Here We Are [Iggy, some language]

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

August opened her mouth to answer her new sister, but before she could get a word in, she was yanked off the booth seat yet again. Awkwardly she half fell. August landed on her feet, and before she could straighten up she was being shoved toward the door. She recognized the voice, but didn't get a chance to give him a hug or anything. She was too busy being shoved. It was okay, August was use to being treated like this. She really didn't mind. Her back was turned so she never saw the punch to the back of Ryan's head. As soon as she turned around, she was just in time to see Journey fall into Iggy's lap. The last thing she wanted was for her new sister to get on Ryan's bad side. It would be tragic of her to find family only for them to end up dead a minute later.

Everything Ryan did was so.. Ryan. August admired it. She was bouncing with excitement. Rye never visited her at work. Actually, Rye never visited her. It always seemed like he was trying to avoid her, but this disproved it. He threatened really well. Her eyes couldn't help but stare at his gun. The dim lighting in the restaurant glinted off it, and she was sad when he holstered it. August stared at the hidden holster, and almost didn't notice how angry he looked. She couldn't really remember what she did this time. August gave him a hug. "Hi, Rye." She grinned from ear to ear, and buried her face into his trench coat. It smelled like faint gunpowder.

Ichabod had no idea what had happened. All he heard was a sickening sound, and then Journey was sitting in his lap, which he didn't mind very much hadn't it been for the way she got there. She hadn't been there long, because she was already on her feet. So was Iggy. There was only so much he could tolerate, gun or no gun. Everyone dies someday, right? Iggy gave him a swift but powerful punch to his jaw. He wasn't sure how well Ryan handled it, but his fist hurt horribly, so Iggy assumed the worst.

August felt Iggy's fist sail right above her head. Her eyes grew twice their normal size. She turned on Iggy in complete shock. He had been sitting at the table, minding his own business and out of no where he feels the need to punch Ryan. "What was that for?!" Ichabod just answered with a shrug. The answer was obvious, and he didn't feel the need to explain something so simple to her. August wasn't worried for Ryan. Ryan, though he didn't look it, was actually quite tough and could handle a few punches. She was worried for Iggy. Ryan didn't take pity on the blind.

[Waddle]

The girl was hugging him. The girl was fucking hugging him. The girl was bat shit crazy. She was the only one person stupid enough to follow him around. No,[/i] corrected the timid voice in Ryan's head that had finally introduced itself as Felicity - Felicity?! What a damn proper name for a little rabbit.[/i] - said. She's the only one who follows you that isn't a cop or an agent of some sort.[/i] She was right. Ryan had several people following him, or rather, trying to follow him. He knew that the US government had sent a special agent of some kind after him. The guy was undercover as a cop in the police station. The moron. Shut the hell up, Fel. You know what I meant.

She was so annoying. She never left him alone. She was always there, and always poked her nose into his business right when he least wanted her to. She never learned. It was rare when Ryan could scare her, and she always recovered quickly and came back with some smart remark.

Suddenly, Ryan wondered who he was thinking about - August or Felicity.

Then something hard connected with his jaw. His grip was ripped away from August as he staggered back. He felt his jaw snap from the force of the blow and blood filled his mouth as he bit his tongue. Ryan regained his balance, licked his lips and spat on the ground before slowly turning around to face his attacker.

Journey felt a sick satisfaction as the man August called 'Rye' spat out a mouthful of dark red blood. She'd heard the bone snap, but that didn't make her happy. Only the blood made her happy. A smile twisted her lips, and she felt the tension in her bruised cheek. It was already swelling and turning purple. She had bitten her cheek, but defiantly did not spit the blood out. She swallowed it instead.

Was August stupid? Why would Iggy not punch the man who'd just pulled a gun on a bystander? Why would he not punch the guy who'd just elbowed his dinner date in the face? Dinner date? ... Yeah, I guess I could be called that. Couldn't a date just be a meeting, not anything romantic? Yeah. Sure it could. That was all it was, just a... meeting. It almost hurt her to think of it that way. But now, the man Rye was staring at Iggy with a small, sick smile of his own twisting his lips. In his eyes, above dark, deep bags that screamed sleeplessness, Journey could see a sparkle, a cruel, merciless twinkle. The man's hand drifted toward his hip, likely to pull out the gun again, then stopped.

"Not worth the bullet..."[/b] Ryan muttered in a barely audible voice. Instead of taking the gun, he punched the other man in the center of his face.

Ryan was malnourished, it was obvious. He was much too thin, and even though he seemed normal height, it was only because he hunched over. He was tall, actually. But between being malnourished, and not muscular in the least, the punch wasn't anything special. Enough to hurt pretty damn well, but not enough to cause a terrible amount of damage.

It was only then that Ryan realized the man must have been blind. It mattered not, for he was soon distracted by dodging a well-aimed kick to his crotch from August's twin.

Journey cursed loudly as he moved out of the way of her kick, then pursued him. She punched at him once, twice, three times. He dodged, dodged, then caught her last punch in his hand. His other hand pushed that elbow to lock straight, even while he shoved her away. The push spun Journey around to face Iggy, and then she felt a foot plant firmly against her back and shove her harshly forward. Stumbling, Journey caught herself on the table. She almost turned to hurt him, but she knew she couldn't. It's lucky he didn't kill me...[/i] Ignoring a bruised pride, Journey ignored Rye and reached up to, instead, brush her fingers gently on Iggy's face. She hissed a breath through her teeth, half in relief, half in anger. "It's not as bad as it could be,"[/b] she told him.

After fending off the redhead, Ryan turned back to August. Pain flared in his mouth and jaw as he opened his mouth to talk. "Do not bring your new friends around me, August. And do not tape French fries to my wall again."[/b] He'd been here long enough. It was time to leave. Undoubtedly, as soon as he disappeared around the corner, people would be whipping out their phones and dialing 911. Undoubtedly, the cops would be here, if they weren't already on their way.

The last option stuck in his mind. He tried to shake it off, and he physically did shudder, but it wouldn't leave. If he was trapped in this little restaurant... he might not have a way out. Ryan's eyes scanned the place even as he backed toward the door. The heel of his combat boot caught his trench coat. He stumbled backwards, nearly slammed into the door, fumbled with the knob for a second, then shoved it open and raced outside, sprinting down the street and spinning around the corner. Losing his footing, he nearly went face-down in the mud, but was able to catch himself by putting one hand on the ground and pulling his legs back up under him before resuming his run.

What're you runnin' from, kid? No one was threatenin' you. Ryan couldn't answer Nedd, no matter how much he wanted to.[/size]

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

Friends and family, both are considered very good things, but August's were always.. different. She subconsciously seeked out the strangest people to befriend for the normal ones were far too boring to hold her attention for more than a few minutes. She'd never met anyone like Ryan, and it seemed her twin had the same subconscious search. Ichabod was as different as they got. That punch ripped Ryan from her hug. The spot where he use to be felt really empty. She could hear the snap, and it seemed louder than it should, but it was only because of how close they were standing. Her eyebrows rose so high they practically disappeared behind the loose hair that had come out of her pony tail and rested in front of her face. ..I-is that blood? August squinted through the loose hair before getting the brilliant idea to take it and tuck it behind her ear. Sure enough it was blood.. coming from his mouth. August wondered if the snap was worse than it sounded, even though it had sounded very bad.

August backed up to get out of her twin's way. Her stomach was tight with tension, but something trivial always showed up at the worst moments. Ryan moved so fast. You'd figure Journey would be the more lithe and fluid of the two. Ryan looked a little bulky in his trench coat, but August always forgot just how thin Ryan was, or how dangerous he was.

Ichabod didn't see the punch coming, no pun intended. He didn't move, didn't flinch. Ryan's fist hit him hard and he was pushed back, one step, two. He grabbed his nose and shut his eyes tight. It hurt, but it wasn't broken, and it wasn't bleeding. The surrounding areas started to tingle. He let out a little moan. Ichabod tried to mentally stop the pain and concentrated on nothing but it. He was caught off guard when Journey stumbled onto him. He grabbed her wrists a little too tight to steady her. Quickly he let go, and winced when she touched his face. She was touching his softly and gingerly, but his face felt so sensitive. He wasn't paying attention to anything but her at that moment. The way her fingers hardly touched his skin but still made it crawl, but in a pleasant way. He lifted his hand to touch her bruised cheek delicately. His smile disappeared and he rubbed his forefinger against the discolored skin.

August could see the blood in Rye's mouth when he talked. It scared her, but reminded her of ketchup at the same time. He said something about French fries, and she thought she had just misunderstood, but then she remembered what she did to make him so mad. August grinned wide, but it didn't last long. Ryan turned around and fled. It figured, Rye wasn't the type to go to a public place like the Rose. He could have been recognized. "Okay. Bye, Rye!" She waved him out, but really didn't want to see him go.

[Waddle]

As Rye turned and fled, Journey spat blood after him, only gaining a small sense of self-satisfaction in the process before swinging back to Iggy. He stroked her bruised face, and a disgusted expression overcame her face. It wasn't that the pain bothered her, it was more that the man had actually elbowed her. She'd let him elbow her. And he'd elbowed her. Sure, he hadn't known just who had punched him, but he'd elbowed a girl. It was bad enough generally to punch a girl, but to elbow one seemed like a cowardly thing to do. Of course, she had almost caused him to black out, which was what she had been intending to do. Things didn't always work out the way they were supposed to have.

His hand was so gentle... It sent tingles down her spine, and she had to surpress a shudder. It may have been that she'd watched too many movies, but she thought that that was a sign of... She didn't want to think it. The one you're meant to be with?! How sappy is that?! Surely there was something better to call it.

She stopped brainstorming words when she realized that by trying to think of a better phrase that she was basically accepting that Iggy was the 'one'. Her face turned beet red. He's older than me! I'm only nineteen![/color] But that tingle... No. It had just tickled her. She was a little ticklish, but after being elbowed, that part of her face was sensitive and the tingle was just something natural. Nothing more to it.

"You look tired, Iggy. You need some sleep. Where d' ya live?"[/b] Yeah, she was going to walk him home. Just because he'd stood up for her. She glanced to August. "Your loonatic friend is not going to hear the last of me, August."[/b] She was going to get back at him, whatever it took. Then she smiled. "But it was nice meeting you."[/b] Taking Iggy's hand, she pulled out her wallet, threw a twenty and a ten down on the table, not caring if the meal had cost more, then handed August a ten, and tugged Iggy towards the door. Pausing at the door, she tipped her cap to the watching people and bowed luxuriously. "Tonight's entertainment, ladies and gentlemen, is over. Good day and good night! Elvis has left the building!"[/b] With a laugh, she jogged out, not caring about two things she would normally have. One, she had just emptied her wallet. Two, she was all giddy from just Iggy's touch.[/size]