Everyone loves Lulu.

Who: Lullaby and Charlotte.
When: Noonish.
Where: Close to Charlotte's house.

Charlotte had spent a good chunk of the morning unpacking things, though they were mostly done now. She had a few boxes hidden in her closet that she was still procrastinating on, but as long as her mom didn't go snooping in there, she'd be fine. So at the first possible opportunity, she set out for a walk. Valen had to convince her mother that it was perfectly safe to do so, of course, but for once, Charlotte and Valen were on the same side! Creepy. Or at least it would be, if Charlotte didn't know that Valen was desperate to get her out of the house more often so that he didn't have to deal with her as much.

So she set out west on Ridge Street, doing her best to open her mind to any and all of the animals around her. It was a lot more than she was used to, and she found she couldn't open herself up to too much at a time, or it made her head hurt. She wanted to find that cat, though. She tried calling out, mentally, when she could, but she still didn't even know if anyone would actually be able to hear that. Her mom didn't know about this kind of stuff, there wasn't anyone she could actually ask. So, she was just going to have to learn by trying.

Lullaby was out taking a walk, heading down towards the lake. Sure, it was kind of a cruddy day outside, but she was a native. Cruddy weather was the most common thing there was. If you couldn't handle it, you needed to live elsewhere, and Lulu was a trooper. She also had had a lot on her mind of late, so she'd wanted to go for a walk. She was actually passing Isaac's house and considering stopping in, though in the end she opted not to. She did see a girl her age though, or around there, and she waved and smiled.

People seemed friendly here. Charlotte waved back and gave a small smile, wondering if she should say something. She still wasn't entirely convinced that had been a good idea with Kaysen. Something had definitely gone wrong there, she just didn't know what. She felt the need to assume she'd screwed something up, but again. Figuring out what was proving difficult. "Hi," she tried, though she attempted to sound as casual as possible in case she wasn't actually supposed to stop and talk to her.

"Hello." Lullaby said in return, signing. She was careful of her hurt hand, which she'd taped her pinky and ring fingers together, but ditched the splints. They were clumsy and just drew too much attention for her liking. Therefore--gone. Tape was fine, and so long as she wasn't an idiot and using her left hand accidentally with signing, she was all good. "I haven't seen you around before, are you new?" she continued in her strange, quiet-toned voice.

The signing surprised Charlotte a little bit, but she hoped she didn't show it. That would have been mortifying. She nodded in response, wondering if this said something about Marquette. Am I that obviously new? Am I going to stick out at the beginning of the school year? "We just moved in yesterday." she said, turning to point at her new house. She was careful not to turn away from her while she was talking, though - just in case.

"Oh! You must be well off. This is one of the rich-streets." Lullaby said in an easy, friendly sort of way. In Marquette, there were really only a few streets with the stupid-nice houses, and they wre just up the street from everyone else's. Not a whole lot of richy folks in the area. But this was one of them! "Nice to meet you, I'm Lullaby, you can call me that, Lulu, or Thia if you want, your choice, I answer to all of them."

Charlotte blinked, not sure how to respond to the first bit. Luckily, this girl seemed perfectly happy to keep right on talking, Charlotte the opportunity to not try and figure it out. "I'm Ch-... Charlie." Well, Kaysen had said it was cooler. She'd try it out. She felt a little silly for the slip-up, though. "Or Charlotte." Okay, so it was going to take some getting used to. "Do you live around here?"

"Um, not really here-here. I'm way over there." Lullaby said, making a vague wave off in the direction Charlotte's house was, but indicating a lot of roads away. "I'm a local though." she said. "So, welcome to Marquette, Charlie." she added with a warm sort of smile.

Charlotte smiled back, feeling a bit more relaxed already. "Thanks." she said, trying to block out the images of two squirrels fighting in a nearby backyard. Wow, was that going to get distracting. She knew there was a way to shield herself from it, in theory. She just hadn't figured that part out. "What grade are you?"

"I'm gonna be a Sophomore." Lullaby said. "I'm sixteen. How old are you? You look around my age, think we'll be in the same grade?" she asked. Lulu was nothing if not friendly. And she liked meeting new people. She was all over the place lately.

"Sixteen. Seventeen, in a few months." Charlotte answered. She wasn't used to people this bubbly, but that didn't mean that it bothered her. "I don't know what grade I'm going to be here, yet. Junior or sophomore." Hopefully., she added silently. "I'm kind of stuck inbetween right now."

"Aww, well I hope you're in my grade." Lullaby said. "Where are you from?" she asked curiously. She also kind of wanted to know if the girl wanted to go for a walk around or something, but wasn't quite that forward just yet. But probably soon.

"Auburn Hills?" Charlotte half-answered, half-asked, wondering if she knew where that was. The only people that tended to know it were people that watched basketball - and Charlotte certainly wasn't one of them. "It's not a far drive from Detroit."

Lullaby looked appropriately clueless, and she smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, I have no idea there. I'm a here-girl though, so I haven't been many places, and the rest of the world is alien territory. Scary, scary place the rest of the world. It's all weird and unfriendly." she said, teasing.

Charlotte giggled a bit, though she didn't have that much experience herself. They'd taken vacations when her dad was still alive, but not after. "It's one of those passing through cities that people don't think about a lot. We got a lot of sports stuff, like the Lions and the Pistons are there, and concerts. I never actually went to any of it though, so I don't think I'll miss it." She would have liked to go to concerts, but the only person she had to go with was her mom. So not going to happen.

"Ooh, concerts." Lullaby said with a bit of an envious sigh. "I wish we had those. We don't really though. We're too little. The only time we get anyone is like, the state fair, and it's usually really random people or acts that aren't quite popular anymore? Oh and sometimes we get stuff at the Upfront, but I'm not old enough to get in, so that doesn't matter."

Nodding, Charlotte just pretended she knew what the Upfront was. She'd catch on in time. "I never really got to go to anything in Auburn Hills, anyway." Her mom took her to a few radio concerts when she was about thirteen, but a lot of the people that had played had become one-hit wonders. She didn't miss those. "It seems really nice up here." Aside from the two squirrels in her head that were going insane. Trying to ignore them too much brought that pressure back to her temples. Great.

"Well then hopefully you won't be too bored with the lack of excitement around here." Lullaby said. "Mostly we have community stuff like, food fests at Lower Harbor twice a year, and the fireworks, and stuff like that." she explained. "Wanna go for a walk with me if you're not busy? I was heading to Lower Harbor anyways, and it's not far."

Charlotte was surprised at the invitation, but pleasantly so. "Sure! I'm still learning my way around town." She was good with directions, though. Had never been lost in her life. Her mom said that was normal for earth elementals, though Charlotte wondered if other elementals didn't get cooler perks.

"Cool then, this way." Lullaby said with a pleased little lilt to her voice, and she continued in the direction she'd been walking. "Sorry if talking's harder with walking, but if you talk loud enough and I can kind of hear and I'll pay good attention." she assured Charlotte.

Charlotte looked over to her, not really worried about watching where she was going. She hadn't been planning on asking, but, well, Lulu had brought it up. "I was kind of wondering." she admitted, trying to talk louder for her. "I didn't know if you just read lips, or what." Was that okay to say?

"I can hear a little." Lulu said. "But I've only got around twenty percent of my hearing, so I miss a lot. I'm not completely deaf though! So if you speak loudly, I can hear alright. The rest I read off of lips, or signing of course but you look like you don't know that. Most people don't though, so it's fine!"

Smiling sheepishly, Charlotte shook her head a bit. She made sure to watch Lulu though, just in case. "We were supposed to learn it in girl scouts? But I quit during brownies." she admitted. She hadn't really gotten along with any of the other girls, and her mom had wanted her to take it more than she'd actually wanted it herself.

"You know I never did that? The girl scout thing, or anything like it. I always kind of wanted to though. I guess maybe I was a little tomboy though. I mean, my best friend's a guy, and has been since we were little. What kinds of things did you learn in brownies?" Lullaby asked curiously.

It might have been okay, Charlotte had just never gotten to know the girls in her troupe. "Um... well, we had a bake sell, and we learned to make brownies. The book said we were supposed to learn a bunch of nature-y stuff, but our leader was a lot more the 1950's housewife type."

Lullaby laughed a bit. "How to be a housewife, start learning when you're a little girl." she said. "Nice way to stifle the dreams of children everywhere, huh? Or I'm just being harsh, maybe. Maybe it was cool and everything, and later they were going to break out the survivalist ninja skills."

Charlotte grinned and giggled a little. "It was really lame." she said, shaking her head. "I didn't like it. I wanted to go on hikes and canoes and stuff. Instead we learned how to sew and cook."

"See, that's what I would wanna do too. Outdoorsey stuff. But then I'm from here, where there's like, outdoors everywhere. If you don't like outdoorsey stuff, then you so moved to the wrong place. There's really nice hiking trails all over though, maybe sometime we could go for a hike. There's Sugarloaf Mountain, we could always go there, it's really pretty up on the top when it's fall and all the leaves have changed." Lullaby said. "I'll drag my friend Journey too, and maybe some other people if you wanna meet them! There's my boyfriend Joshua you should meet too!"

Whoa, overload. Not a bad overload, but still. Charlotte blinked in surprise and smiled again. "I like outdoorsey stuff." she confirmed. I was kind of born for it. "And I'd love to meet your friends. I'd really like to know some people before I start school. What's Sugarloaf Mountain?"

"Sugarloaf is just like, this little mountain, I guess. There's stairs up to the top, and a trail you can hike up the back. It's a climb either way, but worth it! Not too high or anything, but one of the higher points around. You can see for miles and it's in the middle of the woods, so all you can see is like this huge sea of trees, then the lake stretching out after that." Lullaby explained.

"That sounds awesome." Charlotte said, blinking in surprise. Yeah, she'd never seen anything like that before. Auburn Hills had a few pretty hideaways, but nothing like that. The closest she'd ever seen was when she went skiing with her mom.

"It is! There's some really awesome beaches too, like if you don't mind going for a drive. I mean, there's pretty beaches right in town too, but I like the more hidden ones. They're a walk through the woods then you hit beach, and like no one is there. It's really fun to go out and bring a tent and have a bonfire. Which hey, I should set up before school starts and it gets too cold. Would you wanna go if I did?" Lullaby asked, mind turning again. If it was a big group of them, nothing bad would happen, right?

God, she was friendly. That was good though. It left Charlotte less room to worry that she was doing or saying the wrong things. "Sure!" she answered, immediately. "If it'd be okay with your friends. I've only met two people here so far - Isaac and Kaysen? They live across the street from me."

"Oh, yeah! St. James. I know them. Or, well, Isaac better. Kaysen's in my grade, but she's kinda a loner, and stuff." Lullaby said. "Isaac's got a band, though. Oh hey, he's actually playing Sunday, do you wanna go? You could meet people there too. Might be a good way to meet a bunch of people without having to wait for school and all that stuff."

Is that what Kaysen's problem was? It didn't seem like it. People had called Charlotte a loner before, but she didn't have the beaten dog paranoia that Kaysen seemed to have. Charlotte's face went a little pale at the thought of going to see Isaac's band. She would be terrified. "Are you sure?" she asked, putting her hands in her pockets so she wouldn't chew on her thumb nail.

"'Course!" Lullaby said brightly. "Why not? Isaac said I should go, and he didn't say anything about not bringing friends. That and I keep hearing it all over, so it's open invite. C'mon, it'll be fun."

It was a good idea, even if Charlotte knew she would be scared to death. She gave though, slowly nodding. "I'll go." she said. "I just need to know when and where. My mom will let me take her car if I ask." She'd probably be thrilled.

"Oh, really? That's cool. I don't have a license. I can get one, even with the hearing thing, but my parents are kinda squidgey about it. I might try sometime, but it kind of makes me nervous too. Higher range things I can't hear very well, and so I couldn't hear a siren. I could see the lights, but that won't help if I don't see them til they're right on top of me, y'know?" Lullaby said, shrugging. "But you with a car...hot commodity. Most of us don't have one."

"I wonder if you could get anything special." Charlotte thought outloud. "I mean, I saw on TV that people can get those little lights that go off when doorbells ring and stuff? Maybe there's a travel version or something." She said, not knowing how else to say it. God, she hoped that wasn't offensive. At the thought of being a hot commodity though, her cheeks went a little pink. "My mom just wants me to meet people. She'll let me take hers if it means I will. It's either encouraging or bribery, but either way, it works."

"Oh, I've got those." Lullaby said. "I don't have them on all the time, but there's a light that flashes in my room and stuff when someone knocks or rings the bell and I'm home alone." she said. It was difficult to offend Lulu, and she didn't seem the least bit now. "So, cool then! Cars are good! We'd need one to go out to Sugarloaf, I was just figuring I'd bribe my parents into bringing us." she said with a little laugh.

"I could drive." Charlotte offered. She felt a bit better about leaching onto Lulu if she could at least do something helpful. "I could give you a ride to the band thingy, if you want." Which would mean that Charlotte wouldn't have to show up alone, which would be wonderful.

"That'd be great!" Lullaby said. "Sounds like a plan to me. Do you have a cell phone? I have one though don't try to call me on it, just text me. I think it works on computer stuff too. The AIM thing? So if you have either you can do that. Or if you call my house, you can talk to my mom. I can't hear well enough on it to be very effective though, sorry."

Charlotte didn't have a cell phone, though her mom had been on her case that she needed one. Charlotte argued that she never went anywhere, so what was the point? Weird to think she might actually need one. "I can get a hold of you over the computer, if that works. They came and hooked the cable up this morning. Or I could use my mom's cell." She felt a little embarrassed, having to use her mom's things though.

"Whatever works!" Lulu said smiling. "I'm just a pain." she added with a self-teasing sort of tone. "But I'm worth it, I assure you."

Charlotte grinned a bit, feeling better again. Lulu was nice, and she didn't seem like she had it in her to tease Charlotte about anything she was insecure about. Which was good. "You're not a pain." she laughed. "I'm just glad that people are so nice here."

"Can't throw a rock without hitting someone nice." Lullaby said. "It's part of why I like it here. I mean it's small and boring, but I like the people. Those alien cities I mentioned are scaaa-rry!" she said. "Hey, you're nice. I've been giving friends and stuff necklaces, you want one?" she asked, slipping that in now. Which might have been weird, but Charlie here seemed like good people, so why not.

Charlotte had been about to ask if Lulu knew why Kaysen had such a rough time with people, thinking the perspective would be very helpful, but then the offer of a necklace totally threw her off and she forgot about it. "Really?" she asked, blinking in shock again. "I mean, sure!"

Lullaby smiled the paused their walk to look through the ones she had in her purse. she went through a couple before she chose one. Holding it up, she held out a gold toned celtic cross that had carvings across it. "Is this one okay?" she asked. "I hope you don't mind crosses. If you do, I can get you a different one no problem."

Smiling brightly, Charlotte shook her head. Crosses were good. Crosses were something she could wear without her mother going OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU WEARING IS THAT SATANIC?! So, generally, very safe and happy. "It's really pretty." she said. "Does it mean something?"

"Um...I think it's celtic." Lullaby said, then laughed. "I'm not sure if that means something special by itself or not. But it's pretty! I'm glad you like it." she said, sounding pleased. If she liked it, she'd be more likely to wear it.

She would. Charlotte didn't actually have any jewelry. Her dad had given her a ring when she was little, but she'd long since outgrown it. She kept it hanging above her bed now. Charlotte slipped the necklace over her head and examined the cross up close, liking the look of it. Yes, this would definitely be safe territory with her mother. And it was different from other crosses. It felt older. Earthier. "Thanks! I wish I had something to give you."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Lullaby assured her. "I'm a present giver. Just come hang out and all'll be well!" Well that had been easy. Maybe this whole giving people things wasn't as crazy as she thought.