"That is the car that Shawn's Dad uses." Michael observed factually, as the boys pulled up in front of Shawn's house.

“Grant” looked around, trying to find a trace of Ralph before they went in. He had no idea what his parents would make of a second him, so he tried to make up an excuse. “I left my luggage in the back, you guys go ahead in without me.” Before anyone could object, he took off for the bushes around the house, circling around to the back yard.

Meanwhile, Shawn breathed out a sigh of relief as they saw Dad’s car and the other Shawn took off where he wouldn’t confuse people. “Let’s go in and check on Ralph.” He opened the front door and headed into his house.

Shawn stepped up on the familiar porch. Somehow things seemed different. For one, the inside of the house was dark. The lights weren't on. But in the driveway, Dad's blue car was still making those 'winding down' engine noises. The kind that a car makes when it's been turned off rather recently.

It was strange enough of an environment for Bobby to call it out "Geez this is weird." He commented. "Everything is dark in your house. It's like no one is home, but the car is here."

"Oh man, I hope we find Ralph. I'm really starting to get upset about this." Bobby commented as the two boys stood at the front door, ready and waiting to get inside.

Shawn-Grant Join's thread

Shawn: Around Back!

Shawn had to admit the house was looking a little weird, what with all the lights being off. But at the end of the day, it was Shawn's home and he wasn't going to just sneak in. He tried to open the front door, assuming it was unlocked like it always was.

Shawn opened the door and....


"SURPRISE!!!!" A collective voice shouted out. It was the sound of adults and kids and even old people.

The lights suddenly flickered on. Everyone was there. Big smiles and bright lights.

Mom. Dad. Anthony. Ralph. Everyone. Uncles and Aunts. Old people Shawn didn't recognize. They were all there. Smiling and looking at Shawn. They stood there in a semi-circle. In the center was a big white cake. An old woman Shawn didn't recognize reached out an lit one of the candles with a match, nearly burning her hand.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!" The crowd began to sing.

Shawn's mouth gaped open in surprise, but the moment he saw Mom and Dad and all of his extended family, he automatically shifted into performance mode. This was a happy surprise, so he couldn't disappoint them by acting anything less than happily surprised. He smiled delightedly, and looked embarrassed but also flattered. He looked overjoyed that everyone had put in the effort.

Inwardly, though, he was confused as anything. Was it his birthday? There'd been so many different things happening today, but he didn't think that was something he'd forget. Was this some weird power play by Mr. Clayton?

OOC: Shawn Rolls Presence + Composure

OOC: 22:05, Today: Shawn Cramer failed (no successes) using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,2,6,1. Presence + Composure.

Striking Looks doesn't apply, right?

OOC: Shawn Rolls Presence + Composure + Striking Looks

OOC:  08:01, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,10(+9).  Striking Looks

Despite the surprise, Shawn managed to shift immediately into performance mode, marching into the room cheerfully, clasping his hands in front of himself and reeking with enthusiasm and delight.

The crowd in front of Shawn circled to greet him. Taking him in as naturally as he had greeted them. Shawn saw Ralph running around handing party poppers over to the different guests and family members. He glanced up at Shawn and flashed him a large grin. Mom's voice was loud. It shot through the air and across the crowd. Dad had a slight smile on his face, which was about as big of a smile as Shawn could remember him ever having.

Bobby looked confused, but then smiled as he grabbed a party popper, whatever surprise he had endure himself faded away at the coming of celebration.

'Pop!'

'Pop!'

'Pop!'

Suddenly, Popper streamers sprang through the air, leaping towards the ceiling and landing back onto the floor.

Michael's eyes actually twitched as the popper's went off, covering the nearby sofa which was disappearing beneath the streamers.

But through the streamers and confetti and jubilant guests, Shawn saw Bradford. He was also smiling. It was a shy but knowing smile.

Shawn made sure to play his excitement to the fullest, giving his mom and dad a hug, making a quick round round trip to thank the relatives. Thinking quickly, he made a quick detour to pull Bradford out of the crowd, affecting excitement and wanting to share the moment with some of his friends. Of course, what he actually wanted was to make sure Bradford was close enough to the centre of attention that Shawn could keep an eye on him, and hopefully he’d have a harder time sneaking away or doing anything suspicious with everyone watching.

Everyone was all around Shawn, but increasingly most of his friends. After being thanked, most of the relatives peeled away to talk with other adults at the party. The group naturally separated into adults and kids.

Bradford looked ahead at all the adults smiling. His mouth moved to the side and didn't open when he spoke to Shawn. The lips moved as if not to alert anyone to what was being murmured in Shawn's direction.

"We have to do this." Bradford murmured to Shawn. "But if we're gonna do it. We should pick a time and a place."

Shawn waited until the adults drifted away and all the other kids were distracted before leaning into Bradford's ear. The party was noisy, he disguised it as getting in close to make sure Bradford could hear. "You're the only one who thinks we have to do this. But I'm listening." He didn't necessarily believe Bradford was actually going to just tell him where and when he planned to strike, but even knowing what Bradford wanted him to think could be useful.

"No I'm not, I just..." Bradford insisted, then he stopped as someone walked by with a Popper, it was an old woman, maybe someone related to Mom. Or maybe one of her friends. She gave Bradford and Shawn a toothy smile and then moved on.

"We have to do this. I've already made the choice. And so did you. You did it when you betrayed us in the cabin. It wasn't my fault. I never wanted to do any of this."

"You started it." Bradford rejoined, the last comment sounding particularly childish or at least coming across that way. Mostly because Bradford was, well, a child.

Shawn didn't sigh or look disappointed, because he'd been expecting that sort of answer. If he could stop Bradford from doing this, it'd take more than just words. He smiled big for the benefit of any family members that were watching, like Bradford had just told him something funny or interesting. "All right, well what do you have in mind?"

Bradford also smiled a fake smile, but with his large glasses it made him look goofy.

"We got to make some rules first." Bradford said. "We do it alone. No friends ganging up. None of that. And nothing that you can use against the other person to hurt them." He said, seemingly insistent, all the while speaking out of the side of his mouth. A ventriloquists trick, is what it looked like. Anyone walking by would think Bradford wasn't even speaking at all. His mouth barely moved.

Shawn kept smiling and chatting as if nothing was the matter. Seeing Bradford talk like that reminded him of some of the vocalisation exercises Mrs. Worthington had him do. "I don't think I can trust you'd do that. You said you'd go after Bobby and Ralph first. You're trying to separate us." There wasn't any judgement in his voice, or anger. He was just explaining why he couldn't just go on Bradford's word. And more importantly, giving Bradford a chance to explain himself and tell Shawn more about his plan.

Such was the skill of Bradford's mouth and speech that he now spoke without any movement, throwing his voice across to Shawn with a ventriloquist's art. Anyone passing by would now think that Bradford wasn't speaking at all.

"I will go after Bobby and Ralph." Bradford replied with savage glee. "But I was talking about when we meet up. When we meet up, its got to be just you and me. Mono-A-mono. Just like it was in the cowboy bar that one time when you shot me. Only this time it won't be a dream. And there can't be any guns or knives or sticks or anything like that."

"If there's none of that, what's the point of meeting up? Are we gonna punch each other?" Shawn knew he wasn't a fighter, and Bradford seemed even less so.

"Well. You can do what you want. But I'm going to try to choke you." Bradford said without moving his lips. The words were threatening, but Bradford's slim appearance and goofy glasses didn't seem threatening. His rage might have been real and his intentions malicious, but he didn't appear like a fighter at all.

Shawn appeared to give that due consideration. He wasn't sure if he could take Bradford's threat seriously. Sure, he was a skinny kid with bad eyesight, but Shawn didn't think Bradford was dumb. Was he too angry to think straight, or did he have some deeper plan in mind - he had learned a lot weird stuff from Mr. Clayton, no doubt. "I'll agree to your rules, if, if you answer one question for me, honestly, right now."

Bradford turned his head towards Shawn. It swiveled. He had a goofy look on his face. A four-eyed nerd's look. "What is it?" He asked, lips not moving.

Shawn took a breath, and then leaned in close to make extra sure no one but Bradford heard him. "What did you and Mr. Clayton do to my wish? I want to know what you changed."