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It's a cold winter day, and yet Rutile feels warm.
They don't need to turn to their side to know that Yellow is there, sticking close to them, peering over their shoulder at the photograph of a broken family clutched in their gloved hand.
7 years ago...
The orphanage Yellow has grown up in is receiving a new family member: from what they've heard, the new kid's parents died in a horrible car accident. They were sipping their favourite chocolate milk when they hear the ring of a doorbell. Father answers it, and Yellow could only wait with all their other siblings while Father speaks with the other two adults.
The blond stands on their tippy toes to see through the crowd, almost falling off balance and onto Alexi, another orphan child living alongside them, when the sight of a brown haired child, hand held by one of the adults makes them gasp, ‘adorable!’
When the two adults take their leave, Father is the one to hold the child's hand instead, Rutile is their name, everyone be nice to Rutile, I have some work to do, I'll check up later, behave, and Yellow is the first to rush to Rutile's side when Father is out of sight.
“Hello! I'm Yellow,” they beam, and reach out a hand, “Nice to meet you, Rutile.”
The child shies away from Yellow's gaze, and the blond only smiles. This isn't the first time they're dealing with a shy new friend. “I'm one of the oldest here. I'll turn 10 this year. How old are you?”
The brunet takes a while to respond, “8.”
It's only a one word response, and yet Yellow is glad that they're at least opening up, albeit just a little.
Yellow notices the bandages from the corner of their eye.
Rutile finally meets Yellow's gaze when the latter reaches their hand to hold theirs. “Don't be shy! Here, I'll show you around.”
Alexi frowns and stops Yellow before they could drag the newcomer to all the places in the orphanage, tsks, and reminds them that everyone else hadn't introduced themselves yet. Yellow sheepishly grins, embarassed at their own eagerness.
Rutile is shy, Yellow finds. They also enjoy drawing, and their drawings are pretty nice and neat. Usually they'd draw a simple landscape of a field and mountains in the background with the sun peaking behind them, but there are times when their drawings are... a bit disturbing.
Yellow is still a child, so they have no idea what the drawings are really picturing, but they certainly weren't dumb.
Sometimes Rutile would draw stick figures. Not just any normal, happy stick figure drawings--they set some sort of unease in the pit of Yellow's stomach.
There's a drawing with one figure yelling at a smaller, crying one, curled up into a ball. Another drawing depicts one figure getting... punched?
It wasn't until they were older that they really know what the drawings were about.
Yellow finds, that when Rutile's distressed, they'd curl up into a ball, hiding their face away from any onlookers. They also find that Rutile's pants or whatever it is they're wearing would be wet with tear stains by the time they've calmed down enough.
Whenever this happens, Yellow would sit down next to them, and pat their back reassuringly.
It always calms them down.
Maybe Yellow is Rutile's first friend, and that always warms them up inside, whenever they entertain the thought. The younger is almost always seen sticking to them like glue ever since they first introduced themself, so it's not a far stretch.
Yellow's other siblings always comment on the way Rutile would hold onto the blond's sleeve or the hem of their shirt whenever they're walking close to them.
It's almost usually Green who points this out.
Yellow finds that it's either Green is perceptive, or it's so obvious that someone like them feels the need to point it out.
Rutile is always shying away from the camera. Or anyone's gazes that they're not familiar enough with.
On their 12th birthday, when Father is setting up the camera on its stand to take a picture of Rutile with their birthday cake, they can rarely be seen in the actual photo, preferring to hide behind Yellow.
On their 13th birthday, though, they've shaken off the nerves enough to look straight at the camera when Father takes their photo. Maybe it has something to do with Yellow's hand warmly holding theirs just under the table.
Rutile's smile can light up the whole world, Yellow comes to find.
It's hard to make them smile. They've always been so closed off when they first arrived at the orphanage. Even Yellow's other siblings take note of this.
‘Their smile is so bright whenever you're around them,’ Ruby would comment.
‘I want to see them smile more, so don't leave their side, Yellow,’ Red would add.
Yellow thinks nothing of it, but they still feel warm and fuzzy when they hear Rutile's giggles whenever they tell a funny story or a joke, or when they're simply hanging out together.
Rutile finds, that Yellow is pleasant to be around with.
Talking to the other kids is hard. Alexi is too much of a nerd. They always have their nose in their books. The blond kid who always hangs out with them, Chrys if Rutile remembers correctly, is just the same.
The younger kids are also the same. Lapis and Ghost are always in the orphanage library. The others aren't too fond of books, Rutile finds, but they're too rough and rowdy.
It's hard to squeeze yourself in a friendship where two people already complete each other.
Yellow sometimes hangs out with this small group of Green, Ruby and Saph, but they always have time to spend with Rutile.
With them, it's different, and Rutile always smiles at the thought.
Over time, Rutile learns to use the first aid kit Father always keeps on high shelves for themself. Treating their wounds and bruises isn't very hard. It just needs a little reading, and they can do it themself.
Over time, the wounds heal enough that Rutile doesn't need the bandages anymore. And over time, they learn to treat other injured kids as well, but only when Father couldn't see they could get their hands on the first aid kit.
Yellow had a splinter once, and they're surprised when Rutile handles it with gentle and care.
This one time Alexi had one, they were grunting and holding back tears in pain. Father helps them with it, always so gentle and caring, just like Rutile, but somehow the latter's work is much more painless.
Yellow didn't shed a single tear, and the pain was gone before they even know it.
Yellow finds that Rutile is afraid of thunder.
Whenever a thunderstorm hits, they would curl up into a ball, and cover their ears as an attempt to muffle the loud noises.
When they were younger, Yellow would simply rub circles on their back or give them a pat and tell them everything's going to be alright, but things are different now.
Yellow finds that Rutile calms down much easier when they wrap their arms around the younger and pull them into a tight and warm embrace.
Rutile doesn't cry then.
The two would always hang out in the dining area.
Their favourite snack to eat while they hold their conversations would be a cookie dipped in milk.
All the other children would be running around in the courtyard, playing tag while giggling. Or they would be in the library, trying to read all the books Father has neatly lined on the bookshelves there.
But Rutile and Yellow would always be in the dining area, enjoying a glass of milk and a jar of cookies, talking about even the smallest of things.
Father would always be gone by then, and the two would sometimes snoop around, just for fun, when they run out of cookies and they've finished drinking their milk.
Rutile couldn't help but be drawn to the increasing pile of documents with the big red URGENT all over them on Father's desk.
It was Rutile's 14th birthday then.
When an angry group of men in suits came to the orphanage and angrily confronted Father.
Everyone was in a panic, some even wanted to run away, but there were too many of the men. They surrounded all the children, and none managed to run away.
Except for Yellow and Rutile.
The two were in the dining area, and the men just so happened to not check there for the children.
So when the men started to tear the place apart, setting fire to it here and there, the only children who managed to get away were Rutile and Yellow, and they could only look on in horror as their home was torn down, and all the children still inside of it. Even Father too.
No one wanted to adopt some kids in their teens off the streets, no matter how pleading Yellow's puppy dog eyes were.
Yellow was 16 when they somehow managed to find a place for them and Rutile to stay in. The place was worn down but the rent was cheap enough, and through a series of miracles, the two managed to pull through, and that's where they live now.
Rutile still gets teary eyed whenever they visit the graves of their family.
Yellow doesn't need to wonder, or ask, why the photograph Rutile holds when they pay a visit there is the photo with them smiling happily at the camera, with Yellow smiling just as warmly next to them, and the two were surrounded by their beloved siblings--and not a photograph of their actual family.
Because they already know the answer to it.
After 7 years, every detail speaks.