friends and laughter

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas has received his targets.  Lucas has thought about this very carefully.  It seems almost as if... well.  It seems almost as if it could be fun!  Pranks were harmless, right?  And no one said they had to be bad pranks.  After a few more moments of thought, Lucas comes to the conclusion that it couldn't hurt to play along this time.  There was certainly nothing to be lost in trying to brighten someone's day, even if it was something the town had asked for.  

The greatest prankster in the world now makes his debut.]

[action - Tir McDohl, Sunday morning]
[This one was easy to find.  The McDohls were on his paper routes in the mornings, and he had certainly passed by their house enough times.  Lucas approaches their front door, carrying a pie in his hands.  He hadn't time to bake one, and honestly, if he had, the prank would be that the recipient of the pie would die from Awful Pie Syndrome.   So he'd bought one from the bakery instead.  He had heated it up in the oven, though, and stuck a little sign on top.  It read, 'Apple!  =)' 

Lucas rings the doorbell and waits cheerfully.]

[action - Davesprite, Sunday afternoon]
[The same bakery had provided the cookies that Lucas carried towards the person known as 'Davesprite'.  If his memory was right, this person was a future version of the Dave he had once known in Mayfield - he had sent them cookies once before on their birthday for the two of them to share.  It had taken a bit of asking around to find out where Davesprite lived, but again, They are very subtly labeled, 'Vanilla!  =D'.

Lucas again rings the doorbell and waits cheerfully.]

[action - Raz, Monday morning]
[It had been a little hard to set this one up, but he'd asked one of his friends to carry in a note.  The drone teacher reads it briefly before glancing towards Raz.]

The nurse's office, Mr. Hatch.  A question about your immunizations.

[action - Madam Foster, Monday afternoon]
[One glance at Madam Foster and he'd known he couldn't do anything to fool her, no matter how harmless it was.  That didn't mean he couldn't be a good citizen, though!  Lucas will trot up to her with a loaf of banana bread.]

Um... Madam Foster?  Your name is Madam Foster, right?

[action - Heather Mason, Tuesday, all day]
[This was the most complicated, so he had saved it for last.  It had begun early in the morning.  ...Well, not too early; he didn't want to wake her up if she was still sleeping.  A whispered voice had hissed briefly over the phones.]

Look out!  You're in danger!

[Before hanging up.  In school, Heather will find a note on her desk.  'Someone's put bears in your house!  You're in great danger!!!'  On her front door when she comes home from school will be 'Don't come inside!  You've got to turn around! '  .......Does she enter?]

Comments

[heavenfang]

-Tir answered the door, looking honestly perplexed. It was the paper boy. And he had a box. A special delivery? Apples? He was confused.-

... Um...

[a_gentle_boy]

Hi!

[Lucas beams. The cheerfulness is palpable.]

I'm Lucas! ...You've probably seen me around before, but I bring your paper in the morning! I pass by a lot of people everyday, but... I never take the time to stop by.

I thought it would be nice to make more friends.

[heavenfang]

Is that so? -Tir gave a smile.- Are you sure this has nothing to do with those letters that went out?

[a_gentle_boy]

Um.

Yes. Yes, I'm sure.

[Lucas is just about the greatest liar ever. In an astonishing display of composure, he only almost drops the pie two or three times before regaining his grip.]

I brought you a pie! It's apple.

[heavenfang]

Apple, you say? My favorite! How nice of you!

[a_gentle_boy]

Wait, really?

[Gosh, he'd thought most people preferred blueberry. Maybe he should have taken a more accurate poll. Lucas pauses for a moment before thrusting it forward anyway.]

Um! Great! Because... that's definitely what this is. You can share it with your family.

[lettertomyfutureself]

This is way too lame for Vincent. Must be one of the prankers... -Heather said mostly to herself. Well, if it WAS a bear, she could run away easily enough in her own house. Still, curiosity got the best of her as it often did. With a roll of her eyes and an exaggerated huff, she opened the door...-

[a_gentle_boy]

[Heather will find horrors more notes. ...They are all in a similar vein. They also lead up the stairs. Oddly, they seem to get more cutesy as they go...

On her bedroom door is, "This is your last chance! You've got to turn around now!! The bears will get you!"]

[lettertomyfutureself]

-To be honest, making them more cute put her off just slightly, if only because her mind went back to a certain Stanley Coleman. But once again, she assured herself of her ability to run away if things got haywire. And she'd have to go into her room eventually... With another sigh, she opened the door.-

[a_gentle_boy]

[Oh no! It's a bear! The notes were telling the truth!

The 2-foot-tall teddy bear sits menacingly on top of Heather's chair facing the door with a sign attached to it. "Grrr it's too late! I'm going to hug you to death!!!"

The mama bear is protecting a small family of baby bears clustered behind her peeping out at the terrible human threatening their home.]

[lettertomyfutureself]

... You've gotta be kidding me. -She practically collapsed into the hallway, laughing. Thank god no one was home.-

[a_gentle_boy]

[The back of this last note has another smiley face and the words, 'Happy Pranking Day!'

Downstairs, behind the house, Lucas listens very intently for the reaction up on the second floor. He'd left a window open just a crack so he could see how his 'prank' went off. It seems like she enjoyed it.]

[battymadam]

Why, yes, I -

[Foster starts to turn around, and pauses upon seeing Lucas.]

Oh! Young man Rivers, is that you?! You've gotten big!

[Don't mind her, it seems she's mistaken you for her neighbor's son.

He could fool her, if he wanted to...]

[a_gentle_boy]

((That is an astonishing resemblance.))

[Lucas pauses for a moment or two. ...Oh, no. The old lady was clearly senile. ...He had dealt with this before; it made them upset when you tried to convince them they weren't thinking straight. Lucas will play along.]

Oh, um. Yes! It's nice to see you again, Madam Foster. How have you been?

[battymadam]

((I know right?))

Oh, fine, fine! I've been keeping busy.

[Busy pranking the heck out of everyone. But she will just go ahead and hide whatever hideous prank materials she has on her person in her pockets.]

Is that banana bread?

[a_gentle_boy]

I'm sure there's a lot you have to take care of here.

[Actually Lucas isn't sure what an elderly woman would do here apart from sit quietly all day and try to avoid being caught up in the town's horrible idea of fun.]

It is! I was in the bakery the other day and I thought I'd bring some over for you.

WOW sorry this is so late!!

[battymadam]

Well, how thoughtful! You've really matured a lot, haven't you?

[she will reach up and pat him on the arm. Because she can't reach the top of his head. The sadness of being really really short.]

No problem!

[a_gentle_boy]

U-Um. Yes! Yes, I've had a lot of time to, um, grow, and think about... learning things.

[cawtier]

[Dave can't answer the door for lack of opposable thumbs, but there's a bird head with iShades poking out the second story window above him]

Yo. What's up?

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas is surprised almost momentarily. Reports of orange crow-ness had not been exaggerated, it seems. He tilts his head back and blinks for a moment or two before he rallies himself.]

Good afternoon! You're Davesprite, aren't you?

[cawtier]

Uh, yeah, I am. I guess you heard of me from someone?

[Or, y'know, the same source that had given him a list of 5 names to pranks]

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas pauses for a moment.]

Well. You, actually. ...The other you, a little while ago. On your birthday.

[cawtier]

Oh, you mean Alpha Dave? That's cool.

So what's up?

[ra_ra_razputin]

Bzuh?

[Oh man, did they finally figure out he's a filthy nomad who's never had his shots? Better get this over with...]

Uh, okay, I'll be right back.

[Scoots out of his seat and off he goes!]

[a_gentle_boy]

[OK, it would only be a few minutes before he came back! Lucas had noted carefully where Raz had put his worksheet earlier; he quickly leans over and snags it from his desk and sets to work.

...The clock is ticking. Hopefully, the nurse would delay Raz long enough for him to pull this off.]