West Main Street

        Tall structures of glass and steel continue to stretch up into the
sky, casting the street below in a perpetual shadow and appearing from
street level like some great manmade canyon. Main Street works northward
toward the harbor that gives the city its name, leaving the center of the
city to the southeast as it turns east. Some of the finest shopping can be
found along this one stretch of Beacon Harbor street, world famous
designers maintain boutiques here and a semi-annual fashion extravaganza
draws the attention of the fashion world to this city twice a year.
Jewelers, dealers in antiques and other products targeted at the wealthy
and class consciousness are sold from these many fine stores. Sidewalk
cafes and other trendy places that cater to the shopping crowd are also
located strategically among the huge structures that line both sides of
the street.



The rain slips down out of Beacon Harbor's sky, chilly and intermittant,
sometimes letting way for dry sidewalks or even peeks of blue clouds as
the sun fights to burn through. It's your typical early evening along the
street, at that winter moment before the sun comes down. It's moderately
busy, but since it's January, the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season
has passed. Windows proclaim sales, but not many people are shopping. A
hot dog vendor is parked on the sidewalk, but it's not sure whether he's
allowed to be there. It seems like an odd spot, and the wrong time of
year.

"No, Gracie, you /can't/ have a hotdog," comes the soft, sweet reproach.
"We gotta get home to Daddy," she says, grinning. In one hand is a
shopping bag--at least one person's taking advantage of the sales--and in
the other is a leash. Wearing a heavy winter coat, the dark-eyed woman
trundles along the damp sidewalk, little black terrier in tow, straining
and whimpering and lusting madly after the hotdog stand. Just one!
Pleeeeeeeease just one! Please! Daddy lets me! Yipping, and doggish
protestations can be heard, and Sera's progress is slow, and not a little
comical.

Even evil shapeshifters have to shop occasionally. And visit contacts. And
if you can do both at once? All the better, *especially* when you throw in
the sale aspect. With a small box tucked under one arm, Raven is looking
fairly relaxed and more thawed than the weather as she moves out to the
street, free hand tugging the collar of her coat up. The progress of a
pregnant lady past her even sparks some amusement, though the dog that
snaps just a little too close to her ankles for her liking gets a frown.
Don't tempt me, you are furry and almost the right size for a football.
You think you're comical *now*? The thought does, in fact, bring a smile
to Raven's face.

Two women emerge from a cafe not far away, one holding the door open for
the other. "... no, no, it wasn't /our/ idea," Kitty's explaining amusedly
to Seishi as she keeps a shoulder on the glass till the other woman, and
the mother with two kids behind them, are clear. "The first we knew about
it was getting home from the reception and hearing this little mewing
noise. From the couch. /Inside/ the couch. For a couple minutes we were
making bets on spontaneous generation, but no, just Romany's idea of a
present having gotten out of its box and gone exploring and gotten stuck.
So now we have to figure out what to /do/ with it."

The grand glass doors of one particularly elegant office building swing
open. From them, flung by two bulky security guards, comes something
decidedly less elegant. The trenchcoated man hits the sidewalk with a wet
thud. The doors yank shut behind him. Rolling over and propping himself up
to a sitting position, he yells, "Yeah, good luck to you, squire OW!" That
last was a passerby casually stepping on his hand. Glaring at the world in
general, Constantine pulls himself to his feet.

Seishi is laughing as she steps out into the rain, tugging on the hem of
her shiny dark-purple raincoat as though she can somehow make it longer.
"Awwww," she says over her shoulder to Kitty. "But how's... um... your
other pet taking it?" Seishi can just imagine Lockheed vs Kitten. And it's
not pretty. The shout from down the sidewalk distracts her, and she
pauses, looking that way. Then makes a wry face. "Oh. John."

Caffeine. Caffeine GOOD. Double-mocha raspberry lattes with whipped creme
and sprinkles? Just /this/ side of heaven. SUGAR. Oh, and did she mention
the whipped cream? Not that it could fail to be noticed, piled high as it
is on that mug, drooping over the sides as fast as she tries to lick it
up. And not that the girl in question -needs- any more sugar. Just look at
her, bouncing her way down the sidewalk, not appearing to notice the cold
as she swerves to miss people walking by. Wait a minute. Stop. HOLD IT!
What's that yap.... "GRACIE!" Ria calls out, swerving to head towards
Gracie and her rather overburdened mistress. Dropping to one knee in front
of the yapping dog, she holds out her latte. "Want some?" Oh yeah, just
what that do needs. Caffeine and sugar.

The casual scene is soon to be interrupted by a light that should be
familiar by now to folks in Beacon Harbor. The glowing light, pulsating
near the ice rink. About a storey into the air, no less. And tumbling
through the air is another trenchcoat, falling like a sack of potatoes
against a pile of garbage, glass breaking and other things compressing
under his weight. If this was a cartoon, there'd be little birdies
twittering above his head. Instead, there's just a loud moan. Yes, the
Beacon Harbor Express has arrived. Hot dog vendor peeks his head up from
selling one to an over-anxious young man who had counted his quarters
precisely. There's a break in the rain with bits of sun breaking through.
A few heads turn on the street, towards the shuffling pile of garbage
outfront of the ice rink.

Gracie sits down in the snow, digging in her paws and scrabbling along the
cement, yelping. One. Hotdog! Now! Sera pauses, eyeing the puppy, the
hotdog stand, and the woman who's just passed them. "You *do* realize that
you're already as spoiled as Katie will be?" she wonders, rummaging in her
coat pocket. Where's my wallet. "I can't believe I'm going to by you a
hotdog, you whiny little dog. I'm tellin Daddy on y--" Sera taunts, but is
interrupted. That voice. She turns, eyes seeking out the source of the
shout. "John?" she says, not loud enough for the Englishman to hear, just
mostly to herself. So when Ria offers the puppy some latte, Sera looks
completely baffled and says, "Uh?" Oh, Eloquence. And then that flash, and
that tang of ozone... and Sera turns /again/, just in time to be startled
by the falling person, less than half a block away. Owch.

Raven is distracted from thoughts of dog-punting by a shout down the
street, and gives a soft, derisive snort. Really. The arrival of Ria gets
a kinder look, but only by comparison, and in this form, no overt
acknowledgement. Of course, all this is moot due to the shiny distraction
of the portal, and she's moving towards it almost before the body has
landed. Steps hush over the pavement, and she keeps close to the wall,
grey eyes fixed curiously on the new arrival. Always good to snag them at
the source if she can, but she won't approach all the way. Just near
enough to see what's what, hopefully without getting singed in the
process.

"Oh, just fine so far," Kitty assures Seishi. "Then again, that's because
- well - you know how nobody saw him at the reception? ... Rabbi Cohen
found him under one of the tables. He weighed in at twelve and a half
pounds. We figure he /might/ be awake enough to start protesting sometime
Sunday." She follows Seishi's glance down the street, more amused than
anything else, which means she's looking at Constantine - and past him,
therefore, at the pretty blue light. The preemptive wince is more
sympathetic than anything else; she came in above ground level, too, after
all. At least this one's not in the roadway. Or the harbor. Again. "Oh,
man. We've /got/ to start writing up those leaflets."

Constantine presses himself up against a builder, in a little bit of
shelter from the rain, and takes out his cigarettes and lighter. He's in
the process of lighting a cigarette when the blue flash interrupts him.
Peering around at the poor garbage-covered newcomer, he observes, "Ouch."
He hasn't noticed Seravina yet.

Seishi winces in unison with Kitty, turning - like a good many of the
other people around - in the direction of the crashing arrival with a very
distinct grimace. "No kidding," she agrees wryly, then glances over to
Kitty and jerks her head toward the Infinity Effect's latest victim.
"C'mon, let's go play welcome wagon." She doesn't wait for an answer,
already heading off across the pavement.

"C'mon puppy, the whipped cream is SOOOO yummy," Ria coaxes. She hasn't
even noticed the leash yet, or the woman attached to the leash. Leaning
forward, she sets the cup down on the ground and then looks up. Ohhh!
Sparkly! Waitaminnit, I know -that- light..uhoh... And she's wincing in
sympathy, getting up, and stepping over the leash to head towards the
shambling, garbage covered arrival. Poor guy is gonna be surrounded by
Beacon Harbor's finest. WHAT a reception.

Remy is dazed, bewildered and /ow/, what is that thing digging into his
lower back? A shift and a moan, and whatever piece of garbage that was
digging into him is moved away. The tumble mussed up his neatly held-back
hair, which means it's all over the place, and getting little bits of
stray paper and leaves in it. How dignified. He tries to get up, but when
one is in the middle of a pile of garbage, it's rather difficult to find
adequate footing. So he's stumbling and cursing in french as he tries to
make his way through the garbage bag gauntlet. He falls a few more times.
Mutant agility my arse.

She isn't quick, but she /is/ determined. Scooping up the dog under one
arm--"Excuse me," she says to Ria(not to stop her... just to say it, mind
you. Something like manners), still vaguely baffled (Who the hell are you?
And how do you know my dog?)--Sera drops her into the shopping bag.
Anything in there touched by paws can be cleaned. This is either about to
get really interesting... or really /dangerous/. And, look! There's
already Kitty and Seishi headed in that direction as well. How convenient!
This is also when Gracie, wonderdog of wonderdogs... decides to leap out
of the shopping bag, and go tearing down the sidewalk, yapping madly.
Welcome wagon! That would be me! And look, /another/ surprise... Pregnant
women /can/ run like hell. "Gracie!"

That little dog really is just begging to be punted, isn't she? Raven's
eyebrows lift on seeing the young man struggling with the garbage - how
interesting, she stabbed one just like him, many months ago. She glances
around, spots the incoming Kitty and the unfamiliar girl with her, and
smiles to herself as she steps over towards the newly arrived mutant to
offer a steadying hand. Now, this should be informing. Grey eyes seek to
meet his. "Need a hand?" she offers, in flawless French, standing just
beyond the edge of the garbage. No filth on her shoes, thank you.

Kitty hesitates just a moment before following after Seishi, jogging to
catch up. Too many people! Too many - oh, what the heck. There are enough
people converging one more might not be noticed. Wait, that's a terrier?
And who's that talking to the guy, and what language /is/ that? Where are
the linguists when you need them.

Constantine isn't running, himself. He sees no urgency in the situation.
Another guy got dropped from the sky. Hey, it happens. All the same,
though, he is sauntering toward Remy, attempting to light a cigarette as
it rains. "Why the French?" he mutters bemusedly from just behind Kitty
and Seishi.

Seishi hesitates a few yards away, feet shifting uncertainly on wet
pavement. Someone else already there... She looks askance at Raven, frowns
faintly; hey, isn't that...? Well, what the heck. "Hey," she drawls toward
Remy, ambling the rest of the war over, tone easier than she feels. "You
all right? Somehow these things always involve falling down..."

Okay, NOW the pregnant lady gets some notice. As does the yapping, running
blur of fur on the sidewalk. Standing up, Ria cocks her hands on her hips,
glaring after the furball with her best "I told you NO!" look on her face.
"GRACIE!" And damn, when she loses her bubbles and kicks the volume up,
that girl can roar. And then she's taking a deep breath, heading in the
general direction of the rest of the crowd, latte forgotten on the
sidewalk behind her. Oh well. She can always buy another.

Remy stumbles again, nearly falling flat on the pavement. He shakes a
foot, dislodging a ripped garbage bag and trying his very best to look
dignified in spite of crashing into a mass of garbage. And not really
succeeding. Raven gets a look. French. Perfect French is not Remy's
French. So the French he mutters back to her is much more broken and
pocked with slang and half-english words. "This don't look like Nawlins."
He's noticed that he's starting to draw a crowd, and the baffled Cajun
pushes hair back from his face. "What de hell?" English this time. He
doesn't recognize anything. Panic starts to hit him. Not because of where
he is, but where he /isn't./ He /was/ in the middle of something rather
important. He barely seems to register Seishi's words. And his gaze skips
around to the drawn crowd. "Uh...did everyone just see me fall from de
sky? Otherwise...I think I'm crazy..."

Gracie, leash and all, will wade right /into/ the garbage, and move to try
and give Remy a little love. C'mere! Hi! Hi you! She'll paw at him gently,
and offer doggish encouragement--and should he fail to notice, or happen
to get out without her assistance? That's when she'll run around Raven's
feet. Around and around and around like some little deranged wind-up toy.
Maybe she's /trying/ to tangle up the tall woman's feet--but then again,
dogs aren't like that on purpose, right? Sera comes up, breath leaving her
in bright plumes of thick frost, chuffed like some steam engine--pregant
women /can/ run like hell, but it isn't really pretty--and her face is
nice and red. She doesn't try to push her way through--he's obviously
going to be okay. Provided he doesn't, y'know, try and kill anyone on
sight. She does, however, give a wave to John and Kitty, and gapes a bit
at the dog that's acting up.

Quite the little gathering the poor fella is getting! Raven continues to
look pleasant and on the edge of amusement, nothing overly threatening
about her. Seishi gets a sideways glance and the glimmer of a smile; a
longer look is cast to Kitty. The offered hand isn't taken, so she spreads
it in a reassuring gesture instead. "You're in Beacon Harbor, on the east
coast of America," she informs him. "You're not crazy." You're just in a
different dimension. "You came through a portal." She steps back to give
him some room. Just in case he decides to freak about that. She tears her
gaze away from Remy to the dog tangling around her feet, not in danger of
tripping so much as becoming really annoyed. She stoops to pick up the
creature, trying to hold her securely in both hands and not get muddy paws
too close to her suit, preferring to aim them outwards. Well, hmph.

That's Raven. "Don't ask," Kitty mutters back to John over her shoulder,
to his question. Sera gets the briefest of waves back, before Kitty
confirms toward Remy, "Like she said, you're not crazy." And adds, aloud,
"Just ... not where you started out." Sorry. Ahem. She shifts uneasily,
then turns to offer Raven a helpful hand with the dog. "Here, let me take
her? Terriers are so excitable -" Mud's not so much a problem on her end,
and frankly, Gracie being further away from Raven would probably make
/everyone/ more comfortable. Certainly it would Kitty.

Constantine's eyes narrow slightly as he catches sight of Remy. "Hey," he
murmurs bemusedly, "I've seen that bloke before." A frown wrinkles his
brow. "He stole my cigarettes."

Seishi's expression has gone very apologetic. "Um, yeah," she adds
ruefully. "You're not crazy. I can't swear to the rest of us, but..." She
sighs faintly, and lifts her shoulders in a vague shrug. "Welcome to
Beacon Harbor," she concludes, not sounding to happy to say it.

"Twice in one time is too freakin' much," Ria mutters as she slows her
pace. "I am /not/ running after that mutt anymore." Slowly she walks up
towards the group, her smile brightening as she spots Kitty. "Hey," she
whispers, her glance passing over Seishi without recognition. Spotting
Sera and John, though, finally gives her memory a much needed jolt, and
the look she gives the pregnant woman is far more intense. It takes time
for her attention to actually shift to Remy, but when it does its full of
sympathy. "Don't feel too bad..you aren't the only one to get dumped in a
dumpster your first day here," she tells him, trying to make things
better. "Though technically I was dumped behind a dumpster, and since I
was headed behind the dumpster in my world I guess I shouldn't complain,
except there was a lot more glass behind the dumpster here than back home.
Well, not -here- here, I got dumped in the badlands, but.."

Picked up and so *terribly* unamused by the woman holding her securely,
Gracie utters the most ear-piercing /shriek/, (can dogs shriek?)
scrambling like a rabid thing, and wets herself, catching Raven before she
can manage to hand the pup off to Kitty. Hmph, yourself. Down! Down NOW!
Sera, standing back near John, looks mortified and /beyond/ confused, her
dark eyes impossibly wide, even as she'd almost like to giggle. That's...
that's just not right. Flipping her long hair out of her eyes, she says,
"I'll take her--I'm.. Oh, I'm sorry, Ms... Um." Damn. Don't giggle. Don't
snicker. Not funny. /Not/ funny. Of course, she keeps looking toward Ria,
who was staring. And babbling. Good God, this has gotten crowded over
here.

Raven comes to help an immigrant to find his feet, and all she gets is
mistrust and abuse from something small and furry. She lifts an eyebrow at
Kitty, amused that the girl thinks that she can't handle one small dog,
which is, of course, the cue for Gracie's waterworks demonstration. The
tall woman looks distinctly unimpressed, but somehow not less dignified
than she did before as she steps towards Seravina. "I don't think you want
her," she says to Kitty with a slight smile, moving to hand the creature
to her owner with an air of nearly-amused tolerance, as one would bestow
upon a chocolate-covered child. "Yours, I believe?" Dog disposed of, she
turns a glance over the little gathering. "Someone send him to Solace
House," she suggests, more by way of an order, before removing herself
from it all. Oh, such a nice smell. At least she can get rid of /that/ as
soon as she gets in the car. Until then, keep up the pretence of being a
vaguely normal person, and walk away with her head held up. Such a shame
she doesn't have time to come back and take up puppy football.

Remy is just staring at all the activity and all the people around him.
"Well, how do I get back? I had somethin' I have to do." He looks...well,
probably as frantic as you'll ever see Remy LeBeau look. And as worried
too. He's not really keeping cool at the moment. He turns around and looks
up where he fell, and looks hopefully back at all the people.

Kitty's sure that Raven can handle one small dog. Kitty's just a touch
nervous about 'handling' including 'neck-snapping.' Idly, she shifts to
put herself between Sera-and-Gracie and Raven, just in case the terrier
gets loose again. And glances helplessly to Seishi. You explain? Please?

Seishi is looking less and less happy about this. "Um," she says
uncomfortably. This never gets any easier. "I'm afraid that right now you
can't," she says, as gently as she can. "It was an accident, and nobody's
figured out how to reverse it yet."

"You don't get back," Constantine calls to Remy. "Sorry, mate." Pause.
"You're not going to steal my cigarettes, are you?" He eyes the Cajun
distrustfully.

Finally closing her mouth, Ria watches quietly for a moment, catching her
breath as the others speak. At Seishi's pronouncement, she simply nods.
"And thank the gods for that," is whispered fervently under her breath.
Nope. Not everyone -wants- to go home. "Oh shut up, John," is retorted
half-heartedly over her shoulder. "If he steals your cigs, I'll make you
new ones.. hmm.. wonder if I could make ones that /wouldn't/ give you
cancer..dunno. Gotta figure out what does it first.." (And thus is born
the cigarette that changes your gender randomly but does NOT give you
cancer.)

Remy stares. Blankly. "..." That's the usual reaction to people finding
out this bit of news. "But I /have/ to. Bella..." There's a crack in the
Cajun's voice, but he's not about to break down in the presence of so many
people. "I don' suppose there any way to even talk back home, huh?" A
glance to John, and narrowed eyes. "...why would I do dat? I don' even
/know/ you/. Any of you!" Ahh, here comes the stage after denial.

Carefully snagging Gracie, Sera puts her down carefully, (trying not to
fall over), and gets the leash. "What are you /doing/?" she wonders of the
dog, who is quite cowed, and looks for a spot of clean snow to roll in.
"Yes I /know/ it's cold out but--" An exasperated sigh, and Sera eyes the
cigarettes that John is smoking with some /serious/ envy. Oh, God, I want
one of those. Right now. When I get home, I'm going to *sleep*, she thinks
to herself. That's how one ignores cravings. Sleeping. But! There's a guy
here who wants to go home, and that twists Sera's heart; she looks so
apologetic. We should find him a place to stay, and someone who can
explain this without making his head spin around like a teetotum. "Why
don't we go someplace... uh. Warmer. And... cleaner?"

"If you're looking for cleaner," Kitty says to Sera, "which is a /good/
plan, we better get poor Gracie cleaned up." She crouches down to put out
her arms to the terrier. Here? C'mere? "Let me take care of her? I'll
catch up." And the expectant mother can sit down where it's warm. And
Kitty can dodge that crack in the poor guy's voice, which is a not so
pleasant reminder of something else.

"Because you're an annoying thief," Constantine explains quite reasonably.
"Unless you aren't. But you probably are." Yeah, he's really helpful. He
looks at Remy a moment longer, then relents, his tone softening. "You
can't go back. I'm sorry."

Seishi winces again, not at the anger so much as at - well. "John," she
snarks irritably at the Englishman, "you would be fabulously more helpful
if you would just SHUT UP for a minute." And then, more quietly, she
offers to Remy, "I'm sorry. I wish there were a way to get you home. But
there isn't. And it would be really smart of you to not stay right here
for much longer."

Shaking her head, Ria takes a small step back from the group. "That other
lady was right," she says quietly, glancing around at the others. "Solace
House might be the best place for him, at least till he figures out what
he's doing.. I mean, it's a decent enough place and all, and at least he
won't have to worry about people figurin' out what he is there.."

Anger seems to well in Remy's eyes at Constantine's words. "I maybe not
steal your cigarettes, but maybe I make you wish dat's all I did..." the
Cajun starts towards Constantine, threatening but not in a truly sincere
way. He's just on-edge and John's not pushing good buttons. He's stopped a
little by Seishi's words, but there's fire in the mutant's red eyes. He
looks at her. "Dangerous?" And another look to Ria. I'm right here. Why
does he suddenly feel a bit like a lost child?

"Cops'll be by soon enough," Sera reminds. "Let's snag coffee, or...
anything, really." The dark-eyed young woman gives Kitty (who is
wordlessly glaring at John--what daggers /those/ eyes have) a grateful
look, and Sera will attempt to be some sort of buffer between Constantine
and... well. Everyone else. "Hey," she murmurs to the Brit, teasing.
"Didn't get your side-order of tact with the fried bread this morning,
huh?" She'll leave Remy to those who might comfort him, or keep him from
doing... /something/ to John, even if Constantine might deserve it. He
came through a portal, after all. That makes him potentially lethal.

Constantine just shrugs at Remy and offers him a little smirk. Then he
informs Sera brightly, "The waiter must've misplaced it. I don't think I
need to stick around here, do I?" With that, he turns around and strolls
off.

Seishi inclines her head briefly at Sera's words. "A lot of people saw you
arrive just now," she tells Remy. "If one of them called the police -
well, I don't think you want to be here when the cops get here." A pause
for thought, and then she shakes her head at Ria. "I don't trust Solace
House. There's a cafe not far from here; we can sit down and try to
explain."

Ria blinks in surprise. Not trust Solace House? But why?? All of the
people there are SO nice. She opens her mouth to protest, and in a stellar
moment of brilliance just shuts it. Because maybe she doesn't want to
know. The last time she wanted to know what she didn't want to know she
found out her favorite angel was a psychopath. Maybe this time she
-really- doesn't want to know. "That might be a good idea.. "

Remy's heckles get up at the word 'police'. Suddenly, his eyes are darting
around in a paranoid fashion. Constantine's off the hook for the moment,
though he narrows his eyes at the man as he leaves. Glare. He can't figure
out how he knew he was a thief, let alone formed such a suddenly bad
impression. But he turns his attention to more immediate things. The three
women get a nod. That's about as talkative he's going to be until he
absorbs everything.

It's the brightness of John's words that does it. If he'd snapped,
somehow, Sera could posit that he was in a bad mood, and didn't mean it.
But he was cheery as he spoke to her, and then just... wandered off. She
cocks her head to the side, and simply looks off after him, bewildered.
Ooh, hormones. They're no good. "Y'don't need me, do you, Sei? I'll, uh.
I'm gonna head... home," she says absently, putting her hands in her
pockets and moving to stare at her feet. Oh, wait. She can't /see/ her
feet. She'll just frown at her coat, and know that she's scuffing. And if
her eyes look wet? That's because there was cigarette smoke in the air.
Yeah, that's it.

Seishi watches Sera go for a few moments, frowning in concern. "Take care,
Sera-chan," she calls quietly after her friend. Then, finally, she looks
back to Remy, and nods. "This way," she says, gesturing back up the
sidewalk in the direction she came from not too long ago. "My name's
Seishi, by the way. The blonde bastard is John; don't pay any attention to
him. He's always that much of an asshole."

Ria can't disagree with this, though she frowns over at Seishi for a brief
second. "Is she going to be okay?" she asks the other girl quietly, before
turning her attention to Remy. "Don't worry. I know it takes time to get
used to.. and I won't pretend that its the most pleasant place in the
world.. but it isn't -that- bad. Just avoid the gloom 'n doomers and if
you see a chain-smokin' Brit../run/, and you'll be.." Ooops.. She glances
at Kitty, making a face. "Sorry, Kitty.."

Remy looks apprehensive. "If you ladies say we get out of here, we go. I
don't want to worry about no police." Hands grip into fists. Before he
even makes introductions, with a glance to them, he starts off. Crying
pregnant lady? He's in too much of a daze to notice. He's not normally
this insensitive, honest! His mind's still back in New Orleans and the
poisioned fiancee' who lies on her deathbead.

How upset must Sera be, to not give a more... heartfelt goodbye? She'll
take back Gracie from Kitty, and will walk away, giving a brief wave. "Say
Goodnight, Gracie," she murmurs to herself, and trudges away. She trusts
them to take care of the new guy, really; and it isn't /too/ far to home
from here. She shuffles, waddling along, half-slouched and, reaching up a
hand now and then to dash tears from her eyes. I'm not crying over /him/.
Why would I do /that/? Who the hell cares, anyway? Not /me/. Doesn't
matter to me at /all/. Gracie pads along beside her, whining. Cheer up!
Please? I love you! Ooh, the next time I see John, I'll give him such a
nip! Or maybe I'll piddle on /him!/ Mean bastard.