route_1065 | before I was an orphan boy...

Entry tags:

before I was an orphan boy...

Who: little!Sion, little!Ryner, and their collective Pokemon
Where: their house in Ecruteak
When: May 12, during Time Crisis
Summary: what happens when two little boys wake up in a mysterious house together with a few dozen mysterious (and confused) critters
Rating: let's go with PG because they are tinies but, well, this is still LOLH
Log:

It's strange to fall asleep in your own bed and wake up in one twice the size that you know isn't your own, in an unfamiliar room.

It's perhaps even stranger to wake up in that bed to find another unknown child sleeping next to you in that bed.

And perhaps even stranger still, all the mysterious animals that maybe bear some resemblance to those in story books if you squint. Like the pink puffball. Or the two cats with scythe-like horns.

...But it's also strange, but it somehow feels like it's okay. Even if he can't explain why. So for now, he just blinks.

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Even before he fully woke up, he could feel something was wrong. The fact that he's sleeping on such a nice bed, for starters. So nice, in fact, that he immediately freezes at the notion, instead listening without making any sound himself as he abruptly wakes.

He can hear breathing, which means someone else is in the room. What are they doing? Are they waiting for him to wake up? But he can't pretend to still be asleep forever, especially when he can hear and feel someone else on the bed with him. Did that mean......

He swallows a little, eyes squeezed shut, still not moving. No, he seems to be fine, he'd feel it if someone had beaten him or anything. Gradually, he manages to calm his racing heart a little, then finally stirs and opens his eyes, carefully sitting up as he glances around the room.

Then he freezes again as his wide, apprehensive eyes lock with the other person's. A boy of perhaps a similar age, clearly dressed in fine quality nightclothes.

So this is some noble's house after all...

So his sleeping companion has stirred! He might not know where he is or where his parents are or why he's here or why he feels like it's okay when there's no reason for this to be okay, but they can figure it out together, right? He might even have answers.

(Lessons about being wary around strangers - you never know who might want to target him for either side of family line, after all - come to mind, but he, with his child sensibilities, dismisses them immediately. This boy looks to be his same age, after all.)

So with a friendly smile, he breaks the silence.

"Hi!"

"Hello."

His answer is prompt and polite, of course, but he doesn't dare say more than that. Not yet, at least. It's better to play it safe and speak only when spoken to. If even then.

Because he has no idea what's going on, and that's plenty terrifying in and of itself even without imagining the possible implications.

"I'm Feruna. What's your name?"

The pink puffball seems to perk up at that, for some reason.

("Fairy?" Rose is confused, and kind of worried honestly. First her dear partner is shrunk, now he's introducing himself differently? The last time the second one happened... She shoots a desperate look toward the Absols.)

But surely this other boy is just shy. Shy is okay. And he's probably nervous about being somewhere weird, right? So the best approach is to be friendly, clearly.

"Sion. It's nice to meet you."

Again, polite and to the point. He's doing a good job not letting the extent of his nervousness be too obvious, but obviously some must surely be leaking through. Not that that's necessarily a bad ting.

Still, though, it means he's trying to keep an eye on as much as possible out of the corners of his eyes even as he politely keeps his focus on the other boy. Which means that, under the circumstances, he can perhaps be excused for not immediately noticing when one of the white, scythe-horned creatures gives him a particularly intense look before carefully getting to its feet.

"Nice to meet you too, Sion!"

He then finally takes a really good look around the room, taking in the fixtures and the books and the general layout. This isn't a room that would fit in back home...

"So... do you have any idea where we are?"

Probably not, let's face it, but might as well ask.

He shakes his head at the question.

"No, I don't know. It isn..." he trails off as movement to the side catches his attention, then freezes when he sees what it is. One of the white creatures with the strange, curved horns is approaching him, not overly quickly, but at a steady and determined pace nonetheless. He remains frozen in place, eyes widened in surprise (and perhaps a touch of fear), but he knows there's something he can do... And there's the strangest odd sense of familiarity nagging at the back of his mind, too, like a dream he can't quite remember.

Not that he has much time to try, as it's only moments before the creature's standing before him. It lowers its head, impressive horn and all... and gently nuzzles him, soft white fur brushing against his cheek.

"Ah..." The surprised sound comes out unwittingly and before he can stop himself.

"Hee~ I don't know what it is, but I think it likes you," he says with a big smile.

In fact, there are a lot of creatures around the room, aren't there. Or at least, a lot for a child who's used to just having his parents around. Maybe a guest or two, but rarely.

He almost reaches out to pet the creature nuzzling his new companion, but the pink thing gets up before he can do that and stands in front of him, seemingly sizing him up.

(Well, he doesn't know what an Absol is, so he's probably not possessed by another ghost from Johto, in any case. If it's that he's forgotten, that's bad too, but...)

So he reaches out toward the pink thing instead, seeing if it'll accept being petted on the head. "Oh hi! Is this your home?"

(...She won't say no to that.)

He's still obviously surprised by it, but the creature continues to nuzzle gently at him, even sitting down pressed up against him. It reminds him a little of a puppy, though it's obviously far too big to be that. That, or almost as though it's trying to reassure him...

"Um... This isn't yours, then?" The house they were in, the strange creatures, any of it.

Since the pink unknown creature - seriously, what even do you call an oval with arms, ears, and a tail? - doesn't seem to shy away, he starts scritching her behind the ear that doesn't have a flower on it. She seems to enjoy it.

"Nuh uh. This isn't my bedroom, or mom and dad's. It feels safe, though."

Not that he can explain why. But it does.

"I've never seen any place like it."

Still erring on the side of politeness, of course. Though the strange creature is still very insistently nuzzling him, even going so far finally as put its head in his lap. He's surprised at first, and would pull away but for the fact that he's uncertain if that would upset it somehow. After a moment's hesitation, though, he tentatively, almost warily, reaches out a hand to start lightly stroking the soft white fur.

(... That's better.)

"Me neither."

He thinks for a moment, as he continues to pet the pink thing. Dad's warned him about people who steal kids and hold them until their parents pay money (or not, and worse things happen), but... that can't have happened, right? Dad would have stopped them. Or he would have noticed, and he'd remember that.

Besides, if that was the case, why would he feel safe?

"But it's nice. This bed is really big and comfortable."

He can't argue with that, but he still hesitates to give an opinion either way. For that matter, he hesitates a little before finally asking a question.

"Do you think it's all right for us to be here?"

Particularly, is it okay for him to be there, a place like this could only belong to a noble, after all, and he knew he certainly didn't belong in some nobleman's manor.

...That is a good question, isn't it.

Well, if this isn't Sion's house, and this isn't his own house, and there are unfamiliar creatures that live here, the logical assumption is of course that it is the creatures' house, right?

So he turns to the pink thing. "Is it all right for us to be here?"

"Clef." Nod nod nod.

He turns back to Sion. "This one says yes."

(The flawless logic of a four year old.)

He blinks at that, not sure they could trust the word of a strange... animal? Assuming it even understood the question in the first place.

"What about whoever owns this place?" Because clearly a house can't belong to animals, no matter how strange.

Also a good question, huh... Well, the best way to find out is to ask the pink thing, right? "Do you know who owns this place?"

Rose shoots a desperate look toward Dusk. What does she tell him? How to tell him is a non-issue, she can write, but that is her dear partner made small and amnesiac and also Sion made small and amnesiac and what is she supposed to tell them???

Normally, Dusk would have little enough opinion about that sort of thing. As it is, however, it's clear that situation's making Sion nervous, perhaps even frightened. For as relatively calm as he might outwardly seem, it's easy for her to feel his tension as she leans against him. She doesn't know why, of course, but that doesn't change the truth of the situation.

Which means she has to think about it. Placing a reassuring paw on Sion's lap, she lifts her head, cocking it as she considers the clefairy's question.

"... Tell them it's our partners' house. And they can be our partners too." It doesn't matter if they don't remember.

For his part, Sion's eyes go wide when the absol starts making those strange noises, but he stays seated where he is, judging that if the creature had wanted to harm him it would have done so before now.

Rose nods. Okay. Okay, that works. She can write that, and they'll accept that, and surely that won't scare them off or anything. ...Is what she tells herself as she digs for her pen and paper and starts to write.

"This is our partners' house. They're out, but they don't mind guests. And you can be our partners too!" she writes, and then shows it to the children.

Sion reads the note, and blinks in surprise.

"Eh...?" Partners? What was that supposed to mean?

As if in response, the scythe-horned creature nuzzles him again.

"That must be what this one calls the people they live with," he reasons, taking no issue with the concept of a mysterious pink thing being able to write. "Are they nice?"

"Clef!" Rose emphatically nods. So nice. Best partner and friend. (Emphasize this to the little versions so that maybe they'll believe it better later when they remember, that they're good people.)

"But will it be okay with them for us to be here?"

He can't tell if these creatures are just being friendly to anyone they meet like a puppy would or not.

Of course, his question seems to be the cue for the one pressed up against him to headbutt him lightly before leaning up to lick his face.

"Fairy." Rose nods even more, almost bordering on desperate because seriously what does she do. And then, to attempt to make a point, she reaches out to the child version of her dear partner's arm and brings it into a hug.

Said child gives the pink thing a few more pets. Between this and the cat thing's snuggling toward Sion... "I think these ones want us to stay, at least."

He watches that, then glances at the creature that seems to have taken such an interest in him.

"I guess so..."

Even he can't completely hide the note of doubt in his tone, though.

The logic of a four year old whose favorite bedtime stories are fairy tales and legends and who therefore sees no problem with a cat with a scythe and a pink thing that is intelligent enough to write: surely if the pink thing can write, it knows what it's talking about, and surely if it says it's okay, then it means it.

"So it's fine," he says. "We can stay here until we figure out how to get home, and we can all be friends and play together."

Flawless logic.

There sure were a lot of 'we's in that sentence. Amongst other things. Unfortunately, this is the logic of a child who's learned to be alert for dangers and to fear those with power since he learned to walk, and so sees potential ways for things to go awry around every corner.

Of course, that also means he knows better than to be rude to someone who may well have more powerful connections.

"What do you want to do?"

When in doubt, defer to the noble kid.

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