Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[Yoki]

"Hm?" Daryl turned his head to face his friend, hands in his pockets, he his hood up as always, simply watching as people continued to go in and out of restaurants. They were all lucky, compared to meals he had to eat...everything was pretty much the same. They had so much choice, and a lot of them didn't even realise it... 


What was she on about now? Going home, well, it was starting to get late. Not a big deal. "Whatever." The man shrugged, "I'm fine with it." He stared at her for a moment, turning his backs on the crowds that were slowly thinning. "What? You afraid of being out at night or something?" His voice was rather monotone, his eyebrow raised, "Surprising." He turned around again, his back to Victoria, "I mean, if you want to go back, we might as well walk for a bit. There's something I need to pick up for Dane a few streets down anyway." 


He started to walk backwards, kicking at the ground a little, "Are you gonna come? Or, am I just going to have to go alone?" He turned his head, slightly, just enough so that he could peer at the girl with those dark, green eyes of his. 

 

[yaint]

"Afraid?" Victoria echoed, her eyes suddenly dull and uninterested in the world after hearing what she took to be mocking words. "Yeah, no. I'm good." A year or two ago her answer might have been different, less sharp and less confident. But with ghoul attacks recently cropping up on the headlines left, right and centre day after day, very few people still had the guts to go around jumping people at night; muggers were becoming something of an endangered species, as were every other kind of attacker you could count on your fingers.


When Daryl's voice came calling back to her from somewhere farther away than the wall by her left, Victoria forced herself to look up from her phone. Shit, she thought, tugging at the white wire tucked beneath her hair so that she could wind her earphones back into a loop. How like Daryl to be so pigheaded and impatient. He could have waited a minute or two.


Despite her exasperation with the green-eyed man's stubbornness, it only took the girl a moment to pocket her phone and shoulder a frayed old rucksack which had been lying on the ground beside her. "Hey, warn me when you're about to go wandering off," she instructed the man as her short legs worked quickly to catch up to his position. She skidded to a slower pace once she was back by his side, the turquoise ends of her hair fluttering in the spring breeze. "You know I can't keep up. Jeez, this is why I brought cash for a cab... Actually... If we're going now, you might want to make it fast. Check the sky." One long finger decorated with a silver ring and blue nail polish pointed up towards the gap between buildings overhead. There were dark, swirling clouds gathering, and they looked like they were heavy with rain.

 

[Yoki]

"It's those headphones." Daryl replied as Victoria came up beside him, "If you didn't have them in then maybe you would have known I was leaving." He kept his eyes forwards, watching the road as they exited the plaza and turned onto another street, the shop he was looking for was in a much quieter, less crowded part, so they wouldn't have to deal with the hustle and bustle of all these people getting back to where they needed to be before night fell. 


He pointed down at the girl as the talked, "That phone too. You just fucking watch it twenty four seven, my god mother was warning Nathan about that, I mean...it's probably a load of bullshit or something...but who knows." The man shrugged, turning another corner. Whether was Bella's parents had told him and his little brother was bullshit or not, it really didn't matter, it wasn't about what he was saying, it was just about talking at all. Silences could get boring. If he was with a friend then why not talk to them? He didn't get Victoria to come out for nothing, and he liked to get out for a bit, he still hadn't gotten fully used to Jackson...even if they were a little better off than before...and Caleb's state was a little worrying, Dane wanted someone to keep an eye on him all of the time, just so he knew that he was okay. It was reasonable. 


One thing Victoria was right about was the sky, it did look like it was going to rain... They were either going to have to find shelter, or get back quickly. "Well, okay, if it starts raining badly we'll scrap Dane and get a cab, but let's at least wait until it's started. Might just be grey clouds after all." He put a hand through his hair, watching the sky, it was a stretch to say that it wouldn't start raining... Knowing the weather they had, you never knew what to expect. Maybe it would snow, it wasn't really winter anymore, but they hadn't had much snow this year, it might be nice to have a bit more. 

 

[yaint]

There was a short, sharp grunt from the girl who was still skipping to keep up with her taller friend. She had actually reached back to touch at the bulge of the device in her pocket, but that rather coarse scorn made her drop her arms again. "Okay, keep your pants on. I was researching... Stuff," she muttered, turning her head up to check the sky again. A single drop of icy water splashed down from the sky thousands of feet above and splashed across the bridge of her nose.


It looked like she had been right. At first it was slow, mild, almost unnoticeable. But Victoria's eyes caught a few streaks of movement as tiny specks of rain began to fall to the ground and then trickle through the cracks in the pavement. Drip. Tiny white specks began to outline the girl's figure in a glowing halo lit by distorted light from passing cars and neon signs. Drip. Somebody passing on the opposite side of the street pushed up an umbrella to hold over their head.


"Yeah... Grey clouds." Victoria sighed and hunched her shoulders forwards, hoping that the bulk of her rucksack would shield her hair from the worst of the rain. It might not have been a torrential downpour, but it was making the girl shiver nonetheless. They would need to get under a roof quickly unless they wanted to get soaked through to the bone. "You're a genius. Hey, you're sure Dane can go without... Whatever it is he needs? You know, for some reason I can never tell whether or not you're exaggerating something. I think I need to keep the guy around to translate for you."

 

[Yoki]

"Researching my ass." The male muttered, shaking his head, "Like you were really researching anything. I'd be surprised." He continued to walk, zipping up his jacket, it was starting to get a little bit colder now... Maybe there really was going to be rain, hopefully not a long of it. If it was over in a moment or two then it wouldn't be a big deal, he didn't mind getting a little wet from rain, but Victoria might not be happy if he kept her out here in a potential downpour. 


As he thought about this, he felt drops of water start to hit his face. Oh great. It was raining. Just incredible. Dane may really have to wait, they needed to get some shelter and call a cab before Victoria managed to skin him and just his flesh as a coat instead. Neither of them were ready for the rain, sure, Daryl had a hood, but that thin material really wouldn't do much good against bucket loads of water spattering down all around him. 


"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, he'll fucking manage, he ain't gonna die or nothing. Here." As the rain started to get worse he grabbed hold of his friend's wrist, pulling her underneath a slight ledge next to an alleyway. It would do for now. "So...you wanna call that cab? I guess I did promise." He fumbled around in his pockets for his phone, no way was he going home soaked to the absolute bone. That would be uncomfortable and put him in a rather bad mood. 


As Daryl was typing in a number in his phone, he heard a thud from his right. At first he thought that it might just have been Victoria, maybe getting something out of her back, but...then he realised she was to his left. That wasn't all...his keen ears picked up another quiet sound, metal hitting metal? It sounded like the clanking of chains or something... His brow furrowed and he turned his head to the right, expecting to see someone, all he was met with was the darkness of an alleyway... What... 


"Hey... Victoria... Did you hear that?" He hissed, stepping a step towards the dark space to peer into it, he could have sworn he saw movement down there... "I swear...there's something..." 

 

[yaint]

Victoria paused for a moment, freezing mid-step so that she would not end up leaving Daryl behind for the first time in her life. A sound? Of course she had heard something. They were in the midst of London - even at dusk the streets were chock full of purring vehicles, people passing by in clusters and chattering loudly to one another as they wandered off to who knows where. 'That' could mean anything from the rumble of a train to the whooping of some absolute twat attempting to climb over a coil of barbed wires for his friends.


"Hear what?" the girl finally voiced, pushing up her rucksack to try and cover her carefully styled hair more. As was to be expected, she failed miserably and ended up shaking a sudden waterfall of icy rain water down onto her head. She swore under her breath and tensed up as her whole body shuddered. "Look, Daryl, can you just ignore your bionic ears for a moment and help me look for a taxi? The rain is getting worse and these trainers aren't waterproof. Oh, and I thought you had Dane waiting for you, right?"

 

[Yoki]

"Shh, sh! Victoria!" Daryl shook his head, hissing, "There's something there, something in the alley.... It sounds like...metal." He muttered, taking a few steps away from his friend and towards the alley a little more. There was something in there, what if it was a ghoul? Sure, they shouldn't mess with another ghoul tonight, but...Victoria was nearby, he didn't want his friend to get hurt, if there was someone else here he needed to make sure they were gone as quickly as he could. "Just, just stay here for a sec wouldya? I'll be one minute, don't fucking move too far." With that he shook his hand at her and turned into the alley. 


Slowly Daryl's form disappeared into the darkness beyond, there were no street lights, no shining car lights, only the light from the moon. It was a lot quieter, a lot more eerie, and the man made sure to watch his step. Bright eyes darted backwards and forwards, making sure he didn't miss anything. 


Then an he heard again. 


Clink. Clank. Clink. 


His eyes locked onto movement a little further down the alley and of course he darted forwards. "Hey!" He snapped, the figure stopped, finally, at least whatever it was was reasonable. Slowly, the man approached, having to peer around some crates to properly see what he'd come in the alley to find. 


The first things he saw were large, round eyes, staring straight up at him. Their colour reminded him of someone... He noticed that the figure was rather small and so furrowed his brown. "Hey, kid...you shouldn't be out here this late, didn't no one tell you-..." As he was speaking the small figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing dark hair and ragged clothes...but...that wasn't all. Daryl's eyes widened and he had to take a step back as he took in what he saw. No way.


"Fucking hell... You're alive?!" 

 

[yaint]

Victoria's hands slid away from the mound of sodden hair plastered to her forehead just so that she could throw up her arms in her friend's direction. "All right, I get it, so there's something in the alley," she parroted through gritted teeth, pressing the heel of her foot into the ground. "So what? It's probably some drunk guy pissing up a wall, you don't need to look..." Rain water was already beginning to bleed through her once-white trainers; she could feel an unpleasant coldness trickling up from the soles of her feet, seeping through the cotton of her socks. It felt like she was wading through a bog.


Of course, just as Victoria was beginning to have urgent thoughts about drying off her feet, Daryl had completely ignored her words. Instead of bucking up and picking up the pace on the way to a cab, he had only gone wandering away - past the brick wall he wound, into that shadowy darkness of an alley even blacker than London's neon-lit sky.


What the hell? she thought as a quick gust of wind blew a knot of rain-drenched hair into her gaping mouth, causing her to splutter and spit until she was free to breathe and think again. This was a problem. Victoria knew Daryl to be stubborn at the best of times, but to go wandering off in pursuit of imaginary noises? As if an ominous presence in the depths of a dark city alley ever meant anything good... This guy was out of his mind.


Left with a choice to either tag along or be left behind, Victoria splashed over to the shadow Daryl had left behind. "Daryl!" she hissed at him from where she was stood. "Daryl, what the hell are you doing!? You're gonna get jumped, dude - wait... Who's..." There was a moment where Victoria had forgotten what words came next. She grabbed at one of the straps of her rucksack and peered around the green-eyed man's shoulder, squinting into the darkness. Unlike his, her eyes were untrained, insensitive. She could barely pick up even a trace of that wiry figure until it slipped out of the shadows and into the twilight.


Wide brown eyes met with the tatty boy's grey. Victoria stared for a moment, her forehead creased in a thoughtful frown, when one of her hands crept up to tap at Daryl's elbow. "Who's alive?" she asked with a further skeptical squint. "Daryl, have... Have you been making friends with hobo kids or something? Who is this guy?"

 

[Yoki]

"Shit..." Daryl couldn't believe his eyes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. If he wasn't mistaken, he knew this kid's face, sure, everything wasn't exactly the same, the look in his eyes made Daryl want to punch him a little, it just gave you that feeling... Like he wasn't safe to be around, but it seemed to flit between that and the odd look he'd been given when he initially met the boy months ago, like his brain just couldn't decide. His hair had grown, he looked a lot more ragged, but his face was still the same, his height, his eyes, it was difficult to mistake the kid for anyone else.


Whilst he was marvelling at the boy in front of him, he heard Victoria's voice. Goddammit...did he tell her to stay where she was? He looked from the smaller individual to his friend, shaking his head and turning hit back, he hadn't seen this kid in months...who knew what he was like... Zeplin had had him after all. "No, no I fucking didn't start making friends with hobo kids..." He muttered, waving her off. 


Daryl looked Adrian over, his eyes moving from the boy's bare feet, to his torn up clothes, to the...chain around his neck? He had what looked to be a metal collar on, danging from that was a metal chain, that must have been the noise he'd heard. "They really mess you up...huh?" He breathed, he still couldn't believe he was seeing this, he couldn't believe that Adrian had come back alive. He was sure he'd never escape, or he'd be killed before he could, so...how did he get out? How did he escape the clutches of Zeplin? And...how long had he been free? 


"He's...been missing for three months... A friend's friend, that's all." Assuming he'd have to give some sort of explanation to Victoria, Daryl went with that one, " I honestly thought that his friend was dead... Uh." And suddenly the situation became quiet sticky.... 


Adrian hadn't said a word, he'd just stood there staring, probably wondering what was going on, Daryl needed to get Victoria out of the picture. Knowing her, she'd have a lot of questions, and those questions would only cause more problems, he needeed to get Adrian back before someone came looking for him from Zeplin, he needed to send Victoria home, and he needed to warn Bella that there was someone unexpected, and quite possibly manic from the way he was looking at Daryl, coming back with him. 


"Hey." He turned to Victoria,placing his hands on the girl's shoulders after giving Adrian a signal to stay put, not that it really looked like he planned on moving. "Look, this is important, you understand right? I'll walk you to a cab, you can get it home, I'll call you tomorrow when everything's figured out... I just...I did not expect this tonight..." 

 

[yaint]

Some form of jagged retort had been on the tip of Victoria's tongue; 'Important?' she had been about to say, 'Daryl, he looks like an escaped slave dragged through barbed wire.' But it seemed as though sense had gotten the better of her, for she managed to bite her tongue for a few seconds longer.


A friend of a friend, he had said. What the hell kind of people did Daryl go around making friends with? Druggies, convicts, prostitutes... The list could go on and on, and each item made her wonder what the hell had happened to this kid for him to look so beat up. 


It's more than that, she thought suddenly. This guy had a funny look in his eye that made her want to shudder. It was unsettling... So much to the point that it was almost a relief when Daryl grabbed hold of the soaked denim on her shoulders.


 She released a tumbling sigh and touched at the man's hands with her own, pushing them up slightly to relieve that sudden pressure on her small body. "Yeah... Okay, but jeez, you could have picked a better night. Hey, I'll lend you some cash for the cab, pay me back tomorrow, yeah? I, uh..." With another tug, Victoria freed herself from Daryl's grip and stepped backwards. One hand went to brush at her shoulders, but her efforts were wasted as she only ended up getting her hands wet again. Admittedly she was beginning to feel like this kid - whoever on Earth he was - was a more pressing reason to get out of here than the rain had ever been. "I'll just... See you 'round."

 

[Yoki]

"Ah, yeah, thanks." Daryl nodded, giving the girl a small smile, he felt bad for just having to leave her like this...but it wasn't a small matter. Whatever Victoria imagined had happened to the boy standing behind him probably didn't even equate to half of what he'd actually been through, Daryl didn't even want to imagine. 


He really did appreciate that Victoria didn't ask any more questions, but he didn't want to leave her without getting a taxi first, if Adrian was out here...then there were probably other ghouls around. He'd rather not have a dead friend. "Alright, um." The man turned, pulling off his jacket and holding it out to Adrian, "Put this around yourself, people will stare." After speak he motioned with his head to the metal chain around Adrian's neck, the boy looked up, then down, then nodded and took the jacket, pulling it over his small shoulders. It was way too big for him, but he still zipped it up, pulling the sleeves over his small hands with ease. 


Daryl was surprised he wasn't getting any questioning from the smaller male, he hadn't said a word, and now it looked like he was just going to come back with him... Did...did he remember him? Maybe, maybe not...maybe he knew who he was talking about when Daryl said that Adrian was a friend of a friend. Maybe he knew who Daryl was taking him to. He couldn't think of any other explanation. 


Soon enough he'd moved the three of them out of the alley, trying to keep Adrian out of the public's eye, it would be extremely strange to see a small, barefoot, roughed up individual with someone much larger and more well dressed than he was... It might provoke questions that he didn't want to answer. 


After managing to find a cab and get Victoria off, Daryl found another and got himself and Adrian into it. The whole journey he'd sat watching the boy play with the clothing he'd been given, more than once he'd had to put the hood of the jacket back on Adrian's head after he knocked it off, the guy just didn't stay still. The longer they were together, the more obvious it became that there was something not quite right about Adrian's demeanour, sometimes he seemed to giggle, or grin, for no reason, he always had a strange look in his eyes that made even Daryl feel uncomfortable being in such a small space with him... This might be the same person physically, but...he wasn't sure about mentally... What the hell had they done to him? 


He couldn't have been more relieved when they were finally home, he got out himself, before pulling Adrian out of the other side and paying the taxi driver. Honestly, he didn't blame him for the strange look he was given, he was surprised the guy didn't call the police on him or something... That would be a story to tell on Christmas, 'I think one time I drove this kidnapper back with a kid, I think I might have unknowingly been a part of kidnapping a child', even if that wasn't the case...he couldn't blame the guy for possibly thinking it was, if he did that was. 


Daryl had completely forgotten to warn Bella, he'd been too wrapped up in his own thoughts, too confused, too shocked, it still didn't seem real to him... He just didn't understand how someone like Adrian had managed to escape those maniacs. 


"Hey!" His voice was loud, holding an urgent tone as he entered the house, swinging the door open so quickly that it slammed against the wall, "Bella! Come here! Jackson! You might wanna see this too!" He hadn't even bothered to come in all the way, he was still just inside, Adrian behind him, standing on the mat outside, the rain had already completely soaked him, his black hair was stuck to his head below the hood, but he didn't seem at all bothered by it at all. 


"Like, now would be nice!" 

 

[yaint]

Forever had come and gone again ten times over before Jackson was rocked awake again by the sound of Daryl's voice. He had not quite been asleep, nor had be quite been awake - the state he was in was something of a rift between the two, and he seemed to drift from one end to the other as the time drawled on and on. That game between Rachael and Kedin had ended hours ago without him even noticing, and with no activity remaining for him to spectate there had been nothing left for the man to do but retreat to the soft darkness of his room. It seemed as though that was all he had done for the last three months: observe, eavesdrop, sleep. 


Daryl's shouting was, of course, no new sensation to rattle Jackson's mind. It had become apparent by now that yelling across the house was this man's primary mode of communication - nothing newsworthy, or at least not normally. There was something different about the way he spoke this time that made Jackson's eyes shoot open. His arms tightened around the plump cushion in his lap. Impatience was normal, but... Was that urgency?


That next call confirmed it. Whatever it was must have been important if Jackson, of all the people in the house, had been called up to look. He squeezed at the cushion one last time before gently placing it down on the floor beside the mattress, sitting it somewhere safe in case he would need it again later. Dumb habit, the man thought to himself in what he heard to be a mocking tone as one hand went to the handle of the door to turn it downwards.


There was a moment of pause. This could just be something trivial, he thought. It could just be some delivery, something particularly impressive Nathan had drawn for them all as a present. Was it even worth looking? This darkness... Jackson was so tempted to just sink back into it, forget about having to ever move again. No, stop it, he told himself rather firmly. He had spent all afternoon inside this room, he needed an excuse to get outside of it even if it just turned out to be something small and worthless.


Slowly, a tiny bar of light cracked open at the edge of the door. As usual, it was blinding, but in a few seconds Jackson had managed to blink the sight back into his eyes. He held the door open behind him, ready to roll straight back into the shadows... But then a movement behind Daryl's tall figure caught the man's eye.


It was difficult to see from so far away. He almost missed it entirely, but there was an unmistakable glint of something silvery and metallic swinging through the cracks in the ghoul's silhouette. 


"Daryl?" Jackson whispered, his brows knitting together in a curious frown as he let the door swing closed behind him. He started to approach, slowly, cautiously, hoping that perhaps whoever this was would not turn out to be another Mari. It had been a while since he had dared to interact with another stranger since that particular incident, and it was likely that the other residents agreed that Jackson's withdrawal would be the best course of action. So why did he call me?


The answer he had wanted but never expected shot through the man's body like a bullet through his heart as soon as he stopped and leaned around to look.


"Oh... Oh, my God."


No. Yes, he thought, hands suddenly turning very white and weak as they trembled before his frozen body. He suddenly could not move anymore. His eyes were fixed on that image, that figure of the boy wearing Daryl's jacket to shield him from the rain. But Jackson did not notice the tattered shirt that clung to his rain-drenched front, nor the steel collar fixed around his neck, or even that glimmer of something strange and unsettling in his round, grey eyes.


He did not see any of that.


All that Jackson could see was everything he had been praying for since autumn last year.


Adrian. Adrian, it was him, it was really him - was it? Could it really be? It doesn't feel real, Jackson thought, forcing one shaky hand to grasp at his hammering heart, but his eyes did not lie to him. Without thinking the man began to advance forwards again, one arm thrust out to push Daryl aside so that he could reach up and touch at the illusion with his own fingers.


Lost with the rain that rolled through his short brown hair, Jackson could feel the heat of new tears trickling down the sides of his bearded face. "It's real," he croaked to himself, his mouth twitching in an unstable grin. "You're real. A-Adrian. Adrian, you - y- I - you-you're alive, you're..." 


Unable to finish the sentence he had begun, Jackson simply reached up again and grasped at the sides of that jacket. He pulled Adrian downwards and then wrapped his arms around the boy's thin body, pressing his face into his friend's shoulder just as his own back began to heave with ragged, uncontrollable breaths of something halfway between sorrow and pure, sweet alleviation. "You're alive," he said again. "You're okay."

 

[Yoki]

There had been a slight change in Adrian's behaviour the second he'd heard Jackson's name called, Daryl had attempted to pull him inside, but he'd shook the man off, stepping in himself, eyes darting around as if looking for the answer to the man's call. He pulled on the sleeves of the oversized jacket he was wearing as Daryl closed the door behind them both, mumbling something about being soaked, he was annoyed, but not too annoyed. Whilst he did that, Adrian continued to search with his eyes for the male whose name he knew so well.. 


Where was he? Was he coming out?


He saw a door open, but the person who came out was not Jackson. His head had turned eagerly, however, just in case it was. Instead a girl appeared, red hair tied back in a ponytail, she looked as if she was going to say something, until she caught the eyes on the small male standing behind Daryl. Her jaw dropped and she stood with wide eyes, unable to utter a single word. 


She was not the only one who was making an appearance, there were now two teenage girls on the stairs, one looked older than the older, both staring at the boy that Daryl had brought into the house. Standing behind one of them was a smaller male, he seemed a little more nervous, gripping onto the blonde's shirt as she kept an arm in front of him. There were two more people staring from the hallway was well, having appeared from the kitchen, two males, obviously older, one attempting to look away from Adrian, but he couldn't, so instead he hid himself a little behind the other. 


Everyone stared. 


No one said a word.


None of them were Jackson. 


Where was he?


The sound of a door opening broke the silence, there was someone else... Someone else was there. The two males in the hallway were forced to move to the side as another man with short brown hair in a wheelchair rolled towards the main enterance. Adrian's eyebrows furrowed, he didn't recognise this one either...well...not until the other stopped to look at him. Jackson didn't look the same...but he knew those eyes. 


Upon realising that his friend was in front of him his eyes widened and he froze, he wanted to say something, but his voice wouldn't work. People didn't usually make him feel like he couldn't move, he was used to hearing screaming and shouting whilst he tore someone's life away from them...so why did he feel so...strange in such a simple situation? 


Was this what...joy felt like? Or...was it just delirium? He couldn't tell the difference anymore.


He didn't know what to do, so he just played with his sleeves, watching Jackson as he started to speak, he was completely astounded at what he was seeing... Why was he questioning whether it was real or not? Of course it was real. He was there, right? So...he was really there... He couldn't just not be real, he wasn't see through or anything, he didn't think he was a ghost... He wasn't a ghost ri-


Before Adrian's mind could go off on a tangent about whether he was real or not he felt hands on his shoulders, and then he was pulled down, and then there were arms around him and Jackson was saying something, but he wasn't truly paying attention... He was too stunned. He was...hugging him? No one had hugged him in forever... No one had showed him any kind of compassion or kindness or... Adrian bit the inside of his cheek, he'd missed Jackson so much...they'd told him he'd never see him again, but he was here, and...he could see him. So...So that wasn't true... He didn't want to leave again, he wanted to stay with Jackson, he wanted to be safe. 


"I-..." He tried to speak, but choked on his own sobs, he didn't even realise he was crying, he didn't even know...but he was. He was crying and shaking, but whether that was from the soaking clothes he was in or not was unknown, he wanted to say something to him...why couldn't he say anything? He just wanted to speak. 


This was all he'd wanted for months, this was where he'd wanted to get to since he'd been forced away, and now...now he was finally back. He was finally 'home'. 

 

[yaint]

Caught somewhere in the cleft between elation and disbelief, Jackson kept hold of the younger boy's shoulders, holding Adrian close to his chest as he continued to quiver and weep into the rain. He could not let go. If he stopped being able to feel his weight or the touch of his sodden black hair against his face, Adrian would not be real; he would go back to being an illusion spawned by the ghost of his last hope. 


"Y-you're - you're okay, you're alive," the man bleated again with a quick sniff. His lashes had streaked the lenses of his round glasses with warm, salty tears - when he finally lifted his head from Adrian's shoulder, he could only see those grey eyes with clouded vision. It was better than nothing. Three months, he thought, even the inner voice of his stiff and strong mind struggling not to tremor. For three months Daryl had told Jackson that he would never see those eyes again, and here was everything he needed to prove that wrong. Adrian was alive. Adrian was okay. "You're okay."


It took Jackson close to a minute to realise that he had simply been sitting there, staring up at Adrian's face with mouth agape and hands still held firmly around the boy's shoulders. He blinked several times and yawned to steady his frayed breathing, then slid one hand back down to his side. There was still a wide and twitchy smile on his face when he looked back again. "I-it's raining, y-you... You - A-Adrian, come in, c-come in-inside properly, quick, you - you'll catch a cold..." There was a gentle tug on Adrian's arm. Jackson did not want to let go, not yet, not until the boy was walking alongside him with the openness of the rainy sky locked away far behind them.


He wasn't going to lose Adrian again.

 

[Yoki]

Adrian was quick to step out of the rain and into the warmth, he didn't recognise this house...he didn't understand why they were there, was this where Jackson had been whilst he'd been gone? At least...he hadn't been alone, right? There seemed to be...a lot of people. 


They all smelled like ghouls... Jackson was staying with ghouls? And...a lot of them...but...he thought that the man didn't really approve of that. 


In the end the boy decided not to dwell on it, there were much more important things to discuss, like how much he'd missed being around Jackson. He couldn't help the smile on his face, this was all he wanted, he really didn't need anything else, everything would be okay now, he was back so there was nothing else to worry about right? He hoped he hadn't worried Jackson too much, everything really was fine, he was fine. 


Adrian attempted to wipe the tears from his eyes with the sleeves of the jacket that was draped over him, but all that did was squeeze more water onto his face. Everything was soaked, but he didn't care, all he could do was look down at Jackson with a smile, the hope that he'd lost all that time ago finally returned to his eyes. He didn't need to be afraid anymore, there was nothing to be scared of, he was safe. 


Rachael was the first to break out of her daze and turned to run upstairs, next was Caleb, he moved to the side of Dane, pulling on his arm before whispering into his ear. The taller man nodded and both of them turned as well, hastily making their way back towards the kitchen. Kedin still stood there, one eyebrow raised, Nathan had made his way downstairs and was standing next to Daryl looking like he wanted to reach out and touch Adrian, and Bella was standing shaking her head, her eyes drifting from Daryl to Adrian and back again. 


For a few moments that's how it stayed, Rachael was the first back to the area, having been the first to leave, in her hands she had a towel and a blanket. She bounded down the stairs, throwing the towel at her brother, before moving over to Adrian. 


"Go get changed Daryl." She motioned with her head to the stairs, to which the male just sighed and squeezed past her, moving up the stairs to his bedroom. She then turned her attention to the small, soaked individual. "Hey...uh." Immediately Adrian's gaze seemed to shift, and she couldn't say that when she finally did lock eyes with him it wasn't a little unsettling, but she ignored it. "Take off that jacket, it's wet, here." She pulled at the back of the sodden jacket, throwing it on the floor once it was off, then she passed the blanket to the boy and he quickly wrapped it around himself. The whole time Rachael was trying to make an effort to ignore his strange looks, that chain around his neck, everything... She had to keep reminding herself that it most likely wasn't his fault. 


Once she could see that Adrian had the blanket totally wrapped around himself she stepped back, turning her gaze to Bella, the two seemed to silently communicate something, but neither of them moved, instead turning their attention to the scene in front of them again. 


Then Caleb and Dane came back, they had cups in their hands, Caleb made his way upstairs with the one he had, most likely going to get Daryl, and Dane slowly made his way to Adrian. He stood to the side of the boy and held the mug out, Adrian stared at it for a few moments, his gaze flickering up to the man and then to the object in his hands, but he didn't take it. 


"Go on kid, have it. You might as well."  Dane held the cup up a little, prompting Adrian to take it, it took a few more seconds of hesitation, but eventually small hands wrapped around the cup and it was ripped from Dane's grasp. The man took a step back, making sure not to stay too close. No one really knew what to do, they were just trying to think of things to make the situation less uncomfortable for the soaked, battered, male in front of them. 


"Does...anyone want to move to the living room? I doubt this is comfortable, we can sit down." Bella finally found her voice, propping open the door to the warm, cosy living room. This would definitely be better in there. 

 

[yaint]

Jackson jumped when the jacket he had been gripping on to so tightly was pulled out from beneath his hand. He had been so entranced by his own thoughts, his own uncertainty and hope and fear and relief that he had not even noticed the audience that had gathered behind and around them all. Dane, Caleb, Rachael, Bella, Kedin, even little Nathan had emerged to see what all the noise had been about. Maybe all of those beady eyes trained on his back and on the shape of the boy, who was to them a stranger, should have made the man uncomfortable. But no, if there was a hint of distress to be felt, it was buried beneath all of the joy and relief.


No, Jackson thought. Not even the presence of these ghouls did he twitch or flinch. They could look if they wanted to - they had a right to. After all, a living miracle had just walked into their home, had it not? And everyone was welcoming that miracle. They handed him blankets to keep him warm, they gave him hot coffee to calm his nerves and fill his stomach, stood back to watch what happened.


Then there was Bella. 'Move to the living room,' she had suggested, and almost without thought Jackson found himself nodding vigorously. That's right, he thought, his eyes turning glassy for a moment as he pictured them all settling down together on sofas and armchairs, Adrian cradled in the kind of comfort he likely could not even remember the feeling of. They would have time to talk later; now, though, everybody should be celebrating, introducing themselves, making Adrian feel at home like they had only just managed to achieve with Jackson over a quarter of a year.


It took a great deal of effort to tear his eyes away from Adrian's, but eventually Jackson sniffed and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "A-Adrian, sh... Sh-she's right, we- we can-" he tried to carry on, but there was little point in saying when simply leading the boy along would be easier. He could barely even speak at the moment, anyway. 


His arms draped back down to his sides after leaving the boy's bare forearms, and he wheeled backwards through the hall, refusing to look anywhere but back as he passed the open door and backed into the living room. Once he was inside, he waved at Adrian, making a beckoning gesture with one hand. "C-come on, Adrian, you can - you can s-sit down on the sofa, you can sit down..."

 

[Yoki]

Adrian followed Jackson without much hesitation, he wanted to stay in the same room as the other, which was probably why he was so quick to step into the living room. It was homey, a lot more so than anything else he'd seen in the last few months... It was a surprisingly nice change from cold floors and stone walls, but he didn't make much of a move to sit down until others started to come into the room. 


Bella sat on the chair nearest the television, turning it on and passing Nathan a controller as the boy went to mess with the settings. He sat on the floor, obviously going to play a game or something, although, he'd probably still listen to their conversation whilst he did so. 


Kedin sat on the sofa nearest the door, Rachael sat next to her, leaving another space next to the girl. On the largest of the two sofas Dane sat down, along with Caleb, although he stayed quite close to the edge of it with one leg hugged to his chest as he watched Adrian and Jackson. 


"Sit down wherever you want." Bella managed to smile at Adrian as he looked around, unsure of where to go. He...wasn't used to being given a choice like that. Seeing that there was a larger space near Dane, the boy eventually chose to sit there, but despite choosing the larger space to sit on, he stayed curled in the corner of the sofa, between the back of the arm rest and the pillows, head rested on his knees as he scanned everyone sat around him. They were still staring. He didn't like it. 


There were loud, thudding footsteps as Daryl descended the stairs and entered the living room, he'd changed into dry clothes and dried off his hair slightly. The man chose to take a seat next to his sister, running a hand through his hair. Since the room was rather silent, par the noise of Nathan's video game, he decided to start conversation. 


"It was...uh, kinda a coincidence that I found him." He motioned with his head to Adrian, who was now sipping on coffee again, "Was with Victoria, went to check a sound in an alley after that there's not much to tell." He shrugged, "He was just...there." Daryl seemed tempted to ask Adrian something, but he seemed to decide against it at last minute, moving his gaze to the television screen to watch Nathan. 

 

[yaint]

Jackson's nut-brown eyes carefully tracked Adrian's movement as the boy moved through from the hall to the living room. It certainly felt odd to be in such close vicinity to so many other people at once; he had spent so long in that little bedroom by himself, it made the back of the man's neck prickle, his hairs raised and alert to every movement of the air. 


It must be worse for Adrian, he realised suddenly as the movement of a small boy curling up in the corner of the sofa, coffee held in his small hands. It must be so strange. He had met Daryl before, as well as Bella, but what about everyone else? It was easy to imagine that Dane, as large and tough-looking as he was, would not be intimidating. But strangely, when Jackson squinted to look into those grey eyes again, he could not tell what was happening.


Maybe it was because they had been apart from so long. Maybe it was that Jackson's mind was clouded by months spent indoors. But normally he could take one look at Adrian and be able to list off everything that was happening inside his head, he could normally tell what the younger male was feeling. That wasn't happening today. Was he hurt, was he scared? Was he as happy as Jackson? I... Can't tell... 


Jackson started to chew on his lip again as he moved closer to the edge of the sofa, putting an arm out to rest next to his friend. Coincidence, he thought suddenly, taking a moment to glance over at Daryl. He had felt the green-haired man's arrival, but had not had the thought to acknowledge it. So Adrian was just out on the streets? Oh no... How long had he been out there, surviving on his own in the cold when there were people out looking for him? How long had he endured that crippling loneliness and the pain of hunger?


How long had he had a collar around his neck?


Horrified eyes widened at the sight of something he had been too blinded by his own joy to notice before. Now that they were inside, Adrian having replaced Daryl's jacket with a blanket and cup of coffee, Jackson had calmed down enough to see with his eyes and not his heart. It was so plain, so clear - how the hell had he missed it before!? There was a steel ring bound around his neck, a chain hanging from one side.


"Where did that come from?" he murmured so quietly that even he could barely hear the words. Some ghouls had taken Adrian away all that time ago, that much Jackson knew - but exactly what had they done to him? How long had he been wearing that thing? There were so many questions to ask, so many things that Jackson wanted to know but could not remember how to voice. No, that's not right, he kept thinking, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight. It was so wrong. It was so terribly wrong to make somebody wear a collar like that, and he had no idea what or who it was that had put it on him. "Daryl, what is that?" he said more loudly, more urgently, reaching across to touch at the rain-slick metal with one arm. "Wh-what is it? Does - does it c-come off? Adrian, who gave you that - that thing?"

 

[Yoki]

Adrian's head raised as he heard Jackson's rather worried and urgent voice, what was he so panicked about? The boy looked down, realising that there was now a hand near his neck. Oh, he was worried about that? He didn't need to worry about it, it really wasn't a big deal. The male raised his own hand and pulled at the collar slightly, it didn't move that much, he didn't even know why he'd done it, it was just a habit. 


"What's wrong?" Grey eyes turned up to meet Jackson's as Adrian spoke, tilting his head to the side a little, "You sound worried." He didn't really address the actual question of who gave him the collar, instead moving around it to ask Jackson questions instead. It was better not to focus on that. 


Nathan turned his attention from his video game for a moment to look at Jackson and Adrian, most of the others looked down for a moment, after all, they'd all noticed the collar around the boy's neck way before the man in the wheelchair had. In fact, it was surprising that he was only now realising that something was up. Did he not see the the glint of something unusual in Adrian's eyes, did he not see the state he was in? 


"Uh, oh, that." Daryl scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, it'll come off, no need to have a panic attack about it." He rubbed his left eye, leaning back into the sofa's cushions behind him. It might be strange that the boy had a collar on, but it was the type of thing that Zeplin would do. "We talked about the people who had him Jackson, no point asking that question." He already knew the answer, so why make the guy's life difficult by forcing him to say it? He'd probably been through enough, they didn't need to make it worse. 


Daryl's arms went behind his head, prompting Rachael to hit him out of her way, "Dunno whether you really want to do that now... I mean, he's just got in, give him a break for a second or two." He sighed, turning his head towards the television once more. 


Adrian's eyes had also moved to look towards the television screen, he seemed genuinely interested in the game that Nathan was playing. He'd always associated video games with happier times, so he couldn't help but stare at it with his odd, almost unreadable gaze. 

 

[yaint]

His hands balled into fists by his side, Jackson managed to breathe some form of curse out through gritted teeth. As glad as he was to see Adrian safe and alive, every time he looked at the boy there were new details to be picked up about his appearance. The hair, the shirt, the bare feet... It all sent his imagination racing to find an explanation, but every wayward thought ended in the same place: he needed to know who did this.


Daryl's reasoning was no good to him at the moment. Knowing the word 'Zeplin' was not enough when what he needed were names, faces, locations - he needed to know how to find those monsters. They had put a collar around his best friend's neck, and for that and whatever else they had done to Adrian, they would pay.


But not now, said a voice in Jackson's head. No, he could ask all the questions he wanted but the hunt would have to wait. He hated to admit it, but for once Daryl's point was the most reasonable; Adrian had just got back, and he looked so worn out and tired. Someone would have to find the boy a change of clothes so that he could get rid of that torn and tattered shirt. He would need to shower, to eat, to have a few hours spent in comfortable silence so that he could rest. Maybe Bella could even cut his hair like she had done for Jackson.


Having waited out that sudden flare of anger, the man forced his hands to relax. He met Adrian's pale face again for a brief moment, then swung his gaze around to the man with the green hair. "Tomorrow," he said quite quietly, his voice mixing fluidly with the sounds from Nathan's videogame. "I'm - I'm gonna look f-for them tomorrow. Whoever it was, they're gonna t-tell me what they did, and then..." Then I'll kill them, he finished silently. It was no small promise to make, barely short of impossible, and he knew that. Chasing a clan of ghouls alone was not wise. But he would find a way. He always did.


Unable to face that thought any longer, Jackson swallowed those last words and started to wring his hands together to keep them busy. Several times he heard the crack of his knuckles popping before he finally spoke up again. "It - no, nevermind, uh... Have - is there another bed anywhere? Adrian, you... W-we've got to take that thing off him, so, uh - so then he can have a change of clothes, and a bed. Daryl, can you - can anyone do that?" He hoped so. Daryl said that they could get that done, but how? Was there a lock? Could it be cut by a kagune? Maybe there were some exceptionally large pliers lying around... If there were, Jackson knew how to use them. He could get the collar off. Nothing else would happen until it was gone, it had to be gotten rid of as soon as it was possible.

 

[Yoki]

Whilst the small, black haired boy was watching Jackson, he wasn't saying much to him. He kept his head down, sipping on his coffee, dull, grey eyes darting back and forth between the man and whoever he was talking to at the time. This was one of those times where he was actually listening to what was being said, it was important for him to listen and not just zone out like he always did. Jackson said he was going to look for the people who had put the collar around Adrian's neck, but he wasn't going to find them, Adrian couldn't tell him anything, he wouldn't tell him anything. 


"Oh. Yeah. Forgot about that." Daryl moved his hands from behind his head and pushed himself off of the sofa, "Hey...uh, Adrian, right? If you come with me with can get that thing off you." He crossed his arms, waiting for the boy to get up off of the sofa. It didn't happen for about a minute or so, but eventually Adrian got the cue and uncurled himself, standing up. 


Daryl turned to Jackson, motioning with his head for Adrian to follow him, "Don't worry about it, you just sort everything else out, I'll get this off." He was about to leave to room, Adrian quickly tailing him, but before he could leave he stopped and turned. "Uh, Rach, go upstairs and see what you can find that'd fit him, yeah? We can put him in the spare on the third floor, it'll be good." 


"Mhm, okay." Rachael smiled, standing up herself, "Hey, Caleb, can we try your cupboard?" She asked, she didn't just want to go rummaging around in other people's stuff, she wanted their permission first. Caleb nodded, bringing his legs down and shuffling off of the sofa to lead Rachael out of the room. The two moved past Daryl, Caleb with his head down, and Rachael smiling at the two as she passed. 


"Alright, cool. Uh, yeah," He pointed at the metal around Adrian's neck, "Let's...get that off now. C'mon." With that he finally moved out of the room. Adrian shot Jackson a glance, hesitant on leaving the room without his friend, but eventually he chose to go, leaving the room in silence. 


For a few moments more there was no speaking, Kedin sat on her phone on the far sofa, Nathan playing his game, Bella fiddled with her hands, and Dane simply sat. 


"Damn." Dane breathed, shaking his head and standing up himself to pace around the room, "What the hell did they do to that kid..." He muttered, sighing and running a hand through his dark hair, "That's seriously messed up..." 


"Tell me about it." Bella leaned her her elbow on her knee and her arm on top of that, "I feel terrible for him..." 


"I'm surprised he's alive..."


"Me too... He got extremely lucky... Somehow, he got away." 

 

[yaint]

He had come about two seconds away from offering to pick the lock on that collar himself, but just as he always did Jackson hesitated for too long and had to watch with tired eyes as Daryl led Adrian away. 'It's okay,' he wanted to assure the boy, catching that glint of uncertainty in his grey eyes. 'He will get it off, you can trust him.' It was impossible to tell whether or not Adrian needed that kind of assurance or not, but before Jackson could decide they had already gone.


Rachael and Caleb were next to leave, having decided that they were going to fetch some fresh clothes just as had been suggested. Knowing that somebody was on the job did ease Jackson's nerves somewhat. He himself was useless in this situation; it wasn't just that he was stuck downstairs, but also that nothing he had was even his to share. The clothes on his back were from Dane's wardrobe, the mattress he slept on was supposed to be for relaxing on in front of the television. He could want and wish to help all he liked, but then in the end... He was just useless.


The coarse beginnings of a new conversation jerked Jackson back to the present. There were just the five of them in the room now: Dane, Bella, Nathan, Kedin and himself, who was still sat stiffly at one end of the sofa that Dane had just arisen from. Needless to say, having been so insistent on interrogating Adrian about the people who had put that collar around his neck, Jackson became immediately fixated on the topic at hand.


Zeplin. They were talking about Zeplin, he realised within mere seconds. Daryl had told him about that group - not much, not enough, but he knew their name and their skin-crawling reputation. But never had he had the courage to pipe up and ask anyone else what they knew.


Maybe they knew something that Daryl didn't. It certainly sounded like there was something there, the way they were talking about Adrian's enormous fortune of life. They must have had some idea about what kind of awful thing must have been done to the kid, they couldn't talk about it if they didn't...


For a moment Jackson considered moving from his place to join the conversation, but interrupting Dane's pacing was likely a less than wise move. Instead, he finally elected to stay where he was, but cleared his throat anyway in a wordless announcement that he was about to speak. "Uh... D- hey, hey, Dane? B-Bella? You, uh..." He paused for a moment to swallow. Those fantasy images about what Adrian must have just run away from were making it difficult to focus on talking again. "You... You wouldn't happen to - to know about Z-Zeplin, would you? I mean, any - anything specific."

 

[Yoki]

"Huh?" Dane stopped pacing when he heard Jackson speak up, shaking his head. There was no point asking himself or Bella about Zeplin, they were so private with their affairs, it was hard enough to find them, never mind get any dirt on them. Of course they didn't know anything, they only people who did were members of the group, and anyone who spilled information usually ended up dead if Zeplin found out about it. They weren't forgiving, he knew that much.


"There's no point asking us." Bella replied, "We don't know what they do, we just know that it isn't good." She looked down, sighing, "They tried to take Daryl's little sister, Jade, a while back, but they didn't get her. We were lucky... Poor girl, I couldn't imagine what they would have done..." She shook her head, letting it sink further into her hands. 


"The person you really want to ask about that shit is Caleb." Dane muttered, tapping his foot, "That's the only reason we all know. Guy's family is all a part of it, Y'know? Well, they used to be. If you want someone who knows the insides and outs of Zeplin, he's your guy, but he hates talking about it... So you have to have a goddamn good reason, and put it extremely gently, he's in a rough enough patch as it is, no need to hurt him more." Dane's gaze told Jackson that he really didn't want to see Caleb cry because he wanted to go kill some ghouls, but the option was still there.


Again he started pacing, "Put it this way...from what I've heard of them...they're damn nasty...and they don't like escapees or traitors..." He ended up sitting on the edge of the sofa arm, looking over to the man in the wheelchair, "They're also big on discipline. I don't know exactly how the hierarchy works there, but by the looks of it, that kid was somewhere close to the bottom." 


"Dane. Don't talk about it too much, they could come back at any second." Bella warned, she didn't want anyone to get upset over the topic, "It could be difficult for him still."


"Yeah. Yeah I know."

 

[yaint]

Jackson, wishing not to mask the words to answer his questions, did not even dare to breathe. He simply sat with his bottom lip held in beneath his two front teeth and listened intently, hands wringing together atop his lap so that he would not be tempted to try and move into Dane's path.


There was a moment when Dane had been speaking that the bespectacled man paused and raised his head to look, his brows angling down in a frown and eyes widening as if to say, 'what?' Caleb, he thought, attempting to fix the pieces of the jigsaw together in his head. Caleb, a part of the clan that had done whatever it was to Adrian? No, that couldn't... That wasn't right. Caleb was not an evil ghoul, he had proved that much alone with those outbursts about hating the way he had to live that had happened a couple of months ago when Mari had discovered the truth. How could he possibly be involved with anything so dark and twisted?


When Bella finally stopped talking, Jackson began to squirm about in his seat. The silence was uncomfortable. So, Caleb. Caleb of all people was the person to ask; despite all of his confusion, the rational part of his mind was questioning what kind of motives Dane would have to lie about such a thing. The boy had avoided too much unnecessary interaction with Jackson for quite a long time, and vice versa - they had good reason to be on edge in one another's presence. But he needed to know what Zeplin did, and Adrian had not been answering his questions about the collar. There was little choice left but to batter his poor best friend until he gave up or just take the easy route and ask the guy in the centre of it all.


"Okay..." He breathed again, then glanced up. Bella was right. It shouldn't take too long to find something of Adrian's size, or similar, at least. Nothing would be too small for the kid, that was for sure. They would be back soon. I can ask Caleb. "Okay, I - l-look, I'll be careful, okay? But... I need to know everything. There's no way in hell I'm gonna f-find anyone if all I get is the name 'Zeplin', I've got to know what they did."

 

[Yoki]

"What who did?" Rachael appeared back at the door, along with Caleb, she smiled over at Jackson whilst the male walked past with his head down, sitting downon the sofa, leaning his head against Dane's side. They didn't have anything with them, which confused Bella, but Rachael quickly cleared that up. "We left the clothes upstairs, I'm sure Daryl will sort out that collar and then take him up, he's probably exhausted.... Speaking of which." 


The girl looked around, moving fully into the room and walking over to tap her little brother on the shoulder, "You can go play upstairs Nathan, we've gotta talk about something. Plus it's late, you're lucky you're even up."


"Mmn...but can't I stay here?" The boy looked up, "I'm in the middle of something..." 


"Not right now...Kedin." She turned her head, looking to the girl on her phone. Kedin simply sighed and nodded.


"Fine. Whatever. OI, Nate, come on yeah? Finish it upstairs." She stood up, walking over to tap the other on the back.


"But-"


"Come on."


"Fine."


Eventually she managed to lure the boy out of the room and footsteps could be heard as the two of them headed up the stairs. They all knew it was best to keep Nathan, a child, out of this situation, he didn't need to know the gravity of it all... Finding out that someone had been possibly tortured, and definitely treated badly, would not be good for his young mind. He didn't need to hear them speaking about it, neither did Adrian, since it was probably distressing for him, but he probably wouldn't come back in until later on when Daryl had managed to sort him out. Maybe he wouldn't come back at all and would just fall asleep instead. Who knew. 


"Anyway," Rachael sat back down, turning the game off and moving to a different channel, volume on low, "What were you guys on about?" 


"Zeplin." Dane replied, "Jackson wanted to know what happened with the kid," He shrugged, "we couldn't really tell him." Even the mention of the word 'Zeplin' seemed to make Caleb tense, he looked down, pulling a sleeve over his hand and bringing his legs up onto the sofa. It seemed Dane had got wind of the other being uncomfortable, as he'd placed a hand on Caleb's back, obviously trying to comfort him or assure him there was nothing to worry about.


"You...Y-You should...just...leave i-...it..." Caleb's quiet voice could just be heard over the volume of the television, even with how low it was, "J-Just leave...leave him a-alone about it..." He didn't once look in Jackson's direction, keeping most of his body facing the opposite way, "You'll...ups-set him..."