a_gentle_boy: (Release)
Lucas ([personal profile] a_gentle_boy) wrote2010-10-18 12:40 am

Twentieth PSI

[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 presentThis 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.))

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucas nods.]

There's more.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[Taiwan spends some time looking through it all, quietly frowning. She knew he was hiding a lot from her, but she didn't think it was this much...]

"He... never told me much about Westport."

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucas is quiet. Westport carried with it its own set of memories of the Netherlands.]

He . . . He didn't want you to worry. It was . . . terrible.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[She sighs, but smiles just a little.]

"I know. It was his way of showing he cared about me. He never wanted me to get involved..."

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucas nods again to that.]

But you should know what we found . . . If there's something you've never seen. You should read it.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"I've never seen any of this before..."

[Can you PM me whatever's in these notes or something? Or should I ask Mekky for it?]

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lucas keeps quiet as he allows her to take her time.]

((I-I don't know what she had in mind, actually.))

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-18 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Taiwan looks through everything systematically, reading it all over slowly. Finally, she finishes, packing it back neatly into the shoebox.]

"...Thanks for showing me all of this, Lucas. I appreciate it."

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucas nods and takes back the box, placing it onto his lap.]

Don't thank me . . . He . . . would've wanted you to see it, too.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Laughs a little.]

"Yeah... I like to think he would've shown me eventually."

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucas glances around the rest of the basement and slowly gets to his feet.]

I . . . I don't think there's anything else.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Taiwan smiles and hands him the shoebox and pictures.]

"Here you go."

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
[He collects his treasures, and though he values the drawings more, it is the shoe box he takes the most care with. The things inside were . . . important.]

I-If you find any more of my drawings . . . You can keep them if you want.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
I'll hang them up in the living room if I find any.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
O-OK . . . Then . . . Then I'll see you.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 10:53 am (UTC)(link)
Okay. Take care, Lucas, and come visit anytime you like.

[identity profile] a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I will.

Just . . . maybe not in the night-time.

[identity profile] pinkplumblossom.livejournal.com 2010-10-19 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't say I blame you.