Bleached Out Eyes

Chapter 5 - Crossed Wires

Jet wandered in from the kitchen carrying two water bottles, and handed one to Kobra Kid.

"Here, I'll see what kind of stuff we have for breakfast in a bit," he smiled. For Ghoul, it was odd seeing Jet out of his jacket for once; though he had a few t-shirts that he wore under his jacket, he wore it almost twenty-four seven because of the cold desert nights. Ghoul had almost forgotten how toned Jet's arms were and it had caught him a little off-guard when he'd first seen him that morning.

Ghoul and Party had been the first ones awake, having been up for most of the night already. Kobra followed, jolting awake and immediately asking for Party. The redhead had gone and sat with him, explaining that Ghoul knew that Party was a droid, and that he was going to make sure they were safe.

They agreed to tell Jet that Party was a droid, wanting to try and get him fixed as soon as possible. It would be unfair to hide something like this from Jet as well; he was the one with the skills it would take to fix Party, and Party wanted himself and Kobra to stay. They had nothing and no one else in this world, and it was a harsh world. Their motorbike and very few belongings had probably been ruined by the storm now, and Ghoul had been the first to suggest they stayed together.

"There's strength in numbers," he'd argued, along with the silent argument of feeling a new kind of bond with Party. Whether or not Party felt this too, Ghoul had no idea, but they way he'd been so honest, spilling out the way he felt that night, made Ghoul want to protect him.

"Yeah, uh," Ghoul coughed, catching Jet's attention, "I'll help you with that, I'm actually pretty hungry right now."

Jet sighed and stood back up, having only just sat down, while Party and Kobra glanced nervously at Ghoul, who just nodded once, subtly, in return.

"Alright, come on, then," Jet said, walking back through the back room to the kitchen, "I know what you're like with food, so I'd rather keep an eye on you anyway."

In the kitchen, Jet started looking through what supplies they had, suggesting making toast with the bread they got the other day with some olive oil and tinned fruit, but Ghoul just stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Jet didn't notice Ghouls silence for a few moments over the clattering of tins on the work surface, turned around when Ghoul didn't make any moves towards the food.

"What're you doing?" Jet asked, frowning as he leaned against the cupboards. Ghoul kind of froze for a moment, his mouth hanging open as he thought about what to say.

"I have to tell you something," he eventually managed to get out, which just made Jet give him in even stranger look.

"Okay?"

Ghoul said nothing, making Jet quirk an eyebrow as he waited.

"If you're going to tell me you're gay, then you already told me and the whole Scorpion Crew a few months ago after they mixed your moonshine with even stronger moonshine."

Ghoul blushed a little, remembering the night that Jet was talking about. Thankfully the need to change the conversation was enough to make him broach the subject he needed to.

"It's about Party. He... He told me something."

Jet was suddenly very interested, "You spoke to him? What is it?"

"I, um... Look, firstly, you have to know that there is no kind of danger."

This, of course, just put Jet more on edge. His hand immediately went to the gun that was still in his holster on his hip, and his voice lowered as he stepped closer, looking past Ghoul and into the back room and asking, "What is he?"