004 | Anna Milton | [VIDEO]

[afallenstar]

So someone left me this- [ She holds up the paper that once held a surprisingly nice, red scarf that's currently loosely wound around her neck. ] And it's not got a name attached, so whoever it was, even if you want to stay anonymous, I just wanted to say

[ And it's about then that she stops making a sound, although she continues to mouth for a few moments as though she's still talking. ]

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[manofiron]

[ He's not going to be able to find her.

Getting out of the house, unfamiliar and awkward as it still is, is difficult enough, but he manages it. He even turns the right way once he's outside. But after that, it's a crapshoot if he'll get close to her house. He doesn't know how far away it is, doesn't have the distance memorized. And there are obstacles: bushes, dips in the ground, branches, rocks.

It's a struggle every step of the way. It just happens that he's mostly going the wrong way. ]

[afallenstar]

[ Obviously Tony is going to find it tough to make it to her, so when Anna leaves her house she takes off at a fast pace. By the time she draws closer to his house she's just short of a run.

It's hard, because her mind is spinning everywhere with no real sense to it, but she can just about figure out where she is, and though its pointless she tries to yell as she finally catches sight of him.

Frustratingly, she has to wait until she's literally in arms length before she can get his attention, and without even thinning about how much it might throw him off or shock him without the benefit of his sight, she grabs hold of his arm to stop him. ]

[manofiron]

[ It's a slow go even though he's trying to hurry. There have been copious frustrations in Tony's life, but this one is up near the top of the list of the worst. Trapped in an alien, hostile place, blind and powerless, it's like some kind of personal hell. Only it isn't personal. He's not alone. There are people who need him to help them. People like Anna, who he owes for saving his life the other day.

He's thinking about her, about what he can do to help her with whatever emergency has befallen her, when something catches his arm. Startled, he jerks back with a yelp, uncertain whether he's being attacked. ]

Who's there? Hello?

[afallenstar]

[ And okay, that makes sense. She goes to tell him to stop yelling, but of course that's a completely pointless exercise. With a silent sigh, she reaches to take his hand and presses it against her face, as if that's going to somehow help him discern who specifically she is. At least it's an indicator that she's not here to hurt him, right?

After a moment she takes his hand away, and traces a careful 'A' into his hand, smiling slightly even though he can't see her do it. It doesn't get much more difficult to communicate than with one blind and one mute, but she's definitely going to try. ]

[manofiron]

[ He's seen enough horror movies, and he's been here long enough, for his brain to helpfully offer a variety of horrific images for whatever it is that's just caught his hand and is...

...is touching it to it's - her, he realizes - face. Alarm fading, he takes a breath, and focuses on the finger tracing something on his hand. A? What does-- ]

Anna? Is that you? Are you okay?

[afallenstar]

[ She laughs, although no sound is actually made, and brings his hand back up to her cheek so that he can feel as she nods again.

It was a stupid thing to do, and Anna should be irritated as hell at Tony for so much as leaving the house without someone with him, but she'll be damned if there isn't a small part of her that finds it oddly touching.

She's a bit stumped for how to explain what has happened though, and after a moment of frowning she takes a slightly tighter hold of his hand, resting it in front of her lips long enough for her to mouth some words, then touches it lightly to her throat again. Is he getting it? She's not sure. It's all she's got though, so she just has to hope. She can't afford to rely on other forms of communication. ]

[manofiron]

[ Okay, that's a nod, which doesn't tell him what happened but does confirm that he's talking to Anna. Unless she's lying, but Tony doesn't have it in him to be paranoid right now. It'll drive him crazy and he knows he can't handle it. So he accepts that it's Anna and moves on.

It's like the worst game of charades ever, but he tries his best. Mouth. Words. Lips. Throat. He shakes his head, frustrated. ]

I don't--Wait. Your voice? Is that--Is this like some kind of bizarre Little Mermaid thing? Did something take your voice?

[afallenstar]

[ For all of a second she's really excited that this is actually somewhat working, but then he says Little Mermaid, and if only you could see the look on her face, Tony. There's raised eyebrows, and an unimpressed look that could probably wilt flowers if they had to.

Still, she can't deny that he's right so his hand comes back to her head and she nods again, and makes a mental note to get him back for the comment later. It's not like she can do much right now, between blindness and voicelessness they make quite a sorry pair. ]

[manofiron]

[ He feels that nod, interprets it for what it means. ]

When are you going to learn to stay away from octopus women?

[ Vaguely, he wonders if the better terminology is mermaid, even though there are tentacles instead of a fish tail. Then he realizes his mind's starting to wander and he hauls it back to the matter at hand. ]

Did anything happen to you? Ordinary, out of the ordinary? Anything at all?

[afallenstar]

[ She can't actually respond, so instead she gives him a soft punch to the shoulder. Which is hard, for her, but she's gotten used to being careful around people. Humans are rather fragile after all.

In terms of out of the ordinary, well. She's pretty sure she knows exactly what's done this - that stupid package - and she really should have known better after watching it happen to Galen. She hadn't thought it through though, hadn't thought that it could affect her. How wrong she had been.

Taking both his hands, she manoeuvres them around to mime opening a box. It's not quite package, but close enough. ]

[manofiron]

Ow, hey! Punching the invalid! Not fair. I can't fight back.

[ It doesn't hurt. He's making a big deal out of nothing, joking, trying to make light of a situation that was bad enough when it was just him but is worse now because other people are getting sucked up into it. ]

It's—I was never very good at charades—It's a square. A box? I'm opening a box. You opened a box?

[afallenstar]

[ God, this is a nightmare.

His hands go back on her face for another nod, and then she does the box motion again. Box motion, a hand up to touch her throat, surely he's got to get it, right?

She's really bad at this. ]

[manofiron]

Box. Box. Throat. Box... I don't...

[ Think outside the box, Stark. You're good at that. Do it now. ]

Okay. B—Your voice? Your voice is in a box? You opened the—The box took your voice? Are you actually Ariel? Did that really happen? Was it shaped like a shell?

[afallenstar]

[ Oh my God, that is so not what she's going for. She just brings his hands up again to shake her head, they can do that later. Right now, she'd prefer to just get them out of the open.

Carefully she places Tony's arm on hers, just below the elbow, and then points at his chest. Next she takes his other hand to mime walking on it with two of her fingers. She's taking you home, Tony. ]

[manofiron]

[ Trying to make sense of the next couple gestures is slightly more difficult, he's not sure what she's shaking her head to and doesn't immediately recognize what follows. When he does, he smirks just a little. ]

Dancing? We're going to the ball? What will Prince Eric think?

[ Then he laughs to show he's kidding. ]

No, I kid. Okay. Anywhere you want.

[afallenstar]

[ She doesn't hit him again - that'd just be mean - but if her elbow oh so accidentally jabs into his side as she turns him towards the direction she wants to go? Well that could have completely been an accident.

She rotates him to face the direction that he had initially come from, wondering if that's enough for him to know where they're going, and placing a hand over the one on his starts to walk back towards his house. She can't communicate but at least she can see, she's got that advantage. Shame she doesn't have a way of explaining her faster form of transport to him, it'd be a lot quicker and a lot safer. There's only so many risks she's willing to take though. ]

[manofiron]

[ Considering the state he's in, visually speaking, it doesn't come as much of a surprise to get an elbow in the ribs. Hell, it's possible that he did it to himself. He's certainly not going to complain. ]

Are we...

[ It's apparent after a few steps that they're heading back the way he'd just come. ]

I was nowhere near your house, was I?

[afallenstar]

[ Anna all but grins at that, and she definitely has to bring his hand up to her cheek long enough for him to shake her head. She really wishes that he could see this very amused smirk that she's currently wearing, too, but that's apparently too much to ask for.

She gives his hand a slow pat, an exaggerated comfort and though it loses some of the effect when he can't see her silently chuckling away at him. She'll just start to lead him home, that'll have to do. ]