CelticSol
kawaii in the streets, senpai in the sheets
Jericho absently listened to the woman's tale from where he sat against the wall. Between his stretched out legs, a fair-haired girl sat, obediently remaining still as he carefully braided the girl's hair. Her small feet tapped a rythmn on the tile, gaining speed at the high points of the woman's story. I wanna go over there, the girl thought, her thoughts as clear as if she had spoken them aloud, but Jericho is playing with my hair, and it's nice. As he pulled the last strands into the french braid and tied it off, and as she gave a speedy 'thank you' and headed for the dog pile, his thoughts wandered to earlier, causing his lips to thin into a grim line.Light said:Alice was sitting down in the lobby with a handful of children around her. She was grinning as the children began to dog pile her, as if they had forgotten about the threat. "Alright! I'll tell you about the time I fought another dragon!" Alice was tricked into telling them due to their smiles, a sheer contrast from the terrified faces they had before.
Ashlyn was looking around until she spotted a tall individual no to far away from Alice and her clique of kids. She continues to stare until she's lost in thought.
Gunshots rang out, bringing everyone to the floor. Wide, wide brown eyes met his blue, a hand curling around his with a strength that surprised him, her knuckles white under the pressure. Elena's thoughts were everywhere at once - worried for him, worried for her, but the top of her priorities were a group of children in the open staring down the barrel of a gun as a masked man shouted instructions in their shellshocked faces. Her breath quickened as she stared at the helpless children, and he flipped the grip of their hands so held her down as a decision came to the forefront of her mind. Her eyes snapped back to him, fear replaced with fearless bravery, his free hand quickly signing, "They will kill you, Elena."
Her eyes left him again, focusing back on the children she had pledged herself to when she had taken her place as a nurse, her decision cementing itself in her mind. She pressed a quick kiss to the back of his hand, "Someone has to help, Jericho," then pulled herself up and sprinted forward to them. Jericho got up after her, a scream without words bubbling out of his ruined throat as the guns turned to her. A swift strike with the butt of the gun brought her to her knees, a hand weaving into her curled black hair, dragging her out of sight. The guns turned to him, a barrel on his temple bringing him back to his knees as he looked to the blood trail Elena had left behind-
He was taking out of reminiscence by the swift departure of the occupants of the room. He got up with a weary sigh, scanning the crowd as he followed, and found that a pair of red eyes - very pretty eyes, his mind reminded him - were intensely fixated on him. He froze, almost like a deer caught in the headlights, causing some kids to bump into his immobile back. A few indignant cries of 'watch it, Jerry!' or mumbled 'excuse me' brought an embarrassed flush to his cheeks as he moved forward, ducking so his hair covered his now red face. Outside, he was greeted by police, paramedics, and a few other personnel, who alternated from asking questions about the situation and asking about his condition. His first instinct was ASL, but more often than not people didn't know how to speak it. Instead, he tapped his fingers to his lips, then made a slashing gesture across his throat. The police stopped asking questions, looking for other witnesses, but the paramedics lingered until he tapped his sternum, then held his index and thumb together, stretching his other fingers straight. Their thoughts betrayed them - they did not believe him - but they left him be.
He scanned the crowd, looking through countless faces - children, nurses, doctors, paramedics, police, news - and trying to find familiar brown eyes. He found no long, loose black curls, no dark skinned women helping the children, and felt his throat tighten. His eyes looked to every face as he passed them, until they locked, once more, on the woman from earlier. She turned, raising her hand and casting - a mage? - a portal open. She stepped through, vanishing as if she had been nothing more than a dream.
Before he knew it, his feet had carried him through the crowd, weaving him through the closely packed bodies, and brought him to the portal. His breath came short and thin, staring into the world the portal held, as he stepped through it, following after the strange woman.