Good Zeke hunting

The three teens went across the floor, one of them out matching the others with ease, not even trying to go quickly as they seemed to relax and keep calm. The very individual that stated Zeke should hit his head ended up having a rather quick retribution as Ryan made a motion and the large boy found themselves lost in his skates. His momentum was full force forwards, but the sudden stop of his skated caused him to fall forward, his hands coming up to guard him, but only with half a success. People gasped but the smallest of the trio’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the group of four boys. The smaller boy seemed to maneuver through the crowd without slipping up on a single one, spinning on a dime to look at his fallen friend. A lot of the other skaters continued to circle past, though some slipped up on footing. The little leader’s eyes went up towards Zeke’s direction, eyeing the small group of people and observing them carefully.

   “SHHH~ahhhhh. I think I sprained my wrist.” The larger teen said as he rolled onto his side a little, looking at his arm. The damage was not as serious as it could have been, but it was certainly visible with the area around his forehead already being black and blue.
   “You might have a concussion too, fatass. Your weight hitting the floor isn’t something I’d want for MY bones.” He said with an almost chilling level of apathy. Then without skipping a beat he looked to his taller lothe companion and motioned for him to come closer. The large, heavy teenager was assisted up and skated off, meanwhile the lithe boy was off on his own little fetch quest.

   “Alright, Freak. You’re friend’s asking for this one.” He said to himself with a smirk before taking a sudden take off with his skates in the traditional direction, following the flow of everyone else in the rink. His mind was running rampant, and he began to determine that the Freak somehow had something to do with this, especially with the way his friend . He began to pick up speed, spinning and even skating backwards at one point, looking over everyone he could see. Like a maelstrom it all continued to flow, though keeping more behind the others as he picked up some rather interesting speed. His priority was still avoiding everyone as he weaved in and out of them with an excellent precision.

   “My dad is a good skater and he taught me a few tricks.” The young man said as he nodded at Zeke and Ryan. Then he looked to Connor with an arched eyebrow. “Nice eyes.” He said with a nod, then the smile becoming a chuckle as he watched Zeke accept the hand up.



   “Y-yeah. Th-that’s Grant, Justin and Kyle. T-they a-always d-do that. I-it’s o-okay though. Gyeh! It’s fine! Don’t retaliate.” He tried to warn them, but it was already too late. Ryan’s actions had already provoked the little ringleader. He was snapped to attention by the familiar boy, suddenly realizing that he was trash at this. It didn’t matter so much though, he was just glad to have people around who were willing to help him. Other than his lone friend, that wasn’t a common thing for him to have.

“Alright so. Ryan. You’re gonna be fine. You need to keep a good center of balance. You focus on keeping your legs underneath you, and then lower yourself just a little. It helps keep your Center in balance. Most important thing is learning to use the large rubber stopper on the front of the skate. As long as that’s on the ground you’re as safe as if you were standing. Alright you, my friend, are coming with me because you’re biggest problem is calming down.” The next thing he knew he was taking Zeke’s hands and starting to skate backwards, pulling Zeke along as he began to stiffen up with eyes of freight. His hand and body started to twitch, but he didn’t fall. The spazmatic began to tremor, though he didn’t fall, the stranger wasn’t letting him.

“Hey, Uh...Conner. Wanna trade me spaces? Just hold his hand and keep him going? I’ll be able to help Ryan a bit then. We can trade back and forth while Zeke manages to get acclimated.” The young man asked as he tried to hand Zeke over to the pink-eyed free spirit.[/color]

”That’s um…pretty good. My dad didn’t skate at all I guess,” Ryan said with a mild shrug, thinking back to the lack of lessons he got when it came to skating. He always wanted to try it out but there was never time to do it when his two fathers were doing their own things and he was trying to cling to Lucas who was also doing his own things. That just reminded him how much he missed his brother and even Isalia, though he knew why she wasn’t sound. It almost made him too sad, though he managed to reign those emotions in. Enough to keep his own energy from altering his mood once again. From growing too apathetic.

Connor however was busy helping Zeke up, making sure he wasn’t hurt though he would find any bruises and scraps fixing themselves up pretty quickly. Usually people didn’t notice because the pain was gone too quickly to even notice by human standards. ”I normally don’t respond with violence. Just with a witty one liner.” he winked at the spazzy blonde, making sure he could keep himself on his two feet and examining the way he was holding himself.  Ryan however was trying to take in what the mysterious blonde was talking about, keeping it in mind and trying to follow the instructions.

Remember the stopper and make sure he could keep himself from falling on the ground, though that wouldn’t have really hurt him. Just made him look like a total idiot. He watched the guy try to take Zeke, though that didn’t go too well when the male seemed to freeze up from fear about the whole thing and got passed off to Connor who accepted the duty.

”Yeah, I don’t mind, ” He extended a hand, curling his fingers through the spazzes and keeping him up through whatever means he could. ”having fun Zeke? I think you’re actually doing a little better,” He smiled encouragingly, slowly skating around to allow him to keep his friend up while doing so.

Ryan however continued to follow whatever advice he could be given from the guy he didn’t know much about aside from his excellent skating skills.

“Finding a hobby or a source of fun is incredibly important for your own sanity dude. You gotta let off some steam, get your stress out. It’ll kill you inside if you don’t.” The young man said as he was showing Ryan a few tips. He had Ryan steady but then showed him the squatting, basic stance. It was quite the work-out on the legs, but after he had that mastered, he would find the center of gravity was best from this position with his arms out in front of him. “So when you walk you want your toes pointed inward. Pigeon toed is proper walking, keeps your knees and hips good well into your hundreds. Trust me, regeneration doesn’t save you from wear and tear. Not even Grandpa’s could help him. Erm. My Grandpa. He had a really advanced regeneration. Probably one of the best, kept him young but even his body wore down. Uhm, yeah anyway. With skating you wanna stand with your toes pointed slightly out, like a duck. Normal walking is Pidgeon, skating is Duck.”

The more and more Ryan was listening the more he’d pick up on what the young man was trying to teach him. Eventually once they had footing down and the safe, low gravity posture for when he felt off balance, they covered how to move forward. It was simple really, you just lifted one foot and put it back down, because of the physics of how his feet should be outward faced, like a duck, the rollerblades naturally would carry him. Then lift the other foot it would do the same, slowly gaining speed. He anticipated Ryan to catch on rather quick, meanwhile Zeke had his own little issues.

He was doing really well, except when he realized that Connor was holding his hand. It caused a bright blush on his face when he was trying to focus on what he had learned and how to properly skate. Instead he was just trained on Connor and he blinked as Connor talked, Zeke trying desperately to snap himself from his trance. The pink-eyed guy had made a remark about how he seemed to be doing better.

“P-perfect.” He said before he began spazzing, dropping onto his butt as he shook his head and ran his hands through his hair furiously. “N-NO! NOT PERFECT! Th-that IS perfect. N-not I’m doing perfect! Gyah! Con-conceited. Nyeh!” He said as he found himself so embarrassed that he wanted to practically die. In fact right now would have been the perfect time for him to taste the sweet release of death, wanting to hit his head the way the boy earlier had suggested. Sadly that wasn’t in the cards, or fortunately rather. The blonde young man helping Ryan pulled up to the side of Zeke and chuckled as he seemed to squat down.

“If you’re failing, you’re learning and learning is the perfect frame of mind to be in. Yeah? C’mon. Remember how I taught you to stand up. Post that hand, turn one leg under the other. Turn the hips. Keep the one foot posted on the rubber stop. Good!” He said as he stood up, looking as if he recognized something off. He cleared his throat and seemed to skate towards Ryan, a hand reaching out and pulling him slightly towards Zeke, allowing them to stand together, Zeke smiling at Ryan with the residual of blood shot eyes, embarrassment still radiating from him. Suddenly they heard “Okay so now Connor can lead the way and we’ll follow behind him. Whoops, sorry Ryan!” The young man said, a small sense of urgency as he seemed to gently push Ryan into a glide out of the way. A loud crash and clatter was heard as the smaller young man with the blue jacket crashed past him, their rollerblades locking for a moment and sending the friendly blonde face into the ground as the blue jacketed boy moved past quickly.

“Oops! Sorry. Didn’t mean to!” He called out after the speeding young mane, who cursed under his breath. “See guys that was my fault. What I did was I didn’t look before I started to turn out and the faster person clipped me, took my skate out right from underneath me. If he weren’t so experienced at this he would have bashed his head on the wall. Scary experience. So, let’s skate.” He said as he displayed his own teachings at work, from sitting to standing the same way he taught the other. Zeke seemed to freak out at first, but once the nice peer instructor shrugged it off with a smile. Zeke seemed to relax, looking to Ryan with his own derpy grin.

“S-sorry in advance hehe” He felt a little awkward, but without a doubt he was having fun so far. Just embarrassing fun. He was eager to try skating with his brother, the way they originally came here to do.

Okay, so maybe that was why his dad was so cooped up. Didn’t have anything to do but science and hang with his dad, the later of which was dead because of his own stupidity. Something Ryan was pretty sure did not do anything good for his lonely psyche now that he had no non-family related friends now. Not that he also had any of those considering that Zeke was the closest to an out of family friend. He liked Zeke though. He did give the blonde a strange look when he said something about regeneration, as if he knew he had that as well as having a family member who could regen as well. Something like that ended up putting him more on guard than before, though he didn’t pull away.

What did this person know? Zeke, I dunno who this guy is but he knows things. Seems to know things and I don’t like it, He communicated with Zeke through his own hive mind, though the blonde was more focused on skating with Connor who was having fun himself. Regardless Ryan managed to perform as he was instructed, his own body following the instructions that had been given to him. It took a few minutes for him to fully understand them but once he did they were done. All he knew was that he didn’t know how to feel about the person that was trying to help them. He didn’t know them. They might have been a cute guy but they were also unknown.

Connor wasn’t helping very much with his own actions. From the hand holding to the smiling, which might even have been seen as charming by anyone with the slightest attraction to guys. That was until the spazzed, falling on his butt and drawing a worried look from the pink eyed male. ”You’re doin pretty good. Don’t worry about it bud,” He tried to reassure him, though the unknown male helped him up with a swift motion. After giving him what sounded like a pep talk, because that was likely what he needed.

Might have gone better if someone didn’t rush by and knock their joint skating teacher face first into the flooring. Connor was the first to react, skating up to him and seeming to examine him for any signs of harm. ”Woah, you okay there?” He seemed to worry over the guy, brows furrowing and rising from his kneeling position to glide over beside Zeke once again to smile at the two of them. If the guy was okay then he didn’t need to worry too much.

”It’s fine Zeke. I’m having fun,” He smiled back to Zeke,  before turning to watch the blue jacketed person skate on by. It could have been him or it could have been Zeke if they weren’t careful. Instead it was this person he knew nothing about , aside from the fact they knew how to skate. Still, he knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing this. Thinking of hurting people when that would have made him so much like his father. ”besides, I think I’m finally getting the hang of this,” he said, making a show of skating forward and turning on his heel to look at Zeke and Connor. It was actually easy once he knew what he was doing.

”Wow, you’re actually not bad. Guess you make one good teacher,” He smiled to the stranger, circling around the siblings and resting an arm around each of their shoulders.  ”so handsome stranger, what’s the name? I can’t keep callin ya stranger now can I?”

I-I mean he-he knows out names and we didn’t even get his. S-so yeah. I ge-get those vibes too. B-but he hasn’t done anything but he-help us yet. Zeke’s thoughts came back through, though he was slightly more alarmed now that he realized he hadn’t removed himself from the hive-mind. He knew that Omega wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, but he was pretty sure being able to let anyone in his mind at any given time was a very bad thing, and it actually made more sense now as to how Ryan found him. Not that he wasn’t happy Rhyan did, but he was going to have to be more careful and find ways to circumvent this thing.

It’s called telepathy, guys. It’s not something just unique to your family. I was trying to NOT freak you people out. The young man thought to himself as he heard Zeke’s thoughts loud and clear.It wasn’t long though before Connor seemed to skate up and worry over him a little, making a small fuss. This time he was very careful with his words, being quite sure not to insinuate anything about powers to everyone else.

“I’m good. Just glad that that dude didn’t faceplant. I spring back pretty quickly. Most people aren’t so lucky.” He said as the small nicked flesh on the side of his eyebrow sealed up with a visible speed. Sighing as he stretched out, he circled his arms before twisting his upper body and beginning a rotation.

He didn’t skip a beat, but he was all too keen on standing up again, though his actions seemed reckless. He managed to get himself up without any trouble and he started spinning in place, the way Zeke had been doing when he spazzed out. Where most people fell, Zeke seemed to default to literally rotating in place, and that’s what this young man was doing now. The rotations were simple and he just smiled as he eventually came to a stop. They all seemed to be skating and having a good time. Granted Ryan’s prolonged gaze on the blue-jacketed boy had to come to an end once he stepped off the rink and quickly took off his skates, grumbling and mumbling as he seemed to walk over to the one friend who had an ice compress to their head. He ended up slapping the other one on the arm before raising his voice and ushering them off, leaving the locale.

“T-that wa-was Grant. H-he’s a-always like that man. D-don’t worry. He’s p-pretty harmless ...n-normally.” Zeke said with a sheepish smile and continuing to actually skate halfway decently. Obviously he wasn’t going to pick up as fast as Ryan, but his overall performance was pretty passable for a meth-baby born in a test tube with no prior experience and regular physical spasms. Connor seemed to take both of the siblings, an arm around both of them as he looked to the blonde instructor that was around Ryan’s age. He brought up the subject of the name, to which he smiled and nodded a little, his brain searching for an answer to the question.

“Call me whatever you want…’cept late to the party. Joking. Asher, Name’s Asher, Nice to meet ya’ll.” He said with a smile before he cleared his throat, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head and looking away from Connor. He yawned and stretched out. His eyes were a light brown, almost amber even as he seemed to examine the area around them.

“T-thanks A-asher! You’re pretty cool!” Zeke said, looking to Ryan for a moment trying to get a read on what his brother made of everything so far.

Well now that was definitely something that he hadn’t thought of before but it was now even more worrying to him. How was this guy talking like he knew things about them? Regeneration came up though metahumans did exist from what he knew. I know, just seems like he’s a little sketchy I guess, Ryan responded through the link, skating a few feet away from the male who was now further getting his own mistrust. Who was he really and what did they want with Zeke? With him even? Now his mind was running with the many potential things that could happen from unknown people coming up to him. Blood on his hand and the feel of snow brushing against his cheeks. Deathly cold compared to the tears.

”Well I’m glad you’re alright then,’ Connor stated, noting the quick healing of the small nick on his forehead and saying nothing. There was something going on with the guy, though he just assumed he was some kind of metahuman.  The bullies had left, leaving Ryan not to worry about them while the four of them continued to skate with Ryan skating now further away from him. As far as he could while still being part of the group they had going on. At least they had a name, which was Asher. ”nice to meet you Asher. Somehow you know our names already so I guess I don’t have to give you my name,’ He seemed a little confused by that concept, skating around Zeke and curiously considering Asher.

What was that about anyway? All he did was shrug when Zeke looked to him, Connor moving to make sure Zeke was on his feet when he began to stumble, offering a hand to steady himself.  ”yeah…um…can we go now? I’m pretty sure we had something else to do.”

Zeke was steady as it came anymore, which was a nice thing to see as he warmed up to the concept of gliding around on roller skates. Though he wasn’t going to be on a midline pair anytime soon, or doing tricks for that matter. This was something new for him to experience, and it was something that elated him. Zeke didn’t notice it at first, but he kept with Ryan, noting how they continued to somehow drifter farther and farther away from Asher and Conner, making him feel rather sad. It was easy to tell as he started to twitch and fidget more and more.

I-I don’t know why you’re s-so worried. It’s just a f-friendly per-person from what I-I can tell. Eeeeeh.. The spazzing finally got to be too much and he physically seized a moment and fell onto his rear end. Reaching down he heard Ryan make mention of wanting to leave now. Zeke reached down and immediately began removing his skates in the middle of the rink. Asher looked at them with a smile and waved.

“Hey, well. It was fun. Glad I could help you learn something for a change.” He chuckled at Zeke as he offered a hand. Zeke smiled as he took it, standing up and brushing himself off before giving this “Asher” a fist bump. Asher skated around the rink with them a moment and stopped to see everyone off. “Take it easy guys. If ya ever feel up for it, I’m around here pretty much every day.” He said smiling at them, then looking to Connor with a wink, waving at the other two before beginning to actually skate like a free bird flying.

“O-okay. N-no more of the mind thingy. I-It hurts my head.” Zeke said with an embarrassed chuckle and folding his arms, smiling at Ryan and Conner as he tried to figure out what was going on. “S-so you wanna find Lucas?”

He had the feeling he was causing more problems than anything else but something told him that he was causing issues. His own strange reactions to people he didn’t know saying things that sounded strange somehow managed to hit all his buttons. Creating a small form of panic within him that made him want to react in ways he normally would not have. Knocking people down, giving them concussions and seriously considering hurting someone because it looked like they knew a little too much. He even felt a bit of self-conscious doubt as he watched the blonde seize and fall on his ass, quickly severing the mental link. Not that the kid couldn’t have removed himself at any moment.

”N…no. Something tells me Lucas isn’t around here. What were those other things you said there was to do around here? “ He questioned, looking to Zeke with an arced brow. Connor skated around looking at the two with a curious glance.

”Who’s Lucas? Someone I should know about?’ he asked, looking between the two with a now very curious expression. Something was happening and he wanted to know what they were talking about. Easily he maneuvered himself to the wall and through one of the doors, before removing his own skates. Ryan did the same and led Zeke through, wondering what he should tell the strange guy.

”No one…you should worry about anyway,’ Ryan said with a faint amount of color creeping along his neck.

”Kay then. Well I think I have enough time to do a bit more with you two if that’s fine. Parents will chew me out if I end up staying out too long,” The guy stepped away long enough to bring their shoes, tossing two pairs before the Master’s kids and slipping into his own pretty quick. Ryan followed, thinking over what he could do.

”Well, I’ve been wanting to meet these friends of yours Zeke ever since I heard about them. Will make me feel less like a third wheel,” he wasn’t sure if the joke fell flat but it seemed to make Connor chuckle.

”Third wheel huh? Didn’t know this was a date. Didn’t even take Zeke to like a movie or anything, which makes me sound like the worse kind of date,” Connor smirked, ruffling the blondes hair up, and playfully giving what looked like a peck on the cheek. ”meeting friends sounds pretty cool. So long as they aren’t like that Grant guy.’ He gave a thumbs up and made Ryan realize they were painted, though how he missed that was unknown.

Zeke couldn’t pretend to understand Ryan in the slightest, or what Ryan was going through. What he had been through, possibly all on his own. But he knew someone trying to isolate themselves when he saw it. That seemed to be what Ryan was trying to do. But he didn’t understand why. Or if that were the case why did he even come after Zeke to begin with? It’s true Zeke missed his family a lot, but if he had any ability to remove the psychic virus, he would have. Truth of the matter was that he had no true volition over himself in this matter. It was also quite true that he didn’t want to be cut off either, so even if he did have volition to do so….

   “O-oh. Okay! Cool.” Zeke said as he tried to keep himself focused. He was excited to spend more time with Connor, but he was also confused as to why he had to leave the skating rink if they didn’t want to try and find Lucas. That’s all they really had to do, right? Then suddenly Ryan made a comment about being a third wheel, leaving Zeke to blush a bright red and started shaking his arms back and forth as his head twitched off to the right and he started pulling at his hair.  “T-third wheel? N-no! I-I uh,. GYAH!!! Nonono! Not a date I-It’s just Sk-skating! Y-you were here f-first! He-he joined on after!” He said he was actually quite a mess in that moment, though it was a humorous mess to be sure. He was shaking and twitching almost excessively as they walked on the pavement of the parking lot. The peck on the cheek didn’t help him settle down any, though he enjoyed it, it didn’t exactly save him from the spasmatic mentality. Rain began to drop from the sky, no one had seemed to notice that it had become quite overcast, and the lightning sparked overhead, from cloud to cloud.

   “N-not third wheel...” He said as he wore a guilty look on his face, ripping out small patches of hair, though in the thick mop of hair he had, it was impossible to tell where it had been pulled from. “Uhm...N-Nihilus will be at the church p-probably. C-could go there? O-otherwise have to meet somewhere else. B-but need to pick where, c-c-’cuz N-N-Nihilus does-doesn’t like to pick….””

”Oh…I was just making a joke,’ Ryan stated realizing he might have been making things awkward for his sibling.  ”just teasing you little brother. It’s what big brothers do…or so Aaron usually says,’ He said low enough for Zeke to hear, noting the small clumps of hair being pulled out and looking a little bothered by it. He didn’t want to make his sibling worried, though Connor didn’t likely help with that peck on the cheek which seemed to bother him even more.  Poor guy honestly. At times Ryan wondered if there was something that he could to do help him out.

”yeah, not a third wheel at all. Just three cool friends enjoying a cool time skating. Right Zeke?’ He skated around, seeming to rest a hand on his shoulder, likely quieting down any pain that ripping his own hair out might do. ”not sure about going to a church. Not sure how they would feel about someone so…me. Only one way to find out though,” He raised a hand over his head, feeling the droplets begin to fall onto his head. That was when he noticed that it had become a little overcast, but nothing that bothered him.

”Church sounds okay I guess. Never been to one before so I guess that would be a new experience, ” Ryan looped an arm around Zeke and pulled him into a little hug. Trying to calm him down but knowing that he likely wasn’t helping at all. ”so where’s this church you were talking about?’

Zeke tried to calm down, the rain didn’t stop but the lightning seemed to flash a few more times as the drips of cool liquid fell from the heavens and splashed upon pavement, cartops and passerby’s. He stopped hyperventilating after he realized that he had not actually caused offense to his sibling, causing him to relax and not twitch as much, though the regular involuntary spasm was still observed. It was worth noting that Connor had brought the manner of his time into question. Looking to him with a little worry, Zeke would rub his own arm while looking to Ryan with hesitance.

“T-there’s two. I-I help out around here. They’re here for the first half of the week. Later half of Sunday until later Wednesday. Uhm...H-here. I-I’ll get an Uber.” Zeke offered as he began to punch into his phone. Not long after, the boys found themselves waiting under the awning of the indoor rink, waiting as more modern car drove up to the side, prompting them for their ride.

“S-so h-how’s eee-everyone?” He asked, looking to Ryan before shaking his head and then looking to Connor, then sitting back in his seat, obviously on edge as he began to spasm and rummage through his pockets, pulling out a small white bottle of pills. He placed two pills on the back of his tongue and swallowed before replacing the cap and pocketing the bottle once more. “S-so what kind of stuff do you do Connor? A-anything R-ryan might like?”

The conversation could go on for a while, but otherwise they’d end up spending the next 15 minutes driving out to the middle of the forest until happening upon a backroad, leading directly to a large church of Renaissance design, though it seemed to be more bland in external coloring. Basic browns and whites without any popping colors until you saw the electronic sign that welcomed everyone and provided basic information.

The building itself was domed at the center with what appeared to be side buildings, walling something in, though the pillars and inlets were very traditional of the style of building. Honestly, it looked as though someone took a large complex right out of Italy or rome and dropped it off and made it appear more bland. Getting out of the car, Zeke electronically paid for the ride and left the review as he made several clicks and then walked through the rain towards the front door. The electrical sign changing over to what said “Welcome to Sanctuary!” as they passed.

Stepping foot into the church immediately made it clear that the place was quite clean, with nice polished floors of what appeared to be a polished sandstone. The walls were tailored and hand painted with several images of people laughing, sitting in the grass and other whimsical things. Nothing about the place was overly apparent that it was of religious align, beyond the occasional bible sitting on tables scattered throughout the facility. Zeke looked to them then pointed to the sign that was left overhead, the sign pointed arrows in two different directions to the left it read “Water’s of The Jordan Cafe” while the other said “Central Reception”. Zeke blinked for a second before looking to his arm, rolling up his sleeve and revealing a word he had scrawled upon his own flesh.

“H-Hi Sarah!” Zeke said with a smile as he walked up to reception. The place was obviously large, though even in the dark the woman sat at the desk, smiling back to Zeke before giving him a small radio and bracelet. “T-this is R-Ryan and Connor! H-he’s my brother. R-Ryan is, not Connor.” Zeke introduced them before realizing that he maybe should have specified which one was his brother. The young woman chuckled as she pushed her brown hair aside and took out two other small clipped radios and paper bracelets with small chips inside of them.

“Well. Hello to both of you as well. I’m Sarah, I’m the weekly receptionist and I’m here to help however you need.”

“I-Is...Is HE here?” Zeke asked, interrupting. The woman just smiled at him and gave an apologetic nod. Zeke began to shake a little before she looked to her computer then back up at the boys.

“He is. But I’ve got him on the computer. Let me get these bracelets on you and I can direct you in the best way to avoid him.” She said, Zeke immediately beamed a bright smile. She looked back to the others. “Okay so, this is probably alarming. We get that a lot. These bracelets are kinda neat. You press this button here on the radio, and it pages me. I’ll ask how to help and you just need to tell me where you need to go. With this chip I can actually program a little GPS like map. So if you’ll look at the floor, you’ll notice that Zeke’s chip is programmed to take him to the Cafe. So now when he takes a step, as he has now for us, it sends out a little colored ripple to show you what direction you’re going to. These bracelets are chipped to the building and are completely disposable. Just cut ‘em off when you’re done. They are closed circuit, so once you leave here they will not work and will deactivate themselves. That bunch of information aside, is there anyone who would rather NOT receive a bracelet? Or are there any questions about anything about Sanctuary?” She gave out all this information before, you could tell it was quite rehearsed and practiced. Zeke even stepped for her, revealing a yellow wave that seemed to point his footsteps in the right direction, which was down the long hallway. He smiled widely at being able to have helped, but then looked to his brother and Connor, wondering if they’d want one for whatever reason. He didn’t assume that they would need one, but that wasn’t an issue if they didn’t.

Once they had everything ready to go, they would begin walking. Zeke jumped and started to lean into Ryan and then bounce into Connor before stretching out his fingers with an uncharacteristically wide grin from ear to ear as his spasms subdued a little.

Ryan had never been in an Uber before. The concept always seemed a little suspect but if Zeke trusted them, he wouldn’t look at it too strangely. ”I’m pretty good. Having some fun,’ Ryan said with a few small nods, he eyed the kid downing what looked like two pills. Where did those come from? He ran away from the compound so not like dad was giving him anything new  for his problem. Had to be something or someone that was giving him them now. Maybe some kind of human drug they had on the market?

”I’m havin a lot of fun here.“ He said with a simple shrug, falling into thought when asked what he did. ”I…guess I skate occasionally, I’m pretty good. Got a skateboard back home. ” He explained, Ryan seeming to take a mild interest in what he was being told.

”Is it hard?” He asked, likely having mental  images of how it worked. It was much easier to control himself when he wasn’t around that Grant guy and was around Connor and Zeke.

”Not that hard actually, once you get used to it. Got a few skinned knees but that’s part of the fun. I could show you two sometime,” He offered, seemingly relax into the seat as the drive went on and the two talked about the small things they both enjoyed. Comic books, some of the tv shows Ryan had watched and Connor had tried to let the frazzled haired blonde get in on the conversation.

Eventually they came upon the church as Zeke had called it. Though it looked nothing like Ryan had imagined, though he should have considering the prominence of mega churches around the country these days. He didn’t know how he should feel about walking into a place like this, so all he did was stay quiet and stick beside the two people. Mostly because he knew he had to make sure nothing bad happened to Zeke and something about Connor made him feel more at ease. Maybe even his brother. Which was a good thing.

He remained silent as they came up to the counter, a lady sitting behind it that Zeke referred to as Sarah. Who was she exactly? Maybe she worked here, though he never saw a place like this as some kind of job. He waved to the lady when he was introduced, while Connor also waved. ”Hi I’m Connor. Definitely not his brother as far as I know, ” He explained, noting Zeke question something about someone though he didn’t question now.  Ryan was even more concerned by that.

Ryan tried to reconnect Zeke to his own hive mind, though he could have just said no. Hey Zeke, who is this he? He would question while nodding along to the conversation about bracelets. ”bracelets with GPS in them? Sounds like…that’s kinda expensive,” He stated, either way accepting the bracelet with Connor doing the same. The pink eyed male leaned into the male who bounced into him, quickly resting an arm around his shoulders to pull him into a hug before pulling away.

”So where’s this friend of yours at anyway?”

”Was wondering that actually,” Ryan added in looking around with hands now buried into his pockets. He didn’t know what he should be doing actually.

The second that Ryan’s voice came to Zeke’s mind he placed his hands on his head and started rubbing his face, squeezing as tears fell from his eyes. He couldn’t even understand what was said, his head hurt so badly. He tried to remove the voice, but his mind was too wounded, too painful for him to concentrate enough to make that happen. He simply ignored the voice, trying to neglect it entirely as his head began to throb even worse than before, like a noise that disturbed the pain that was recently buried by the medication he had taken. Sarah looked saddened and pushed forward a box of tissues.  Zeke ended up taking from it and rubbing at his eyes and blowing his nose.

“S-Sarah? C-can you show us T-to Nihilus p-please?” He asked the woman. She smiled and began punching in a few things, causing Zeke’s steps to ripple a yellow color. She smiled as she watched him continue walking, the ripples of color very quickly showing him the way he needed to go. He walked while the others followed him. Though it would have been easier for the woman to just tell him where Nihilus was, he enjoyed showing off the random, pointless technology this place had in order to help old people and easily lost people find their way. He wandered quietly though eventually it lead them to a small little shop built into the church itself. There was a library built into the side with a little counter and a kitchen on the other end, a woman in a punk puffy jacket and a smaller boy with shaggy dark brown hair in a navy blue pea-coat, both of them seeming to be talking about something rather intently.

“T-that’s him!” Zeke said, sounding rather happy as he ran into the small cafe. It was mostly empty, which was no surprise seeing as it was the end of the day. He ran up and smiled, receiving a small hug from the woman he had approached, hugging her in return before seeing Nihilus and their fists bumping together. He then turned to Connor and Ryan, holding out his hand as he introduced them. “T-this is my b-brother, Ryan. A-and That’s C-Conner GYEH! I-I mean. He-he’s nice. Both nice. U-uhm. Guys this is N-Nihilus a-and h-his mom!”

   “Well it’s wonderful to meet both of you. I’m Amy, it’s nice to finally get to meet one of Zeke’s brother’s. He speaks so highly of you all. Of course any friend of his is always welcome too.” She said as she offered a small smile and extending a hand, trying to remain polite. It  was a wonderful gesture, but suddenly it was ruined by the rather crass child across the table from her.

“Wow mom. REALLY putting our best foot forward, huh?”He asked, arching an eyebrow as he seemed to give her a questionable look.

“Oh shut up you little bastard.” She said, looking to Nihilus, who grew a wide smile, both he and his mother laughing a small bit at the comment she made. Their own little inside joke to bring them to peace as she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, we share a sense of humor.” She apologized, it must have been awkward to see a mother be so nice then tell her own child to be silent. Of course she meant nothing by it, but she didn't exactly need to worry if others understood her.

“But not a taste in men. I like mine less...preachy.” Nihilus said under his breath, just loud enough for others to hear  as he hopped down off the tall seat, smiling as he looked over and appraised Ryan, like an animal that was unsure that it was safe in the presence of a new human. Then he gave a nod. Then he looked over to Connor and nodded again as he stuck out his hand. “Seems friendly enough...Hiya!” He said, seeming to radiate a charm that portrayed him as a friendly person. While that wasn't wrong by any stretch, he also had no reason to be anything but kind at this moment. Zeke just hoped that it stayed that way.

The moment Ryan felt the sudden stabbing pain he withdrew his mental influence, looking to Zeke with an apologetic expression. He sometimes forgot that his sibling was…not as neurotypical compared to the others. Even still he followed them when they were being lead to Nihilus. Which lead through a library and into what looked to be some kind of  little café or whatever. There a young looking kid and a woman talking, Zeke pointing out the kid he assumed was Nihilus. Once introduced, Connor was the first to giver a flamboyant wave as if he were just happy to see people. Was he always that friendly?

“Oh…um hi my name’s Connor,” He smiled once the two of them had their small bout of banter. Not that Ryan was bothered, nor did it seem like the male with the rainbow pride shirt was.

”and I’m Ryan. Zeke’s brother actually,” He nodded, ruffling up the shorter males hair affectionally. Though Connor chuckled when he heard the faint sound of Nihilus saying something about tastes in men and being too preachy.  Connor extended his hand and gave Nihilus a firm handshake, smiling widely as he pulled his hand back.

”So um…”

”What do you do around here exactly? I mean, when the…church stuff isn’t goin on?”

"Y-yeah! G-guys this is N-n-ni-" Zeke was trying to pronounce his name, though he seemed to be having trouble, now that the boy was actually here in the flesh. Nihilus shook Connor's hand and gave an enthusiastic nod before looking to Ryan and giving a handshake, sadly Nihilus' grip wasn't as firm and he likely came off as a weaker sort.
"Nihilus." The young man said. Zeke blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of hsi head, looking apologetically to the young man he called his friend. Nihilus smiled as he reached up and began to rub the back of Zeke's head, trying to calm the boy down. Zeke had enough attention to last him a week, and his messy hair seeme dto almost agree with him from the way everyone liked to mess with his head.

"Well typically it's honestly just a bunch of this. Sitting in the Caf-" Nihilus began to explain how absolutely nothing of excitement really happened in Sanctuary, yet he would ifnd himself interrupted.

"Oh wonderful. They're multiplying." A deeper voice came as a tall man stood with dark brown hair combed off to the side slightly. He had the aura of businessman though the whispers of "jackass" seemed to whisper in the winds. From Nihilus, they whispered through the winds but it came from Nihilus. The man was dressed in a white button down with grey slacks and a black belt, his brown eyes seemed to settle on the woman. "Mother, I need to run by the security protocols for the new barriers that Mavrick made for us when you have a moment."

Spoiler:

"W-we d-dick with him...m-m-mostly. Gyeh! Heheh." Zeke said, laughing as he looked to Ryan and then Connor.

"He's not worth the trouble...But if you wanna see fun...Zeke. Take 'em to "church"." He said. Zeke became elated as he seemed to bounce up and down a little. He looked to connor and grabbed his wrist, then he took Ryan's hand and started to pull them with a burst of insane and manic energy. He tried to pull them off, meanwhile Nihilus waved goodbye to his mother and followed them, just much slower. After going down a few hallways, Zeke began to rapidly tap on walls, as if searching for a secret door.

After finally finding a picture of a church function, Zeke knocked on it and then opened it outward, pushing a series of buttons before the wall behind them unlocked swinging outwards and perfectly aligning with the wall that had been there, sealing to look as if the hallway was now a dead-end.

"S-so "church" is what they call their bunker! It's so cool! We'll just chill in Nihilus' area!" He said as they all walked down the stair case. When they went down about 30 feet they would end up reaching an elevator which went even farther down. They needed a better convention that was for sure. The elevators opened into a large open area with trees and animals living off of the plants. Some animals seemed to fly throughout an entire area full of sunlight. Water ran through their little paradise. The large open area seemed to branch out into many different directions. Zeke led them to an area wirth hardwood floors and a large bar like area with all the drinks taken form it and locked down. It seemed to be a cool place in all actuality. It was like someone took a sports bar and mashed it together with a gamer's room. "J-just don't u-use the hot-tub r-r-ight now. S-so-oh what was it? S-omething about cleaning?" On the one wall there was a map of the city, an entire LCD and interactive wall that seemed to speak random information. Zeke walked up to the wall.


"Zeke? How are you?" A voice came form semeingly everywhere.

"I'm good! This is my brother-"

"Ryan, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your other friend I do not know..." the wall said as a massive digital eye appeared on the screen, the map vanishing as a small emoji of a smiling face appeared.

Ryan didn’t quite know what to feel about the church and the people in it, but it seemed like Zeke found him a few friends. Maybe even people that valued him despite what he assumed was quirks that set him apart from everyone else around him. Even if one of those friends had a name he wasn’t sure if it was real or one of those fake names. Not like he was going to question it now, when he could just wait till later or find out somehow. Still the idea of just enjoying social interaction in the café with people he might not hate felt pretty nice. Nihilus seemed fine enough, Connor was a nice guy and he liked Zeke. As far as siblings were concerned he thought they got along pretty damn well.  ”Well that sounds fu…” That was when an unknown person broke their way into the conversation in a way that didn’t sound good.

Mostly mentioning something about multiplying and his eyes scanning over his current friends before looking to the sharply dressed stranger.  Something happened between them that left him more awkward than anything else, though he did scoot a little closer to Zeke and tried to make sure he was kept safe despite there being no obvious danger. Something about this stranger made him feel…as if he had to be on guard. Might have been the obvious enmity between him and Nihilus. As if there was supposed to be some kind of fight that would break out between them any second now, if his…mother hadn’t done something about it. He didn’t really know how mothers worked so he could just make assumptions.

Once he was gone, Zeke stated they liked to dick with him often, which meant he was the kind of person that did this and Connor looked around before chuckling awkwardly but there seemed to be a kind of pleasant texture to that laugh. Everything about him was pleasant.  ”Take us to Church? Sounds like a song I heard before,” Connor noted, seeming to return to hovering around Zeke, hands buried into his pockets while he seemed like he was taking everything around him in. Ryan wondered what was going on in his head, though he didn’t have the same telepathic insight that his father had. Instead he had to run off social ques that came in dealing with people, even some of those didn’t get him very far. The only people he really understood were Lucas and maybe his dad when he had the time to talk. When he was much smaller.

These physical changes weren’t shown often, not until he was around people his age. It was only then that he found himself painfully awkward in ways that he didn’t want to think about. He telekinetically adjusted himself and took up speed as Zeke seemed to play around with something in the wall and then they went further, a small explanation from the frazzle haired blonde as to where they were going. ”Bunker in a church huh? Wonder what kind of place this is.” Connor seemed to muse over the fact, looking to Zeke and Ryan with a questioning glance as if he had never been around a place like this.

”No clue. Never been to a church before so I have no idea how these work.” Ryan admitted, looking away from Connor and counting the many seemingly imperceptible lines within the wall. Anything to grasp his attention aside from what his mind might have been focusing on. It was easier once they walked out into a proverbial miniature garden of Eden, his mind quickly taking in even the animals which seemed to take flight and skitter about.

How much money did it take to make this?

However much their shared friend seemed highly interested by this whole thing. ”Woah, there’s a hot tub? Try not to drop too much on me all at once bud.” Connor seemed to loop an arm around Zeke’s shoulder, giving him an affectionate squeeze, turning attention to the voice and eye which considered them. It seemed to know Ryan, though that likely meant he had been talked about by his erratic sibling.  ”names Connor. I’m sort of a friend with Zeke here, like to think a pretty good friend too.” He gave him another small jostle before actually breaking the contact and turning back to Nihilus and Ryan.

”So what kind of stuff do you get upto here? It’s pretty new to me honestly and didn’t know there was like…a garden thing down here.”