walkersystem | 1 ✶ action/audio

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1 ✶ action/audio

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[No no no no no no. No. That's not her mom. That's not her mom, and this isn't the airport, and it's another nightmare, it has to be. What else could it be? It's a dream and it's not her dream and that means she's trapped.]

[Anybody in New Bark will likely catch the sight of a little girl slowly backing away from the house she'd woken up in with wide eyes before breaking into a run and coming to a stop next to some trees to dig through her backpack. Except it's not her own backpack. And the things inside aren't what she wants or needs them to be.]

[Which is a big stressor to a kid who has no idea what to do.]

Audio, later:

Hello? Mr- Parkman? I didn't do anything, I promise.

[Spoken with the urgency of children who want to prove themselves innocent everywhere.]

Please let me out.

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_{[No that actually is kind of reassuring, cause it sounds like he knows what's going on. And Molly latches onto that immediately, pressing the gear closer to her ear and wrapping her other arm around herself in some kind of effort to comfort herself.]}

Yes ... there's someone here who says she's my mom.

_{[The undertone being, that person is not at all my mom.]}

Do you know who's doing it?

No. Sorry, kid, but I have no idea. Nobody else does, either.

[He wishes he had a better answer for her. Not least of which because it'd mean he'd have a clearer idea of what the hell's going on here. So it goes.]

That lady says she's everyone's mom, though. I think she's been brainwashed.

[That or she's just fuckin' nuts. That is also a possibility.]

_{[She's about to say that somebody has to be doing it, but Yusuke's assessment makes her turn around to look back at the quaint little house again with a sudden feeling of worry.]

[And a pinch of guilt, why not.]}

Is she okay?

[--oh hell, that was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it. Yusuke grimaces. Time for some damage control. He forces a laugh and tries to sound nonchalant.]

Oh yeah, she's fine! It's not like she's sick or anything. She's just delusional as hell, that's all. I wouldn't worry about her, if I were you.

[THERE. That'll make the kid feel better, right?]

_{[WELL ... A for effort ...!]}

What if someone did something to her?

_{[Yeah sorry Yusuke you have a worried kid on your hands now. But actually, after a small moment of consideration, in a quieter tone of voice,]}

Or maybe she's not real.

[Yusuke pauses. "Not real"? He's heard a lot of theories about Mom, but that's definitely a new one.]

... nah, I'm pretty sure she's real. Don't think I imagined her pickin' me up and throwin' me out the door.

[This he says a little wryly. Fact: Mom is a lot stronger than she looks.]

_{[She's eleven and she's got an existential crisis about Johto. I hope you like your new acquaintance, Yusuke!]

[That successfully averts her troubled disposition for a moment though.]}

... why did she do that?

_[???]

... uhhhh.

[SHIT. DAMMIT. Why the hell does he keep sticking his foot in his mouth?! If Molly was Yusuke's age or older, he wouldn't have any problem telling her exactly why Mom had physically tossed him out of her house (READ: because he'd tried to knock her out in a fit of confused rage). Since she isn't, though, and since he doesn't feel like potentially alienating a child right now (particularly one who's just woken up to find herself alone and stranded in a strange place), he's gonna have to come up with something else to tell her. A second or two passes while Yusuke flounders before he finally barks out another excruciatingly forced laugh and says:]

Iiit's kind of a long story! Uh...

[There's another pause. Then, rather abruptly, he snaps:]

Look, enough about Mom, all right? You should be worrying about yourself! Did she give you anything before you left? Like, I dunno, a bag?

[Smoothest. Subject change. Ever. Now let's see if it actually works.]

_{[Yeah, that's not subtle at all. Molly's quiet for a moment before she says, graciously - and in a rather serious tone -]}

If you don't want to talk about it you can just say so.

_{[Because really. You're being weird.]

[Having said that though, she moves onto the answer, picking at her bag as she does.]}

There was a bag in the room and she said I couldn't leave without it. Everything in it looks so weird.

[YOU SURE TOLD HIM, KID. You actually manage to get him to feel a little sheepish, too. Also annoyed, but that's to be expected from him. Fortunately, he doesn't express his irritation by snarling at her or anything - he just sounds a little cross when he next responds.]

Yeah, well, do me a favor and dig around in it until you find a red and white ball, all right? It...

[Yusuke falters, trying to think of a way to explain this to her. Eventually, he decides he better tell it to her straight. She seems like the kind of kid who appreciates that sort of thing anyway.]

Okay, long story short, there're monsters in this world. You're supposed to collect 'em and train 'em - because, I dunno, that's kind of the thing around here - but you can't do that unless you got one to help you catch 'em and protect you from 'em when they attack you. That's what you're gonna find in that ball - the monster that's gonna protect you when you leave the town you're in.

_{[He's absolutely right in that she appreciates the information straight up, and she seems to keep up well with his explanation.]

[In part because by now, she's been briefed a little while she's been juggling calls. There are a lot of people here. More than she'd ever have expected, and it's actually pretty calming.]}

Why do you call it a monster? Did you get one that looks like one?

I got a bird.

_{[And birds are, in fact, not monsters.]}

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