[center][h3][color=00a99d]Ming Hua/Noah[/color][/h3][/center]

Despite the sinking feeling that persisted in his gut, Ming Hua smiled at Emma. [color=00a99d]"I take it back, you're not that much of a mermaid after all."[/color] Jumping on his toes lightly to shake off the tremor in his legs, he jabbed his thumb down the street. [color=00a99d]"I just need to grab a bag and food."[/color] There was no reason to go into apocalyptic-mode, Ming Hua recognised that. But hell if he wasn't going to take precautions. [color=00a99d]"And my phone,"[/color] he added as an afterthought, patting his drenched but blissfully empty pocket. Nodding his head down one way, he began to jog. [color=00a99d]"Come on, I'll make it snappy."[/color]

Ming Hua wanted to sprint - his legs had always had too much energy, ready to carry him lengths away from angry merchants, and teachers exasperated with his restlessness - but he made sure to keep pace with Emma. In a town as small as San Perdido, it took just under four minutes to reach the Rochesters' home. And in a town as quiet as San Perdido, the doors were always left open.

The Rochesters' house was a modest two-storey building, with white-washed walls and a large oak door that Ming Hua bound through. He grabbed a towel that had been left folded from the pile of clean laundry and tossed it over his shoulder to Emma. [color=00a99d]"Here,"[/color] he said. [color=00a99d]"Dry off. Mrs Rochester will kill me if we leave water stains. I'll grab my things, you can make yourself at home."[/color] Wasn't a lot of time for that, but what the heck? It wasn't like Emma was going to find his baby pictures put on proud display on the walls. He had none.

Ming Hua climbed the stairs two at a time, and took a satchel from his room, slipping his phone inside after glancing at its screen for a second. He thundered down to the ground floor again, zipped through the kitchen for some dry foods, and plucked the spare key hanging on the coat rack. He would lock up when they left. Things were getting strange and open doors were just an invitation for trouble. [color=00a99d]"All set,"[/color] he called to Emma. [color=00a99d]"And you're right; the phones don't have service."[/color]