Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[Yoki]

"Yeah." Leo nodded in reply to Jackson's question, he grinned watching the younger male marvel at the games and console that he had beneath the television. He crossed his arms, moving to kneel down by Jackson. "Uh...yeah, I think I have one or two that have multiplayer. If you wanted to go and get yours though you're free to do so." He started to take the pile off of the shelf, spreading them on the floor in front of Jackson. 


"I don't know what you like, but I'll play whatever." He sat back after lining out the games, watching his younger friend marvel at the console and game. "Anyway, you do that, let me get it out and set it up." Turning and pushing himself off of the ground, Leo made his way around Jackson to get to the console, picking it up, and setting it out the floor. "I gotta remember where the wires go now...damn." 


As he was setting up there was the sound of a door clicking, Leo turned his head to see a small figure staring at the glass of water on the ground, but the second they saw that there were still people outside they closed the door almost fully again, leaving the tiniest of cracks. 

"Hi Adrian. Are you gonna say hi now?"

 

[yaint]

Jackson instinctively shuffled backwards as he watched Leo heave the pile of boxes down to the carpet. Not wishing to interrupt the not-so-delicate process, he simply sat back, his knees cradled in his arms, and observed. There were a few titles that he was familiar with, either from home or the shelves in the supermarket, which he picked out right away and made a note of inside his head.


He had been so deeply engrossed by the selection that he almost did not notice when Leo spoke again. "Oh!" he exclaimed, letting go of his knees so that he could sit forwards again. "Oh, I know how... To do the wires." The second half of his sentence fell to a near-silent mumble when he saw that Leo was already setting it up himself. Hoping that his silly, eager offer to help would be quickly forgotten, he turned away to hide his pink face and began to pick the fluff off his white socks and tried to ignore Leo as though nothing had happened.


Having nowhere else to look as he did this, Jackson found himself staring around the room again, and the sudden, tiny movement of the door caught his eye again. Was that the little brother? A quick glance back at Leo confirmed that the older male had seen the door open, too. He had stopped paying attention to the machine to give a child his attention instead. Not now, we're busy! Jackson growled inside his head, but he remembered to keep his mouth shut. Leo wouldn't like it if he said anything nasty like that about little Adrian. 


"I - I think he's just here for water," Jackson pointed out, purposely looking away from the door as he leaned back over the games and tried to appear busy. He didn't particularly want a little baby coming in the room now - it would probably want to play the games, and then Leo would lose interest. No fun there. "Hey, what about this one? I played this at Alice's house once, I think it's for kids, but, um..." His lips tightened for a moment, but Jackson kept smiling, even if the grin was forced. "It's still fun, right? I m-mean, um, you must have played it with... Adrian."

 

[Yoki]

Leo was staring at Adrian for quite a few moments, but the boy wasn't moving, he kept glancing over to them from the small crack in the door, as if waiting for something, but he seemed to just sit on the floor. It wasn't hard for Leo to guess what his brother was waiting for, he'd lived with him for years after all, so he knew perfectly well what opportunity Adrian would take to grab that glass. 


"Probably." He replied, turning back around to fix the wires into the back of the television, paying no more attention to Adrian, he knew in the long run that would just make the boy uncomfortable and that wasn't his intention. "Okay, that's...that done." With his foot, Leo turned on the playstation and looked towards the remote he'd left next to the sofa, "I need to change the..." He mumbled, more to himself that anyone else, which was why he ended up trailing off, stopping his sentence mid way through.


"Hm? Oh hey, yeah we could play that if you want to." Having picked up the remote, he walked back over to Jackson, "Played it like once...but yeah, should be fun." He looked back over to the door, then proceeded to look back to the television and start changing the mode. "Uh... Adrian has a hard time taking in information, he gets annoyed with himself and stops playing usually... He prefers to watch so...not really." Leo's voice had been lowered slightly, mostly to stay out of ear shot of his little brother, but he quickly moved on from the topic, smiling and walking to the console. "Shall we put it in then?" 


As he knelt down there was the sound of scuffling before the closing of scuffling, the minute Leo turned around the water in front of Adrian's door was gone, but the door was still slightly cracked open. 

 

[yaint]

All that Jackson could think to do was shrug and sit back a few inches, nodding and feigning attention when his eyes were unfocused and glazed. He was not interested in hearing about the habits of a ten year-old, but for the sake of manners he tried pretending to be fascinated. 


"Oh, I get you," he said rather plainly, though he could not say that he had been paying enough attention to Leo to recall what he had said. Something about watching - maybe that meant Adrian didn't actually play. That was good... At least Jackson would not end up having to play with a child instead of his real friend. "So, uh, yeah! Let's turn it on. Do you know how?"


Jackson did not wait for Leo to respond, for he had already rolled forwards on all fours to lean over the console. With a single practiced hand he flicked the side of the box open, pushed the clicker in the middle and then twirled the disc on one finger. It took him a moment to position the game in the right place, but once the lid of the console had closed and the machine began to whirr, Jackson sat back and grinned somewhat smugly up at Leo. It wasn't exactly a difficult task, but nevertheless it always gave the boy an odd rush when he could show an older person what he was capable of. 


By the time he had finished and looked back up to check where Leo was, the water in front of the door had disappeared. Jackson had not been watching to see the child take his drink, but it was easy enough to guess. He rolled his eyes and raised his eyebrows for a moment. Shy kids were a mystery... Adrian probably just wanted Leo's attention again. 


"Leo," Jackson piped suddenly, attempting to hook the older man's attention again before he could disappear behind that door with his brother, "Can I be player one? You - um, you get to choose which character you use if you're the second one."

 

[Yoki]

"Yeah, I... Oh you're already on it, cool." Leo grinned as he watched Jackson open the PlayStation after turning it on and put the disc in, once he was done Leo nodded, placing the remote next to the television, having already changed the mode. He was leaving Adrian to his devices at that moment, there was no point in annoying his little brother, he'd just get scared. 


Upon hearing Jackson's question Leo nodded and grabbed one of the controllers, throwing the other to the younger male, "Yeah sure, I don't really care either way, your choice." He grabbed the wire for his controller as well and plugged it in, "It's almost out." With that he sat down on the ground, pushing the coffee table back a little bit. Leo didn't really feel like sitting on the sofa again, but if Jackson wanted to then he was free to do so. 


"Go ahead and choose whatever Jackson, you get to control it right? Player one usually does, from what I'm used to anyway." Whilst Leo had played considerably less video games when younger, he'd recently gotten into them a lot more. There were a few games they use to mess around with at some of his friend's houses, he'd told Jackson about that, but there wasn't much. 

 

[yaint]

"Got'cha," Jackson confirmed with a vigorous nod of the head. Rather awkwardly he ended up having to crawl backwards over the wires with a controller held tightly in the grip of his right hand, trying not to trip and look like a klutz in front of his friend. He had to be slow and careful... It wasn't like he was clumsy as such - it just seemed as though everybody always noticed whenever he lost his balance. That wasn't something he could risk here. He had to try and be cool.


By the time he had sat down, the screen was already alive with the flashing logo of the colourful-looking racing game Jackson had chosen for them. He cast an eager look up at his older friend to check how he was reacting, but did not look for long enough to memorise the expression. With a controller in his hands and his thumbs on the joysticks, he leapt backwards onto the sofa and clicked in on the start button. Adrian, by this point, had been as good as forgotten. Having neither shown himself nor spoken more than a word, Leo's little brother was out of sight and out of mind. He was nothing to be concerned with.


"Leo! Leo, are you ready?" Jackson chirped back as he impatiently bounced on the spot. A tiny smirk spread across his face as a countdown began on the screen. "C'mon, the race is starting - you're gonna lose!"

 

[Yoki]

"Huh?" Leo had been looking at his phone whilst Jackson had been setting up the game, so he wasn't ready for the start. He quickly jolted his head up, dropping his mobile to the ground and grabbing hold of his controller with both hands. "Oh, damn!" He laughed, having just managed to be ready by the time the timer on the screen had hit one. Then they were off and the two were completely involved in the game they were playing rather than their surroundings, which was fine, they seemed to be having fun. 


It seemed like Adrian had heard the laughing and the shouting and had peaked out a little more to see what was going on, not that anyone would have really noticed him. He stood up, empty glass in hand, as Jackson and Leo played their game, the youngest of the three males had quietly come out of his room and made a dash for the kitchen. He didn't really know if anyone had seen him or not, but he seemed to hope not, at least by the way he almost fearfully ran through into the kitchen. He didn't seem to want to be in the living room at all. 


After putting a glass down on the kitchen counter Adrian, moved back to the doorway into the living room. He lingered there for a moment, the small boy was hesitating on going back through, he kept almost stepping out, but then stepping back into the kitchen again. It must have been at least two minutes after that he finally decided to slowly move through the living room with his head down, the only way anyone would possibly have seen him was if they looked at the reflection in a dark part of the television, but...they probably weren't paying attention. Well...that would have been the only way they would have seen him if he hadn't stopped. 


The boy caught a glimpse of his brother and Jackson playing a game and suddenly he was fixed on it, he couldn't take his eyes off of the screen. There were lots of colours and things moving fast, it caught his attention and he stood there for a few seconds, completely entranced. 

 

[yaint]

After the bell had rang to signal the start of the game, it had taken Jackson no mrit had taken Jackson no more than a few seconds to speed to the front of the race. It was clear that he had practiced with rounds like these before - he seemed to be familiar with the controls.


"Left! Left!" Jackson kept shouting at Leo in a volume much higher than he would normally use as he leaned from side to side, staring intently at the screen and failing to notice when Adrian had crept through the room behind.. "Oh my God, what are you doing!?" the boy laughed as he watched one of the non-player racers topple over Leo's car. His face had turned pink again, but this time it was not from embarrassment. Racing was so much better than school, and doing it with Leo was better than playing alone. It was fun to watch himself win against someone who really existed.


Eventually Jackson's tiny pixelated car zoomed over the finish line. The boy dropped his controller to one side and leapt up, pumping a fist in the air and then dropping back down to the sofa to grin at Leo. "Good game," he breathed, his brilliant white teeth still shining in the man's face. "Thanks for letting me win, Leo..."


He was about to carry on and teasingly gloat his victory to his friend when something caught his eye. A tiny tuft of dark hair that seemed to move in and out of the corner of his vision. Is it alive? Jackson wondered, then rather suddenly dropped the subject of the game to shuffle around in a circle, making sure to stay kneeling on the seat. Slowly he leaned over the back of the sofa and...


"Whoa!" Whatever he had been expecting to see, it was not a child. Jackson almost fell backwards off the sofa, he had jolted back so suddenly, but once realising how small Adrian really looked, he dipped his head forwards again. He was so short... Short enough to be able to stand behind the sofa without really being noticed. Sneaky. For a moment Jackson felt jealous, but then pushed that silly thought aside. "Hey, Leo," he said, waving at Adrian like he was some kind of sight to see rather than a conscious boy, "Is this your brother? He actually came out, look!"

 

[Yoki]

"I don't know! It went over me!" Leo yelled back, unable to contain laughter as Jackson kept yelling things at him whilst trying to win the game. He played much more casually than Jackson did, trying to get fully to grips with everything, which didn't take long for Leo, he just didn't have much experience with that certain game. Still, it was fun to play, and it wasn't like he came last. 


Once the race was over and Jackson had crossed the finish line, Leo coming a few cars after, the older of the two dropped his controller on the ground and grinned looking over to the other. "Yeah, that's definitely what I did, I definitely let you win, count yourself lucky! It won't be so easy next time!" It was easy to tell that he was joking, there was certain types of games that Leo was better at that others, but he probably didn't play as often as Jackson did, not between working and looking after Adrian, as well as going out with his friends. He just wouldn't have had the time. 


The male wouldn't have noticed that Adrian was out if it wasn't for Jackson's call, he turned around, kneeling up from his current position on the floor to look over the sofa. A smile crossed his face when he noticed Adrian standing behind it, it was most likely that he'd been watching them the whole time without either of their knowledge. "Yeah, he did." Leo stood up, turning his head to the side slightly in question, "Did you need something buddy?" 


For a few moments Adrian seemed to still be staring at the television screen, it was Jackson's exclamation that brought him back to his senses. His head turned, nervous grey eyes meeting with Jackson's as he stumbled back a few steps. The boy held his hands up in front of his chest, playing with the sleeves seemingly frozen in place now that he'd been noticed, he managed to turn his head slightly to shake it at his brother, but apart from that he didn't move at all, he just awkwardly stood there, probably wishing he'd stayed in his room. 

 

[yaint]

Jackson paused for a moment, not taking his eyes off Adrian but for the couple of quick glances he shot up at Leo. Is he really ten? the boy wanted to ask - this kid looked about six - but not wishing to upset his friend, he managed to keep his mouth shut for a moment. He himself did not have a little brother to compare heights with. Leo probably knew more than what Jackson could remember from his own growth.


It was a strange feeling, looking into the eyes of that tiny child and watching him become frozen stiff in fear. When he had heard about this child from Leo, he had first pictured a chubby little boy with snot wiped on his arms and huge gaps between growing teeth. But the person he saw here was completely different to the image in his head. Short, skinny, pale - maybe like a miniature Leo, if not for those grey eyes. 


"Hello," Jackson greeted in a voice that had suddenly turned quite soft and quiet. He didn't feel as though he were really talking to the child in front of him - it was more a thought spoken aloud out of habit to keep his mouth busy whilst his eyes examined what stood in front of him. Almost as though asking for permission, Jackson nudged with his foot at Leo and then slowly extended an arm down in front of Adrian's face. "Why are you scared?" he inquired, frowning at the boy and forcing himself to stifle a sigh. "Did Leo not tell you who I am? C'mon, I'm nice, I swear." He waggled his arm in front of Adrian's face again as if doing so would prove his point, but really the teenager was just perched on the back of the sofa, staring intently at the smaller male with his wide brown eyes.

 

[Yoki]

Adrian blinked, swallowing when Jackson spoke to him, wide eyes still staring at the other. He didn't say anything, it didn't look like he was going to attempt to do so, but when Jackson extended his arm towards Adrian the boy flinched. It didn't seem like he liked that at all, and when Jackson started waving his arm the smaller of the two just backed up further, becoming extremely nervous. Jackson's words didn't really seem to be going through to him, he was more concerned with the hand that had been waving in his face. 


"Jackson I..." Leo walked over to the other male, "I wouldn't do that." He smiled, obviously not trying to sound mean or anything, just trying to inform his friend that Adrian probably wouldn't like having an arm waved at him like that. After warning Jackson he walked around the sofa and sat on the back of it, looking over to Adrian. "It's alright, he's not going to hurt you. I promise." Leo motioned to Adrian with his head, "Remember, I told you about him before?"


There was no reply from Adrian yet again, instead he just moved himself a little further backwards, looking towards the floor. He seemed like he was going to say something for once, but his mouth closed as soon as it was opened. The child's eyes kept flitting from his brother to the ground again, Leo's reassurance probably did help in some respect, but he seemed to still be very uncomfortable in the situation. He was trying not to move too much by the looks of things, but his little hands still played with the sleeves covering them slightly, he was unable to stop them. 

 

[yaint]

For a moment, Jackson continued to hold his arm out in front of the child's face in an attempt to initiate some form of introduction. He hadn't been waving it around trying to scare Adrian or anything, so when Leo asked him to stop the boy simply paused and frowned. But eventually, a stiff and restrained pout on his face, Jackson finally rocked back out of reach and hugged the back of the sofa with his arms instead.


"I don't think he likes me," pointed out Jackson with a sigh. Little Adrian wasn't doing anything but playing with his sleeves - if he was ever going to open up, shouldn't he have hurried up and done so already? It was no use listening to Leo and being patient when waiting never got you anywhere... 


It was a search to be able to find something to do that wouldn't annoy Leo again, but when Jackson's eyes found that second bar of chocolate he had an idea. A hand grasped loosely around the bright orange wrapping, and then with the bar still in his grip the boy bounced up at the back of the sofa again.


He forgot about the warning for a moment and shoved the chocolate in Adrian's face, but then retracted his arm again. Oh yeah, he doesn't like that... He should try something else. Jackson cautiously propped the snack on the edge of the sofa and tried to manage a polite smile. "Hey, Adrian, do you want some chocolate?" he asked quickly, smirking at his own genius; no little kid could pass up a bar of sugar, so this would have to speed up the process of introduction by about a million times.

 

[Yoki]

"Oh, it's...not that." Leo replied, simply leaning on the edge of the sofa and waiting for Adrian to make his own decision on what to do. He kept giving the child reassuring smiles, obviously hoping that he wasn't too freaked out with there being an overenthusiastic teen in their home. 


Both brothers watched as Jackson disappeared behind the sofa to grab something, before bouncing back up again, much to Adrian's surprise. The boy was searching the teenager for anything new that he might have grabbed, of course he became startled again when something was shoved in his face, stepping back a little more so that Jackson wouldn't be in range to touch him. 


His attention was regained when Jackson offered the chocolate, but simply placed in on the edge of the sofa instead of shoving it in his face. Adrian was all for anything sweet, so his eyes lit up at the offer and he nodded, but he was still extremely cautious of moving forwards to grab it. It was mostly because he wasn't sure whether he was allowed to or not... He took a wary step forwards before looking up at Jackson, as if asking permission to move forwards further. 


Leo still sat silently on the edge, relatively close to Jackson, he seemed to stay in the same place just in case Adrian felt uncomfortable being too far away from him when someone else was around. 

 

[yaint]

Didn't this kid like chocolate? What the hell was with that all about? Oh... Right. This was Leo's little brother they were talking about - the boy had warned Jackson before to be careful and reserved or else he would just scare the kid away. He still did not understand it at all, but if Leo said so...


"Sorry," Jackson mumbled quickly at his friend, then jerked backwards quite a way so that he would not be quite so up in Adrian's face. He had to remember that he was a lot bigger and taller than the child, he had to show Leo that he could think and act maturely.


The boy sniffed and pushed against his own nose to re-position a pair of thick, rectangular glasses in front of his eyes. The kid's not moving, he thought, trying not to tisk and tut with impatience. At least he wasn't running away... Wait. Adrian was looking at the chocolate - he did want it, after all.


"You can have it if you want," he muttered in a low and slow tone. With a hand he shook the end of the package as though to draw the child's attention, but he still kneeled back next to Leo. It was hard to see Adrian from this angle now, but if he came to snatch the sweet out of his hand then surely he would feel it. "What are you waiting for? I'll eat it if you don't want it."

 

[Yoki]

Adrian's attention was now solely on the chocolate bar, he kept looking for Jackson, but seeing him pretty much staying near Leo led the small child to be a little more confident about going to get the chocolate bar. After being told he could, and having been threatened with the thought of someone else eating the chocolate bar, Adrian took a few more steps forwards. Every now and then he would look up to check that no one was trying to trick him or anything, sometimes he'd even take a step back again, but soon enough he'd gotten close enough to the chocolate bar to reach out and grab it. 


The boy stood on his tip toes and leaned forwards in an attempt to grab the chocolate without having to go any closer, his small hand wrapped around the bar, making the wrapper crinkle, and he attempted to pull. He was probably going to back up as quickly as possible if he could get the chocolate from Jackson's hand. 


Leo didn't seen to be expecting Adrian to come forwards so quickly, but seeing him do so made the other smile, he just watched, catching the boy's glances every now and again and nodding to make sure he knew that it was okay for him to have the chocolate. It was offered to him, so it wasn't an issue. 

 

[yaint]

Despite himself and the unsavoury thoughts he had been having about this child, Jackson was surprised to catch himself grinning as Adrian snatched the object out of his hand. Hurriedly the boy closed his mouth and made an effort to frown, but he seemed to forget himself again after going to look back at Leo.


Carefully Jackson shuffled backwards on his knees, sliding smoothly off the sofa to rise back up to his heels. "Told you," he gloated happily to Leo in a tiny whisper, "He believes me. Isn't that right - uhh- A-Adrian? I told you I'm nice!"


***


Tick. Tick. Tick.


Jackson drew in a long, quiet breath of warm and heavy air, then let out a soft groan. Slowly he raised his left arm up and pushed his fingers in at the corners of his eyes, slowly rubbing the sleep out of his eyelashes in gentle, circular movements. 


It was morning for what felt like the fifth time that day. He had been awoken earlier by Bella as he always was at the start of the day, but still troubled by his own thoughts it had been difficult to sleep that night. He must have kept dozing off in his seat, slipping seamlessly in and out of that same recurring memory-turned-dream about the time he first saw Adrian as he sat alone in what he supposed was his bedroom.


Adrian... It must have been almost two weeks since the boy had disappeared. Jackson had not heard a word about him since, but he had certainly spoken a few himself. 'I want to help him,' he could remember insisting to Bella a few times. 'Don't you understand?' he had spat at Daryl more than once. 'He needs us, just let me go find him already, he needs our help!'


But as the days passed Jackson had found himself growing less passionate about the endeavour, seeming to sink deeper into the rut of hopelessness as time went on. Adrian was still out there... And if he was alive, he must be in some terrible pain. A few times the man had caught himself wondering whether or not he could pray for his friend's death and free him from that agony once and for all, but every time the thought crossed his mind it made him hate himself just that much more. He wanted Adrian back, he didn't want him to die... But if he was trapped in a life filled only with torture, what would his best option be?


Enough, he thought finally, lazily shaking his head from side to side. He had wallowed in that misery for long enough that morning. There were probably other things to talk about. Maybe a cup of strong coffee would wake him up... He had begun to drink a lot more of the beverage since first being taken in, and whilst it was not doing wonders for his health it did provide at least some comfort. Someone else could get him a cup, and then he would have more energy to think.


Being careful not to stretch it too much in its cast, Jackson pushed his weak and fragile right arm against the frame of the door and pulled himself back out to face the hallway with his left. "Bella?" he called quietly towards the kitchen, wondering whether or not the red-haired girl would even still be in the house at all. Maybe she wasn't - it could be Nathan instead, or Caleb - or, God forbid, even Daryl. But there had to be somebody around inside today. "Anyone in there?"

 

[Yoki]

"Hah?" The sound of a cup being placed onto a counter could be heard from outside the room as a female's voice answered Jackson, "Bella's out." The female continued, footsteps could be heard as she walked around, coming closer and closer to the door. Then suddenly there was a face in the doorway, that of a girl who looked to be in her late teens with blonde hair, plaited over one of her shoulders. "Did you need something?" She asked, smiling patiently. 


The slamming of a door cause the girl to turn heard as several new voices could be heard coming from the hallway behind her, she simply rolled her eyes and turned back to address Jackson about, but the people who had come into the house weren't about to shut up and just let her speak to Jackson without there being a ton of background noise. 


"I fucking swear to god the bastards just don't give up." 


"That much of a problem huh? Like the CCG wasn't annoying enough." 


"I know. Fuck that, I do-"


"DARYL!" Rachael snapped, turning her attention from Jackson to her older brother, "Stop swearing so loudly in the house." 


"Gah, what are you? My mum? Nathan's probably playing video games, I doubt he can hear me. Calm down sis." 



"I don't care, you swear almost every sentence, tone it down. Anyway, I'm trying to have a conversation so like if you could not shout at the top of your lungs when you've just come in that would be amazing." After she said that there was a grumble from Daryl, but he shut up and seemed to head up onto the second floor, whilst whoever was with him walked towards the kitchen, flicking Rachael on the back of the head as they passed. 


"Hey Rach." 


"Hi Kedin. Was Caleb with you?"


"Uh, yeah, you need him? He went upstairs with Daryl." The younger of the two yawned and started to rummage through cupboards for a glass, whilst she rapidly tapped the screen of her phone with her other hand.


"No, not right not. Do you know if he's going to see Mari at any point." 


"Probably, why?" 


"I just need him to take something to her for me, could you tell him it's on my bed?"


"Okay. I'm gonna go back to bed." The blue haired girl walked past the room again, drink in hand, heading towards the stairs. 


"Thanks!" Rachael called to her before turning back to Jackson, "Daryl's damn noisy, I don't know how any of us have lived with it to be honest..." She shook her head and smiled again, "So, uh, yeah, what did you need?" 

 

[yaint]

Jackson, who had turned his head boredly to the ceiling, jounced and spluttered out a tiny word of gibberish when a familiar face materialised in front of his eyes. He had been waiting for a call, but instead there was suddenly a young-looking girl stood up in the doorway. Blonde hair, a soft smile on her face... What was her name again? There were so many people in this household, even after two solid weeks spent indoors with no company but this entire clan of ghouls Jackson struggled to put names to faces. This girl... He knew her, he knew that he knew her...


Realising that he had not answered the girl's question, Jackson shook his head again and got ready to deliver the request, but before he could even start he was interrupted.


Oh no, he thought, putting a hand to his throbbing temple. There were some people he struggled to recognise, but Daryl had such a loud and irritating voice that he wished it could be unfamiliar again. He already felt sick, having his skull rattled by an endless stream of cursing and shouting was not going to make things any better.


In an attempt to block out the noise, Jackson pressed his hands to his ears until Daryl took his voice upstairs, leaving himself and the girl back down in the silent hallway again.


Rach, the others had called her - at least from what he could hear just now. That sounded about right... Rach. Rachael. 


For a while he wrung his hands together as they lay awkwardly on his lap. What should he say to Rachael? Ask for a coffee, or perhaps some food - he could not remember what he ate the previous night, but was he really hungry? These ghouls... He had been getting too comfortable with them lately, letting his guard down. Every few minutes Jackson had to remind himself that he was dealing with wild animals. Don't make conversation, he instructed himself, Just get to the point. She is not a person, she is not your waitress. Stop taking risks.


"Sorry," he finally managed, speaking mostly to himself with his head now turned downwards. "He... Y-yeah, um... Could - c-can I get a coffee?"

 

[Yoki]

"It's cool." Rachael pushed back on the wall and nodded, "Yeah, sure." With another smile she headed back into the kitchen. For a few minutes she stayed in there, setting up the coffee machine that they had and grabbing a mug for Jackson. The girl took her time to be sure, but in honestly it really didn't take all that long. 


With cup of coffee in her hand Rachael headed back towards Jackson's room, walking inside. "Careful, it's hot." She walked up to him and held it out, hoping that he'd take it from her rather quickly since she could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket, which probably meant someone was either trying to call or text her. It seemed like just a text. 


"Hm," Once Jackson safely had the mug and Rachael had moved to check her phone, she started speaking again, "It must be annoying," She tapped at her phone, but she was obviously addressing Jackson, "Being stuck here with all of us. I know Daryl's loud and obnoxious, and Dane doesn't help, and it's kinda hectic with all of us here. I think I'd get annoyed pretty quickly too, but trust me, we all do with those two." With a sigh she went back to leaning against the wall, finally finishing what seemed to be a text to someone and placing her phone back into her pocket. 


"Have you argued with Daryl yet? He's very opinionated, or...passionate, whatever you wanna call it. He only means well though, he just gets a little too het up every now and then." Rachael shrugged, "He's supporting us so we can't really complain, doesn't mean we don't... He's also been talking about something else recently, something to do with another person? Were they with you?" She sighed and shrugged, "He likes to leave me out of everything, but yeah, it's probably not of any interest.... Just...trying to make conversation." With nothing else to do Rachael would talk to anyone, she knew that everyone but Bella and Dane were in, but Kedin was asleep, Nathan was probably playing video games, and Daryl had gone upstairs to do who knows what... "Maybe Caleb'll come down..." 


She only realised she'd mumbled to herself a few seconds after saying it, immediately her head jolted up and she smiled, "Sorry, I was thinking..." 

 

[yaint]

Jackson nodded as he took the handle of the mug, muttering a quick word of thanks out of habit before drawing the drink in to his chest. His face immediately contorted and twisted into a tight grimace after the first sip; it might not have been as scaldingly hot as Rachael had warned him, but the bitterness was overwhelming. Whatever. Even if he still could not get used to drinking coffee, it was going to help him wake up.


Though he had been making an effort not to listen to Rachael as he sat, quietly draining the drink in his hand, Jackson could not help but cock his head at the mention of 'something else'. "Adrian," he mumbled quietly to himself, forgetting that a ghoul's ears would be able to hear him. Another person. A nameless person that Jackson supposedly knew, but nobody else here did. Who else could it be? It had to be Adrian!


Almost without stopping for breath, the man tipped the mug up and downed the rest of his beverage in a single gulp. He took a moment to shudder at the taste, but when his eyes opened again they were locked straight on Rachael's face. Was she... Texting? Odd. Jackson could not imagine why a ghoul of all things would communicate that way when it was easier to just shout with those big mouths of theirs. At least it didn't look as though the girl would do anything drastic now, she was too distracted - she even admitted it herself.


Good, he thought. Maybe if she kept thinking, she would fail to notice him leave... Who was it she said had been talking about this nameless stranger? It sounded as though she had been ranting about Daryl at the time - Jackson couldn't blame her - so maybe...


Forgetting about the warm mug that rested heavily on his lap, Jackson lowered his arms down to his sides and began to gently push forwards. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe he should just be sitting still, resting his arm, behaving where the ghouls could see him. But Daryl had been talking about Adrian, he was sure of it!


He did not dare to check back on Rachael - fingers crossed in the hope that she was still engrossed in her thoughts and her phone, he began to glide silently back towards the front door where Daryl had come in. He had to talk to him. He had to find Daryl, he had to figure out what was going on with Adrian. They had found him, hadn't they? Maybe they had. Or they had seen him around, or... Seen him dead.


"Daryl?" the man hissed quietly around, searching with rolling eyes for the green-haired ghoul. Where was he? He had come in, and gone... Shit. He was upstairs, wasn't he? They always did this... Hiding somewhere Jackson couldn't go, keeping him trapped where they could catch him if he ran away. That was understandable, but now was not the time! "Daryl!" Jackson called up again, this time more loudly now that he was so busily involved in his own thoughts that he had forgotten entirely about being stealthy. "Daryl - shit - Daryl!"

 

[Yoki]

Rachael had looked up again when she heard the male said a name, the girl furrowed her brows in confusion. So Jackson did know the individual...huh, that was a surprise to her. She didn't expect him to suddenly shout for her brother though, she didn't really move, instead just watching at Jackson made his way out of the door. Did he need to see Daryl that urgently? 


"Hey! Be careful with that mug! You might burn yourself!" She called, but apart from that she didn't do anything, heading the other way towards the kitchen, still texting. Obviously he wasn't interested in talking to her anymore, instead a lot more interested in where her brother was and asking him about something, probably that person. 


For a few moments there was no answer from upstairs, just silence, but then a voice could be heard, though...it wasn't Daryl's. 


"Daryl... Someone's calling you." it was a lot quieter than the rowdy male's, but still an older male for sure, Caleb most likely. 


"Huh? What?" The sound of hurried footsteps from probably the floor above the second could be heard, "Who's calling me?" 



"I don't know...I think it's uh...that guy?" 



"'Kay... Thanks." The footsteps slowed down to unhurried thumps on the floor above as Daryl made his way to the stairs, why did Jackson of all people want him? What could the guy possible need? There were plenty of other people to deal with him, Daryl didn't really want to, but if he had to then he guessed he would. 


The male appeared on the staircase, looking down, "What? What is it?" He asked in a rather sharp tone. Out of everyone Daryl still held the most hostility towards Jackson, he still wasn't over the arguments that they'd had before, plus he wasn't a big fan of Jackson anyway. Which was funny, considering he was the one who had brought the guy there in the first place. He just...didn't expect Bella to say that they'd be keeping him around for so long, which did they have to do this? Just because he wanted to look for his friend didn't mean that he wanted Jackson to stick around. 


"What is it? Seriously, I have stuff to do y'know." He sighed out of annoyance, crossing his arms and tapping his foot as he looked down, "If you need stuff Rachael is down there anyway, I'm not gonna be your manservant or some shit." They'd already had this conversation, but he honestly didn't know what Jackson could possibly want from him apart from something trivial and stupid like grabbing him something. Which he wasn't going to do. 

 

[yaint]

Jackson began to chew on his lip again, digging his teeth through the scabbed pink skin as he waited for some kind of response. Daryl was taking too long. Idiot, didn't he understand that this was important? If Adrian was out then they had to go and find him before something else happened!


Impatiently drumming at the sides of his chair with long-nailed fingers, the man rolled his eyes throughout that short-lived conversation between Daryl and one of the other boys. Come on, come on, he thought. There was no time to waste... Adrian could be being chased as they spoke, he could not spare a second...


Finally, upon hearing that familiar note of hostility in Daryl's now-clear voice, Jackson pushed himself back up out of his slouch and glared into those green eyes he hated so much. "Shut up," he growled in a suddenly low and equally hostile tone. For some reason, there was just something about Daryl - his voice, his face, even just an untouchable aura or atmosphere - but whenever Jackson looked at that green-haired man it brought out sparks of frustration that seemed to temporarily cure his stutter. "Hell if you think I'd let you serve me. I look helpless to you, huh? Don't know where the fuck you got that idea... This isn't even about you, understand? Rach - Rachael told me you know something - about Adrian, right? You could have told me, why the hell'd you not tell me? Spit it!"

 

[Yoki]

"Oi, Oi, hey!" Daryl quickly made his way down the stairs, scowling as he looked at Jackson. Who did this guy think he was? He was not in charge here, far from it, they were kindly letting him stay in the house instead of ripping him limb from limb so how dare he talk to the other in that sort of way? Daryl'd have his neck for that. 


"I dunno where you think you are, but you're lucky I don't fucking rip you limb from limb right now you little shi-"


"DARYL BE NICE!" Rachael could be heard yelling from the kitchen, shouting at her older brother, to which he quickly replied with another grumble and lowered his voice so not everyone in the house would be able to hear him. 


The man crossed his arms, turning his head away from Jackson, "Anyway, never said I know shit. I have no obligation to tell you anything so don't walk around here like you need to know, I'll tell you what I want to fucking tell you." He turned back with a shrug, "Anyway, don't know that much. I just thought I'd look for the bugger, I was asking around, that was it. Can I go back to working in peace now. Your annoying, pathetic voice is starting to irritate me." It was quite obvious to everyone that Jackson and Daryl did not get along at all, sometimes Daryl tried to be somewhat civil, but he just couldn't stand the other... 

 

[yaint]

Perhaps, had Rachael not interrupted Daryl and cut off that long-winded string of threat after threat, Jackson might have leapt out of his chair and tried to climb up the railing himself. Stupid pretentious git, he kept thinking as he imagined himself wrapping his arms around the ghoul's throat and squeezing the air from his lungs until he begged for mercy. All Jackson had done was call him to talk, and this was the hello he got?


Luckily for both Daryl and himself, however, his seething calmed along with his enemy's voice and he managed to stop himself from grinding his teeth together in irritation. Jackson stiffly jutted his chin out at the other and kept his brows raised as he continued to listen.


Wait, what?


He almost choked on his own breath. Daryl was going to look for Adrian!? Yes! he thought, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. It took him long enough. That bastard had kept refusing to do anything for so long, who knows how much more Adrian had suffered for it... Dickhead. At least something was finally happening, some hope was still not lost. Now... How could he convince Daryl to tell him how he was going to go about saving Adrian?


"You'll tell me what I ask you," Jackson demanded rather loudly, trying to conceal his excitement beneath a gruff, scornful tone (which was fairly easy to accomplish after looking at Daryl again). "Unlike your lot, this kid's not just some dirty animal. He doesn't belong to anybody, understand? Get your head out of the shit-pile and into the goddamn reality, if you want to try and get him back you're gonna need all hands on deck. Tell me what you're planning." He made sure to drag out that last sentence, leaving long, pregnant pauses between each low and dead-serious word.

 

[Yoki]

"Whoa, slow down there. I'll tell you shit all if you talk to me like that again." Daryl growled, it was clever to be scared of the man, and for Jackson to talk to him as if he wasn't, for someone like Jackson to think he had any power, that pissed Daryl off. The only thing was that Jackson knew that Daryl wasn't going to hurt him, mainly because he was in a household of ghouls that probably wouldn't let him. Apart from Dane, Dane probably wouldn't care. 


He grunted as Jackson addressed the people he classed as family as dirty animals, "Talk about them like that again and I really will slit your throat." This time his tone wasn't angry, but dead serious, he didn't care what Jackson said about him, but if he dared to talk about the people he cared about in such a way he'd have hell to pay because of it. No one in his household was a dirty animal. 


"I dunno about that though, what kinda help are you gonna be to me? Pretty sure I can do this without you. Besides, you're wrong about him not belonging to anyone, pretty sure he belongs to Zeplin now, if he's even still there, who knows." Daryl shrugged, "Look, I don't need to do this, but I am, so respect it already and stop being a dick. If I wanted to I could leave your friend to die, and who says I won't?" Of course the threat was empty, Daryl had been shown to care about ghouls way too much to just leave Adrian to die, but it didn't stop him from threatening Jackson with it. "I'm not planning jack shit for definite. Not storming that place, don't even know where they are, even if I did I wouldn't do that, it's fucking dumb. So, I dunno what I'm gonna do, but I'm gonna look, someone'll know something. So just sit tight and wait for awhile okay? Things don't happen over night." 


With that Daryl turned around, "I'm sick of your shitty voice." He muttered, ascending the stairs once again, he didn't have time for this bullshit, he had things to do, Jackson's concerns could wait.