cupcake. "And thanks."

(Yay, cupcake! Gin liked cupcakes and hoped Matteo liked them too. That's why he got them.)

Matteo gave a small you're-welcome shrug after Gin took the cupcake, and took a cupcake out for himself. Then he took out the hat,... turned it over in his hands,.. and put it on, then turned to give Gin a silly smile.

"Hmm,... what do you think?" he said, pointing to the hat.
Almost in the same instant, and for no apparent reason, he frowned.
"What happened to your hands?"

Gin sort of nibbled at the cupcake a little bit. He didn't really eat much anyway...

"I think you look very charming," he said with a nod. He was a little surprised Matteo mentioned his hands. He looked down at them and shrugged. "Oh, um, that. 'S nothin'."

"Mm,..." Matteo didn't look like he believed him, which just goes to show how bad he is at hiding his thoughts. "If you're sure."

He pulled a piece off his cupcake and popped it in his mouth.

"Mmmmm. 'S good. You make these yourself?"

Gin realxed a little on the couch. He could tell Matteo didn't believe him, but was glad he didn't question him. He nodded.

And nodded again. "Yep, I did. Thanks." Small grin.

'N it was worth what happened to my hands, I hope...

"Mmm," was Matteo's reply, as he was busy polishing off the cupcake. "I'd make you cupcakes for your birthday, except everything I cook tends to burn. I'll have to think of something else."

Having finished, he crumpled the wrapper and tossed it into the plastic garbage can across the room. Or tried to - it bounced off the rim and landed a foot away from the target. "Drat."

"Everything?" Gin inquired. "Surely, not everything." He raised an eyebrow and nibbled at the cupcake some more. He hoped he wouldn't get sick or something...

"You almost had that one," Gin pointed out as he watched the wrapper bounce off the rim of the trash.

"Well... no, not everything. But things like - baked things, I burn. Always. That or they're too gooey because they weren't cooked long enough. It's a good thing I'm vegetarian, or I'd have died of sala..- ..salamin... salmonella poisoning by now."

He went over to the garbage can and picked up the cupcake wrapper, and tossed it in.
"There. That was a three-pointer, that was," he said jokingly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Did anyone ever teach you how to cook?"

"You're vegetarian?" He questioned, cocking his head to the side. "That's cool."

The he grinned and nodded. He would've applauded if he didn't have a cupcake in his hands. "I'd have to agree. Bravo. You should be an All Star or something."

"Not really, no. I got a tip here and there, but anything I know about cooking stuff usually comes off the side of a package. Or a recipe book. But it's all pretty simple stuff. I don't like to do a lot of cooking, anyway. Don't need to," Matteo shrugged, making his way back to the heap of pillows. "Hmm,... maybe you should teach me."

"Maybe I will, if you want." Because it's only fair. And Matteo was nice and adorable and didn't act all old and... well, old. Gin already considered him a friend. Plus, teaching him how to cook would be an excuse to see him and everything...

He was finally finished the cupcake. He crumpled the wrapper and stuck it in his pocket to throw away later.

"Heh. That'd be good."
The faun nodded, an amiable smile on his face.

"So what happened to your hands?" he said, suddenly and conversationally.
He hadn't forgotten,...he was just waiting for the right moment to ask again.

Hadn't Matteo already asked him that? But it wasn't in Gin's nature to just shoo Matteo away from the subject. So he gave him a little bit more specific version of the answer he'd given him before.

"I, um, just a little accident... it's really nothing."

It was a half-lie, half truth. It wasn't an accident, but it really was nothing, compared to what the state of the rest of him was in.

"Really."
Matteo raised an eyebrow. Unfortunately, it simply wasn't in him to look skeptical, so he just looked lopsided.

"If it's nothing, why not tell me?"

"Because." Gin couldn't look defiant. Plus, Matteo was nice and probably just meant well...

"I, um... fine." He did a sort of shrugging thing with his shoulders.

"It wasn't an accident."

He looked awfully contrite.

"How did - well, what happened, I mean?"

He was curious, mostly - more curious than worried, as he didn't really have cause to be worried. Maybe Gin had burned his hands when making the cupcakes or something,... but that would be an accident, so what had happened?

"My dad is what happened."

There was no sense in lying anymore.

"He just got a little mad, 's all."

No kid likes to believe their dad is horrible and deserves to be shot and killed. Not even if they actually do deserve to be shot and killed.

Matteo raises an eyebrow,... then the eyebrow sinks back to a normal position, which is in a concerned half-frown.

"What did he do?"
Not that it was any of his business. Matteo would stop asking questions if he was told to stop, or if Gin began to look uncomfortable. Until then, he was going to be bissfully unaware of any cues to quit and would continue prying.

"It was just some glass." Gin didn't look uncomfortable quite yet. But he was hoping Matteo didn't ask how he hurt him with the glass. It was actually a bottle of beer, but same thing...

Gin tried to look nonchalant about it.

Matteo fumbled in the air with his hands as he spoke, trying to convey the faint sense of confusion he felt.
"Just some g-... and he was mad - but..." Matteo faltered, frowning. "What did he do?"

He could probably guess, but he really didn't want to.
When it came down to it, he wouldn't even want to know, except Gin might be in trouble, and he couldn't ignore that.

Gin was looking uncomfortable now, but he didn't know that meant he could stop explaining, see...

"He, um... broke it..." he reached up and touched the back of his head, "here... 'n broke the glass... 'n..."

He made a motion across his fingers as if using the broken bottle, "here..."

"B...but, I mean... like I said... it's all... okay."

"...He did what?"
A look of complete and utter shock fixed itself on Matteo's face. His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open, and he looked a tad pale beneath his tan. All in all, he looked disbelieving, and, just beyond that, ill.

"That's - well, - how could he do that, ...that's awful," he rambled, and without thinking, reached out and seized one of Gin's hands in his own. "Let me see. Did you clean these up at all? Are you okay? This is - ... oh,... it's just awful..."

He winced a little as he watched Matteo's expression. Chris wasn't that bad... was he? Except for the part where he was.

He was trying to make sense of Matteo's words. Then his hand was seized, and... first instinct told him to pull away immediately from human (or otherwise) contact. Though, his mind reasoned with him that Matteo was okay, so he didn't move.

"I,...um, no, I didn't... I... I told you I'm okay, though... it'll be okay, Matteo."

A deeper frown than Gin has yet seen creased Matteo's brow as he gazed down at the hand. Then he carefully took the other and compared them, not saying a word. After a few moments of this, he let go, got up, and disappeared into the small bathroom on the other side of the apartment.

"It's not right..." the faun muttered, his voice carrying remarkably well. He took a washcloth, soaked it under the tap, wrung it out, then returned to Gin. Instead of simply grabbing the boy's hand this time, he offered his own hand for Gin to place it in.
"Here," he said softly, still frowning, "Let me. Unless you'd rather do this yourself...?"

Gin bit the inside of his lip, shifting on the couch as Matteo walked away. He looked like he thought he did something wrong by telling Matteo what Chris had done to him. He could almost, in a literal sense, feel that Matteo was upset. Of course, Gin didn't know he was doing it...

He offered his hand to Matteo after careful thought. Matteo hadn't been mean to him at all...

"Um... 'm sorry," he offered, after a moment.

"Oh, it's not your fault," Matteo sighed, dabbing carefully but inexpertly at the blood. He'd undergone quite a change in the last few moments - from calm and at ease, to worried and boiling - well, bubbling, at least - with righteous anger. "It's just - has your father done this kind of thing before...?"

You seem so upset, though...

He was offering a mildly pathetic look, which worked well with his pouty lips and stormy green eyes.

"Yeah, so... so I'm used to it. There's no need to be so... um, upset."

"You shouldn't have to be used to it,... he shouldn't be doing this kind of thing. At all. To anyone. Especially not his own son."

The pathetic look worked on Matteo. He calmed a bit, but started looking rather sad instead of angry. Matteo was lucky enough to have a good relationship with his own father, making it all the more difficult for him to think that someone else's could be so...cruel.