Rows upon rows of brightly coloured packets of boiled sugar greeted him at the door. A gust of artificial, air conditioned air hit his face as soon at the automatic doors opened and his hair flitted back a little. He was almost jarred by the sudden bout of colours. It was a very rushed transition from the light of a lonely street lamp to bright neon lights of the convenience store. Emil blinked uncertainly as he was forced to adjust to the lights that were too damn bright.

He had no idea why he had started craving liquorice at 2 am on a Friday night, but a far as he could be bother to think about it a craving was a craving regardless if the time of day. He tried to march forward in the most forthright manner possible, but only managed a stroll. He had walked to the convenience from the his home, but he still somehow retained that late night grogginess. He didn't usually leave the house so late, but liquorice had roused him from his watching of David Attenborough and his many documentaries.

His bare feet padded across the cold tiles of the floor making him shiver ever so slightly. The shop attendant gave him a very curious look from behind the counter, but Emil paid him no mind. He doubted that the attendant knew who he was, there was no need for embarrassment.

No need to cringe.

Perhaps that was what he loved about the night. Nobody he knew was out and about, he was free to been seen, but he didn't need to be anything more or less than what he was. In the night he found comfort and simplicity and apparently liquorice as well. His heartbeat was steady and his eyes half open. He gave of such a lazy demeanour you might of thought he was walking in a day dream.

He was drawn, perhaps by some mythical force to the candy isle and his eyes scanned the rows for what he desired. In two minutes or maybe less he had the candy in his hand and was standing out the front of the shop, chewing lazily. His phone buzzed to itself in his pocket, drawing it out he scanned the text.

I'll be there in a few minutes, sit tight.

-L

Emil yawn as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket, not even bothering to reply. He shivered as a malicious wind blew his hair to the side and forced goosebumps to appear on his arms. He cursed himself for not putting on a jacket before leaving the house. Winter would soon be upon him and he would have to start wearing one perpetually. He wouldn't tell anyone, but he loved winter. He loved it more than any of the other seasons. It reminded him of his homeland, his white filled wonderland. He missed the snow and the cold so much. He missed it the same way he the night during the day He wasn't one of those people that yearned for the bright days and the 'cool' life. He was socially awkward and wanted nothing to do with the human race and had very few exceptions to that rule. People in general were not on his agenda. He just didn't have the patience for them.

He leant back on a pole and began to patiently wait for his brother's little blue car. He had taken the risk of waking his older brother once he had gotten to the convenience store and discovered that he was both a little too tired and a little too lazy to walk back. Thankfully Lukas had sounded a little too tired to lecture him. Hopefully Emil would be able to go straight to bed after getting out of the car and get off scot free. Yeah, that seemed like a pretty idea, at least he couldn't see it's faults.

Emil watched in silence as his brother's blue car came sliding down the street. He opened the car door as soon as it stopped on the curb. He didn't even look at his brother, he just put on his seatbelt and leant his head on the cool window, still chewing on the back candy.

"Thanks for coming and getting me" this was the only thanks his brother received as they drove down the street. Lukas didn't respond, but Emil didn't quite need a response anyway. He had decided to focus solely on not falling asleep. He moved his leg in annoyance, only to hear a that distinct rustle of a chip packet. How odd. Normally his brother kept his car perfectly clean. Mathias must of left it there. Emil frowned as he stared out the window. He didn't really like Mathias, too loud for the small boy's taste.

Emil braced himself for the turn into their street, but the turn never came. He watched as the dim street sailed past, a single street light giving the street sign some hope of being seen.

Paradian Lane

"Hey, why didn't you turn in?" His voice was more alarmed than he had intended.

"Well, it's not, like, my fault I don't know where we're going" Lukas had a certain way of speaking. He spoke like a song. If you asked him something he would always respond in the same rhythm it had been brought to him in. Over time Emil had copied his older brother. And above all, neither brother would ever use the word "like" were it wasn't grammatically appropriate. Emil slowly turned to the owner of the voice who was most definitely not Lukas in something like horror.

A delinquent.

He had gotten into a car with a delinquent. An amused looking delinquent, but a delinquent none the less. He fit the description perfectly. He was long and lanky and had a deadly smirk playing on his lips. His eyes were slightly slanted suggesting asian decent and his hands were covered by leather fingerless gloves. Longish dark brown hair hung down his neck and his eyes were insightful and seemed to be made of chocolate and spice. His smirk deepened at the sight of Emil's shocked face.

"I got into the wrong car" he said it as if it wasn't perfectly obvious.

"I figured" The delinquent replied. He seemed god awfully amused by the whole situation. "Now where would you like to go, seeing as you're already in my car?" Emil directed him, half in shock and half in sleepy acceptance. The delinquent turned around and this time turned in to Emil's street.

"I am sorry for this and thanks for the ride" Emil's cheeks were lightly dusted with red, but that was simply from embarrassment. His embarrassment threshold apparently didn't stretch as far as he had first presumed. That was disappointing.

"Wait" The delinquent was scribbling something on a stray piece of paper. He dropped the piece of paper into Emil's bag of liquorice with small mocking smile. "Call me if you ever need a taxi service again" Emil nodded curtly as the delinquent took a piece of his candy and he excused himself from the car. That… had been a very strange experience.

Author's notes:

okay first of all this was based on Late Night Liquorice by Fallingforwerewolves, but I wanted to do it as well, so, you know, he did it first, I just want to continue it. I think it's a really great idea and I just love Leon and Emil. This is gonna be fun guys.

Much love,

Clementine