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

[tomodachi]

Friends... [...Really? Even if you only just met him? Even with him not being a normal person like you? He's not sure if he really understands it yet, but it sounds like this is something important. After a long moment of thought, he gives a nod. He can try this..."friends" thing that you speak of.]

[solesoul]

[He beams again when he nods, a bubble of happiness rising up in his tummy and chest. His first friend... his number one friend. Deep down, Seto was never sure if something like this would ever happen. He had hoped, without a doubt. Hoped that one day they'd find more living people just like them and they could be like the pirate and the boy he read about, that they could be friends.

To consider his grandpa a 'friend'... wasn't quite right. He was someone very special to Seto, no matter how distant they are, but if this is what it felt like to have a friend, then that word didn't quite fit what they had.

So now that it's happening... Seto thought that maybe in this dilapidating, dying and once lonely world, everything would be okay.

Holding onto his hand a little tighter, he starts walking again] L-let's keep going th-then, friend. [He can settle on calling him that for now since the name he said earlier is hard to say over and over] W-When we find G-Grandpa we can tell h-him th-that we're friends now t-too! M-Maybe he'll b-be even more h-happy...

[tomodachi]

[He nods a little in agreement to keep moving--it's not his name, but if calling him a "friend" is easier than his actual name, then he supposes its alright for now, until the other boy learns it properly.

But do you think your Grandpa would like meeting us, though? Would he be okay with us being "friends"?]

[solesoul]

[Seto can only hope that bringing him back will make his grandpa finally happy... knowing that they're no longer alone in this world, that there are other living people must, right? Right?

But after walking for a little while along the river, Crow might start to hear some noise off in the distance.]

[tomodachi]

[Indeed he does, and Seto should notice as his friend stops and turns his head in the direction of the noise, trying to hear it.]

Detecting sounds... [What is that? There aren't any wild animals around here, are there? ...Or did they go in the right direction after all, to where the kids grandpa might be?]

[solesoul]

[Seto definitely does notice that his new friend comes to a stop since, as he keeps walking, he suddenly can't go any further, holding onto Crow's now still hand. He looks back at him curiously then tries to listen too, a little anxious, hoping that they're getting closer to home.]

R-Really? W-What do you h-hear? [You really have good hearing, friend because Seto can't hear anything aside from the water. But as they're getting closer to the village, the sound might sound like people]

[tomodachi]

...Voices.

[And indeed, he gestures towards the direction of where he hears it coming from. If they keep going that way, they'll surely run into people there.]