People Don't You Understand / The Child Needs a Helping Hand

[bingobangobongo]

[It was warm -- that's why he chose it. Someone had told him it was all right. No one lived there, and sure, lots of squatters had claimed many of the rooms of the closely guarded secret, but the attic still had some space. He might find room to rest for the night there, assuming the secret hadn't gotten to many other ears in the time it had gotten to his.]

[It was a treacherous climb up the rickety ladder, especially with a heavy bag in hand, but the warmth and being out of the blistering wind made it all worth it.]

[There was a candle in the middle of the attic, burning low to the ground. Everything else was pitch to his eyes, dark and oily and mysteriously black. Good. He could get some sleep.]

Comments

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

Why don't you lay off, huh?

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

You're kinda easy. [Withdraws a bit, sipping the warm coffee. It tastes like bootblack smelled, but at least it's not frozen.]

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

You're kinda difficult.

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

Oooh, and you're so creative, too.

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

If you're makin' some kinda list, you might as want to skip to the end where you put down that I'm only going to take so much shit, kid.

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[Snorts, almost choking on her coffee.] Yeah? What, exactly are you gonna do to me? Feed me to death? [Gives him a little shrug, pulling one of the blankets closer.] Not that I ain't grateful, but the tough-guy act is a hard sell on you.

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

[Al's just so frustrated, the poor kid. He wanted to get into the ring and toss a couple punches but, surprise, surprise, Kara was in the other colored shorts.] I wasn't tryin' to be a tough guy, y'know. But, you threatened me, you treated me as if I were five, you scoffed at half my words and rolled your eyes at the others. Thanks. I get the message.

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

You think anyone's gonna hold your hand? [She shakes her head, truly sorry for him.]

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

No. I don't. [And he didn't. Which was why he was out here on his own instead of back at the orphanage where he had meals and a bed and the constant reminder that his lot in life was low. Lower now, without a family to speak of.]

I've never once thought that. [Probably the most certain-sounding thing he'd said since they'd met.]

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[Gives him a level look.] Then you're doin' better than I figured.

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

You can count on it. [Hey, he was a man possessed, despite all the emotions he had absolutely no handle on.]

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[Finishes her coffee and returns the cup to him.] Well, I hope you're gonna make it, Al, wherever you're going.

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

Yeah, thanks. [He takes the cup from her and wipes it out with the cloth that used to hold the grounds earlier.] You, too.

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[Shifts to sit Indian style, reaching back for the cigarette and popping it into her mouth. Speaking around the unlit smoke:] Half before you go?

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

[He nods, too interested in the company to deny her. Even if he hadn't been able to spend a lot of time with Trudy, the world seemed that much quieter without her.]

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[Kara locates her mislaid pack of matches, lights her cigarette. She takes a deep, dizzying drag and offers it over.]

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

[He took the smoke, savoring it for a long hit like she had before passing it back. The more quiet there was between him, the worse he felt until he just couldn't take himself anymore.] Look, you really shouldn't stick around here. This city doesn' have anything to offer.

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

I don't know no place else. [She's matter-of-fact but not exactly cold. She rolls the cigarette between her fingers before taking a hit and passing it back.]

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

[Well, he supposed there were people who weren't great with geography... So, he went to that pack and pulled out an old, folded atlas. Cigarette hanging from his mouth, he opened it and laid the map of the United States down on the floor. It was marked with at least a few of his travels, mostly major cities.] If you wanna look, maybe you can find a place. [Puff, puff, pass.]

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[She'd seen the same thing at the train station and the library, but it all meant nothing to her. Her knowledge of the geography of her own frakking planet was spotty at best - how Al expected her to glean a working knowledge of the map before her was beyond her.

Still...] Thanks. [She hit the cigarette and handed it over a final time. Figuring she had nothing to lose, she looked back down at the map.] You picked a destination, or are you just gonna walk 'til you hit an ocean?

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

I've got it all worked out. [Al crouched by the edge of the map and pointed out Southern California, circled in red.]

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

You walkin' there? [It seemed an awful long way off to Kara, but then, she'd traveled a greater distance in mere moments, so who was she to cast stones?]

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

Until I can get something faster.

[anekanta.livejournal.com]

[Not that sounded promising, and she brightened, drawing closer to the map to peer at it, as though she could wish a car into being just by looking hard enough.] What'd you have in mind?

[bingo-faced.livejournal.com]

Probably a motorcycle. A Harley, maybe. But I've gotta get outta the snow before that's a worthwhile investment. [He couldn't imagine pushing a bike all those miles, no thanks.]