001

[speaksanimal]

WHO: Antonio Madrigal
WHERE: Network, Around the Park
WHEN: March 1, Late Afternoon
WHAT: Small little boy wants to befriend people but it's awkward. Also, small boy shows tiger questionable tiger art.
WARNINGS: N/A

A. Network: Video; un: antonio

[If one were to look at the network, one could see a small little boy mumbling to himself. He wanted to say something, but he isn't sure what. As he looked down at the ground and shifted his weight, he took a huge breath in. If one can hear clearly, one could hear him say "You can do this."]

Um...I don't know what's going on but I think there's a lot of things I need to know. With the sky look weird and me having new powers, there's something I'm not getting.

[He said before looking around in his room. As he looked toward the door, it was as if he was waiting for someone to come in.]

I know mama and papa said I shouldn't talk to strangers online, but I hope we can talk to each other. Because I want to know if I can make some friends here.

B. Around the Park

[What is a small little boy doing out in the park without his parents? Who knows but that doesn't stop him from venturing into the zoo in search of some animals! Looking around the area, it appears that nobody was around him. As his gaze turn toward a tiger, he couldn't help but smile brightly at it!]

Hey, how are you doing? I hope that you're doing okay! I wanted to show you a picture I drew! I worked really hard and I hope you like it!

[He said before flashing the questionable tiger art to the animal.]

Comments

A

[nonmagical]

[...!!!

That's her cousin!

She knows this city has brought people as young as five here before, but it's alarming to think that they'd bring Antonio too.]

Antonio! Where - where are you? Are you safe?

[speaksanimal]

[Antonio didn’t say anything at first and simply stared at her. Was she someone he met and forgot about?]

I’m at home with my parents? But don’t worry, I am safe.

[How does she know him again?]

[nonmagical]

Tia Pepa and Tio Felix are with you? That's - that's great! I mean, not great that you're here, but-!

[God she has no idea.]

Your siblings are here too! They're gonna be so happy to see you!

B

[bendyandthepinkmachine]

[Spinel's at the zoo as well, only to get a better idea of Earth animals. She sees a small child showing a tiger his art picture, and smiles weakly despite herself.]

You know, I think he likes it.

[speaksanimal]

[He shouldn’t be surprised that other people would see him interacting with an animal. And yet, that didn’t stop him from flinching as he turned to see a rather odd looking girl.

His gaze went toward the picture before looking back at her.]

You really think so? I worked really hard on it because I thought he wanted a friend.

[bendyandthepinkmachine]

I'm sure he'd like one. But isn't it kind of hard to be friends with someone when we're so far away? Why do they keep Earth animals locked behind... some kind of barrier?

B; action;

[camaleonico]

[ Camilo's at the zoo because god knows what else he has to do with his time, but somewhere deep down, maybe it's also because... he misses Antonio. It's weird having all of the grandchildren here except Antonio. He and Dolores aren't used to being a duo for the past five years, and that's a lot when you're still fifteen! And even if not — that's his brother, man. His only brother. What's more important to a Madrigal than family? So he's soothing himself/twisting the knife simultaneously by stopping by the zoo on a whim for the first time, likewise curious to see what kind of strange animals this world might host, since... they certainly didn't have a zoo in the Encanto, it's an entirely new concept to him... But it's indeed in honor of Antonio, or at least with Antonio in mind, that he's here at all today.

And... that pays off, quite by coincidence. He's not far behind him at the tiger exhibit, when he spots a familiar figure from behind. His heart sinks, then soars. There's no mistaking his little brother. Buuuut... there's no resisting big brother urges, either. So as best as he can, he creeps up behind Antonio, takes his form, having gotten a better grasp of his Gift again, and simply says, in his best impersonation of Antonio's voice: ]



Boo.

[speaksanimal]

[All Antonio wanted was to have a good conversation with the tiger. The last thing he expected was to see someone suddenly transforming into him! When he suddenly saw a copy of himself, he immediately jumped and fell to the ground.]

W-Whoa!

[As he continued to stare at the clone, he found himself being scared. Should he run away or keep in staring at him? At first, he didn't say saying and just let the silence take over. And yet, that didn't stop him from being curious. Was he one of those new people who have strange powers? Slowly, he stood back up before raising an eyebrow at this strange figure.]

How did you do that...?

[Because scared or not, it is really cool to see a clone of himself!]

[camaleonico]

[ Camilo gives a wide smile, eye level with his mirror image, not bothering to put on his voice so much, though it's still a little like it. ]

I dunno! My Gift just started working better! It was all wonky before — everyone's Gifts are...

[ He doesn't let that ruminative tone linger long, though, flashing another smile as he gives Antonio a playful nudge with his elbow and turns his attention to the tiger. ]

What about yours, hombrecito? You understand this guy, or is he speaking French?

A - UN: SUZUME

[suzume_odori]

[Oh!! OH!!! OH!! Suzume is coming on screen, all smiles and big eyes-]

You were at school...!

[The idea of a shout is there. The idea of it. She's actually very quiet- and if they're in the same class, Antonio may have noticed she almost never speaks at all!]

...there's a lot of nice people here...they get worried about a lot of things.

[speaksanimal]

Suzume? I didn’t know you were here too!

[He remembers her and indeed he is surprised to see her on the network! With a small smile, he greeted her right back!]

But do you know what’s going on? I see a lot of people being worried why they can’t delete the app.

[suzume_odori]

I was here before...um, before I was at school even..!

[Which is maybe a bit strange?

No no, hold that thought, it's going to get stranger.] I just found the phone when I came here...so, I don't know. Me and Mister Cherry tried to find whose phone it was, but Zodiac said it was my phone, and then they said I could live here, since Haha and Jiji didn't come with me.

[Suzume's 'Mama' and 'Grandpa' respectively, and it'll certainly sound like she said those words, but...um.]

There's lots of fun things on it though, and people talk on it a lot.

[As is perhaps typical, she leaves the impression of someone who is simultaneously very smart, and also very behind on social and technological norms. That's just Suzume apparently!]

B

[eternalfuture]

I'm sure Mr. Tiger likes your drawing! It's a great drawing, and any tiger would be proud to be drawn by such a talented artist.

[speaksanimal]

[He should have known there would be people watching him talk to animals. Even after realizing that people could do that, it didn’t stop him from raising an eyebrow at the teenager.

Was she going to call him weird or…?]

I’m not sure. I think I could have done better but it was almost time to go home. I didn’t have enough time to add in the colors.

[eternalfuture]

[This is Usagi we're talking about. She's definitely not going to call him weird.]

That just means you have an excuse to come back and show him once you get a chance to color it in, right?

B

[neverbreaks]

[ While her search for a more steady work hasn't quite yielded results yet, Luisa has managed to earn some money for their family working the odd job here and there. It wasn't usually much - mostly moving or lifting things, so a lot of stuff she's pretty used to - but she still gets a bit of money so she can hardly complain.

It's doing one of these small jobs - today is helping with some heavy lifting for the animals at the zoo - when she spots a familiar figure, and she has to do a double take. ]

¿Qué - ? Antonio?

[ When had he gotten here? ]

[speaksanimal]

[As he was showing the tiger some various other pictures of what he drew, he heard a voice nearby. Suddenly, he found himself staring at a rather tall young women. Leaning back to get a better look at her face, he didn’t know should he he scared or not.

All he did was blink at her before responding.]

Yes…?

[While he should have asked how she knew him, the last thing he wanted was to make her mad!]

A

[wedonttalkabout]

[Bruno's kind of accepted that his family are just gonna keep tumbling into this world at this point. So when Antonio appears on the network, he's not suprised really. But it's the fact he's talking about his parents telling him to be careful online which gives him reason to pause.

...Because that's definitely not something Pepa or Felíx would have been in a position to tell him.]

Uh- hey, hey, kiddo. [It's fine. It's probably nothing. Maybe he's joking.] When did you get here? You want me to come get you?

[speaksanimal]

[And here, Antonio kept on looking at the screen. As he stared at the strange man, he wondered if he should say something. While his parents told him not to talk to strangers, it would also be rude to not say anything back!

Especially not when he has something to say!]

Do you mean when I got the app? That was yesterday. [Pause] Why do you want to come get me?

[No seriously, why?]

B.

[pan_acea]

[Julieta was adjusting her jacket and paused when she saw Antonio, her eyes widening. Her littlest nephew was here! She nearly ran up to him to scoop him into her arms and hug him and hold him and kiss him, but he seemed to be talking to the tiger. Oh, Antonio and his animals! She wasn't surprised. She crouched down beside him and smiled warmly.]

So, what does the tiger think of your drawing, hm? Does he think it's a masterpiece too?

[speaksanimal]

[When the boy saw the older woman, he was surprised that she didn't think anything of it. He could have sworn she would have thought talking to animals would be strange. Was she one of those people that were part of the app?]

He thinks that it's really good! But I think I could have done a lot more. Maybe I should have drawn him some more animal friends in the background.

B;

[prontissimo]

[ It's Alberto's own first day in Kaisou, and as infuriated and terrified as he has been all morning... by the time he's wandered into the park, much of the initial rough edges have been smoothed. Aaand seeing a bunch of crazy land animals he's never heard of in the zoo definitely doesn't hurt in lifting his spirits. He's been gawking from one exhibit to the next, but when he sees the tiger from afar, his eyes go wide. He doesn't even notice Antonio there talking to it at first, as he runs full speed up to the pair of them, his Polaroid camera from home folded up in its hardcover case hanging from around his neck, jostled this way and that as he darts over.

It's... a pretty grand entrance, a little alarming, frankly — especially considering the tall, gangly child isn't even wearing shoes in this weather... No, no, he's wearing, uh— a yellow something...? (is that a shirt?!) wrapped around one bare foot, and a teal scarf wrapped around the other — which... are not shoes. He's at least wearing a purple coat, fully buttoned up, that's technically his size but doesn't seem to fit quite right, short in the arms, and most ostensibly designed for a girl, plus brown shorts barely seen beneath. He is not dressed for this weather — what he's dressed for, exactly, is anyone's guess. But he doesn't seem at all deterred by any of his own weirdness, as he thrusts himself excitedly forward, paying no mind to Antonio beside him at first. Alberto presses his hands and face against the enclosing to get a better look at the tiger within, wearing an awestruck, dazed grin as his breath fogs up the glass, rhythmic in his excitement as he catches his breath from running.

Why does the fourteen-year-old seem more childish in this moment than the five-year-old...? ]

Holy carp, what even are you, ahah! Wow~! Che gatto, ahaaa~!

[ The tiger gives a slight start when Alberto sticks his face against the glass with a soft thud, staring back at the child with wide, amber eyes, before turning to shoot Antonio a look that, even for someone who can't understand animals, pretty obviously says: "This fuckin' guy..." There's no mistaking the kid's dazzlement, though. This is clearly his first time seeing a tiger. And no, "holy carp" was not a typeo. Finally he peels himself off the glass, rounding on Antonio at last, smile still stuck in place. ]

Ehi, ragazzo, you know this cat? What is this cat?!

[speaksanimal]

[Antonio didn't have a moment to just say something as he saw this young boy next to him. While he knew that it was rude to stare at other people, he couldn't help it. This boy was just so extroverted in his attitude that he didn't know what to do. All he could do was stare at how much this boy was so happy to be taking pictures of all the various other animals in the zoo. Was it really that shocking to see that many creatures in one place?

Or was Antonio just so used to seeing all these wild animals that it doesn't faze him anymore?

Although, as he got a closer look, the kindergartner's eyes widen. What was he wearing? Wasn't he cold? Or for that matter, why was he wearing all of those things on him? Was he not able to get proper clothing? There were so many thoughts running through his mind that he wasn't able to fully process that Alberto was talking to him.

(Was it his imagination or did he just curse right in front of him?)

When it finally registered him, he looked back at the tiger and then back at the boy. Hearing the tiger give a mumble or two, that's when the boy had to stand up and say something!]

Um...it's a tiger but I think you're scaring it. It doesn't really like you're pushing your face against the window?

[He said before taking a step back. He wasn't normally one to say something but when he does? He worries he might get the other person mad. Not only that, with someone so loud? He wasn't sure what would happen. All the boy could do was just stare at Alberto and just wait.

Hopefully nothing bad will happen, right?]

B since I lost what I wrote...

[missingache]

[The zoo is a nice place to come when you need a break from homework and computer screens. Roxas comes up to the tiger enclosure just as a little kid was talking to the animal, he slows down and tilts his head. It wasn't uncommon to see kids do things like this. Drawing favorite animals and all. Though..... the picture looked more like a local cat than a tiger.]

Is that supposed to be the tiger?

[speaksanimal]

[As Antonio looked at the boy next to him, he raised an eyebrow. At first, he wanted to say something but he decided against it. Instead, he looked at the picture and then back at the boy.]

It is. Is it not a tiger?

[Because he really tried!]