Ronin gripped his jacket, sustaining his warmth as much as he could; he fretted about going home. It was late enough that his father would be upset, the familiar trait he had wished he could change.
Ronin arrived in front of the gas station, a shot of memories he forgot he had waved him inside; the neon light made his head hurt as he slugged down the aisle.
His eyes caught the freezer section of the store, not that he trusted anything that coated the shelf.
After opening the door, he melted to the ground. Pressing his chin against the frozen ice, he traced the freezer, wincing at the cold texture almost sticking to his warm skin.
Wren wandered into the aisle. As her curiosity grew, she held the excuse in her hands, mindlessly placing it on a nearby shelf. She glanced at Ronin's strange nature and the bag he picked out.
His eyes glared over at her, the baggy pants that draped over her legs following as the shirt did the same.
"What are you looking at?" Ronin snarled, his mouth full of frozen food, pestered by the constant glances.
Wren looked over to the sound of his voice
A guilty expression on her face as she had been caught.
"Pretty view?" he asked, grinning sarcastically, as he dug his hand back into the cold bag of food.
Wren wasn't sure how to react. Instead, she stood there reaching for random things in the hope of salvaging the night, "want some"? Ronin offered, hiding his face in the freezer as he held the bag out, grabbing her attention.
The bag was cold and the food's hard chewy texture coated her mouth as she swallowed it, meeting ronins smirk
Before he began to eat more, spilling on the floor in front of him as he sat up, intrigued by Wren's willingness to join him.
Their silence had grown as they shared the bag. Her eyes flickering up to his healing face, Ronin began to speak his mind debating a lie he could get away with.
"Slammed it on a root," he admitted, proud of himself. He watched for her reaction.
Which came slowly as she looked up again, her eyebrows bowed in sympathy.
An unknown appreciation eroded through Ronin as Wren's simple attempt to give him attention was a comforting feeling he didn't know he craved.
"And what happened to you"? Ronin asked regretting it instantly as he remembered the fear that she'd shown the other night.
Interrupting his thoughts, Wren began to speak, surprising Ronin; he listened while looking down at the bag, avoiding the eyes he had remembered.
Wren said a combination of words in one stutter that didn't match up, gripping Ronin's attention as his face grew confused; he looked at Wren, his head running over her response again.
"Your dad?" Ronin asked, knowing he was right. He watched as Wren's eyes twitched, glancing randomly across the store before nodding slowly.
"My dad sucks," Ronin begins hoping he prepared Wren for the wrecking ball of complaints he had set up.
The door swung open the loud bells ringing after it. Wren leaps to her feet running behind the desk she had grown so close with. The ball swung right back at Ronin as their conversation quickly shut down; the wave of words he wanted to say sunk deep inside him as he got up, leaving his mess. He slipped out the door, avoiding contact with the sudden consumer.
The night had ended as wren looked down the aisle they had sat in,
Picking up the empty bag.
she had felt an unusual emotion when with Ronin, his behavior had intrigued her in countless ways.
But the eventual captivity had taken her over again, lacking any presence but the one she'd come home to every night; its cold, horrid essence tingled her nerves, reminding her of the never-ending loop she convinced herself she could never escape.