[ Later, she might observe enough of these glitches to figure out something about how long they can last. A few minutes to two hours, then they're usually over. She might see that pattern, knowing it means they'll end before the people do; or she might be told by someone with quicker pattern recognition skills. She sits quiet, but not unmoving, and she doesn't know right now. All she does know is Karl has been hurting, and he is, for the moment, someone she needs to defend, by her own prerogatives.
It's a matter of minutes, really, and over that course she's shifted and counted imprints on the wall opposite to them. Has listened intently to the somewhat dampened sounds of the chaos of the colony out on the nearest street, along with further away. She hears the tread she's come to pick out with a sense of stillness settling over her. One of the police robots. Malfunctioning? She doesn't know, but she can't chance that it is, and has no means of knowing that Karl has drifted into an uncomplicated sleep instead of one brought on in the midst of what he's been enduring.
She's a resolute young thing. She carefully unzips her backpack, one or two teeth at a time, muffling the sound with her hands. She pulls out the thin fleece blanket tucked in there, an expanse of fabric with a dragon coiled around, holding the two moons as pearls in its claws. It was a great deal unlike Haku, but enough of a reference that it'd seemed warm and soft and familiar, instead of warm and soft and strange. She moves onto her knees, shaking it out and tucking the blanket over Karl with care, listening still. Whatever's out there isn't just leaving. She can hear it calling out, starting to investigate off-street looking for those participating in "unlawful loitering."
She rezips her backpack, leaving the water bottle sitting where she'd been, at Karl's side. Glancing down at him, her expression firms. She's not a fighter, not in the sense that even Wrathion seemed to mean.
But she would do anything she could to protect a friend — short of sacrificing herself, which would be, in her opinion, pretty dumb. ]
Stay safe, Karl-san. Please.
[ She turns away, tapping the toes of her sneaker against the ground. Good. It's a tight fit; her laces haven't relaxed. She's ready to run, even as her hands tighten around her backpack straps and she resolutely buckles the one that lies over her upper chest. She has to duck down and wind through the short distraction of a maze she's built for them, breaking into a jog to hit the mouth of the alley. A scan of the street shows there are two police robots, one on this end, so close, too close, to where Karl's hidden.
Chihiro bolts forward into the street, whipping her head around to ensure no cars were careening down the road right then. She shouts as she goes, using her arms to wave down the officers like she might direct a plane on where to go on the tarmac, if she knew. ]
Hey! Officers! Look at me! I'm J-Walking!
[ It's very dangerous and also actually probably illegal, okay. Her shouts draw their attention, and her claim, so easily verified, draws their focus. The two officers start after her as she bolts, leading them away from here without a backward glance.
She'll be fast enough, even if she's not as fast as a spirit, because this, something like this, is what she can do. And it even works. Sorry, Karl, she didn't mean to leave you to wake on your own, and she really will try to circle back around, but for now she's racing away, doing what she can to keep out of custody of the law. ]
no subject
It's a matter of minutes, really, and over that course she's shifted and counted imprints on the wall opposite to them. Has listened intently to the somewhat dampened sounds of the chaos of the colony out on the nearest street, along with further away. She hears the tread she's come to pick out with a sense of stillness settling over her. One of the police robots. Malfunctioning? She doesn't know, but she can't chance that it is, and has no means of knowing that Karl has drifted into an uncomplicated sleep instead of one brought on in the midst of what he's been enduring.
She's a resolute young thing. She carefully unzips her backpack, one or two teeth at a time, muffling the sound with her hands. She pulls out the thin fleece blanket tucked in there, an expanse of fabric with a dragon coiled around, holding the two moons as pearls in its claws. It was a great deal unlike Haku, but enough of a reference that it'd seemed warm and soft and familiar, instead of warm and soft and strange. She moves onto her knees, shaking it out and tucking the blanket over Karl with care, listening still. Whatever's out there isn't just leaving. She can hear it calling out, starting to investigate off-street looking for those participating in "unlawful loitering."
She rezips her backpack, leaving the water bottle sitting where she'd been, at Karl's side. Glancing down at him, her expression firms. She's not a fighter, not in the sense that even Wrathion seemed to mean.
But she would do anything she could to protect a friend — short of sacrificing herself, which would be, in her opinion, pretty dumb. ]
Stay safe, Karl-san. Please.
[ She turns away, tapping the toes of her sneaker against the ground. Good. It's a tight fit; her laces haven't relaxed. She's ready to run, even as her hands tighten around her backpack straps and she resolutely buckles the one that lies over her upper chest. She has to duck down and wind through the short distraction of a maze she's built for them, breaking into a jog to hit the mouth of the alley. A scan of the street shows there are two police robots, one on this end, so close, too close, to where Karl's hidden.
Chihiro bolts forward into the street, whipping her head around to ensure no cars were careening down the road right then. She shouts as she goes, using her arms to wave down the officers like she might direct a plane on where to go on the tarmac, if she knew. ]
Hey! Officers! Look at me! I'm J-Walking!
[ It's very dangerous and also actually probably illegal, okay. Her shouts draw their attention, and her claim, so easily verified, draws their focus. The two officers start after her as she bolts, leading them away from here without a backward glance.
She'll be fast enough, even if she's not as fast as a spirit, because this, something like this, is what she can do. And it even works. Sorry, Karl, she didn't mean to leave you to wake on your own, and she really will try to circle back around, but for now she's racing away, doing what she can to keep out of custody of the law. ]