Violet

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Claggor was holding me up, Vi was leaning on the door frame, Mylo was standing right beside me, Ekko was propped up against the wall beside the door, and Powder was next to Ekko. We were listening to the adults argue about the enforcer issue from the safety of a doorway. "We should hit em' back. We've got the numbers to beat them" I hear a woman I know to be named Sevika, yell out, lifting her arm to get the group riled up. Another man speaks up "Yeah. Let's teach them what it means to mess with us" I look back at Vander, he's as calm as ever. The crowd at The Last Drop starts to cheer. He lights up his pipe and takes a few seconds inhaling it until he blows out the smoke "You sure that's what you want?"

I hear a man yelling in the back. I turn to Violet and see she's looking at me. She quickly turns her head to look back at Vander, avoiding the fact that what happened happened and there's nothing she can do about it. She hates not being in control, that's something I genuinely can't stand about her. I love her nonetheless.

"We crossed that bridge once before, and we all know how that ended." Everyone, and I mean every single soul in this bar, turns to us. "You're just protecting your kids." I see him glance over at us. I can tell we all have a face of guilt without even looking, it was in the air. "I'm protecting our people. I'd do the same for any one of you. We look out for each other. It's the way it's always been."

Aww look at us, having a heartfelt moment as a community. Yeah, right.

"This will blow over. We just need to stand together." I hear a scoff come from Sevika. "The Vander I knew, the one who built the underground, wouldn't be afraid to fight." The air in The Last Drop changes almost automatically. Vander, taken aback for a fraction of a sentence, walks up to Sevika. He gets in her face and blows smoke right at her "Do I look afraid?"

The phrase 'afraid', or anything close to the meaning, always reminds me of Violet. She tries to not be afraid. To not be scared. But I know that deep down, she's absolutely terrified. I think she knows it too, she just puts up a big wall. It's a wall that spells out strength, but it's cracks show true vulnerability. I wish she could be true and not put up that big wall. I get that it's hard for her though.

Sevika gets into Vander's face "No. You look weak." I see that she glances over to me for a split second before turning around and whistling. Wonder what that means, if anything at all.

I turn to look at the rest of the kids, everybody else in the bar going into their own conversations as well. "Why isn't he doing anything?" I turn to look beside me when I hear Claggor's voice. I raise my eyebrow and look back in front of me. "We kicked the Enforcers' butts with just the four of us. Imagine what the whole of the lanes could do" I raise my one eyebrow even higher at Powder's words. "Jeez even Powder wants to fight" And now I'm rolling my eyes. I see Vi get visibly upset at that "So why aren't we?" She throws her arms up.

Me, Claggor, and Mylo, start to file back down the stairs, but I notice Vi and Powder looking at Ekko so I turn back, using the railing to help me back up the staircase. I poke my head through the doorway, slightly wincing because of my leg. I move, getting off my leg. Violet speaks up "Spill it, Ekko" He shyly turns his head away from us. "Um... Oh Okay. Well, um, Vander's got a deal with the Enforcers."

Me, Powder, and Vi softly gasp at that. I can tell Violet's upset "What deal?" Though, she surprisingly doesn't sound mad

~

Powder and Ekko were sitting on her bed messing with her bombs, Claggor was reading a book, Mylo was.... well whatever the hell Mylo does, Vi was sitting in her chair and stressing over life, and I was fidgeting with a random gadget we had gotten on a job. It seems like I'm doing a lot of this lately.