//:There:is:nothing:but:chemistry:[Sarella]

Roux O'Kane

<sub>More Rain.

Roux plowed through the thick sludge with distaste. Whilst his thoughts of walking away from a troubled temple of rage and arguments did bring a smile to his otherwise gray face, he still disliked the weather. Made only better by the occasional flash of lightning across the vast sky.

Before the young teenager knew what had happened, an especially wet blob of mud slapped him cold and hard in the face. He stopped walking, taken aback by the slight sting, but moreso by the revolting situation. With a controlled temper, the boy wiped the mud from his face with his left hand. An expression on suppressed annoyance was on his face.

His snake eyes found the culprit. A woman, in her late teens by the looks of it. Maybe older. She apologized, looking in a mess herself. Her body was entirely covered in mud, like icing on a cake. Her once clean clothes were now ruined.

A brilliant crack of thunder.

'I'll do you a favor if you don't get mad, any favor'

What was this? The woman was asking redemption? Why was she acting like this mere boy was a Peacekeeper or figure with authority? It wasn't like he was going to attack her, she would probably overpower him. This confused Roux, but she seemed... Fragile... So, the boy went along with it.

"Well... You can clean yourself up, for a start..." Roux started, continuing to wipe mud from his face, "And then you could show me to the mailroom, I seem to have strayed too far..." The boy continued, as if he was a figure with power. He almost grinned.

Almost.</sub>

Roux O'Kane

<sub>Yeah. More rain.

The sound of raindrops pitter-pattering on metal roofs and tiles was soft in the background, doused by the overwhelming shower of rain-on-mud and the deafening cracks of thunder that pulsed so frequently, accompanied by the bright blisters of lightning across the otherwise black sky.

The woman led the young teenager to where she thought the Mailroom was. She didn't sound too sure, nor confidence in what she was saying. She stuttered, struggling to get her words out, as if she was... Scared. Roux was already fixing together what kind of a person she was: Fragile. She could be manipulated easily. Maybe he could get her to buy him some Alcohol...

"Thanks..."</sub>

Roux O'Kane

<sub>It's sure not letting up.

Roux didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt as he began to manipulate the broken woman. He was taking advantage of what appeared to be extreme paranoia. And when someone suffering from such a vulnerable condition meets someone with such a dark and selfish mind, it can only be bad.

"Here, go post these for me..." The black haired boy said, his tone becoming more superior and Capitolesque. He shoved the letters into the woman's hands and began to walk off at a tangent, expecting her to keep up with him once she had done as told.

"And I need you to get me some alcohol... With my coin, of course..." He added, producing a small sack of coins from his rucksack. It was a risk giving the money to the crazy lady, but how cool would it be to get alcohol whenever you wanted?

This was something he could get used to.</sub>

Roux O'Kane

<sub>Pitter-patter, Pitter-patter.

Tick-tock, Tick-tock.

Roux waited as the crazy woman hesitantly took his money, before stumbling towards the mail room. The way she walked, talked, acted. It was just... Wrong. Roux had realized that potentially he could be on the end of a scam here. He had just given a weeks wages to a woman he didn't even know. He could have just fallen for the oldest trick in the book. The boy let out a half-groan.

'What's it... It look like?'

She definitely was crazy. That, or she was scamming he majorly. He started to become increasingly concerned that he had messed up majorly. What would his parents think? They'd probably rant and rave at him, but as usual he wouldn't care. He never had listened to them.

'I'll find it...'

She stumbled away, into the mail-room. He would probably never see her again. There was a back exit, she was probably laughing as she left with his coin, probably going to spend it on food or something worthwhile. Roux looked down at his boots, they were covered in mud. His hair dripped into his face. He felt pretty stupid.

And then she was back, with the alcohol. She looked concerned, as if she knew she was doing the wrong thing.
'Aren't you a bit young for this stuff?' She asked, shaking as always. He couldn't tell if it was because she was cold, or if it was just another part of her crazy gimmick.

"Probably," Roux replied, snatching the bottle from the fragile woman's hands. He looked at it with a wry smile. Perfect, bottled popularity.

"What do I call you, lady?" He asked, placing the smooth, pure bottle into his ragged backpack. He felt somewhat proud of himself for what he had done.

And he was far from finished.</sub>

Roux O'Kane

<sub>Drip-Drop, Drip-Drop.

Tick-tock, Tick-tock.

Her name was Mollie. She didn't specify her last name, probably because she didn't want to give away too much information about herself. Roux didn't really care about this, he just needed something to call her. The closer he could get to her, the more she would trust him. The more she would trust him, the more he could manipulate her.

Roux had been fortunate. He had never treated anyone like this, he was sure the only way to manipulate someone was with blackmail. Yet this woman, Mollie, she wasn't right in the head, she could be tricked easily. She seemed to think that she owed him.

She would always owe him.

That was how the black-haired boy saw it. He could continuously tell her that she owed him and she would believe him. She would do favors for him all the time. She would be his little slave. Deal with his problems. He needed time away from his family, didn't he? Surely she could provide him with digs.

"Roux..." The teenager said, pronouncing it 'Rew'. He had always found his name a little odd. It didn't sound... Right. Maybe it was just the because your brain makes words sound weird when you repeat them over and over in your head, to the point where it doesn't even sound like a word anymore.

"Oh, I need a place to stay, too..." The teenager said with superiority, folding his arms.</sub>

Roux O'Kane

<sub>Tick-tock, Tick-tock.

We all fall down.

Clearly Mollie was unstable. He asked for a place to stay, she had barely considered it before offering her house to him. HER HOUSE. For what? For getting him a little muddy? Did he want to be living with such an unstable woman? Roux wasn't sure, but a free dig was a free dig. He hesitantly followed the mad woman through the curtain of rain.

The ground was muddy, too muddy. Roux's feet sank easily into the quagmire of once dry earth. The pathway was some hundred yards away. Where was this woman leading him? He was pretty sure she wasn't a scam artist, she was legitimately crazy. Still, the house she came to was reasonably sane.

She turned at the doorstep, staring out into the abyss.
'Y-You out t-there...?'
Granted visibility was low, but he was right in front of her. Surely this was put on. Whatever. He just wanted to dry off and sort out a bed. She was offering, after all.

"Right here..." He said with a false smile. He followed her into the dark house. He couldn't see. Maybe it was because it was so brightly gray outside, or maybe it was because this woman lived in a cave. Roux was losing patience.

Tick-tock, Tick-tock.

We all fall dead.</sub>