home of the cú

The sound of heavy steps can be heard coming down an empty hallway. Towards one of the further parts of the orphanage - where some of the older orphans stayed, as far as Donn understood it from one of the other goons about where Innogen lives.

Because of course the guy wouldn’t tell him himself.

Weird thing the dude wouldn’t move out, but then again, maybe he simply doesn’t have the cash for it. Being one of Bailey’s goons doesn’t exactly pay well, the guy is too stingy with money for that.

Doesn’t matter why tho, as uncomfortable as he still finds the rundown place, he’s got enough in his system to simply ignore the familiarity of this hellhole.

“Oi, Inno!”

He hammers at the door, with too much force. Like usual, it sounds as if he wants to break it down rather than knock on it.

“Get out yer room, it’s friday n I know ye not workin for Bailey!”

It was one of those days when work had gone well. They scored more than needed, and now it was time to hole up in their room-completely alone, away from everyone. These were the moments where they plugged in their earbuds and turned back to even more work at their desk.

They might’ve been mending clothes, counting cash, or working on a product to sell at the market—if their door hadn’t suddenly been pounded on, hard enough to startle them and send whatever was in their hands flying. That feeling only got worse when they recognized his voice.

Shit. ++Stress

They froze. Mind racing. How the hell did he find them? Someone definitely snitched. Their eyes darted to the window. Jumping was a very tempting option.

But they didn’t.

Instead, they yanked on their jacket, moved toward the door, figuring it’d get kicked or punched in otherwise, and exhaled whatever weight was caught in their chest.

“Ye sure was working,” he scoffed and eyed past their door, although not very effectively because the top of the doorframe was blocking his view. “Whatever ye be doing, can wait til later.”

Without waiting for another protest he grabbed them by the arm to drag them with him - regardless of their state of dress or resistance, if he’d have to he’d haul them over his shoulder. Wouldn’t be the first time that’s how he got one of his friends with him.

His grip on them was firm, not leaving much room for the possibility to escape - even with their sturdier built his hand wrapped almost entirely around their forearm.

So they shut their mouth, frowning now as they let themself be dragged—like it was routine. Led back down the same hallway he came in, the walk felt less like defeat and more like a slow march toward some impending doom.

Sigh.

"Uh huh... sure," they replied, tone uncharacteristically blank. Their eye twitched—just the slightest—at the use of "princess," the bite of irritation clearly there.

“I was kinda hoping you’d forget about the other one, but fiiineee,” she says with a cheeky grin, fishing through her bag for some stray notes. There’s bound to be something in there.

Her tongue pokes out slightly in concentration as she rummages, and finally, she pulls out what she’s looking for.

“Hmm, let’s see… Ah! Will this do?”

Yeah—she’s casually handing them a £50 like it’s nothing.

There was something satisfying about swindling someone like her. They weren't going to complain about some extra cash. +Control

“Hm… more than enough, I guess,” they muttered, shifting where they stood with a restless energy that screamed they’d rather be anywhere else.

Without another glance, they gave a lazy shooing motion with their hand, bored already. With a lazy flick of the wrist, they waved her off, expression bored.