[A: Action; Locked to Housemates]

[Cain is in the front room, carefully taking down the Christmas decorations. He's got a wide smile on his face, even if there's a slightly wistful look in his eyes as he winds up tinsel and packs away baubles.]

[B: Around Town (Open)]

[On the way to the store this morning, Cain was enjoying the crisp weather now that the town was no longer in the grips of a deep freeze. He's kicking a stone idly as he walks, making a game out of trying to land it on a certain spot each time, when he accidentally kicks it a bit too hard.

--SMASH--!!

It's gone right through the window of a nearby building. Maybe that was your house? The shop you work in? Or maybe you just happened to see the incident and want to laugh at the horrified expression on Cain's face?]

[C: Phone (Open)]

New Year is a time for resolutions in a lot of places and, though I've never made them before, I thought I would this time. So... here we go. I resolve to greet everyone I meet here and make new friends, as well as grow closer to the friends I already have. I resolve to help everyone make it through anything this town throws at us, as well as do my part in finding a way home. I resolve to dye my brother's hair pink at least once this year, and I resolve... to have resolve, to keep looking forward and not let anything break me down.

Do any of you have resolutions? Big or small?

[A: Elementary School (OPEN)]

[What is that sound floating out over the playground at lunch? It's piano music, just basic tunes being repeated over and over again from the open window of the music room. Cain has retired there to study the books that Charles gave him, tireless in his pursuit of being the very best at whatever task was set to him.

Every time he makes a mistake, he repeats that part of the piece over and over again until it's flawless. Anyone at all is free to hear his attempts or tell him to shut up.]

[B: Around Town (OPEN)]

[Tis the season, and all that... It's Cain's first Christmas where he'll actually get to celebrate, instead of watching all the colonists exchange presents while never being part of it himself. He's been saving all the pocket money that his drone not!mother had been giving him (until she got replaced yesterday), as well as the money he got for doing odd-jobs for his friends. So now he's out and about shopping for gifts.

Do you work in any of the stores? Then this blond haired boy might just be peering over the counter with a bright smile. Are you wandering down the street aimlessly? Feel free to bump into Cain as he carries a stack of boxes too high to see over... because clearly that's just asking for trouble.]

[C: Phone (OPEN)]

[Did you order a rousing pep talk by a ten year old today, Mayfield? No... shame, because it's coming anyway.]

Christmas is coming soon... Maybe you celebrate something else in your world, or maybe you don't celebrate anything at all, but here... I think they'll have Christmas. I don't know if anything will happen, but...

Even if it does, and even if it hurts us, we can't let it break us. We have to keep our eyes forward, and we have to stick together. As long as we look out for each other, then we can change the future to whatever we want.

[D: Home (Locked to Housemates)]

[It seemed like he was the first one home, which was a little odd after the drone!Esther housewife who had always been there to welcome him in and tell him to do his homework before dinner. Which, consequently, led to the thought that there was no dinner... Astha didn't seem the type to make a meal for the family based on what he had seen, Rachel had already shown she believed cooking beneath her, and he didn't want to die so Abel was out.

Therefore, whenever anyone else gets home, they might find the youngest non-drone member of the household stood on a chair by the stove. He's pouring over one of the recipes Esther had left behind, not being allowed to go and find any more of his own, and is carefully adding things to a big bubbling pot.]

[A: Mayfield Elementary School: OPEN!]

[It was important to get back to normal, Cain knew that deep down. Now that he had a new future to obtain, a new goal, he could be patient once more. He couldn't make waves, and he refused to let those who run this place see how much they had hurt him. So he was smiling once more, calm and collected, just as if the nuclear fallout had never happened.

He's sitting in the yard at the lunch break of the elementary school, peering into the sandwiches his drone mother had packed for him and making a face. Waving down the first person - child or teacher, he's not fussy - that he saw, he gave them a wide grin and gestured to the wrapped food.]

...Excuse me, do you like peanut butter? Would you like to trade, by any chance?

[B: Around Town: OPEN!]

[After school, Cain didn't hang around. He didn't want to be away from home any longer than was necessary, and was almost running back through the streets towards the house. Unfortunately, this meant he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and in his hurry he tripped over a loose stone on the sidewalk.]

--AHH!

[With a squawk, he went down and all his books went flying from his bag, scattering all around to blow in the wind. Darn.]

[C: 1649 Albright Lane: Locked to Housemates]

[Now with a freshly ripped hole in the knee of his pants (that his drone mother was sure to chide him about later), Cain was rushing in the front door. Red cheeked from the chilly wind and the almost-run home, he looked about eagerly.]

I'm home!

[D: Phone: Locked to his friends (If you have talked to him once, this applies to you!)]

[He still hadn't calmed down inside to really think about the plight of anyone else who had been trapped in that nuclear wasteland. But... this was an important step to regaining normalcy.]

--I know I saw some of you during... Are you all alright?

[E: Phone: Locked to Clark Kent]

[This was the hardest call he had to make, and for a long time he merely sat in silence. He still felt a twist of visceral rage in his gut when he thought of how Clark had helped separate him from Abel, but he couldn't be seen to be holding a grudge. And so eventually he speaks, voice contrite.]

Mr. Kent, it's... Cain. I'm really sorry for how I acted, I know you... You were only doing what Abel asked to try and keep me safe and I... I'm so sorry. My behaviour was shameful towards anyone, let alone a friend, I hope... you can forgive me.

[A: 1648 Albright Lane; Locked to all Housemates]

[Cain is in the kitchen... or what now looks like a disaster zone. The young clone has flour all over him, batter in his hair and a huge derp grin on his face. It still felt so freeing to do something so messy and non-productive, it made him feel almost like he was doing something forbidden. He's reading a recipe book intently, dirty utensils and a disaster zone of mess surrounding him.]

...So, is it eggs next?

[B: Phone]
[Filtered to Iceland]

We spoke in the park about your friend... is he alright now?

[Filtered to Mikiya]

[He's been worried about his friend, with all the madness that's been going on with people eating bad mushrooms recently.]

Things have been a little strange again recently, are you alright?

[OPEN TO ALL]

I hear that Thanksgiving is approaching and, as this is a town in America, we should be celebrating it, right? I haven't celebrated it before so I'm quite looking forward to it, it's just another reminder of the differences between all our worlds.

I wonder, would you tell me what some of the celebrations are where you come from? Maybe we could celebrate those too, here?

[C: Action]
[The Pharmacy; locked to Holland]

[Cain has been saving the little allowance he gets given, as well as doing more odd jobs for various people around town, and has bought a bicycle with his earnings. There's a ribbon ties around one handlebar and it's now propped up against the window of the pharmacy, as Cain waves to the man who works inside to come out and have a look.]

[1649 Albright Lane, 1128 Taylor Road, 848 Goldberg Street; locked to Trisha, Clark and America]

[He has been honing the skills Clark taught him, and what better use was there for an apple pie than to cheer up someone probably still feeling wrong-footed from being dragged here. Trisha had seemed so worried about her family, it might make her feel a little better to know someone was thinking of her. So Cain is at the door with a box in his hands, knocking politely.

Later on, remembering how much America had liked the apple-pie and wanting to thank him for inviting him to the barbecue the other week, Cain decided to drop another one around there. Knock knock!

And finally, Clark deserved to see how his student was progressing, didn't he? Here comes Cain with his third and final pie.]

[A: Phone; Private to Diana Ethelbert]

I think it's time we called to order the first meeting of the... hm. We still need a name! Then it's doubly important we have a meeting.

[B: Action, all around Mayfield; Open to All]

[Cain knows that his time here is precious, not just for seeing his brother happy finally, but because it may be the only taste he gets of freedom. Not that he will truly let himself believe that... even after being confronted with all the evidence of his future, there was a part of him that refused to believe it would happen. Especially now he knew about it, he was intelligent, he would find a way to stop it from coming to pass, because any other option just wasn't conceivable.

So in the interests of making the most of his time here, he's made himself a list of things to do, and he's spending this Sunday doing them. At various points in Mayfield, people might see a small boy trying (and mostly failing) to fly a kite, wandering into each shop and asking politely to sample each of the wares, and climbing trees. It's during one such endeavour that he's got a bit stuck, swinging his legs from a branch and looking down at people as they pass by.]

Um... excuse me? Could I have a hand, please?

[ooc: For anywhere around town, it can be anywhere! If you want your character to be in a shop or diner or anywhere, just say where in the subject line :3]

[A: EVERYWHERE IN MAYFIELD (Action; open)]

[Cain had risen early and left a note for his for his family on the side: GOING OUT. BACK LATER. CAIN. So now there was a small ten-year-old boy, muffled up in a scarf and coat, knocking on every door. He sounds bunged up with a cold, but he's smiling enthusiastically at whoever answers. Could it be you?!]

Good morning! Do you need any odd-jobs doing? Or any chores? I'm trying to raise some money for a present for my family.

[B: Phone and Home]

[After a long day, Cain is sat at home with a blanket around himself and several packages by his side (presents for the family) on the couch. He's shivering and sniffing, he's never been ill before so this is a new experience on him and he's not sure what to do with it. While he's waiting for his family to come back home, he picks up the phone to ask for advice.]

What are you supposed to feel like when you have a cold? What do you do to make it better?

[Phone and Action (Albright Lane) Open to all]

[Cain is outside his house, raking the red and golden leaves that have fallen into a large pile, he has pulled the phone out of the door with him as far as the cable will stretch, holding rake in one hand and balancing the phone awkwardly in the other as he works.]

Falling leaves are so strange, it's sad in a way because it's like the trees are dying. But they're not really, they're just going into hibernation for the winter. And the leaves fill other purposes too; they make a mulch that feeds the ground when there's not much else there, they give materials for animals to make warm places to stay in the cold, and...

[There's a pause, as a grin breaks out over his face and he drops the rake on the lawn.]

...they're perfect for jumping in! YAHOOOOO!

[And suddenly there's scattered leaves all over the lawn again, as Cain rolls over laughing. This place and the situation may not be the ideal, but he was an optimist by nature and he had never had the chance to roll in leaves before, he's damned if he'll waste the opportunity now.]

I hope some of you will come to join me, or tell me about other fun things to do in this season! What are your favourite ways to pass the time? Now that I have the opportunity, I'd love to try them all out.

[A: Private to Abel]

[Enough was enough. His chest hurt with the last couple of weeks, knowing his brother was here and yet being alone all the same. It wasn't right, it was painful to endure, and he had come to the end of his patience with it. He thought Abel would seek him out; after all, he was apparently the elder now and with all the knowledge of what was to come, it had been his words that had hurt Cain in the first place, and... Cain had just really thought his brother would come through for him.

But apparently Abel was immature at ten or ten thousand, and so it was up to Cain to make things right between them. He had waited until everyone else in the house was engaged in their own tasks, and then gone to the lounge where the 'father' of the house was sitting. He had avoided the same room as his brother since their argument, and even now his heart was thudding hard in nerves that this would end in the same way. Poking his head through the door, he took a deep breath.]

Abel..?

[B: Phones / Open to all]

I know there are a lot of academics here; students at the schools, those assigned to teach them, and those with just an interest in knowledge. The subjects taught to the year groups are very fixed and don't allow for exploration, and I wondered if there were any systems in place for learning outside the schools.

With all the people represented here, it seems a shame that we can't learn from each other. I know I would love to learn other histories and skills, and I'm sure I can't be the only one.

If there are others who feel the same way, who think they want to learn or could have something to teach, why don't we try it?

[A: Lounge - Abel and Cain]

[Cain and Abel have been left alone, smaller brother still clinging to the taller one like a limpet. He knows he should let go, but this is so confusing and there is an ache in his chest that says all is not right between them. It's wrong to see his brother and not look into an identical face (albeit set in a scowl), it's wrong to see distress and grief in his eyes when they meet, and he wants it to go back to how it should be.]

...

[B: Kitchen - Rachel, Esther and Nanako]

[Having left the two failures alone the three girls have adjourned to the kitchen, where everything is set up and ready for the perfect mother to cook and clean for her family.

Or something like that.]

[C: Phone - Open to All]

[Some time later, after the emotional rollercoaster of that talk with Abel and still somewhat shell-shocked, Cain has come to himself enough for it to sink in there were others trapped here like them, and if they are all going to be working together then they needed to get acquainted. So there's a young boy's voice over the telephone, sounding calm and friendly. It's just a shame the background noise is less soothing.]

Ah-- Good evening, people of Mayfield. My name is Cain Knightlord and I've just arrived, along with most of the others in this house. Miss Alucard was already here; but the other new people are Abel Nightroad, Esther... [He didn't get her last name, so there's a small awkward pause.] ...and Nanako Dojima. I won't bore you with questions, Miss Alucard has been kind enough to explain most of what we need to know, but--

[What he says next is lost, as there comes a feminine screech from the kitchen, ranting something about 'housewives' and 'lazy priests making their own breakfast'. There's a crash of something heavy and squawk, before finally Cain's voice is audible again.]

--so I'm sure you'll agree with me. If it's not too much trouble, we'd love to get to know you all in return, so please don't be strangers.

[ooc: Part C is open to all and might be responded to by everyone in the house (Cain, Abel, Esther, Nanako and Rachel.]