(Budding Thorns) Lost and Found

[Ingrid]

Ingrid remained in her half squat, watching the urge for secrecy vie with urge for security. Thankfully, the question was quickly resolved in favour of secrecy. She gave Donovan a subtle nod, trying to emote she understood his concern; he had bought up a valid question, but that was for another day.

Heavens! Was she turning into a Winter?

"May as well," she ventured. "Beats being out here."

Her eyes fell gently on the young Lost once Donovan asked her name. Of course, cleverly, she neglected her own name for the moment.

[Seraphina]

Oh no, please don’t cry! She begs on her mind, nothing cut to the heart more than a crying kid.

1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-10-29 18:27:01		Sera rolls 4 to Wits+Empathy (10 Again)		6, 1, 9, 6		1 success

“Well, we’ll get it sorted out.” A nod.

“Oh, well, lets see.” She stands, “We’ll have to either fire up some grills, or see what’s already made. But I’m sure we can throw something together that will be warm and tasty.” She wasn’t sure what was in the kitchen. But was pretty sure there would be something. And if not, well, there was always take out. But from the sound of the kids stomach, anything would be good. And she might be more open to talk with some food.

As she stood, she slips her leather coat off and offers it to the girl. She wasn’t sure if she was cold or not, but it seemed like an appropriate gesture.

Then Donovan offers his name, and Ingrid doesn’t. Which wasn’t unexpected, she seemed more secretive than not.

“I’m Seraphina,” She says with a soft smile, “But Sera works for me.” her words soft, like she was sharing a secret with her.

[Travisc06489]

Something about the way she choked when they asked her about where her brother is... Donovan can tell she's not being straightforward. Maybe she's afraid to tell them what she knows? For Sera, it's in the thousand yard stare. What better reason to avoid eye contact than to avoid someone catching you in a lie.

She smiles a little when the Woodwalker calls her 'darlin'. "Katie." Her tears have mostly dried up now, though she still looks like she's had a rough time. Her eyes bounce from adult to adult, as they have their adult talk. Clearly she's used to this kind of thing: children sit quietly by as their parents discuss them as though they're not in the room, after all.

The young girl's big brown eyes practically sparkle with delight. From zero-to-sixty, she blurts out "Do you have funnel cake!? Mom always gets us funnel cake at fun parks."

"Sera's a pretty name. I have a cousin named Sarah. She's in High School." She whispers the last part, close to Sera's ear. Clearly this is impressive to the young girl.

Her eyes find the kindly plum-scented lady next. "What's your name?" she asks, sounding for all intents and purposes like the terrors of the night have vanished in the face of new friends.

[Donovan Ackerman]

Donovan’s brow furrowed.

“Katie, darlin’, I know you probably don’t want to talk ‘bout what happened but fibbin’ ain’t goin’ to help yer brother.” His tone wasn’t angry but it was firm. “If’n you know somethin’ you need ta tells us. We might be able to help him. Tell us what happened.” If he had escaped with her, he could have gotten separated in the Hedge. It was a long shot but there was still that chance. If he was still back in fairy… well, then she’d have to face that loss.

[Ingrid]

"Its Ingrid," the Darkling replies with a little smile. Her eyes follow the young Lost.

"Funnel cake? Well. I'm sure if we don't have it we can get it. Maybe not right now, though. Everywhere will be closed." Her mind was running before her mouth. "What else do you like?"

She might have added more but she caught the firmness in Donovan's voice. Agreeing privately with the sentiment, if not the expression, she allows the Wizened to take the lead. To occupy her time, she gets back to her feet and begins to gently usher the group to the relative safety of the fun park Freehold proper.

[Seraphina]

Smiling, “That’s a beautiful name.” she complimented.

A soft musical laugh, “Well, I’ll share a little secret with you, I don’t know how to make those.” A giggle, “But if we can find some, you are welcome to eat all you want. Maybe we can learn to make ‘em together.” A wink. She was pretty sure those required a deep fryer, and she had no clue how to operate one of those.

“You think so? Why thank you!” her eyes then widen at the news, “Wow, really? High school! That’s exciting. But aren’t you in high school, you have to be what, at least sixteen!” of course she knew the girl was young, but why not try and make her feel better?

There was then a nod, “Donovan’s right. If we’re going to help your brother, we need to know what happened. And I’m sure your scared, but it’s ok, we only want to help, and we can only help if you tell us everything you can. Even if you’re scared and think it might get you in trouble, it’ll be ok.” Her tone softer.

Smiling to Ingrid with a nod, “That’s a great question, what else do you like Katie?” she asks, moving with the Darkling.

[Travisc06489]

Katie pouts a little, looking up at Donovan. Her wide eyes shift to Seraphina. She seems to resign, sighing a little. "Fine... but... not out here. I don't think it's safe."

The young girl clearly deflates at the mention of 'no funnel cake'. But she brushes herself off, following the group and staying close to the two women. Closer to them than Donovan, anyway.

"Um... fish?" she answers Ingrid, after some thought. "I didn't used to like fish. Now I like it all the time. I even caught one out of the river. Yesterday. I just asked it nicely to let me pick it up..." She starts to grin, looking at all three of them to build suspense until revealing proudly "and it did! Isn't that cool?"

Once through the gates proper, Katie looks around. Her big eyes are focused, her head movements slow. Finally, with a nod to herself, she announces. "Safe." Taking the lead, now, she walks deeper into the park. Her steps pick up as she spots a food stand with some round, benched tables to sit at. The girl plops down on a bench and rests her arms on the table.

"If I tell you what happened, promise I won't get in trouble?"

[Ingrid]

The Darkling's eyes follow the young Lost as her attitude shifts once through the fun park's gates. Once Katie speaks, however, the sudden suspicion vanishes and Ingrid grins broadly.

"Yes! Thats just awesome!" Her mouth opened in a huge "O". "What else can you do?" Ingrid couldn't help it, the words just spilling from her over-ripe mouth.

The Darkling's face grows a little more serious when she sits opposite the girl. "Why would you be in trouble?"

A fission of fear travelled up her spine. A calm voice in her head attempted to remind her that what happened during one's Durance could be forgiven; it was what one did after that defined you.

[Donovan Ackerman]

Donovan notices the girl avoiding him for the preference of the two women. Not that he wasn’t used to such reactions. At least among the Lost due to his smell. But in this case he was pretty sure that wasn’t it.

“Yeah cool,” he replied about the fish. Just how recently had she escaped? When he had first come out of Fairie, anything would have satisfied him. Stale bread, raw oatmeal. Yet here she was sounding disappointed about not having funnel cake and being picky about fish. Was it a Beast thing? He didn’t know.

Hw watched the little Swimmerskin (though that was just a guess) walk confidently through the park and declare confidently that it was safe. He couldn’t help but wonder how she knew. Could she talk to more than just fish?

“That’s an awful lot to promise. ‘Specially since trouble could come from more than just us.” If this little girl got them caught up in a pledge that ended up protecting her from the Kindly Ones… granted he’d still do it. He’d rather not have the Wyrd looking over him for it though.

“I can promise we won’t be angry at you.” Strange as it was for a Summer to offer that. “Barrin’ anything less than magic.” After all, there were clauses directly geared to making someone anry. He knew that well enough.

[Seraphina]

Well, that was good. She was hoping they wouldn’t have to argue with the kid about going into the park. Cause that would defiantly set them back with earning her trust and finding out what was going on.

Eyes widen as she talks about fish, “Wow! That is really cool! Do you have a favorite fish?” she only knew fish from restaurant menus, so her knowledge was pretty limited. But it seemed important to Katie and made her grin, so it was good.

Following suit, Sera takes a seat herself, legs crossed.

And that was a promise she couldn’t make not knowing what happened or was happening.

Frowning, “That’s a big promise for us to make without knowing what happened. But like Donovan said, we can promise not to be mad at you. And once we know what’s going on, we’ll do what we can to help you.” Everything they did, both in the Hedge and here, had consequences. And sometimes they were consequences you didn’t like, but had to pay.

Sooo sorry! I didn't get the alert for this thread!