31

[perfectsymmetry]

[Today in the park, Crowe can be seeing leaping about trees! Well, sort of. He's climbing up and down them as fast as he can, timing himself as he does so with a stopwatch. He's pretty fluid, and after a few runs in one tree, he has it down to a matter of seconds. Once he accomplishes that, he moves on to the next one, doing the same. He looks exhausted, but pleased once he checks his times. He's breaking his old records.

Later, he'll be found practicing a tightrope walk. He's just using a regular rope tied between two trees for now, only a few feet off the ground. He does alright but he's new at this, and falls off a lot. Most of the time he manages to land on his feet, but he does slip on occasion. But he'll get back up and try, try again. Practice makes perfect.

Crowe's been a bit closed off from everyone lately, thanks to basically living at the park. And after the droning of three of his friends in a short amount of time - the hardest on him being Massimo's - he wonders if he should have listened to Ichobod's advice from many months back about not making too many friends here. It didn't make things any easier when this happened.

Of course, this doesn't mean he isn't free for talking/ridicule/question what the hell he's up to since he's in a public park.]

Comments

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[...erk.]

W-well, but you're not... I-I mean, you're definitely not a drone though.

[A pause. Quietly:]

...Do you really like being here?

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

...it's not perfect, I guess. And... lately it's been discouraging. But...

[]

There're a lot of things here that're way better than back home. It's really hard not to be excited about that... in spite of everything.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[You get a sympathetic look. Crowe hears that from a lot of people... to think how people could come from somewhere *worse* than Mayfield breaks his heart.]


I'm... sorry to hear that. I know you've not been here long, but this place is hardly a picnic. That whole post office thing... that was pretty tame in comparison to what they usually do. I guess I shouldn't be complaining about having to go to school then. School's the least of our worries.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

... "tame?" Really...?

[]

Don't get all grumpy. School can still suck. Feels... normal. And that's nice.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

You're lucky, you missed things like Westport and the Soviet town… but wait around long enough, something like it is bound to happen again…

[He smiles a bit.] Yeah, that's true. It's not all that bad. I had been home schooled most of my life, and only started in high school a few months before I ended up here.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

[]

What's school like in the US...?

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[He thinks on it a moment.]

I've lived in a lot of places, all different countries, and we weren't in America very long before I was brought here... but school was a lot of fun. It was great to meet more kids my age. Honestly, I couldn't get over how big the school was. Just… thousands and thousands of kids.

[A thoughtful pause.] I can't wait to go back.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

...see? That sounds real nice. And normal. Normal feels good.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[Bigger smile now, and nodding.] Indeed it does.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

That's what I like best about this place. [] Although, if it's usually worse than all that bleeding at the post office...

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Unfortunate, but true. People can avoid the post office and not get hurt, unlike the last few "games" they've played...

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

[]

...oh?

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[Crowe hates to bring this guy down, since he's so cheerful, but... he deserves to know what happens in this town too.]

Y-yeah, it can get... bad. Just a few weeks ago, we all woke up in a Soviet version of the town, everyone was forced into impossible jobs and people were... [His hand unconsciously goes to his chest, where he still had a nasty scar from his Soviet "reprogramming".] ...i-it was pretty rough. Then there was Westport, another town that had opened up, and people got trapped in... [He trails off.]

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

[]

... 's a lot of little kids here. Like, little kids.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That's the worst part. Even they don't get out of it. [Shakes his head sadly.]

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

[]

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[He does give him a moment, looking a bit guilty for laying all this on him.]

...S-sorry, but... it's good for everyone who comes here to know the truth, yeah? You should know what you've gotten into here...

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

[]

...bet it's, ah... real hard being one of the people who has to tell us new guys. Can't feel good always having to give bad news.

I'm sorry.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

I've been here since March... I'm almost used to giving this speech. I've seen a lot of people come and go in that time.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

Being used to something doesn't make it easier. You can get used to killing and it'll still hurt every time you do it.

I mean, not that this is that bad, just...

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[Interesting metaphor. Crowe gives you a curious look.

He stands up now, and stretches. He's been sitting too long after all that exercise.]

I suppose. And this town is always coming up with new ways to... to play with us, so you never get too comfortable. But... the only thing you can do is endure, yeah? Till whenever it is they decide to send us home.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

[]

And enjoy the normal while we have it, right?

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[Nods.] That's about all we can do.

[teh-sword.livejournal.com]

...can't be the hardest thing in the world. You still look happy when you smile.

[]

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[He looks a little embarrassed, and chuckles.]

Maybe I'm just better at bouncing back than I thought.