infinitesimal

@ask-the-hidden-thief || continued.

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     "Damn, what was that?“ Nick didn’t reply to his question so much as asking back, his tone awed. He shrugged Alex’s hand off his shoulder, but it was more of haste than hostility. Taking careful steps, he walked between the fallen guards, first making sure that they were only unconscious instead of, er, worse. Finding what he was looking for, the boy crouched and picked up the remaining part of the device, a half of an empty globe, only as big as his toe. “How did it work?”

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Sam fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve. He had a temper, or at least he used to. Born out of habit, and survival more than anything. His mind wandered. Maybe.. Maybe if he’d known Uncle Samuel.. would he have turned out more like him? Calm but quick on his feet? Instead of bottling it all up and letting it burst out at the worst of times.

"Aw no! Ah’m sorry,” Sam said out loud, and offered condolences for the late kitty-cat. “An’ yes, coffee’s fine.”

"We practically spent the whole night, just sitting at my porch, me sobbing and telling him stories about my cat, and he was just listening intently like it was the most important thing in the world for him too." She laughed again, "Oh my god, how terrible must that be for Samuel? I bet he almost fell asleep multiple times, not to mention it was holiday season and we were both exhausted from work.. Nevertheless, he kept me company without complaint, and he lent me this handkerchief."

Arabella did not tell Sam this, but said handkerchief was still in her possession, one of her most treasured things.

Sam tittered at the notion. He tried to imagine his Aunt, younger and still full of spirit, approaching the forever calm and collected Hallahan boy still smiling despite his patched-up face. Yeah, Samuel did seem like the sort didn’t he?

When Aunt Arabella leaned forward, Sam leaned in as well as if hearing a newfound secret. And then, at the revelation, Sam’s mouth hung open, slack-jawed. “He. Did. NOT!” he exclaimed, bewildered at the very thought! “Did he really say that?? Uncle Samuel??” Any strength he had to contain his laughter went out the bistro window, and he almost choked on his sandwich.

"But of course, I am nothing if not resilient." She took a sip of her drink, raised her glass slightly as if to congratulate herself. "I just kept pestering him, ha! Until he finally agreed to one date, I suppose just to get me off his back. And then when the day came, I did not show up to our date."

She noticed Sam's expression, and quickly amended, "Oh no no, not to get back at him or anything. It just so happened that my cat died that very day, and I could not come to the date because I couldn't stop crying."

His first instinct was to shot back, None of your business, but perhaps if he volunteered some information, the other would do the same? But the mention of the name had him glancing at the girl who was currently busy picking through some titles. He made a mental note to find out later. Nat, huh? Natasha? Nathania? Natalie?

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Helen raised an eyebrow at the woman occupying the hospital bed. “You know, that’s twice within 5 minutes you’ve told me to go home. You do realize the more often you advise me to, the more suspicious I become?” In all fairness though, Lir did look much better this morning.

“I mean it when I said I need to talk about something, though, just a moment, then I’ll be on my way and you can rest some more.” Helen sat in the chair next to Lir’s bed, crossing her ankles. “You see, I’m taking a leave, probably few months, maybe a bit longer, we’ll see.” She paused, a small smile on her lips. “My husband and I, we–we’ve been trying for years. I’ve lost–” Her deep breath was no longer miserable, only wistful. “And so you see why we’re not taking any chances now.” She locked eyes with her again. “I hope this isn’t asking too much–I’ve a feeling you’d rather agree to this–but can you help Matty for a little while when I’m not around? Just until someone else can come to cover. I’ll help looking. He won’t ever bring this up, but I know it will be rather difficult for him to communicate on his own.”

—

When Matthew arrived home, nothing was out of the ordinary. He parked his motorbike just before the porch, and unlocked the front door to let himself in. Nick was not home and wouldn’t be for a few days, already noting that he would stay at his friend/colleague’s house preparing for their next job. The hallway was quiet as always and nothing was visually amiss, but Matthew paused, unease dawning on his features. He could not pinpoint what made him stop. Perhaps it was only exhaustion catching up with him, right? After quite an eventful day it was to be expected that he felt a bit off.

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Lir snorted at Helen’s tone. Really, the woman missed nothing, she thought, she’d need to watch her step around her. 

Her next words, however, surprised her just as she was going to reassure the other woman she was, indeed,not going anywhere-she couldn’t exactly tell her she was rushing out of here the moment she was left alone, could she?

"That is very sweet of you to say, of course I hope you're right." She perked up a bit, "Hey who knows, maybe if you're still around town when the time comes, you can come join the baby shower!"

Her smile turned cheeky at the mention of Matt, watching Lir's uncharacteristic fumbling. "Right?? 'Nice' doesn't even begin to cover. Y'know, if I didn't love my own man so dearly I might have gone for Matty myself." She winked. "You should've seen his face when you got shot, I mean, I'm certain he cares about you deeply. But--" she stood up and took her purse. "--enough of me rambling, I'm sure you'd much rather get some more rest. Bye for now, get some sleep and call me if you need anything, anything at all, okay?"

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Matthew decided to run a hot bath instead of his usual shower, he deserved this after such a long day--two days--and thinking that maybe it would help, if it really was only fatigue that had unnerved him entering his own home. He turned the tub faucet on and left the bathroom door open, then walked to his bedroom to get fresh clothes. The sound of water running was a disadvantage to him, or perhaps it would not have mattered at all, as the one they have sent for him was no amateur.

Something glinted at the corner of his eyes, left side, and Matthew turned. He did not have time to react physically, but he caught his breath, and with it, the object stopped mid air, 10 centimeters from his eyes. What? It must be some kind of knife, as it was sharp on both ends. But it also shone dimly yellow in his darkened room.

To hear that Aunt Arabella was smitten so suddenly after such a turn of events, Sam chuckled. But then to hear how his uncle was playing hard to get, Sam stifled his laughter by cupping a hand over his mouth. It was just not something he expected but he couldn’t wait for his aunt to elaborate.

Her smile was soft as she continued, answering his prompts. "No, I do not think he was getting back at me. Unlike me, he was not petty."

There are quite a lot of forests in Wonderland, and Caitlyn’s house is located in the very heart of one, high above the ground, perched between two old huge trees. It is small and shaped very much like a birdhouse, slightly longer than it is wider. The two slanted walls are made of glass and the other two of wood. The entrance doesn’t exactly have a door, what with the wooden wall opening up in the middle and the round hole is covered with a heavy curtain hanging from the inside.

Once entering the house, you can immediately see how it is only consisted of one room. Now, the wall opposite the entrance, is one thing you simply can’t ignore. Not long after her arrival in Wonderland, Caitlyn painted the whole wall to depict the night sky, dark blue with scattered stars and greyish clouds. And most of the times, it stays that way. Some days though, Wonderland will think it a good day to alter the painting.

The glass wall on the left has lots and lots of glass jars lining before it. 387. Glass jars of every color and size, one sitting atop the other precariously. Some of them are filled with the most random things, like glass pieces, beads, sand, small bones. But the rest of them are empty. At least, they look empty.

The glass wall on the right is more like a window, a floor-to-ceiling window, divided into four rectangles with wooden frame. It can be opened sideways, and it is often opened, especially on warmer days.

The slanted ceiling are covered with two sheets of light blue fabric. There are various mobiles hanging from them. In the center there are colorful paper cranes, and around them just.. various things, branches, shells, bells, ribbons. Practically anything she can find and hang.

There are a lot of pillows scattered about the floor. A pile of blankets on one corner. A small bookshelf, where she places a bit of stationery, fairytale books, mostly, also some diaries or journals, not hers but random people’s. There is a small cupboard next to the bookshelf to keep dishes she barely uses. Also a medium size crate, locked, for few things she owned that she would rather keep to herself.

She uses a kind of fireflies in a jar as light source. It’s a Wonderland thing. And the moon, of course.

That’s about all in there.

So far you might have noticed that there was no mention of any bed. That’s because her bed is outside of the treehouse, hanging just a little beneath the house itself, slightly closer to the ground. It’s not located in the same tree, and is visible from the house. A literal bed though, not a hammock or the likes. The canopy of trees and the magic of Wonderland keeps her bed warm and dry and untouched by the weather.

How they sleep (sleeping position, schedule, etc): She sleeps on her side, slightly curling in with her arms around her pillows.

What music they enjoy: Classical and folk music.

How much time they spend getting ready every morning: Not much time, as she doesn’t need to eat. The girl only puts her hair back up and washes her face, that’s all.

Their favorite thing to collect: Oh anything can go into her jars, but her favorite would be stray diaries, journals, letters.. Things that have secret stories in them.

Left or right-handed: Right handed.

Religion (if any): None, that’s how it goes in Wonderland. Though the funny thing is people still mention ‘god’ or 'gods’ sometimes in everyday conversation. But if you ask them they would go like 'It’s just a saying.’

Favorite touristy thing to do when traveling: Sneaking into cracks and locked places, wandering around and eventually getting distracted by the most random things.

Favorite kind of weather: She doesn’t have a preference in this, just as long as the weather doesn’t interfere with her activities too much.

A weird/obscure fear they have: Very few things scare her, and most of them are located in the southern forest of Wonderland. The fear was not unreasonable though. 

How they sleep (sleeping position, schedule, etc): She sleeps on her back, with one arm under her head and the other on her stomach or dangling down as she often sleeps on random trees, walls, benches, roofs. Her hoodie is pulled down to cover her face whenever she’s sleeping.

What music they enjoy: Almost all kind of music, though nothing too metal/hardcore. She also often wears this amused expression at rap music.

How much time they spend getting ready every morning: Say that again? Her morning ritual usually consists of yawning and rubbing her eyes and stares off to nothing in particular until she’s good to go.

Their favorite thing to collect: Nothing, really. That is until she actually has a place to keep things at North’s workshop. Mostly it’s little trinkets given by the children of Burgess or other believers.

Left or right-handed: Right handed.

Religion (if any): She doesn’t really have any, though she curses at the Moon sometimes XD

Favorite touristy thing to do when traveling: Enjoying the view and the site first, and then walking around among other tourists to listen to their conversations, basically liking the feeling of being part of a crowd. And of course, doing harmless little pranks here and there.

Favorite kind of weather: In winter, bright clear day or lightly snowing day, as those are the perfect weather to spend outside. She hatesrain in winter as it messes up the snow. In other seasons, anything but the sun-shiny day. The blazing sun’s just too much for her.

A weird/obscure fear they have: Mildly claustrophobic. Hates spiders. Wary around fire, as extreme heat hurts her a lot.