On Pets and Snowgoons and Not Being Real

[madeofclay]

[A shadowy figure races across the floor, skittering across and leaping to hook its little claws into Annie. There's a chitter, and suddenly a ferret's head is poking its way over her shoulder, clambering its way to drape around her neck.]

Do you think M'gasnn will let me keep it? It followed me home....[It makes a little clucking noise in her ear, and she brings a hand up to hide a little laugh.

Then the worried frown comes back.] She already bought me Christmas presents; and she's letting me stay with her and Kon... [Which is funny, because Annie actually has her own apartment. Which she never sleeps in if she can help it. It's big and lonely and dark and she has nightmares about her bed turning into Clayface and devouring her.]

...What do I tell her about the Snow Goons? [She stares at her chest. It was ripped open and stitched itself back up - she knew she was made of clay, but....]

Th-They... They ripped my chest open.... A real girl would have died.

But I'm not real. [It was a sudden reminder, after weeks of getting to pretend. again][

Comments

[trainedbythebat]

You're real.

(The costume probably looks very familiar to her, but Annie did toss in two names he's familiar with as well.) As long as people believe it, then it's true. If they believe you're real, then you are.

(A beat.) And, tell M'gaan about the Snow Goons. They'll be able to plan strategically.

[imvho]

Reality is a matter of the mentality. Some might say anything that can question its reality is real by default.

[arkhamscoldest]

Alive and yet not so. Your existence is... fasinating to me, young child. What precisely are 'snow goons'?

[madeofclay]

[Her head jerks up - for a moment, her eyes light up... and then the droop. It's another "fake" Robin - he's too old to be her Tim. But for a moment, he sounded just like him...]

M'gann thinks I am.... and Robin did.?

She's beating them up. [She knows about the Snow Goons themselves. It's just... what does one say after having their chest ripped out, and having it stitch back together again?]

[trainedbythebat]

You should listen to her sometimes. And Robin, too.

(A beat, and he nods.)

You have friends who you can trust, right? People who know you're more than what's beneath the skin?

[madeofclay]

I don't have anything beneath the skin... [She would listen to Robin. If he showed up! Instead of this "Non-Robin" Robin who looked almost but not quite right and didn't know who she was....]

I can trust M'gann, though.

[madeofclay]

But I'm not human. I'm just a construct... [She'd managed to ignore that, for a while, but having your insides torn out reminds you pretty fiercely.]

[madeofclay]

[She flinches back from the interest, a little. Still, she can answer the snow goon question.]

Th-they... they're snow men. They came to life... [And tried to kill her.]

[robintakesflight]

Yes, you are...!

(It was more than just her voice that he recognized. It was the way she said it that leaves him momentarily stunned.)

...Annie?

[trainedbythebat]

That's not my point. They trust you because they know nothing's beneath the skin.

(He smiles at her latter response.) Everyone can trust M'gann.

[arkhamscoldest]

[Though Freeze can seem imposing, he does try to appear somewhat more amenable. He has no interest in harming children, even created ones.]

This concept interests me, I would see such things for myself. If you could assist me in locating these creatures I will be certain to ensuring your safety. You have my word on that account.

[madeofclay]

Robin? [She responds to the voice more than the words - The real Robin's voice. After the Not-Robin in her game, and the not-robin who'd spoken to her earlier...

Her eyes lit up. A smile slid across her entire features.] You're here!

[madeofclay]

[Considering ice is one of the few things that can disable her, she has some real reason to be worried... But... Well. It can't hurt telling him, in this case.]

They're all over the place... [Or they were - gone now.] I don't know how they're coming to life.

[madeofclay]

[She frowns, not entirely certain that line makes sense. It is true that she wears everything on her clay-sleeve, though.]

She's been teaching me.

[robintakesflight]

Yeah...it's me.

(Tim steps forward with a smile of his own and looking very much like the last time Annie saw him if not a little more experienced; he's from sometime before a certain movie, apparently.)

Everything going okay?

[imvho]

Do not confuse being 'real' or even being a 'person' with being a human. Humanity is irrelevant to life. The world has ten thousand branches, each bearing ten million flowers but it all has one single root.

Contemplate these three questions and find answers within yourself: Can you think? Do you feel emotions? Do you have memories?

[madeofclay]

[His response is to be tackled in a hug, hands wrapping around him for a moment.]

You got away from him... [Clayface and Robin way heavily on her mind and dreams, even with her connection to "daddy" broken by being cross the multiverse.]

[robintakesflight]

(He manages to keep himself upright as he's tackled, returning the hug instantly.)

Yeah...I did. Thanks to you.

(Batman's words had always haunted him, been on his mind since he'd lost her...'Sometimes, there are no happy endings.')

[madeofclay]

[Her brow furrows when she finally parts.] You were gone when I... [Died?] When I woke up...

[robintakesflight]

Yeah. Batman helped out. I tried to get you back, but... (He grew silent, never having run into her 'Father' since then.)

I'm glad you're here now, Annie.

[madeofclay]

He killed me. Didn't he? [It's not really a question.

She does smile after, though.] We're both here, now.

[madeofclay]

I-I think so... I've only been alive for a month... [She does have a mind of her own. She's just... still breaking it in.]

[robintakesflight]

...I couldn't save you. He couldn't, either. (Clayface's comment after his demand also rang through his mind: 'I can't! She's gone.')

Yeah, we are. I won't leave you again. (He placed a hand against her shoulder gently, returning the smile.)

[madeofclay]

He was trying to absorb me... T-To crush me. [She has to stop. She can't... she can feel it, all over again, talking about it.

They'll make me go back to Saeng Seong, though. [Rekindleme world]

[imvho]

Then, to yourself, you are real.