Shadow Of Betrayal / YokRay

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"Today is so fucking boring," complained Dean, who sat on a small wall, dangling his legs. Next to him leaned Lis, playing with their knife, one of the most prized items in their collection. The weather was pleasant that day, not too hot or cold, it was a comfortable climate. Usually an indicator for good business, yet they hadn't sold much that day.

"If I didn't like Ray so much, I would have quit the job a while ago," sighed Lis. "But you know, the things you do for people you love, right?"

"I feel the same. The way he's been acting lately is impossible." Dean ran his hand through his hair and gazed up to the sky where some seagulls were circling over them. "Any idea what happened? He's been an ass for a while, but it reached different dimensions now.!"

"I...."

"If this is what it looks like when you guys are working, then I don't even have to wonder about the money not coming in." An angry voice interrupted Lis, mid-sentence.

"B-boss, I'm sorry, but we can't help it if no one comes by." Dean, who had immediately jumped off the wall, stammered and looked at the ground.

"Maybe you should take some initiative. Ever heard of it? Responsibility? Your own ideas?" Ray crossed his arms and looked angrily at his dealers. "I'm not paying you guys to stupidly stand around and wait for a miracle!"

"If you ever pay us at all." Mumbled Lis.

"What was that? I hope I misheard." Ray's eyes seemed darker than usual, more menacing and ice-cold. This was not how his friends knew him, he had never been the nicest, at least not since the last year of high-school, but he had never been this cold to them before.

"I didn't say anything." Lis looked up, locking their eyes with those of Ray. "You really are a monster sometimes, Ray."

"Fuck you. If I catch you do nothing again, you're out, you got that?" Ray looked back and forth between the two dealers, they nodded, submissively. They knew it was no use to talk to Ray, it would just end up in endless discussions, in which the other would throw hurtful things at them and not regret a thing. If they hadn't made that oath years ago, none of the would've stayed with Ray. "Good, now get back to work." Ray made a movement with his hands, which signaled the two to get lost.

"He's completely gone crazy." Dean hissed to Lis as they walked away from Ray.

"He is....and I don't think we are the only ones that noticed something is wrong with him. We should meet the others tonight and talk about it, what do you think?"

"Good idea, I'll let Lix and Alex know, and you tell Kai? We'll meet at our favorite restaurant." The young man waved to his friend before they went their separate ways, maybe they would make some more money that way. Self-initiative? Such a stupid word, honestly.

"Oh, I'm glad you came." Lis greeted their friends and then sat back down at the table, in the middle of which was a table grill. They loved this small restaurant, it didn't have much space and was also rather unknown, but they had always met here. Every Wednesday, since high-school. In the past, Ray, Ton and White had also belonged to this group, but they had not been there with the others for a long time. The friends ordered, and soon they got down to the real reason for their meeting.

"I think we've all noticed that Ray has changed massively, I mean even more than he already has." Dean began to broach the subject. His friends agreed with a nod. " I really don't know how we can help him anymore, or support him, and honestly I would prefer not to."

"I don't feel any different, but we swore we'd take care of him because we knew it might come to this." Agreed Lix.

"Of course we knew, at least after the thing with Great." Murmured Kai.

"We swore we'd never mention it again." Alex reminded his friend of an old agreement.

"I know, I'm just saying, everything's been broken since then, most of all Ray." An uncomfortable silence fell over the group of friends; everyone was somehow absorbed in their own thoughts.

"The only thing we can do is continue to be there for him, even though he's been acting really strange lately. Constantly unavailable, rarely coming by on the weekends to check how business is going, as if he has something more important to do." Lis broke the silence after a while.

"He had to break down completely at some point, must be really hard to maintain that persona he's built up over the years." Said Lix, a little quieter, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I just wish that Ray would find himself again someday. Remember how contagious his laugh could be? Or how he used to bring us candy? He was always there for anyone who needed help, always infecting us all with his good humor. Just the nicest and sweetest person on the planet, and then this fucking asshole came and destroyed him." Cursed Kai, it was a thought they all have had, spoken aloud.

That night, the friends went to bed with many thoughts in their heads and each in their own way worried about their friend, knowing that as long as Ray didn't decide on his own to change something about his situation, they couldn't do anything.