skaterbrain | ☆15 voice/action

AIGHT, so it sounds like a lotta you guys got feelin's or somethin' to work out 'cause of what happened. Not 'cause of the stupid Culturists comin' in, but you know, the other thing.

WELL, IT AIN'T GETTIN' WORKED OUT BY ITSELF.

An' since I ain't so good at talkin' and I know some people here ain't so good at it neither 'cause you got emotion Legos or somethin', I've got some pads up on the trees and I'm gonna go punch stuff. If you ain't good at talkin' neither, but you wanna blow off some steam? The name's Beat. Come punch trees wit' me behind House 10. It's good for you, yo.

Action
[And if he's not found behind House 10 punching trees with boxing pads duct-taped to them, he's inside helping around the house for once. Mainly, he's trying to clean; trying being the operative word. He does pretty well at sweeping up and vacuuming, but dusting is not his forte. It takes too much concentration and finesse and he spends most of his time catching all the things he knocked off the shelves.

Later, in the evening, he's on the porch of House 10 or out in the plaza and practicing his reading with a flashlight. It's slow going since Shiki left, but he figures she'll come back one day and then he's got to show that he improved or she'll probably slug him in the face.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Shinji blinks at that response at first but it only takes a second for him to realize what the heck Beat is going on about.

Dammit, Panda!!]

I-I never went anywhere! That stupid bear lied to everyone.

[He had completely forgotten about it, and he'd completely forgotten that people might not have known Panda was lying, too.]

God dammit and I got him that stupid wood, too!

[BALLS. This is balls. He had to look for that crap.

..And that means he stole Shinji's magazine.]

Aw, hell. I got somethin' a' yours, too, then. Sorry, Squids.

Uh, you do? [Huh. He didn't even realize he was missing anything. And by "stupid wood," does he mean...] He made you get him bamboo, too, didn't he?

[He sighs]

Yeah... Gave me some of your stuff for that weird green wood.

I knew he was an evil robot, yo. I knew it.

[Beat, what...]

He does that sometimes. And by "sometimes," I mean "a lot." He's really lazy. I'm sorry he gave you trouble, Beat.

It ain't no trouble, jus' I hate bein' lied to. 'Cause it means I stole your stuff. I got yo' magazines, if you want 'em back.

Oh, um, it's fine. I didn't even notice they were gone. I don't mind if you keep them.

And besides, it's not like you stole them on purpose, so don't worry about it.

...Well, it ain't like I can read 'em so if you want 'em back, that's cool. I just been keepin' 'em in a box here.

'Sides, I ain't gonna keep nothin' no evil robot panda got me to take when it ain't mine to have.

[Wow. He really did say "evil robot panda"...

Wait, that's not important.]

Oh. I guess if you're not going to be using them, then I could stop by and pick them up. I'd feel bad if my stuff was just taking up space.

[Shinji wonders what he means about not being able to read them, though. Was there something wrong with them...?]

It ain't takin' up space. It's in a special space I got for friends' stuff. [WAIT THAT SOUNDED REALLY DUMB]

-- I MEAN for yanno, stuff. Important stuff.

Anyway come by House 10 an' I'll get 'em back to you.

[...aww, Beat. Shinji doesn't think it's dumb, because he doesn't think Beat would do something like that for weird reasons.

Well. Maybe. Still, he doesn't say anything about it, he just smiles.]

Alright. I'll be over soon.

Aight. I meetchu downstairs then. Ribbons's makin' somethin' and she seems kinda serious 'bout it.

[Huh. He wonders what it could be...

...but then he also thinks he probably doesn't want to know.]

Uh, yeah, probably a good idea.

[He takes his journal with him as he heads over to house 10. It's a bit far from where Shinji's staying, but eventually, he'll make it there, approaching the house with his headphones plugged in.]

[Beat's sitting on the porch, a magazine next to him on the step and a soccer ball bouncing from his head to his knee.

He notices Shinji walking up and stands, grabbing the ball and lobbing it at him.]

Yo, Squids! THINK FAST!

Wh—

[Even with the warning, that totally takes Shinji by surprise. His eyes widen, but he manages to catch the ball, even if he fumbles with it a little bit.]

H-hey, Beat.

[Hey, he caught it!

Beat scoops the magazine up off the porch and jumps off it, sauntering over.]

Sup. How you been since you ain't gone?

[...that might be one of the weirdest questions he's ever had to answer.]

Um, I've been good, I guess. Just trying to get used to things being normal again. [He shrugs a little bit.] How about you?

Normal? .... Oh yeah, right. Anythin' weird happen to you?

'Cause I ended up a street kid. Wasn't nothing bad though.

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