nimat had never gotten out very much.

particularly throughout his childhood things had been isolated—they hadn't had the money for any real long distance communication, and his mom got worried when he wasn't home on time. even as he got older he found he preferred to lock himself in his room for the majority of his time, but there were rare days like today that he took the time to stop and smell the flowers in as literal a sense of the word as he could manage.

the occasional trip through the park on his way back home from his obligations was a welcome detour from his usual route through the residential areas. it wasn't exactly out of the way, but it was no shortcut either, just a pleasant bend in the road for when he had the time and energy to spare. it seemed especially nice on this particular day; quiter than usual. peaceful, for the time being. the environment of the place had always been relaxing, but it was even nicer without a bunch of screaming children running around. there was at least one other person here, he noticed. nimat was one of several who had not gotten the memo.

he knew selene isle was no paradise, but to the untrained eye, it was about as close as it got. for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day the boy adjusted how his bag hung from his shoulder, the awkward sideways movement putting a stupid hop in his step as he continued to advance on his way, but he stopped all at once about halfway across the park's central bridge.

at least during the daylight hours, peculiar behavior was easy enough to pick out, and the figure in his peripheral vision caught his attention right away, seeming to face a considerable struggle in climbing the nearby knoll. rather than pity or entertainment, his immediate response was confusion, though it absolutely was a sight to see. the hill wasn't even that steep; he felt bad for being critical—for all he knew they may have been disabled or something—but the bottle in their head brought the picture together well enough.

he hung back nervously while they hollered and collapsed where they stood, worrying for a moment they might just roll back down the bank they came from in the first place. that was enough excitement for the day, he decided, but unless he wanted to go all the way back and turn around, there was only one way to go. picking up his pace, he sped forward, hoping to get by unnoticd. it was too early for this.

tagged: madison
notes: i'm using my shitty template bc i was too lazy to make an icon for the other one oops

nimat had never been a terribly lucky person, and he was naive to assume that today would be the day things turned around. he only managed to make his way a handful of yards before the figure in the grass had gone bolt upright again. he might have been able to pretend he hadn't heard, if not for the fact that he had obviously flinched; whether or not the other person had noticed, nimat certainly had, and by the time he realized his mistake, he had been standing like a deer in the headlights for a good several seconds.

yuuu, why wur yu lookin' at meh?

it took him a moment to register that the slurred syllables were in english, and yet more time to repeat them in his head until they made sense as such. still, he didn't have an answer for them— not one that he was going to say aloud, anyway. there was no polite way to verbalize the idea that their drunken climb had confused and worried him into attention, and he wasn't going to risk coming off as more rude than necessary. particularly now that this figure was now approaching him.

he was convinced he was in trouble. the feeling was made that much more unsettling by the dissonance it had with his surroundings; the idea that he could feel threatened in broad daylight in this beautiful park of all places just made everywhere else seem that much more dangerous, too. his body stayed rooted in place, but his brain certainly made a run for it, leaving him there with no response more appropriate for the situation than the dumb look plastered on his face. all of this before the most baffling thing had even happened yet.

ohh, yur very pwetty.

in the wrong context even this could be upsetting, but he wasn't met with so much as a hint of hostility; rather the opposite, actually. the joyful smile he was greeted with challenged his preconceived notions so abruptly that it made his head spin. he watched carefully as they dipped forward slightly, ready to make a move if they were to fall, but at least that much had turned out alright.

madison, they introduced themself. he had a name for the person now; by no choice of his own they had already moved half-way from strangers to acquaintances, but his own objections to that fact weren't enough to smother his sense of social obligation.

"nice— nice to meet you too." he hesitated to take the hand that was extended to him, but as he did move to respond, theirs retreated again. he promptly angled his hand into the pocket of his sweatshirt. nice save. he had meant to do that, obviously. "nimat."

i'm a gurl, by tuh way. not mmmany people no daat.

he... he believed it. the second part, anyway. his ears swiveled around on reflex, wondering if he had heard wrong, but he didn't dare contest it. he didn't have much time to think about it though, as the girl who had been chatting at him was quickly back on her way to the ground. startled at the idea that she could have been collapsing he lurched forward on impulse to help, but it quickly became apparent enough that it had been deliberate on her part. he shrank back gladly into his bubble.

he wondered why she was on the ground but decided not to try to work out her drunken logic. it seemed her source had run dry, so he could at least comfort himself with the idea that she wouldn't be getting any worse. he watched the bottle she discarded roll down the hill, and for the first time yet, noticed that it was far from the only one. leaning forward ever-so-slightly for a better view he noted several disorganized piles of them, littering the area around the flimsy remains of broken down boxes. oh.

s'pose i betta find summoar.

he turned his line of sight back to where she sat in the grass, wondering why he hadn't been able to put everything together sooner: her disheveled appearance, the mingling scents of body odor and pond muck, the unabashed public drunkenness....

yuu wouldn't want ta 'elp meh find summoar, would yu?

all at once he found himself embarrassed by his own lack of sympathy up until this point. his mother would have been ashamed of him, he thought.

he'd have liked to help her somehow, certainly, but not by replenishing her supply; he wondered if he was meddling outside of his own business by concerning himself with her drinking, but he would have gone away feeling worse if he settled for enabling her like that. it occurred to him that he could easily dump his last $20 on her and be done with it, but he had no way of knowing she wouldn't just blow that on booze, either. he tried to come up with some compromise, but even drunk as she was, she beat beat him to it.

"coffee— yeah. i can... i can do coffee." he took a deep breath, pulling his bag up onto a more secure spot on his shoulder in preparation for travel. she had meant now, right? she must have. recalling her earlier troubles with her basic motor skills, he cautiously extended a hand; whether or not she accepted his help it was only right to offer it, and he'd rather not wait for her to struggle back to her feet on her own time. "did you, uh— were you thinking of anywhere in particular?"

tagged: madison
notes: i feel like this is really long but i'm afraid to count the words just i'm sorry ok