[OTA / multiple threads welcome]

[fellbychoice]

It was evening when Anna first woke up in the barracks, outside one of the many cabins. A little confused as to what was going on at first, and whether or not she had been captured without her knowing, she slowly stirred and looked around her. Dry leaves were stuck in her hair, which she promptly noticed upon a breeze blowing over her. It was with

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[guardsintheory]

Mat is in the cabin he's sharing with Lily, since she has declared that she doesn't trust him to look after himself. He doesn't really mind so much, it's just weird to have her attach herself to him like that. It makes something in his head tug oddly, and only the fact that he knows he's not bonded to her has kept him from wondering.

She's out right now, and he's been... stressed, so he's taken the opportunity to let his wings out and stretch them a bit. They're mostly folded flush against his back at the moment, so when Anna looks in, she'll see a rather large pair of white wings and a pair of legs sticking out from them as Mat flops on the bed. It's pretty obvious the wings are, y'know, attached to the person.

Mmmm, leering. It's a good thing Mat's not psychic, that'd freak him right out.

[fellbychoice]

Wings aren't that big of a deal where Anna's from, although the fact that this man doesn't give off angelic sibling senses does alarm her a little. She watches him for a few moments longer, before knocking lightly on the window, trying to get his attention.

When she thinks that he's seen her, she motions for him to come outside, and tries to look as much like a useless college aged girl as she possibly can. It's a hard look to for her to master, and so she's sure she still looks authoritative and like she's plotting something. Which she is, it just isn't anything harmful.

She's just trying to get a headcount, that's all.

[guardsintheory]

When she taps on the window, she is granted the perfect view of possibly the LEAST angelic reaction possible to that tapping on the window.

Namely, he yelps, quite sharply, and tries to get up and roll over at the same time, which just leads to a tangle of arms, legs, and wings on the ground. Yeah. Mat's graceful. Yup.

He finally manages to get himself off the ground and staring nervously out the window. A college kid, however, is not the terrifying thing he was expecting, and while she could theoretically be a fairy with a glamour or something, he can usually tell (they're bad at looking normal), so he cautiously comes outside.

"Um... h-hi?"

[fellbychoice]

Oh, that awkward reaction causes Anna to laugh, one of the first times she has in a long while. She's grateful for that, and as he heads outside, she casts him a smile. "I hope I didn't scare you." She can't help but smirk a little, although her tone was sincere. She knows that she scared him, but isn't going to linger on the subject.

"I just woke up here, with no idea how I got here. Can you tell me where we are?"

[guardsintheory]

"Nope," he says. It's more a squeak than anything, and way too high-pitched to be believable. He clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck when she asks that question, though.

"Uh... I r-really can't," he admits. "N-none of us have any idea either. I d-don't think." He looks horribly apologetic, which is akin to a big puppy making sadfaces at someone. "Sorry."

[fellbychoice]

He's pretty adorable, and she resists the urge to laugh at him, since she doesn't want to be rude. The sad puppyface makes her take pause, and she shakes her head a little as she finally gives in and laughs.

"It's alright," She promises, reaching out to lightly touch at his arm. "You don't have to remember anything, but do you remember how many people are here? It's important that I figure that out as soon as possible."

She needs to know how many people that she's technically responsible for watching out for. As an angel that fell in order to live with humans, she isn't about to just turn her back on them now that she's far from home.

[guardsintheory]

Mat doesn't bother making a face when she laughs, though he does go a bit pink. He purses his lips thoughtfully for a moment. "I think... hm."

It's tough - he was only with a few of the people who've shown up, at the lake, and so he wasn't entirely sure. "More than t-twenty," he says finally. "But I don't know how m-many more." He's a bit of a shut-in. If she couldn't tell by the awkwardness and the way he hasn't met her eyes once.

[fellbychoice]

Oh, she can tell, but she isn't going to act like she notices. It's not polite to do, and she wants to get him to relax enough to possibly recall more information. "More than twenty, but less than forty?" She presses on, leaning in just a little, trying to make eye contact. She in no way thinks that he's lying to her, but she wants to get him to talk more and answer more questions.

But to do that, maybe he needs to know a little about her.

"I'm Anna, by the way. Anna Milton."

[guardsintheory]

"Um... Maybe? I haven't really, um. S-seen everyone. I don't think." He's pretty good at avoiding eye contact. He's had nine years of practice. And it's true that he really hasn't got a very good idea of how many people are around - even WITH the carnival that came through, he's mostly stayed in or around his cabin, and that's not really conducive to meeting people.

"M-Mat." He stops for just a second, takes a deep breath. He hates that damned stutter. "I'm Mat. Wallace." He musters up a hesitant, crooked smile, though he still hasn't met her eyes. "Nice to meet you."

[fellbychoice]

His stammer and his nerves endeared him to her, and she remained calm and patient, waiting for him to introduce himself fully. It was relieving to meet someone who was the complete opposite of all the other men in her life, they were all too assertive and sure of themselves, even the ones she considered to be good. So it was nice to meet someone who didn't have the same confidence, wasn't so sure of himself in a conversation with her.

"You should help me look." She suggested, eyebrow arching up every so slightly. She could tell it would be out of his comfort level, but she assumed that it would be good for him to possibly meet some other people.

[guardsintheory]

Mat's never been really confident and assertive. When he was little, he had that sort of absent-minded confidence all happy kids have, and once he hit puberty, he at least had the knowledge that he had family and friends and that he was pretty good at this or that, and while he was shy, he knew what he was good at and he did those things.

Then his life went to hell, he turned 16, and his life has seemed desperate to prove how incapable and incompetent he is. It's a sad state of affairs. It has tended to endear him to people, though, so that's not entirely without its benefits, he supposes.

"Oh," he says, and tries to hide a little grimace. "I... um, I'm n--- I'm not good with p-people." It probably would be good for him, and he knows it, but that doesn't mean he wants to...

[fellbychoice]

She doesn't miss the grimace, and just smiles through his stammering. "You don't have to be good with them to get a headcount." She pointed out, arms crossing over her chest. She doesn't really intend to just let him go back inside and hide away, not when there was the chance she could get him to come out of that shell just a little.

"You'll be safe, I promise." She didn't elaborate as to why he'd be safe, and just turned on her heel and headed off. She walked a few paces and then paused, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"You coming?"

[guardsintheory]

Mat sort of feels like saying no, he's not coming, he's going back to bed, but he sort of finds himself following her anyway, hands shoved in his pockets, trying not to look too awkward or uncomfortable.

He doesn't question the assurance of his safety. He knows he's not exactly a terrifyingly competent fighter, and he's run into plenty of average-looking people who are more than they seem. The fact that she feels slightly not-human to his senses pretty much solidifies his belief that she probably could protect him better than he could protect himself.

"M-maybe you should wait until morning?" he offers as he trails along like an ugly duckling.

[fellbychoice]

"Everyone will be up and moving then. It makes getting an accurate count more difficult." She pointed off with a shrug, keeping her pace slow so he could catch up and walk alongside her if he wanted. She was going to do this, regardless of if he tagged along with her.

She made her way to the next cabin over, and peeked inside the window, finding it deserted. It was with a sigh that she pushed away and glanced over at him, before nodding over at the next cabin in line.

"Go ahead, give it a try."

[guardsintheory]

Mat shoots her a look that says very clearly that he is doing no such thing.

"That's... kind of creepy," he points out, very truthfully. See, it's one thing if a cute, relatively harmless-looking redhead is peeking in your window. But Mat, while not really that scary, is a guy, and taller than average, and in the dim light, it's possible he could look pretty scary.

And he's seen some of the people who're staying here. He's not really willing to trust that they won't, y'know, shoot first or whatever.

[fellbychoice]

"Should I just barge in, then?" She laughed softly, entertained by how afraid he was of something simple like peeking in on people in the middle of the night. Compared to other things they could be out doing, it was practically innocent. But then again, she was used to having to kill her own brothers in order to survive, so it was an innocent act compared to that.