trans_9 | Meet-n-Greet

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Meet-n-Greet

After being released from stasis, having the slime removed from their bodies and clothed in the creepy, pulsing leaf-suit that everyone wore, and being taken to the Weapons & Possessions lockers to collect their belongings, the new arrivals would find themselves standing in the Observation Deck. Round windows lined the fleshy walls, revealing the bright display of lights that was inter-dimensional travel. They would also discover that there were people--members of the command staff and crew that had woken earlier--waiting for them.

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"Yeah, she's here. And she hasn't changed much either." He looked around, trying to see if he could spot Claire through the crowd. "Just keep your eyes peeled for that ponytail of hers. Or an explosion," he joked. "Either way, she should be easy to spot."

"Right." Sherry could pick Claire out of dark room filled with zombies. A well-lit room filled with regular people should be a piece of cake. Well, should be, anyway. Sherry pursed her lips and looked around, when a sudden thought fought its way to the forefront of her mind.

"...Do you think she'll be mad I don't have her vest anymore?" she asked quietly, trying to quell the fear rising up in her chest as she looked over people she knew her parents would have classified as Do Not Go Nears. "All my little box had was my headband."

Leon chuckled a bit and shook his head.

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart. She won't be mad at all." He really couldn't see Claire getting mad over clothes. "It's not your fault anyway."

"I guess so," Sherry agreed, looking out over the crowd of people like a tiny meerkat from her Leon perch. "I just don't like that I don't have it, after I promised to take care of it." She'd also promised to take care of her locket, too, but that was neither here nor there. It wasn't like her mother could come back from the dead and give her a talking-to.

"I can't see her from here," she sighed.

There were a lot of people there. It seemed the crew kept growing by leaps and bounds.

"I think, given the circumstances, you're forgiven. Now..." He raised her up higher, turning her in his arms some so that she could sit on his shoulders. He started to wade into the crowd. "...that should give you a better view. You let me know when you spot her."

~~And she better not get any gum in his hair.~~

Okay, she was officially on the best perch ever. As they waded into the crowd, Sherry tried to keep her mind off how weird everyone looked. Uniform space/plant/tentaclemonstersuits aside, everyone just seemed to be a little off her normal radar.

Then again, zombies had been off her normal radar, too. At least these people weren't trying to eat her alive. Sherry shook her head and looked through the crowd again, when she finally saw Claire.

"Over there! Over there!" she cried and pointed (it's rude to point, Sherry), "Claire!! Claire!!" Sherry waved her hands frantically.

~~Just wait until they find some hairbows, Mr Kennedy.~~

Claire was making her own way through the crowd when she heard a voice she'd recognize anywhere calling her name. It seemed fairly impossible, since Sherry should by all rights in her late teens by now, but she stopped all the same and looked in the direction of the voice.

It took her a moment to locate the little girl perched on Leon's shoulders, but when she did she stared in stunned silence for a brief second before turning and making her way through the crowd towards the pair.

"Sherry!"

Once Sherry pointed her out, Leon waded through the crowd to make his way towards Claire. Thankfully, it wasn't too crowded, so it didn't take long.

"Ok, I know I said wasn't going to bring home any more pets but just look at her..." He lifted Sherry off of his shoulders, making it easier (and safer) for her to launcher herself at-- and subsequently latch on to-- Claire.

"She's so cuuuute. Can we keep her?"

And latch she did, clinging to Claire like she was a lifeline. Though it had only been a few days since she'd seen Claire, she was different, too, the same way Leon was.

But that didn't matter. Claire was here now and that pleased Sherry immensely. She looked up at Leon and grinned a little bit and then looked up a Claire. "Please keep me?" she chimed in.

Like Leon, it had been over seven years since Claire had seen Sherry, so the reunion had that much more poignancy in the older woman's mind as she hugged Sherry tightly to her.

Her expression wavered slightly from relieved happiness to concern very briefly when she glanced up at Leon and it hit her that Sherry still looking as she had when they'd been in Raccoon meant the little girl had been in this place at least seven years longer than either of them. She brushed it away quick enough, looking down at Sherry and grinning a little at the puppy dog look on her face.

"Oh I suppose we've got room for one more."

His glance in return was equal parts I know and I have no idea. But it was definitely Sherry. He wasn't sure how he'd explain how she was connected to him and Claire, but he'd worry about that later.

"I promise I'll feed her and walk her and everything!"

Sherry grinned back, and turned to Leon with her eternally curious look. "You're not going to put a bell on me, are you?" It wasn't like she'd go too far away from them, provided there wasn't anything really scary around.

Most of the people on this deck looked normal except... Sherry held tighter to Claire as her attention span went from Leon's face to the dinosaurs just a few short steps away. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing except a squeak came out.

Claire smirked at Leon before her attention was diverted by the squeaking noise Sherry was making and she looked down at the girl, before following her line of sight.

"Oh, don't worry about those guys," she said, turning back to Sherry and giving her a smile. "Stacy's got a pretty strict no eating other crew members' policy."

"Yeah, you'll be fine. Besides, I'm the chief of security on board, so you won't have to worry about anyone messing with you."

"I thought you were a police man," Sherry said absently, still staring at the dinosaurs despite Claire and Leon's efforts.

Claire noticed Sherry was still staring and turned a little to break the girl's line of sight from the dinosaurs. She then looked over at Leon, not really having anything to add on the subject of Leon's big important titles. It was his place to brag about that if he so chose, anyway.

"I still am... it's part of that whole long story I need to tell you."

Staring contest with the dinosaurs ended by Claire, Sherry blinked a few times and frowned at him slightly. "You can tell me now, though. I'm all ears." It would be better, anyway. She'd had enough shocks and strange occurrences ~~tentaclothes, why?~~, what was one more to the pile.

"Not here," Claire answered. While she doubted anyone else would find their conversation particularly interesting, you never could tell who might be listening in. She threw one last cursory glance around before looking back at Leon.

"We can probably head out, though."

Leon looked around, seeing most of the command staff in the area. They probably wouldn't need him.

"Yeah, we can leave."

Sherry nodded and held on to Claire's hand, and looked up at Leon. "Okay." She paused and worried her lip for a second. "Where are we going?" It was the tip of the iceberg as far as questions went.

"The Precinct?" Claire hazarded the guess, glancing over at Leon. It was the most logical destination, anyway. Unless of course Leon really wanted to show Sherry the Vatican.

"Yeah." It was out of Stacy's listening range, and afforded enough privacy from anyone else on the crew. Not to mention Leon all but lived there.

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