a/n: just in case :-) ALSO, there is a brief mention of rape/not consensual sex in this chapter so if this triggers you, just skip it, thank you.

slum /slʌm/

a squalid and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people.

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Baking always was and always will be advertised as either very simple or very difficult. Alistair has always assumed, from television, that failed baking was always due to some idiotic person who messed up by putting salt instead of sugar or putting the heat too high.

They'd probably never read a cookbook in their entire meaningless life, although those kind of episodes were purely for entertainment and second-hand embarrassment.

Alistair however, had read his fair share of cookbooks and recipes and was quite good at making desserts if he could say so himself. Yet, he still considered himself inexperienced.

He still couldn't wrap his head around how one would be able to misread the cookbook's specific instructions and destroy the dessert beyond recognition.

And yet, Alexander continued to surprise him.

"I asked you two things. Only Two Things. One, add sugar and salt. You went ahead and added the only salt. Two, to ice the cupcakes once they'd cooled. Cooled! I said: cooled." said Alistair in disbelief at Alexander's idiotic-ness.

Alexander merely responded with a chuckle and shrug.

"I seriously tried, I even licked the icing to see if it was cooled. I could eat it so I thought..."

The pair looked at the tray of cupcakes which had icing that was pooling all over the place, looking similar to something he would not mention, and the spat out cupcake next to the tray.

Glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes, the two burst into laughter.

"I can't believe you- Oh my gosh I swear you're an absolute idiot."

"Well- At least I didn't-"Alexander let out an embarrassing snort, "-At least I didn't stare at the failed cupcakes and fucking scream."

"I was just shocked at how much of a big brain you had."

"My brain is as big as my dick," Alexander winked at Alistair.

"It's okay Alexander, some people are just born with small pee-pees," Alistair assured, a teasing lilt in his tone.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Arthur, looking at the messy kitchen and tray of disgusting baked goods with furrowed eyebrows.

"Baking. Or trying to bake, at least," answered Alexander with a grin.

"We were doing fine until you failed to listen to my simple instructions!" retorted Alistair.

Arthur rolled his eyes at their squabbling and left the kitchen, going unnoticed by the pair that were fighting over whose fault it was that the cupcakes were ruined.

- - -

"If you mess up this new batch's icing I will eviscerate you." threatened Alistair as he made a move to find some Tupperware for the cupcakes.

Nodding distractingly, Alexander continued piping the cupcakes, doing a much better job than the previous time. Hm, maybe he did have some sort of baking ability.

The group was planning to visit the slums that day despite the gloomy-looking skies and the high possibility of rain.

Packing a few wallets with the money they'd gotten from selling stolen goods at the black market, Alistair made sure there were enough ten dollar bills for roughly 300 people. The slums had a lot of residents, both legal and illegal.

"Guys, remember that our objective is to help the residents of these slums, not to find girls or anything stupid like that. Also, bring an umbrella and a sweater. I will not be responsible for anyone catching a cold. Looking at you, Will Scarlet," Alistair stared pointedly at Will.

Not only the most childish, but Will was also the most irresponsible of the group, and he had an extremely weak immune system that collapsed at the most inconvenient of times. If he caught a cold, Alistair would be hearing about it for weeks long.

Turning red at the remark, Will nodded his head aggressively, running up the stairs to his room probably, to retrieve his forgotten sweater.

- - -

A child hides in the corner of the room, cowering in fear at Alistair's arrival at her front door. Although 'door' was used for lack of a better word. It was more like a cardboard piece tied to the shack.

She lets out a shaky breath as Alistair opens his mouth to speak.

"Hey, may I come in?" Alistair smiles, hoping to assure her and calm her down. He had to hunch as the ceiling wasn't high enough, as he stepped through the doorway.

She whimpered, eyebrows turned down worriedly, grabbing a chair and putting it protectively in front of her.

Shivering as Alistair took a step into the house, she whined, "Mama, mama!"

Alistair stares at her in confusion. Pale and sweating, the poor girl peered out at him from behind the rickety chair, like how one looks around the corner carefully when playing hide and seek.

Cautious. Tentative.

Why was she so scared of him?

"Ani? Are you okay? You called?" a worried voice asks from behind him, gasping as she realised that he's there, crouching in front of her daughter. Ani curls around her, burying her face in her mother's shoulder

"You- get away from her, you rapist!" her mother yells protectively, rushing over to Ani, gathering her up in her arms, like a cocoon.

"No, I just-" Alistair stammered with widened eyes, holding up the Tupperware with the baked goods. "Cupcakes?"

"You're not here to rape her?" the mother asked suspiciously, although eyeing the cupcakes, tongue running over her bottom lip.

"No, I don't-my friends and I are going around your neighbourhood giving out cakes and pastries for everyone, I promise I mean no harm to your child," Alistair assured, giving the mother and daughter what he hoped was a friendly smile.

"Oh, I am sorry, I've been rude. I just, Ani has been... raped before. By a man, who came over when I wasn't around. He looked... similar to you," the mother looked wistfully back at her daughter. "After the incident, she became scared of everyone that came in, I miss the cheerful and friendly girl she once was, but her innocence, it's gone. If only..."

Alistair glanced at the young girl hiding behind her mother, who had tears in her eyes. She couldn't possibly be more than 5, and already her rose-tinted glasses that everyone is born with was cruelly taken away from her.

"I'm sorry, but you mustn't blame yourself, it was the man's fault, the government's fault," Alistair's tone hardened, feeling the weight of guilt and remorse on his shoulders that weren't his to bear.

Placing the Tupperware of cupcakes in Ani's mother's waiting hand, he smiled as Ani giggled at them, stuffing one hurriedly into her mouth.

Ani got up from behind her mother, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Walking step by step towards Alistair, albeit quite cautiously, she grasped his hand, pulling him towards the small plastic coffee table in the room.

Ani gestured towards a tiny blue chair, indicating she wanted him to take a seat, before disappearing behind a door at the end of the room.

Deeming the chair too rickety to support his weight, Alistair opted to sit on the floor instead. Ani's mother smiled at her quick departure.

"She used to treat all our guests like that."

Ani's mother stared yearningly at the door her daughter had disappeared behind, eyes filled with such a wistful melancholy that Alistair began wondering just how lively Ani was before... 

Trying to strike up a conversation, Alistair asked, "How shall I address you?"

"Oh, please call me Shyloh."

Nodding, Alistair looked down at his hands, choosing to ignore the hint of awkwardness in the room that came after Ani had left and his out-of-the-blue icebreaker question. The silence was broken by a chirpy voice.

"Mr, would you like some tea?"

- - -

"Thank you so much for the tea, Shyloh and Ani," Alistair grinned at them.

"No problem, come visit us soon!" reminded Shyloh, giggling as Ani wrapped her arms around Alistair's thigh, mumbling into it.

She glanced up at him, icing under her nose, and Alistair gently wiped it away. 

"I'll see you soon, Ani, okay?"

Nodding, she stuck her tongue out at him, running inside the tiny house. Shyloh laughed at her child's antics before bidding him goodbye and closing the door.

"Ani's description of the man who raped her seemed similar to your characteristics, so I  was afraid you were back again. Her description was tall, handsome, she had referred to him like a spider, although we never did figure out what she meant."

Alistair shook his head, ridding his mind of depressing thoughts of some thug who stole Ani's childlike innocence like it was nothing to him. 

He had only spent about an hour at their house, dropping notes on the chair and under the teacup, but a strange affection for the young girl had already taken root in his heart. Sweet and caring, he was reminded of his-

"Oi Alistair! What took you so long?" yelled Arthur from across the street. He and Alex jogged over to Alistair, empty containers in their hands. 

"Let's go find the others, they should be done by now." 

Alistair nodded absentmindedly, thoughts still on Ani and her mother. What could he do to help Ani? She seemed... so unlike a child.

A child deserved to not have to worry about anything or live in fear, they should be playing and laughing and enjoying being a child, the children in these slums had it rough, and there was really nothing much Alistair could do about it.

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OKAY not happy with this chapter, I must have rewritten it like 6 times. its boring, first of all, and choppy as hell. sorry, everyone <3 thanks for reading!