Cody had settled down at the new table Dahlia had indicated, offering a smile to the other people seated there and glancing back over at Zane. Things seemed okay, for now... Oh, it looked like there was someone else there, now. Things should be fine... "Wha?" he blinked, looking up at Dahlia with a pink tint to his cheeks, before his face split into a grin. "W-we're fine," he breathed out a laugh, his shoulders hunching sheepishly, but clearly happy with Dahlia's label for Zane. "He... he didn't seem mad," he whispered, as if the revelation was too happy to say too loudly. "I-I... I didn't think he would be--well, I thought he
should be, but... it's... it's not like him, really," he laughed, flushed, then cleared his throat and straightened up to Dahlia as she handed him a bag of popcorn. "I-I want to thank you," he began, taking it graciously and opening it, his eyes shining as he popped one into his mouth. "I... I'm not... very good at standing up for myself. I want to get better at it. I-I'm just amazed you stood up to Cyril so easily," he cringed, a chuckle escaping him.
He blinked at her question, adjusting his glasses and peering over at the group gathering. A flicker of worry appeared in his eyes as he watched them. "I hope so... Zane's not a violent person, a-and I didn't think Cyril was either, but..."
Zane's brows raised at Null's reaction, both bodily and verbally--somehow, his squirrely nature reminded him a little bit of Cody, or at least how Cody was when he and Zane had first met. Did Cyril just gravitate towards these types of people? Zane's mouth twisted into a grimace. Saying 'friend' was more of an impulse thing--now the guy just looked guilty. "Magic, huh?" Zane chuckled, tilting his head at Cyril. Where did this guy get off on tormenting people shorter than him? "Well, why don't we all just calm--"
Zane cut off at the very sudden appearance of a new person, blinking wide-eyed at the old man. Oh, it seemed he knew the pale boy. Good! Zane grinned at him, glad for someone that Null would find familiar--but... what was he saying? Magic? Really...? Even so, that smile suited Null better than the frightened expression. Zane figured he could probably slip away now and rejoin Cody--he really did want to make sure his boyfriend was doing okay, especially after the panic that both of them experienced that night. But... could he really trust this old man to take care of Cyril? Surely Cyril wouldn't do anything crazy, especially not to some old man. Surely.
Cyril, however, was staring at Winter like one would look at roadkill. He almost seemed jumpy around the man, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on-end. He wanted to go home. He wanted Ava. This was a mess that he had not bargained for, nor asked for, nor expected, nor could get out of on his own. And that last thing made him angry most of all. "Listen. Listen--I don't... I'm sick and tired of all of this 'magic' business." It was fake, all of it, and he needed to
leave right then. It was hard to tell, but panic was roiling just beneath the surface of Cyril's skin.
Zane grinned at Winter as he took his hand and shook it, and Zane gave him a hearty shake in return. "Aw, it's not much. I kinda had to make sure my own was okay before I could help... Null, you said?" Zane laughed, a little delighted by the man's talk of 'empathetic links' and all that (sounds fancy!), then blinked, his eyes widening a little bit. "Wait... how did you know my name?"
Cyril made a distressed noise and shot Winter an almost feral stare. "Don't you play games with me, old man," he snarled, grabbing Null once more by the collar and shaking him slightly, jamming a finger in the boy's face as he stared at Winter. "I don't know where you and your little pissant of a friend here get off, but if you don't
fix it, whatever the hell it is, I'll wring his neck--"
Zane tensed, instinct taking over as he darted up behind Cyril to try to wrap his arms around the tall man's torso and pull him safely away from Null. Unfortunately this seemed to set Cyril off something terrible, as the dark haired man's elbow collided--hard--with Zane's nose. Zane shouted in surprise and let go, hands flying to cover his nose as he doubled over, and Cyril whirled around to face him, visibly startled. "I'm sorr--" Cyril cut off, looking back at Winter and Null, his face pale and eyes frantic, looking a little paralyzed and a little dangerous, somewhere in there, as well.
Meanwhile back over at the table, Cody's eyes went wide with horror. "Oh god," he mumbled, getting up out of his chair, but something stopped him as he saw Zane mumble something to Winter about going to find some ice, and that he'd probably grab the person in charge as well, then stood there as Zane walked up to the table with his nose still covered. "A-are you okay?" he asked, reaching up to take Zane's hands away by the wrists. Cody paled at the sight of blood around Zane's nose and upper lip, and Zane gave him a lopsided, pained grin.
"Sorta!" he laughed, then winced, pulling their combined hands back to cover his nose. "I-I think I need ice," he mumbled, looking at Dahlia with an apologetic look in his eyes (his mouth wasn't visible behind his hands, but he was probably smiling. "Rough place, huh? Just kidding--Cyril... I don't think he's usually like that. Mostly my fault. It's like, when you get behind a skittish horse or something--bound to get a kick in the chest, y'know? Or... face, as the case may be."
Cody worried his lower lip with his teeth, and pointed to the chair beside Dahlia. "Sit. I'm gonna go get ice, okay? It looks... bad," he mumbled, then leaned up on his toes to kiss Zane's hand where it shielded his face. He looked over at Dahlia with a smile. "M-make sure he doesn't get up, yeah?" Cody could tell Zane was angry, now, and it only assured him more that there was no way Zane was angry about the plate--even though it seemed to any outsider like the red haired man was completely fine. Tense shoulders. Cody knew. He moved over to the snack table, which included a punch and ice bowl, and hurriedly began filling an open napkin with chunks of ice while ignoring the stares of the crowd around him.
Zane looked up at Dahlia with a smile, giving her a wave--but his fingers had blood on them, so it didn't seem quite as friendly. "Hi again," he chuckled. "I wasn't expecting this exciting of a night before my physics final. Physics is cool, but like, I was basically just in a bar fight, so I'd say I deserve at
least a B+."
[Claiming Day 2!]