Room 524: Friday late afternoon [8-31-12]

[walkswithcoyote]

Mercy was sitting on her bed, googling remote control cars and making notes about size and battery length. She'd fired off an email to Charles with a couple of questions and had been surprised at the speed with which he'd replied. This whole project definitely was doable.


[Door and post open. Expecting a borrower, but anyone is welcome.]

Comments

[notalender]

Arietty and Eggletina took a short cut up to the fifth floor, scaling upwards through the walls. It took a little while to find a hole big enough to fit through back into the hallway, but soon enough, they were slipping through the open door of what she hoped was 524.

It wasn't easy to read door numbers from four inches off the floorboards.

"Mercy! Hi! Have you found anything?"

[walkswithcoyote]

"Hey, Arietta, hi Eggletina." Mercy waved to the two of them and beckoned for Arietty to come on up. "I think so. Come see if you like any of these cars. I think it will have to be a convertible because I'm not sure you could fit inside if they're closed up."

[notalender]

"I fit in James' with my Mum and Dad, but it was a little tight." Arietty came over and surveyed the bed. "D'you mind if we climb up your leg?"

[walkswithcoyote]

"Go for it," Mercy said. "Or I can lift you up if you'd rather."

She had several screens open on the screen with various models of remote controlled cars.

[notalender]

"That's alright, I've got it!" Arietty tied Eggletina loosely to one of the legs of the bed, then quickly scaled Mercy's leg. "What have you found?"

[walkswithcoyote]

Mercy pulled up the screens one at a time. "Well, there's this red one. And this black one. And this one, well, the yellow's pretty bright, but I think it might be big enough that you could open the door and sit inside. Um, stop me if one of them strikes your fancy."

There were three or four others that fit Mercy's criteria up as well.

[notalender]

Arietty's eyes went wide. "Oh they're all so beautiful! And you could get any of them?"

[walkswithcoyote]

Mercy nodded. "Yep. Easily. So... which one if your favorite>"

[notalender]

Arietty stared at all the pictures wide eyed. "Oh, I don't know! The yellow is so bright and happy but the black one is much sneakier. . . ."

[walkswithcoyote]

"If you want," Mercy said with a slow smile. "We could get them both..."

[notalender]

"Wow, really?" Arietty frowned. "I'll have to figure out where to store them."

Because her half of the dorm room that she barely took up any space in wouldn't be large enough for two radio controlled cars.

[walkswithcoyote]

"You could leave one or both of them here if you want," Mercy offered. "Whenever you weren't using them."

Luckily Mercy hadn't yet reverted to her usual shambles of a room. It was more or less neat with just a few piles here and there.

[notalender]

"Could we get all three, then? The red one, too?"

Man, if Spiller could see her now. . . . He'd have a fit of jealousy.

[walkswithcoyote]

"Sure," Mercy said easily. "Why not?"

She clicked through a few screens, checking boxes and filling in information.

"Okay, they're on the way here. They should arrive middle of next week, if all goes well."

[notalender]

"Computers are amazing," Arietty decided. "I wish they made these in doll sizes, too."

[walkswithcoyote]

Mercy considered that. "Some of the smartphones are pretty small. You might be able to use one of them like a computer."

[notalender]

"James had a phone. It was taller than me, when he unfolded it."

[walkswithcoyote]

Mercy nodded. "I bet. There are some that are just about your size or a little smaller. You wouldn't be able to carry it around easily, but you could probably use it like a computer - use a q-tip end or something to use it."

[notalender]

"Where do I get one? Is it on the computer, too?"

[walkswithcoyote]

"You can," Mercy explained. "Or you can get one at a store."

[notalender]

". . . Not the one where I got Eggletina," Arietty guessed. "Kenzi took me there. I haven't gotten the chance to explore many of the others, yet."

[walkswithcoyote]

"That was a pet store," Mercy explained. "All the stores sell different things."

[notalender]

"Makes sense. Do beans often keep rats as pets?"

[walkswithcoyote]

"Sometimes," Mercy said. "A lot of, um, beans, are bothered by them, but some do keep them as pets. Cats or dogs or even mice and gerbils are more common."

[notalender]

"Mice are okay, but they're really skittish. Cats are just mean." Well, they were when you were the perfect size for "playing" with.

[walkswithcoyote]

"Depends on the cat, I'd guess, but at you size I wouldn't want to take the chance personally," Mercy agreed.

[notalender]

"They've vicious killers," Arietty asserted. ". . . Though not creepier than the gremlins."

[walkswithcoyote]

"Oh wow, I hadn't even thought," Mercy said, looking horrified. "How do you keep yourself safe from them?"

[notalender]

"They're not too hard to avoid. They're mostly focused on you beans."

[walkswithcoyote]

"I've been lucky enough to avoid them myself," Mercy admitted. She could smell them coming.

[notalender]

"I thought they weren't too bad for beans? They just make you act funny for a bit."

[walkswithcoyote]

"I'm... not fond of being out of control," Mercy admitted. That was an understatement.

"I'd rather avoid them if at all possible."

[notalender]

Arietty nodded. "That makes sense. For a borrower, though, they could bite me in two."

[walkswithcoyote]

"I can see that," Mercy said. "How do you protect yourself from them?"

[notalender]

"Running away, mostly. And making sure they don't see me. I can usually tell when I'm about to be seen."

[walkswithcoyote]

Probably a useful adaptation, Mercy thought, being able to know when you were going to be seen.

"Makes sense. Maybe a loud whistle or something might help too."

[notalender]

"Wouldn't that just let them know where I am?"

[walkswithcoyote]

"I was thinking more if one was coming at you, you could blow it, maybe hurt it's ears?"

[notalender]

"Does that work?" Arietty tilted her head. "Does it work on mean beans, too?"

[walkswithcoyote]

"It might if you blew it loud enough," Mercy said musingly. "Or at least startle them and alert others that something was happening."