OOM: AU Child! Ibani

[last_kallig]

The last few months have been even harder than usual, after the death of her mother figure. Perhaps grief made her weaker, more vulnerable to sickness, because she knows she's dangerously ill. She hadn't meant to wind up here, wherever here is, but it has shown up in the nick of time.

Ibani shivers against one of the walls of Milliways, her body wracked with fever and hunger both. She's somewhere between seven and ten, clothed in fabric with far too many holes in it, and wearing a slave shock collar around her neck. Her bones stand out too sharply against her skin, and her eyes are fever bright and darting around the room.

She's not sure if this is some dying hallucination, if she's gone mad, or if she truly HAS wound up somewhere utterly strange. Whatever this is, instinct and her body DEMAND food, fuel to fight the sickness that is killing her. Untrained in the Force, she's grasping on instinct for any energy it can give her.

Maybe, maybe if she gets close enough to one of the tables she can steal some food without anyone noticing. Yes, yes that's a good plan

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[27_53]

"You might be," he agrees. "Our energies are...different. They do not mix freely, when I try to listen to them...but they also do not fight, so I am taking that as a good sign, since you are to be under my wing."

Both physically and metaphorically.

[last_kallig]

Ibani can feel that she will be ill if she eats much more, so she stops.

"You'll keep me?" she asks, hopeful.

[27_53]

Without hesitation: "Absolutely."

[last_kallig]

"But, WHY?" She believes that he means it, she just doesn't get why he's turning his life upside down.

[27_53]

Shifting in the chair, he turns his to face her a little better, and reaches out for her hand.

"Because it is the right thing to do," he says, as if it is the most logical answer in the world. "I know it will not be easy, but I am not afraid of that."

He squeezes her hand lightly. "Because you are a child, you are a person, Ibani. A person who deserves to be treated with fairness and kindness, a person who is worthy of love and respect, and while that may not have happened before...I am going to change that."

[last_kallig]

"Because if you don't do the right thing, maybe no one ever will," she says, voice soft. She seems, in this moment, far older than her years.

[27_53]

Skellig knows that Ibani has already seen and experienced far more than any person should have to endure over a lifespan, crammed into several short years of existence. Horrors and torment that even he fears to try and imagine taking place.

"Right," he says. "You matter. You matter to me."

And if I were to do nothing, I do not know if I could live with myself.

[last_kallig]

She flushes, glances away, all kinds of emotions surging as she takes his hand. "You matter to me too, Skellig."

"I know I'm small, and fragile, but I'll watch your back."

[27_53]

"You may be small and fragile now," he corrects her gently. "But you will not stay that way. I am lucky to have such a strong and fierce companion to stand beside me."

He does not wish to make her uncomfortable, and he can tell that she is done for now with eating.

"Do you want to rest more? Let your body settle?"

Napping is always a good idea, even if the thought may be completely unknown and unheard of to her.

[last_kallig]

She's pleased at his calling her strong and fierce, puffing up a bit.

"Rest?" she asks, confused. "But, aren't there things that need to be done?"

[27_53]

He was prepared for this reaction from her.

"Well," he explains. "We will eventually need to clean up from breakfast. But typically when I am here in Milliways - that is what this place is called, I do not know if I told you that - I use the time to tend to things that need attention that I cannot while I am at home. A lot of the time...that is resting. Recovering. If I do not wish to spend time here in my room, I will sometimes go outside," he points at the balcony door. "And simply sit. Or I will go downstairs and walk outside. There are forests, and a lake, as well as a beach. But...there is no real work that needs done."

[last_kallig]

"A place to just....rest?" The idea seems alien. "And there's an outside?"

She seems most curious about that! "I've never seen a sky before," she tells him, excited. "I always wondered what they were like, didn't think I'd ever get to see one."

[27_53]

"You...you have never seen a sky before?"

Skellig cannot hide his reaction to that, as his face falls and his heart shatters in his chest.

How is that even possible? How is it that she has never seen the brilliant blue (or whatever colors skies are on her world) background endless and stretching to the horizons? Never seen clouds, never witnessed the rise and set of the sun(s) or moon(s)? Fog, rainbows, rain...she has never felt rain, before? Never felt a breeze rustle through her hair, never stood firm against a wind so fierce it threatened to knock her over where she stood?

Even when everything has gone wrong in Skellig's life, there has always been the sky, somewhere, to think about.

Heat burns in the back of his eyes and his vision blurs, voice going rough as he blinks away tears. This is not her fault. This is not something she should be ashamed of, feel guilty for.

"We will fix that," he says firmly. "After we clean up breakfast."

[last_kallig]

"They kept us underground," she says, voice quiet. "Inside the mine."

She leaps out of her chair, makes her way around the table to hug Skellig. She can FEEL his heartbreak.

[27_53]

The gravity of the entire situation hits him a little harder when she wraps her arms around him, and part of him realizes just how difficult this 'uphill' climb will be. But he is still up for the challenge, even if there will be moments like this one now.

"It hurts my heart," he says softly. "That you have never experienced getting to see the sky, that you were kept underground. But...that is not your fault. We can, we will fix that. And we will both heal, together."

[last_kallig]

"Yes, together," she agrees. Eventually, she lets go of him. "How do we clean up breakfast?"

Someone wants to see the sky!

[27_53]

Briefly, he is amazed at the resiliency of her spirit - and then as she lets go of him, he nods and straightens his posture, moving to stand up.

"We will take these dishes to the sink," he says, as he picks up the plates. While typically he would throw the leftovers into the trash (or honestly, leave them on the plates in the sink if he knows the Loompas will come through) he does not want to do that in front of her. "I have plenty of takeout containers we can put the extra in - they are in that cabinet, there," he points. "Bottom shelf. Clear with a lid."

Someone might have a small hoard of plastic Chinese takeaway boxes tucked away for 'just in case'.

[last_kallig]

"That's a good idea," she chirps. She walks over to the cabinet, grabs more containers than they probably need, and brings them all back over to Skellig.

[27_53]

There are definitely more containers than they need, but the rest go back into the cabinet after he has boxed up all of the leftover breakfast and put it in the fridge for safekeeping. The dishes go into the sink; he rinses them quickly but doesn't wash them outright.

"Bar sent up some other clothes for you to wear with us last night. Those pajamas you've got on now - those are for sleeping in. These," he fetches the folded bundle. "You may find more comfortable for exploring in?"

The cut and style will be similar to clothes of 'her' world, even if she has never really known anything more than rags and hand-me-downs.

"Since you have never been outside, it will be bright," he adds. "We will stop by the Bar on the way outside and I will have her get you some glasses, to protect your eyes."

He will give her privacy to change, and eventually change himself as well, switching from his own pajamas back into a clean shirt and some jeans. He does not bother with shoes, or his coat.

[last_kallig]

Ibani is vastly pleased with the purple shirt and pants Bar gave her, especially when she sees the red wings printed on the back. (They're starbird wings, a very old symbol of the Force, not that Ibani knows that.)

"Skellig, look, I have wings!" she says excitedly, spinning around to show off her shirt.

[27_53]

"They are very good wings - I would bet those ones would make you fast!"

With the clean clothes, getting several baths, and the upbeat energy after her healing last night (and breakfast this morning) she is looking much better to his eyes already. Yes, she is still skinny, terribly so. But that he cannot fix with just the effort of his energy.

Once they are at the bar downstairs, he stops at the counter - it is taller than her - and reaches down to pick her up, to set her on a stool. "I'll show you how it works, with her. If you need or want something, you just ask. Do you want to try? You will need some 'sunglasses', for outside."

[last_kallig]

Ibani nods. "Hello, Bar. I would like some sunglasses, please."

A pair of sunglasses appears, just the right size and shape for her head and face.

"Thank you," she says as she picks the item up, turns it around and unfolds it. It's not TOO hard to figure out how they must go on. "Like this?"

[27_53]

"Yep, perfect."

He offers her his hand once he's gotten her down from the stool - there are not a lot of people moving about this morning, since it's 'early-ish' by "bar time" - and while he is pretty sure that she would not have any problem navigating through the light crowd, part of him does not want to lose her.

"They will be too dark in here, so I would take them off for now - and then when we get to the back door, we will put them on. I have some too, in my pocket."

[last_kallig]

She nods, takes the sunglasses off, then takes his hand. She's a mix of excitement and nerves right now as they make their way to the back door.

Once they reach the door, she puts the sunglasses on, to prepare for whatever might be out there.

[27_53]

Skellig slips his own on - it shouldn't be that bright out, as it is still early. But at least he knows the sun IS out, given the light that was streaming in from the balcony curtain; faux!Scotland is cooperating today, perhaps because it knows this morning is going to be special?

What greets her first is the back porch - it is not huge, and then once they are across that, the grass is shorter right off the steps, clearly from foot travel. The sky is mostly-clear with some patchy clouds, the sun is shining, and there is a light breeze that rustles trees on the far side of the lake. And the lake, too. The greenhouses, and the stables - maybe there is a horse or two out to graze in the paddock? They might have to investigate that. And he wants to show her the beach...

But first, he will step a few steps out of the way of the path, and simply crouch down as he watches her, allowing her space to let her take it all in.