Cody nodded, wiping the last of his tears on his sleeve and smiling slightly. Now that finals were coming to a close and the library staff was about to let him go for the year, it had been a worrying thought on his mind. Surely there was something around... oh, maybe a plant nursery. Cody's eyes sparkled slightly with quiet ideas, before he blinked and looked back up at Dahlia with a breath as she moved the phonebook closer. Cody eyed the book, a nervous flicker in his eyes, and he lifted up his old flip phone to stare at the number pad. He could call Zane, tell him the number and name, and Zane could look up the address...
If he even cares enough to come, some tiny voice in the back of Cody's head whispered, and he shut his eyes tight for a moment, just gripping his phone. "N-no, that's okay, I'll..." Just call him. Just
call him... Cody knew it should be easy, but it was never easy lately. He slowly looked up at Dahlia, then back down at his phone, then at Kosok. Something steeled behind his eyes, and he nodded, calling up Zane and putting the phone to his ear. Ring... ring... click. Cody's eyes widened.
"...Zane?"
Cyril's expression shifted ever so slightly, the hostility morphing into bemusement. Cyril shifted on his feet, then scoffed and shook his head, turning to leave--and then, he felt the tug. Cyril froze, looking back around towards Null, and pulled. What... on earth...? "What... did you
do?" Cyril's voice was deathly quiet, crossing the floor slowly towards the smaller man. The tug lessened, and panic started to rise up in Cyril's chest as he realized it must have something to do with this guy.
On some anxious, impulsive instinct, Cyril's hand shot out to ball up in the fabric at Null's chest, jerking the man closer with a murderous intent in his eyes. "I don't need a drink," Cyril snarled into the man's face, his knuckles white with tension where he gripped Null's shirt. "I need you to fix this. Right now. Whatever you did... or..." Cyril's other hand balled into a fist, and he raised it up, looking very much like he was about to send it straight through Null's face.
"Cody? I'm here--where are you, C--woah... hang on, I think I took a wrong... turn?"
Suddenly, Cyril's wound-back fist was grabbed, and the dark haired main whipped around to stare straight into a familiar set of green eyes. "Hey--Cyril, right? What's all this about?" Zane's voice was low, and about as dangerous as it could be for someone like him--his phone was held between his free hand's fingers, held up to his ear. He was barely taller than Cyril, but the animosity coming off of the latter was enough to make Zane wilt slightly.
Cyril's brain caught up with him, and he instinctively let go of Null's shirt. Crap. Right. Cyril knew Cody wouldn't tell Ava anything, but Zane was another story. Cyril scowled slightly, but tried to paint a polite mask over it as best he could. "Nothing. A gentlemen's disagreement, is all. Are you here for Cody?" he asked, easily adopting a purr into his voice. Zane wrinkled his nose slightly.
"Glad I'm not a gentleman. Seems like rough business," Zane muttered, then glanced at Null, a worried look on his face--wait! "Oh! Did--did you say Cody? Right--
right! Cody said you were here!"
"He did?" Cyril blinked, but Zane was already turning away to start looking through the crowd. It wasn't long before he stumbled upon the table that the trio was sitting at, his eyes widening as he ran towards Cody and bent down to the boy's shorter, sitting height to throw his arms around him in a tight hug. It seemed both men were still holding their phones, an afterthought.
"H-how did--" Cody started to say, and Zane pulled away to give him a huge, lopsided grin.
"I find you?" he finished for Cody and laughed, shrugging. "Apparently you didn't go far. Just the alleyway on Seventh... guess they put a new bar here, huh?" Zane blinked and looked up at Kosok on Cody's shoulder, startled, then at Dahlia with raised brows. "Hey there!" he offered a grin, putting his hand out. "I'm uh... I'm Zane. Hey..." He could tell that Dahlia had been trying to help Cody, by the look of the phonebook and her weird (but strangely cute) pet. He kept a hand on Cody's other shoulder, not wanting to break contact. It was clear, despite his sunny demeanor, that he'd been worried moments before. Cody unconsciously leaned into the contact, his a mixed cocktail of unreadable emotions--except relief. That one was definitely there.
[Claiming Day 4!]
[Also I have Baconwizard's permission to use Zane here!]