The Inspection

[acciomod]

On the whole, the weather had been temperamental lately. One minute, it was absolutely bucketing it down, and the next, it was bright sunshine. The amount of rain had turned the ground into a muddy mess, but at least the tents provided perfectly adequate shelter, and a gazebo had been erected over the community dining table to protect everyone from the elements.

Despite the temperamental weather, however, it had been fairly warm throughout the past two weeks, so the chill in the air during dinner that evening was particularly noticeable, even before the dark, hooded figure by the Ministry's representative's desk had been seen.

Nervously, the Ministry representative approached the table.

"I'm afraid we have a visitor," he said, addressing everyone at the table and hoping that anyone not there could hear him. "This is a Dementor, one of the Guards at Azkaban. It's a high security prison. He's just here to, well, ensure that a certain escaped criminal isn't hiding amongst you.

"I don't expect he'll be here for more than an half an hour, so do try not to worry too much. They can make people rather, well... uncomfortable."

Bowing his head slightly, he left the Outsiders to their meal.

[And so, a Dementor is lurking around the camp, just in case one of the Outsiders is secretly Sirius Black. They're known to sap the happiness out of the environment, and - in cases where there are true horrors in someone's past - cause traumatic memories to resurface.

The chilly, depressed feeling can be lifted by the deliciousness of chocolate, though the Outsiders will need to discover this on their own. Good thing there's dessert.]

Comments

[corruptedsouls]

[Screaming. That was Tobias' reaction to the Dementor.

The look of it, while very unnerving for a boy afraid of almost anything, hadn't been what had done it. It had been that leeching -- that sapping of even the slightest positive feeling that had thrust those old feelings, those old memories and thoughts back upon the poor child. Those memories were not ones that he wanted to resurface, and certainly not ones he had ever been prepared to handle.

Which is why he had hit the ground and was now curled up in a ball, screaming like he was being slowly tortured and tears running down his face in a torrent.]

[pinkbefriendingbeam]

*Nanoha saw the boy collapse, and while she didn't know who he was, she still was running over to him. This, this definitely wasn't normal. Not normal at all.*

Hey! Hey! What's wrong? Are you okay?

[corruptedsouls]

Get away from me!

[The boy's voice is hoarse, disused, but his scream sounds along the line of sheer, abject terror. As she comes towards him, he throws himself away from her, trying to scramble to put more distance between them.]

[pinkbefriendingbeam]

What's wrong? I'm not going to hurt you, but you look like you need help?

*Because people who didn't need help didn't just, throw themselves on the floor screaming like that.*

[redcinemareel]

[While the feeling of helplessness sweeps over her, the scream from that boy knocks her back to reality. A good thing, too. Her vision had blurred for a moment. Being unable to see anything and feeling weighed down by the shackles of humanity...no, it's a good thing that boy screamed.

She looks down and picks up the boy by the collar of his shirt without effort. Being supernaturally strong feels pretty nice right now. Grell peers at him with narrowed green eyes.]

You'll have to cower somewhere else, dear.

[corruptedsouls]

[Gck.

Being suddenly hauls up causes his scream to catch in his throat, turning a look on Grell similar to a rabbit who's staring down the blade of the butcher holding it. He's gone unnaturally still, barely even breathing now.]

[redcinemareel]

[Grell stares back before sighing at the reaction.]

I'm not going to eat you. I just need you to not curl up on the ground. You'll ger stepped on, and then I'll say I told you thusly.

Can you understand that? [The boy looked pretty...out of it.]

[justicereigns]

[Small growl at the situation and Smoker drapes his jacket on the kid. It might not help the cold feeling, but it can't hurt either.]

Hey kid, calm down. It's gone now.

[corruptedsouls]

[The moment the fabric comes down over him, he locks up, taking in something that could barely be considered a breath and looking up almost like you'd think he was a protagonist in a horror movie.

...Well. I think his heart just stopped.]

[justicereigns]

Oi...

[Yeah Smoker scares little kids. He can't help his face okay! And he doesn't have any candy-- oh wait yes he does. Want a candy cigarette? >> He's not a pedophile, he just likes candy cigarettes okay.]

Do you have cops or marines in your world? I'm a good guy, I swear. [Points the symbol on his jacket.] That means justice, okay.

[fierybluebird]

[He hates this feeling, bad enough he was just at Ace & his father's funeral, now he's completely snapped and flashing back to their deaths?]

[Still, he's not going to let some kid keep screaming and crying without helping.]

Hey, hey... shh... it'll be okay, eh? [He's crying himself, weak in the knees, and fuck everything, but he puts a fiery blue wing protectively over the kid like a shield. Luckily those flames don't burn, they just absorb and feel warmly soothing.]

[corruptedsouls]

[The boy violently jerks up at the wings, turning a look on Marco that you would think would be on a murder victim staring at their killer. The warmth, however, is a blessed, blessed shield against the cold from the dementor, and despite his violent trembling, he can't bring himself to pull away from them, no matter what his mind is screaming.

As it is, he just curls in on himself, not looking at the man with his eyes clenched shut and a shaking not from the temperature.]

[fierybluebird]

[He's shivering, himself and sends a pure death glare at the dementor, who, provided it has any sense of self-preservation, will back off shortly.]

And there's a whole prison of these things? I guess they don't need to torture, they can just leave these things to do it.

Okay, it's leaving now, eh? The name's Marco. [He's still shivery and wants to cry himself, for all his otherwise calm demeanor, he can't even imagine how the kid must be feeling.]

[windseye]

[The other boy was screaming so much even Vaati was beginning to feel freaked out, and not just because the Dementor's presence amplified all horrible feelings. When he fell on a floor, something about the whole thing made him feel even more nervous instead of irritated, and the thought of helping him up crossed his mind for a moment.]

Are you...ok?

[Of COURSE he wasn't ok. How would talking even help? But what else could Vaati say- he wasn't exactly a 'helping people' person, he never had been.]

[corruptedsouls]

[A voice not one of the hundreds in his head screaming anger and threats was enough to draw the boy's attention, thankfully, and he looks up, nearly choking with a dirt-streaked face.

...Who was this? His terror is momentarily forgotten as he looks at Vaati with an expression of mixed awe and curiosity, though as it finally registers that this other kid was someone who was talking, and thus a person, it turns back to something of fear and distress.

Vaati's only answer, long in coming, is a terrified mumble and the boy curling in on himself.]

[windseye]

[Well, it wasn't the first time he had terrified someone into silence. But unlike the other times, Tobias' reaction made him feel uncomfortable and slightly afraid, instead of fuelling his ever-growing ego.

It didn't seem like the other boy was going to answer him any time soon though, so Vaati just reached down, grabbed his arm and pulled him up.]

There you go.

[....he'd only helped Tobias up because it made HIM feel nervous. Yes. That was the reason.]

[espio]

[Espio's noticed Tobias before. This is that wary, skittery kid who seemed to be very keen on avoiding everyone and always ran off with the food as though worried someone would catch him committing the unforgivable crime of eating.

So, yeah. Espio knew full well the kid was the nervous sort. However, screaming his head off seemed like a large jump from being skittery! Sure, the Dementor made things really uncomfortable, but surely it wasn't so bad as to provoke screaming?

With a sigh, he decides to go and check it out and - if need be - haul him back into a tent or something. He kneels next to him, and tries to place a hand on his shoulder.]

I know it's not nice, but screaming at it won't make it better, you know. Let's get somewhere further away, okay?

[corruptedsouls]

[The moment hand touches shoulder, it's like a spark. A sharper, more centralized scream comes from the boy's throat as he almost throws himself away from Espio, turning around to a psuedo-sitting position and watching the chameleon with wide eyes as if he was a starving lion.

His chest heaved up and down, the boy clearly struggling just to get enough air at this point.]

[espio]

[BLANK STARE.]

Whoa! That was...

[Abrupt. Also, he doesn't like being stared at like he's terrifying. He has no idea how to deal with this situation - how the hell do you reassure a panicking kid?

...and that's why Espio doesn't really try for "reassuring."]

Okay, okay okay. You need to calm down.

Start by thinking about your breathing, okay? You're not gonna be able to be rational if you don't breathe properly - think only about your breathing, and try to ignore everything that Dementy-whatsit's making you feel.

[He has a funny feeling that this will absolutely not work, and is already trying to think of something else to try short of outright dragging him off.]

[urnotafraid]

What the fuck?

[ Sho stood up and glared at the Ministry representative. He didn't care about their hush-hush over a criminal; as far as Sho was concerned, most of the criminals he knew were actually better people than those in the government, outside of a certain Taiwanese mobster he had been hunting down. And this... whatever-the-fuck-it-was needed to just go jump in a river of boiling lava as far as he cared.

The anger helped as he stooped down to where the kid was laying and reached over to give him a shake. ]

Hey. You okay?

[corruptedsouls]

[The screaming abruptly stopped as Sho's hand came in contact with the boy's side -- a touch which, even light, clearly laid on bones -- only to give way to more frenzied yelling as he clumsily scrambled up and away before tripping on his own feet and hitting the ground again.

The look focused on the other man is even more terrified now, as if the boy expects himself to be mauled any second.]

[urnotafraid]

[ The look he gets back is one that was a second away from rolling it's eyes and looking to the heavens for help. But instead of giving in to that temptation, Sho settled back on his heels and kept his hands in plain view. Skittish kids... He'd seen them on the streets, children that had been broken by time and neglect. He hoped that he wouldn't see his own daughter end up like that. ]

I can't be that scary looking, can I?

[the_opener]

[Everything had been fine, surprisingly pleasant even, like the rest of the weird camping trip his time in this world had been. And then... everything blurred. Tim might have lost himself then, lost the present and everything around him, but the scream cut through it.]

[That... wasn't in the past. It was here, now.]

[He glances down, every movement feeling slow, almost dreamlike. He doesn't try to touch the boy; he knows how badly that could go. When he speaks, his voice seems to him to come from a long way away.]

That isn't exactly helping, you know.

EVERYONE FLOCKS TO THE WOOBIE apparently

[corruptedsouls]

[Uh? A voice not like the others draws the boy out of his fit, a softly wheezed breath coming from him as the screaming tapers off midway. He turns, looking up at the speaker now, barely drawing a breath with eyes that would be more appropriate on a wounded rabbit.

As Tim stayed still, so did he, apparently unsure whether to run or scream again.]

of course!

[the_opener]

[Well, that was better. Even if nothing else was.]

Look, I know it's bad. But screaming isn't making anything better, is it?

You'll just make everyone feel worse if you carry on like that.