The Streets, Day 2 (02-03-2317)

[Toph]

"Ri, get up," Adam called from their makeshift kitchen.

"Adam, go to bed," Ri shot back. She rolled over. Now he had woken her up, she would never get back to sleep, but she refused to admit defeat.

"Ri!"

"Shut up!"

"January Gloria Hellens....Ja-"

"I'm coming!" Ri grimaced. Her name was an abomination to her own ears and Adam knew it. Reluctantly she threw her legs off her pallet. She stood and straightened the old, snowflaked quilt and fluffed the flat pillow. She turned

The smell of microwaved oatmeal wafted through the doorway, unappetizing and revolting. The water had probably been sour as well, only adding to Ri's disgust.

Adam held out a bowl as Ri entered. "No thanks," Ri said, pushing the bowl aside.

"January..." he replied with a stubborn look.

"Fine," Ri gave in, taking the bowl, "But I'm not going to school today."

"Yes, you are," Adam replied calmly as he packed her lunch of peanutbutter sandwich halves and squishy grapes.

"Adam, we've been through this," Ri argued, as she did every morning of the weekdays, "There's no point. Even if it were better to have a high school graduation for a dancing career, which, by the way, it's not, I wouldn't need it still."

"Ri, it's too late for me, but I can still get you an education," Adam replied, his eyes softening. "Besides, you need to keep your grades up because..."

"Because what?" Ri demanded, expecting no good reason.

"Because you've had an offer!" Adam bursted.

Ri stared, confused. "A-a what?"

Adam sighed. Were those tears in his eyes? "Quinn Tesler wants to 'take you in'. She's offered you a scholarship to (sorry, at the moment I can't remember.)."

"What?" She still stared, but it sunk in. "A scholarship to !? Adam this is, this is-"

"Then you accept?"

Ri sobered. "I... What do you think?"

"This is your choice," Adam replied, shaking his head, "Not mine."

Ri thought about it. Why wouldn't she take it? was everything she'd ever dreamed of! "I accept." She nodded decidedly.

"Okay," Adam gulped, "I'm thinking you should start next week. You'll have that time to pack your things and-"

"Pack my things?" Ri interreupted.

" is too far away from here, and besides, if you lived here the school would treat you like trash." Adam avoided her gaze. "You have to move in with Quinn (You don't mind, Lithium, do you?)."

"Oh."

It was all she could say. Ri had always dreamed of becoming something, but always she had dreamed that Adam would come with her. But now she could see how impractical that plan was. Quinn probably wouldn't want to take in Adam as well as Ri, and even if she did, would Adam be okay as a sort of hired companion? No, Ri knew he would never accept that.

But her dreams should be worth the change, shouldn't they? Ri nodded to herself again. "I still accept. I wish you could come with me, but since you cant..."

"Don't worry about it. I'll have plenty to do here," Adam replied with the first smile he had had since starting the subject.

Ri was doubting his words, but she smiled back. "Thanks for understanding," she said, hugging him. "There is one other thing," she added as she left the hug and grabbed her brown paper lunch bag. " I want to leave this week. If I stay any longer..." If she stayed any longer, she might never leave.

Adam seemed to understand. "I think that's best for both of us. You know how I hate long goodbyes. Especially to my favorite little midget." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and rubbed his knuckles into her head.

"Hey!" Ri wriggled out of his grasp and grabbed her backpack. "See ya!"

Adam called after her, "Don't slam the-"

The crash of the door resounded around the room. Adam shook his head and looked down at the untouched oatmeal.

[Misty]

Analise woke up for the third time throughout the few hours she'd been in bed and moaned. Everything looked exactly the same as it had been each time she'd woken up. Dark. Groggily, Analise lifted her arm to check the time on her wristwatch, using up her strength to keep her arm from falling on her face.

5:25! Analise was instantly awake.

Ack! She sprang out of bed and rushed to get ready.

I'm gonna be late! Isaac would forgive her, she knew, and he wouldn't report her, but she didn't want to let him down without warning like that. He was out one server, and she was gonna be late! If she left now, she might be able to make it there by 5:45, but she wasn't even ready yet!

She got out of the house, dressed and primped, by 5:35. She walked quickly the whole way, used to the fast pace seeing as she rushed around a restaurant nearly every day taking people their food and drinks, and started running the minute it was in sight. She rushed in the door with -2 minutes to spare and rushed through the door, vaguelly aware of the choas going on inside. As bad as last night had been, it was nothing compared to the chaos of the morning.

"Behind, behind, behind!!!" Sandy, a morning server, cried as she rushed forward from behind, carrying a tray of drinks above her head.

"Coming around!" Trey cautioned as he swung around the corner, six plates on one arm.

Nearly every table was full, and the whole restaurant was loud with talking, clinking, laughing, crying...

Analise slipped through the chaos, manuevering as easily as if she were dancing and swiped herself on the clock.

"Hello, how're you?" She greeted the next guest, smiling her practiced smile as she grabbed four rolls of silverware and four menus to usher the four expectant Royale customers in. "Table 'r booth t'day?"

And so it began...

[Misty]

(Waiting for Zylle, and Thy and Cyrus)

[Hwin]

Jordan sat up. Light streamed threw the cracked windows and she heard the deep breathing of the guys on the other side of the faded curtain. Another morning, another day, she thought to herself with a yawn.

Creeping out of bed, Jordan found her jeans and a dark brown t-shirt. She peeked at Rab and Tucker's 'beds'. Rab was sleeping (if not, just skip it.) and Tucker wasn't in sight. Planning to go to the market and get some bread, Jordan slipped her hand behind some boards, producing a tightly closed bag. Taking a few coins from it, she carfully put it back, scribbled a note about where she was going so Tucker and Rab would know and opened the door. Stepping into the cold windy morning, Jordan made her way down the street.

Even in the early morning the market was alive with people. Making her way through the small crowds, Jordan came to the bread cart. Flipping the man at the cart some coins, she picked up a loaf of bread and inspected it. "Good, no bugs or mold..." Jordan said aloud. "Why der be mold or bugs in me bread?!" yelled the insulted baker. Only smiling, Jordan turned around and carfully made her way back through the sea of people.

It wasn't long before she was back at her house. Stepping inside, she found Tucker awake.

"Hey, you better hurry if you want to make it to school." Tucker said, just as Jordan entered the room.

"Oh, come on Tucker. Theres no more reason to go to school...besides I've missed to many days and am probably to far behind to go again. And the rooms are stuffy and sitting down that long is almost impossible!"

"Well your going, now that I'm here to make you." Tucker smiled.

"Fine, But don't expect me to go every day." Jordan huffed, slightly grinning. Tucker could easily get her to agree to alot of things, but she wouldnt give up without a fight.

After a bit of searching, Jordan finally found her books and stuffed them all into an old, black backpack.

"See you later." She called, right before running off again, only this time for school.

After she had left, Tucker sliced some bread and found some leftover cheese from dinner last night. Quickly eating, he desided to wait abit until Rab showed/woke up. Also desiding that he might like to go off around town awhile later, and meet up with some old friends. And, he personally wanted to go check out the Royales arrea of living, just for the fun of it and having nothing else to do. Maybe Rab might want to come too...just for somthing to do.

[Kabitha]

Rab yawned and rolled over in his make shift bed. Suddenly he sat straight up. "What time is it?" he exclaimed. "Oh.... nevermind..... Forgot where I was." He rolled out onto the floor and stood up. He yawned again and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up. Making his way toward Tucker he looked around the room. "How d'you sleep?" he asked as he helped himself to some bread.

[Anwen]

Wakey-Wakey Lita! Time to get up!

Litonya groaned as 5 year-old Patrick O'Shea jumped on her bed. "Alright, alright, I'm getting up." As Lita stood on the cold, wood floor, she got a sly look on her face. "But you'd better get back in your bedroom before I tickle you!" Patrick squealed and ran back into his own adjoining room.

After Lita's bed was made, she hurried to her tiny closet and pulled out her normal nanny clothes (short green dress and brown leggings). Once dressed, she brushed out her hair and put it back up.

Lita walked into Patrick's room. "Alright you little trickster, where are you?" A giggle came from under the bed. Lita's hand darted beneath the bed-frame and pulled a red faced, red-headed giggling little boy out. "Now, what were you doing down there?" She said trying to keep from laughing as well.

"I was hiding so you wouldn't tickle me!" came the answer.

"I might still tickle you if you don't hurry and dress!"

Lita handed Patrick his clothing and he dashed into the bathroom to change. Her mood sobered as she remembered her conversation last night with Analise. If a rumble was a gang gathering, could Jerek have been..? No, she refused to think about it.

Patrick skipped out of the bathroom and they rode the elevator down to the dining room. All the other children had gone to school by now. As they sat down, Patrick said in an awed voice "Look, Mary and Joseph moved during the night." Lita looked up and saw that the Mary and Joseph of the Nativity had indeed progressed another couple of inches. She and Patrick ate their breakfast of french toast, then they walked into the playroom.

They had just started a game of Go Fish, when Mrs. O'Shea came in and said, "Miss Isti, I am prepared to let you take another test in order to let you eventually graduate. If you pass the test, you may go to cram-school and have classes once a week. You will have homework for other days, and you will do that when you are off duty."

"Thank you ma'am," Lita said in a dazed voice. Someone was paying for her to go to school again!

"You will take the test now, and I will spend some time with my son." Mrs. O'Shea smiled at this. "The test is in the parlor."

[lordenthia]

Enthia walked towards the Shostakhine [lol i came up with this name its a mix of Shostakovich and Alekhine] dominated section. He strode directly to a rather large building and entered it. A scruffy deadhead looking guy jumped in front of him with a knife.
"Put the knife down, Dmitri."
"Is that you, Enthia?"
"Aye, I will speak with Ivanovich now."
"bah, what? Where the heck have you been?"
"Shut your flapping mouth and lead me to him"
The scruffy guy roughly grabbed an old Iron Maiden shirt and put it on. He led Enthia into a small room, inhabited by a thick and tall man with the same long hair and goatee as Enthia.
"The darned traitor is here, your worship."

[Hwin]

Turning, Tucker passed Rab some of the cheese before answering. "Alright, better then sleeping in some damp ally. Thats for sure." Finishing off his own meal, Tucker grabbed his hat off the floor, tilting it off slightly to one side when he put it on.
"Hey, I'm gonna cruise the town...wonderen' if you might wanna come?" Tucker said over his shoulder towards Rab, making his way to the door.

[Kabitha]

Rab jumped up. "Sure! I'd love to," he said through a mouthful of cheese.


--------

Thyatira watched groups of Subterrean kids heading to school, while she stood in the shadow of a building. Suddenly her stomach growled. Thy laughed. "Guess I better get something to eat," she said out loud, scaring a few little kids. She stepped out of the shadows and headed to the market. A lot of the stalls wouldn't be open yet, but some left over food should be somewhere.

[lordenthia]

"Enthia, what a pleasant surprise!" Ivanovich smiled slyly. "May I ask what brings you to our humble abode?"
"You know why I am here, Ivan. You destroyed my piano! I am here to know why, and if it is for no good reason, exact my revenge!"
Ivanovich broke into a mirthless laugh, followed by nervous chuckling from Dmitri. "I knew you would come here! That's why I destroyed it! We need you Enthia. Let's forget how you betrayed us and ran off into the Royale-loving section. You seem pretty happy there actually. We have been watching you all along, Enthia. Ha! We even saw you talking to that girl. And my gosh, how I laughed when I heard of the bumbling fool who ran into you. If you were 1 year younger, you would slashed out his insolent Royale throat in the name of the cause!"

[Hwin]

Tucker and Rab walked down the misty morning streets. Taking the way through the market, Tucker noticed a messy, dirty blond braided head stand out against the small crowd. Noting that Rab was staying close to his heels, Tucker dashed behind the girl. She was wearing camo and boots. Tapping her on the shoulder, Tucker spoke before she could put her hand in the direction of her knife. "Hey Thy, long time no see."

[Kabitha]

Thy stiffened at the touch and grabbed at her knife blade. "Hey Thy, long time no see," a voice said as she was still reaching for it.

Thy whipped around, the end of her wet braid wacking her cheek. "Oh. Hey Tucker," she said as she realized who was speaking. Then she noticed Rab looking over Tuckers shoulder. "Geez Tucker, what's he doing here?" she questioned indignantly, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets.

-------

Cyrus climbed up the market wall, a pear he had bought with two small coins he had found on the in a gutter clutched between his teeth. It looks like the start of a great day, he thought staring up at the sky.

[Misty]

George pulled on his fingertipless black gloves and the thin faded gray trench coat that he and Jacques shared, though most of the time neither of them wore it. Usually they left it for John with his work at the freezer.

Freshly butchered meat always needed to be frozen quickly and kept that way before taken to the supermarket for Royales to buy on perfect foam platters. Most people avoided the freezer line of work, choosing to kill the animals sooner than have to stay in a room that was colder inside than it was outside in the November air. So the job easily fell back on the desperate younger generation. When he didn't work in the freezer, he mowed lawns for Royales and tended them, most of the time getting paid in food because the Royales, ignorant as they were, figured what would a dirty little Subterrean kid need more: food or money?

Sometimes George went too, when he didn't have some manual labor work to do. But today was wood chopping day. Once a week he went to chop wood with the men, and for pay he got logs to warm the house. By the next woodchopping day, there was usually nothing left to sit in the hearth but ice and chill.

Analise and Jacques were the ones who brought in the money for the rent. Everyone had to pitch in, though it was hard for Joey now, small as he was. He would grow some day, and contribute.

Grabbing the ax with its cracked wooden handle and the rusty iron head, George opened the door to be met by a blast of cold air. "Look after Jacques, ya hear," he called back to Joey. "I'll be back t'night." Slamming the door behind him, he trudged through the street, squinting against the wind.

A shabby fur-patched dog with thin skin that showed bulging ribs whimpered, tail in-between its legs as it lay in front of a door, curled in a tight ball and shivering against the wind. Most likely things had gotten to hard in one of these households, what with the people trying to make ends meet and survive this winter, that they had to lessen the amount of mouths that needed feeding. The dog had to go. With luck, a dog catcher might find it, take it to the pound, give it warmth and food, offer it some comfort for the last few days of its life. If that didn't happen, it would die out here, forgotten, abandoned, alone. But there was nothing anyone could do about it because a dog couldn't work and couldn't earn pay, so no one could afford to take it in.

Continuing on down the street, nearly tripping as the front of his boot snagged in a jagged crack in the unkept sidewalk, George spotted the truck with the men beginning to pile into the back. The truck bed might have been full, except that the working policy of the truckdriver-a man who financially bordered the line of rich Subterrean and poor Royale-was that they had to supply their own tool: an ax. Otherwise, they couldn't work. Not many men had axes to bring. But George had worked hard through the summer to earn the money to buy this broken piece of trash that he carried now before winter hit. It wasn't perfect, but with enough force, he could get it to do what it was once crafted to do.

He climbed up into the truck bed, sharing a silent moment of greeting with the men already there, an unspoken gesture amongst companions of war-the economic war. He was the last one, the seventh. With that, the truck roared to life beneath them and jerked forward, bouncing along the dilapidated road with its tiny smashed-in hills, growing cracks, and unfixed potholes.

[Hwin]

"I'm just helping the dude out. Do ya know him or somthen'?" Tucker said refering to Rab.

______

Jordan quickly trudged down the filthy streets. Mud splattered across her already dirty jeans and trash crunched under her thin worn shoes. The brick walls were covered in gang paintings and windows were shattered. But what could anyone do about that? People now a days couldn't spend their time doing somthing that had no pay. Besides, it would just become the same filthy messy streets it was now.
Now passing the 'shoping' section of town Jordan took notice that three more had clossed. A bakery and two clothing stores. Although it made her heart feel heavy, Jordan knew why more and more shops clossed everyday. People couldn't afford things such as pasterys and even new clothes anymore. What you'd see them wear was mostly stuff thrown out by Royales or slightly richer Subterreans. Jordan was the same way, having to find her own clothes in dumpsters.

[Kabitha]

Thy shook her head. "Nope, just seen him around." She smirked, remembering.

Rab glared at her.

[Hwin]

"Uh, well then..." Tucker said, not sure what to say to the two's strang actions towards eachother. "Hey, Thy, maybe you wanna come hang'round with me and Rab? We're going to the richer part o' town and there might be some cash laying around." Tucker asked as he got ready to leave the market.

[Misty]

George vaguelly noticed Jordan walking down the street, headed towards the richer parts of town-probably to school, George realized. It was a good way to keep in better conditions than on the streets with its open environment, and it was building with heating. Without a family to take care of or a rent to keep up, she had no reason not to go there. She was lucky without responsability, but unlucky without an apartment. Someday, his mind began to wonder, he might provide enough to pay for an apartment for her; maybe someday they'd be able to take life on together...

The truck jolted, and George braced himself against the side. They continued driving on down the street, and suddenly, the sidewalk shifted from old and shabby to fresh and new. The ride was smoother now.

The shift from Subterrean into Royale.

The streets were kept now, the buildings spotless. Personally, George thought it was somewhat dull without artwork to decorate the walls. Someone needed to come give this place some decorations... And maybe beat the sidewalks and streets, just to show the Royales what real life was, the tough, unpampered life. They deserved to be thrown out into the streets with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

They passed through the streets with its bundled up wonderers and their perfect fresh apparel, the clean shop windows guarding unnecessary expensive things that he wouldn't ever consider buying, and shining fancy new cars driving down the road. The city thinned and broke off into a forest where the truck turned off the road, continuing down an unmarked path that was there only because cars went down it enough times to distinguish it from the rest of the ground. The truck rumbled to a stop as the engine shut off, and the door opened as the driver got out.

"Alright, men," he called, heaving his ax up to lean against his shoulder, the shining silver head flashing in the sunlight. Grabbing the handle of his ax, George stood and jumped down from the back of the car. "Let's chop!"

[Kabitha]

Thy reached under a fat ladys arm and slipped a fig out of the fruit stand. She ripped it open and took a bite. "Might as well," she said with her mouth full. Swallowing, she continued, "Don't have anything else to do."

------

Cyrus jumped off the market wall and headed toward the Royale section of town. It was still early enough that some men would be hurrying to work. Also he might get a random job, though he didn't care if nothing come up.

[Misty]

John leaned against a wall, watching idly as people buzzed about, probably getting ready for a Thanksgiving feast or something. It disgusted him as he watched a fat lady pudging passed with her cart; what a pig.

But it disgusted him again, even more, when a tall, strong girl with a messy yellowy French braid just reached under around her to steal pull something off of the fruit stand she was looking through so that she could tear into it like a greedy chicken; how old was she anyway? Sixteen? Seventeen? She looked perfectly capable of maintaining some job. And instead of working she was reduced to stealing like a five-year-old. No wonder Royales viewed them as little street thieves. Peope like her who didn't necessarily need to did. She deserved to be in juvy with the other thieves. Besides, where did she get highlights anyway? Stole them probably. Coulda taken a box from the store. Or went to the hair salon and got it done, but ran out before paying.

Pathetic.

There were two guys with her too. What was up with that? Three tall teens wondering around a store, looking suspicious as they take stuff from people's fruit stands. It wasn't like the store owners were having an easy time with the economic crisis either; they could easily go out of business. Where was security when they needed i-

"Hey you!" There he was... A man with a belt of various things, holster complete with pistol, taser, knife, and what not, called to them, his hand on the handle of his pistol and the other on a walkie-talkie as he walked hurriedly towards them. "Drop your merchandise and put your hands on your head." If they were smart they'd comply. The street was better off without trouble-making Subterreans like that.

Leaving the scene behid and slipping a hand through his hair to brush it forward, John put a pleasant look on his face and prepared his voice for a soothing tone. Walk the walk, talk the talk. He needed to pull a little charm from the box and offer it for the crowd.

"Hello, ma'am," he said coming up beside the little old fat lady. "Would'ja like some 'elp wit' anythin' t'day?" He knew his talk was messy, but it flowed well, like a rap song he might hear on the radio.

"Well, young man," she replied, looking like she wanted to help but not seeming to be able to find out what he could help her with. "I-I'm not sure."

"I work fo' almost anythin'," he continued smoothly. "Money, food, wood, don't matter what, an' I can do almost anythin' fo'ya too, carry groceries, push carts, wash cars, any laborin' work'ya need. I can make sure ain't nobody gonna take nothin' from ya neither, cause in these parts o' town, that can 'appen."

"Oh, goodness!" She exclaimed as she looked down in her basket. "I know it! You know," she smiled. "I've never been much of a fan of these foods, but my husband says I should try getting vegetables and fruits, which I'm not a fan of in general, so I'm getting all types to try and see which I like." That was good, John smiled softly. Get her talking, get her feeling comfortable. "Yes, I suppose you could help." She offered him the basket. "It might go faster if I've got someone to push the basket for me anyway."

"Sure, ma'am," he chuckled lightly to show that he was engaging with her a bit. Then, taking the basket, he followed along behind as she went, pausing when she stopped to pick things up, look at them, and either return them or put them in the basket.

[Kabitha]

Thy looked up as a guard yelled. "Scram," she hissed and took off into the crowd. Tucker melted away in the opposite direction and Rab, to Thyatiras annoyance, followed her. Soon they were out of the market and Thy ducked into an alley. Rab fell against the alley wall out of breath. "Why d'you follow me?" Thy said.

Rab shrugged. "Tucker vanished so fast..... And why did you have to steal that fig?" He sounded accusing.

"It was only a fig, costs about 10 cents. That guard was the only one who really cared."

"Do you steal everything you have?" he asked, eyeing her camo colored clothes.

"Of course not! I found this stuff in the trash. Food's the only thing I steal because most of the time everyone has plenty of it. 'Specially people like you...." She sighed and looked out of the alley-way opening. "C'mon, let's see if Tucker is around."

[Hwin]

Tucker had ran off in the opposit direction of the two, but to his dismay found that the police officer had chosen him as his target. "Get back here theif!" The officer yelled, his club in hand. Tucker wanted to stop, he hadn't stollen anything, but he knew from the past that people don't often side with Subterreans.
Turning a corner another police came face to face with Tucker. Grabbing his shoulders, the man started hollering to the other, now fully out of breath, officer. "You rat, thought you could escape, hah! Well I'll tell you somthen, the streets are better off without beggers like yourself." The black haired man hissed into Tuckers ear.
That was it. Tucker's anger began to grow and soon he had knocked down the man grasping his shoulders. The other, much shorter man, somehow hit Tucker on the lower left arm causing it to turn nasty colors of blue and black and made his dark eyes water with pain. But that wasn't going to stop Tucker. Unstead of fighting back and getting into more trouble (although he would have much prefered it) and ran as fast as his strong legs would take him and ducked into a dark alley-way.

Pulling his shoe off, he grabbed his hole covered sock, and wrapped it around the small section of his arm where the painful bruise was. After waiting for a good twenty minutes, Tucker speed off in search of Thy and Rab. It wasn't long before he found them. "Hey guys, sorry 'bout that." Tucker said, attempting to hide his hurt arm behind his back.

______

Jordan sat in class and listened to the smooth talk of the Freshman's teacher. Looking over the room again she noticed most of the kids were without shoes and jackets; not unusual in a Subterrean classroom though. Half of the kids in this room didn't only come here to learn but they came here to have a bit of warmth and a meal also. Jordan suddenly felt thankful for her old jacket and poor example of a house. Most kids didn't have anyof this and spent their days roaming around in the streets.
Jordan also desided to go by George's house after school and check it out to see if she might be able to figure out why he left so suddenly at the movies.

[Misty]

"Well, young man," the woman addressed John, earning her his apparent undivided and total attentive attention. "I've been thinking about what to pay you, and I believe I've figured it out. Pick anything in the store; I'll buy it for you along with my purchases."

"Oh, ma'am, really?" Excitement. Gratitude. That's what she would fall in love with best. Hmmm... John thought about things he might've noticed as they'd wondered passed. He also thought about what Analise might want for dinner tonight... Jacques, George, and Joey didn't particullarly care to be too picky, and Analise wouldn't reject whatever he brought, but he wanted to get something she might enjoy. He thought he might have an idea. "I've got it! Wha'd'ya say a bag o' potatoes."

"Perfect! You just run along, get something, and bring it back," the lady nodded with a smile.

"A'right... I really appreciate it, ma'am, thank you so much." Smooth, smooth. Talking the talk. "I just hope li'l Joey will eat it dry."

"Little... Joey..?" Ah... He had her attention.

"He's my brother. He's five."

"Oh..." Her frown shifted into a lightenedd smile. Success... He was getting through to her, and getting somewhere. "Well, why don't you go ahead and get some butter too."

"A'right, ma'am. I sure do appreciate it. I'll be right back."

"Hurry back now."

With that, John hurried through the store to get a bag of potatoes and some butter. He couldn't believe his success! What a victory! They were going to eat well tonight.

[Anwen]

Litonya looked at the clock. Her exam lay on the desk, finished, waiting for grading, and, for now, ignored. Why would Jerek speak of rumbles unless... She didn't finish the thought. Perhaps..., perhaps Annalise knew more than she had said. Or maybe her brother, the one Joey had mentioned, the one that had seemed to try to disappear when she was around, would know. Either way, she would find out more.

She left the evening parlor and walked up to Mrs. O'Shea. “I’m finished with the tests now.”
“Very well Litonya, you may spend the rest of the day off. Just get back by 8:00PM in order to help with the children’s bedtime.”
“Yes ma’am, thank you.”
Lita cozied herself in a fuzzy warm jacket (hammy-down from Cloe Patrick) and walked out to brave the icy air and snow covered streets. First stop, Annalise’s house.

[Misty]

Jacques on the couch in front of the smoldering fire, his body so long that his feet hung off the end up to the middle of his calves and he had his shoulders up on the arm rest. His arms were crossed as he glared at the last glowing coals of the week. Little warmth wafted from them as the cold that threatened from the rest of the house puffed at it. Joey was laying on his stomach in front of the fire smacking the fronts of two tiny toy cars into each other and making the crashing sounds himself. Jacques supposed the cars must've gotten over their argument because they turned their heads away and started driving around the floor side by side.

Huffing a sigh, Jacques ground his jaw. He shouldn't be laying here watching Joey play with his little toy cars. He'd gotten Joey those cars. He was the money supplier. He should be out working and making more with Analise. A little limp might earn him a few pity bonuses. Sure, his eye was unattractive, discolored and swollen. He half smiled at the reactions he might get from some of the customers. Perhaps that could aid a little too.

Charm to get acceptance.

Pity to ice the cake.

Jacques pushed himself up and winced. The soreness was getting worse! He wondered if it would've been better not to lay still all this time. If he'd gotten up earlier he could've chased the majority of the soreness away and been up and going by now. Perhaps tonight would be busy, with the holidays around. Perhaps they would call for help. And when they did, he would answer that call. That he was sure.

"Joey." Jacques swung his legs over the edge of the couch and leaned into the back.

"Huh..?" Joey peered up at him with big eyes attentive and ready to hear, mouth partly open as he held a car in each hand.

"Nevermind." He wasn't going to send his little brother on errands to baby him. He didn't need to be babied by anyone. Pushing himself up, Jacques cringed as his face began to throb. But, pressing the palm of his hand to his forehead just beside the bruise, Jacques stumbled around the the couch, grabbing the top for balance. He switched to the wall, pressing up against it as he made his way into the kitchen.

Ugh! Where are you?! Jacques pushed through the bottles, knocking them over as he searched for the disinfectant. A pain killer wouldn't have been a bad idea either, he clenched his jaw. Too bad he was having a hard time finding either with the pounding in his head and one eye nearly shut. For a second his world flashed black and then white, black and then blurry. He fell against the counter, his head light. Breathe... Breathe...

[Anwen]

Lita walked again over the old wooden walking bridge, looking at the once roaring river sliding sluggishly over its bed now partially frozen. Why would anyone purposely destroy such a majestic thing... She shook her head to clear it. Right, going to Annalise's to see if she's there. If she isn't, I'll find out her hours and come back later.

She walked down a few alleys, briefly glancing at a trio of Subterrean teens, one of which seemed to have injured his arm. She continued down the streets toward her destination.

Finally she made it. She walked up to the door and knocked.