Twin Madness - FOLIE À DEUX

vii - dramatique

The streetlamps shone in the dimmed night sky, reflecting in Harry's glasses like smears of starlight. Magnus and Jackie, despite no articulation from Harry or Jin that they would be coming at all, had waited up near the tall brick walls that bordered the large property. They were old walls, mounted with intimidating wrought iron fencing like some old-timey prison. Wool's, including its walls, had been built in the 1800s, and that much was certainly clear in the architecture. As far as Harry could tell, it had been just as miserable back then as it was now.

Magnus smirked when he saw Harry heading over to them (back bent low and moving swiftly. It wasn't like there were patrols for intruders or escapees, but there was always the chance of being caught by a Matron looking out the window), and it widened when Harry heard a soft thud behind him. Jin had, wordlessly, followed him down four stories of drain pipe. Sibling camaraderie at play, of course.

The McDonald's on the corner was well-known by the orphans at Wool's, and while the chain didn't advertise itself as an expensive, refined restaurant, the fact that it was near constantly full of delinquents didn't quite endear it to families. If they came at all they used the drive-in before speeding off. Harry thought sometimes people were trying to hit them on their way out as a final "screw you" to the unfortunates that came to the store and parking lot alike.

It being a two minute walk from Wool's at the most, and even catering to them as they know their clientele, Harry and Jin had been there a few times in the past. It was a hangout spot, and Harry and Jin only really hung out with each other, which they could easily do elsewhere. Neither of them had much money either, so going to the McD's usually just made them hungry and irate. This should have made the revelation that seemingly the only worker in the front was a Wool's kid a natural development, but Harry knew how Wool's kids didn't get jobs. Those without criminal records were certainly in the minority (and that was mostly made up of people like Harry and Jin, who had no record because they had never been caught).

The cashier at the front was a Wool's kid, he knew that at a glance, without even knowing the older girl (about Magnus' age) herself. Her face was clean and her hair was brushed and her voice was carefully pleasant when she said "Welcome to McDonald's, what can I get for you today?", but behind the ironed polo Harry could see the chipped nails and the innocuous outline of a knife in her pocket. Girls who weren't from Wool's protected themselves too, Harry knew, but it was an expensive compact taser or a little bottle that didn't look scary, but you always knew who had been hit with it from the painful-looking rash around their red eyes. It was also something about the way she held herself, even half asleep in an empty fast food joint at the middle of the night. Her resting face was settled into a hard look, brown eyes narrowed and alert instead of bored.

She hadn't looked up during her greeting, but had heard them come in instead. When she did look up, a flash of recognition flicked over her face at the sight of Magnus. Then her gaze landed on Harry, Jin, and Jackie in turn, and her expression became one of vaguely confused amusement.

"Hey, Lopez," Magnus greeted easily. The entire place was empty but the four of them, it looked to Harry. Magnus strolled casually and slowly up to the counter. "Been a while since I've seen you around here, yeah?"

The cashier - Lopez - just snorted derisively. "Yeah, since Cyril started hiding his money from you and you stopped comin' round." She leveled him with a blank stare. He laughed uncomfortably but didn't deny it. She rolled her eyes, and Harry noticed that every action she did seemed like a performance. Not fake, exactly, but reluctantly exaggerated, as if for some kind of stage play. "So, spill. How'd you get him to stop hiding his cash from you?"

Magnus leaned across the counter on his elbows, grinning wickedly. "Convinced him I was a good boy, didn't I?"

Lopez broke character and scrunched her face up in disgust, although Harry wasn't quite sure what Magnus had said to warrant that reaction. Lopez shoved his elbows off the counter. "You're foul, Lance. I don't need to hear everything you and Cryil Kothari do."