"Oh shut up," Silver said, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. She
was smiling and her cheeks had flushed--she hated embarrassment
more than anything--when he said that, although Silver was
subconsciously tilting her face away from him. She patted her bangs
out of habit and rolled her eyes a bit, grinning.
-------
Jack paused, awkwardly stumbling with his words. His ear began to
twitch rapidly as if he were picking up on the conversations of the
passerby (which wasn't true, because the nearest people were out of
his hearing range). "The thing is, uh... I sort of... don't have an
ID? And, uh, I don't think that 'if you don't have an ID we'll kill
you' thing is a myth... so... I legally don't exist and can't leave
the city?" He shrunk back a bit, mildly afraid of what Crystal
would reply. He was half-expecting her to leave him behind and go
herself since they didn't know each other too well. He was never
good at sustaining friendships, anyway.
''the blushing make's it even more precious'' he teased, snickering
a bit as he crossed his arm's, tilting his head slightly.
he sighed and scratched the back of his neck, letting one of his
ear's droop slightly.
''anyway... just swing by my place whenever your either not busy or
off work, i'm usually home most of the time unless miss Petunia
needs something, then i'm usually out and around town'' Mango
said.
~~~~~
Crystal sighed and put her hand against her face.
''you could've told me that before we got this far....'' she
sighed, pinning her ear's back.
Silver was mildly distracted by the way his ear drooped when he
moved--she found it adorable but didn't say anything about it--and
nodded enthusiastically. Her tail was swishing again and she seemed
to take no notice to his flirtatious comments. "Yeah, alright. I'll
see you around, Mango," she said calmly, smiling at him before she
turned around to exit the orphanage.
--------------
He shrunk away from her slightly, his ears pinned back to his head.
"It's not something that really comes up in conversation," he
mumbled weakly in defense, his tail lowered slightly. "Besides,
it's never a good idea to get near the police forces."
Mango blushed faintly and waved, smiling a little as he watched her
leave.
a young girl, who looked about eleven years old, with freckles
splashed across her face followed along after Silver and helped
escort her to the door.
she had long true ginger orange, curly hair and a small fluffy
bobbed tail to match, and looked up at her.
''mister Mango has a bit of an obvious crush on you miss, and vice
versa with you even if you don't realize it yet'' the young girl
said.
~~~~~~~
Crystal looked at him and sighed.
''calm down, not like i'm gonna kill ya.... you've been really kind
and sweet to me Jack, and i want to try and repay you somehow...''
she mumbled.
Silver chortled, her smile lopsided. "Maybe. That stuff takes time,
y'know?" She said, not quite sure how to react. She knew this, of
course--Silver had done her best to ignore it--and wasn't quite
sure what would happen if she were to confront it. Instead of
lingering on it, Silver ruffled the girl's hair and stepped out of
the orphanage. "Well, I'd best be going~" She waved at the girl and
walked away.
------
Jack blinked sharply, a bit surprised that Crystal had said she
wanted to repay him. "Oh. Alright, then." He looked up at the
Skyways again, rubbing a thoughtful thumb across his chin. "We
still need a way to get to the edge, though," he added, racking his
brain to remember where the nearest station was.
the young girl huffed and straightened her curly hair back out.
Mango chuckled an walked over, scooping her up and put her on his
shoulder.
''Amaryllis you can be such a twerp sometime's like a little
sister'' he said once he closed the door, his face a bright red out
of embarrassment.
Amaryllis looked at him and hit the back of his head.
''your the numb skull Mango, your so obvious it's painful'' she
said.
he sighed and pinned his ear's back, rubbing the back of his head
where she hit him.
''for an eleven year old, your very observant...'' Mango sighed,
carrying her back toward's the kitchen.
~~~~~~
Crystal looked up at the Skyways above and thought for a
moment.
''i remember seeing the station on the other side of town...'' she
muttered, just loud enough for Jack to hear.
Jack nodded firmly. The other side of town was a long walk from
where there were, but it certainly beat walking across the entire
Capital. He thought about the walk and the ways to get there and,
much to his surprise, realized that there wasn't much stopping him.
He could take any route and have it be safe--for the most part, a
majority of his rivalries and danger areas were on their side of
town. Why did I never think about moving? he wondered,
cursing himself for his stupidity.
Jack stayed terribly close to Crystal as they walked through the
Skyway station, their arms centimeters away from brushing. His ears
were pinned back in an obvious discomfort and his tail was pulled
back against his leg so that he wouldn't brush against any
strangers. Strangely enough, his face stayed emotionless--if not
for his tail and ears, Jack would've been unreadable.
In his peripherals, he spotted a guard leaning against the wall.
Jack weaved into the crowd only to escape from the guard's view,
tensely waiting for the Skyway train to arrive.
Crystal stayed close to Jack and grumbled under her breathe.
''this is why i rarely use the skyways to go anywhere.... always so
crowded and busy......'' she muttered.
Jack nodded--although it was more of a reluctant dip of the chin
than anything--even though he had only taken the Skyways once or
twice. He'd never had anywhere to go, and when he did move from
area to area it was on a whim and almost entirely on foot. As long as it gets me as far away as possible, he thought to
himself, glancing at Crystal and stomaching the fact that she was a
complete stranger. He trusted her, more so than any stranger he'd
met so far, but he was always one to make irrational decisions and
then forget them immediately. Jack tilted his chin back up,
suppressed his regret, and kept navigating through the crowd.
Jack had been the one to lead Crystal to the back corner of the bus
so that they could stuff themselves away from all of the others,
sitting next to each other because all the other seats were full
(and he was a bit afraid of being separated). He propped his arm on
the windowsill, resting his head on it so that his hand covered
half of his mouth. The outside world seemed to slip by, with the
city looking rich and fancy for five seconds and then going back to
marketplaces and areas that looked like the ones Jack lurked
in.
"How far out of our area have you been?" He asked, glancing back at
Crystal. He figured that it would help to get to know her a little
better.
Crystal perked up and looked over at him, then looked down and
pinned her ear's back.
''i-i haven't been o-out of our area in the k-kingdom...... those
street's were all i knew, and i knew how to hide...... cause i
heard rumors a few weeks back about how children or teens who are
to old to go to an orphanage are either forced to work somewhere in
the market place, or immediately are taken in for training to be a
guard or warrior...'' she mumbled, shaking slightly at the thought.
Jack's ears swiveled her way. He had moved around more than her,
but had always stayed on that side of the kingdom--after all, a
broke homeless kid on foot could hardly travel one area--only to
return to the same area. It was where he grew up, and he grew up
around the same orphanage rumors that Crystal had. It was almost
chilling. "I never heard about the marketplace thing," he said,
softly. "For us, it was always army or sometimes death. The police
force was really brutal to kids on the street, from what I heard,
but that might just be because I'm a fox."
''i just wish there was peace....! my parents would still be alive
if this war never broke out to begin with........!!'' she
whimpered, making sure her stuff wouldn't be taken before she
pulled her legs up and hugged them, burying her face into her
knee's
"We'd all be a little better off, wouldn't we?" He said, much
softer than her. Jack's paranoia-washed eyes skimmed the crowded
bus, searching for any eavesdroppers, but he realized that most
passengers were distracted with their own soft conversations or
headphones of some sort. He leaned closer to her, anyway, so that
he could mumble in her ear, "It doesn't fix everything, but we'll
be further from the war when we leave."
Crystal shifted a bit and hugged him, resting her head against his
chest as her ear's flattened against her skull.
she was tensed up and trembling, obviously fighting back her tear's
since her lip was quivering.
''w-when.... we're safe... you plan to leave afterwards...... am i
right....?'' she asked quietly yet loud enough for him to hear, her
voice shaky.
Jack couldn't see her face, but he knew she was on the brink of
crying. "I don't know," he said, gently, "I never really know what
I'm doing if that makes sense." He paused and took a moment to
listen to her shaky breath. "Do you want me to?"