You know what they say about blind people and sensory increases? How, when cut off from one sense, the others strengthen to compensate? At one point, Shin had wondered if that would be a positive thing for him to develop in the camps. After all, it'd give him super samurai skills, and let him whomp all the guards with the bottom of his shoe! Right?!

But now, sitting in the food area, eating this slop, Shin was sad to admit the only samurai whomping skill he'd developed was the ability to taste slop for all it was worth, in all its sloppy glory.

He tilted his spoon, and didn't have to look to note the dribbling goo that puddled on his plate. He could smell it. After the first bite, he could even taste it...

from across the room.

Shin made a face at the after-taste, then forced another bite down his throat.

Bottoms up... This certainly wasn't the tops...

Drago sighed as, once again, he was the very last in line for his slop. That meant he got the coldest, goopiest, most disgusting bits scraped off of the bottom of the pan. Not being able to run like a maniac was a big detriment when everybody else could, and did, when heading for the food. He took his 'food' and looked around for a place where he could sit alone. There were none, but a table had only one person at it, so Drago headed there.

His cane clicked against the floor with every other step as he made his way to the table, the gruel held tightly in his other hand. A guard had finally taken pity on Drago after seeing him stumble around and fall flat on his face several times, and bullied the others into giving him his cane back. It was an ornate thing, for a poor farm boy's cane, in that the scrounged head was carved to look like a dragon breathing flames down the shaft of the cane. Drago liked it, so he kept it.

When he reached the table, Drago said "I hope you don't mind me sitting here."[/b] in Romanian, and then sat down without waiting for an answer. He leaned his cane up against the side of the table, and slowly ate his slop. He had no desire to prolong the process of eating it, but too much too fast would give him indigestion.

Oh it was another wonderful day in the neighborhood. The sun was shining, the birds were locked up tight in a concentration camp, and the gruel was lumpy. There wasn't anything about this experience that was meant to be good, but since Lori's zap tank was entirely full and the air was chilly enough to leech out the ambient moisture, she was happy as a lark.

Winter was prime zapping time. Even normal people might send a static shock out once in a while.

Lori took a seat at a rather dour looking table of two men, both with sticks. Sticks were good. They made for excellent flag poles, canes, crutches, or her favorite: catapult arms. "Afternoon, gents."

She and Mars had been working to bolster the inmates' spirits by causing as much mayhem for the guards as was possible. It had gotten her a lovely couple of scrapes and bruises and traumas, but nothing she hadn't had before. Today's mission: food fight. Or... something like it.

"Would either of you fine gentlemen be willing to offer up your stick in the service of mutant kind? I shall try my damnedest to return it to you."

>>"I hope you don't mind me sitting here."

An old man approached him, and spoke something in Romanian. The gem translated. It seemed the act of translation wasn't as bad as the act using the gem to speak. It didn't trigger the collar. That was nice. Shin opened his mouth and braced himself.

Then, he triggered the collar.

"I see no reason why not. Do you speak--" His face contorted as the collar shocked him. Shin opened his eyes to catch a quick peek at the man as everything happened. Might as well see him while he was in pain already. "English?"

Shin gripped the table, and wobbled himself steady. Eyes closed again.

Another person approached.

>>"Afternoon, gents."

Familiar voice. But not familiar enough he could instantly peg a name to a blank image in his mind where the face might go. More 'Déjà vu' that 'ding ding ding'.

"Hey..." Shin muttered. He picked his spoon up again, and wished for a bib. A sigh escaped him.

This gruel... it was... Cruel. The spoon dropped again. Did anyone really expect him to eat this stuff? Maybe the lady who was talking? Wait, was she still talking? Cruel Gruelty had dictated he tune her out... Shin focused back in just in time to catch the tail end of --

>>"...tick in the service of mutant kind? I shall try my damnedest to return it to you."

Tick in the service of mutant kind.

Wait. What?

"Sorry," Shin frowned at her. "I didn't catch that entirely. I'm blind. And just a bit deafened by disgusting food. Do I know you?"

The frown went frownier. To steal a phrase.

"I see no reason why not. Do you speak-- English?"

The man's face contorted with pain, and Drago didn't really know why, though he supposed it had something to do with him triggering his power. That collar sure was a whopper. And what was with all these English-speaking mutants that seemed to have shown up all of a sudden? First that nice girl, Jason, Jackson... Jaxon! now this kid. It almost seemed like they were trying to take over Romania or something.

"Yes, I do speak English. You speak Romanian rather well, if it's not your preferred language."

"Afternoon, gents."

Drago inclined his head to the lady, as close as he could get to doffing his hat without a hat to actually doff. "Afternoon, miss."

"Would either of you fine gentlemen be willing to offer up your stick in the service of mutant kind? I shall try my damnedest to return it to you."

Service of mutant kind? That didn't sound good, not to Drago's ears. Still, the lady looked nice, and was polite in her speech. "I would, miss, but this stick allows me to walk. Without it I am rendered rather stationary. Can't move fast even with it, but slow is better than nothing at all. Terribly sorry."

"I didn't catch that entirely. I'm blind. And just a bit deafened by disgusting food. Do I know you?"

Ah, so he was blind. That would explain the stick, and the closed eyes.

So... that was a tentative no and a you are so boring that I can't even listen to you for more than a second at a time. Lori frowned. These people, her people, needed a good swift kick in the you-know-what.

"Party poopers." though with the quality of the slop today, getting some on her skin really might have set her charge loose and then the game would be up... or the game would be awesome. It was hard to tell sometimes when no one was willing to play.

Lori leaned on the table confidentially. It was good that they both spoke English. Using the gem (though the shocks were satisfying) was always weird. Useful, but heebie-jeebie worthy.

"Look. You know the resistance is coming soon, right? We're no good to them without our fighting spirit. Besides-- with as many as we've got in here they really can't keep a handle on us all at once. Look around... or in your case, not." Lori pat Shin on the arm. "The lunch room is when they have the most of us together at a time. Why not sacrifice a little so people won't die of a heavy heart?"

She could possibly get the party started without a catapult, but geez! If no one else even wanted to play then it was going to be a very small food fight. Unless they had a better idea for cheering a group of melancholy people eating what would better serve mutant kind by being thrown.

Shin was already frowning. There was nothing his face could do to express his distaste for the idea further, short of glaring. He wouldn't glare. Instead, he sighed. " . . . No. Sorry, but no. I don't think starting things will help anyone here... they're on the ropes, as it is... all we can really do now is keep our heads low, and survive..."

He'd seen enough water buffaloes to the incinerator so far to understand the dangers of causing trouble. If he could protect people by preventing it, that'd be good.

As for the other man.

"My name's Shin. And yours?" He spoke to the man in English now, because English didn't hurt.

"Look. You know the resistance is coming soon, right? We're no good to them without our fighting spirit. Besides-- with as many as we've got in here they really can't keep a handle on us all at once. Look around... or in your case, not. The lunch room is when they have the most of us together at a time. Why not sacrifice a little so people won't die of a heavy heart?"

Drago looked sharply at the woman. She was definitely a little too brash for his tastes, and he decided to give her an earful, as old people tend to do. "Now you listen here, young lady." He said, his eyes glinting with the steely passion of age, "I know not of this resistance you speak of. However, your idea is likely not only ill-planned and disgusting, but it is also likely to get us all killed. Now, for me, that's not much of a loss, but you two've got your whole lives ahead of you. What good are we to the resistance if we are all beaten to death by jumped-up guards who flinch at the shadows?"

Drago paused, took a bite of his slop, and continued. "If you had a real plan, one that would carefully rile up the mutants and scare the guards, then I would be joining in a heartbeat. It would at least be a possible success then. This, on the other hand, will do naught but trouble for us. I can think of no decent plan that would inspire the asking, by all evidences arbritrarilly, for two sticks. It took you all this time to come up with something like that? Even on my worst days I could think of something better." Drago waved his hands emphatically. He had spent many a time thinking of ways to discomfort and inconvenience the guards.

"For instance, have you ever thought of sneaking a bit of rotten fluids into their water supply? Hard to be watchful when you're busy puking your guts out. What about spreading rumors among them to carefully cultivate distrust amongst the ranks. I do not believe that this 'resistance' will come and solve all of our problems for us. We must be prepared for a long, drawn-out battle of siege warfare! This joke will do nothing to advance our cause, nor facilitate our escape." Drago said, thumping his cane.

"My name's Shin. And yours?"

Drago blinked, taking a minute to switch from old-man lecture mode to conversation mode, then said "M'names Dragomir. Nice to meet you."

These were pathetic excuses for mutants.

"Have I been thinking? Yeah. I've been more than thinking. I've been doing. I came a very long way just to cheer your ass up in time for the rest of us to break down these walls and set you free. If you want to continue moping here, then so be it. I'd rather burn my candles at both ends."

Jumping at shadows? No. More like they were ham hocs in a pirana bowl. If Lori were human she would be nervous too.

It was lucky for the piranhas that she was one too.

"I like the way you think, though. Get 'em with their pants down, go for the eyes and all that."

Subtle would certainly win a long term fight, but Lori don't intend to be here much longer. One way or the other. Death? Oh no, no, no. She was gonna bust out if she had to. The resistance was taking far too long for her tastes.

The other two had a little heartfelt introduction. Lori wasn't above listening (or pretending to listen) to her elders. She wasn't an inspiring speech maker, not without a conversational wedge. And if these two didn't didn't want to play surely there would be others. There were always others.

And did she remember to introduce herself? Naw. Old habits die hard.

Boy, could the old man talk. In English. And a lot of it. Mainly lectures. Shin would have lectured the lady, but eh. One usually only lectured from a position above if one could look the other person in the eye.

So instead, he was silent. He didn't look. He listened. And after the old man was done saying all the things Shin would have said, and more, Shin introduced himself. Because he wanted to shake the man's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Dragomir." Less nice to meet the woman suggesting they start trouble.

Thinking was one thing. Logic was usually good. But starting trouble? That wasn't thinking. That was thoughtless as could be. Asses didn't need cheering up. They needed blankets and freedom. Did she have blankets and freedom? No. So, she was thoughtless. The kind of thoughtless that crashes into adult toy stores, then casually robs them because, why not?

Wait, what? A new connection fired across his synapses. Where had that random thought come from? Logic hop? And what was logic hopping for, anyways? Logic should be stationary, like a bound pad of paper, or post-it notes. Not dropped everywhere, like it was unimportant (like post-it notes).

Ah, well. Shin tilted his head. An innocent shot in the dark wouldn't hurt, right? He certainly couldn't see far enough ahead to note any serious repercussions to blind guessing from the blind.

"You sound like the kinda person that runs a guy over, then drags him to go swimming..." Shin muttered. "Just to 'cheer him up'."

"Have I been thinking? Yeah. I've been more than thinking. I've been doing. I came a very long way just to cheer your ass up in time for the rest of us to break down these walls and set you free. If you want to continue moping here, then so be it. I'd rather burn my candles at both ends."

Dragomir frowned. Yet another instance of someone mentioning coming to Romania for a specific reason that involved the camps. Several mutants around the camps, mainly the English-speaking ones, complained constantly about either the fact that they weren't getting the respect they deserved for 'coming all this way' to apparently help Romanian mutants out, or they tried to incite revolt in the mutants. This woman, apparently, was both.

"If what you say is true, and though that's a very large if I'm inclined to believe you, then I thank you for your trouble. I would also, however, feel slightly miffed. We Romanians have been taking care of ourselves for longer than you've been alive. What makes our troubles suddenly your troubles?" Drago paused, then assumed a quizzical look. "'Burn my candles at both ends'... But wouldn't that just waste candles faster? Why would you want to do that?"

"I like the way you think, though. Get 'em with their pants down, go for the eyes and all that."

Dragomir nodded his head in a sort of 'thank you' for the compliment. "I am Dragomir, and I didn't catch your name, young lady." He said, well aware of the fact that she had probably intentionally left her name out, and would also quite possibly give him a fake name. It never hurt to try.

Lori put her elbow on the table and her shin daintily on her open hand.

"If it makes you less ...miffed... I am here by Romanian invitation." Along with Red Liberty, but what was the difference? She was invited.

Lori smiled. It always pissed her off when people talked down to her, but being what she was it rather happened a lot. These Romanians did it to every American she brought over despite the fact that they brought food and resources... and a tank.

The resistance had better be prepping that tank.

Even if these bums didn't get the candle thing, it was something she lived for. If she wasn't burning bright, it wasn't worth burning at all. Call it a blaze of glory. It was what being a mutant was good for.

"I am Dragomir, and I didn't catch your name, young lady."

"Charge." Hands were shaking. "And I'd like to lighten your load if you'd allow me." She winked and tugged subtly at her own collar that was dead ten times over. "I can't break it," Well, she could, but if she turned off collars she'd rather do them all at once. When it would do them all the most good. "But I can drain the battery. Not sure how it recharges," That part was true enough. maybe it was why they shocked them so often. "But you could have a couple hours respite at least." It was a sincere offer. Much better than chewing on slop.

"You sound like the kinda person that runs a guy over, then drags him to go swimming... Just to 'cheer him up'."

And that was an odd comment. A strangely true comment, but she hadn't technically run anyone over. It had been that man. Michael... 's body. And she'd dragged Abyss swimming. Among other things. "Doesn't sound too far off the mark..." Lori offered her hand to Sheen next.

>>"Doesn't sound too far off the mark..."

No, it didn't. What was she talking about, 'respite'. "Drain the battery...? Wouldn't they get mad... once they found out?" They probably would, with the shouting, and the beating... but maybe a few hours of sight were worth it. "If they didn't... that actually wouldn't be so bad..." His mouth tilted sideways with uncertainty as he turned that thought over in his mind like a new-found penny. "Charge, was it...? Your voice sounds a little familiar..." If not her voice, at least the language she used. It was definitely setting off 'sockcash' vibes.

"Charge, and I'd like to lighten your load if you'd allow me. I can't break it, but I can drain the battery. Not sure how it recharges, but you could have a couple hours respite at least."

Drain the battery? That sounds moderately dangerous. I guess that might be her mutation... Drago thought, and with that in mind he nodded. "Not like we could do much as individuals anyways, but this damn thing'll shock me if I even try to shift it. I suppose that'd be fine, thank you."

Drago tried to ignore the fact that Shin seemed to be trying to lead Charge to something that he remembered, or he knew her, or something, but either Charge wasn't playing along, or she really didn't have any clue what he was saying.

"Drain the battery...? Wouldn't they get mad... once they found out?"

"Tha's why you don' let them find out." She let herself drawl in a particularly New York way. New Yorkers were always looking to get away with something even if it was just a fake rolex.

"If they didn't... that actually wouldn't be so bad…" He had no way of seeing it coming, but Lori clapped him on the arm in a friendly sort of way.

"That is what I'm talking about."

The older man agreed to the collar bit at least. Such cautious traditionalists. Well, the blind one was blind. The old was probably cautious because of his age. The handicapped were always more cautious.

"Charge, was it...? Your voice sounds a little familiar..."

Lori half stood and planted a lingering kiss on Dragomir's forehead. While her body blocked the view, her tiny hands were holding onto his collar. After the briefest of moments she sat and poked at her gruel. There was an extra bit of glow to her cheeks and she was feeling quite pleased. Cat with the canary. Mouse and her cheese. Lori and her electricity.

She sighed and collected herself again. It was just so good coming from outside sources.

"Charge is right."

She extended a hand to Shin's cheek. Careful. Cautious.

"Hold still." She could be very gentle when she had need. Another forehead kiss. Another snaking of small fingers.

For the final time she took her seat and attempted a gruel bite. The paste seemed even less appetizing after an electric meal like that. "Better?" Full up on charge she was actually quite cheerful.