(Untitled)

[hero_support]

A young girl with blond hair and a red dress carefully trod through the Nexus. She'd heard plenty of this place but this was her first time here and, as such, she was going to stick to being cautious. Finding the main area - the sign clued her in - she glanced around at the people around her before clearing her throat politely

Comments

[ekkusu_light]

There's an X, out playing hide-and-seek with Phantom. Phantom is winning.

"People change, Roll-chan. But if there's something about it that worries you, maybe you should try to find out what caused the change."

[hero_support]

"But if it is a good change or a bad one is what worries me. And someone already mentioned looking for people they met and asking them for insight." Then she frowned a tiny bit, puzzled. "I'm afraid you have me at a bit of a loss, you know my name but I don't know yours."

[ekkusu_light]

Ooops. X blushes a bit at that, but lying to Roll just Is Not An Option. "I, um, think you should ask Dad about any younger siblings you don't have yet... I'm X."

[hero_support]

Roll blinked, then smiled cheerily. "X! I've actually heard about you, Mr. Variable~" Not much, but enough that she wasn't at a total loss.

[ekkusu_light]

X actually manages to blush worse at that. "Yeah, I'd be an alternate, of course. But that happens a lot here."

[hero_support]

Roll giggled at the blush. It was too bad she hadn't been able to slip that upgrade to Rock with his others, but there was always next time~

"So I've come to find out. But like they say, hearing about something and seeing for yourself are two different things."

[ekkusu_light]

X nods. "I guess it's a good thing my big sister postponed her trip to the Nexus Mall because of the Mars Landing, or you might have run into her today. And it's strange enough getting used to alternates without meeting yourself right away."

[hero_support]

"Oh, it couldn't be that bad. And even if it is, better to get the worst over with then to sit around and worry about it. Avoiding problems doesn't help after all! Not that that keeps Rock from doing so, the dolt."

[ekkusu_light]

"Is it Rock that you're worried about?"

[hero_support]

"Ahhh, yes, he is. He's been acting different then he usually does."

[ekkusu_light]

"You mean different than he used to? If he's been gone for a while, ten it's not really a sudden change. It can just seem that way since you weren't around to see how it happened. Did he come here? I know of two Rocks besides my brother, though I've only met one of those."

[hero_support]

"Yeah. But a change is a change and something had to happen to cause it. These things don't happen for no reason, or just because it's been a while. And he did come here. Do you think he's the one you've met?"

[ekkusu_light]

"Sometimes just being here too long is something, Roll. This place, well, if you didn't adapt to the weirdness you'd go around brainbroken all the time."

"He could be. It can be hard to tell for sure. The Alphas call the other one Huggy Rock sometimes for some reason, and the last time I saw him was when he came to see Phantom."

[hero_support]

"X. He's started washing his own dishes. I've been trying to get him to do that for years - he's gone for two and a half and I don't even have to mention it. It's not like I'm ungrateful or anything. It's just not like him. And that's only one of the differences."

"Alphas? Phantom?"

[ekkusu_light]

X knows how strange Rock doing dishes is. It had come up when he was only a few days old, and Blues had noticed Roll was already teaching him to wash his own in order to prevent a repeat. But... "Roll, if he was here for two and a half years, he wouldn't have had you to wash the dishes for him. At home, he would have known that if he left them long enough you'd do them, even if you wanted him to. But here, he wouldn't have had any choice but to learn, or find someone else to clean up after him."

X just blinks that she's puzzled about the Alphas. "Cut, Ice, and the others? And Phantom, well..," X blushes again. "He's mine. He's a little over a month old now. I was playing hide and seek with him," X pauses and looks around, and then shrugs, "but he's winning."

[hero_support]

"He had a family watching over him, but I don't know if cleaning up after himself would have been a habit they've gotten him to learn. And even if it was, he doesn't have to do it now."

"...the others.." Roll frowned, but it was gone in a split second and she was blinking at X. "Yours?" Maybe he hadn't noticed and she could distract him with other topics.