Fay - T (Open)

"For one thing, you both clearly missed lunch, and since this is your younger brother's first offense, I'm willing to let it slide for the both of you so long as you promise to stay in school," he said, pulling into the restaurant, "And I'll know if you're lying. So after lunch, it's straight to school, and I'll take care of the rest...so long as you hold up to your end of the bargain."

"Besides that, we wouldn't be here right now if you had just listened in the first place instead of trying to run off. Okay, everyone out! It's time to eat!"

Hakan sighed as he shoved the car door open and then slid out of the vehicle. Rafe followed shortly after him, chattering about his favorite foods and how everybody spoke of how great Nawroki's Diner was, and how he would never skip school again. Once that kid got going, it was hard to get him to stop.

But at least Rafe's talk offered a distraction. He couldn't promise without lying, and a lying promise was the same as not promising at all. But he had to stop thinking about that.

"You'll love it here!" Rafe repeated for at least the third time, as he walked across the bush-lined path. and to the double glass doors.

Nail Torrek

With a schedule in his hand and dark heavy bags in his eyes, Nail stumbled into his Literature class with his feet dragging as he walked. He dropped his school bag off next to the nearest seay he could find, the desk at the end of the second row with strange looking symbols on it, and pratically fell into his seat out of exhaustion.

The teen giant had noticed a Help Wanted ad in last morning's newspaper, but when he tried searching for it after school it took him hours to find the store, only to be turned down as someone had gotten the position before him. It then took him even longer to make his way back to his apartment, and by the time he got there he had only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep before his alarm had woken him up to go to school.

Nail had done his best to stay awake through, let alone focus on the material of his previous classes. He hadn't eaten any food since yesterday's school lunch, and with his barren stomach and lack of rest taking his toll on him, all efforts of sitting up straight in his desk were useless as Nail's head dropped onto his folded up arms, drifting off into a much needed slumber.

Casey Jewels wrote:

"All schools are bad," Morgan answered shortly. Her brown eyes slid to the street, and then she started forward, not even bothering to look back at the strange kid. "But as fun as this talk about school is, I'm leaving."

Already she could hear the clinking of coins as money switched hands, and already she could feel her pockets growing heavy. The strange kid was no concern of hers, and he was already fading from her mind.

Kyron blinked. She said it as though it should be obvious to him. Was learning at school so different from learning from a personal teacher? He didn't think it sounded bad, spending time with others as they learned.

With a confused look and not knowing where else to go, he began to follow after the strange girl. She was one of the first people to talk to him since he arrived here and the only one around his age. Other people his age were a rare treat.

"Why are schools bad? Where are you going?"

Morgan let out a low groan at his insistance. Who was this kid? Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She increased her speed, giving him a brief glance as she did so. "Schools are just bad. And it's none of your business where I'm going."

He wasn't going to follow her all of the way back to her house, was he? And then to The Circuit? That would be bad. She had to ditch him, and fast.

"Alright. Then tell me why school is bad. Is everyone in this city in a rush? Master Mhenlo always said people here lost the Way," Kyron told her innocently.

"Why are you in a hurry?"

Ugh. This kid really wasn't going to leave her alone.

"Look," Morgan said as she came to an abrupt halt and turned to face him, "School is just a place for them to control you and keep you busy, out of their hair. You memorize pointless facts and if you don't spew them back out correctly, you're considered a failure. And, quite frankly, the whole thing is just rubbish. But if you want to go so badly, and if it will make you go away, school is that way." She waved a hand in the general direction of where she had come from.

Then, without another word, she turned and started on her way once again.

Kyron blinked, watching the girl walk away as he considered her words. Control? He had never heard of schools attempting that in his life. What if it was true? He took a moment to calm himself. If he sensed anything wrong, he'd get out. Simple as that.

He regarded the girl's shrinking figure thoughtfully. Still... That girl was strange. Were all city girls like this? He'd have to keep his eyes open.

"May your path always lead you where you seek and more importantly, what you do not."

With that said, he headed in the direction she pointed out for him. School should be interesting, he decided, if what she said was true.

Morgan grinned as she spared a glance behind her, to see the strange kid walking the way she had pointed him. Now she could finally get to The Circuit.

The young girl increased her pace to a quick walk, and then to a jog, and finally a run, as she turned on her street. She raced across the lawn, to the large, but modest, two-story house, and then came to a halt only upon grasping onto the handle of the door. She bent over for a brief moment, gasping for breath, and then she turned the handle and stepped inside. The door closed with a soft click behind her.

Morgan’s brown eyes blinked a few times, as they adjusted to the darkness, but then she was moving forward. The place was silent, and empty, for which she was grateful. Not that she had been that worried about it; her father was never home.

She made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom, dumping her backpack there. She would not be back at school, not today—and not ever, if she had things her way. But she didn’t. She would just have to savor these next few hours.

It took her only a few moments to grab what she needed, and then she was on her way, oblivious to the dark pair of eyes watching her from a window above as she hurried across the lawn.

For once, Lewis was glad he saved his money; they had only been seated for about half an hour and these kids were about to eat him out of at least three paychecks, "You two enjoying everything?" he asked, rubbing his temples; the ambient thoughts throughout the restaurant, though there were few people this time of day, was giving him a headache.

It was bothering him, in a way, that the oldest boy seemed reluctant to say anything; his thoughts confirmed his suspicions why...but he could only do so much to keep them out of trouble.

Rafe nodded his head eagerly and then swallowed down the last bite of his double-stacked sandwich. "I certainly am," he said. "This place is great! I don't think I've ever eaten so much good food in my life!"

His older brother didn't answer the question, but just took another bite of his own food, chewing it slowly. Yeah, this place was pretty amazing, and it was great to see his younger brother so happy, but it was hard for Hakan to enjoy himself, when there was a mind-reading Enforcer sitting amongst them. Not that he had done anything major, but he had still broken laws, all the same.

But he had to stop thinking about that stuff. Which was easier said than done.

Lewis smiled gently as he looked at the troubled boy across from him, "Hey, don't worry about it. Just keep your nose clean from here on out as best you can and enjoy yourself." he said, trying to calm the boy. Turning his head to the younger, he managed a bright grin, even as it pained him, "Well be careful! Or else I'll have to roll you out of here!" he said jokingly.

Red eyes glancing over at the oldest boy, he considered having a chat with the boy about some of the laws he had broken, as the boy--Hakan--hadn't been focusing on anything in particular. Who knows? Maybe he'd be able to help the kid out.

Rafe laughed, and then turned as he heard footsteps, to see a boy only a few years older than him approaching their table. He was dressed in the white clothes of a chef, but there were so many food blotches and stains that the material looked anything but white, and his frame was a little on the chubby side, as if he could not help but try a little of all he made.

"I hope that you're meal has been to your satisfaction. He gave them a polite bow and then straightened up and smiled at the two boys. "It's been awhile since I've seen the two of you here," he said, and then he looked up at Lewis. "I'm Vince Nawroki."

(You might want to look under Pierre Nawroki's entry on page 13.)

Lewis smiled at Vince, nodding his head at the young chef, "Pleased to meet you," he said, picking up on a few of his stray thoughts, "...I'm Lewis ." continued the Enforcer as he sifted through the mental signals.

Vince was apparently familiar with the boys, though the circumstances of which wasn't prominent in the chef's mind, "And, yes, thank you. The food is more than satisfactory. I'd offer my compliments to the chef, but since you're here..." he teased, giving Vince a sly wink.

One though, however faint, did catch his attention; putting a slight effort forwards, Lewis grabbed onto it:


Maintaining his composure, he mentally noted that he'd have to look into this "Tadi" person, possibly ask a few more questions. Of course, there was also the issue involving the gentleman on the boy's mind to begin with.

Vince's smile widened, and he gave a nod of his head. "I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Is there anything else that I can get for you?"

"Ice cream!" Rafe cried out, causing the young chef to chuckle.

"I would have thought that you'd be completely stuffed by now." His attention was now fully on the customers before him, the stray background thought disappearing. The two boys hadn't eaten near this much the last time they had come. Then again, last time there had been somebody to tell them 'no'.

"There's always room for ice cream!"

Hakan spoke up then, his eyes flickering first towards Lewis, and then to his younger brother. "You've spent enough of his money." Not that he really cared about that, but he just wanted to get away from the Enforcer.

Lewis smiled at Rafe's response, feeling the thought slip away as Vince's thoughts turned fully to them, "I agree; I've always heard that a growing boy can eat, but I had no idea this is what I put my parents through! I'll have to stop by some time and apologize to them," he said with a breathy laugh, "And don't worry about it, I think I can spare a little more for an ice cream to go." he said, turning his attention back to Vince, "An ice cream to go, please. Anything he likes."

Thinking about it for a bit, he spoke once again, "You know, this is a really nice place. I ought to come here more often."

Vince and Rafe conferred over flavors for a few minutes, coming to a final decision just in time for the chef to catch the Enforcer's words. "I'm glad to have made such an impression on you," he said. "It's great to know that what makes me happy can make others happy as well.

Vince then turned to leave. "I'll have your ice cream and check ready in a few minutes."

Nodding toward the young chef, Lewis reached for his wallet without looking at the two across from him. Wallet in hand, he grabbed a long-forgotten cup of coffee that he had ordered, taking a sip. Swallowing the cold brew, he settled back into his seat, relaxing a bit.

Stroking the edge of the coffee cup with his thumb, he spoke in a nonchalant manner, "So who's Morgan?"

Hakan gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Why the heck would I know?" And how did the Enforcer know? He hadn't even been thinking of her, not when the Enforcer was around. His eyes widened slightly. He had been going to brag to her, that was right. So there was no use in pretending.

...Especially now that he had been thinking about her.

"She's just another kid. But she wasn't there today, probably stuck at school."

Focusing on the boy's mind, he was expecting a mental image of the girl, as the human mind often conjured such when remembering things associated with people. He wasn't quite as lucky this time, but...

"From the way you think about her, she must be quite a looker; brunette, right?" he asked, pushing for a little more info.

"Why do you care?" Hakan asked, sinking down lower into his seat. "And she's just a friend." He was fighting not to give the Enforcer anything else to go off of, but the more he tried not to think about Morgan, there she was, with her sweatshirt and jeans and bad attitude.

For once, Rafe wasn’t saying much. He didn’t know much about Hakan’s friends at the Circuit, and didn’t know anything about Morgan. And so he swung his legs back and forth while trying to wait patiently for the promised ice cream.

---

Morgan wandered the streets of the town with no plan of action in mind. Maybe it had been a good thing, that the weird kid had showed up. The Circuit had been completely deserted when she had showed up, and it had just taken a quick question to Cilia, the woman that worked there, to know what had happened.

An Enforcer, of all the rotten luck.

If anybody had been caught, and if they squealed…

There was no telling how safe it would be to meet in any of their places, or even how safe it would be to return home. True, nobody today knew that she had skipped school, but she was one of the biggest gamblers, one of the core group of kids that kept things going.

She was in so much trouble.

Maybe it would be best if she returned to school. At least if they came for her there, she would appear much more innocent. Yeah, that would be the best thing to do in this case, though she hated the thought of it.

Catching the mental images of the girl, he linked it to one of the files he had received on the truant students. Morgan Raye, out of school more than she is in school, and somehow that has yet to come back on her father...

Strange. With as often as she's truant, how has he not been...that was curious. He'd have to look into that in depth back at the station, "Because like you, she's in trouble for truancy...and gambling."

Leveling with the boy, he set his cup down on the table, pushing the too-cold brew off to the side, "I know you don't trust me, and there isn't much I can do to change that; but I know there are Enforcers that I don't trust, so if I can get to her before them, the better she'll be for it."

Hakan let out a sigh and slid down a little further in his seat. Morgan was going to kill him, for dragging her down with him. "She wasn't even there today," he muttered and then glanced up at the Enforcer. "How much trouble am I in, anyways?"

The large meal they had just eaten at the Enforcer's expense seemed a little odd, if he was indeed in huge trouble, but then again, if this was just to get him to talk more, he wouldn't.

"That depends," started Lewis as he spotted Vince headed their way with Rafe's ice cream, lowering his voice, "I might be able to get you off light with a phone call to your parents if I vouch for you, but if we're lucky, you might not be in any trouble at all."

Not in trouble at all? Was that possible? Hakan stared down at his hands, listening to Rafe's excited chatter as Vince reached them.

"Thank you so much!" The younger boy was saying. He ran his tongue over the mint-flavored ice cream stacked up on the cone, and then gave a nod of his head. "This is delicious!"

Vince smiled back at him, and then held out the receipt to Lewis. "Here you are, sir. Take this up to Cassandra over there." He nodded his head towards the middle-aged woman waiting behind the counter not from the exit door. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go get back to cooking." He turned away. "Have a great day!"

Rafe climbed to his feet, and Hakan followed slowly after. Yeah, like there was anything great about this day. Even if he weaseled his way out of trouble with the Enforcers, his parents were still going to kill him, especially for brining Rafe into this mess.

(I haven't given much thought to the money system, but it's easiest if it's similar to our own, I think.)