Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 23 - Lunch

Danny half expected Arin to bail and not turn up as he waited outside the cafeteria. He got a few odd looks as he stood there, but Danny honestly couldn't care less. He was pleased, if a little surprised, when he finally saw Arin approaching. The timid boy was walking quickly, obviously battling to not turn around and flee. Danny gave him an encouraging smile as he finally reached him by the door.

"Thought you'd changed your mind," he remarked.

Arin gave a nervous laugh.

"I a-almost did..."

"Well done for sticking to it, man," Danny congratulated, pushing the door open finally and walking in.

Arin followed, and Danny noticed him looking around warily. He almost smiled, but didn't want Arin to think he was laughing at him. Luckily Danny was right and the cafeteria was pretty empty. A lot of those who had come in had left again with their food, and so there were a lot of free tables.

Danny opened his mouth to ask Arin where he wanted to sit when someone waving across the room caught his eye. To his surprise he saw Meouch, standing up from his seat and trying to beckon him over. The rest of the crew including Brian were sat with him, though they gave more subtle waves. Danny shook his head at Meouch's enthusiasm. He gave a wave back before looking back at Arin.

"A-Are they your o-other friends?" he asked quietly after having seen the exchange.

"Yeah. Do you wanna go sit with them, or somewhere else?" Danny offered, giving him the choice.

"Um... I-I don't mind." The fear in his voice told a different story.

"Let's at least go say hi. Don't want them to think I'm ignoring them," Danny decided as compromise.

"Okay..."

Danny started walking over, but he noticed Arin hesitate. With an amused eye-roll he grabbed Arin's hand, pulling him along. He saw Arin blush a deep red, but at least he was moving. Meouch had by now sat down again, but he started moving with excitement as he saw Danny approaching.

"Yo, Dani!" he exclaimed as they came within earshot.

Danny laughed as he saw Sung facepalm in embarrassment since he was sat next to Meouch and his exclamations were beginning to turn heads.

"Hey guys, didn't think you'd be in here," Danny said as he stopped next to their table.

"It's fairly quiet in here, so why not?" Brian shrugged with a smile.

Danny was glad to see that he wasn't holding a grudge from earlier and smiled back. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Arin, half hiding behind him.

"W-What's with the masks?" he muttered so only Danny could hear.

Danny looked back at TWRP. They were of course wearing their masks, which now that he thought about it was strange. He'd never seen them without, so at this point he was desensitised to it - the masks were their faces.

"Do you guys ever take those things off?" he asked, gesturing to his face to clarify.

Sung laughed.

"When we go to sleep, but other than that not really. It's kinda just become our thing," he explained with a shrug.

Meouch narrowed his eyes suddenly, leaning to the side. Danny felt Arin squirm behind him as he realised the lion had noticed him finally.

"Who's that?" Meouch asked.

Danny could tell that Arin wasn't about to be the one to introduce himself so he moved aside.