004: [visual] - Look for the girl with the broken smile Ask her if she wants to stay a while

[littlestcastle]

Alexis stood outside the steps of the Sanctuary and for a moment she stared up at the building where they'd been stuck for three weeks, then down at her tablet. Her expression was confused, and there was slow growing worry in her eyes

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[smecker]

"Oh, hell, you were staying with some people who got zapped back out of here?" Paul says, his tone not altogether unsympathetic.

A few months ago he would have suggested she just pick a building she liked in the city and claim it as her own. Up until that point, nothing had seemed threatening in the city to him-- frustrating, sure, infuriating-- but not dangerous.

That however was before the dead had risen, dragged him fighting out his own residence, killed him. And before he'd been on the receiving end of a vampire bite.

No way in hell is he going to tell a teenage girl to live on her own here.

"The Sanctuary at least usually has people in it... I mean, even when we're not stuck in the damn place-- and I think there's a couple of hotels too, where there'd be other people living at least.

"At the risk of sounding like a really skeevy old man, I've got plenty of room in my place... well, place I will have once I can get the hell back to it. And unless I ever happen to be glitched heterosexual-- God forbid-- you are entirely safe from skeevy old man advances."

(That's it, Paul, introduce the thought to Alexis that some guys in the city might try and take advantage of her. Way to go.)

"I won't be offended if you say no, but you should stay with or near somebody, I think. As you've seen.... city can be dangerous."

[littlestcastle]

Alexis nodded in response, though they both knew it was a rhetorical question. "I think I'm going to be a little sick of the Sanctuary," she admitted. She winced a little at that, hastening to add, "Not that it's not nice! I just don't want to keep waking up and wondering if I'll be able to leave the next day."

She was babbling, which was not surprising given what Mr. Smecker said about being glitched and skeevy old man advances and that was just something not to be thought about.

There was a pause as she stopped for a breath, and she tried to smile. "And I will live near somebody. I just need to figure out who won't mind a few science experiments."

[smecker]

"I understand," Paul said with a nod to her words about not wanting to be trapped in the Sanctuary. A half-smile for her words about the science experiment.

"Novel thought, I'm sure, but have you considered picking a separate location from your living space where you can blow sh-- where you can experiment? The smell of sulfur fumes nerver gets out of upholstery, trust me on that one."

[littlestcastle]

The idea of having a separate space for her experiments made Alexis smile, though it did come with a wrinkle of the nose at the imagined smell of sulfer. "I hadn't thought about it," she admitted. "Dad never minded when I did splatter tests on tomatoes in the kitchen."

Of course, that had been before she'd gotten a teacher who thought smoke bombs were a perfectly benign assignment. Alexis chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "I should go looking," she mused. "Someplace away from people. Maybe a warehouse or something."

[visual derpaderp]

[smecker]

"You find a place to live first," Paul says with the adult sternness he feels he should use. "Safety for person trumps places to experiment with sulfur. Clear?"

He digs out his cigarettes and lights up while thinking it over. "There's lots of empty buildings around. And this city... if you go out hunting a specific sort of place? Well, it's kind of fu-- kind of creepy, but I swear the city can tell and makes you what you're looking for. A warehouse, I am sure you can find."