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| Scene Title | It's Just a Phase |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Lunchtime at Bannerman Castle is interrupted by a little monster. |
| Date | November 27, 2010 |
Pollepel Island - Bannerman Castle
"Just.. just be quiet."
The small crowd gathering looks over his shoulder curiously. His hand comes off to ward the crowd back. His other hand remains fixed around the little girl clinging to his side desperately. Looking down the dark corridor, the young man slowly looks over his shoulder to those gathering.
It's early afternoon, most are getting their lunch. And in getting her food, little tiny Lucy has run among something most distressing. Her food has been discarded all over the castle hall five feet away. It's all but abandoned now. With his hand securing Lucy soothingly against his leg, Brian peers dubiously down the hall. Blinking at the people behind him, his head tilts lightly.
"Monster." He informs those standing behind him matter-of-factly. Frowning back down the hallway. Looking back at those behind him again, his mouth opens without emitting any sound. 'Rat?' Giving a light shrug, he looks back down at Lucy. "We'll get the monster, baby. But.. uhh.. We can't waste food like that. So when monsters come, we have to hold real tight to our plates okay?" Every moment is a teaching moment!
Coming around the corner, Nora, in her attempt to be independent, is on her way to the dining hall by herself. The day before, she counted the steps and mapped it in her head, just how many steps before each turn, which way to turn, any "landmarks" she could feel along the way.
Unfortunately, landmarks yesterday didn't account for food on the ground. The rubber sole of her too-big Ugg boot steps into the splattered soup and goes sliding forward as Nora's fingers scrabble at the wall in a futile attempt to keep purchase before the blind girl ends up on her rear with a hissed "Fuck," and her brows furrow in pain and a bit of anger as she realizes that her jeans are now wet.
Abby's got Kasha, baby startled awake all glassy eye'd and confused, looking over Abby's shoulder to the others as she and the pyromorph stand near the back of the group. She's getting time in with the wee one before she starts to put her plans to hightail to Canada into motion. Monster could mean many things. Cockroaches, rats, mice, snakes, all sorts of creepy crawlies that might be looking to seek refuge and shelter from the cold. Squirrel. Who knows.
At Nora's foul language, turning around to tell the person to watch their language, Abigail see's the blind woman go down and is taking careful steps to get to her then put her hand on the young woman's. "Hey. Nora. There was food spilled, got done spilled by one of the kids, Alley-oop lets get you back up eh?"
When you're late to breakfast, you miss all the excitement. Such is the case for Monica as she walks up, blinking at the sight of the gathered crowd. It's just a touch of paranoia that has her coming over to check it out, given that a bunch of refugees huddled around could mean any number of things.
But the sight of Brian and Lucy there makes her smile warmly. She'd heard they were here, but being a ninja-nightowl-recluse has it's price. And the price is missing a lot of people. She doesn't come forward, not at first, but she lingers at the edges of the crowd.
Megan's calm voice comes from behind Nora, who continues to meander in the labyrinthine corridors without an escort. "Independence is one thing, but this is why I tell you to wait for someone, Nora." Her tone is dry and somewhat amused at the language, and she lets Abby help Nora up as she takes in the scene in front of her. "Hey, guys," she greets mildly. "What's up?" Brian and Lucy are familiar faces — she's taken care of a number of the Lighthouse kids. And someone else in the group says 'Monster,' which has Meg trying real hard to cover her smile. "I see." She makes her way through and asks Brian mildly, "Want some backup?" Because teaching the kids not to go anywhere alone is important too.
Wincing sharply, Brian looks down at Lucy. His hands swing out to cover the tiny blonde's ears swiftly. "See when we lose our soup to monsters, people slip and get hurt. And that makes people say the fuck word." He grimaces once again, "The F word." He corrects quickly. Bringing his hands off the tiny girl's head, he crouches to speak to her. "You need to go say sorry to Nora, okay? She slipped in your soup, and you need to apologize."
"But—"
A quick hand coming up signals that she needs to save the excuse. And she does. Looking up at Megan, Brian smiles lightly. "Monster made her lose her soup. See, Megan will go with you to make sure you don't get eated. And I'll go investigate." Nodding to Megan he slowly pries his arm away from Lucy. Motioning the girl to join Megan.
Standing back up, Brian brings one hand up to scrub his face. Catching one of the refugees out of the corner of his eye— His eyes go glassy for a moment, head rotating forward. Before he shakes his head rapidly. Another memory. One from the old Brian. Haven't had one of those in a while. Eyes level on Monica for a long moment before he offers a light, greeting smile.
"I can't be independent if I have someone with me, Megan — that's being dependent. Sort of the opposite of what I'm going for," Nora says through gritted teeth as Abby helps her up, one hand going to her backside to rub her bruised tailbone. "Sorry for swearing, I didn't know I had a freakin' audience," she adds, then adds a little wave for the apparent peanut gallery.
Belatedly she murmurs, "Thanks," to Abby, and then scuffs a toe through the soup, sniffing a little. "At least it's not fish soup today, huh?" An attempt at a smile.
A rattle comes from the other side of one wall — the monster? Nora turns her head toward it, brows furrowing as she hits the wall. "There's not a door here, is there?"
She can't see it, but others can — suddenly a hand slides silently out of the stone — there is not crash or crack — and pokes Abby in the side before slipping back into the stone work once more.
The monster has small and very human (and slightly grubby) hands.
"No, there's no door here, why ar-" the grubby hands that slide through the wall and poke her. Abigail lets out an almighty scream, clutching Kasha close and backs up smack into the opposite wall, likely to give her a headache where her head connects with the stone, eyes wide at what she swore she just saw. Take a second for it to cycle through her mind what she just saw. Ghost? No.
"Brian! Which of the kids phases?" She barks out, Kasha starting to whimper which will soon enough ramp up to crying if Abby doesn't calm her. The heat too, spiked in the area right around the pyromorph.
Monica tilts her head at the glassy look, but when he smiles, she lifts a hand to wave, her smile warm in return. As the girl is passed to Megan, she comes over to Brian, her steps hesitant. Sheepish, maybe. She's never been good at these reunions.
"Long time no see," she comments in her familiar southern accent, traces of New Orleans left in her voice. But! No time for getting reacquainted! Abby's shout gets her attention and she rushes over toward the two women. She can help it, the yelling gets her adrenalin going. "You sure it was a kid, Ab?" Phasing, it has personal significance to Monica.
Megan slips an arm around Lucy as Brian says he'll check it out, snuggling the little girl to her gently. It's the resounding scream from Abby, however, that makes both females jump, Lucy screaming bloody murder right in Meg's ear while Megan squeaks in startlement. "Good Lord!" she gasps. Which child phases?? Megan's blue eyes roll. "Oh for heaven's sake? Now we've got the kids doing prank wars on one another?" This after the fistfight above ground?? Raith's going to have a conniption.
Which kid phases? That's a very good question. Brian stares blankly at Abby's question for a few long seconds. He doesn't have a kid who phases. Does he? He's been thinking about phasing a lot, and he's pretty sure he hasn't missed… He knits his brows. "Uhh.. One second!" He notes cheerily. Turning on heel, he runs away from the group. He gives Monica a little wave. "Good to see you!"
Turning the corner instantly, Brian takes his heavy jacket off his torso. It is tossed up into the air and… Caught! The naked Brian who slides out of the first grabs the coat and wraps it around his waist swiftly. The two are instantly splitting up and running down the halls and entering rooms to find the mystery phaser. It's not Lucy.. And most likely not Kasha so it has to be…
"Paaaaull!!" The clothed Brian yells as he sprints down a corridor.
"What the eff!" Rue Lancaster just about gets knocked flat on her ass as Brian comes running by, and splitting into two people as she's rounding the corner at the end of the hall. She's bundled up in a black hoodie with a silver Superman logo across the chest, her ginger curls pulled up on top of her head in a bouncy ponytail. She brings one hand up over her eyes and squeals high-pitched. "Brian! I just saw your junk! Jesus H. Christ!"
A scary Brian screaming his name has the little phaser sliding out of the wall into the corridor where all the commotion began — apparently hoping that the rest of the crowd will have dispersed.
Not so lucky.
He bumps into Nora upon sliding out of the wall, causing the blind girl to jump and squeal before turning around at his giggle. "You're lucky I can't see you," she mutters as she steps aside to let any of the "grownups" handle it.
Paul looks down at the ground, then up at Lucy, then to Kasha, and his eyes too well up with tears. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean — I didn't mean to scare Lucy. I wasn't playing jokes, I promise, I was just looking for a battery in the cupboard and I guess she heard me and then I couldn't resist 'cause you all said I was a monster and save me from the Brians!"
Down comes Abby's hand on Paul's collar, southern frown and southern stare at the young man. "Brian, he's over here!" Abigail bounces Kasha a bit to ward off impending tears before passing off the instigator to Megan. Megan can be more stern than Abby and Abby has one hand full. "You turned it into a joke, and you hurt someone Paul," Abigail points out, gesturing to the others in the room before using both hands on the infant to soothe her.
"Good to… see you… too," Monica notes as she glances over in time to catch the splitting. The smile is for nostalgia, people. The blush is for the nudity. And yet, she can't help but call out, "I always liked you the best, Brian!" But that's just before she turns to Abby and the boy, herself crouching down in front of him. "Boys. Can't help but get into trouble, can you?" But she seems to be the good cop here, fingers brushing at cheeks as he tears up. She looks up as the boy is passed from hand to hand, though, glancing over to Brian. "He didn't mean anything bad. We're all a little antsy these days… just a little horseplay." Did someone want a firm hand? Oops.
With a sigh, the redhead squats down to the boy's level. "Scamp," she says to boy gently if firmly, "I know you were just having a bit of fun and didn't mean to hurt anyone, but Nora relies on having things exactly in the same place all the time to be able to move around without tripping or falling. It's really important because she can't see where she's going." Her hand on the boy's shoulder is gentle, and her tone shifts to one a hair more comforting to the child. "I think we need something a little more constructive for your wonderful imagination." She ruffles his hair. "Perhaps we can see about a project for you."
"Then this is a good day for you, Rue…" Naked Brian calls out as he runs by, holding the jacket tightly around him. Slowing his run at the call from Abby, he pauses. And then starts jogging back, smiling charmingly at Rue. "Really Rue, who hasn't?" And then with Paul retreating back to where they were. Which makes this whole duplicating thing totally unnecessary. But at least people got to see him naked. That's a plus. Jogging back the clothed Brian smacks the second Brian on the back of the head.. who instantly disappears.
Grabbing his jacket that drops to the floor, he throws it over his shoulder.
Strolling back into the hallway, he levels a semi-dark look on Paul. Without a word, Brian motions the boy with one finger. The Lighthouse kids know what this means. Seldolm is Brian very stern, but every now and then he does the dangerous no-word-point. Which means a very stern talkin' to, is incoming.
The non-medically inclined ginger wrinkles her nose at Brian's delcaration that he's lucky. "Ew," Rue reiterates, making a face like she might gag. Boys are gross, okay?
Rue has now decided it's time to make a new friend. She goes sidling up to Nora and murmurs in her ear. "You are so lucky you did not have to see that. It was floppin' all over the place, and it was tiny. I mean, I know about shrinkage, but—" Blue eyes sparkle along with the grin she wears her on her cherub-like face. "I'm grinning mischievously," she whispers for Nora's benefit. "I'm Rue, by the way." She fits her hand in Nora's and gives it a brief shake. "And I'm also starving. Would you like to come get lunch with me so I don't have to sit alone like a total loser? I'll be way cooler just sitting next to you."
Nora is nudged gently in the arm by Rue's elbow. "And I totally have a pair of pants you can borrow if you need 'em. They'll be, uh, a little long on you, but we can cuff 'em. It'll be super stylish."
Paul looks from one adult to the other, offering a smile to Monica for being so understanding, and a nod and a less certain smile to Megan for the suggestion of a project, though he's old enough to know that means punishment, even if more of the chore variety than anything painful. But Brian's silent beckoning makes Paul's lower lip quiver and he ducks his head, moving slowly like a dog with its tail between its legs. Knowing that he disappointed Brian is punishment enough, it seems, for the little boy.
Passing Nora, he glances up at her. "Sorry, Nora," he offers in a querulous tone.
Nora finds her arm and hand taken by a stranger, and her brows knit together over the dark glasses she wears still on top of gauze, but she nods, even as her cheeks grow rosy at hearing about shrinkage and floppy bits. That gets ignored and she latches onto the part of the conversation she feels is appropriate to respond to, especially in front of children: "I guess eating food instead of wearing food would be a good idea. I'm Nora," she says, letting the other young woman lead her away.
Megan and Brian have Paul in hand, Abigail's going to ease out of here, take the crying baby away from the chaos and spilled food, find someone who will come and take care of that. Find some place quieter.
Monica pats the boy on the arm, giving him a little smile. "Buck up, soldier," she says before she stands up. "And people said this island would be boring," she comments, mostly to herself that time, with a wry smile.
"It was good to see you.." Brian murmurs towards Monica. "I'll send another me over in a second if you want to have lunch, catch up, or something." He offers with a light smile. Then looks back to Paul. "Come on. To the room." Turning around he walks down the hallway towards their room, expecting Paul to follow him.
Megan ruffles the boy's hair and winks at him. It'll be all right. And then she takes Lucy back to the dining hall to get her own food because that seems to be what's needed.
The little phaser gives one last look over his shoulder, teary dark eyes pleading with Megan and Monica not to let him face Brian alone, but to no avail. He heaves a sigh and slumps his shoulder as he heads down the hall. Each step is a conscious choice to man up and face the music rather than to slide ever-so-sneakily into the stone beneath his feet, wanting very much to literally let the ground swallow him up whole.