005 ~*~ Of blood, sweat, and tears

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Toast was in the toaster, so it was time to fetch the mail! Meiling skipped out, humming tunelessly as she opened the box and pulled out... oh, that's quite a few letters. This was exciting!

She enters the house again, deposits what isn't for herself or Patchy on the coffee table, and then ascends the stairs. ] Miss Patchouli, we have mail! And breakfast will be done soon~

[ No, she didn't read the address or anything, and just slipped her not!daughter's letter under her door before making her way back into the main bedroom to get dressed. She mumbles to herself as she digs through the closet. ] --that's weird.

[ Meiling then calls back into the hall. ] Has anyone seen my cap? I know I can't wear it to work, but I like to have it on around the house!

((OOC: Action is closed to house-mates, but feel free to put any phone threads in here if you want!))

Comments

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchy exits her room in a panic.- My books! All of them are gone! We've been robbed!

[not_so_great_wall]

Robbed!? [ She stops her search and rushes out to go over and look into the other room. ] Oh my--

How could that happen? That'd take a dozen trips... [ Small exaggeration, but still; it had been a LOT of things. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

I'll just use my tracking spell. They can't be far.

-... A whole lot of nothing happens for a good second.-

M-meiling... my magic...

[not_so_great_wall]

[ She watches as Patchouli works her magic (literally).

...and waits...

And... nothing? She blinks. ] What's wrong? Are they far? Are the robbers blocking you somehow? [ Meiling puts a fist in her palm. ] They're really going to be in for it, now...

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

My magic... it's gone.

[not_so_great_wall]

W-what? But you--

And there---

[ Meiling furrows her brow. ] Why would it just... disappear? And your books, and... my hat? [ Well, at least it wasn't like when her powers were stripped mid-flight. That was kind of painful. ] Do you think the letters have anything to do with it? [ Coincidences? Mayfield? Nah. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchy quickly snatches one of the letters, opening it without hesitation.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ She turns on a heel to go back to the nightstand and open hers. Meiling is more or less skimming it after noticing it doesn't have content like the one that came with her cap.

....when she gets to the photos, she moves to sit down on the bed, but missed and ends up plopping down roughly on the floor, her face as white as the sheets. ] How-- What is this?

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchouli's reaction... comes in a shriek.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Meiling burst back into the hall so fast you could swear she would have come through the wall had she the power to. ] What happened?! What-- [ Oh. She sees the letter, and the confusion vanishes. It's the same as the one she just crumbled up in her fist in her rush to get out of the room. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

They... they... I...

No... No no... not again...

-Without another word, she pushes past Meiling and heads downstairs.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ There isn't time to ask more questions, but she is stopped in mid-thought as she realizes that Patchy actually physically moved her aside.

That's... never happened before. She bounds down after, taking steps in multiples, and reaches for her shoulder, the letter discarded from that hand. ] Miss Patchouli!

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

Find Lady Flandre and hide. -Her voice was direct and stern. Far more so than it ever had been before.-

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre wasn't exactly an early riser--or at least an early-start-doing-something-productive specimen.

Case in point, all she had really done was wake up and proceed to flop on her open windowsill and stare at the clouds going by. That one looked like a flower! And that one a bat wing, and that other one a cat, and--

--a red thing up against the fence in the front yard. A familiar one.]

...Meiling?

Why is Meiling on the fence?

[not_so_great_wall]

[ She's there because she's tired. That distance is nothing to walk, but running? Not the smartest thing. Meiling uses the fence to brace herself with one arm, the other dragging the end of the hoe and planting it on the ground for support.

She wants to cry out. Wants to shout and scream and warn off anyone who so much as looks in the direction of this house, but no... there's no need to panic the girl.

A few more moments are spent catching her breath before she crosses the yard and bangs very loudly on the door. ] Miss Flandre! [ Pant, pant. ] It's me! Meiling! ... open the door, please!

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre chitters a bit in surprise, opening the window a bit more and leaning out of it above and a little to the left of the front door.]

Is it time for school again, Meiling?

[Her sense of time was a bit on the odd side.]

[not_so_great_wall]

[ It took her a second to consider the source of the call, before she stepped back and looked up to the window. ] Ah, no! No school today. So... I thought you could come over a day early to stay with ... Miss Patchouli and I...

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre doesn't hesitate, at least.]

Okay, Meiling!

[...aaaand she starts to tumble out the window.

Before she remembers the no-flying thing, which makes her squawk and grab the windowsill, though a bit too late. Flandre stays on the sill at least, squeaking all the while.

Though, it wasn't terribly far away from the ground, given that she was dangling completely out of the window now, she was still dangling out the window.

Sorry about the heart attack, Meiling.]

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Just when her pulse had begun to calm down it, again, threatened to burst out of her chest.

An exact transcript of her thoughts: "asklfjhsfjk;"-- ] FLANDRE! [ It was too late to shout that warning, though, as she was already out of the window. Meiling knew she only had two choices. She quickly drove the end of the stick into the dirt and then ran to stand under the window, arms out. ]

L-let yourself go, but carefully! I'll catch you! [ Oh god oh god if she gets hurt Meiling is never going to live this down. ]

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre recovers...sort of quickly. She makes an only slightly-uncertain chitter, looking down at Meiling over her shoulder. The little not-quite-vampire wasn't exactly afraid of heights (that would be an exceptionally bad trait for a flying creature to have) but goodness that was surprising.]

...okay, Meiling.

[Flandre lets go with one hand, and then, slowly, the other. It wouldn't do to have a squishy dream, no sir.]

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Time stops -- or at least slowed down a bit -- as the first hand lets go. And then the second.

Meiling is nothing if not prepared, however (as catching Flandre seems to be a common activity in Mayfield) and slips her arms under the smaller one's body easily, bending at the knees to help absorb the momentum.

Once she's secure, she holds her close to her chest, still breathing hard. ] You... god... [ This is not a good morning for her emotions. ] Never do that again. Please...

...it took me a minute to figure out what was going on in that icon

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[There wasn't even much of a bump; just Meiling's arms and a hug and she stopped falling. Flandre quite liked the hug, though. All strong and tight and she wanted to snuggle into it and rest her head on Meiling's shoulder...

...though her voice made Flandre pause. And blink, and notice how much Meiling's chest was heaving, and hear the exact tone of her voice that made Flandre wilt and her hands fold and curl up inoffensively on her chest.]

...I'm sorry, Meiling.

[Her voice is much quieter, this time; quickly trailing off into a mumbling murmur.]

I need to color the rest. /sigh

[not_so_great_wall]

[ A little calmer, she reached up to stroke the back of Flandre's head. She doesn't deserve to scold her for anything, but that just scared the wits right out of her. Story of her life, apparently. ] It's fine. You're not hurt at all, right?

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre arched her neck and leaned her head back a little bit into Meiling's hand, mumbling quietly. She closed her eyes most of the way, appreciatively.]

Mhn-mnh. [That was supposed to be a negative.] Not at all.

[not_so_great_wall]

Good. [ She spoke that softly, quite glad for the affirmation. Meiling then turns to watch the street, eyes vigilant for anyone who happened to be out-and-about that wasn't an obvious drone. Pleased at the lack of obvious threats, she sighs a little. ] We should get going. I don't want to leave Miss Patchouli alone for--

I mean. We don't want to keep her waiting, right? [ A strained smile. Good recovery? ]