kaisou | 🐺 o1;

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🐺 o1;

WHO: nicholas d. wolfwood ( the little one ) and you?
WHERE: his labyrinth + the network once he's gotten out of it
WHEN: the first week of february / shortly after the libra app appears on his phone
WHAT: arrival of a small, snarky child
WARNINGS: NONE ( that i can think of )

i / labyrinth arrival;

( when he comes to, it's — he's pretty sure there's nothing but sand surrounding him, but it's only the first thing he sees when he first opens his eyes, and there's nothing else as far as the eye can see when he twists his gaze this way and that. great. he's no stranger to the desert by any stretch of the imagination, but he generally doesn't go very far from the orphanage, because what is he going to do if miss melanie needs him to take care of one of the younger kids —

he doesn't think that's going to be much of a problem here, or at the very least it doesn't feel like it, but. it's still there, in the back of his mind, just on the off-chance it crops up and he finds himself back within the reach of the orphanage. of the call of nicholas! —

he walks. and he walks and he walks and he walks, and eventually. eventually he'll make his way out. how long it takes is anyone's guess, but. he made it, and that's something, right? )

ii / network, un: woofwood;

( well. once he's made it out of the labyrinth he has access to something he wouldn't have paid attention to otherwise, but.

he manages to get the video option up and looking in his general direction, and he looks a bit grumpy as the camera pans around the church in the background. )

What is going on here!?

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[ usually Vash is the one that goes traipsing into these weird magical bullshit portals, but Vash is at home and Wolfwood's the person that's here and now, and the voice in the back of his head that sounds like Vash is whinging about how somebody might need help and

anyway, he regrets it almost immediately when he slips through the portal, only to end up stepping into sand and heat. some things trigger your flight or fight response, and when you're used to weather, going back to the desert is not only a no, but a fuck no.

... but if one of these magic buttholes has appeared, that means someone needs help, so Wolfwood stuffs his hands in his pockets and grumbles as he starts to trudge forward, looking around for something other than the unfortunately familiar scenery. ]

Oi! Where are you?

[ there's a breath caught somewhere in his throat.
He's staring, with eyebrows up and a thousand words running wild in his brain.

He was grounded in the cottage due to Recent Events, but like a madman he always scanned the network for new posts. So imagine the way his brain grinds to a halt when he notices this post from someone who...

isn't wolfwood

but it... is wolfwood.

He needs to quickly scan the userlist to make sure Nico is still on it--and after confirming it, he's... staring at this one--small one--with a look between wonder and something like quiet joy.

Of course he's immediately going to respond. ]

--Hey.
Hey there, little buddy. Don't freak out too much. You're in a really safe place--promise. Hey, I'm a friend of Miss Melanie's.

That church behind you, can you get me a better picture of it? I'm going to come look for you, okay?

[Eve looks at the video.]

[Then the username.]

[Then the video feed again, before turning on her own. Hello, fellow child. Why do you look like her guardian?]

That depends.

Did you just get here, or did this app suddenly show up on your phone?

( he hasn't heard anything for the last little while, wandering as he has until he does hear a voice calling out to him, and he shakes his head. back and forth, back and forth until he happens to look in the direction of the voice he thinks he's heard. something tells him he needs to take a step in that direction —

and he does, but he's still lost, so he calls out — ) Here!

( he might just wave his hands around, hoping that voice is going to actually see him. ) Where are you?

( please, don't mind him; it isn't like he has any idea where he is, but he likes to pretend he does. so.

he's just going to keep going toward that voice, and maybe … he'll make contact. )

[ it's a bit fuzzy, in the distance, but considering there's not much in this place other than sand and canyon walls and... circling creatures in the sky, waiting for the whoever's here to set the table and collapse, well. it's easy to change his direction, to follow the voice that calls back to him. ]

I'm over here! So's the way out!

[ it's like playing Marco Polo, but you're from the terrible desert future, so you don't know who Marco Polo is. ]

'woofwood'?

are you illiterate?

( sucks to be grounded ... especially when your name is vash, but it's not like he knows anything about that yet. this is all for the sake of introspection and narration's own amusement and / or enjoyment of impending angst.

it's both.

his nose wrinkles a bit a 'little buddy', even if the other isn't trying to be condescending; he's never taken very well to being reminded that he's small, still too young to really know any better with regard to anything, and he resents that. he wants to grow up and be useful already!

anyway. he squints into the feed at the mention of this disembodied voice being a friend of miss melanie's, because: ) I know all of Miss Melanie's friends. Who are you?

( because it wouldn't be him if he wasn't immediately, objectively suspicious. them's fightin' words, pal.

he relaxes infinitesimally at the mention of this being a very safe place, though it stands to reason that the only safe place he's ever known is the orphanage, and he. he's not good with change? this is going take a lot of getting used to.

before he replies, though, he turns and tries to get as much of the church in-frame as he can, or at least enough to give a better look of it in general. ) You don't even know me-- why come looking?

( this is like. the most suspicious child in existence. have mercy. )

( the username ... is a typo on his part ... because someone thought it was funny. ~~it was lassie. it was me and lassie. i'm a very serious roleplayer, to be sure.~~ but it must get the point across if people are recognizing him for the sake of the name alone.

it's not like he looks anything like his much ~~much~~ older doppelganger, at least in his own eyes, but apparently ... there's enough of a resemblance that it's not too far off the mark. whatever, anyway --

his brow pinches. hello, fellow child ... he has no idea whatsoever what you're talking about! )

Both, kind of. Yeah. I was in a maze-kinda thing? And this old man helped me out. ( sorry, nico prime. ) And now I'm at this church.

its a typo
and i cant change it
not my fault

of course.

what is it a typo for?

( the maze is pretty linear, to be sure, even if he's still almost convinced that he's going to be stuck in here because a disembodied voice in the distance may or may not end up being helpful --

but he follows that voice because it's not like he's going to fare any better on his own, and clearly, it knows what it's talking about ...

or he's walking into a trap ans about to get eaten, but. he's definitely not thinking that.

he gets close enough to make out a figure in the distance, and he squints in that direction, waving a hand just in case it's actually visible. ) I think I see you-- do you see me?

( oh if you could see the way his eyes narrow. )

wolfwood

no way.

yes way?

[ it could be a full-ass trap, truth be told; they don't have will-o-wisps on Noman's Land, on account of the lack of forests, but that's not to say there aren't devils in the sand dunes, worms that'll twinkle soft at you to draw you out where no one would find you in the wall of golden heat.

Wolfwood's starting to suspect that it is as a trap, when he and the fuzzy shape get closer to each other--when the other half starts look like a person, or a half a person, because something's creeping up his neck. a sense of wrongness like someone's walking over your proverbial grave, and yet, Wolfwood's walked into worse situations without stopping before, so it's not like he's gonna run back from this. ]

Yeah. You're startin' to look people shaped. [ he waves in turn, hands leaving his pockets as he continues closer. ] Hope you're a person. I probably still count as one if you squint.

[ you have to tell him if you're a hallucinatory mirage, okay? that's the rule. ]

[oh no]

no.

what is your first name?

( it should be a trap, yes! because he might not be allowed very far from the orphanage, just as far as miss melanie can see and she always has impeccable sigh when it comes to see certain ones under her care within her periphery. the ones that have a tendency of wandering off … the adventurous ones, or the curious ones, or just the ones that couldn't be bothered to sit still for longer than a handful of minutes at any given time.

nicholas is a restless spirit, or at least he is at this age. maybe he'll mellow out when he's older, but only time will tell.

the closer he gets to the other voice, the more the blurriness becomes more person-shaped, and while it doesn't necessarily feel like a trap, it doesn't not feel like one, either. there's a familiarity that doesn't seem like it should be there in the first place, an uneasiness that shivers over the back of his neck like a cold touch, but. he still keeps right on going.

he actually laughs at that last bit. ) I'm a person. Last time I checked, anyway. ( a small, child-shaped person, but a person nonetheless. ) Whaddya mean ya probably still count as one? You don't just stop being one.

( kid logic. )

( don't have a stroke on the network, okay. )

nicholas

[~~Very serious, no jokes here, no sir~~]

[On his own, he probably wouldn't look close enough to the older Nico to get folks' attention. Plenty of people have short black hair. But combined with the username, well. It does make Eve wonder.]

So you arrived here from another world. I was the same.

This is the city of Kaisou. A place that connects to the Spirit Realm. Odd things occur around here, including mazes which bring people from their home to the city.

[ miss melanie could see everything--from the children who wandered too far from the courtyard, to the children who ducked into the quiet, hidden places to smoke insect stingers, she was a beacon and a watchful eye all the same and Wolfwood misses her. not as often as he used to, too accustomed to locking his feelings down and burying them deep where they can't be used against him, but it's still there in the deep sod of the black murk of his heart.

if Wolfwood is any indication, the restlessness never leaves--but they wring the joy out of wandering when they hang enough chains around your limbs and tell you to march on.

he keeps drawing towards the blip even though some strangeness crawls down his spine and digs into his nerves. the laugh is... familiar. somehow.

(in the way that your laugh is familiar when it's on a recording, played back to you--) ]

I mean there's a lot that can happen that can muddy up the waters, so to speak, but if it ain't hit you yet, then pass the hallelujah and praise whatever god you still believe in. [ he comes to a respectful stopping distance--close enough to be seen and perceived, without feeling like he's about to spring to action and hunt a little lost lamb down.

probably. ] You used to deserts like this, halfpint? I've got some water and I mighta stolen one of Spikey's hats. We've got a bit of a walk an' I'm sure you've got questions.

( ~~no jokes here at all. it isn't like they're children, or anything.~~

vash is going to look at him and immediately know, but. maybe that's just the power of vash the stampede. being able to recognize his wolfwood even at this age has got to be a gift. or something.

he's quiet when she gives that response, mulling it over, trying to make it make sense. )

Is there a reason I'm here, though? Am I expected to do something?

( he would have more to say about it if he'd been taken from the orphanage proper, instead of the eye of michael. but that's neither here nor there!!!!! )

( she's the closest thing he's ever had to a mother, and he might not have been gone from the orphanage before he'd ended up here, but there had been moments in which he'd missed her terribly, because she's the first thing he's going to think of when it comes to self-soothing.

but it had been fine. it had been all right because there was nothing he could do about it, he'd been taken away and expected to become something, which is all the more reason that wandering around aimlessly in a desert maze seems pointless.

his heart does a weird … tripping over itself the closer they get to one another, and of course he doesn't recognize that voice or the shape attached to it, but there's something there that he doesn't think he's ever going to be able to put his finger on. even if he gets a look at that face, when they're close enough and everything isn't so blurry. )

Amen, then, I guess. ( he mumbles, soft and muffled like he's got a mouth full of marbles. he stops when the other does, looking the man up and down and thinking he's tall, maybe not as old as he'd originally thought, but still old enough to count as ancient. because all grown-ups are ancient, it doesn't matter how long they've been old enough to count as such.

his nose wrinkles at the nickname. ) M'not a halfpint. Name's Nicholas. ( matter-of-factly, which is a good way to introduce oneself, we suppose. ) Yeah, I am. Whole planet's a giant desert. Nothin' but sand everywhere. ( he pauses, teeth worrying his lower lip for a second. ) Is the whole place like this? Desert?

[ she's the closest thing either of them ever had to a mother, and Wolfwood still finds himself mimicking her actions in another world entirely when he's trying to bring comfort to people. someone like Melanie sits on your bones and guides you to build something better than you were given. it's one of her kindnesses, and greatest features.

it's the kind of thing that carries you through pain, and hardship, and becoming something. Wolfwood runs his tongue over the sharpness of his teeth as they're finally close enough to see each other, looking down at this scrappy little infant

and while Nicholas might not recognize him, Wolfwood knows what he used to look like.

there's a moment--like that moment where you've knocked something off the table, and are watching it tumble. its started to spill whatever it was holding, somersaulting towards the floor, and Wolfwood's frozen in that moment as he stares at himself; Name's Nicholas, and his teeth itch for a cigarette and he thinks, once again, that God is a vindictive prick and when the day comes that Wolfwood goes to settle up his scores, that they're going to drag him kicking and screaming to the belly of Hell with all the other traitors and demons. ]

Nicholas, huh. Ain't that funny. [ john jacob jingleheimerschmidt, his name is my name too

he bites his tongue and keeps it to himself for just a little while longer. ] Nope. Place that this lets out to has... everything. Weather, seasons, water. Trees. Cheap power and cheaper food.

[ all the little things that meant the world to Nicholas D. Wolfwood, in any universe. ]

This canyon ain't real, anyway. It's all hallucinatory fuckery tryin' to do you in. I'm gonna help you out.

there's someone here with that name already.

so you need to pick a different one.

( he thinks he's always going to miss her, whether or not he's ever actually able to see her again; she's made such a tremendous impact on his life that he's never going to forget what she's done for him — for them, plural, even if he doesn't know it — and if he does ever get to see her again? he's going to have to thank her, or something. for everything she's done for them … and everyone back at the orphanage.

but now is not the time to get emotional! nicholas! get yourself together.

close enough that they can finally get a good look at one another, nicholas looks up at the adult with a certain level of … scrutiny? something like that? because he can tell there's a line of tension that's worked its way through the other's shoulders, whether or not that's something normal for him is a guess he's not going to make because it just doesn't feel like it's natural? like he's looking at nicholas and seeing a ghost, or something.

ain't that funny. ) What's funny about it? It's just a name, ain't it? ( look. just wait until you break the news to him that that's your name, too, john jacob. and for a much more specific reason than it being a common name — because it very much isn't.

and it seems like he's pointedly pointing things out that are going to make a difference to him; water? seasons? trees? cheap power —

his eyes narrow, and he wants to ask why he's mentioning those things specifically, but he holds off for just a second. ) Hallucination? What good's that gonna do anybody just showin' up? ( ah … there's more child logic for you.

or maybe the shred of naivete he has in his body that is just. genuinely curious why someone would do something like this on purpose. )

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🐺 o1;

i. spiderman point

voice : un: ♡☮STAMPEDE

un: eve - before she hears from ww and vash

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text | un: kni

perma-video / WAY TO BRING MISS MELANIE INTO THIS!!

perma-video; i'm sorry for him in advance, eve

perma-text; oh we fightin early ok

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