[sylvanSpider]

[[Okay, okay, I know, fucking finally, right? Those are my thoughts anyway. I've been a mess recently, but I actually have one up! I am so sorry about how long it took, I'm just grateful that I had the foresight to message that it might be a while. I'm hoping to be getting my shit together relatively shortly, as rp will now be the intersecting moments of joy between chapters or pages written for class.]]

The safe room, as expected by the holes he'd noted in the ceiling during the last visit, was damp. The front half of the room would best be described by the word “moist,” complete with all of the unpleasant connotations that the word evoked. Taka and Aren were huddled around the walkie talkie on the dryer side of the room, not bothering to dry themselves off. Their stay in the safe room would ideally be brief – they had little time to waste if their friend was going to make it more than a couple of days. The response came as quickly as anticipated, though the news was less than savory. “Men?” Taka asked over Aren's shoulder, “They Mav's men?”

Aren nodded glumly, “Ian told me about their history. After running into one of them on our last trip out, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mav was after him again, though I don't see why he doesn't just let the past just die.”

“Maverick is not the type,” Taka huffed, “He'll destroy everything you love first, then go for you. He'd make it hurt if he has any say in it, too. In fact, I'm surprised he's not going after you first, unless he doesn't know about you yet.”

Aren's hands were trembling, though he wasn't certain if it was news of the fever and the men or if it was the rainwater soaking his clothes and clinging to his skin that was the culprit. “He wouldn't go after me. Ian and I have known each other all of about two or three days. We ain't been friends for too long. He don't know about me yet. But he might know about you. Do you know if he has access to the records of who is living where?”

Taka pursed her lips in thought, letting her eyes drift to one of the leaks on the other end of the room, “Hard to say. But he might leave me alone after killing off all of my loved ones. He's sick like that.”

The young man shook his head, breathing in deep through his nostrils before exhaling into a tentative sigh, “Alright, Tristan? Listen to me, okay? Don't leave our apartment. Stay there. Do not open the door for fucking anyone, 'aight? Fucking anyone except Taka or myself. Do Mav's men know what you look like? Also, I know this is a stretch, but if you can move Ian to the closet – used to be a walk in – might be able to make a bed in there in case they manage to break in. If you get a knock do not say anything. Taka and I are gonna try to get this medicine tonight, even if we have to go around them. The rain sucks, but it makes for decent cover. Stay safe. That's an order, got it? We'll keep you updated when we can, okay?

With that, he clicked off the walkie talkie, his eyes going to Taka who now bore the thousand yard stare familiar to anyone who knew that they might now be in serious trouble. He prayed that it was nothing to worry about. At least, not yet.