no.0001

[glasgowgrin]

[The child steps onto the starry plane, blond hair swishing as he looks around and blue eyes blinking as his mind adjusts to the strange, unfamiliar sight. The scars on his face stretch his lips into a faint smile, but he doesn't exactly appear to be pleased. He says nothing until he spots the Kiosk and wanders over, speaking only to the machine to receive the brochure. He stands still and reads the paper for about ten minutes before it's folded up and shoved into his pocket.]

Whatever. [That's a mumbled comment.] But I won't say no to free food, as long as it's not poisonous. Haha! [That part is louder, and accompanied by a grin.]

[The boy walks. His first destination is the Kitchen, where he digs through the fridge for something he thinks he might like and plops himself down in a corner to eat. It's good enough. He grumbles about how "Chris" still makes better food than this and frowns himself for a few seconds, but after stuffing a sandwich into the backpack he carried, he returns the dishes to the sink and sets off again. His grin is bigger.]

So this place is just a big stretch of nothing, right? [He looks excited, once having arrived at a spot on the Plane that isn't too close to any of the locations. He sets his backpack down and rummages into it with a mischievous grin on his face.] Then that means I can do whatever I want without Sickle or Chi stopping me, haha!

[Minutes later, the sound of explosions rings across the vast nothingness. It's a fairly large, strong explosion, accompanied by the ringing laughter of a child who is having way too much fun letting bombs go off in a place he just arrived in.]

Comments

[inhumanity]

[Christopher was napping in the field of flowers in the forest. The sound of bombing wakes him. Thoughts flit through his head, but this is the Plane, so it can't be Rail. Someone else?

Christopher prepares to withdraw his weapon as he exits the forest and heads towards the bombs in the distance. The sounds and lights broadcast the position for miles. Humming, he gets closer.

And he sees a little figure like a doll, a figure that he knows.]

. . . Rail?

[He is so shocked to see Rail here that he doesn't even have a ramble for it.]

[glasgowgrin]

[When Chris arrives, Rail is ecstatic. Not held back by wind or building or trees or humans, the explosion is bigger than he's ever seen it and the blast from it pulls more laughter from his lungs as his ears ring from the noise. But he hears that voice over all of that anyway.

He turns around quietly and his mouth falls open a little when he sees it. Red hair red eyes sharp teeth.]

... Chris?

[He isn't dead. That thought is loud in his head. Christopher is alive. He knew, he knew it, take that, everyone, he told you so! His mouth stretches into a big smile.]

Christopher!

[inhumanity]

[It's nice to see Rail so happy. It's nice to see him laugh like that. It's nice to see that smile.

But despair guts Christopher in that single second of shock and surprise. It's nice to see Rail happy, but this place is an experiment. Rail needs to get away.

His lips widen to bare his teeth, and the expression is the image of a grin.]

Even though it's all right for an adventurous child to go out exploring on their own, it doesn't seem right that you've greeted me with anything less than a, 'How happy I am to see you, my favourite friend!' And even if it isn't true, you should say it anyway, because then it will become true, or I'll become happy for believing it, and that's the same thing.

[As Christopher talks, he bridges the gap between them. Christopher stops before Rail and places a hand on the young homunculus's head.]

How long has it been since we saw one another? Decades? A century?

[glasgowgrin]

It's been a year! [Rail read that part, about the experiments. It irritated him (it actually scared him, but he pushed it away because he had been alone and needed to be able to think) but all that goes away when Chris is in front of him and he knows Chris' hand is on his head.]

Where've you been, Christopher! We didn't know where you were for ages! [He doesn't say how some people were ready to believe Chris was dead. Sometimes, the Lamia made stupid assumptions.] And of course I'm happy to see you but you have to answer me first because I'm mad that you disappeared for so long!

[inhumanity]

[Christopher laughs, not fully realizing what Rail means.]

You sound like you're just looking for an excuse to be angry at me. If you wanted to know where I am, you should have just asked Sham or Hilton.

[glasgowgrin]

Haah? What're you talking about, we did ask! [He puffs out his cheeks and glares up at Christopher indignantly, although there is absolutely no malice behind the look. He thinks Chris is teasing.]

I just asked Liza and she said Sham and Hilton hadn't seen you since that time you went to New York!

[inhumanity]

[Christopher has much the same impression, though now he assumes the joke is on Liza's end. Rail gets a hair-ruffle for his troubles.] You should know better than to listen to the things Liza says. I've never even been to New York.

Could this be some kind of logical trap? Christopher hasn't been seen since he went to New York. Is the statement true because I've never been to New York? I'll ask Chi the riddle.

[glasgowgrin]

What are you talking about? You went to New York with Chi to work with Tim, and then you got into a fight and... and then you told Chi to go ahead, and you never showed up again!

[Rail looks... hurt. He was worried. He was sad. He was scared. Christopher had disappeared. Christopher, Chi said, had lost. And now he's back and now he's not taking him seriously.]

[inhumanity]

[Christopher pulls back and crouches down. His hands fall to Rail's shoulders. He looks him closely in the face.]

Liza is telling you malicious lies. I'll be right beside Chi the moment I go home.

[vengefulagent]

[Agent Washington is in the library when he hears the explosion. It surprises him only for a split second before he's on his feet and running out of the building to locate where it had gone off. This is why he's been trying to establish a security taskforce. An attack on the Plane has been inevitable!

Very quickly, he spots the smoke and--a child? He can't see him clearly, even with his helmet on.] Hey kid! Are you okay?

[glasgowgrin]

What?

[So accustomed to the sound of explosives, Rail can easily catch the voice even over the din. He wanted to watch the current explosion until it faded, but he turns a little to see where the voice is coming from in order to figure out who it is, at least.]

Are you talking to me?

[vengefulagent]

[Wash continues forward, the different systems in his helmet and suit going off like crazy because of that explosion. However, the noises and alerts are things he's used to, so he focuses on the kid. Though...now that he's getting closer? He's becoming more and more confused by what he's seeing, but first thing's first.] Yeah, I am. Come with me before you get hurt!

[glasgowgrin]

...

... ... Haha! Are you worried about me, mister?

[This is the first time anyone's voiced concern like that.]

Haha! That's interesting, mister.

[vengefulagent]

[Wash just...stares for a moment.] What...? Of course I am! Why are you laughing? Near an explosion is no place for a kid! [Or anyone else without a highly protective suit for that matter, and even then, there are vulnerabilities to it.]

[glasgowgrin]

Near an explosion is no place for someone who doesn't know how to handle it! You wanna see?

[vengefulagent]

[Which is exactly what he thinks about this kid. But at the same time, he's pretty flustered by that attitude. It's the last thing he's expecting.]

What? No! [But as soon as he's said it, he's doubting himself somewhat. Maybe he misheard the explosion and it isn't as bad as it sounded? After all, even fireworks have quite the bang and sound bigger than they are. ...Nah. He can't even get himself to believe that.]

Why don't we step back a bit and talk about this, say, over there? [He thinks the kid wants to watch another explosion go off from a safe distance, and that safe distance happens to be a good fifty or so feet away.]

[glasgowgrin]

You make it sound like I'm in need of an intervention or something, don't you think you're misunderstanding something here?

Are you scared of bombs?

[otherness]

[Holy mother of darkness. Roxas arrives just in time to catch the noise, and he takes off running toward the source. Most people would be running away, but Roxas doesn't know what common sense is. That much is obvious.

He's dressed in a long coat with some victorian frills, and he wields a particularly funny-looking sword that seems like it was wrenched out of a clock.]

What's going on!? Is everyone okay?

[glasgowgrin]

[Whoa what the heck is that? A sword? Or did this guy just come running from robbing a particularly weird-looking clock tower? Either way Rail turns around and looks at Roxas with a rather confused look before he realizes ah that is right. He was blowing up bombs and ~normal people~ freak out to that.

Well, those reactions are hilarious too.]

There's nothing wrong! It's just bombs, don't freak out so much!

[otherness]

['Just' bombs?] Usually explosions mean trouble! [He looks over Rail.] But... you don't look like you're hurt.

[glasgowgrin]

Why would I be hurt? Haha! Why do people always assume bombs are trouble? I mean you could use them for trouble but it's not like the bombs did anything bad to you.

[otherness]

[... this kid is weird even by Roxas' standards. Or maybe he's a normal person. It wouldn't the first time Roxas didn't comprehend how people worked.]

Well, when a group of kids throw them at you constantly, you kind of get that idea.

So, the bombs... are yours?

[glasgowgrin]

Maybe you did something to deserve it!!

[Rail will toss bombs at you even if you don't.]

And, well, I'm the one who bought them, so I guess they're mine.

[otherness]

No way! I was just there looking around! I guess they like to go around playing pranks on people, but throwing bombs at someone can hurt, y'know.

[YOU'D BETTER NOT, HE'S GOOD AT KNOCKING THEM BACK NOW.]

I guess that's okay. Just don't hurt people with them, all right? The people here get hurt enough because of the experiments.

[glasgowgrin]

Well, I guess it does hurt when they blow up in your face. But I have protective gear and nobody's thrown any at me yet... whups, I shouldn't say that or someone might try now, won't they? Haha. [He grins widely. He hopes not. Who knows what this place would do to him in those experiments they mentioned. If they're connected to That Man...]

You're treating me like some cruel person! If I wanted to hurt anyone I wouldn't go through the trouble of coming all the way out here. Don't worry!