02 - I'll Never Eat Peas Again

[imjustpicky]

[A - Action, Mayfield Elementary]

[The new kid with the bowl haircut seems a lot less nervous than before. Today he's proceeding through his school day with a smile on his face. He'll answer questions in class, he'll sit with you at lunch, he'll even play with you on the playground, but...]

Yeah! I'll be on your team! You guys are so awful, of

Comments

B, Later C maybe?

[godisachild]

[Well you're looking the way you usually do. Pokey just nods at Picky at first.]

Hey. How's it going?

Sure!

[imjustpicky]

Hey Pokey!

[He looks up from his ball-bouncing and grins at his brother.]

It's going just fine! I like it here. Only a loser wouldn't.

[godisachild]

[Well, that gets an eyebrow raise out of him. But by this point he's encountered quite a few of the doppelgangers so far. He's not particularly happy to think Picky might be one of them.]

Think it might be a bit early deciding that since you've been here all of a week.

[imjustpicky]

Oh, Pokey.

[Picky laughs. And it sounds just like his laughter ought to.]

You can't tell me what to do.

[It's... flippant. Carefree, cheerful, the easiest thing in the world to say. He returns to his ball-bouncing, this time throwing it against a wall, and catching it on the rebound.]

[godisachild]

[That...kind of strikes him a bit. He never exactly thought of himself as telling Picky what to do so much as he thought he was protecting him. In his own overbearing, commanding way.

And it kind of hurt, to hear that.]

You wanna bet.

[Clearly this is the best answer.]

[imjustpicky]

Aw, don't get mad, Pokey.

[Picky catches the ball on that bounce, and holds it. His head gives a slight tilt, that smile never stopping.]

I'm your favorite little brother! And you're my favorite big brother! I would've written YOU a letter if I had to go away!

[godisachild]

[And then? Pokey feels a sharp sting in his stomach, before the sinking feeling sets in. He just looks at Picky for a moment, before shaking his head.]

I....

There was nothing to say. You were better off just...with what you had.

This is terrible

[imjustpicky]

[Picky trades in that too-perfect smile for a thoughtful look.]

Yeah... I guess it wasn't so bad. I actually got to have cake for a change.

Mom didn't miss you at all. But I bet you already knew that.

And wonderful

[godisachild]

[Wow pod!Picky. You sure do know how to hit the right buttons. Pokey almost visibly flinches at that, his frown widening. But it's not nearly as angry as it usually is. This one, in fact, is pretty sad.]

I-

Yeah. I did know that.

Look. I would've taken you with if I could've but I just couldn't.

It's so mean, though

[imjustpicky]

[The Minch family was not a happy one. Not by a long shot. But few damaged families actually admit it out loud. The unspoken truth finally let out to talk? It hurts.

pod!Picky seems unaffected by all of the emotion he's triggering.]

Of course. Big brother Pokey has lots of important things to do! With your mobsters. Or your giant robots. Or your aliens.

I still think it's mobsters. Is it?

It's alright, it's Pokey

[godisachild]

[He's just silent for a moment. What does he even say? He knows by now that the people he's been talking to are some kind of clone and...he needs to find Picky. The real Picky. But God.

He can't walk away from this conversation. Even if it isn't the real Picky. He can't walk away.]

....No. It was aliens.

The one Ness was fighting.

[imjustpicky]

[That... actually seems to stop the pod-Picky short. He had tossed the ball up in the air with the intent of catching it, but instead it passed through his limp fingers.]

Those ones?

[He gives a sudden all-over shake, and then chases after the ball. He has to scrabble to catch it, as it was bounce-rolling away pretty quickly.

When he turns back to face Pokey, he's back to drone-like pleasantness.]

Ha! You're such a joker, Pokey!

[godisachild]

[This is a test-run.

This is to get ready for when he has to tell him the truth. If he has to tell him the truth.

No. He does have to. Eventually. Picky needs to know. Deserves to know.

He deserves to know what kind of garbage his brother is. And to have the chance to disown him, completely.

And Pokey doesn't doubt Picky'd be happier that way. To disconnect himself from the Minches entirely, from the one person in the family who did care about him. Because Picky was the best thing to come out of that family. And he deserved so much more.]

No.

I'm not.

I was given a chance, told I had one, to compete against Ness. To be better.

And I took it.

I'm sorry.

[And he does mean that. Even if it isn't the real Picky. He's sorry to this one.

He's just sorry in general.]

[imjustpicky]

[If pod-Picky is enjoying all of the anguish on display, he's showing no signs of it. Ball in hand, he slowly closes the space between him and Pokey.]

I guess you weren't better than Ness. He beat you.

[And he laughs, just as if it was the funniest joke in the world.]

[godisachild]

No. I wasn't.

I'm not better than anything. I never was, and never will be.

But you are. And can be. And that's why I never said anything to you about where I was. Where I was going.

[Wow. That laughter hurt. He knew no matter what the response was, it was going to be painful but that was...that was more than he expected.]

oh no, Pokey T_T

[imjustpicky]

[He's still working the last of the laughter out of his system. Isn't an absent big brother's emotional torment funny?]

Aw, c'mon. You're better than dad. You're better than mom.

[...And stopped clocks are right twice a day. What does it matter, after the rest of what he said? He gives his ball another toss upwards. And then he tosses it at Pokey, lightly.]

We're both here now, stupid! Play catch with me!