#rose 01

Seeing the kid is a punch to the gut, but the familiarity is the reason she trails a tiny kid with wind strewn curls to a shelter in the midst of upgrades. Another punch as she spots the girl slinging her tiny arms around a familiar woman’s face. Mallory doesn’t mask her steps as she approaches them, dread filling her, halting just outside their shelter. 

Hesitation isn’t like her, and it only holds her back for half a breath before she raises her voice to be heard over the low chatter. “She looks just like a little cousin of mine. Last time I saw her though, she was a little thing no more than ten and laughing at the whip cream mustache I gave myself to make her laugh. If it was that long ago, I suppose she’d be old as you.” She’s laying the evidence out a little thick, but it can’t be helped. Maybe it’s not even Rose and she’s creeping out some random family.

Mallory hitches a hip against a nearby tree. If the woman startles, she’ll have a better chance at dodging. New attunements are fickle, and she doesn’t wish to take a dip in the ocean to clean any new abrasions. “You know, I absolutely dreaded the idea of another familiar face showing up here, but now I feel like I’m seeing double with you and pipsqueak here.” Her eyes flicker over them, up and down. It only occurs to her which shelter she’s at when she sees the edges of a map held down with rocks. “This is Frank’s shelter, isn’t it? You’re his family I’ve heard rumors about, then. Huh, really thought he was--” She stops herself from saying doomed to yearn forever, if only because the little kid has too big eyes and she’s having flashbacks to another pair. Call her a sucker for family, her step sibling can attest to it. Mallory grins. “Well, anyway. Welcome to Meridium, yeah?”