He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred and Eight - Road Trip

As the sun was barely peaking above the horizon, Owen slipped into the people carrier Saturday morning. Henry welcomed him as did his driver, a young man adorning black eyeliner, shadowed eyes and painted lips. He also had an impressive number of piercings, three rings along one brow, both ears pierced three times and a lip and nose piercing.

"This is my cousin, Jack," Henry introduced the guy, who gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"Hey," Owen greeted, as he got in the back with Henry. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem," came the reply. "Where to next?"

Owen gave him the address for Alexandria, which happened to be on the outskirts of town. He also sent a text to the girl to let her know they were on their way. Alexandria's home was a fair sized property, not quite big enough to be considered a mansion, but it was surrounded by a fair bit of land and required visitors to come through an electronic gate. As that was too much of a hassle, they had agreed for her to wait outside of the gate for them.

"I love your brow piercings," Owen complimented. Henry found himself breathing a sigh of relief. Too many people judged Jack before they got to know him and even at this really early hour, the man didn't want to be seen without his makeup. That, to him, was like being seen naked. "Did it hurt much?"

Jack didn't answer at first as he was following the directions given to him by his phone. After taking the left turning, he answered vaguely; "a bit."

"When I got my belly button pierced, it hurt like a bitch!" Owen informed him cheerfully. Honestly, he'd only gotten it done as his step mother had mentioned, during one of their very few meetings, how atrocious she considered body piercing. As he hadn't wanted to cover up the piercing with a blue plaster when at school (they were a little anal at times), he'd chosen to get it pierced where it was unlikely to be seen. Only problem he hadn't considered was the agony he'd be in for a while. He had walked around with his stomach jutted out, his trousers hung low and wearing the baggiest tops in order to not catch it in the cloth.

"Er.. haven't done that yet," Jack replied, as he pulled up outside Alexandria's home. "Did get a nipple piercing... don't recommend it." Henry had just been open mouthed during the whole conversation.

"What's the matter?" Alexandria asked seeing Henry's expression first as she entered the vehicle.

"Er..." Henry wasn't sure where to start. "Nothing?"

"Why do you sound so unsure?" She asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Henry's just jealous that we are cooler than he is?" Owen chuckled. Alexandria glanced at him, then at Jack, her eyes widening as she took a long look at the man.

"Oh, this is my cousin, Jack," Henry introduced. "He and Lily, his girlfriend, are also going to the convention."

"Ah," Alexandria let loose an inaudible sigh of relief. Like the studious girl she was, she had looked up on the internet details about the Apocalypse Convention, Our Final Hour and conventions in general. Apparently some people liked to cosplay, that would explain his makeup! "Thank you so much for letting us tag along," she said, politely.

"It's okay," Jack replied.

*****

"Let's get on the road!" Jordan called out to Adam, who was busy locking up the door.

"Sshhh," Adam returned, glancing over at the neighbours houses, hoping his loud friend hadn't disturbed them. He sighed before getting into his friend's third hand motor. "Shit, man, it's six-thirty on a Saturday morning!"