"Huh, that's weird." Shawn wasn't sure how to feel about the reading; he didn't ever really feel in control of his emotions, though he supposed maybe he seemed that way to others. So he just shrugged and looked sceptical. The he looked at Eddy as if an idea had just occurred to him. "Erica, can you watch Ralph for a sec? I need to show Eddy something."

Erica's shoulders sagged. "I mean, yeah, alright." She seemed really disappointed, the look of a child that was told that she had homework when she was in the middle of playing.

"Can't do nothing...nothing...nothing...about it." Ralph said, still stuck on the last conversation.

"Simian." Eddy said as Shawn approached him. "Isn't that like an ape or monkey thing? Does that mean you're like, related to monkeys!?" Eddy laughed, watching Shawn walk up to him, as if the idea was so unlikely and crazy, that it would provoke laughter for anyone.

Shawn giggled. "Haha, yeah, I'm half gorilla on my father's side! Follow me, you should see this!" He led Eddy away, ostensibly with a destination in mind, but in actual fact just getting away from the others so they couldn't see or hear them.

When Shawn found a spot that seemed suitable, he gave Eddy a rueful look. "Okay, I kinda lied back there; I don't really have anything to show you. I just didn't want Erica to hear me asking this. How much of that pig monster stuff do you think was real?" His tone conveyed a healthy scepticism, as if Shawn wasn't inclined to accept things at face value just yet.

"REAL?" Eddy asked, as if shocked that Shawn would even ask the question. Eddy, it seemed, was not a very imaginative kid.

He stared at Shawn for a moment in disbelief. Then he stated with slow, deliberate words.

"That was about as real as the dump that I took yesterday.  It was a real shit. And it smelled bad too. But just because it's gone right now, doesn't mean it won't be back. I'll shit again. And just like that Pig Monster, my shit will be back and it will smell bad. And that Pig Monster will be back. I'm sure of it." He reasoned, not at all phased by the strong words and awkward analogy that he spat out.

Shawn's relationship with Eddy was...complicated. Every time it seemed like they might become genuine friends, Shawn put his foot in his mouth or something interfered or he got literally chased off. But now he had the tool to fix that, right? Maybe if Eddy trusted him, he could convince him that nothing was happening. Or at least that he'd talk to Shawn before he did anything foolish.

"I mean, I've been on movie sets and all that, and that looked a lot like the costumes and makeup they use. I mean, sure it looks impossible, but actually it's like..." Shawn pretended to think of an example and brightened as an idea seemed to occur to him. He pulled out his deck of cards. "It's like this magic trick my uncle taught me, right? It looks impossible, but it really isn't. It's just using your hands..."

Shawn performed the sleight of hand trick perfectly, seeming to make a card vanish before Eddy's eyes, but he could feel the actual magic in it not quite click. He had to hope the mundane trick itself would be enough of an object lesson to convince him.

OOC: 15:49, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 3 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 2,6,9(+2),9(+10,2),3,5,3. Wits + Subterfuge + Striking Looks.

15:49, Today: Shawn Cramer failed (no successes) using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,6,2,7,7,3,6,5.  Presence + Empathy + Striking Looks + WP.

"Whoa! That is so cool!" Eddy shouted, seeming to be perfectly distracted by the idea of Shawn card trick. "Do it again!"

He stopped pacing, and instead sat down on the ground, hoping to get a better view of what Shawn was up to.

"Whoa. That is so friggn' awesome. You're like a...a...a...a magician!"

"Uhh, okay..." Shawn was a little taken aback by the enthusiasm, though he supposed it was kind of a neat trick. This time, to his relief, he found the magic flowing much more easily.

"The point is, it's a cool trick I know how to do. It's just misdirection. If you saw this trick and thought it meant I was literally magic, that'd be, uh, pretty gay, right?" Shawn had looked up 'gay' in the dictionary after the last time he and Eddy had met, and he still wasn't sure why or how it was supposed to be an insult. But Eddy used it all the time, so it'd at least make sense to him.

OOC: 07:46, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 4,3,10(+2),7,5,9(+2),5.  Wits + Subterfuge + Striking Looks.

07:48, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,5,7,10(+7),5,6,1,10(+5).  Presence + Empathy + Striking Looks + WP.

Eddy nodded his head. "Yeah. That's good." His eyes were wide. A captive audience. Plus, Shawn was talking Eddy's language now, and although Shawn wasn't entirely sure about the meaning of the word, it was clear by the look on Eddy's face that Shawn had used the word correctly.

"Yeah." Eddy said with a distant look.

"It's good." He said again softly this time, grin now fixed, not even paying attention to Shawn.

He swayed slightly, eyes still fixed on Shawn's hands, look of amusement now slowly becoming something else.

"Do it again." Eddy said with a blank expression, the voice of a kid who doesn't want to stop watching a movie. Or an adult that doesn't want to stop gambling.

"Hey! What are you guys doing over there?" Shawn heard Erica's voice.

"Maybe later, Eddy." Shawn shuffled the cards back into his pocket as Erica approached. He smiled at her as she approached. "Hey Erica! I thought I found some monster tracks, but it looks like it was just rabbits. Right Eddy?"

Eddy gave a look of profound disappointment. "Huh? Oh yeah." He said, kicking the dirt, losing interest in whatever Shawn was talking about. "I didn't see it. But whatever you just did was cool." He added, without elaborating.

All this seemed to be confusing to Erica, who scrunched up her face and then just continued with her own thoughts. "Let's get out of here. I don't want anything to do with Monster tracks or pig-things." She fretted.

"The sooner we leave the better. I'm going to sneak into my Mom's medicine cabinet and take one of the sleeping pills that she uses. She says all the big movie stars use them. And it helps them sleep. So it will probably protect me from bad dreams." She reasoned.

Shawn had heard through the grapevine on sets that some directors and movie stars did indeed use such pills, but he never experienced them using them in his sight.

"Yeah, let's go. There's probably cooler stuff to do somewhere else." Shawn sometimes had trouble sleeping himself, and Mom would sometimes give him Benadryl to help him out, so Erica's statement seemed fine.

A sudden thought occurred to him, as did an idea. "Oh yeah, is Ralph with you?" He'd have to talk with Ralph privately too. About the pig monster and what they could actually do once Eddy and Erica were safely out of the way.

"You guys are being gay. I'm going home. All of this faggy palm reading and stuff." Eddy scowled.

Then he brightened up at the sound of pills.

"Like, do they make you go crazy? 'Cause some people take pills and they go crazy. Or you know, they are crazy and that's why they take pills. Let's go check it out. I need something to calm me down after seeing...whatever it was."

"It's nothing like that. I don't think." Erica said to Eddy.

Then, turning to Shawn.

"I thought Ralph was with you?" She said, frown growing more worried and looking around.

Ralph, it appeared, was nowhere.

Shawn looked around

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Composure

OOC:  23:58, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,5,9,5.  Wits + Composure

Small footprints on the forest floor leading to deeper into the woods. Ralph's prints if Shawn were to guess.

"The pig's got 'em." Eddy said unhelpfully, voice filling with excitement. Clearly the distraction that Shawn had used with the card game was now worn off, though Eddy wasn't talking anymore about new plans to find the Pig-thing, his mind having moved to the macabre idea that Ralph might be kidnapped or dead.

"He could be dead!"

"He's not dead." Erica said. "Those are his footprints." She pointed to the lush floor, where Shawn had already seen the bottom of Ralph's shoes pressed hard into the muck and leaves of the forest ground.

Shawn's face set with determination. "Well, I've gotta go look for him." He tried to imply with his tone that this was some sort of lame obligation that he had to fulfil, and Erica and Eddy would probably have more fun playing in the park or watching TV or something.

"This way!" Eddy said, taking the lead in a brash movement forward like he was ready to storm some kind of castle. It seemed, given the new focus, that Eddy would not be going home after all and that his previous comments were forgotten.

"We've got to find him before the Pig-thing does and we've got to do it quickly."

Erica shuffled forward a few steps in Eddy's direction, looking like she wanted to find Ralph but thought there could be danger ahead.

"Let's...find him quickly." She ventured, bending her knees into a crouching position like she wanted to remain quiet, even as Eddy was loud.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Intelligence + Investigation with the following results

0 Successes: Ralph Cannot be Found, the kids return home when it gets dark

1 Success: Ralph is Found after about an hour

2+ Successes: Ralph is found and Shawn see's something the other kids don't see

OOC: 07:09, Today: Shawn Cramer failed (no successes) using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5. Intelligence + Investigation.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: What Are You Doing Here?