Teething Problems

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From the first instance of taking off, Oni had a bad feeling about this visit. He was a grand total of eight years old, dressed down in a raggedy pair of oil stained longs, a scruffy and equally grubby shirt and a threadbare black jacket. It wasn't that he was not well looked after, far from it. Oni was just used to living in cast offs and clothing brought cheaply on the intergalactic market to worry too much about his appearance. Not that anyone was going to seem him burrowing inside the intricate workings of Ship anyway, his work was too important for that. Most people would frown at him working on the ship, short for his age as he was, but things were always off kilter for Venosians. They matured incredibly quickly, their minds well ahead of their bodily development. Oni had built his first pod ship and won his first race two years previous, and things were just going up. This ship he was in now was a modification of that initial one... and it appeared it needed more work.

Much more.

Travelling to Earth wasn't hard, in fact the ship seemed to cope better than before here, it was upon entering the atmosphere that things got a bit wishy-washy. You see, Oni hadn't encountered gravity such as this before, and nor had his ship. He still had much to learn, apparently including the strength of the gravity on most major planets. It's always the little things that slip your mind, especially the little things that you need. As a result of this oversight, the ship jerked and leapt through the air on its haphazard decent before finally coming to rest in a small park, leaving grooves behind it and smoking unceremoniously. Throughout all of this, Oni gripped at the steering control mechanisms furiously cursing his own foolishness as the ship bumped down on impact, throwing him forward in his seat. The cloaking shields had mercifully stayed intact and the boy slammed his hands down on the wheel in anger, resting his head on it and swearing. Upon doing this, the ships circuits finally gave up and fizzled out, the ship now running on emergency battery power and bathing the cockpit in a red light.

It wasn't so much that he was stranded that bothered him, nor the fact that it would be a while before he could contact the bossman to arrange transport home. It wasn't even the fact that parts would be excruciatingly hard to come by on Earth (though it was playing at the back of his mind). No, it was the fact that his ship was definitely broken. And he had only just finished the paint job as well.

The boy sighed and kicked the cockpit window off, climbing out and dropping unceremoniously to the ground with a scowl on his face. Look on the brightside, at least he could explore Earth...? No, no that really wasn't a brightside. Oni grumbled and stared around him, at the people milling about as if nothing had even happened. His face took on a much softer look as he realised the enormity of his situation, puppy dog eyes looking around for the first time feeling lost. Oni sighed, stuffed his hands in his pockets and did the only thing he could do in this situation until the ship had stopped sulking. Walk.

Tag | @katharina

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It was cold.

Katharina Diederich was a tiny woman, with hollow bones and a slightly lowered body temperature. That meant when it got cold, Rina got cold. She’d woken her husband up many times clinging to him with her icy fingers and feet pressing into him. She wore light sweaters in summer, and heavier coats in the winter. It was why she was dressed in a fluffy pink coat with two sweaters underneath it, mittens, ear-warmers, a scarf, a hat, three pairs of pants, and two pairs of socks.

Still, despite the frigid temperatures, the bakery must go on. In her hands was a leaning tower of three boxes full to the brim with cupcakes, and a few bags hanging off her arms. The weight was much and her movements were slow, but she was determined. “I think I can, I think I can,” she chanted, determined. The shelter was only a few more blocks from there, and she was almost there, and she could definitely make it if she just—

“Oof!”

Rina slid back, a combination from bumping into someone and a patch of ice underneath her feet. The Dulcian moved her arms and legs experimentally and breathed out a sigh of relief at having not broken any bones. “Terribly sorry! I didn’t see you there, I had my arms full. Are you okay?” she asked, picking herself up and then looking at the person. Or, rather, down at him. A child! Rina’s lip quivered.

“Did I hurt you? Oh dear, you’re not dressed at all for this. Hold on,” she said, pulling off her coat and putting it on him, zipping it up to his chest and nestling her hat over his bare head. “Do you have somewhere to go? It’s too cold to stay out here alone. Are you hungry? Come with me, I’ll make you something.”

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The boy wandered down, not really bearing heed to where he was going and kicking his anger out on a poor defenceless stone. His body language spoke for him, he was angry yes, but by the bewildered glances he kept issuing to the passing population he also seemed rather lost. And lost he was. Oni had no idea where he was going, what he was going to do or what even was the best protocol to follow. He was used to making it up as he went along, it seemed some things never changed.

This cold, slippery stuff underfoot was rather odd. He heard one passing 'human' call it ice. Ice, what a strange word. The boy crouched down to run his fingers over it, the strange material cool to his touch. He knelt down beside the ice and prodded it some more, fascinated. Oni wasn't cold, Venosian biology means his body regulated itself to fit the environment, but he was curious. This planet sure was strange, not unlike what the bossman has said. Oni snorted and clambered to his feet, his growling stomach reminding him of his meagre ships breakfast. Time for some food. Oni had no idea how Earth worked, what its currency was (or indeed how many it had), the language he assumed was 'English', judging by the digging around he was doing in the brains of passing tourists. Apparently he was in 'London' and this was unusually cold for 'British weather', whatever that was. 

So caught up in these small mind factoids was Oni that he didn't know he had bumped into one of these apparent humans until he heard a small voice coming up from the floor. That was weird, were all humans that light? The boy raised his head and regarded the woman on the floor with mild interest, like one might an exhibit in a zoo as she picked herself up, his head tilting in earnest. "Hello." He said, raising his arm straight and robotically for a handshake and trying to mirror the way he had seen it done in the park. "I'm good, this weather sure is cold, is it not?" Oni gave a hesitant but charming grin, mimicking the rubbing of his arms like he had seen others humans do and picking up on commonly used phrases, his mind rushing to formulate a standard form of conversation. He was not prepared to have a coat drawn around him or a hat drawn over his bare head. He scowled at the gesture, before softening it. This woman was only trying to help, perhaps this was human hospitality?

Oni pouted at the mention of being 'having somewhere to go'. "No...." The boy shuffled his feet awkwardly, casting has gaze back down at the offending ice. His stomach growled painfully loudly in the silence, which the boy found fit to punctuate with a trying smile, before nodding his acceptance. Yes, he would go with her. "If this is Earth hospitality, then I like it." He voiced happily, stuffing his hands into the pocket of the oversized yet comfortable coat and walking with her, trying to pick the minds of passing people for other mannerisms he could copy.

It didn't occur to him that Earth perhaps hadn't had any alien visitor that were known to the general populace, or perhaps that the woman beside him wasn't human. He hadn't met any before, it was hardly his fault he couldn't tell. As a young boy, Oni was always hungry. Now was no exception.

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There was something about this boy that seemed… not quite off, but certainly different. For a moment, Rina worried that perhaps he was a tourist from somewhere that didn’t speak English, but then he began to go through the motions of small-talk. Except maybe it was a bit too automatic. Her brows furrowed as he held out a hand and she took it, shaking it lightly. He was cold, she could feel it practically radiating from him even through her gloves. “It sure is,” she answered, her frown growing as the poor boy rubbed at his arms. “Oh dear,” she said, pulling off her coat and hat and placing them on him. She noticed his scowl, but once Rina had decided to help someone, she’d decided to help them.

“Well, don’t worry. I know plenty of places for you to go – and if you don’t like any of them, you can stay with me for a while,” Rina said. Léon wouldn’t mind too terribly much, would he? Of course not! Rina would just have to make him some chocolate to make up for it. They had plenty of extra space too – there really wasn’t a reason for them to turn him away. Rina glanced down at his stomach as it growled and put her hand up to her mouth, trying not to laugh. “Sounds like you’re a little hungry!” she chirped, glancing down at the boxes. Oh well – she’d just leave them for someone else to enjoy. She’d make others and have Léon transport them this time. She began the walk back to the bakery.

Earth hospitality? That would certainly explain the awkward handshake and mannerisms if he wasn’t from there. Rina simply smiled and nodded – well, there were more than just human shelters. If he wanted to stay with other aliens – and perhaps find others like him – she would certainly take him to the one meant for adjusting non-humans to human civilization. They’d talk more about that after she got some food in him – who knew how long he’d been wandering around without any food? Her little hearts ached for the poor stranded boy. Hadn’t he come here with parents? With anyone to watch after him?

She opened the doors to the bakery and let him in. “The sink’s over there so that you can wash your hands. After you’re done, why don’t you go sit at one of the tables and I’ll bring your food over for you?” she said, going back into the kitchen. She’d gotten a gift from a Time Lord – a ‘time traveling oven’ – that greatly helped in the cooking speed when she didn’t have much time. She hurriedly made cinnamon rolls and cupcakes, putting some chicken noodle soup on the stove just in case he needed more than sweets. She pulled the food from the oven and carried it back to the front where the tables were, one hand balancing a tray of cupcakes of cinnamon rolls, her other hand holding steaming chicken noodle soup, while her head was balancing a pitcher of milk. She put the items out in front of him and grinned, sliding in the seat opposite of him.

“Dig in! And tell me about yourself, if you want. My name’s Rina.”