GHOSTIN, five hargreeves

10

" DONE! " Five announced proudly, slamming his paper on his boss's desk. She looked at it and nodded, humming occasionally.

"Yes... very good work Five! I love this." She smiled and she spoke proudly. Like a teacher with their favorite student. Five grinned and nodded as she spoke, although it was mostly apart of his act.

"Thanks. So do I go transfer it now?" He questioned innocently and the Handler frowned. For a moment Five feared she may have figured out his plan already. Then she smiled and laughed lightly.

"No no! You go to the transfer room and hand it to Mrs. Pepper, she's the one who transfers things!" She said happily, like nothing had happened, and Five was now the one frowning.

"Lovely." He muttered and walked into the transfer room, which led into his boss's office.

"I'm here to turn in this. Here." He handed the older woman his work and she smiled whilst nodding. Then Five turned around, walking back to his station in defeat.

-

"So you aren't from around here huh?" Lance asked softly and Eric shrugged with a small smile.

"You could say that. So how'd you get here?" He asked curiously while kicking at the rocks under his feet. Lance had showed him the lake outside and the boys had been walking around it for the past few minutes.

"I was born here. My mom is the big handler herself." He mumbled and Eric almost gasped.

"No way! So wait can you tell me what her name is now?" He questioned quickly and Lance just laughed, shaking his head.

"She doesn't have one. Over the years she's gone by so many different names that she's just forgotten her own. Tragic story really." He explained and Eric frowned at the thought of not knowing his own name. That's like his identity.

"Must be hard for her." He said while Lance simply shrugged.

"She's always so focused on her work. There's not much time left for me." He mumbled, making Eric frown.

"What do you mean?" The darker boy asked curiously, feeling empathy flood throughout his veins for this boy, he was too soft but Eric couldn't help himself.

"I mean... it's just... you probably wouldn't understand." Lance said with a sad smile and Eric gently put his hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Hey, I do understand. My mom would rather drink her life away than give me any ounce of affection." He mumbled and Lance frowned.

"Oh I'm sorry. Guess everyone's got stuff huh?" He dryly joked, making Eric laugh lightly.

"Yeah. You're right."

-

Five waited patiently for the girl behind him to finish her work. Previously, his boss said that this girl was assigned with the apocalypse matters and information, which is exactly what Five needed. He tapped his foot as she typed away without a care in the world. Soon the bell rang for lunch and the girl stood up, leaving her work there and grabbing her sack of what Five assumed was her lunch. He watched her leave with a smug look and checked around to make sure nobody else was in the room. After all was clear, Five grabbed the paper, shoving it into his shirt. He quickly stood up and headed toward the bathrooms. Five sat down on the toilet, usually he'd worry about sanitation but he was in a rush, he pulled out the folder with the info. He opened it happily and cringed when he saw a dumb smiley face. That was it. Inside the folder was just a... a dumb smiley face. Five wanted to scream. As he was about to stand up and leave, the door to the bathroom opened. Five heard the click clack of heels and immediately knew who it was.