open;

[orangehoodie]

who: ken and YOU
what: ken has run-ins with a couple of those weird aliens (the toothpicks and tokidoki), and YOU, the unfortunate passerby, gets caught up!!
when: March 30th and onwards; you can specify the date if you'd like!!
where: around town (the outskirts of the business district, near the library or school)
warnings: fighting? should be nothing out of the ordinary!

[toothpicks;]
[Weird monsters have been showing up around town. After running away from them on the 29th, Ken's resorted to carrying a broomstick around no matter how weird it may make him look. It'll be useful when he has to swat any of them away -- but even that wasn't enough preparation for angry pointy pieces of wood, so he has to run again, and so he does.

Towards YOU, though really he wasn't intending to. He's not paying the most attention to where he's going, and he scales a chain-link fence and jumps down, toward the sidewalk on the other side without looking. Straight toward your head.

Shit. He can't just turn back either, stuck in midair with toothpicks behind him--]

H-hey, look out!

[tokidoki and altoids;]
[Brushes can't protect you from powder, though, and the brush is how Ken gets a blast of mint dust in his face when he tried to swat the Altoid away with it. And it sucks, because he gasped and got it all in his nose and mouth and eyes and now his eyes are itchy and tearing up, his nose is sniffly, and his throat itches. And he can't stop the tears long enough to figure out where he is and which way is home. But he can see YOU, blurry figure standing not too far away, and he manages to make his way over to you.]

E-excuse me? [A tap on your elbow or shoulder or back. If you look down, toward him, it's a miserable looking thirteen-year-old who looks like he just got the Allergies from Hell.]

I'm trying to find my way home, but I got something like hay fever really badly and I can't see. If you have some time, could I ask for some help?

Comments

toothpicks

[mysteltinn]

[Owen was kinda glad for his battle echos right then. Not because of aliens (though they certainly helped) but because otherwise Ken would have totally squished him. Instead, almost unnaturally quick, he braces himself, steps back, and holds his arms out to catch the falling pre-teen without thinking]

Whoa!

[orangehoodie]

[With a yelp and then a grunt, Ken falls right into Owen's arms. He doesn't drop his broom surprisingly enough, but the shock of the catch is enough to stun him for a moment as he blinks at his savior and almost-victim.]

... Huh?

[Why isn't he on the ground???]

[mysteltinn]

[He blinks at the kid, only to see toothpicks climbing over or- scarily enough, going THROUGH the fence. He kicks the fence, hard, knocking most of them off. Temp rescue at best]

Who the- friend or foe!?

[Kids falling from the sky might be the work of aliens man you don't know.]

[orangehoodie]

I'm-- [Oh god oh god, the toothpicks are coming. He's already got a few cuts from them, and they're absolutely no fun to be around.]

I'm a stranger?! But I'm definitely not on their side!

[mysteltinn]

Good enough!

[He lets Ken down, only to at once go to the duffle bag he had dropped when he was spooked. He yanks it open and pulls out-

A sword. A goddamned real one-and-a-half hand bastard sword. It's nicked and beat up but certainly looks real. And without missing a beat he swings it overhead, taking off the lead stick's arm and making it fumble back off the fence]

Stay back, I'll handle these miscreants!

[pheromonecoffee]

[Ken what the everliving hel--!! Matt looks up in a moment of blank confusion and the terror spreads over his face instantly. Then down he goes as a cushion for his smaller friend.

He coughs.]

Nice of you to drop in, Ken. Was spring cleaning this urgent? [... Ken may notice that somewhere on the way down, Matt's hair has certainly changed color.]

[orangehoodie]

[He falls with a yelp, and while he sits up rubbing his head he definitely didn't land with the force or pain he expected, and he looks down confused to see...]

Matt!

Matt, oh god, are you okay--?!

[pheromonecoffee]

I'm okay enough for bad jokes. I think I'll make it.

So uh--[He sits up oh Jesus his back hurts.] What's the rush?

[orangehoodie]

Um, actually--

[He stops short though, falling totally silent for a few seconds as he stares at Matt's face and sees his blue hair and his mouth is open without speaking a word.

But his eyes are also wide open, and those start welling up with tears. Whups.]

[pheromonecoffee]

What's wrong? [Oh god did he break something? He broke something, didn't he?!] Did you get hurt?

tokidoki and altoids

[pokebonnet]

[Oh no! Don't worry, allergic little middle school child, Granny Curry will take care of you. She'll just turn around and pat your head.] There, there, dear. I'm still pretty new in Locke, but if you tell me the streets I'm sure we can muddle through it! Here, take my hand!

[Your helper sounds like an old lady, Ken. In fact, if you take her hand you'll notice that she feels like an old lady.]

[orangehoodie]

Thank you.. [He makes sure to wipe his hands before he takes her hand, and even before he does he fishes into his pockets to find a bottle of hand sanitizer. His dad always insisted he held onto one of those tiny ones. When his hand is cleaner he'll take Granny's! This kid smells strongly of mint and even has bits of white powder on him. The mint was strong.]

My name is Ken. I'm sorry if you were busy.

[pokebonnet]

[Such a good boy. Ivy likes him already.] Oh, not at all, dear. I was just running errands and I'm done now.

I'm Mrs Ivy Curry! Do you ride the bus? The school bus, I mean, not the city bus, although I guess you might ride that one too.

[orangehoodie]

Oh! No, I usually walk, or I get a ride from my dad.

Do you want to take the bus, ma'am?

[pokebonnet]

Only if you live very far away. I was asking because my grandson, Artie, drives the school bus and you look like you're about the right age to be at the school he drives for.

Tokidoki

[gobybessie]

[ Oh, dear.

That's not something you can just deny. John's on the way to work but ... it can wait.

He turns, and frowns. Hm. ]

Where is home, then?

[orangehoodie]

[He tries to look up at the person so he's not rude, but he can barely keep his eyes dry enough or the itchiness to calm down for him to stop squinting.

He gives the man the address to an apartment building close to the business district!]

I think I could make it on my own, too, but I don't think I can see where I'm going.

[gobybessie]

It's not far.

[ He puts a hand on Ken's shoulder and starts leading him. But, first ... ]

What exactly are the symptoms?

[orangehoodie]

[He'll follow obediently, walking beside the man while still rubbing his eyes.]

My eyes itch, and so do my nose and throat. It's like allergies, but it happened really suddenly.

[gobybessie]

Do you usually have hay fever this bad?

tokidoki

[neopianangst]

[WOAH that sounds...kind of like his voice, at least when he's hearing it recorded or something. He's more weirded out by that than able to focus on what he's asking for at first.]

...What was that?

[orangehoodie]

[Ken's too caught up in his misery to recognize the voice as something really close to his own. But it does sound familiar, and for a moment he thinks it's someone he might know! But he really can't put his finger on who it is, so he decides just to say what he needs first.]

I can't see because my eyes are really itchy. I need to get home, and I was wondering if you can help me.

[neopianangst]

[Oh no this is a situation where he can't really say no or get someone else to do it isn't it.

In that case he hopes he doesn't get this kid lost.]

Um...oh, I guess so?

[orangehoodie]

[You are never in any situation where you can say no or get someone else to do it, Shinji.

It must be you.

Not that this kid will say that so he sort of gets flustered.]

U-uh, I mean! You don't have to if you're busy, I don't want to trouble you, if you need to go I can probably find my way home on my ow-- [SNEEZE]

[neopianangst]

I'm not really busy, so...

[Awkwardly looking around.]

...Oh! I'll need to know where you live, though...