Twentieth PSI

[a_gentle_boy]

[action, multi-topic for everyone]
Lucas is a wreck.  By now, he has forsaken the hat and the mask, and his burn marks are very clearly visible to anyone who didn't guess before.  He doesn't particularly care.

1. He stumbles across town like a zombie, smashing into things wherever he goes, barely registering the pain.  He stops suddenly in random spots, staring at the floor or at a tree or at a shop window or at a drone.  This is where we had ice cream.  This is where I bought him the present.  This is the bench where he listened to my story . . . This is where . . . This is . . .

2. In school, he keeps his head down and buried and sits in a far corner.  His shoulders occasionally heave.

3. At home, he shuts himself in his room.  Family members or those who visit him will find drawing after drawing after drawing of a certain person strewn all across the floor, each one with slash marks through the face.  Is he already forgetting?  Is he losing the smile, the laugh, the voice?

[action, forward-dated, open to Taiwan, Saki, and Mindy]
A full day after his meeting with Taiwan, Lucas enters the house uninvited.  He doesn't care about not being selfish anymore.  He has remembered -- There is something very precious he needs to get back, the symbol and the memory that he absolutely needs.

He finds it in the basement.  True to his word, the Netherlands has framed the very first drawing that Lucas has ever made, of Miffy and Hello Kitty enjoying a picnic in a park.  Propped up beside it is the best piece of art that Lucas has ever produced: a drawing of the two of them, laughing and happy, so closely resembling each other in looks that they could've passed as a father and a son.

He is about to leave with his treasures when he catches a glimpse of something else out of the corner of his eye.  A shoebox.  For 'Lucas'.  His hands shake as he pops the lid; he stares at what's inside.

"Mr. Netherlands . . . . . . . I . . .  I . . . OK.  I'll keep going.  I'll keep fighting . . . "

((I have been informed that Lucas has been left notes of all the conversations the Netherlands has had with Jane Smith, the Westport notes, and Richard Grey's wallet.  Also, Nini, if you don't mind, I think I will forward-date that conversation they just had to after this.))

Comments

1

[shoeofbaileys.livejournal.com]

[Hi Lucas. There's a crazy, green-skinned man in a yellow sundress following you around at the moment. He's not saying anything, but just how close he is to you is probably horrifically uncomfortable. He isn't so much "tailing you" as "walking directly behind you in a frog-like crouch".]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas barely even registers the presence of the man. In the back of his head, he thinks, 'there is someone wearing a dress walking behind me. i don't think i care.']

2

[wybrows.livejournal.com]

[ Wy is wandering around the school. If he's in high school, she came to steal art supplies.

She notices Lucas and has this odd feeling that she shouldn't be as much of a brat as always. ]

... Hey, you.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[He glances up and stares for a moment at the girl. Lucas tries on a smile. The effect is not very reassuring.]

Hi, Wy.

1

[numanstan.livejournal.com]

[Whoa whoa whoa, no bumping into things! Vince grabs Lucas' shoulder to stop him, visibly concerned.]

Lucas? What's wrong?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[It is hard for him to register, for a second, who he is talking to before Lucas's expression snaps into one of recognition.]

Mr. Vince . . . Oh. I'm just going to the park . . .

1

[lotuslife.livejournal.com]

[She notices the boy who helped her the other day, and slows her motorbike to a stop. She owes him a huge debt of gratitude, and so she may as well begin today.

But something seems strange; he isn't acting like the boy she met the other day.]

Em Lucas-! [She then watches him knock into a pole.] ...Oh! [She climbs off of the bike to rush towards him.] Are you alright?


[ooc; This post literally made me cry. You are such a talented writer, DL.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas rebounds off the pole with surprising elasticity and whirls around, spinning in a circle to meet Vietnam's eyes. This is . . . the woman from the other day? Right? Why was she calling him 'Em', again . . . ?]

I'm OK. I'm fine. Thanks.

[His voice is curiously mechanical.]

((Aaaugh I'm sorry. T-Thank you. I actually . . . wrote an entry last night, but it didn't work as an entry so I stuck it into Dear Mun instead. >_<))

1

[rapier-ex.livejournal.com]

-Literally running into him. She couldn't see him over her grocery bags, orz.-

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Flumph. Lucas falls over backwards without so much as a protest and stares at the sky. His head hurts. He heals it.]

Sorry . . .

2

[bluecapboy.livejournal.com]

[Have a curious-looking and worried Luke checking in.]

Lucas?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

. . . Hi, Luke.

[At the sight of his friend, Lucas, once again, tries a smile. This fools absolutely no one through his tear-streaked face.]

1

[supersizedpower.livejournal.com]

[America is out and about when he sees Lucas stumbling around, and he hurries over to him. He's not so put out by the lack of mask due to meeting him with Vietnam, but he's concerned that he doesn't seem to be well.]

Hey! Kiddo, you all right?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas's head swivels up as he seeks the person who called to him. . . . This person was . . . Right.]

Oh. . . . Oh, I'm fine. Thanks.

[As in response to the others, Lucas's voice is curiously flat. His eyes are a little too empty.]

((I am going to bed now, sorry I can't keep tagging. =( Good night.))

[action]

[friendly-ghosts.livejournal.com]

[Coming down to see who is in the basement. Here Lucas, have a sad little girl clutching a teddy bear.]

Lucas....?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas glances up as the girl walks down the stairs, feeling guilty about being there. Although he'd done it so many times in the past, it didn't feel the same way without the Netherlands there -- Thankfully, the drone was at work. He would've melted on the spot if he had seen it.]

Mindy . . .

[He puts the things back into the shoebox -- There wasn't any point in Mindy seeing that stuff -- and turns around. If Taiwan could comfort him when she was devastated, he could do the same for this girl.]

2; placeholder

[stay-cool-bro.livejournal.com]

[he is concerned about this... angsting in a corner business, but he has no idea what could be wrong, making this awkward. He approaches uncertainly]

Uhhh...

Lucas?

Re: 2; placeholder

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

((Ah, sorry. I'm not sure what you mean by 'placeholder'.))

[Lucas glances up at the sound of his name. Through his unfocused eyes, he can only recognize Horohoro from his hair.]

Hi.

[He doesn't even try to smile this time.]

2

[snackaholictank.livejournal.com]

[They don't have the same classes, but that's not going to stop her from chasing him down immediately after school.]

What is with you?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[He has only just made it out the front gate of the school when she accosts him. There is a long pause.]

It's . . . nothing.

1

[sting-like-a.livejournal.com]

[Miakis is out for yet another walk, not looking too happy herself, but the sight of a sad kid makes her forget all about the bad week she's had. After watching him bump into a wall, she runs over to Lucas and gently grabs his shoulder, frowning.]

Whoa there, kiddo, watch where you're going! You feeling okay...?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[He rubs absently at the spot on his shoulder that had banged into a wall while blankly staring at the woman speaking to him. He doesn't recognize her. Not even after thinking for a good five seconds. He wonders if his mind will ever stop feeling like sludgy porridge.]

I'm . . . fine. Sorry.

2

[thelittlecanary.livejournal.com]

[Garnet approaches Lucas with caution, because she sees the way his tiny frame is trembling. A little voice is telling her to let him be, but he reminds her too much of a certain Black Mage, who filled her heart with sunny memories and then Stopped from one day to the next like an old pocket watch, to let him go unnoticed.

So she'll gently set a hand on a heaving shoulder and lean in, but not too close.] Lucas?...

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Garnet has caught him at a moment where he hasn't been able to keep the tears at bay. Why had he even come to school today? Stupid. There is a vague attempt at speaking from the head buried in the crossed arms.]

Sorry . . .

1

[motheringnation.livejournal.com]

[Sees you walk into something and hurries over worried.]

Oh dear, are you alright?!

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Is this the fourth or fifth time this has happened? Or tenth? Once again, Lucas cannot put a name to the face or even a memory to the face. It takes him several moments of mute staring before some life comes back into his eyes.]

Fine . . . It's nothing. It's nothing.

1

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[Ok, the assumed you were injured when he saw you last but he didn't think it was THIS bad]

Lucas...!

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Ah. Yes . . . ?

[Lucas's head swivels towards the one who called his name as he simply stops in place.]

1

[bridgetroll.livejournal.com]

[Jesus Christ this kid. This kid. Parsee snarls and tries to shove him away; her bruise might have healed, but the memory hasn't.]

You again. What, did you get tired of using a bat?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas stumbles backwards a few steps until his coordination fails him and he ends up sitting on the ground. He blinks in confusion at the person who seems to recognize him. His memory, already muddied by the effects of the gas, is even worsened by his present condition.

It takes some time for him to respond, although his mouth occasionally moves silently in the meantime.]

You . . . You're . . . that voice.

1

[survived]

[It's only in Finland's nature to worry about everyone he sees.]

Excuse me, are you alright?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[He is not alright, and it is hard for him to believe, right now, that he will ever be alright again. Lucas shakes his head to himself while voicing the opposite thought aloud.]

I'm fine . . . Sorry . . .

[pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com]

[Taiwan comes downstairs into the basement a few minutes after Lucas finds the shoebox with his name on it. She's pretty sure she heard someone come in, and has already looked everywhere else but down here.]

"...Hello? Is someone there?"

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Sorry. It's just me . . .

[Taiwan will probably see the two pictures laid out flat on the floor by the stairs before she sees Lucas kneeling over the shoebox.]

ooc

[thenorthernwall]

[ooc; Sounds good. We'll address anything regarding this there, then?]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

((Sure. She might be interested in the notes.))