The Shelter

Mio didn't mind the dirt. It didn't bother her and felt comfortable between her fingertips. She watched him take out wet wipes. She took the wipe offered to her and started cleaning her hands with it. I guess I'm not supposed to touch the ground, Mio thought to herself. That was okay. She liked the feeling of wet wipes too. Mio had held up one finger at his question, because she recognised the word parent and she had one parent. Mio kept watching the other, looking away now and then to squeeze the wet wipe in her hand or twist her torso as if she couldn't sit completely still. After a moment, she saw him pointing at something and turned to look in that direction. Mio's eyes lit up as they always did when she understood a lot of what the other person was saying. It was rare for her to feel like she could properly communicate with someone. Mio lowered her head and poked at the dirt for a moment. "Ah.." She looked back up at the ceiling and then her hands started to move again. Mio flashed opened and closed her right hand three times and then, after slight hesitation, held up one finger. A teacher doing a head count spotted Mio sitting a bit away with someone, and quickly came over. Resting a hand on the seated Mio's head, they smiled apologetically at the boy. "Sorry about that, has she been bothering you?"

Yohdi furrowed his brow watching the young girl, seeing her smear dirt on herself and causing him to shake his head. He reached into his pocket and produced a packet of wet wipes, opening them and offering one to the girl as he kept watching her. She didn’t seem to be an android, but he’d never met a human that behaved the way she did. He saw her moving her hand and he watched it, seeing her hold up one finger. “One?” he questioned, glancing around briefly before pointing to the other school kids. “Is that your school? How old are you?” he asked, his voice mostly void of emotion.

Mio noticed the person approach and looked up at him warily. Her hands stobbed rubbing against each other and she pressed her palms against the floor. She shuffled a little where she sat as he approached, but didn't move away because he didn't come too close. She stared at him. What did he want? Mio brushed some hair out of her face, smearing dirt on herself in the process. She looked at him for a few moments longer but then her gaze 'got lost' and started to wander, as if she was not sure where to look. She turned a few degrees away from him and then looked back up to stare into his eyes. Mio raised a hand off the floor, but it looked like she wasn't sure what to do with it. After a few moments of hesitation, she folded four fingers so she was only holding up one. She didn't understand what he was asking, but she did her best to guess.

Yohdi noticed the schoolgirls that had came in and a frown spread across his face. They seemed to be the closest to his age. Then his eyes landed on the solitary girl. In silence he moved closer to her, choosing to sit on the floor, roughly a metre from the girl, curious as to why she was alone. “Parents not able to pick you up?” he questioned.

Mio and her classmates had been ushered into the shelter early on. Teachers huddled them in a group but there were a few, like Mio who did not feel comfortable with that and squatted a little away from the rest. Mio was drawing on the floor of the shelter, a fresh bruise blooming on her face from a few days ago. As usual, she looked angry, an expression she had learned kept people away from her. She looked and eyed a few other people I the room. The drenched man huddled up in the corner, hunched over. Then there was a younger-looking boy, maybe a few years older than her, who looked arrogant. He had nice skin. Mio looked down again and picked up a fistful of dirt, rubbing it into her hands. There was so much chaos going on, so many scared classmates huddled around the teachers, that Mio was being left alone. She liked that. It was peaceful.

Yohdi had kept close to the city center, knowing that the rain was going to be bad, but he hadn't quite expected to have to make his way to the nearest shelter, just to avoid being swept away by the water. Now he was stuck on the fourth floor of a building just to keep away from the water. Sure he was waterproof, his skin able to withstand most of the water, but there was stuff in the water and he didn't want to ruin his pretty, pretty skin.

As he entered the shelter, he reminded himself that it was only business. Because of the flood that hit the city of Sigil, the area was crowded with misplaced individuals. In all his years on Earth, he had never witnessed such devastating flooding. It was the ideal time to look for those who wanted a "better" life, one where they didn't have to worry about losing everything in the flood. He sought to portray joining the Golden Dragons as a ticket to the best life imaginable, even if some would eventually become slaves. Soohyuk was skilled at deceiving others and earning their trust. He never meant it, whether he was utilizing his beautiful looks or his soothing words. The lanky man opted to travel alone. There was nothing to be concerned about when people weren't even sure if they'd make it through the night. He was clothed in a white tee and pants, the shirt thoroughly drenched, and his abs were on full display for everybody to see. Droplets of water fell from the tips of his hair, which lay flat against his head. He could blend in if he appeared as pathetic as they did. He entirely altered his demeanor to appear demure to others. He scurried to an open cot, slightly hunching his shoulders. It was time to put his plan into action.