it's been the ruin of many a poor boy [open.]

[awooligan]

♥ Who: Clifford Norman, OTA!
♥ Where: wherever tbh...
♥ When: August 1 and general early August.
♥ What: Cliff arrives to do typical intro log stuff and be frustrated.
♥ Rating: uhh PG-13 for language? and probably underage smoking at some point.

[ a. the wrong world. ]

[He’d had the plan to move out solidly in mind until recently, but…somehow this wasn’t quite what he’d pictured. After being led to housing by the welcome wagon, Cliff had waited out the helpful robot before slinking away from the open street to somewhere he can quietly freak the fuck out in peace. Even in the alternate reality he suddenly had a second life’s worth of memories of, he’d only heard stories about some corrupted-but-harmless AI, nothing like a whole society….not that that’s his biggest issue right now. He doesn’t know nearly enough about science or magic to figure out why the hell he remembered two versions of his life or why he was a wolfboy from the middle of nowhere with shitty father figures in both of them. That just doesn’t seem fair?

He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, shakes his head like it will disperse those thoughts, and sets off again. Maybe if he got the lay of the land, he'd have an easier time getting a handle on things. At least he can feel being an Animal Person, and know that if he wanted to right now, he could be a wolf before his next step hit, and that’s knowing more than nothing! Along that thought, he was wearing Oscar’s hoodie and he had that bag of gummies he'd just started. Undeniably real. But the hoodie had existed in that other world, too, even though he'd never gotten tangled with “just some guy” that was a magnet for trouble. And…]

Huh. Well, that was the most unbelievable part of all that.

[In his pocket, the push of his finger against a figurine’s ear assures him that it is also pretty damn real. Didn’t hate that, no matter how confusing it is. The circumstances surrounding this place and that other one, though...]

Christ. You save a guy’s life a couple times and they want to upgrade you to saving two worlds?

[Because he didn't have enough of a headache.]


[ b. the wrong foot. ]

[Contemplating his newly realized existential crisis, he doesn't have the mental fortitude to figure out who’s in charge and kick their ass. Instead, the redhead resigns himself to pretend-scrolling through his not-an-earth-phone while his eyes -- more animal than human, if someone were to inspect them -- and scowl do the job of telegraphing his mood for him even from where he's hiding under his hood.

It could be that simple, just his glare accidentally finding someone who didn't deserve it and a miscommunication running wild from there, or it could be that while he's pretending to be distracted by his phone, he's actually distracted with his thoughts enough that he comes too close to someone passing the other way and bumps into them. He jolts back with tight fists and an arm lifted like a shield between himself and the stranger. As ready to fight as he might seem and sound, it's possible to notice that he's on guard rather than being aggressive.]

Hey, watch it -- !


[ c. the wrong attitude. ]

This sucks.

[Cliff plops onto the bench with a truly impressive sigh. That feeling before he’d woken up… Even with as much as he loves his mom and brother, the fact that he still had to hold a part of himself back means that it had been so completely, overwhelmingly alien. Comforting and safe in the moment, but now?]

Fucking tired of people messing with my head…

[This really, really sucks.

Miserably, he notes that he should be rationing the few supplies that had come with him, but he deserves the sugar, dammit! Cliff drags the bag of gummi bears out and starts to eat them with the enthusiasm of a man on death row. He starts each one by biting its head off.]


[ d. the wrong...card?! ]

[idk man it’s the wildcard option, hit me up if you want to work something out!]

Comments

[awooligan]

...No. I really don't think they do. You and me, we're just kids, and I'm not big on people touching me, especially strangers.

[She talks like an adult, though, he notes. Or at least not as casually as a regular kid, or with the limited vocabulary. Maybe a reader.]

You're doing okay, though?

[pinkmin]

[A reader with all the responsibilities.

There was a careful note of his preference, and there was a moment of feeling glad for the way things had gone before she met him elsewhere and asked to hold his hand. Phew. She gave a small nod, trying her best not to feel too guilty about her answer.]

I am. This is home for me now.

[awooligan]

[She would have gotten away with it, maybe. For a while.]

Oh.

[...It's too weird to imagine for long. Even when he'd gone to France and unexpectedly found a best friend, it hadn't felt at all the same as Podunk. Too other, too much feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb.]

Sorry about insulting your home. What's your name?

[pinkmin]

[Even if she did miss the memory of her past home, it was a lot easier to cozy up somewhere new when the alternative was dying. She'd gotten to go back home already, and could confirm it... was not her first choice. Waking up back in Havenwell a second time only made her more attached to it.]

You didn't insult anything. [He really didn't!] My name's Vianca.

[She looked up at him again.] What is yours?

[awooligan]

[Yeah, he'd have to agree. That's a pretty good reason to make this your home and enjoy what you could.]

Cliff. So is the shop we're headed to really yours? Is that sort of thing normal around here?

[pinkmin]

Yes, it's mine.

[Even if her expression was still neutral, there was a soft note of pride there. It was hers. She did it.]

A few other offworlders have opened places too. I order my cookies from Afurrgatto.

[awooligan]

[She sure did, apparently... He's kind of picturing a stereotypical lemonade stand, or Lucy from Peanuts's psychiatric booth, but at least he knows he's probably wrong. Anyway...]

It's not a cat-themed bakery, is it?

[fur... gato... he's hoping he's wrong about this one, too, even if he likes cats. The name would just be bad.]

[pinkmin]

[Get an affogatto and love yourself, Cliff.]

It is a cafe. There are cats there that you can pet. A cat cafe?

[They are almost at their destination though. Up ahead of them was a storefront with big windows, hints of grass and flowers growing in the beds inside. Once they got next to it it'd be easier to see the couches and bookshelves inside.]

Ah, we are almost there. It is the one with the regular door. [Meaning the one with the doorknob, as opposed to robo-automatic doors.]

[awooligan]

[no

...actually, maybe, but it's...it's the principle of the thing??

Regardless of the face he's making after his suspicions are confirmed, Cliff appreciates the designation of "regular door". It definitely makes her shop easier to find. He leans to look in the window while letting her pass first to lead into the shop.]

Oh. It's a bookstore...? [Though the couches make it seem more like a library.] I thought you might read a lot.

[pinkmin]

You thought so?

[There was a curious look over her shoulder at him as she moved to hold the door open for him.]

[awooligan]

[In he goes…then looking around for where he should be setting the “charmingly” damaged board down.]

Yep. You're a smart kid. Kevin’s smart, too, but he's more about science so he gives you a bunch of weird facts if you get him going. [also pls don't ask me how old Kevin is, I will die because it's never been said and it's hard for me to judge on context] You’re quieter. Easy to picture you with your nose in a book.

[pinkmin]

[gestures at all my canons and nods deeply in understanding as Vianca followed him in. Here, he could set things down by the front counter, that was fine. She was just going to duck her head a little because he'd gotten that super right so easily even when she hadn't had a book in her hands this time!!]

... It is in one a lot, yes. I was the librarian at my school.

[awooligan]

[why do authors do this to us]

Like for the classroom? I know you're running this shop, but if it was a real library there was an adult librarian helping you back at your school, right?

[It's not good for her to be this self-sufficient, he's pretty sure? Kids should get to be kids.]

[pinkmin]

[Self-sufficient to a Fault was definitely a thing here.]

I had a few robot assistants. They tried their best.

[They were a little clumsy though. Or lacked hands entirely? They Tried.]

Miss EVA ran it before but... after she left, the headmasters let me take over.

[awooligan]

Right...

[well, that's. hm. The board is set down and he absently poking at the crease that had been made because of him like by some miracle that will fix it.]

We don't have robots where I'm from. Well, we do, but they're nothing like what the people here are in... I don't think any could be a library assistant, either.

[pinkmin]

[She nodded along.]

All the robots I knew were from... the future? I think. Some were more advanced than others. [She paused, looking out the window thoughtfully.]

The natives are different. It is easy to call them robots, but they are just people with mechanical bodies now.

[awooligan]

[From the future. Time travel? Well, seeing as the two lives he remembered had their last memories coming from different months, maybe it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The technology level of this place, too. Man, everything about his life now was so weird through no fault of his own. Of course.]

Yeah, I know they aren't some weird Skynet thing. [as much as he can hear Oscar's voice in his head spouting lines from Terminator 2 nonstop.] More like ghosts possessing an object, and now they're stuck because no one stopped to wonder if it was a good idea.

[pinkmin]

[She nodded a little, tilting her head a bit.]

From what I read... not everyone was sure it was, but ultimately they thought they were doing a good thing. I don't think they knew what would happen.

... I guess that is how most big mistakes happen.

[awooligan]

[...well, when you put it that way.]

Yeah. People don't really want to go around doing the wrong thing, do they? Most of the time.

[If they're dickheads, it's a different story, but maybe he shouldn't say that to an eleven-year-old even if she does seem very mature for her age.]

Bad things for fun, maybe, but just messing around, you know? Not stuff that could screw things up for people.

[pinkmin]

[Just Rowdy Things.]

Like playing hooky in the library.

[Bring it back full circle.]

[awooligan]

[He shouldn't find that unexpected or funny, but he gives a short, surprised laugh anyway.]

Yeah, like that. Or even somewhere a little less nerdy, if you want to get really crazy.

[pinkmin]

[She knew this answer!]

Going to an underground fighting ring.

[awooligan]

[HAHAHA WHAT THE FUCK this kid is delightful, gosh kids are great]

Exactly. As long as you've got a buddy along for safety. Damn, you really are smart, huh?

[pinkmin]

[Oh no, a compliment. She turned a little more pink, shaking her head.]

No, my friend just took me to one once.

... I hope she did not think I was her safety buddy.

[awooligan]

Awh, hey. I bet you're a great safety buddy.

[just what kind of underground fighting ring was this, though -- ]

That friend around here anywhere?