saveourearth | Happy Easter! [Mingle]

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Happy Easter! [Mingle]

Date: Easter Sunday, aka the 21. of April
Characters: Open

Easter Sunday starts perfectly normal, and promises to stay so - a welcome relief from all the weirdness of the last few months.

Well.

Unless you own chicken or bunnies.

Because as it so happens, if you own one, you will now find yourself with an equal amount of the other. Children who keep a bunny wake up to a chicken having replaced it inside the cage, picking around with some confusion (not that it is hard to confuse chicken). Farmers who keep chicken will find a bunch of bunnies of varying sizes in the coops.

And out and about, wherever normally bunnies would be destroying lawns and more by burrowing into it, there are young chicks milling around, for the most part very surprised by encountering sun and lawn and fields.

[[ooc note: For those with fine noses who keep track: The scent found on bunnies and chicken doesn't belong to Mr Helpful or Mr Evil.]]

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[Noticing how Russell is looking between the spread of crates and the pen, Benjiro shakes his head and adds another detail to the plan to put the concern to rest.]

No need. We can take some crates inside with us, then take a short break to carry the full crates out and get a new set. That will give us a chance to let them calm down and swap to the second pen. Although it would help to coordinate with someone opening and closing the crates inside the pen.

[Benjiro bends down to collect a stack of two crates then stands up with the bottom box held in against the side of his abdomen.]

Ready to go in?

[That's a lot simpler, and no mistake. Especially since, if they're fortunate, they can put some food in the crates, and curious rabbits will hop in of their own accord.]

We'll take turns lifting or handling the doors, then.

[Such as, right this instant: Russell moves to the gate of the pen, preparing to open it once Benjiro gets there.]

Gladly.

[The hay and grass should be enticing if the rabbits are hungry.

Chuck picks up a third crate, and with both Benjiro and Chuck at the gate of the pen, both move into the space as soon as Russell opens the path. The rabbits immediately scatter away to the edges of the enclosure or try to join the others under or even inside the coop. Carefully, the crates are placed down, and Benjiro sets one of his closer to a corner with the top propped open laying on its side.

Chuck readies the other two crates, leaving it to Russell and Benjiro to try to catch the first rabbits.]

Try to get similar ones in the same crates if you can. Otherwise we can swap them later.

[Russell closes the way once everyone's gotten in, the better to ensure the skittish rabbits don't make a break for the larger freedom outside.]

Right. Those gingers, then, they look related.

[Hoping to bribe his way out of lunging and skidding across the ground too many times for his terribly elderly late-20s frame, Russell rests a couple of scavenged vegetables in one of the crates, along with the hay and grass, and pockets one of the carrots just in case. Then, leaving the bulk of them as bait to hopefully lure the rabbits over, he steps away to the edge of the enclosure before circling around in an attempt to grab one.

The rabbits keep scattering away from the humans, but one or two creep toward the food-filled crate, noses twitching curiously.]

[Careful to keep his distance from the open, alluring crate, Benjiro crosses to the far side of the pen. He turns his attention towards the corner opposite the open crate and studies the rabbits collected there. He compares them carefully for their features, trying to identify some that would match well in the way Russell picked out the ginger colored ones. Nearly immediately, he picks out some with longer fur. Whether he can get to them is the question.

He approaches with a slower pace and steps that fall nearly silent in a stride. Rather than rushing, he watches their body language and stops whenever one starts preparing to run. Once nearly in reach, he squats down low to pause. A couple rabbits start to move away, and he reaches towards one with the longer fur. It puts its head down to the ground and freezes, and he gingerly scoops it up under its back feet with fingers hooking around and under the chest between the forelegs. Lifted up, he brings it in paws to his chest. It is scared, so he moves smoothly to take it to a crate. Chuck opens it and in the first rabbit goes.

That one may be used to handling. It was too easy.]

If the ginger ones are hard to get, the ones with long fur might come easier. I don’t think they’re wild.

Edited 2019-06-16 21:56 (UTC)

[Russell starts out with a slow motion, following one of the rabbits in more of a pursuit predator way than anything. It sniffs and shuffles away from him, he continues forward, and they go on a merry little slow chase around the enclosure... Until one time, when the rabbit's nearly cornered, and Russell moves faster to grab at it.

Everything goes a little static with emptiness, and a pulse pounds through him. Russell freezes, the rabbit leaping from his grasp, and he shifts to kneel in the grass while a dizzy sensation passes by. It's only seconds until Bejiro starts speaking, and he shakes his head and tries to listen.]

Uh. What? The... long haired ones?

[That his cousin is kneeling out of reach of any rabbits is the first sign something is off, and when Russell responds with such dullness as to merely repeat words, worry edges into his thoughts. Leaving the rabbits be, he walks over to drop to one knee beside his cousin and puts a hand on his shoulder. He recognizes the state.]

Russell? [He carefully lowers his voice to limit what Chuck may overhear.] Are you alright?

[Coming back to the present moment, he's very aware of Chuck over there - and the possibility of the farmer coming over concerned, thinking that Russell's come over ill with the heat and exertion. So Russell forces a laugh, nodding and briefly patting Benjiro's hand.]

Oh, yeah, that one just slipped away from me! I'll get it next time. Maybe we should flank them.

[He shifts to slowly climb back to his feet.] Of all the things to set it off... It's nothing bad, I've just done this sort of thing before after all.

[The pat at his hand and false laugh are enough of a cue to him, and he takes his hand from Russell’s shoulder to stand up with his posture consciously at ease.]

That’d probably be more efficient.

[Benjiro remains beside him as Russell rises to his feet, and he tilts his head as his cousin describes the basic content of the Echo.] You remember gathering up rabbits before?

Just the one, I think...? More than once.

[It's a blur of overlapping memories, more like the tunnel walk than the tea party. Along a snowy, tree-filled path, houses all around, and chasing after a small rabbit he was convinced was a child person rather than just an animal.

In the moment, Russell pats himself off, wiping off the worst of the dirt, and pauses - hand to his pocket.] And something I didn't have before.

[Superficially, it sounds rather mundane compared to other things his cousin has described, but details can be shared later when they do not have company. If nothing else, a rabbit straying into underground tunnels seems logical.

Benjiro looks over his cousin one more time as he starts to dust off, then readies to step away as he notices the baited crate luring in one rabbit...only to stall at the mention of a find. Curiosity keeps him from moving away.]

What is it?

[Turning so Chuck is on his far side and unable to see, Russell sticks his hand in his pocket and pulls out a sweet on a stick. It's an adorable design, where the (plainly) edible part is shaped like a cutesy rabbit's head.

The similarity of the shape doesn't leave much question that yes, this came along with the echo, but nothing about his new memory explains its presence. Russell stares at it, baffled.]

A lolly...?

[Benjiro watches his cousin retrieve the candy from his pocket and stares at the confection. It seems so superficial that the shape alone should pull it through from wherever it once belonged, yet he has no other information that could relate it to their current activities.]

That’s...unexpected.

[The teenager flinches when Chuck calls over to ask if everything is okay, and Benjiro hurriedly answers.]

Sorry, yes!

[An apologetic look given to Russell, it seems more discussion would have to wait. Benjiro moves over towards the luring crate with slow easy steps to drop the top down and catch a single rabbit inside. He gently and slowly turns the crate upright, then carries the crate to set with Chuck.

From there, one by one, the group works to gather all the rabbits away from the coops in both pens and then under the coops, gradually filling the crates Chuck has to transport them. All that remains is to clear any rabbits from inside the coops. The farmer excuses himself to retrieve a little more hay from the barn, leaving the cousins alone to rest a moment.]

[Russell watches Chuck's departure long enough to be sure the farmer is leaving for a few, then droops into the shadow of a coop. He sits down next to it, risking bird poop and all, to rest his head back against it. Gently, for the drama of it, he bangs his head against the siding a few times.]

I cannot believe some of the things that set this off.

[Chasing rabbits. Why does he remember chasing a rabbit? Why does he have candy because of it?]

It's nothing on anything you've told me about. It feels like remembering... babysitting, or something, rather than petsitting. And doing it a lot.

[Benjiro lingers on his feet as his cousin slides to sit and knocks his head against the coop. Concerned with a small frown, he walks over to squat down beside him with forearms on his knees to talk.]

It's really not a contest... Getting anything from our Numbers is stressful. [If not outright horrifying, then confusing at the very least. Even the Echoes that brought useful talents and gifts tended to be tiring.]

Maybe it was babysitting. You mentioned a lady with blue skin and sharp teeth before. So maybe there was someone else with rabbit ears. [The same way Sadie has ears like a cat.]

I don't think it was a kid with rabbit ears. [Wryly, because Sadie comes to his mind too... and based on the pattern so far, that's a whole other thing - else the sight of her ears might have set something off.]

But... it might have been a kid who was a rabbit. [If he's considering the possibility of his memory person having been a skeleton who was a person, why not a sentient rabbit.]

[He sighs, rubs at a temple, and glances toward Benjiro with half-closed eyes as if pretending he's asleep.]

It's still... not right, how some of these are hardly inconveniences, and others are... deeply upsetting. [He means Benjiro, but not just Benjiro - Walter's had his share of nightmares, Sadie and Stone and plenty of others have mentioned dark things. It's enough for Russell to wonder and worry what's in store for him.]

Could be.

[Along those lines, why not a rabbit if a turtle?

Benjiro shuffles over closer to the coop to lean as well, not quite coming down to sit but at least making use of the vertical surface with his back coming in contact. He looks up and out through the fence of the pen towards some drifting clouds. The night he rushed to Sadie’s side at Russell and Walter’s shared flat immediately comes to mind.]

...it really isn’t right. Our lives are being mixed up with others, and one life can be unfair enough.

[Russell coughs a laugh.]

Yeah, right? We should at least have the time to deal with two lives.

[Walter's increased reflexes and mental processing might give him approximately that much, but he's alone in that, so over all it isn't necessarily any better. Mary's family is surprisingly full of people who know and look out for each other, Benjiro and Sadie are supporting each other...]

Have you been taking more trips out?

[A partial laugh is still a step in the right direction.]

At least it's coming in bits and pieces rather than running simultaneously.

[Russell has earned a lot of respect from his distant cousin in the last year. Benjiro is here for him.]

Mmhmm. It was rough to start, but maintenance is much easier with smaller updates and allowing ourselves to enjoy the time away for a day.

You know, you'd be welcome to come with us some time.

[If it helps reassure, Benjiro might notice that the half-laugh isn't strained so much as also half grumbling sigh. Now that Russell is relaxing, it's mostly embarrassment that has him off-kilter.]

As long as I wouldn't be a third wheel...

[His teeth flash in a brief teasing grin, but he doesn't stop talking long enough to invite defensive comments. Instead his tone shifts more thoughtful and practical.]

How are you finding it? Is it less disorienting, since you go more often...? And how are you heading out without, uh, drawing notice?

[Benjiro's size seems as challenging to disguise as his own physical change, and driving himself out is just not an option with the disorientation - he nearly crashed the one time he attempted a solo trip.]

[Ready to deny the idea that Russell would be impeding in any way, Benjiro only manages to shake his head as he feels his cheeks grow uncomfortably warm before the conversation continues. Asked for more detail, the teenager quiets to consider how to phrase it briefly.]

It is less disorienting with the repetition... That said, I feel like even with the frequency the gaps in my memory have gotten a little wider. Small things come through, details of an incomplete picture, but some moments of time are completely gone. I take a lot more photos with my phone these days, and being able to look through those helps fill in the missing parts enough that I can construct a basic idea of what has been happening in those blanks. It is comforting to have that.

As for how to get out without catching attention, Sadie and I always travel when the fewest people will be boarding, and look for empty cars on the train to get across the border or at least a space where no one can watch us. I bring a change of clothes with me and change as soon as we revert, and she makes small adjustments like her hat off and a jacket on or off. Sometimes we swap positions on the train immediately to make certain we don't stay associated with the seating if we can't be totally alone in a car.

It works for now, and I have some other ideas for when it becomes less easy to avoid attention.

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Happy Easter! [Mingle]

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icon is not the right expression, but i can't not use it

Sorry for letting this one sit so long; but I agree that icon was necessary

two weeks is nothing compared to my crimes. i'm gonna shorten my tag lengths, see if that helps

Good strategy

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