SG RP {on a dead-ass site}

[Penny Royals]

It was the middle of April. The sun glimmered through the clouds and the scraggly tops of the trees, and snow was still melting on the grounds, building up around the walls of the orphanage.

The long gravel road leading out of the orphanage was being disturbed by a low rumbling- the kids all knew the drill by now, they had come in the same way. When a black car peered through the trees and stopped suddenly near the door, everyone would be watching to see the newest person coming in.

Richard Allen Carpenter, thirty seven years old, the 'headmaster' for lack of better word, stood at the door to welcome them. He understood this case would be very hard, and had tried to plan accordingly before she got here, to make things smoother. Ruby would have set up her room- she was very good at that sort of thing- and Mary would have had her records sent straight to her to hopefully reduce any needless bits and pieces. They were well-equipped to deal with just about anything here, he was sure of it- their staff was the best he'd ever heard of. They weren't just an orphanage. They were a family.

"Hello, Norville- is this our Natalie?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upstairs was loud. All these kids, tripping over one another to get to the best spot in the playroom, where the front windows were. Toys were strewn about, kicked away, and several kids were sniffing after having been thrown around. Grotesques were all around the room, some lifting kids, some up watching at the tops of the windows, some hanging back, playing with the abandoned toys while their children played at the front.

"Oh- it's a girl!"

"No, stupid, that's Shaggy."

"Hey, I'm not stupid-"

"See! He's right!"

"I can't see!"

"C'mere, Davie." The blonde standing at the back of the group said. The little boy ran to her, and she lifted him up with surprising strength, getting him onto her shoulders and lugging her tank closer to the window, still mindful of the smaller kids around her.

"Thanks, Ry! Oh! There is a new kid..."

"Of course there is, Silly, what didja think it'd be?" She smiled, jumping her shoulders slightly to make him giggle, gripping her head tight.

"Maybe, parents?"

"Or a puppy?"

"Or a puppy, yeah!"

[Flip]

"Aye, this is her." The man opened the driver's door, sliding out and closing it behind him. "She's not much of a talker, mind. Slept a little on the drive over, but hasn't said a word all journey, sir." He went around to the back, opening the trunk and taking out a clean, second-hand suitcase. "The ladies at the agency said that the file is in the side of this case, and not to worry about returning the suitcase, to put it in your storeroom, put it to good use." He placed the suitcase in front of the headmaster, before opening the car door. "Alright, Natalie. Here you go."

Mary stood on the ground floor, watching from a window below the children. The girl that emerged from the car was small and frail, like they usually were. She was unsteady on her feet, and Mary could already see little things that needed doing- haircut, nails trimmed, not to mention finding clothes that fit her. She sighed slightly; as much as the headmaster believed in their family, the arrival of a child always felt so bittersweet to Mary. A child arriving at an orphanage meant a child having suffered. She watched the small girl, who stood looking up at the Headmaster, for a moment longer, before starting to move things out of the way.

[Sans]

"There's a new girl?" That was the first question of the day from a particularly curious little girl with short brown hair and tanned skin - her name being Frisk. The flower nestled in the pot inside the backpack that she always wore rolled his eyes - not that she could exactly see.

"You're saying that like it matters. But yeah, I guess so." The flower commented, waving a leaf dismissively, peeking out the window from one of the few spots there was a location he could see out the window. "I'm not too excited. The last thing we need is more people bothering us. Besides, she looks way younger than you."

"You're saying that like it matters." Frisk repeated in a mocking tone. Flowey let out an annoyed sigh, hitting her on the head lightly with his leaf. She grinned before sticking her tongue out, but then continued talking to her flower. "But really, it doesn't. It's my...moral sponsibility to take care of her."

"Responsibility, Frisk." Flowey grimaced. "And no, it's not. We could just as well sit in a corner, twiddling our thumbs...and leaves...which would turn out a lot easier for everyone involved. Like, a million times easier." He shrugged. "But you're not going to let us do that, are you?"

"Nope." Frisk stated, her arms crossed. "I've made up my mind. We can't."

"Oooooof course." Flowey would've pinched the bridge of his forehead if he had hands...and a forehead. "Well. Don't expect me to be the most presentable best friend to the newbie."

"At least make an effort?" Frisk asked, stepping away from the window and the crowd. "I mean, you don't have to, but it'd probably be nice if you did."

There was a short pause as the flower adapted a mocking grin. "Golly, of course I can. I'll just give her a nice howdy-dee-howdy when she gets up here and hope she doesn't get too frightened! Shucks, I remember the last time someone new came here, they were scared out of their wits. I'm not that scary! But I'm totally open to making new friiiieeennnddss--god, Frisk, do I have to?" He frowned once more.

"You don't have to overact like that, no." Frisk giggled, shaking her head. "In fact, it'd probably be better if you didn't."

"My point exactly."

[Alastor]

Mi-Hyun sat at the edge of the window sill, looking out the window. Another kid- probably a small one, unfortunately- in the orphanage? The teenager thought that, already, the orphanage had a few too many kids- especially for a place with such small of a budget. She grimaced as she pulled the beanie over her long, dark hair more.

A small, gill-ridden creature barely slid its way through the playroom. It flopped about like a fish, despite the two arms and legs it used to move itself. The crude, green and white mockery of a man, moved its legs as it began climbing up the window by dragging itself up the wall with its sliminess. The two eyes of the fishman blinked separately as it looked out the window, gasping gently with its trout-like mouth.

[Flip]

Mary laid out precisely what she anticipated needing- a stethoscope and otoscope, two colours of pen, and a clean, pressed outfit for their new charge. She paused at the clothes, before poking her head out of her little nurses room and calling. "Ruby? Ruby, could you get me some age 6-7 jeans, please!" Mary could already tell the 8-9 jeans she'd picked up for the nine year old were going to be too big. She retreated back into the room, which was decorated with slightly off popular cartoon characters on its cream walls- something she was desperate to change, as soon as funds allowed. She looked back to the window- And there it was. A short thing, covered in mid-length beige-brown fur, which it kept pushing out if its eyes, resembling an upright mouse. Its arms were a little too short, its ears and feet a little too big, and its tail a little too long, but it was there. The girl's Grotesque. Mary nodded slightly to herself, before pulling out the small, wooden chair from its spot beneath the counter, putting it besides the short padded bed Mary used as an exam table. She then quickly washed her hands, drying them off and slipping her scrubs top, decorated with Sesame Street characters, over her long-sleeve t-shirt.

Natalie peered up at the house, past the man who had greeted them. It looked bigger than the house she'd spent her life confined in so far, with vast amounts of space outside, yet not as large as the office building she'd come from, where ladies in cardigans and bright necklaces had given her cookies and juice, and talked about her as she sat in their office, pulling apart the paper they'd given her to draw on. What had caught her attention most of all, though, was the line of faces at one of the large upstairs windows. She'd had precious little exposure to other children before, and they still unnerved her. Her focus on them was quickly disrupted as the adults above her moved slightly, making her stumble backwards and land on her bottom, mewling a quiet protestation, fearing they had made a move towards her.

[Penny Royals]

"Yes- coming, Mary!" Ruby's voice called from upstairs. The auburn-haired woman, hair tied back in a tight French twist, would come down a few seconds later carrying the pants. She'd set them down with the rest of the outfit quietly before going to the window to look out. "God. She's so small... How old is she again, Mary?" She turned to the older woman now, hand twined in the curtains.


"Hi, Natalie." Richard Allen smiled, dropping to one knee in front of the girl to be at eye level with her. "My name's Richard Allen. I've heard a lot about you, and I'm really excited to learn more. I hope that you like it here. Can I show you around?" His gentle concentration had been broken by her fall, the others moving around. He frowned at them, stern, before looking back to her with the same kind expression and extending a brown hand, lighter than the rest of his body. "Here, let me help you up."


Ry sighed upstairs as a few other kids broadcast what happened. She plucked Davie off the top of her head, setting him down. "Come on, guys- let's get back, alright? He'll bring her up soon."

Mostly she was just exhausted. She always forgot that it took a lot of energy to do things like carry a smaller kid. She needed to save that all up for the tank, anyway, but she hardly ever did. It was still hard to remember she had to do stuff like that.

She went back to her room. Well, her section of room, the other side bare. She'd been lucky enough to not have a roommate so far - she ad Mi-Hyun were both the oldest ones, and had been graciously allowed to have different rooms. They had more than enough, in this place, anyway. Though with the new kid coming, she knew they'd be coming into the room.

She'd tried to brighten it up a bit. She didn't know if they had any possessions, really, but she'd done a few little things. She'd gotten Ruby to put their bed by the window at the other side of the room, and the bedside table had a small vase with twigs sticking up, little buds starting to bloom in sugar water. She'd taken a few paintings from her side of the room and had put them over there.

She had a small dresser with clothes and makeup- all things salvaged from the house fire that took her father's life. Bandit, her Grotesque, quickly jumped up on the rubber mattress as she sat down. She smiled softly, attempting as always to pet him before her hand would phase through. She was glad for the tubes down her nose, for the most part. Only the strongest of the residual smoke got through to her as she was breathing, causing choking attacks whenever that happened. But the younger children and the adults always assured her that for the most part, everything was finally starting to lose the coppery smell of smoke. She didn't want her new roommate to be scared or made sick by the smell, either.

[Flip]

It took several long moments for Natalie to timidly take his hand, allowing herself to be helped up. Mary came over to stand besides Ruby, watching them walk towards the house. "Nine years old. Doesn't look it, does she? Not at all." She put away the few bits and pieces still left out from treating someone's cut knee earlier that day. "Malnourished, maltreated, and in desperate need of our help. You seen the case file at all? It looks like a complicated one." Her eyes followed them up the steps. "We should introduce ourselves..."

[Penny Royals]

"I saw enough, I think," Ruby replied, dropping the curtain. She started out the door, standing by it with her hands clasped in front of her pink skirt and a sweet smile as they'd come inside. "Hi! I'm Ruby- you must be Natalie."

Richard Allen smiled as he saw the ladies there. "Dr. Mary Godwin, and Ruby Duncan. Mary is our pediatrician here- do you know what that is?"

[Flip]

Mary smiled slightly as the girl shook her head. "I'm a doctor, especially for kids. I'll give you a quick check-up once Richard's shown you around, alright? Make sure we get you nice and healthy, and keep you that way."

The little girl looked entirely overwhelmed, keeping her mouth firmly closed. Her eyes wandered around the room, never really focused on who was speaking.

[Penny Royals]

Richard Allen seemed to notice, slowing down with a smile. "Here, maybe we should cool it a bit for a day. Would you like to go up to your room and take a nap? We can keep the door closed, so the other kids won't come in."

[Adlai Stevenson]

"What's that, Spot?"

Spot's paws were about as big as Leaf's head. Though he would never know an exact size, hearing him on his haunches, claws scraping down the window pane in earnest excitement, gave him as good an estimate as any. The boy, small for his age with a shock of blonde hair, stroked the ridged back of his monster, thin hand sinking deep into the layers of fluffy fur, concealing a deceptively coarse body beneath. The connection was forged, and Leaf could see her too, down the stairs, looking up at all the adults. She carried a history of fear with her; it was easy to sense well beyond sight.

"I hope she's nice too, boy," Leaf said, petting his Grotesque, avoiding its massive, all-seeing eye as he stroked its matted head. "I'm sure we'll get along."

[Flip]

"I'll check her out first thing in the morning." Mary smiled, waving gently at Natalie, before heading back into the little office.

Natalie looked up at Richard again, before shuffling from food to foot. "Uh... yes please sir, thankyou sir." The Grotesque behind her had wrapped itself entirely around her leg, face buried in the back of her knee, and Natalie had reached back to touch its head for comfort. "Thankyou, sir," she repeated. It had been an intensely overwhelming day so far, and without really knowing what was going on, the nine-year old felt wholly unprepared for what she was going into. The idea of being left alone was appealing, though she didn't realise it would be a near impossibility here.

[Sans]

Frisk stayed silent as she let Flowey gaze upon the happenings, growing naturally quiet as she always tended to do when someone new was around - despite her desire to make friends, she was consistent with one thing: unnatural silence. She bit her lip, and Flowey reluctantly let out a sigh, patting her on the shoulder. "Hey. You're not going to get hurt or anything." He mumbled, reassuring her - something he hated to do, but something he had a natural instinct /to/ do. "So why don't you go say hi or something?"

Frisk quickly shook her head, though she stood still, letting Flowey peek over towards the new child. "...She's not normal. Then again, who is around here...she looks...starved. Worse than you when you came in." He whispered to Frisk, who frowned in response. "I don't think it's anything dangerous, the adults don't seem to be too worried, but, y'know. It's something to note."

When Frisk had come in - months back now - she hadn't been malnourished. Just looked beaten up to hell and back, which perhaps was worse or better depending on your point of view. She hadn't ever explained how she'd gotten that way, and she never intended to - most people could note was that at the time Flowey was an enraged mess until he'd been put into his flower pot and calmed down alongside Frisk. Their moods did seem to shift and form in unison, despite the tiny buttercup being far more aggressive than his constant companion, making up for his lack of grotesque appearance with a grotesque personality. Still, he was protective over Frisk, and even now was still trying to calm her down by humming a small tune to keep her at ease. It was working, for the most part. It was a distraction from all the other noise, at least.

[Alastor]

The fishman grotesque- 'Mulgogi' as its owner begrudgingly acknowledged it as- quietly moved its bloated fingers at the newcomer. Its eyes flicked open and closed in asynchronously, Mulgogi's gasping for breath still being heard as it slowly opened its webbed fingers to wave at the newcoming Grotesque and its keeper.

Mi-Hyun shifted in her spot, rolling her eyes. That creepy little fishman... thing was actually greeting the new kid? Hell, the kid looked to be under ten, and fairly small at that. Maybe Mulgogi was looking for a new meal, for all she knew. Whatever, it wasn't really her problem- not yet anyway. She rolled her sweater's sleeves down, covering some of the patches of white, discolored skin scattered around.

Hopefully, this one wouldn't try to run to the mountains. The teenager had to tackle that kid to keep that from happening.

[Penny Royals]

"Alright, let's go up."

"Sir?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Do you think I could take her up? Show off her new room to her, and all."

"Well... you DID put it together..."

"And we do need to get started on dinner- it's settled." Ruby smiled at her again, hand just as gentle as she'd lead her up the stairs. As soon as the somewhat confused man left the room, disappearing into the kitchen, she sighed, looking up. "Alright, kids, gather all those up- get back to your rooms. She's shy, and she's had a long day. Don't be rude."

As soon as the steps were clear, she'd start to lead her up, slow enough to make sure she didn't fall, conscious of her walk. "You probably noticed that this place is pretty strange, huh? It's hard to get used to... everyone has a little, guy. Like yours. I promise they won't hurt."

Once at the top of the stairs, she'd glance into everyone's rooms, making sure they were there. "Everyone is two to a room... you can meet them later, at dinner, if you'd like. I know it's so, so much to take in at once... Ah, here's your room."

The room through the doorway was still rather bare, though the evidence of care from both her roommate and Ruby would show immediately- filmy curtains next to the bed, the vase, and a few paintings hanging over the bed. "I hope you don't mind. We could put a blanket over the window, if it's hard to sleep right now. This is your roommate- hi, Ry."

"Hi!" She waved, trying not to seem imposing or too eager, having heard the spiel upstairs. "Should I get out of your hair?"

[Flip]

Natalie was slow on the stairs and along the hallway, acutely conscious of the other people around, her eyes constantly wandering. It was only when she got into the room that she seemed to focus, eyes flicking from spot to spot, before settling on her roommate's Grotesque. "Cat?" There was questioning in her voice, though she quickly looked away again. "Thankyou ma'am, for my bed, thankyou ma'am." Her own Grotesque scrambled to be beneath the bed, more fearful even than she was, as she let go of Ruby's hand and went to sit on the bed.

Natalie looked out of the window, at the expansive lawn, as she scratched at her arm. She sat awkwardly,not being able to bring herself to make eye contact with her roommate. The room around her was fair better than she had come from- this was clean, and airy, appealing. The bed was soft enough, with a clean, though faded, bedspread, and there was a pillowy the head end. She wasn't entirely certain what else was hers, but the room was far nicer than she had been anticipating. Indeed, she wasn't really sure what she was anticipating.

[Penny Royals]

Ruby watched her, making mental notes. "Oh- I should go check something downstairs. Holler if you need anything, alright?"

Ry smiled softly as Ruby left. "Bandit's a cat, yes. Here, I'll leave you alone to nap, would you like that?"

[Flip]

Natalie swallowed, leaning down and fumbling with the straps on her shoes. Clumsily, she unfastened them, pulling the shoes off and having to slide off the bed to put them, neatly, at the foot of the bed. She then climbed back up and lay stiffly, flat on her back for several moments, before rolling onto her side and curling up tightly, mimicked by her Grotesque below the bed.