"Ralph" Bobby said, sounding confused. "Staying with us." He repeated, stupidly.

Then he turned to Shawn. "Do Mom and Dad know?" He asked. "Dad will get upset if he finds strange kids in the house."

"The Joes always make sure that parents are in the know. And knowing is half the battle."

"Wha..wha...wha...wha....wha...what?  Bobby, your....your....your....parents are gone....remembers?"

Bobby turned to Shawn a look of confusion replaced with a worried brow, a deepening frown and the, growing abject horror. He didn't seem to notice at all that Shawn could be lying or that Ralph might be telling the truth. Or that the truth might be somewhere or something worth finding out. Instead, he simply said with growing worry:

"Shawn, Mom and Dad are gone!?" It was a question-statement.

"No, Mom and Dad are just out for a bit; they'll be back." Shawn tried to sound as reassuring as he could. "Ralph, I want to talk to you - you shouldn't scare Bobby."

Ralph and Shawn went to the other side of the room while Bobby sat down with arms folded, looking confused and face scrunched up. Bobby sat on the side of the bed uncomfortably, as if he was trying to solve a difficult math problem.

"What? What did...did..did..did...did...did...did...did...did...did...I do?"

Shawn crouched down so he was at eye level with Ralph, and spoke in a low tone so Bobby wouldn't hear. "Listen Ralph, Bobby's been scared about what's been happening lately. Really scared. And sometimes, when people get too scared to do things, their brain makes them forget the scary things that happened, so they can be happy again." He tried to sound authoritative, like he knew what he was talking about.

"Bobby doesn't remember all the scary things that happened at the circus, and we shouldn't remind him, okay? It'd just make him sad again. Alright?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:46, Fri 10 Mar 2017.

Ralph looked at Shawn with a serious, forlorn look, eyes wide, paying attention.

OOC: Shawn rolls an uncontested Manipulation + Socialize + Striking Looks +3 (Ralph's blanket returned)

OOC: 21:19, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,2,6,9,9,2,7,5,4,2. Manipulation + Socialize + Striking Looks +3.

"Oh...OK." Ralph said smiling. "We don't want to make...make...make...make..make..Bobby upset." He rubbed his rubba-sucky against his face affectionately, a warm smile on his face.

Shawn smiled at Ralph, relieved that he was going to cooperate. "Thanks Ralph. You're a good kid."

Ralph seemed delighted by the compliment. And Shawn could see that there was a broad smile on Ralph's face. Gone was the sense of being a third wheel. Shawn felt the pressure of being caught between keeping Ralph happy, and Bobby's dislike for the young kid, slowly easing. Ralph, it seemed, would no longer be upset since the recovery of his blanket.

Shawn turned to Bobby.

His friend was smiling, although still confused. "Hmmm." Bobby said. "I feel a little strange." He said with a smile. "Not bad strange. Just, I don't know. Tired maybe. Like, a little off or something. But in a good way. Kind of like after the Joe's---. I mean, that episode with the laughing and itching gas." Bobby tried to explain, a broad smile of his own spreading across his face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G8kc2pimAk

Shawn matched Bobby's smile with his own, hoping this was just Bobby feeling better without the Circus hanging over him and not some side effect. "Maybe you're just in a good mood? It's been a pretty fun day."

"Oh yeah. I'm in a great mood." Bobby said, agreeably, with a big smile on his face. "I think I just feel a little weird. But its OK. Like I can't remember everything I think I should remember. Kind of like when you don't remember where  you put your socks or something that's all. You know what? I think we should go outside and play." he suggested.

"Play!" Ralph agreed. "But I get to bring...bring..bring...my rubba-sucky." his hand holding up the ragged, faded fabric, rainbow edges frayed and listless threads drifting.

"Yeah, let's go!" Shawn grabbed his hat from the dresser (Mom was big on making sure he wasn't sunburned - it was just another thing the makeup people had to deal with). "Who cares about socks anyways?"

It was a bright sunny day, the sky was a soft shade of blue and there was a slight breeze in the air. Shawn stepped out of his house with Bobby and Ralph at his side. Bobby shoved the door, and it made a woosh noise as it closed. Shawn took a deep breathe and started walking outside on the drivewy...

Shawn closed his eyes and just enjoyed the sunlight for a moment. It was like a great weight had lifted off of him, a worry he could set aside for the time being. Yes, he had many other things to fret about, but for now, he decided to push them aside and just have a bit of fun with Bobby and Ralph.

The sky was clear, clear—light blue painted through the horizon. One or two, big, white, fluffy clouds floating across adding to the renewed energy the kids felt. And the wind—the wind was nothing but calm air.

Bobby ran to the corner of the yard, Ralph trailing behind, yelling loudly with joy into the sunny day. It was like just the sight of the sun on a mild summer day, the feel of the warmth on their skin, was enough to get the kids running.

"This is the GI Joe gun!" Bobby shouted. "bew!bew!bew!bew!" and he started to shoot it left and right, like he was attacking some imaginary enemy, face scrunched up with a serious look, body rolling into a somersault and then firing some more.

"Arrgh!" Ralph responded, pretending to be shot, a big smile on his face far from convincing, the happiness of finally being included in Bobby's plans plain to see on Ralph's face.

"Noooo!" Shawn shouted in mock horror as he knelt down by Ralph and shook his fists at the sky. He made his fingers into a fake gun and pointed them at Bobby. "You'll pay for shooting my minion! Pewpewpew!"

"Argghh! Duke got hit!" Bobby said, face serious--really into the act now. He rolled one way, and then the other, shirt picking up a fallen leaf, hair filled with grass.

"You won't get away with it!" he announced

Shawn flopped backwards and rolled around before stumbling up onto his feet. "Foolisssh Joesss, ssssoon I will conquer the entire world!"

And so it went on like that for a while. A long while as such. For Shawn, a new day had arrived. Gone were the times when Bobby would gripe about Ralph. Long forgotten was the brooding, depressed look that Bobby gave Shawn and Shawn's parents--the side comments about trying to find his own family. This, apparently, was the result of Crowley's Tweedberry cocktail.

Not only had Bobby forgotten about the Circus and his family, he also forgot about how much Ralph had annoyed him. Shawn began to settle into a routine. A routine where family life felt more like home and less like a constantly balancing act. With the situation in his room somewhat settled, Shawn now turned to focus on the competing demands of grades and acting.

OOC: Shawn Chooses:

1) Grades

2) Acting

Shawn realized that just because Bobby was happier didn't make his living situation any less precarious. He needed to get a big role to make Mom happy. There was also the matter of Feddler; at some point he'd have to play the Number Game again and try to exorcise him. And on top of all that, he knew it was just a matter of time before the Circus came calling again, and he needed to be ready.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: The Big Role To Make Mom Happy