[center][color=Silver][h3]Clay Kincaid[/h3][/color][/center]
[center][i]The Shanty - Clay's Hideout[/i][/center]

Clay didn't mind the layout of the house. Sure, it was an abandoned house and the lack of light at night spooked him. Sure, it was almost completely barren except for three chairs, Clay's supplies of varied nature, and a sleeping bag. Sure, it had no running water, forcing Clay to steal bottled water and substitute showering most days with wet wipes and deodorant. Sure, it had no power, meaning Clay had to conserve battery on his phone, charging both it and a backup mobile battery in public locations that allowed it. But it gave him a solitary place to 'live' and some privacy. People tended to avoid the house because they felt it was already occupied by a few people; in reality it was almost always just Clay, unless he was entertaining another Variant guest of some sort. At day the light filtered in through the holes in the roof (which Clay was aware wasn't a good thing but a minor beneficial side effect of gaping holes in the ceiling), and on the occasion it rained, pretty much everything was kept in one of the rooms with an intact ceiling. Supplies were rarely a problem, given the ease with which Clay could steal.

Of course, since Clay found the arrangement so tolerable, he also found no compelling reason to change it. So, after a busy day of reading and wandering the city, Clay was cleaning the hideout for no good reason.

It was almost pointless - he cleaned it nearly daily just to pass time, and you can only clean so much in such an empty place. Yeah, there was nothing gross growing in the house or anything, but that just meant he spent more time sweeping. Sweeping a hideout with holes in the roof that let the leaves and rain in. None of the other Variants that passed through seemed to care about the cleanliness so long as it had supplies, but here Clay was, sweeping while distracting himself mentally by thinking about how stupid he was for doing it.

When Clay's phone vibrated in his pocket, he took another few seconds to contemplate the futility of sweeping before checking it. It was a FriendBridge message from a Variant called Zack. Zack was a low class Agile Variant who mostly helped run supplies between Pariah Underground people. 

[i]Zack: I'm out back, let me in[/i]

Zack knew Clay well enough that he knew Clay didn't like surprise visitors. The back door wasn't locked, Zack was simply being polite. He also knew Clay might have had a small mute around himself and might not have heard a knock at the door and texted him instead.

Zack entered silently when Clay opened the door, only giving a small wave. Zack stopped by Clay's hideout enough that he had gotten use to Clay's version of 'communication' or lack thereof. Clay waited while Zack grabbed a bottle of water and a candy bar.

"Some of us are meeting in the Warehouse area soon. Real soon, so maybe you should come with," said Zack after he finished the candy. 

Clay didn't do anything at first. Then he nodded. He didn't elaborate, but Zack knew better then to push him to speak. Clay only stopped for a second to grab a candy bar, then the two were off.

[center][h3]●○■○●[/h3][/center]
[center] Ville Rouge/River Street [/center]

Zack was nice enough to not speed ahead of Clay, instead walking next to him down River Street to the Warehouse district. Clay kept his gaze down - not just because the crowds here made him uncomfortable, but also because the shop windows made him want to slow down to look. Recently he'd been (unsuccessfully) attempting to cut down on buying shiny trinkets and whatnot, most of which ended up in a backpack he kept in the hideout almost exclusively for such things. It already had enough shiny garbage in it without him trying to add more.

Suddenly Clay realized his mind had wandered enough that Zack had said something and Clay hadn't responded. He looked up, giving a small apologetic smile to Zack.

"I asked, how's life holding up? Still living off of the supermarket harvest?" Zack repeated. 

Clay nodded, smirking. He made a rubbing motion with his hand over his stomach; the 'harvest' had been good. 

Zack smirked back. "Cool, dude." There was a pause. "You consider, like, rooming with someone else or letting someone else room with you? I mean, they announced more missing Variants. You should play it safe, man."

Clay didn't answer immediately. When he did he did so verbally, mostly because it was faster than trying to explain with only gestures. [color=Silver]"I'll consider it. I don't like... being around others often. But you're right."[/color] He seemed like he had something else, but didn't continue. He preferred to keep his time talking to a minimum.

Zach nodded. "Cool, man. Well, we're almost to the Warehouse district; we'll see what the meeting's about. Then maybe you can think some more, huh?" 

Clay nodded, silent again.