Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone

[strikefirster]

Who: Johnny, Daniel, Ortus, Gideon Nav's Exquisite Corpse, Paul, Kaworu, Deku, Harrow, Maybe more?
What: Kidnapping, Forced Adoption, Getting these kids away from the Emperor
When: Shortly after boatgate
Where: The Bone House and Cobra Kai

Content Warnings: Probably references to Murder, Manipulation, Johnny Lawrence.

Prompts and Mingle will be in the comments.

Comments

[noniad]

[So the aim was always to depart with the children, it seems. It might have been assumed, given the size of the vehicle he arrived in and his immediate agreement to Ortus' request, but the vehemence of experience in Johnny's voice is a thing Ortus makes note of.]

I, too, knew a man like this, once.

[He says it quietly, pushing some already loaded baggage further back in the truck bed to make room for more to be added. Thoughts of his father had already been too close to him, of late, as had the unquiet shade of the man himself. His knuckles still itch in their healing.]

I had hoped he was not fashioned in God's image.

[He had known how dangerous the Emperor was. Gideon had taken him into her trust, enlisted him in a shared mission as cavaliers-in-arms, and he had done - not close to enough. Anger coils futilely in his gut. He shoves at a wooden crate and lightly rocks the truck's bed.]

They should not have to suffer under this House an instant longer.

[strikefirster]

[It's the moment after Ortus implies he's been in the same boat that Johnny stops and takes a minute to actually size him up.

He didn't have a whole lot of respect for Old Black Eyes but this guy seemed alright. If he was looking for Gideon and Paul's best interests than that's all that really mattered to him.]

Oh yeah? Well maybe once we're cleared up here we can grab a drink. Share some stories.

[It was actually the least he could do considering what Ortus was helping him with.]

Would have gotten them out sooner if I had of known the man of the house was a psychopath. But sometimes you have to figure that shit out.

[noniad]

[The offer is one Ortus dwells on but for a moment. He recalls the peculiar numbing tingle of his last bout with intoxication, his first day in the city. He has not touched the stuff since.]

I should like a drink.

[He declares, quietly, returning to pick up some of the last of the cargo. Such a strikingly small pile, the sum of the life built inside these walls on such tenuous foundations.]

I had thought there to be time. [Leaden resolve ekes into his voice:] I shall not make such an error again.