08-29-2008, 09:47 PM
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_____Back out on the sidewalk and the city streets, Laurel meandered with no direction to go. He lived very much in the same way, although lately he found that he was confined greatly to routine and repeated everything. Over and over and over, every day had essentially been the same since everyone had started to get sick. Part of him hadn't even noticed because even after almost five years of straight travel, he had started to slow down in more ways than one. He hadn't entirely recognised that he didn't seem to notice how long he stayed in one place, where before any more than a couple of days and he wandered right out on. Either with the same group or another, it had never mattered. They had all been nameless groups, little gypsy bands that didn't mean anything.
_____“I couldn't tell you what they have even if I had to,” he remarked, not sure if he was ultimately happy with not knowing what it was. “But we've got a few people who are looking after them. Two of ‘em have been staying with us and the other is from Inferni. She's related to them or something like that,” he went on, pulling the wagon off of the curb with a noisy rattle and clunk. Even at that, Ember seemed to be full of questions, but he imagined that was just how he had been when he had been her age. One question after another, never giving much pause to the speed at which they were asked or answered.
_____“I also couldn't tell you where I'm going, I'm just wandering around. Picking up things that interest me. And I don't know if you'd like what I'm drinking either,” this he said with a cracked smile, “but you can try it if you want.” So he held out the bottle he had to her, letting the very last of the liquid slosh around around its dark interior. He didn't plan on really telling her what it was, half expecting her to know and half expecting that she'd take a drink of it and promptly hack it back up. He had long gotten over the taste; he was only interested in what it did for him and the warmth it sent rolling down his gullet.
_____Back out on the sidewalk and the city streets, Laurel meandered with no direction to go. He lived very much in the same way, although lately he found that he was confined greatly to routine and repeated everything. Over and over and over, every day had essentially been the same since everyone had started to get sick. Part of him hadn't even noticed because even after almost five years of straight travel, he had started to slow down in more ways than one. He hadn't entirely recognised that he didn't seem to notice how long he stayed in one place, where before any more than a couple of days and he wandered right out on. Either with the same group or another, it had never mattered. They had all been nameless groups, little gypsy bands that didn't mean anything.
_____“I couldn't tell you what they have even if I had to,” he remarked, not sure if he was ultimately happy with not knowing what it was. “But we've got a few people who are looking after them. Two of ‘em have been staying with us and the other is from Inferni. She's related to them or something like that,” he went on, pulling the wagon off of the curb with a noisy rattle and clunk. Even at that, Ember seemed to be full of questions, but he imagined that was just how he had been when he had been her age. One question after another, never giving much pause to the speed at which they were asked or answered.
_____“I also couldn't tell you where I'm going, I'm just wandering around. Picking up things that interest me. And I don't know if you'd like what I'm drinking either,” this he said with a cracked smile, “but you can try it if you want.” So he held out the bottle he had to her, letting the very last of the liquid slosh around around its dark interior. He didn't plan on really telling her what it was, half expecting her to know and half expecting that she'd take a drink of it and promptly hack it back up. He had long gotten over the taste; he was only interested in what it did for him and the warmth it sent rolling down his gullet.