Chapter Text
“Soooo.. what’re you guys wearin?”
Pangi asked, looking through his closet. After a small hum of thought, Derapchu’s voice came through the phone’s speaker with an answer.
“Well I’m just wearing jeans and a t-shirt- nothing fancy-, and I think Zam’s wearin’…uhhhh- yo Zam! What were you gonna wear?”
“I’m wearing a white and yellow dress, but I’m bringing a change of clothes just in case. Same kinda colors though.”
Zam yelled from the bathroom, the soft rustles of fabric rubbing against itself sounding before Zam’s head popped out from around the wall, hair dropping down like a smooth waterfall.
Derapchu raised the phone up to face the camera towards Zam.
“By the way, Pangi, would you braid my hair when you get here?”
“Oh sure, s‘long as you have a hairtie.”
Zam nodded before popping their head back into the bathroom and Derapchu’s arm lowering, setting the phone back onto the bed.
“Alright man, I’ll let you finish up. I’ll see you soon.”
“See you Derap.”
—□—
The taps of a hand against the wood door and the sound of a key turning the lock open.
The door was pushed open by none other than Pangi, wearing a white tank top and wrap pants that had a lime and forest color pattern going.
Zam perked her head up at the sound and pushed herself off the chair. Pangi smiled to see his friends again.
“Hey Zam, you look nice”
Pangi hugged the other and took the hairtie from their wrist. Zam turned to let Pangi braid her hair.
“Thanks Pangi, you don't look half bad yourself.”
She said with a small giggle, feeling claws brush through her hair, fixing any knots she hadn’t found earlier.
He separated Zam’s hair into 3 sections and began twisting them together into the familiar shape of a braid.
“Thanks again, Pangi. I tried a few times to do it myself, but it just didn’t look as good as yours.”
They said with a small laugh before continuing.
“And you know Derapchu can’t braid.”
Pangi laughed as he nodded in agreement.
“No he cannot.”
He said before finishing braiding the last strand of hair and tying it off.
“Alright, all done!”
He said while taking a step back, admiring his work.
“Hell yeah.”
Zam cheered to himself, admiring the finished braid as if it were some rare gem.
“Derapchu, you ready to go?”
Derapchu, who was sitting on the couch, raised his head up at the sound of his name being called. He got to his feet, shoving his phone into his pocket.
“Yeah, ready when you guys are.”
“Alright! Let’s get goin”
Pangi cheerfully said, turning his back to the door and motioning for the others to follow.
Zam grabbed her purse and hurried to catch up with Derapchu and Pangi.
“What train are we gonna take again?”
Pangi asked, glancing at the two as they walked outside and to the train station.
“I was thinking we could take the one that stops over by Endercorp. The place is like a 5 minute walk from the station.”
Zam answered while taking out little earplugs and putting them in, keeping an eye on the construction ahead of them.
Derapchu and Pangi glanced at one another, both having a look of concern. Derapchu stepped up to the side of Zam before speaking.
“Dude, you sure it’s safe to go out to Endercorp? Y’know with all the stuff that’s been going on and all?”
Zam tilted their head slightly before opening their mouth slightly as if catching onto what they were talking about.
“Oh. Yeah, I’m sure it’ll all be good. We aren’t going on the main road, I was planning to take us over down the street where Minute lives.”
“That’s not far from Endercorp though.”
Derapchu said with a hint of worry to his voice. Pangi nodded in agreement, crossing his arms.
“Dude’s right. What if things go south on the way? What’re we gonna do then?”
Zam bit the inside of her mouth and picked at a callus on her hand as she tried to come up with a response to calm her friends’ nerves.
As they walked ahead, the nearing construction got louder and more distracting.
“Guys. If anything happens, we can always double back and go somewhere else. But nothing should happen so it’s fine.”
Pangi wasn’t too convinced. He put a hand on Zam’s shoulder as they came to a stop in front of the train station.
“Listen, I know things are usually calm on that part of town but with Endercorp, you can’t be too sure. Why can’t we just go somewhere else instead?”
Zam let out a sigh, turning on his heel towards a different direction.
“We can go to Golden branch- that little cozy cafe with the uh, fluffy seats instead, if that’s better.”
Zam mumbled something under their breath but started walking.
They took their purse in both hands and started securing and unsnapping the button on it but kept the noise quiet.
Pangi shot a quick look at Derapchu, who shared the same concerned look on his face.
He then turned his head back to focus forward. His features relaxed a slight bit.
”Yeah that sounds like a good idea.”
“Sorry if we were being a little pushy- know you and Pangi of all people are equipped to handle it if something happens, but rather be safe than risky y’know?”
Zam nodded, her hands stopping still, the repeated button clicks now gone.
“No it’s fine, I get where you were coming from with the concern.”
With the silence settling, the trio continued their way down to the train station. The ride was pretty quiet.
There was the usual chatter of everyone getting on and off the train, a guy yelling on his phone from a few feet away and the occasional kid running down the aisle to chase after their friends. They sat near the back of the train.
Derapchu was bobbing his head lightly to whatever music he was listening to while tapping his fingers on his lap.
Pangi sat next to Derapchu, keeping his gaze out the window. Zam sat across the aisle from them, scrolling through her phone as time passed by.
Every so often her eyes flicked up to watch the city scenery fly by outside the window, but she kept her attention more on her phone.
“Hey Pangi.”
The elven’s head looked up as they spoke, tyrning to the other’s direction with slightly widened eyes, leaning over to the side to show him the screen.
As Pangi’s eyes skimmed through the lines of the article of Zam’s screen, he was at first surprised but then sighed in clear disappointment.
“They’re really finding anything to blame on Voidlings, aren’t they?”
He said with a small frown, eyes moving from the screen up to Zam’s face. The Elven nodded solemnly, her ears leaning slightly with the emotion.
“It sucks enought that the little ones have to grow up with those pickings and threats from other kids, these rumors are getting out of hand I-“
“The Next Station is Clifen Street.”
The voice of the announcement cut in, causing Zam to pause. Once it finished, he let out a sigh, pulling back his phone and clicking it off.
“That’s gonna be our stop, can you tell Derapchu to be ready to go.”
Pangi nodded and turned away, nudging the other- which seemed to bring him back to reality.
As the train came to a stop and its shiny door squeaked open, passengers stood to their feet and funneled out onto the platform.