Lullaby. [open]

[Fabrianne Clark]

As Fabrianne cooked, she whistled a little off key tune. The burgers were nearly done anyway, and so she didn’t feel the need to make light conversation. She did, however, catch Alec’s looks at the cooking food and smirked a little to herself. Cute, he was so eager to eat! It’d been a long time since Fabrianne had ever been able to cook for someone. She appreciated the opportunity.

When the burgers were done, she decided to make Alec’s first. She took a plain bun from the grocery bag, and a paper plate. She opened the bun on said plate and then, with a spatula, she scooped one of the thick burgers onto the bun. She took the cheese and unwrapped it, placing it on top of Alec’s burger.

Then, she slid the steaming burger on its plate towards Alec gently, so the food landed right in front of him. She pulled ketchup and mustard from the fridge, putting them on the table. Since she didn’t know if Alec liked any of them, she’d let him help himself. She only had a butter knife out anyway, he couldn’t cut himself on accident with that. After that was done, she quickly put her burger together, added the onions before quickly storing them away, and took a seat across from where Alec’s burger was.

“I don’t know what kinda condiments and spices you like, so you can help yourself.” She said, putting a generous amount of ketchup on her burger. “Let me guess, you’re really hungry huh? I saw you eyeing he burgers! They feed you well in your house?”

She was peering into his mind for the answer, of course, she hardly expected him tp understand and respond in a decipherable way.

[Alec M'Crae]

Alec didn't know what to do with his burger so instead he watched her make hers, flinching at the onions when they came back out. How could she eat those without hurting her eyes? He thought his eyes were going to burn out of his head! It was so scary! The boy watched her add the ketchup and in his eyes it looked like it Yates better than the mustard, so after she put the ketchup back down he took it and tried to add on some ketchup himself. He squeezed lightly, so e wouldn't put on too much, but sadly he did out on a lot by accident and he was dissatisfied with himself. But in the end he ate it anyway. The boy put on the top bun very carefully, as if it was art, and mimicked her picking up the bun and took a small bite. Even with all of that ketchup it tasted amazing! Alec doesn't get much variety at the mental institute so this was a big step for his taste buds. A big smudge of ketchup was left on the corner of his lips and he didn't notice it and kept eating. Granted, he was polite when he ate, but he didn't feel the ketchup since he was to focused on his food. Like, it tasted A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

[Fabrianne Clark]

Fabrianne grinned at his reaction, and then quickly fought with herself to not beam while chewing. She had nice teeth, sure, but covered in beef, cheese, ketchup, and onion they looked rather nasty.

Fabrianne slipped a napkin over to Alec’s side, snickering a bit under her breath as she swallowed a bite of burger. “You got a little ketchup on your cheek.” She sounded amused, as she took another bite of her burger. This time, the onions made a slight crunching noise when she lowered her teeth.

[Alec M'Crae]

Alec didn't need words to figure out why he got a napkin. He must have had something in his face. His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, Alec scrambled the grab the napkin and wiped the ketchup off his face, but before than running everywhere around his mouth just to make sure he didn't miss anywhere. He felt so embarrassed! Alec was taught to be polite but now Fabrianna must think he's a slob because he lived at the asylum, but he covered up those toughs for a smile.

[Fabrianne Clark]

Fabrianne could still see into the boys mind, and she saw his anxiety about being perceived as impolite. She took another bite of her burger, and then wiped her face with her own napkin, the white thing becoming stained with red.

“Burgers sure are messy, huh?” She asked, shrugging her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. Hey, at least you didn’t keep it on your face like a slob!”

She ate her burger rather fast after that. It was good. As burgers were her favorite meal, she debated cooking another. But she had more important things to deal with, like finding Alec’s home. Whoever ran that asylum he was part of was likely looking for him. An escaped mental patient wasn’t a small deal. She looked into his mind again but saw no traces of the name of his institute. “So… Alec, your home. If you can understand me, can you describe it?”

It was worth a shot. Maybe he’d recognize a few words in her sentence and think about it. Even a little snippet would be useful.

[Alec M'Crae]

Alec took a moment to process what she was asking him. He heard 'Alec' and 'home', so he guessed she wanted to know where his home was, or than she wanted to take him back. It saddened him a little but he than turned his shoulder and exposed something a little small printed on his other sleeve.

Nova City Mental institute
Est. '56
1-800-672-8891

Maybe that would help her a little.

[Fabrianne Clark]

Fabrianne examined Alec’s shoulder, nodding her head. “Right-o! So, your home is that mental institute…”

She could tell he was upset. Only a little bit, saddened if anything. She thought it was sweet that this kid liked her company. So, she smiled, and after writing down the phone number, stood up and gave his hair a pat.

“Don’t be sad, hey, now I know where you live so I can come and visit you! If you’ll let me anyway, I get really lame really fast.”

For a moment, Fabrianne thought of this mental institute and what they could possibly be doing to the patients there. Were there gifted there? Perhaps. Fabrianne didn’t dwell on that, though, and dialed the number. Alec’s case was genuine, he had schizophrenia. Fabrianne had seen it with her own eyes. She dialed the phone number, and leant on her doorframe, idly fiddling with a strand of her black hair.

She grinned at Alec, though. She wasn’t sure what this institute’s policy on lost wards was. “Uhm, hello, I’m looking for… Nova City Mental institute? I found a lost patient!”

[Alec M'Crae]

"This is the place!" the older woman on the other line replied. "You found someone? Would his name be Alec, by any chance? He's the only one that tends to leave a lot on his own. Is he alright?"

As Fabri talked on the phone, Alec finished his burger and licked his lips in satisfaction. There wasn't a lot of food variety in the mental institute and he loved to try new foods. After a while of waiting, Alec took his teddy bear, dry finally from all the rain, and hugged it tight, creeping behind Fabri to try and listen on the conversation, even though he wouldn't understand them. The boy took a deep yawn, his voice cracking out of the yawn just a little, which was awfully cute, almost how a puppy would yawn. A strange person Alec was indeed, but it was impossible to hate him.