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xp_logsEmily stumbles upon Kevin while he's trying to figure out how couches work and needs to call in some back-up.
Kevin was rather unsuccessfully trying to become accustomed to these soft surfaces that Davey had told him were "couches." The "bed" he'd been given was much softer than the slab of soiled something that had been down there with him. Everything was new. New was different- which was good- he wanted new. But for the first time in......Davey had called them "years"- Kevin had a body. And bodies apparently "needed" sleep. And the soft "bed" was not helping him sleep. It was too new.
He shoved his hands against the part he was sitting on and frowned when the material pushed back. He shifted his weight to test it further, bouncing a bit on the couch, moving around the piece of furniture to see if all the parts were the same softness.
Finally he threw himself down lengthwise across the couch and groaned loudly, head bouncing off the cushion with the force of his movement. He groaned again, leg kicking angrily at the air as his feet dangled off the edge of the armrest.
“Hello.”
Emily had paused at the door when she saw the adult…doing whatever it was on the couch.
She wasn’t sure if she should back out and come back later but her mother had spent a great deal of her life imprinting the importance of politeness, if not outright kindness to everyone. Even those that might seem a little strange at first.
She wasn’t sure her mother could have foreseen just how strange Emily’s life and surroundings would become.
Kevin sat up too quick and his head spun. Ah. Davey had told him about this. Apparently he needed to eat more "food." That was taking some getting used to. He'd discovered that he couldn't eat people here. Which really was a shame, there were so many strong people who could make a good snack without killing them.
"Wit? Oh right....people exist n are allowed tae leave rooms here."
Emily was pretty sure that had been English, although she’d maybe understood only half the words. Scottish, and odd given the content of those half understood words. She’d noticed that most of the people here had at least one oddity about them.
“I think so? You’re, um. You’re meant to be here?”
It wasn’t a bad question, although she felt a little bad asking it but after everything that had happened to her you couldn’t be too careful. She’d hate to have to explain to her folks that the reason she’d been put in danger again was because she’d felt it rude to ask the potential kidnapper if they were a kidnapper.
Did people tell you that though? She hadn’t exactly come up against standard kidnappers yet, just weird game people and extra-dimensional beings.
Kevin shrugged, fixing her with a haunted stare. "Davey brought me tae the house. A dunno that a'm supposed tae be oot ae his room."
Emily didn’t know any Davey, or any reason any of the adults at the mansion would be forced to stay in a room. They’d never seemed like the type of people who saw ‘lock someone up’ as a solution to anything as far as she’d seen.
Violence maybe, but locking up, not so much. Her hand slowly drifted to her pocket, and the mobile they’d handed her when she’d moved here. As long as this person didn’t react badly she’d be able to hit her panic button and not be kidnapped again.
“Um, where is Davey now?”
Best to know where this other person was too.
"In his office? a think he called it an office...." Kevin said, face scrunching up in thought. "Words are hard. How dae people remember wit they all mean?"
Another Slender? Or something else? There’d been that thing on the journals about someone coming through a wormhole.
A wormhole…She hadn’t told her parents about that yet, or maybe ever. She got the feeling they might freak out a little and she wanted to stay here and learn rather than having to hide.
She’d definitely have to hide if they decided here wasn’t safe enough for her, and she doubted anywhere else had people like Amanda who could teach her or give her cool magic books to read.
She pushed the panic button on her phone, backing out of the door a little just in case.
She nearly backed into Jim.
"Oh, Emily--" the telepath began just as his phone simultaneously began to shrill. He winced and yanked it from his pocket, only to find he was all but on top of the source.
"Wrong button?" he asked as he quickly keyed in the code to cancel. Then he actually got a good look at her face.
"Are you okay?"
An adult she knew, thank whatever small mercies existed in the universe. She quickly darted behind him and grabbed his arm before flapping a hand toward whatever was currently in the room.
“There’s an alien, or um, maybe an extra dimensional thing or whatever but it speaks Scottish.”
The telepath's eyebrows underwent a brief contortion. "An ali -- oh." Jim's coatrack frame sagged in relief as his eyes fell on the man sitting on the couch. The posture had considerable overlap with that of a parent who thought they'd lost their child at a supermarket only to find him happily chatting to a cashier. "No, it's okay. Emily, this is Kevin MacTaggert. He's . . . not from around here, but he's my guest. Kevin, this is Emily Bright. She's here learning to control her powers."
“A didn’t dae anything! A sat n a didn’t eat anythin a wasn’t supposed tae!” Kevin said immediately upon seeing the other man. He was now visibly anxious, as if he expected to get in trouble for sitting and being spoken to. It wasn’t his fault the Emily person was scared, he didn’t do anything. He was good.
He’d been trying to be good.
Jim shook his head. "No, it's okay. You weren't doing anything wrong. It was just a misunderstanding." He turned to the girl, equally apologetic. "I'm sorry, Emily, Kevin's still getting situated here. The panic button was good thinking, though -- a lot of people forget it in the heat of the moment. "
“He said he wasn’t meant to be out of Davey’s room,” Emily explained, feeling bad now that the seeming danger had passed. “I didn’t know any Davey, and I didn’t think we made people stay in rooms if they didn’t want to be in them.”
She supposed it could have just been that they’d asked him to stay put though. Her Mum used to make sure she didn’t wander off back before she’d manifested and they were at Coles or Woolies. She supposed it could be like that, although why an adult would need to stay put she couldn’t guess.
Kevin still had a look about him like he was preparing to be punished, hunched shoulders and wide eyes that hadn’t left his friend- his only friend’s form. “All a did wis sit!”
"Davey's me," Jim said aloud. Privately, he reached out to Kevin. ~Hey, it's okay. You did nothing wrong. She was only startled, that's all. No harm done.~ "He's coming to us from Muir Island. There were different rules there, that's why I'm helping him acclimate."
“Ooooh,”
Emily smiled up at him and sidled her way from behind him so she was once again standing in the room.
She’d been thinking of him only as Mr. Haller but she supposed adults had first names, her parents certainly did although she’d have felt deeply weird using either. They were Mum and Dad, or occasionally Mr and Mrs Bright when people first met them.
“Hi Mr. MacTaggert, it’s very nice to meet you.
Her voice had an almost singsong tone to it, like she was greeting a teacher on the first day of school.
Kevin recoiled, like he’d been shot, face twisting up in a mix of fear and hurt and anger.
“Don’t call me that!” He snapped. “Don’t- don’t call me that!”
Emily startled, her hair flashing into fire as it rose from her shoulders and lashed at the air around her in a threatening display of bright orange and deeper reds.
She ducked back behind Haller as she stammered out an apology and tried to bring her hair under control.
‘Stop that,’ she whispered, almost like she was talking to a different person. ‘It’s not nice.'
"I'm sorry, Emily. That was my fault. He's just not used to how things work here. We're still figuring things out." Jim took another step to place himself more firmly between the two increasingly agitated parties and held out a calming hand.
"It's all right, Kevin." ~Calling people Mr. or Mrs., and using their last name, is a way of showing respect. I told her your name, she was just trying to be polite. I won't introduce you like that again.~ He should have known not to invoke anything to do with Kevin's connection to Moira, and now Emily had been caught his mistake, too. Stupid, stupid.
"Ye're no stupid." Kevin said sharply. "I am. Ye can read n stuff."
Emily frowned, and stroked at the locks of her hair that had finally started to settle down, crooning softly to them as she did so. It was an old nursery rhyme that her Dad used to sing to her when she was frightened.
She stepped forward slowly, peering around Haller’s shoulder to get a better look at Kevin. She’d never considered herself a giant at 5’3” but Haller made her feel tiny in comparison.
“You can’t read?”
Kevin frowned, fingers clawing at the couch cushions. Why did she have to repeat it? “Shut up!”
It was funny, Jim thought: had this been two patients in a group setting he would have been able to handle this without an issue. In this scenario, though, he felt like his stomach was trying to crawl up his own esophagus. Muir wasn't a feasible option, but something told him Kevin wasn't ready to join the general mansion population yet, either -- or at least, not around the clock. He was going to have to rethink accommodations.
Trying to conceal a wince, Jim turned to Emily. "He had a nontraditional upbringing, a little like you. Like I said, he's still adjusting." The telepath went to the couch and extended a hand to help him up. "Come on, let's go outside for a while and I'll show you more of the grounds. We can talk about some things."
Kevin grabbed onto his friend’s hand tightly. Maybe tighter than he needed to, half heartedly hoping that this time it would work and he could take just a little power. Not enough to hurt Davey, not even a bite, just a nibble - just enough to do something spooky, enough to make him look bigger than he felt.
“Fine.”
"Thanks. Excuse us, Emily." Jim pulled the other man to his feet and gently piloted him towards the nearest door. All he could do was give the young Australian a nod on his way out and hope she understood.
Emily moved out of the way, watching them go with the bemused expression of someone who wasn’t quite sure about anything that had just happened only that they were happy that they weren’t in any way responsible for any of it.
“Um, it was nice to meet you!”
Emily winced, and silently hoped neither man had heard that lamest of exit lines.
Kevin was rather unsuccessfully trying to become accustomed to these soft surfaces that Davey had told him were "couches." The "bed" he'd been given was much softer than the slab of soiled something that had been down there with him. Everything was new. New was different- which was good- he wanted new. But for the first time in......Davey had called them "years"- Kevin had a body. And bodies apparently "needed" sleep. And the soft "bed" was not helping him sleep. It was too new.
He shoved his hands against the part he was sitting on and frowned when the material pushed back. He shifted his weight to test it further, bouncing a bit on the couch, moving around the piece of furniture to see if all the parts were the same softness.
Finally he threw himself down lengthwise across the couch and groaned loudly, head bouncing off the cushion with the force of his movement. He groaned again, leg kicking angrily at the air as his feet dangled off the edge of the armrest.
“Hello.”
Emily had paused at the door when she saw the adult…doing whatever it was on the couch.
She wasn’t sure if she should back out and come back later but her mother had spent a great deal of her life imprinting the importance of politeness, if not outright kindness to everyone. Even those that might seem a little strange at first.
She wasn’t sure her mother could have foreseen just how strange Emily’s life and surroundings would become.
Kevin sat up too quick and his head spun. Ah. Davey had told him about this. Apparently he needed to eat more "food." That was taking some getting used to. He'd discovered that he couldn't eat people here. Which really was a shame, there were so many strong people who could make a good snack without killing them.
"Wit? Oh right....people exist n are allowed tae leave rooms here."
Emily was pretty sure that had been English, although she’d maybe understood only half the words. Scottish, and odd given the content of those half understood words. She’d noticed that most of the people here had at least one oddity about them.
“I think so? You’re, um. You’re meant to be here?”
It wasn’t a bad question, although she felt a little bad asking it but after everything that had happened to her you couldn’t be too careful. She’d hate to have to explain to her folks that the reason she’d been put in danger again was because she’d felt it rude to ask the potential kidnapper if they were a kidnapper.
Did people tell you that though? She hadn’t exactly come up against standard kidnappers yet, just weird game people and extra-dimensional beings.
Kevin shrugged, fixing her with a haunted stare. "Davey brought me tae the house. A dunno that a'm supposed tae be oot ae his room."
Emily didn’t know any Davey, or any reason any of the adults at the mansion would be forced to stay in a room. They’d never seemed like the type of people who saw ‘lock someone up’ as a solution to anything as far as she’d seen.
Violence maybe, but locking up, not so much. Her hand slowly drifted to her pocket, and the mobile they’d handed her when she’d moved here. As long as this person didn’t react badly she’d be able to hit her panic button and not be kidnapped again.
“Um, where is Davey now?”
Best to know where this other person was too.
"In his office? a think he called it an office...." Kevin said, face scrunching up in thought. "Words are hard. How dae people remember wit they all mean?"
Another Slender? Or something else? There’d been that thing on the journals about someone coming through a wormhole.
A wormhole…She hadn’t told her parents about that yet, or maybe ever. She got the feeling they might freak out a little and she wanted to stay here and learn rather than having to hide.
She’d definitely have to hide if they decided here wasn’t safe enough for her, and she doubted anywhere else had people like Amanda who could teach her or give her cool magic books to read.
She pushed the panic button on her phone, backing out of the door a little just in case.
She nearly backed into Jim.
"Oh, Emily--" the telepath began just as his phone simultaneously began to shrill. He winced and yanked it from his pocket, only to find he was all but on top of the source.
"Wrong button?" he asked as he quickly keyed in the code to cancel. Then he actually got a good look at her face.
"Are you okay?"
An adult she knew, thank whatever small mercies existed in the universe. She quickly darted behind him and grabbed his arm before flapping a hand toward whatever was currently in the room.
“There’s an alien, or um, maybe an extra dimensional thing or whatever but it speaks Scottish.”
The telepath's eyebrows underwent a brief contortion. "An ali -- oh." Jim's coatrack frame sagged in relief as his eyes fell on the man sitting on the couch. The posture had considerable overlap with that of a parent who thought they'd lost their child at a supermarket only to find him happily chatting to a cashier. "No, it's okay. Emily, this is Kevin MacTaggert. He's . . . not from around here, but he's my guest. Kevin, this is Emily Bright. She's here learning to control her powers."
“A didn’t dae anything! A sat n a didn’t eat anythin a wasn’t supposed tae!” Kevin said immediately upon seeing the other man. He was now visibly anxious, as if he expected to get in trouble for sitting and being spoken to. It wasn’t his fault the Emily person was scared, he didn’t do anything. He was good.
He’d been trying to be good.
Jim shook his head. "No, it's okay. You weren't doing anything wrong. It was just a misunderstanding." He turned to the girl, equally apologetic. "I'm sorry, Emily, Kevin's still getting situated here. The panic button was good thinking, though -- a lot of people forget it in the heat of the moment. "
“He said he wasn’t meant to be out of Davey’s room,” Emily explained, feeling bad now that the seeming danger had passed. “I didn’t know any Davey, and I didn’t think we made people stay in rooms if they didn’t want to be in them.”
She supposed it could have just been that they’d asked him to stay put though. Her Mum used to make sure she didn’t wander off back before she’d manifested and they were at Coles or Woolies. She supposed it could be like that, although why an adult would need to stay put she couldn’t guess.
Kevin still had a look about him like he was preparing to be punished, hunched shoulders and wide eyes that hadn’t left his friend- his only friend’s form. “All a did wis sit!”
"Davey's me," Jim said aloud. Privately, he reached out to Kevin. ~Hey, it's okay. You did nothing wrong. She was only startled, that's all. No harm done.~ "He's coming to us from Muir Island. There were different rules there, that's why I'm helping him acclimate."
“Ooooh,”
Emily smiled up at him and sidled her way from behind him so she was once again standing in the room.
She’d been thinking of him only as Mr. Haller but she supposed adults had first names, her parents certainly did although she’d have felt deeply weird using either. They were Mum and Dad, or occasionally Mr and Mrs Bright when people first met them.
“Hi Mr. MacTaggert, it’s very nice to meet you.
Her voice had an almost singsong tone to it, like she was greeting a teacher on the first day of school.
Kevin recoiled, like he’d been shot, face twisting up in a mix of fear and hurt and anger.
“Don’t call me that!” He snapped. “Don’t- don’t call me that!”
Emily startled, her hair flashing into fire as it rose from her shoulders and lashed at the air around her in a threatening display of bright orange and deeper reds.
She ducked back behind Haller as she stammered out an apology and tried to bring her hair under control.
‘Stop that,’ she whispered, almost like she was talking to a different person. ‘It’s not nice.'
"I'm sorry, Emily. That was my fault. He's just not used to how things work here. We're still figuring things out." Jim took another step to place himself more firmly between the two increasingly agitated parties and held out a calming hand.
"It's all right, Kevin." ~Calling people Mr. or Mrs., and using their last name, is a way of showing respect. I told her your name, she was just trying to be polite. I won't introduce you like that again.~ He should have known not to invoke anything to do with Kevin's connection to Moira, and now Emily had been caught his mistake, too. Stupid, stupid.
"Ye're no stupid." Kevin said sharply. "I am. Ye can read n stuff."
Emily frowned, and stroked at the locks of her hair that had finally started to settle down, crooning softly to them as she did so. It was an old nursery rhyme that her Dad used to sing to her when she was frightened.
She stepped forward slowly, peering around Haller’s shoulder to get a better look at Kevin. She’d never considered herself a giant at 5’3” but Haller made her feel tiny in comparison.
“You can’t read?”
Kevin frowned, fingers clawing at the couch cushions. Why did she have to repeat it? “Shut up!”
It was funny, Jim thought: had this been two patients in a group setting he would have been able to handle this without an issue. In this scenario, though, he felt like his stomach was trying to crawl up his own esophagus. Muir wasn't a feasible option, but something told him Kevin wasn't ready to join the general mansion population yet, either -- or at least, not around the clock. He was going to have to rethink accommodations.
Trying to conceal a wince, Jim turned to Emily. "He had a nontraditional upbringing, a little like you. Like I said, he's still adjusting." The telepath went to the couch and extended a hand to help him up. "Come on, let's go outside for a while and I'll show you more of the grounds. We can talk about some things."
Kevin grabbed onto his friend’s hand tightly. Maybe tighter than he needed to, half heartedly hoping that this time it would work and he could take just a little power. Not enough to hurt Davey, not even a bite, just a nibble - just enough to do something spooky, enough to make him look bigger than he felt.
“Fine.”
"Thanks. Excuse us, Emily." Jim pulled the other man to his feet and gently piloted him towards the nearest door. All he could do was give the young Australian a nod on his way out and hope she understood.
Emily moved out of the way, watching them go with the bemused expression of someone who wasn’t quite sure about anything that had just happened only that they were happy that they weren’t in any way responsible for any of it.
“Um, it was nice to meet you!”
Emily winced, and silently hoped neither man had heard that lamest of exit lines.
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Date: 2024-11-21 06:59 am (UTC)