o children ✶ the ballad of songbirds and snakes

004 ⋆ enhanced

In a way, he was honest, like Cariad. His first words to her were, "Why are you so tall?" She was about three inches taller than him, but he'd sprouted so quickly in the two years they've known each other. As boys do. His voice dropped an octave or two, and despite being someone of few words, Chassis would make him talk about his day just to hear it more.

He was already familiar with the boarding house, his visits limited to exchanging extra rations of crops for morphling that he'd give to his older crew. It wasn't uncommon for the people native to the district to hang out at the boarding houses; it was one of the only places that fostered some sort of inter-district relations. Older exporters noticed how he lingered inside the lobby much longer than he previously did. Reaped explained to them that he grew an acquired taste for the boarding house's mead, and preferred it over the local pub's.

"Stop calling him that," Chassis snapped, causing the two to cackle deviously. Her eyes followed Ginnee's to the boy in question, who was deep in conversation with the seniors of his delivery crew. His white shirt was fitting and exposed his toned arms that flexed as he stretched, but she shook herself out of that thought. "He's a good friend."

"A good friend with a good eye on ya," Ginnee muttered. "He stares a lot. He's not subtle, and it's a little painful to experience."

"He's only staring cause you're smokin' hot," Trek teased as the girls guided him down the steps of the train. Chassis was fine with him at first, but since Ginnee caught him up on her 'Reaper history', he was molded into being a star pupil in Ginnee Mech's School for Annoying People.

She unintentionally let out a snort. "You think I'm smokin'?" The boxer found herself tightening her grip on him thanks to her weakened ankle, which hadn't found the time to heal itself the entire trip from how busy she had been. The consequences of her actions caught up with her fairly quick, resulting in a swollen, red ankle hidden beneath her knee-length socks.

"Like manu-factory on a busy day," he answered. Ginnee nodded approvingly, whispering to herself about borrowing that line for next time. Chassis always pitied the boy or girl that would be the subject of her co-worker's affections.

She lightly shoved Trek's shoulder and scowled. "Yeah, right," she replied. "You don't even know what I look like."

Trek was partially blind.

He shook his head frantically, the braids and beads in his hair flailing about. "I have a general idea," he defended himself quietly, waving his palm around her face.

"Hey, pals!" Journey exclaimed while doing a dance that involved shimmying her shoulders. That wasn't a good sign. Her large arms draped over Trek and Ginnee's figures, looking between them with insincere excitement. "I'd love to gossip with all of my exporting family,--" She called them family, they were toast. "--but that would lead to a deduction in your paychecks if you keep standing here!"

Chassis tossed a vial of morphling, which were reserved for bribes such as these, to their team leader. "Will that save our paychecks?" she asked, batting her lashes.

Journey's smile dropped as she jabbed her index finger at her chest. "Don't do that eye thing again, and throw in two more." She pulled two more vials out of his pocket. Journey snatched them from her before she could retract, then scanned the rest of the group. "Great. Now, scram. Join the groups named in your tickets."

Unfortunately, their tickets revealed that they had to split up in Eleven, but at least by Twelve, she'd work with Trek again. The friends dispersed with Journey dragging Trek to his respective group while Ginnee was, unfortunately, paired up with a bunch of elderly folk like Big Guns and the Easton brothers. That left her with--