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

[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.]