Speak up
- Locked due to inactivity on Nov 29, '23 3:54am
Thread Topic: Speak up
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(That’s what I assumed lol😂)
Nikolai followed Nat into the kitchen.
“You have a cute little sister,” he said, grinning at the little girl, and her smile for even bigger. -
*got even bigger
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Nat chuckled at that, and set her sister on the ground. Xiao emerged from his room, looking tired. He glanced suspiciously at Nik, then back at Nat.
'Who's he?' Xiao asked, gesturing at Nikolai.
Natsuki signed "my friend," then turned back to Ming. "Why don't you go play with your LEGO?" Nat signed, earning an excitable nod from her sister, who sprinted to her room. -
Nikolai grinned, not knowing what Natsuki said.
“Hi, I’m Nikolai,” he said, holding a hand out.
“Hey Nikolai,” he said, shaking Niks hand. “I’m Xiao.” -
Xiao was still a little suspicious, and looked back to Nat, who was leaning against the counter, watching the the two of them speak.
'Did anyone follow you here?' Xiao asks, lowering his voice, just loud enough for Nik to hear. Nat shook her head.
Xiao paused, then said, 'Does he know you're...' he trailed off, looking back to Nikolai. -
“What’s going on?” Nikolai asked softly, looking at the two. “What’s wrong?”
Xiao sighed. “How do you explain this?…” he said, partially to himself. -
Nat raised his eyebrows at her brother and signed, "He knows I can't talk, but he doesn't know about our parents."
Xiao sighed, checking his watch, then looking back up at Nikolai. 'I've gotta go to work, cya guys,' he said, and walked straight out the door. Natsuki glared at the closed door for a moment then looked back at Nikolai, an apologetic look on her face. Obviously, she was mad at her brother's rudeness. -
“I- um…” Nikolai said, not really knowing what was happening, but he could see that Nat was mad. “What was that?”
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Nat pursed her lips, wondering how she could explain. She then pulled out her phone and typed an explanation.
She wrote: Our parents died a few years back. My brother's an adult and by law he can take care of Ming and I, but the foster agency doesn't like that and keeps trying to get hold of us. We wouldn't be allowed to stay together, or see each other again. We've spent a while in hiding, and fortunately, Xiao's job pays well, but he's always a bit too cautious.
It took her a few minutes to type all this, but when she was done she passed her phone to Nikolai and hoped for the best. -
Nikolai took Nats phone to read the story, and his jaw dropped as he read it.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, handing the phone back to her. -
Natsuki just shrugged and put her phone back in her pocket. She turned around, partially so he couldn't see her eyes glass over and partially so she could grab the biscuit jar from the cupboard.
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“How can I help you guys?” Nikolai asked. He felt bad for her and wanted to help, but just… didn’t know how.
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Nat shrugged again, setting the bar on the counter and opening it. She wiped her eyes furiously, gritting her teeth.
She took out a biscuit before offering one to Nik. -
Nikolai took the biscuit, and took a bite out of it.
“Well your family seems really nice,” he said, taking another bite. “At least, better than mine.” -
Nat tilted her head at him in confusion. Her brother had been quite rude to him just before, if Nik's family was somehow worse than that...
She gestured for him to continue.
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