on beginning the search for a game

[shivery]

[There is a clearly unamused, well, muse here.]

Hey, come on. It's about time you paid attention, you know. I was starting to wonder if I'd gone all invisible again. Really. How long did you sit on the journal before you even filled my name in? How do you think that makes a guy feel?

Yeah, yeah. Busy. Heard that one before. Look I need to get out, stretch my legs. Have some sort of fun that isn't just messing with the parade of nutjobs you've got stowed away back here.

[So he's not taking no for an answer.]

So find me a home. Preferably somewhere good.

...I mean good. As in not bad. As in not boring. Come on, you can do it.

Comments

[notyetlegend]

Y'sure yer not better off bein' ignored? Some o' these places don't look...er, 'fun friendly'.

[shivery]

Believe me, anything's better than being somewhere no one can even see you. I'll take my chances.

[notyetlegend]

Ehhh, I'd take it wit' a grain of salt, but I guess I c'n see where yer comin' from. I'm a bit restless meself.

[shivery]

Hey it doesn't have to be all fun and games. Fun's what you make of it anyway.

Heh. Restless, yeah that's a good word. I'm suffocating personally.

[notyetlegend]

Oh aye, an' sometimes it's easier t'make it yer own type o' fun rather than wait fer it t' come around.

I was s'posed t' go t' a game but now I'm stuck waitin'. Ye c'n see why I'm a bit antsy.

[shivery]

Exactly! Can't just expect it to always be easy either.

Ouch. Yeah that's pretty rough being on hold like that. Hang in there, yeah?

[notyetlegend]

Nay, y'can't. S'a bit like everything really.

[She learned that lesson the hard way. She nods, crossing her arms behind her back.]

Just a week t' go. It was a bit tedious at first. I'm sure you'll find somewhere too.

[shivery]

I guess so. Most things don't just fall in your lap.

[Though some things took more than just willpower.]

That's not so bad. Sort of the home stretch, right? But hey thanks. I hope so. I'm gonna go crazy if I don't.

Where are you headed anyway? One of those make-you-sorry-you're-there places?

[notyetlegend]

Mmhmm. I guess everythin' up till now has just been 'er makin' sure I stick around. Like she could get rid of me when she picked me in th' first place.

[Sage nod.]

Eheh, kinda. It's more in th' backstory she has planned out that's gonna make me sorry I'm there than th' place itself. Otherwise it looks okay.

[shivery]

Right? Mine's got the same idea. You'd think she'd have learned by now.

[Seriously. Slow. Learner.]

Oh? Messing with your history? That sounds sorta mean.

[notyetlegend]

They're kinda lame like that.

[What is it with muns and not learning. Sheesh.]

Not just mine but me whole family's. I'd be alive fer nearly six 'undred years.

[shivery]

More than kinda.

[Ha. He likes this girl.]

Yikes. Even I think that sounds like a long time.

[notyetlegend]

[She nods.]

Especially fer me mum t'still be a bear...er, that's a long story.

[shivery]

Seriously? Still a bear? Your mun's got a sadistic streak. ...not that mine doesn't. In fact, that's probably the best way to describe her.

[Sigh.]

No yeah, I know the story actually. The mun's got three small, destructive bears of her own kicking around the old headspace. I like them. They know how to have fun.

[notyetlegend]

Tell me about it. Somethin' about th' destruction of th' clan an' me agreein' t'hunt wit' a Goddess. I'm still tryin' t'save mum but...it's a bit late fer that.

[Not that that's gonna stop her in any way. She blinks a bit.]

Me brothers? They're up there wit' you?

[shivery]

Jeez. Talk about an uphill battle. So where're you getting sent with all this new baggage?

[A nod.]

Yeah. Not that they've been let out yet. Something about icons are so hard which usually just means laziness.

[notyetlegend]

Some place called Camp Halfblood.

[Half what she's not sure of yet.]

Och, so they have th' opposite problem o' me. Me mun's always 'too many icons, not enough space'. You'll look after them?

[shivery]

Huh. Think I've heard of that one.

[But he's quick to grin.]

'course. They're sort of the usual crowd I hang out with anyway. [Kids are right up his alley.]

[notyetlegend]

Y'have? Any idea what it's like?

[She has an inkling, but it's all on hold until apps open again. She's only caught a glimpse.]

Good. Anythin' happens t' them an'...

[She makes a firing an arrow motion with her arms.]

[shivery]

Something about gods. Or demigods? Pretty epic anyway.

[Here is Jack holding up his hands in a "wait wait don't shoot" motion.]

Hey no I got it. No worries anyway. I've got the whole guardian of childhood thing going on, so I've got this.

[notyetlegend]

Well that doesn't sound as bad as she was makin' it out t'be.

[She lowers her arms and crosses them behind her back with a cheeky grin.]

Good. I'd hate t'shoot someone I just met.

[shivery]

I'm sure you'll be fine. You look like you can handle yourself.

[Something more in the attitude than the physicality. He laughs anyway.]

Right? It puts a damper on the whole introduction thing. No good follow up conversation to an arrow fired at your head.

[notyetlegend]

Well that's good. It means me dad was successful in teachin' me how t' fight.

[Yeah that went right over her head, although she does get her sass from her father.]

Unless y'couldn't negotiate properly.

[wasinsignificant]

[Oh, look, another person with a scary trait. Admittedly, white hair isn't as scary as a misshapen lip, but maybe this man is used enough to the strange looks that he won't try to chase him away.]

I don't know. I heard that the homes around here aren't very nice.

[Although the little boy's not sure if he believes that. How can anywhere with a constant source of food and warmth be 'not very nice'?]

[shivery]

[Point of fact he's used to no looks whatsoever.]

Yeah, some of them are apparently pretty messed up. But just because something is scary doesn't mean you can't have some fun with it anyway.

[A grin.] Somewhere's gotta be better than nowhere, right?

[wasinsignificant]

[Okay, there have been minimal frightened looks thus far, so maybe he will tentatively kind of sort of relax.]

Well... I think nowhere would be nicer than some places. At least in a person's head, you don't feel hungry or hurt.

[There's the tiniest flicker of a fond smile at the thought of scariness, though.] I'm not worried about scary things. [He gives a little shrug with a flickering smile.] I mean, when you know there's something to be scared of, you can avoid it.

[shivery]

Hungry and hurt you can fix. Alone... well. That one's tougher.

[But he catches that smile there, a little curious.] No? Well, I guess you have a point with that. Mostly anyway. Sometimes you have to stand up to what you're afraid of though.

[wasinsignificant]

[Spoken like someone who probably hasn't had to deal with hunger.] I can deal with being lonely. At least when you're lonely, you don't have to worry about what other people might do.

[He gives a shrug and fiddles with his ragged sleeve.] I feel like fear is warning you that you shouldn't stand up to something. What good would it do for me to wander into a pack of hungry wolves?

[shivery]

What other people might do? You been picked on, kiddo?

[Jack nods a little.] Facing your fears doesn't mean running into danger for no reason. It means not letting those fears get in the way when it's something you have to do or want to do.

[wasinsignificant]

[The boy can't help but stare somewhat incredulously at the white-haired man, and then self-consciously touches the unnatural cleft in his lip.] Didn't you notice this?

[He's from a time when a clear physical deformity is immediately a reason to fear and dislike a person, and it doesn't occur to him that maybe other places aren't like that.]

What would I want to do that I was scared of? [Even when he followed the embodiment of fear for days, it was because he was more scared of being without him. The Bogeyman was scary, but he never once hurt the boy, unlike what might have happened if he had wandered into the presence of disguised demons.]

[shivery]

Yeah I saw it. [Not like that had changed in time.] Is it a big deal? ...I guess people can be pretty nasty when you're different. But that's their problem you know. Tell you what, anyone around here messes with you, we'll give 'em a face full of snowball.

[But that question.]

Well... what if someone was in danger. And you could help them, but you were afraid.

[wasinsignificant]

[Give him a moment to be sort of blown away by Jack's reaction. The only other person who was so nonchalant about it was...] It's a really big deal to everyone else! I've been chased out of towns over it. I could be burned as a witch!

...But I like the snowball idea. [He's taken aback by someone being so kind as to stand up to him, but he's beginning to suspect that maybe the white-haired boy and the Bogeyman have something in common. He gives Jack a tentative smile, though he's always self-conscious about smiling with his lip.

He crosses his arms and shrugs, looking at the ground.] What could someone like me do to help someone in trouble? I'm not strong or fast or anything. It'd probably be better if I just found someone bigger to help.

[shivery]

Seriously? Wow. That's... awful. [He's a kid. What kind of people had this boy run into?] Well, they sound like jerks, kiddo. I know that probably doesn't help much, but it's true anyway.

[He does smile back, brightly, when he sees the smile on the kid's face.] Snowballs are always the best idea. That's just simple fact.

[He might be biased.] Finding the right person to help is facing your fear too. No one says you have to do it alone. I mean... there are lots of ways to be brave. Sometimes it's even just putting one foot in front of the other.

[Even if the ice is cracking underneath your feet.]

[wasinsignificant]

Seems pretty normal to me. [He self-consciously touches his lip again.] People think I've been cursed or marked by evil. They might get cursed too if they spend too much time with me.

[The boy doesn't get it, but maybe he just doesn't have to resources to for now. His whole life has been about survival and rejection; it's hard to imagine risking it all for another person.

Then again, maybe he's just biased to listen to fear whenever possible. After all, it was his only companion for a time.

He's confused, so he changes the subject, because this talk of fear reminds him of someone...] Are you a spirit?

[He pauses and a little blush comes to his cheeks, but he stands his ground. A young man with white hair who isn't disturbed by his lip? This is clearly the only explanation.]

[futureprofessor]

[Since the Jack in this head isn't in the best of moods either, have an energetic ball of blonde.]

These places can be many things, even scary! But I doubt you'll ever get bored in them.

[shivery]

See, that's what I'm thinking. I don't scare easily. And anything beats... nothing.

[Have a grin here. Because someone gets it.]

[futureprofessor]

[Bianca smiles back and nods. That's more or less one of the arguments she used with her dad when he didn't want her to go on her adventure.]

If you don't get scared easily, then you already have an advantage! I hope you don't get embarrassed easily either, because... well. Muns like putting us in those kinds of situations. Like, a lot.