(Untitled)

[octavia_minor]

In her time back home, Octavia had seen a fair number of deaths, but illness was a subject with which she wasn't well acquainted, and so the news of Isabel in the clinic hit her harder than she might have expected. They hadn't known each other an especially long time, true, but she still cared about the other girl; knowing that there was little she

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[five_hours]

I had seen the trampoline before, but I hadn't paid any attention to it. I wasn't likely to go jumping on it after all, but still it was interesting that it was there.

I was walking by it when I noticed a woman who was praying. I was quiet and edged just a bit away so as not to disturb her, but I was curious about the language she was speaking.

[octavia_minor]

It took a while for Octavia to realise that she was no longer alone, still muttering the prayers that came so easily, even after months away from home. When she did notice another's presence, though, she finished quickly, and turned so she was sitting on the ground.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. It was a good-natured question, not a challenge, but still she wondered how much the boy had seen.

[five_hours]

"I didn't mean to disturb you. I just...well I heard you as I was walking by. I didn't mean to intrude." I sort of shuffled my feet trying to deal with that caught feeling.

[octavia_minor]

"Oh, no, you didn't disturb me," Octavia cut in quickly, waving a hand in front of her. "It's nothing to worry about, really." What there was to worry about was her friend's illness, which remained foremost in her mind despite the prayers she'd offered up.

[five_hours]

"Okay." I felt a little better after that, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was intruding. "It was pretty. The language." I thought it was Latin, but I couldn't be sure. It just had that particular sound.

[octavia_minor]

"Oh." Octavia was stunned to hear it; she was so accustomed to the tongue that it came naturally to her. She'd never thought about it that way, at least. "It is, I suppose, isn't it?"

Letting out a slight laugh, she paused. "Forgive me. I'm Octavia."

[five_hours]

"I'm Brian. Brian Lackey." It wasn't the first time I'd introduced myself, but I felt sort of good about it. I was branching out a bit. It was a little terrifying, but I could handle this I told myself.

"I'm still getting used to this place." There were times when I thought I might panic about it all, but they tended to pass quickly so it wasn't too bad.

[octavia_minor]

"I've been here six months already, and sometimes it all still feels strange to me," Octavia admitted, an unusually warm, sympathetic tone to her voice. Granted, she knew why -- the technology here was so foreign to her, she wasn't sure she could ever truly adjust. "It's very nice to meet you, Brian."

[five_hours]

"It's nice to meet you as well." I grinned. "I've been here for a little over a month, and I guess I'm still trying to figure out what I think." I knew it was real, that wasn't the issue. I just sort of wondered what it was all about and if it was going to get worse. Maybe I'd been around Neil too long that I wasn't sure how to make the best of this place and it's strangeness.

[octavia_minor]

"It takes a while," Octavia replied sympathetically. "It gets mostly easier before too long, though." Were it not for her mother having arrived, she would have continued preferring this place to home, and in a way, she still did. Atia's presence put something of a damper on it, though.

[five_hours]

"In some ways it's..." Was it better than home? I couldn't answer that, not really. It was different for sure, but I missed Mom and Deborah and that wouldn't change, but it was like starting over somehow. If I had stayed back in Kansas what would have happened? I guess I would never know.

"Do you have people you know from home here?" It helped having Neil here. Well maybe helped wasn't the right word.

[octavia_minor]

"I do," Octavia replied, with a short nod of her head. "Two soldiers who knew my brother arrived before I did, and my mother arrived not long ago." She was grateful for the first two, of course; showing up in a place like this with no one familiar would have been even more difficult than she thought she could imagine.

[five_hours]

"It's makes things easier." I honestly wasn't sure what I would if Neil weren't here. Probably be going nuts, maybe not even believe any of this was real. Spending way too much time in my hut, even more than I did now.

"There's a boy I knew from home, mostly when I was younger." It made me wonder, as I had a few times, if anyone else would show up.

[octavia_minor]

"Well, that's good," Octavia said warmly, straightening her back. "It does make things a good deal easier, really." Were it not Vorenus who'd found her in front of the Compound that day... well, she wasn't sure what she would have done. She'd hardly been herself anyway, after hearing of her uncle's death and her involvement.

[five_hours]

"Do you think everyone has someone from their home?" I didn't think it was likely, but since I hadn't met that many people, or had done much asking around I couldn't be sure. I wondered how those who didn't have someone actually did it.

[octavia_minor]

Octavia shrugged. "It's hard to say," she reasoned, "with the number of people here. I'd like to think so, but it seems doubtful." She'd gotten lucky, she supposed. It may have made things more tumultuous at times, and there were some she'd've preferred to have there -- her brother, for one -- but three people she knew was no small relief.