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[crazyspacegirl]

As if the unending rain wasn't bad enough, now there was the matter of a whole mess of people just vanishing, all at once. They were there one second, and then gone the next. It was extremely disconcerting, even for someone who had lived on the island as long as River had

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[ooh_lily]

The whole time that Lily had been here, things had been like this: something happened, people went out to search and she was left behind. She had the babies with her, Emmy in her rain-boots, Dylan in his sling and a hat pulled down over her damp hair. She smells burning before she sees River, and she tilts her head, pausing in front of the counter.

"Need a hand, hon?"

[crazyspacegirl]

"I think these ingredients just don't want to be cookies," River answered, not as forlorn about her baking as she was about events outside the kitchen. "Maybe it's the island's fault. That wouldn't be surprising, would it?"

[ooh_lily]

"I think we can probably make them into cookies," says Lily, shifting Dylan's weight as she walks around the counter. "Bend them to our will, eh?" She reaches out and touches River's shoulder.

"Work for idle hands."

[crazyspacegirl]

"Something like that. I got used to being someone who can help save people, not one who just has to wait and not know what's going on. Not that I mind the reason for the change so much," she added with glance at Zoe's industrious book chewing. "It's just different."

She glared at the smouldering lumps of her not quite cookies and sighed. "I wanted to be the type of mom who makes cookies," she admitted.

[stoicsidekick]

Bush had have seen people disappear before - and appear, for that matter - in front of his eyes, around corners, in the middle of the night. But never had he seen such a dramatic exit. It was like something out of, good Lord, one of those moving pictures with the creatures from space who stole people away, such as the one Archie had made him watch once, much to his own bafflement.

When it happened as he stood in the middle of the beach, a dozen people flickering away, he had been frozen in place for a moment or two. Then, he turned and trudged towards the Compound to make sure that those of import were accounted for, and to find what he might do to help.

He inclined his head slightly as he came into the kitchen and saw River. Already a few other people were gathered there, taking stock of who was gone, and who was not. "Well. This has been an interesting day already," he said darkly, shaking his head. "All yours accounted for?"

[crazyspacegirl]

"Why can't things just be interesting in ways that aren't also terrifying?" It was a rhetorical question and River didn't ever expect a real answer to it, but it was one she still pondered from time to time.

She checked the playpen again, just to make sure the smallest of the bunch hadn't somehow made a break for it. "All island Tams, Reynoldses, and other Serenity crew are right where they're supposed to be," she answered, grateful for that small relief at least. "Yours?"

Not that she thought he'd be in the compound instead of out searching if they were not, but it seemed polite to ask.

[stoicsidekick]

Bush only smiled humorlessly, knowing better than to try to find logic in the island's madness. He snorted softly, despairing of this strange universe that could play such tricks, and went to fetch some coffee. Before long, he would likely join whatever formal rescue party came together, and that would make for a long day.

"All accounted for, thank you for asking," he answered, raising his mug in a small salute. "Thank God for small mercies and all that."

[crazyspacegirl]

River had her doubts that there was any god or God that took much interest in the lives on their island or anyplace else, but she kept her thoughts on the subject to herself. She didn't see any reason to upset anyone who might find some comfort in the idea.

"You would think that we'd get used to this kind of thing happening eventually, but that doesn't seem to be the case," she mused, sliding a fresh sheet of potential cookies in to the oven. The baby was starting to fuss, so she crossed the room to lift her up out of the play pen. "Maybe it'll be easier for her and the others who grow up here, with strange occurrences happening all the time."

[noneoftherules]

Sadie should have been on hand at the clinic; it was an emergency scenario, alright, and if the missing people were found, there was a good chance they would need medical assistance. All hands were needed on deck today, Sadie knew, but instead of heading straight for the clinic, she had doubled back and found herself wandering inside the Compound. She wasn't ready. If she went in, she'd freeze up right when they needed her, and everyone would see that she wasn't cut out for this.

It was just a little detour, she told herself, before the scent of burning distracted her. "Christ," she said, stepping int the kitchen, "like there's not enough happening today, don't tell me this place is going up in flames, too?"

[crazyspacegirl]

"No. I got them out before there were flames." Even though fire wasn't quite the danger it would have been on a spaceship, it was still something to be careful about. "I'm hoping the next batch will be better. So if you wait a few minutes, you can have a cookie. Unless you like them well done?"

River didn't like the idea of wasting food, so it was worth asking.

[noneoftherules]

"I wasn't being entirely serious," Sadie assured the other woman, just in case. Irritated though she was, months of little to do for entertainment apart from small talk had taught her the value of politeness - or, at the very least, not being completely rude upfront. "They way it's been coming down lately, I doubt anything could manage to catch fire for long."

With a shrug, Sadie leaned over toward the first batch and carefully picked out the least charred cookie she could find. She bit in, she winced, she tried (and mostly failed) to hide it. "Not quite as effective on dough as it is on meat."

[crazyspacegirl]

"No. Baking seems to be less forgiving than other kinds of cooking. Things are always collapsing or burning or staying raw in the middle." River picked one up and sniffed it, making a face before putting it back down. "I'll get it right eventually."

The baby in the playpen made a squawking sound that River recognized as a request for something to eat. She'd been planning to let her try a cookie, but she didn't even think Simon Chicago would eat this batch. She peeled a banana, broke off a piece, and put it into both of Zoe's chubby little hands so she could entertain herself as well has have a snack.