Log: Seeking Shelter

[ambitious_muse]

Who: Sigma Ai, the Ai twins, Agent Texas (native), and anyone else who passes by
What: hiding from a plague storm
Where: an antique shop between the twins' daycare and the shuttle stop
When: 15 April, around midday
Warnings: none yet

Day one of getting the twins from daycare, and Sigma has already run into trouble. A plague cloud collided with a storm front, causing a torrent of acid rain and liquid illness. Sigma grabbed the little ones and ran for the first cover he could find.

When they exit the airlock, he finds himself in a dusty but well-lit shop. Pieces of mismatched furniture take up nearly every available space on the floor. An antique shop, then? Sigma holds the little ones close. This isn't the place to let them run around. He'll have to hope this storm ends soon.

Comments

[soldierinblack]

Ugh. She had been almost finished with her errands when a damn cloud rolled in. There were worst places she could be, but an antique shop wasn't high on her list. Once inside, she sighs and removes her helmet, taking stock of the store in a quick glance.

With no where really to sit without invoking the wrath of the shopkeeper, she wanders stopping only when she notices a young man holding two small children close. Either an older brother or a good samaritan, it's hard to tell.

"Are they yours?"

[ambitious_muse]

"My brother and sister," he says. He always seems to get that question. Sure, they're young enough that they could be his, but that doesn't mean they are. Right now, they're nervous enough about the storm that they cuddle on the floor with him in an empty space just inside the airlock. He'll have to figure something out when they get antsy.

[soldierinblack]

So the first guess was right. She watches the twins for a moment before taking a seat on the floor across from them. It's not like they can go anywhere and she's not interested in the old furniture that fills the store.

"How old are they?"

[ambitious_muse]

Sigma nudges his little sister. "You want to tell her how old you are, E?" No, she's doing that shy thing she does where she refuses to meet new people until she makes eye contact with them.

"They're five," he says. "Twins. We were on our way home from school."

[soldierinblack]

She can't help the small smile that forms on her lips as she watches Eta. The kid's cute.

There's a low whistle when Sigma reveals their ages. "Five? With the way you're acting, I would have guessed older," she says before finally turning her attention to Sigma. "I'm guessing your family's from here and not off-world."

[ambitious_muse]

"What makes you say that?" he asks. "We are, but I'm curious."

[soldierinblack]

"They're not freaking out which makes me think they were born here and are used to having to rush into the nearest building when the clouds roll in," she explains. Not the most ideal situation for young children, but the people of Adaptive made do with what they could.

[ambitious_muse]

He nods. "That they are," he whispers. These two especially, because there has always been two of them to rush inside, which means twice the excitement and half the time.

"Are you from Adaptive as well?"

[soldierinblack]

"Yeah." From what she knows, anyway. Far easier to just say she is than the complicated truth. "I've been around the block a few times and through my share of storms. Though, it might be the first time I've been stuck and surrounded by furniture older than this city."

[ambitious_muse]

"I hear you," Sigma says. It's probably expensive, too. Speaking of which, the twins are getting antsy. They're most likely hungry, but he can distract them. He hopes. Opening his backpack, he produces his notepad and a pair of pencils. Time to draw.

"I didn't catch your name?" he asks.

[soldierinblack]

"That's because I didn't say it. Tex," she answers and she'd offer a hand, but he's busy getting the twins settled. "And yours? Unless you're planning on getting shy like your sister."

[ambitious_muse]

"Sigma," he says. "And these are Eta and Iota." Scribbling down a molecular diagram to get them started, he sits back to watch them work.

[soldierinblack]

That's a naming scheme she's heard before from someone who did say they had a large family. How is she managing to run into all of them?

"Let me guess, you have an older brother named Delta," she says.

[ambitious_muse]

"You know him?" Sigma asks. He didn't realize his brother knew many people outside of the family. Maybe she works with Delta.

[soldierinblack]

"I've met him a couple of times and he's helping me out with a few things," she replies with a vague wave of her hand. "Didn't think I'd be meeting more of his family when I went out this morning."

[ambitious_muse]

"We do usually keep to ourselves," he says. "Are you the one he's doing accounts for, then?"

[soldierinblack]

"Yeah. I offered it to him when I saw him in the grocery store and he decided to take me up on it." Something about the sad amount of food he was buying for a large family had made her feel generous.

[ambitious_muse]

"In the grocery store?" Delta hadn't told him that. "It seems like he's always doing the shopping."

[soldierinblack]

"With how much he was buying for an eight person household, I'm not surprised he needs to keep going back." The amount in his cart couldn't last them more than a few days, tops.

[ambitious_muse]

"He can only bring back as much as he can carry," Sigma admits. "And these two eat more than you would think."

Especially little Iota, who frowns as if his older brother has just insulted him.

[soldierinblack]

"What do you expect when they have growing to do?" she says with a small smile as she watches the twins. "You guys have to rely on the transit in the city to get around?"

[ambitious_muse]

"We do," he says. "The university subsidizes travel for one brother and me, and the little ones have school-based passes. It's far cheaper than owning a car."

Sigma never learned to drive. He wonders sometimes what it must be like, but with public transit readily available and his brothers too busy to teach him, he never saw the point.

[soldierinblack]

"If it works," she says with a shrug. She'd go crazy if she had to rely solely on public transportation, the freedom to get up and go whenever she wants is what she thrives on.

"He didn't tell me much about his family the bit we spoke. They look well taken care of." She motions towards the little ones. What happened to their parents to leave them on their own?

[ambitious_muse]

"We make it work," he says. Not that they have much of a choice.

"My brothers have sacrificed much to make sure these two have a good home. I'm just taking my turn." It's the least he can do.

[soldierinblack]

"Sacrificed for them and the others, I'm sure. Delta mentioned he had six of you that were younger than him." Hopefully these ones are the youngest of the bunch.

"You go to the university?"