[hr] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/owYAY37.png[/img][/center] [code]Spring Town, Hedgemount[/code] [sup]*Collaborated post with [@Dioxide] and [@Oliver][/sup] [hr] [hr] Of the bad habits that she has, staying out late was not one of them; everyone wanted to have a jab at each other, and the nice ones are too scared to go out. One had to make their own fun in these dangerous parts of town, and it can get boring when you’re out and about on your own, and approaching night there wasn’t a sane soul in sight. What else could she do? So every night Kannix arrives home early and just waits for the next day. It was Saturday morning approaching afternoon. Her mom was still asleep - not especially tired because of overbearing work; it just became a habit over time. As Kannix learnt to become more self-sufficient, her mom had less to do, though it is not to downplay how much she actually does because she does do a lot. For the work that she puts in - the food, housing, what electricity there was, clothes - she wanted some reward. Rest was one of them. Being woken up to be greeted in the morning was another. It was procedural. Speaking of procedural, as Kannix walked into her mother’s room, she noticed the little white hairs interlaced in her mother’s matte black hair. Another weird habit: her mother did not like being seen as old, unwilling to accept it just yet. Whenever she spots any visible ones sprouting out of her hair, she has Kannix pluck them out. Well, Kannix did not really feel like doing that again. She could just dye her hair, she thought. But oh, she loved her so. Her hand met her mother’s arm. “Good morning, mom.” Her mother grumbled a guttural sound, dissent towards whoever woke her sleep - same as usual, every day. “Mom, wake up.” Another guttural sound, but she was definitely roused awake. She’ll get up soon. She turned around and, having already showered and dressed up, made up her mind to mosey her way to the kitchenette. The fridge had a few items in it. Good, it was stocked then. She pulled out the orange juice, the plate of ham slices, and cold butter. She knew that the cupboard above the stove had bread because that’s where she last saw her mom put it and curses why did it have to be so damn high. Kannix pulled out one of the table chairs. It scratched against the wooden floors, which prompted her to lift it up and place it instead. Last thing she wanted was her mom waking up annoyed. She prepared herself a cold sandwich, because why not, and downed that sucker quickly. “[i]Kannix…[/i]” “Hm? [i]Yeaah?[/i]” “You going out today?” “N-” “Because you’re pulling out my white hairs today.” “Just let them be, mom. I think they’re fine.” “Fuck off they’re fine. You don’t have to do it right now but we’re getting it done today.” Kannix let out a sigh in between gulps of her orange juice. “I heard that.” [hr] Kannix over time learnt some tricks to getting to those pesky white hairs deep within the heaves of hair on her mom’s hand. It’s not a proud skill she has, but she loved playing with the tweezers - one of the many playthings she has. There’s something attractive about the usefulness, the functionality, the diversity on what you could do with what is otherwise just a mundane item. Kannix played with the tension that the prongs gave when she pressed hard; she tried to pull them apart; she looked at the name branded on the side. So much so, she’d spend a universe’s time just dissecting it, completely forgetting what she was doing, and getting yelled at to keep plucking. Another minute or so, and her mom fell asleep. Now’s her time to escape. Kannix loves her mom, but goodness this was a droll task. She very, very carefully pulled her leg from under her mom’s head, bracing her arms and back against the arms of the sofa, while carrassessing her mom’s head, placing it gently to the sofa. A bloody escape artist, she was. Kannix looked to the door but knew that the sound of the gears would wake her mom up immediately. ...Then she looked to her room which had a window opening to the street and buildings across. She looked down and saw that no one was watching. It was far away enough from her mom, but Kannix closed the door anyway to muffle out as much sound as possible could. It was not that high of a jump anyway, a floor above street level. She ducked her head and heaved herself over and out of the window, seated by the ledge . Without a concern for herself and the world Kannix pushed herself forward, making the landing just off the pavement. Her legs were firm and the crumbling, damaged road cracked even more under her. Figures that at that moment, after the cracks - and the dramatic entrance, that a boy on a bike had to be there. She stood still, unmoving - too slow to react - while he spun out of the way, out of control, to the pavement, muttering under her breath: "shit." She made her way over to the kid, side to the ground and bicycle on top of him, leaning over him. "Hey..." she pulled her hair back over her ears, reaching down to pull the bicycle off of him, "really sorry about that, kid. You alright?" Casey didn't answer right away, seemingly stunned into silence. It occurred to him, right then and there, why people with more money than him wore helmets. His head had hit the curb hard enough to fill his vision with black spots and leave him temporarily dumbstruck. However, it became clear that he hadn't acquired a serious injury when he rapidly sat back upright, ignoring basically everything cycling safety precaution regarding falling down. "Shit! Oh god... that hurts like a bitch." He swore loudly, his hands quickly going to his head. Sitting up, he was able to fully assess how much pain he was in. Which is to say that his choice of words quite accurately portrayed how he was feeling. He couldn't quite see clearly enough to properly examine whatever or whoever he had almost hit. Kannix daftly held her hands out but was not sure how to process the situation, hoping that somehow she would motion herself to help him in any way. She clenched her fists and ruffled her hair in frustration. "[i]...Christ.[/i]" she thought. She did not know this kid but she surely did not want him crying back home, to his mom, who'd then go crying over to her mom because [i]"she's at it again, control her, she could have killed my son!"[/i] Her face was contorted in trying to deal with the situation. "You... uh... you shouldn't be- no, you shouldn't have- you- okay so it was my bad. I didn't see you, it was my fault. I'm sorry, alright?" He wasn't bleeding as far as the eye could tell. She leaned forward even more, kneeling down at the pavement. She looked around, but no one was watching, still no one around. He didn't seem like any kid she'd seen before, though there are a lot roaming around these parts of Hedgetown - she just being one of the older ones. "God, shut up. It's... it's not a big deal." Casey, [i]the kid[/i], replied in a tone that didn't match his harsh choice of words. It almost sounded like, in his own weird little way, he was trying to be comforting. The girl, who he could still only barely make out through his blurry vision, seemed more than a little upset. Casey wasn't sure how old she was, but she looked a lot younger than she happened to be in actuality. If he had to guess, he'd say she was 15 or 16. Listening to her stammer and struggle to form a complete sentence, he could only assume that she was nervous about something. He couldn't help but imagine a few amusing scenarios, a brief smile flashing across his face before returning to his pained grimace. It was going to be a huge pain in the ass wandering around town in his current state, but it wasn't like going home was a reasonable plan. "Geez, fine, be that way, like I even wanted to give a shi-" Kannix had stood back up again and held that sentence, hands clenched to her sides wanting to smack something. [i]"No, no, can't do that - he could be really hurt and you owe it to him."[/i] "Look, get up and we'll walk it off," as she reached down and held him by the arm, lifting and hoisting him up, see if he can stabilize and stand on his own. "Okay." Casey replied immediately, oddly calm at the prospect of walking away with a stranger. At least in his logic, it couldn't be any less safe than home. Besides, Kannix was only about an inch taller than Casey was, and on the off chance that she decided to hold him hostage he could use his bird manipulation to get away, or something. He allowed himself to be lifted to his feet, wobbling a little bit but quickly regaining his balance. Aside from the throbbing ache on the left side of his head and the fact that he was still seeing double, he seemed to be okay. At the very least, he wasn't in need of immediate hospitalization. He looked up at her, glad that she seemed to have moved on from fear to annoyance. He could deal with her being a little irritated with him, after all he'd almost run her over on his bike and hadn't been particularly polite in the aftermath. Besides, to be honest he was glad to have someone to spend time with for a while. It wasn't like he had plans or anything; he was just going to stagger around town until he thought he could go home without getting things thrown at him. Hanging out with a random girl who he'd just met on the street seemed like an infinitely superior option. Kannix swayed her hands to her back then back to the front, clasping them together, as well as noting that the height difference was really not that much. "Alright, so you're fine then. I'll be on my way - you... stay out of trouble. Yeah, that." Casey's expression softened noticeably when Kannix uttered a phrase indicating that she was about to leave. This was a disappointing realization... he'd been kind of looking forward to having some company while he avoided his mother's wrath… It was about then that he recognized her voice. He reached out and grabbed her hand, tilting his head to the left to try and get a better look at her face. No luck; his vision was still a cloudy mess. "...Hey, hang on a sec. Do I know you?" Kannix had her back turned to him so he could not see that brief moment when her eyes grew wide, lips tightened, and nose flared. He probably does know her. Snapping back a reply but without turning back, she shook her head: "Nope - don't know you so you don't know. Love to get to you know but I have to be on my way!" She sped up those words as well as her pace. Casey instinctively sped up to match her pace, despite his unstable, wobbly gait. Normally he wouldn't have pursued anyone this far, but he felt oddly drawn to her, like he'd be safer somehow if he followed her. "Geez, just hang on. Isn't your name something like Candle or Kanster... Kannix, isn't that it?" Casey was almost sure now. He couldn't place where he knew her from, or even if she was even the person he was thinking of at all. "Holy shit, you're fast..." Kannix then and there snapped back, turning around so quickly if she had not been careful she could have swapped the boy away. Instead of an instant reply, she had an instant, open glare - lips pressed and stare so focused but ill-mannered. "Hi!", fake enthusiasm at best - her face sprouting a smile so broad it looked artificial, two front teeth bore like a shield to the world, eyes disappearing into a line along with her smile, "I'm Kannix, your friendly neighbour who didn't just almost kill you! Don't tell your parents, and let's just forget this all ever happened, yeah?" Casey rolled his eyes dramatically, but held his hand out anyway. "Yeah. Let's." He grumbled, not really sure what else could be said. He didn't dare say anything about his parents; not after what happened the last time. That said, just her brief mention of his assumed caretakers stung a bit. He saw right through her fake smile, but then again it wasn't that difficult, Kannix was hardly trying to be convincing. It was a mockery and he knew it, but he still felt like his best bet for the day was to fight tooth and nail for any minute he could spend with company. That said, he knew that he couldn't stalk her forever I've she really wanted to leave. Right then and there, Kannix knew she could have just sped away. Leave the kid alone. His parents won’t notice that he got hurt - though he was still favouring a side with his walk and stance. The kid probably has nothing else to do, she thought. Kannix did jump in his way. Though in that reflection, she decided to jump right then and there, at that time, as if it felt right. The two crossed paths at that moment and it felt strangely non-coincidental. What on Earth was she thinking about? There’s no way. "Say, uh... sorry I never caught your name. Where are you headed?" “Casey Jackson McCarthy. I'm headed to... fuck, I dunno. I'm just out I guess." Casey replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head until he realized that it made it hurt worse. "What about you, Kannix?" "Woo, potty mouth - young, but I started early as well," winking to him. There were barely any cars in Spring Town that the two standing in the middle of the road made her wonder why there was a road system at all. She looked around her. She’d been meaning to get out of Spring Town for a while. "Uhm… Nowhere as well, but hey, let's ask someone, shall we?" Off of her peripheral vision, a door opened behind them and her neighbours opposite her house. She turned to them with the broad smile she’d just shown to Casey. "Hi there! Have you any suggestions on where we could go today?" “You know who they are?” Casey whispered behind her. “Nope.” just loud enough that only he could hear. " We're... going to the DOVE Rally." "Whaddya say, Casey? Let's go?" Suddenly, a loud screech - whose fury so hot it melts icebergs - Kannix's mom. [b]"Kannix! Where in God's name are you!?"[/b] "Let's go." Casey had no idea why anyone would want to attend a DOVE rally, or even what people did there, but he certainly wasn't about to complain. Even if it was a weird way to spend the afternoon, it would be far from boring. He was once again grabbed by the arm as Kannix went back to his bicycle, which had miraculously not been stolen and was still lying on the pavement where Casey had left it. Lifting the blue metal contraption back upright, they both climbed on, Kannix closest to the handlebars so she'd be the one steering. They seemed to both realize that entrusting navigational tasks to a kid who just got knocked in the head was a bad idea. Possibly even worse than having 2 people on a small bike (really, Casey might as well have burned that safety manual).