--Daycare--

T.Mor:

The one guy was all...hardcore...and all...and then there was the girl like the blonde I had accidentally condemned earlier. Hmm...I was confused.

"See...It's quickly becoming more advantageous for me If I just...left this...to erm...be dealt with at a later date...I'm no fool. I am out numbered. So. With that...I ask, respectfully for a few moments to re-pack all this, and I will be out of your way." He asked, all cautious like.

"Er...No one's dead yet right?" The guy who looked like my dad asked.

"That is correct, Mr.Namechov...Just a few bullet wounds..." He said, coiling a USB cable. "Nothing hideously irreperable."

"Well...I mean...uhm... Fine. See you at work Mr.Face..." He said sounding all flat. He started helping Mr.Face pick up all his wires and stuf, and pulled the girl off the table, carefully setting her against a wall.

"See you monday morning Mr.Namechov...And Little Mr.Namechov..." He said as he backed out of the room, past all the tall people, pulling the cart out in front of him.

Marley
Times like these I wish I had a Staples button. Whatever the heck THAT is. "Uhhhh... well... that was... easy" I muttered, watching Mr Face go as I absentmindedly rubbed my arm. That was almost SUSPICIOUSLY easy. Huuuh... but hey, I am sure not complaining.

Ezra looked at the kid, "Mini-me? What are you-"

"There. Is. A. Mini. You. Running. Around. Did. I. Say. It. Slow. Enough. For. You?" said Tommy. When Ezra still looked confused, he said, "Gh made a younger version of you. Come. Now." Tommy grabbed Ezra, pulling him along.

Gh... your response... it... confuses me

gh3325 wrote:I'm gonna take that as a yes.... Tommy thought to himself. He quickly disapeared.

Tommy ran from room to room. Shouting names he had heard being used. He peaked his head into one room to find a boy with an owl that looked a lot like one boy. Others who resembled children in the room were also there. "I need your help!" he said, walking into the room.

A tall boy with black hair was leaning against the wall. He was the brat from before. "Why should we help you?" he smirked.

"You're the brute from before!"

"From before? I've never met you."

"Well your mini-me is running around!"

^ that was my last post...but it seems I was left behind...so I change my post above.

Cricket
"Ah...easy enough," I said. I'd been expecting a bit more of a fight...there was something suspicious about that. But hey...at least the kids were alright. I looked back to myself and noticed Finn heading over there.

Teeny!T.Mor:

I walked up to the guy who looked like my dad. "I thought you died." I told him flatly. I was kind of mad.

"er." He looked really uneasy. "I'm not your dad. Dad...he is dead." He confirmed...I felt like I was loosing everything all over again.

T.Mor:

Oh crap. Telling him that...Seeing his face fall..."It's...It's..." What do I tell him? Lies? The truth? "It sucks. I know." I said instead.

"Who are you then? Are you like the big Mr.Face to my Less Freakishly Tall Mr.Face?" He asked. I looked around and noticed a five foot tall Mr.Face. He was kind of adorable at this age. And kind of terrifying still.

"Yeah...I'm T.Mor." I told him. "From...The future." I said.

"It doesn't get better does it?" He asked me, looking completely broken. "I mean...You're...You still work for him? I still...I..." He struggled with his words, and looked like he was having some kind of psychological breakdown. Oh my. Then...My parents must have died recently. I sat down on the floor, and he dropped as well. I noticed how terrifyingly underfed I was at that age. Maybe I hadn't eaten in three weeks there.

"Not really...It doesn't..." I said softly.

Marley
I glanced over at my mini me, slumped against a wall. Maybe I should go over and have a heart to heart with her...? Nah. But I did want to tell her that if she thinks her life sucks NOW, just wait about a year. That's when the fun starts... when Dorian and Alex leave us, and we have to learn how to do less than legal things, and survive on our own... but to be quite honest, I was terrified of talking to little me, so I kept my ground and started whistling awkwardly.

Teeny!Peter

Now that the bigger Mr. Face was gone, I stopped doing the gunfire prevention thing.

The brown-haired guy who looked like me...under that hair, he had my mom's eyes. I had my mom's eyes. He moved, and I saw it on his shoulder...all mature and grown up...a purple-eyed barn owl. I looked at Sesria, who was sitting on my own shoulder; she returned the wide-eyed look I gave her. I then looked back at the guy who looked like me, stepping forward.

"U-um..." I started. He caught my gaze, and we just sorta looked at each other.

"Wow, this is...weird..." he said, giving an uncomfortable half-laugh. "Uh, hey there..." He then walked over to me, squatting so he was more my height.

"Are you...me?" I asked tentatively.

"If your name is Peter Arkan," he said with a sort of tired smile. "No middle name."

"Th-then...Senet and me...do we get to go home?" His expression turned apologetic, and even somewhat sad.

"...I'm sorry," he told me.

"STOP MOVING SO SLOW!!" shouted Tommy to Ezra.

"It's not my fault! Quit tugging me!"

"Don't make me smack.you."

Marley
Ah... now everybody was having deep heart to hearts... I kept whistling uncomfortably, stuffing my hands in my pockets. Ah, what a lovely pattern on the ceiling, I see...

Finn
I cautiously walked to the small cluster of kids, trying not to stare. I knew they didn't like to be stared at. Cricket was the one to step forward protectively once I got within three feet, and I took a half-step back. "It's a'right...I'm..." I trailed off. We were all so small then. Cricket was so like his older self that it was hard not to smile...or frown...a bit of both. The difference was that he wasn't smiling. That frown he gets when he gets to thinking, always there, permanent. I was...chipper-looking. Terrified, but more bright-eyed than I ever remembered being. And Tickety...she tipped up her hat a bit to eye me distrustfully. Break my heart, will you? She seemed more like a little sister now, though. It took all my strength not to grin or cry. I wasn't exactly sure what I was feeling.

Older Cricket appeared tentatively beside me. The kids gaped at that, the little Cricket taking a step back and just...looking.

"But...where's Tickety?" Little Ticket asked.

"Did Gh bring any others?"

"Yeah, a small brown haired boy..." Tommy replied.

"That's Evan...we gotta find him." Ezra said, pulling Tommy. He headed in the direction of the Art Room.

Alyson
I walked over to the small me,"Um hi...Alyson." She looked at me strangely.
"Who are you?" She asked
I smiled, "Alyson" then i looked around the room. I spotted a young boy with brown curly hair. Johnny... i tried hard not to let tears escape. It was him.

Jamie
I walked over to the mini-me, "Hey there kid!" I said, "What are you doing with your wings out?
"I...um..." Jamie seemed shocked to see me. I laughed, "Do you know who i am?"
She looked at me strangely, "No..." but i could tell she was lying.
"Im Jamie! Nice to meet you kid" i shook her hand and made her smile. She wouldnt be smiling if she knew what her future was like...

T.Mor:

I felt awful. I mean...Should I have lied? No...I would have never been able to live with myself for telling me that. Wait...What? No. Screw grammar. "Erm...How long has it been?" I asked.
"A month ago yesterday..." He said staring at the floor.
"oh...That...That sucks." I said, kind of wanting to hug him or something. He just looked completely hopeless. "Uhm...Watch out for acid burns..." I suggested. I really had nothing reassuring to say. At all.
"I hate acid burns." He told me with a nod. This...This was worse than having gone through it myself. "How do you sleep at night?" He asked me. I knew this was a legitamate question.
"I don't most nights...Just...Kinda...caffienate yourself...and only sleep once you start being dizzy." I advised.
"Oh. Ok..." That hadn't helped at all.
"Erm...You wanna go...uhm...draw or something?" I suggested, trying not to be pushy or imposing.
"Not...really..." He just stared at the floor.

Tickety
There. Right there. The older Finn and Crick's expessions subtly clicked into a painful-looking frown. That...that couldn't be it. My heart sped in my chest. I wasn't there because...? I resisted the urge to clutch my pocketwatch. Thank hell my hat could cover my eyes. "That's...all I needed t' 'ear," I said quietly, and slipped off. I didn't want to know.

Finn
My face fell as I watched her slip away so quickly. That...wasn't planned... "Tickety," I said softly, and followed after her. She bolted outside as soon as she heard my voice. Oh bother...I paused at the door, looking for her hat...she was quite the runner. "Ticket?" Where...? Ah. Look up. I found her lounging on a tree branch. Now, how'd she get up there so fast? "Ah! Tickety!"

"Would you flip off?" She said nonchalently.

I frowned. "Can't I just--"

"No."

"All I want--"

"No."

"Would you plea--"

"No!"

"Agh! Please! I just want t'...I want t' talk t' you..." I said, running a hand through my hair. "You don't even 'ave t' say anything back, I just...can I explain?"

She peered down at me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And what makes you think I want t' listen, hm?"

"I just thought...Tickety, I've missed you. You were my friend. I never..." I muttered the last part. "...I never even got t' say goodbye..."

"I don't care!" She suddenly jumped out of the tree and whirled on me. "I don't care that I'll die, I know that! I don't want t' know 'ow it 'appened! I don't want t' know 'ow I stop it! I simply don't care, and you, are not my friend. You're a stranger. He is my friend." She pointed inside at the younger me, the other hand clutching her watch so tight that her fingers were white. If I hadn't known any better...I'd think she was about to cry by her voice. "I don't care...get back t' your time, where you belong." She pushed past me, on to somewhere to be on her own. I felt like she was gone all over again.

Ezra tugged Tommy to the Art Room. Pushing open open the door with his foot, he dragged Tommy inside.

"Evan?" Ezra called, looking around. Evan sat at the far table, bent over in concentraition. He looked up at the sound of his name.

"We have to go. Younger versions of us are running around."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. Just come on." said Ezra hurridly. Evan followed them out the door.

Teeny!Peter

"Y-you mean...?" I asked quietly, hardly audible.

"I'm really sorry," he...I...answered.

"Then...we have to stay...in--?"

"No, you don't stay in the city forever," he said, giving me sort of a reassuring smile. "Um, how old are you?"

"Eight."

"Wow...yeah...um...the good news is that you only have to stay in the city for two more years. Ah, gods, that probably sounds like a lot...but it's not, in comparison... Er, sorry... How long have you been there so far?"

"A month or so..." His brown eyes softened, and he looked at me with an odd mix of pity and something else that I couldn't place.

"So...you've already...erm...discovered your power..."

And just like that, it all came flooding back. The images, the sounds, the screaming, the burning...

"I didn't...I-I didn't... I didn't mean to!" I felt the tears well up in my eyes and roll down my cheeks, warm and wet. I...I couldn't cry here...but I couldn't keep it in anymore... "I'm sorry!" I cried to no one in particular. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

And suddenly, I felt someone giving me a hug. Or...I guess I was giving myself a hug.


Peter

I was hugging myself. This was...weird. He...I...cried into my shoulder, mumbling apologies over and over again. I remembered myself at that age, that horrible regret...

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I tried to stop, I'm sorry! I tried... I'm so sorry!

AWWW

T.Mor:

Screw it. Screw awkward. Screw the temporal vortex grammar. I reached across to give the kid a hug. He collapsed into me and I felt my own tiny, bony hands dig into the side of me. He really was a mess. A big psychological mess.
I briefly wondered what that meant for me...If I was this bad when I was 8. I noticed that my side was getting all wet, but that there was absolutely no sound coming from the kid. Just...shoulder movements. I awkardly ran a hand through his hair...trying to remember how to be comforting. "Erm...It's ok...Well...no. I'm lying. It's not ok. That's not ok...And...everything sucks...and... Life sucks...and people suck...and...I mean...It doesn't seem like it's worth it at all, and it's probably not...and I don't even know." I ranted. "Just...It's..." I continued ranting nonsense.

Awww

Evan pushed open the door to the day care center. Everything had been explained on the way there. Ezra let go of Tommy, going in search of his eight year old self while Evan did the same. Evan saw a scared, thin boy with brown hair at the arts table. He walked over to him.

"Nice drawling," he noted, looking at the drawling of T. Mor. Teeny!Evan looked up, wide-eyed at Evan.

"You look just like..."

"You? That's because I am you." Evan said, giving him a small smile.

SINCE JACKY SUGGESTED I LOOKED AT OTHER PEOPLEZ POSTS IM SWITCHING TO FIRST PERSON!!

*Dies* i had like, 4 pages of posts to read D: you guys post so fastttt! DX


Kaya: I was very, VERY glad when a bunch of older people who looked like the younger kids here burst in and made the freaky guy leave, relaxing my grip on the gun. I was glad i hadnt had to use it. I wondered where Castle had gotten to. I really should return his gun to him...... i was glad i saw no older me here. That left far too many options for the creation of paradoxes and such. As was, this shouldnt be happening. But this was a strange place that seemed to bend the laws of physics and the universe. It was unnerving. I wheeled myself back inside, peering around to see if Castle had reappeared, his gun still resting in my lap, waititng to be returned.

Cricket
Suddenly, Finn and Tickety were off...and with one backward glance, tiny Finn retreated as well. That left...me. I looked down at myself, and myself stared back...oi my my, those were huge eyes. I tried to think of something to say. "Ah..." After a moment of hesitation, I whistled. Hello.

He just watched me distrustfully. I could see right through his expression into his thoughts. He was contemplating whether or not it was really me. Him.

Teeny!Cricket
The stranger cautiously squated down in front of me, to my height. He looked like Papa, and like me, but he couldn't be me...he was slender, and shorter than Papa had been...his hair was longer, too. But he couldn't be me. I didn't believe him.

"I...'ere...I can prove it," he said, and tucked a strand of hair away to reveal a brand on his neck. I knew those letters. CW. But...Papa had that brand, too, before he...I reached up out of habit to trace my own letters. There it was again, biting at my mind; halls, smoke, fire, bars, ropes, crick. And then he was gone, hanging by that rope...I felt a lump at the back of my throat. Crooks had said the letters might go away on their own, in time. That couldn't be me. I shook my head, refusing to speak. You're not supposed to talk to strangers, you know.

He frowned, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. That was the first time I saw them. Tickety would have called them yellow, but I liked to say they were brown. Sometimes pretend they were blue. He just looked at me for a moment, and I could see right through them into his thoughts. He wasn't sure what to say. " 'ello," he finally said, "Nice t' meet you...I'm Cricket."