&&; million pieces

Gabe hadn’t said what he had said to intentionally open up the door to some sort of heart to heart, but it seemed like it was too late for that. “No, no I don’t actually. Doesn’t that place statistically have more sheep than people? Why would you leave? That sounds dope.”

Riley simply just looked at the other, blinking before shaking his head, “You’re an odd man, Adams. I guess if you have the same passion for sheep as you do, then yeah it’s the perfect place. But I don’t have that.” He explained with a small shake of his head. “I had a really crappy family, my mom took off not long after I was born and then my dad was a drunk.” He told the other, “I ended up in foster care before I was ten, bounced around from home to home but no where stuck. When I was eighteen me and my best friend left the system and decided to just leave that place. We ended up travelling, came to the states last before I ended up here.” He spoke, clearing his throat as he moved onto the next part of his story. “But one night we ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and- some ... guy tried to rob us, my friend tried to stop him and ended up with a knife in his stomach. The wound was too bad and he ended up bleeding out before the paramedics arrived and he died.” His expression turned to one of numbness, he still blamed himself for his death. If he hadn’t taken too much of his power unnecessarily, maybe none of this would have happened. But he didn’t want to share that much with the other, this little bit was hard enough for him to explain, he didn’t need to add more baggage to the story. “I had to get away, so I ended up here. Clean slate, trying to live my life for the both of us.”

“Ah ah, no take backs, esé,” Jack said with a smile, “Like I said, I don’t have one yet. I should with all the drinking I do but I don’t. Not an effective one anyway.”

“Fine, fine- but you won’t trick me next time. I’m on to you, Adams.” Riley commented, motioning with his hands to show that he was onto the other. “Well when you find one, please don’t keep the recipe a secret. I need something effective in my life so Gabe doesn’t purposely do things ten times louder than necessary when I come into work feeling a little fragile.”

“Which– I dunno about you but… I’d like to avoid at all costs. I’m not sure how long I’ll be around, but I don’t want to go and be found like months later in a freezer,” Sadie mused randomly. “A tall smurf? That imagery is mildly horrifying,” she couldn’t help but snort. “Nah not mildly– it’s very terrifying. Can you imagine smurfs being… larger than human size? They’re supposed to be smaller than a cat aren’t they?” She found herself rambling again, definitely longer than needed for a simple joke he had said. “Good point. Shit– do you think the guys coming to rescue us will bring pizza? Can I make a special request over the speaker?” Sadie added playfully. “Don’t encourage them– you’d be surprised just how stupid they can get,” she warmed with a light laugh that was mostly directed at herself.

“Really? See I would have thought you would have actively gone out searching for someone to lock you up in a freezer and take some internal organs. In my books it’s what I call a wild Thursday night.” Riley commented before letting out a laugh at how the other seemed to be scarred by the idea of a tall smurf, “Wouldn’t a tall smurf just be one of those Avatar people?” He couldn’t help but ask, “But yeah, smaller than a cat and small enough to make a toadstool into a home.” Riley snorted, “I mean, by all means put in a request, but they might think feeding us with pizza is low on the list of things that need to be done emergency wise.” 

“Looks like there might just be something I’m good at after all,” he teased when Riley pointed out that he had brought the mood down. “I know, I try to remind myself of that constantly but some days it’s easier than done. Someone has it worse but someone also has it better,” Gabriel explained his own thought process to the other briefly. “That works,” he nodded before walking over to the air hockey table and choosing a side.

At the others explanation Riley let out a sigh, “I get it- I do.” He spoke given him a half-hearted smile. “Do you know why I left New Zealand and how I ended up here?” 

Eliana stifled a laugh, “Of all the games, that’s the one you choose?” She asked, “How about we start with names? You haven’t told me yours yet.”

“Well it’s not like I’m hiding Monopoly in my jacket, I’m sort of limited on what to suggest.” Riley commented, looking to the other when she mentioned names. “Riley- my name is Riley. And yours?”

“Sounds like psycho behavior,” she muttered in suspicion after the other’s rather detailed description. “Make sure you wear it next time you know you’re getting into an elevator,” Sadie added teasingly. When he tossed her the packet of gum she caught it haphazardly with a little squeal of surprise. “Three course meal, huh? Run out of the Willy Wonka kind?” she teased, trying to ease her own tension with lame attempts before she popped a stick of gum into her mouth. “UberEats should totally deliver to people stuck in elevators. I feel like that should be a thing,” Sadie voiced randomly as she finally sat down. “Now you’ve got me thinking about food and I’m going to say stupid things like that,” she added with a shake of her head at herself.

“You wouldn’t be wrong, it’s the behavior of people you make a note of not to befriend unless you want to end up in someone’s freezer.” Riley saluted to the other at her comment, “I’ll bring my pizza pants too, they always seem to be a big crowd pleaser.” Riley couldn’t help but laugh at the others reference, “Too many side effects, I was sick of turning into a tall smurf so I chucked it in the trash. As for the UberEats- surely if they were able to deliver it to people in elevators then they’d be able to get us out?” Riley commented, before holding his hands up in defense, “I don’t mind stupid comments, makes for more entertainment on my behalf.”

“I was gonna say yes anyway but now that you’ve said you’ll pay, you have to,” Jack said with a wicked grin, “You think with all the drinking, I don’t have a killer hangover cure.”

“Shit, maybe I should take it back. I need to learn to stop offering things before someone answers the first time around.” Riley commented as he rubbed a hand over his jaw. “You’re going to have to share that with me, still haven’t found an effective one. Despite all the drinking that I do.”

“Not knowing the song? Also a crime. How could you not?” Penny said, stopping in front of him, “You don’t dance or you won’t? You gotta let loose, dancing is supposed to be about fun not what other people think,” She snorted, “Kidnap you? How exactly would I do that?”

“Not my kind of music I guess, I’m not really a dance, upbeat, pop kind of guy. I thought that was sort of obvious, maybe I need to work on my grunge look more.” Riley joked, looking at the other and feeling a little bit tense at how close the other seemed to be getting. What was she-...elemental? Something connected to earth, the sense was close but not enough for him to single out completely. “Both. And I let loose by drinking, I find it to be a lot more fun and effective than dancing.” Riley shrugged, “I’ve seen it happen, someone higher up sends a pretty girl to distract them, something get’s slipped into my drink and next thing I know I’m in a bathtub of ice with my kidneys removed.”

“You forget I’m very good at losing. Been doing it all my life,” Gabe replied simply with a bit of a grin on his lips. If he didn’t set any expectations for himself, he could never be disappointed. It was just easier that way. “Let’s throw some air hockey in there or something. You’d be surprised how good I can be at that sometimes.”

“Woof.” Riley commented looking at the other, “Way to bring the mood down, Adams. Now I’m sad, I feel like I need to go sit in a dark room and drain a bottle of vodka.” He teased, looking at the grin on the others lips that just seemed plain sad. “Think of it this way, you’ve had it bad, but there’s probably someone out there that’s got an even worse story.” He smiled, somewhat sadly as his own thoughts seemed to haunt him for a moment. “Air hockey sounds good-” He commented, sweeping his arm out, “Lead the way, loser buy’s beers.”

“How does it feel?” Riley asked, a smug smile on his face as he turned to the other. “You know, being so bad at every game in here. Maybe you should quit now, save the embarrassment that seems to happen every time I thrash your ass.”

“I’d suggest a game of eye spy or something while we wait, but something tells me that would get real boring, real fast.” Riley commented, breaking the silence that had been filtering through the broken down elevator for the past ten minutes.

“Oh come on, just one more drink.” Riley commented, looking at the other as he was calling for the bartender. “I’ll even pay- you can’t tell me you’ll turn down a free drink just because you’re scared you might be a little hungover for word the next day.”

Penny didn’t often take a night off like this. Normally, after work, she just went home and had some food, probably did some more work that she brought home and then went to bed. However, tonight she was taking the town or at least this nightclub and she was going to enjoy herself. She smiled as she danced, spotting someone watching, “Come on, dance with me. You can’t not dance to this song. It would be a crime.”

“I don’t even know what song this is, so how can it be a crime.” Riley countered as he continued to sip at his drink. “That and I don’t dance, not on packed dance floors. Or even empty ones.” He continued to comment, “I don’t even know you as well, this could be you luring me into a false sense of security to kidnap me or something.”

“Suddenly I don’t love to hate watch those movies anymore,” she grumbled, pressing at the buttons frantically before eventually hitting the alarm. “It’s fine– this is just not how I saw my day going,” Sadie admitted, often turning grumpy in situations where she was truly freaking out on the inside. She didn’t like crying or panicking, especially not in front of other people. “How long does it take for them to respond to a frickin’ alarm,” she then exclaimed, slamming the alarm button again after hearing it ring for help. “Any chance you brought snacks or board games?” Sadie turned to Riley, sarcastic but slightly hopeful he had something in mind to distract them for the time being.

“I don’t think anyone expects to get stuck in an elevator, unless they really love these things and continue to hit the stop button until it’s jammed.” Riley told the other, knowing his words probably weren’t helping the others anxiety right now and he himself wasn’t exactly thrilled to be stuck in a small space with someone and feeling their power wash over him in waves. More then what he was used to. “If you keep pressing it you’re going to break it even more.” He told her before gesturing with his head for her to sit down. “Damn, Battleships is in my other jacket.” He smirked, rummaging through his pockets and pulling out some chewing gum and throwing it towards her. “All I got, sorry it’s not a three course meal.”

“Would it be really bad timing for me to mention that I’m pretty sure that this is how those Final Destination movies start?” Riley commented, watching as the girl in the elevator with him was pressing multiple buttons before hitting the alarm for help. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t helpful of me to say. Sorry. We’ll be fine.”

Jack: you don't actually think we would leave him entirely responsible of supplies did you?

Jack: i bet if i said a bear, nobody would question it though

Jack: i think rivera would try and fight a raccoon

Jack: though actually he might try and fight a bear too

Riley: well i was hoping not, but i didn't just want to assume. glad to know you actually have things to survive out there though. i was not going to offer to drive over there to do a drop off if you didn't.

Jack: you know we also brought camping supplies right? and i have abilities that help, i could totally build a laser

Jack: at least he's not forcing everyone to play, i've just snuck a bag of marshmallows in here

Jack: probably gonna get in trouble for it but oh well

Riley: You said you went camping with Rivera's, I thought the only camping supplies you'd have were booze and food.