the_lawless (the_lawless) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-02-22 00:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 05, jacklyn baker, leo parker, | jack and leo |
Week 5 - Wednesday
Characters: Jack Baker, Leo Parker and Walker
Location: Siena Suites: Main Building
Summary: Leo decides to unload the rest of the supplies from his RV to share with the others and runs into Jack in the storage area.
Rating: G for community effort!
It was a hard thing for him to come to do, but he knew it was right. What few boxes of personal items he'd been hauling in the RV had already been taken to his new home, along with all of his and Walker's clothes, blankets, and pillows, but all of the supplies -all of the necessities that Leo had spent that past handful of months carefully selecting and collecting- were still locked away in the beat up old white van. It was his obligation now to share these things, being a part of a group effort toward survival, and seeing as how there was so much in the storage room at Siena Suites that he knew he would definitely need someday, he realized he couldn't keep hoarding his own stash.
With Walker in tow, he headed in to the lobby, a large blue plastic container blocking his view, causing him to pause on occasion and check his footing, mapping out a path in his head before he'd venture forward again. The little boy behind him had his nose stuck in his DS again, droning along, his face aglow with many flashing colors. Hefting the tote up onto the front desk Leo came to a stop when he saw the door to the storage room hanging wide open. Despite this place being a new safe haven, he had a hard time letting his guard down, and as he approached the open door he couldn't help but to toy with the pistol tucked into the side of his jeans.
There wasn't anything in the store room that required a gun - certainly not the figure in over-sized boy's clothing singing along to an ipod. "She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers..." Jack was in front of the rows of shelves, making notes on a clipboard. It took her a second to realize she had company and when she turned to Leo and Walker, she flushed at being caught singing along to something as girly as Taylor Swift. "Hi," she greeted them, pulling her earbuds out.
"Hey," Leo replied. There was an obvious amusement in his eyes, though he wasn't necessarily smiling. Walker, on the other hand, was grinning from behind the man, studying Jack from the across the room. To him, that was just another kid standing there. Leo turned, seeing no threat in the store room, and walked back out to grab his box of supplies, leaving Walker to waver uncertainly in the doorway. Back in a manner of seconds, though, Leo bumped the kid out of the way and walked over to set the tote down. "I have some of this stuff. There's more in the truck."
He eyed the girl, and now that he'd been told that Jack wasn't a teenage boy after all, he could see features that suddenly seemed too obvious. The shape of her eyes, her lips, and her hands, it was a wonder he hadn't been able to see it before.
"Hi, Walker." She waved at the boy before going to pull the lid off the container. "Whatcha got?"
Not really sure, himself, as he'd just grabbed the closest box to the back door of the RV, Leo crouched down and rifled briefly through the contents. There were random household things; batteries, light bulbs, matches and lighters, plus a handful of misplaced goodies. "I dunno," he admitted. "Just junk for around the house." Leo looked up at her from his crouched position, one hand rested on the back of his neck. "The stuff in the truck's the same. Plus, some food and medic stuff." Walker came over to peer into the box, curiosity getting the best of him.
"Well, at least you've got it kind of sorted already. Alice is really big on categories." Despite her efforts, Jack mostly failed at keeping annoyance from her voice. She was determined to do this the way she thought was best, regardless of Alice thought about it. "You said you have more to get, right? Walker, you wanna help me unpack and Leo can get the rest of the stuff?" Sold on the idea of helping out in any way, Walker snapped the DS shut and set it precariously at the edge of one of the shelves, grabbing two handfuls of packaged light bulbs before he looked up at Jack with big blue questioning eyes.
"I guess that'll be alright," Leo said, though he was mostly talking to himself. It would be strange, leaving Walker with someone as young and helpless as Jack. It almost felt like he was leaving the kid on his own. But he'd only be a few dozen yards away, and he kept telling himself that changes had to be made. Leaving Walker in the hands of others was going to be one of them. Rising up to his full height, he ruffled the boy's hair.
Jack had Leo stack the rest of the containers near the door for her to sort through later while she and Walker unpacked the first one, making piles of similar items so that she could count them. It might be nice to get some clear plastic bins, she thought. Then things could be stacked and everyone could see what was in them. She'd get the stuff on the floor put away once she had a count of it. In a minute. When she was sure Leo didn't have anything else to bring in, she decided to take a break. "Hey, Walker. I got a peanut butter sandwich, you want half?" Walker nodded excitedly. He hadn't had any breakfast yet, and ran over to get his backpack, fishing through until he found a handful of fruit snack packages. Grabbing out one for Jack and one for himself, the little boy rushed back over and handed them up.
"That's smart thinkin'," Leo commented from where he stood messing with the boxes, fighting the urge to sneak a few things out to keep for himself. That was becoming increasingly difficult. He glanced over Jack. "Dressin' the way you do, I mean. Lookin' the way you do." If nothing else, he could admire Jack's strategy. Especially after what had happened to Alice.
Jack pulled the sandwich out of her own backpack, folding it and then tearing it in half. She handed Walker his part and sucked a stray bit of peanut butter off her thumb. "Thanks. Jed thought so, too. Alice thinks I should grow my hair out but..." She shrugged. "Didn't stop Jared and those guys from hitting me, so I dunno."
Leo shrugged too, watching Walker as the kid took have the sandwich and took a bite, leaving a small crescent shaped hole at the edge of the bread. "Things are different now," he said. "You got people to look after you. No need for a disguise, I guess. But if it makes you feel better..." he gave another little shrug and snapped the lid shut on another plastic tote.
Jack shrugged again. Honestly, she didn't know what she wanted to do. Some part of her was aware that she couldn't pretend to be a boy forever but right now it was too much of a security blanket to let go. "Jed still thinks it's smart." It was Jed who looked after her, so his opinion counted a lot. Speaking of being looked after... "Do you know why Walker doesn't talk?" she asked, looking between them both.
"Doesn't want to," he replied. "Not as far as I can figure." Leo eyed Jack for a moment, wondering if she didn't know it was rude to talk about people when they were sitting right there. She was young, he had to remind himself, and probably didn't know the first thing about kids to begin with. "But he can hear just fine... so we'll talk about that some other time, huh?"
Jack flushed; she hadn't meant to talk about Walker like he wasn't there. "Sorry," she said to them both. "It's just I had an idea." When she was sure Walker was looking at her, she signed at him, asking if he understood. The little boy stared at her, offering her a peanut-buttery smile, but he obviously had no idea what she was up to.
"Oh," Leo sighed. Every failed attempt people made to connect with Walker was a little disheartening, but he appreciated the gesture. He knew (hoped) that some day, something new would happen, as long as people kept trying to make it so. "He's not mute. I've heard him make plenty of noise. He just won't talk." Walker looked between them both, his blue eyes happy as he devoured the sandwich, especially when Leo reached over and patted the kid on his shoulder.
The girl deflated a little - she'd been so sure that would work. It must have been hard on Walker, whatever happened to him before Leo found him. When Jack had been on her own, she'd taken to talking to herself, filling the endless silences with her own voice. "Well, if you want me to teach you some stuff, Walker, I can. It's kind of like a secret code. See?" She made the sign for 'thank you,' holding her hand in front of her mouth and then bringing it down. "Thank you for the fruit snacks. Thank you." She did it again.
"It's kind of like blowing a kiss, see?" To demonstrate, she did blow a kiss, glancing at Leo and turning red. Leo half-smiled awkwardly and averted his gaze, leaning back against the wall, though his attention quickly returned to Walker to see how he would react. Walker covered his mouth with his little fingers and giggled quietly, before he mimicked Jack's gesture, signing 'thank you', two or three times before he burst into a fit of giggles again. Then he held up whatever crust remained of his sandwich for a second, and repeated the sign. At least it seemed he understood the concept.
"Hey, that's pretty good," Leo stood upright again, excited like he had been on the day that Alice had given him so many good ideas for helping Walker.
"Laugh it up, funny guy," Jack commented good naturedly, poking Walker in the side to make him squirm and laugh. She made a face at him and then answered back both out loud and in sign. "You're welcome." Done talking with her hands, she turned her attention onto her own sandwich. Leo, feeling somewhat awkward and out of place, put his hands in his pockets and nodded to Walker.
"Come on," he said. "We've got a lot more stuff to do before it gets too hot." Walker slumped, shoving the end of his bread crust in his mouth.
"And I got all this stuff to go through." It would take forever to sort through Leo's stuff. Alice was crazy if she thought Jack could get everything sorted and organized and still have time to count everything three times a day. She'd aim for twice and if Alice didn't like it, that was her own problem.
"You want some help?" Leo offered, hesitating before he'd leave only because Jack sounded a little put out. He hadn't meant to come unload his own work onto her.
Jack sighed. "No. I mean, I guess not right now. I'm just gonna have to do it later because I still have to count everything else before I go to the meeting." There was just too much stuff and never enough time. Leo nodded, making a mental note for future supply runs. Maybe from here on out he could count things up and have the numbers ready and waiting for Jack --or whoever else might be running the show down here.
"Alright," he said, finally. "You see me around and you ever need me for somethin', just holler, huh?" There was something sincere in his tone; maybe even something commanding, though he hadn't meant for it to surface the way it did. He'd never really been very good at talking to people; Alice being an exception and even with her it could be challenging.
Jack looked at him, thinking how Leo sounded a little bossy and while that might be all right for Walker, she wasn't a little kid. Still, she thought Leo was mostly okay just because he hadn't left Walker alone. Of course, if she needed help she'd go to Jed before anyone. "Um, okay."
Half-smirking in her direction, Leo held out his hand and Walker automatically trotted over to grab it, struggling to open his package of fruit snacks along the way. Leo headed out without another glance back, but Walker turned to offer Jack a little wave goodbye.