The bartender passed Cody his cider, and the blonde boy took it with trembling hands, wanting very much to leave right about then. Cyril watched him hold it without taking a sip, and shrugged, sipping on his own glass of something Cody didn't recognize. "So where have you been, then? Ava mentioned you hadn't been coming around much lately." Cyril stressed his purposeful, pointed disinterest for the boy next to him by staring up lazily at the calendar on the wall instead.
"Um," Cody began eloquently, his tongue in knots. Please, just call, Zane, his brain repeated like a mantra over and over. He needed some kind of out for this--just leaving wouldn't do. Cyril would probably stop him, or it would be rude, or some rule that Cody's brain had made up last-minute. "I've... there's... there's working at the library... and, the shelter is decorating for Christmas, so I've been helping with that..." Cody swallowed, thumbing the rim of his glass, and finally took a sip of the alcoholic cider--oh. It wasn't alcoholic at all, not a trace of bitter taste. Cody blinked at the bartender, who was staring at him, and the person behind the counter gave a wink and a smile before turning to continue washing dishes. Cody's entire body relaxed, taking a longer swig of the stuff. It didn't even cross his mind that perhaps the wink was because the bartender thought he was cute, and that alcohol was very masked when it was hidden inside of cider. Either way. The stuff was good.
"That's all?" Cyril murmured in monotone, gracing Cody with a glance that made him nearly choke when he caught Cyril's sharp eyes on him. "You've never been truly busy in your life, have you?"
Cody's mouth parted in retort, but he was so taken aback by the statement that he had to think for a few moments. "I've..." he trailed off, indignation threatening to rise up in him like a flame, but he kept it tamped down with another long drink of his cider. "That's not true. Before I came to this city, I... well, I mostly was just trying to find food all the time. And a place to stay." Cyril's brow quirked, as if not quite understanding the concept of having to search for such basic things. Even so, he didn't press the issue further.
Cody scowled slightly at his drink, then finished it off. Cyril whistled at the bartender once more, and the glass was refilled within seconds.
[Claiming Day 10!]