high_seas | Sitting on the edge of the fountain...

Entry tags:

Sitting on the edge of the fountain...

Who: Clementine...join her!
Where: She is sitting on the edge of the fountain.
When: The afternoon of October 6th
What: Clementine has arrived.
Warnings: Possible talk of death/zombies/blood...
Style: Going with the flow
Status: Open . Very open.

Clementine was sitting on the edge of the fountain, her journal resting on her lap. She'd woken up in this strange place near a fountain not too long ago and since then, she has been sitting on the edge, reading the journal with fascination. Well as much as she could read. Some people used bigger, more complex words than she knew, like the welcome page. She couldn't read where she was, but she was pretty sure it didn't say Georgia.

She was, in a word, filthy. Her dress was covered from head to toe in what looked like caked, dried blood. She smelled like someone who was a lot less than alive. Thrown on top of it was a red hoodie, one that had seen better days and had quite a few bloodstains itself, just not as bad as the others.

She had currency in one pocket and her gun in the other. She looked out at the people, watching them. They hadn't been friendly, not at all, but they still moved like they were alive. Where was she? What would Lee do in her situation?

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"I heard, lots of people have ships." She grinned.

Clementine looked at the table thoughtfully. "I don't know. I don't know how to find a boat. It might be hard."

"We can go into town tomorrow. Get you all cleaned up tomorrow, get some sleep tonight, then talk to people tomorrow."

He sighed a little. There was nothing to do but look put for her for at least a bit longer.

"I'm waiting for someone who's supposed to be coming soon. Until she gets here and we need to leave, I can help you look for someone to go with."

"Okay. Thank you Kyo!" She smiled. It was nice of him to offer anyway. Clementine didn't know how hard it was going to be to find a boat to sail on.

"It's fine. I have the free time." Because he wasn't doing this out of concern. No. He just... couldn't have her wandering around alone, after all.

Not that any ship would be safe, but he could at least try and minimize the danger she was in anywhere. Because, well. She was a little kid.

The motives behind that kind of comment are completely lost on Clementine. She's too young to understand how Kyouya's mind works.

She just seems pleased with it and she works on finishing her soup. She eats almost all of it before pushing her bowl away with regret.

Kyouya eats his fill, too -- finishing off what's in his bowl. Once he's out to sea, it may be awhile before he's actually able to eat a full meal again. Cooks at sea... Well. He doesn't have full faith in them.

Setting money on the table, he stands and offers her a few coins. "Take these over to that lady behind the bar. Tell her you need a bath drawn and some soap. I'll find you something to wear, okay?"

"Okay, I will. Thank you Kyo!" Clementine said cheerfully as she got up. Her stomach was pleasantly full and she had a warm bath ahead of her.

Kyouya took his time shopping. He didn't have much left in his funds, not really. Not after contributing to buy what became Shepherd or putting his share in to purchase those initial supplies. Still, he managed a suitable (if very simple) dress.

After asking the woman he'd sent Clementine to, he made his way to the second floor of the inn, where she'd indicated the bathtub given to the girl was. He knocked on it.

"Clementine? May I open the door for a moment? I have a new dress for you."

Clementine had been given the same as everyone else, and if he asked her, she could pay for the clothes herself.

She looked up from the tub, where she'd been enjoying her warm bath and turned towards the door. "Okay, you can come in if you want."

Her old clothes was piled up on the counter, with her hat, her journal and her gun on top of them.

But he wouldn't ask her to do that. After all, there was no way of knowing if she'd been given anything or how much, and... Discussing financial matters was impolite.

He entered the room, approaching the stained clothes. Those, he'd get rid of later. "It's nothing too fancy, but I found this for you."

As he's speaking, though, he sees not the journal... but the gun. That puts a whole new spin on the clothes she was wearing. What had this girl seen before now? Who would give a child a gun?

"It's clean. I like it." Clementine nodded her approval. Now that her baseball cap was off her head, it was evident her hair had been hacked away rather unprofessionally at some point. She hadn't washed it yet, she was waiting for the water to cool before putting it on her head.

He'd leave her to her bath in a moment. But seeing that gun... he couldn't help but wonder. Still. He should let her clean up before bombarding her with questions.

"My room's three doors to the right, okay? Once you're done and dressed, come knock and we'll see about getting you a room, too."

"Okay." Clementine nodded. She paused a moment before deciding to ask him what she was thinking. "I can't stay with you?"

For just a moment, Kyouya's face betrays the surprise the question causes. He hadn't really considered that. But, as soon as he says it, he can hear himself in it. Asking his older sister if he could crawl into bed with her after a nightmare.

This wasn't the place to want to sleep alone. Especially not for a kid, he considered.

He smiled and gave a nod. "Sure. If you want to, you can."

It wasn't that, not exactly. It was just that when Lee spirited her away from her house in Atlanta, he hadn't let her out of his sight afterwards. Clementine was feeling a little lonely, and she missed Lee a lot. Whether or not she made the right choices were weighing on her in a small way.

Clementine nodded though in return. "Okay. I'll come soon."

Kyouya offered a slight smile and left the room, closing the door behind him. It was just a night or two. Until he found her a crew to take care of her. He couldn't just leave a kid here to fend for herself, now could he?

...That maybe -- just maybe -- he missed looking after someone wasn't a thought he was willing to indulge.

Clementine took a little while longer, until the bath water got cold and she was sufficiently pruned. She pulled the dress over her head and tied her hair back just like Lee taught her. She put on the baseball cap and then picked up her belongings before padding down the hall to knock on the third door on the right, just like Kyo said.

"Come on in." Of course, even as he said it, Kyouya opened the door. He smiled a little as he got a look at her. Much better all cleaned up. What he'd seen of her hair was... unfortunate... but he had no skills there. But the dress. "I'm glad it fits. It looks cute."

"Thank you!" Clementine said again, because it was polite and she felt so much better now that she was clean again. She liked being clean much better than being dirty.

"It's nice." She nodded. It was a nice pale shade of green, which was a step up than the white her other dress had been, which had been impractical at best.

Kyouya shut the door, going to sit on the bed. In the month he'd been here, he'd abandoned much thought of changing for bed. What he wore in the day was good enough to sleep in.

"How old are you, Clementine?"

She set her things down on an open surface, figuring he wouldn't mind too much. She kept her clothes separate from her other items and turned to face him again.

"I'm nine. I just had my birthday."

Nine. A nine-year-old girl. Kyouya swallowed a little and nodded toward her things.

"You know how to use a gun?"

"Oh, yep!" She grinned. "Lee taught me how to use it."

Her smile faded though and she looked at the floor at the mention of that. "He said I'm real good at it."

A sensitive topic, but... one he needed to satisfy himself on. So, Kyouya patted the bed near him in silent invitation for her to sit with him.

"Who's Lee?"

Clementine crossed the distance between them and sat down on the bed. She was distracted momentarily by how soft the bed was underneath her. It was really awesome.

She poked at the comforter a few times, maybe avoiding the topic just a little bit.

"Lee is...Lee was..." Clementine wasn't sure how to say it. What was he really? "My friend."

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