crossing_lostrp | [Mayday] Seeking the odd ones out

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Current Music: The Bravery - "Fearless"

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[Mayday] Seeking the odd ones out

Who: Mayday, River, Ripley, Claire, Chris
Where: The Staff, hallway outside of/in Room E
When: Day 28, morning, after/during Search and Rescue
Invited: Anyone wandering down the hall
Status: Incomplete

May hurried down the corridor, balancing a plate of pancakes, a bottle of Tylenol she'd liberated from someone's bag, and two bottles of water with uncanny ease as she sprinted down the hall towards the bedroom. How could she have forgotten the other two they'd left behind - especially the girl who couldn't turn off mind-reading? Some of the people who'd passed out had admitted they were psychic, and if it hurt them that badly...

She screeched to a halt outside the door, still balancing the food and water and pills - it seemed extraneous given what she'd just figured out, but on the off chance they were okay and recovered, an offering of food without having to deal with a crowd would at least be something.

There seemed to be a whimpering noise inside, although she couldn't tell through the solid door, it was so quiet. May took a deep breath to calm herself before knocking and forced herself to focus on something not-panicky - namely, the pancakes she was carrying. "Hello? Are you all right? I have food. And painkillers."

Well, as peace offerings went, neither could be too bad.

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"Only two, honey." Ripley gently took the bottle an most of the pills off her. She retrieved the half empty glass of water the girl had drank from when taking the sedatives earlier.

"Thanks." Ripley offered a crooked smile to May.

She tried a piece of pancake. It was okay, but she seemed to really crave meat. She actually sniffed at May, assessing her as prey, before she caught hold of herself. That seemed wrong.

"I couldn't find any identification for her, or me." She looked around and spotted the puppy. "But she has a crude leather collar and a hand made tag with Oorie on it."

The puppy had retreated behind May's legs.

Ripley sat on the bed beside River and stroked the girl's hair. It wasn't apparent if it was to calm the girl or herself. "So.. update."

May knelt down to scratch the puppy, and when that was met with no resistance she scooped her up. Oorie squirmed a bit, but made no real effort to get away as May sat down on the other bed across from them, liberating the bottles of water she'd had tucked beneath one arm and putting them down on the table. "Cripes, where do I begin? Apparently things are even more messed up than any of us thought."

She scratched Oorie behind the ears as she spoke, and apparently found the sweet spot because the pup settled down in her lap. "It seems like most of the people here are survivors of a plane crash. We're on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, way off course and no one's found us even though it's been weeks.

"What we're doing here, though, isn't really clear. People have been finding passports and journals but no one remembers anything - and a lot of people here aren't really normal. There's a handful of psychics. Somebody tried shouting mentally or something, which is what overloaded a lot of people and probably woke her up. A bunch of people are going to rescue a guy who's apparently bleeding to death in a building east of here - they saw him on security cameras.

"Everybody else is cleaning up or searching the building for missing IDs or clues that can tell people who they are. Some people are going over the video in the security room, a couple of morons decided to go outside and beat each other up, and I'm only just starting to realize how bizarre this whole morning has been now that I'm trying to explain it."

Huh. Maybe she did tend to babble on and on.

"Bizarre is just a state of matters that are markedly unusual in general character, often involving incongruous elements that seem outrageously or whimsically strange."

After the silence, River whispered, "Or things are just a bit odd."

She looked at the pup with blank eyes.

"Taken too early. Never got to say good-bye. Just a word-- don't mean nothin' to some and means the world to others."

OOC: passing by while Damon's finding himself (http://community.livejournal.com/crossing_lostrp/130817.html) :)

She couldn't figure out why, but Aaron seemed pretty restless. It was as if he wanted to go somewhere, whatever that might mean. Maybe her mind was playing tricks or something. Where would a newborn baby want to go, other than wherever food, warmth, love and a dry nappy might be? To find dad? It was a possibility.

Hanging around her room with a fussy baby wasn't doing anything for Claire's frazzled mind either way, so she decided to explore a little. She'd seen a sling here someplace.. yep, that seemed to work. Time for a wander.

You never know, something might jog my memory! she thought wryly.

The bunker wasn't that big, she soon discovered. Big enough to get lost in at least once (oops), but otherwise just a never-ending run of boring corridors and mostly identical rooms. A few of them were occupied, but she didn't get the impression that many people wanted to talk right now - not without adding to her worries.

Aaron squirmed a little as Claire passed one room. She halted, wondering whether he needed something - changing, feeding.. weird how she'd suddenly slotted into the role of Mum, though she didn't think she was that good at it (yet) - but his eyes were fixated on the door beside her. Voices could be heard inside, though she couldn't hear what they were saying.. and didn't want to be nosey. Honest. Aaron was pretty insistent for such a mite though.

The baby made me do it. Heh.

Claire raised a hand and run a finger through her son's soft hair. "If this drops me into anything bad, you're in for it bub. I mean it."

He gurgled, the cheeky sod. Shaking her head, Claire smiled nervously and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Anyone.. fancy a chat?"

River looked up at the doorway and saw a woman cradeling a baby. River studied the woman for a moment before turning her attention to the bundle in the woman's arms. She sloly stood up and walked towards the two. Her lips moved as she began to speak outloud to herself.

"Mountain of strength..."

Her eyes were wide with awe and her mouth hung slightly open and barely breathing-- like she had suddenly approached the rarest gem in the world.

She reached one hand up but paused, too afraid to make another move. Too afraid she'd break it.

[[OOC: River was defining the name "Aaron."]]

"Uh, yeah.." Claire replied uncertainly. Should she.. leave? Or was the girl safe to keep her kid around? She certainly didn't seem to be a danger, just.. weird.

"His name's Aaron," she offered eventually, nervous smile still plastered to her face.

The young brunette's reaction to Aaron was pretty unnerving - and to be honest he seemed pretty spellbound by her too. Claire wasn't that certain a mum yet, but she definitely felt protective of the little one, so she didn't want to hand him over.. like I did with Chris, but then he's his dad, even if we can't remember anything! The older woman looked.. scary. Like she was being nice, but the smile just didn't fit like other people's did.

That left the young woman she'd seen in the cafeteria. Making a connection with her would make the atmosphere feel better, definitely. I hope. Claire didn't want to be rude by walking straight back out again anyway, especially not after the fuss Aaron had made about visiting these people - if that really was what was making him wriggly.

Wanting to do something other than stand there, Claire spied a chair and walked over there more quickly than necessary, plomping herself down with little ceremony before nodding to the only familiar face.

"May, right? Do you two know your names yet? Presuming that you've lost your memories too, and now I'm babbling."

((OOC: Sorry. Next major project deliverable is due Monday, so I've been going a teeny bit crazy.))

"Yeah," May said, somewhat grateful for Claire's interruption. "I just finished recapping. We're all still in the same boat memory-wise. I don't know if I caught your name during all the kitchen fiascos, though." Someone's suggestion of name tags was sounding better and better.

She smiled at Aaron, who was looking at May, River and Ripley with wide and fascinated eyes. "He's beautiful. Really. And he seems to be taking all this pretty well. Do you know how old he is?" He couldn't be more than a few weeks, she mused, and wondered how she knew that by looking.

Oh, wait. Family picture. Possible baby brother. Duh.

Ripley's eyes softened and even went a little dewy. There was a... pull, a tugging at her heart. She felt a connection to this little life. An echo of something lost. He was beautiful, and tiny, and precious.

"He's beautiful." She offered to the young mother.

And beautiful he was. Just like the confused teen, both mother and child had moved into the catagory of 'protected'. Like they were her children, her family, her... hive.

She seemed to have very strong instincts, both protective and predatory.

"Aaron is a good name. A good foundation." Ripley moved to run her fingers through River's hair. "And we have to get a name for you as well. Something pretty, I think. How about... Amanda?"

"Sam" stuck his head in. "Anything happening here?" he asked.

He'd been wandering about, convinced that he should have been doing something, but not remembering what. At least here he could talk to people and figure out who in the heck he was and what he was doing there.

((OOC: I AM SO SORRY! If we just lost River's player 'cause of this, it's my fault. Stupid grad school. Stupid Perl scripting that I don't remember how to do. Oh, and as for River's suggested pseudonym: Heh. "Worthy of love" if River wants to play on that.))

May scooted over to sit closer to Claire and Aaron and to coo at the baby, who was still utterly enthralled by the group.

She looked up as the new guy stuck his head in. "Just getting everyone food and caught up to speed," she said with a smile. "And this little guy apparently thinks we're the best show ever. Did you get any breakfast?" It was so crazy in there, she might have missed someone.

((OOC: I really hope people haven't moved on, lol. If so... Sorry!))

"Simon," River corrected Ripley. "Likes Simon more than 'Amanda.'" She tilted her head up and smiled prettily. "'Amanda' was created by a playwright who derived it from the Latin 'amanda,' meaning 'lovable.' 'Simon' is the Greek form of the Hebrew name 'Shim'on.' Hearkening. Listening. Carried the cross for Jesus. Always taking care of me..."

Something flashed in River's mind and it made her jump back. And just as swiftly as the flash came, an image popped up before her eyes and disappeared again. She sat on her knees with her mouth hanging open, confused. She blinked, hoping at capture the image again but she couldn't.

"Simon. Good... name..." Her voice trailed off and she looked at baby Aaron, her brow furrowing slightly.

Welcome back! :)

((OOC: Naah. Distracted by a four-year-old whirlwind who's focusing on Mulan, but not moved on! We can close this up and move on, though, if you want River to wander into another, later scene. I say this because Ripley's an NPC and Claire's player is otherwise occupied...))

"Always taking care of me..."

May took note of that last comment, watching the emotions play across River's face, a fleeting moment of recognition that was stolen abruptly away. That, she could identify with. She'd had a few of those moments, sense impressions, snatches of memory that disappeared as quickly as they'd come. It was frustrating, but at the same time promising. It meant there was a chance that the memories were still there, buried, and would come back to them in time.

"But not your name?" May guessed, her voice soft. "For one thing, you don't look like a 'Simon' to me." She made a face. "Okay, that was a lame joke."

She smiled at the newcomer, who was kind of cute. "Speaking of names, have you figured out yours yet?"

"Sam" shook his head. "Haven't got a clue, haven't found ID yet."

((God... WHo knew work ate my soul as well as planning on my moving home. Hopefully I will be able to post much, much more frequently after next weekend!! :D ))

River looked up suddenly out the window and her brow furrowed. Her head tilted to one side slowly, eyes focusing at a spot in the distance.

"The truth..."

River suddenly stood up and walked briskly to the door, stopped, and looked back at Mayday with an outstretched hand.

"Come with...?"

((I was thinking of heading down to the cafeteria and get River out and about.))

River casted her eyes down and slowly lowered her arm. She took a step outside by herself. She could hear two sets of echoing voices-- some in her head and some down the hall. But soon, she was unable to distinguish the difference and she let out a shaky breath.

"Not there. Don't be scared. Ignore them. Ignore everything. Focus. Focus."

The walls suddenly flashed and she saw in a brief moment herself walking down the hall and taking a turn.

"Been here before? Or see where I'm heading? Is here even a difference?"

She saw her own head peek around the corner and her arm appear, extending a hand.

"Time to go..."

She saw her figure fade away and she took in a breath as she started to step lightly down the hall.

[Exit River who is now going to wander by herself.]

[[OOC: Change "River looked up suddenly out the window" to "River looked up suddenly at a spot on the wall..." since, ooking at the map, there are no windows... :)]]

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[Mayday] Seeking the odd ones out

[Ripley NPC]

[Mayday] Recap time!

Re: [Mayday] Recap time!

[Claire]

Re: [Claire]

[Claire]

[Mayday]

[Ripley NPC]

[Chris/"Sam"]

[Mayday]

[River]

OOC

[Mayday]

[Chris/"Sam"]

[River]

Re: [River]

Re: [River]