"Heyyyy new kid," Austin McCullen sauntered into the room with his usual jovial, chill energy. Rayanna Pelinnsky looked up from her desk, where she was still filling out her first ever report. Austin is her supervisor, her 'office buddy' as he so lovingly put it when their boss, Lucian Eos, introduced them. Austin had so far shown her how to get things unstuck from the vending machine and how to get Matthew DeRose, another colleague of theirs, to do things for them by saykng that his wife, Anise DeRose, who works in another department, that she had asked for it. Austin leaned against the desk Rayanna was sitting at, staring at her through the sunglasses he always insisted on wearing, with an easy grin to match. "Reckon you could do ne a teensy weensy favor?"
Rayanna nodded sheepishly, though she was quite unsure if she should actually be doing a favour for Austin at the moment. Mr Eos expects this report on his desk by the end of the day, and it was already the afternoon. Sure, Mr Eos seemed nice and all, but she didn't want to upset her boss so soon into her career. Rayanna paused, nodding again more confidently, figuring that she should atleast hear him out. "What... What do you need, Austin?"
Austin clicked his tongue before he spoke. "I need ya to go out and find Jack for me... Uhh... Boss wants to see him." Rayanna blinked. Jack? Jack Wynborne? Rayanna hasn't had the opportunity to meet him yet, and she hasn't the foggiest what he looks like, where he'd be, or if she's even allowed to talk to him. Austin must've seen the look on Rayanna's face as he waved a hand casually, gesturing and spoke again. "Jack... He's about yay high, uhm, blond, kinda pale, doesn't get out much.... And... Well, he's kinda got a restin' bitch face, but ya didn't hear it from me!"
Rayanna stared at Austin for a moment. Finding Jack sounds like it won't take too long. The building isn't that big, and Rayanna could use a small break from this report. She nods again and stands up. "Where will I find him?" She asks Austin, who shrugs. How helpful. "Dunno. He's almost never in his office no more, so he's probably outside somewhere. Should be too hard to find him, though!" He added the last sentence cheerfully, almost like it was an afterthought. And to Austin, it probably was.
Rayanna thanked him and quickly walked out of the room. She moved through the hallways until she finally made it outside to the garden. The garden was rather small in comparison to the building. It was mostly paved, with patches of yellowing grass, a few rows of withering flowers, dying plants and a willow tree in the center of the garden that despite the decay around it, was still going strong. Rayanna walked around a bit before deciding to check underneath the willow tree. Underneath she found a short, blond man kneeling beside a memorial of sorts. Rayanna couldn't see who the memorial was dedicated to but she was met with an immediate overwhelming feeling of despair as she approached.
As shs got closer, she noticed that the blonde man had vines and thorny brambles twisting throughout his curls that swayed gently in the breeze and he had an incredibly hollow, empty gaze as he stared blankly at the memorial. Rayanna felt awful for approaching him but she quickly steeled herself and quietly spoke up. "Excuse me...? Are you... Are you Jack Wynborne?"
The man's eyes snapped to Rayanna's face, glaring at her. They were a brilliant blue, but the dark circles under his eyes made them look like a stormy ocean was about to swallow Rayanna whole. He slowly nods before drawing his attention back to the memorial. He opened his mouth as if to speak but no words came out and he quickly closed his mouth again. Rayanna let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding as soon as he looked away. "I'm sorry for interrupting you... But..." Rayanna hesitated, the guilt of interrupting Jack gnawing at her. She swallowed hard before muttering under her breath. "Mr Eos wants to speak to you... According to Austin, anyways."
Jack hummed faintly in response, still not moving from his kneeling position by the memorial. His head turned slowly to look at Rayanna fully. That's when she saw a scar running down his left cheek, it was jagged and uneven, if it was any higher up it cheek, his eye would probably wouldn't be there anymore. It sent a chill down her spine looking at it. She obviously knew the risks of what her new career path meant, but everyone else looked so healthy, even Miss Wang looked okay, the scar over her right eye long since starting to fade.
