๑ third encounter / sixth step ♚

[polarization]

—hand's cold. [ Plane, say hello. Today there are two people appearing at once, one possibly a bit familiar, while the other possibly a bit... tinier. Chivy has the smaller, younger boy's hand. The child, about eight or so, has a white, stuffed rabbit (with a blue lace ribbon around its neck) clutched between his other arm and chest. However, he cuts off when he sees the surrounding area, eyes going almost ridiculously wide. ]

Wh-whu—?

I told you it was cool. It's called the Plane.

[ Kid kind of drops to his knees, using his occupied arm to reach down and feel at the 'floor'. His expression and voice is half-scared-out-of-his-wits and half-awe. ] But we're not in a plane...

[Chivy bends so that they're not in a completely awkward position.] No, it's— That's just what it's called. There's people here, too.

Space people?

Not really. Well, I mean, maybe some of them. [It's tough to answer questions you don't actually know the answer to.] You can ask if we see anybody?

[ Standard boyo disclaimer applies, now with child experiment addendum! ]

Comments

[oliverplus]

[stares] He...what!? No way!

[lostandfinder]

Yeah, exactly! And I can't tell him that, he's more worried about wanting to see his parents, and he's not really all that... Seeing his parents isn't a good idea.

[oliverplus]

[makes a face, understanding] Ah...yeah.

But you said he's been here before. I haven't...oh no wait. [his eyes widen in disbelief] No! He can't be that kid, can he? The one who solved the problem with the tarot cards?

[lostandfinder]

[Chivy nods slowly]

The prickly one, yeah. He's.. really different when he's little.

[oliverplus]

Prickly. [smiles faintly] I guess that's one word. But yeah...I see he's different...

So he's from your world, then?

[lostandfinder]

Yeah. We hang out sometimes, when we're both in the same place.

[oliverplus]

[raises an eyebrow] You mean you don't live closeby? [sorry, Chivy, but you look a bit young for regular travelling]

[lostandfinder]

[If everything made sense right off, life would be boring.]

We both move around a lot, but we run into each other pretty often.

[oliverplus]

Sounds tough, moving about that much. No wonder you brought him to the Plane.

[lostandfinder]

It isn't that bad. [He'd even go so far as to call it "good", some days.] I just needed something else to distract him with, I still haven't come up with a real good reason why he can't see his mom and dad.

[oliverplus]

[frowns thoughtfully] Well, if they move about so much, how 'bout they had to go on a trip without him for a few days?

[lostandfinder]

I don't think they move around, he just hasn't seen them in a long time. I guess I could still say they're on a trip.

[oliverplus]

Wait. He moves around, but they don't? How old are you two?

[lostandfinder]

I'm seventeen. [Which is perfectly old enough to wander aimlessly, thank you.] He's usually like... fifteen or something.

[oliverplus]

[frowns] And you're on your own?

[lostandfinder]

A lot of the time, sure. It's not that bad.

[oliverplus]

Yeah, but... [but it's really not his place to pry, so he lets it go with a sigh] Do you have a place to stay for now, at least? While he's...small?

[lostandfinder]

Yeah, we've got somewhere to stay. We were sharing a room before this happened, anyway.

[oliverplus]

Okay, that's good. Do you need any other help? I mean...I don't know how long this sort of stuff lasts.

[lostandfinder]

Keeping him busy, maybe. If I come up with anything else I can always try finding you.

[oliverplus]

Okay! I can keep him busy for a while on the Plane, at least.

[lostandfinder]

Thanks. Hopefully that'll be the worst thing to deal with.