Re: The Disaffected/The Entertainer
The world had its share of perfectly adequate parents. Those who watched out for their kids. Those who tried to do their best. There was a lot to be said for trying. But parents like Nicky's - specifically his father - they weren't good at it. They were too distracted, too caught up in their own world. A lot to look out for. A child couldn't tear their attention away for long - unless they needed something. It was the way of his world. He was only on this train because his father needed something. He didn't know what, and he didn't especially want to. Yet, here he was. And there it was, skewing his ideas of what a parent should be, a family, an adult, much as it had for the last decade or so. "At least half of you aren't so bad," he allowed.
He got his own drink. Picked it up with a muted ring of silver against glass. Held it in his left hand, the right spinning that ring about and about his finger once more. "Good thing you're not modest," he replied with a sardonic half-grin. Set his drink down but kept fingers cupped around the glass, clinking his rings against it, thumb, ring finger, pinky, in slow succession. Clink, clink, clink. "You ever had a serious thing go wrong?" He found himself asking, face serious, considering his drink. Hadn't meant to, but. Thinking about the golden-haired boy did things to him.
"If." Careful. "If we allow for the existence of...irregular people." Despite his disinterest earlier, this was intriguing. Not related to his presence on this train, he was sure. But, he knew enough of strange things. "Then anything could have happened. Maybe they just left. Flew off into the night. Or they're still here, just invisible." His voice did not hold a trace of sarcasm. "Possibilities are almost infinite."