Paper Planes

XVI

"Insanity is everyone expecting you not to fall apart when you find out everything you believed in was a lie."
—Shannon L. Alder

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Horton, Joker and Ember crowded around a limp, bloodied body of a man they all did not know.

Joker stood with his hands on his hips, sucking diligently on his bottom lip as soft tsks tumbled from his lips.

Ember quaked in her sandals, brown eyes widened at the sight of the dead man on the gravel as Horton merely sighed.

"The fucker was following me from the grocery store," He blandly explained, kicking a radiant pebble aside with the toe of his boot. "I panicked."

"Don't apologize, bud." Joker lowly spoke, falling to his knees as he rummaged through the deceased individuals pockets. Finally, he retracted an old leather wallet, flipping through it with his slender fingers.

"Rod-ney Earlington, thirty-seven." He grumbled, prying the plastic ID from the wallet as he thoroughly inspected it. "D'yah think he was in-tent-ion-ally following you, Hor-ton?"

Horton's stomach fluttered when Joker's gaze suddenly met his. Those black holes for eyes drove him absolutely mad.

"Rather be safe than sorry, boss. I didn't want to find out. I couldn't possibly put you in danger."

Joker ascended to a standing position, shuffling towards the blonde boy as his hand clamped firmly down on his shoulder.

Horton's breath hitched in his throat at the gesture, his pulse quickening as Joker's scars tugged upwards.

"I don't-uh, tell you this enough, but I really appreciate you, pal."

Horton's thin lips curled into a smile, his hand impulsively rising to meet Joker's on his shoulder. His fingers grazed the mans paint-stained ones as he let out a shaky breath.

"Always a pleasure, boss."

"Love-ly," Joker sang, his scars stretching as he pulled his hand from Horton's awkward touch. "If you-uh, ever in-ter-rupt Ember and I again, lets just say it won't be a pretty situation."

Ember's brows raised at his statement, slightly confused about what he meant when Horton nodded curtly.

"Yes, sir. So sorry."

Joker quickly scooped his fingers along the underneath of Horton's chin, smacking his lips before turning on his heel and making his way up the distressed sidewalk.

Ember and the henchman stood in silence, glancing downward at the dead man before she finally spoke.

"I'm going to go inside." She whispered, twisting in her place to head back up the sidewalk.

"Wait!" Horton chanted, prying open the door of the van as he shuffled through a plastic shopping bag. "Here's your, uh, tampons."

He tossed a box of tampons in Ember's direction. She weakly smiled as she caught them, an odd tension rising between them as she curtly nodded before skipping along the deep cracks in the concrete.