014 ~ [Action]

[soreplaceable]

[It was late last night when Ion was taken from the village, and it had been done so quietly it might have been impossible to know he was gone if his bedding hadn't been thrown around the room.]

[But he wasn't gone for very long, as it's less than a day later that Ion returns to the village sometime in the early evening. At a glance, he might just

Comments

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[cluelessflower]

[ Sophie is ... wandering around when she spots him.

And she's confused as to why he's just sitting there, doing nothing.

So she stares at him. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[Well, Ion was doing nothing until Sophie came along.]

[Now he's not doing nothing: he's staring back. And that is clearly something.]

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[cluelessflower]

[ Oh, oh, he's staring back.

Which only confuses her more because clearly he is able to move so why is he just sitting there.

And she stares, cocking her head to the side a bit. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[He doesn't know why he's sitting here either, but it's all he's ever known how to do at this point.]

[Ohh, but head tilting. That's new. Let's copy that, yes.]

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[cluelessflower]

[ ... And now he is copying her. Which warrants even more confusion!

... So she tilts her head to the other side - to see if he'll copy that as well. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[Oh, she turned to the other side. What he supposed to do the same? He didn't really know, but if copying her before produced a reaction, maybe this would too?]

[Mimicking again.]

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[cluelessflower]

[ Oh god he did it again!!

She takes a step back now, still keeping her eyes on him, staring. She looks almost surprised. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[There is no look of surprise on Ion's face, as he sets his head upright and just stares back, slightly confused. Did he do something wrong?]

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[cluelessflower]

[ She stops looking almost surprised, and goes back to her pure poker face again. She is confused, too, but he isn't talking and so she isn't sure if she should.

So more staring at him. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[He's not sure what "speech" is at this point. He'd probably have to be spoken to first before he could start picking things up.]

[Staaaaaaaare.]

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[cluelessflower]

[ She kneels down now, so that she's eye level with him.

And continues to stare. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[There's no reaction as she gets closer. Even though he's never seen someone like her before, he has no reason to be afraid. He's never felt fear before, after all.]

[So he just keeps staring.]

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[cluelessflower]

[ She stays there on her knees, staring right across at him.

Not. Moving. At all. Not even a blink. ]

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[soreplaceable]

[For a minute Ion wonders if he should try the same. So he does.]

[...b-but keeping his eyes open for too long without blinking hurts. After a minute or so, he shuts his eyes tightly and reaches up to rub at them.]

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[cluelessflower]

[ Oh, he did something different now!

And Sophie continues to stare for a moment longer, cocking her head to the side juuust slightly-

And then she ends up copying him now, shutting her eyes, and moving her hands to rub them in a similar way. ]

[action]

[soreplaceable]

[The stinging only lasts a moment or two before he cracks his eyes open again, peeking back at Sophie between his fingertips. She was doing the same thing... did her eyes hurt too?]

[He doesn't lower his hands yet, watching and waiting to see if she does something next.]