And now for something completely different. [OPEN]

[the_prodigal_son]

WHO: Jack, and anyone he runs across.
WHAT: A very big, very silly ghost is haunting the school.
WHERE: Anywhere! Anywhere that students are allowed, at least.
WHEN: Forward-dated to Halloween because I'll be too busy to make the post then.
WARNING(S): Too much cute maybe. May edit if anything goes terribly wrong.

--

It had been a long time since Jack got the chance to do anything for Halloween. Even back in Kansas, he'd usually been too busy helping on the farm to do anything fun. Mum told him he was too old for dressing up when he turned ten. But he figures he isn't really ten yet, and no one will mind him doing goofy things around here. Everyone else is plenty goofy. And he certainly needs something to keep his mind off the attack on the school...

So now he is running around the school under a sheet, not having felt remorse over cutting it up if only because he never uses the loose sheet anyway. For a toddler he's pretty good with scissors; the bottom of the sheet is circular now, and he has neat eyeholes cut into it. Not that it does much to disguise him, since he's pretty damn tall and there's not really anyone else on campus who wears two-tone shoes from the 50s.

But the important part is what he's doing under the costume. He will be trying damn hard to sneak up on people, and even if he can't he'll very cheerfully yell "Boo!" at whoever he finds. He's very proud of himself for this idea. This is him seeking approval to confirm that pride.

Comments

[fathoming]

Naija was exiting the locker rooms, coming from the pool. This was her stop to replenish herself on her regular circuits around the school, wet her gills.

Then something jumped out at her and yelled. She yelled back. When you were basically feral and alone most of your life, it was best to respond immediately to whatever presented itself in the same manner.

The yell may have been a sonic blast.

[the_prodigal_son]

Well, Jack was expecting to be cute and get praised. He was not expecting to be hit with a sonic blast. So there he goes toppling down with a yell of pain, landing hard on his back but at least managing to keep his ghost costume on. Ow, that was not fun. He didn't like that.

But the pain fades away quickly enough, because Jack is made for spending a long time without anyone to fix him up. After that he just sits up and stares at Naija, trying to gauge if she's actually a threat. She sure doesn't look like a splicer, or Adachi. Maybe it was a mistake. So he's silently waiting to see if he gets an apology.

[fathoming]

It takes Naija a moment to realize what she just did, but when she does, she looks aghast, clumsily scrambling over to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

[the_prodigal_son]

Once he hears the apology he relaxes, and nods.

"I'm fine." He pauses for a bit, and then gets up. For someone who just got hit head-on with a sonic blast, he's jarringly steady on his feet. Almost like it never happened. "Hey... you look weird. Are you a fish person?"

Now that he's gotten a good look at her... well, her appearance is sort of upsetting. But it's a vague sense, not like the deep distress the U-Men gave him. She seems nice, so he can push aside her resemblance to scary creatures he's run into in the past.

[fathoming]

Probably made more upsetting by her needle-sharp smile.

"Are you a monkey-person?" She says in retort, but glad she seems not to have seriously hurt him. She plucks at the fabric of the costume. "And why are you wearing that?"

[the_prodigal_son]

Surprisingly, the needle teeth don't bother him nearly as much as the fin ears and weird skin texture.

"I'm a ghost. Booo!" That's a concise response to both questions, he decides. He even waves his arms under the sheet for emphasis.

The odd part of this being how deep and strong his voice is, and how burly a person he is, and how absolutely silly he is being right now.

[fathoming]

Naija doesn't mind. She has no basis for comparison. She just looks puzzled.

"This is one of those surface things I have yet to understand, isn't it?"

[the_prodigal_son]

...Jack's hands slowly lower to the ground.

"They had them in Rapture. Real ones. That was under the ocean. So I don't think it's a surface thing..." He stops, when he realizes she refers to terra firma as the Surface, just like he does. "...Are you from under the ocean too?"

He doesn't notice that he still hasn't explained ghosts.

[fathoming]

Naija nods enthusiastically. Did the gills and fins not tip you off, sir?

"But real what? Real people dressed in sheets?"

Yeah, still clueless.

[the_prodigal_son]

Jack doesn't have gills and fins, so it doesn't immediately tip him off.

"Real ghosts. They're uhhh.... mmm...." What are ghosts? It's confusing. "They're what happens when a person dies but they don't go to heaven or hell, they get stuck on earth. I don't know why anyone thinks they look like this, but..." he frowns, "I've seen some. They don't look like this. They look... uh... wrong."

Good description, Jack. A+.

[fathoming]

"Oh! I think I've seen those."

The ghosts of civilizations much older than Rapture, that is. The sea holds secrets well.

"But why are you dressed as one?"

[the_prodigal_son]

"Halloween?" he says hopefully. "I guess that is a surface thing... I don't know if we ever did Halloween things in Rapture."

Probably not. His father seemed like the sort of man that would try to stop people from doing that.

"It's a day where you dress like something scary and get candy." Because to a four year old, regardless of size, this is the important part of the holiday.