Seventeenth Firefly - [Action] - backdated to the 5th

[presumablyalone]

[When little Seto first wakes up, he finds himself staring off into the white covered distance, his purple eyes barely open, nose and cheeks red and small hands reflexively curled up into fists to keep his already stinging finger tips off the snow. He lets out a long exhale, his breath clouding out in front of him before disappearing into the cold air. There's a long minute of silence as he slowly wakes up, watching his breath blearily, before he finally blinks and moves to at least lift his head off the snowy ground, his entire body aching from the cold.

…Outside. Why is he outside? And in the snow?!

Seto can feel his heart beat rapidly as he quickly makes his way to his feet, dusting the snow off his legs and arms as fast as he can before grabbing his arms. There’s only one winter that he can remember in the short time he spent with his grandpa and it wasn't kind.

What plants his grandfather normally fed them died, leaving them with barely anything, it was always freezing cold and drafts would find their way into the observatory through cracks in the walls and doors and he nor his grandfather never had much in terms of ways to keep themselves warm with clothes. When winter came, his grandfather told him to never go outside or bad things would happen, especially in the snow that fell and covered everything.

He didn't understand it... how something like this could be so scary.

As he moves to step back, looking around in a panic to find the observatory, his heel hits something behind him and he trips and falls backwards over whatever it was with a yelp. He quickly tries to scuttle away but looks back to see what it was he tripped on and…

…A person. Another person.

There's a moment as he stares in surprise. But... he thought there were no other people. His grandfather told him so--didn't he? It's always just been him and his grandfather. He’s afraid that if he touches this person, he’ll disappear… but if he tripped over him, he must be real, right? He's hesitant but slowly turns around in the snow and he puts his hands on the other boy’s chest and starts to shake him.]

M-Mm… w-wake up… [His voice is small and shaking as he shivers, but he’s trying]

ACTION

[Today, the people of Luceti may come across a rather curious duo. Normally, seeing Crow and Seto together is not strange at all--in fact, it's practically the norm, but after a week or so of being gone, when they return, they are noticeably different.

Seto has clearly been affected by his "mallynap", as he's now a little boy instead of a young adult. Unlike the Seto we all know and love, this Seto has yet to experience large crowds of people, or even seeing so many people in general, so there's a lot of wide-eyed staring as he looks around as well as looking back to make sure he's not too far away from his odd companion.

Crow, on the other hand, appears almost exactly the same as before he was taken in for experimentation too...except for some odd differences. His bright green eyes are now a dull, lifeless grey, and he's quieter than usual, barely saying a word, and when he does, there's very little emotion put into it. For now, he's sort of aimlessly following along behind Seto, or occasionally stopping to stare at people or things.

Well, hopefully this will wear off soon, but otherwise they're both lost and confused at the moment. Would you like to offer a helping hand?

(ooc: Seto and Crow have been de-aged as their mallynap effect upon their return. Both of them will be replying per thread, unless specified otherwise.)]

Comments

[foundafamily]

[He forces himself to keep the smile on. He knows it's nothing personal, but having two friends not recognize you is a bit sad.

It's even sadder thinking about what these two could have gone through in the past week or so.]

Yeah, yeah, I know. But now you have.

[He doesn't know how he'll begin to explain their history, so he changes his approach.]

How long have you two been out here?

[tomodachi]

[If you mean "out here" as in "since having stepped foot back into the village instead of just wandering around aimlessly in the woods", then--]

One hour, thirty-three minutes, and fifty-four...fifty-five seconds...

[...Though his internal clock might be inaccurate since he's not including the time of being lost in the woods, so that estimate is probably to be taken with a grain of salt.]

[solesoul]

[Seto just looks up at Crow as he answers then looks back at Firo from behind his companion and nods] I-It's been a long time... [Not that Seto quite knows what hours and minutes are but at least it's felt like a really long day so far]

[foundafamily]

[Irrationally, Firo feels a pang of guilt for not finding them sooner.]

...Sorry.

[He hesitates as he tries to think of a way to get them home without scaring them away. He'd be wary if someone came out of the blue claiming to know him.]

What're you guys up to now?

[tomodachi]

... [He'll let you answer this one, Seto, 'cause honestly, Crow doesn't know how to answer that question. They managed to find a town, but then what? He's mostly been just looking around at things, not sure of what he should do next, other than perhaps keep close to the boy for now.]

[solesoul]

[You sound like such a creeper Firo, gosh, trying to lure two kids into your house!!!

But he smiles a little now] W-We've been w-walking around and looking a-at all of t-the people and really a-amazing things!! [Meaning everything. He pauses then adds] W-We're looking for G-Grampa too. [Almost forgot to add that in his excitement]

[foundafamily]

[Well, considering what Seto told him about their world, Firo'd imagine a lot of this stuff does seem amazing.

His face falls when Seto continues.]

Grampa?

[Ah, crap. He feels like it'd make the most sense to be straight with them and tell them the odds of meeting grampa are very low... But he just can't bring himself to. He's getting soft, isn't he? What he calls honesty, he's realizing, can be pretty harsh.]

...Do you mind if I join you guys? Another pair of eyes will help spot him, right?

[tomodachi]

[Well, the probability of having more success with searching would go up if another person was around to help, but he doesn't reply. He doesn't sense anything suspicious about this person, but he does glance between Firo and the boy with him.

...He's probably gonna end up coming along if Seto decides to follow the guy regardless.]

[solesoul]

I wouldn't mind! [His answer is pretty much immediate. Little is Seto aware of the dangers of talking and inviting strangers to tag along with him. All things considered though, Shin never really had a reason to give Seto those warnings.

Besides, he's still more than excited about suddenly people that all possible dangers aren't coming to mind. All he wants is them around him, close to him, remind him that he isn't alone anymore. He's even walking out in the cold without a jacket or being scared!! So it's a pretty good thing you're around to look out for him, Crow.

Who he also looks up to with a smile] Is it okay with you if he comes with us?

[foundafamily]

[Yeah, Seto, Firo is going to remember how readily you accepted that offer and lecture you on it later. For now, though, he has to be glad that Seto isn't too suspicious of him.

He nods to Crow after Seto speaks.]

'S up to you.

[tomodachi]

[Crow looks between the two of them, blinking slowly for a long moment before he gives in and nods. For now, he'll let Firo accompany them, provided that Firo doesn't do anything that seems suspicious to him right now...]

[solesoul]

[Well you're going to need a lecture on trying to lead children into your house FIRO. Gosh.

He beams at his friend's answer and gently grabs both of their hands. They're warm. Or at least one definitely is and the other kinda feels it. He then pauses for a moment to look around.]

W-Where should we g-go l-look next? [Seeing as how he has no idea where the observatory is in the first place, this whole time they've more or less been wandering around aimlessly. Not even these buildings look like the ones he could see in the distance from where he and his grandfather lived. So they've really just been hoping to spot him since Seto was all the way out here.]

[foundafamily]

[You can't stop him from adopting all the people he wants!

He nods back to Crow, grateful that he's not protesting. Firo wouldn't really be able to blame him; he certainly wouldn't have let some random guy in a strange place hang out with him when he was a kid.]

Thanks.

[He smiles a little as Seto takes his hand. It quickly fades at that question. He knows very well they can't find Seto's grandfather here and he doesn't know how they'll deal with that inevitable disappointment.]

...Why don't we look around in the library?

[Maybe all the books will distract them.]

[tomodachi]

"Library"?

[Crow headtilts a little at that, almost sounding curious. Where is that place at?]

[solesoul]

T-There's a library h-here?? [Immediately perking up at that. It's probably one of the very... very few things that he actually knows about. Though it's mainly because his grandfather has one in the observatory.]

M-Maybe h-he's in t-there! G-Grampa loves t-to read... [He spends more time doing that than spending time with Seto]

[foundafamily]

[Read rather than hang out with your kid? Firo needs to have a word with this guy.

He turns to Crow, a bit surprised that he doesn't know the word.]

It's a place full a' books--all free.

[He tries to smile comfortingly at the both of them.]

Perfect for a guy who likes to read, eh? I'll show you guys there.

[tomodachi]

[Crow can't recall the last time he's ever been in a library, hence his curiosity. But if the library is where Seto's grandpa might be, then it looks like that's where they'll be going. Go ahead and lead the way, Firo, provided that you walk at a pace that both he and the smaller boy are able to keep up with.]

[solesoul]

Y-Yeah! L-Let's go! [He isn't sure what free means but nevertheless, he feels excited. Despite the fact that in the short time he's been with the old man, they were never really close, he wants to be with him here in this place, with all of these people. Together they can live with everyone!

Maybe then... things will change.

SO LEAD THE WAY FIRO.]

[foundafamily]

[Firo starts walking in the direction of the library, looking over his shoulder to make sure those two are staying close.

He figures he should try saying something to put them at ease, but he's not really sure how to do that. Heck, for Crow he wouldn't even be sure how to do it for the kid when he's normal.]

So, uh... What do you two like to read?

[tomodachi]

[Read? Uh...well...]

I...like to read books...

[...Crow I think he was looking for a more specific answer than that...]

[solesoul]

G-Grandpa doesn't r-really h-have a lot of b-books that I-I can read... a lot o-of them h-have really b-big words. [Shin why did you have to be a scientist]

I-I like t-to read th-the books he h-has about a-animals though! A-And the o-one about pirates. [Pirate Isle. At least he had one good child's book in there]

[foundafamily]

Pirates, eh? Do you both like pirates?

[He's a little surprised Crow didn't specify--he seemed to know what he liked when the two of them were in the library last time. ]

I know some good books about 'em--I can show you.

[tomodachi]

Pirates... [Firo, this is currently the Crow that hasn't read Pirate Isle yet, from before he even had the name "Crow", so he wouldn't know what you're talking about.

However, it sounds like its something that both Firo and even the kid know about, so...is that something important that he should know about too...]

[solesoul]

R-Really?? [He beams. Anything he can actually read and understand, he's excited about, especially if it's about those cool pirates!!

He looks up to Crow excitedly] H-Have you r-read about them b-before?

[foundafamily]

There's Treasure Island, Peter Pan, a bunch of 'em. And movies, too.