catch-all ( to distract our hearts from ever missing them )

[systemize]

WHO: Cadel Greeniaus and a few other people. If you'd like a thread start, let me know!
WHERE: Various places.
WHEN: Various times.
WHAT: Various things. No, okay, it's a catch all, you get the point.
WARNINGS: None except for Cadel's sad life.

Starts below.

Comments

[orangehoodie]

[Oh. That's dark. That's serious. But Ken's response is to nod with a grimness to match the other boy's tone.]

I think I understand. Do you want to do it here, though? [There's a lot of electricity around them. If Cadel lost control, he could affect a lot of things.]

[systemize]

[Cadel's life is unrelentingly serious, and he's gratified to have someone else appreciate that. Most of the kids he's interacted with have been more normal, prone to being dismissive or not able to empathize with his perspective. Everyone here has been quite different, in a good way. Not a side effect he was expecting of his arrival.

It's a good point and he considers it in due course.] You think we should go to a park? We could do that. [Total isolation from technology, and fewer bystanders in close quarters.] That would prevent interfering variables as well, [he goes on, warming to it.] Okay. Do you want to grab anything before we go? I think there's a park down the street.

[orangehoodie]

Yeah. That'll be better, and Koromaru can stretch his legs when he wants to, too.

[Witnesses in this case aren't too terrible. Even in Iwatodai, the only reason why any of them really hid their powers was because nobody would believe them anyway. Even if the government or someone had tried to interfere, the Kirijo corporation was probably powerful enough to do something about it. At least, as far as Ken was concerned. Here, they'd cause trouble if their powers interfered with citizen life, and the government wouldn't be forgiving of them of that, he thinks. He nods and slides to his feet.]

I'm okay. I have food and water for Koromaru, so we're ready to go.

[systemize]

[Cadel gathers his stuff, gets to his feet, and finishes off his tea to toss the empty cup away as they go out the door.

He can't help a curious glance.] Did he come with you or did you get him here? [He hadn't heard yet that the Porter brought animals through sometimes as well.]

[orangehoodie]

[It's a question he receives often. Ken's ready with an answer, not even missing a beat while gathering his belongings too.] He came with me. He lived in the same dorm building as me before we came here, and he's been staying with me in Nonah since.

I know one more person who has a animal that definitely came from his world with him, but it doesn't sound like it's a thing that happens often.

[systemize]

[That raises some questions about the selection algorithm Lachesis uses, but Cadel knows it's useless to speculate. It's no replacement for hard information.]

You're lucky, [he comments, not enviously or unkindly.] I didn't have anything familiar when I showed up at all. [He may have panicked. Maybe.]

[orangehoodie]

[He won't hide his grin.]

Koromaru helped me in more ways than I can say, when I got here. I think I was lucky, too.

Do you want to hold his leash a bit? I promise he won't pull on it.

[systemize]

[Cadel likes seeing someone appreciate the things that went right for them. Too many of his age mates seem to just complain endlessly, about problems Cadel would love to have, instead of the ones he does. It makes it extremely hard to relate. This is easier.

After a moment's hesitation he mentally shrugs and says,] Why not? [Momentarily stopping to transfer the leash over. Cadel isn't nervous, just unfamiliar, but he looks at Koromaru with interested eyes. He doesn't think he'd ever get a pet himself, but he's starting to see the appeal.]

He's really well behaved. [He's definitely seen plenty of badly behaved dogs to recognize a good one. And oh look, they're coming up on the park already.]

[orangehoodie]

[Ken is a pessimist at heart, and while it did hold him back sometimes and he tended to focus more on the things he lost and could lose, he tried not to look away from the things that did turn out well for him. Koromaru's company here was definitely one of them. He walks along beside Cadel, not worried at all that Koromaru would do anything to startle him.]

He is. He used to live on the shrine grounds near our dormitory, and people liked to play with him all the time. I've never heard of him ever causing trouble. He's very smart.