[CW: past child abuse]

Claude hadn’t been paying attention, the wood grain of the table had been the holder of his attention until his name was called from a man he would rather not have anything to do with. He looked up as the man made himself comfortable at his table. Mr Ward had always been nice enough to Claude himself, but he had heard the stories from Simon, seen the marks. Claude often wondered what the man would do if Simon was still alive and the news of his friends actions had gotten to his father.

Either way, it made Claude rather uncomfortable. He sat up a bit straighter and started wondering how big a sip he could take without seeming rude to be able to leave faster.

“Work’ng” he replied before taking a drink.