teenage wasteland ;; the maze runner

2.7

florence tucked violet's three souvenirs deep into her pockets when janson finally walked through the door. on her right side, her hand gently brushed against the small syringe, although she kept telling herself to stop touching it or else she'll gain unwanted attention, and on her left side she knew there were two pieces of paper in there. one, directions on her memory-resurfacing-whatever, and the other a letter from violet to her, meant to explain everything.

after their conversation, they'd only had a few minutes to pull themselves together and make it look like they hadn't been crying, as janson had his meeting scheduled very soon afterwards. then, just as the security cameras began to blink a familiar red, they knew it was time.

by the time the ferret man walked into the room, violet was gathering her stuff together, making it look as though she'd just finished her interview and check up of sorts. after another brief discussion, florence also learned that violet had configured with janson to stage a check up with florence in order for her, as an aunt, to feel better about how her niece was faring.

so, janson knew they were meeting, but he didn't know violet had gone behind his back with the help of her friend in the security sector to actually reveal everything to florence.

but, when janson entered the doorway, he looked as though he hadn't a clue. he wore a tight smile, hands held behind his back politely. he met eyes with violet and tilted his head in greeting, before doing the same to florence. florence was sure to wear her most aggressive and annoyed expression to make it seem as though she knew nothing, so she didn't dare extend any greeting to janson. not that she would've given any other circumstance, anyway.

"good talk, dr. denver?" the man asked from where he stood by the doorway, looking expectantly at violet. "anything else you need from our florence?"

violet shook her head, smiling politely. "oh, no. everything looks good, actually. she's definitely one of the strongest subjects wicked had locked up. it's good to see they didn't take everything from these poor kids."

janson let out a sigh, nodding his head in understanding, and it made florence sick. "ah, yes," he muttered, shaking his head. "what a life you have lived, florence." now, his sharp eyes made their way to meet her gaze, the stare strong and unbreaking, no matter how much she fought the urge to break that man.

he was everything she hated, all in one being.

she shrugged. "i only remember so many years of it." florence let out a yawn at the end of her sentence, leaning back against the chair. "so, you know. it all sucks."

"i suppose so," janson laughed lightly before his gaze flickered back up towards violet. "well, dr. denver, unless there's anything else you need..." he trailed off, eyebrows furrowing just slightly at the brunette woman.

"oh!" she gasped, standing up straighter. she collected herself quickly, unwrinkling her lab coat, and took a backwards step towards the door. "no, i'll get going. sorry," she muttered, hand grabbing the metal doorknob. she sent one last smile towards her niece, one that janson would've seen as polite, but florence knew it held far more emotion to it. "it was nice speaking with you, florence."

and, instead of crying like flo wanted to, she merely nodded, forcing her expression to look bored and uninterested. they would be out of here in no time, she just needed to play pretend for a bit longer, that was all.

so, when violet left, and janson took her spot in the chair in front of her, she forced herself to remain neutral, forced herself to stay calm, to not attack the man in front of her. she even forced herself to meet his gaze when he first began to stare at her.

in her eyes, she knew she was calm, but she also knew she held a warning. janson already had the idea that florence was onto him, based on that conversation they had just the other day, but now flo found herself silently cursing herself for ever poking and prodding.