MABEL
Deep in her motives and speculation, the youth’s actions repeated and reverberated in a well-oiled pattern. Mabel knew how to clean, had been doing so from a tender age with farm and younger sibling duties, knew how to be careful with debris and rubble, knew there had to be some measure of pride instilled within. Glass was collected carefully, efficiently, not wishing to damage her flesh, even if she couldn’t feel it, and larger fragments and slivers of splintered wood taken to another section. Eventually, she’d divided up and separated portions, even finding some that could be re-used for other projects around the Grounds.
But her attention deviated as another approached – her night vision seeking the other the moment she heard unfamiliar footsteps and strides, sharpened gaze pinpointing and landing upon the stranger. The older, though likely not by much considering Ascended aging, woman seemed to have no druthers or regrets about picking up the debris either, extending an offer that Mabel couldn’t quite refuse. “If you want,” came quietly, the voice not sullen, but seemingly nonchalant, unaffected. Guarded, reserved, she waited a few more moments, partially yearning for it to not just be her and her sister all the while, forming their own small cluster of Brightened ones, and partially longing for something other than her impudence to remain in the murk. “I’m Mabel.”
But her attention deviated as another approached – her night vision seeking the other the moment she heard unfamiliar footsteps and strides, sharpened gaze pinpointing and landing upon the stranger. The older, though likely not by much considering Ascended aging, woman seemed to have no druthers or regrets about picking up the debris either, extending an offer that Mabel couldn’t quite refuse. “If you want,” came quietly, the voice not sullen, but seemingly nonchalant, unaffected. Guarded, reserved, she waited a few more moments, partially yearning for it to not just be her and her sister all the while, forming their own small cluster of Brightened ones, and partially longing for something other than her impudence to remain in the murk. “I’m Mabel.”
I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out
and stretch my claws out
