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saveourearth2018-08-04 06:15 pm
warped_replica) wrote in saveourearth2018-08-04 06:15 pm
Life Lessons [Log] [Semi-Open]
Date: August 1st through the 4th
Characters: Benjiro and Sadie; possibly others? (Seriously, he needs lots of voices telling him BAD BEN)
Warnings: Mention of blood and loss of a tooth
When Benjiro had left the house belonging to his great aunts on Wednesday early in the morning to make an urgent repair for a neighbor, he had expected his great aunts to be there when he returned. Agatha and Rosemary were due to leave tomorrow for a last-minute trip to London that would last until next Friday. They needed to assist some more distant friends with some matters, and had decided to make a proper vacation of the trip. Agatha had made certain Benjiro would be comfortable alone, and for himself, the teenager thought it a lucky chance to really put in some time for his livestream.
However, when Benjiro returned in the late afternoon, he walked up to the front door to find it locked. Odd in itself, as his great aunts rarely locked the door if they were expecting him, he could not hear any music or television playing. Rosemary loves her music when the two aren't settled in to watch old movies or any number of programs on the telly. Pulling his cellphone out of his bag, he dials the home phone first. It rings, both through the speaker of his phone and inside the house, without answer until the voicemail picks up. He hangs up, and tries Rosemary's cellphone. He hears the ringing through the speaker, but it too ends up going to voicemail. Holding the phone down from his ear a second time to check the signal from his end, he is surprised as the dim rings of the speaker are accompanied by the faint yet familiar ringtone from inside the house.
Aunt Rosemary had left her cellphone behind.
Perplexed and concerned, he moved around the sides of the house to check in through the windows. When he reaches the back, he looks into the kitchen. Nothing is active, and although he cannot see clearly enough to make it out, he spots a handwritten note on the fridge.
A sinking feeling makes him wonder if his aunts had gotten off in their days. Being recently retired, they had difficulty keeping track of the day of the week, especially with Benjiro now on summer break from his schooling. Of course, something could have come up to make them rush out sooner to head faster for London.
Rather than waiting around, he methodically moves around the perimeter of the house. Checking the door in the back first, he then checks the windows of the first floor. All of them are locked. Returning to the backyard, he sits down on the patio furniture and drops his bag beside him to consider his options. He could damage a window to gain entry and replace it, but he didn't want to cause any harm to the home or startle the neighbors into calling the police on him. He could contact a locksmith, but he has no proof of his residence here without his aunts to vouch for him as the home owners. He could call Walter, Russell, or even Sadie and...
His thoughts stop, freezing over with a wary discomfort. He shouldn't rely on anyone else. That's what his parents had told him before they sent him to live here in Mossgate. He has to be independent if he's going to make any difference at all. When faced with a problem, he's smart enough he shouldn't need any help to get through it, and he needs to accept that he's not a child anymore. If he can't - then maybe he's not so smart after all.
Benjiro shifts his focus to how he might be able to manage. He has access to the backyard, his phone, and the things in his backpack that he always keeps on hand - including his phone charger. He rifles through his bag to discover the leftover change from when he had been out shopping on Monday to pick up parts for building on his latest project. It wasn't much cash, and certainly not enough to buy more than meager items. With the storage shed locked and the backyard garden limited to floral arrangement and trees, he doesn't have much more than what's on him.
With the heat of the day, he needs to go somewhere with air conditioning and access to water, so without hesitation, he heads for the library. While there he sets a plan; he can buy a bar of soap, use it to keep clean in the backyard at night with the garden hose and even make use of the clothes line as necessary without fully removing his clothes behind the privacy fence, sleep on the patio, and return to the library during the day. He has plenty of research he can do to keep himself busy, and with his notebook on him, he has a place to record any pertinent findings. The library would keep him cool and provide access to as much water as he wants, as well as regular access to a restroom. Food...was another matter. Rather than spend in small sums that would get him very little daily, he could save up to buy a single larger item on special if he timed stops at the deli or other local stores correctly. It wouldn't be pleasant, but he would limit his physical activity to decrease his need for calories.
Logically, it was a sound plan.
By Saturday afternoon however, Benjiro has learned first hand how much going hungry can make it difficult to function and want to do anything aside from sleep. So when he got a discounted sandwich on manager's special only to have the precious meal knocked out of his hands while standing at a cross walk by a hurrying passerby on a cellphone, he's horrified by the sight of the sandwich disappearing under the tire of a car. Moreover, he's stunned as that hollow feeling washes through him and his heart pounds harshly.
Are you genetic mishaps fighting again?! an angry voice yells from his memory as part of a startling recollection.
Dazed by the memory, he returns to the library quietly. Sitting in the corner of the library with a book opened but not bothering to turn the pages, he dredges up as much detail as he can from the new memory. Distracted from the effort by a dull ache in his jaw growing to a mild throbbing on the left side toward the front, he puts the book up and moves off to an open computer.
Logging into his accounts, he'll spend the next hour doing something familiar that might ground him and help his hands stop from trembling. He answers another round of comments and questions left to his accounts, then posts a notice. UVPulse will not be actively streaming any content tonight, and will not return himself until after next weekend. Instead, he's already selected friends to host to highlight their skills and humor.
Characters: Benjiro and Sadie; possibly others? (Seriously, he needs lots of voices telling him BAD BEN)
Warnings: Mention of blood and loss of a tooth
When Benjiro had left the house belonging to his great aunts on Wednesday early in the morning to make an urgent repair for a neighbor, he had expected his great aunts to be there when he returned. Agatha and Rosemary were due to leave tomorrow for a last-minute trip to London that would last until next Friday. They needed to assist some more distant friends with some matters, and had decided to make a proper vacation of the trip. Agatha had made certain Benjiro would be comfortable alone, and for himself, the teenager thought it a lucky chance to really put in some time for his livestream.
However, when Benjiro returned in the late afternoon, he walked up to the front door to find it locked. Odd in itself, as his great aunts rarely locked the door if they were expecting him, he could not hear any music or television playing. Rosemary loves her music when the two aren't settled in to watch old movies or any number of programs on the telly. Pulling his cellphone out of his bag, he dials the home phone first. It rings, both through the speaker of his phone and inside the house, without answer until the voicemail picks up. He hangs up, and tries Rosemary's cellphone. He hears the ringing through the speaker, but it too ends up going to voicemail. Holding the phone down from his ear a second time to check the signal from his end, he is surprised as the dim rings of the speaker are accompanied by the faint yet familiar ringtone from inside the house.
Aunt Rosemary had left her cellphone behind.
Perplexed and concerned, he moved around the sides of the house to check in through the windows. When he reaches the back, he looks into the kitchen. Nothing is active, and although he cannot see clearly enough to make it out, he spots a handwritten note on the fridge.
A sinking feeling makes him wonder if his aunts had gotten off in their days. Being recently retired, they had difficulty keeping track of the day of the week, especially with Benjiro now on summer break from his schooling. Of course, something could have come up to make them rush out sooner to head faster for London.
Rather than waiting around, he methodically moves around the perimeter of the house. Checking the door in the back first, he then checks the windows of the first floor. All of them are locked. Returning to the backyard, he sits down on the patio furniture and drops his bag beside him to consider his options. He could damage a window to gain entry and replace it, but he didn't want to cause any harm to the home or startle the neighbors into calling the police on him. He could contact a locksmith, but he has no proof of his residence here without his aunts to vouch for him as the home owners. He could call Walter, Russell, or even Sadie and...
His thoughts stop, freezing over with a wary discomfort. He shouldn't rely on anyone else. That's what his parents had told him before they sent him to live here in Mossgate. He has to be independent if he's going to make any difference at all. When faced with a problem, he's smart enough he shouldn't need any help to get through it, and he needs to accept that he's not a child anymore. If he can't - then maybe he's not so smart after all.
Benjiro shifts his focus to how he might be able to manage. He has access to the backyard, his phone, and the things in his backpack that he always keeps on hand - including his phone charger. He rifles through his bag to discover the leftover change from when he had been out shopping on Monday to pick up parts for building on his latest project. It wasn't much cash, and certainly not enough to buy more than meager items. With the storage shed locked and the backyard garden limited to floral arrangement and trees, he doesn't have much more than what's on him.
With the heat of the day, he needs to go somewhere with air conditioning and access to water, so without hesitation, he heads for the library. While there he sets a plan; he can buy a bar of soap, use it to keep clean in the backyard at night with the garden hose and even make use of the clothes line as necessary without fully removing his clothes behind the privacy fence, sleep on the patio, and return to the library during the day. He has plenty of research he can do to keep himself busy, and with his notebook on him, he has a place to record any pertinent findings. The library would keep him cool and provide access to as much water as he wants, as well as regular access to a restroom. Food...was another matter. Rather than spend in small sums that would get him very little daily, he could save up to buy a single larger item on special if he timed stops at the deli or other local stores correctly. It wouldn't be pleasant, but he would limit his physical activity to decrease his need for calories.
Logically, it was a sound plan.
By Saturday afternoon however, Benjiro has learned first hand how much going hungry can make it difficult to function and want to do anything aside from sleep. So when he got a discounted sandwich on manager's special only to have the precious meal knocked out of his hands while standing at a cross walk by a hurrying passerby on a cellphone, he's horrified by the sight of the sandwich disappearing under the tire of a car. Moreover, he's stunned as that hollow feeling washes through him and his heart pounds harshly.
Are you genetic mishaps fighting again?! an angry voice yells from his memory as part of a startling recollection.
Dazed by the memory, he returns to the library quietly. Sitting in the corner of the library with a book opened but not bothering to turn the pages, he dredges up as much detail as he can from the new memory. Distracted from the effort by a dull ache in his jaw growing to a mild throbbing on the left side toward the front, he puts the book up and moves off to an open computer.
Logging into his accounts, he'll spend the next hour doing something familiar that might ground him and help his hands stop from trembling. He answers another round of comments and questions left to his accounts, then posts a notice. UVPulse will not be actively streaming any content tonight, and will not return himself until after next weekend. Instead, he's already selected friends to host to highlight their skills and humor.
no subject
Can’t ask a neighbor to vouch for me without risking gossip.
He has considered many possible ways to enter, none of which come without some risk. He certainly won’t take any risks with the reputation of his great aunts.
no subject
Or you can stay at our place.
Walter will insist that this is NOT a problem... though he'll need to let Russell know in advance.
Is there any other way to contact your aunts?
no subject
No need. They won’t be out of town too much longer, and it’s covered.
They are staying with friends, but I don’t know their names.
no subject
It sounds like you'd still be waiting a whole week, and that's more than anyone should have to be locked out of their own house!
Is there anyone else around here you're comfortable staying with?
no subject
There is a much more significant delay this time, but when next he answers properly, it might help assuage some worry.
Sadie is taking me to her house.
no subject
Good.
He fights down the thought to reference any idea of a chaperone, because this is not the time.
As long as you do have a place to stay.
no subject
Sadie informed her mother, so it’s decided.
I’m sorry if I caused you any worry.
no subject
Instead, he types:
What matters is that something gets done about this, and that you're cared for and safe while your aunts are away.
no subject
I will be.
no subject
See you later, then?
No, it wouldn't be to yell at him
more. Just something low-pressure.Let him know he matters for being him.
And not for doing stupid stuff.
no subject
Yeah.
I can send you a text later to check in.
no subject
Then, a second later (so that it perhaps doesn't look an afterthought):
Take care, Ben, okay?
And off to the IC inbox...
After a little while, Benjiro would shoot a following text to confirm he had made it to Sadie's house after getting somewhat settled before dinner. However, he has much more to say the next day.