During a Storm (Open!)

Hands brought together, fingers intertwine.

"Yes."

She gave a small 'heh', followed by a smile.

"Not without good reason, though. I know the value of a life, and I only have the one."

She hops away from the edge to a safe distance.

"I've got to say, you took that remarkably well. Most give me this look and start walking away slowly." Her face morphs to one of uncomfortable fear. "This one." Her face reverts to a smirk.

"I've got to say, you took that remarkably well. Most give me this look and start walking away slowly. This one."


Slyph tittered lightely at the odd face. All things considered, he should be scared. He probably should run away and just pretend he never met this crazy, odd, remarkable girl.

"I guess... when you're scared of everything, somethings don't have as much of an impact. You know?" His hands dipped and played with the water in his lap.

"Well. Almost everything. Storms don't scare me." He observed the girl once more, squinting incredulously. "I don't think I've ever actually seen you in any classes. How long have you been going here?"

"Here? Years. Attending actual class? Barely." She rolls her head back and forth. "I have a talent of not being noticed, so no one misses me if I don't attend." She winces. "I got caught skipping recently, though, so I can't do that as often anymore." Another wince, and she holds her right shoulder whilst looking off. "Loyal'll kill me." She finished softly.

Slyph's leg's spread out in surprise, and the water rushed out in a small ripple. He sat up onto his knees, shocked look on his face.

"You skip class?" He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if getting the sinful thought of his ears.

"B-but you could get detention! Or w-worse! that's too scary... Have you... served your time yet? what's it like? Is it bad?" Speaking of detention as if it was jail time, the boy practically shivered out of fear.

"I never skipped class before." He whispered, wide eyed. "And who's Loyal? He's not your dad because then you'd call him 'dad.' Unless-" He stopped himself from blathering and stared at the girl awaiting an answer intently.

She tries to stop herself giggling at the boy's reaction to her delinquent tendencies, but failed. It was not an action she usually did, rare enough for it to sound alien even to her own ears.

"They don't care enough about me to give me a hard time," she tittered, "So long as you don't cause distress, they don't bother you. Detention was easy to sneak out of with the teachers keeping an eye on everyone else complaining."

The fact that no one really knew who she was also helped reduced the attention on her compared to the more infamous troublemakers, who were really too showy for their own good.

"And Loyal is-" A genuine smile forms on her face. "Well, she's Loyal. I'd call her something silly like mother dearest, but she pulls my ear when I do that. She's not my mother by blood, mind you, but..." She shrugs.

"They don't care enough about me to give me a hard time," she tittered, "So long as you don't cause distress, they don't bother you. Detention was easy to sneak out of with the teachers keeping an eye on everyone else complaining."


Wide, childlike eyes stared up at the girl as the boy stood up, standing if not the same height (it was hard to tell) a little higher.

"Woah..." Was the only word he uttered. This girl was hardcore.

"And Loyal is-" A genuine smile forms on her face. "Well, she's Loyal."

"C-crap!" The boy sputtered agitatedly. "I could have sworn she was a he!" mumbling something about ridiculous names in this town, he pipped down.

"I'd call her something silly like mother dearest, but she pulls my ear when I do that. She's not my mother by blood, mind you, but..." She shrugs.

He didn't want to say anything, but Slyph did notice the very real laughter and very real smile and it made him very happy.

"But..." He asked, tilting his head curiously.

"She tries," she says, "Even though she's not very good at i- she's only okay at it. Even though there is no reason for her to look after me at all, she tries." A shrug. "To her, some random girl pushed onto her is worth the effort."

She runs her hands through her hair.

"Most have family as a reason. Others want to become mothers. She fits into neither category. So for to try this hard over me is somewhat amazing."

She clicks her fingers, then points at the boy.

"Enough about me. I don't even know what your name is."

An inescapable smile was on the boy's face. Something about the openess of the girl was enrapturing. He was so enchanted by the story, being taken out of it was something of a shock.

The boy flinched slightly at the snap and blinked surprised. "O-Oh! I'm sorry... I never... introduced..." He coughed awkwardly and dug his foot into the ground.

"It's Gongjiang." He sniffed and scratched his nose, in an attempt to appear confident. "Slyph Gongjiang." His eyes rapidly switched from making eye contact to the anywhere else; as if the intensity of eye contact was something he wanted, but was too weak to accomplish.

"Slyph Gongjiang," she repeats, testing out the name, "Go-ongji-iangah. Slyph Gongjiang."

She does this for a while, stressing syllables in different combinations, rocking back and forth, beating the cadence with a finger.

"Better than Nameless," she finally concludes, shaking her head and stretching. In doing so, she glances at her watch.

She then looks at Slyph. Then at her watch. Then at Slyph again, a devious smile appearing on her face.

"So, how long were you planning to be a bird for?"

((SORRY FOR THE DELAY!!))
Better than Nameless "Oh... I don't know about that." He laughed lightly, amused by the odd recitation of a name he didn't hear all that often.

He blinked curiously at her looking at her watch, not understanding her meaning.

"So, how long were you planning to be a bird for?"

He squinted, still confused as to her meaning. A sudden thought crept into his head: did you ever hear the lunch bell go off?

"I'm late."

"Oh..." His eyes widened in sudden abject horror. "...my God."

The boy's legs almost gave out from under him. "Oh my God." A sudden rush of nausea and panic blurred the edges of his vision and he started to look around wildly for his bag. "Oh my God."

Finding it, Slyph ran desperately towards it, slung it onto his shoulder, and stood there like a deer in headlights (particularly the slow realization that a car was heading for the metaphorical deer.)

His unnerved eyes turned to Nameless, and he mouthed: Oh my God. Standing paralyzed, the boy started to rock slowly back and forth. "Oh my god." Very slowly, he started to hyperventilate.

In contrast to the boy rushing back and forth in panic repeating the same phrase over and over, she seemed unconcerned with her own tardiness.

"I don't think there's much to stress over," she muses out loud, "If you're already late, you can't really stop that now." She stretches against the weather. "As for me, the teacher for Social Class doesn't really care about who attends his class. I think I'll pass in favour of an afternoon in town."

She starts to head off to the roof's exit, before turning back, thoughts turning over in her mind.

"You're...welcome to join me, if you wish," she manages, "If you don't have something really important or whatever."

"I don't think there's much to stress over," she muses out loud, "If you're already late, you can't really stop that now." She stretches against the weather. "As for me, the teacher for Social Class doesn't really care about who attends his class. I think I'll pass in favour of an afternoon in town."

“No.” Like a computer short-circuiting, he repeated: “I’m never late. never. I’ve never been late.” He stood and shook with confusion and madness

“Late!” Slyph cried out. He let out a squeaky growl, becoming something akin to a pomeranean who thought it was a Great Dane.

“I’ve never been late.” He lamented this time. He could make this claim no longer. He could never use this in a game of never-have-I-ever. He could no longer be prideful of his stellar attendance record.

"You're...welcome to join me, if you wish," she manages, "If you don't have something really important or whatever."

“Wait!” Slyph exclaimed. “I… okayfineyouwin.” He hurried after Nameless and followed her awkwardly into the stairwell. “Fine.” He repeated.  His shoes shlipedshloped as he walked

“I guess…” Slyph lost himself in thought. He followed the trail of water he created as he indoors that slowly flowed down the stairs. His form was reminiscent of a cat after a bath. His wet hair sticking to his forhead, and his sweater clinging to his arms.

“Could we stop by my Grandmother’s apartment? She lives… like a mile away from school.”

She hums a song to herself as she carelessly pushes the door open, holding it just long enough to let her reluctant companion through. As her shoes squeaked against the floor, she hummed louder to drown out the irritating sound.

She's halfway to the top floor when she hears the word 'grandmother' and blinks in unfamiliarity with the word, before recognising it and looking behind her.

"If you wish," she says airily, "If she wouldn't mind, that is."

For she figured that there would be a bit to mind about. It was obvious that Slyph leaving school during school hours was not a thing that happened, and bringing a strange girl to his grandmother's probably wasn't one either. Then again, maybe his grandmother was the type of person who didn't mind that sort of thing.

"If you wish," she says airily, "If she wouldn't mind, that is."

"I do. And She won't." Slyph quickly checked the time on the phone he kept dry in his bag. "That is, because she'll be out now. We have two hours give or take until she gets back."

It helped, Slyph surmised, to know the routine of all of one's family. For example, Mr. and Ms. Gongjiang would leave at 6:00 am and arrive home at 6:00pm every day. It was something about the routine that was remarkably satisfying to Slyph Gongjiang in a way he couldn't express until now. He enjoyed the uniformity of his family's lives because he could exploit them.

"This isn't too bad." He surmised out loud, voice echo-ing down the stairs as he descended after the girl named Nameless. Her silence had begun to make him nervous, and he tugged at his sweater as he chattered on.

"I wanted to go to my Grandma's apartment to get some new clothes." He explained redundantly. His stomach retorted with another idea. "And maybe some lunch..."

The sopping wet boy toddled after his new... acquaintance? They had reached the bottom of the stairwell and were about to enter the main hallway, a mere feet from the exit. "How about you? Do you eat food?" He asked seriously, almost expecting a 'no'.

If she didn't need to talk, she didn't. This is why she simply nodded at the boy's observation. However, when he talked about his clothes, she scowled at her own damp coat. She hadn't noticed until then, but now her skin crawled with coldness. In response, she removed her jacket and tied the sleeves around her waist, rubbing her hands on her forearms.

She was in the middle of undoing her ponytail and shaking the wet out of her hair when he asked about food.

"Yes," she said, "Though not from this school's cafeteria. Not for me." Combing her hair through her fingers, she motions towards the umbrella stand next to the school's main doors. "Can you get the dark blue umbrella, please? I don't feel like walking a mile in the rain."

Placing a hand on the main doors, she continued, "There's this place that makes really nice burgers, and a friend of mine works there."

"Though not from this school's cafeteria. Not for me."

"Of course." Slyph agreed. "Good thing I always brown-bag it." he said cooly, adjusting his glasses in satisfaction.

"Can you get the dark blue umbrella, please? I don't feel like walking a mile in the rain."

"Hm. I do." He muttered to himself, smiling as he retrieved the umbrella anyway. They had almost reached the doorway now. Slyph glanced around quickly for any teachers or pesky student government officials.

"There's this place that makes really nice burgers, and a friend of mine works there."[/i]

"A nice burger..." Slyph swallowed his hankering for some home cooked food. "I wouldn't object to that." Before making any commitments, he looked into his slighlty damp wallet and found some slightly less damp bills, a total of 14$. One of them, was a silver liberty dollar. 13$ in all then.

The boy stopped suddenly in the hallway just as they reached the exit. He turned to lean on a wall, tapping it reassuredly.

"Wall of Rumination." He christened it.

"Do we want to be dry first, or fed?" Steepling his index fingers and setting them on his lips, Slyph added a dramatic element to the question as he squinted intently at Nameless.

She combs her hair with her fingers and started to adjust it one way and another to try a hair style that she felt it would be worth tying up in.

"Which way is your grandmother's house?" She asks as she does this, "It might be best to drop by there first, before we get into town proper." Then she gives up, and just let her shoulder length her drop. She pushes the front door half open, then beckons Slyph over. "And as good as Whitewoods' burgers are, I think they would be better eaten in dry clothes." She tilts her head. "Which is why I wanted the umbrella, because I'm not going to be dropping by my house later."

"And as good as Whitewoods' burgers are, I think they would be better eaten in dry clothes." She tilts her head. "Which is why I wanted the umbrella, because I'm not going to be dropping by my house later."

"Oh!" Slyph proclaimed. "That burger place?"

The boy nodded sagely. "Very close to the place. I've never been but I pass by all the time on my way to school." He winced. "Which means a little bit of backtracking. Not much though."

Slyph Gongjiang followed Nameless (insert last name here)'s invitation into the rainy streets, and suddenly seemed happier for it. For all the miserable thoughts associated with the wet, the damp, the unfortunate, the satisfaction of the rain never left the boy.

He thought awhile, smiling wickedly. "Why not pass by your house?" He mused as he passed her by, meeting her eyes. He continued to tease, "Am I not..." He paused, searching for the word. "Prostrating myself before you enough to show you my own home?"

He adopted a change of tone,  like one would while doing a dramatic reading, as he addressed the mystery girl.

She blinks at his change into a more teasing demeanor, taking a moment to process it before stepping out into the cold, crisp air.

Putting her hands into her pockets, she hums in thought, looking at the rain that had lessened into a pitter-patter that was decent to walk in. When she finally deigns to talk, she looks at Slyph strangely.

"You just seem like the sort of person that would prefer his blood to be inside him."

She says nothing after that, instead looking at the rain that threatened to make her soaked through and through.

((I will color anon!))
"Y​ou just seem like the sort of person that would prefer his blood to be inside him."​

Slyph raised the corners of his mouth and his eyebrow into an inquisitive smile. “Spooky.”

He waits for an elaboration that never comes, and a wince of one who’s crossed an imaginary line appears on his face.

“Sorry... I didn’t mean to-”

“Hey!” an elder voice reprimanded.

Slyph glanced over his shoulder through the still open doorway, where a teacher stood. Her face was contorted in anger. “Where are you two going?”

Slyph begun to power-walk away from the angry teacher. When he heard footsteps coming closer he started jogging. When he heard the door slam shut and immediately open again he begun to sprint, grabbing Nameless’ forearm momentarily to ensure she was with him. He didn't chance to look anywhere but right in front of him.

The teacher didn't chase them into the rain, but the boy didn't stop running until they were off school grounds. While quite fast, Slyph very quickly ran out of breath. far out of site from the school and their  pursuer His tiny lungs filled with tiny oxygen as he wheezed.

"I..." He coughed hoarsely and tried to unsuccessfully take deep breaths, instead letting out a series of raspy gasps.

"I don't run very much." He croaked. He visibly shook, but not because of the cold.

"Loyal?"

There was so much blood. Blood and sweat. And a piece of wood sticking out of her torso.

"Nameless," came the pained response. The girl saw her mother hold out a bloodied hammer. "Dispose of this, then help me remove this splinter. I've had a hell of an evening."

---

Click.

Nameless wordlessly held the dark-blue umbrella over the two of them. She had been literally pulled out her reverie by the boy next to her in the getaway. Stifling a smirk as she watched Slyph regain his breath, for what she thought was quite a short jog, she replies, "Evidently."

She looks back at the direction they had ran from and continues, "That might have been your last chance to turn back. You made the decision to run rather quickly." She turns to face Slyph. "Didn't expect that."

She holds out a hand to help him up. "Lead on, then. To your home."

"I g-guess..." He let out a few more gasps before he collected himself and took a deep breath. He held it until he heard his heart beating a little quieter in his head.

"I suppose I'm just full of surprises today. What can I say? I'm a wild card." He took the girl's hand and straightened his back. "And we're going towards my Nai-" Without skipping a beat, he corrected himself.

"-my grandma's house. I-I only visit ever so often. Like once a week." His hand was cool, but not frigid cold, he let go and stuck his hands into his armpits to warm them.

He walked in silence for a while, brow furrowed in thought. While he enjoyed the rain, and the umbrella...

"Is y-you're house-" he said, out of context. His eyes briefly searched Nameless' face before lowering to the ground.

"Nevermind." He shook his head, re-iterating. "Nevermind. Its only three blocks away." Keeping his eyes on the ground, he masterfully changed topic.

"So what do Juvenile delinquents do 'out on the town'? Smoke cigarettes and throw bricks into empty lots? Try and find dead bodies down by the railroad tracks? Can't say I'm the expert." A clever gleam appeared in his eyes as he spotted something at the crosswalk they were coming towards.

"Speaking of railroads..." He grandly indicated the train tracks that led off into foggy oblivion, a proud smile spreading across his face. "Want to take a shortcut?"

She didn't mind walking in silence. It was a time to gather and restructure her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she says when prompted for her house. As the prompt was aborted, as Slyph broke eye contact in favour for the ground. She really didn't know where he was leading towards, so she just let him continue on to ask about what she did.

"Is anyone the expert on that kind of thing?" she muses out loud, "If there are, I'm not one of them. I wouldn't trust someone who'd describe themselves as an expert, though. The one's who know just be."

A small smile appears on her face. "I don't need to prove myself, so I simply do as I like. The difference here is that no one bothers me for it."

At the railway, her eyes widen a fraction at the suggestion.

"Well, how can I say no to a suggestion like that?"

Unlike Nameless, quiet was something to enjoyed when alone. In conversation it was a sign that he didn't have the social savvy to keep a conversation going. The railroad ran away from the city proper and into a stretch of tree lined canyon. to the sides there were some industrial buildings that peeked through the treeline.

"I don't need to prove myself, so I simply do as I like. The difference here is that no one bothers me for it."

The boy laughed. "I can see why! I wouldn't want to bother you." The comment was sincere. He couldn't think of anything worse than crossing cryptic girls with mysterious pasts.

"Well, how can I say no to a suggestion like that?"

Nameless reaction only served to make his beaming smile bigger and a gleam appear in Slyph's eye. He balanced on a rail and begun to walk through the mist. "The trains hardly ever pass through here anymore. But the rails run right next to my Nainai's house. Sometimes I take these tracks to school. They go right through a tunnel and her complex is on the other side."

Slyph chattered with an excited and animate flair to his movements and his speech. He stepped railroad-tie to tie , avoiding the puddles in between.

"Sometimes..." He wiped his nose enthusiastically. "...the wind whips through this little canyon and kicks up little dust-devils. Sometimes they get pretty big"

She follows him onto the rail, balancing with almost careless strides after. She nodded along to his excited explanations, humming a little tune in her head. She held the umbrella against the droplets, listening to them strike the fabric in vain.

When he got to a pause, she responded with a one word question: "Nainai?"

She supposed it came from the same place as 'Gongjiang'. Somewhere East Asian, probably.

"Are you close?"

She wonders what it would be like to have a family greater than two.