(Untitled)

[atinyremnant]

New people wander into the Nexus all the time, but most of them aren't little kids

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[thecaptivefreed]

...

.........

....................

Give him a second.

He blinks. How old must his alternate be, for one of his remnants to be so small? "I-- don't know. You are not in the reality you know of. This place is called the Nexus. You will likely be able to go home."

[atinyremnant]

Everything past 'I don't know' probably just went over the kid's head.

Probably because that was enough to start him crying.

[thecaptivefreed]

Erm. Crying child. He knew almost nothing about child-care. But he had, recently, been taught to hug.

Though the child was smaller than Zack or Angeal, he decided to see if he could make the hug work, proportionally, by going down on one knee to try to hug Kadaj. "It is likely that you will be able to go home." The tone is sympathetic, at least.

[atinyremnant]

Hugging Kadaj, however, requires getting hold of him first. And the poor thing's so terrified, not recognizing this Sephiroth for who he is, that he promptly attempts to bolt with a very frightened noise, though all he manages to do is trip over his pants again.

[watchingsparrow]

There's worried-looking man walking with long strides towards the child. But coming closer, he slows down, frowning.

No, this is not the child who's in his care. A splitting image, yes, but... Younger. And the silver hair is shorter.

He's still concerned, though. This boy looks just as scared and lost as his adoptive son did when he first came here. So he walks up to the boy and crouches down.

"Hello," he says, both sounding and looking quite friendly. "What's your name?"

[atinyremnant]

The friendliness is likely the only thing that prevents Kadaj, too-long pants or no, from turning and bolting back into the relative privacy of the Sign's shadow. He still looks quite wary, though, and does take a little step back, stern words replaying themselves in his head - don't talk to strangers, don't tell anyone who you are, be a good boy or else, and his lip quivers for a split second as he looks down and rapidly shakes his head.

[watchingsparrow]

The same fear. And lab clothes. Even though Casper can feel his heart breaking at the similarities, and a furious anger at whoever it was that harmed this boy. And who it was that had harmed his boy. Maybe it was the same person.

Even with all this going on in his head, he keeps it bottled up inside for now. Outwards, he's just a relaxed and friendly guy.

"Okay, do don't have to say if you don't want to. But I'm wondering if maybe you know someone I know. A boy just a bit older than you by the name of Sephiroth."

[atinyremnant]

The name gets a tiny startled noise out of Kadaj, but the rest of it is wrong. His Sephiroth isn't a kid. His Sephiroth is tall and strong and all grown up, and so, so protective of him and his other brothers. And he's sure he's worried his Sephiroth to no end by getting lost like this, but that's beside the point.

He shakes his head again, scuffs a foot uncomfortably against the floor and manages. "...Brother's all grown up."

[silver_avatar]

The ruckus, such as it is, attracts Kadaj's attention and he wanders over, only to freeze at what he sees.

No way. This is not fair! Why do there have to be more alts of himself?!

[atinyremnant]

Thankfully, this little Kadaj is too little to brainbreak at alternates quite yet.

That may also be partly because he doesn't recognize this as being an older him.

So his older alternate gets a kind of shocked 'are you my brother?' face.

[silver_avatar]

Kadaj looks away, expression annoyed for a moment, then his expression smooths out before he turns back to the little one. Crouching down nearby, but not too close to scare him, keeping his voice gentle when he speaks.

"No, I'm not your brother. I'm a...friend."

[atinyremnant]

Now there's a pout and a distrustful look, little hands curling unhappily into the worn out hems of too-long sleeves and worrying at the cloth.

"Why do you look like my brother?" He sounds like he isn't sure what to think of this.

[damnedstray]

Haine first took notice of the little boy when he was clinging to the sign due to his sensitivity to children. He can't help but to snicker, yes snicker, when he trips over his pants though. The albino lifts himself from the comfort of a couch and moves over to him, pace slow and disposition relaxed. He might come off as annoyed though.

"You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy."

[atinyremnant]

Kadaj looks horribly confused. Or, he would look horribly confused if he wasn't quickly backing away.

[damnedstray]

Haine sighs. Right. He stops in mid-step and eyes him, noticing things in the boy that other children don't have. "Shit," he mutters under his breath and rubs the back of his head with his hand.

"Look, kid, I'm not going to hurt you."

[atinyremnant]

Kadaj doesn't look like he believes that for even a split second, just taking more steps back till he trips and falls flat on his ass, whimpering in fear.

[critical_medic]

"Awww, are you lost?" Leave it to one kid to immediately notice another kid in the Nexus. Sari Sumdac peers at Kadaj, obviously sympathetic to his plight. "Who are your brothers? Maybe we can help you find them!"

Unfortunately, by "we" she means herself and her giant robot escort. Not allowed into the Nexus by her lonesome, Sari is being accompanied today by a twenty foot tall, red and white Autobot medic. While he can crush cars with his bare hands, Ratchet has the potential to be quite gentle. ...that part of him is just tough to notice given his size, his battle scars and his somewhat grating voice.

"Trying to find anyone in this place is like trying to find a needle in a haystack at times. His brothers might not even be IN the Nexus, Sari."

[atinyremnant]

Kadaj looks highly uncertain at Sari, but at least he isn't trying to get away...yet.

All bets are off, though, when he sees Ratchet.

He screams and dives under the closest couch.

[critical_medic]

"Ratchet, you're scaring him! Sit down or...or something!" Sari says before trotting to the couch and getting down on her hands and knees.

The medic rolls his optics and parks it as carefully as he can, sitting down away from the couch in a cross-legged position. "Yeah, 'cause this'll only cut me down by about half, here."

Peering under the couch, Sari blinks at Kadaj. "Hey, it's okay. I won't hurt you. He won't hurt you, either. Just 'cause he's big doesn't make him mean!"

Actually, it's Ratchet's attitude that makes him mean sometimes. Size has nothing to do with it. At least he generally has a soft spot for youngsters.

[atinyremnant]

Too frightened now to even think about coming out, Kadaj inches farther underneath the couch, shaking his head rapidly and not meeting Sari's eyes. It's probably obvious by now that he's much more jumpy than he ought to be.