How Forlorn...

@"Nightstripe"

"Didn't come up with the metaphor, really, and if I try to explain it it's going to start sounding like 'it's because cinnamon is tasty' or 'I like cinnamon' or that sort of stuff so I'm not even going to try."

Still on the ground, Teddy put his hands over his shoulders and kipped up, landing on his feet and sinking in. There he stayed, only his waist exposed to the world above. In all honesty, he had no idea how to sit still, which was both a fault of his nature and his personal preference. Only recently did he start attempting to mellow down.

He laid his hands on the ground and assumed a contemplative voice. "Hmmm... let me think. I don't think... no, that was it. I don't think. Oh wait, I got something. Most people probably - you're not included there are you?"

@"Nightstripe"

A-ha! A string to tug on!

Teddy pumped his fist inside the earth while his upper half betrayed no change in emotion. It was a perk of being who he was - and in addition to that, very few expected him to be more than just a happy goofball. Although to be fair, that was technically true as a result of his incapability of being anything other than happy.

"Hmm. Doesn't seem like you'd have one, but if you think you have one, you're probably right. How about you tell me a bit of what you think falls under your chapter and we'll decide?"

He rose up a bit to lay a little more formally on the ground. The act itself made no sense.

From who knew where he produced a tiny notepad and a pen, clicking and clicking incessantly, mimicking a stereotypical therapist. He even mimed pushing up glasses to the bridge of his nose, except his fingers went through his face and into his skull. "Also, you stammer a lot, don't you? Don't get me wrong, it's endearing - but not everyone has experience with it. If it weren't for me having an incredibly-hard-to-communicate-with brother I probably... well, I'd still understand you. But you get what I mean."

@"Nightstripe"

"Of course I am. I don't really remember what it was, but I was trying to say something. Hang on."

Teddy snapped his fingers repeatedly, noting Emily's shift to a more sour expression. At the same time the shift amused him and... amused him in a different way. It was difficult to be entirely incapable of anything unhappy at times. "Ah, got it. Ahem."

From his regular playful tone he adopted a more serious voice, with just a hint of British, reasoning that he could sharpen his accents while lazing around. "It's not my business, yeah - but I do think I can comment on things I observe? I just observed the stammering and wondered if it ever came up to be a point of concern, because I've met quite a few people who didn't like that. Okay? Okay."

@"Nightstripe"

Teddy sank into the ground. He had a vague feeling that he did something wrong, but his nature made it literally impossible for him to feel guilty about it. Not for lack of trying - he scrunched his face into something he recognized as guilty, but still,

nothing.

She declared gratitude, but Teddy's alarms were ringing, saying that the sentiment quite wasn't there. He couldn't quite tell if they were reliable at this point though, so he smiled and nodded, his face embedded into the pavement. "Any time you're feeling a bit blue..."

He gestured to his barely visible face by lifting up his arms and pointing. "Yeah. I went there. I'm ending this conversation on a bad pun. You take care now, missy."

He sank back into the ground, fully submerging, spreading himself into the subatomic gaps between the solid matter. His light blue was now tinged with an invisible shade of doubt. Doubt was a weird sensation.

A smile crept on his hidden subterranean face. "Feels good to be alive."