Floyd looked from Velvet to Veneer and back, confused. "Wait? How exactly did you guys slip out unnoticed?"
"Got out through the back. Far away from any guard," Velvet explained, stepping away from her brother. "Veneer first."
"I thought it was you who left first."
"No. It was definitely you who left first," Velvet replied. "You tell the rest of the story…"
"Which was…"
"When we got out, the first thing we did was find and visit immediate family to stay with." Veneer looked away from Floyd briefly, then refocused his attention on him. "That… didn't exactly go the way we hoped it would."
"You guys got disavowed, I'm guessing?" Floyd asked.
The siblings looked away, briefly, then nodded simultaneously. Indicating a yes from both of them.
Floyd sighed, sitting down now. "And how did that happen—" Before he could finish speaking, before Velvet and Veneer could get into that part of the story, a familiar voice cut him off.
"Hey, Floyd, we need you down at my bunker." The aforementioned turned his attention away from Velvet and Veneer and down towards Branch and Poppy as they swung their way up to join him. "John and Clay seem to have gotten into a sort of argument over the most ridiculous thing—"
"Can't Bruce handle it? He has experience."
"He's way too much amused by the whole thing to step in and stop it." It was Poppy who spoke up next, breaking a silence before it could even make itself known. "So he asked us to get you to help." She briefly glanced at Velvet and Veneer before returning her attention to Floyd. "We, ah, didn't realize that you were already occupied. We could come back later—"
"No." Floyd cut her off. "Why don't one of you go back and step in and stop whatever it is John and Clay are having an argument about?"
Neither Poppy nor Branch needed to come to an immediate decision. Branch swung his way back down immediately. But not before he called out, "Already on it! I'll be back later!"
Seconds passed before Poppy glanced back at Floyd and asked, "So what's going on?" She gestured towards Velvet and Veneer.
"They broke themselves out of prison." Floyd paused for a moment to let out a sigh before continuing, "And were about to bring up their getting disavowed by family."
"Oh, dear lord." Poppy rubbed the back of her neck, letting out a soft laugh. "Sorry about the interruption."
Floyd nodded. "It's fine, Poppy." He motioned to Velvet and Veneer to continue.
"Okay, so now what?" Veneer hid behind Velvet, still nervous about his sister's plan. Still afraid of the two of them getting caught. His sister glanced around a corner, looking left and right, to make sure that there were no other guards near them. She grabbed her brother's hand a moment later, dragging him down the hallway they were hidden in.
They were mere moments away from turning another corner when Velvet heard another guard nearby. She grew quiet and stopped Veneer. Before he could ask what was going on, Velvet quietly spoke. "Shh… there's another guard. If we're going to get out of here without getting caught, we need to stay as quiet as we possibly can."
When the guard was out of earshot, Velvet resumed dragging her brother down the hallway they were set on turning.
"Wait, what about the alarm system. You know it's going to go off—"
"Not if you turn it off before we leave. That and the cameras," Velvet said.
"Me? What about you?"
"Please just do it." Velvet stopped outside the control room, opening the door and urging Veneerinside.
The younger of the two had no other choice than to comply, quietly stepping inside and coming back out a minute later.
"Okay," he whispered. "The alarm and cameras are off."
'Great,' Velvet thought quietly to herself, grabbing hold of Veneer's hand and dragging him towards the exit doors. She pushed them open as quietly as she could and the pair hurried out, climbing over the fence surrounding the prison and racing off. Slipping into the darkness to avoid detection.
"How far from the prison is the suburbs you grew up in?" Floyd had gone back to standing now, glancing between Velvet and Veneer.
The pair looked at one another. Of the two, it was Veneer who spoke up first.
"Far enough for us to get there by morning." He laughed. "Yesterday actually."
"And when and how did you get disavowed?" Poppy questioned.
"By yesterday afternoon," Velvet answered. "Everyone in our family slammed their door in our faces and pretty much told us we were on our own when we knocked and asked if we could stay with them."
"Guess word of our crimes spread rather quickly," Veneer added, letting out another laugh. This one softer. "We should have expected that to happen. I mean, despite going along with Vel's plan, I kinda had a feeling that that was going to happen."
"I didn't," Velvet mused quietly to herself, looking away.
The slightest hint of a silence started to make itself known, broken by Poppy before it could go on for long.
"Could you go into further detail about getting disavowed by your family?"
"We pretty much already did," Velvet replied.
Veneer nudged her again. "Vel!"
"Alright, alright, fine! There's more!" Velvet grunted. "But Veneer's going to tell the rest of the story!"
"I still need input from you!" Veneer responded, his tone stressed.
"Right…" Velvet rolled her eyes.
"Velvet, come on! You start off with telling the rest of the story!"