Stranger Than Fiction | Tsar

[L△LIA]

I was picked up and then dropped off
In a culture counter-clockwise turned around
Dug a hole in Southern Carolina
Took me straight to China safe and sound
Donated my map to the lost and found

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Aesop woke up.

... or at least he was fairly certain that's what he did. Some days it was was difficult to tell where sleep ended, the hangover of morphling hallucinations creeping in on reality like unwelcome daylight sneaking through the holes in his tattered bedroom curtains. Today was going to be one of those days, the kind where he writhed uncomfortably in his own body, impatiently searching for anything that wouldn't disappear as soon as he reached out to touch it.

With all the grace and maturity of a four-year-old, he thrashed his legs and flailed his arms, cursing the dawn as his tantrum kicked blankets and sheets into the air. Mornings never brought him anything good. They presented him with migraines, work, or new problems to suffer through — none of which would make it onto a shortlist of Aesop's Favorite Things. Groaning in resignation, he rolled himself back into the nest of abused quilts he had cast aside just moments before, bundling himself tightly in their protective hold. As if karma were punishing him for mistreating his bedding, he turned too far, slipping over the edge of the bed and plummeting to the floor with an uncomfortable thunk.

If he had any lingering doubts, they were chased away by the dull ache that had taken up residence in his back. It was definitely going to be one of those days.

Squirming his arms free, he groped along the floor until his roving hands discovered a pile of discarded clothing. Methodically, he sniffed each piece, catapulting anything dirty across the room and onto his brother's still sleeping form. Having sorted out enough reasonably clean clothes to wear, he pulled himself off the ground with an exasperated sigh and changed. Black pants, a black shirt, and a denim jacket — he wouldn't look homeless today. His sister would probably spontaneously combust from joy and pride; he would definitely need to leave before she died from the shock of witnessing his achievement.

The intensity of his hangover told him today was probably Sunday. Like a consolation prize for waking up on the wrong side of his morphling trip, the promise of a work-free day of freedom appeased his irritation. Maybe his day could still be salvaged.

Not wanting to wake the rest of his family, he stealthily sneaked out his bedroom window and down the apartment building's fire escape, the dim alleyway below welcoming him with the familiar odor of garbage and unidentifiable refuse. He smirked in amusement. At least he could be certain this was real; even his most vivid dreams couldn't recreate the utter filth of District Six's backstreets like this.

Leaving the trash bins behind, he turned onto the main street, making his way aimlessly towards the center of the district. Despite not having a particular destination in mind, he knew very clearly what he would be doing today: it was time to figure out if he was still hallucinating or not. Running a hand through his sleep-rumpled hair, he scanned the sidewalks, breaking into a plodding jog to catch up to the nearest pedestrian. Tapping the stranger on the shoulder, he gave them a lopsided grin before starting in on his questioning, "What's today? Keep in mind that I'd appreciate it if you tell me it's Sunday, even if that's a lie."

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[Tsarashi 2.0]

The sun hadn’t even risen over the horizon by the time Astatine awoke in the bedroom that she shared with her brother. The tall young adult was still sleeping heavily, his feet hanging over the bed and his thick quilt covering his face. Astatine stifled a smile and hastily got dressed in a simple, clean pressed grey jumper that she had laid out the night before along with her brother’s clothes. Then she quietly left the room, slowly closing the door behind her. She would wake Joule up later when he needed to get ready to go to work.

In the kitchen she looked on the table for the note that would be waiting for her as always. She never quite knew how early her father left in the morning, but there was always a note telling her how much he loved her and what chores he wanted her to do for that day. Today was no different. He had called her different variations of ‘sweetie’ in the note as well as kindly asking her to pick up salt in town. They only ever bought what they needed and apparently they needed salt for that night’s dinner. Thankfully the district square was not far away and it was very difficult for her to get lost.

After breakfast was made and her brother was risen for work Astatine picked up dishes and made Joule’s bed before readying herself to go out. She didn’t like going out, but it was a necessary thing in life. If it were up to her she would stay inside always, engrossed in her reading and studies. But alas, that was not possible. She made sure to lock the door of their middleclass home before she left to the shops.

The walk was quiet and peaceful, but to Astatine it was filled with a slight paranoia. She was always on the lookout for Peacekeepers, but mostly her eyes were fixed on the ground to keep from making eye contact with the other pedestrians. Her heart fluttered like a bird when someone stepped close to her, making her think that they were going to reach out and grab her. Sure, she hadn’t met many people that would, but the very thought of it terrified her. She knew that she was small and weak and had no way to defend herself and that was the main thing that made her uneasy about being alone.

That was why she almost jumped out of her skin when she was tapped on the shoulder from behind. She turned to the strange man with wide, doe-like eyes. Her already small voice caught in her throat as she looked at the man with long black hair who was addressing her with a question. He was almost as tall as her brother, meaning she had to crane her neck to see him. His grey figure told her only one thing, he wasn’t wearing red nor had hair of flames like the last stranger who had spoken to her.

Without saying a word Astatine tucked her small black shoulder bag that held her money under her shoulder. When she understood the question that he was asking her the answer came to her instantly; it was a Sunday her brother was working overtime because he was saving for his own home, spring would be coming in exactly four weeks and two days, it was also a new moon tonight. All of this information passed through her mind, but all she was able to do was nod to the stranger to satisfy for him. She hoped that after he received the simple thing he wanted he would leave her alone, but of course, she wasn’t having the best of luck lately.[/color]

[L△LIA]

( A E S O P M Y K O N O S B L O O M )




While working for a common cause
I only got a kamikaze state of mind
This self defeating meeting
Of the minds is eating
What was once so hard to find

[/i][/color][/right]

At the girl's nod of confirmation, Aesop's grin widened in satisfaction, dimples appearing in the creases of his cheeks. It was Sunday; the incessant hum of factory machinery and the bitter scent of sterilization couldn't touch him today. For just a little longer all the worries and requirements of life could be pushed away and he could pretend that he was drifting blissfully out of reach of... everything. This was particularly good considering that it seemed the drifting would be happening whether he wanted it or not.

The world at the edges of his peripheral vision flexed quietly, the soft bending of its logic drawing his attention away for the briefest of moments as it undulated beneath the warming sun. Sidewalk cracks inhaled the morning air, their broken mouths widening with each greedy breath as they stole oxygen and hid it underground. Brick walls pulled at their mortared seams, the buildings puffing their chests out like suburban peacocks showing off for the passing pedestrians. Come live here, they said, look how impressive I am. Indeed, the way they slowly arched their backs and loomed into the sky was quite spectacular, their bodies swelling up until chimneys and rooftops touched the drifting clouds above.

Not real. Definitely not real.

Turning his attention back to the tiny brunette he had intruded on, he studied her wide eyes and decided that she was not a trick of his imagination. There was hint of skittish apprehension in her demeanor, her body shifting away from his touch as she subtly tucked her bag away from his reach. Smart girl. Every aspect of her actions felt so logical that Aesop became quite certain that her existence was completely separate from his hallucinations. Experience had taught him to examine details like this when he lost his grip on reality — that's where the answers lay. When the sidewalk cracks come to life and threaten to swallow you into the belly of the earth, simply find a patch of unbroken ground large enough to stand on. That island of sanity, that one piece of indisputable truth, will be your lifeline to the real world. For now, she would become his island.

As a thank you for her pending contribution to the preservation of his mental stability, he would kindly refrain from pickpocketing her, as her instincts seemed to fear. Considering Aesop's nefarious past (which, frankly, was still very much a part of his present), such paranoia wasn't exactly unfounded. Regrettably, he would be unable to share these honorable intentions with her. The last thing he needed was to further alarm the person he was attempting to anchor himself to by unceremoniously announcing his plans to not steal from her. If the expression she had chosen to greet him with was an accurate indication, temporarily befriending her would require significant effort on his part anyways. Inwardly, he groaned at the prospect of exerting so much energy on his day off.

Nearby, a mangy alley cat puffed its cheeks comically at him, air gradually ballooning beneath the surface of its fur until it looked more like a misplaced puffer fish than a feline. Also not real... or so he desperately hoped, but with a deep enough breath, perhaps the cat's belly really could swell like that. Uncertainty pinballed its way through his thoughts. Either way, it was too early for these types of mind tricks; Aesop did not particularly enjoy being a day tripper, he preferred to confine his delirium to the comfort of darkness. Daylight made it all feel a little too realistic. At least he'd found someone to distract him from the unsettling visions that surrounded him.

"You know, that's what I was hoping you'd say," he declared with a exaggerated wink, neglecting to acknowledge that his newfound companion hadn't actually spoken to him, "Sundays are ace — someone should declare them a holiday or something." Surreptitiously lifting a pair of sunglasses from the unguarded pocket of a woman passing them by, confident that his fingers were fast enough to escape the attention of the girl beside him, he spun his ill-gotten gains theatrically across his knuckles before tossing them into the air with a casual flick of his wrist. The cheap plastic somersaulted several times against the sky, like a well-practiced acrobat, before falling effortlessly back into his grasp. Slipping the over-sized frames on, he imagined how his newly acquired bug eyes must be causing him to resemble one of his hallucinations. For the full effect, he attempted to pull the most absurd face he could — cocking his jaw and sticking out his tongue as he lifted one eyebrow and furrowed the other. As an afterthought, he crossed his eyes and tugged on his left ear before clutching his stomach and doubling over into hysterics.

[/size][/blockquote]

[Tsarashi 2.0]

The day was lovely, but Astatine knew that there was something a little off about her company. His mind seemed to be elsewhere as he stood silently in front of her. After her response he had grown strangely quiet and his eyes shifted in a way that made her more uneasy than she had been previously. But she also couldn’t help but be slightly concerned. Under normal circumstances she would not bother with any other people and their problems, but with him right in front of her Astatine couldn’t help that her eyes softened and her head tilted to the side in question. Something was distracting him, not that it was any of her business, yet she was still curious.

This short show of distraction did not mean that he wouldn’t hurt her though. In fact, it made it more likely since it probably meant that he had some sort of issues. Astatine didn’t play well with people who were different since she was raised by a relatively normal family. Actually, she didn’t play well with most people since she was a bookworm and a shut-in. Both being things that she loved and couldn’t wait to get back to when she was done in the District square.

Out of seemingly no where the boy suddenly obtained a pair of sunglasses, causing Astatine to take a double take. He didn’t appear to have them before. Perhaps he had them in his back pocket? Somehow she found that very unlikely. Then he winked at her. Astatine took a large step away from him, her concern quickly being replaced with shock and distaste. His joking demeanor was more terrifying than funny, as he obviously thought it was. If she had been a child in front of him she would have started crying from his faces. And yet it still took her a bit to keep from doing just that.

Weird. She thought to herself. Suddenly shaking her head, Astatine’s forehead creased as she studied his face. No, not weird. He was insane. That was a good word to describe him. He was in his own little word, a world that at the moment she would rather not become a part of. And what was with his statement? How was she supposed to reply to that? Sundays were simply another day to her. A day that she didn’t have to go to school and usually spent at home in the silence, reading about radiation and its reactions.

Nodding shyly Astatine stood there quietly for a few seconds before turning slowly to walk away. She hoped desperately that he wouldn’t follow her, but figured that that wouldn’t be the case. She still needed to buy the salt in town and she couldn’t have some weird guy interfering.

[ooc-sorry it took so long. Astatine has a tiny muse that likes cupcakes she is difficult to satisfy. Also it was hard to reply to that ^,^]

[L△LIA]

( A E S O P M Y K O N O S B L O O M )




But right then
The clouds parted in the sky
The horizon took us all
A little by surprise
Watch the sky

[/i][/color][/right]

By the time Aesop finally stifled his giggle fit and glanced up to observe his companion's reaction to his antics, he found only air. She disappeared. The thought crossed his mind automatically, wrenching him from the lighthearted jesting he had preoccupied himself with just moments earlier and unceremoniously catapulting his mind back into unsettled doubt. She wasn't real. His panicked heart skipped a beat as his island of sanity dropped out from beneath him, leaving him stranded in midair like a displaced marionette.

Dread flickered through him as he tried to come to grips with his newly altered perspective, anxiously attempting to backtrack through his thoughts to the last solid piece of reality he could identify. It certainly wasn't going to be in the buildings, with their puffed up peacock chests, or the sidewalks that hid their thieving lungs beneath the surface of the earth. Those were still obviously part of the vivid phantasmagoria currently performing tricks on his mind. Only the girl stood out against the haze of warped imagery being replayed in his memory, a creature of logic so austere and unbroken that he couldn't come to terms with the idea that she was simply a product of his subconscious imagination.

Perhaps he hadn't really woken up this morning. Maybe he was instead wandering through an elaborate dreamscape, a psychedelic Wonderland born from the remnants of yesterday's morphling coursing through his veins and his overactive REM cycles. It wouldn't be the first time he'd mistaken a lucid slumberland adventure for a drug trip overstaying its welcome. Either way, the uncertainty made him uneasy. The inability to orient himself one way or the other was throwing him for a loop that threatened to push him into a panic attack at any moment.

Wait. Please. Please don't leave me here alone. Not with that hideous cat gawking at me and all this awful sunshine. Everywhere... everywhere sunshine. Daylight isn't supposed to be able to lie like this.

Suddenly he felt like a lost child, as if time itself had wrapped him its arms and were carrying him backwards into some stray, neglected memory from his youth. The silent trauma of being left behind pricked at his nerves, making him want to reach out and find something, anything to hold onto. There weren't many things he wouldn't sacrifice to have his brother to sneak up on him now and capture him in a roughhousing headlock, mercilessly taunting him as he struggled to breathe against the crook of his elbow. Even that kind of abusive hold would be welcome now, just as long as he wasn't alone.

"Hey, wait!" He called out, a hint of childlike desperation tinging his voice as he frantically tried to conjure his lost companion back in existence, "Don't leave yet — I have something for you."

---

(OOC — No problem, hun! And sorry if Aesop's awkward to interact with, his thought patterns can be a bit tricksy. D:)

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[Tsarashi 2.0]

Why were people so different, so strange? Every human was made of the same molecular structure; the same atoms and elements. Then why must people have different thought patterns or ways of acting? Why must people be so unique? Life would be so much easier if every person was similar with a similar mindset. Then there would be mo more crazy strangers to bump into. No more tall, thin eyed men with insane antics. That was a nice thought, but highly unlikely. Society would always be made up of different personalities and mental capabilities. So therefore Astatine would stay indoors for as long as possible to keep herself safe from these strangers.

With people like that man you just don’t know where they have been. They could be disease ridden or drug addicted, but by judging how he was dressed she severely doubted the prior. And she didn’t exactly look to see if his pupils were dilated to confirm the latter. But she still couldn’t be sure where it’s been. She didn’t want a stranger to mar her clean cut city-cat appearance in any way, and if that meant they’re association with her, then so be it, she won’t associate with them. Not that she wanted to anyway.

Just thinking about that crazy man made Astatine nervous. Subconsciously her hand drifted to her bag which she hadn’t let out of her sights once. But just because she had her eye, and her hand on it didn’t mean that no one could have stolen something. Even she didn’t trust her protection abilities. Opening it she counted her money, confirming the amount gratefully. Then she clasped it shut once again and held it to her chest to try and settle her nerves.

That was when she heard him calling out over the large crowd. Who in their right mind would raise their voice in a crowd like this and bring attention to themselves? Obviously him, the loony. It was only natural that she stopped and looked back from whence she came, looking for where the voice was coming from. The last thing she wanted was to be ambushed from behind. But would he really be so stupid as to do something with so many people around?

Astatine had absolutely no idea what he could possibly have for her and she truly didn’t want to find out. She tried to move, to leave, but her legs were stiff. Was she really that nervous? Her fear and weak legs were always her greatest drawback. As soon as her knees unlocked she knew that she was probably too late, he would have seen her by now for sure. Running seemed to be the most logical thing to get away; like a fawn from a hunter. But of course, just like a fawn she was awkward on her scrawny legs and she tripped over the flat surfaces of the ground. The people around her scattered, not one offering her a hand of asking if she was alright. But that was District six for you.

[[ooc- sooo sorry for the lateness! But don't worry, even if I'm late I always reply.]]

[L△LIA]

( A E S O P M Y K O N O S B L O O M )




And as the howling winds subdsided,
The locals ran out,
All waving their hands and singing:
Welcome to the island of the honest man
Do what you want — there is no need to impress us

[/i][/color][/right]

Just as Aesop was becoming convinced that the crowd had literally swallowed the girl up, the hustle and bustle parted like a theatrical revelation and he found her. Sanity. Tangled up on the ground, she looked as terrified as he'd felt over losing her and briefly wondered if she could see the trash bins doing somersaults around them too — no, not real. Not real like her. They cartwheeled into the air, scattering discarded trash like confetti to commemorate their gymnastic accomplishments as they soared up and overhead before landing with well-practiced grace. Eight point seven, Aesop mentally scored them, assessing the clumps of triumphant debris left scattered in their wake and deducting points for not cleaning up after themselves.

Jogging to catch up with his lost companion, he knelt before her and tried to think of what he could use to bribe her to stay with him, to back up his frantic declaration. What did he have for her? A proposition— but that didn't sound quite right, even to him. Persuasion, manipulation... these were always Napoleon's strong suits, not his, that's why his brother was in charge of the talking and Aesop spearheaded the stealing. Inspiration came in the nick of time, whispering for him to remove the pilfered sunglasses from his face and present them as a peace offering. Obediently following directions, he smiled as congenially as he knew how and slipped the plastic frames onto her face, his right hand pushing her hair behind her ear as he did so, pulling back with a coin gripped between his fingers. "Ta-da," he beamed proudly, showily flipping the shiny piece of metal back and forth across his knuckles. It resembled the acrobatic trash bins from just moments before, but cleaner. Nine point two.

This had been the very first trick he had ever learned and it remained a personal favorite, despite its childish simplicity. "Let's have a coin toss," he said while holding the silver piece up for her scrutiny, "if it lands on heads, you let me tag along with you so I have someone better to hang out with than—" than that terrifying cat and the peacock buildings "—myself. Tails," he paused, tilting his head in thought. A mind reader he most certainly was not and this girl was not easy for him to predict, what with her disappearing and reappearing like one of his magic tricks. "Tales and you can ask for anything you want. Deal?" The world caught him off-guard with an abrupt shift, warping his vision temporarily. Although he couldn't tell if she had nodded her assent or shaken her head in rejection of his proposal, he was certain he saw her shake it one way or the other and decided to interpret it in his favor. "Deal."

With a fluid toss, his thumb flicked it up into the empty space between them, sunlight glinting off it like fire with each rotation. Wary of touching something that had clearly broken out into flames, Aesop allowed it to tumble to the pavement, the soft clang of its landing ringing out with with finality, despite the din of the crowd. Heads. Despite the impossibility of the metal scorching his skin, he reached out and triumphantly retrieved the coin, pressing it into the girl's nearby palm before pulling himself up from the ground and extending his hand to her with a wide grin. "Where are we off to?"

---

(OOC — Sorry for being glacial! I'm totally rusty when it comes to this boy, so I'm also sorry this is kinda short and awkward.)

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[Tsarashi 2.0]

With her heart pounding in her chest Astatine looked up to see the one person who had come to her aid only to have her hopes deflated when she saw the guy. Why was he following her!? She knew that she should feel concerned and frightened, and she did, but she also felt exasperated. All she had to do was run one simple errand, but it seems like there is no way that she will be able to go back home afterwards. Not with this stranger following her. The last thing she needed was for him to know where she lived.

Right after she thought that the world went dark and she started to panic before realizing that they were sunglasses. His fingers brushed past her ear, sending an unwelcome shiver down her spine. Her eyes widened in shock, though he probably wasn’t able to see them thanks to the plastic obstructing her already poor vision. It was bad enough not being able to see most colors, but with the added darkness she could hardly see anything at all. False shadows covered the world like a curtain and only sharp whites and light grays stood out in comparison. The crazy guy before her was reduced to nothing more than a floating head and hands.

Before she was able to take them off and restore her world he was speaking. A proposition. And decided by a coin toss no less! Logic told her that this was a very bad idea since, seeing her predicament, the numbers were not looking in her favor. Though, if the coin did, by some stroke of luck or the structural weight differences on either end of the coin, land on tails then she would be able to ask him anything. Which would, of course, be to go back from whence he came and never bother her again. If only she could be so lucky.

While her mind was reeling with the probabilities of the gamble another small portion of her brain was focused on locating her bag which she had dropped when she had fallen, and yet another part of her mind was just noticing a pain in her left knee and a slight wetness on the ground that told her that she had scraped her knee. None the less she was getting a headache. Her bag though was nowhere to be found, what with the blackness of the landscape and the black of her bag she was at a loss as to where it would be. And then, much to her chagrin, her company had taken her frantic searching for an agreement to his evil plot of a coin toss.

No, this was not looking to be a good day. Astatine watched in horror as the coin, currently the brightest thing in her field of vision, twisted and turned in the air in some sick, aerobatic rain-dance of fate. Slowly it moved through the air, tormenting her every moment of its decent. When the clang of metal on pavement hit her ears Astatine didn’t know if she should dare look at the outcome. But yet she couldn’t keep herself from knowing her fate, and so she peeked at the bright metal that shone against the black abyss beneath it. It was heads. She lost. And now this guy would be following her for who knew how long.

She could feel the blood retreating from her face as he put the coin in her hand. That evil, evil coin. When she looked back up at him he was offering to help her up. She didn’t know what to do, should she go against all of her teaching and accept his hand, possibly securing her fate in the process? Instead she decided to put off the answer for a little bit longer as she groped around the ground for her missing bag. Relief flooded her when she grasped the strap and pulled it close to her, though she wasn’t able to see it, feeling it in her hands was just as well.

Standing was difficult and her head spun from the combination of the headache, the darkened world of black and grey and the small swell of pain in her knee. With her bag gripped tightly to her chest the tiny girl fumbled herself to her feet, only to feel a swell of dizziness grasp her. She almost fell again, if it hadn’t been for the dark thing that she had gripped onto for dear life. Astatine opened her eyes which she hadn’t realized she shut and gazed in confusion at the hand that was attached to the end of her pole. Then realization hit her and she let go quickly, which wasn’t a good move since it sent her falling backwards. Quickly her small hands shot forward, hoping to grab onto that hand before she met the pavement again.

No, this was not looking out to be a very good day.[/size]