The guy with the spear was pretty hostile, wasnât he?
âPrick,â Numair muttered under his breath. Mr. Cuddles looked sadder by the second, but who wouldnât be gloomy upon being called âYogiâ? Okay, maybe he was overreacting; the nobodies probably didnât recognize the inside references Inadi was throwing, but Numair sure did and he was the one getting upset. His eyes narrowed when the other man went so far as to suggest a fight and thankfully Toby interrupted before the hotheaded surfer could do or say anything that would hurt the Hooded Figuresâ cause.
A short stretch of silence followed Tobyâs outburst, which Numair broke by saying, âHey, thanks for the vote of confidence.â What a sweet kid. Gary could certainly learn a few things from him. The other humans started to react in a domino effect after that; Sacha was the one who answered their questions with some help from Luke and C.
"No offense, but why do you suddenly want to help us? Last time you hit one of our friends on the head and tried to take the list. If you really wanted to help us, couldn't you have told us from the beginning? Then again, you also saved us from the witch. Why did you do that?"Uggghhh could somebody please take the role of âmiddlemanâ from him now kthanksâŠ
Hey cutie, we're a little confused right now, but we don't want to fight, so if you could just clear it all up?"âI think he forgot that we asked first,â Gary whispered as she elbowed Numair. The surfer grabbed a caramel apple from a nearby plate then gave it to her, and the girl was distracted once more. He grinned back at Lesley and straightened up in his seat, the sour expression on his face quickly disappearing as he turned to Harper. âHarper, right? I kept calling you Harp before. So hereâs the thing. I apologize on behalf of Gary, but seriously sheâs a softie if you get to know her. Uh, asides from that⊠You do realize you lot were in Deliriumâs territory most of the time? Heavy surveillance. Even
we werenât that stupid to bust in the castle and induct you guys into the Loco Order. Next! The witch,â The tanned young man leaned back against his seat and sighed. That witch was bad news for everyone. âWell. We couldnât just leave you there to die, right? Although we did, I get it,â his gaze turned sharp and he suddenly scowled, âbut donât blame us for your comrades. Weâre not superheroes and if we arrived too late to âsave the dayâ, then boo hoo. Donât pin
that on us. Iâve had enough of that shit back home.â
"They are. Are...are your memories gone?"âNot much. Iâd say I still remember my last name, but yeah⊠Minor details went whoosh,â Numair waved his hand away dismissively as if to make his words sound less ominous. âThis one though,â he gently prodded Gary with his other hand and she glanced up, irritated, âsheâs pretty much going down the deep trench.â
âI donât scuba dive, Numnums,â The pink-haired human muttered before she returned to her meals. âPoint made,â he replied.
The talk about turning into a bunny guard sobered the group up.
âHow long did they have? ...how long do we have?âThe really pale girl from the SSF seemed really shocked, though he couldnât blame her for it. When the HF first told him, he almost went catatonic⊠or maybe that was a side effect of the painkillers he had ingested by that time? âLike Sacha said, it varies per person butâŠâ Numairâs voice trailed off and his eyes shifted to the side in uncertainty. Gary wiped her mouth and raised her hand. âLiara and Caleb were the last in our group to go down, around⊠Hmm. A little over when the next train arrives? For you guys- and for us too, I guess- itâsâŠâ She separated her thumb from her other fingers and squeezed down in the universal gesture of âtinyâ. Despite the gravity of the news she just imparted, Gary didnât seem to be bothered much⊠or at least that was what it looked like from the distance. All who were nearby could see her tapping the surface of the pole in a quick and irregular fashion, something she did under duress.
A red-haired chick suggested splitting up the items in some sort of âtrustâ alliance compromise thing. Numairâs eyebrows knitted together as he frowned. Her terms were pretty unfair and since he was the only sane- er, the
sanest as of current- one in the Hooded Figures, he was the one who often stopped the others from getting duped. This was a prime example of said one-sided negotiation. âTwo. Two items. And the pole is out of the question. Donât even think about it, seriously,â The surfer extended his arm and pinned Gary back as an agitated snarl ripped out from her throat. âIâll also enter that as a part of the compromise- nobody touches Garyâs pole because none of us have the right to, okay?â Besides, it would prevent the humans from having a vital organ ripped out and the Hooded Figures- er Sacha- from cleaning up the gore.
âOh, mother of- C, what do you think? Iâm done negotiating. I suck,â Numair raised his hands in the air when Jasper interjected with the â
our rules must be followedâ bit. Despite the humans being wary of the HF springing some trap on them, the Hooded Figures themselves were just as cautious. Well,
at least Sacha and Numair are. âI push for two items left with us instead of one, plus a sub-tenet banning anybody from stealing or utilizing Garyâs pole without her express permission. That last bit is for the safety of everyone involved, okay? The rest is up to you, but thatâs what Iâm going to agree with in case the lot of them decide to throw their dice with us,â The surferâs handsome face was filled with distress and a little bit of irritation, as he was expecting a violent reaction to his and Aceâs laying down the groundwork from⊠well, Inadi or the others..