In Saving the Imperfect

18. Take down the barriers

In the media section - a fanmade cover by  Eloiren (Wattpad won't let me tag her for some unknown reason.) Thanks a lot!

"Uh. Um. Yeah?" Coden raised his eyebrows.

The reply visibly caught the stranger by surprise and he appeared to have forgotten why he even came there. He started rubbing his arms and fidgeting. Being just as tall and slim as Remy didn't help him look any more confident in that posture. Layne thought that he was about to turn around and run off like a scared child – but he stayed.

"I just, I um, I just wanted to say that it's uh, it's an honour to meet you," he finally babbled out.

"Okay?"

The stranger turned around on his heels and was about to go away. Layne glanced at Coden with a sudden wish to slap him. Instead, he just called, "hey, wait up a little!"

The guy stopped right where he stood and didn't move. Layne waited for him to turn around or say something.

He didn't.

"So I'm Layne. And you are?"

"Pea- I mean. Jake," he said, still facing away from him. Layne was used to all sorts of weird people – both in Eumain and in the Land. This one, however, was something else. Both by the way he talked, stood, moved and even looked. He was the epitome of awkward.

"Okay, hi, Jake." Layne separated each word with a short pause. "So, are you going to turn around and talk to us?"

Jake swung around faster than Layne could finish speaking. He straightened out his back and fixed up his black dreadlocks a little before dropping his arms straight to his side. Like a soldier. Even Layne started feeling uncomfortable around him.

"Gee, did you rehearse that first question or something?" Layne wondered. "You looked way more relaxed before we started talking to you. It's okay, don't worry. I can't guarantee for Coden here, but I, for one, don't bite."

"He might just punch you out of nowhere or something," added Coden.

Jake sobbed and didn't say a word.

"Coden was just wondering how did you know him." Layne patted Coden's shoulder, which made him shuffle away.

"Well um, he's like um, like, the mascot," Jake replied. Layne started feeling sorry for him – if he was acting that way before him and Coden, one could only imagine that guy around Victor or alike.

Coden frowned. "Mascot for what?"

"The uh, the mov-movement. Davidsen's um. Roxanna's."

Coden's eyes widened, then slowly returned to their original state. He thought for a little, before saying "alright, thanks for telling us."

Jake rushed away as if scared to be questioned more. For a while, Layne just watched him going back to his group, then he turned to Coden again.

"Come on, don't say that that pleased you," he complained.

"M?"

Layne felt his face heating up – with all that's been happening, his emotions were harder to contain than usual. He took a deep breath to take control of his tone. "So this dude just tells you about some movement which you're a mascot of and all you can say is – thanks for telling us?"

Coden shrugged. "He was stressing out as it is, I didn't want to torment him even more. Besides, Roxie had made it pretty clear, before the RCI came to take me."

One foot after another, they ambled through the village. Layne was out of ideas – for the time being, anyway. If his experiences taught him anything, is that thinking too much and not doing enough was a bad thing. It led to bad things happening before one could get it through their brain. He wasted a lot of time already – now, he needed a plan.