Going where she doesn't belong [Closed]

[allineedisyou]

Who: Grace & Jamal
What: Grace should be in the Hospital wing but she keeps finding ways to sneak away
Where: HQ: Hallway
When: 11/2; evening
Warnings: Possible talks about injury.

Grace knew that she should stay in the Hospital until she's fully healed but she didn't like it there. It made her feel bad with everyone fussing about her and everything there was foreign to her. The lights in the Hospital darkened at the same time they do each night and just like the evening before Grace slipped from her bed and silently moved down the hall and away from the Hospital. She had a nightgown on which wasn't too different from her usual dresses and her red-ish hood. They'd let her keep it during her stay in the hospital and she now used to it to cover the bandage on her right forearm.

Like father like daughter.

Her bare feet ghost against the hard floor as she turned the corner and crashed into someone walking the other way. Being half the size of a regular adult Grace fell to the floor releasing a whelp of pain as her injured arm reached out to catch her.

Comments

[allineedisyou]

Grace took his hand with her uninjured arm and rose to her feet. She was thankful for the help though her smile was a little nervous. "Thank you." Her arms fall back beneath her cloak as she stared up at the boy.

"I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new?" Her head canted to the side as if she was trying to make up her mind.

[heavythecrown]

Jamal watched her as she got back to her feet, smiling at her. "You're welcome," he nodded at her, studying her for a moment and contemplating asking if she was hurt.

"That I am," he said, his eyebrows knitting for a moment. "Jamal," he offered. He had a feeling his last name didn't carry much weight here. It was a strange feeling.

[allineedisyou]

Grace performed a half curtsey, not wanting to use her injured arm, and then bowed her head. "It's nice to meet you Jamal. I'm Grace." She felt bad for running into him but there was no way to turn back the time now.

"I'm sorry that I ran into you. I was..." Her voice faltered slightly. She can't say that she was trying to sneak away from the Hospital. "I was in a hurry." Which wasn't technically a lie. She felt awful for lying but leaving out the fact that her arm hurt and that she was sneaking was probably okay.

"What are you doing up?"

[heavythecrown]

Jamal was charmed by the curtsy nonetheless. "It's nice to meet you, Grace," he smiled. "It's quite alright," he answered simply because it didn't seem that it had been intentional so there was no harm and no foul to be had. Certainly nothing to hold against a little girl, in any case.

"Why were you in such a hurry?" he questioned, not the interrogatory type, just curious. He hadn't talked to any one much since arriving and this was a reminder that he thrived on social interaction.

"I was kind of hungry," he supplied in answer to her question.

[allineedisyou]

Grace turned back to look towards the cafeteria. "I think the cafeteria is closed but..." She frowned and turned back to Jamal. "I know the way into the kitchen. I can show you if you want."

She didn't mean to not answer his question. It slipped her mind as the thought of food consumed her thoughts.

[heavythecrown]

Jamal nodded -- it would figure so. He didn't push for an answer. After all, there couldn't be that much to worry about could there? "If you're not needed elsewhere," he agreed. After all, she could have had very important child things to do.

[allineedisyou]

Grace shook her head. "I'm not. I teach classes here but they've let out for the day." She turned and waved with her good arm. "It's this way."

She took a few steps before turning back to him. "What would you like to eat? I think there are usually hot dogs in the kitchen."

[heavythecrown]

"You teach classes?" Jamal questioned, raising a brow. She looked a bit young to be teaching anyone. He followed her though. "Hot dogs would be good," he said, something simple. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ate something like a hot dog. It probably was way back when he was still a kid.

[allineedisyou]

"With the younger kids. Mostly art classes and taking care of them." There were kids of all ages and Grace was very mature for her age.

"Okay." She lead the way, bringing them around the back of the cafeteria. She looked both ways before making her way into the kitchen. "I think they're around here..."

[heavythecrown]

Jamal nodded. He supposed that made sense. Mostly. There was a lot that didn't make sense to him so he accepted the things on the fringe of it more quickly rather than questioning it.

He glanced around the kitchen and wondered briefly if they were really supposed to be there. "You know the last time I had one, I think I was probably around your age," he commented. "My little brother thought mayonnaise was a good hot dog topping."

[allineedisyou]

She went into the fridge and pulled out what looked like leftovers from dinner. Grace didn't know what it was but she held it out to Jamal.

Grace paused and looked up at Jamal. "What's mayonnaise?" She pronounced the word carefully but it still sounded very awkward.

[heavythecrown]

Jamal nodded his head in thanks before saying out loud. "Thanks." He should really stop hiding in his room now that he thought about it a child having to help him find food where if he had just sucked it up and been better he wouldn't have needed so... but then again it was nice to meet Grace.

"You've never..." he trailed off, tilting his head as he stared down at the leftovers and honestly he wasn't sure what it was either but he was hungry enough not to care.

"It's like ketchup and mustard? But it's white and... I'm not really sure what it's made out of but it tastes good on sandwiches."

[allineedisyou]

Grace nodded her head. "I've tried ketchup. It tastes funny but I don't hate it. It doesn't taste like a tomato though." She grew up in a small cottage where most of what they ate was grow just outside. There was a lot she was still trying here and Grace found most of it a little odd. Nothing tasted completely the same here and some things would upset her stomach if she wasn't careful.

"I'll ask Gus if I can try it next time. He's been letting me try new foods since I was staying here."

With food in Jamal's hand Grace lead the way back out of the kitchen. They weren't supposed to be there and she didn't want to get caught after sneaking out of the hospital wing.

[heavythecrown]

Jamal smiled, nodding. He could agree that ketchup and tomatoes tasted very little alike. "It's a bit odd that it doesn't taste anything like it, isn't it?"

"What did you usually eat?" Jamal asked, was everyone here from different places? He hadn't really talked to anyone at all but it seemed that this was probably not a girl that had grown up in the city like he had, even if it had been a somewhat different city. The reality of the recent time made his brow furrow in contemplation when he started to think too much as they moved out of the kitchen.

[allineedisyou]

Grace nodded her head in a quick determined jolt. "It is." She hadn't met anyone else who agreed but then she didn't think that the kids she worked with like vegetables like she did.

"It really depended. My neighbors had a small garden that they would sometimes give us things. Otherwise we had bread and tea and soup." Her and her father were very poor and ate only what they had. Growing up in the Enchanted Forest wasn't an easy thing.

[heavythecrown]

Jamal thought about that answer. It was a strange one. Even though he had been born into poverty by the time he was a teenager his father had made it big and there was a lot that he didn't remember from his childhood -- mostly things like food, which he was sure had been lacking.

"You didn't live in a city, then."

[allineedisyou]

Grace shook her head. "I lived just outside of town with Papa in the forest. It was a small cottage with a few others that circled the town. I got to go see the castle when there were markets but Papa would only sometimes take me with him." When he felt bad leaving her home alone.

"This is the first time I've seen a city but I haven't left this place very much. It's easy to get lost and I don't think anymore wants me to go alone."

[heavythecrown]

It didn't sound quite real. Then again, being here didn't feel quite real sometimes. "A castle... like a real one?"

Jamal gave a small nod. "you definitely shouldn't go alone."

[allineedisyou]

Grace nodded her head. "Yes. I only got to see the outside and I don't know who lives there." She knew that it was someone important who spoke to her father that dad, someone who told him to leave. She always wondered what that conversation had been about.

"I know. I'm sure someone will take me one day." She had hope and she didn't mind waiting. Grace was very good at waiting.