First Entrance

[aintwortha]

Things changed immediately. Achilles works with them, honing the tactics, working to avoid giving themselves away so soon. Bean didn't bother much, none of them really liked him, and he had no other ideas, so he did his best to keep to the background.

Except for a couple of smart-arse comments at the door. Not that Achilles seemed to mind, given it had done exactly what it had been intended to do. Make him seem small, weak, and in need of protecting, to the lady on the door. Which just reinforced the arguments Achilles had been placing about a light outside and a policeman for line security.

He kept to the background for the next few weeks, too. They had his best. If he kept reminding them he was there, they'd start getting more annoyed about him being there. Not worth it.

But, Achilles never accepted him. Him and Poke. They're doomed, it's just a question of when.

One day, though, he exits the den where they hid out for most of the day, alone.

And he's not where he was.

He's inside. The room is large, and nicely furnished. Not that he actually knows what that means. It looks nicer than Helga's kitchen, anyway.

Milliways, there's one tiny kid who's just walked in and frozen in the door way. Meet Bean.

[ooc: Bean is 4, but physically, he looks like a two-year-old. A two-year-old who has been living on the edge of starvation for his entire life, until the past couple of weeks.]

Comments

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy sees the little person, and frowns slightly. He's a bit teeny to be in here on his own.

He approaches and crouches a little way away, with a gentle smile. A little girl of about two hides behind him.

"Hi there. Are you lost?" he asks Bean.

[aintwortha]

He is tiny.

Time to state the obvious and play cute.

"This isn't outside..." That would be a yes, then.

[guppy_sandhu]

"This is Milliways." Guppy says. "Do you have a parent or guardian with you?"

[aintwortha]

A parent or guardian? Bean's never had one of those. He knows what they are, but he's never had one.

Bean looks round carefully.

"No. No one else, just me. What's Milliways?" It's not a word he's heard used before, in IF common, in Dutch or in the little Spanish he picked up from the Janitor (not that he'd call him that yet).

[guppy_sandhu]

"It's a bar." Guppy says. "People get here from different places. You can get back home through that door when you're ready."

[aintwortha]

Bean's eyes narrow slightly, as he looks around. It does seem to have fittings similar to the interior of the bars he sees in Rotterdam.

He looks behind him, at the door he came through. Thank goodness these things scale nicely.

"Different places?" That's not consistent. The world seemed to be consistent until this happened. Damn, now he's going to have to reconstruct his ideas of the world.

[guppy_sandhu]

Coral sneaks out from behind Guppy and comes over to Bean.

"Magic!" she says.

[aintwortha]

Oh, Hi Coral.

"Really?" he asks, highly sceptical.

[guppy_sandhu]

"And science." Coral says, to be fair.

"Yeah, it's a bit of both." Guppy says. "Do you want something to eat? I'm Guppy, this is Coral."

[aintwortha]

Okay, now you're just confusing him. That's not fair. Well, confusing him a bit, anyway.

Hmmm, food? He has already eaten once today. Who's he trying to kid?

"Yes please." Hey, even on the street, they learned some manners.

[guppy_sandhu]

"We were just getting some sandwiches for dinner, do you like them?" Guppy asks, offering him a hand. "What's your name?"

[aintwortha]

"People call me Bean." He hasn't really 'claimed' the name yet, it's still just a label. A useful label, but a label none-the-less.

"What's a sandwich?" he asks, placing his hand on Guppy's.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Bean!" Coral says, liking the name. She takes his other hand because this small person could totally be a BFF.

"A sandwich is bread with a filling in, like meat or cheese." Guppy says, getting some to show him.

[aintwortha]

"Hello Coral," he says, trying her name on his tongue. It's a nice name. Not a street name, though.

"Okay. I'd like one please." It'll be different, certainly.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy gets some small plates and gives each of the kids a couple of tiny sandwiches.

"There you go." he says. "Shall we go and sit down?"

[aintwortha]

Bean nods and picks up his plate. Would he have been able to lift this before they got into the kitchen?

Maybe, but he's not sure. He's bulked out a lot, even in the couple of weeks since.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Do you want a drink?" Guppy asks.

[aintwortha]

"Some clean water would be good."

The closest the street kids manage is rainwater they've managed to store somewhere in secret.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy gets him some.

"Do you have problems with water at home?"

[aintwortha]

"Don't have much of anything, living on the street. Better now, but."

Food, water, shelter, protection from idiots, legal status. All things Bean lacks.

He picks it up carefully and takes a sip. It feels odd to drink something that isn't soup, odd but nice. It feels like something an adult does.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Who looks after you?" Guppy asks.

[aintwortha]

"I do," Bean replies, in a well, duh tone of voice.

Who else would look after him?

[guppy_sandhu]

"Do you get enough food and keep warm?"

[aintwortha]

Bean considers this. It really depends on how you define 'enough'.

"I survive." Just. And that's enough for him.

[guppy_sandhu]

"How old are you?" Guppy asks.

[aintwortha]

"Four, I think."

As no one actually knows his birth date, well, it's as good as you're going to get. He was about one when he got out of the clean place, and he remembers three winters, so.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Did you ever have a grown up to help?"

[aintwortha]

"When I was very little." As in, even smaller than he is now...

"Helga feeds us every morning, now."

Thanks to his plan.

That is the sum total of adult interaction in his life.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Ah, okay, and is Helga a grown up?"

[aintwortha]

"She runs the soup kitchen."

That would be a yes.

"Why does it matter to you?" Bean asks.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Well, this is my little girl, and if she didn't get enough to eat, I'd be sad and worried. So I want other little boys and girls to be able to get enough to eat."

[aintwortha]

"Oh."

Bean takes a moment to consider this.

"Most people don't seem to think like you do."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Aren't the grown ups at your world worried about a little kid like you on your own?"

[aintwortha]

"They don't seem to be. Not about the kids on the streets."

That's just the way it is.

[guppy_sandhu]

"What happened to your mummy and daddy?" Guppy asks gently.

[aintwortha]

Bean thinks carefully, racing back as far into his memory as he can go.

"Never had any."

And it's true. The Spanish guy looked after him when he escaped from the clean place, but that was after his escape. Before that, there were lots of people, but no mamas and papas, not like the families that live in Rotterdam.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Has anyone ever tried to adopt or foster you?" Guppy asks.

He can't take the kid home. He knows better than to abduct a minor that can't understand the implications that would do to their timeline. But... this is hard.

[aintwortha]

Yeah, the implications for Bean vanishing from the timeline of the enderverse are, well, huge. The mun apologises for this very difficult situation.

Meanwhile, Bean, who remains blissfully unaware of these meta (and not so meta) issues, is considering the meaning of certain words Guppy used.

"What does 'adopt or foster' mean?" he asks.

[guppy_sandhu]

"It means taking a child home that you aren't related to and making them part of your family."

[aintwortha]

"Oh, right, no. Well, papa Achilles, looks after us now..." Despite what Poke thinks, he's the one in charge.

[guppy_sandhu]

"How old is he?"

[aintwortha]

"Achilles?" Bean asks, mainly to buy time to think about his answer. It's never something he's had or cared to estimate before.

"I don't know. He's not as tall as the adults. But he's quite tall." But then, to Bean, everyone else who survives on the street is 'quite tall'

[guppy_sandhu]

"Hm..." Guppy sighs. "Well while you're here, maybe we can get you kitted out. Do you have plenty of warm clothes? What do you sleep in?"

[aintwortha]

Bean gives Guppy an 'are you stupid like everyone else?' look.

"I sleep with the rest of Achilles family, we stay close to keep warm overnight." In other words: they'd ask questions if he suddenly got some new clothes...

[guppy_sandhu]

"Okay, well if you change your mind, come find me okay?"

[aintwortha]

"Okay. I'll remember."

The thing is? once he can get away with it, he'll have sufficient access to funds, that he won't need it. Probably.

[ooc: fade and end awkwardness there?]