- The Horizon of Doubt

"I'm telling you, man, this isn't a fucking! Daycare!" Oscar stood in a dark room, lit only by a small, dim light on the ceiling, and even that in the corner of the room. He had his weight shifted onto his arms to lean against the table in front of him, it had a top that could display holographic images, but it was turned off at the moment. Opposite to him was a man that was currently shouting at him, about as tall as Oscar himself, but as he was standing up straight, the man appeared taller at that moment. "We've had this discussion before, Riki." Oscar and the man in front of him were making direct eye contact, almost as if the two were in a staring contest, Oscar not intimidated by the other man's somewhat more muscular body, his arms on full display with the short sleeved, black shirt the man had on. "In fact, we've had this conversation 3 days ago, twice actually, then two days ago, and yesterday too. I'm not budging on this decision." "Well, you fucking should! We don't even know where the kid came from for fuck's sake! As far as we know, he's a spy, or, or… some kind of trap!" Oscar sighed, then spoke calmly, in contrast to the man opposite him "How exactly would he be a trap? And before you bring up the tracker thing again, I had both Feather and Kanguade check, they both said they didn't find anything that could indicate they've got something planted in him." "That doesn't mean anything, we have no idea what those Naturheim bastards can and can't do! You're just blind to the truth and how cautious we should be because of how his fucking ears look weird!" Oscar looked at him still, though the slight hostility in his eyes had vanished. He clicked his mouth, and turned away from the table, saying "Go discuss your conspiracy theories with someone else, Riki." As he left the room through the door past Riki, who got in the last word. "You're leaving because I'm right, and you know it!" Layla walked up to Riki after Oscar had left the room, slowly closing the door behind him. "What the hell, dude?" Riki just looked away from the woman, remaining silent to her. "You know, it is possible to make a point without turning everything into a damn fight, you should try it sometime." Riki was quiet, still, as Layla left the room, too. Not out of shame, but because in his mind, he had won regardless.

The clouds were grey as Oscar looked up, towards the sky, looking like the masses would burst into rain any moment, now, yet they didn't. He leaned against the metal of the old hangar, which had been his home for a few years, now. It had really been that long, he thought. He took a pack of cigarettes out one pocket, and a lighter out another, each from his leather jacket, taking one cigar and lighting the end, taking a deep breath of the smoke, and after a moment, letting it pass back out. For a moment, he looked at the smoulder, quickly dissipating, as he remained. Then, he inhaled once more.

After a minute or so, Layla went outside herself, meeting Oscar who was still there, at the same spot he would often take, taking one look at him smoking, then, "Alright, hand it over." Oscar didn't even look at her, posturing as if he hadn't even noticed her presence "What, are you of all people gonna tell me how bad it is for me?" "No, I can use it myself right now." Oscar smiled a little, looking down at the floor, and closing his eyes for a bit before half opening them again "Honestly…" but the man handed it over still, prompting Layla to smoke what was left "So." Layla said, though nothing was said in response, after exhaling the fumes, she continued "You know Riki just said that to get under your skin, right?" Oscar looked up, still not having looked at the girl next to him "I know. Doesn't mean it's not working." Layla responded immediately, her, now too, looking off in the distance "He's an ass." "But, he has a point." Oscar didn't need to look at Layla to tell what face she was making right now, a face of 'really, bitch?' "At least a little." Layla smoked another part of it, the cigarette now being reduced to very little "Well, it's not like you're the only one who wants to keep him. I mean, I do, because I think he's good for you to have around, aside from that, Kanguade thinks it's better, and, hell, I even saw Red checking up on him just now, and you know she doesn't give a fuck about 99% of people. And we're not the only ones who agree with your decision" Oscar was silent for a little "You say 'keep him' like he's some kind of pet." Layla rolled her eyes at that statement "First off, you know that's not what I meant, and also, that's not the point I was making." The man just kept quiet, raising his scarf to cover most of his face like he would more often in the past. "Well, anyway, I'm gonna go put this in the bin." She looked at Oscar for just a bit longer, hoping for some kind of eye contact that didn't come. "Remember what I said, okay? I really do think it's important we at least help him, and I'm not just saying that because I think it's what you want me to say." Oscar remained quiet, so Layla just sighed to herself softly, returning inside. 

On the far side of the room, a somewhat large T.V. displayed a video game that was paused, on one side of the screen was some kind of knight whose armour was red and yellow, on the other end was a handsome man with long, white, hair, and a much longer sword to match. In front of the TV were two beanbags, though there were a few others in the room, they were pushed to the side at the moment. One of the two still occupied a girl who was eating chips as a part of her hair was phasing right through the beanbag, the other was recently occupied, but the large, rocky man that was on it had now stood up, and was walking over to Layla, who was standing over the trash can in the room, flicking something in it before facing him "How'd it go with him?" The man gestured towards the direction Layla had just come from "Ehh, not too well to be entirely honest. Could've been a little more careful with how I phrased some things…" "Ooff" The man responded, already having formed an idea of what happened "Yeah…" Layla just spoke with almost a sort of minor pain in her voice. The man pointed at the trash can, "Those things are bad for you, you know." "Yeah, yeah! I know, I know." The man, who crossed his arms, just shook his head, then turned it to the room Layla and Oscar came from earlier, contemplating for a little, then looking at the woman in front of him, with only his eyes. "I take it Riki's not budging on the subject?" "Not being any more quiet about it, either. I feel it might be getting to Oscar." He nodded, though he didn't agree "I think Oscar is stronger than you see him as, Layla, but that doesn't mean he's emotionless. He just deals with it differently than you do." Layla simply breathed in slowly "Yeah, I know. I'm just worried about him." 

From across the room, a distant shout was heard "Come ON man, are you finally done chatting yet? I've been waiting to beat your ass for, like, hours now" The man in front of Layla sighed, then walked back towards the beanbag he was sitting on earlier, the two continuing the game to the sound of digital trumpets and the characters' groans of pain. From the side, the sound of a door opening and closing was heard, as Riki had finally left the room, Layla approached him "You finally decide to get out of that sombre room?" Riki smiled a little "Yeah, just had some things to think about." He looked over towards the screen "Those two still at it, I see." He said, Layla responding "They have been for a lot today, haven't they" Riki flashed a grim smile from the corner of his mouth "Eh, doesn't matter, they won't beat me no matter how much they play." "I heard that!" Anna yelled across the room "I wasn't whispering!" Riki yelled back, though the conversation ended there as Anna had a game to focus on, not that her opponent was too intimidating himself. Layla looked back over to Riki, having been looking at the screen before "You know, I wouldn't have imagined you to be so good at gaming. Except, stealth games, maybe." Riki looked Layla in the eyes for a moment, then looking back to the screen, watching the game carefully. "Yeah, it's all in the hand-eye coordination, you know? Aside from that, there wasn't much else when it comes to technology where I grew up, so a lot of the time when I wasn't training the blade, I was training the joystick." "I guess that checks out." Riki nonchalantly scratched the back of his neck for a moment "Well, looks like she hasn't even learned to tech properly, yet. I'm gonna go to Red's I think." Layla held the top of Riki's arm for a moment as he was preparing to turn around. "Hold on, why is it, actually that you're being so…" Riki looked at the woman in front of him with a confused look on his face "Stubborn, about this boy situation? You of all people should know that, say, even if he grew up around Naturheim that he very well may not be aligned with them." 

Riki looked towards the screen again, contemplating for a moment "I'm not being stubborn." Then made eye contact with Layla, who appeared like she was studying him, trying to gauge what he was about to say "I'm just being careful. I know that the situation may be somewhat personal to old Trigger over there, but we don't even know the kid! I mean, any of us taking him in is risky already, let alone having him recover in our base of operations, putting us all at risk. Those who don't think it's a good idea to have him around, too." Layla sighed, thinking to herself for a moment "I suppose you're right in that regard." Layla turned her head to the floor, then back to Riki "But I think it's safe to have him around, especially after all the checks we ran past 'im." Riki's gaze turned to the side, as Layla turned around, peering out the window "Hmm, it's starting to get kinda dark isn'it." Layla's eyes widened "Hold on, what time is it?" The man beside her pointed towards the clock on the wall in the room "half past five or so, why?" Layla seemed not to hear him though, quickly taking her smartphone out of her pocket and turning it on to tell the exact time "Phoof… It hasn't started yet." Riki squinted his eyes, asking Layla "What hasn't started yet?"

"The speech, dude, Giles is on in just a few!" Riki simply continued to stare at her the exact same way he was before she answered, so Layla just rolled her eyes and explained "Important political guy for our cause?" Only then did the man she was talking to react, nodding "Ahhh, why didn't you lead with that?" Layla didn't know how to respond to that. "Well I don't really care about the political stuff, so… good luck." The man left the room through a door on the right as Layla stepped over towards the television screen where the game was nearing its end but still going "I'm gonna need the box, you two, Giles is on." The young girl in the right beanbag groaned and clicked a button on her controller to pause the game "Really, dude, now?" Layla nodded her head aggressively "Yeah, now." The young girl put her controller on the table in front of her, as did her opponent, and she pouted, looking off to the side. The man she was playing against spoke to her "It's fine, Anna, you can finish beating me afterward. This is important for us." Anna took a moment, then breathed out with a small gap between her lips "Fine, fine." The standing woman bent over to get a remote from the same table, finicking with it for a bit, then switching the T.V. over to television channels, it immediately opening on a strange cartoon where a boy used stretched arms to beat a fish guy up. After a little, she was able to reach the right channel, as the clock hit exactly 17:30, and the speech began.

A man was visible on the screen, walking up towards a microphone stand on the same podium he was standing on. The man appeared human, with small but twirly grey-ish brown hair, he was wearing a dark-blue suit with a deep red tie. He spoke into the microphone "Welcome, all" He started by making eye contact with the small crowd in front of him that was sometimes shown through different camera angles, but usually kept out of view, he then peered into a camera in front of him "And those watching at home, too. I am glad you have joined me today, in whatever form that may be, I am glad that I have been given the ability to reach out to so many people. These days, I fear that communication at its most basic may be more common and easy than ever before, but I feel people so rarely truly listen, which is why I am so glad to have you here with me today." He continues a little while longer, Layla and the man with her paying attention closely, though the girl, bored, looks through the window "Huh. Looks like it's starting to rain, maybe that'll drive Oscar back in."