Day 49: Late Afternoon - Lil' Tyke Toys

[vstheworld]

Scott had barely gotten a few feet out the door of Tasty Burger when the nurses started blaring their megaphones and shuffling people back indoors. He was definitely getting just a little tired of this, not least due to the dazed and confused mood he had been in since breakfast. Would he get any chance to just walk down a street in a straight line again today? What if he liked the rain, huh? Did the nurses think about that? ...Okay, he didn't like the rain, but that was beside the point. The point was that seeing more of the town was turning into pretty much a non-option.

He was caught by a nurse in front of the door to a local toy shop, and before he could get out so much as a protesting yelp, he was hurried inside with a strong, encouraging shove.  Great, thought Scott, reluctantly peeling off his coat again as he wandered down one of the back aisles and resigned himself to staying. What am I gonna do in here? It's a toy store in Outer Bumblesticks. What are they going to have to keep my mind off things? Dolls? Tin soldiers? Teddy bears? This is gonna su— "HEY is that Godzilla?"

Sure enough, it was. Or rather, it was a large Godzilla action figure sitting on a shelf just ahead of him. The toy was wired into the box good and tight, but the front was open to allow kids to test out the toy's arms and sound before buying. Drawn inexorably to the blinding red "TRY ME!" written on it, Scott pulled the box down and pressed the button on the back of Godzilla's head. 

"AAEEEEEAAAAARRRR."

The roar was small and tinny, but it made Scott grin a little.

"Heheh."

"AAEEEEEAAAAARRRR."

"Heheheheh."

"AAEEEEEAAAAARRRR."

"Hee. Oh Godzilla, you wouldn't leave me, would you?"

"AAEEEEEAAAAARRRR."

[For Mothra Peter Parker. Stein can come too.]

Comments

[dreadofthegrave]

In a way, it was a little disheartening to venture back out into the rain only to discover that it had gotten worse. While Battler wanted to look around the town a bit more, he couldn't exactly complain when a nurse directed him inside. A heated building was definitely preferable to being cold and wet, especially when the shoes and jacket he'd been given weren't quite the best choices to protect against the weather.

Once inside, he resisted the urge to pause that the sight of a familiar face--wasn't that feeling of uncertainty exactly what he was trying to avoid around her? It didn't need to be weird if he didn't make it that way. That was what what he told himself.

"... Didn't think you'd be into this sort of thing," he greeted casually. It was a true enough statement. She really didn't have that sort of vibe, not like the little girl he knew. It was only natural. Certain interests tended to diminish over time. He was no longer the same kid who spouted a bunch of embarrassing crap without thinking about it, either. ... It was a strange thing, what time could do to people.

[finalwitch.livejournal.com]

She stiffened at the familiar voice, each muscle jolting against bone as if to protest this individual's presence. Battler seemed to have the uncanny ability of showing up at the least expected time. In a way, it was unwanted and somehow not unpleasant. Ange did not want to consider the implications of such a view.

"I'm not," she snapped, only to huff at her mistake immediately after. That probably wasn't the correct greeting to give someone you were only pretending to know casually. "I never had time for 'this sort of thing'." Between the murders, Eva oba-san, and the bullies, one had barely enough time to breathe.

"And what about you?" Ange regarded him with suspicion. "Most guys don't walk into a toy store." Never mind that most of its current denizens fit the description.

[dreadofthegrave]

No matter how many sharp reactions Battler got from this girl, he just couldn't seem to get used it, although this time, he was at least able to keep the resulting discomfort more to himself. It would certainly make things easier if he could slowly learn not to react, but the thought was unpleasant somehow, as though the difference would be caring less. He bit his lip slightly, more than aware of the glaring contradiction in his thoughts. Still.... Even if the weight of the situation was horrible, it was better than the potential price.

"... No, I guess not," he said quietly, more than aware of the hidden meaning. It was probably an odd thing for a 'stranger' to be saying, but for some reason, the thought failed to connect.

"Oh, that? One of the nurses forced me in here," he explained more lightly. "I guess they don't want us running around in the rain, although if they were so concerned about that, it would've been easier to leave on another day."

He shrugged, idly picking up a brightly-colored stuffed animal from a nearby display. It was kind of cute, not so much in a personal sense as it was the sort of thing that would make a good present. Of course, even thinking that, it wasn't like it was possible to buy anything here, not without some creative negotiating.

[finalwitch.livejournal.com]

Battler didn't appear particularly comfortable with her response. Although Ange was never the type to care whether her words and actions caused any amount of distress to another individual (most deserved what happened), this caused her to falter. The young woman stared intently at her brother, a severe form of concentration lurking behind her blue eyes. What she was considering was up for discussion.

Instead, she eventually sighed and shook her head. The part that held onto the first topic gave up its grip, slipping away in favor of the second. "Makes sense," she conceded. "Guess we're stuck with each other again." Great fun, that. Ange could use another dose of awkward in her life.

Without meaning to, her eyes followed as Battler took something into his hands. Slowly, she realized it was a stuffed-animal--bright colors, cushy linings, and everything that shouldn't remind her of another but somehow did. Ange looked away quickly, mildly disturbed.