01 [Day: Tuesday, November 23. Time: 6:30.] 01 [Christian's walking the last leg of the trip to the Coleman Children's Home. It's chilly-cold this evening, though that never stops New Yorkers from getting out and about, so there are plenty of people moving through the streets. Ths area of the Bronx is not *bad*, as the Bronx goes, but it's still the Bronx and so compares relatively poorly compared to most everywhere else.] 01 [The orphanage itself is a rather large brick building, maybe three or four stories, and is surprisingly free of graffiti. A good sign, especially compared to the buildings nearby. The lights are on, and a couple of teenagers are sitting on the steps, chatting.] 01 [Session Start!] 06* Christian comes up to the building and makes his way inside, hands going in his pocket. as soon as he steps in. He's in a regular jacket this time to protect against the rain, no leather or jean jacket for him and a baseball cap. Yes his eyes are blue after all this time. He glances at the other teens to see what they're up to then makes his way to reception. Hopefully the receptionist is paying 06* Christian attention so he doesn't have to call attention to himself, but the likelihood of that is about 50/50. 01 [They're just chatting, and one of them's tossing what might be a hackey sack from one hand to the other as he does.] 06* Christian looks like he'd join in if he had some extra time, and heck, maybe he would anyway, but for right now, he focuses on the reception. The place does seem rather well kept and cared for. Not new by any means, but at least it's cared for. He knows you could do quite worse. If the receptionist doesn't notice him by this time, he looks for a bell or clears his throat. 01 [The lobby is worn down but well-kept, much like the outside, and all of the lights are working. A man is at the desk up front, effectively barring the way to the rest of the orphanage. He's hispanic, in his fifties, with thinning hair and a bit of stubble, and he's wearing a clean button down shirt. "Can I help you?" he asks.] Yeah. I'm here to meet up with Merilyn Brooks? Visiting hours still, right? 03* Horus is now known as Meri 06* Christian notes that there may or may not be actual visiting hours anyways, but hey. It's enough like prison sometimes that he can relate. 01 ["We don't technically have visiting hours," he clarifies as he reaches for a binder on the shelf nearby. He opens to a page and sets it on the desk, gesturing to a pen on a chain nearby. "Sign in here, please."] 06* Christian nods and he grabs the pen. Pen on a chain, woo. He signs in. Ash Brooks. So far, so good. 01 [He glances at that, then says, "Can I see a picture ID, please?"] 06* Christian nods and pads his pockets for a bit, before taking out the ID he was given and showing it to the guy. 01 [He takes it, looks at Christian's face, and hands it back. "Thanks." Turning, he calls down a hallway, "Emily, can you tell Meri that Ash Brooks is here to see her?" From down the hall comes a, "Sure!" and Christian can see a black woman in her thirties come out from the hall and head up the stairs.] 06* Christian nods a little bit, then goes over to the corner, watching the kids play hacky-sack (or handy-sack rather right now) while he waits. 01 [They are in fact up and playing hackey sack, and they seem to be pretty good at it, bouncing it between them. The one who was tossing the sack between his hands particularly.] 02* Mechalink (Mechalink@ip174-71-102-207.om.om.cox.net) Quit (Ping timeout ) 01 [After a few minutes, Meri comes down the stairs, followed by the woman who's probably Emily. She glances around, a little confused, before her gaze settles on Christian, and she stands there, not really sure what to do.] 06* Meri , for the record, doesn't look *too* much worse for wear. Her clothes are plain and a little too small for her, but they're in good condition and her sneakers are new. She's looking at Christian a touch warily. 06* Christian looks at Meri and lifts his hat a little, giving her a bit of a once over before giving her a bit of a smile. "Hey *bub*. How ya holdin' up?" Definite emphasis on the "bub" there. 06* Meri 's eyes widen, and she practically lights up. "ASH!" she yells as she runs at Christian and bowls into him with a huge hug. Behind her, Emily and the receptionist share a look and a grin. 06* Christian oofs as she runs into him and braces himself with the wall before he catches her. "Woah. Easy, easy." He actually has a backpack on that he seems to be trying to protect from smashing against the wall. "Thought you'd want a little bit of a break. Wanna take a walk or something?" 01 Really? Yeah! I'll get my stuff! 06* Christian snorts. "Nah, I just came all this way so you could bowl me over and I could take off. 'Course, really." 06* Meri turns to dash back up the stairs and then spots the grown ups watching, stopping abruptly. "Um. Is it okay if I go on a walk with Ash?" 01 [The receptionist chuckles. "Of course. Just don't come back too late." That's all Meri needs, apparently, because then she's running up the stairs two at a time, with the woman calling up, "One step at a time, Meri!"] 06* Christian chuckles and then speaks to the woman once Meri's out of earshot. "She's been a handful, ain't she?" 01 [She shakes her head. "Puttin' it mildly," she says, amused. "But she's a good kid."] 06* Christian nods a bit in response to that and taps his foot while he's waiting, unslinging one shoulder strap from the pack. 01 [The woman heads back down the hall to do whatever she was doing before this madness started. After a couple of minutes, Meri's bounding back down the stairs, jumping the last four with a frown from the receptionist, and then running to Christian. She's wearing a hoodie with a windbreaker over it, along with the backpack she was carrying when Christian first met her.] 01 Okay, I'm ready! 06* Christian gives her a light wrap on the top of her hoodie. "'ey. What'd she tell you about jumpin' down the stairs?" 06* Meri furrows her brow. "Don't... do it?" Pause. "Hey, how did you know she said that?" Cause she just said one step at a time, dumbie. Didn't you hear her? 01 That's *totally* not the same as jumping! 06* Christian sighs and gives the woman a "Well I tried" shrug. Then turns back to Meri, thumbing out the door. "Come on." 06* Meri does go, and as she leaves, she waves back and calls, "Bye, Mr. Carlos!" 06* Christian heads out the door after her then starts walking around the block a little bit before digging into the backpack and pulling out a small wrapped bundle before tossing it to Meri. "Here." 06* Meri catches the package easily and looks down at whatever-it-is. 06* Christian looks at her questioning look and answers her unspoken question for her. "Avocado sandwich. Figured you might want it. Ain't no way in hell *I'm* gonna eat it." 06* Meri 's eyes widen. "*Really?* Awesome! Thanks!" And she's tearing the paper and plastic open to get at the avocado goodness underneath. 06* Christian watches that for a moment, then shakes his head, smirking a little bit. "You're unreal, y'know that?" 06* Meri tries to say something with her mouth full of sandwich, mostly fails, chews, and swallows. "Is that bad?" 06* Christian looks at her for a moment, then flicks her on the forehead. Not super powered because man, even that could hurt. "Gotta stop worrying about other people's opinions so much, kid." He stretches a little bit after that. "Never answered my question. How ya holdin' up?" 06* Meri crosses her eyes briefly. "What do you mean?" And then she has another bite. 06* Christian snorts. "Is that code word for "just fine" then?" I mean if you're doin' okay, I can just head off... 06* Meri 's eyes widen, and she nearly drops her sandwich. "Don't go!" 06* Christian looks at her and blinks. "Woah. I'm not goin' anywhere. I was just sayin' if you're doin' okay..." 01 But- don't- don't, please? I'll be good. 06* Christian blinks again at that, then softens up a bit and sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "That rough, huh?" 01 Yeah. I mean no. I mean, um. 06* Meri chews on her lower lip, then says, "The people at the orphanage are really nice," before she eats more sandwich. 06* Christian puts his hands in the jacket and walks quietly, not pressing her for any info, just lets her spill what she wants to spill for now. At least there's a nice park nearby that they can walk through. 06* Meri chews on sandwich thoughtfully, and once she swallows says, "I made some new friends at school." 06* Christian glances at her a moment. "Yeah?" 01 Uh huh. Tyler and Terry and Chris and Devon and Jesus. They're eighth graders, and they play CCGs like me. Um, but Jesus hates my deck and always rants about how slivers are broken all the time, and Chris is really quiet, like *really* quiet. But I like them. 01 And um, Terry's really especially cool. He stood up for me an' stuff, and he said he was sorry about the whole... orphan thing. 06* Meri takes another bite of sandwich as she walks along. She's enjoying it, at least! 06* Christian nods. "So what's wrong?" 06* Meri sighs. "I dunno." She kicks an empty beercan as she walks, sending it sailing. "Well, I guess... like..." 01 At school, a lot of the kids laugh at me. Not Terry and those guys, but other kids, like Tyrone and James, and a buncha kids in my classes. 06* Christian goes back to "just listening" mode, waiting for her to finish. 01 I don't even know why, really. Like, they'll laugh in class when I get a question wrong, and sometimes even when I get a question right. At least, I think I got it right. And like... on the first day, Tyrone said that I *stole* my backpack. And everyone laughed. Why would I do that, anyway? That's dumb. 01 And today, he walked into me in the hall by accident. Only I'm pretty sure it was on purpose, 'cause he didn't even say he was sorry. 06* Meri chews on more sandwich, sullenly. It's almost gone. 06* Christian sighs. "Any idea why they're pickin' on you then? Doesn't sound like it." 01 Well, um. Maybe 'cause I'm an orphan? 06* Christian shrugs his backpack onto his shoulders and then walks on ahead. "My guess is they just don't know you and you stand out. Sometimes it ain't more than that." 06* Meri frowns as she tries to sort through that. "That's dumb," is her conclusion. Fuck knows *I* had to beat a couple fool heads in when I was your age. 01 I almost got in a fight with Tyrone yesterday. 06* Christian shrugs. "It's *kids*" He then glances over at her. "Yeah?" 06* Meri shrugs. "Yeah. Terry stood up for me, and then Tyrone threatened to throw him in a trash can, and I got pretty mad." 01 But then Terry pointed out that the hall monitor was watching an' stuff, and Tyrone backed down. 06* Christian hehs a little bit. "Sounds like this Terry kid kept you from getting kicked outta school on your first day." 01 Really? I thought I'd just get detention. Well, I wouldn't say kicked out for *good* but it woulda built a rep, yeah. 06* Christian pauses for a moment. "Maybe it woulda been better. Who knows?" 01 I dunno. I don't really care about what other kids think about me, as long as they can keep it to themselves and not be jerks about it. Ain't much of a chance of doin' *that*, I'm afraid. 06* Christian sighs. Thinking. And folding his arms. 06* Meri nods. "'m know." She finishes off her sandwich and shapes the wrapper into a ball. Look, I think you got two options here. 06* Christian counts them off on his fingers. "Either you show this Tyrone kid you're nice and you actually don't *care*, but you ain't a pushover and things smooth over." He counts on the second one. "Or two, things get so bad you gotta end up deckin' the kid. Might have to deal with his cronies too. Hard to say." 06* Christian 's statements on "going to adults for help" or anything of the like is conveniently absent. 01 How do I show him that I'm not a pushover *without* getting into a fight? That sounds pretty hard. 06* Meri tosses the wrapper into a garbage can as they pass. Two points! 06* Christian rubs his head. Not like he's the best for advice on that front. "How'd he find out you were an orphan in the first place anyway?" 01 Oh, um... I kinda said. 06* Christian winces a bit at that. "Yeah...um...I dunno. That's pretty big ammo to be givin' 'em..." 01 Yeah, I get that *now*. 01 But I didn't know. 06* Christian chuckles and pats her on the shoulder. "Learning experience." He then lets out a slow breath. "I ain't really the one to give you advice on that. I was getting into fights all the time." 01 Yeah, but you won, right? Heh. Not all of 'em. 06* Meri frowns. "That sucks." And the important one ended up putting the kid in the hospital. 01 ... Why'd you do that? Did he make you *really* mad? 06* Christian stops for a moment, and gives a long pause. "...cause I didn't know I *could* put him in the hospital at the time..." 01 ... Oops. Is he okay? 06* Christian sighs. "Hell if I know by now." Just sayin'...ya don't wanna get in a fight and doin' something you regret... 06* Meri nods. "When I got really scared the first time, I, um. Changed. And later, when I got really angry, like really *really* angry, I got... you know... like Wolverine." Wolverine? In what way? 06* Christian looks around just to make sure there's no one really listening in. 06* Meri looks around, too, and she's apparently satisfied that nobody's watching, as she holds her right hand in front of her and Christian. She flexes her fingers once, and wickedly sharp, black claws are where her fingernails used to be. Another flex, and they're gone again. 06* Christian watches that for a moment, not as surprised this time, then winces a bit. "Uh..yeah." He pauses for a moment. "The person you did it to okay?" 01 Oh, yeah. 01 Anyway, I've been working really hard to do it only when I want to, and it's a lot easier to practice *that* than some of the other stuff. 06* Christian nods a little bit. Then seems to get an idea. "Hey. Come on." He goes a little bit faster in one direction. She's seen him go a lot faster, so she knows he's just going with a regular person run, but he's still pretty fast. 06* Meri blinks. "Huh?" And then she's running after him. "Where are we going!" 06* Christian grins. "A place where it's easier to show you something." He keeps moving. He seems to be heading towards what looks like an old construction yard or something? 01 Okay! 06* Meri keeps running! 01 [Pause!]