Time Warp: Help from Strangers (Finn)

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Mid-July 2013

Even though Tak was feeling the effects of being in her ninth month of pregnancy, that didn't stop her from getting out and doing as much as she could, while she still could. The discomforts were growing by the day, but they were still bearable enough for her to feel confident that she could go out by herself and get some supplies. Namely, art supplies, and henna, which she recalled the local art supplies store carrying the last time she was in there.

She stepped off of the bus at the stop closest to the store, which was, thankfully, very close. Walking with careful steps, she adjusted her knapsack over her shoulder and walked into the shop. The bright colors instantly made her feel a little better, although she was sure she still looked weary from her situation. Nevertheless, she had tried her best to look as decent as she could with her hair tied back into a long, thick braid, and wearing a pale blue dress that did nothing to hide her term.

Tak headed towards where she remembered the henna being last time she was in here. Good news - she found it. Bad news - it was just out of reach. The Native girl struggled to stand on her toes and get the little container, but it was no use. Frustrated, and too proud to ask for help, she stubbornly stood there and glared up at the stuff with one hand pressed underneath her tummy.

[Finn Eogeum]

Finn needed supplies, lots of supplies, good quality supplies. He liked this shop, it was always a creativity booster, and it was well stocked and brilliant, basically. He was having a bit of a muse rush, so he was basically just dashing about, picking something up and considering its use before keeping it and moving on.

He only stopped when he spotted a.... very pregnant young lady. Or maybe she had a pillow up her dress, but he doubted that, considering the weather. He paused for a moment, considering her scowling with blinking eyes. It was only when he realised she couldn't reach that he actually approached and grabbed down what he supposed she needed, handing it to her gently.

"Here," He smiled, not sure if he should say anything else, but he did, "Your stomach's like a balloon~" He said, as if it wasn't obvious. Just to add to that, he made the sound of rushing air and moved his hands wider from each other, like an inflating balloon. Because that was appropriate.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak hadn't noticed the young man right away. She might have, under different circumstances, but she was on a mission today, and that meant no distractions, even if they were kinda cute. She was still glaring up at the henna when he came close enough to get into her field of vision, and Tak blinked at him, surprised by the stranger's kindness.

"Th... Thank you," she murmured, taking the jar of henna in her hands with a small smile. Tak studied the man for a few moments, letting her ability do its work. The results she got back were.... Strange. But his disorder took her very little time to realize, despite the lack of evidence at the current moment.

All that mattered was that he was a sweetheart. Maybe not with the best manners, though. Still, she laughed at his comment. "Yeah, well... It's been growing for over eight months now, I would be worried if it wasn't," she replied, smiling faintly. "Could pop any day, though." It was something constantly on her mind, something she wished she didn't worry about as much as she did. "My name's Tak, by the way," she added, but didn't offer a hand to shake; she'd already picked up on his aversion to physical contact. "I, um... I probably should have asked for help sooner, but... I guess I'm too stubborn, even now." Her smile turned almost apologetic. "Are you getting some supplies too?"

[Finn Eogeum]

Helping was good and friendly. It made Finn glow inside, and brighten outwardly, literally. He kept grinning, "No problem~" and started looking around from the spot he was now on. Henna was cool and all, but he didn't think he could do it. He'd get it everywhere and it would look all abstract, because that was what most people called weird looking art. It was more complex than that, but sometimes, he had to agree.

"It would be sad if it didn't grow all that much, it would be bad." He had a fairly simple vocabulary - not because he struggled academically, even though he did, but because of his childish nature. It didn't allow for confusing situations and complex words. "Well, hopefully soon, baby needs to see its pretty momma." He smiled sweetly, not intending on flirting, just complimenting. "Nice to meet you~ I'm Finn."

His smiling didn't cease until he started thinking, by which point it became sedated. "Mmm... I can be stubborn too, with..." Medication, counselling, doing work on time... "...things." These things he couldn't really say to a stranger. He was unknowing of her ability, and therefore the fact that she already knew about his disorder, but he felt like it scared people off sometimes.

"Mhmm." Finn said, nodding and rattling his bag a little, "Art is fun, and I have muse~ no idea what I'm gonna make, but I'll work it out soon enough..." He plucked some more things off the shelves, putting them in with the rest. And then he thought about the lady again, "You go to college? What do you take?" He was making assumptions.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Was it Tak’s imagination, or did the guy suddenly seem…. Brighter? Hmm… A few moments of studying and she soon realized it was a meta ability. Interesting… She’d never seen anything quite like that before. “Mm, yes, it would be bad,” she agreed, still smiling a little at his rather childish language. She didn’t mind; there were all kinds of people in the world, and it was much better than being an egotistical jerk (and she already knew too many of those…). Tak blushed a little at what he said next, and looked down, resting her free hand on her tummy. “You’re very sweet, Finn,” she told him softly. “I wish I knew more people like you.” She somehow just seemed to attract horny, rude boys. Was that a reflection on her?

She looked back up as he sort of mumbled to himself, and Tak tilted her head curiously. “There are lots of things to be stubborn about,” she replied easily. “But sometimes, it’s best to let others help you.” She was talking about herself, but it may have also been a subtle hint towards Finn, one he probably wouldn’t catch since he didn’t realize how much Tak already knew just by observing.

Her grin returned. “You sure have a lot to work with,” she commented, looking down at his basket. “I’m sure you’ll make something wonderful.” Tak shifted a little on her feet, and her stomach twinged with discomfort; she grimaced slightly. She almost missed his questions. “Oh, no, I ah, I actually go to Hammel,” she replied, taking a deep, shaky breath. “Not quite in college yet. I should have graduated this year, but…” But things had happened that had taken up a lot of her time. Namely, the thing that was gradually getting more painful the longer she stood, and it showed on her face. “You… Mm… You must be in college, then?” she guessed, half-talking through her teeth.

[Finn Eogeum]

Finn nodded in continual agreement. Dead babies were the definition of sadness. Didn't want any of that going on, no sir. He could already imagine how beautiful the baby would be, it was easy to tell - and Fin would never dream of being rude. Not when he was like this anyway. When he was in one of his bad moods, it happened a bit too easily. He wasn't having those problems at the moment though, his disorder was fairly controlled, considering that he was regularly taking his medicine, with Vicky's persistence and his own want to keep his wellbeing in check. Things were okay. He tilted his head innocently, "Is it sweetness? It's just that I'm not blind." He shrugged, "Each to their own."

Yeahh... Finn was a little oblivious. So at the comment, he nodded knowingly, "Yeah, giving birth isn't something you can really do yourself, is it?" No, he could imagine it was pretty difficult. Pooping was pretty hard something, and a baby was a lot bigger than a poop. But then again, a lady's lower parts were larger than a bumhole. Was he thinking about it too much? ....nah.

"Mmm... I hope so." His eyes glittered happily, not noticing Tak's problems quite yet. He raised his eyebrows, "You're meta?" This made him giggle happily, "Same! Hammel was pretty cool." He kind of blanked the stuff about graduating late. He understood after all. It was by this point that he noticed that the little lady was in a spot of trouble, and frowned, before putting the pieces together... however, he went a little far with his deductions. Namely... his eyes went wide and he looked at her stomach, and then at her face, and his breaths quickened, "You're giving birth." He assumed, "Stop it, I don't know what to do, I'm not a doctor, stop it~!" He whined, worried to no end. He was honestly starting to panic about this. He turned back to her, "What do you need? I don't know how these things work. Oh my gosh... oh my gosh....!"

[Takchawee Ominotago]

“Of course it’s sweetness,” Tak replied, chuckling quietly. “Maybe it’s just natural for you though. That’s always a nice trait to have.” Being nice without even trying. A rare thing these days, as far as she was concerned. Finn talked strangely, but she wasn’t going to point that out; she was sure someone had probably told him before, and that was the last thing someone like him needed.

“Well…” Tak laughed quietly again, fiddling with the henna container. “I mean, I’m sure there are very brave, strong women who have done it by themselves, but I’m afraid I’m not going to have any idea what I’m doing, so I hope I’ll be surrounded by people that do.” She smiled up at him, hiding her nerves about the whole situation. “Unfortunately her dad isn’t going to be there either, so I’m not sure who’s going to take me in.” Cam had disappeared with hardly a word. She wasn’t taking it well, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it much. It wasn’t like they’d been extremely close anyway…

“Mm? Oh, yeah, I am,” she replied, blanking for a moment that he wouldn’t have known she was, like she knew he was. It was hard for her to remember not everyone had her ability sometimes, because it was just like a sixth sense to her. “I… Well, Hammel is alright. I’m looking forward to a break from it, though.” Mostly from all the jeers and comments she got on a daily basis. Even someone as proud and confident as Tak could only take so much. “Wh-what?” she stammered, focusing on taking some deep, calming breaths. “Oh, no…! Finn, this has happened before, it’s okay,” she assured him (and also assured herself). “I’m n-not due quite yet, I just get pains sometimes. It’s n-normal.” As she spoke, the pain lessened, and she managed to stand up a little straighter and smile weakly at him. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” Thank goodness. She was always worried one of these times would be the time, too. “I think I should sit down though…” Thankfully there was a bench nearby, and Tak sat down wearily, leaving room for the older boy if he wanted to, too.

[Finn Eogeum]

Finn laughed with the pretty girl; most people's laughter was addictive for him. "Okay. I'll try not to eat less sugar, then." Because if he had less sugar, he would become less sweet, and then he wouldn't have that nice trait anymore. And Finn had most definitely been called strange before, and not just for his way of speaking, and thinking. He was by prejudiced people who didn't understand his condition, and by people who thought his colour changing was odd. He could kind of agree, but he was cool. It upset him, and definitely remained on his mind, when a person said something against him, but he was getting better and better at brushing it off instead of dwelling.

Finn nodded along as Tak spoke, agreeing with all the words, "For the best. You can leave them to fuss over keeping things good while you just... worry about birthing." The way he put it, it sounded like giving birth was such a mundane task. He realised it wasn't, but... that was just how it came out. Like how he came out to his mom. Extremely casually. "They'll be someone. You're nice. You probably have friends, or generally nice people to go to. Not everyone in the world is mean." He was blanking details, such as the lack of a father and her age. Finn just didn't consider them. If he did, he would have asked without a second thought.

"I don't like schoolwork either." He was assuming her reasons again, "All the maths and science and remembering things... can't do it." He remembered important things, like people's names and their favourite foods. But he wasn't concerned with food right now, he was concerned with babies. "You've given birth before? In the middle of nowhere?!" He kept blinking rapidly and trying to rack his thoughts as she explained, and Finn slowly began calming down because of it. When she smiled again, he let out a deep breath, "Phew... that was a crisis for me." He shook his head and watched her sit, looking around nervously. He looked at her for a couple moments, a little blankly, "...do you want a friend?" He had meant the question in the way of meaning, 'Do you want company?', but he saw that as too whiny. Friendship was nice. And he had time. Maybe.

He needed a watch. And not like the thirteen he'd already lost.