章 16: Affection
Marcel walked into the dark orphanage once more after having arrived so late. He did not have much hope that there would be anyone in the cafeteria at such a late hour that would feed him. On top of everything else he was exhausted and very sure that everyone was already asleep.
As he was going to his room he crossed paths with the headmaster of the orphanage. Fortunately, the man did not say anything to him and went on his merry way. Marcel watched George's retreating back and couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy.
<Avian> Marcel thought out and called Avian in the process.
[Yes] Avian's reply sounded out in his head.
<I need you to keep an eye out for Liam> Marcel instructed.
[I will] Avian replied.
After giving Avian the orders, Marcel had finally arrived in front of his bedroom. He opened the door and noticed that the lights were still on. He searched the room and saw that Liam had fallen asleep in a sitting position on his bed.
Although he had replaced the original owner only recently, he noticed that the kid had gotten clingier recently.
He was probably anxious because he knew that he was going to be leaving soon. Marcel looked at the child for longer and made a decision that he hoped would work out. With a sigh, he took out his toiletries and went to have a quick shower.
When he returned to his room, he changed into comfortable clothes before turning off the lights. He climbed into the single bed next to Liam waking him up in the process.
"Big brother?" Liam called out warily.
"Mmh, it's me, go back to sleep," Marcel said as he patted his head.
"You came back late" Liam commented as he snuggled next to Marcel.
"Mmh, it was a long day" Marcel briefly explained.
"Oh, I sneaked out some bread for you during dinner," Liam said and brought out bread from under the pillow. He had wrapped it in the serviettes provided in the cafeteria, he had even mustered up some courage to ask Sara to pack some fillings for Marcel so that he could eat later.
Marcel looked at the bun that was stuffed with meat and veggies and he felt his heart squeeze. He was actually really hungry since he had ended up dancing all day and didn't get the chance to eat.
"Aaw, thank you, baby, I was really hungry," Marcel said and kissed the side of Liam's head before taking the bun from his hands.
"Mmh," Liam replied nonchalantly, but in reality, he was feeling embarrassed. He had noticed that Marcel had become much more affectionate towards him. Although he did not hate it, he was not used to it yet.
Marcel finished the "burger" in a few bites and wiped his mouth with the serviettes that were used to wrap it up.
"Let's go to bed," Marcel said and laid down on the bed. Liam also laid back down and fell asleep as he held on to Marcel's arm.
When morning finally came around Marcel woke up at exactly 7 am. His body was sore and he even wanted to go back to sleep, but he had commitments that day. Besides, he had to help Liam prepare for school. He went to shower after deciding to let the boy sleep for slightly longer.
After his shower, Marcel looked at the clothes he had in the wardrobe and couldn't help but sigh in grievance. He was at the top of the food chain in his past life, the fact that he did not even have decent clothing in this life was a huge blow to him.
He took out a hoodie and a pair of jeans and put them on. He then turned to wake Liam up so he wouldn't be late to school. When Liam went to the shower, Marcel took out the dirty clothes to the laundry room and loaded the washing machine before going back to prepare Liam's uniform.
Marcel helped Liam get dressed and dried his wet hair before he held his hand went with him to the cafeteria.
When they arrived at the cafeteria they did not see Sarah but Marcel greeted the other servers surprising them in the process but they were very receptive of his greetings. When Liam saw Marcel greeting the servers, he too decided to do so making their hearts flutter in the process.
Marcel carried both trays to the table and watched as Liam climbed on to the chair and started having his breakfast.
"I might not be able to pick you up from school today," Marcel said as he too ate his breakfast.
"It's okay," Liam said trying to sound nonchalant but Marce could hear the disappointment in his voice.
"I'm sorry," Marcel said as he patted Liam's head careful not to mess up his hair.
"It's okay, I'll come back with the other kids from the orphanage," Liam said trying to ease Marcel's obvious guilt.
"Alright," Marcel said helplessly and started eating his breakfast. He knew he had to have his breakfast since he would be going to dance practice for the music video that he will be shooting soon.
He finished eating before Liam and went to take care of the laundry and brought down his school bag.
Marcel then escorted Liam to school with a bunch of other kids from the orphanage and hesitantly left the school gates after ensuring that he went in.
Marcel made his way to Monochrome and did not even bother going back to the orphanage.
As he walked there, Avian reminded him that he needed to practise his walking which made Marcel groan in frustration.
"Can't you just download it or something?" Marcel said out loud startling some people in the streets.
[No, you need to actively practice this skill, once you unlock the system space you will be able to do it more comfortably] Avian patiently replied.
Even though Marcel was frustrated, he went ahead to practice his walk, and by the time he arrived at Monochrome, his walking was much smoother and less awkward.
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