Participants:
| Scene Title | Alone For The Holidays |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Emily storms into the Lanthorn with a big problem. |
| Date | December 1, 2019 |
Either the door is unlocked or Emily's used the key she swore she wouldn't take after it was offered to her.
Either way, she slams the door shut behind her on her way in, bookbag slung off her shoulder by the strap as she heads straight for the common area. "Hey," she calls ahead of her, brow knit. Around her neck is bundled a yellow and black checkered kerchief. It covers the bandage over the side of her neck, but otherwise definitely stands at odds with everything else she's wearing, from the creme-colored peacoat she strips off to the gray cabled sweater she wears underneath. The bookbag is carefully dumped at the foot of the couch so she can strip off her coat and throw it over the back.
"I've got a situation," she states fiercely to anyone within earshot.
Brynn doesn't count as in earshot, but Doodlebug does! And he alerts Brynn to the visitor. The dog has his tail wagging so she knows it friend instead of foe, and when she comes down the stairs from her own room, she's wearing a simple pair of paint-stained jeans with a flannel shirt thrown over another white shirt. Her dark hair is loose and her feet covered in heavy socks. The smile of welcome she has as she enters the common area fades when she gets a look at the other girl's face.
Hi, Ems! Her gray eyes take in the ferocity. She is immediately on the alert and Doodlebug's demeanour reflects the wariness. What's wrong?
Joe was in the kitchen. Because of course he was. He's got a plate full of leftover Thanksgiving food that is questionable on whether it's still good or not, but he's chowing down. A cold turkey and cheese sandwich, some stuffing, potatoes, a slice of pie that has somehow survived. He pauses with the fork midway to his mouth when Emily says she's got a situation. He looks to her, then up and over to Brynn before he pops the food in his mouth and starts chewing. He waves at Brynn before he rotates his fork in a circle in a 'let's hear it' sort of gesture. He's dressed in Joe normal. Jeans, hoody and sneakers. Doodlebug gets pets, little pets. Small and hesitant pets. He has no reason to be afraid of dogs, but still… it's taken time for him to get used to being around a dog. Then Joe goes back to stuffing food in his mouth as he waits to hear what all is going on.
Swoosh! The fire department’s pole is used to slide down from the second floor, and Lance lands light on his feet, turning towards the others with a spread of his hands and eyebrows raised, “What’s the situation? How many guns do we need? Do we need reinforcements?”
Yes, he’s assuming that there’s something serious that needs to be dealt with immediately. He’s dressed in civvies; a pair of well-broken-in jeans and a hooded long-sleeved shirt in gray as he steps away from the pole, glancing to the others then back to Emily, “Should we call work?”
"Jesus Christ, no," Emily says, immediately exasperated. There's a hair trigger on any topics that should be or have been reported to work since she made the police report last month. So she states "No." emphatically once more before moving on.
"There's this girl—" and then she cuts herself off, pointing between Joe and Lance in equal parts, "And no, this isn't a fucking romantic thing, so let's get that straight very fucking quickly."
She clears her throat and starts again: "There's this girl, she moved out here from California. Alone. So she's alone." And now she's looking back between them all again, hoping they understand and agree this and what she's about to say are a big issue. "So she's going to be spending the holidays alone—
"We've got to do something." Emily insists in a tone that brokers no argument.
Brynn makes a slow blink and then stares at Emily. Her tone would be dry as dust if she could use her voice, So…. why is she not already standing in the firehouse? Because this is where all the homeless ones go, right? As if this is a given and she can't figure out why this is a situation. Situations definitely require weapons around here.
"Finch. You're talking about Finch."
It's loud. It's perversely unhappy-sounding.
It's Geneva, ladies and gentlemen.
Mirroring Emily's entrance with an exactness that is almost comical, the blonde slams the door behind her on her way in with even more gratuitous force, picking at the collar of her dark raglan sweater as she follows that same trail straight towards the common area. "Motherfucker. Yeah, there's no one else you could possibly be talking about. …We've got to go and fetch her, haven't we." No, her expression and posture completely agrees, Finch can't be alone. But for some reason she seems a hair more sullen and rigid about it than it really makes sense for her to be. Any of the others have known her long enough to recognize this as a particular form of self-consciousness, but Emily alone would know the reason why.
"Come on Lance. You know we don't need reinforcements. We're a two man wrecking crew. And…" He pauses as Emily makes it very apparent very quickly that this isn't a guns and cavalry sort of situation. He pauses in stuffing his mouth to catch Brynn up on what's been said so he can stuff more food in his mouth, chewing slowly. "Ooo a g-" He cuts off as Emily then makes it very clear that no it's not a romantic thing. So he shuts up once more, signing it all to Brynn, then back to stuffing face.
"Oh. Yeah no. That's not happening. She can come here. Being alone on the holidays is the worst. I mean… I assume it's the worst. I haven't ever been alone on the holidays. Can't imagine being alone on the holidays. That sounds awful." And then more food is stuffed into his mouth after signing away at Brynn. "But I'm with Brynn's comment and subsequent DUH staring here. Why isn't she… here? In the firehouse? This isn't a situation. There's no solving to be done. You bring her here, she has people to be around for the holiday."
Joe's head tiiiiilts to the side. "Hi Pyro!" He flashes a bright grin at Geneva. "And yeah, we're totally going to go fetch her. Even your ever grumpy self can't deny that people shouldn't be alone. Also can we not with the slamming of the doors? Why even?" He asks glancing between Emily and Geneva both with a pointed look. “Also what’s up Gen? You’re even pricklier than usual about this. Is pricklier a word? Pretty sure it is. Lance is pricklier a word?” He looks around at the rest of the group then back to Geneva and Emily. “So where do we find her?”
“Oh. My. God.”
Lance’s jaw nearly hits the floor, and then he’s grinning like a goblin offered… whatever goblins like, in any case he’s fit to split the corners of his lips. A quick step forward and he flings his arms wide, “Emily! You’ve finally accepted it! You’re really one of us now, you’re even adopting new people like we do!”
And then he’s trying to fling his arms around her in a hug, “I’m so happy!” Over her head, he grins, “Hey Gen. You got a problem with this Finch girl?”
Emily doesn't have time to reply to Geneva, Brynn, or Joe. She's being attacked by Lance.
She's done something horribly wrong for this to happen.
"Wh—" she stammers, too disarmed by trying to follow Lance's logic. Despite that, her face is flushing red instantly, warm to the touch. Better watch out, Lance, she might start radiating heat like Geneva. "No, that's not! No."
"LANCE, you are missing the whole point here!" Emily groans, her whole head pink down to the tips of her ears. She tries to wriggle out of Lance's grip, but honestly, she might fall to the ground rather than successfully break the grapple through traditional methods. Her legs feel like she's been stabbed in them for no good reason.
"It is Finch," she protests, probably louder than is necessary. "And she's too fucking good for this world and doesn't deserve to be alone for Christmas. She's a goddamned Disney princess come to life and needs to be pointed at things better than trash piles before she ends up stabbed with a Refrain needle the next time she casually decides to clean up Brighton Beach."
Emily groans at it all, both the girl, and at herself. Now if Lance does let go, she might actually fall to the ground. From sheer embarrassment both from being instantly found out and also from Lance's accusations.
She's not going back on this, though, embarrassing as it might fucking be for her.
Brynn is, as always, keeping up by virtue of Joe's signing — it's amazing how fast that boy can sign and still be shoveling food in his face! But both her brothers make it their business to be sure she's in the loop and she appreciates it… especially now, as Joe gleefully signs all of the Lance and Emily interaction out there. Her laughter is stifled behind her hand as she watches Emily's abject horror.
When Em says that this Finch Disney Fucking Princess is cleaning up Brighton Beach, though, the petite brunette's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. Well, that alone means we need to adopt her and get her off the streets. Good job, Ems! she is applauding Emily's initiative in bringing about an honest-to-god LHK Intervention! They haven't done one of these in ages!
We definitely need to get her here soon. The weather is starting to turn. She can't be out there in the wind and snow doing that. But Gen has an issue? What?
Rude. Gene has no issues, excuse each and every one of you. She is a perfectly well-adjusted and completely issue-free person stop laughing please and thank you.
"Of course Em is one of us, she has been forever," Gene exclaims in what can best be described as an explosive grumble in reaction to this fucking obvious truth. Because this is indeed what's been the case to anyone with half a brain, at least as far as she's concerned. At the same time, she can't help her mouth from twitching with the involuntary hint of a laugh at the sight of Lance enveloping Emily into a bear hug. She does nothing to get in the way of this, of course.
"But yes we're fucking going and hauling that stupid girl back here before she gets stabbed by needles or anything worse. Honestly though— Em, that's a pretty damn glowing description of someone we only met once.” Never mind the irrelevant fact that every word of it is true. “…You. You sure you don't want her back here ASAP ‘cause you have the hots for her, or something?"
No, Emily will not be falling to the ground. Why? Because it is TOTES group hug time. Lance gets his arms around Emily and Joe joins the hug. "One of us! One of us! One of us!" And he's chanting, and might be bouncing up and down a little bit. He starts signing in Lighthouse Cant for Brynn since it's short hand and easier for him to do one handed. Some phrases require two but she can get the gist of it. "Disney Princess…. Too good for this world? YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW! Broninja you are right. Emily is officially one of us."
"Yes. She is Gene. But she's finally accepting it. Even if she's doing her best impression of you right now she's finally accepted it and is helping us adopt more people. So this is to be celebrated." He throws their curmudgeonly sister a not at all subtle wink and a grin. "Okay. Operation Rescue the Disney Princess is a go. Who has access to a vehicle? And if no vehicle what is the quickest route to wherever she is?"
Brynn. Do you have an extra coat and hat and gloves we can take to her in case we have to walk back? If so go get it. We can get her her own after we get her here. Or get you replacements. Whichever works. Then to the rest, while still signing for Brynn, and after he's retrieved his food. "Okay Brynn is gonna go look for a coat and hat and gloves in case we need to walk to go get her. Should we bring guns just in case? Is she staying in a rough part of town?" Joe asks as he steps back to his food that he put down and scoops it up before he wanders over nearby and reaches under a shelf or a couch and pulls free a pistol and a clip to go in it, tossing first the gun then the clip to Lance before he wanders somewhere else to grab another one. Look there are guns ALL over the house. Anyone trying to invade this firehouse will be in for a SOOPER ROOD surprise.
As another set of arms joins the group hug, Lance grins, a hand coming up to rub two knuckles playfully against Emily’s head in a ‘noogie’ before finally dancing back before he gets smacked. “What he said,” he tells Geneva, “She can’t refute it now. She’s absolutely one of us and she just confirmed it in front of e v e r y b o d y.”
“I doubt we’ll need guns,” he tells Joe with a roll of his eyes — even as he catches the gun, then the clip and slides it home, double-checking to ensure the safety’s eye. “We got this. Lighthouse to the rescue!”
Not that anyone really needed rescuing. Poor Finch.