dandelions || 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘰 (COMPLETED)

vii - the tour

"they sting you with their little metal pincers. lucky we have a serum, but you'll still go through the changing." he noticed her baffled look and continued: "you're unconscious for a bit. you get a few memories, at least that's what we think they are. they could just be things the creators put in our minds to drive us even more mad, since most of the "memories" don't seem to be happy ones, and they've already obviously been able to get into our minds somehow. but whatever they are, and whatever happens in the changing, you do not want to go through it."

she nodded hesitantly. "that sounds awful. maybe i won't be going in there any time soon."

"yeah, too right you won't. gally's been through it; one of the reasons he hates thomas so much. apparently he saw him in one of those 'memories'. mad one, gally. well anyway, enough of all that. i'll take you round to wave ben and leo off since they're running the maze today, and then i'll introduce you to some of the other gladers."

~

ben and leo were stood by the door on the north wall, about to leave. the pair ran up to them just as the stone started to rumble once again, and they were met with a happy greeting from the two runners.

"hey, lyn. how's your tour been? has minho been an alright guide?"

"it's been good thank you, ben. and yeah, minho's the best," lyn muttered, hoping he'd pick up on her attempt at sarcasm.

"we'd better get off. bye, minho! bye, lyn!" leo said, and they waved them both off as they ran through the huge gap in the towering wall.

~

minho then walked her up to the kitchen, where she assumed she'd be eating breakfast. there was a tall boy cooking numerous strips of bacon, and as the warm aroma filled her nostrils it made her feel like she was actually at home, no matter how far from it she really was.

"nice to see you greenie! i'm frypan. that's not my real name of course, but it's stuck ever since we got here. anyway, breakfast?"

lyn thanked him as he handed her a plate, and she walked over slowly to a table, careful not to spill any of her food, and took a seat beside newt and opposite thomas. minho sat diagonally across from her, next to thomas, and chuck joined the group soon after they'd started tucking in.

the food melted in her mouth and she savoured every bite, all while listening in to the boys' conversation happening around her and chiming in between mouthfuls.

"so greenie, how's your date with minho going?" newt asked playfully, nudging her arm gently as she scowled at him. she heard him wince slightly as minho kicked his shin under the table, making her smile to herself slightly.

"are you mental?" she asked laughing, and made a gagging noise to prove her point.

minho smirked, before announcing, "i'm too good for her newt, you know that."

lyn raised an eyebrow at his obviously untrue comment and continued wolfing down her breakfast.

once she was done, which took only a matter of minutes, she said goodbye to the boys and stood up with minho again.

~

before she knew it, she'd been dragged over to meet the keeper of the slicers, winston. pigs and goats and chickens were making various noises in their pens as he introduced himself to the girl. "i'm winston, keeper of the slicers." he held out his hand expectantly for her to shake, and as she did she could feel his sweaty, blooded palms underneath hers. she wondered what all the blood-staining plastered across his arm was, but assumed they were just injuries he'd obtained from working around the glade that he hadn't yet got cleaned up.

lyn had a decent conversation with the slicer until minho whispered to her that she was stood beside next week's breakfast and once she realised what he meant, she decided she wasn't eager to stick around — and then it hit her what the blood on winston really was. she said goodbye to the kind boy, animal murderer or not, and hurried off in front of minho as he pointed her towards zart, who was stood talking with a few other gardeners.

meeting the rest of the keepers was a blur, and before she knew it she was already back at frypan's kitchen with her stomach howling for lunch.

sat again with the friendly group from earlier, she got more familiar with thomas during the meal of ham, cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches. after one bite lyn decided she didn't like the mayonnaise very much, and newt took it without hesitation and scraped it all off for her, dumping it on his sandwich instead.

"i don't understand how you don't like it, lyn," he told her as he used a knife to remove the dressing from the bread. he didn't seem to mind however, since he clearly enjoyed the mayonnaise and wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get extra. "thanks though." he said as he passed the sandwich back to her.

lyn laughed and responded, "you're very welcome, newt."

newt turned to the rest of the boys sat with them and suddenly said, "ya know, i think we should ask the creators for a chess set. we can play it and do little tournaments."

chuck just stared at him blankly, not knowing what on earth chess was, let alone how to play it.

"where's that idea come from?" thomas contributed.

"i don't know. i just think i'd be good at it."

minho let out a grunt, before muttering, "i'd be better." his cockiness showed through in everything he said, lyn thought, but no matter how much she hated herself for even thinking he could be anything but obnoxious, she couldn't tell whether it was attractive or repulsive.

either way, she refused to let her thoughts wander any further, rising from her seat and wandering off to find something to do for the rest of the day since the tour was over.