No Man's Land (Private)

[Muffinsquire]

After a hearty breakfast the two young men made their way to the registration office which was atually rather sparce as far as the crowds went. Now that he thought about it, Danny was sure that the city, although crowded, did seem less crowded than usual, with all the men disappearing to fight in this mysterious war. Once again Danny had to leave Brigit outside, but he made sure that she wouldn't be taken.They approached the first desk they noticed, the closest to the door in order to ask about their registration.
Behind the desk sat a stout, frog-like woman who was shuffling through some paper when they approached. She didn't take notice to them immediately but after a moment of their waiting she turned her pouty, black eyes up towards them, appearing suspicious.
"Can I help you," she croaked.
"Um, yes ma'am," Danny replied, about to announce both their arrival, but then decided that Bowen perhaps would be better off speaking for himself since their missions were different. "I'm here to register to join the military," he said instead.
"Mmhmm..." the frog woman mused before she turned to a different stack of paper and began sifting through it and pulled out a sheet of paper before handing it to Danny. "Fill this out please. Here's a pen."
Danny took the paper and pen, looking at them curiously and with a little concern. But after a moment he thanked her and moved away to begin.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera's mind was very distant that day as she thought over Lizzie growing apart from her, and trying to make up the rent. Her stomach growled, but it wasn't time for a lunch break, so Sera would just have to make due until then. Of course Lady Trena wouldn't mind the rent being a little late. Lady Trena really liked Sera, but Sera liked for things to be paid on time and she didn't want to make it obvious that she was flat broke.
The last little bit of her paycheck that she received went into a little fund for Sera. Sera had watched Lizzie peere in toy shops and dress shops whenever they walked the long way home and Sera wanted so badly to buy her something nice, something she would treasure. So the few dollars that she had left out of her paycheck, went into the small account to buy Lizzie something.
She had hoped to buy it soon once she opened the account, but seeing the bills stack up, she knew that sometimes she had to skip over putting money into the account entirely.
As Sera let her mind wander, she nearly slipped into the boiling vat at her feet.
"Sera watch it!" one of the workers beside her called, unable to get down from her post, but wanting to get Sera down, she didn't seem stable today.
"I'm okay, thanks," Sera called out, but made sure to try and put her mind back to her work.

[Muffinsquire]

Danny was soon joined by Bowen with a sheet of paper as well. His companion immediately began filling out his paper, without another thought and Danny watched him a moment before turning back to his. He could read what it said, most of it at least, and very slowly and he carefully began filling it out. His handwriting, although steady and careful was still a little sloppy. Bowen finished in a few minutes and looked over at his friend to see that Danny had only progressed a few lines down.
"Do...um...you need some help," he inquired, a little concerned that it appeared he had trouble reading and writing.
"I'm just...a little slow," Danny replied with a weak smile and a nod.
"Well...I could read it to you and you could write out your information," Bowen suggested. "It might help."
Danny looked at him, then sighed before nodding, supposing it would help, but he didn't want them being too loud in case the frog woman would see them. Within a few minutes both of them had their forms filled out and had returned it to the secretary. She then told them to wait a little longer and the doctor would be prepared to begin their physical while their information was reviewed.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Whenever lunch rolled around, Sera went in search of Lizzie so the two of them could eat together. She didn't find Lizzie in their usual spot, or in her work station. This scared Sera and she began to ask around about her. Finally, she found out where she was and started after her to find her with a group of some of the young workers, around Sera's age.
"Lizzie, are you hungry for lunch?" Sera asked with a smile.
Lizzie shook her head and then showed the plate full of pizza that she had.
"Susiana shared her lunch with us today," Lizzie remarked with a smile as she let Sera know that she was fine.
Sera's smile faded as she looked over at Susiana, a smart-mouthed, twenty-three year old with way too many tattoos to do her any good in the world.
"Oh, okay... um... enjoy your lunch then," Sera managed to smile. "Thank you for sharing with her Susiana," Sera remarked. Susiana didn't really even look toward Sera.
Sera made her way away from the little group and back to her own station so that she could eat her lunch in silence since she wasn't welcome in the little circle in the fabric making room.

[Muffinsquire]

The day was slightly eventful and awkward, especially during the physical, which neither of the men had really been through before, although Danny didn't make as big of a deal out of it as Bowen. Bowen was mortified to take off his clothes in front of anyone he didn't know. They were put through a few more tests for eyesight, hearing, and literacy before they were allowed to speak to which ever officer they needed. Bowen only wanted to speak to someone in the technology department.
"I don't need to go through all these ridiculous tests," he said.
By the time they had left the office, it was well past lunch time and both were very hungry.
"I s'pose we should buy some food to take back to the apartment," Danny mused. "It would be too expensive to eat out all the time."
"Well, I'm not going grocery shopping with you," Bowen replied. "That would give people the wrong idea."
"What do you mean?" Danny had no idea what he was talking about.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

After lunch, Sera was sent out into the market. After her little spill that morning, her overseer didn't want her working around the vats, believing she might become ill. So she was given a list of parts and different dyes to go purchase for the business.
Sera was actually a little ashamed to do this, for she thought herself to be fine, and it showed a horrible weakness in front of her co-workers. Sending someone out for 'groceries' was a job for someone like Lizzie who wasn't very experienced.
But Sera didn't complain aloud, instead she made her way out. She started into the city, coming out of the trapdoor that led to the underground vats. The day was very hot and it looked as if a sandstorm was on the horizon. Sera would admit that working underground had its advantages, for one didn't have to put up with nasty weather.

[Muffinsquire]

Despite Bowen's protests, he and Danny ended up in the market together getting their groceries. Danny insisted that they were getting what they needed, not making a scene and they split up their responsibilities about what foods they needed to get. Danny suggested they buy enough food for at least a month, although Bowen went off once more about how he had no money.
"Don't worry," Danny replied. "Just pay me back later."
During their escapades in the market, Danny thought for a moment that he spotted Sera walking around as well. He wasn't certain though for he had only seen her for a moment before she disappeared into the crowd again. But he watched momentarily before spotting her again and watched to see what she was doing. He decided maybe he should be friendly and go see how she was doing, although he remembered how uncomfortable she had seemed to be around him the day before. Well, perhaps he should try one more time before officially deciding that she just didn't like him. He bought his food from the vendor he was at at the moment before making his way through the crowd towards Sera.
"How you doin' today," he asked politely, smiling pleasantly. "Surprise meetin' you out here."

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera was standing in line to get to one of the herb vendors. The herb vendors sold a lot and normally had very long lines in order to get to. She thought she saw Danny and had hoped the line would move, but sadly she still had about ten people in front of her and the line didn't seem to be moving anywhere.
"Oh uh.. yeah... bad day... I drew the short straw, so I had to go shopping," Sera said softly, not really looking at Danny. She had this thing where she really couldn't look any guy in their face. She was so concious about what she would see smiling back at her, what they would really be looking at... plus, the first picture she got was her father's face instead of whoever really was there.
"What... what are you doing out here?" she asked, fidgeting a little bit.

[Muffinsquire]

Danny's smile faded a little whenever he realized that Sera still didn't seem to want to talk to him and even completely avoided looking at him. He would have thought this incredibly rude if it wasn't for the fact that she seemed so out of place. He knew he wasn't very attractive, but was he really that bad to look at.
"Same thing you are," he replied. "Buying food since we don't have any in the apartment...I'm sorry your day isn't goin' so well. Don't let it get you down though, there's always tomorrow." He sighed, very quietly, although not impatiently. He had just finally decided that Sera plaining didn't like him. But he could respect that so he wouldn't waste anymore of her time. "Well...sorry I bothered you. I'll let you do your work in peace."
Feeling rather dense he turned to leave, looking around for where ever Bowen had gone.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera sighed lightly, but didn't say any more to Danny. It wasn't that she didn't like talking to him, but more the fact that he... was a man... She turned back around and noticed that the line was moving so the stepped on up.
A few minutes later, Lizzie came through the streets looking for Sera. Sera would probably be very angry at her for going about by herself, but Lizzie didn't heed such warnings very well.
She scurried on along by herself, looking here and there, her long hair pulled back by her colored bandanna. She still had her little tattoo right under her eye and she turned about whenever she suddenly ran into a rather tall man.
She was knocked onto her back with a small 'oof' as she peered up at the tall, 'scaly' man.

[Muffinsquire]

"Watch yerself," Danny cautioned, peering down at the little girl he had knocked over. He reached down with one arm and pulled her back up to her feet and dusted her off a bit. "And I s'pose I should be watching who I'm runnin' into as well." He smiled. "Are you alright?"
He studied her a moment. She seemed rather young to be running around a place like this by herself. Her dress and appearance were similar to Sera's and he noted the tattoo under her eye but he didn't really understand what it meant. His thoughts on the marking only returned to the fact that the girl seemed rather young and probably didn't need a tattoo at such an age either.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera finished up her shopping after getting what she needed from the herb vendor, then started back toward her job. She was glad that she got everything she needed. It was so crowded this time of day and Sera hated bustling through people.
"I'm sorry," Lizzie grinned brightly. "And yes, I'm okay. Thanks for the help mister," she beamed brightly up at Danny. Her eyes checked around herself once more, scanning for Sera, but she didn't see her. She pouted lightly.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a tall girl with short black hair?" she asked him.

[Muffinsquire]

"Would her name be Sera," Danny inquired. "I saw her only a moment ago standing in the line over there."
He turned to point towards the vendor Sera had been waiting at, but when he looked he realized that she appeared to be missing. Had the line really moved that quickly that she had disappeared so suddenly.
"Well, she was over there," he mused. "I don't know where she went." He began looking around to see if he could spot her anywhere else, but she was nowhere to be seen. So he turned back to her. "If you'll let me give these things to my friend, I'll help you look for her."

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Lizzie peered up at Danny for a brief moment.
"I dunno... Sera's afraid of men and she might get defensive if she sees me with you..." Lizzie remarked. She did want to know how this strange man whom she had never met before actually knew Sera's name. So she voiced her opinion.
"How do you know her name? She normally won't tell any man," she asked him, waiting for an answer before she continued to search for her guardian.
She did look around a little from her standing point. Sera couldn't have gotten too far away.

[Muffinsquire]

"That might explain why she acts so funny 'round me then," Danny mused. "But anyway, I met her yesterday. My friend and I were looking for a place to stay in the city and she happened to be standing nearby so I asked her. She didn't tell me her name, it was actually the land lady who said it, but Sera did mention you. You must be Lizzie."
Danny looked around, spotting Bowen not too far off and whistled. Bowen turned around to see his companion waving and walked over to see what he wanted, already carrying a few bags himself.
"Can you take these back to the apartment," Danny asked him. "This girl is lookin' for Sera and I don't want her wanderin' 'round by herself."
"What do I look like, a pack mule," Bowen inquired.
"Do you want to eat tonight, or what," Danny asked, eyeing his friend. Bowen had quite an attitude sometimes.