How Forlorn...

@"Nightstripe"

Teddy

Ever since that mock demon ritual some time ago, Teddy had taken to traveling underground literally. There was minimal traffic, and with the risk of being lost all too real, it was actually a bit dangerous. If he lost concentration on his mass distribution, he would instantly get squished out of existence.

Hence his preference.

Still, it did get monotonous to see nothing but the inside of rock, and so he decided to poke his head out and take a look like a blue landmine poking out of the floor. Carefully, he craned around, noting his mass. Everything seemed to be in order, and nothing much caught his attention. Except for that vaguely familiar figure in the distance.

He approached slowly, the rest of his body still submerged where it should not be. As he went, he started humming the theme music of Jaws to himself, noticing how much like the movie the current situation was. A predator (though he meant no harm - yet) swimming through a sea of earth toward lonesome prey. How fitting.

As he approached however, something felt off, and his humming grew weaker. That figure, and her general appearance... he crept even closer and pulled himself up with his hands, bringing his upper body out of the ground. His feeling was right. Teddy knew this person.

"Hey, Emily. What are you doing here?"

@"Nightstripe"

"You sure about that?" Teddy asked, throwing himself backward onto the ground near Emily as if it were some sort of bed. His back hit the floor with a soft thud and a bit of unnecessary flourish, as was his way. With an unreadable expression that seemed a mix of concern and disinterest, Teddy twisted his body so that he was facing her properly albeit horizontally. "From what I see you look more like you're contemplating the meaning of life, death, and the contents of the cheap mystery burger that popped up downtown recently."

Uncharacteristically, Teddy didn't feel the urge to particularly mess with Emily too hard. Normally, were it any other person, or perhaps were there different circumstances, he'd have already set up at least four different pranks by now, and yet he inexplicably didn't want to. With his voice as close to concerned and his expression as far from his regular smug smile possible, he swam through the dirt and settled near her feet. "Strange. I don't feel like messing around yet. Hmm. Day's nice, weather's nice, hell, even the underground's nice and cozy right now - but why do you look so glum..? I wonder... a mystery for the ages."

Without warning, Teddy assumed his smug smile again and sprang up to a standing position in one motion, declaring with mock joviality, "A-ha! Today's special episode will be a mystery! A classic whodunit, with a twist, as we dig in deep and try to figure out exactly who or what could have made such a girl so forlorn so early!"

The giggle spurred Teddy on, and he felt a minor sense of accomplishment and elation. More notably, it was unlike his usual sense of mildly sinister satisfaction. It had been a while since he felt remotely close to innocent. It felt weird.

Teddy tilted his head in mock confusion for a few seconds, and then started swimming circles around Emily for no apparent reason. Even for him, the unspoken rationale behind his actions fell too flat to properly justify them, and he stopped. Or he just felt too lazy to continue. Yes, that seemed more appropriate.

He swam closer and sat himself down right beside her, throwing one arm around her neck with a grin. "You know, people have secrets. Hell, I'll ask you - how much do you actually know about me? Keep in mind that I'm a very open book... written in gibberish and assorted Picasso hieroglyphics in some parts but still a very open book. And I'm willing to bet you don't know that much."

With his right arm Teddy made a grand sweeping gesture and said in an unnecessarily grandiose baritone, "Secrets. Also, I like that voice. I'm sticking to that for now."

The blue neck craned forward, and Teddy stared up at Emily with his head at her knees. Still in that baritone, Teddy said, "But if you really want to know, there are ways we can make that happen. Call within the next ten minutes and get nine ninety-five off!"

@"Nightstripe"

@"Nightstripe"

"Really? I first met my brother a year ago and it only took like 3 hours for us to know everything about each other. Weird," Teddy said as he tilted his head innocently. Technically, it was true. Though they were more or less twins, Teddy had only known Bart for a year, and it only took two hours and forty-two minutes to finish all the exposition between them.

"Eh, that's okay. Snooping around doesn't seem like your kinda thing anyway. You're a cinnamon roll too pure for this cruel world. By contrast, I'm a sinnamon roll. With an S." Teddy let go, sitting himself down elsewhere a little farther out. It was difficult for him to simply stay in one spot, and he kept twitching around like he were geriatric.

Finally, he settled down and let his expression be serious for longer than a fraction of a second. As though attempting to convey that he was actually serious, he sat up straight with his legs folded and his hands on his thighs. "Emily, look up above because I am going to drop some blue wisdom. What you know is limited only by what you ask. If this person's not talking, then ask somewhere else. Although, as far as I know if you ask wrong or in the wrong places it gets sorta kinda illegal. Tread lightly."

"I have my moments," Teddy declared, stretching out his hand and looking at his fingers as though he painted his nails or something. A grin crept up to his face again, signalling the end of his serious streak. "Moment's over."

A soft laugh left Teddy and he lay down on the dirt again, staring straight up into the sky. The clouds seemed to invite further listlessness from him, and he splayed his arms lazily across the ground. "Don't know who came up with the cinnamon roll metaphor myself, but eh. It fits anyway. And the sinful thing's on page three-hundred and forty-seven."

He slowly raised one hand against the light, letting it filter the sun blue. In a moment of contemplation he opened and closed it, a thought of his previous experiences coming back to mind. Those were images he'd rather not see on good days, and his smile dissipated. "It's a chapter long."