who is in control?

IT WAS AN ANSWER lorenzo could respect -- clearly based in logic. as a hacker, he frankly expected as much. he had quickly picked up on their differences upon their arrival at the booth, the trained eyes of a conman trying to make sense of the person who he'd be spending his shift with. he knew very little about the syndicate. he too had his own reasons wanting to steer clear of the kissing booth -- even if none of them were outward and visable. " how do you assess if things have a point to them? no judgment, just genuinely curious. " he questions. lorenzo had believed that taste was subjective -- that he was not the tastemaker of the universe. " eh, i suppose i've always just associated it with carnivals. never really sought it out anywhere else. " he shakes his head, realizing just how little he had experienced growing up. " never really went to many either. "

"It's obviously not a black and white answer. Something that to me is pointless may have a point to you. It's all subjective." Hayes shrugged, although he usually classified pointless and something that didn't serve his life in any way... like most people. "You not a fan of rowdy kids, enough sugar in the air to get you high and rides that are incredibly questionably assembled?"

FRANKLY, LORENZO WAS GREATFUL for the distraction of his forced posting. he would have rather not had to work at all, sure. however, having the option to focus on something else that wasn't the sight of derin and her husband was a welcome treat. as for partners? he could have gotten so much worse. imagine if it was him and reyan. the thought alone made him shiver. he had shot the guy, after all. as miray's eyes looked on. however, he's aware enough of the man standing next to him to know that he's syndicate strong. the conversation has been few and far between -- their booth being far busier than he had anticipated. while his first cones had looked slightly lopsided, he was slowly beginning to get the hang of it. after handing a perfectly prepared paper cone to a child who appeared to be no more than six, he faces the other man before speaking. " you a cotton candy fan? " he questions, hand coming to rest on one of the nearby pillars. " i don't think i've had a bite of one of those things in at least twenty five years. "

There were much worse things Hayes could be doing than working at the candy floss stall, the kissing booth for example would have been his idea of hell on earth. He also could have been paired with one of the snakes which would have been absolutely horrendous and might just have been his thirteenth reason. “It’s okay I guess, I’m not a massive fan of things that have basically no point to them.” It was a whole lot of sugar with not much else but Hayes had always been overly cynical. “Are you a cotton candy fan?”

As a perpetual pessimist, Henry believed that things were always likely to go wrong. He didn't ever go out unprepared. Instead, he was always prepared for the worst possible scenario. "Pretty high," he told Hayes, turning to look at the male. "I'd be more surprised if absolutely nothing goes wrong," he stated, shrugging. "Whatever it is, hopefully it's not too terrible."

As much as Hayes wanted to believe the best in every situation, he’d learn his lesson that life could almost never be all sunshine and rainbows. There was always some disaster waiting just around the corner. “Hopefully but I don’t have much hope for that. After New Years was so peaceful there’s bound to be something horrendous in the works.”

The Scorch Trials (2015)

"Jesus, you talk that way to all the ladies?" Amara scoffed, a smirk placed on her lips. "I was just going to ask how the hell you're doing all of that high score shit, because I can't for the life of me figure it out - and also, see that blonde girl over there?" Amara pointed out to one of her tipsy med school friends and sighed. "She thinks you're cute and wanted me to get your number for myself, she's tipsy as hell right now though and has gone on a match making spree - wouldn't shut up until I told her I would just come up and talk to you. I'm not even sure she's registering people right now or machines." She chuckled. "You curse at little kids often though?"

"It's all in the fingers and the wrist." Hayes explained, his hand still tapping away at the yellow button with lightening speed as his other hand focused on the joy stick. It was only a matter of seconds before the game was over and he turned to the face the person who had just joined him. "I don't see any blonde girls, are you sure you didn't just make up an excuse to come and talk to me?" He asked with a smirk. "And no, I don't usually curse at kids and he isn't little he's about 15 and he's a little shit who deserves it."

IRIS IS FAR FROM blind to the stress that everyone around her is feeling -- it's wrapped itself around her bones. buried itself within the fibers of her skin. " hey, i'm just saying. i know we've all been worried.. it wouldn't hurt to let some of that pressure go. especially for you, mr. lead hacker. " it's clear in her face that she had never meant anything by it -- not at all. she does genuinely worry about her people, and hayes certainly falls under that category. from meeting him nearly four years ago, to him taking her under her wing, to sleeping together and lastly, the present, he was one of the few people she trusted without a doubt. if he told her to jump in the air, she'd probably ask how high. " life is... god, i hate how much work is tangled up in our lives right now. got some insane closure that i'm not quite sure if i entirely believe... lets say i'm about ninety percent there. leaving five percent for my own self protection. " she laughs, shaking her head as she takes a sip from her glass. " christmas was quiet, just me and the dog. you were the only redeeming part of new years, considering most of it was just rubbing elbows with the enemy. " after another moment, she sharply exhales. when would everything stop feeling like a mess? was this part of what she had signed up for? probably. " and you? it feels like you kind of dropped off the face of the earth.. so i'm curious. "

Wanting to listen to her, to be fully present in the moment he forced himself to push it all out of his head and focus solely on Iris. "I'm glad I could help make your new years better. You were the only good part of mine as well." Being around the serpents was never something he wanted to do but she made it slightly more bearable. "I can't tell you what I've been up to, you said no work talk and that's all I've been doing for the last couple of weeks. It was exhausting me though I've come to realise I need a break every now and then for my sanity."