Overgrown and Underwalked

...Fendi opts to ignore that bit, not because it wasn't concerning, but for his own mental state at this point. Please, kindly, shut up.

Al might've continued this. For all his other self's faults, he wanted to believe Al would've finished this if Fendi couldn't. It was their third passenger that had Fendi concerned. Al, he knew who he was dealing with.

Ideally, though, Fendi would like to get through this whole thing without either of them popping up.

Once they were introduced, Lucy giving a friendly "hello!" to Iruma, Fendi glanced between them. Before he'd go call Hilda, he whispered to Lucy "If you two do end up going back out, feel free to give him whatever he wants to eat. And anything that'll be fine for later."

As Fendi went to go into the back rooms, Lucy stopped him. "Prof? You doin' ok?"

"...I'm fine, Lucy. Just feeling a little unwell."

She watched him off, not quite believing him. Lucy had been around long enough to know what was probably going on.

But, right! For the time being, she turned her attention back to the kid. Nice ring, painted nails. Lucy blinked in concern at what he said, but otherwise kept her friendly air about. She's also trying to not seem like she didn't know what to do, but well.

This didn't happen a lot.

"Er, no." Did Fendi let the kid know what was going on? She didn't know what was ok to say or not. But she needed to reassure him somehow. "I'm sure we'll get you home soon. In the meantime, I'm sure prof and I will make sure you don't have to do stuff like that.

Hungry, though.

Iruma said nothing, for a moment. Simply hunched, curled inward a bit at the suggestion.

He was hungry. But he was always hungry - even with the amount he ate during mealtimes at school - challenging the chefs to their limits - he frequently snacked in between classes, to the point his friends had been tasked with making sure he didn't.

Eating was viewed differently in the human world than it was in the Netherworld, Iruma thought to himself, looking down and staring at his hands as he once again fiddled with his ring. The Sins were seen as good things, back home - his appetite was admired by the student body.

But if he ate that way up here... Gorging himself would only net him more trouble. These people were nice now, but they would not be if he ate the way he was used to. They would hate him, or kick him out, or yell at him. Or all three.

"I... can't pay for anything, though. I guess I can work, but I don't know anything about police work. And I'm not good at cooking the way people like, so a kitchen job isn't a good fit either... Opera banned me from ours..." He was barely allowed to go in to get snacks.

Opera more often than not would retrieve the item themselves, or otherwise stock a little cabinet in Iruma's room with various nonperishables, or containers spelled to keep their contents fresh.

Well... That was likely true. Especially without Iruma's assumed by-birth last name, it'd be tricky. Still... "It's important for me to note down regardless. We wouldn't want to return you to a dangerous situation." ...At least, those that cared wouldn't.

...He doesn't want to think about what'd have happened if Iruma was a picky eater. Nor the situation that he had been in to make him say 'as long as it's edible'.

...What was that?

Huh? What was what? ...And of course he wasn't going to get an answer back.

Fendi took in a deep breath, deciding to refocus instead. He didn't want to seem annoyed to a kid that didn't know what was going on internally. Fendi didn't want to explain, either.

Earl grey... They had Earl Grey in Japan? "Earl grey's fine. You're not asking for too much."

He's not asking for anything.

Once they got to the Yard, Fendi had someone fetch Lucy after he briefly explained the situation. While they waited, he turned his attention to Iruma. "I've got some stuff to do, but before I go, I want to introduce you to my assistant." He gave a reassuring smile. "She's really nice. I shouldn't be too long either way, but if you need anything at all, feel free to ask her, ok?"

Working at a police station would be new though, Iruma supposed. Might involve dead bodies, but he'd hunted animals before, so he wasn't too squeamish. He could identify poisonous plants and could dodge anything, so long as he could perceive its movement. But he didn't know much about laws. Another point against Alfendi hiring him.

But he blinked, snapping out of thought once they reached the Yard, following the man in (though not without a large amount of hesitation), watching everyone they passed carefully.

Expecting to get told off yet again. Police weren't very helpful, ultimately. They'd probably just take down his information then send him on his way with a stern warning not to sleep where he could be seen.

...His assistant did look like she was nice, though.

"A-alright." Iruma responded, one hand still at his ring as he watched the man leave - reassuring himself with the ring's continued existence before dropping his arms to his sides, wondering nervously if his blue school uniform would cause trouble. They wouldn't find it anywhere, and if they tried to test the fabric they wouldn't find that either! They'd find a whole host of things that didn't exist up here!

Alright. That helped Fendi feel more confident that Iruma was adopted. Bless his lack of knowing what actually happened. And, perhaps save for the "worst" comment, there wasn't anything else Fendi picked up as odd, regarding Iruma's fear of being here. He was a child in a strange country - of course he was scared.

It still had him Concerned for why the child was so far from home - in his mind - but it helped him have a clearer understanding of what to tell Hilda.

Scared of his parents. Fendi wasn't about to push why that might've been. Although it broke his heart a bit that Iruma was downplaying how awful they were. 'Not good people' was both specific and not specific enough. Recently adopted, maybe. It'd make sense, with how it seemed like Iruma had to think and consciously separate himself from his assumed by-birth last name.

By now, Al made his presence known, somewhat 'leaning' by Fendi against his mental shoulder. Sounds like they'd win parents of the decade.

With that, Fendi rested a hand to the side of his head, closing his eyes for a moment. Almost waving a hand to dismiss Al instead, but alas. Not now. There was that flicker of annoyance. At least it wouldn't show.

He observed Iruma for a moment, ultimately deciding he's not going to press Iruma to finish his sentence. He could guess what the gist of it was. "I'll make sure to note that you don't want your parents to find you, then." He smiled with reassurance.

Once he noticed the time, Fendi said, "Ah. We should get going." For a bit, they continued in silence. Not for too long, as Fendi asked "Would you like anything to eat or drink when we're there? There should be some snacks, and if not, I can ask my assistant to go out and get something. Some sandwiches, perhaps?"

"...You'd have a pretty hard time finding them even if you wanted to..." They moved so often when he was still 'their son' that Iruma couldn't even begin to guess where they'd gone after selling him - or even where they'd been when their demonic deal had gone down in the first place.

Iruma himself had been on a fishing vessel, halfway through a job and in the middle of the ocean - and he couldn't help wondering what the sailors thought had happened to him.

Likely they cared as little as anyone else willing to hire an uneducated 14 year old.

...What did Alikred make of all this, Iruma wondered, wishing they were wholly alone so he could ask - moving to fiddle with the ring, breathing a quiet sigh of relief when he felt Ali poke back, exiting the ring just enough to brush the smallest bit of purple-black energy against Iruma's fingers. He was there, he was okay, and Iruma was not alone.

It was, still, more relieving than it had any business being.

"Oh - y-you don't have to get me anything- But... s-sandwiches are fine. Any kind are okay, I'm not picky. As long as it's edible, I'll like it." He could and would eat grass and insects and the soft inner bark of certain trees, among other less glamorous things. Iruma who knew how to live alone in the wilderness long before he even knew how to read had very few preferences when it came to food.

Still fiddling with his ring (it was nice to have the reassurance that at least Ali was still there), he watched Alfendi move, listening to his tone. He seemed trustworthy enough - but so had many people.

He supposed he could at least use magic, if he had to. And only if he had to - poor Ali had no way to get more, here. Iruma took a quiet breath, forcing himself to relax. Time to survive, and that meant doing things he didn't want to. Such as following a cop, even if they'd never cared about him before past making sure he couldn't dirty up public space by sleeping in sight of people.

"Is... T-tea, if you have it, okay? I like He-" No wrong don't ask for Hell Grey, they don't have it here and it'd make him look weird- "ah, Earl... Earl grey. Water's fine too though, I don't want to ask for too much...!" Earl Grey would taste a little different, but similar enough to help him ground himself while his Grandpa undoubtedly hunted him down.

He'd get back home eventually. It was just a matter of time.

It was still so odd seeing Hershel watch her warily. She wondered how much she reminded him of 'that bloody woman' he mentioned before, not for the first time. Lucy didn't think she was particularly scary, especially compared to Al, so…

That was weird overall.

Lucy sighed. "See, the prof might've…world hopped," She rubbed the back of her neck. "And can't get back. I were wondering if you could help with that."

Though, at the moment, Lucy might've been having some doubts. It didn't look like he had much control of his ability. …Either? Luke had explained what Minori had theorized to him, and the gist there was it was by accident.

This was not what he expected. World-hopping? So she did know about the concept - enough to realize he might be too - enough so to ask him directly and presumably not worry about being laughed at in more-or-less public.

"Has he now..." He muttered, voice full of surprise and genuine curiosity. Now how had that happened? Was it a regular occurrence for the man? Why?

Hershel at least had the excuse of his childhood being a mangled mess of about a half-dozen different worlds melting into one, and thus being rather hard to keep in one place in the eyes of the multiverse, but he somehow doubted Alfendi had the same problem.

"Assuming you're not trying to make me look like twice as much of a madman - in theory, I could. Ordinarily I don't have much issue going wherever I desire, but I'll admit I've never considered taking companions along with me..." Had he ever? Usually he either was taken by force and shoved with a shockingly unnoticed transition from one world to the next, which neglected space for tagalongs - or he went on his own, by himself.

And travel to other worlds was much less of a common occurrence in his life these days, content to run his garden and his store and show up for work at the Yard.

Ok… Rusty, so Iruma didn't have to use them for a while by the sounds of it. It helped Fendi feel a bit relieved.

It didn't overshadow the worry at all, but he'll take relief on Some Level.

As for if the police noticed Iruma: probably not, but someone might've, eventually, and called in. After all, he noticed. He was an inspector, but still.

Better it was him than anyone else. He could at least explain the situation a bit. Big part of why he was trying to understand Iruma's current familial circumstances without prying.

The fact Iruma understood how bad it was that he wasn't in Japan helped with the budding relief. But even that was also crushed by worry and concern about him mentioning it was "good" as well. If it wasn't a mixed reaction like this, Fendi could've been more confident in his read of the situation.

Maybe Hilda would have a better idea.

He didn't like the mixed signals he kept getting. Though it seemed Iruma was genuine with his intent. Which, once again, muddled his read.

"I'm not blaming him. Please understand: my skepticism is not the same as finding fault with him." Yet. "I don't have all the information."

And, well, children could be smart, but that didn't mean they always understood things.

Hm… Perhaps being blunt here would yield a better result. "I apologize if it seemed like I was blaming him. You keep tensing up, and all I know so far is you have a grandfather. Are you afraid of him, or is it someone else?"

Keyword being almost.

'Are you afraid of your grandfather', he was asked. Iruma froze for a moment, both hands balling into fists as his expression turned in the direction of desperate.

"No! No, I'd never be afraid of him, he saved me!" From his biological parents, unsavory as the acquisition may have been. Iruma was sure that even his Grandpa wasn't overly fond of the fact he'd obtained Iruma though sale, but it was never discussed - and Iruma didn't blame him.

They were family now, and that was all that mattered.

Besides, Iruma couldn't deny - a binding contract over ones very soul did kind of mean his parents had that much less claim over him. So it really just worked out!

"I'm not scared of him I'm scared because I'm here!" He gestured around himself, widely. "I'm here, and he's not - I don't want to be here, I want to be at home! This - this is the worst place I could be!" Here, in the world of humans, where he had almost exclusively bad memories.

"I..." He began, trailing off as the desperate vigor slowly left him. Should he just... admit it? It wasn't like his parents were considered good even here, so... "I'm... scared of my parents finding me." Iruma said quietly - had he even told his grandpa that? Iruma couldn't recall. Perhaps he should tell him that when next they spoke. "They're - they're not... good people." They weren't. "If I'm not at home, with grandpa, then my parents could find me. That's all." Maybe he was leaving out the important details, but he couldn't exactly say he was living in the world of demons now could he?

"…It's about getting you back safely. Again, it'd be irresponsible of me to leave you be." Even moreso with him not knowing the area.

…Fendi sighed. It was a challenge, figuring out what was wrong. Maybe the kid was adopted.

Nothing wrong with that, but that complicated things. It seemed like the kid was ok with his grandfather, but that didn't mean he could rule out if the kid ran away or not.

And, frankly, Fendi was still not ruling out any other cases this could be.

Especially since he couldn't rule out that Iruma seemed to be from the country and that he wasn't from here. Japanese? Either way, it explained why his grandfather couldn't be contacted.

Oh boy, though, was there that familiar sense of pure rage from Al. "You need shelter," they said, Al's roughness taking over for the moment. "You can't just stay anywhere."

Sigh. Calm down. Try to, at least. Fendi couldn't deny that he wasn't upset, either. Nor that he didn't understand why Al was so upset. "What I mean is: since you're a kid, you'll have the police show up sooner rather than later." At best.

"And besides," Fendi continued, giving him a sympathetic look. "You shouldn't have to struggle out there alone."

"I mean... I'd rather not sleep outside if I can avoid it, but it's not that much of a struggle." He responded nervously. "But I'm more rusty than I'd like to be, so I guess it would be a little." He hadn't slept outside in almost a year, and wasn't as confidant in his survival skills as he'd prefer. Especially in the cold.

He didn't doubt he'd be fine - he always was - but you tended to lose something like that the longer you didn't use the skills. It made something in him want to go out and sharpen them - even though he knew that as long as he had his grandpa, he wouldn't need those skills.

Then again... his grandpa wasn't here.

...He should definitely sharpen his survival skills when he got the chance.

"I don't think the police notice me." He responded, looking at the other more curiously now, than frightened. "But if you say they're good, then... I guess I can believe you for now. Scotland Yard is... pretty far from Japan, too - that's good and bad." Far from his parents, but far from the Netherworld, too - could he even enter, from here? If he did, would he be in a different part of the Netherworld?

Would his grandpa be allowed to come out and find him if most people there thought he was a demon like them?

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok. Ok. The only person they could contact was unavailable - that was fact. Fendi wasn't sure if the relationship between them was good or bad, with the pause and terror the other displayed when he asked. It sounded neutral enough - maybe even positive.

But Fendi did NOT like the implications this kid had. Hell, he wasn't sure if he liked the implications of his grandfather not having some kind of phone, but that wasn't his main worry.

Ask him for his name. He's clearly not from around here.

...Hm. He'll need to contact Hilda. Interpol would have a wider range than he and the Yard did. "Maybe, but this isn't about survival. You're lost, and we have the resources to help you get back home." Maybe not immediately, but the kid clearly needs help. "It'd be irresponsible of me to leave you be."

Those... people. Those humans. Were not his parents.

Still. He took the offered hand, shaking it politely. It wouldn't do to be rude, nerves or no nerves.

"I mean... isn't it? I don't live around here. So... it kinda is about survival." Iruma said, looking at the other curiously - once again gently fidgeting the the ring - comforting the spirit inside it as much as himself. He was a little rusty regarding living outside, but it wouldn't be hard to slip back into.

Name, though. He could do that. Unlikely they'd find him anywhere - honestly Iruma didn't think his parents ever left a trail about him. He certainly hadn't ever gone to school, too busy with jobs for that.

"Iruma S-" And again, he froze for a second. Contemplated, a bit of fear bleeding into him again. And then continued, in a smaller, more careful tone. "Iruma... Sullivan." Just in case. Just in case.

He would not give any chance to be reconnected with those people.

...Ok. This kid is scared. Fendi already slouched as is, but he decided to lower himself to the ground. Something Al didn't appreciate, but Fendi didn't care. They both could agree the kid wasn't telling them the whole truth, but otherwise Fendi didn't believe the kid was a danger.

It did, however, have him even more worried. Though he's glad the kid isn't hurt, he was still going through scenarios in his head.

He couldn't help himself but freeze. Shock still for a moment as he reminds himself that where he is, it's most certainly not Japan, so the odds of anyone knowing his parents, much less how to contact them, is extremely low.

"My grandpa - he's not exactly in signal range. But he'll know I'm lost, and he'll be... He won't stop until he finds me." He says. Iruma hasn't been in the human world for almost a full year now. It feels incorrect, now. "Uhm. It's fine, I can - I can... I - I'll be fine." The words are stumbled over, his left hand gently grasping the gold ring on his right.

It can't be removed, and thus doesn't really twist as such, but fiddling with it reminds him that he's not truly, fully, alone. Alikred is in there, probably napping. Or watching. Waiting, carefully.

The strange ring-spirit companion is just as in danger as Iruma is, honestly.