all the people were watching...

[softlyandsuddenly]

Neither of them were looking to find something interesting when they stepped onto this particular planet, but it doesn’t mean they’ll turn away when something interesting passes them by. It’s why they’re here, watching the stranger who seems to be set apart, even within a crowd of bodies, all of which seem to move as one while the evening descends upon them.

Daye understands how that can work, how things can distort when you’re around. He’s not seen it in others for a while now, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t recognize it immediately

For her part, Greta seems curious about the anomaly they’ve found, but not enough to go explore on her own. However, she knows how this works, and Daye’s interest is enough to echo within herself to motivate her. It’s why she’s taken to following the blue skinned stranger as they continue to travel through the crowd. She doesn’t try to hide herself, but she doesn’t directly interact until Daye is catching up to her. Then she lands several feet ahead, cocks her head at the person, and flutters her wings to be sure she has their attention. To them, all she might seem to be is a large black bird of some kind, but if you pay attention, it’s obvious she’s far more than meets the eye.

Daye comes jogging up behind them, his presentation settled into that of a young, pale skinned boy, though the true color of his skin seems to shift and turn depending on the way the light hits him. It’s the shape he often wears with people who don’t recognize him, the one that’s a little less inclined to induce uncertainty but familiar enough for him to be comfortable wearing.

“She says hello,” he tells the stranger, standing about an arm’s length away from them. “I do too.”

i could have been anything

[amistillenough]

There are places Barnaby goes that don’t have him staying long enough to do things like find work, or worry much about the logistics of living. Then there are other places that tug at his desire for stability. They open up to him when he breathe in the air, or feels the sun on his skin, and he dares to dream of staying still for a while.

This place has been like that, It’s a waystation for most, a point to stop and refuel or get some supplies or downtime on the way out to further points in the stars, but he likes it here. Eventually he’ll leave, he always does, but for now he’s pretending he can keep this for a while.

He got a job doing maintenance and repairs around the area. Technically he’s working on spacecrafts, doing all those fiddly things people forget to do when they’ve been traveling for too long, but he’ll do just about anything someone asks of him. He’s good at fixing things, or at least working out what might be wrong to begin with, and it really does make him happy to untangle things like that.

Barnaby also tends to claim the less desirable shifts; nights, mostly, but if there’s something big coming into town, or someone has a holiday they celebrate, they can usually get him to cover. It’s why the sun is barely starting to show when he’s walking out, hands in his pockets, and head tilted toward the sky. It’s not a way he normally navigates in the world, but no one’s around, and he’s always loved looking at the stars.

There’s someone headed toward him, but he doesn’t actually consider it much. At least not at first. Something about them pulls at his attention, and more at the binds that he still wears. They tighten around him, as if trying to keep him from getting too close. It makes him stumble at how abruptly they constrict, and he suddenly feels like he’s choking.

They don’t let up though, in fact they tighten hard enough to bring him to his knees as he coughs and tries to get himself out of the way.

Whatever's happening, he’s pretty sure this means he’ll be leaving soon.