[FIN] Picnic in the Park

[TawnyAngel]

Both of them seemed to be eating everything and that was reassurance enough for him; Hálcon picked up one of the gambas by the tail and bit into it, and the flavour of Antiva flooded his mouth. The shrimp was sweet, firm, and fresh; it didn't need much doing to it and not much had been done, it was just peeled and fried in oil with garlic and parsley was sprinkled over just before eating.

"It is delicious," he admitted slightly warily once he had slowly chewed his mouthful and swallowed. "It tastes like home."

Salome, who was enjoying her slightly spicy patas bravas no less than Hálcon seemed to be enjoying the shrimp, frowned slightly and remained silent.

"I am glad you are all enjoying!" Zevran beamed as he took a slice of the tortilla and placed it in a short thin roll along with some ham and some cheese. "There are many things I miss about Antiva, food perhaps the most... But there are also things that I have been more than glad to leave behind, as you may have guessed from... well, it is the reason you were brought here. Life in Kodo is good, even if the weather is terrible - am I right Abel?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Even their words and compliments sounded wary! Or at least from the boy they did, he still hadn't heard anything from her yet today. All the same Abel aimed an easy smile at them for a moment before he shot a grin over at Zev and wrinkled his nose a little. "Sorry we have snow here, although if I recall you actually thoroughly enjoyed going out in it. But yeah, it's understandable to miss some things. I'd like to think your life is better here than it was there," he added, smiling a little softer at his love for a moment before glancing over at the pair of former apprentices as he reached for another croquette and more gambas. "Do you miss any of it? The food maybe?" It sounded like the one at least missed the food.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, I did indeed!" Zevran grinned as he sucked a stray bit of tomato off his thumb. "There is nothing to compare to having your freedom," he added more soberly to the teenagers. "Does it seem strange to you?"

Snow. What were they going to do about that? They were going to have to find a better place to live soon, and that probably meant they'd need to find a gang of some kind to attach themselves to. The thought left him with a sinking feeling; no group could replace the Crows, his family, but equally well he doubted they could fill him with as much dread.

Hálcon looked down at his plate of food. "I miss the food. The places. I miss the others in Arainai. They were family, but we can't go back now... and our lives are better. I think."

"You think?" Salome put in tightly, glancing sharply at Hálcon before turning her dark eyes onto Abel. "They treated us like s**t, I'm sure he can tell you all about that. I miss everything but them, I'd kill every one of them if I could." Except for most of their fellow apprentices but she couldn't help them now, they'd just have to try to be tough enough to survive.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As much as he loved thinking of the times he and Zev played around in the snow, the rest of the conversation sounded a little bit more important. Or at least more serious. Abel took a bite of one of his croquettes and chewed it while he tried to think of what to say. It was almost funny, in a way, how different the two of them were. Them as well as their opinions and the things they missed. "Mmh, well we can't help you with missing the places there, or some of the people," in one case anyway, "but we can have more picnics like this if you want." As he spoke he shot a querying glance Zevran's way; he was the chef, after all, and though he knew how much his boyfriend enjoyed cooking, he didn't like just assuming he'd want to do things.

"You're right though, Zev's told me plenty about the Crows in the time I've known him, and none of it's been good," he continued, his eyebrows furrowing just a tad at the thought of the organization that caused his boyfriend so much pain over the years. "You're free of them now though, that's the important thing. They can't treat you like s**t anymore -- they can't boss you around and run your lives for you anymore."  

[TawnyAngel]

"It wasn't all bad," Hálcon replied to the older men and to Salome, though he kept his eyes on his food still. "They gave us belonging, security, camaraderie, direction.... Bossing me around and running my life didn't bother me." It was the rest of it, or a lot of the rest of it, that he hadn't.... "My parents were Crows. They tried to leave with me once, and after that I decided I never would." You had to be a fool to try something like that. Hálcon looked up at Zevran and tried to assess just what sort of fool he was, he seemed thoughtless and wild - perhaps it was that which had allowed him to try to leave despite knowing the consequences.

"Yeah, I know," Salome replied shortly, shooting a glare at Hálcon as he started to share personal details. "They don't need to know s**t about us," she hissed in Spanish, more for speed and emphasis than any desire not to be understood.

Born into the Crows? What must that have been like? More to the point, what must it have been like to lose your parents like that? They had tried to escape, and there was only one outcome to that - usually. Had he known them? No, no they were probably of the wrong age....

s**t, now he was going to spend all day trying to work out if the boy looked familiar. "I'm sorry," he said carefully, not at all certain how to approach such a topic. "I am sure if they could see you now they would be glad that you made it... And you do not have to tell us anything you don't want to; either of you. If you do wish to talk however...." And there he ran out of useful things to say and glanced over to Abel to help.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel took another bite of his croquette and chewed it slowly, thoughtfully, while he mulled over what the boy had said. He'd had a family, one that perhaps he'd cared about - perhaps even quite a bit - and they had tried to leave and take him with them once. Just the once. Were they discouraged from trying again, were they separated from their son and each other, or were their lives taken them from them for trying? He was almost positive it was the latter, and on top of that perhaps even a bit of the former for the former apprentice. Part of him wanted to ask, but most of him didn't want to know. It seemed much too personal a thing anyway, and he'd shared quite a bit of personal tidbits as it was, although the girl hadn't seemed too pleased with that. He didn't want to push his luck.

With his food finished for now and feeling full enough for the moment - such a feeling was subject to change in a few minutes, of course - Abel set his plate down and lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. He chanced a brief glance over at Zevran as he trailed off, caught his look, then focused back on the pair of teens again. "I'm sorry too. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my parents," nor did he want to even think of such a thing, "but Zev's right. If you don't want to talk you certainly don't have to, we won't try to make you or anything if you'd rather not, but if you do want to then we'll gladly listen and try to help if we can. You're here now, whether you intended or wanted to be or not, and I know - or at least I've heard - that it's a lot different here than it was in Antiva. You don't have to if you don't want to but you can always talk to Zev about things. Your circumstances are different but you all came from the same place, and he's had experience living here and figuring things out on his own, so he could tell you plenty -- about the warehouse too, even." Like just how cold it gets in the winter. "You guys have something he didn't though -- you have each other, so you're never alone. We're also happy to help you guys out if you ever need it too."  

[TawnyAngel]

It was true, they did have each other... and for whatever reason they also had Abel and Zevran. Perhaps it wasn't so strange that Zevran would care, like Abel said he was a bit like them even if he'd left on purpose....

"I'm Hálcon by the way," he flashed a wry smile, "I think my parents felt it fitting to name me after a bird." Up until a point he remembered that they'd been proud that he would be raised within the Crows, certain that he would rise through the ranks one day. What had changed? They'd never explained and he wouldn't be able to ask now, unless one day he met them by the Maker's side and he wasn't sure if he believed in all that... Or if any of them would get there if he did.

Hálcon bit into a croquette and took some ham, cheese, and tortilla for himself to make a sandwich; wrap it up, take it away for later.

Oh, well, there he went. Salome rolled her eyes and returned to her food, her partner oversharing combined with trying to keep up with the English conversation was too much to bother with.

The boy - Hálcon - was definitely easier to get through to. He hoped that in time he might warm his comrade up to them a little more too but for now; "Ah, falcon?" Zevran nodded and returned the slight smile. "Top predators, swift and deadly - I can see why they chose it. It is a good name."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah, a name! Just the one though, but that was one more than they'd had before. Abel smiled warmly and nodded; naming their child after a bird when they were in the Crows did seem rather fitting, although he didn't know what bird... Ah, a falcon? He probably should've guessed that. "Hálcon," he repeated - or did his best to repeat - to try and commit it to memory, as well as to emulate how he'd pronounced it as best he could. Hopefully he didn't butcher it too badly. "Hálcon? Did I say that right? And yeah, I can see why they would too."

...hmm, should he try his luck? Maybe. There wasn't much harm in it that he could see, so his colorful gaze flicked over to the girl, mildly curious but not expectant. "Will you tell us your name? You don't have to if you don't want to." Would she understand? She seemed to understand some English but not everything, or at least she responded sometimes but other times she seemed to sort of tune out or ignore them; it made it a little difficult to tell how much she understood or if she could understand perfectly but just didn't feel like deigning to speak to them.  

[TawnyAngel]

Hálcon laughed and shrugged at Abel's pronunciation. "Not bad, no worse than how he pronounces English," he said with a gesture to Abel. "But it's more of an ál sound." Was Salome going to tell? It wasn't as though there was any harm the two could do to them just knowing their names but she was pretty stubborn sometimes. "Did you catch that?" he asked her as he poured some lemonade for himself.

"Yes," Salome replied shortly to her partner, keeping her dark eyes trained suspiciously on Abel; she knew he was asking for her name, and something about a negative? Not having to, probably. Now that Hálcon had told his if she didn't give hers it looked too deliberate, as though it mattered too much and she wasn't having them think.... Whatever they would think.

"Salome."

There.

Two names! Zevran smiled but kept himself from grinning, if he looked too pleased they might think he was up to something - and for once he was not!

"Hálcon and Salome, pleased to meet you both properly; encantado."