Coiny yawned as he walked down a shadowy, dirty street, wishing that the black market they frequented was open during the day.
He understood fully why it couldn't be, too many cops, too many people around but it didn't stop him feeling tired.
Leafy babbled to Firey as they walked, the latter simply gazed at her as though he was totally enchanted.
Knowing him and how his stupid heart worked, he probably was and Coiny wouldn't have even been surprised if he said he hadn't heard a word that Leafy said.
Pin walked, holding his hand she didn't say much, as usual but Coiny didn't mind, she was smiling and that's all he cared about.
They had just entered the market after passing through an underground walkway, guarded by two men and then they gave a password and they were in.
The market was loud and bustling, people buying goods that were illegal or otherwise impossible to get your hands on, strange smells combined in the air and for Coiny it was oddly soothing.
People yelled sales and bargains at them, desperate attempts at flagging a purchase down from "The Underworld Three"
In this place, Leafy, Firey and himself had a status that was almost like celebrities and if they bought something then people were likely to copy, it was pretty funny really.
Sometimes, it got them free stuff and that was always welcome but it was a rare occasion.
Eventually, the group moved apart and Coiny found himself wandering alone, checking out a stall full of knives and blades owned by an old woman with one arm.
It seemed fitting...
Despite her scary appearance, she seemed kind, smiling at him and telling him about any blade he asked about.
He picked up a knife with a cool handle and jagged edges and handed her some money.
"Here's your change," the woman smiled.
"Oh, you keep it, I've never been good at maths, I probably didn't give you enough," Coiny shrugged.
The woman shook her head and placed the money into his hand.
"My vision may be gone but even I can see that you've given more than what I asked, I simply couldn't take it," the woman answered.
"That's the end of the discussion," she added in a voice that made Coiny really believe that.
She began talking to another customer and her walked away, admiring the knife as he made his way back to the main area.
It made him feel a bit sad, people like that woman were beaten down and discriminated against because the system dubs them to be "washed up" and "worthless".
They weren't, people like her weren't, they were trying to get by, to live when this city didn't want them to.
That's what everyone in this market was doing, they weren't scum, they were simply trying to survive.
They were prejudiced against because the system favours the rich and powerful over the weak.
It made him sick.
Coiny walked over a manhole cover with the city's logo on it and he spat as he glared at it.
The very symbol that kept all of these people down.
Two children ran past him, laughing as they played some game and Coiny felt his heart twinge.
How could you lump kids into the same pile as everyone here? They hadn't even had a chance to live yet.
But the city did it, it didn't care that they were children, they put them in the lane with the red lights and drug addicts.
That's what he didn't like about the market, one half was semi normal and the other was full of strip clubs making it a red light district.
Unfortunately he was in that sector right now because that's where all the good bars were and he had to meet up with the others to get a drink.
Countless people dressed in revealing clothing beckoned him, making offers that he pretended not to hear as he kept his head down and walked.
This wasn't unusual but it didn't mean he liked it.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he walked into the bar but was surprised when he saw Firey.
The flame haired man was surrounded by random women and he looked like he wanted to drop dead.
He spotted Coiny and quickly came running over.
"Dude you have to help me, they aren't leaving me alone," Firey panicked.
"What's going on, calm down," Coiny said, trying to figure everything out.
"One of them came up to me and started talking, I thought she was just friendly but then all her friends came over and now I'm trapped," Firey whined.
For a moment, Coiny was going to help but then he remembered that a certain someone would be here very soon.
"Dude, Leafy is not gonna be happy about this," Coiny snickered.
"Help, please," Firey whisper shouted.
"Nah, I wanna see how this plays out," Coiny said as he walked over to the opposite end of the bar.
Firey watched in fear as Coiny left him and he trudged back to his seat, the women immediately began pestering him again.
As Coiny watched the spectacle unfold, Pin came in and sat beside him.
"What's going on?" She asked after she ordered a drink.
"Those girls are signing their death warrants," Coiny grinned.
"Why don't we just pull Firey out of there, I'm too tired for any drama," Pin groaned.
"Nah, Leafy can take care of it, it'll be great," Coiny smiled.
"Yeah, she always does," Pin snapped.
"Come on, it'll be funny," Coiny said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Leafy's just great isn't she?" Pin huffed.
"Not as great as you," Coiny said as he kissed Pin's hand.
Although she wasn't fully convinced, she held his hand in return and accepted his kind words.
"Oh, here she is," Pin hummed, secretly anticipating what could happen.
The moment she saw Firey, her eyes narrowed and her gaze was dark and deadly as she stalked toward them.
"This better be good," Coiny whispered to Pin.
Leafy stood in front of the main girl who was literally clinging to Firey, folding her arms over her chest and standing tall.
"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" She asked.
"Not at all, my boyfriend was just about to buy me a drink," the woman giggled along with the others.
"Hm, that's interesting, how long have you two been together?" Leafy questioned.
"Ages," was the answer she got.
"That's cool, I love how you can be together when he's never seen you in his life," Leafy glared.
"How the fuck would you know, bitch?" The woman frowned.
"Kinda crazy but I'm the bitch he's actually dating," Leafy smiled but there was nothing kind about it.
"Ugh, he could do way better than some trashy skank like you, he deserves someone like me," the woman said, placing a hand on Firey's chest and he looked pleadingly to Leafy.
The woman gave Leafy a look, a simple look but it made Leafy's blood boil.
Suddenly, Leafy's black and green gun was pointed right in the woman's snobby face, inches away from her nose.
"Let's see how good you are for him with half of your brains blown out, huh?" Leafy yelled, finger on the trigger and rage coursing through her body.
That got everyone in the bar going, because of her little stunt, multiple people had taken out their own weapons and Leafy was the target.
She pulled out her second gun, one pointed at the weird woman, the other pointed at a random man across the bar, her eye twitched as she scowled.
Coiny reached for his own gun, not as powerful as Leafy's but she'd need a bit of backup.
Firey managed to get away from the woman who was now crying her eyes out, mascara smudged around her eyes and he knew he had to do something to calm the situation down.
"So, how about we all put our guns away and we all just drink and forget any of this happened, that sounds good, right?" He asked out loud.
He put his hand on the muzzle of Leafy's gun that was pointed at the woman and pushed it down, smiling loving at Leafy, causing her face to warm.
"Get that thing out of my face, or I swear-" the woman suddenly tried to threaten.
"I really don't think you should be talking," Firey said gravely.
The woman tried to look intimidating but shrunk away when she noticed Leafy tense up despite her gun no longer being raised.
"Oh whatever, just put your fucking gun away you bitch," the woman rolled her eyes as she stood up.
"You really think you're all that just because you got some mediocre dick, calm down, you fucking psycho slut,"
Bam.
The woman was knocked off balance when she was struck in the nose out of nowhere.
When she looked up, she saw Firey staring at her like she was dead rat, rotting on a path, poised and ready after throwing a mean left hook.
"You just didn't take my fucking advice," Firey glared.
And then all hell broke loose.
A gun belonging to a random patron misfired and suddenly everyone was screaming and shouting, punching and kicking.
A man hurried over to Firey to smash a bottle over his head and Coiny quickly stood up, ignoring Pin's protests and "The Big Three" were all involved in a bar fight.
And "The Big Three" were thrown out and told to never come back.
As they stood in the alleyway, panting while the adrenaline subsided they couldn't help but laugh.
Except Pin who shook her head and sighed and Firey who winced then groaned in pain.
He had gotten the worst of the hits, having been punched in the nose, thrown to the ground and the guy with the bottle finally got to him but only hitting his back.
Leafy still laughed as she tried to comfort him, Coiny was unable to control himself as he taunted the poor guy.
Pin stood by, feeling weirdly out of place and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to haul herself up in her room and just avoid anyone else.
To her, Coiny just looked so sweet and vibrant, he was always raring to go while she preferred to hang back and wait for things.
He always got along so well with Leafy, he always smiled when she made a joke and now they had their famous little group together.
It made her feel sick.
She hated how insecure she felt, she hated how unneeded she felt, she hated everything about how she felt.
In her mind, she knew she was jealous of everyone around her, all of them seemed to have something she didn't but she couldn't quite place what exactly that was.
Shaking her head to try and get rid of the thoughts, she decided that she was fed up of standing around while the other three joked and she tapped Coiny on there shoulder to get his attention.
"I'm gonna go find another place to get a drink, you wanna come with?" She smiled as sweetly as she could.
"Ya know what, I'm in, I'm sick of these two," Coiny joked.
"Aw, you don't mean that," Leafy scoffed.
"He does," Firey snickered.
"For once, Firey is right, sorry Leafy," Coiny shrugged.
"How very dare you!" Leafy exclaimed in mock anger as she linked her arm with Firey's.
"Whatever, let's go drink by ourselves," she grinned.
"Leafy, I love you but I literally have glass in my back," Firey said in a pained voice.
"Hm, I guess you should rest after all of that," Leafy shrugged.
"We'll catch up later, I still wanna look around," Coiny said.
"See you back at the base guys," Firey said as they left.
Pin rolled her eyes but smiled as Coiny held her hand, walking with her down the alleyways, searching for a semi decent place to drink together.
She didn't mind moments like that, times when she was reminded that Coiny did love her.
Those were the times that she didn't feel any type of insecurity.
"I swear, I'm getting sick of those two causing problems," Pin sighed.
"Yeah, they're not like us, we're so we'll behaved," Coiny said in a proud voice.
"Hm, maybe I am," Pin smirked.
"I am so behaved, if it weren't for me those idiots would probably be on so many hit-lists," Coiny remarked.
"If it weren't for me you'd be right with them," Pin said snidely.
"True, you do keep me grounded," Coiny mused.
They continued on, chatting about random things when Pin noticed that Coiny was staring at her with a confused look.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Hang on, there's something on your face," Coiny said, moving closer and making Pin go quiet.
Her heart skipped a beat when she felt him kiss her.
"It was me," Coiny grinned.
Pin stared at him, unable to give a comeback, laughing awkwardly.
"Don't do that, you know it makes me lose focus," she giggled.
"That's why I do it," Coiny said, like it was obvious.
"Oh hush up," Pin said, giving him a gentle shove.
"Never," Coiny replied.
She wanted it to stay like that, Coiny making stupid jokes, silly flirtatious remarks, being a couple that she had always wanted to be.
But her mind was a dark and hateful place and it never really allowed her long lasting moments of contentedness.
Very gently, she pulled away, not obvious as to why, to someone who didn't know them she just moved because her hair had gotten caught on something.
She took a discreet glance at Coiny and she saw the slight hurt in his eyes as he looked at her, internally wondering why she did what she had just done.
There was nothing she wished for more than to just have a normal brain that didn't hate her, she knew it didn't just hurt her, it hurt him too.
How the hell did Leafy do it? How did she have everyone fawning over her? How did she smile all the time?
What did she have that Pin didn't?
She would pay any amount of money to figure that out, if she had that information her life would be so much better.
Leafy was boarderline perfect, Leafy was talented, Leafy was beautiful, Leafy was the one everyone adored.
Leafy was the one who Coiny had loved first.
Whenever that thought crossed her mind, Pin's heart broke just a little bit.
Was she just his second choice? His second place prize because Leafy was smitten with someone else?
It hurt.
So much.
She loved Coiny, she loved him more than anything, she had loved him from the moment he welcomed her to the team.
Did he love her as much as she loved him?
She hated that all she could do was hope, she hated that she would always feel like second place, she hated herself for being so jealous.
She hated herself for the hate that she felt, hatred directed at someone who didn't even deserve it, someone who never anything but kind to her.
She just wanted to be safe but she would never be satisfied with her emotions.
All Coiny could do was smile at her, hold her hand and bare with her.
Coiny had patience, he would wait as long as he needed, everyone took their own time to deal with things and Pin was no different.
He saw the distance in her eyes, some the emotions that she tried to hide and he knew there were more deep down.
With a tenderness that only he had, he tried to hold her hand, praying she saw the love in his eyes.
He loved her, he truly did.
But he didn't know what she struggled with, that she didn't like when he stared at Leafy for just a bit too long, when he smiled at her with just a bit too much care.
She didn't take her hand in return, she hid them in her sleeves, not daring to look at him and his hurt, puppy eyes.
Why did she hurt him? Why did she do this? Why was she so horrible.
Not much else was said after that, they still walked by eachother's side but Coiny didn't try anything else.
He offered to just go home and rest.
Pin gladly accepted.
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Hope you enjoyed that chapter.
XOXO
LeafCake