Shay got the feeling Angelo didn't like Klaus on a deep, personal level, and it made her nearly giggle. She knew gangs and the Mob were different, but it was still silly to her that one criminal disliked another. He wasn't a criminal, though, was he? He was a police officer now.
They were on dry land now, back at the police station. Shay gave her sopping wet shoes a displeased look. The dirt embedded in them was never going to come out; she just knew it. "All the ones I just asked, yeah, but not all the ones in my head."
Shay was still staring at her shoes, debating whether she wanted to take them off or not. She released Angelo's hand now that they weren't walking through the water. He had been warm, and the cold, empty sensation of releasing her grip was foreign to her. She rubbed her hand against her damp pants. She'd stayed out of most of the water, but even still, she was cold, wet, and shaken.
"Oh, you didn't say if the others were nice or liked hurting people." Her dark eyes landed on him. "Your Mafiosos, that's what they're called, I think. Also, how many people have you arrested? Did anyone resist?"
- Jun 18, 2015
- 10,109
- Gender
- Female
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Posting Status
- Irregularly
The station was for the most part dry - it had been well shielded, set up as a base of operations for those cops who had stayed behind to help with search and rescue. Other cops were up in the mountains, or at the school, assisting where needed.He guided her up into the mess of people, locating a refreshment station where he grabbed a bottle of water for himself, and a plastic cup of hot chocolate for her. She would need the heat, and he carefully held out out for her to take.
"You should be able to warm up here - drink that, it'll help." He wasn't even sure if it was just hot chocolate, or if the stuff had been enchanted for warmth. He supposed it didn't really matter - as long as it did it's work.
Of course, then was the time for the tough questions he should have been asking before.
"Some were nice. Some were not so nice. It really depended on the person. And I don't even know how many people I've arrested - most just got arrested as a warning, not serious." He'd never thought to keep count of how many people he was arresting at any given time.
"Now - who were you with when the wave hit?" He didn't want to say the P word, in case he was wrong. Maybe she wasn't with them at all. Maybe they were elsewhere.
Eroshay held the cup of hot chocolate close to her face so the steam would rise and warm her nose. She tested its heat with her tongue, and when she found it was cool enough for her to take a sip, she did. She watched Angelo over the rim of her cup as she drank the cocoa.
"I wasn't with anyone," Shay answered mildly. It was kind of silly, really. She often left the orphanage without telling anyone, sneaking out even in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. "I was going back to the orphanage and --" Shay paused, thinking. And something. She felt like she forgot something. What was it?
"Something happened. I think I kind of blanked out. I don't remember why. Anyway, I ended up climbing on the roof and getting behind that chimney when the wave hit." Her nose scrunched distastefully, and she peered at him, "I'm not in trouble, right?" She had to cover all her bases.
- Jun 18, 2015
- 10,109
- Gender
- Female
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Posting Status
- Irregularly
Ahhh. The orphanage. Angelo could only sort of relate. He didn't really consider himself to have parents, even though he technically did. His parents had more or less given him up, and he'd been raised alongside the don's son. Not really a part of the family, but always there just the same. He'd had a family, but he didn't really have parents."You don't remember?" That was... odd. She'd forgotten? It seemed too coincidental that she'd forgotten what happened right before the wave. He'd wanted to ask more about the orphanage, but her mysterious memory gap seemed more important at the moment.
"We should go get you checked out by a nurse. It's possible you hit your head, and that's why you're having trouble remembering." He couldn't be sure. There didn't seem to be any blood in her hair, but it was dark enough it might hide it.
"No," she told him when he mentioned they should visit a nurse. "I didn't hit my head." She internally debated something. Speaking slowly and picking her words very carefully when she next spoke. "Sometimes I have those little gaps. I has to do with hearing things. I heard these whispers, and there were a lot of them, so many that I was just...kind of going toward them, on manual. I wasn't paying attention and lost track of time."
She said all this like it would explain everything and by her cautious wording, it seemed she didn't want to go too heavily into it. She didn't want the adults to worry about her, or send her to get checked out. She was all right. She was safe and all right, and all that was hurt was her hand.
"You don't have to worry about me," Shay said, holding up her bandaged hand while the other held firm to her half empty cup, "only my hand is hurt."
- Jun 18, 2015
- 10,109
- Gender
- Female
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Posting Status
- Irregularly
The way she said it made it sound like she intended for him to figure it out, but really it just made him more confused, and his face took on a much more serious expression that normal."Shay... I know you don't really want to talk about it, but that's the kind of thing that's important. What if something had happened to you? Even if it's not me, you really should talk to someone about it." He didn't have high hopes for his ability to crack her open and find all her secrets, but he couldn't just let that sort of thing go unremarked. Even if it was scary to tell people about that sort of thing, you really had to. Especially on an island like Manta Carlos, where people could actually help. Angelo would be shocked to learn if there was a power that the islanders couldn't deal with.
Shay looked down, anywhere but at Angelo. When she did meet his eyes again, she smiled best she could. The look didn't brighten her face any. "Okay." Shay wasn't sure she'd do it, or find anyone worth while. It was all still up in the air to her.
"Are you going back out there? You aren't going to leave, are you?" She didn't want him knowing how much that idea scared her, but she was sure it showed in how pale her face had become or how wide her eyes were when she dared a glance his way. Shay didn't want to be alone.
- Jun 18, 2015
- 10,109
- Gender
- Female
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Posting Status
- Irregularly
He couldn't be sure if she was actually going to do it, but the fact that she'd taken so long to meet his eyes and agree was a good sign. It meant she'd had to really think about it and decided to say yes. She could still have been fibbing, but at the very least she hadn't jumped straight into a fib, and he gave her a smile in return.She seemed obviously upset by the thought of him leaving, and it was obvious enough that it made him frown. "I need to go and try and find more people. There's probably lots of people like you who are stuck out there, and who need to be brought back here. I can stay a little bit, but I do need to go help find people." Beyond that it was his job, of course. He wasn't really there because it was his job - he was there because there were people who needed helping. Even in the base camp, he could feel souls nearby, lingering and confused.
Shay looked into her now empty cup, brows knitted together as if she were mad. But it was determination that shone through in her gaze when she finally settled it on him. "I want to help. I want to help find people. Can I help you?"
Shay didn't want to be alone and being couped up here wasn't any better a thought. She had that terrible feeling in her stomach that he would tell her 'no.' She was a child, after all. And what an awful thought that was.
"If you don't take me I'll just go back out there on my own, and it'll be your fault."
- Jun 18, 2015
- 10,109
- Gender
- Female
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Posting Status
- Irregularly
He was going to say no. He was perfectly ready to say no, his mouth opening to say it, when she cut in that she was going to go out there anyway.He paused, closed his mouth, and frowned at her. Immediately his brain ran through all the possible options - going without her and having her follow. Going with her and putting her at risk. Trying to get someone else to take over watching her. Too many possibilities, and none of them ended up with a good ending. His frown only deepened as the seconds ticked by.
"It's bad to do this, you know - manipulative." Did she even realize that was what it was called? Surely she realized it was bad. She was young, but she wasn't that young. "If I take you with me, it'll just mean I won't be as good at rescuing people. It'll mean I have to make sure I'm taking care of you and anyone else I find. And I might see things that you shouldn't see." There were bodies out there, no two ways about it.