Castouts (Accepting new characters)

Chris was happy to hear her sister respond to her. So she was awake after all? That was good, good. Chris opened her mouth to say something, nothing important. Then Xander entered the room.


She felt him sit down and she started to feed herself. She winced when she moved her hurt shoulder, the pain coming back up all of a sudden. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out. She wondered how Kyle would react to her new injury. At least this might win her some more pity bonuses if she went out today to beg. A blind, hurt girl asking for money. Chris wondered at that. She knew she shouldn't be doing it a lot. Kat and Xander had both warned that someone could take advantage of her, but Chris had to do something.


Besides she would be fine.


"We should tell him the truth," Chris found herself saying to Xander's question.


----


"Don't be sorry Julian," Jillian told the boy. He quickly gave him a half-hug, not sure if that was going to far or not. He laughed nervously and smiled at the boy.


"I've woken up to worse. Besides I'm use to it from Lionel. So it's no worries. I'm always like this anyways. I've always been told I care too much about people, but it's true. I just want to see if you'll okay."
 
(Just getting Jessie up to time-skip Point. Next post will be Hailey in the morn.)


Raekel pulled herself from Jessie’s grip right away and he just stared her down, rolling his eyes when she sneered at him. There were a lot of things to hide in this house and the girl on the bed was the least of his problems. Hailey was simply yet another pawn, another girl that he had wrapped around his finger and could reel her back in when she woke up.


Never the same, but still head over heels in love, he smirked to himself, it was always this simple…


The girl flicked her cigarette at him and he remained passive about her behavior, almost as if waiting for her to follow through. She did leave after a threat to him and he shook his head after her departure. Although they were proven useless, he locks the door after her, hearing Mike approach from behind him as he finished.


“Did you leave any visible bruises?” he wonders aloud, “There’s some chaffing on her wrists and a bruise on her collar bone…” Mike trails. Jessie nods, and he holds out his hand for the bills to be placed in it, which they are. Crumpled and barely distinguishable as the twenty dollar bills they are; Mike seems to smile at him, grabbing his clothes from the girl’s room and putting them on before speaking again.


“Are you going to kiss her goodnight?” he teases, and Jessie frowns at him, going over to the room and shutting the door after throwing a single bill at the bed. “Let’s go Mike” he notes, heading towards the back and not seeing Mike nodding at his invitation.
 
Cas was a bit surprised when he heard that Rikarah would be bringing home some food from her job. It was rather . . . nice. A warm meal would be a welcomed change, especially since the "warm" meal he tried to bring home yesterday ended up getting cold. Maybe she was a trustworthy person. But he still didn't know the girl nearly well enough to pass judgement. If he let his guard down she might kill them all.


"Thanks . . . I guess. You don't have to if it's an inconvenience."


He turned away when the dark haired girl asked if he was alright. "It's nothing." He didn't want to explain anything to a complete stranger. "Have fun at work," he said before heading into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.
 
Katarina glanced at Chris again as she spoke to Xander, noticing the pain flicker across her face, and frowned, but didn't ask her again if she was okay. She only shifted guiltily, playing with the edge of her sleeve as she turned to Xander, backing her up.


"Yeah, Xander. The truth. Should we go get him and bring him in here, so you can tell us all at once? Because I want to know what happened to you too...and the truth would be nice."


Of course, her telling the truth and his telling the truth are entirely different matters in her mind. Her keeping the truth about things to herself is simply her having privacy. Him, that's just unacceptable.


**


"It's no trouble," Rikarah assured Cas, shaking her head and giving him another brief smile. "I often eat customers' leftovers, and it will be no problem for me to take some of the leftover food from the day and bring it back with me. Not the ones from their plates, of course, just food that was cooked but not purchased.'


She laughs slightly at his bidding her fun, shaking her head. "It is waitressing...the best I can hope for is interesting. But then, most of my days are."


It was certainly the truth, though Castiel could not know to what extent.


**


As Jillian hugged Julian, Julian froze. Jillian was touching him...Jillian was hugging him. Jillian was close, so much he could feel her and smell her, so close she must hear his heart galloping wildly in his chest...and he liked it. He had liked it...he didn't want her to go away. He didn't want her to dislike him....he wanted her to stay here, to talk with him. To touch him.


And that was exactly why Julian pulled back, and before he could think any further about what he was doing, before he could convince himself not to do what he thought was the right thing, the only thing he should do, the best thing for Jillian, he blurted out in a tone shaking so badly it was barely understandable.


"N-no....no, J-J-Jillian...you sh-shouldn't touch me. I...I....I-I-I killed...I killed someone. A little b-boy. I...I killed s-someone...s-so you...you...you should s-stay away."


(Dreams...if it's an abandoned theater...how they gonna have running water to wash face and brush teeth? lol)
 
Jillian wondered why Julian had pulled back and for a moment, Jillian wondered if it was because he didn't like being touched or because he didn't like Jillian. Maybe he thought that Jillian might be coming onto him. He hoped not. Sure Jillian was gay or attracted to men in any case. He couldn't be gay if he didn't know what gender he was after all or... he decided to think on that matter later.


Jillian was confused by Julian's claim. He killed someone? A little boy? Jillian found that hard to imagine Julian doing. It was just too...much for his mind to comprehend. Besides Julian didn't look or act like a killer, but then again what did Jillian know about him? Not much actually. He wondered if it was too late to find that out.


Jillian looked at Julian for a moment. "You killed someone? I... I don't understand Julian."
 
(You don't need running water to wash your face or brush your teeth. It can easily be done with a bottle of water. I mean, didn't Rikarah do the same? Doing it in the bathroom just gives you a place to spit.)


After cleaning himself off, Cas slipped into some clothes that weren't that dirty and left the bathroom. He greeted Natalia. (I'm assuming that Rikarah already left.)


"Oh, good morning Natalia. Did you and Abi sleep well?" Of course he was more concerned for Abi's well being. Natalia, like Rikarah and . . . well . . . most of New York, was part of his list of people not to trust, at least until he could determine whether or not she was a good person. Most people would assume she was good for taking Abi under her wing but there are many reasons to take in a child.


(Sorry for the short post. I'll bring Max and Shira in later.)
 
Xander watched Katarina as she touched his cheek gently, frowning at her flinching away and shuddering, he cracked a grin, trying to lighten the mood in his typical Xander way as he chuckles very lightly, "Is it really that bad?" He shrugs, putting the cereal down for the girls to grab as they wish. When Katarina asked him what happened, he frowned. He couldn't tell them. No. Not only would Katarina worry endlessly, what if they decided to go after Calico? Or even if they just saw him in passing on the street, and decided to go over to him and smack him for hurting Xander. No. He couldn't tell them Calico did it, they'd get themselves killed, they'd be in danger.


Xander had to look after his family. They came first no matter what. And letting them know about Calico would only get them hurt or worse.


Even as the girls say they should tell the truth, half of him proud at their honesty and the other half trying to come up with his own truth, he nods, still frowning lightly as he rubs the spot where he hit his head, "I'm not entirely sure what happened actually. I remember coming back here afterwards and passing out just outside the door. Pretty sure I hit my head." His fingers run over his head and he feels a lump there, a bit of pain showing on his face though he doesn't wince as he quickly retracts his hand. Yeah, he wouldn't be touching that bruise again. Even though the first part was a lie, about not remembering exactly what happened, the rest was truth.


He nods at Kat, glancing to Chris worriedly as Katarina speaks of getting Kyle to come in the room, he knew he didn't want to. Kyle would shoot fifty questions at him as soon as he saw his older brother's face, not to mention what happened yesterday...... His eyes widened slightly and he looked to Katarina, "Uh, Kat. Would you go get him? We sorta had an almost fight yesterday before I left..." He trailed off, "Before this happened." He points at his face, "And he's probably pissed at me right now. Not to mention he'll probably drown me in questions." He pouts lightly, clasping his hands together, "Pleaseeeeee Rina"


He was glad to know his personality was still intact, even if his appearance wasn't.


-------------------------------


Natalia didn't even respond to Rikarah as she spoke of a 'good morning' Mentally scoffing at the term. Natalia hadn't had a good morning in five years. She moved passed them both as they spoke, going into the food storage room and grabbing some breakfast for her and Terabithia. She couldn't stop herself from eavesdropping as she sorted out what to get for them, and she noted Rikarah's bringing back of food. Knowing her pride wouldn't allow her to ask for any, but also knowing that Terabithia would certainly speak up and ask for her and Blue to share some leftovers.


Her eyes narrowed as Rikarah spoke of her days being interesting. Another comment popped up in her head, this time it being about Rikarah probably just seeing the past of every customer she met, that would sure make things interesting. She grabbed some food, finally deciding, and walked out as Castiel walked off, coming face to face with Rikarah. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, showing clear distrust, but she didn't mention anything about yesterday, or last night.


Terabithia had woken up at a point in the night - as she did almost every night - and had been crying from nightmares. Usually, it would take Natalia a good half an hour to settle her, and even that it was a struggle. But last night, though Natalia had struggled at first, she found an odd sensation came over her and she calmly asked Terabithia to forget her nightmare, and go to sleep. And she did.


So as Natalia stood there now, not only did she know what had happened yesterday, how they had seen each other's pasts and Natalia had somehow controlled shadows - not that she thought that was to do with Rikarah, she had an inkling that was to do with the boy from the hotdog stand incident - but she also had a massive supicision that Rikarah could also do what Natalia had done last night, persuasion on a supernatural level.


Once Rikarah had left, Castiel came back as on cue, asking Natalia if she and Terabithia slept well. Of course she wasn't going to tell the boy that no actually, Terabithia had nightmares every night of her parents' death and their funeral being twisted into them coming back to life and turning evil. So she simply nodded, about as untrustful of Castiel as he was of her, "Yeah. We're good. You and Shira?" She had no idea why she was still here, still being social. Maybe it was because she was subtly fearful that if she was as rude to Castiel as she was to normal people, that he would kick her and Terabithia out.
 
Katarina narrowed her eyes at Xander as he replied so vaguely, knowing very well that this couldn't be all he remembered. He was keeping something back, and she didn't like it at all. What was going on? Did every single one of them have a huge secret?


"You don't remember how you broke your jaw, bruised up your whole face, and blacked your eye?" she challenged, looking Xander straight in the face. "You happened to do all that just falling down? You suck at lying, you know that?"


She continues to eye him, not heeding his request just yet. "You know, Xan, Kyle's not the only one who's pissed at you. You were out of line yesterday. You don't have any right to tell me who I can and can't date or be interested in or anything else. It's my life and my body." She paused, glancing at Chris, and bit her lip briefly before pushing on, "And you didn't have any right to...show things or say things I didn't say you could."


That's all she's going to say about the incident of him shoving up her sleeve in front of Steven. She leaves that hanging as she stands up to go get Kyle anyway. "I'll get him...but I'm not gonna head off any questions he has. I want answers too."


**


Julian swallowed several times, trying to keep his tongue from drying out entirely, and each time it briefly stuck to the roof of his mouth. He couldn't look at Jillian...he couldn't even move. He was hunched over as though he were much smaller than he actually was, and he was shivering slightly, his hands twisting hard in his lap as he struggled to find words.


Inside his mind he was almost screaming. He was ruining everything he could have had, everything he might have had...the first few days in his life where he had felt good. Where he felt that other people might think he was okay...maybe even like him. He was ruining it, it would never be the same again.


But he had to. He had to, it was what he deserved. he had to.


"I did," he whispered, into his chest more than up to Jillian's face. "I...I did. I...I'm sorry."
 
"We slept fine. Shira's still sleeping even." A silence filled the air between Cas and Natalia. There wasn't much to talk about was there. And with the distrust shared among the two of them, there was obviously not going to be any sharing of secrets. He noticed that Natalia had taken some food. It was probably breakfast for Abi and her. "You're welcome to take whatever you want from the 'pantry'. It's not like there's anything special in there. Rikarah said she was going to see if she could bring home some food from her workplace. She's probably going to bring something for everyone so I wouldn't fill up too much tonight, just in case. It's best to eat the perishable stuff first after all."


After a while, he realized that it was getting a bit late in the morning. "I should probably head off to work now. Bye." He went through the front doors and started down the street. Due to his bit of splurging yesterday, he'd have to make up for it today. He walked past a few dozen shops, trying to decide which one he'd rob today.


*****


By the time Shira woke up, Cas was already long gone. She walked into the hallway, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was still pretty sleepy but felt as if she wanted to wake up now. Still pretty much asleep, she dragged her feet along the floor and looked around. "Cas?" He must've left for work. He always leaves early, or at least early for Shira. As a ray of sunlight shone in her eyes, she hissed a bit. Mornings were just evil. She had always been more of a night owl.


Making it into the bathroom, she splashed water onto her face from the bucket left by the sink and then brushed her teeth. The blonde winced a bit as she ran the comb through her tangled hair. As she got ready for the day, she couldn't help but ask herself, What did she dream of yesterday? It felt like a nightmare since she woke up rather suddenly but she couldn't quite remember what it was about. Oh well, it doesn't really matter. After she was done, she walked out into the hall again, looking around a bit to see if there was anyone still home.
 
Chris listened quietly at Kat yelled at Xander for what happened yesterday. She tried to stay out of it, mostly because she wasn't actually involved in what was going on and because she knew better than to try and meddle. Besides Chris wasn't a mediator at all. She rarely fought or got into the middle of fights because she didn't want to bother or she wasn't all that there to do so.


But she had to agree with Kat on some of the things she said. When she spoke of Steven, Chris felt her hand go to her pocket where the number laid. She wondered if she asked Kat or Xander if they would call Max for her. They didn't really have a phone or a way and she wasn't sure how else to call even if she said she might. Her blindness and poverty prevented her and this frustrated the young girl. But she didn't voice this frustration. Not yet. Maybe if she mentioned it, one of them could help her find a way or she might get desparate enough to ask a stranger if she went out begging. Though if Xander didn't want Kat with Steven, would he approve of Chris talking to some boy she just met? She doubted it. So maybe Kat was the better option. After all she had seemed to like the idea of Chris getting out there and talking to people.


When Kat went to get Kyle, Chris finally spoke again. "I'm not angry at you Xander," she said. "Just don't...do anything that bad. We still need you."


----


"Why are you apologizing to me," Jillian asked the boy. It was confusing still and Jillian wondered if Lionel or Duck might wake up at any moment to say anything. But Jillian was focused on Julian right now, trying to understand what he meant and what was going on. Everything seemed so fine and now this. What was Julian's purpose in admitting to murder? Was it as simple as pushing Jillian away. Jillian didn't think he was close enough to Julian yet for that but maybe he felt the sooner the better.


That was if Jillian believed him.


"Julian I don't know what to say. Why would you tell me this?"
 
Xander found himself actually glaring lightly at his twin as she told him he sucked at lying, about to snap back that he hadn't said that was ALL he remembered, just a bit of it. But then she had moved onto the subject of STEVEN. Mentioning it was her life, and her body. Well, Xander sure as heck knew that. What had she been doing behind his back for the past however months? Oh, that was right.


Selling herself.


And her life? Her life was part of his life! And if she were to have Steven in her life - not only might it end it - but that also make Steven a part of Xander's life, which he didn't want at all. Katarina could date once she had her own house. Which considering their situation might be never. Sure she might have a point with the last bit, knowing she was referring to him pulling up her sleeve, but he was mad, and what she was doing to herself was stupid and needed to be stopped.


But still, he kept his mouth shut and let her pass, his body tense and his unwillingness to move causing Katarina to have to bump into his shoulder to get past. His fists are clenched and he looks down, eyes shut - one of his eyelids completely black from the beating - as he thinks and tries to calm down. A jolt of electricity leaps from him suddenly, hitting the floor and vanishing but making a sparking sound as it does so. Then he hears Chris speak, and he opens his eyes to look at his baby sister, she's not angry? He sighs and moves over to sit beside her on her bed, muttering lightly, "You'd be the first Chris. I feel like I'm just messing up everything lately."


He looks to her, glad he wasn't sparking electricity anymore, "Is your shoulder alright? If I ever see that Max guy again I'll have to thank him, without him I have no idea what might have happened." Well, he did, but he didn't want to even think of losing another one of his little sisters.


--------------------------


Natalia, after Cas had left, headed back to hers and Terabithia's room. Terabithia looked up as the girl entered, smiling up at her, "Hey Blue, I slept really well last night, I don't even remember having a bad dream." Well, that just confirmed Natalia's suspicions. Last night was not a dream on her part, or even just Terabithia being obedient - which is a rare occurrence. She definitely needed to talk to Rikarah; whether the girl wanted to or not.


Once they had eaten, Terabithia had speedily gotten dressed and got her hair as tidy as it would go, slipping out of the room while Natalia was still getting ready and heading to the stage. After throwing a boa around her neck, grabbing a little handbag and a toy baby doll that was left behind - now it looked rather pathetic bless it, with a dusty face, dirty clothes and eyes that would no longer open. Still, she was good enough for Terabithia, and as she pranced around the stage she muttered to the baby like it was real. "Now now Annabel, stop crying, Mummy's just getting you your bottle." She cooed, pretending to feed the baby with an invisible bottle. Once she was done, she patted the baby lightly on the back, still speaking in her 'mummy' voice as she jumped down from the stage, "Shush Annabel, shush, Mummy will get you some real food if you're still hungry." She carried the baby in her arms, still with the pink boa and handbag as she walked down the hall. She found herself bumping into someone and looked up to see Shira, "Oh hi there!" She beamed up at her, holding her baby up for Shira to see, "This is my baby Annabel, she's hungry, do you want to be her auntie?"


-----------------------------------


Lei trotted down the sidewalk, her black fingerless gloves in place on her hands as usual. She walked with a confident air around herself, despite the fact that she was a small, five year old girl. She had found out much about her dad already, but yet still believed him to be a good man. Why wouldn't she? Sure he did mean stuff sometimes, but that was only because he had to, or because the person took stuff that was his. Like when he stopped the thugs from hurting Lei's mummy, he was protecting someone else.


She looked around curiously as she walked down the sidewalk, her journey had brought her here, having narrowed it down to a small area and she was keeping an eye out for the man in the picture, Calico. She spotted an average looking diner, and headed for it, deciding now was a good time as any to get breakfast. She headed inside, spotting a waitress who showed an odd resemblance to a pixie or fairy and heading over to her, "Hello?" She looked up at the lady, her voice the same as any five year old girl; sweet and gentle.


Not only could she get some breakfast, but maybe this girl knew something about her dad Calico. Little did she know Rikarah - the waitress she had spoken to - knew her dad, and not in a good way.
 
Katarina jolted slightly as Xander made it difficult for her to pass, and took a step back, staring at him. He hadn't said in a word, which meant, in her mind, that he knew she was right. But then the spark of electricity left his body and hit the ground, and Katarina's lips thinned. He was angry with her, obviously...great. Just great. And she hadn't failed to notice that he hadn't apologized.


"You're not gonna tell us now? Then you better tell us when I get Kyle," she said stiffly. "You made me tell you things, now it's your turn to talk to. You have to, Kyle. We have to know what we're all up to around here, it's important."


She left the room then and knocked on Kyle's door, sticking her head inside briefly. "Kyle? It's Kat, come to my and Chris's room for breakfast."


**


Julian's face was almost gray with his anxiety as he shook his head, wrapping his arms around himself and rocking slightly, though he did not notice what he was doing. For several moments he rocked and tried to force his racing thoughts into a logical alignment, trying to make sense of what he should say, what he could do, and what might happen...what he wanted to happen.


He wanted Jillian to know how terrible he was, how vital it was not to like him, not to even look at him. And yet...he didn't want to leave. He didn't want her to hate him. He wanted...all he wanted was to be right, and that could never be.


"I did do it," he whispered, his voice much lower. "I didn't want to, b-but I d-did. I...b-b-because...you should...not like me. N-not touch m-me. S-stay away. You...you should."


**


Wiping down a recently vacated table, Rikarah looked up at the sound of a child's voice. There was a little Asian girl, maybe four or five years old, standing in front of her, very polite and sedate in her mannerisms. Rikarah looked around to see if there were any other adults nearby, but it was a slow morning, and the only other two tables occupied were paying her no mind at all.


Interesting, she thought to herself as she smiled down at the child.


"Hello. Can I help you with something? Are you lost?"
 
(Joboz, would Abi like to meet Max? It's just I was going to have Shira meet him today and was wondering if Abi would like to come along.)


Shira looked down as she bumped into something. It was Abi. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." As the little red head held up her "baby", Shira couldn't help but smile a bit. Cas was right. She was really cute. "Okay," she said. Shira looked at the doll. It was really dirty, too dirty for a kid to play with. "I think baby Annabel needs a bath." The blonde girl went into the bathroom and took a rag off the edge of the sink, the one Shira herself typically used to clean her own face, and dunked it into the water bucket. She brought it to Abi and the baby doll.


Kneeling so that she was level with the two, she began wiping some of the dust off of the face. She found the thing a bit creepy. The way it couldn't open its eyes was like the setup for a horror movie. And when they least expect it the doll would suddenly open its eyes and kill them all. When she was somewhat done, she looked at the rag. It was filthy and the doll wasn't even perfectly clean. Shira dropped the rag to the side. She'd . . . get a new one later.


She noticed Abi's clothing, mainly the pink boa. Jokingly, she said, "Are you off to a ball or something?"
 
(I'll post for Xander after Kyle's response)





Lei smiled back up at the friendly appearing lady - though she knew not to judge a book by it's cover, after all the murders that the walls had shown her - and shook her head. "No, I'm not lost. I'm here to get some breakfast." She looked around, checking out how many people were in the diner and was satisfied to see it wasn't many. They wouldn't make much of a lone child getting some food; they were too involved in what they were doing anyway.


Looking back at the waitress, she thought maybe she might question it, but she could easily throw one of her many excuses out there, and even if the waitress didn't believe it, what would she do? Call the police? Social services? Lei would be long gone by then.


"Do you have a breakfast menu?"


(Yeah sure xD She's up for pretty much anything. Natalia might come looking for her also though, unless you don't want them to meet just yet)





Terabithia clapped a bit as Shira agreed to being the baby's auntie, she spoke as Shira went to go get something, "You hear that Annabel? You've got a new auntie and she's gonna help give you a bath!" She frowned as though the baby was speaking to her before shaking her head as Shira came back, "No no Annabel, I promise Auntie won't get any soap in your eyes! You keep them closed just in case though."


Once Shira had cleaned her baby Terabithia grinned, deciding she liked Shira a lot aswell, "Thank you Shira!" She looked to the baby, "Say thank you to your Auntie!" The baby murmured a, "Thank you" Though of course Terabithia had just whispered it and pretended it wasn't her, but Terabithia still seemed proud of her little Annabel as she clutched her to her chest.


When Shira spoke of a ball, Abi's eyes lit up, "A ball! That's a really good idea! Do you want to go to a ball with me Shira?" She frowned, "I don't think I have a fancy dress though"
 
Shira shook her head. "Cas always says I'm more of a pirate or monkey than a princess, so I don't think I'd fit in at a ball." She brought a hand to her chin in contemplation. "Come with me," she told Abi and she went into her and Cas' room. Walking to the back of the room, she pulled back a foldable screen to reveal a clothing rack nearly full of old costumes.


But there weren't too many for a child of Abi's size and they were all really dusty so it wouldn't be smart to have Abi, or anyone, wear such dirty clothing. "I'm sorry, Abi. It doesn't look like you'll be able to go to any ball today. Everything is just too dirty. But we can tell Cas to wash some of them when he gets back."


She wiped some of the dust on her hands off. "Abi do you want to go somewhere?" Shira was getting bored of home. Having explored everything the first few weeks she and her brother had laid claims to this building, there was nothing else in the theater that could amuse her. She wanted to go out like she did yesterday and meet more interesting people.
 
Continuing to eye the child curiously, Rikarah nodded in response to her question. "Sure. I will get you one...will you be able to read it?"


Somehow she suspected that the child would be able to. It was the way she stood with quiet self-confidence, the way she looked Rikarah in the eye and spoke to her as if she were her age or older. She could not resist then asking the child another question, though she just as easily could have took the answer from her thoughts, if she were wanting to know badly enough. Perhaps if the child was vague in her response, and Rikarah had nothing better to do- and what better did she have to do, wipe tables?- then she would.


"Are you here alone?" she asked mildly. "Children generally do not travel and eat alone, is why I was wondering."
 
*Kyle had been up since early morning, practicing the moves he thinks Steven is gonna teach him, when he hears a knock on the door he runs to it and swings it open thinking it's Steven but when he sees Kat he loses his excitement* Oh it's just you, where is Steven I don't see his car, didn't he come back with you and Chris? *He looks worried that Kat or Xander scared Steven away but he holds back from actually saying it, hoping that Steven got held up at his work.* So what do you want Kat, I'm busy training.


(sorry its so short and lame, sorry)
 
Raekel stood across the street from the house she had been to yesterday. She wasn't sure whose house it was. The girl's, the man's or his friend's maybe. The man she had run into claimed it was his but she had a feeling he might be lying. She could say the house she lived in was her's all she wanted, but the truth was that she was just squatting in the place.


Raekel took a long drag on her cigarette, studying the place, wondering if anyone was going to come out of it or go or something. She had a nagging feeling this was not a good idea. That if she messed to much with that man he might do something. But the anger she felt at seeing the girl like that? No. It would be worth it if she could get that girl away. Not only would she be helping her out, but also messing up that guy's plan.


Seeing the girl whoever she is reminded Raekel of when she was forced into prostitution. It was an unwelcome remembrance. Raekel would prefer not to recall those times, all those guys who touched her, did things to her. But she had managed to escape and maybe she could help this girl out too. Raekel wasn't going to let it go so easily if what was going on was what she thought it was.


----


Lionel was asleep through some of the Jillian/Julian discussion. He was having a fairly normal dream and could vaguely recall it when he was awoken to the sound of talking. He looked at Jillian's bed which was right next to his and then heard Jillian speak and a protest. He shut his eyes, not sure what was going on. It was when he heard Julian confess that Lionel was happy he kept on pretending.


Julian had killed someone? Lionel felt uneasy and sick. Not only because Julian was a potential murderer, but it drew back the moment of the death of his sister. What he had done with his powers. Lionel shivered underneath the blankets, hoping neither would see him or think he was just maybe cold and not awake. He listened though, now drawn to the conversation.


Julian didn't want to kill it sounded like but was he telling the truth? And if Julian, a mostly stranger, could confess to Jillian so soon, was Lionel wrong in keeping his secrets from Jillian?
 
Chris was surprised to hear Xander mention Max. She wondered if this was the right time to bring up the phone number. Maybe Xander wouldn't mind Chris hanging out with him after all. It was not that Chris needed or wanted permission to spend time with the man. Chris made her own desicions she was long past asking for permission to do things. She never did before the accident and afterwards, well she never did much to have to think about it.


But what Chris sought was Xander's approval for a different reason. She saw how he acted about Steven and Kat and Chris did not want to hear it from Xander, about her and Max. If there was ever to be a her and Max. Not that she thought there would be, but she didn't know how Xander would take her interest in the boy. Chris only wanted to befriend Max really. He was the first person outside her family to treat her like a person and not her disability and besides he did help her out. Though maybe she did want more. She wasn't sure.


"It still hurts, especially if I move it too much or too suddenly, but I'm use to pain," Chris said. She hated how that sound. She meant the pain from her burns when it first happened of course. She just hope Xander knew that. "And yeah, sure. He was really helpful and he was... a nice guy."


----


"I don't think you can just force me to not like you Julian," Jillian said a little more harshly than he had expected to be. But Jillian was confused and tired and he just didn't know what to make of Julian's confession. Does he believe him? And if he does then what? The logical choice would be to turn him over to the police, but Jillian knew he could not do such a thing.


"I don't know what to say Julian. I don't know if you're lying or not and if not, then.." Jillian shrugged. "But you didn't tell me why you're telling me this. Do you hate me and this is some way to get me to leave you alone?"


 
Katarina huffs, raising an eyebrow and putting her hand on her hip as she stands in Kyle's doorway, somewhat offended by the way his face had fallen at the sight of her. Was she THAT disappointing to be around? If she didn't know better, she'd think Kyle was the one wanting to date Steven.


"Don't worry about Steven right now, we need to talk. All of us. So come in our room...what do you mean, training?" she adds with a snicker. "For what? Homeless Olympics?"


She doesn't wait for a reply before she returns to her room, sitting on her bed with Chris and avoiding Xander's eyes. It still pisses her off that he hasn't apologized...does he not care about what he did yesterday? Does he not care how it made her feel?


**


Julian appears to literally shrink as his muscles tense and draw into themselves, his shoulders drawing up almost to his ears, and he shakes his head slowly but with sincerity in response to Jillian's question. No...no, he didn't hate Jillian. That was the problem...that he liked her entirely too much, though he still could not figure out why. The problem was that she didn't hate him.


"I'm...I just...I th-th-ink you sh-should know," he stammers, and finds himself blinking back tears, his lips pressing together into a thin line as he tries to keep them from emerging or showing where Jillian might see. "I...I...I'm s-sorry. I just...you sh-should be safe. You should...I'm sorry."


He turns away then, laying down in his bed, even as his heartbeat races and his breathing staggers, loud and audible. His eyes are closed, but he can feel the tears begin to trickle down his cheeks.
 
Terabithia followed Shira idly as she headed to find a fancy dress for her, clutching her baby still while she watched Shira search for a dress. She rocked the baby and hushed it, as though it was crying, before looking up at Shira when she spoke of Cas washing them, "Yeah, that would be really cool! Maybe if there's a big one then Natalia can be at the ball with me and if we find an eyepatch and a monkey tail then you could be the pirate monkey who breaks into the ball and steals all the banana punch drink!" Terabithia is already imagining a complex adventure where her and Natalia head off to find the pirate monkey and regain their punch, along the way bumping into a beautiful little pixie/fairy named Rikarah who grants them the power of flight and they finally find the pirate monkey aboard a floating ship with Captain Castiel.


Yeah, she definitely wants to play that game now.


Then Shira is speaking about going out somewhere and Terabithia nods almost instantly, "As long as baby Annabel can come with us! 'Cause I don't have a babysitter for her yet and my own mummy used to tell me that you can never leave a baby on it's own incase something bad happens." She takes off the boa and handbag, still holding the baby, thinking that since she wasn't going to a ball just yet she'll have to just wear her own stuff.


-------------------------


Lei nodded as Rikarah asked her if she could read, "I can read most words, but some of the bigger ones are a bit harder to figure out." Most of Lei's knowledge came from sight and sound, so it was true that she found a few words difficult, but she was sure they would have something simple on their menu, like toast or sandwich, she could read both of those words.


When she was asked if she was here alone, Lei made a quick decision to keep it vague for now, no need to give a fake story just yet. If she was asked further however, then she would dish out a tale, perhaps something about her mummy being sickly and she was picking up breakfast for them. Lei always thought of them as stories, fairy tales even, so that way she wouldn't have to associate it with her own mummy, not ever wanting to see that image of her being beaten to death ever again. Even just thinking about it now was making a bit of fear rise, remembering how scared she was when she watched through a crack in the wardrobe, only daring to clamber out once the men had left and her mummy was nothing but a beaten corpse.


She smiled at Rikarah, "I'm here alone." She shook back her head slightly as it was tickling her neck, looking the lady in the eyes, not wanting to re-ask for a menu, hoping the waitress would drop the questions so she could get going. She had a mission to complete, a father to find.


------------------


Xander simply ignored Katarina for the moment, looking to Chris as she spoke, frowning at her being used to pain. He didn't voice an argument though, what could he say? He was pretty sure they all were, what with the parents they had. But maybe she meant the fire. Either way, there was nothing he could say back to that.


Xander nodded as she spoke about Max, "Yeah. If I spot him today I'll say thanks." He then spared a glance for Katarina, noticing how she was avoiding looking at him. Great. He was annoyed, she was annoyed. This wasn't going to end well. Sure a sibling argument is bad, but when twins get going there's no stopping them until someone's either hurt or crying.


Still, he had his reasons for wanting to keep Steven away from Kat. He had seen the man freakin' kill someone! And BLOW UP a van. No matter what Steven's reasons were, he didn't want his sister around that, or his brother for that matter. If Calico had almost beat him to death just for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, what would he do if he found out Katarina was dating the guy who blew up his van and killed his men? He'd kill her for sure, maybe even worse. And he couldn't take that chance. He couldn't let his sister get hurt because she wanted to date a killer.


Whether she was pissed at him or not.
 
The child was still suspiciously vague and yet seemingly straightforward, self possessed, even as she looks up at Rikarah with smiling patience. Rikarah lets her face remain pleasant and unconcerned, even as her curiosity burns. The past couple of days have brought her across such an abundance of fascinating people...Rikarah is rarely bored, for she does not remain idle long enough to allow for that, but she would have no chance of that as of late.


"Here, you may sit here," she tells the child, indicating a table in the corner, and goes to retrieve a menu for her, laying it down. "Let me know what drink you would like, and I'll be with you in a moment."


She debates whether it's worth attempting to read her thoughts and for the moment, decides no. After her weakness from last night it is probably not wise to push herself if she does not think it necessary to know the other person's thoughts, at least not for a few more hours, and what reason would she NEED to know the thoughts of a little girl? It was not as though she were a danger to Rikarah.


**


Katarina noticed, of course, that Xander was not looking at her, and she rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, crossing her arms and playing with the ends of her sleeve. She is looking at him specifically and rather pointedly when she speaks.


"Kyle isn't exactly eager to come because I'm not Steven and he's practicing his "training." I think he's got a man crush on the guy."
 
"Okay then. Fresh air is good for babies anyway." Shira led Abi and baby Annabel out the front doors of the theater. As she was walking, she began drifting off in thought, trying to figure out what drem she had the other night. It was really bothering her and it was happening a lot lately. Even when she was awake, she was forgetting things, Was she already developing alzheimer's. That would suck. She was only 14. To have an old person problem would be just weird.


Not paying attention to where she was going, she crashed into someone. Looking up, she saw it was the same guy she bumped into yesterday.


Max looked down when someone bumped into him. It was the girl from yesterday. She was with another girl, this one much younger. Flashing his usual princely smile, he introduced himself. "To bump into eachother two days in a row, this is such a coincidence. Hi there. My name is Max. Who are you two?"


". . . My name is Shira and this is Abi." Shira wasn't quite sure if she could trust this person. There was something in the back of her head that said no, but he didn't seem to be triggering any major flags. He wasn't a stranger now that she knew his name. He wasn't wearing a trench coat. He didn't drive a windowless white van. And he wasn't hurting her. So he was a good guy, right?
 
"Maybe... Actually he gave me his number. I'm not sure whether it's a cell or not. Mainly because I can't actually read it." Sure Chris could "see" things with her power. And she could certainly see finer details if she developed it far enough, but there was not way she was going to be able to see writing again. Not unless it was some letter sign that she could see the shape of. Reading was something that was gone forever to her. Maybe if she concentrated heard enough she could see the way the person wrote and figured out letters, but books. Nope. Chris swallowed and went on, trying to distract herself from such thoughts. "I think he guess I ask one of you to call me for him since well.. I can't do much myself."


Chris shrugged as if it was no big deal. She wondered if the fight between the two would go on. It seemed to have in the past and Chris wondered if going out would be better. She didn't want to hear them fight. Even now it was uncomfortable. "But we don't have phones so.." Chris shrugged again.


She then turned her head in the direction of Kat. "Well I do think it'd be good to train our powers. I mean...having more control would be nice."


----


Jillian watched Julian shake his head no. So Julian did not hate him? Somehow that made Jillian feel a bit better about the whole situation. But it was only a bit. He was still confused and concerned about Julian's state. Why was this happening all of a sudden? Jillian felt the urge to just let it go. To let Julian push him away. It would be easier for him to just forget what happened. Maybe even force Julian out or leave himself.


Because that was what he did. Even if Julian was telling the truth and so had reasons to push Jillian away, Jillian knew what was happening. When his parents got into a huge fight over him, over his gender, Jillian had left because he could not handle it. He couldn't handle disappointing his mom and dad and setting them against each other. And now that he was presented with another tough and unwelcomed situation all he wanted to go was run.


But Jillian did not do that. He watched Julian start to cry and he stood, moving so he was in front of Julian, kneeling down. Then he shook his head, wiping away some of the tears.


"Don't cry. I...I don't know what to say Julian. I really don't. I don't want to believe you. I'd hate to know you did something like that, but...don't cry. Please."


----


Liselle was still on her way to work when she noticed someone. A familiar someone. It was the girl she had run into yesterday. Liselle was certain of that. From her short red hair to her scruffy black jacket to her expression. It was the girl who threw a fit when Liselle had run into her. Liselle let out a sigh. She was going to have to walk past her and Liselle wasn't sure what might happen.


She watched the smoking girl for a moment and then tried to hurry past her.
 
Katarina turned to Chris, newly interested and glad to have someone to look at other than Xander, and touched her shoulder briefly, to alert her to her desire to take the paper from her. "Where's the paper? I can call for you...we can go to a phone booth, or something. There's one a few blocks down. Oh, or maybe Steven has a cell phone! That would be useful. We sort of need one for emergencies and stuff."


She rolls her eyes, though Chris can't see it, in response to her comment about them needing to train, giving a snort. "Yeah, I mean, I know Steven is really helping Kyle and I'm really glad...just...should he practice with no one around? Plus to me it looked more like he was doing stretches and stuff. Like he's some kind of athlete...he really does seem to have a crush on him." She pauses, then says with some concern for him, "Do you think he really might? Because...Steven...he likes me. So far, anyway."


Then, glancing over at Xander again and seeing his tensed jaw, she looks at him directly as she speaks to him too. "Xander...you know you have to tell us what really happened when Kyle comes in. I KNOW you remember. If you're in danger, and you don't exactly look safe if you look in the mirror, then we are too, so don't you think you should tell us?"


**


Julian had expected Jillian to leave him alone. He had expected him to either leave the room, or tell Julian to leave and never come back. Or at the very least, to ignore him and go back to sleep. He expected that the danger of Jillian's gentleness towards him would be over, that he would never want to speak or touch to him again.


But no...Jillian was coming to his bed. Jillian was bending over him. Jillian was speaking to him gently, Jillian...Jillian was wiping his tears.


Even now, Jillian thought highly of him, so much she wouldn't believe it. Even now, she didn't want him to hurt.


Somehow knowing this, that Jillian still liked him, only intensified his guilt, and Julian rolled away from him, his tears growing faster, though they remain silent. He curled into a ball, knowing he should stand, knowing he should leave. But his legs would not seem to work, would not move him out of the bed.


"I-I-I d-did. I di-didn't want to b-but I did. I'm s-sorry...I...I...I sh-should go. I'm sorry."


Despite his stutter, his words are very soft, and one would have to be very close to understand him.
 
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