In Saving the Imperfect

14. And forced to realise

Coden sat between Layne and Troy, shaking. Even the lousy table in front of them wasn't sturdy enough against his arms resting on its surface. Layne tried his best to ignore him – as hard as it was.

He stared up at Victor through the corners of his eyes. Of course, the old asshole wouldn't even take a seat – he had to stand in front of them with all of his height. Smiling, of course.

Always smiling.

"We were worried, you know," he said.

'As if' – Layne managed to contain the words inside him. That doesn't happen often – either he's been improving, or maybe, the situation called for it.

"The rules are there for a reason," Victor continued. "Just as the punishment."

"We d-didn't mean i-it," Coden stuttered. His hands slipped through the surface of the table and dropped down on his lap. "We got lost."

"You wouldn't have ever gotten lost if you would have stayed to the safe paths."

Layne sighed. "It's not like we risked anyone else but ourselves. Big deal."

"We had people looking for you! We got lucky everyone returned safely."

"Well then, maybe you shouldn't have sent anyone?"

Their eyes met. For a mere moment, Victor's smile was replaced by a slight frown. That didn't last, tho. It's like he didn't know how to keep up a serious expression.

"Just can't keep you still." His voice lowered. He tilted his head to one side and stared right at Layne. More than unpleasant.

"Yeah."

Victor closed his eyes. A few moments later, he turned around. Layne laughed to himself on the inside – it looked exactly like the man was purposely overdramatising the situation. Almost as if he imagined it being a movie or a play.

A long pause followed. Boring one, at that. If at first Layne had some worried about Victor doing something drastic, he now knew that wasn't the case. That man wouldn't have taken that long to think of it. He didn't do anything like that before.

"So?" Layne rushed him.

The elder's head snapped to his direction. He wasn't startled – far from it. Annoyed, perhaps. "I'll let you off, this time. Because no one got hurt."

"Awesome." Layne stood to leave, followed by Troy. Coden still hesitated.

"Start thinking more before you do things," Victor added. "You're on my radar."

Layne scoffed. They exited the cabin located near the centre of the village. Coden followed soon after.

"You're on my radar," Layne mocked. "Come on, he's been on me for like forever."

Troy shook his head in apparent disapproval. He's been silent for a while now – ever since last night. It wasn't even worth mentioning, though. That wasn't something unusual.

Coden sped up towards their cabin. Even then, he was visibly shaking. Layne couldn't help it but feel bad for him. He was a child, basically.

"Coden, you're ok?" he asked.

"I don't want anything else to do with you." It sounded like he had it hard to squeeze out the words. Although his face wasn't in sight, it wasn't hard to tell Coden was crying.

Layne decided to leave him be and slowed down. Soon enough, the guy was far away from them.

"Nothing happened," Layne whispered. "It could have been worse."