(the color of his eyes)

"What do you want to know?" the boy said, looking bored.

The train wasn't coming anytime soon, and J. couldn't see the boy's profile very well by starlight, though his braid glittered brightly behind his shoulders before it disappeared altogether.

"Nothing major, you know. Who are you? Where are you going? That sort of thing."

The boy laughed, even though it wasn't very funny. "You're kidding."

"No, actually. I'm not going anywhere and I have nothing to lose, so I may as well say exactly what I mean, right?"

"Ha! That's a lie if I've ever heard one."

J. shifted uncomfortably. "What is?"

"Everyone's got something to lose, man. Even if it's just their supper or maybe their last illusion. Everyone's got one of those."

His companion just snorted. "You've got a comeback for everything, I see."

"Nah. Don't feel like thinking right now, you know? With my luck, the train got bombed somewhere and it'll never actually get here at all, so we'll just stay here for all eternity. Trapped. Like an old episode of the Twilight Zone, y'know?" The boy paused, throwing his head back on the bench and staring up into the dark. "So the answer to your question is, nowhere. Going nowhere."

( ... )