video; un: ushiromiya

[entreats]

[ Even as the image can be seen, it seems like there's still a moment of set up, tiny hands fiddling with the Omni like they're trying to get the perfect shot.. But then there are two faces visible. Two faces that are looking decidedly younger than usually - it's Ange and Ruby, looking like they definitely can't be much older than six years old.

And looking very excited. ]

Um, so, so..! We heard that there's some sort of reaaally scary snake monster out there! So.. we thought we'd help out everyone and get rid of it! Because Ruby.. She's a really, reaaally cool huntress! [ Ange may be Will-Smith-esque posing at Ruby for emphasis right as she says that. ]

[Ruby just stares at the camera briefly until she notices Ange's hands pointing her way. She blinks and quickly starts to flex her twiggy arms to the camera.]

Yeah! We're super strong and awesome and we've got tons of weapons! [Ruby gestures to a sack of potato's and a large collection of sticks that they've gathered up.]

That snack is going to be- a- -uh- a, a piece of snack!

[ While Ruby is saying that last part, it seems that Ange has already moved over to grab one of the sticks for a demonstration. As she's running back towards where Ruby and the Omni are, she's waving the stick wildly. ]

We'll get it just like thi--

[ Ange manages to smack the stick right against the device, turning the view sideways before it just cuts out entirely.

Oops. ]

Comments

[payingfordeliverance]

[Oh. Yes. This is quite fine. Baltus's most important duty is as an emotional support omen, and the reason he stays so tangible when he could easily go wafting around like a proper ghost dog is that Break needs a living creature to touch sometimes, too -- it helps him to ground himself when his sight is gone or he's suffering from nightmares or other nasty thoughts, and prone to forgetting just where he is. It is the easiest thing in the world now to plonk his bum down right there on the street and drape his long neck over Ange's shoulder, doggishly returning the embrace. His tail thumps audibly against the pavement. He is happy to help.

Break himself is a little relieved when he skids around the corner up the street and spots them like that. He'd suspected Baltus would be of great help here. His omen already wanders the house at night to keep an eye on the kids as Break rests, and has a tendency to lean up on people who seem upset in his presence. Still, the other piece of the puzzle there is for Ange to be receptive to the comfort, and it does seem that Baltus has genuinely helped.

Interesting that she's so willing to cuddle the omen outright when she's so prickly when she's older. Well, maybe that's just kids for you.

Baltus lets out a bark of welcome as Break approaches. It is but a small bark. It would not do to bark sharply enough to startle Ange.]

[happymeal]

[ Though the young Ange is perfectly content just staying like this and cuddling the noodle omen, the bark does seem to alert her that something is happening. It doesn't startle her, since she doesn't think it's anything dangerous if Baltus would bark so relatively quietly, but he still must have seen something to make that noise.

So she slowly pulls her head away enough from the fur to actually look around them, and that's the moment she realises that it's not just Baltus who has arrived. It seems that the man the omen belongs to has finally followed, and apparently that is the one thing that can get Ange to relinquish her hold on the omen, instead running over in Break's direction with her arms already spread, open wide.

That can only mean one thing, right. ]

Uncle Break..!

[ She runs into the man with a force that'd be strong enough to knock someone over, were Ange not a tiny six year old little kid who couldn't even topple an empty chair if she tried. Still, she latches onto the man the first chance she gets, no matter whether it's for a proper hug or just her clinging to his legs, in case he wasn't prepared to receive this level of sudden and immediate physical contact. ]

You really came! You kept your promise..!

[payingfordeliverance]

[Oh, hell, no. By the time Break had settled into himself well enough to love it when Sharon ran for him, she'd grown out of the urge. No more making eyes at him until he gave in to piggyback rides, no more clinging to his hands and dragging him around. The beginning of her transition from child to fine lady had depressed him in ways he hadn't understood at the time, and he's not wasting the chance to indulge again. When Ange runs to him, she is not just hugged but scooped up into his arms with practiced ease, and he won't even complain if he's scolded for being embarrassing later.

Even though her surprise that he actually showed up devastates him. That shouldn't be a shock unless she's accustomed to promises being broken, and she's just so young.]

Now. You listen to me, Miss Ange, because this is terribly important. I am someone who doesn't make a promise at all if I don't believe I'll be able to keep it. If ever I tell you I'm on my way to your side, know that I'll be fighting my hardest to get there, alright?

[That it's Ange he's speaking to isn't actually the most important part of this. Rather, this is just who Break is, and it's important to him that this is known. He never says things like "I'll always be there for you" or other such vague and hollow sentiments, because that's the sort of thing he can't promise. For all he knows tomorrow the ocean will call him back and this will be the last memory Ange has of him. But something like "I am always trying" or "I want to be at your side"...that he can promise honestly.

The last promise he couldn't keep on his own was granting Alice's wish. Dying before he could get there, Break used the last of his strength to rip a hole between dimensions and pull Oz and the others through, and sent them in his stead. That's the sort of force it takes to stop Xerxes Break.]

[happymeal]

.. I know that.

[ Maybe it says something about Ange's opinion of him - though it's hard to tell if she's saying this because of her youthful innocence in this form, or if it's a belief about him that even the older Ange holds. A certain trust in the man. ]

Uncle Break.. would do his best. [ (Sorry for all the 'uncle'-ing, by the way. Ange is at exactly that age where talking in the third person is all the hype.

She will very much regret this later.) ]

But.. [ Ange pauses. And despite the fact that she is very, very content in this current hug, having gratefully allowed herself to be scooped up, she now pauses. ] .. sometimes trying your best isn't enough, right..?

[ Something about her tone seems to indicate that the statement comes from experience.

Even if it's an experience that this Ange doesn't fully remember. Only the imprint its aftermath has left within her, without the actual memories attached to it. ]

[payingfordeliverance]

[This child, though. Was she always like this? Or, given that she can be this age and still know him, are things more mixed up in her head than it seems at first glance...?]

...mm. Miss Ange is wise, though that's a sad sort of thing to understand so young.

[Break has no problem parroting her third person speech right back at her. He often uses it himself, deferentially. Handing down his cane to Baltus, who is not so un-doggy that he does not love to carry large sticks, he settles Ange in on his hip and aims for the back yard.]

That's why it's so important that people know and understand...just how far you'll go on their behalf. Then, if ever you fail to keep a promise, your precious people will be able to say to themselves -- "he couldn't," instead of, "he didn't". The latter is very different, you know...?

[happymeal]

[ Ange will gladly be taken along this way. The girl seems to provide absolutely no resistance - though that might also be since she seems to, instead, be deep in thought about what the man is telling her here. She's frowning in thought and all.

But when she seems to reach some sort of mental conclusion, Ange does nod. Right. It does matter whether people put in effort or not, even she can grasp that at this age. ]

But..

[ It seems something is still bothering her though, since the frown doesn't leave her face. ]

.. It still hurts. [ Even though it'd be better, comparatively speaking. ] When the people you like aren't there, it makes your heart feel..

[ Her voice momentarily trails off, like she's thinking of the right words. It's all hard to put into words for someone so young, especially when the older Ange's feelings are all mixed in, way too complicated for a brain still so small. ]

It makes your heart feel all empty.

[payingfordeliverance]

Lonely. That's the word you're looking for, I think. Even when you aren't alone at all, and even if there are things right in front of you that make you really happy...if there are people you like who are missing, it is still possible to be lonely.

[That's how it is for him, anyway. Break's own loneliness is something that permeates him in a way he's never going to be able to shake, and that's just how it is. Time eases things, but there's not a day that goes by that he doesn't think one of his closest knight friends at Sinclair would be almost reverent about this particular whiskey, or look at his favorite teacup and note that it's close to the pattern Shelly loved best but not quite right. He can sit in a group of people and laugh and enjoy himself and it will be completely genuine, and he will still wish Sharon was at his side to enjoy things, too.

It's in his bones, at this point.]

[happymeal]

Lonely..

[ Ange repeats the word as if she's trying it out, trying to see if it's a fit for the odd feelings she's feeling in her heart right now. Break's explanation does help though, since Ange technically thinks she couldn't be lonely, not with all these people who care about her right here.

And yet.. there's still something that stings. Is that loneliness..? ]

I don't like it. [ Apparently she's decided as much. It sounds a little pouty, but not strong or sharp in any way. Like Ange is more scared of the feeling than she is annoyed about it. ] I don't.. want to feel lonely. It doesn't feel nice.

[payingfordeliverance]

It really doesn't.

[They reach the backyard where Ruby is...doing something loud and Rubyish, no doubt. Baltus trots off to mess with her. Break pauses, but won't put Ange down until she indicates she's ready.]

Mm, but -- shall I tell you a secret I know about it? It's the sort of thing you find out when you get really ancient, like me.

[happymeal]

[ Apparently Ange doesn't care much yet about the idea of being let down, since the tiny girl still seems to cling to Break with the force of a mountain climber trying to keep themselves from falling off Mount Everest.

Or maybe it's since she's particularly interested in what the man is saying right now, staring at him with big, curious eyes. ]

A secret?

[ It's like she's perking up at the very mention of one. ]

Of course! I'm really good at keeping secrets..! I'll keep it just between us two! [ Just so it won't spread to any other non-ancient people. It's clearly too important.

(It sounds like a stupidly solemn promise too, too solemn for the situation, but that's just how kids function. Ange is no exception.) ]

[payingfordeliverance]

[Truly, other non-ancient people who are not so wise as Miss Ange should not be exposed to such deep truths as all this.]

Then, the secret is...I'm someone who is lonely, too.

[It is safe to tell Ange this because out of all the kids he knows, she is the least likely to be weird about it when she is grown up again. Break hasn't necessarily caught on to the subtle ways that his own have been working to support him, but he does know that if his own pains were more obvious they'd be much more aggressive in turn, and it would be inconvenient at best and gross at worst. Ange strikes him as much more the type who would find out such a thing, nod at him in solemn understanding, and manage to find a way to keep him company that would still let him have space and peace and quiet. This is vastly preferable to noise and chaos and being smothered in love, some days.]

Because I've lived with it so long, I know that -- it's like getting a nasty cut. Of course when it first happens, it stings and bleeds and it's awful, and perhaps you might cry about it. And, if you're not careful, you can hurt yourself all over again. No matter how you look at it, it's really not fun, you know?

...however, given time and patience and some love...it will heal. It may become a scar that you always carry, and if it was a big cut, it might still ache sometimes. Especially when it rains, or is really cold out. But it won't always hurt and sting and bleed. Not if you take care of it properly.

That's what loneliness is really like. You could say that -- it's a feeling that can grow up, right along with us.

[happymeal]

[ Usually Ange would have said she doesn't like the sound of that.

Especially now, in this state. Ange is young enough that complicated emotions like that can be classified in really simple ways. Young enough that the world can still be divided into nothing more than things she likes, and things she doesn't like - and the idea of Break being sad, or hurting even just a little bit, falls squarely into the second category. But it does feel like there's something more about this, something that keeps the girl quiet for another few moments. Just staring at Break, and seeming to think about those words.

It's a secret he's sharing with her, after all. That means it's got to be important. And it's got to be something that Break doesn't tell everyone. The true weight of that won't hit Ange until she's back to normal, but even in this younger state, some of it seems to get through to her. ]

.. you can come hang out with me, uncle Break. [ The girl says it slowly, and a little softly - or at least, not with the usual amount of Small Child Exuberance. It sounds more serious than that, though with still an innocent angle to it all. ] When it rains. Or when it's really cold out. We can wear raincoats.

[ (Okay, maybe there's still some Small Child Logic involved.) ]

Maybe then we'll both not have to be as lonely. Or it'll hurt a little less.

[payingfordeliverance]

[He'd been prepared for her to Frown At Him over the whole concept, honestly. Child or otherwise, who enjoys expressing a distaste for something only to be told, even gently, that they're stuck with it? That she's reaching out to him in solidarity instead is something he'll remember going forward, once she's back to her usual age and letting out her angry kitten screeches at him over his various transgressions.

For the moment, he just stands here enjoying the warm feelings oozing out of his poor bedraggled heart, since he can get away with doing that right in front of her for once.]

Yes. I'd like that.

[It's the sort of thing he meant when he included love among the things you soothe loneliness with, after all. Arguably one of the most important things he learned about himself at Rainsworth was just how fiercely both emotions can exist in him at the same time.]