AGE PLOT SHENANIGANS

[microbrobotics]

WHO: Everyone and anyone!
WHERE: De Chima, various
WHEN: Around 6 PM EST, March 25th
WHAT: Age plot kickoff!
WARNINGS: Cuteness.

[ LET'S GET THIS PARTY OFFICIALLY STARTED! Opening events so we don't do too much comm flooding (although people are welcome to make their own posts for the event). You're welcome to toplevel with your character if you'd like to have them show up somewhere else for this plot.

Current toplevels:
Spring Festival in a De Chima city park
De Chima #1
De Chima #1, later (Minato)

The age plot will run from March 25th through Sunday, March 29th. More deets available at the plotting post. ]

Comments

[nostalgiabomb]

DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY | around de chima;

[ Peter Quill is terrified.

He barely knows where he is or what he's doing here or why his clothes are so huge -- and the faint hint of familiarity he feels whenever he glances around is just weird. Like he's been here before, but he knows he hasn't. He's-- he's pretty sure of that, anyway. He's never stepped foot outside of Missouri, at least, and no place in Missouri looked like this, like it was a city straight out of The Jetsons.

His memories are a fuzzy sort of blur, like waking up from a deep sleep when his eyes refuse to focus. The only thing he remembers clearly is a flash of light, a rush of wind, and a strange sensation of weightlessness. He remembers screaming and crying and thinking, This isn't fair, this isn't fair. But that doesn't seem right, either, because he also remembers something like a county fair. Cotton candy and popcorn and rides, and watching people throw darts at balloons. He remembers wrinkling his nose at people willingly strapping themselves into something that looked more like a squeaky metal death trap than a ride.

Eventually he decides he'll sort it out later, and with a twinge of guilt, the first thing he does is steal a set of clothes. (It's easier than it probably should've been, and he'll sort that out later, too.) The red leatherish jacket stays, though it's way too big on him, and he drapes it over one arm to carry it around. He keeps his Walkman clutched tightly in his hands, and a pair of headphones with bright orange earpads dangle around his neck.

Mom and Gramps always told him to go to a policeman if he ever got lost like this, but seeing as how he just stole, he doesn't see that as a particularly viable option. And the longer he wanders around the city, the more and more anxious he becomes. Anxiety eventually ramps up to fear, and walking turns into running.

It's extremely likely, in fact, that he might run into you. Sorry. ]

[siriusly]

[freak powers aside, Manabu is kind of a magnet for fortune or...destiny...or whatever is in charge of these circumstances; a kid banking a corner and straight into his legs is far from the worst of things, but he didn't exactly expect it.]

Uff–!

[he does have the sense to reach and grab hold of little shoulders to stop any extra momentum from causing a fall.] Careful! Care–

[he's fast to detect fear, almost as fast to ease his grip.] Hey, it's alright–

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Our vote is for ~destiny~.

As it is, Peter's quick to try to twist out of the guy's grip, and only when it eases of its own accord does he look up.

-- Not a familiar face. That's not a surprise, but he had hoped--

He manages to choke down his panic -- which is easy enough, considering he's taking deep gulps of air to catch his breath. A glance around yields the same results (familiar but not), and he finally looks up. ]

Do you know where this is--?

[siriusly]

Hmh?

[his hands are still hovering near while Peter does his turnabout, frowning worriedly. where's this kid's parents? relatives? he looks really spooked, and...well, judging by the question, lost.]

De Chima. That's the town. [he shoots a quick glance across the street, looking for the road signs before refocusing on the kid.] You got separated from someone, didn't you? Do you remember where?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ That name sounds familiar, but he still can't really place it. He frowns and chews on his lower lip for a bit,then shakes his head at the guy's question. ]

I don't think-- I don't think they're here. I've don't think I've been here before...

[ Granted, that last bit sounds unsure. ]

[siriusly]

[here can be as simple as this particular street or as complex as not even the same neighborhood as this universe. Manabu's still not used to thinking on the latter; he keeps his focus smaller.]

No? Well, where's the last spot you were? There's some bus maps and things we can check to see where you got turned around. [he pushes an encouraging look on his face.] Does that sound okay? Maybe better than running around unsure and getting more lost.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ His brow furrows as he tries to think back. Because he remembers running outside, and falling to his knees in a field of grass, but he also remembers a fair and the smell of popcorn and cotton candy, and--

At the suggestion of bus maps, though, chews on his lower lip, trying to remember. ]

-- Heropa. [ He blurts it out, then frowns at himself. ] Do you-- is that a place near here?

[stealwithit]

[ So, hey, guess who stole some clothes, too? This lil' kiddy. She's similarly touting her clothes (and on a meta-level, it's fortunate she showed up to the festival in her civilian clothes, because her suit would have been such a pain in the butt for a little Kasumi to carry around) in her arms in a bit less of a panic, it seems, than this boy who bumps into her-- ]

Hey!

[ And she falls on her butt. ]

Oww!

[ Kasumi's mind is all fuzzy, but she remembers where she is and who she knows, very vaguely, and when she sees this kid, she can't help but stare because she has a feeling that she's suppose to know him, too. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ While Kasumi falls on her backside, Peter isn't so lucky. He falls face-first onto the pavement, but he manages to catch himself with one hand, the other clutching the tape player to his chest. The red jacket dropped from his hands during the tumble, of course, and Peter's hand is going to be scraped up like crazy, but at least it wasn't his face.

He gets up on his knees and stares at the girl -- there's no familiarity on this end, if only because she's so bitty. And he's panting, taking in deep gulps of air. ]

-- Sorry. I didn't see you.

[ A+ apology. ]

[stealwithit]

[ Well, he tried.

Also, who you calling bitty, bitty? She furrows her brows at him and pouts for a sec, still unable to place this strange fuzzy feeling of familiarity. ]

It's okay...

[ Her suit still neatly bundled in her arms, she scrambles back up to her feet and notices him clutching his cassette player. The sight of it stirs something in her fuzzy memories--something about outer space, or something? But she's still not sure what a cassette has to do with that--and aren't those, like, really really old anyway...?

She shifts her suit over to one arm and holds her hand out to him with the other, her pout quickly turning into a mischievous smile. ]

I wasn't really looking either, heh.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He inspects his hand, and sure enough, it's pretty scraped up; starting to sting, even, but that's not really important right now. He hooks his Walkman onto the waistband of his jeans and scoops up the red leather jacket as he stands. ]

Do you-- know where this is?

[stealwithit]

[ Well, seeing as he didn't need her hand to get back up, she shifts again so that she has both her arms around her bundle of clothes and not her suit which I forgot she wasn't wearing because it's 3am.

In any case, she shrugs at his question. ]

I think I heard someone say "De Chipmunk."

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He purses his lips, eyebrows knitting together. ]

... That doesn't seem right.

[orangehoodie]

[Ken has no idea what Peter looks like since he hid behind the audio option when they spoke last month, but he's seen enough people turn into children today to recognize the signs. Like oversized clothes being carried around by lost-looking kids. By the look on this one's face, he can only assume that he's one of the unfortunate ones whose memories got shuffled around, too. Oh boy. Ken knows too much about being lost in strange places as a child to ignore him in good conscience.

And besides that, Koromaru, the tiny pup who's shrunk to being no more than a few weeks old, has already taken interest in the child and is bouncing his way over. He too isn't a dog who can leave children to be alone. He yips happily to get the boy's attention, only halting once he's one or two feet away from him.]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He skids to a halt when he spots the puppy a few feet away from him. (Because dogs are universally awesome, and he's always wanted one, okay.) And, he glances around for an owner (because surely a puppy this adorable wouldn't be out on its own), and spots Ken.

He clutches the Walkman and the red jacket closer to his chest, casting his eyes to the sidewalk as he takes in deep gulps of air to catch his breath.

-- Sorry, man. Doesn't look like Peter's inclined to speak yet. ]

[orangehoodie]

[He's running into a number of quiet children today and Ken's picked up the trick by now: just roll with it. He lets Koromaru do the rest of the approaching, trusting the pup's judgement on people as he moves to catch up at a slower pace. He's not that tall, really, but he knows it would only be intimidating if some older-and-taller looking stranger came running toward him, cute dog or not.]

Hi. [He starts off simply, and quietly too. He was never really a loud kid, and that's carried over on top of a newly-developed habit from talking to his selectively-mute friend.] I guess he saw you and wanted to play. His name is Koro -- can he say hello?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter glances from the guy to the dog -- Koro, apparently -- and visibly hesitates. He probably shouldn't be talking to strangers, right? Especially if they had cool things like candy or toys or dogs, but-- this guy doesn't seem too menacing.

So Peter eventually nods, slowly kneeling down and holding out a hand to the pup. ]

[orangehoodie]

[He probably shouldn't be, but what else is there around here but strangers? Ken's careful in how he approaches, staying a few feet away and leaving the interacting to Koro, who waddles over to the extended hand and sniffs at it before, with a cheerful yip, he starts to lick at them. Hello, lost-looking child.]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Dogs are the best. Every species should have some sort of dog. How do people live without dogs?

Peter smiles a little, and then carefully (so carefully) he gives the puppy a little pet on the head, but then he pulls back, looking up at Ken. ]

Is it okay to pet him?

[truesight]

[ even before the whole- suddenly being nearly thirty years old thing, Rachel absolutely had a soft spot for kids. she's that girl that feels more comfortable being thrown into a classroom of twenty-five kids running around and being told to show them how to fingerpaint than into a room full of adults in.. pretty much any context. kids just get her, or at least she gets them fairly well. it's with this in mind that she sticks around De Chima even after she has a huge freak out moment over her physical appearance. people aren't just older, they're also a lot younger, too. and if she can help people stay safe while they're ittybitty, then she's going to do it.

plus, you know. if nothing else, she can use her new superpower to draw something up and keep them entertained. she's got options.

she's a little surprised when someone bumps into her ( well like, her hip ), her hands automatically moving out in case the momentum hits the kid harder than it hit her ]

Whoa, hey, kiddo- What's got you running so fast?

[ no really, because when kids come running into camp like that, it usually means something awful is chasing them. so she's just going to take a peek around, yeah. sure this isn't Camp Half-Blood, but maybe she's just gotten used to kids being chased by monsters as the norm. woops. although he does look a little young to be a camper. whatever. not the point! ]

Are you alright?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ When he comes to an abrupt halt, there are apologies already falling from his lips in between panting breaths. ]

Sorry-- I didn't-- I wasn't looking--

[ He ventures a quick glance up at her -- not a familiar face, he quickly notes -- and casts his eyes to the sidewalk. Is he in trouble? He probably shouldn't have been running. Quick, Peter, play the pity card. ]

... 'M lost.

[truesight]

It's okay! Nobody got hurt, right? So it's all good.

[ there's always some part of her that wants to be overly sweet or whatever to kids, but she knows it's kind of ridiculous. it's easier to just talk to them like they're her age ( her normal age ), and half the time it leaves less room for awkward conversation. and yeah, she's totally eating up that sad look, it's hard not to feel a sense of ohmygoshsweetiedon'tbesadit'sokayI'llhelpyou, but. right. not going to say all that ]

To be honest? I'm a little lost, too. This carnival is kind of huge. [ she looks up, still trying to spot if anything might have spooked him, but also looking around for someone that might be looking for him. but it's weird, isn't it? like, chances are this kid wasn't a kid a little while ago. so he's not going to have parents looking for him. so... she just has to figure out a smart way to go about this ]

My name's Rachel, by the way. And I don't know if you're looking for anyone in particular, but... Wanna hang out with me for a little while? At least until we figure out where we are, or find somebody familiar.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He visibly hesitates, what with years and years of adults telling him "don't talk to strangers unless they're policemen" running through his head. But this lady seems nice? And she wasn't angry about his barreling into her. And maybe she could help him figure out where he was and what was going on?

(And if worst came to worst, he would just run. Peter's always been a fast runner.)

So he slowly nods, chewing on his lower lip. ]

... Okay. If you don't mind, I mean.

[ He pauses, then adds as an afterthought, ]

I'm Peter.

[truesight]

[ she's trying really hard not to look too hopeful, it'll probably come off weird to the boy, but the idea of any these kids wandering around by themselves if they're freaked out or can't remember where they are, that's- nope. she can't do it. so she's relieved when he agrees, smiles bright and stands up a little straighter ]

Cool! Nice to meet you, Peter. And those are really awesome headphones, by the way, I used to have a pair just like those. [ it's a little nerdy how genuine a compliment that is, but she's not going to worry too much about that. she clasps her hands together as she looks around, and there's just so much, which is probably part of the problem if he really is lost, but maybe she can help him make sense of things, help him remember where is he ] So! Did you just get here, too? I don't even know what we should check out first. While looking for people we know, I mean. We may as well play some games or something in the meantime, yeah? If you want to. [ oh yeah, super casual ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ oh man. this lady is super perky what's even happening.

He glances around when she does, taking in the sights and sounds of the carnival -- and it really does remind him of the county fairs back home, with similar rides and attractions. Even some of the food stalls look familiar, and he wonders if maybe they just come out of a kit? Like, "build-a-fair" or something.

Peter scratches the side of his nose thoughtfully. ]

I'm not very good at these games. Gramps said they were, um. That they were always cheatin'.