Second Son: A Good Cop

Chapter 2: Community

Delsin, Fetch, Betty and Eugene walked towards the doors to the lodge, and opened them. Awry chairs were strewn about and various folding tables littered the hall. Once Delsin walked through those doors, everyone turned towards him. Before Delsin could even get through the doorway, everybody came up to him, welcoming him 'home'.

Everyone was happy to see him, Delsin didn't want to admit it, but he appreciated the attention, but another half of him was overwhelmed by it. He tried to say hello to everyone, until Betty waved him down and all of his attention was on her.

"Oh, Betty, hey," Delsin said in a soft tone, "Nice to see you. Sorry I forgot to say outside." Grabbing her hands in his own.

"It's okay, you were busy with your friends." She said in a whisper only Delsin could hear. "Follow me, you three." She said louder.

Betty smiled and pulled Delsin along with her to the extra chairs and tables, Fetch and Eugene followed. As Delsin walked with Betty, her hands in his, he felt this horrible wave of dread wash upon him.

When Reggie and Delsin were kids, he'd drag Delsin around. Not by choice mind you, that's why it was 'dragging'. Whenever they had chores, or they needed to stick together outside, Reggie would tug Delsin along with him, assuring he wouldn't wander off and do his own thing.

When this memory of Reggie crossed his mind, he quickly let go of Betty's hands.

The three conduits grabbed some chairs and tables, Delsin grabbed two tables with both arms. Fetch picked up about seven chairs and Eugene was about to use his angels to do the work for him before Fetch gave him a death stare which likely meant, 'don't.'. So, instead he just picked up a few chairs.

"My goodness, I should get you three to help set up more often!" Betty laughed as she entered the kitchen.

They placed the chairs and tables along with the other ones. Someone else placed a cloth over all the tables.

"Over, here." Eugene said, calling the two over.

They sat down near the end of the last table, Delsin sat at the very most edge he could,Fetch sat right next to him. Eugene slumped into the seat next to her.

Other people from the tribe started sitting down at the table, others helped in the kitchen to bring the food out. Some started talking to the three, telling them about the newest happenings.

"Mary had her baby, did you hear?" Someone asked Delsin

"Oh, no, good for her, I'll have to stop by her place and meet the little guy." He said, trying to get comfortable in the folding chair.

Another told him, "Pierre graduated! Last month."

"Oh, uh, congrats for him, he's an adult now... with responsibilities..." Delsin really didn't know what to say.

Others asked him questions, like 'How are you?' and 'What have you been doing recently?'. Of course, Delsin lied on each question. He didn't want to talk about his life right now, not at all.

When they finally stopped prodding him for answers to their questions he turned to Fetch and Eugene."So, you two got invited to breakfast too, eh?" Delsin asked.

Eugene was filling his plate with the most delicious food he's ever seen. Eggs, scrambled, sunny side up, all the types of eggs you could ask for. Delsin and Fetch were trying to be polite and wait for everyone to get seated, but god, that food was tempting.

"Yeah, she said she insisted we come, because uh... she wants to get to know your friends better." Fetch explained, taking the plate someone offered her. "She wants to get to know conduits better."