The Lowly Gate's Guard

Ch. 20: Grace Period (4)

White left after waking Dean, who was sore, tired, and would rather have been left to sleep. However, once Dean had woken up, he couldn't keep his mind quiet. He has always had trouble falling back to sleep after waking; it was something he got from his father. His face looked pained; he hadn't had that nightmare in ages, and he didn't want to have it again.

Walking through Waterloo, Dean thought it would be best to find the others. He also felt bad that Mary was out there somewhere without her cat. He knew how much she cared about it. He couldn't have just left it, for old times' sake. This was the best thing he could do. He was also worried she would die from sadness without the chubby ginger thing. As he went through the centre of the train station a cold breeze brushed against him. The early mornings had always been cold in London and despite all the things that had changed so far, the weather had seemed to stay the same - wet and cold. Why couldn't the apocalypse be sunny and death free? He moaned, dwelling on the terrible weather. A hearty laugh came from the abandoned restaurant that most people had gathered in.

Dean knew it was Arthur's voice that shook the ground, the man sure liked to be loud. He was like a walking boombox. The man always made an entrance when he came into his classrooms; his students were sure that they could hear him from down the road as he made his way to class. Dean walked into the restaurant, holding his chest. The sore pain still weighed heavily on him.

Arthur was sitting at a table with another burly man. The two were in a funny conversation - evident from the grins and laughs that came from their table. Arthur's friend pointed to Dean after recognising him, the two didn't know each other but Arthur must have told him about Dean. Soon after, before Dean could meet the man with muscles, a couple of other people came and lead him away. Arthur waved to the man and his group and leaned his arm on the chair as he glanced back to Dean.

"Good Morning! How are you feeling boy?" his voice was boisterously loud, the fact that it was early in the morning didn't dampen his energy. Dean grumbled at the deafening voice screaming into his ears. He wished he stayed in bed. Dean weakly replied, "You nearly killed me..." Arthur laughed, dismissing what he said, "A bit of exercise will do you good!"

Arthur was sat alone; Avery and the cat was nowhere in sight. Dean searched the room with his sleepy eyes, "Where's Avery gone with Tabby?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. He took a moment to search somewhere in his mind. "The girl? The short one with the cat? Saw her a couple of minutes ago. Said something about Mary, and she was going to play with the cat. She's a spritely one." Arthur cupped his cheek, "She reminds me of a pixie." He let out a heavy laugh, the table beneath him shook lightly. Arthur gave Dean a headache, "Would you quieten down, I've just got up." He grumbled; his fingers applied pressure to his head. Dean was happy he didn't have to look for Mary to give her Tabby back. Arthur continued to laugh, "Sit boy! You're going to need to eat if you want energy for your training."

Training again? Dean nearly died the last time he tried to do some push ups with Arthur. However, when he thought about trying to get out of it, the dream he had of his past flashed through his mind. The nightmare was a reminder of what he must do. He couldn't continue to survive off luck. He had to get stronger. He had to make use of the grace period for the Backer selection. It was the perfect time to train; it would be a waste to take it easy now. Dean pulled out a chair and sat at the table and bought an energy ball from his store. Arthur raised out his hand to stop him before he swallowed it. "That wouldn't do you any good, eat this." Arthur bought something from his Contestant Store; a moment later, a large lunchbox landed on the table. Dean's eyes went wide, his mouth slightly ajar. Why would someone eat something this big? Arthur might have been able to finish that amount of food, but Dean wasn't even half his size. It would be more suitable for four people if they had been starving for weeks.