and every once in your life

[allmydiredreams]

Babel is in Grant Park with a rake. She found it in one of the Kashtta's supply cabinets when she was looking for something else entirely, and decided to call the entire day off -- not that she has anything she's particularly supposed to be doing, but whatever -- to go rake all the leaves in the park into a giant pile

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[der_weevilkonig]

At the moment, Owen's overriding priority is to be anywhere except where the rest of Torchwood is. Or will be. Or can easily find him. Which is why he's here, wandering along in front of a grocery store and keeping an eye out for a good bar pub and grumbling to himself and then, quite suddenly, on his arse among a cavalcade of rolling pumpkins.

Fuck today.

He stops a round, decorative gourd under his palm, then gives the angel a look even colder than the October air. "Was that really necessary?"

Sorry, angel.

[godtooksides]

The angel owlstares at Owen for a good long moment, trying to figure out how he's even supposed to formulate words, let alone respond to that. He's not sure why or how he managed to forget that whoever he ran into would be there, much less angry, but he did. The pumpkin situation was much more dire, apparently. So Owen's existence comes as a bit of a surprise.

"Fuckin' definitely necessary," he mutters, finally lighting his cigarette. "It's not like--I meant to fuckin' do it, or anything."

Defensive angel is defensive.

[der_weevilkonig]

Pissy Owen is pissy. It'll work out well.

"You have eyes," he points out. "They appear to be sighted. I'll venture a guess that you don't run people down for your own amusement. So it seems there should be a simple solution here."

I.E. watch where you're going, idiot. The fact that Owen didn't actually say that in no way means it wasn't expressed.

[godtooksides]

The angel scowls, taking another drag of his cigarette and half-purposefully blowing the smoke at Owen before he speaks again. "Fuckin' right," he snaps. "Looks like you fuckin' have them too and--and didn't fuckin' have a bag or anything to deal with."

If the watch where you're going, idiot was implied in Owen's statement, it's thrown right back in the angel's. Fuck this guy.

In any other moment the angel might have cringed away after that, but right now his misplaced anger is latching onto Owen. Apparently looking for a fight is a good way to stave off the panic threatening to take over. "So fuck you if you can't fuckin' watch where you're going."

[sophicsulphur]

Iris, though more recovered than she has any right to be, really isn't in the best state to be out and about lugging groceries-- even if they are supplies for her healing potions. Nor is she in the best state to be run into, hard, by an oncoming someone. She doesn't have time to notice who or what, only that they're bigger than her, have more body mass than her, and are easily capable of knocking her to the sidewalk in one solid whump.She crumples, dropping her own bags and yelping in pain. Then notices the pumpkins heading towards the street, and without thinking, scrambles to her feet and starts gathering them up. Or trying to. There are only so many pumpkins that can fit into one skinny teenager's arms, and she's having a hard time bending over. But she saves a few of the squashes from being squashed, at any rate

[godtooksides]

Ah, shit, and of course he runs into someone and ends up hurting them. Some days it's like life is giving him reasons to hate himself. She's so tiny, too; no wonder he knocked her right over. Dammit.

The whole thing has made him extra-jittery, so he really just stares at Iris for a second, trying desperately to light his cigarette before the silence stretches on way too long. Click, click.

"Ah, fuck," he says again, pulling the unlit cigarette out of his mouth. Too windy. "I'm fuc--I'm fine." He winds up bringing the cigarette to his mouth again out of habit, and then sighs.

"Are you--um." He gestures to...well, her in general, as he can't tell what's actually hurting, while he tries to find the right words for the situation. "You okay? --I mean, obviously not fuckin' okay."

Argh. Why does he say words?

[sophicsulphur]

She laughs, a little, at his obviously not fuckin' okay. Sometimes, all you can do is laugh. It's better than crying. And it was kind of funny.

Or maybe that's the painkillers they sent her home with.

"I, yeah," she says, shifting her weight from one side to the other, seeing if she can work out the kinks in her back. "It's my own fault. If I'm gonna drag myself out this soon after surgery, you know? Should look where I'm going."

She shoots him a grin. She doesn't tend to take offence, at these sorts of things. "...oh, hey, there's another one." She stoops down to pick up another pumpkin as it rolls by her feet. "Don't want these getting squished by the cars."

She pops the pumpkin back on the stand, leaning against it for a moment, fighting off dizziness. There's cold sweat running down her back. "...I'm not bleeding, am I?" she says, reaching back to touch herself there again.

[godtooksides]

He flinches when she laughs; too often that's been directed at him. It's almost hard to see it as directed anywhere else, at this point. But he realizes it's self-deprecating in its own way, after a moment.

The rest of her words leave him, at first, staring blankly. "It's not--" he manages, before she goes after the other rolling pumpkins. Part of him knows he should theoretically be helping her, but he can't really make himself move yet, much less get that close to another person.

Of course, when she asks if she's bleeding, a chill comes over him instead. She's pointing to--she can't be an angel, can she? Couldn't have. She can't be--

He takes a long breath in, attempting once more to light the cigarette. A glance at her back tells him that she's definitely not bleeding, so he can answer with confidence. Or at least as much as he's going to have in this situation. "No--no. Why the fuck--why would you be bleeding?" He's shaking when he finally gets the cigarette lit, every bit of him screaming to leave even if he

[inventandforget]

She watches the pumpkins fall from her spot a little ways down the street, not entirely sure what to do. Her mind kicks in though and she's rushing forward, looking between the angel and the fallen pumpkins.

"You all right, sweetie?" She asks him as she stoops down to start trying to pick up the mess. "Not hurt, are you?" He didn't look hurt, just a little stunned but she thought it would be best to ask all the same.

[godtooksides]

The angel's vaguely attempting to...well, he's not attempting to pick up the pumpkins just yet, but he's attempting to move to make an attempt to pick up the pumpkins. In other words, he's trying to light his cigarette, and mentally cajole himself into moving. In any direction. At all.

It's not working very well, really. He does manage to the get the cigarette lit, however, staring at Millie all the while with the same scared-rabbit look. At first, all he does is shake his head, trying to figure out how to do this whole 'interaction' thing. It's been a few months since he's really interacted with anyone outside of Jessi, and even she rarely came around.

"I'm fuckin' fine," he insists after a minute. "Just couldn't--I mean. This fuckin'..." he trails off, waving the cigarette at the pumpkins almost frantically. As if she's angry at him or something.

[inventandforget]

She raises an eyebrow as she listens to him, not entirely sure what to make of his response but doesn't take it as hostile.

"I say," she starts, giving him a smile as she continues to pick up. "That they fell into you. There was no helping it. You were attacked by vicious pumpkins." She laughs, hoping that her silliness might get him to relax a little.

"It'll be all right," her voice is more calm now, losing the teasing tone it had taken on before. "We'll get this picked up an' you can go on your way. Okay? That sound good?"

[godtooksides]

He takes another drag on the cigarette, processing her words. She's not being hostile in the least, even if he first read it as that. He reads everything like that, at first

[blazetodefine]

David is not the kind of person to go frolicking anywhere. He will walk, and he will run if his life is on the line. He had been sitting on a bench, writing about anything he sees. His observation skills are in full force at this point, and it is why he notices the frolicking.

Normally, he would run in the other direction but this time, he wants a closer look. It's life at its finest. It is one of those moments that cannot be remade even if the same individuals were involved.

One of the kids sees him, and before he can get away, they grab his hand and tug. He is stronger than a child but it is hard to pull his hand away from the kid.

"Roll around in the leaves," the kid says, pointing to a pile.

David stares at the pile. His desire to observe from a distance only and to not upset a tiny, cute thing are battling against one another. "I don't... think that's..."

[allmydiredreams]

Babel is busy throwing leaves at another kid after being ambushed. There are leaves in her very-mussed hair, mostly from them, though she's also not above rolling around in the leaves herself, so a few of them are just from that.

But soon she spies the kids trying to entice David into the leaves, and, well, she made this pile of leaves for a reason. People need to jump in them, even if they're above the age of ten. Also, she'd like to forget the fact that she died once, and she's still here. It's easiest to do that with living, really.

So she gathers 'round the kids she was just attacking, whispering to each of them. And then she and three small children make a beeline straight for David.

She's the one who manages to knock him over, into the leaves, with a full body check; the kids just laugh and start throwing leaves at the both of them again. She sits up almost immediately, shaking some of the leaves out of her hair -- though definitely not all of them -- and grins.

"Hi!" she chirps. "You needed some persuading."

krle; adorable, Babel

[blazetodefine]

It is not that David has slow reflexes. It is more that he has no idea how to react when this woman (wanderer) and kids approach him. This is a social situation beyond the scope of him having the means to deal with. He flails when she body checks him into the leaves and lands in the pile with an audible, Oof.

David rolls back in the leaves. They crunch under him, and he looks up at her from the ground. It is hard not to smile even if it's a bashful, awkward smile. He isn't looking at her face to avoid meeting her gaze but he can tell she is grinning.

Plus, the kids are laughing, and it is hard to continue to act so nervous about it all.

"I haven't rolled in leaves in awhile," he admits, running his hand through his hair to clear the leaves from it. He misses more than a few but remains sitting in the grass. "What... made you do this?"

[allmydiredreams]

She giggles at all the shy, the way his bodybeats show his curiosity off before he shows it himself. She likes this kid, she does. Not that he's a kid -- he's an angel, and a young one, but that's all she can get from the bodybeats. And it's not like angels can't look and feel young without actually being as young.

She flops down in the leaves next to him. "I found a rake," she says, "in a closet. It needed freedom, and once I set it free, it needed me to set it up with a job." She throws a handful of leaves into the air, and then makes little leaf-falling motions as they fall around them. "Besides, all these leaves were just waiting to be danced with."

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe stares at Babel for a good minute, deciding that the woman is, quite possibly, the coolest person on earth. She knows how to have a good time and in Chicago? These things are vital. She wants to remind Jack of these things but her ward is infuriating.

What else can Phoebe do but join in the frolicking?

She dives into the pile of leaves, tumbling through them in a fit of giggles.

"Soon there will be snow again," she says to Babel. In part, Phoebe is also reminding herself a year will have come and gone. Not to mention, she did meet Babel around Christmastime, when she was tossing snowballs at unsuspecting pedestrians.

[allmydiredreams]

Phoebe actually manages to startle Babel, diving into the leaves like that so close by. She was preoccupied with a small boy and his need to show her how to make a leaf-volcano, so she didn't notice her friend coming up to join in the fun

OMG matching icons for the win XD

[thehighestwing]

"Death by leaves! Oh, the tragedy!" Phoebe places a hand dramatically over her forehead, crawling over to Babel so that she may properly mourn this epic warrior death. Meryl Streep has got nothing on Phoebe Donovan's acting chops, okay. "They did," Phoebe agrees with a bittersweet smile, find handing Babel's and giving it a tight squeeze.

She drops it only to flatten her hands against the ground and crouch into a fierce pose. She ignores the slight wince that comes with the lie. This lie should not hurt. They're playing, and she won't stop over it.

"But that just means you get a new life."

She sends a conspiratorial grin Babel's way. Leafs are tangled in her hair and once she is satisfied with their leaf fort, she asks, "On three?"

:D! Latest comment ever. :<

[allmydiredreams]

Babel's smile is not quite as bright as it should be at that, but she's trying not to let it get to her. She did come back. She didn't want to. But she's not going to tell Phoebe that right now. It would ruin the moment, and angst is not how they should roll. Not when there are leaves.

"Yeah, I'm neverending," she says, the smile still on her face, though now she's concentrating on the leaf fort. It just needs a few small touches, see, like these red leaves here and there just so. Why Babel is bothering to make these touches when they're just going to ruin it in two seconds flat is beyond the narration, but that's Babel for you.

She nods sharply when she's done. "On three!" It's a bit louder than it probably should be, and she hunkers down in the leaves more so the children can't see her. Well, they can, but whatever. They don't need to know the adults are planning ambushes, now do they?