Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[yaint]

Jackson had just invited mask-wearing, Australian, hitch-hiking child into the car. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe himself, for being so stupid and so reckless. This kid was clearly a ghoul; the mask made that much obvious even without Claire and Tommy-Jones restlessly twitching their noses in the back, but what did it mean? Was he on the run, a fugitive surfing the streets whilst dodging the CCG's bullets? If so, well, they were already in so deep...


In the back, Claire leaned forwards and draped her hands over Jackson's chair. "Hey, so, I was jus' wonderin' if you'd be done with my gun and stuff."


"Uh. Y-yeah, sure, whatever. Have it." He clicked the safety back on before passing it into the girl's outstretched palm, and she rolled back without the restriction of a seatbelt to face the new kid in the back. For a while, she played with the trigger, flicking its tip lightly whilst angling the barrel at the Australian child's head.


She only spoke when Tommy-Jones made another whining noise and leaned his whole body against the woman sitting next to him. "Is it jus' me," she began in a rather high-pitched, inquisitive tone that accompanied a thoughtful rolling of her milky white eyes, "Or do I know you from somethin'? Like, I don't think I'd be recognisin' anybody but Lee and Tay an' all, but you smell like I know ya."


Tommy-Jones mumbled inaudibly for a while whilst Claire pouted at the child and frowned. Eventually the woman he was holding had enough after the boy wiped his nose on her jacket, so she shoved him away and he asked, "What's...Your...Name?"

 

[Yoki]

There was the barrel of a gun pointed towards his head and the kid didn't even seem to care, he was too enveloped in whatever was on his phone to worry about the weapon being pointed at him. However, when he finally did look up, he made an effort to stretch his arm out and push the barrel of the gun down and away so that it pointed more towards his legs. Content with his work, he looked back at his phone.


"Uh...I mean, maybe you've seen me around or something?" He suggested, glancing up from the device in his hands, "Can't say I recognise you...but maybe," He chuckled and shrugged, "I see a lot of people." The strangest thing about the boy was not the fact that he wore a red mask over his eyes, that he seemed to like the colour blue too much, or that he was so young running around on his own, no, it was that he was so casual despite being in a car with strangers. They could do anything to him, take him anywhere, and he was just sitting there talking to them like it was no big deal... 


Either he was crazy stupid, or had some way to get out of the situation if he needed to. He didn't even know where they were going, he was just okay with...going...


"Did you...say my name?" Finally, he put the phone down on his lap and looked up, over to the boy who had asked him the question. "It's Lorn, nice to meet you, right? I believe that's how most people introduce themselves." With a grunt, he placed his hands behind his head and sighed, looking up. "And this is the part where I ask all of your names right? Huh...there's a lot to get through..." 


He stared at each person individually, making sure not to take too long looking, but long enough to take them in. "Party or something?" 

 

[yaint]

Claire did not seem to mind much when her gun was angled away. She just twirled it on one finger, nearly dropped it and then sat back in her seat, facing forwards with a neutral expression like any normal girl would be expected to do. There was certainly something off about this kid, whoever he was... Jackson had even flinched, or tensed - something like that - upon hearing the name 'Lorn', but apart from that it was impossible to lay a finger on exactly what was wrong with this picture.


Of course, creepy atmospheres had never bothered Claire. She spent a couple of minutes playing with her gun and throwing questions back behind her head, like, "How'd ya spell it?" and "So where'd ya get your accent from?"


Tommy-Jones even tried to join in, albeit a little too late. "What's your name?" he asked for the second time, the answer seemingly not having found its way through his mind quite yet. 


Again, Claire took over. "Oh, no, this ain't a party or nothin' like that at all. I was jus' lookin' for someone I know and now we're going out to sea for a... Uh..." She thought for a moment, working that weak memory many people now knew her to possess before finally giving up and turning to Jackson for help. "Hey, um, what'cha call it when you go out somewhere and get someone out when they're all locked up? There was a word for it, there was, an' I forgot."


No answer.


"Hey, you listen to me!" the Irish girl griped, but Jackson wasn't even listening. He had his nose buried in the map again, his eyes unfocused and glassy. She could almost hear the gears turning inside his brain, but of course there was no patience within her to wait for his response. So she simply shrugged it off, "Well, nevermind an' all. He's weird. So, Lo-... L-..." Again, she had to think to remember the boy's name. "Lorn! That's right, I remembered it, I did! My name's Claire an' I came here from Ireland some years ago. This is, um, Tom. He's not so smart. And that's Bella, she's more smart, and... Glasses Guy is called Jackson, I think. Say, why've you got that mask on too under the other one? Can't'cha take it off?"

 

[Yoki]

The boy named Lorn seemed to get amusement out of watching everyone speak and fumble around, the car was filled with people he didn't know, yet he seemed to be one of the calmest within it. Everyone seemed a little cut off, he wasn't like that, by the looks of things he was perfectly happy to start interacting with people off of the get go, even talking like he'd know them for much longer than a few minutes. 


"Take it off?" He raised an eyebrow, a hand went to the fabric on the back of his head and he tugged weakly, then he shook his head, grinning. "Nope, sorry, it's glued to my face." Most people would have been aware that this was less than true, but maybe that's why he'd said it, to check who would believe him and who would call him out of his bullshit, if anyone. "Don't ever superglue something to your face, Claire. It'll never come off again." 


It was probably relatively easy for the boy to take off the mask, but to Bella it had become obvious that he didn't want to. Had he even taken in their names? Maybe. There hadn't really been much effort to interact with anyone in the front, but she supposed that that was a good thing, distractions were just tedious. Plus this child felt...strangely off in a way, maybe it was just paranoia hitting her again, but he was way too friendly with them, way too casual.


"Uh," Lorn looked up again, having been tapping at his phone for a moment or two, "Did you say you're going to go get someone who is locked up? What did they do?" He leaned back, readjusting his position against the back of the car. He now leaned one of his arms on his knee, his phone held within it as his blue eyes bounced between the object and the blonde girl in front of him. "Did they hurt some people?" 

 

[yaint]

Claire's lower lip wormed its way over the top, and she sat backwards in her seat, staring at Lorn whilst wearing the strangest kind of frown. Whatever was going on in her mind, it was clear that she was skeptical at the least, but no doubt she had now could take back the way she had gasped upon hearing the ridiculous claim about glue. It had concerned her. Actually, it had concerned Tommy-Jones even more judging by the way he could not stop staring at the little red superhero mask with worried brown eyes.


Nobody spoke much for a while apart from some mumbling. Jackson had flinched again at the mention of Adrian being referred to as 'someone', as 'them', like he was some kind of unknown, faceless John Doe not worth being concerned about. "No, he hasn't done anything," the man explained through gritted teeth. He had to try extremely hard not to turn around and give the kid a death stare, but after a while that quick flush of anger dissipated into despair again.


It's fine, he told himself. It's just a kid. He doesn't know.


Speaking of... This was just a random kid they had picked up off the streets. Nobody knew who he was, where he was from or what the hell he was doing rolling around on the roof of a car when people were shooting at him. To be fair, if those were ordinary guns then he would have nothing to be afraid of - but still, who was this child?


"Uh, hey. L-Lorn, you said your name was," Jackson started, taking quick glances at the male in the back through the mirror. Claire noticed his movement and slid the parcel shelf further down behind the back seats so that he could see better. "Look, I... We're going somewhere, and, um, you're not - you're not really meant to be in here, at all. The emergency's over, so... Why don't you tell us where you live? We'll drop you off or something... Ah... Do you - do you have parents anywhere who could pick you up? Or a brother or sister?"

 

[Yoki]

"That so?" Was the mumble from the teenager in the back when Jackson said the person that was locked up hadn't done anything, it didn't look like he believed Jackson, but he kept his voice low and focused on his electronic rather than on the conversation. It wasn't obvious why he kept his phone in his hands, maybe he was just being a teenager, maybe it was a nervous tendency, maybe he was texting someone to come find him, who knew? 


The ride went on, and Jackson decided to pipe up about how Lorn wasn't meant to be there, he even asked him if he had any family anywhere who could pick him up. Whilst he was right, the danger was gone, the emergency was over, it didn't look like the boy responded very well to the situation. He looked up, looking into the mirror at the front of the car, and then moved his blue eyes to Jackson, blinking innocently. 


"Uh...um..." Lorn smiled awkwardly and put a hand behind his head, rubbing his neck, he looked uncomfortable to say the least, which was a rather drastic change considering he'd been fine only moments ago. "No...I...I don't." He pulled a leg back, changing his position to sit cross legged as he dropped the hand that was behind his head to his knee. "Sorry to disappoint." His gaze moved to the window to his left and he chewed on the inside of his cheek, avoiding eye contact from that point onward. 


From a first glance, he didn't quite look like someone living out on the streets. His clothes looked almost new, even if they were the sorts of things you'd see people who thought they were tougher than they could ever be wear, he wasn't particularly dirty or gross looking, and his hair didn't look anything like Claire's had done before she washed up. The young man looked like any other kid you might see on the streets, yet he sat there and told Jackson that he had no family around. It was suspicious, but the way his whole demeanour changed prompted Bella to at least somewhat believe him. 

 

[yaint]

it might have been wrong to worry so deeply about a stranger, but Jackson just could not help but notice the way the whole atmosphere seemed to dissipate at the mention of family. The sudden emptiness sent shivers down the back of his neck. Something seemed off here... From some angles, this kid was about as normal as any urban teenager trying to pull off a stale trend, but if you looked at him in just the right way or focused for too long on that mask he wore, it was different. Strange, unsettling.


So what was it that made Jackson suddenly feel a wave of sympathy?


He could not let it get to him. Instead of dwelling on the matter for too long, the man leaned over as far as he could whilst still holding on to the handle on the ceilig and tried to murmur into Bella's ear: "Uh - hey, we should start looking for a phone box or something. Keep an eye out, I'll - I'll handle this."


"Handle what?" hummed Claire, although she was still fixated on Lorn's image. "Oh no, you ain't gonna get rid of 'em, are you? Oi, that's a bit mean."


Jackson's face reddened, and he had to force himself to keep staring at the little Irish girl through the mirror. She wasn't even facing him, but she still managed to block Lorn from the field of view nonetheless. "No, th- Claire, I didn't mean that," he stuttered quickly. "We just need a place is all. Lorn, you're - are you sure there's not even a place? An address?"


This wasn't going anywhere, but he despartely hoped that it would soon enough. Every second took them farther away from central London... If they were following through with their original travel plan, their first stop at a service station would happen in just a few minutes. There was no way they could just abandon a child in a place like that, let alone a ghoulish one with such a dangerous aura.

 

[Yoki]

"Huh?" The boy's head jerked up once more as Claire mentioned getting rid of him, "Oh." It didn't seem like he had much to say on the matter, in fact he just stared at the man at the front of the car, his gaze relatively neutral. His legs shifted once more, moving towards his body as if he was trying to make himself a little smaller, it looked as if Jackson was starting to make him a little uncomfortable. 


"Completely." He started, "Do you not hear my accent? Come on, even you could work out that I'm not from here. If I had an address I would have already told you it. I. Don't. Have. A. Family." Lorn's voice was a mumble, it was as if he was slightly annoyed with Jackson's question, but also very uncomfortable with it. 


He sighed, looking back out of the window once more and pulling his knees up to his chest to lay his head on. Although he didn't say anything, his attitude had completely shifted, in fact now he just looked pretty down. 


Bella wasn't comfortable with the situation either, she wasn't just going to throw a kid out onto the streets if he had nowhere to go. They'd taken so many others in, and whilst she didn't like the idea of bringing another child along to a detention centre, what other choice did they have? He said he had no family, and by the sounds of things he'd ended up over in England from what was probably Australia, why was obviously a question for another day. They'd didn't need to know everything about the boy. 


"Jackson." The woman started, "If he has nowhere to go...we can't just leave him." Her eyes veered from the road for a second, they'd have to stop at a service station soon, "It's not his fault, this happens to ghoul children all the time. He could die if we just abandon him. There's nowhere for him to go." It was true, he didn't look all that old, which meant he was probably at least a little naive... If he had no one then who knew what would happen to him? The only the she was suspicious about was that phone...if he didn't have an adult with him, then how on earth was he using a mobile? Was it just for show? Who knew... Maybe that was something they needed to find out. 

 

[yaint]

Jackson had never been able to quite lay a finger on what it was about Bella that seemed to wake him up - which it often did in a cold, cruel way. Maybe it was her wording this time. 'This happens to ghoul children all the time,' she had said. Was it true? Looking back at Claire, the seemingly alone girl having a normal-looking conversation with another foreign boy, he did feel a sudden pang of guilt. Maybe, for once in his life, he was grateful to lack that raw physical power that made ghouls so terrifying to the rest of mankind.


"No, no, we can't throw him out," he agreed as quietly as he could to Bella. "I... Look, I d- I don't know exactly what we're doing with him, but... If he's coming, we'e just going to have to re-organise that with the others. Uh, actually, we can skip the next couple of service stations. I think I'll be able to last up until Brighton if you drive quickly."


In the back, Claire had seemingly been one of the only ones to miss that somewhat clear radiating aura of discomfort coming from Lorn. She stretched her lips out in a big, unsettling grin lined with yellow teeth and exclaimed, "Oh! You're th'same as me and all, you are! How'd you lose your mam and dad?" For such a morbid topic, she spoke lightly, as though the question were as normal as asking somebody what their name was.

 

[Yoki]

"Okay, that's good." With a nod, Bella pressed down on the acceleration a little more, speeding up the car. Obviously, Jackson wasn't cruel enough to throw such a young person out on their own, especially when they claimed they had nowhere to go. They simply had to be wary of the boy, that was all, he was a new person, and not every new person was nice, but he seemed fine... A little odd...but fine. 


"My...mum and dad? Uh..." Lorn turned back to Claire, leaning his chin on his knees so that those piercing blue eyes of his could stare directly at her off white irises, "Guess they got caught up with the wrong people." He looked away, by the way he treated the situation, it obviously upset him at least a little, "I wasn't there...but they never came home so I went to look for them and found out." He swallowed, but he didn't have the energy to look up again. 


After a few moments of silence, the boy finally decided to continue the conversation, "What about you then?" He started, "You said we're the same right? So what happened to yours?" 

 

[yaint]

For all the consideration Jackson had tried to put into his suggestion, Bella's response had been surprisingly short. He was supposed to be the idiot out of those two - where was the objection, the concern, the thought-out-loud queries? Being in charge meant that people had to listen to him now, but when reality started to crash down upon them at first in the form of child hitch-hiker he questioned whether this was really what he wanted.


Anything to get Adrian out of that hell... After everything that kid had been through, it made Jackson feel sick to the marrow of his bones to know that someone was keeping him locked up somewhere.


Judging by the conversation happening behind him, Adrian was not the only one to have had run-ins with trouble when he was younger. Lorn and Claire were exchanging stories like fun name-dropping anecdotes, and every word seemed to twist through Jackson's body like another pang of guilt. It was as though he was supposed to be feeling bad for ignoring their pains.


Should he?


Maybe.


"Caught up with the wrong people!" Claire echoed in a cooing voice, her round eyes widening until a bump in the road made her forehead slam against the headrest. She shook the daze away and licked her lips. "Ooh, that's like somethin' outta a story. Same thing happened to my mam and dad, it did, but I was there an' all. It was real scary-like, we were all just cosied up in our li'l cottage like you do, and then bam!" A sound-effect provided by a couple of palms slamming against the chair was sufficient enough to make Tommy-Jones cower in his seat. "Then there's doves. Everywhere. They come chargin' through and tear up our whole village an' they took my brothers and sisters away with 'em. We were in Ireland an' all and my mam made me get on a big boat-like thing to here, went there with me god-father an' never saw nobody again after."


Again, Jackson grimaced at the sound of such horrible stories. For a kid to wait for someone to come home, and then to realise that person never arrives... That sounded all too familiar for his liking. And Claire was talking with such emphasis that it was like she was reading Lorn a ghost story.


A moment later, it became apparent just how much scenery had flown past the windows. The route had taken them up onto a beacon. They were driving along the edge of what was as good as a cliff face, miles of rolling hills and fields as far as the eye could see... He did not know where they were from first glance, but the twinkling of faint lights in the still-sunlit distance told that the city was not far away.


"Bella," the man said. "There it is. We - we meet up there, I think the station's somewhere in the middle. Let me get it on the map..."

 

[Yoki]

"Oh." The boy in the back on the car, rolled onto his knees as Claire told her story about how she lost her family, he didn't look too happy to be hearing it, but it seemed that her attitude to the situation seemed to lighten the atmosphere around it slightly. He continued to listen until she'd told the whole thing, nodding as the story went on and he tried to hold himself in position as the car was jostled by the bumpy road below. 


She'd stopped talking, but he didn't stop staring. For a few moments it was just that, his blue eyes moving over her face, like he was looking for something that just wasn't there. Eventually he put his hands down on the floor of the car, crawled forwards, reached out a hand, and tapped the girl on the nose with one of his fingers. "I'm sorry for your loss." That was all he said before he fell backwards and sat against the side of the car's boot door once again. No comment was made about her odd way of dealing with the situation, not questions were asked, just that simple sentence and a tap on the nose. He'd returned back to his phone in seconds, like nothing had ever even happened. 


That's how it went for the rest of the ride, the boy named Lorn in the back went through his phone and only really spoke when someone spoke to him. Bella had started to drive a little faster when looking for the station, before finally she'd managed to find it. She'd never been to Brighton before, which was strange considering it wasn't all that far away if you thought about how large the country actually was. Once she'd found a place to park her car for a moment, she'd taken out her phone and messaged Daryl on it to tell him that they were safe and at the meeting place. 


"Alright." Putting the device away, the woman undid her seat belt and turned to look at all the ghouls in the back of the car, "You know what to do. I don't need to go over it again really." With a sigh, she brought her hand to her door handle and pulled it, letting the car door swing open. "Claire, try not to wander off, you too Tommy, stay close, and uh..." She turned to the new boy in the back, "Lorn...was it?" 


"Yeah." The male replied, clicking his phone shut and looking up at her. 
 


"Okay. Just...uh...if you're coming with us, it's probably best you don't disappear off anywhere." Once she'd gotten a nod from him, and looked at everyone else, she nodded herself and turned to Jackson, "So...ready?" She asked him, waiting for the man's answer before doing anything. 

 

[yaint]

There had been a few minor disturbances since Lorn's arrival - a few road blocks, some long and twisting diversions, one or two strange looks from people on the walkways. But for the most part, they had made it to the station without too much delay. It was almost too good to be anything short of a miracle.


Upon hearing Bella's question, Jackson lifted his head and stared up at her in momentary confusion. He had spent far too long staring at the map to notice what was happening around them, but once he had his bearings again he was quick to respond. "Uh - yeah, just gimme a moment," he requested as his own door clicked and swung open.


A few passersby stopped to watch as the strange man threw his legs to one side and started to reassemble his wheelchair from the parts on the floor. It was only after Claire had given Bella a quick 'yup-yup' and taken Tommy-Jones' hand to leave that he Jackson finally rested his arms.


"Okay," he breathed, "We're not stopping for too long, oh okay? We meet up, I'll grab some lunch and everyone can take a bathroom break... And, uh." His voice lowered so that the words would slip unnoticed past Lorn's ears. "What should we do with him? Do you... Do you think Daryl's got room for one more kid? We're in trouble if someone sees him in the boot."

 

[Yoki]

"I'm sure we can work it out." Bella replied, not saying any more on the subject as to not alert Lorn of their conversation. Then she turned around again, clapped and started to step out of the vehicle, "Alright. Everyone out, it's not too far, we're just going to see the others, grab some stuff, and hope that we can get going quickly." 


Once she was out, followed the two adult ghouls in the back and Lorn, who was still on his phone, she moved around the car to help Jackson into his wheelchair, but once that was done she'd headed straight for the station. Making sure everyone had gotten back safely was her top priority, as long as the others stayed around Jackson they wouldn't have a problem with people recognising him. They didn't have recent photos anyway. 


She was moving forwards, looking down, when suddenly she bumped into someone... Someone a little taller than she was. 


The woman backed up, immediately shooting her head up, "Shit. Oh, sorry, I didn't-" It took her a second to recognise the face, but as soon as she did she stopped apologising and smiled. "Aren't you meant to be waiting by the station?" 


"I guess so, but who could miss an opportunity to see you, right?" Dane raised an eyebrow, looking down at the red haired individual in front of him, "I just took a small walk, circling the place. We didn't want to miss you guys out." 


"Lucky," She crossed her arms, tapping her foot against the concrete on the ground, "I'm glad you didn't miss us." 


"Yeah, should be." Dane muttered, moving his eyes from Bella to look behind her, "Daryl's getting tired of waiting. I swear, that guy never stops complaining." 


"Ignore him, he's a giant pain in the ass." 


"But he's still your best friend huh?"


"Hey, he's my pain in the ass." 

 

[yaint]

Even if he couldn't feel the relief of stretching his legs, it was somehow a huge relief to be out in the open again. Sitting in a cramped car was bad enough, but the company of six other people didn't make the air any fresher and now even Brighton felt as good as a breath straight from a mountain.


As soon as he was in position, the man wheeled around - still being careful not to strain his chest, which was probably still tender and sore - and went to face the group.


A headcount is what he had in mind. Himself, Bella, Claire and Tommy-Jones. Those two other ghouls who had joined them for protection and Lorn, who had been sitting in the boot.


At first glance, it looked like everyone was here. He counted all seven and... One more? he thought, staring in puzzlement at the figure stood by Bella. After wiping his glasses with his shirt, the image became clear again.


"Dane." No time was wasted in approaching the man. He did not stop for long to wait through the playful bickering; butting in wasn't ideal, but with Adrian's freedom, sanity and life on the line they could not afford to waste any time with this kind of fluff. "Dane, you - when did you get here, what time? Where are the others? I... We need to get everyone together somehow and check up, m-make sure everyone got over safely."

 

[Yoki]

The attention was immediately shifted to Jackson as he started to address Dane, the man had nodded in response, taking a step back to survey just who Jackson had brought with him. 


"A little bit ago, I couldn't tell you the exact time or anything," He replied, locking his dark eyes with Jackson's, "Everyone's waiting at the station, they broke up into smaller groups again and are pretty much doing their own things. Didn't want it to look too suspicious... You never know who's watching." After pausing for a second, he continued, "Diana is going around right now, making sure everyone is arrived, she's checking with group leaders and then letting everyone go. We were just waiting on you guys." A smile crossed his face, Jackson may have been the technical leader of the operation, but that didn't mean they had to wait for him to do everything, a simple head count whilst he was gone was fine. 


"Great. Then we'll be quicker stopping off here." Bella nodded, turning to look towards Claire and Tommy, "Try not to make too much of a row, it's best no one thinks we're strange or anything. We don't want to draw attention." She then smiled, budging Dane with her arm to get past him. "C'mon then." 


"Okay, one se-" Just as Dane had grinned and was about to turn around his eyes caught those of the young boy with the strange red mask over his eyes, "Uh...Jackson?" He looked from this kid to Jackson and then back again, "Who's that?"


"Oh hey." The boy lifted his head away from his phone and let his hand drop to his side, the accent seemed to throw Dane off even more, making the man's eyebrows furrow. There was silence between the two for a moment, before Lorn simply smiled and walked forwards. "The name's Lorn, strange, I know. You...can address me directly y'know? I'm plenty capable of answering questions directed at me." He held out a hand, which Dane hesitantly shook. This kid baffled him... 



"Uh..." 

 

[yaint]

Jackson nearly jumped right out of his chair when he turned his head and caught the striking scarlet of that superhero mask in the corner of his vision. Oh, he thought. Him. It was impossible to have forgotten about Lorn's presence, but with so many unusual happenings cropping up around them it felt less noteworthy than normal by now. But of course Dane had heard nothing of this kid and his Australian accent, and with any common sense it could be guessed that an explanation was in order.


Even when Lorn began to introduce himself, Jackson was quick to cut him off. "Hold - Lorn, hold on a second, let me. Uh, don't worry about him, Dane, it's a long story. He's just a kid we found on the streets, says he doesn't have any family or place to go. I was actually going to ask if we could put him in another group. It's gonna be a problem if someone sees him in the boot."


"I want to see Callum!" came an outcry from Tommy-Jones. His twig-like fingers were still entwined with Claire's, but he kept trying to pull away. With every breath his nostrils flared like he could pick up traces of his brother's scent in the air. 


Claire tutted, "Wait! Hold!"


"No! Ca-allum!"


Somehow, Claire managed to lose her fight. She ended up tailing the older ghoul into the station, calling for him to come back as he cried out for his younger brother over and over. People turned to look. Jackson's face went pink. "Nevermind," he said quietly. "You can - uh, take him instead. Where's Daryl?"

 

[Yoki]

"Yeah. Whatever." Lorn mumbled, relaxing and going back to his phone, ignoring the rest of their conversation. His behaviour was that of a typical teenager, ignore the outside world, go on any device he could find, revert into himself. It might have also been because he didn't know the people around him very well, but it was difficult to judge the boy, especially when his personality kept jumping back and forth from rather friendly to uninterested. 


"Tommy!" Bella called, but she quickly turned her back to the two, her head shaking in her hands, "I told them...not to make a racket..." She muttered, but of course it was hard to deal with someone like Tommy Jones... They'd have to let him be with Callum, like suggested, and then that Lorn boy would stay with them. 


"I see..." Dane stared at Lorn for a few moments, before snapping out of it and shaking his head, "Well then, guess it's nice to meet you kid." There were a few seconds of silence as he stared at the boy, not enveloped in the small object in his hands. 


"Oh." Suddenly the teen looked up, turning those blue eyes to meet the taller male's, "Yeah!" He smiled, "You too!" Then it was straight back to his phone. 


"Kids, am I right?" Raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms once more, Dane motioned with his head back towards the station when Daryl was mentioned, "Inside, getting pissed that you're not here yet. We...should probably go meet him. Diana should have the head count finished by now," He turned to start walking, "That woman is amazingly efficient." 

 

[yaint]

Maybe Jackson would have paused for a moment to echo Dane's words, sheepishly commending that intimidating woman named Diana for her efficiency at work. But he did not; as soon as he heard Daryl's name fed back to him, his hands curled into fists. Pissed off? Oh, he would have to go and apologise to the dick for nearly being killed again like it was his fault in the first place. 


"Right," he mumbled back. "Yeah, we should. You all go on ahead, I'll, uh... I'll catch up with you in a few minutes. Just let me go take care of a couple things first."


***


"Teach that prick to be impatient..."


"What?" The baker paused with a packaged pastry held on his palm, his round, young eyes squinting to try and make sense of Jackson's inaudible mutterings.


"Nothing," the other man said. He reached up to the counter, held out his palm and received the goods in his hand. There was a queue building up behind his bulk by now, and whilst that was somewhat flustering he could not lie that there was some satisfaction in forcing Daryl to wait even longer for his arrival after complaining once. So far he had gone to the bathroom, run a trip to a corner shop for supplies and watched the news for any new information on his parents, Adrian or the CCG. Of course, it was just the same stories repeated over and over, so he had given up after a while.


Now, though, he was done. He pocketed the packaged pastry, swung his backpack over the handle of his chair and backed out onto the street before taking himself across the road to the station again.


"Claire?" he called a few metres away after catching a flash of white-blonde.


"Yah?"


"He - he's there, isn't he? Daryl?"


There was a quick pause. The blonde hair disappeared and then flicked back into view. "Dunno. I think he's inside or somethin', that's where he was when I last saw 'em."


Of course he was. Jackson did not expect anything else but stubbornness here. 'What the hell were you thinking?' he could imagine the green-haired male whining as he rolled in through the open doorway. 'You should have waited until the next stop. Blah, blah.'


And now that he was inside, there was a chance to concoct some wild answers to whatever complaints he may hear. "Daryl!" he called out. "C'mon, we need to do some talking and head off again. There's not much time, sun's started to set."

 

[Yoki]

"You two should come down already." As Jackson walked into the doorway what was clearly noticeable were the two individuals up on their hands next to each other, one seemed a lot smaller than the other, but it wasn't hard to tell they were having some type of competition. 


Dane stood behind them, shaking his head and speaking quietly to Caleb who was stood just behind him, nervously glancing around. Everyone else was spread out, or had left as some groups wanted to get on. Bella and Diana stood together, talking and shooting disapproving glances towards the two males doing handstands. 


"Come on. Daryl, be an adult. You're going to get us kicked out." Bella muttered, but the green haired man didn't budge from his position, completely ignoring her for once. 


"Yeah, Daryl. Do as she says." The other person, who seemed to be the new boy named Lorn they'd picked up, taunted him. Leaning one leg over towards the man and pushing at his side with his foot, whilst still somehow managing to maintain balance.


"Fuck off, don't sabotage me." Daryl snapped back, only gaining a laugh from the kid. 


Dane had already turned towards Jackson as he'd entered, then whispered something to Caleb, moved from behind Daryl and Lorn, and looked over at Diana. Getting the signal, she looked towards the entrance and nodded, then she set off. In seconds she'd come up behind the two and pushed at their legs. 


"Alright. Fun's over. There's work to do." She told them, not wasting a second more of her time on them as their feet moved back towards the ground. 


Whilst Daryl's landing was pretty sudden, since he was unprepared when being pushed, Lorn's was awfully controlled, and once he landed he was right back to taunting. 


"I could have stayed up there all day." He muttered, wiping his hands on his jacket and grinning, that only made Daryl scowl. 


"Sure you could." He scoffed, before Bella walked up to him and nudged him in the side with her elbow. 


"You've caused enough trouble, just get on would you?" She motioned with her head towards Jackson, diverting Daryl's attention, but not making him any happier. 


"Yeah?" He put his hands in his pockets, walking up to the man in the wheelchair, "Well y'know fucking what? Everyone could have been off a whole lot sooner if you didn't take your sweet ass time. Shut the fuck up." 


"Daryl. Public." Bella scolded, but she was ignored, Daryl was only paying attention to Jackson. 


"Everyone's already been counted, left, others around. Diana did your fucking job whilst you were off watching T.V or some shit." He readjusted his stance, moving his hands around inside his pockets, "Dunno what you wanna talk about, but do it quick." 

 

[yaint]

Jackson stiffened as soon as he saw Daryl's face, and tensed his muscles ready to start throwing punches when he heard those carelessly chosen words. A hand went to the little collection of coffee cups he had brought with him on his lap. Oh, he came ever so close to popping the lid off one of them and throwing the scalding-hot liquid all over the other man. But instead he restrained himself, slammed it down on the table and told him, "Drink. It'll keep your mouth shut for a few seconds."


There was a low whistle from Claire, who had barely seen Jackson angry before. Tommy-Jones, who was stood on the other side of the group, tried to mimic her but was quickly silenced by Callum's fist colliding with his pursed lips.


Eventually, Jackson started picking up the rest of the hit drinks. All of them were large black coffees, sweetened with the kind of brown sugar ghouls seemed to like. 


"So... Uh, some people are gone already?" Having flipped the switch between irritable and nervous, the man turned shakily to Diana's direction. She could have waited... but whatever. If people were too impatient to wait around, they could catch up with the instructions with a mobile phone. "Okay.  Well, that's fine, I... I just wanted to check up is all. The CCG isn't exactly hiding from us. Bella, I don't know if you've said it already but there are road blocks on every other turning. The news says some railway lines are down too. But it's fine, because-"


"Tom! Shut up!" Callum hissed as his brother began mumbling questions.


"-Because I've mapped out an alternative route, r-right here." It was a little awkward to reach backwards, but he grabbed at a scroll protruding from his backpack and produced a map. When he rolled it out on the table the workings became clear. Lines were drawn down roads, train stations were circled in red ink... The route took an almost zigzag-like pattern, and it looked like the route for Bella's car was even more complicated. It took them down lanes in the middle of the city and refused to touch the motorway which would take them directly towards Portsmouth. After a few seconds, Jackson waggled his fingers and gestured for everyone to lean in.  "Here, just take a look at this. You'll all have to make a... A few changes, I guess. Is that okay?"

 

[Yoki]

During all of the chaos and explanation, Lorn had started to walk around, looking at each individual in turn. However, his eyes seemed to land on the other two teenage boys, his gaze lingering slightly on the smaller of the two. Noting that everyone else was tied up, he smiled and walked over, making sure to catch their attention by trying to keep eye contact. 


"Y'know," He took something out of his pocket, placing it in his mouth and starting to chew, before looking down to his phone. He didn't need to catch their attention now that he was standing directly in front of them, confident as ever. "It's not nice to talk to someone so rudely." The boy was obviously referring to how Callum had rather harshly told Tommy to be quiet, "I was outside with him y'know." As casual as ever, he waved a hand at Tommy, without looking up, "He was calling your name and everything, and then you're just cruel to him." For a moment he was silent, again going in his pocket and placing something else in his mouth, "What a sad existence." His tone was awfully nonchalant, in fact it came across as slightly teasing, and he didn't once properly make eye contact with the two once he'd started talking. 


"Yes." Diana replied, nodding her head once, "Everyone was here except you. So we did a head count and allowed group to get off if they felt like it, it was mainly the Aegis led bunch, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." Her voice was as firm and calm as always, in fact...it started to remind Bella of someone for a moment...but she couldn't quite put a finger on who. 


Everyone around Jackson fell silent as he laid out the route map for them and started to explain it. When asked if it was okay that they'd have to make some diversions there didn't seem to be any objections, Bella was studying the map the hardest, Dane had take a photo, and Diana was getting her phone out to do so as well. 



"Tch. Damn doves." Daryl muttered under his breath, eyes scanning the map, "Guess we have no fucking choice..." If these were the lines they had to take then that was that, "Hope this shit doesn't delay us that much." He seemed to be talking to himself rather than anyone else, but no one was paying attention to him anyway, so it didn't matter. 


"I'd advise getting these to everyone, just to make sure they know where they are heading." Diana announced, looking around, the minute she was acknowledged she looked back down again. "Are there any other predicaments we need to be made away of Jackson?" 

 

[yaint]

As if Lorn had not repulsed the boy enough, his sudden appearance just feet away made Callum shrink back against his older brother. Tommy-Jones stumbled back a few inches and wrapped his arms around Callum in turn, although the gesture did not last long. He was quickly pushed away and a round, pink face turned to stare Lorn dead in the eye. Or it would have been in the eye, if only that bastard had the guts to look right back at them.


"You're sad," he retorted rather uncreatively. "Quit butting in like you know Tom. You don't know squat, you little kid!"


In the back, Tommy-Jones crouched over and whispered something into Callum's ear. Luckily for everyone else's interest, however, Tommy-Jones' idea of 'whispering' involved speaking in a low, croaky voice with a hand over his mouth. "Why's he sad, Callum?" 


"I thought I told you to be quiet, you're gonna get everyone in trouble!"


Again there was a hushed whimpering noise. Tommy-Jones cupped his hands over his mouth and took another step away without looking, which resulted in him walking directly into one of the taller ghouls. In his panic, he blurted, "I real sorry, Callum! I am! I didn't mean it, promise!"


Callum mumbled something to himself and whipped a quick, almost-invisible kick into his brother's shin. He took the opportunity to address Lorn whilst Tommy-Jones was busy inspecting the sore flesh. "P-... Piss off!" he hissed, although his words were uncertain, like he was not used to such harsh language.


*


Everyone, including Jackson and several of the people around him, had stopped to watch the exchange between Lorn and the two brothers who had reunited earlier. There were a few displeased expressions in the audience, at least. Nobody seemed to want to take initiative to move on until Claire's little white hand appeared in the air.


People had almost forgotten that the Irish girl had been there at all. Her small form had been swallowed by the ocean of larger ghouls, but her sing-song voice rang out all the same. "Oh, don't worry about 'em boys, Lorn," she assured from wherever she was. "They do that all the time. It's kinda funny."


"Uh, right," Jackson continued. He clapped the bottom of the map against the table, regaining focus after distraction. "Just - there's a lot to keep in mind, okay? The stuff we talked about back in London. They know what I look like. Not you. Everyone just, err, act natural. Copy the crowd. As long as you follow the diversions, no railway blocks should be a problem and Bella can handle everything else. Most important thing, keep in contact. Text updates every half-hour, call if it's important. And whatever you do, don't dial 999."


There was silence, followed by a wave of nods.


"That good? Okay, o- right, anything else from anyone or can we all go?"

 

[Yoki]

"Hmph." Lorn grunted, still not looking up from his phone, "See, you did it again." He mumbled, tapping away at the screen, "You're making him sad, you should just answer his question instead of being so mean." The suggestion wasn't exactly malicious, it was good, there was no harm in it. To anyone onlooking it simply seemed like Lorn didn't like the way Callum treated Tommy, "Does no one else tell you off for that? It's just mean." 


Of course upon being told to 'piss off' the boy's eyes shot up from his phone, they locked with Callum almost instantly, and for a few seconds he just stared. "Why'd you kick him?" He asked, taking a step forwards, "Why'd you do that to him? He loves you." However, just as he was about to speak again he heard Claire's voice and turned his head to look for her amongst the crowd. Unfortunately, the taller, older ghouls obstructed his view. "Claire?" He called, tilting his head to the side, "But...don't you think it's mean?" After he'd mentioned that, Jackson started speaking again, and so he was forced to be silent for a moment. 


"No objections?" Diana asked, taking a step forwards to look over everyone, her eyes lingering on the children's confrontation for a moment, especially on the new boy. What did Claire just call him? She didn't dwell on it for long, there were much more important matters to consider than some kid's name. "Alright." Having heard nothing from anyone, she turned her head back to Jackson, "I think we're good." 


Daryl had moved back towards his group, Rachael, Nathan's hand in her's, now appearing on his tail, Dane was trying to soothe an anxious Caleb, who obviously hated this whole situation, and Bella simply stood waiting. Everyone else could sort themselves out. There were plenty capable. 

"Come on. Back to the car!" She called, looking for teenagers in particular, although she didn't know whether they'd respond or not. 


Having heard Bella's call, Lorn turned slightly, but he wasn't done. He looked back to Callum for a moment and sighed. 


"He should leave you...because you're just gonna hurt him more and more, and then who knows what'll happen one day." 

 

[yaint]

Bella's call to move seemed to close the meeting, although Jackson still felt the need to chime in, "Okay! Let's go!" That was the last word to send everyone packing. People began to dissolve into their groups again, forming little squads bundled up behind their leaders. Several heads craned to look in on the screen on every mobile phone until they fought each other away. Jackson swept up the empty coffee cups, lobbed them in a recycling bin and then wended his way around the rest of the tables and chairs to follow Bella and the group out to the car park.


What Jackson was not in time to notice, however, was the end of the confrontation between the four teenagers. Afraid to get too involved, Claire lingered in one corner of the room with her pinky finger in her mouth and watched.


Unsurprisingly, Tommy-Jones had tried to pull away to join Bella's group, who he had been travelling with for the whole journey so far. Equally as predictably, Callum had grabbed his older brother by the wrist. "You're in our group, stupid," he muttered.


"Lorn's not," Claire announced from afar, although she immediately felt as though she should not have when she felt the sharpness of another glare. "Jus' sayin'... You should come with us already, you should. Or they're gonna leave without us."


"Yeah," Callum agreed. He took Tommy-Jones by the hand and led him to the exit, but on the way he stopped - directly in front of Lorn. He warned, "And you shut up about me and my big bro!" Then a fist collided with the youngest boy's jaw.


Maybe the hit would have been devastating. There were certainly a few prying eyes watching in on them from every angle, but it looked like Callum's bark was worse than his bite. It was something of a feint - he mimed a hard hit, but barely even brushed Lorn's cheek like he was afraid to hurt him for real.