[Drabble ORP] All the Children in 9 Straight Lines

[Nothing Yet]

Finding Joy and Ro

The two looked about as physically comfortable as she would expect from two people who had suddenly found themselves not-quite-right in size, so she gave them a warm smile, hoping it might help them feel a little better.

"Hey--yeah! Hey Joy, and...and Ro, right?" She began to fish through a bag that she was carrying just before she reached them, and produced the bra that Joy had asked for, expertly folded in a way that made it just resemble a folded bit of fabric. It was passed to her as casually as she could. "Got what you needed! Want me to wait for you to get all set? Or the two of you good to go looking for our other new friends now?"

Huni Pi

Miliardo Kason

 

[its me debz]

(There's a new Russian in) Town

Kostya stared back at them with empty eyes, unblinking. His were the eyes of a coming storm, blue-grey and and blank. He seemed...passive, at least, and despite the threat he did not look concerned.

"Tch. Cyka. English not good," he said, looking annoyed about it, giving the red-head a similar once over. The dark-haired one wore the same expression he did, which was concerning.

"Can try to cut, but not recommended." From his pocket came a sheathed knife of decent size, handled with care and a spot of knowledge. (Funny that the thing that straightened him out of petty violence had been state sanctioned violence: after his year in the military, Kostya had found that his interest in it had waned.) But it went away, returning from whence it came.

"No threat. Vant to find home, only." He crossed his arms, and stepped back and to the side, leaving the doorway open. "And vhy something," Konstantin pointed at his head, "in here. Talk talk talk. No shut up."

lizbot

nothing yet

 

[Baneful]

Nothing Yet

Medicating Lawr

Lawrence had his claws summoned when she found him, the gauntlets much smaller and the claws less long than they had been in the modern day. He was looking at a line of symmetrical gouges on the wall which went neatly a few meters along the corridor. He smiled when he saw her. recognising the picture. "Hi!" he said. "You are dead pretty out of the thing too."

He moved a little nearer to her. "You can't take me back to my parents." he said. "I promised I'd run away and be a cowboy."
 

[lizbot]

TOWN

The knife was sheathed but it still had America narrowing her gaze. "Okay, Mr. Bad English," she jabbed a thumb at her chest, "America." And pointed up toward the other girl with a more gracious, "Mimsy."

She held up to fingers, "Peace." Then made a walking motion with them, "Outtie."

The girl started walking past him, gesturing for Mimsy to follow.

Whipping her head back to look at Kostya, she grudgingly motioned that he could come too. If he wanted.

Quietly to Mimsy she said, "I'd rather he was with us than sneaking 'round where we can't see."

nothing yet

its me debz

 

[Nothing Yet]

Town

Mimsy didn't say anything, didn't greet the boy in any capacity, and didn't react when America pointed to her. She continued to stare until she followed the other girl past him; though her eyes were no longer on him, she kept the scissors pointed in his direction.

The explanation received a small nod in response. To her, it was always preferable to have fewer people around, but she had to assume that America was correct here. She was the expert.

lizbot

its me debz

 

[its me debz]

Town

Did she...did she mean they were in America? Visible puzzlement manifested on Kostya's normally inexpressive face, brows knitted in honest confusion. Her name couldn't be America, and Mimsy sounded a bit iffy too. Handles, perhaps. Online identities?

Either way... His turn too, he supposed. It was only Fair.

So, dryly, he continued the trend, and pointed at himself in the process. "Konstantin."

Her skepticism was not unwarranted, Konstantin supposed, trailing along behind them with a slow but steady gait. Admirable, really. They were, despite the relative safety, in a state of crisis. Especially if they were like him and couldn't remember much. ESpecially if there were enough to be others, like she'd said.

"Can hear, you know," he quipped, although it wasn't entirely true. He'd heard only a brief syllable or two, but Konstantin wasn't going to let her maintain the upper hand unduly. "Are many more?"

lizbot

nothing yet

 

[Nothing Yet]

Medicating Lawr

The sight of the claws was a little unnerving, but she did like seeing them so tiny in comparison to the weapon she'd seen before. Caroline avoided commenting on them, just in case he wanted to show them off. On her.

Had she not eventually figured out what the use of 'dead' meant in his new (old?) way of speaking by now, she might have assumed he planned to do just that.

"Aw, pretty! Thanks." She seemed to genuinely accept the compliment. "I'll remember that next time I'm feeling down."

With the bottle faintly rattling in her hand, she took another careful step towards him before offering it over. The label was partially torn - if there had been a name on it, that was gone - but the directions and name of the medication itself remained.

"Guess you probably know the drill, but--instructions there, just in case." She paused as the 'cowboy' thing finally clicked, and tried not to laugh. "Not gonna take you back to your parents. Can't even if I wanted. You'll be a great cowboy. Real convincing--I bet."

baneful

 

[Baneful]

Medicating Lawr

Lawrence took the bottle with at first a look of confusion - bottles didn't look the same here - which coalesced into a look of disappointment as he realised what he was looking at. "Oh I was hoping I'd get to stop them" he said. "Leif said they make me fat." And though he wasn't enormously overweight he was far healthier than he would later become. "But I guess I'll get in trouble if I don't."

He didn't know if he wanted to get into trouble again, they might put him on other medication which was always rough or they make good on putting him away in a home. Maybe they already had.

"Thanks!" He said giving Caroline the genuine trusting smile of a kid around authoritative adults before rebellion kicked in properly. He was so happy someone thought he'd make a good cowboy finally, she had inadvertently made his whole day and just from that he'd take his medicines.  

[Huni Pi]

Found Children

Joy practically lit up in relief as she took the folded fabric from Caroline. "Salamat sa Diyos," she murmured and nonchalantly tried to keep said fabric hidden behind her back. "If we can pass by a bathroom before we go get the others, I'm game. How 'bout you, Ro? You gonna come with or you gonna join the party?"

Nothing Yet

Miliardo Kason

 

[lizbot]

TOWN

America felt more and more confident that she and Mimsy probably were the most a**-kicking girl gang this place had ever seen. Anybody wanting to mess with them was gonna have Pin Pal Problem on their hands. Ponytail bobbing as she walked through the neighborhood, she noticed that after a block or so, things started looking a bit creepier than like, your standard the whole world is empty-vibe.

"Looks like they started repairing a bunch a place and just...stopped." She pointed to one, "Look, there's mold on the wall, but the paint around it looks pretty fresh." The girl preened a little at getting to sound knowledgeable to Mimsy and maybe to the Konstantin guy as well.

Movement in the house had her narrowing her gaze. "Something's in there."

Movement again, this time slow enough to catch sight of a shadow figure, distinctly not human at all. America stiffened, asking slowly, "So like, it got mentioned on Twitter, but have either of you ever seen shadow things before? The sort other folks can't see?"

nothing yet

its me debz

 

[Nothing Yet]

Town

America's growing confidence was obvious, and while it didn't make Mimsy feel more confident in turn, it continued to give her comfort. She was relieved that the other girl had found her, now unable to fathom herself in this situation otherwise.

The observation about the houses was taken very seriously, and she began to examine the distinct split between the newly-painted area and the remainder of the wall.

"Oh. That is fascinating and very irrational." She sounded as impressed as she could in her near-permanent monotone, and was lingering to assess the oddity until America announced that something was in the house. Worried that it might be another strange man, she hid behind her again, failing to see what America had seen. She didn't hesitate to answer regardless.

"Daddy says that I am not to speak of them...or to them. It is an abnormality, and it is not safe to allow others to know any of my abnormalities." This was already an unnecessarily long method of saying 'yes', even before she continued. "Mother always sees them near me. She is frightened of them, but I like them because they are consistent. I believe that the ability to see them will provide useful insight towards the understanding of portions of the unobserved universe."

It was all matter-of-fact, but not condescending. She didn't sound especially proud of this knowledge.

lizbot

its me debz

 

[Miliardo Kason]

Roland nodded as Caroline picked them out in the lonely hall, he watched as the fabric was passed between them, but again didn't think much of it. "I'm ready when you guys are. I don't know of anywhere else to be really." He paused for a moment when Joy mentioned stopping by a bathroom, clothing had been passed to her. His face went a few shades of red under his tan skin as he quickly looked anywhere that wasn't Caroline or Joy, "Y-yeah. We c-can go whenever y-you're ready J-Joy."

Huni Pi

Nothing Yet

 

[its me debz]

"Work in progress?" he asked, a seemingly rhetorical question although it certainly was not. "Place I vake up. Very clean. All new. Safe...ah...vhat is verd? убежище? Shelter? Big surprise, vhen see outside."

Listening to the dark-haired girl-- Mimsy-- proved actually interesting. Some words were foreign to Konstantin, of course, given his limited English, but it was still quite promising.

The rustling drew his attention, causing him to hum a bit, noncommittal.

"нет," he said, stern. "No. Not before." He paused, and the very loud computer in his mind shouted and shouted about how wonderful shadows were, starting to count them all. It was very difficult to tune it out. "Now computer in head. Maybe anything possible."

Another pause. "But no time travel."

lizbot

nothing yet

 

[lizbot]

Town

America nodded, "You're right. They're something that makes us special, I was always sure, but maybe we really like...shadow slayers like Mr. The Awesome said we were."

She gave a reluctant look of agreement for the foreigner's words. Maybe anything was possible. Except time travel.

That was stupid.

Another shadow joined the first. Then two more. "He said we fight them." She took a step forward, toward the gathering cluster of shadowlings.

nothing yet

its me debz

 

[Nothing Yet]

Town

A stern 'no' in her vicinity would apparently cause Mimsy to flinch in any language - at the very least, in both English and Russian. She squeezed the scissors so tightly that the sharper edges began to press into her palm.

"Written in 'Alice in Wonderland'..." It was unclear if she intended to finish her sentence or not, but she abruptly piped up when she was certain that she'd accurately recalled the words, reciting them with clear enunciation. "'Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.' I have not yet had breakfast. Perhaps this is one of our first impossible things to believe."

Peeking around America's shoulder gave her a good look at a gathering group of shadows. She seemed decidedly less upset by their presence than she had been by the boy's.

"America?" she delicately asked. "Am I allowed to 'slay' them? I am concerned that I am not allowed."

lizbot

its me debz