Closed They say "no"; but I say "yes"

[Jericah Edogawa]

Jericah sighed as she watched the whole thing transpire. It was short, but really could have come out of one of those dramas that Corey liked. She definitely called it though. "Told you you could share the dad," she murmured not really intending for either of them to hear. It would probably ruin the moment. But really, this whole drama could have been avoided if Crispin had just been calling Mr. Ezra "dad" all this time. "Westerners," she sighed shaking her head. They made things so complicated but she supposed the drama wasn't all that bad. Could have done with a little less pushing at the wall though. "Boys," she sighed again.

She should have expected though that she wasn't entirely forgotten by Mr. Ezra. Shame. She could only give him a shark-like grin though when he said that Shiori was not her name. Well, she was neither going to confirm nor deny but, "Is Crispin?" she shot back at Mr. Ezra. Besides, Shiori could be her name for Crispin if they ever talked more after this. It was still her name. She scrunched her nose in distaste though at the mention of her parents. She doubted he would know them but it couldn't hurt to follow the pair to get out of the gloomy area. She could probably lose them in the bustle of Obsidian Harbour. Yeah, she'll probably just use a charm to put their telephone number on Crispin's arm right before she does her escape. Maybe he'll figure it out. Unlikely. Because boys. But hey, whatever. At least she shot her shot?​

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra wasn’t sure what he expected from Crispin but silence was probably the best thing at that moment. Bleak street was not the place for heart-to-hearts and now that the initial tension had been diffused his only priority was getting them out of there. After that, they could both go on their way if they wished, he wouldn’t be telling Crispin’s mother about the counter, if he did he might have to mention the tactics he had used to get Crispin’s attention and that wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with Amy. No, he was pretty sure Crispin had gotten the message and that was the important part.

As he made to usher them both up the street back towards the main harbour he turned his attention to ‘Shiori’ who had made a quick remark about whether Crispin was her companions real name. “Unfortunately, it seems my son isn’t as smart as you and decided to use his real name,” He smiled at the young girl, she seemed…interesting. Crispin could do a lot worse, and frankly if he was dumb enough to use his real name in Bleak street, someone with a good head on her shoulders would be good for him.

Once they reached the end of Bleak street and stepped out into the light of the harbour he turned to Crispin, a lighter expression on his face now they were out of danger. “Maybe we don’t tell your mother about this,”

 

[Crispin Applewhite]

Crispin heard the insult, and he would have to take a minute to sit with it before he really took it in completely though, because it was sitting in the part of his brain that was still reeling from what had just happened. Crispin couldn't say for sure what this was going to mean for his down the line, all he knew for sure was that something was different now and that was important. As they reached the end of the alley into Bleak Street, Crispin stopped as Ezra turned to him. The shock was still on his face. Ezra mentioned they probably shouldn't mention this to his mother and he immediately nodded. Merlin no, she would have killed them both and though the display in Bleak Street might have proved to Crispin that he definitely wasn't ready for whatever happened in there on the daily, he was also pretty sure that Ezra would not have been ready for his mother in a rage.

He swallowed and looked back over his shoulder at the edge of the darkness that felt like it was swirling. Bleak Street - not a fun place. But... clearly the right decision. Maybe not the right decision, but now that it had happened, he couldn't help but to be grateful for it. After all, it really had shown him who he was.

Ezra's son. "Thanks... Dad," he said, before quickly turning on his heel, happy to pretend for the rest of both of their lives that this really hadn't happened at all.
​

FIN​