“You don’t know what they did to me. To us.” (a continuation of an abruptly deleted thread)

He let go of Alister at the last second, but in turn that meant that since Alister wasn't holding onto him anymore it meant that Alister was prone to be affected by his charmspsak and no longer see him, so he moved to run and then bumped into charlie, causing charlie to see him based on touch to see kinda thing of his ability.
Evan nodded to august, and followed with alister trent and noel out the door.

Charlie was following the search party to see them off when she felt something bump against her leg. For a minute she freaked out.
“Ah!” Then the sight of Matteo came into focus. “Oh, there you are. Where’d you run off to, kid? C’mon, we’ll see the search party off.”
She led him down the hall and out the door.
Before they all exited the gates, they turned back and waved at Charlie, Dani, and the other guards at the door.
“Godspeed!” Dani shouted as the gates slowly opened and everyone filed out.

With Arden being so small and Malachi being so large, there wasn't really a place to lay his head anyway. He just let it hang off the side, but carefully so that the pain wouldn't worsen.
"Vas-tu– Are you just going to keep carrying me like this the whole way?" he asked. "Surely you'll get tired at some point."

He smirked, seeing a way to get back at her.
“Oh, of course not,” he said sweetly, moving his hand to caress her jaw. “I’m only concerned. You’re so small and cute, I’d hate to see you tire yourself over me. My, not only do you think I’m pretty, you’re now trying to prove yourself to me as well?” He tutted. “There’s no need for that, mon chéri. Why don’t you let me carry you instead?”

Her words and the way she glared at him made him laugh, but then that made his head pound so it eventually faded. "Sac poubelle! That's a new one." He sighed. "Ah, you're so cute when you're in denial."
He moved his hand from her jaw to her cheek.

He walked with Charlie to say goodbye, willing the tears from his eyes and sniffling as he did, and waving goodbye even though the only one that could see him at the moment was charlie, Alister knew that matteo wouldn't miss the chance to see him off.
Evan waved goodbye to everyone before going up to Alister.
trent moved to noel.

The gates closed. The search party moved northwest.
Noel still hung close to Alister, and as they moved onward, he asked her, "Are you sure you don't want to come? I'm sure August would understand if you decided to sit out if you're not doing okay."
She looked at him, grateful that he was concerned, but said, "I'm coming. It's alright, being on this mission will help me get my mind off things. Besides, August isn't the only one who wants to see Malachi."
"But are you alright?"
"I… I don't know."
She glanced at Trent. "Hey, idiot."
Alister saw Evan coming up to him and his eyes lit up. He shyly held out his hand, wondering if Evan would take it.

“Well, that’s your opinion,” he smirked. “Not mine. And you can change my opinion as easily as I could change yours.”
Then he laughed again. “Am I really that stupid if I’m-“ he was cut off when she tripped, and he reflexively put his arms around her as they fell to the ground. For a minute he stayed still, trying to recover and keep his head from spinning, arms around Arden with her face in his chest.
“Are you alright?” He asked, sincerely concerned. “See, you’re falling left and right. I should carry you.”
He slowly got up, keeping her in his arms. Once he was standing, he held her in the same position she held him, though with her small body she could easily lay her head on his chest, almost looking like a child.

Evan noticed as alister held out his hand and he went and accepted it, although shyly.
"Hey." He smiled at alister, offering noel a sympathetic look, before looking back at Alister.
Trent looked at Noel with a slightly concerned look, but also caring. "Hey noel."

He smiled wide as Evan accepted his hand, blushing slightly. “Hey.” He tried not to show his flustering or excitement.
Noel gave a weary smile for both of them, but it faded quickly. Chuckling dryly, she said, “O’Shea called you wolf-boy. You think it fits?”
The group walked through the back alleys, and thankfully no aliens or suspicious looking humans were around.

He just smiled at her innocently. “Okay, whatever you say.”
Chuckling at seeing her flustered again and covering her face, he suddenly stopped when she leaned on his chest, getting a little flustered himself. He grinned though, seeing her red, upset face with her crossed arms.
”Ami mignon~” he teased. In the soft dappled light, parts of his dreadlocks looked as if they were made of gold or bronze. His eyes glittered playfully as he looked upon her.

(Cute friend)

Evan smiled shyly while holding his hand and blushing slightly. "Hey" he almost let out a soft chuckle at how they were acting, and how alister was acting adorably.
"i think i could work it, run it through the works." He smoothed his hair back away from his face as a joke.
He kept his eyes and ears out for any aliens or foot steps

The siblings chuckled at Trent’s remark, the laughter making Noel feel better. She didn’t want to admit it, but she felt almost dirty, tainted. Why, she wasn’t completely sure. Perhaps the numbness in response to what had happened to her was fading. She leaned on her brother’s shoulder.
Alister still stared at Evan, rather unable to look away. Ever since last night, he felt more drawn to him, added with how he took care of that disgusting guy who forced himself on Noel. Perhaps this was what a crush felt like. Unfortunately, he had no idea what to say to Evan.

She looked up at him when he said that, seeing the gold in his dreads even though it might not be there when she looked away.
She flustered more as she looked at him upsettedly. "you know i can technically tell what your saying." She pouted at him, which looked adorable most likely. "and while i disagree with the cute part, i guess it's okay for you to call me friend. Since, that's what we are." Seems she finally accepted the whole friend reality thing.

“Yes, I know,” he said, still smiling. He couldn’t help but quietly go, “Awww,” when she pouted, it was so adorable.
Then he jumped a little in excitement, bowing his head to touch noses with her. ”Nous sommes amis, nous sommes amis, oui! Tu es un ami très mignon.”

For a moment he paused, entranced by the way her eyelashes fluttered in surprise when he got close, how her cheeks flushed with pink and heat. Then he stopped. Maybe he was being too friendly. Surely all his injuries must be still affecting him and he was probably losing his sense of awareness for his surroundings. There were important things to think about than this. She looked uncomfortable.
He gave her a small smile so she wouldn’t be too put off, and raised his head to look ahead of him. There was still a ways to go.

“Oh, stop it,” Noel said, nudging Trent playfully. “We’re on a mission here guys.”
Alister was able to tear his gaze from Evan just long enough to glance at her. “But it’s true, El, c’mon. I’ve missed that smile too.”
She just laughed a little again, hiding her face with her hand. Why did she feel her eyes getting wet?
Alister rubbed her shoulder affectionately, turning back to Evan. “I… I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t completely ruin it, right? And we have a lead on your leader. So I guess I’m doing alright. How about you?”

Matteo stayed near Charlie, almost clinging to her leg as he watched Alister leave, very worried that something would happen to him like something happened to his parents, like when they told him to run but they weren't right behind him like they said they would be.
He almost let out a slight whimper, please com back safe…please …

Charlie glanced down at the boy, patting his head in an attempt to console him. “They’ll be alright,” she said. “C’mon.” And she led him inside.
Emery was still glued to the holographic screens, swiping and tapping rapidly between them. Charlie sat leisurely next to them, finally hoping to relax. Today had been a busy one.
“What’ve you found?” Charlie asked.
Emery barely glanced away from their work. “Hmm? Oh, yeah I’ve found things. Took some digging, but it definitely seems like we’re looking at Arden’s sibling here. I still need to translate most of the text, but after that, I should have everything.”
Charlie gave them a thumbs up, a little too exhausted to do anything else.
“Have you found that kid?”
Charlie raised a brow. “Yep, he’s right here.”
Emery glanced away from the screens. “Uhh…” as they were also in the vicinity of Matteo’s shout at the time, the they couldn’t see him any more than Charlie could before he touched her.