Their words mostly noises

[Ripper Nightshade]

There, they sealed it with the sacred pinky promise. Their secret. What was the secret again? Oh, right. A cat that he had dibs on, that nobody else would take away. Perhaps it wasn't fair to the cat but... maybe... just... maybe... one day he could bring it home. And home wouldn't be the crowded old apartment in Greenwood. It would be a nice, airy place with lots of big windows and teacups and music and a big octopus toy.

"I'll come as often as I can," he said. But he didn't know how often that actually would be. Things lately were strange. There was just a new sort of feeling in the air that hadn't been there before, between Rhys and Raf. And Keith had been watching on with interest. Keith... he had imposed himself on Rhys a few weeks ago. It didn't end well for him, which didn't end well for Rip, either. And Raf, he was oblivious.

But after that, that was when things started to take a turn. First a sour turn, between those two. And then an oddly comradely one between Rhys and Raf, where once Rhys had only treated Raf like a servant. He said harsh things but his tone wasn't as harsh. His gaze lingered on Raf, too, when he wasn't in the room. While Keith was observing, so was Rip.

Removing his pinky from around Mik's, Rip jumped off the back of the bed of the truck and turned to the other two.

"It's going to--"

Then his head grew tight and painful for a moment, ears ringing. Where the fuck are you? There was no mistaking that voice; the only other voice in his head besides his own. Rip ran a hand through his hair, trying to apply some pressure to the place where it hurt the most without seeming too obvious about it.

"I should get going," he said, after a moment. He moved past Allie and Shelby without saying anything else, then started to run toward the area he'd been left at. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

[Mikko Ashby]

"Okay!" No pinkie promise on that one but the words were enough. Mik was sure that he would see Rip again because Rip said so, and his word was good enough. Besides, what was he going to do? Track the guy down and demand that he come to the shelter, just because Mik had a little crush on him? Pft. Rip had to have a job and his own life to live, too—no guarantee that he would be there all the time.

Before he could do or say anything, Rip was gone. Even Allie seemed taken aback, and he chased after Rip but by then Rip had already gotten lost in the crowd. Mik followed Allie, baffled. "Is he okay? He seemed to be in a real big hurry..."

"Fuck!" Allie raked a hand through his hair in agitation. "He—he's going through some shit. I don't want him to be alone, I don't know what he's going to do."

Then Allie was off and away too, leaving Mik confused and... and kind of scared. What did that mean? It sounded ominous—that Allie didn't know what Rip was going to do. Do what?

...hurt himself?

[Ripper Nightshade]

Which way? Which way was it? The voice in his head grew more ferocious until it almost blocked out Rip's own thoughts. He told him he was on his way. Did he not get that message? Had there been a time limit on their walk that he wasn't aware of? Fuck.

Oh! There it was! The makeshift foodcourt area! And there was the cluster of benches where he'd been seated and told to stay. Taking in a breath, he slowed to a brisk walk and headed over to the benches, somewhat... confused. Because this was where he had been left. He recognized the booths and the signs and the garbage cans. He'd spent a while over here; he had committed most of the area in great detail in his head. So... where was Keith?

A familiar presence soon stepped up behind him.

Ah. There he was. Swallowing hard, he schooled his features into something he hoped was inscrutable before slowly turning around to face him head on.

"Keith," he said, as he smiled at him and reached out to take his hands. A lot of people hated Keith. And for good reason; he wasn't very nice. But... Rip still cared about him. He was a handsome man. A gorgeous man. But he was a real control freak with a twisted sense of humor and a lot of interesting... kinks. He mostly spoke with an amused drawl and a curl of a smile, unless he was actually pissed. It seemed he might be actually pissed right now.

"I thought I told you..." he said, leaning in, "to stay put..."

His tone was low. It was dangerous. Rip's grip on Keith's hands tightened. From an outsider's point of view, they might have looked like they were just another couple whispering sweet nothings to each other. All Rip could think was that he was going to end up paying for staying away too long.

"You... you said it was fine."

"Did I...? What did I say was fine... Ripper?" Then he flicked his gaze down and caught sight of the kitten shirt. He raised a brow and tugged at it, pulling Rip in a step closer. There it was. The curl of amusement, the tone was back. "What the hell are you wearing? That's the ugliest thing I've ever seen on you..."

Rip laughed, embarrassed all over again as he lowered his head. "Well... there was this booth adopting out kittens and I said I couldn't take one... so they gave me this... and..." Oh. He'd forgotten the bag. Ah, well... He didn't know what he'd use it for anyway... And he'd lost Allie, too, who had won him a cat, which he only just now remembered. Ah...

[Alejandro Riviera]

The food court. The barbecue food tent, Alejo was sure that was where he'd find Jack, since Jack had been adamant that he stay put right there. And that was where Alejo 'called' Keith so that he could get Jack to walk around with him. Making a beeline for the area, he was held up slightly by the crowds but eventually he got there and sure enough, there was Jack with some superjock blond creep.

The whole thing felt wrong. Jack shouldn't be with a guy like that! He should've been laughing it up with Brayden, checking out the cutesy merchandise and eating warm funnel cake and being lovey-dovey. He shouldn't have some guy grab his shirt like he owned him and he definitely shouldn't be looking that way, like he was uncomfortable and trying not to show it.

Alejo strode up with a purpose. Good thing he wasn't a normal human; having the backing of his other animal forms and being able to tap into their strength and ferocity meant he wasn't afraid of big guys like these. "Hey! Get your hands off of Jack right now!"

The man's head snapped up at the word Jack and his eyes narrowed. They were cold as chips of ice. "Jack?" He asked, voice soft, dangerous.

"Yeah. Jack." Alejo reached out to grab onto Jack's wrist so that he could pull him back. "My friend. He's leaving with me."

"...he's not." Blondie's smile was nasty in ten different ways. "He wants to come home with me. Isn't that right, Jack? We came together, and we're leaving together."

[Ripper Nightshade]

They both looked up when Allie showed up. Keith looked... unhappy. And Rip... was just shocked. Why on earth was Allie coming over here, shouting and looking so indignant? And also... why was he calling him Jack again? A little air of exasperation left him; he'd told him he wasn't Jack more than once. Apparently, he was just calling him Rip to humor him.

But that wasn't the end of it, no. Allie grabbed onto Rip and tugged him toward him and away from Keith. Still calling him Jack. And friend. Rip blinked.

"Ah..."

Yeah. He could tell that Keith was Unhappy now with a capital U. He didn't like it when people entered his space and started acting like they owned the place. (Which was probably why he didn't care for Rhys much, either.) Rip shrugged off Allie's hand and tried to step away from him.

"Yes, we came together, we're leaving together..." he echoed dutifully, but he looked over at Keith with minor confusion. Why was he playing into this Jack game, too? Best not to ask. The tone he used made it sound like he was being sarcastic about it, anyway, so he didn't need... clarification. He hadn't forgotten who Ripper was. In fact, he placed a very territorial arm around Rip's shoulders to pull him in close.

"Goodbye, Allie." He wanted to say more but... he somehow doubted it would go over well with Keith standing... right there.

[Alejandro Riviera]

"No fucking way am I letting you leave with this creep, Jack." Alejo had had enough. Friends didn't let friends leave with guys like this Keith bastard. Look at him! He was like everything that was wrong with the world rolled up into one tall body. The way he exuded cockiness rubbed Alejo the wrong way and he just knew that Jack would regret this forever if he was allowed to leave with Keith now.

Far be it for Alejo to tell people who they should and shouldn't love, but he had a terrible feeling about Keith. Call it a sixth sense, call it animal senses, whatever—he didn't trust Keith as far as he could throw him. The fact that Jack only barely mustered up enough enthusiasm to agree with Keith was a huge red flag, too. Jack would happily tell Alejo to fuck right off if this was the man he actually wanted to go home with.

This was not the man he wanted to go home with.

Walking forward again, he grabbed Jack's wrist. "No. Jack, you're coming home with me. You're staying with me and Marge, and we're going to talk some sense into you before it's too late. Don't you goodbye Allie me, like I don't know what's going on, all right? Now either you come peacefully or I arrest you, or I get Marge down here and you really don't want her down here, because she'd be a hell of a lot madder than I am right now."

Keith's hand shot out too, gripping his arm tightly. He was still smiling but it was humorless. "Let go of him."

"No, and go fuck yourself, blondie. Jack's not going any—aagh!" Suddenly his arm, where Keith touched him, burned! Alejo recoiled and stared in horror at his arm, which was... it... there was some kind of darkness corroding his flesh! He let out another cry of pain as he doubled over clutching his arm, while Keith viciously grabbed Jack and forced him to leave with him.

"Jack!" Alejo was in too much pain to say more than that as he fell to his knees.