[IC]

[anemonene]

Tag this post with one of your characters and leave a number from 1-8. I'll reply back with the corresponding character and start a thread for us. If you wanna be really tricky, leave some other kind of prompt in addition to the number. Tone, quotation, setting, whatever you like.

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[thelionheart]

8!

[umehime]

"I'll only be a second!" Moving from the train towards a kiosk, she watched as Nemhain gave a curt nod and continued towards the exit. Really, she didn't want anything from the stand, but Umeka needed a moment to collect herself. It had been so long since she'd been in England, been near The Order... Her pact with Nemhain was still fresh. Though she trusted the shade and was ever so thankful for her companionship, she couldn't talk to her freely. Not yet.

As Umeka dithered by the candy bars, she wondered if it might not be best to simply give up on this fancy. She could always get a job at home, after all... "Oh... Oh, hell..." she muttered to herself before turning round, tripping on her wheel-a-way and falling against the nearest body.

Mortified, Umeka went limp, which made untangling her and her suitcase from this stranger especially difficult, but what could she do? Her nerves had already been frayed- now they were completely unraveled.

[thelionheart]

Here's to the train line. Here's to train delays. Stuck in England thanks to leaves on the track or whatever other excuse they've come up with to not bother with transport, Leo nudged his bag with his foot miserably. He was only supposed to be going back up to Scotland for a week, but after so long at the train station he was wondering if that week hadn't already passed him by in a blur of crackling tannoy announcements and whooshing trains.

Checking over sweets he'd browsed through a hundred times before, he examined the rack of magazines and newspapers. He was not interested in the headlines or cover stories. Any interest there had died after hours of scanning the same pieces of paper to assuage his boredom. The shop keeper has been throwing him a funny old look though, as if to say, 'you again,' and he felt guilt drip through him at their stare. It wasn't right, was it? Looking and not buying. He was actually considering dropping cash for a copy of the Private Eye when he felt the impact of someone trip and land onto his side.

"Oh!" Leo was a big man, thanks to hours in the gym every week; it wasn't as though a little body falling against him could do much damage. Hands on the girl's shoulders, he lifted her up, off of him, maybe an inch off the ground. "You alright? Where should I put you down?"

There was a suitcase too. Leo blinked at it, and then down at her. "Here alright?"

[umehime]

Being caught was a pleasant surprise; visions of losing her teeth against a rack of magazines or cracking her neck on the counter had flashed before her eyes. Being picked up, however, was not so pleasant. "何やってんだよ?!" Umeka blurted, then flushed. This person probably couldn't understand her, but still she felt horrible for being so rude.

"Here is perfectly fine," she murmured, arms latched at her sides. "I'm so sorry for bumping into you. For crashing into you, really. Your reflexes are fantastic. You should be very proud of them."

Perhaps you should be less quick to pluck people off the ground, Umeka considered adding, but then he might have saved her teeth... She smiled awkwardly instead.

[thelionheart]

Leo raised his eyebrows at the sudden ejaculation in a language he can't understand. Maybe it's the crowded platform, or the speed of it, but he couldn't even place the language. The English that followed was a relief, though he felt bad to admit it. He put her down and scratched his head. "That's alright, it's no trouble."

Once she was back on the ground his hands were shoved directly into his pockets, where they felt much more comfortable. He nodded to her big suitcase. "You alright? Need some help getting to your station? That's a big one. I can help you along if you'd like."

Mostly he was hoping she wouldn't fall into anyone else. People running around train stations could be very unfriendly if they felt like they'd been held up in any small way. And she was very small.

[umehime]

With both feet back on the ground, Umeka let out a small sigh and went about smoothing her sweater and skirt. "It really wasn't, was it? Some people can be so put out by insignificant accidents."

Nemhain had probably left by now. She wasn't one to tolerate tardiness. And she would be angry...

At Leo's offer, Umeka glanced up at him through her coke-bottle glasses. "I-" She worried her mouth and looked this young do-gooder up and down. He probably wouldn't steal her luggage... And there wasn't anything in it which couldn't be replaced. Perhaps she could catch Nemhain with his help.

"Would you? That would be tremendous. I'm afraid I've grown rusty navigating train stations in England. And the bag doesn't at all help." She smiled and extended her hand, "Umeka! And you are?" It was important to get introductions out of the way early on in a conversation.

[thelionheart]

Leo blinked at that, rolled on the balls of his feet and didn't say anything, filing it away. If he was smaller, she would have taken him out. Best to not say anything.

"No problem," he was already looking for her suitcase to grab it, so hesitated before reaching out and gripping her hand. He squeezed her hand between his thumb and palm, pressing it, then reached and grabbed her suitcase. "Leonard," he said. "Leo. Umeka, that's a nice name," he came back up with her suitcase, ready to follow her out. "What does it mean? Leo is pretty easy to guess."

[umehime]

Her handshake was surprisingly firm for someone so small. It ought to be; she'd spent quite a lot of time practicing it. With a nod and a grin, she let go and started trotting towards the underground map. "Leo! Yes, of course. You do have a lionish look about you. Umeka isn't nearly so regal. Loosely translated, it means my mother thought I smelled of plums."

Unaware of the sudden hitch in her voice, she pulled the itinerary from her peacoat pocket and went about her business. Glaring at the long list of transfers, Umeka sighed, "It's as if Countshire doesn't want you to find it..."

[thelionheart]

"Lionish?" He asked as they started off but was soon distracted by the rest of the information that last twenty or so seconds had thrown at him; a small girl with a shockingly firm handshake, the new knowledge that naming your child after a smell was apparently not an act of cruelty, the speed at which they were walking, the sudden hitch that had been in her voice.

He doesn't know what to tackle first. Usually in these situations he stays silent but that would be awkward, when they've been talking so long. So he picks up on the last part instead: "Countshire? Oh, I know that place. You need a hand?"

[umehime]

Even while she was busy trying to read the map, Umeka noticed that this Leo didn't talk much. No, best not to judge him yet. Perhaps he was just being polite and letting her focus on-

"You've been to Countshire?" she asked slowly, a marked difference from her usual hundred words per minute. Forcing a smile, she nodded. "I mean, that would be amazing! Thank you so much. It's just such a remote location. I didn't think I'd run into someone... with ties. Are, aa, you a student?"

Oh, Souji would be livid if he could see her floundering like this. Her pact with Nemhain had made her soft...

[thelionheart]

Leo looks down at the suitcase, adjusts his grip on it. "I'm doing my MA in English literature there next year, hopefully."

Maybe. The suitcase bumps against his leg and he hums a bit. "It is remote, isn't it? Right up there. Well, down there, for me."

He checks his watch and then looks at the departure board. His train is still delayed. At least his ticket is open return. "I don't know the place that well, but I think I remember how to get there. Which part of it do you need help with?"

[paard]

3

[anemonene]

April was still cool enough in Victory that Pearle didn't worry overly much about her sweat, but as she carried the tray of petri dishes from Medical to the Labs, she leaned back far enough that there was no possible way she could contaminate the samples. It was very possible she might throw her back out, but at least that would only be her problem.

"Knock, knock," she said through a wide grin as she stood in the doorway to Danute's office. "Brought the samples you asked for. All four thousand of them. Not really. Just the forty requested..."

[paard]

"Four thousand?" Danute blinked owlishly at Pearle until she admitted she only had the forty. Four thousand could be useful, but it had been difficult enough to make room for the forty...

"Ah, thank you. Please, set them on the clear spot on the desk." There had been a plant there previously, but she was having another of the scientists babysit it until she was done with her current experiment. It was entirely normal; something she had to promise to a ridiculous degree, in her opinion. Outside of the possible venus fly traps that seemed to be on the prowl for flies where they could find them, all of her questionable plants remained in their tight security prison of a greenhouse.

"Did you have any troubles getting them here?" She turned and faced Pearle, on purpose to make it look like she was engaged. She'd been holed up in her office for the past three hours without anyone to talk to. Even her plant was gone.

[anemonene]

Pearle smiled to herself when, like she predicted, Danute didn't get the joke at first. It was nice, knowing all these Earth 1 people... They weren't so bad once you gave them a chance. Tucking her hair back into her hood once she'd set the samples where she'd been told, Pearle tried to sneak a glance around the lab. No crazy new plants... Pity.

"Oh, no, no trouble! Well, the elevator was a bit crowded, but safer than taking the stairs, yeah?" Slightly unnerved but happy that Danute was paying attention, she stepped a bit closer and tilted her head to the side. "What are they for? There was a label, but I couldn't make most of that gibberish out. You all in the Labs have worse handwriting than Medical. Didn't know that wasn't possible."

Pearle was used to people who had no one else to talk to.

[paard]

"I suppose most of us are in a hurry." Danute turned to point at the samples Pearle brought her. Each petri dish had one leaf in it, of varying sizes, colors, and species. "These are leaves taken from around Victory in areas that are known to have a high number of people that are powered." She turned and pointed to a second set of forty petri dishes, which were on a shelf she had kept another of her plants, which was now in her apartment. "Those were exported in from around Seattle, which does not have an especially high number of Powered living within it's confines."

She did not point to anything in the last; Danute had learned to be careful with her plants. "The final set are taken from my plants in the lab, which are staying in the lab due to the dangerous nature of them."

[anemonene]

"Yeah... Like baristas... They never write my name right on the cup..." she murmured, sneaking glances around the office. Even after spending years in the past, Pearle found most everything about this time fascinating, especially AM labwork. It was like going back to the Renaissance and skimming through Copernicus' or Da Vinci's notebooks.

Leaning against the wall, arms crossed and head lowered, Pearle tried to seem only casually interested when she asked, "W-what's so dangerous about them?"

[asianfail]

5!

[onemagictrick]

Victory was a strange place. First off, there was the weather. Somehow it was always raining, yet the sun liked to sneak in appearances without burning the clouds away. Most temperamental climate he'd ever encountered. And then there were all the non-sequiturs people lobbed at him about kids and french toast and bulldogs. Middle of Washington was a fucking illogical place for Captain to drop him off, but then, what was new about that?

Issac held in a sigh as he waited in line for a coffee at a local cafe. He glanced around. No dinosaurs, no dream-eating spiders, no skeletons hanging out by the refrigerator. Everything was relatively normal. All he had to deal with was the asshole in front of him who couldn't seem to place his order.

"Hey, man, some of us haven't had coffee in a very, very long time. So if you wouldn't mind getting out of the way?" He did his best to hold a smile, but the twitch in his cheek told Issac it was slipping.

[asianfail]

Cameron had, against his better judgment, offered to buy coffee for the rest of the IT department. Even worse, he had the other members write down their orders. All he wanted was some time away from Crow and Simon's dumb, instigating behavior, but he realized now he couldn't get away from it. Staring down at the slip of paper, he tried to read the handwriting. It was almost impossible. Was it because they spent so much time in front of the computer that they were starting to forget how to write properly?

Sighing, Cameron debated how much longer he should try to decipher scribbles or order something generic. He felt a line slowly forming behind him and glanced behind him just as Issac spoke. He hunched his shoulders. What was more responsible: getting out of the way or getting the orders for his coworkers?

"Sorry," he said, inching off to the side. "Go ahead." But the man could have had access to coffee any day her in Victory.... No, Cameron didn't care enough. Maybe he had been trying to ween himself off caffeine, and it didn't work. Whatever it was, it wasn't any of his business.

He went back to cracking the code of illegible handwriting. Java chip... Mocha... something.

[onemagictrick]

"Obliged," Issac said in a tone that suggested just the opposite. "Large- eh, Venti black coffee."

The barista seemed happy to take his order after the mess that had been the previous patron shuffled to the side. Issac pulled his wallet from his pocket, the feel of it in his hand strange after so long, and put a few bucks on the counter. "Keep the change."

He took his coffee and glanced over at the man who had been in front of him. Looked like he had the Sphinx's fucking riddle in front of him. "Let me see. Chickenscratch is my first language."

[asianfail]

The impatience surrounding Cameron rolled off his back easily. He knew he had been holding up the line; it only made sense.

There was a small pause before he offered up the slip of gibberish. "Good luck." He had seen lines of broken computer language make more sense than that. The more he tried to read it, the less of a hurry he was to go back to work. "Don't worry if you can't read. it."

[onemagictrick]

"Jesus H. Christ..." Issac took a long swig of coffee as he kept staring at the order. As a line cook, you had to be able to read shit like this- it wasn't like you could run out into the restaurant and ask the waitstaff what their abstract art was supposed to mean. Still, whatever was written on this paper was beyond him.

He scratched his jaw with the lip of his cup and sighed. "They must really hate the interns where you work. I'd get them all Kombuchas if I were you. That stuff tastes awful..."

[asianfail]

Kombuchas? "What is it?" Whatever it was, if it did taste awful, it was tempting. They paid his effort in buying coffee with scribbles. How much was worth the inevitable payback he'd get?

Cameron glanced at his watch before pulling out his Blueberry. No messages about how long he was gone (yet). "I should've asked them to e-mail me their orders. No way to misread that." He hoped his coworkers wouldn't be impossible enough to typo it or type it in Symbol or Wingdings. He grimaced; they would.