The Bond

Ch 95

"Bold."/"Bold italic" : animatronic is talking/animatronic is talking in mind

"Normal."/"Normal italic." : human is talking/human is talking in mind

=o^o=

Ennard looked out the window boredly. They left Michael's hometown near midnight, of course using Lucy's car—Lucy told them to take hers. The atmosphere on the streets was quiet, there were only lights on to illuminate the road. He could count the number of times they'd passed other drivers, or just the night bus.

Then he glanced sideways, Michael was focused ahead because he was driving. It seems the driving made Michael look very serious, as if he didn't want to do anything wrong. This led him to wonder whether the man had experienced the unexpected in the past; hitting a tree while driving, maybe? Or accidentally crashing to people. Who knows. He was reluctant to ask Michael, nor did he want Michael to lose his focus on speaking.

Once he spoke, Michael couldn't stop at all. Compared to how he was before they met Alice, this was certainly a huge obvious change. He was rather quiet, easily angered, and now Michael was chatty, always taking his sarcasm in a relaxed manner, sometimes irritated but he quickly forgets his annoyance. It felt like Michael was coming to terms with what had happened to him.

Except for matters relating to his family.

That was normal, of course. He tried not to bring up Michael's past when he was alive unless it related to the topic of their conversation. After all, Michael himself would tell him about his life first. How he had scared his siblings all times and regretted it, how his father had always looked down on him. Michael didn't mention much about his mother, he thought that the man wasn't close to his mother.

He straightened slightly when he realized the car was turning right, the petrol station. There was no one, just like what he had imagined. Maybe only a cashier guard the minimarket at this petrol station. He watched Michael pull on the handbrake and turn off the engine, pausing for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"We're out of gas, so ...." Michael shrugged his shoulders, he sounded awkward for some unknown reason. "Would you like to stay a while after filling up the gas before we continue our journey?"

"What do you think?"

Michael raised his eyebrows and stared at him slightly dumbfounded, then he seemed confused and doubtful. "I think ... we can take a short break."

"Alright." He opened the car door and stuck out one leg, Ennard turned to Michael. "After all, you're the one driving, if you're tired we should continue later. I don't want us to have a car crash because of your stupidity." Then Ennard looked away and snorted as Michael flashed a smile at his words. "I'll go get a coffee, or a soda."

Ennard actually got out of the car after saying that, leaving Michael alone at the gas station while he headed towards the convenience store. Entering the store, the cold AC directly hit him. He didn't really mind that, just rolled down his jacket sleeves up to his elbows, then headed to the fridge filled with an assortment of drinks. He also discovered there was a coffee machine in here, leading him to think that a cup of hot coffee might be better than soda.

Even so he would choose first and decide later. Moving away from the drinks section, Ennard approached the rack of snacks. His bicolored eyes stared down the line of sweets; mostly chocolate and candies. He wasn't a big fan of sweets, but Michael always had candy for them.

Speaking of Michael, why did he always end up thinking about the eldest Afton? Small insignificant things now reminded him of Michael. Maybe he'd lost his mind too. Getting rid of feelings wasn't as easy as he imagined. Ennard exhaled slowly, finally took a pack of mints candy and decided to buy two cups of hot coffee. He headed to the coffee machine after paying, then his attention shifted outside the convenience store. His forehead furrowed to find Michael talking to another man.

He didn't know what they were talking about, but Michael showed an interested expression and occasionally nodded, before flashing a smile and shaking hands with the blonde-haired guy. Ennard hoped he hadn't done anything stupid and headed out after the coffee was made.

"Benedict," he called quickly, Michael turned and so did that person.

"Oh, Enn!" Michael grinned broadly, approaching himself cheerfully. "Why did you buy two coffees?" he asked confusedly.

Ennard was silent for a moment, his eyes fixed on the man. "Here." He passed one of the coffees in his hand to Michael, which Michael happily accepted. "Who's he? What were you talking about just now?" Michael turned again and was about to approach the man, but Ennard grabbed his collar from behind so that Michael nearly fell backwards. "Stay here, Benedict."

Michael scowled. "Geez, he's not evil. I just wanted to introduce you to him anyway, so be nice!"

"You do realize you're being too naive, right? Don't trust other people, especially at a time like this." Ennard narrowed his eyes at Michael, before turning away when he heard the man chuckle.

"I'm not surprised you're being careful with me," the man said. "But don't worry. I'm harmless, unarmed, and have nowhere to go. See?" He spun around once to show that he wasn't holding any weapons. "My name is Thomas Zachary, you can call me Tom or Zach it's up to you. I just need a ride."

Ennard pursed his lips and glared the man who said his name was Thomas up and down. Of course, to him this was suspicious. Ennard turned his head to Michael. "Don't tell me you agreed to give him a ride?"

Michael looked back at him and raised his eyebrows. "He seems kind."

Ennard immediately growled in exasperation and refrained from getting carried away. "Benedict you can't just—give a stranger a lift!" he said quietly, trying not to hear Thomas hear their conversation. "This is suspicious! Our current situation is also not supportive at all to help people in distress! Where did you put your brain?!"

"Still in my head." Michael shrugged. "Not everyone is an accomplice of scientists, Enn. Don't worry!" The eldest Afton grinned and patted him on the shoulder, but that didn't calm him down a bit for sure. "After all, our destination with him is the same!"

"That's right," Thomas chimed in, Ennard squinting as if warning him not to come any closer, which Thomas understood and backed off again. "I'm just looking for someone in that town, really."

He turned again to Michael who grabbed his arm excitedly. "Let him come with us, Enn! Come on! The more the merrier!"

To be honest he no longer understood Michael's way of thinking, but Michael would stop at nothing to push him and he was annoying and often got his own way. Ennard just rubbed his face resignedly realizing he couldn't refuse Michael any further, apparently hoping Michael was telling the truth if this person was nice. Otherwise, he would get rid of Thomas with his own hands.