It's Late
“Hey, you!!”
Meyer turned, squinting in the dim light of the train stop. It was well past midnight, she had been practicing late again, after a tough bout of games for the day. Needless to say she didn't have the energy to deal with anyone at the moment. She turned back to the tracks, ignoring whoever was calling to her on the empty platform.
A small group of three or so kids lumbered toward her. They looked about her age, maybe a little older.
“I'm talking to you, half-pint.” The obvious leader of the group stopped a few feet away from Meyer, just out of the circle of light the lone streetlight gave.
“Wow, didn't know I had a fan club. You want an autograph or somn'?” She droned.
"Shut up, spritz. I'm tired of hearing you talk." The tall boy spoke harshly, grimacing to where his sharp teeth glinted in the low light.
At the mention of her team name, Meyer blinked, suddenly recognizing the gaggle of squids in front of her. This was a small, rowdy team, that Spritz had been instructed not to let further in the tourney then was necessary. They had beaten them pretty hard, that last round a few days ago...Meyer tensed.
"Here for revenge, huh?" Meyer rolled her eyes. "Stop being sore losers. It's just a game."
The leader squid growled, stomping closer, and Meyer flinched more than she wanted to.
"Just a game?? Your stupid team HUMILIATED us, and then went and lost to some team of kids." He loomed over Meyer as he yelled, while the rest of his teammates inched closer as well, slowly blocking out the little light from the streetlight. "This isn't about losing, it's about you making fools of us with your idiotic team."
Meyer circled insults and quips in her head, they always came like second nature. There's no way that would diffuse the situation. Normally she was very good at finding outs and talking her way out of situations, but right now, she just felt very small.
"Huh? You gonna say something already, goggles?" The leader grabbed the collar of Meyer's shirt, her signature goggles' straps getting caught and pulling at her neck. She coughed as he pulled her forwards. "Say something, I want a reason to punch you." He seethed.
Meyer couldn't find a way out.
Might as well go out with a bang.
"You're such….a coward." Meyer glared at him despite her situation. "No wonder captain decided to ruin you guys. When you lose, you panic and have to feel better by beating up a little girl you can't even take on without your cronie cheerleaders." She spat her words, hoping her trembling hands didn't betray her. She watched the anger build in his face as he reared a fist back, and she shut her eyes, preparing for the worst.
She was always prepared for the worst.
What she didn't expect, was to open her eyes after waiting too long for the punch, to see a clawed hand wrapped around the leaders straining fist, unable to make the hit.
Sawyer stood tall, glaring daggers down at the group of lads, giving the leaders wrist a hard squeeze and yanked him upwards. The boy yelped, unlatching from Meyer and kicking his feet in the air. He was met with Sawyer's wide, wild eyes filled with an anger scarcely seen. Sawyer could only lip-read a little inklish, but he knew enough that was important to speak out loud.
"Fuck Off."
He threw the boy backwards, causing him to stumble a few feet before regaining his footing, looking towards the rest of the gang of boys, and watching as they collectively decided to heed the warning. They all scuttled off back into the dark, leaving Sawyer and Meyer alone in the dim circle of light.
Once they were gone, Sawyer decompressed, heaving a heavy sigh as he turned to Meyer. She was frozen, looking blankly in the direction of the runaway goons. Coincidentally, the train started rounding the corner at the same time. Meyer was startled from her daze at the train, and quickly wiped her eyes.
"W-wow, talk about good timing…" she chattered nervously, forgetting for a second Sawyer couldn't hear her. She tried to remember her signs.
<Thanks Sawyer...that was a close one, haha…>" she smiled weakly, pressing the button to open the train door. She took a step back, expecting him to leave to brood or whatever he always went off to do, but instead Sawyer followed, tapping his tram card on the stand before stepping into the train as well.
It was empty this time of night, and he took the nearest seat, gesturing for Meyer to sit as well. She was a bit confused, knowing he lived in town, but did anyway. It was quiet for a moment, and she couldn't help but feel he was glaring at her after a moment.
"<What do you want?>" Meyer signed, frustrated at the look he was giving her.
"<It's ok now. You can cry if you want to, lil sis.>" Sawyer signed back, frowning slightly. "<That was scary, but you're safe now, ok?>"
Normally Meyer would brush off people's concern with quips or snide remarks, since she never knew what to do when she found people caring about her. She was good at that. What she wasn't good at, was recognizing how long she had been holding her breath, or the tears that were already flowing down her face.
She exhaled, blinking a few times as she realized how tense she still was. She stayed like that a moment, before curling up in her seat, letting herself cry openly for the first time in a long while.
Sawyer patted her back, feeling a distinct memory of having this conversation somewhere before...but that didn't matter right now. Right now he needed to get his little sis home safe.