who sticks out a like a sore thumb?

[hejhej]

Who: Lisbeth to start out, but anyone who might be roaming around.
When: Afternoon of the 12th (so today)
Where: A mall within Sector 4
Summary: Lisbeth gears up to become Irene Nesser once more.
Warnings: This is Lisbeth. It's bound to be marred by language.


It was the first day she'd been outside of her apartment ever since arriving to Siren's Port. After her conversation with the lawyer, Lisbeth thought long and hard about working with them. She severely distrusted anyone who had anything to do with the law. Lawyers and psychologists had declared her incompetent and that's what landed her in St. Stefan's... She smoked four cigarettes after thinking about St. Stefan's and then went back to the task at hand. But the money that she'd come with was slowly draining; also the clock was ticking for her to either pay rent for that shithole or move out. Lisbeth didn't have to work at the law office, however; Irene Nesser could do it. Unfortunately for Lisbeth, she burned all of Irene's papers - passport, birth certificate - everything she needed to get a job.

Doctoring those documents again wouldn't be a hassle. She still had credit cards in Irene's name, but did they work here? She wasn't sure. But she had to get her whole outfit together one more time. She'd tossed her wig outside of a moving train when she was going back to Sweden.

You dumbass, she thought to herself, but why? She didn't think she'd end up in a place like Siren's Port. So dressed in her Sunday best of baggy black pants, her faithful caterpillar boots with duct tape holding her left sole together, and a worn black shirt that said "Fuck you you fucking fuck." Of course, no one could see the shirt as it was buried underneath her black coat. Her grey beanie covered her hair as she made her way into the mall. Her messenger bag was slung over her side.

As she walked through the mall, her eyes were focused on the ground.

Comments

[drinkthebleach]

[God knows what Pickles was even doing in Sector Four, at the moment except trying to find something to do. Recent unemployment due to reasons of accidentally killing his band opened up a lot of free time in his schedule, and everything worth going to was in Sector Four--at least everything that wasn't in Sector One, which he was trying to avoid for the time being.

So there he was, bumming around the mall like he did when he was a teenager. He haunted the record store for a while, bought a cinnamon bun from a kiosk near the escalators, and was currently heading elsewhere.

That's when Pickles finds himself in danger of bumping into someone walking in the opposite direction. He anticipates the sensation of a mild collision (especially when they don't seem to see him yet, as far as he knows), but he still doesn't move. He waits on them to be the first to look up and go. Mall chicken is the most superior bird, after all.]

[hejhej]

Lisbeth had a horrible habit of not really being cautious of her surroundings when she was in a public place. That was how she'd gotten her laptop almost stolen but ultimately broken in the tunnelbana back home. She faltered in her steps; back home - with Mimmi, the bars, Armansky, and even Mikael Fucking Blomkvist. Whatever. Maybe it was better this way for all of them. She was such a burden to deal with. Her gait picked up once more.

All through this, she didn't see the man walking in the opposite direction, seemingly not wanting to move. So, when looking from the outside in, it was clear that it was Lisbeth's fault for their sudden collision two seconds later.

Even though she would blame him if anyone asked her her side of the story. Lisbeth moved quickly away from him, a wide-eyed searing glare in her eyes.]

[drinkthebleach]

[It takes two to tango, as they say, and two people to bump into one another: by the time he realizes she wasn't going to make a move to avoid him--gait increasing even, by a little bit--it was too late to duck and their shoulders ended up grazing.

His breath hitches slightly and he turns to face her. He means to say something: excuse himself, or give her shit for not looking where she was going.

A response still comes out at length, but the killer look on her face causes Pickles to falter, and then lift an eyebrow.] Hh-uhh...sorry?

[hejhej]

[She quickly looks him over, taking in every detail with her photographic memory. He wasn't that plain-looking either, but Lisbeth could barely use that as a basis for comparison. She didn't like being compared to anyone.]

Watch where the fuck you're going.

[typhlopid]

[It has been a rather discouraging day. Snake is at the mall for a book store, one of the few that carries many books in braille. However, the service there was negligible today, and they did not have the book. There was once again the dripping-with-condescension suggestion that he would much prefer books on tape, to which Snake said something appropriately belittling and left.

It is noisy in the mall. People's thoughts buzz around him, stupid, petty, and dull, and he is dedicating far too much thought and energy to maintaining the barrier between himself and that noisy world.

That is why he bumps into her. A somewhat amateur mistake, though perhaps easily written off by the white cane he uses to navigate.]

--Oh, excuse me. I apologize. I am afraid this is one of the rare times I am at fault. [He flashes an apologetic smile in her direction.]

[hejhej]

[Sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine.. Lisbeth counted the tiles in front of her. The mall wasn't anything special. Being as it was more geared towards families, it looked like the inside of a used mini van - dirty, smelly, and full of crying kids. Crying babies annoyed Lisbeth because they prevented her from thinking, but she didn't mind kids so much. However, she didn't like the smell. It was a stale stench that filled every crevice of the mall. Maybe she should have gone to one of the nicer sectors to get something.

No, because then she would have stuck out more there than she did in that moment. That moment that someone ran into her. Lisbeth whirled around and took a step back from the person. She opened her mouth to curse him, but when she saw his cane, she stopped.

How would she look yelling at a blind person to watch where he was going?

[typhlopid]

[Snake frowns when the woman he bumped into says nothing. He's been trying to block her and everyone else out, but it's a little difficult after such a close collision. Annoyance. Intelligence. Interesting.]

I didn't hear you fall or stumble, are you quite alright?

[This is just the sort of thing that his sister warns him about.]

[hejhej]

[Lisbeth studied him as quickly as she could, looking him up and down before her eyes settled on his face once more. She was tense, always guarded around men. However, his disability seemed to be an advantage for her. Maybe.]

Yes.

[Her answer was short. As always.]

[typhlopid]

[The man is tall, athletic and finely featured, but he carries himself more like someone who would summon the royal guard rather than pick a fight - not out of any personal weakness, but a desire not to get his hands dirty. He has stock-straight posture and voice that is quiet in the way that demands to be listened to.

He wishes he could tell her that he is not a threat, but that his blindness is not the disability most think it is. But he hasn't tipped his hand about his telepathy to anyone, knowing it could lead to another abduction.]

...This place is rather horrid, isn't it? If you are headed to the book store, I recommend against it.

[hejhej]

[Her eyebrows knitted when he mentioned a bookstore, but then they relaxed. Of course - Braille. When he said that the mall was a terrible place, she had no choice but to agree with him. She looked around before turning back to him.]

It smells.

Sorry for the delay!

[typhlopid]

[Snake nods in quiet agreement. She is all prickles and distrust - he understands why. He is sympathetic, somewhat. It is never easy to adjust to an unfamiliar place, filled with unknown quantities. And Siren's Port is uglier than most of the places he's been, save the experiments.]

Indeed. It smells of the legions of unwashed and defeated. I also detect end notes of xenophobia - ironic in a place so filled with unusual mutations - and condescension.

[She will probably turn him down - friendliness, after all, is suspicious - but he decides he will attempt anyway. It is the least he can do for a fellow newcomer, he thinks.]

I was thinking of getting a coffee after this. Somewhere... far out of the field of this place's unique aroma. Will you come with me?

[tinyvampiregod]

[He's following her. Why? Why not. The way she moves, the way she keeps her eyes cast down, it piques his interest and as he has all the time in the world in this place, why not start with examining the citizens and attempting to discern whether or not they are supernatural and of what variety.

It also won't hurt to be out and about in case any of said supernatural creatures get out of hand and need a bit of reigning in. Physically.

So he follows her into the mall, looking like a small, pale child with blackest hair and a winter white coat.]

[hejhej]

[Lisbeth of course doesn't notice the person following her. She usually has a sixth sense about such things, but her mind has been racing all day with things she needed to get done and the things that went bump in the night in Siren's Port. Her legs moved fast over the white floor as if she knew where she was going, but Lisbeth didn't. Her legs merely carried her to the directory in the middle of the floor. She looked up without a sound, her eyes scanning the list of stores. As usual, they were American stores with a few she hadn't heard of before.

There was an H&M and a Banana Republic. Expensive places, but places that would make Irene look presentable and of a certain economic status. Lisbeth decided to go to H&M first, remembering where Banana Republic was for later.

Lisbeth, whom had been standing still for about a three minutes, suddenly turned to her left and made her way to the escalators.

[tinyvampiregod]

[He watches as she looks over the directory, then abruptly follows as she moves. She felt enough of a human, to him, but there was something yet alien about her in his opinion. That and he was terribly bored without the blood and battle he had previously been promised.

It was almost a game, cat and mouse or goats and tigers. And he was playing it as a human, following, falling back, then moving forward, licking his fangs and taking unnatural delight as to why someone dressed like that would be approaching a store that looked-

he blinked

women were allowed to wear things such as that? How... progressive.]

[hejhej]

[Lisbeth's presence set off the small electronic bell these malls seemed to have. She knew it was a security measure, to keep a tally on who entered and exited, but it still bothered her. She preferred when people didn't know she was around. Immediately, a swarm of associates began to hover around her, playing Pavlov dogs to the sound of the bell. However, one glance at her and they veered the other way. Perfect.

She didn't enjoy being helped.

Lisbeth made her way to a section of the store that was more formal than the rest of it. With such indiscretion, she began to pull clothes off their racks and into her arms. She found her sizes immediately, knowing well how she fit in certain designs than in others.]

[tinyvampiregod]

[He simply phases so that the sensor will not pick him up, appearing at practically her elbow, glancing over the current selection she held over one arm]

Ah- perhaps something more modest? And that color is better suited to a blonde than a brunette.

[He looks up at her- he is petite. Child sized. And flashes a grin that contains far too many razor sharp teeth.]

[hejhej]

[Lisbeth of course didn't notice this small demonlike child until he spoke. She jumped and turned her head in his direction. She was then alarmed by his appearance, but she didn't quite move away. Why? She wasn't sure; maybe she was so frightened that she couldn't think about moving.]

Where's your mom?