driftfleet | Heron May mingle

... Oh! I just came to visit. I like visiting everyone.

[He smiles a bit, not at all concerned with Erik's own concern.]

You're Erik! Right? You n' me fought together once. But you probably don't remember; I never met anyone from before who remembers.

I-- [He stops, at a complete loss. It isn't unusual for people he doesn't know to recognise him, except... this is a whole other thing entirely. He crosses his arms, for lack of anything better to do with them.]

No, I'm afraid I don't remember you. You've met me "before"? [It's clear enough, given the use of his name. It doesn't hurt to ask, though.]

Y-yeah, I did! It's a big story. I was trapped on another ship before.

You were there! You had t'use my head for balance, though, 'cus you were hurt. And then me an' you an' a bunch of other people, we had to fight someone who was baaaad. Real bad; he made the ship hurt people, before. And then the ship crashed and we lived in the jungle, and...

[He huffs.]

It's always so confusing! I know lots of people from there, but nobody remembers me.

[The mental picture this conjures is... weird, to say the least. He could write it off as a child's fantasy, if only he hadn't been through several other worlds himself. None of this actually sounds that far-fetched. Erik still has to shake his head, in bewilderment.]

It sounds like a huge story, actually.

[After a pause, he crouches down to be more on Takeshi's level.] You were in another place, and you're seeing people you knew there. That happens a lot. It happens to me as well.

[It is, man. It's a huge story, a long tale. It'd take a long time to tell it. Maybe someday, he will. Maybe on the network, he'll pass along the story, so people know. For now, he just offers Erik a big smile; like minds! He's been to weird places, too!]

You have?! Whoa!

I was getting so... um... frustrated! 'Cus nobody remembers, so they think m'just a normal kid who's got a weird brain, but I'm not! I helped fight before... Lots of stuff happened.

I have. It wasn't a ship, though. It was a castle. [At least for a while. 'It turned into a picturesque mountainfield lorded over by a torturing madwoman' wasn't something to bring up in conversation, especially this one.

He lets out a puff of breath, still trying to gauge how much of this is a child's exaggeration and how much is real.]

Most people don't expect someone your age to be fighting.

[He ducks his chin a bit, expression a cross between a pout and begrudging understanding.]

I know... But books can be different than on the covers...

M'a kid, but I know lots of stuff. I'm good at remembering things! And I killed monsters before, like the one that tried to hurt my mom... or the ones from home! [He looks up, looking determined, perhaps determined to prove himself. Which is hard to do. He's smol.] I don't got my powersuit, but I know how to use a gun! And I know how to help people...!

M'not a normal kid no more.

Edited 2016-05-30 15:44 (UTC)

[He considers all of that, rolling it around in his thoughts.]

Being normal is exceptionally overrated. [That's the reasonable thing to tell a child who fights monsters, right?]

Your mother must have been proud. Still, if you have friends here, I'm sure they would help you with any fighting that might happen. I haven't seen any yet.

Edited 2016-06-01 09:18 (UTC)

[He nods, looking thoughtful; Erik's brought up a recurring topic in his head.]

There's not a lot of fighting, huh...

I'm real used to scary stuff so much, I dunno if this place is weird, or I am...

It doesn't seem that way.

...it's easy to get used to doing things one way, even if it's fighting.

[He nods quickly, almost enthusiastic, because Erik gets it.]

It's good there's no fighting, though.

But I don't like the Atroma people. I bet they're nasty, real nasty. They might make us fight someday, 'cus that's how these kindsa' people are.

[His expression darkens, because Takeshi is voicing a certainty he feels. These kinds of beings always pit their toys against each other in the end.]

They might, yes. I have no doubt they're planning something.

[He nods.]

I was real worried about the weird thing in our neck.

'Cus the people at home put something in my head to make us do what they say... and now I think they're doing the same thing.

[He bites back his outrage upon hearing that this child has been tagged before. He hadn't thought of why he could sense a few bits of metal around where Takeshi is standing, but now he zeroes in on them. His expression grows tense.]

In a way, this has already happened. They provide us with information, so it stands to reason they can also take things away, or alter them this way.

[nod, nod

look at this mature convo you're having, man

also it's okay ignore the weird metal thing clamped in on the top of his brain, it's all good]

They're gonna for sure. The other ship I was on did it, too. It made us confused and see stuff, and it tricked us a lot. The bad guys here just play pretend like they're not awful like that, too.

[Shit. There's a hardness in his eyes for a moment before he masks it.]

They do indeed. But as long as we remember that, we can be ready for when they stop pretending.

[A nod.]

We're all real strong. They think they're way stronger, but sometimes stronger people get unlucky.

That's when the good guys win.

[Takeshi dial it back, bro, you sound like a miniature war machine.]

You can still do all kindsa' stuff with metal, huh?? You're real strong!

[Erik nods, straightening back up to stand. This is a surreal conversation.]

That's correct. [Both parts.] It's what I'm doing in here, at the moment.

[He focuses back on what Erik's doing, the child-like curiosity returning, fuzzing out the more solemn and serious tone he'd had moments before. As much as he is mature for his age, there are things children can't help. Like a sudden innocent interest in cool science stuff.]

Can I see?

You can look, but you can't touch.

[Lifting his hand, he raises a piece of metal out of the chemical bath it's sitting in.] I'm stripping them of the moon's poison.

[...! He leans in a bit, but listens. No touch.]

You can help them get the poison off?

The chemicals in here can. But it would also strip your skin off if you touched it.

[He makes a face; yikes.]

Sounds like how acid rivers work!

It's a form of acid, so yes... [Rivers, though? Just what has this kid seen in his tiny life.]

[He makes a face. Bleugh.]

I hate acid rivers.

They mess up your clothes!

Heron May mingle

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