[catch-all]

[nightyorb]

Who: Riz, Boober, Mando, Gobo, Eda
Where: Partially Saffron City, partially Goldenrod City
When: June 30th
Summary: Riz is very small and thinks he is kidnapped. You can imagine how stressful this is (for everybody else)
Rating: gen

Comments

[soupguy]

There's a bonk against the underside of the top bunk, as Boober sits up too quickly and hits his head. That's going to leave a bump, but truth be told he can't be fussed over that yet. Later, sure, but right now, even in his freshly-awakened, still-foggy state, he knows he heard a shout-- From in the room, which means it was was Riz.

Boober isn't sure what he's expecting, because frankly, Riz doesn't really call out in distress. And somewhere in the back of his mind, there is added concern because that shout didn't really sound right to be Riz, but that's a subconscious factor. He's mostly running on auto-pilot as he stumbles out of his bed and scrambles up the first couple of bunk-ladder rungs.

"Riz, what's-- Uh. Oh. Oh no."

It's not that this isn't Riz, that's pretty clear to see. It's just not Riz as Boober knows him, in a new way. And as opposed to a couple months back, when Riz was a fraggle for a day, this is not a fun sort of surprise. It is quite concerning, and distressing, not to mention confusing.

And maybe it's the sheer amount of stress this causes when he's not totally awake, or maybe it's just that this is more chaos on top of worms and wrong bodies and all sorts of things lately, but for the first time, Boober feels like the only words of reaction he has for this are the kind of language Riz so often uses.

"Mothershitter," he breaths out, and he's pretty sure that's not quite right, but it feels entirely wrong anyway, and he thinks that was the first and last time he'll ever swear. "Riz, are you okay?"

[nightyorb]

Riz quiets at the sudden bonk from beneath him, his eyes going wide and a strange and unfamiliar head pops into view moments later. His eyes then further widen, seemingly taking up all of his face when the familiar boy says something that Riz is very sure is a curse.

"You said an illegal word!"

He'll get back to everything else that is going on in a minute, first he must focus on this. Something heinous like this is, after all, a big Deal in the mind of one small child.

[soupguy]

"I did, sorry," Boober sighs, shaking his head. "Are you hurt? You- You don't recognize me, huh? Ohh boy..."

[nightyorb]

Riz frowns. "I don't know you. Where is my mom? Where's my dad? Who are you? Why is my body weird?"

Looks like Riz's habit of rapid-fire questions started very early.

[soupguy]

Boober's heart sinks at hearing those questions (the second one in particular) because even though he was expecting it, by this point...

Well where does he start?

"I'm Boober Fraggle. Your family isn't here, I'm afraid. This is a separate place that made all of us human. See, I'm not from here either, and... Ugh, this is so strange..."

He would very much like to get back into bed and pretend this wasn't happening, but he can't just do that. When he first got here, and he was confused and scared, Riz didn't just freak out because Boober didn't remember him. He looked out for Boober. Time to try and return the favor.

"It'll probably sound suspicious to you, but when you're older we're very good friends. And- And I don't know what's going on right now, but-- Look, Riz, you don't have to be scared. Don't let me being scared make you scared, because I'm here for you while things are weird like this. A lot of the time, things that go wrong in this place fix themselves, so... You'll, uh, you'll be okay."

[nightyorb]

Boober's hemming and hawing explanation does nothing to clear the suspicion from Riz's face. If anything it grows. Because honestly, Riz didn't super understand most of that, but he understood that his parents aren't here (bad!!) and that this guy is supposed to be his friend (he doesn't have friends!!) which only leads him to draw one conclusion.

"Are you a kidnapper?"

Because listen, Riz has gotten the talk, okay? About how you shouldn't get into strange cars even if people offer your candy or a puppy. He knows what kidnappers are and this guy, with his hat and eyes that can't even be seen is very suspicious.

[soupguy]

Well that's just great to hear. Of course, Boober can't say it's an unfair assumption, but he feels like it's going to be a really long... However long this lasts. And he's already so very tired.

"No, I'm not a kidnapper," he sighs, tilting his head back - thought the temptation to hit his forehead against the upper bunk's frame is very strong.

[nightyorb]

"That's exactly what a kidnapper would say," Riz pipes up, clearly not ready to start believing anything this guy is saying. "I want my mom and dad."

[soupguy]

Okay, there's the thunk of his head hitting against the frame. Just the once, but how does he handle this?

"And I wish I could bring them here for you, Riz." Which is always true, really. Riz clearly misses the Bad Kids a lot every day, but his longing for his parents - well, Pok is a complicated situation, but still - that is very evident whenever they come up. "Trust me. I'm sure they could handle this better than I could."

[nightyorb]

"I know our phone number! Let me call them!"

His parents had taught him this exactly for situations like this.

(Okay, probably they taught him this for the far more likely situation of Riz wandering off and getting lost, but lets not fuss over those minor details)

[soupguy]

Boober does not know how to explain to him the "different world" thing. He also doesn't know how he's going to stomach the potential reaction to Riz not being able to call his parents, but he does know he has to let him try. Because this is Riz, even if it's Riz as a little kid. Riz gets stuck on things.

So Boober climbs down to retrieve his Pokegear. He opens it to the call screen and, with a heavy sigh, passes up to Riz.

"I won't stop you from trying. I know that's not going to work, you can't let things go that easily." Despite everything, the words come out rather fondly, though the dread in the pit of his stomach is still strong.

[nightyorb]

Riz frowns as Boober hands him his Pokegear, turning it over in his hands. "Is this your crystal? It's super weird."

He (obviously!) doesn't have his own crystal, but his mom and dad do, and they look nothing like this. This looks more like something you'd see in a cartoon than a proper phone.

[soupguy]

"My...? Oh, yeah, that's what you have for this. It's like that, yes," Boober says with a nod. "You can talk to people with it, or use it to read information."

[nightyorb]

"Huh." Which is all Riz has to say before he starts to punch in the oh so carefully memorised phone number. Unfortunately, that number means nothing, so instead of hearing his mom or dad on the phone, all he gets is a pleasant female voice telling him 'this number is not in service, please try again'. Which he does! Three times, four times, but each time the message stays the same.

"Why won't it work?"

[soupguy]

It's heartbreaking, to see him keep trying to contact them. It's also stressful, because he does not know how to handle this. Not even a little bit. He wants to sink into the floor and just disappear until this gets better. (Hopefully, anyway. He's never going to bank on things going right.) But he has to be here for Riz. He has to.

"They're not here. I'm sorry, Riz, but I'm going to make sure you're safe until you can get back to them."

[nightyorb]

So far, Riz has been rather feisty -- combative even. But part of that had perhaps been that there had been somewhat of a guideline for him to follow. All he had to do was call his parents' number and it would be okay. That's why he had learned it, after all.

Now that that has proven to be ineffective, he's suddenly at a loss. And unfortunately for Boober, said loss is starting to manifest in the way it often does in children.

First Riz's lip screws up, his breath starting to hitch a little as big tears start to gather at the corner of his eyes.

[soupguy]

"Oh no."

For a moment, Boober just stares and feels useless. It is truly a disgusting feeling to not be able to help here, but then... Maybe there is a little something he can do, for whatever it's worth. He gets back down to his own bed, gathers a dozing Rôti in his arms - she barely stirs at all - and deposits the sleepy Lechonk in front of Riz. He wishes he knew where Loggy was at the moment, but this is - in his opinion - definitely comparable.

Rôti peers at the not-quite-familiar person before her curiously, as Boober explains, "You can give her a hug, if it will help. She's cuddly, and that helps me when I get too scared."