First Game of Tag

[innocentreplica]

[ For those on the phone, all that can be heard is the sound of the telephone banging around, it's user unused to the technology. Then, a child's voice comes through pretty loudly, sounding frightened. ]

Anise! Pamela! Oliver!

[ And suddenly, he sounds like he's trying to find the right words for whatever he wants to say as he continues to shout into

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[discoinfernorz]

[why so much yelling this week augh. he actually thinks it's Hanna at first and peers into the house to check things out. of course, he notices an absence of screaming Hanna and creepy drone Mari pretty quickly, and the latter can only mean one thing.

UP THE STAIRS HE GOES TO INVESTIGATE. the source of the noise is pretty easy to locate, what with there only being one unoccupied bedroom.

...what is up with the newcomers hiding under things.]

You're quite the loud one too, aren't you?

[innocentreplica]

[ Because yelling gets attention pretty easily. If he had firecrackers, or even knew what they were, maybe he would've done that instead. Who knows.

Wide green eyes peer up at him from under the bed, and the kid looks caught between bolting out to cling to him and hiding further. He meets himself halfway, peeking his head out a little to stare at the older boy, and looks appropriately abashed.

He hesitates for a moment, trying to find the word he'd been taught. ]

...Sorry.

Can I go back to Daath now?

[discoinfernorz]

I'm afraid not.

[if he has to give the trapped-in-mayfield speech to another idiot hiding under furniture this week...]

Why don't you come out from under there and we can have a proper talk? I'll explain things to you. [so you don't keep screaming at the phone like a loon or magically find those fireworks to set off.]

[innocentreplica]

[ You know it's the higlight of your week.

Nonetheless, after a minute of staring, he crawls out from under the bed and ambles awkwardly to his feet. Still getting used to this walking and talking thing.

This person isn't yelling or demanding or even vaguely scary, so he figures it's okay to do as he asks.

He steadied himself, fingers clutching the end of the shirt he'd woken up in nervously. ]

I won't read the Score.

[discoinfernorz]

[just...gives an inquisitive look. weird kid is weird, showing up and rambling about scores for whatever right off the bat.]

All right, don't read it then. Come, let's get something to eat and we can talk outside. It's far less stifling than it is in here. [beckons tiny childthing to follow! not that he really waits for him either way, already turning to head back the way he came.]

[innocentreplica]

[ follows wordlessly! but not without stopping to curiously grab at, well, everything. by the time they actually reach wherever their going, he's got two or three photos of the family on hand and looks ready to burst with all his questions.

at least he seems calmer. ]

[discoinfernorz]

[YEAH just popping by the ...refridgerator box on the floor and pulling out some hippie food like apples and whatnot aw yeah.

once he gets all nice and settled next to the perpetual campfire he'll beckon small childthing over, not even bothering to ask why he's taken it upon himself to collect all of their creepy pictures on the way out.]

All right. [CLEARS HIS THROAT and begins to recite the Welcome To Mayfield Sucker speech] The city you're in now is called Mayfield - a city in America, supposedly. You can't leave. [just gonna leave this open for questions (and thusly doom himself) since he can't be arsed to explain everything ever.]

[innocentreplica]

[ Stare.

Stare.

Stare.

Glance curiously down at the fire.

Look back up and stare some more. He's good at staring.

Headtilt a little. ]

What's a city? And America? ..And those? [ Pointing at the apples now. Curious replica is curious. ]

[discoinfernorz]

[gdit, one of those people. he's pretty good at maintaining a cheery facade at least.]

A city is a gathering of humans, larger in scale than a village. America is the name of a country. [small pause; yeah the question is going to be asked, isn't it.] A country is an area of land that's been claimed by a group of people. And these are apples, a type of fruit. [hands one over, bright smile and everything. man you are lucky he found you before Kanna did.]

Here, try one.

[innocentreplica]

[ patience is a virtue, hao. ]

So it's like Daath, the capital? With a 'ca-the-dral' and everything? [ takes the apple, and holds it up by the stem, spinning it around to examine it curiously. shiny. ] Even though we're stuck, we can go outside like this, right? I don't mind being stuck if I'm not gonna be locked in a room again. [ that might be a pout. he doesn't want to be left like that again. when it came down to it, florian hated being kept in that room more than he did being forced to read the score. at least now he could run around and play. ]

[ Hesitantly, he bites into the apple.

This face forever, man. ]

It's really good!

[discoinfernorz]

[just...going to nod. maybe if he uses less words, less questions will be asked. brilliant.]

You can stay outside as long as you like. [seriously he doesn't care. florian could live at the park with a small bunch of squirrels and he'd just smile and shoo him off.] Just avoid the drones; whoever acts like they've lived here their entire lives.

[HERE since you like the apples, have another for a future snack.] Aren't they? Help yourself to the ice box whenever you get hungry.

[and then he's just going to do that... creepy staring thing he does sometimes.] ...You know, I've met someone who looks like you once before. [they didn't act the same at all, though, and that was so long ago it took him a while to realise this kid looked familiar.]

[innocentreplica]

[ more apples. this is awesome.

..okay that is not so awesome.

at the mention of someone who looks like him, he freezes for a moment, then frowns. not a pleasent subject for any of the replicas. ] You might have met the original Ion. Or maybe the replica Ion. Was he scary and smiled a lot?

[discoinfernorz]

[hrmmm looking up at the sky in a show of thinking. he wouldn't have called Ion scary, but that is probably because they agreed on so many things and they both fall into the unhinged-and-grinning category.]

He was a little grumpy, but he seemed like a perfectly fine person. [...yeah, grumpy was a good substitute word for someone who goes around gutting trees and apparently other replicas.] I have a feeling he would be a difficult person for the humans to understand.

[innocentreplica]

[ His frown deepens, and there is a light shake to his hands now. thanks, hao. florian now looks frightened at the mere memory of the boy. ]

Then that Ion was the original one. I don't remember him much 'cause I was created after he got sick, but he was.. [ He stops, trying to thinking of the word. It takes a good minute or two, and he's fairly sure he pronounces it wrong. ] very frightening, even though he was always smiling. He liked to hit people. And he made Three stop moving.

[ Blink. ] Are originals and their replicas different from humans?

[discoinfernorz]

['made three stop moving' goes over his head for a tic until the kid mentions other replicas; well this was something the 'original' Ion never mentioned.

he's just going to... not reply to that part about Ion being a ball of terror since the poor kid is pretty freaked out already, and anything he'd say on the matter would probably only add fuel to the fire.]

They might be. It's been a long time since I've talked to Ion, I don't recall much about your world or him outside of the mutual distaste we held for the human race.

[innocentreplica]

[ he relaxes at 'a long time'. so the original wasn't here then. good. he was in no danger of being punched through the freakin' stomach and leaking red everywhere. ]

You don't like humans?

..Anise is human and I like her. She took me to Daath and gave me a name. And she plays tag with me.