un: klapbak

[clussy]

(Eddie had debated on whether or not to share this piece of information. But what the natives had said weighed on him heavily, and he felt like if he didn't and something were to happen...

He wasn't so sure he could live with that guilt.)

I asked one of the natives if bad things from our homes could come to this place. They said it was possible.

maybe some of you will think I'm crazy. Or the adults won't believe it. The adults in our town didn't believe anything and they didn't want to pay attention to what was happening. they didn't care about all the missing kids. I don't care if you believe it or not. some stuff exists whether or not people want to believe it does. me and my friends took care of it before and we'll do it again if we have to. we made that promise.

our town had this fucked up evil in it. and im not talking hellfire church-evil stuff either. I'm talking like...fear. real fear. maybe even the thing that made Fear

IT knew what you were afraid of. no, not your 'kind of' fears like thinking spiders are gross. i mean the kind of fears you dont even tell your best bud about. the kind of fears you don't even tell YOURSELF about cause the shame's so bad. IT knew you and IT fed off those fears. i guess it liked how kids tasted best when they died in terror

IT ate them too. im not saying it like sucked out their soul. no. IT would

(Eddie has to stop here. To breathe. To focus. He touches his own arm, closes his eyes, and counts.)

i cant explain how you'll know when you'll see IT
you'll feel
like you have to go towards something real bad, real scary
you'll know you shouldn't but you HAVE to...and maybe you'll be lucky like we were
like i was. and be able to get away when the fear gets bad enough.

IT takes the shape of a clown the most when ITS just existing normally. IT only changes when its hunting. IT can come through pictures or sinks or anything. i dont know what ITs limits even were

sometimes IT called ITself Pennywise the Dancing Clown. IT told me its name was Bob Gray when IT talked to me. And sometimes you could hear that carnival sorta music.Sometimes it'd lure you in with the smell of popcorn. IT sometimes had balloons. A lot of balloons. I don't know. It lived in the sewers and

I want to say we beat IT for good but we didn't. i'm not sure if IT can BE beaten.

I dont know if IT'll ever show up here
but don't trust things to be what they seem. don't.

and maybe realize the monsters you know might come here too. please be careful.

Comments

[a2brutus]

You're giving me too much credit. I absolutely think about killing machines at least 95% of the time.

[clussy]

of course im telling you important stuff.
i like you.

thats not super descriptive. mine had teeth too. thousands. what else?

[clussy]

(Maybe everyone deserved a chance to start over. Of course, ironically, Eddie wasn't so generous with that belief with himself.)

I guess youll have time to decide then what you want. Not the worst thing?

(Eddie smiles a tiny bit at that.)

im the same way. i usually talk a mil a minute believe it or not. my best friend, richie, has it way worse though. he's always crackign jokes and things. i think its been hard for him here.

(That was perfect, really.)

yeah. my mom used to tell me i had all this stuff wrong with me so i was taking all kinds of medicine

i think she was afraid of being alone. she wanted me all to herself and she always tried to make me feel like i was a bad boy for leaving her. like i was cruel or something. then shed always make me think i was going to die from everything or get really hurt. im trying really hard not to be that way anymore but i fall back on it a lot and start thinking im sick with stuff im not really sick with

sometimes i hear her nagging at me and that makes it worse too.

[justbeingknife]

[ team more generous with others than yourself!! Majima smiled. ]

Yeah, I got a taste of that already. That kid's got a mouth on him, even when he ain't actually talkin'.

[ While modern psychological terms were a little outside of Majima's time period, he did recognize some of what Eddie was telling him. Love could be a powerful force, both positively and negatively -- if it became twisted, it could strangle as surely as an actual noose. ]

I think you're right. Some moms, they ain't know how to let go of their kids. Just makes everyone worse off in the end, though. I ain't know anyone whose old lady told 'em they were sick, exactly, but there're plenty of guys whose folks told 'em they weren't worth anything.

Even if they know it ain't true, you look into their eyes and it's like deep down they still believe it.

I think you're stronger and smarter than ya think, though. You're what, not even a teenager yet? But ya already know yourself better than most adults.

[lowkeycrazy]

[Well, that actually makes him give a pause. Hah...]

That does sound nice. Perhaps I'll go too, sometime. [He did enjoy going to the park to cycle, when he had the time.]

And don't worry about me. I'm fully capable of protecting myself.

[morphogenia]

[She's ready with a whole lecture about how an asthma attack does not make him a loser when she reads the rest of that. It stings badly. Kamala has never really been alone like this before. She had Nakia and then Bruno. She's made a bunch of other friends along the way with more even to come. Here she's just dumb kid to be pitied by the adults. She swallows past the lump in her throat to reply.]

Yeah, I could use some friends. It's hard to make them without school, I guess. I don't know anyone here really. Plus it'd be a pretty awesome to be friends with someone that brave!! Don't let your lung problems get you down! >( Even if Captain America used to have those kind of problems and no one called him a loser... except for those people who bullied him, but they all suck so much that no one remembers them!!!!!!!

My name is Kamala by the way! What's your name?

[deadboywalking]

[There's a long pause.]

i like you too.

it was mostly teeth, i mean. it kind of looked like a person with a toothy flower face.
well one of them did, at least.

[whists]

[Sometimes, it does feel like they're separate entities, even as an adult. But she was a curious child who knew too much, and that's shaped her worldview a lot. She just wishes that kids didn't have to suffer the indignities of the world, regardless of how they come about.]

My father made sure they were justly punished. [She doesn't talk about these things much. Who does she have to talk to back home, besides Corvo and Wyman? Of course, it was common knowledge what happened to Empress Jessamine and the scandal of Corvo Attano's imprisonment, his redemption. But to talk about it? It's an odd feeling.]

There are good people in the world, despite what the world tries to teach us.

[thatsruff]

[Teddy makes his way to the house Eddie stays in, finding his way to the front porch to sit by the door. Eddie is a good boy, and he had not meant to worry or scare him. He isn't sure what to think of a human wanting to protect him, still, so he focuses on the later questions and comments.]

Can I come in?

The resources were rare plants with an acidic chemical smell. Their leaves were waxy and tough. I will try to find examples here. If it can be made, we will protect this planet from the risk.

[clussy]

yeah. if he's ever being too much of an obnoxious shit, just tell him 'beep-beep' and he'll normally shut the hell up.

(There was a kind of light dancing in Eddie's eyes as he spoke about his best friend. It was nothing short of fondness.

Love could be a cage and love could be abusive. No one ever seemed to want to talk about that kind of thing though. Eddie had met adults who had told him he should be grateful for his mother caring so much.

He wasn't so sure he trusted those people.)

yeah. she was always telling me that too. maybe not so bluntly, but she was always telling me how weak and small and sick i was so it got in my head a lot that i couldn't do anything.

i think she was afraid of me ever being anything more than some useless kid. i think she knew the moment i thought i was worth something, i would know i was worth more than how she was treating me.

(Which might be oversharing, but what part of this conversation hadn't already smudged those lines? In any case, Eddie was saying this more for his benefit than Majima's. He was sounding pretty certain, but this was a daily struggle for him.

His eyes roll up to look at Majima, his mouth quirking to the side in a bit of an odd expression. He still had no idea what to do with people who told him things like that.)

I guess I do. Im mostly trying to change myself.

Do a lot of adults lie to themselves? That kinda seems like something adults are good at doing

[clussy]

cool. that's cool.
that we like each other i mean.

(Gaaah why is this HARD TO DO.)

oh. so like. piranna teeth. or however you spell that.
that sounds pretty scary
how did it hunt you?

[clussy]

(Eddie wasn't so sure about being a good boy. Though it would be hard to argue with a dog on the grounds of what made someone good or bad, maybe.

Instead of answering right away, the front door opens. He steps outside and smiles at Teddy, instantly going to gently pet the top of Teddy's head. Even though Teddy clearly could talk, it was hard for Eddie to not automatically want to pet him still.)

There's a bowl inside with water for you.

Okay. I can help however I can if we do eventually find them. I know there's other medical professionals here too.

[waystation]

<sub>[The comment comes out of nowhere, and for how small and offhand it is, it leaves a large, warm footprint in its wake. It could be he's catching a backlash of Eddie's emotions with it--Eddie's palpable relief spurs him on to drop the pencil he's using to fill in a hand-drawn map and get up to start walking.

Being beside Eddie... That's a good way of putting it. Yeah, he likes that thought.]</sub>

( It's true. I'm never far like this. Like talking on the phone.

Are you still at the house? I'll come to you. )

[clussy]

(The Jake Chambers Hotline.)

(Eddie tries to make his voice go husky in his head, like those dumb woman phone operators who talked all hours of the night to lonely men. It was a Tozier-style joke that's delivered with a faint echo of Eddie's giggle teetering on his end.)

(I'm at the greenhouse, actually.)

(He was just sitting down, legs wrapped up to his chest, tucked under one of the tables. It was nice and quiet in the greenhouse. Granted, it was quiet everywhere in this place, but the greenhouse felt like a less forced quiet. It just felt like a normal quiet. Plus it smelled nice.)

[justbeingknife]

[ Eddie really wasn't pulling any punches with his assessment of his mother, that was for sure. It sounded like a stifling environment -- the opposite of the one Majima had come up in, where no one could really be counted to look after him but himself; he'd had to toughen up fast, or he never would have survived.

It was a positive thing, wanting to improve yourself, but -- ]

Well, what if we helped you with that? Changin' yourself, I mean?

[ Eddie's next question was a bit more nuanced. ]

A lot do... but a lot don't. In my line of work, anyway.

When ya live like a normal person, it's easier to give yourself reasons why you gotta do or say something you'd rather not. You got responsibilities, or you just wanna get through the day without gettin' into a huge hassle. Society runs on lies and appearances, anyway, so it's like doing what you gotta to survive.

But it ain't as though there's some big split once ya hit 20 or anything. I figure that if you're old enough to talk, you're about old enough to start lyin' -- even if your reasons start out easier to understand.

At first it's to cover for yourself, maybe a couple other people. Then you're really in for it.

[clussy]

P L E A S E

[clussy]

i'm glad your daddy did something about it. What was his version of 'justly punished'?

it kind of sucks that kids can never do any punishing of their own. (Sometimes there had been moments in Eddie's life where he never understood that. Adults sometimes just seemed like they would rather do anything else than hold up their own rules. It made him wonder about how punishment worked here.)

I know. I've always had my friends and Im really lucky. I dont know what id be or where id be without them. theres nice people here too. at least it seems that way so far.

[clussy]

if you ever come by I can give you some food stuff! for helping me and all. and just because

I bet you are. But that doesn't mean there won't be times where you can't protect yourself. Everyone needs to rely on others sometimes, don't they?

[clussy]

I guess you're right. Who we were before doesn't matter at all. the worlds different here. your westeros doesnt exist here and neither does my derry. (In theory, anyway. It could still exist considering they were in France right now, but....)

why do you say that?

I'm already wary about adults. And the bigger the worse it is. I'll remember them. They're kinda funny names anyway.

Have you killed a lot of people?

[clussy]

Jeezums don't say that or I'll make you try just so I can say a girl benchpressed me with a finger

we could be the presidents. make shirts and everything. i know a few people who would join even

[clussy]

(Eddie's really never been alone either. Except a couple times- but those had been real bad times in his life, times he didn't like thinking about. With this girl's generosity, it felt right to offer her that friendship. It was sincere too. She seemed like the kind of person he would want as a friend.)

I never had a lot of friends. Especially at school. But now you know some people here and I think people here are a little nicer.

Wait are you calling ME brave??? trust me. out of my group i am EASILY the biggest coward

Captain America used to get bullied??? No way. That's. HE'S HUGE

I'm Eddie! It's nice to meet you Kamala. OR I guess talk to you?? What do you look like so I know if I see you in person?

[clussy]

(He couldn't really afford to. He used to, but it always put him back in a mental place where he started letting himself listen to her all over again. Eddie loved his momma, but it was complicated the way most relationships with parents were.

That and it kind of didn't help that he was left pretty messed up in the head from it all.)

Thatd be

nice
I'm trying so it helps when other people help too. I sometimes get caught up in thinking Im still sick like. I dont really have asthma but I sometimes feel like I do when I get real scared but I gotta stop using my inhaler.

(That kind of thing.

There isn't too many times Eddie can recall where he's gotten a lot of honest insight to how adults functioned, so he takes his time reading what Majima has to say about it all.)

I know lots of kids who lie too, yeah. i mean even i have lied plenty. which i guess kind of makes me a
whats the word
hippocrit?

A lot of kids lie so they dont get in trouble. Parents make it easy for kids to want to lie too when they yell at them about damn near everything. Maybe kids grow into adults who think theyre gonna get in trouble every time they do something they think is gonna upset someone else

I guess I do get why adults lie

So it just becomes a cycle sort of thing? You gotta lie to cover your other lies. Jeez. What a mess.

[justbeingknife]

Your inhaler? So it's psychosomatic?

[ Wow, what were the odds. Maybe that was another reason Majima found himself oddly identifying with Eddie. ]

I get what ya mean. But now that I'm thinkin' about it, that's just one reason to lie. There's plenty more. To impress someone, to get something ya want, to get outta trouble, like ya said...

[ Huh. ]

That's probably not real reassuring. But...

I've met people who lie, but who I wouldn't consider dishonest, either. They're more like animals. They don't lie just to dick you over, but to get somethin' they want.

[ Apparently there was a difference? Majima probably wasn't explaining it too well. ]

I'd rather deal with someone like that.

[deadboywalking]

[Coupla disaster gays, right here.]

i think it could smell me. i was stuck in it's world, so i was the only person there. it chased me for
a long time.



did yours really have thousands of teeth?

[clussy]

Really? Jesus Christ almighty that sounds scary. You really ARE brave. Hot damn.

What was your world like?

I think so yeah. It looked like
nothing but teeth and teeth and..
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