You know Atlanta never looked the same, after she burned to the ground.

[savesomelight]

In the wake of recent disasters, there are a few people around.

Wandering around the Gauche in a state that's more dreamlike than anything is Piper Paxton, who is utilizing the same technique she used during the attack on the Gauche to keep everyone calm. The tension in the air may be palpable, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was when the

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[thecellsiam]

Aubs is pretty aware of what Piper's doing -- hard not to be, because xe was going to go down to the Skid in a fit of anxiety-induced restlessness, but once xe got anywhere close to her in the hall, the anxiety...left. Or at least lessened; xe's not sure it ever really leaves, just gets to bearable levels.

Xe gives her an awkward wave and a smile. "Hey." She looks a little out of it, but xe's not just going to pass on by without saying anything, because xe really likes Piper.

[savesomelight]

Piper blinks a few times like it takes her a moment to register that someone's spoken to her, and finally she shakes herself out of it. "Hi! Sorry! I'm..." She waves a hand and then brings it to her head. "I... I think I need to be more careful."

Especially since, well, it's not like anyone's come near the Gauche yet and the Gauche is well-fortified, but everyone's twitchy and she's paranoid and trying not to let that affect anyone out here inadvertently.

[thecellsiam]

"Nah, it's okay, really," Aubrey says, waving a hand around vaguely. "Think everyone's a bit off given the whole Attacks on Wanderers thing." Xe shrugs, looking a bit uncomfortable. It's one thing to target the weirdness that's caused explosions about the city (though xe questions the effectiveness of exploding more buildings to remedy that), but Wanderers specifically seems...off. Odd. Because in xes experience, it's more been the angels and demons (and Torchwood, granted) causing the major explosions. That xe knows of.

"Hey, at least you thought of something you could do, y'know?" xe continues, giving her arm a friendly nudge. "Wouldn't've even occurred to me, I always think of the people here as, y'know, proactive and armed and not bothered by these sorts of things -- other than us, I suppose -- but I guess everyone's gonna be tense about it. Point is, it occurred to you."

[savesomelight]

Piper nods, biting down on her lip. "I'm just... Worried they'll start moving out here." It's a valid concern for someone who is as generally paranoid and easily frightened as Piper is... Not so much for anyone who happens to know that terrorists generally don't target suburbs.

"Yeah, there's that!" She says, smiling just a tiny bit. "Well, Eric taught me how to do it when the Gauche got attacked, so I thought... Well, I could do it again. Figure I might as well do the one thing I know how to do."

[thecellsiam]

Aubs leans on the wall, doing the trademark Run One Hand Through Xes Hair And Mess It Up move. "Yeeah, that would...suck abysmal donkeygoat balls," xe says, and then wrinkles xes nose in reaction to what xe just said. Xe's not going to reassure her about the terrorists moving out there being unlikely, simply because xe's possibly more paranoid than she is about that circumstance. Kind of. Xe really doesn't want them getting wind of the Gauche and a repeat of the angel attacks going down, or anything.

"Smart kid, this one," Aubs says to the air, as if there's someone else in the room, and winks at Piper. "Smart Kid deserves, uh, I dunno, a pizza? I'm thinking there should be something going on to get people's mind off this, right? That, um, doesn't give you the Headache of Doom or anything."

[savesomelight]

Piper giggles around the finger she's currently nibbling, but doesn't really say anything in response. Stupid Chicago and it's propensity for deadly things.

And that earns an actual laugh. "Oh, Aubrey, stop!" She says, flailing a little bit, happily. "I could go for pizza! ...I just hope that the people we order it from aren't secretly the enemy. It could be one of those situations were you don't know who you're supposed to trust! I've read books like that!"

Her voice starts to get a little high and squeaky and she promptly shuts up, facepalming a little. "Sorry. I apparently kill the happy."

[thecellsiam]

Aubrey laughs. "It's okay, you raise an excellent point. Alerting someone to the Gauche in Times Like These does seem a little on the stupid side," xe says, then frowns a bit. "But I mean, I've ordered pizza here before so if they're gonna notice anything suspicious you'd think they'd take one look at this place and say 'oh hey, that looks like it's fortified for war in the middle of a suburb' and mark it as weird, right?"

Xe shrugs. "I mean, I could go out and get it if we really wanted. Maybe. I can't tell if this strange new brashness is a result of your Awesome Anti-anxiety Vibes or a result of a Righteous Hankering for pizza, now." Xe sticks xes tongue out at her, just to say that xe really doesn't mind the anti-anxiety vibes, not one bit.

[savesomelight]

Piper giggles and nods. "Well, I guess even if we went out, I could put my head to good use and maybe make them... Not want to hurt us."

Technically, she could do that if they came to the door too, but whatever. If Aubrey has her to make the bad guys leave xem alone, there's no reason xe can't get out of the Gauche before xe goes stir-crazy or.. Something.

She sticks her tongue out at xem right back, still giggling. "Well, I can't quash the need for adventure, since I'm... Partially the cause for it."

[thecellsiam]

"Good point, my occasionally-flaily young friend!" Aubrey says, pointing a finger at her. "I mean, I doubt we'd actually get bothered 'cause neither of us look suspicious or anything, right? But can't hurt to be safe."

Xe shrugs a bit after that, though. "Dunno, I was on my way to hang out with the Skid for a bit, given that staying cooped-up in my room isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when there's very little to do except poke about the internet and watch the latest bulletins on what Wanderer buildings got blown up where. But pizza is an equally adventurous adventure -- well, moreso, I guess...and besides, I can always hang with it later, y'know." Ramble moar, Aubs.

[savesomelight]

"Well, I'd hope not, but wanderers don't really look suspicious anyway." She nibbles on her fingers. "I mean... Not, in general. Most of you guys look just like normal people to me. It's only when I have my wings out that I can tell."

Incidentally her wings are out, but they're pressed so close to her back that no one would probably notice them if they were paying attention, especially since she happens to be wearing brown today.

She smiles. "Well, then. Pizza, it is! Hopefully, we won't freeze or anything." She makes a mental note to pull her wings in before she goes out- moth wings are not so good when it is of the cold outside.

[thecellsiam]

Aubs does a little hopskip thing to switch xes feet around so they're walking in step, then does a little air-punch thing with xes fist. It's not totally over-the-top, but conveys xes enthusiasm. Adventures with friends are always good, especially when they're laughing in the face of danger and all that. As long as, y'know, danger doesn't actually present itself. There was a time when Aubs wouldn't even have been too concerned with that, but then there was 24-hour surveillance and the crazy

[savesomelight]

Piper bursts into giggles again. It's impossible to be unhappy when people are enthusiastic and gleeful around her. These are the emotions that she's glad can overwhelm her.

She pulls her wings in at that comment and ducks her head a bit, biting her lip. "It's weird that they're just targeting wanderers... I mean... Angels and demons cause trouble too." Not that she wants them going after angels and demons, instead. It's just weird that the wanderers are the ones being targeted. Maybe because angels and demons have always been around...Or something.

At that, she looks up abruptly, flushing a little. "That... Would be smart. Hold on a minute." She has demon speed! She darts up to her room, which thankfully happens to be in the hallway she was prowling and comes back with a puffy coat. "There! That's better. We can go now."

There was no awkward conversation here!

[thecellsiam]

"No shit," Aubs agrees. "Makes you wonder how they even found out about wanderers if they don't know much about angels or demons."

...and then Piper is darting away. Okay then! Xe kind of does a half-jog to catch up a little, more just so xe's not left standing in a slightly-bewildered state in the middle of the hallway than any hope of staying with her. When she returns in the puffy jacket, though, xe can't help but grin at her. "Right then! Tally ho!"

And xe takes off down the hallway at...well, a brisk walk, but hey. You can't run through all your adventures.

[savesomelight]

Piper trots along beside xem, linking her hands behind her back. "But you bring up a good point," she continues xes point from before she left to get her coat. "How do they even know? I don't know... It... Almost doesn't feel real, you know? This is stuff that happens in books and movies."

She pauses.

And, okay, I guess I should be used to that, considering I turned into a demon on my sixteenth birthday and I lived through a war... Thingy, and... Jeepers." She shakes her head. "I don't know what I'm trying to say, actually."

She winces, because this is really not a good conversation to continue having and abruptly changes the subject. "How is the Skid these days?"

[thecellsiam]

"Yeah, that's weird," xe says. "I mean, that they can't tell or something -- maybe they can, but you'd think they'd just round up everyone then, right? Not just resort to randomly bombing some buildings." Xe chuckles a bit at her last observation. "Kinda, yeah, but after the whole war thing here I'm not sure this feels much different. The whole Getting Used To It thing that goes on."

Subject Switch Bandwagon! Xe likes those. "It's good," xe replies, shoving xes hands in xes pockets again. "Still a little kid most of the time, being all Needy and Whiny, but I've gotten used to that, for the most part." Xe winks a bit. "Figure I'll go visit it later, bring it some pizza. Or, you know, my company with pizza in hand, all that." Because that makes all the sense.

[savesomelight]

Piper nibbles on her nail, but doesn't really say anything. She doesn't like the idea of wanderers getting rounded up either- sounds too much like some concentration camp horror story and that's even worse than her friends getting beaten in the streets.

Yes... Time to focus on something happier. "Aww. Maybe I'll come with you if it's not too cold, unless you want to be alone. The Skid can have lots of company." She does a little hopeful hop-skip and beams a bit.