❀ 01

[truffulacide]

A. [ACTION: 917 BILKO BOULEVARD]

[before the Once-ler even opens his eyes, the first thing that immediately occurs to him is how fresh the air is.

even when he's straddling the border between the waking world and his dream world, it's immediately apparent. sleeping, such as it is, isn't easy to accomplish anymore. it's always fitful and restless and not really sleep at all; light napping would be more accurate. once, all he had to do was bury himself under his quilt and concentrate on the steady rhythm of his heartbeat to lull himself into unconsciousness. it's a little more difficult now. his breathing isn't so steady anymore; it's hoarse and when he coughs it feels like his throat's splitting apart. the air's too sour and smoggy to inhale without launching into a fit of hacking and spitting, but like most things these days, he's gotten used to it. you didn't even need willpower to force yourself to accept things anymore - all you had to do was give up.

he's lived in the valley long enough for his body to grow accustomed to the air, so naturally it senses that something is very wrong here before his mind even registers the fact. buried under his blanket with his legs sticking out in uncomfortable directions (and wow, did he outgrow his bed or did it somehow shrink?), he yawns and smacks his lips together noisily, a little trickle of drool hanging out of the corner of his mouth. he really must've been exhausted because, gosh, he can't remember sleeping this well since - well, since -

since the trees were still -

...wait. waitwaitwaaaait - was it sunny?

the Once-ler's eyes flutter a little before wrenching themselves open completely and he confirms within the rough span of five seconds that, yes, it is sunny and no, he isn't in his room. and this DEFINITELY isn't his bed, it's smells like fresh soap and cotton and it's way too cramped like... like...

what. the. heck.

he slowly turns over on his side and all it takes is the sight of the woman's blond head for him to bolt upright in bed and shriek at the top of his lungs.]


B. [ACTION: 917 BILKO BOULEVARD]

[lovely day, ain't it? maybe you're on your way to work. maybe you're a girl scout making your rounds. maybe you're just out for a walk, looking to stretch your legs and take in Mayfield properly before the powers-that-be go nuts and end up putting a damper on what could otherwise be a very nice week.

if you're expecting a relaxing morning, you definitely shouldn't pass 917. really, you shouldn't.]

- Hey!

[this is why.

even if you don't hear it the first time, that single word is repeated with a little more urgency (and a little more whining) until you give in and follow it to the source, which just happens to be the mail slot of this particular house.

the slot is open and a pair of blue eyes are peering out, looking straight at you.]

Yeah, you! Get over here!

Comments

[roadroller]

[Rin crosses her arms. Well, she can't fault him for the reaction, it's just frustrating.]

I know. It's not, really. Fine, whatever. ♪

[You get used to it after being here for over a year, but that's not something she'd really want to admit.]

The jerk is named Zemekis. I don't know a lot about him, other than he's the one who set up the Mayfield simulation, he's disguised as a little girl named Lucy Smith, and he's crazy. ♪

[truffulacide]

[...give him a minute, he'll catch up.]

So the grown man dressed up as a little girl was the obvious bad guy? Color me surprised. And what do you mean by simulation?

[roadroller]

[That's fine. She'll just pet Lenlen in the meanwhile. The dog's starting to get antsy.]

He's not dressed as a little girl. In Mayfield, he is a little girl. Everything here is fake. That's what I mean by a simulation. ♪

[truffulacide]

So it's not just the arranged marriage thing. I mean, I knew that was a fraud, but...I actually kind of thought that was the only thing they were lying about.

[roadroller]

There's still a lot of mysteries left. I think the only thing you can trust here is the other people. Is your wife a drone? ♪

[truffulacide]

No, she's normal.

[and he hesitates.]

...Kinda, if you ignore the 70 foot-long hair.

[roadroller]

... That... is impressive. Very un-drone-like. ♪

[truffulacide]

I thought so, too.

But yeah - she's completely, 100% normal aside from the aforementioned hairiness.

[roadroller]

Sounds good. Your drone kids might be replaced by real kids too, in the future. The families get shuffled around a lot. ♪

[she pauses.]

Any more questions? ♪

[truffulacide]

Really? Whoo. [he sighs in relief and the little lopsided smile returns.] That's a relief. I swear, if that kid asks me to "throw the old pigskin around" with him one more time, I'm gonna throw him and his sister through a window.

[rest easy because that was a joke! maybe.]

I think I'm getting a good idea of what the town's about now, so... Thanks. It means an awful lot, uh - [wow, awkward.] ...Who are you again?

[roadroller]

[Don't worry, Rin laughed at the joke.

she can kinda see the smile. If she squints and backs up a little. You and your stupid door, Once-ler.]

Rin Kagamine. And you are? ♪

[truffulacide]

The Once-ler. Pleased to meetcha and, um - whatshisface down there.

[he waves his fingers at Lenlen again.]

[roadroller]

His name's Lenlen! ♪

[and Lenlen will put his paws against the door and lick the hand this time.]

I think he says pleased to meet you too. ♪

[hehehe.]

What's a Once-ler though? ♪

[truffulacide]

He's cute. What kind of stuff does he like to eat?

[against all odds, he chuckles as the dog licks his fingers. it tickles!]

Me. It's just my name. [he quirks a brow.] What's a Kagamine?

[roadroller]

Hey, I don't put a "the" in front of my name, you can't turn it around on me. ... It means "mirror sound" though. ♪

[Lenlen stops licking, sits down and looks through the slot.

He thinks you should give him a snack. :| ]

[truffulacide]

You say that like I'm the one who chose it. [take that up with his mom, not him.]

...Hold on.

[the slot snaps shut. from the other end, you can hear his footsteps as he walks away from the door and, a couple minutes later, a cupboard can be heard opening from somewhere in the house if you listen hard enough.]

[roadroller]

[Rin waits.

Lenlen waits while wagging his tail with his ears perked. Aww yeah he knows what's goin' down.]

[truffulacide]

[so far, only one really good thing has happened this morning and that's in the kitchen. it's the first room he made a beeline for after making it out of his treacherous bedroom, and those cupboards were his targets. at first, all he found was the usual - cereal, crackers, oatmeal boxes. nothing unusual.

it's when he saw the big plastic bag hidden behind the Shredded Wheat box that his luck started turning around.

a few seconds later, he returns to the door with the (already opened and half empty) bag in tow, reaching inside and plucking out a single marshmallow before kneeling back on the ground and putting his hand through the mail slot again. he offers it to Lenlen.]

[roadroller]

[Lenlen jumps up for the marshmallow. After he's sure it's for him, he grabs it right up.

And then goes nomnomnom for a while with it in his mouth. Sticky.

Rin watches fondly.]

Thanks~! ♪

[She says on her dog's behalf.]