Ralph looked interested as Shawn read the story. His small hands and fingers brushed along the pages of Superfudge, grabbing a hold of the pages of the book.

Shawn was distracted by Ralph's story of the Circus, and doesn't do a great job of reading.

OOC: 23:13, Today: Shawn Cramer failed (no successes) using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 1,5.  Striking Looks (Socialize + Expression).

"I'm scared! And I not happy!" Ralph exclaimed suddenly during the story. "What if Master Maker finds out? What if Cherry..cherry..cherry...cherry...cherry...cherry...Cherry-Clown finds out!!?"

He was nervous and he suddenly popped up, the Superfudge book spilling onto the floor.

"What I do!!?" He yelled, looking at Shawn for some kind of solace and advice.

"He won't find out, Ralph" Shawn tried to sound reassuring, like he knew what he was talking about in the least. "If he doesn't know where you are now, as long as you stay away from the Circus, he won't have any way to learn, okay?"

"If bad happens, your fault!" Ralph said, pointing an accusing finger at Shawn.

"What did I do?" Shawn was offended and irritated at the accusation.

Far from bonding with Ralph, the room was becoming tense with argument

"You took me from Master Maker tent! Now he get me! If he do, your fault!" He cried

"Did you really want to stay there? You said you wanted to come with us." Shawn tried to keep his tone even, but the argument was getting heated.

"No!" Ralph yelled, face flush, cheeks red hot. "Didn't know he'd get me! You knew! You older! Big kids know stuff!" he pointed an accusing finger at Shawn.

"You wrong! You wrong! You made bad mistake!"

Shawn's face fell at Ralph's accusation, but it wouldn't have hurt so much if he didn't on some level agree. "Maybe you're right, Ralph. I don't know what I'm doing. I never did, and I don't know how to fix it. I'm sorry." There was a hollow raggedness to his voice, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to cry or fall asleep.

Undeterred by Shawn's capitulation, or perhaps too young to control his emotion, Ralph ground his anger deeper into Shawn

"You bad! You a bad boy! You so bad, I break your room!" He yelled, and with one small hand, he dashed the neatly arranged G.I. Joe toys on Shawn's dresser, sending them flying in all directions.

"You bad and I take your toys and I kick!" He said. And out flew his leg, crashing against the bottom drawer of the dresser and causing the contents inside to rattle.

The thought of Ralph getting his parents involved was enough to snap Shawn out of his funk. He got up and physically interposed himself between Ralph and his stuff. Sure, Shawn wasn't exactly the strongest, but Ralph was barely out of toddlerhood. "That's enough Ralph!"

Ralph bit his lower lip, eyes watering up as he looked up at Shawn. His bottom lip, caught between his teeth, quivered.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Strength + Intimidation +2, Ralph contests
05:09, Today: Evil Circus - Ralph failed (no successes) using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((5,1)).

OOC: 07:47, Today: Shawn Cramer failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,3,4. Strength + Intimidation +2.

Ralph started to cry. He wasn't convinced by Shawn's attempt to stop him, but he lacked the energy or willpower for such a young kid to continue either. Overcome with emotion, he fell to the floor.

"I want my rubba-sucky!" he said in defeat. "You said  you'd get me my rubba-sucky!"

Shawn didn't know what to say anymore, so he just quietly sat down next to Ralph on the floor. He lightly and awkwardly patted Ralph on the back as he raged.

"Rubba-sucky is p..p...p...p...p...portant to me." He told Shawn through a veil of tears.

"You gonna get it?" he asked

Bobby stirred, waking up from bed while saying the word 'no' in a defiant manner, like he was telling his mom that he didn't want to get up. Then, realizing where he was, and perhaps that his Mom was long gone, he hopped out of bed and onto the floor with a puzzled and sad look on his face.

"What's all the racket?" he asked.

"I'm going to try, Ralph." Shawn kept lightly patting Ralph on the back, trying to be reassuring. He looked over at Bobby apologetically. "Sorry, Bobby."

Things had been brewing between Bobby and Ralph since Ralph arrived. Shawn was vaguely aware that the two didn't get along, but now it seemed like things had blown up to something more serious. Bobby had had enough.

"Oh, that's it!" Bobby said, clearing the cobwebs from his head and realizing with growing anger that Ralph was responsible for waking him up and for the Joe's that lay strewn across the floor.

"He did it again!?" Bobby said. And then, looking towards Shawn. "You don't understand. It's like this all day. Any time I try to do anything around here." he complained.

"I try to go to sleep. He wakes me up."

"I try to play, he bothers me."

"I try to draw, he tells me I have to teach him to draw."

"I try to sit down and read comics and he wants me to read him a story."

"I want to just sit down and be quiet and he's complaining about his stupid, rubba-blanky." Bobby snarled.

"I can't take him any more. He's such a....a....a..PEST!"

"You're with me? Right Shawn? I mean, you're not gonna side with him are you?"

The question was loaded with dynamite and set Shawn up to choose somehow between the two boys and their feelings. Bobby went on to explain how, from now on, Ralph would be simply known as: The Pest.


OOC: Shawn Rolls Empathy + Socialize + Striking looks with the following results:

0 Successes: Bobby sees things as black/white and Shawn must make a stark decision between agreeing that Ralph be called 'The Pest' from now on and siding with Bobby, or siding with Ralph

1-3: Successes: Shawn is able to eek his way out of choosing between Bobby or Ralph, but the fight continues to brew between them, raising the possibility that Shawn will be put in a similar situation in the not-to-distant future

4+ Successes: Shawn is able to convince Bobby and Ralph to come to an agreement, and they end up talking it out. The three boys become closer than they were before

"Well..." Shawn tried to answer evasively. He felt closer to Bobby, but after learning what Ralph had went through, his sympathy for the kid had grown.

OOC: 22:23, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,8,2,8,3,4,6. Empathy + Socialize + Striking Looks + WP.

OOC: Results of Roll - Ralph not renamed 'The Pest'

"Alright" Bobby relented. He turned to Ralph "You better not do it again, Ralphy." He cautioned. "Because I'm not gonna stand for it."

"But...Rubba-sucky..." Ralph sobbed.

Shawn just kept reassuringly patting Ralph on the back. It had been a long day, and something told him it would soon get longer.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: That Jar Of Face Paint...