deercountry | Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone

[ Kainé wasn't invited here. She was never a part of most of these people's lives, and none in any substantial degree. Once, that would have been enough for Kainé to not get involved, remain aloof and alone, out in the cold. It would be so easy to just find some broken down shack on the edge of town, to freeze her heart and bear the scorn and revulsion of Trench's citizens as she wasted away in silence. It's so easy to pretend that Anna's betrayal, her foolish storm of vengeance, destroyed the last gasp of her willingness to connect.

But she'd been a part of that cursed voyage, not a passenger but inextricably involved all the same. And somehow the thought of all these people, abandoned and betrayed by that man... it's something worth protecting. No, this new home where, against all expectations, she had found comrades, tenderness, and love, isn't something she's prepared to give up on quite yet, or rather, the thought of losing it entirely hurts more than the balm of isolation could soothe.

She sleeps in a tent outside. She comes in the first morning, eyes sweeping the dingy warehouse from the door frame, and steps in as though she owns the place. ]

Where the fuck's the kitchen? And where do I bathe?

[ .. talk about an entrance early in the morning, huh. But Daniel's stay in Trench so far has been - if nothing else - an extremely intense lesson in how to get used to really wild things really quickly, so he's just enduring the fact that this girl slept outside and is now wandering in with her demands, not even thinking about something like language.

He'll let her. Maybe she's still upset about everything that happened. All the other kids sure seem to be, even if this girl seems a bit older than most of them at the same time. ]

Are you looking for breakfast? I made some for everyone to share.

[ If not just so no one else has to bear trying to deal with the state of things in this warehouse... Johnny Lawrence is clearly not an interior designer.

But Daniel is right about breakfast. There is quite a tower of pancakes right there, with toppings and all for people to put on to their choosing. ]

.. I don't think we've been introduced yet. [ Not that Kainé can't have breakfast without that.

He's just trying to keep up with the names of all these ~~kidnapped~~ helped kids. ]

[ Be thankful that Kainé has been dressing more sensibly here. Sensible meaning a miniskirt, low-cut croptop, and thigh highs. Some things never change.

It's not that hospitality is lost on her— she was already intending to provide for the residents here, keeping them fed and provisioned, and was in fact going to take care of her own meals. But she's a practical woman, and material needs are something that she focuses on before such niceties as being polite. And maybe she was just never very good at that to begin with.

Practical also means that she won't turn down free food. She smells it before he answers, sniffing the air like some wild beast. ]

Well shit. You're officially on my fuckin' good side, nerd.

[ She grins, though, her jab meant without any malice. She's not gonna insult anybody that gives her free shit. ]

Kainé. You're not Lawrence, so who are you?

[ There are definitely a few near-comical facial expressions that Daniel seems to go through upon the word 'nerd' being thrown around like that. At least one of them is a long-tortured face with his eyes closed, because is this his life now.

Is he being called a nerd by a bunch of young people.

Mister Miyagi, give him strength. He sucks in a breath, then slowly breathes it out. That's it. Zen. Zen. ]

Daniel LaRusso. I know Johnny from back home. [ That sort of thing is always best described in the vaguest of terms, Daniel thinks, because otherwise it's going to involve dumb stuff like karate feud explanations. ] Are you.. training with him?

[ Honestly.

This girl does seem like Johnny's type of person. The swearing and the 'nerd' thing included. ]

[ It's Kainé's turn to make a face when Daniel suggests that she might be Johnny's student, as though the very idea of training with him is some sort of insult to her competence. Which it is. What would a sadsack like that have to teach her? She was baffled as to why Sayo bothered taking lessons from him.

But she has to say, this guy's reaction is pretty funny. ]

Hell no. I'm a Hunter. I can take care of myself.

[ As though it's a simple matter of strength, and not those kids looking for some kind of mentor, however flawed. ]

The sad skull dude said you were whipping bread. So... what does that even fucking mean?

Edited 2022-07-18 22:15 (UTC)

[ Oh boy. This girl sure is.. something, isn't she. It's like he's witnessing a rebellious period in action all over again, except this one seems to be about ten times as wild as his own daughter's. Despite the fact that Kainé definitely seems to be quite a bit older than Sam is. ]

Have you never seen any baking?

[ Not a judging question, mind you. Daniel is well aware by now that people here come from all sorts of different backgrounds, and even things that seem obvious to him are apparently all new to the people here.

And yes, he's letting everything else she's saying just wash over him for a moment. Just practicing his mental balance here. And being a giga nerd who loves making breakfast for his kids and, in this case, not-quite-his kids. ]

It's what you do with the ingredients to make the end result all light and fluffy. It's what you need for waffles and pancakes. [ .. hm, thinking about it, some of the kids hadn't even seemed to know much about waffles..

He shakes his head, gesturing at the food laid out. ]

Just try and taste it for yourself.

[ Kainé had been quite a contrary child when she'd lived with her grandma, but when it came down to it, she followed that fierce old woman's every salty word, and took care of her when her mind started to go. Kainé's rebellion had been against the world itself, a despairing rage at her very existence. A side effect of that was that she really has few fucks to give about the stuff that doesn't seem important. ]

Sure I have. [ She just never did any of it. ] Just don't know what the fuck "fluffy" is supposed to mean. But I ain't turning down free food.

[ Kainé wanders over to the table, and like an absolute animal, just picks up a pancake with her hand, and tears off a piece to shove in her mouth. Oh. She wasn't expecting it to be so sweet. And that texture is... different, though she's already had a few pastries at local bakeries, so it doesn't surprise her too much.]

Huh.

[ Thankfully Daniel is, thanks to certain unnamed people, already very much used to people just eating like animals. So there's very little reaction from him in regards to Kainé just grabbing the pancake and tearing away at it. It's amazing how much your standards can be lowered just by being around someone enough, huh. Thanks, Johnny.

Besides, the reaction more than makes up for it, as far as Daniel is concerned. ]

There you go. That's fluffy.

[ Even if it's no over the top surprise, he's still opting to take this reaction as her liking it. Kainé sure doesn't seem like the type to mince words so far, apparently. ]

It's a little bit more work, but it's definitely worth it, right? Feel free to eat as many as you want, I can easily make some more for the others.

[ When you spend enough years living in a ruined shack, without luxuries like plates or utensils, your eating habits assume a certain form, as Kainé's have. She clearly likes it though, as she devours the rest of it quite quickly. ]

I thought it meant it'd have hair.

[ She doesn't like the idea of having to rely on somebody's charity for her food, but with the locals suddenly acting so hostile to Sleepers, and in particular to Vilebloods... she has to make do somehow. ]

If you need meat, I'll go hunting.

[ He's trying so hard to not laugh here.

Because he doesn't want to. Since Kainé is clearly serious, and she definitely doesn't seem like the type who'd appreciate someone laughing at that assumption - even though the idea of hairy breakfast is.. well, it sure is something, isn't it. He's being good though, surpressing the urge to a mere twitch of his lips as he tries to redirect his brain to focus on the other part of what Kainé is saying here. It's a little more productive, and less likely to make her feel like she's being made fun of. He wouldn't want that. ]

That might actually not be a bad idea.

[ Sure, the idea of directly hunting for meat is.. well. Also sure something. But Daniel has slowly been accepting the fact that there are no convenience stores here. You have to make do. Row with the paddles you've got, and all that. ]

What kind of meat can you usually find here? [ He's still new enough to not really know. And hey, it'll give her a chance to show she can still teach him stuff too. He isn't all-knowing.

Just all-knowing about fluffy breakfast, clearly. ]

[ She glares at him, already snatching a second pancake. She doesn't appreciate being made a fool of. But the truth is, she really is out of her depth. With anything home or comfort. Or being human. The diversion back to what she is good at is welcome. ]

Rabbits, birds, sometimes deer. Gotta be careful you don't get anything corrupted.

[ It's easy to shift back into survival mode. Into being on the outskirts of a world that you will never be a part of, but will play a part in keeping safe. ]

But it's not hard to tell the difference.

That's good. [ Daniel says, only to add and clarify a moment later: ] I guess it'd be one thing if we didn't have any other choice, but I'm glad that there's not.. let's say, threeheaded alien on the table.

[ Look, this place is so weird, Daniel wouldn't have been surprised if game in this place was also incredibly weird on top of it all.

But rabbits and birds and deer? That's not strange at all. ]

I wonder if people eat fish here, considering..

[ .. you know. Them being squids and all. ]

It'd be nice to make some sashimi. Do they have that where you come from?

[ He's also definitely not stopping her from taking more of the pancakes. Feel free to go on devouring them, Kainé. Daniel seems content enough to just stand there and talk. ]

That's the raw fish, yeah?

[ She'd had it before. But it was a bit expensive, even in Seafront, and she's not in the habit of eating expensive food. She's had a hard time gauging what sort of things are supposed to be luxurious or commonplace in different worlds from her own. ]

Sure, if you trust anything that comes out of that water to be safe for eating raw.

[ She snatches another pancake, and leans against the wall. For all that bluster, she'd probably be fine eating just about anything, but she's not sure about everyone else. ]

[ .. she has a point. Daniel didn't quite consider that aspect to it yet, making him frown in thought for a moment here. ]

Surely not everything in the sea here could be odd, right?

[ S.. urely..??

Then again, they came out of there. As squid people. ]

I mean, I can't imagine the locals living right next to a sea and not fishing in it. [ Not that he knows for sure. See: having had no time to properly check out all the available food in this place just yet.

Maybe the locals just know better than to eat anything from the magical waters. ]

.. then again, if I do find some fish, maybe I should first test it somehow. Just to be sure. [ Not that he's sure how he's going to test that. Just tell someone 'hey, take a bite of this potentially poisonous fish'? No way. ] I wouldn't want to accidentally poison everyone in the whole dojo.

[ She shrugs as though unconcerned. Eating things raw is a bit different, but it's not like she's tried it here yet. ]

Sure. I eat fish all the fuckin' time. It's pretty cheap here.

[ When she first came she thought she'd never eat seafood again, but here she was. The revulsion faded after only a few days, and it's not like any Sleeper Squids ended up at the markets by mistake, right? ...Probably not, anyway. ]

I might be able to do that. Immune to poison. What'd be in it for me?

You're immune to poison?

[ Hold on, Kainé, Daniel is still busy trying to process this part of all of it. It may not be the strangest thing he's come across in this place yet, but that's not saying a whole lot, considering the level the standard is at right now..

He frowns a little. ]

Completely immune? Or do you still experience discomfort, even if it doesn't get as bad as it would with other people?

[ Look. It's just that he doesn't want to use her as a guinea pig if it would still have a negative effect on her, even if it's very faint.

It doesn't help that Daniel can't quite understand how someone could be immune to poison in the first place. ]

Yeah, I'm Vileblood.

[ Right, he's new. He probably doesn't know anything about the other blood types. With Vilebloods being especially shunned by the locals, on top of everything else lately, she doesn't exactly consider it much of a blessing. ]

Never hurt me before.

[ Maybe she's just used to a baseline level of misery, though, and doesn't notice when she's poisoned. ]

[ There's a faint nod when she mentions that first part - so it seems that he's at least heard about the different bloodtypes, even if he doesn't exactly know quite yet what the differences entail. At least he can grasp logically here that it means Vilebloods are somehow immune to poison and stuff like that, which is.. a wild thought. He supposes it's possible with one's blood having a different makeup and all, but it's all still pretty new and strange. ]

Well, if you're sure.

[ It's not like Daniel of all people is going to force anything on anyone. ]

I could try to see if I can make some sashimi soon, and then you can try it out first.

[ Kainé: official taste tester. At least it means she's the first to get to try all the good food.. ]

Does that sound good to you?

[ Kainé doesn't really bother trying to understand it, or most of the things that take place in Trench. There are other people that do, and she'll ask them if she really needs it. She's just so used to bad things happening arbitrarily, that asking why is more of a function of grief than interrogation sometimes. ]

Yep.

[ She nods, and despite herself, her lips quirk in a small smile. It's been rough lately. She has to take the little things as they come. ]

Well, shit. I ain't turning down more free food.

If you keep saying stuff like that, I'll start to get the idea that you're being underfed here, you know.

[ Not that Kainé looks young enough that she ought to have to be taken care of by an adult - or anyone else who could feed her, really. She already looks older than either of his own kids, or maybe her attitude just makes her look older than she is.

But even foul-mouthed Kainé over here still errs on the side of young enough that Daniel still can't help but fuss a little. It's in his nature.

Just enough that he can't help but ask. ]

.. have you been eating alright here?

[ Kainé had to mature faster than she should have. If she hadn't been self-sufficient and resilient she wouldn't have survived. She almost didn't even with that. ]

I eat plenty. Don't worry about that.

[ She doesn't care much to be fawned over and condescended to, but at least this guy isn't in her face about it. ]

I'll make stew sometime.

[ See - at least he accepts what she's saying here. Kainé seems so direct to a weird extent that he doesn't think she'd lie about it so blatantly.

(There's always going to be some fussing though, Kainé, sorry. This is how Daniel functions.)

But he's at least willing to back down over this one and believe her. Instead the corner of his lip curls upright just faintly as he says: ]

Sounds good to me. I'd love to try it. [ If she was planning on sharing it with everyone here? He isn't too sure if she is, considering Kainé's levels of kindness - or lack thereof - still are a little hard to read to him right now, considering her attitude. ]

[Johnny was up early enough. He may be a little exhausted from helping the rest of the kids move in but he'd always strike first against a new day. Or at least that's what he liked to tell himself.

He's in track pants and work out shirt when Kaine pushes through the door. He's shared a few words with her on the network but those had mostly been over text and he didn't recognize the face.

It takes a moment for his slow brain to figure out if he had forgotten someone at Black Eye's house.

He thumbs over to room in a far corner.]

There's a kitchen over there. Watch out for the right corner, there's some black mold over there.

Bathroom's upstairs. Don't make too much noise because the others are sleeping in there.

Clean up and then you can tell me who the fuck you are.

[ Kainé gives him a brief once over, then looks past him to the makeshift living space. About what she expected from an unkempt man that gets into pointless arguments over the network, but she's lived in far worse conditions. Hell, running water and electricity makes it downright luxurious compared to anything she ever knew. ]

Kainé. I'm the one your dad is deepthroating. I know a few of these people.

[ She has no reason to be here. She doesn't belong anywhere now. The aftermath of the fiasco that got her killed is as good as anything. ]

Washed up before I got here. I'll mostly stay out of your hair. I'm sleeping outside.

Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone

The wall was too high, as you can see (Open)

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