Downcast

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

[voice]
[Click.  Silence for a few seconds.]

Has anyone seen Porom around recently?  She didn't come back last night.  ...Or the night before.  ......O-Or the night before that.  She... She's not listed as my roommate anymore, either.  I didn't think she'd be the type, but... she probably went on a trip with some of you to go find anemoi, right?  Should've told me first.  A-Anyway!  Just tell her to call me, OK?  She's just a white mage.  It's not safe for her to be out alone.

[action]
[That day, Palom can be found all over the city, meandering aimlessly.]

Sis!  Sis!  Poooorooooooom!  ...Hey!  Has anyone seen a girl around my age come around here?  Looks a little like me, uh-huh.  She's my twin sister.

[action 2 - one person only, please]
[The next day, Palom can be fond at the very outskirts of the area deemed Safe, glancing out beyond into the wild areas.  ...Only for a few moments, though.  Without any hesitation, he'll take off, leaving the city limits.]

Porom!  Porom, are you out here?  If I get eaten by a monster, you're gonna have to heal me, OK?  Porom!

[He won't get too far, maybe twenty minutes' walk, before there's some ominous rustling from the bushes..........]

Porom!  Porom, is that -- AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Comments

action 2

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[And out of the bushes pops some guy in a weird jumpsuit who looks kind of like he's been living out in the wilderness like a crazy hobo for the past few days, probably because that's exactly what he's been doing.]

Hey! What the hell are y--

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

A MONSTER! Take this!

[And Ryoma is met with a fireball to the face.]

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[A good thorough singeing: exactly what Ryoma needed to look more civilized. He falls backward, flailing wildly. Of course, he doesn't stay down for long, being Ryoma Nagare and thus having no concept of what the words "stay down" mean. In a second, he's back on his feet and lifting Palom by his shirtfront.]

Damn kid! The hell is your problem?

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

Let me go!

[Palom will become a bit hot to the touch... Or. Very. Fireball after fireball is cast; it's the only spell he's remembered after all.]

I'll show you dumb monsters to kidnap my sister! Haaaah!

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[Ryoma drops Palom and scrambles backward some. Palom is probably lucky Ryoma doesn't actually remember any of his vast martial arts knowledge and is simply going off reflexes here.]

Hey, watch it! Do I look like a monster to you?!

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

[Palom will stop his tantrum for a second or two as he stares.]

....Yes.

[1/2]

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

...

[Ryoma... can't argue with that, not really.]

[2/2]

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[Not that he isn't going to try.]

Well, I'm not! And I don't have any sister of yours, either!

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

Then where did you put her?! I know she's out here somewhere and I'm gonna save her!

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

I didn't put anybody anywhere! You're the first person I've seen since I got here, pipsqueak!

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

............
.........
......
...

Then... w-where's... my s-sis...s-sist-t-t...........!

[Fireballing throwing little children or crying little children? There's no winning here.]

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[Ryoma definitely would've preferred the fireballs. He's much better equipped for dealing with fireballs. He kneels down and gives Palom an extremely awkward pat on the back.]

Hey, kid, just 'cause I haven't seen her doesn't mean she ain't around somewhere.

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

S-She... [hiccup] not here t-the list and her clothes [hiccup] s-s-she's gone.

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[Palom's lost Ryoma here.]

A... list...?

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

F-For r-r-rooooms!

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

Dammit, kid, would you calm down and start from the beginning? I have no fucking clue what you're going on about!

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

((Wow that last tag was awful, sorry.))

[Palom continues to blubber and sniff for some time before he can manage anything even close to coherency.]

...My sister's gone.

And I don't even remember her well.

It's stupid.

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

((Don't be silly there is no such thing as an awful Wighty tag.))

OK, I get that part. So what the hell are you doing way out here?

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

Because if she's not here, then she musta gotten... gotten kidnapped!

[Obviously.]

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

Nothing I've fought seemed really eager to take prisoners.

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

Then where is she?

[Is it possible for a human pitch to go that high? Apparently so.]

[a-mans-job.livejournal.com]

[Ryoma sticks a finger in his ear and wiggles it some. Ouch.]

If I promise to look for her, will you shut the hell up?

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

What? No! If I don't call for her, how will she know I'm looking?!

[action]

[a-civil-service.livejournal.com]

Hello, Palom. [On his way home from work, Yuri catches sight of the boy and can't help but overhear his question.] Porom's gone missing?

[Something about a young child being on his own upsets him--a natural impulse for an adult to have, he feels.] I'd be glad to help you look for her.

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

Oh. Hi. Yeah. She hasn't come home in a few days. ...I'm not worried, but she should've at least called to say she was gonna go be busy.

...It's OK. I don't want to take up your time.

[a-civil-service.livejournal.com]

I see. Yes, she should have informed you. [Porom had struck him as a responsible child, and it seems likely she would have informed her brother, so that concerns him. Yet he remains calm.] It's no trouble at all. I'm done with work for the day.

Where did you last see her?

[prodigious-mage.livejournal.com]

It's been a few days now. I left her in the room one morning and she was gone when I came back.