The Run and Go [Sam/Havoc/Ian]

The door was opened by a taller, older woman who smiled at them both. "Hello, you must be Jamie." She greeted him, but didn't gush or fuss over him beyond the warm smile. The kids who came here tended to be so broken, so used to being passed around and passed over and kicked aside they barely knew what normal relationships were anymore, and took too much attention or kindness as being false, or wanting something out of them.

"Why don't you get your things, I'll show you where you'll be staying."

She led him into the house, nothing in it was fancy or expensive but it was still pleasant and inviting. Most of all, it just felt...normal. She led him to the second floor, showing him a small room that was nicely furnished, but didn't have many personal touches to it, a space for people who didn't always stay long, but with room to add their own personality for those that did.

"This will be your room...I'll let you get settled in, then we can go over some of the house rules...did you have any questions or anything first?" She asked, still with a smile.

Meanwhile, a girl about his age had come down from the third floor, arms folded over her chest as she leaned against one of the walls and just watched, as though sizing the newcomer up. She'd somehow managed to stick around here for longer than most, she'd seen a lot of people come and go. She wondered how long this one would last.

Jamison looked up when the door opened, taking in the woman standing there with a critical eye, there was instant mistrust, the same as he felt with most people in general, and he nodded to indicate that he was who she thought, not saying much else for the moment. He cast a glance at the man who brought him here before following her inside, holding his bag close as he glanced around the house.

He was glad for the lack of fancy furnishings and decorations, being in a house like that tended to make him feel out of place and uncomfortable. He glanced around the room when he was led into it and set his bag down on his bed, turning back to her, "you wont fix me." He gave her a guarded look as he came to stand in front of her, "I can't be fixed." He glanced around her when he spotted the girl watching them, then looked back up at her, "so...House rules." He figured he could get this over with so he could actually explore the house, he'd feel much better getting an idea of what was where in this place.

She just nodded. "I'm not here to try and fix you. I'm here to give you a place to stay." She could say a lot about wanting to help, about wanting him to feel safe, but it wouldn't be heard or appreciated right now.

"Alright, if you want to do that now we can." She agreed. "No fighting with others who live in this house, do not take or damage things that aren't yours, meals are eaten when is served, what is served, bedtime is at nine, there is no swearing in this house, and everyone here is respectful to each other...you do not have to agree with them or even like them...but you need to be respectful." She hated to just immediately start out with listing a bunch of rules, but things would be chaos here otherwise.

Meanwhile, the girl behind her, with a careful look to make sure she wasn't seen, started to mimic the woman listing off the rules, ticking off each one on one of her fingers, making exaggerated expressions as she did, shooting Jamie a suddenly amused expression.

Jamison gave her a look that was somewhere between challenging and disbelieving, "we'll see 'ow long that lasts." Every house he'd been and gone from said the same thing, he knew this place would likely be no different. It would only be a matter of time before he was thrown to the curb again like every other person.

He glanced up when she began to list the rules off, only half paying attention as he glanced over to the girl standing back behind them, the effort not to smirk clear on his face as he forced his attention back to the woman speaking. He acknowledged the rules, but knew that he'd probably break each and every one of them more times than he could count, he was just eager to be left alone to his own devices, and he wanted to go talk to the girl watching them.

"I understand...Kin I have a peek 'round?" He was itching to be out of this awkward and uncomfortable situation, he'd feel much more confident without an adult looming over him rattling off rules.

Another smile, another nod. "Of course. Look around, get comfortable. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

She turned to go, also smiling at the girl as she passed and headed downstairs. The girl smiled back, then turned her smirk back to Jamie.

"Hey new kid. What's up?" She asked, still a bit of a challenge in her voice. He looked like trouble...but then again so did she. Someone like him...she was either going to be best buddies with him...or they'd utterly hate each other. It never seemed to go any other way. She continued to lean up against the wall, glancing back down the stairs. "It's not as terrible as all that around here, honestly..."

Jamie flashed her a forced smile, then visibly relaxed when she left the room, feeling the anxious nerves melt away as he looked up at the girl that had been watching them. He was still guarded, still a little hostile, but for the moment he smirked back at her, meeting her challenge with a nonchalant shrug, "gettin' th'rundown I s'pose. Like it'll do me any good."

He looked on in the direction the woman had left, "she don't seem too bad...Then again...Most of th'homes I been in were nice." At least at the start, he wasn't very hopeful that this place would be any different, "I'll prob'ly be gone in a week. Same as always." Though he half hoped not, as he had no way to know where he would end up from here.

He looked back up with a smirk and chuckled, "I'm Jamison by th'way...Jus' Jamie is fine." He looked around with a curious expression, "yew th'only one'ere? Figured there'd be more..." He needed to know who he would be dealing with.

"Hey, you should have seen some of the stupid-ass rules I had to follow in other homes." She rolled her eyes, then shrugged. "I dunno, they've put up with me for almost a year...maybe you'll stick around." She didn't sound super invested in it either way, but she still put it out there.

"Hey Jamie. I'm Havoc." She said the name with just a little bit of a lowered voice and a glance down the stairs to make sure she wasn't going to be corrected for the preferred nickname.

"There's a couple'a us here most of the time...and people that come and go...you're the newest one to show up in a while. And you'll probably meet Sam later...sometimes there's a bunch'a us...right now, it's just us three." She explained.

Jamison chuckled and nodded, looking thoughtful, "yeh...I've seen my share of dumb ass rules." He smirked at that and nudged her, "well yew kinda look like yew kin raise some hell...So that gives me a bit'a hope." At least he wasn't the only trouble maker here, it made him feel a tad more at ease around her.

He chuckled and nodded, "a'ight, nice t'meet yew 'avoc." He looked interested when she began explaining how things went, curious now about this Sam that she'd mentioned, "Sam, eh? Thas' fine...Better with smaller groups anyway." The less people the better, he got nervous and agitated when the groups got too big, and that always meant violence, and the last thing he wanted was a repeat of the incident that had landed him here, the straw that broke the camel's back he supposed, it had only been a matter of time until he snapped like that.

He glanced up when he snapped himself out of his head, tilting his head a bit, "so...Any unspoken rules I oughta' be aware of? These places always have 'em..." Those little no-nos that you weren't told about until you committed the crime.

"Yeah, smaller is better." She agreed. "Not as noisy...don't have to fight people off the computer or TV as much." She smirked a little.

She laughed quietly to herself. "Yeah, no shit." Another glance around. "Yeah, you've been around a bit, huh? So yeah...she's super fucking serious about that whole being respectful and stuff...like I think she used to be a drill sergeant or something."

She thought for a moment. "And don't mess with Sam...he's fine unless you annoy him...then he's *mean*." She grimaced a little. "But this place...it's...it's not bad." She sounded almost as though she couldn't believe it even as she said it. "Like I get it...that sounds dumb...but it's true."

Jamison put a hand on his cheek and laughed a bit at that, glancing down the stairs where the woman had left, "oh she's gonna love me." He snickered with a mischievous look on his face, "I'll try me best...No promises." Problem child. That's what they'd always called him, he made trouble, he was dangerous and unpredictable, and incredibly volatile.

He chuckled when she mentioned Sam, looking interested, "oh yeh?" He laughed and shook his head, "we'll see about that, eh?" Now he really wanted to meet Sam, see how mean he could really be. He tilted his head and chuckled softly, "well...I s'pose I kin give it a chance..." He was still suspect, and doubtful of how long he'd be here, but he supposed it was worth giving it a chance.

"Oof." She huffed the sound out through her nose. "Yeah, you two are gonna get along just great." She rolled her eyes, not quite sure if she was meaning with the woman or with Sam. Maybe both. He liked to challenge people, she could see that already. This was gonna be entertaining to watch...but then again she kinda fed off the chaos and tension. One of her problems, she couldn't leave well enough alone. At least that's what she'd been told in one home once before...shit disturber, she believed the term had been.

"All we really can go, right?" SHe grinned a little. "C'mon, I'll show ya around...anything you wanna know...like...between us, not just what the grown-ups are gonna say?" She asked. Maybe being here was making her go a little soft, being all nice to the new guy like this. But he hadn't given her a reason not to yet...and she didn't have many friends. Worst that could happen at this point was he told her to fuck off and leave him alone, and far worse then that had happened to her in her life.

Jamison chuckled and looked thoughtful, "yeh...S'pose we might." There was a hint of sarcasm there, he knew for a second he would butt heads with the older woman and this Sam kid, it was what he did. He didn't want to fight Havoc though, she seemed to understand at least in some what where he was coming from, she seemed to not expect or care. He felt a bit more at ease with her, which was more than he could say about anyone else that had ever came and gone from his life. It was sort of a nice change.

He glanced up and followed after her, nodding, "been doin' it me whole life." He looked thoughtful as he followed behind her, trying to think of anything else that was chewing at his mind, "well...There anythin' I oughta' know 'bout yew?" He tilted his head, "can't proise I wont push every button yew got...But it's kinda nice t'know where I ain't allowed to tread, eh?" Not that he would make a terribly huge effort to avoid it, but knowing boundaries made it easier to know when to expect a fight to happen if and when he did slip up and push the wrong one.

She blinked at him a couple times, as though taken aback by someone asking what they could do to *not* upset her. "Um...I..." She puffed herself up slightly. "I'm the Shit Disturber." She said with defensive pride.

She rested her hands on her hips. "So...like...I dunno. Don't touch my shit I guess. But like...I'm more likely to go off for no reason...or like...piss you off. Just cause I wanna, I guess..."

"Hey, do you like video games?" She asked, seemingly eager to change the topic. "There's a system downstairs...there's some fun stuff on it..." She offered, smiling a little.