“Call me Lars. Short for Larson, if you're interested.” he answered as he guided the two back to his booth. “And let me guess, you two are runaways, right? Something happened at home and you have no place to go?” he said simply, as that was a pretty typical case around here.
"Why would I confirm something like that? I don't know you." Frankie said, looking around a little.
"Y-yeah..how did you know?" He looked at Lars, "does that happen a lot here?"
“Smart girl.” Lars nodded as he slid into his seat. “But yeah, it happens more than you'd think.” he confirmed the boy's question. “Quite a few people here started out in your situation. Though it's still surprising when you see the variety of different ages and how long some of them stick around.”
Frankie nodded a little, glancing back out at the crowd. It was a mass of people, and if she stared too long, the lights would make her vision blur enough to make it harder to tell where one person ended and the next began.
(Hmm, any ideas on how I could get the siblings to run into them?)
(hmm… I have two options if you're interested. One is the simple option of it starting to rain or storm bad enough that they need to go inside. Or you can have someone (random or specific) kinda “chase” them in.)
(yeahhh, I wasn't sure if i wanted anything uh, unfortunate should happen to them just yet haha)
(fair enough 😆)
(also I was confused as to what Lars's booth was exactly lol, I didn't know he was inside. I may just have them spot the building the others are in and have them go in, since it's away from the crowds)
(well, I just assumed that the Underground would include a bar or something like that so… Yeah, he's inside in one of the back corners of the place.)
(aight, cool)
It was like being stuck in the middle of the ocean. The crowd was dense and noisy, and carried them along like a current. Alister did his best to swim through it, or find an area where people were more spread out. Noel stayed close, clinging to his arm or his waist. It was suffocating, to the point where Alister was starting to become desperate for just a building, any building.
So, when they finally separated from the crowd, he wasn’t looking too hard at any signs or people who were around. He sort of just… crashed into the first door that opened.
Though it was less noisy, there were still quite a few people inside, which made him nervous. He pulled Noel further in, trying to find a more abandoned spot. Maybe an empty closet or something.
“Ali…” his sister’s murmur went unheard. She started pulling him too, back the opposite way. Alister looked down at her, then at their surroundings.
“Oh, shoot. I didn’t realize it was a bar.”
“We should get out of here,” Noel said nervously.
“I don’t know if I can go back out there now…” he sighed. “Maybe we’ll just… find an empty area.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
“I like the certainty in that statement.”
They soon found themselves in the back of the establishment, where the least amount of people were. There were a couple people in a booth some distance away, but they seemed to be the only ones. Somewhere behind them was a stairway, next to a door with an ‘Employees Only’ sign on it. Alister walked to the stairway and sat on the steps. Noel followed.
“Maybe we could wait until those guys leave… and then we could sleep in the booth,” she suggested.
Her brother chuckled softly. “Maybe.”
“Smart girl.” Lars nodded as he slid into his seat. “But yeah, it happens more than you'd think.” he confirmed the boy's question. “Quite a few people here started out in your situation. Though it's still surprising when you see the variety of different ages and how long some of them stick around.”
"Oh..that's, that's sad." He frowned, looking around the bar he couldn't help but wonder how many people were in his same situation?
He looked back to Lars, "really?'
“Maybe.” Lars shrugged, following the boy's gaze out to the crowd. “But that's the Underground for ya. Abandoned, ignored, beaten, bruised, but strong enough to fight back. In our own way, of course.” he smirked. “Around here, we don't take shit but dish it out pretty hard. As long as we don't get caught and avoid the police… We're as free as we want to be.”
Frankie nodded a little to show she was still listening, still watching the crowd. It was somewhere between fascinating and overwhelming to her, as sleepy as her hometown was. The only place back there with any real activity was the 7/11 parking lot, and even that seemed intimate compared to this.
"Freedom huh? Must be nice.." He spoke, clutching onto his bag as he once again looked away to surface the crowd with his eyes.
Only this time he saw two kids one looked around his age, the other one looked younger. Maybe they were siblings? He watched as they moved to sit down on the stairs.
Lars smirked a little at the boy’s comment. “Nice… But hardly ever boring.” he agreed. “You know, we're a rough group overall but we're also pretty welcoming if you can find a mentor or someone to watch out for you.” he admitted slyly. It had been a while since he trained anyone and these two seemed like they had potential. Especially if they didn't have anywhere else to go…
Alister eyes flickered to the boy sitting in the booth, sensing he was looking at them. He quickly avoided his gaze, however. It was uncomfortable, and he had enjoyed the feeling of being invisible to the people of the Underground. He looked to his sister, then patted his lap. She laid across it, then closed her eyes. Noel needed to sleep more than he did.
Frankie glanced back at Lars, fidgeting with the sleeves of her flannel. "Good to know." She said, looking back out at the crowd. She had always enjoyed people-watching.
"Mentor? What do you mean mentor?" He raised a brow as he spoke to them. He wasn't opposed to the idea, he just didn't want to get caught up in a pyramid scheme or something bad like that.
He continued to look at alistsr before looking back at the two he was sitting with.
“What do you think I mean, kid?” Lars sighed, rolling his eyes as he answered. “No one makes it in a place like this without learning certain skills. Like how to avoid getting your wallet picked off, or who not to annoy. Plus, you get the benefit of someone else's reputation to work with or keep you out of trouble.” he explained. “And, sometimes, certain people will let the kids they're teaching stay with them.”
Frankie glanced back at them again, tilting her head. If I should be so lucky… She thought, fidgeting a bit.
"Oh- right. Yeah that does sound really useful and helpful…I don't have a place to stay for the night, or at all.." He muttered, looking down at his dufflebag before looking up at Lars.
"Did you…have any spots open?"
Lars smirked again. “It's more helpful than you think. And, as a matter of fact, I do have some free space at my place.” he confirmed. “Are either of you interested in having me as your mentor? Actually, I have enough room for both of you and probably a couple other kids too.” he added, noticing how the boy kept looking off somewhere.