Just the Streets, Day Four (February 5, 2317)

[Anwen]

"Miss, this is Sabastian Inderados, my little brother."

Lita smiled at Sabastian.

"Pleased to meet you, Sabastian. My name is Litonya." Lita pushed a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear.

[Lithium]

Camri grinned. "Last I checked, Archer was the one who was part cat and would try to chop your head off. I'm glad you've come around. Sol's fiance, Gage, is bringing some food over and––"

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Sol shouted from another room. There was some loud stomping, then the door opened and Sol cried out, "Gage!"

Camri smiled, then turned back to Sydny. "Need some help getting up?"

[Cytherea]

"Need some help getting up?" Camri asked.

"No, no. You don't have to." Sydny tried to push himself out of the bed, but he instead bit his lip to stop a cry of pain. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You can... you can help me up." he said through gritted teeth.

[Zinna]

Saben and Rollo

"Pleased to meet you, Sabastian. My name is Litonya."

Saben smiled, "Pleased to meet you Litonya. Call me Saben."

Rollo glared at Saben. "Do you want to join us. We were about to go to the Cheese Shop."

"What would Tito say?"

Rollo smiled, "What if he never found out?"

"Okay. I'll be out in a second, Rollo," Saben hurried back into the room he came from.

[Anwen]

What was with Saben's facial expressions? Lita wondered. Those brothers were throwing glares all over the place! And why did he call his brother Rollo? She turned to Robin/Rollo and asked, "Why did he call you Rollo, Robin?"

[Cytherea]

"Here you are, Mark." Olivia said as she placed a steaming plate of chicken and half a boiled potato in front of him. "And here you are Annie." she smiled at the two.

"What about you, Livia?" Annie asked.

"Oh, I'm going to pass tonight." Olivia said, shrugging. She quickly poured two cups of water for the kids.

"Aren't you hungry?" Mark inquired.

"Well..." Olivia's stomach growled slightly. She hesitated for a moment, before slowly saying, "I'm just going to pass tonight."

"It's not good to miss dinner."

"Oh my goodness!" Olivia said suddenly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't come home last night, did I?"

"No, you didn't."

"I'm so sorry, guys." she ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "I totally forgot that you guys would be waiting for me."

"We don't mind." Mark said. "Even if you won't eat, can you pray with us at least?"

"Of course, Mark." Olivia said with a smile. She sat down by them and took their hands. "As you being the gentleman of the house, would you pray for us, Mark?"

"Yes." he cleared his throat. "Dear God, thank you for everything. Please help Livia to," he paused. "understand the importance of dinner. Please help her friend that is a boy to not freeze tonight. And thank you for giving Annie and me another mother after you decided it was time for Mommy to be with you. Amen."

"Amen." Olivia said quietly. She quickly stood up and walked to the kitchen.

"And thank you, Lord, for letting me be a light to these beautiful children." she whispered.

[Anwen]

She's so beautiful when she's smiling and happy like that... Will thought absent mindedly. "Oh, it's no problem! I go to Royalia for work anyway. I'd love to meet your parents if you'd introduce me. He started pulling his arms through the sleeves of his coat. "Where do you live?"

[Cytherea]

"I live on Aspen Street." Endosi said. She stood up and smiled again. "I'm not sure if it's really straight on the way to your job. But I would appreciate the company!" She added quickly. "My parents will just love you!"

[Anwen]

Will buttoned up his coat and opened the door. "After you," He said with a flourish. He followed her out into the street and began to lead the way. He turned. "Would you like me to hold your hand? It can get rough out here."

[Cytherea]

Endosi beamed up at him. It was a full, extremely happy smile.

"I would love to hold your hand, Will!" She said happily. "Any day! Thank you very much!"

[Lithium]

Camri gave Sydny some support as he got up and walked out of the bedroom. "It's all right. You're doing fine. Maybe we could do some physical therapy. That's something I'd love to learn to do."

She helped Sydny down onto the couch and then went over to hug Gage. "Hey, Gage! What's up?"

Gage ran his fingers through his spiky, white-tipped hair and said, "Well, I guess I'd better just say this right off. Rip off the band-aide, so to speak. Sol, I've been drafted into the military. I'm being deported to training in one week. I've been putting off telling you this..."

Sol clutched her mouth and then wrapped her arms around Gage. No tears... no tears for his sake. No tears.. be strong. Be strong like Camri. Bestrongbestronbestrongbestrong.

"Well, we'd better get the wedding plans moved up and fast. We could have them... tomorrow. How about tomorrow. Let's get married tomorrow, Gage. Please. That way, we can still have some of our honey moon before you go."

Gage shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sol. I can't do tomorrow. I have to work late."

"Well, then when will you be free?"

"The day before I get deported. My boss is giving me that day off."

Sol nodded slowly and bit her lower lip, still holding in tears.

[Cytherea]

Sydny felt so sorry for Sol. It was obvious she was close to tears. Very close.

What can I say to ease the tension? What can I do?

"Hi Gage!" Sydny said with a bright, very full smile. "I've heard your name a lot around here!" He raised his hand to shake Gage's. "I'm Sydny, btw."

[Hwin]

"Oh, well, if you are sure she won't mind." Rosie said. "I am hungry." She looked around the room for a clock. "I wonder what time it is."

Just then, an elderly lady came in. She didn't seem to be surprised to find her door already unlocked.

"Um, Mrs. Kay, I presume?" Rosie said, hesitantly, before smiling at her. "My name's Rosie, and this is my friend Clover. You know Tucker already, right?"

The small, smiling lady looked up. Her hair was a very light grey and she had wrinkles around her eyes from smiling. “Why, this is a very pleasant surprise! It’s so wonderful to see that Tucker has met some folk and very lovely young folk if I might add.” She gave a little chuckle to herself.

Tucker walked over and gave Mrs. Kay a quick squeeze. “It’s nice to see that you’re healthy and well.”

“Yes, I suppose it is. But I think feeding you youngin’s is more important than my health.” Smiling, Mrs. Kay walked towards the kitchen and began opening cabinets, quickly taking out sandwich meat and bread.

“If I remember correctly you’re Rosie? But didn't you say there was a Clover somewhere?” Mrs. Kay asked, glancing up at the strawberry blonde haired girl.
Tucker walked over the small living room and back. “Clover seems to have fallen asleep on the couch. I covered her up with some extra blankets…”

“Well then! It looks like you two will have to spend the night! I insist!” Mrs. Kay smiled towards Rosie and held out a plate of food for her to eat.

[Cytherea]

“Well then! It looks like you two will have to spend the night! I insist!” Mrs. Kay smiled towards Rosie and held out a plate of food for her to eat.

Rosie stared at the food, delightedly. She took the plate.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kay." she said, her eyes shining. "This looks amazing. And I'd love to stay the night, if you're sure you don't mind."

[Lithium]

Gage looked at Sydny cautiously and held out his hand. "Hello. Are you another one of Sol's many patients?"

Camri nodded. "Yup! He's been here for a few days now. Got slashed with a knife."

Gage nodded. "I see. Well, here's some food. It should still be warm."

[Cytherea]

Gage nodded. "I see. Well, here's some food. It should still be warm."

Sydny felt a little out of place, but tried to continue smiling. He looked up at Camri, grinning.

"Would you mind helping me up again?"

[Zinna]

Rollo & Saben

"Why did he call you Rollo, Robin?"

Ignoring her Rollo said, "Are you coming to the Cheese Shop or not?

Saben glared are Rollo, "Sure." He removed his apron, dodged into the kitchen and came back with some money and his favorite jacket. He also had a small package slightly peaking out of a pocket.

Rollo extended his arm to Lita, "Miss, shall we be off." He offered his other arm to Saben who pushed it away.

[Lithium]

Camri shook her head. "I wouldn't mind, but it would probably be a better idea to bring the food to you. You still need to rest."

Sol grinned. "You're turning into quite the nurse, Camri."

"Nah," Camri said, glancing quickly at Sydny, then at the floor. "I'm just... worried about one of my friends."

[Cytherea]

Sydny smiled at her. He, for some reason, felt glad that she was worried for him. He studied her face slightly, until he crushed his smile and cleared his throat. He put on a very serious face.

"I appreciate your concern." he said in a grave voice. He cleared his throat again, trying to keep his voice extremely deep. "I must s--" he cleared his throat again. "Sa--" he cleared his throat yet again before giving up. "Oh this is embarrassing." he groaned.

[Anwen]

Lita giggled behind her hand as Robin, no Rollo, offered her and Saben his arms. As Saben pushed Rollo's arm away, she swung around behind Robin/Rollo and took that arm. She also grabbed Saben's arm as he pulled it back toward him. After linking arms with both brothers, she smiled sweetly up at Rollo. "Yes, let us be off Rollo! Saben," She said, turning to look at him with another smile, genuine this time. "Which cheese is your favorite?"

[Lithium]

Camri smiled. "Don't worry about it. You probably just need some water. I'll get that for you."

She went over to the cabinets, grabbed a glass from one of them and filled it up with some water from the fridge.

Walking back over to Sydny, she handed it to him, then went back to open up the food.

[Cytherea]

Sydny drank his cup of water quickly. He only afterwards realized how thirsty he'd been. He glanced out one of the windows.

I wonder how Will's doing. He didn't come to dinner last night, and I haven't heard from him in a while. Sydny looked away from the window. I hope he's all right.

[Zinna]

Rollo & Saben

"Which cheese is your favorite?"

Saben answered, "I like any cheese except for cheddar."

"I like all cheese," was Rollo's remark. "Shall we be off."

Saben shut the door of the living unit and began walking with Rollo and Lita to the cheese shop. They walked around the corner and down two blocks. They turned down another street and arived at the door of the cheese shop.

[Anwen]

The cheese shop smelled like, well, cheese. Lita dropped the boys arms and ran up to the counter to look at the different types. Caramel cheese, chocolate cheese, goat cheese with cranberries, and all sorts of others. She looked back at the boys, eyes shining. "There are so many different types here! Which ones are you getting?" She said, masking her sadness. I wish Jerek was here. He would have wanted to try them all.

[Lithium]

(I'm skipping past dinner, since we need to wrap up day 4 here.)

Sol clung to Gage after dinner. Camri could tell she was ready to break into pieces. It was like she felt she could only be whole if she was near Gage, or he was holding her.

She turned to Sydny as they watched the movie and found herself studying his face. Her eyes lingered on the curve of his lips and his jawline. She blushed self-consciously and looked back to the movie.

The multitude of explosions did nothing to distract her from the real world, like they normally would have.