With Farang's little daughter sleeping soundly on his arm, Fraser was impressed by his unexpected apitude for parenthood. All it had taken was a few games on his phone, and Terrana's pick of anything she wanted to eat or drink from the vending machine, and the child had survived just fine with only himself for company. Himself and the kind nurse that thankfully stepped in when she needed to use the bathroom.

The morning had taken a turn when Fraser, sitting across from Farang's parked van in his taxi, noticed Terrana and her grandmother setting off for school. He slouched down in the backseat, just in case she happened to recognize him through the window. All attempts to stay hidden were swiftly abandoned; as Mrs Warik took a nasty fall, right into the road.

Terrana had tried to help her up, but it quickly became apparent that her grandmother was badly injured. Fraser had been torn as to whether he should reveal himself by offering assistance, or remain inside the taxi; but when an old man started shouting at her and trying to move her out of his way, the decision was made for him.

"Hey!" yelled Fraser, "What do you think you're doing?! Can't you see she's hurt?"

Terrana remembered her Daddy's friend; it's not like there were a lot of foreigners that came out to visit her bustling little neighborhood.

"Grandma fall!" she told him, as Mrs Warik cried in agony on the ground.

Fraser glanced up at Farang's building. He considered sending Terrana to fetch her Daddy, but figured she was probably too small to go alone. He wasn't even sure she was tall enough to reach the lock.

"Phone?" asked Fraser, "Phone Daddy?"

Terrana shook her head.

Rather than move Mrs Warik, Fraser called for an ambulance. By the time it arrived he realized asking Angela would have been quicker; but after weighing up his options, thought he probably couldn't easily cancel an ambulance in the way he could a taxi.

 Fraser couldn't understand the questions the paramedics asked Mrs Warik, but luckily they spoke to him in English, apprising him of the situation.

"It looks like your mother-in-law has broken her hip" they said, assuming he was Terrana's father, "We'll have to take her in for an x-ray, but surgery is likely. Would you like to ride with us or will you meet us at the hospital?"

Fraser looked over and saw Farang's van was still sitting there. The taxi he'd booked was still sitting there.

"Is your Daddy at home?" Fraser asked Terrana, thinking they could send someone to fetch him.

The little girl shook her head.

He tried to motion to the taxi driver across the crowd but her eyes were glued to her phone.

"We'll come with you!" he said to the paramedic, hoping that news would soon reach Farang and he'd come running to find them.

More hours later than he dared to count, Fraser was still babysitting when the nurse informed him that he and Terrana could go in to see her grandmother. Mrs Warik spoke no English, but the little girl was happy to translate.

"Grandma want to say thank you" she told him, "Daddy's phone is broken but he can't get a new one."

Mrs Warik looked at him seriously, speaking with determined emotion as she tried to hold back her tears.

"And you have to play with me and give me ice-cream!" was Terrana's interpretation.

The doctor was quick to correct her.

"Mrs Warik thanks you for your patience" said Dr Perinna, "She hadn't expected such kindness from her son's friend, and asks that you please wait a little longer until Farang can be reached. From what I understand, they were able to track him down at one of his deliveries, he shouldn't be long." 

As though saying his name aloud had summoned him, Farang rushed into the ward. He was surprised to see the little foreigner was present, but after checking that Terrana and his mother were okay, he spoke in detail with the doctor until he fully came to understand the situation.

The first thing he did was bow with gratitude to Fraser, thanking him repeatedly for helping his family. It came as a shock then, when Farang turned to his mother and began to scold her in Modeshi.

"What's going on?" Fraser asked Terrana.

The language was too complex for a five year old to follow.

"What's going on?" Fraser asked Dr Perinna.

The doctor sighed, trying to put the whole mess in order. 

"Mr Warik's phone was broken in some scuffle with a barman the other day. Rather than buy a new one like he'd planned to, his mother told him she needed the money to buy shoes for herself and Terrana. What she came home with was a pair of counterfeit designer heels. The heel snapped in two as she was walking Terrana to school this morning, and the fall resulted in her broken hip. Now Mr Warik has no phone, no childcare, and has his mother's hospital bill to pay."

It was no wonder he was a little put out.

"Doctor" said Fraser, "what do you mean he had a 'scuffle with a barman'..?"

Fraser couldn't remember them coming to blows that night outside the pub. He didn't like to imagine that his Knight might be the type to wantonly get into fights wherever he went.

Dr Perinna laughed.

"I only know about that side of things because I treated the other party. Farang was out on a delivery at the west beach and the idiot tried to jump him. Some dispute over his ego apparently... it backfired in the end. Despite the damage to Mr Warik's phone, the other guy came off worse; for one it was a broken phone, but for the other it was a broken nose."

The only reason there'd been bad blood between Farang and the bartender was because of Fraser. It was only fitting that he try to make amends.

"I want to help!" Fraser announced to the Warik family.

Dr Perinna translated, and Farang quickly tried to refuse any offer assistance.

"He said you've already gone far beyond what he would have ever dared to ask for," he explained, stopping to confirm with Farang if was sure about the next part before attempting to convert it into English, "And that... 'you are like... a beacon of light that will shine in his memory on the darkest of days...' in other words, I think I he's grateful enough for everything you've done."

Oh my. 

As Farang spoke with his mother, Fraser asked the doctor if there was anything more he could do, offering to foot Mrs Warik's surgery costs as way of recompense.

"He's not the type to accept money from others" Dr Perinna explained, "His sense of pride would never allow it."

With Terrana ready for bed, Farang could only squeeze his mother's hand goodbye and prepare to leave the ward with his daughter. With deliveries still to take care of, he was left with no choice but to have his daughter sleep in the passenger seat while he completed his work for the night.

"I'm coming with you!" Fraser declared.

At the very least, he could watch over Terrana in the van while Farang unloaded his cargo. The father reluctantly agreed to the foreigner's generous offer; but not before Dr Perinna explained to him that Fraser was determined to help in return for the barman breaking his phone. An act of kindness was preferable to him trying to pay him back in cash.

For the rest of the evening, Fraser sat in the front with the sleeping girl, while Farang apologized to his customers for the delay on their deliveries. He worked quickly, aware that his passengers were waiting to go home. At the end of the night, Farang tried for the second time to ask Fraser for his address. 

"House?" he asked him. 

Fraser motioned to Terrana, it was better to take her home than worry about seeing a grown man off safely.

"Your house" he told him gently.

With Terrana tucked up in bed, the stresses of the day became etched across Farang's brow. He would need to take his daughter to school the following day, and plead to his friend to take over whatever work he'd be unable to complete. There was still money to think about, not to mention his mother's health, and the logistics of her recovery.

Fraser took Farang by the hand and led him to his bedroom.

Sitting the Knight on the mattress, he positioned himself on the floor between his legs. Farang's worried eyes finally settled on Fraser's sympathetic smile. He ran his hand through Fraser's hair, there was so much gratitude he wanted to express. He just didn't have the words.

Fraser was satisfied with his warm expression, wasting no time as he unfastened the button on Farang's jeans. Farang looked at him with uncertainty, but Fraser's smile as he slipped his hand into his fly was all the reassurance he needed. The comforting touch of Fraser's warm and nimble fingers was easing the pressures of his wayward life. He leaned back, and allowed himself the pleasure of letting Fraser take control.

Already overwhelmed by the firm but gentle strokes of Fraser's hand; as his underwear was pulled down and Farang's cock taken into the foreigner's mouth, the Knight audibly gasped. The bobbing of Fraser's head and the agile licks of his tongue were beyond the limits of Farang's forbearance. It was a shamefully short duration before he felt himself on the brink of explosion.

He tried to slow him, but Fraser's excitement was too great; his mouth moving faster as Farang's moans reached their pinnacle. One frantic buck of his hips, and Farang finished in a desperate surge of unparalleled ecstacy. Fraser swallowed and wiped his lips, satisfied that Farang had forgotten his woes if only for a moment.

Unwilling to make himself a burden, Fraser got out his phone and was ready to order a taxi. Farang came to his senses just in time to stop him, pulling him onto the mattress and holding him against his half naked body. There was solace in the warmth of Fraser's skin. He pressed his lips against his face, with no intention of letting him disappear alone into the night.

"Alright..." said Fraser, "I'll stay..."

They slept in their underwear, wrapped up in one another's arms. 

When Fraser woke up, Farang wasn't beside him. He dressed himself in his clothes, found neatly hanging on the rail where Farang had put them, and followed the sounds into the kitchen. His Knight was brushing his daughter's hair as she finished her breakfast.

"We're late today!" Terrana announced happily.

Fraser first thought the comment was directed at himself.

"Daddy says you can go sleep. He takes me to school then he can drive you home."

In the midst of Farang's busy morning routine, he found a second to smile at Fraser. Rather than go back to bed, Fraser started clearing away the breakfast things. He didn't care if he was putting them in the wrong places, only that he was doing something to feel like he was helping.

"Are you taking me to school today?" Terrana asked the foreigner.

"I can come with you, if your Daddy doesn't mind me tagging along."

After a conversation between father and daughter, Terrana came back with the verdict.

"We're all going in Daddy's car!" she said, "Daddy takes me to school then takes you to your house. Can I come to your house next time?"

"Let's finish getting ready shall we?" said Fraser, doing his best to swerve her question.

When the three loaded into Farang's van, it felt like a family road trip; or at least, what Fraser imagined that must feel like. Throughout childhood he was always on edge having to travel alongside his brother. The little girl was far happier than little Caleb had ever been. She waved goodbye at the school gate and quickly ran off to join her friends.

Farang motioned to the road ahead. Fraser would have been content to drive off into the sunset with him, but he knew that life for Farang was about to get even busier. He pulled up the Phoenicia building on his phone and showed the screen to his Knight. Farang's eyes showed concern, double checking with a nod if that was really where the foreigner lived. The gulf between them widened even further. 

While Fraser smiled to himself, contentedly sitting beside his valiant hero, he was completely unaware that Farang's opinion of him had been forever altered. Suddenly, Farang was aware of the holes in his shirt, and the empty cigarette packets that littered his dashboard. He pulled away from the school, driving carefully so as not to shake the precious cargo beside him. 

How had he ever thought himself worthy enough to accept such humbling kindness from a fallen angel? He was scared that the filth of his poverty might have dirtied Fraser's wings. Anything more would be sacrilege.

As Fraser vowed to himself that this was only the beginning, Farang vowed that it was the end.