Good Luck Flowers
Ray twisted the stems over each other absentmindedly as he sat on the step of his dorm building. It had been a long time since he had felt afraid, it had been even longer since he had felt it for someone other than himself. He stared out into the woods trying to see the wall through the thick trees, but it was too far away. Everything felt too far away, the wall, his home, tomorrow...Suki Sato. He tried to block out the idea of Suki in those woods with only Ian's preflex to protect her. He had no faith in preflexers and while Ian seemed honourable enough he didn't think that was enough to keep her from being killed by lord knows what in the woods.
He felt more than saw Emily sit next to him on the steps. She was worried and scared and it was palpable in the air around her. Well if she wanted company to be worried and scared with he was an excellent choice.
"You okay?" she asked her voice was soft and calm but she was hugging her bag close to her chest. Her knuckles white with the effort, as if she was afraid it would be ripped from her grip at any moment. Which Ray supposed was very possible considering what was hidden within its nylon folds.
He shrugged twisting the steams into a neat braid, "You?"
"I've been thinking about you know who..."
He turned to look at her startled, they hadn't talked about 'The Broken' in years. She looked nervous and tired, worn down perhaps by the secrets she couldn't uncover, "Again?" he tugged at the stems pulling them into a clean line trying to avoid thinking about how now he had two people to worry about. If Headmaster discovered that Emily was talking about 'The Broken' she would disappear from his life and he wasn't sure if he could handle never seeing her again.
She nodded holding the bag with the map in it like it was a life preserver and she was sinking, which Ray could tell just by looking at her was right. This school was like quicksand, the more you struggled the more it dragged you under, "I'm going to join them, do you want to come..." there was a scared quake in her voice and it wrenched at his heart.
He had no idea what to say so he didn't say anything. He was surprised by the soft smile that spread across her face. He watched her as she moved a hand away from the bag and reached for his hand. Confused by the gentle look on her face he waited.
"These where for Sato weren't they?" she spoke as she plucked the unlucky orange flowers out of his hands. She rubbed the petals between her fingers, "Forget I said anything Ray..." She stood up and started up the stairs back to the dorm.
"Good night Emily, be safe." he told her not turning, not wanting to watch her leave.
"Oh the flowers." she stopped but before she could move towards him he spoke softly.
"Keep them, for luck."