video | first week of january | un: zXzALLMIGHTJRzXz

[lilizuku]

[ Off-center on the screen is a small freckled child with an impressive green bedhead. His T-shirt, of a suitable size for a teenager, is now as long as a bedgown. He fitfully rubs the sleep from his eyes. ]

Please... Anyone we know who can watch us... and reach high things... and cook katsudon? Paul-kun and I are seven years old now. Kaworu-kun is two whole years younger than us. He’s so little...

[ Tears prick at the edges of his huge green eyes. He just woke up like this, he misses his mom, he barely remembers how to work the Omni, but he must make his case. He has to ask for help for the sake of his friends, one of whom is very tiny!

However, the tiny one seems unconvinced.] Someone always comes. They leave you alone for a bit and then come back when they need you.

[ The other seven year old in question stands behind Izuku with his arms crossed over his chest, an effect somewhat undercut by the fact the sleeves of his too big sweater flop over his hands and dangle towards the floor. He glares from underneath a fringe of messy curls that match Izuku’s except for their dark colour, and amends Izuku’s statement with a crisply pronounced: ]

Which doesn’t mean we can’t defend ourselves.

Oh! [ Izuku remembers, ] And I’m very sorry, but you can’t watch us unless you’re our friend. Mom taught me not to talk to strangers.

[ Paul nods emphatically, then turns away from the screen to disappear to the left. When he does, the end of a sheathed knife that’s almost comically large for his small frame is briefly visible under the hem of his sweater. He is not kidding around about self-defense. ]

[ Izuku glances offscreen after him. ] Paul-kun, what do you have there—

[ Cheerfully, without an ounce of hesitation, Paul answers: ] A knife!

[The pale haired boy tilts his head curiously.] What’s a stranger...?


[ ooc: Due to last year's recurring event, these are temporary AU versions of Deku wannasmash, Kaworu peripheries, and Paul terriblepurpose ]

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[unchoose]

[ Paul is standing on the stoop of the apartment building one step up from the ground. Until Bomb arrived, he'd been sawing from his heels to the balls of his feet and back again, stretching out to try to fill the slightly too big boots he tugged on. They go with the too big jacket that goes past his finger tips and down to his knife, over which he's strapped the knife that is revealed on his hip when he pivots to face her - or face up at her, anyway. He blinks a little at the crackle of her voice, but it's no worse than a radio, really. ]

I do, and I am.

You're tall.

[ He says, admiringly, with only a touch of wistfulness. ]

That'll be good for scouting things...where do you want to go first? What looks most likely? I haven't seen hardly anything yet, but it all looks a bit... [ derelict ] Less inhabited.

Are you in disguise?

[lipochrome]

[ Excellent assessment of the situation, kid. Bomb is tall. It's one of the few good things she got from her mother. ]

Apparently Prufrock is where the Hunters go, so let's start there. But I like where you're going, with the ruins. Maybe there was a big battle, and they left their weapons behind. [ Because they died, most likely, but Bomb trusts that Paul is smart enough to pick up on that sort of thing.

Disguise isn't that far-off, either. She nods. ]

Yeah. It's protocol, for when Blood of Eden meets new people. But if you promise to keep my secrets, I can take it off. You know how to sit through an interrogation, right?

[ Every child should know this. ]

[unchoose]

[ Paul nods solemnly, the roundness of his eyes capturing a mote of concern before he tamps it down. He makes sure his spine is properly linear and balanced before he answers, clear and calm: ]

Yes.

[ The trick is the disconnect. Floating above your body, your mind, with all the secret stuff of you bundled up as tightly as you can manage. ]

And I think it was a battle...do you see that building over there? Someone shot at it. With more guns.