username: butterfly (video, post event)

[digophelia]

[ If it sounds like Alice is daycare, there's a good reason for it. She looks a little tired and very confused. There's a good number of children around her and one decides to plop themselves on her lap.

Oh. Okay. Fine. Deep breaths. ]

Hello, there. Can you stand, just for a minute? It shan't take long, then you can sit in my lap all you want.

[ She shoos him along. Alice heaves a deep sigh, holding her face.] ]

For a small minute, I thought I was back in London. Possibly because I have been around a large number of children, this many, with same limited resources.

I suppose my question is, is there a particular reason why I came back to over a dozen or so children? Not that I mind it, although I wouldn't be opposed to having a bigger space.

[ Yes, when did this happen? Alice has forgotten some tidbits of that fight, after all. ]

Comments

[powerdriven]

Tell me about it.

[ though he doesn't sound very enthused, even if it's a note that means very little towards such a perpetually flat voice. too much time spent reigning in adults of that very nature, perhaps. children seem a far more pleasant cry from that job.

which, speaking of, he was going to accept it as that and offer help should they come crawling back to her doorstep, but there's something in particular that catches his attention. ]

What will you do with the orphans?

[digophelia]

[ She doesn't really sound so pleased with the idea when she says it, the disappointment is there in her voice. ]

Unfortunately, they will have to be taken to the authorities, as someone suggested to me. There should be some institute around here, I hope, that cares for orphans.

[ And that hurts the most, that she has to turn her back on them -- or so she feels. ]

That is all I can do, at the moment.

[powerdriven]

[ it's familiar, so Levi's eyelids lop down to thin his eyes, which for a moment, seem to focus somewhere else. then he's back again, firmly setting his jaw. ]

No. There's something more you can do. You fight with the rest of us to put this place back together.

[ granted, there's no determining the difference they might make. he won't soon forget Anwick. but it's things like that that might steel his own choices. ]

[digophelia]

If you want a fighter, you would want someone far more skilled than someone like me, not a nanny.

[ Even for all of her anger and knife fighting, Alice still believes herself to be lacking in skills. She grimaces. ]

I don't even know where to begin to contribute to this mess. Still, it wouldn't be right to see to their welfare, before anything, even if it's only for tonight.

[powerdriven]

[ whether she has skills in fighting or not, that's not his concern. it should be self-evident that they all had their own ways to assist. even something like this has its merits.

and if it's for anyone else's sake, he's pretty goddamned certain that he doesn't care about any technicalities ALASTAIR has left out. ]

What's the harm in one night? [ he scoffs. ] It's not up to me. And if it were, I'd tell you the only way drawing swords ever brought peace is by sending all the naysayers to the grave. Our task's not so simple that we can solve it in a blink. I don't think a single one of us knows what we're doing.

[digophelia]

I'm not a fighter, I don't possess any skills.

[ She had to hit the ground running after ten years in the asylum. Her employment options for an unmarried woman were certainly limited. ]

But being a nanny is something I know very well. I'm sorry that it may deviate from our mission currently. You're right, there is no harm in one night and other nights, if needed. In addition to bringing back the sun, we can help the villagers, too. So, why not start out with the youngest ones? I would hope that taking care of children will put me in good terms with the adults.

[powerdriven]

You don't need to be sorry.

[ he agrees, and he thinks she's doing fine, for that matter. ]

They might not know very much about the situation, but if we're going to help this world out, then we've got to take care of the people here too, to the best of our ability.

[digophelia]

I'm glad that you agree. It's not often that I speak with others that share the same sentiment.

[ God, did anyone in London ever? ]

[powerdriven]

[ really? doesn't seem too radical to him. ]

What kind of meatheads have you gotten used to?

[digophelia]

[ This is where there would be a nervous laugh on her part, if she did laugh. Instead, she just draws a breath. An asylum is one and, well, of course- ]

The underbelly of London. Odette is a little like it, actually, just a little cleaner.

[powerdriven]

Don't know it.

[ but that's not a surprise. most of them have probably never heard of each others' homes. if it's like Odette, though, ]

Sounds to me like everyone's always got something more important on their minds. [ or so they think. ]

[digophelia]

I'm glad for it. It's a terrible place, worse than Odette. But we do, don't we? It is a little unfortunate, at times. Some things that we strive for aren't the most noble.

[ There's thieves, oddballs, children, a giant red man, and Alice, herself, a former mental patient. She's amused with it, almost. ]

Yet, we've managed so far. For now.

[powerdriven]

[ he pauses. ]

We're not doing so bad. All that can be expected for this directionless mob of freaks. I meant back in London. [ though it's no less true here, he supposes. maybe it's too kind of him to ascribe the selfish agendas to something bigger going on in their world. ]

Someone told me about it early on, how they observed that so many of us came from ruin. I know how it is. Desperation breeds that sort of thing.

[digophelia]

Implying any of the idiots in London to becoming a directionless mob of freaks is giving them too much credit.

[ Alice is mostly saying this to herself. ]

Come from ruin? Literal or metaphorical? Or both?