Coding Fantasy [Kallisti]

[Marta]

Marta frowned. His reaction hurt - not because of anything he had done. She had perhaps pushed too hard. It was something she struggled with and knew a lot. She knew how it felt to be dragged to do something you didn’t want to do. She had suggested the snowball fight because she thought it would be fun and she thought Liam would like it too. And it was a way to get him to do something with Sterling. That’s what she really wanted.

Splash was sending her messages, cognizant of the change of her emotional state even though she kept it off her face as much as possible. Okay?

Okay. she sent back. She didn’t need intervention here.

She looked at Sterling and then back to Liam. ”I’m sorry. I thought that would be fun and that you’d like it too,” she said, her voice soft and remorseful. ”Wasn’t trying to say that what you do is boring or that you’re unhappy. Just wanted to try to do something that we all like so we can hang out. Thought snowball fight would be fun. Maybe we can find something else - what is something you’d want to do. I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do. Really.” her inflection went up a bit at the end, a note of panic as it hit her personal trigger. It wasn’t the same really, but it was close enough.

[Liam H]

Liam chuckled. "It's okay -- really." He knew that she had some issues, he didn't ask about them or anything but he knew all the kids except Sterling had some trauma or another in their life, it was one of the reasons Nox had them. He was here because of Sterling. She invited him, Nox let him stay and his Dad kinda sorta knew what was going on.

"We can play hide and seek or something, inside. It's too cold outside. We probably shouldn't do it here though cause we don't want to distrub the girls. Nox's house would be good, all four floors office space. All the little ones I'm sure would like it."

[Marta]

If Marta hadn’t been recovering from her slight panic, she might have rolled her eyes. Too cold? She was from Mexico and was ready to play in the snow. But she kept her mind on the task at hand. No reason for an eye roll. Everyone had their limits on thing. The look she gave Liam instead as one of gratitude. Letting her know everything was fine was appreciated.

”We can do a snowball fight later. Plan it for when Nox is around so we can ambush him,” she gave Sterling a conspiratorial grin. ”Hide and seek could be fun. The littles would really like it too. Although I shouldn’t be it. Unfair advantage.” she pointed at her nose. ”What do you think, Sterling?”

[Sterling]

Sterling giggled. "Yessss. Let's get Nox." Liam was a party poopper. She didn't say as much but she thought it. How could you not like playing outside? But Hide and Seek did sound fun. Though Sterling hadn't played it in a long time. Here and Rasha used to all the time, but now, they barely saw each other.

Sterling helped all the little girls get their coats, and hats and gloves up it was like herding cats. "Come on Ara, it's not that hard." But the little girl squirmed and squealed. She didn't really want to go home. Home meant more rules. Not that there weren't more rules here, just different and for different reasons -- and they weren't ALL Nox's rules. Most of them were club rules. Ara hated Nox's rules most. She was 4 -- she hated most rules in general.

Liam was cute as he pulled on his puffy jacket and packed his bag. Sterling had to steal her eyes away from them to make sure the kids all got ready to go back to Nox's place.

[Liam H]

Coats were donning. It was cold outside. Snow was falling when they came in. It was still falling when they were going out.

Maybe a little too much.

Liam opened the side door or at least he tried to. The snow shouldn't have drifted to make the door impossible to open. He frowned and pulled out his laptop to hack into the camera feeds outside. It wasn't hard -- He was pretty sure that the Wicked Truth had let him in easy -- he doubted his security was that lax.

The snow was flat and actually because it was between buildings it was lower than the snow outside on the street. He sighed. "I don't think we are going anywhere until we can get the streets plowed or something." They weren't supposed to use the front door, but it at least opened. The snow was nearly as high as Arabella was down on the street. "I don't think it's safe to walk back even to Nox's place." He stood staring into the abyss of white stuff that was still falling from the sky.

[Marta]

Marta got one look at the snow and agreed with Liam’s assessment. He had been unable to open the side door. Some of the older ones might be able to trudge their way to Nox’s place, but the little would be buried - literally. They were stuck here.

Marta was only slightly worried - and that was mostly about other people. She sent a message to Ricky to let him know the situation. She was stuck here and was safe. ”Yeah - I think it’s best for us to shelter in place. I’ll tell the adults.”

Marta saw Juls and Mae talking with each other. She approached them, waiting for them to look up before she spoke. ”It’s snowing very hard outside. It’s not even safe to leave. Liam couldn’t even open the side door,” she said, biting her bottom lip in nervousness. ”I think we’re going to be here for awhile.”

[Legione Sumus]

Mae Kawata (Mist)

Having the kids around was a different sort of chaos. It was good. Mae loved them. They were great and it kept all of them busy even if they weren't their kids. Some of the other dancers started to bring their younger ones too since Nox had his brood here all the time. The rule was they had to be gone by 4pm well before opening hours and before the sexy got too real and costumes were being donned and naked people walked around like it was nothing. And Nox's house became the defacto place to go if you needed a babysitter, there was always someone there.

The kids were all bundling up to go back to Nox's though that plan failed with Liam and Marta came back siting dangerous conditions -- walking two blocks in the snow wasn't dangerous. Until Mae and Juls both went to look.

Juls chuckled. "A little fire could get you home. But I don't think we are going to be getting anyone here -- except maybe a few homeless folks." she looked over at Mae.

Mae shrugged. "yeah I guess. Melting the snow might be dangerous."

Ice and all. The kids looked a little disappointed. "I know it sucks, but is it so bad here?" They all grumbled but all the older kids started to unbundle the little ones. It was the little ones she worried about the most. She wasn't sure what they'd do. "Anyone call Nox?"

[Sterling]

Sterling wasn't too sad they weren't going to Nox's. They could have a snowball fight now. But probably not Liam didn't like the snow. Strange kid.

"I tried Nox. He's not answering." Sterling sighed. "And I called Hayden, and he said Nox was probably in a mood and didn't want to talk. So I texted him and told him about the snow." She shrugged. "Not sure when he'll respond but he knows everyone's here and if he has a problem."

[Liam H]

So now what. Liam looked to the dancers and bouncers that had made it into work. "So now what?" He couldn't go home. He should check in with his Mom and maybe even Cali. What would they be doing? What if they were trapped someplace unsavory?

He shot off a text to his mom and then one to Cali.

You safe. Not stuck in this weather?

He did something he didn't usually do but he sat back down with his laptop and hacked the location of his sister and mom's phone. He had to know they were safe. He wasn't spying on them.

[Marta]

The adults didn’t believe her at first. That wasn’t surprising. Nox’s building was two blocks away, but then they looked. The older kids began to remove coats from the littles. Marta helped Gen with hers. Scents were changing. Disappointment and in some cases worry.

As she turned to put Gen’s gear away, she almost ran into Jackson. ”Sorry,” she said a little sheepishly.

Liam was now working on his laptop, his scent full of worry. He was probably worried about his family. Ricky had responded to her comment. He was fine and glad she was okay. He reminded her to be good and safe. Chaos would ensue soon with the change in schedule unless they had guidance. She was beginning to lock up a bit too with indecision. She gave Liam an encouraging look. She didn’t want to interrupt what he was doing.

She went back to Mae. ”What do we do now? How long are we going to be here?”