2021.02.04 What Happens in Vegas pt 1 - Didn't Stay There

What Happens in Vegas Pt 1 - Didn't Stay There
{{{summary}}}
IC Date	2/4/21
Players	BryanO, Branton, and Tawney as ST
Prp/Tp	What Happens in Vegas

Two nights of restlessness for the Shadow Lord kin. Waking in the night to pace the home she shares with Bryan. When questioned, there's no real /thing/ to pin the uneasiness on - just a sense of something being -off-. A pressure, or feeling of being watched.

Likewise, a feeling of something brewing, like the pressure before a storm, plagues Branton, though with his far more evolved sensitivity to things, it isn't just some sense of offness. He is tugged, urged towards an old building at the edge of town. It might once have been a vehicle repair place, or maybe a more full service gas station with the gas pumps long since removed. The windows or scummed over with dust and grime, and weeds have sprouted up in crazed lines in the old asphalt - dessicated and rather sad looking, long dead.

Bryan gets up with her, and informs Journey on the second morning that they will come visit Ana, but won't be taking her because GODDAMN he learned his lesson last time. "What do we need to do? Anymore clues? Maybe I can reach out and get hold of ... I don't know. Sense of the Prey doesn't work QUITE that way, but maybe..?"

Branton pulls up in his cargo van and blinks when he notices Bryan and Tawney there "Oh! Hey there." and he ambles over in their direction, not having expected company but willing to roll with it.

"I don't know." Super helpful, the Tawney is. Resorting to playing a rousing game of hot-cold, they eventually wind up where Branton is lured. "Hey." A little rough looking from the lack of proper sleep, tending house, and helping to chase that rambunctious Analisa. The place leaves the Shadow kin uneasy and she leans against the car after getting out. "Something's wrong. And this is... the wrong place?" She's not very certain.

Bryan nods, sitting in the driver's seat and then... "That's Branton." He shuts off the engine and gets out of the car, but not before looking around the place slowly. "What are you doing here?"

Branton shrugs at Bryan and gestures to Tawney "We met outside that place that one time when I was talking to Journey about a project. And...pretty much what she said. Odd dreams, flashes of a vision, occasional clues. I just narrowed it down to a place today and packed some stuff and drove over."

Bryan nods to the two, looking around slowly. Too busy looking for things to SEE things, it would seem.

"Similar, but not... anything specific. just a feeling of something being off and being watched, sometimes." Tawney says, looking towards the old building. The paint is peeling and it just has a forlorn air of utter abandonment. The way some buildings just look /sad/ when they're left alone. Maybe a tiny bit sinister.

The other side of the Gauntlet is... untrustworthy. It's not out of whack, or toxic, but there's subtle creeping marks of taint beginning to filter into the Umbral landscape on the lot.

There's also a slight shadow of movement behind one of the dust glazed windows.

Branton frowns as he looks it over, checking his pouches and things real quick as he mentioned "I see movement inside but I couldn't get a good enough look to see if it was physical or not." Reaching around to the small of his back, Branton unclips a sheathed knife and offers it to "Bryan, just in case its a ghost or something. The spells on this blade make it so anything you can see it can cut."

Bryan nods, glancing where Branton mentions seeing something. He misses it, and reaches out to take the knife. "Tawney? Maybe you should go back to the house. I don't think this is very safe." It isn't an order, exactly, but that just seems like the RIGHT thing.

Tawney nods, retreating to their car and then sliding around to the driver's seat. Bryan has ways of getting home that don't need her help OR a car. Crazy 'rou. A glance over and she makes that worried face that is almost expected, surely, then drives off to head home where it's way safer.

When Tawney gets out of sight, there's a little flurry of activity on the Umbra side of things, a tiny little bird spirit zipping away from the building and heading north easterly.

Branton can also give Bryan a ride wherever, either by spell or by car. He looks after the bird that leaves when Tawney does and comments "I wonder who that's going to tattle to? Track the bird or go in and have a look around first?"

Bryan makes sure that Tawney gets a kiss first before she leaves, then turns just in time to see the bird and his eyes follow it. "You can see both sides, right?" Branton confirms that, then shakes his head. "Nah, if it's dragging things here, then fucking let it." He pulls out his phone though and calls Tawney. "JUST in case, don't go home. Head to Smoke and Barley or someplace safe where there are people around."

The calls is answered, Tawney changing direction to head to the Smoke and Barley to keep safe - safe is less distracting for Bryan, too.

The little bird is a quick thing - the sort used for carrying messages. Tattling, indeed. Once the spirit bird has been sent, there's a few moments of quiet, and then the old, glass fronted roll-up door of the two bay garage starts to rise - pulled from within by a manual chain.

It takes a moment for a door to roll up, right? Bryan gives Branton's sleeve a little tug and he dashes with a good amount of speed to the nearest cover - dumpster? Another building? SOmething. That won't hide the car or anything, but it could give them some sort of an advantage.

Branton will lead the way to duck around the far side of his cargo van. It is good at being in the way. Branton is staying as quiet as he can and watching.

The door rolls up and a small shadow moves away, deeper into the interior. Where it joins a second shape, words are traded in low voices - seeming to be a disagreement of some sort. The slightly larger of the two slaps the other upside the head. "... listen, stupid, we did what we're sposed to. Now we gotta go." Young? Feminine? Hard to say - the pitch and tone could be a younger male or a female.

Bryan's feet leave the ground, but only by about an inch or so (Spirit of the bird). He rummages through his pockets and grabs.. anything. Not a receipt. The lego he stepped on this morning and was going to throw away beceause it hurt bad enough he almost frenzied? That might do. Bryan elevates himself to peek over the top of the van and chucks the lego far and wide, over to a totally different area. Just as far as he can, then dips back down to Branton. It's a quick thing. Just a little fwoop up, a chuck, back down.

Branton pauses and looks to see what Bryan wants to do. Nodding when he throws the Lego >Getting them to stay? If you want to watch my meat-suit I can astrally scout.<

The skitter of plastic across pavement silences the two inside. The smaller one is given a shove to go and check it out.

Slight of frame, wearing stained up sneakers, hand me down jeans, and a tee that has a few rips in it, they prove to be a boy of about ten or twelve. Skittish, he looks around, poking his head around the corner to peer around the side of the run down building. "I don't see anything, Charlie." A hint of a whine to his voice.

<<Just seeing what's up,>> Bryan tells him <<If I get attacked, I can't protect your body.>> Then the CHILD shows himself. <<Fuck. That's a fucking kid.>> Bryan takes a deep breath and looks at Branton. <<You got any feelings on this place? These kids?>>

Branton closes his eyes to take a breath, just for a moment to center himself. Because of Bryan's mindspeaking gift linking him to Branton he can hear the background static go still and quiet before Branton answers >I'm not certain but they might be pre-change spirals. Or being made to work for spirals. The older one that stayed inside has a stronger association.<

"Probably just a rat or something. Come on, Danny, let's get our things packed up. We saw the bitch, we sent the message, we leave. Them's the orders." The smaller, Danny, heads back inside and the sound of a trunk being opened can be heard, and soft things being loaded into it.

<<Fuck. Fuck. They're just messengers. FUCK..>> Poor Branton, Bryan all yelling in his head. <<Tawney said this wasn't the place. Think you can tail if I bridge walk into the trunk?>>

Branton nods at Bryan as he frowns also, starting to edge to get in his van >Yeah, even if I lose you I can bring myself to you or you to me while we have this link open. Gods great and small their op sec is terrible.<

The second service bay door opens, pulled by the chain inside. The trunk is slammed shut. The larger of the two kids? He can't be more than like fourteen, but a shift to glabro makes him a fairly convincing 'old enough to drive without a ride along adult'.

The car is one of those nineteen-eighties boats. Long, can hide several dead bodies in the trunk, roomy, single seat in the front, and just lap belts. Technically, it's a classic, but it's full of rust and pretty nondescript. The older boy, Charlie, gets the big engine rumbling to life - despite the rust, she sounds *good*.

Bryan was JUST about to do just that. But... the shift. <<Fuck. Nope. Fuck fuck. Trail. If they catch onto us, I'll just bridge into the car and take out the driver. TRY to save the kid if we're able to. Fuck.>>

<<The younger one's a sorc. But I can't get a read on if he's Wyrm or not. Looks scared. Let's trail. The big ugly one's definitely... gonna go.>>

Branton nods and gets ready to trail in his cargo van. Its well maintained by someone with Branton's skills and budget so its not particularly noisey but this still might be tricky to accomplish.

The pair aren't, uh, very skilled when it comes to op sec -at all-. It's a fourteen year old masquerading as an adult using glabro and a ten or twelve year old kid brother. Neither helpless, by any means, but not exactly... worldly and wise in the way of things, yet, either.

They hit a gas station at the edge of the city and grab some snacks, then hit the highway heading north for a while. Eventually, they pull over at one of those fancier, park-like rest areas. The sort that has a separate area for families and truckers with a screen of rhododendrons and trees so the family types don't have to see the ugly trucks. It's not super busy, but there is kind of a lazy in-and-out flow to things.

The two park and seem to settle in to wait, both playing on their phones.

Bryan is just fucking filled with nervous energy for the whole ride. Poor Branton. He doesn't break the link, but it also isn't every single thought either. It's like talking, but in your head. He uses the time to call Tawney and let her know that they're driving, and then sends a text as well as turning on his location and plugs his phone in, just in case there's weird shit. You REALLY never know. "Drive on by. I'll bridge out and you give it a few minutes, then park again>> he suggests, looking for a place way out somewhere.. just anything in line of sight will work. Behind a building or whatever. Easy enough hopefully

Branton is super calm for someone whoes primary element is fire. He's steady and bright. As he does what he's told he replies >>Will do. Should I bring Tranquility out? Or would that be too much?<<

"Isn't it .. can't you change the size on that? If you CAN, bring it. These guys are waiting for something. If I can catch one of them somewhere private, I'll yeet his ass across the gauntlet and deal with him there." Speaking of.. Bryan looks around, checking out the Umbra

A few cars leave, the big boat the kids are in is out at the far end, with some breathing space between them and any normies. Despite the chill, they've got the windows down, the younger leaning over to show something to the bigger one, snickering. Laughter carries away from the car. Could be anyone just taking a break from the road and relaxing some.

The Umbra is pretty neutral - about what one would expect of an area that doesn't have a pack to either tend it or taint it. A little less Weaver and a little more Wyld, and just enough Wyrm to keep to the natural decay and order of things.

After a little bit, the older one, Charlie, gets out and heads for the building with the bathrooms in it, moving with a swagger that couples with rage to keep people away from him - giving the youth a wide birth.

Branton shakes his head, forgetting for a moment that Bryan isn't physically present any more as he stashes the van somewhere >Its a gladius so its not super big but the size changing enchantment is on my rapier. I've thought of making an enchanted sheath that'll shrink down any single handed sword to a knife size though, think there'd be a market for that sort of thing?<

<<Well, dude's going into the bathroom. I'm going to beat him in there. Keep an eye on the kid. Make sure that nothing weird is happening. There's too many people around for weapons. I'm sure this kid's going to come looking for his buddy. He's a SORCERER and you know what that means. Don't let him panic. Kill him if he catches on.>> No choice. Too risky

It's a bit of a hike from the old boat to the building. Danny looks up once or twice, but gets sucked into whatever it is he's doing on his phone. Charlie is unhurried, working on that glabro aided bad boy vibe along the path to the bathrooms.

Branton is going to find himself a spot, where he can see Danny and Danny can't see him. It can be a fair bit away since Branton can teleport over a football field's length without a spell. As a son of Pegasus he's conflicted about the kill order but if there winds up being no other way? Maybe he can knock him out fast enough.

Bryan bamfs into the bathroom. He probably made it a point to actually walk in there at one point so he could actually see the layout. He checks the stalls to make sure they're alone and then places himself in the last stall. People ALWAYS go into the last stall. Always. It's like the super deluxe stall. All the extra leg room where you can sprawl out. But that's also usually the handicap stall and frequently, those doors swing outward instead of inward and that's what Bryan's looking for. And yeah, Bryan doesn't wanna kill the kid either.

Pretty clean. Which might be a surprise for a rest stop loo. Nice grey tiling, matching grey halfway up the wall and white above that. No touch toilets an faucets. Even the mirrors are intact and fairly clean. Must have an on-duty janitor or two lurking about somewhere or doing regular rounds and stock ups. The last stall, the handicap stall is there, along with three others and a half dozen urinals with plenty of space to avoid overcrowding on busy days.

Bryan beats Charlie inside, with plenty of time to take up a hiding spot and ready an ambush for the kid.

Outside, Danny looks up and then sits up, frowning faintly. His phone demands attention and he taps on the screen, then climbs out of the car and stretches, taking up an overly casual lean near the rear wheel well, arms folded across his chest.

Branton is planning out his take down. Fairly confident that his boosted strength will be more than enough to get the job done. When Danny gets out of the car Branton almost makes his move but when the boy settles against the wheel well he doesn't. Waiting and watching still.

Okay, so... timing is KEY. If he jumps in too soon, then he might not get the surprise he's looking for. If he jumps in too late, then the guy's gonna have his pants around his ankles and while that might throw him off, just... let the man take a shit. BSD or not, shits should not be interrupted. It's just .. is that an honor thing? Bryan waits to hear the door latch and the sound of a zipper and then BAMFS into the stall with the poor guy and goes for an IMMEDIATE lunge at the guy's throat, turning one hand into a set of razor sharp claws.

The poor kid. Glabro or no he is NOT prepared to have a Bryan teleport into his stall. Eyes go wide and there's a single squeaky sound as the kid's voice breaks before those claws tears through flesh and blood rhythmically splurts out over those claws. He barely had a first change under his belt. Now he's just a sack of meat and lost potential.

Outside, the smaller on checks his phone again, then starts looking towards the length of road where the cars pull in, lifting his hand when a dark blue SUV rolls in.

Branton mutters a curseword and frowns >We've got a dark blue SUV incoming. I think this was a rally point for a Rite of Passage gone very very bad.<

>>Yup. Probably. This one's down. This one went a little cleaner than I thought. Get some distance. Let them gather. They'll come looking for their guy.<< There's going to need to be some clean up, but that can wait a minute or two. Ugh. Gross.

On the upside, there's a convenient container for the worst of the mess when the boy dies. Just blood everywhere, though.

The SUV rolls up and parks with a single space gap between the kid's car and the bigger rig. Two big dudes get out, one from the back, one from the passenger side. Inked up and wearing leather and jeans - stereotypical biker look to them. Bearded, booted, burly.

A chick with fiery, natural red hair gets out of the driver side, also bikered up, but she's got that /Real Bitch/ walk that is NOT to be trifled with.

Danny, already small, seems to get smaller, stammering and gesturing towards the building where the bathrooms are. Kid looks terrified - being male kin, his fresh changed brother and his powers are the only thing keeping him sucking wind past his teeth.

Branton finds himself a good spot where he can observe the kid and the SUV. Taking his phone out so he will look like someone just leaning against a tree having a conversation if he happens to be spotted >This is going to be messier yet. You have three incoming. Adults, probably all spirals. The kid's gesturing at the bathrooms so one or more might head your way.<

<<I'm ready. What about humans? Anyone near?>> Bryan slips upward out of the stall, taking off his bloody shirt. He has to be careful how many times he walks, but he can afford a couple more, regardless. <<I'm going to lure them if they don't all come.>>

One of the males casually shoves the kid against the car hard enough that he thumps his head on the edge of the roof. Not enough to stun him or break skin, but plenty to just be a dick. The other male snorts out a laugh, but they both knock their shit off when the redhead chick gives them a look.

There's three other cars, a few people stretching, and a couple coming and going from the women's side of the bathrooms. It's quiet, but not wholly -safe- for this sort of work, really. A little too open, a little too populated to move in complete comfort.

Branton relates his spying results to Bryan and considers all the normals around >Oh! You have the phone? You could text the sorcerer pretending to be him, get someone moving in your direction. So far they're just standing here.<

Phone.. phone... right! He picks it up and fumbles with it. IF it's unlocked, Bryan sends a text. "Out of toilet paper in here. Bring me some."

One of the guys pulls out his phone and snorts, tapping back a text and shaking his head. The other big guy gets slapped on the shoulder and shown the texts, and pretty soon all three are laughing. The reply: 'You're a big boy, wolf it up and lick that shit til it shines'.

Tasked with fetching toilet paper for his big brother, the other kid is given a shove that way with a couple of greasy McD's napkins wadded up in his hand. Hoofing it to the bathrooms, the kid gets about three steps in when the coppery stink of blood hits his nose and he freezes.

Perfect. Bryan wasn't EXPECTING the kid, but that's just ducky. He spots the kid and bridgewalks right up into his grill. "Sorry, kid," and punches him. Just as hard as he possibly can, right in the face, hoping to knock him out cold. That would be the EASIEST way to do this.

<<SHITFUCKDAMNKID! KID'S GONNA SCREAM OH FUCK FUCK FUCK TOO SHORT SWUNG TOO HIGH!!!>> <OOC> Bryan says, "Mine"

Branton winces at Bryan's exclamation >Well that's one way to bring the bigguns running! Don't let him get away!<

The kid is kind of used to being picked on, and while he doesn't shrug it off, he does wind up staggering back a step before there's an unsettling sensation in the pit of Bryan's stomach and he gets hit with a pulse of raw telekinetic force strong enough to knock him back and make the doors on the stalls slam back and forth with a clatter of sound that bounces off the walls of the tiled bathroom.

"Just.. take a nap, kid." Bryan moves forward and... catches the boy as he goes limp.. and then tucks him off into a corner, kind of behind a trashcan sort of thing.

The kid's eyes roll back in his head and he drops, that one telekinetic blast all he was able to get off against his attacker.

<<He's down and alive>>

They wait, and they wait, but they don't have a lot of patience. About ten minutes in, they start muttering amongst themselves, one lighting a cigarette. That's kind of the tipping point, though, and after a few more moments, then three start towards the bathrooms, with the shorter of the two big men taking the lead.

Branton nods to himself as they head towards the bathroom >All three on their way in your direction. Want me to intevene?<

<<Nah, meet me back at the van, I'm going to bridge over with the kid and we're getting out of here.>> Bryan, covered in gross, moves over and scoops up the kid and poofs back to the van. <<They can track us maybe, but I want to see if I can get this kid somewhere safe and see if he can even be saved>>

The three make it to the bathroom, and disappear out of sight. There's not likely to be much time before they find the blood smears and the youngest missing.

Branton does as he's told, As soon as the baddies aren't looking in his direction he wanders into the trees and does a telehop back towards the van.

Bryan lays the kid down very carefully in the back of the van and even tucks a blanket or SOMETHING around him. "Alright. Drive. They mentioned Vegas. I'm going to sit here and stare at this kid until he wakes up. Morpheus will keep him calm for a little bit and maybe we can get some answers out of him. They'll be bailing out of there soon enough. They can't track footsteps because I'm pretty sure my foot never touched the ground. But they might be able to track kiddo here."

Branton starts the van and gets moving "Vegas? Are we trying to beat them home? Or should we head back to Prospect?"

"Not Prospect. We're not taking him anywhere near our families. Telekinesis is his thing, but he might be able to do more. That was a pretty powerful smack for someone his age. He can't be much older than 12 or so." He sighs, looking at the kid, checking him for any signs of malnutrition or abuse or.. anything, really

Male kin that hang with Spirals tend to get the short end of the stick. His clothes are stained and torn - hand me downs, but like third hand, not second. Nothing quite fits him right, and he's on the skinny side of things. There's bruises and bumps and scrapes in various stages of healing, but no real BIG things like broken bones currently present on the kid.

Branton nods at the instructions and heads away from Prospect, not sure exactly where yet but just getting moving and concentrating on being hard to find. "We're in motion, not sure to where."

Bryan nods. "That works." About an hour in, Bryan reaches out and gives the boy a gentle shake. "Hey, Charlie." That was his name, right? Charlie. "Hey man. Wake up. You hungry?"

The kid startles awake, cringing back even before he has a chance to realize he's in a vehicle on the road. "Charlie?" Bryan. Weird bald guy driving. Just the two? Just the two. "Danny." he says, scootching back a little bit from the blonde guy.

Branton keeps driving but glances in the rear veiw mirror at the kid "Afternoon Danny. Not having a great day I bet?"

"Danny. The other guy's name was Charlie, right? You hungry? Look, no one here's going to do anything bad to you, alright? I'd like to think we rescued you. I think that you're just a kid, doing what you're told, to keep from getting the shit beat out of you." He hooks a thumb up at Branton. "That's Cole. I'm Ozzie."

Food? He could eat, but he's more wary than hungry. "... I saw blood. You hurt Charlie, didn't you?" Cautious, very much uncertain - he has no idea what to make of the two, but he's known enough threatening folks to know to be careful.

With all the driving, it doesn't seem like there's a tail. Then again, that little bird spirit DID get out, back at the old gas station.

Branton is watching for spirits also, sure. Especially that same bird in case its bound to the sorcerer. The interrogation he's letting the Garou take the lead on "The Red cooler has things that are safe to eat. Don't open the black cooler."

"Yeah, I did. Sorry." And goddammit if he doesn't sound absolutely one hundred percent sincere. "Charlie was beyond saving. You might not be." He stands up a little, reaching for the snacks in the red cooler, but careful to keep his eyes on Danny, never looking away, and he offers up.. what.. maybe like a protein bar or something. That seems like the kind of shit they'd pick up. "You're a sorcerer. Telekinesis. Can you do anything else?"

There's a span of silence before the kid puffs up and, he -tries-, he tries so hard. "I can make fire! So you better stay back, cause I'll blow us all up." He really can't do anything else, but he did have a solid punch for a kid with some telekinesis. Probably stronger with it than with his scrawny little arms and legs. He does, however, snatch the protein bar from 'Ozzie', fumbling in his haste and unwrapping it, devouring it in a few bites. It's gooey-sticky and delicious to the growing kid. Certain he has surely put some fear in the other two with his bravado. "He didn't Dance, yet. But he was gonna. After we found that chick they were looking for."

Branton will wiggle his fingers over his shoulder and sparks dance across them "Oh neat. Me too. Van's warded though. So there's that." Branton is a much better liar than Danny.

Bryan's brows go up a little and he nods with Danny's proclamation. "I'm sure outside of this van, you're very potent. That's why I had to knock you out. So he hadn't danced? Just a matter of time. He won't be dancing now. They might have killed you tonight if it was going to be his rite of passage. Probably made him do it too." Bryan lightly scratches his chin and reaches for the red cooler, pulling it up and sliding it in front of Danny. "What'd they want the girl for? They got her, by the way."

Licking his fingers, Danny's eyes go wide when Branton makes those sparks. Shit. "He wanted to. Wanted to show those jerks he was big and tough like they were." Brothers. It leaves the kid torn, really, between the bond to his brother and the reality that his friends were all doing some really sketchy shit and constantly mean to him. The cooler is studied, before he opens it and pokes around at the contents some. "Not real sure? Guess she got some of them killed. They're all pretty pissed about it. Like -really- mad."

Bryan nods, just once. "Are they real strong, Danny? Like.. I know they push you around and stuff, but are they REAL strong? They're gonna kill that girl. And probably make your brother do horrible things to her before they do."

Branton frowns at Danny's story about how his brother was /gonna/ Dance. Shit.

Danny stops rummaging in the cooler and glances down. "Yeah, REAL strong. Crazy strong." Which... could mean a lot of things coming from a twelve year old string bean. Mentioning killing the woman, the kid shifts on his butt uneasily. He never for a moment thought his brother would hurt him, but the notion of them hurting the girl is uncomfortable to think about.

We're going to pretend that he actually HAD danced. Easier than way. "Now's your chance to get out though, man. If you want, we can stop at the next gas station and I'll leave you there with fifty bucks and your cell phone and you can call them to come pick you up. Or we can take you some place safe. No strings, nothing. Just a new life, where people aren't going to hurt you."

Branton nods at Bryan's comment and adds something feeling inspired. Having once been a budding 12 year old psychic with a difficult childhood himself "There might be hard work and chores. But there will be food, a chance to learn, and when you do well? They'll tell you so."

Danny goes quiet, frowning. A couple of miles roll by before he asks in a real tentative voice. "Can Charlie come?"

"No," Bryan says, rather flatly. "They killed him." He readies another Morpheus, JUST in case the kid freaks out and loses his shit and tries to attack.

Danny freezes, needing a moment to really register what's said. "Th-they.. but! BUT WE DID WHAT THEY WANTED!" His brother trusted them. He trusted his brother. Even with all the bad treatment it's hard for him to wrap his head around the notion of a double cross. And tough as he is, he bursts into hysterical tears.

Branton keeps his expression smooth as Bryan pulls a Obiwan. Hopefully that holds up long enough and well enough to do the kid some good.

"Not fast enough," Bryan says and reaches out to lay a hand on Danny's shoulder. "I'm sorry, dude." And he IS sorry. He is REALLY fucking sorry that this poor kid got born into a shitty family and that Bryan killed his brother and that this poor kid is a kinfolk and that this kid is a 12 year old boy who has to cry in front of other dudes and that he's lying to this kid to probably save his life and that he's doing it without any sort of effort at all. He's sorry for ALL that. Bryan has a lot of sorries in his life.

Poor kid just folds up against Bryan. He's tough, and he's at that age where he's on the cusp of responsibilities and trying to learn to man up, but losing his brother? That's an awful big blow. And he is still a child, despite being on that cusp of heading towards adulthood.

It takes a while, but when he calms down enough to speak, he says weakly. "I don't want to go back to them."

Bryan gives the kid a hug and lets him do whatever he needs to do. "Alright then. We'll take you someplace safe. It'll be a hell of a lot easier there. You'll make friends and your abilities will be respected and there'll be people there who love you, okay kid?" He glances up at Branton in the front seat. "Let's take him to Gaia's Hope for now. They can get him settled and probably relocate him later on." He gives the kid a little scritch on the head. "Here man. Dry up those tears. Eat some more. Or we're probably pretty close to a Burger King or McDonald's."