January 10th, ??? / 9:45-9:57 PM
*I feel like I should give a TW just in case, so I will...
My post (and many of my future posts) contains abuse (mental, physical, and some very vague, undetailed, and within guidelines sexual that is only suggested), neglect, mentions of s*icide, blood, and many mental illnesses*
Leroy Hall
16/B-/Male/Water/Both/Pansexual
Leroy paused his movement to run a hand through his hair, glancing at the clock on the wall. The group would be meeting up soon and Leroy would rather not be late.
He heard the front door open and shut, meaning that his parents had left for the day. Not that it mattered, they wouldn't notice he was missing anyway, but it did make it easier to leave.
Sighing, the half-blind male picked up his already packed bag, threw it over his shoulder, and started towards the front door, double-checking that his parents had left before proceeding. Just in case.
Satisfied, Leroy stepped out into the chilled air and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly before moving towards the agreed meeting place. Nabih would already be there, no doubt, and maybe a few others too. And some would be late. Someone was always late.
Where they would be going, Leroy had no idea. If they had discussed it (which they probably had), he had blocked them out while they did so. It didn't matter really, anywhere was better than here. Better than home. Better than the place where 'the accident had occurred.
As soon as the thought popped up, Leroy pushed it away, the same way he always did. He didn't need to think about that, he didn't need to think about him. Yet, the more he tried to ignore it, the stronger the thought pushed itself to the surface, just as it so often did.
His brother lying in a puddle of his own blood, a knife in his chest that was forced there by his own hand, his skin was deathly pale, but when Leroy touched him he was still warm.
And then the note.
The tears, the pain, the screaming, the begging, the sirens, his sisters fighting back against his grip trying to get to their brother's side.
Silence, loss, darkness, regret, numbness, nothing.
'No.'
Leroy bit his cheek hard and pushed everything down again. The others didn't know. They didn't know anything.
They knew he was an egotistical, loud, brat, but that was it. He hadn't told anyone the past, especially not the true past, the fact that it was his fault his brother was dead.
They would never forgive him.
But that's why Leroy was running in the first place, to get away from the place where his brother had died and away from his neglective parents.
After walking a bit longer, Leroy reached the meeting point and stopped, walking over and leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, he shot Ariethous a glare when he spotted the guy smoking, but he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t like he would listen anyway.
Instead of interacting, Leroy just stood and waited, his eyes (well, one good eye anyway) scanning the territory around him for the others.
Ethan Brimstone
16/O/Male/Aura Reading/Both/Gay
Ethan pressed himself farther into the closet, shaking and sobbing. He was silent, just as he always was, and if it was good for nothing else, at least it was good for hiding.
"Ethan, darling! Come on out, it's been a whole dayyyy~" Val's voice was slurred, showing the fact that he had been drinking again. He was always worse after having a few drinks, and he was already bad without them. "PleaseÁ? I just wAnna have some fun~" E closed his eyes as the footsteps grew closer, stumbling every once in a while. He pressed his chin to his knees and clutched his bag hard to his chest.
He had almost been done! He had almost escaped!
Ethan had been heading towards the back door when he heard Val enter, and he'd immediately taken cover. The little, ragged house was small, so there was a very good chance that Val would find E and take advantage again before he could even fully process and react. It happened often.
It occurred to the mute that he would have had a better chance running, being drunk as he was Val couldn't have followed very quickly, and E probably would have been safe, but his instincts to hide had taken over as soon as he heard the door and Ethan had taken cover.
Now there was a knock on the wooden frame of the closet. "Ooooo, Eeee! I know you'Re in there! I cAn smeellll youu!" Val laughed and pulled open the closet door. Before he could even think, Ethan bolted, shoving past his abusive captor and racing towards the door. Val let out a squeal of surprise but, for once, the mute didn't look back.
He ran and ran until he reached the meeting place and finally sank to the ground, back against the wall, panting and sobbing. Unlike Leroy, most of the group was aware of Ethan's situation and it wasn't uncommon for him to show up like this, panicked and upset, many times even bloody. Still, it couldn't be fun having to deal with him.
Ethan made a mental note to apologize for his behavior later. They shouldn't have to put up with him.
Once he had managed to calm down a little, Ethan looked up. He spotted Leroy first, leaning against the wall across from E and making a point to ignore him. Ethan didn’t blame him, the guy was bad with emotions and probably wouldn’t have been much help anyway.
Then he spotted Ariethous… smoking. Of course, he was smoking. Ethan looked down at the ground again, it wasn’t his place to get onto the guy for his bad habits… Someone else could do that. Someone else should do that, but it wasn’t going to be him.
Axel Founte
16/A/Trans Male/Quicker Healing/Both/Asexual Panromantic
Axel slipped out of bed, wincing as his feet hit the floor. His body was aching as normal and, also as normal, he had a headache and hacking cough. But he had to leave. He had promised the others and he wasn’t about to let them down because of some stupid sickness.
He walked through the house and grabbed his bag off the hook where it was hanging on the wall. He had packed it the previous night, knowing he wouldn’t be able to force himself to do it in the morning. His anxiety was already kicking in.
“Axel, sweetheart, where are you going?”
Axel looked up, surprised to find his mother, a kind-faced, tiny woman with pretty green eyes, watching him with deep concern.
“M-mama? I-I thought you h-had work?” Axel answered, wide-eyed. This wasn’t the plan.
“They let me off today, we were running pretty slow.”
“O-oh…” Axel paused, trying to think of a good excuse. “I p-promised E I’d m-meet up with h-him today.” Well, it wasn’t a total lie. It should work, his mother adored Ethan.
“I’m sure he’ll understand you’re sick, Axel. You need rest. I heard you coughing a moment ago.”
As if the words had triggered it, a cough rose in Axel’s chest and he had to fight to keep it down. “I-I’m fine. I w-want to go!” He protested. “P-please? I’ll be b-back tonight.” That was a flat-out lie, and the sickly boy felt a pang of guilt. He loved his mother and absolutely hated lying to her.
The woman paused, thinking. “Alright, but be careful, Axel, and come home if you start having trouble breathing!”
Axel grinned. “T-thank you, mama, I-I will. I l-love you.”
“I love you too.”
The sickly boy hurried out the door (though not too quickly), and started towards the decided meeting place of the group. It took him a bit longer than most people because he kept having to stop and take deep breaths before continuing. Eventually, though, he managed. Stopping as soon as he reached his destination and putting his hands on his knees, breathing deeply through his nose and exhaling through his mouth. Once he had caught his breath and steadied his heart-rate again, he looked up, immediately meeting Ethan’s eyes.
Now to anyone supervising, it most likely looked like the most intense-threatening staring contest of the century, but for these two it was standard greeting and simple conversation. Both were naturally very good at communicating through eye-contact and outward emotions, Ethan because he was mute, and Axel because he was very shy and hated talking because of his stutter so this was an easy way to understand each other and communicate… It also probably mildly terrified any onlookers. But hey, it worked!
After about a minute of silent staring without breaking contact or even seeming to move at all, a small, closed-lipped smile twitched on the corners of Ethan’s mouth and he stood, opening his arms in a gesture that gave permission for a hug. Axel answered with a wide smile and stepped into the embrace where they stood for a few seconds before parting.
“I hate when you two do that.”
Axel turned and spotted Leroy glaring them down.
“H-hello Leroy.” He said, unfazed by the other boys' unfriendly tone.
“What’s up Pipsqueak?” Now that was Leroy’s standard greeting for Axel… Also the only standard greeting he had other than silence or a simple nod if Leroy was feeling nice.
“N-not too m-much.”
The larger male just nodded and Axel sank down against the wall, Ethan following. Then they just sat there in awkward silence, waiting for more people to show up.
Axel had noticed Ariethous, of course. He also noticed that he was smoking. Axel didn’t say anything about it, but he really wished the guy would stop, his lungs already hurt and the smoke wasn’t helping. Still, he stayed quiet.
The last thing he wanted was conflict.
Winter 
Day 
