26 • [video|action]

[endthem]

[the journal falls open to the sound of a gasp and a metallic clattering, and the camera might just pick up a glimpse of a boy with long blue hair falling to the ground and scrambling backwards, iron shackles on his wrists jangling like oversized bracelets

Comments

action - pretend these are baby icons

[thedicearecast]

[Amelia's still exploring the place herself, which is why she's in an alley. When she sees another kid, sneaking around just like she did at first, of course she decides to help. This place is just too weird at first.]

Hey, kid. You okay?

[endthem]

[he jumps a little and whirls. He'd been too focused on the adults passing by on the street to notice a smaller presence wandering up behind him.

He freezes at first, but seeing that it's just a little girl eases his mind just a little. ...He doesn't answer her right away, though]

[thedicearecast]

[Amelia jumps when the other kid does, only because she isn't expecting him to act all scared. It takes her a second to recover, but it's fine--not like the boy has said anything anyway.]

Hey. Can't you talk?

Well, whatever. [Amelia slips off the coat she's wearing. A soft purple fleece, she holds it out to the boy.] You've got to be cold. Here.

[endthem]

[he doesn't get a chance to answer, before she's... holding out a coat to him. He automatically back away a step, looking at her suspiciously, like she's maybe lost her mind]

action

[screwthegods]

[And just what will this scared child do if he sees a fully grown man, sitting near the fountain and turning the pages of a book similar to the one he just dropped? Regardless, Homura's already spotted the boy--and of course he's curious. Not many in Luceti go around wearing chains.

First, however, he'll give the child a chance to act.]

[endthem]

[wandering up to a fully grown man is not something that this kid is particularly eager to do, but recognizing the book at least gives him some pause. Hanging back, where he hopes he will be overlooked, he just quietly inspects both the book and its owner from afar]

[screwthegods]

[Overlooking someone simply because they appear small and harmless is an unwise mistake for a warrior, due to the likeliness that it will prove fatal. The boy may be content to observe, but Homura is not one to merely let things be. He calmly turns a page, then addresses the child directly, although he does not look up.]

What do you intend to learn while cowering at such a distance? I will do you no harm so long as you do not attempt to harm me.

You clearly have questions.

[endthem]

[he freezes when he's caught, immediately assuming that his presence is bothering this man]

I'm sorry. [inching a step backward]