trans_9 | Free ice cream! [open]

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Free ice cream! [open]

Alex sat beneath the shade of a large tree in a decent sized park. Those familiar with New York might recognize the sky scrapers in the distance, even if they didn't recognize the park itself. Parked on a small service road was an ice cream truck with a merry vendor, who claimed that it was customer appreciation day, and was thus giving ice cream away for free.

Alex was already enjoying a chocolate and strawberry cone covered in sprinkles and caramel syrup, wondering if anyone would bother showing up to spend time with him, or even be interested in sensorium ice cream in the first place.

Either way, Alice seemed thrilled, as she pulled what appeared to be pink chocolate chips from a jar labelled "Yogis". Reaching out to pet Alice, Alex laughed a bit, "Don't get used to eating s-so many." sensorium food might not mess with her health, but once they got home, it would be the real thing once again. He figured that she deserved the treat as much as he deserved the ice cream anyway.

[OOC: Post to Alex or to other people if you'd like.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"S-snowmen aren't q-quite as c-creamy or sweet, b-but I guess y-you c-could say that. M-maybe you sh-should've gotten ch-chocolate. It's n-not nearly as sweet."

He still was laughing just a little bit at the reaction.

No, he typed, recovering a little, Sorry. It tastes like a confectionery snowman decoration I ate off a cake once, before I knew better. It tasted like someone made it out of pure sugar.

He looked skeptically at Alex. No wonder children lose their teeth as they grow up. It's preemptive damage control.

Alex burst out laughing again. "I know that c-can't be right, but oh g-god! It makes s-stupid sense! I've b-been lucky, n-no tooth decay, with all th-the sugar I eat."

Really. Sweet things were the only things he really ever willingly ate, except for a few actual dinner entrées, when Mikel insisted they look normal when at a diner.

"R-really, m-maybe try th-the ch-choc-colate. It's n-not nearly as s-sweet."

He looked vaguely horrified. You eat this sort of thing regularly?

Zouichi nodded at the suggestion, and went back to the ice cream truck, coming back in a moment or two.

That man let me exchange my ice cream, he said, looking a little bewildered. He took a smaller, warier bite this time, chewing the ice cream thoughtfully.

It's not bad.

Horrified was probably the right expression to have in response to that, and Alex had accepted that a long time ago.

"Ch-choc-c-

"...

"That f-flavour isn't n-nearly as sweet. M-most people like it. B-birthday c-cake isn't as popular."

I have been eating much more than usual since coming aboard this ship, mused Zouichi, Desserts especially seem to be popular here.

However, this is not actual ice cream, correct?

"N-nah, i-it's an illusion, b-but thinking a-about that ruins th-the illusion! It's b-better ta just enjoy it, r-right?"

Ruins the illusion?

Of all the people he'd met so far, Alex seemed to be the most integrated into their current environment. Many of the others professed a strong desire to get back to their lives, or at least seemed vaguely uncomfortable with the idea of spending an indeterminate amount of time sailing on a meatship across the stars.

Alex, on the other hand, seemed to embrace the illusions and environment both, wholeheartedly.

Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?

If anything, Alex felt stranger with the illusions than he did with the ship itself, but when he went out of his way to create them, he was going to enjoy them.

He looked a little surprised by the sudden question, but nodded, "S-sure."

Do you prefer being aboard the ship, or being on Earth?

"The ship," he answered without a moments hesitation.

He left all of the hate and the judgement and fear people felt towards him at home. Here there was understanding, even welcoming.

He paused for a long moment.

You do know that there are people aboard the ship who wish to restore all the worlds that have been destroyed thus far, correct? If that were to happen, would you still remain aboard?

That question gave Alex more of a pause. He had long wondered that. He didn't know about remaining on board, but he didn't want to go home.

"I m-might. I think, i-if I c-can, I'll go with Luna, t-to her world. Even if I w-won't be able to see my other friends. Luna..." He smiled a bit, looking a little sad.

His face fell again, looking almost angry. "I won't g-go home though. I'm n-never going back there. I c-can only hope that Loretta an' Mikel'll g-go with me."

I see.

So your home is so terrible that you would not consider returning? Is Luna's that much better?

He seemed to grow a bit more angry, "Y-yeah. It was. I w-was trying to ch-change it, b-but I think at th-this point, we've d-done enough, i-it c-can straighten itself out w-without us."

His hands shook ever so slightly as he spoke. The general population made things hard for him, but it was specific people, specific places, that made it so terrible. Not to mention the reputation he had been given in his area.

He could move to a whole new city, but the internet was international, and there was always going to be that chance that someone he didn't remember, and didn't want to remember, would know him.

His hands stilled as he talked about Luna's world instead. "H-her Earth... I-it sounds like it w-will be. D-different culture. F-filled with w-witches an' wizards, a-and c-creatures that are just dreams in m-my world.

"A-and Luna w-will be there."

That was... a rather dangerous thing to pin his hopes on, unless the humans of Luna's world were dramatically different from those elsewhere, and Zouichi doubted that they were. Human history was rife with struggle, cruelty, and prejudice -- alien history, too, apparently.

But if Alex felt that he wanted to start over, it was his decision. Maybe it would even work out.

Witches and wizards? So it is a world in which magic exists?

He nodded. "M-my powers m-might remind some of the p-people there of these c-creatures that also feed off o-of negative emotions, b-but they c-cause them too. That's wh-why people fear them. My powers c-cause the opposite. Wh-when I eat s-someone's fear, o-or sadness, it g-goes away. N-not usually forever, since there's a reason that y-you felt that way, and th-those reasons'll m-make you feel that way again, b-but I d-don't cause those emotions."

He hoped that people would understand and accept that, but he got the sense that at least the people Luna was friends with would understand.

"N-not to mention, they w-won't know me there, or what I c-can do. I c-can k-keep it quiet. The rumours th-that were spread in m-my world, th-that we're all insane and unpredictable, they w-won't have b-been heard there at least."

No one would know of the shame he had endured either.

So you were a victim of a campaign of misinformation. I am not surprised; it would be an excellent way to discredit you and any stories you might tell about the way you were treated.

'Creatures' that feed off negative emotions? Sounds dangerous.

He nodded, "That, p-plus a g-great deal of f-fear and a s-shadow eater or t-two g-getting overshadowed while j-just trying to p-protect themselves c-caused all sorts of rumors. E-even the l-local gangs d-didn' bother m-me, j-just because th-they learned m-my name and f-face, as a shadow eater, s-so it was g-good sometimes.

"The c-creatures from Luna's w-world are s-supposed ta be. They g-guarded th-the prison f-for the w-worst c-criminals of the wizarding world."

His serious expression deepened into a frown. "It's the c-creating them that's bad, n-not the feeding though." He wanted to make that difference clear.

'Creating them that's bad'? They were created by humans? What sort of creatures are they?

Zouichi looked curiously at Alex. You don't look so bad to me. And your shadow is not visible to humans under normal circumstances, is it? You had take special measures to allow me to see it.

"N-no, I'm sorry, I've n-never been good with c-clarity. C-creating the negative f-feelings is bad."

He shook his head, "I-it's not visible to humans th-that aren't shadow e-eaters, n-no."

So if they couldn't see your shadows, how did they know that it was the Shadow Eaters using their powers? I assume they didn't just take the accusations against you at face value; scientific experiments or not, people would have needed proof that you could actually eat shadows.

"There's g-groups who'll t-take photos of a-all the people c-coming an' g-going from the lab. P-people'd look ta see, realize their n-neighbor, or their c-co-worker is one there." He sighed. Things got so much worse after he was put on there.

They take pictures of you? Why? Surely it's no fault of your own that you were subject to the experiments. What value could there possibly be in hounding children?

"F-fear, I guess. I'm from a-after the experement began to get well known. I s-suppose it's a form of ch-cheap entertainment too."

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