[OPEN] I'm in here

[immobileyes]

Who: Mary Kozakura (immobileyes) and YOU
When: IC 2/27-3/01
Where: Residential District, right by the not-so-standing apartments
What: Mary tries to dig up things from her fallen apartment over the course of a few days, success is varied
Rating/Warning: None!

---

[ It was hard enough, waiting for the water level to go down enough so that Mary could return to where her apartment was (had been) without risk of drowning. Seto's hoodie, the jacket Hiro had given her... they were the only things she'd been able to find at the time, but now she can search for anything remaining from their apartment.

So feel free to come across a tiny teenager over the afore-mentioned days, getting drizzled on and trying to pry up pieces of the smaller rubble - and HNNNNNGHing at the bigger pieces of debris that she can't budge at all - as she hunts about. The stuffed animal she'd received from Lily is gone, the headband from Kaoru and Shiho has been twisted and bent beyond repair when she miraculously finds that... the dried flowers, from the bouquet Elza had given her... no sign of them. All of her tea...

Mary almost wants to cry, but not yet. She just keeps looking.

And don't be alarmed if she seems worn-out when you see her. It's not some weird elemental effect, she's just terrible at stamina. ]

Comments

[coexistent]

[roxas is just passing through the area on his way back to his (somehow, miraculously still-standing) apartment. it doesn't really bother him much to have to pass through the wreckage now that it seems like everyone has been rescued from it; though it's a bit unsettling, he just accepts it for what it is.

and really, that's all he plans to do until he spots someone familiar out of the corner of his eye.]

Mary? [he states quietly, inquisitively under his breath. what's she doing? isn't that dangerous? it seems pretty dangerous, and she looks pretty tired. so of course, he's going to approach. he can't just leave a friend alone like this, even if he doesn't know what's going on.]

...Mary? [he'll say it again when she's in earshot, this time obviously directed at her.] What are you doing?

[immobileyes]

[ It's a good thing he'd decided to repeat himself from a closer distance, because Mary's a little too engrossed in her current task. Which is, with both hands precariously gripping a bit of rubble, she's leaning back as much as she can to get it to budge-- but when Roxas speaks up, she lets go, startled, and promptly plunks down. ]

Wha-- R-Roxas! When did you--

[ HOW DID HE JUST MAGICALLY APPEAR... no, Mary, you just need to learn how to pay attention. ]

[apologetically]

[It doesn't take long for Julian to notice that Mary's missing (or at least, somewhere other than in his vicinity), so he nervously sets out in search of her because really, everything terrible apparently happens in Cerealia and he's worried about her!! He's bundled in a long raincoat to avoid the shivery sensation of rain dripping down his tail, even though the coat won't save him from another spontaneous flood... Still, he pushes on half-determinedly, half-frightened until he sees Mary at working amidst the rubble.]

Mary? [For a moment he just hovers in place, as if afraid that a single step in between the rubble will send him hurtling into a hidden sinkhole, but he takes a deep breath and approaches anyway.] You forgot your umbrella...

[He trails off as he reaches her, looking down at her with part alarm and part curiosity. She looks super tired??? He extends the umbrella over so it covers her, and then anxiously] Are you alright?

[immobileyes]

[ She probably should have told Julian where she was going. Or Zara. Her hindsight's 20/20, totally flawless.

Here's a presence who doesn't frighten or shock her, at least. Julian approaches as tentatively as she would, he's not loud and sudden, and when Mary looks up at him, it's with a weary sort of confusion. Why-- oh, there's an umbrella. ]

I'm okay, [ she says instantly, drawing her hand back from her digging. ] Sorry, Julian... I forgot it'd rain again.

[apologetically]

[He looks down at her, still concerned, but also at a loss for words. He doesn't have the heart to scold her, not when she looks this tired and besides, she apologized!! He's content to let it end there. Instead, he kneels down next to her.]

That's alright. [He looks her over again,] Have you been here this whole time? Digging -- looking for something?

[why else would she come back to their old apartment??]

[immobileyes]

Yeah, I was... [ She gestures to the rubble, frowning. ] A lot of the things my friends gave me were still in here... so I was trying to find them.

[ ASK HOW MUCH LUCK SHE'S HAD. ]

[theshiningone]

[It was safe to say that Hiro was horribly used to post apocalyptic situations like this. But that wasn't to say that it never gotten any easier to deal with. His apartment was trashed and he didn't have too much valuable stuff that was ruined. Thankfully, he managed to keep Mary's cape and somehow that stupid dildo that CERES given him was perfectly untouched...

Either way, he was taking his time to hunt for any unseen survivors in the rubble or lend anyone an extra hand that needed to gather supplies. And, ah... He saw a familiar someone shuffling through the rubble right now. Hiro quietly approaches Mary from behind with a great big-]

BOO!!!

[deontology]

[Well, soaked puffballs are pretty distinctive. When he spies Mary working herself to death digging through the rubble, he naturally has to stride over.

It's another few moments of observation before finally:]

You should not do things like this on your own.

[coexistent]

Whoa! Careful...!

[he didn't mean to startle her, so of course, roxas leaps forward to reach out a hand. the least he can do is try to help her up, right.]

Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or anything.

[yourfononsarewhack]

[A certain colonel happens to be in the area on the last day. He's feeling a bit more tired than usual, but he has been trying to make rounds of the ruined buildings with some level of regularity.

Then he spots a tiny teenager trying to work her way through the rubble, and he sighs as he looms near, pressing his fingers to his forehead.]

My, my. You may as well try to put the room back together while you're at it.

[apologetically]

[HE DOESN'T HAVE TO TBH]

I see. If your friends gave them to you, then they must be important. [WWZD... What Would Zara Do...] Why don't you tell me what you're looking for specifically? That way I can help you.

[actually zara would probably tell both of these losers to get out of the rain but Julian Tried at least]

[sewayaku]

... You shouldn't overexert yourself, Mary.

[ not surprisingly, he's accompanied her for at least part of her trip. Zara had actually not had any desire to come back here. What's gone is gone; it would be easier just to rebuild instead of pining for what's lost. It's a process he's gone through multiple times in his life already - thus, he's dealing with it all very well.

Mary, though, seems to be having a harder time. ]

[immobileyes]

[ She should be used to this by now. She really should. But with all of her focus resting on her current task, the sad truth is that Mary doesn't even hear him coming.

Until that, and she shrieks, lurching forward, stumbling, and tripping right over that hunk of rubble she was trying to shift.

SHE'S BEAUTY AND SHE'S GRACE. ]

[immobileyes]

A lot of people are busy. [ Rebuilding, finding new places, recovering... she's used to doing things on her own, automatically, even if it's true that she does better with company. Sousei's comment at least gets her to pause, in order to look up at him. ]

[immobileyes]

I-it's... okay... [ DEEP, WHEEZING BREATH-- okay, she's fine. But yeah, she'll take that hand, bracing the other palm on the ground to get back to her feet. ] I just didn't hear you.

[immobileyes]

Are you sure? It's still really wet out...

[ CATS DON'T LIKE THE WATER, RIGHT? She knows that much about them! ]

[immobileyes]

[ When Mary had left her house in the forest with only a backpack and Seto's hoodie draped over her, she'd always known this wasn't a final farewell. It would still be there, with her memories, the books still left on the shelf.

This... is different, and she's never had a home entirely destroyed before. It's a little hard to accept. So she pauses, to take a breath, and to answer Zara. ]

I'm... almost done...

[immobileyes]

Eh-- [ Naturally shy, she's shrinking down a little at the sight of someone new addressing her, fingers fumbling in their work. ]

I couldn't-- I'm just seeing if anything didn't get crushed...

[apologetically]

[IT'S OKAY HE'S ZEN... he doesn't like the water but julian's got a phd in suffering]

It'll be quicker if we work together.

[sewayaku]

[ there's not much he can say. The least he can do is try to assist her with moving some of the rubble out of the way when she needs him. ]

It's all right. I just don't want you to injure yourself.

[ she can take her time, if it's what she needs. ]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[Such a tiny creature. And most likely troublesome. Jade looms over her at full height as he muses on towards her, in a casual matter-of-factly manner.]

Oh? It would do you well to make sure that you remain in that category as well, you know.

[babermetrics]

Whoa, hey--

[Leon's getting used to this theme by now. His own place is mostly okay, water damage aside; it's at least not a heap of rubble. He'd been luckier than some of his friends, that's for sure. It's the most obvious when he's walking through the residential district, though, on his way home past sights like this. Mary isn't the first person he's seen out in the streets digging through the wreckage, and she's probably not going to be the last.

But she's the first one he stops for. Everyone's miserable right now, sure, but there's nothing quite so miserable as a tiny, very cute girl trying to haul wood all by herself, sad and rained on. How is he supposed to keep walking in the face of that?

He veers in her direction as she works on a bit of debris that is definitely too heavy for her, hands coming up in front of himself, like he might either take her shoulders to comfort her or take the boards away from her in an attempt to help. He's not close enough yet to do either, though, when he speaks up.]

Yo, don't hurt yourself! Lemme give you a hand! You're gonna snap yourself in half like that . . . that'd be a total tragedy!

[theshiningone]

[Sorry, Mary. You are too priceless. Who has two thumbs and has the guts to laugh at her even in a situation like this?

THIS GUY.]

Watch your step!

[reprizesal]

[After Souza's disappearance, Sayo have been keeping himself busy. It's better than letting himself dwell too much on his thoughts by himself, when he just want to do something. The fire elemental energy he have helped with it, to an extent.

When he saw something that looks like a big, white... fluffball? He paused for a moment, before he walked over towards her. The closer he get to it, the more he saw it's a person. Well, a young looking girl.

And she's... trying to lift up a particularly large piece of debris?]

... Do you need help?

[Whenever Mary looks, she would see a very small boy (in fact, he's shorter than her!) in blue looking at her. His big hat is on his head, mostly shielding him from the drizzling rain.]

[immobileyes]

... Then, okay. [ YEAH SHE KNOWS SHE'S NOT GOOD AT THIS. ] Thanks, Julian!