a new arrival

[tinico]

i. december

Nicholas was out for errands, a shopping bag slung over his shoulder with things that he'd been sent to buy, and he was almost back to the orphanage, smile already on his face to be returning to the shade. Then there was an odd shake of the ground, making him stumble, and when he looked up, everything was very different. Where buildings had been standing, now there was much damage, his familiarity the only reason he could recognize them anymore. Where people had been wandering around, laughing or yelling or just going about their business, there was... nobody. Only silence. And there was a strange smell in the air, like something wet had been spilled a while ago.

Nicholas's smile faded, eyes going very wide, and he ran towards his home, only to find the worst of the damage to be around it. He was calling out names - Miss Malanie's, everyone's - but there was only silence. Soon, he could see that there were signs that someone had been holed up in the basement, and then upstairs also but those were more recent.

And nobody was answering. Nobody.

ii.desert walking

Everyone had left. So he had to go somewhere else. He had no idea where, but. He'd managed to find a wide brimmed hat, and had added to his shopping bag whatever supplies he had. And he was walking to the next town he had seen on the maps. Which he'd also taken. There would be someone somewhere, right?

iii. octovern

Luckily for him, before walking in the desert could become too much for him, there had been another earthquake - and then he was among people again. After many, many hours mostly alone, other than some random encounters, he kind of needed a moment to lean in the shade and close his eyes in relief. He had not been to this city, but at least it was alive. He would take that.

Then he squared his shoulders, and went exploring. Even if he knew nobody, he should be able to find people who needed help that he could earn a living with, right?

iv. wildcard

ooc: have another idea? he'll pop up there! brackets and prose all good, will match.

Comments

[louboutinjudas]

As well he should! Anyone tries to kidnap you, kid, you hit 'em hard and run away, then come back later and finish the job.

The look Nicholas gives him tells Wolfwood that the orphanage isn't called Hopeland -- at least, in whichever version of the world the kid comes from -- so with that in mind Wolfwood straightens up, slaps on his very best youth pastor smile, and strolls up to the nearest helmetted and uniformed soldier, his hands empty at his sides, to inquire politely about the location of Miz Luida.

The guard has clear opinions about a scruffy looking guy asking for access to the halls of government, but he's willing to direct the two further down the line to a higher ranking officer... who tells them no, in no uncertain terms. The best he'll allow for is a message, that Wolfwood is certain won't actually get delivered, but fuck it, they've come this far.

How to phrase it, so if she gets the message she understands it?

Fine, he says, his smile going toothy from frustration. If you'd be so kind, please convey to Miz Luida that there's a dead priest of her acquaintance here to see her. Yes sir, you heard me correct. No sir, I'm not joking. Those exact words, if you don't mind.

The muffled dead priest, who's this guy think he's fooling? message gets radioed on down the line, and Wolfwood takes the opportunity to light another cigarette, pointedly not looking at Nicholas.

[tinico]

The man doesn't look like a priest.

But Nicholas promised not to ask until later, and asking won't get them anywhere faster.

He also flinched, hard, at the dead priest part.

That grave in December was very, very conspicuous.

But he keeps his mouth shut and his eyes and ears open. And he is watching Roberto very carefully.

At least until they are ushered in and there is a slim woman with spiky hair who is frowning at the two of them, so he frowns back, but still he lets the talking be done. And as he listens, his frown deepens, but it's more confused, now. She seems to know and not know Roberto. And then the look she turns on him is... strange. Even by the standards of how strange everything has been for these few days.

So he straightens up to his full height. "D'you know where Miss Melanie an' the other kids are?" Pause. "Please?"

[louboutinjudas]

He honestly didn't expect it to work! He expected the guard to tell them to fuck off, and to have to find another way into the building -- through the roof, maybe, later that night? -- but instead there's a bunch of chatter, and then they're escorted inside. And it's not to a holding cell, which he'd also have expected, but up into one of the offices, and there, unmistakable even though they've never met, is Luida.

He quickly introduces her before she can call him by name in front of Nicholas, Roberto de Niro, ma'am, a pleasure, and he can tell right away that she's not buying it. But he also sees the way she's looking at Nicholas, and he thinks he can work with that.

It's a strange world out there right now, ma'am, he drawls, as he's sure she's noticed. People are ending up very far away from where they're meant to be. It's a big world, and some of those towns are just worlds apart, wouldn't she agree? Anyway, this young man here, Nicholas -- yes ma'am, you heard that right -- he's become separated from his people. Surely there's a place for him here?

And Nicholas, bless his manipulative little heart, seems to get right in on the act, asking for Miss Melanie so politely that Wolfwood is sure the answer will be yes -- hell, if Melanie's not here, that kind of ask from a cute little kid should send Luida scurrying to find her, wherever she might be. The kid will be just fine, Wolfwood thinks with relief. He won't have to...

...and then, in the space between one word and the next, the whole room shifts around him, and Wolfwood finds himself out at the edge of a mesa, surrounded on all sides by desert as far as the eye can see. They can probably hear him, all the way back in Octovern:

"Oh what the fuck?!

annd wrap.

[tinico]

In all fairness, Nicholas really, really is determined to find his family, so he also kind of completel means it, though the please is an addition because of how, well, official everything around them looks.

Luida starts to answer, and then there is a sudden... not exactly sound, but the absence of sound where there was some before, like breathing, and they both stare at the blank space where Roberto used to be.

Nicholas's chin drops, because, of course, he was always the one who was moved like this before, never having witnessed it, and the words slip out of him helplessly. "You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me!"

There is a pause, and then the woman gives a sharp, but not quite pained laugh.

Well, that certainly answers some questions. And raises a few more, but they're not yours to answer. C'mon, kid, let's see if we can find Melanie for you. The last part sounds a little more tentative, but Nicholas is willing to take that, too.

He'll follow.