"Ughhh." Dad complained, holding his nose. "It's smells terrible in here." His tone was judgemental and disapproving. It looked like he might take time to reprimand Shawn and tell him just how annoyed or angry he was at Shawn for letting his room, and himself fall into such a state. But instead, Shawn could tell that Dad had something else on his mind.

"Someone's here. One of your......friends." Dad barked, annoyed and with more than a little disgust at both Shawn and his room.

"Answer me when I call you next time. Don't be a moron." Dad judged. But before Shawn could answer, his father turned his back and left the room in disgust as if he was eager to get back to whatever it was that adults did to occupy their time. Time that was more important or too important to be bothered by the trivial ways of kids and their minor concerns.

Shawn blinked awake, unsure of what time it was and feeling generally gross. But unlike last time, his Dad was there, and he didn't have the luxury of figuring out what had happened. Instead, he instinctively switched to his 'good kid' smile. "Thanks Dad, sorry for not answering." He said it to his father's retreating back.

He levered himself to his feet, muscles aching, and headed towards the front door.

As Shawn made his way towards the front door, he was suddenly confronted by Junior who was blocking Shawn from leaving Shawn's room.

"I'm here." Junior announced, then he quickly covered his nose and grimaced from the smell of the room. The gesture seemed automatic and without any malice or judgement towards Shawn.

Shawn could hear Dad's footfalls down the stairs returning to whatever Dad was doing.

"I came here all the way from my house." Junior said to Shawn, and the small boy looked up at him, fore finger and thumb pinching his nose and making his voice come out all nasely-like.

Shawn wasn't entirely sure what he'd been doing in his room that made it smell so bad, but it was truly rank in here. But it was too late to clean it up now. He gave Junior a happy smile, like he was overjoyed to see him. "Hi Junior! It's awesome to see you." He kept it a little vague, unsure as to whether he'd come over by coincidence, or if part of the large blank spot in his memory was hiding him inviting Junior over.

He stepped back to let Junior come into his room. "I'm sorry it's so messy in here. I kept meaning to clean up, but I've been too busy practising for the-" He clamped a hand over his own mouth, like he had been about to accidentally reveal a secret, and trying to pique Junior's interest in what he was practising.

"It's OK." Junior said, stepping into the room. For once the little kid seemed like he was all business. But when he said 'It's Ok', it came out like 'Frissh O--Fray' because Junior's own hand was covering both his mouth and his face.

The little kid walked straight into Shawn's room, like Shawn had just called him over to play. He sat down on the carpet, next to Shawn's dresser and looked up at Shawn. Junior was wearing that bicycle helmet that was a little too big for him. He had gotten it this summer, Shawn noticed. The design on the side was of Duke from G.I. Joe.

"I'm here. I had a really strange dream. And I just knew I had to stop by." Junior explained, speaking as if Shawn already knew exactly what the little boy was talking about.

Shawn was a little surprised at how focused Junior seemed to be - it was definitely unusual for him. And he had a feeling he knew what was going on here. "I mean, it's fun when you come over, you don't really need a reason. What sort of dream was it?" He sat down on his bed and looked down at Junior curiously.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Mon 28 Oct 2019.

Junior looked up at Shawn with round, innocent eyes.

"Well.." he began, no longer maintaining eye contact now that the two were close and in conversation.

"I was thinking about the lolly pop I ate last night and..." He paused, looking up at the ceiling as if to remember. "And then I think it was too much sugar. My Mom always says that if I eat to much sugar, I'll get nightmares. But, she isn't right about everything, because I didn't really have a nightmare, not really." He said, taking his time to get to the point.

One hand came out to massage his left foot. He was sitting Indian-style, both legs crossed.

"Any-who, I dreamt of this big, big triangle. And I was at the bottom. It was like the pyramids from the old guys with brown skin that they made in the dessert. I think I saw an episode of the Flintstones that talked about that once on channel 7. In the dream, you were at the top of the pyramid. And I knew that I had to get to you somehow. Because, ya know, we're best friends just like you said a while back."

"So anyway, here I am. And I'm ready." He finished, not explaining what he was ready for.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense." Shawn said it casually, as though it was perfectly normal to go to a friend's house because you dreamed he was the top of a pyramid. It certainly confirmed that Mr. Clayton was doing this - or maybe it was him? It had probably happened during the big blank space in his memories."I was about to practice for a show I'm supposed to do later, you can watch if you want. Is that what you're ready for, or was there something else?"

"Oh yes. I came here for that. And for more. I think I'm ready Shawn. I'm already your best friend. But now I'll do whatever you want. I mean, for the Show."

"I really appreciate that, Junior. Boy, that must've been one amazing dream." Shawn lifted Mr. Clayton onto his lap, and got himself into the proper performance posture. He'd been practising this show for a long time, but it was always a little different in front of a live audience. Nothing for it now but to give it his all. "Welcome, welcome..."

"Welcome, Welcome!" Mr. Clayton repeated. Or rather, Shawn made Mr. Clayton repeat, with the Puppet's slatted mouth.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Reflexive "Presence" + 2 (Junior is already really impressed by Shawn)

Shawn looked down with a silly expression of frustration on his face. "Mr. Clayton, you're supposed to wait until I've introduced you - we've rehearsed this!" Of course, this whole thing was part of the show, with Mr. Clayton humorously interrupting Shawn trying to do a more formal introduction. They'd been practising for a while, since it took careful timing to interrupt yourself and have it sound right.

OOC: 07:54, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,4,8,5.  Presence + 2.

"Whooooooa......" Junior said, clearly impressed. He looked up at Shawn with eyes wild with bewilderment.

Shawn managed to get through the introduction without any noticeable mistakes, and hearing Junior’s reaction was definitely encouraging. Now it was just a matter of getting through the show proper. He’d been practicing for a long time, but a lot of it was stuff he couldn’t quite remember- he just went with his instincts and trusted that he’d remember the bits as they came up.

"Knock Knock!" Mr. Clayton said to Shawn after about five minutes of the show, repeating a joke they practiced a few times.

Shawn responded in his best ‘straight man’ voice, looking down at Mr. Clayton while also engaging the audience. “Who’s there?” While he answered, he tried to get a sense of how engaged Junior was so far.

Junior had a big, goofy smile on his face like he was enjoying himself. Every once in a while he would pat his stomach as if he was satisfied from eating something. Other times, he would give a little chuckle.

"Lettuce!" Mr. Clayton said to Shawn. Shawn hadn't heard this Knock, Knock joke before.

Shawn couldn't remember the joke, but he'd started the set and couldn't back down without ruining the whole show. "Lettuce who?" He did his best to make sure his uncertainty didn't show.

"Lettuce in!" Mr. Clayton shouted.

"Get it? Lettuce in?" Mr. Clayton asked. He tilted his head at Shawn the way a dog might tilt its head at a small animal it was examining. The gesture was inquisitive and slightly predatory. Then he tilted his head at Junior the same way, only using the other side of his shoulder. All the while, the Puppet's eyes remained fixed, staring vacantly out to nowhere.

"No. But really. Will you let us in? The ideas of Greater Ventriloquism? Me and the ideas?" Mr. Clayton asked. Or was it Shawn making the Puppet ask? Did that mean that Shawn was asking it?

Shawn had a feeling this wasn’t just a part of the show, that it was an actual question Mr. Clayton was asking. But he’d come too far to back down now. “I sure will, Mr. Clayton!” He kept his tone bright, in keeping with the performance, but it was genuine agreement to wanting the ideas of Greater Ventriloquism.

"Alright!" Junior said and he was standing up now. He said it the way a kid might clamor 'Pick me! Pick me!', like he was a part of the audience.

"Alrighty-Righty-Nice-N-Tighty!" Mr. Clayton said, head bopping up and down like someone was pulling an imaginary marionette string just above his head.

"Everyone close your eyes! I've got a big surprise...."

Shawn felt nervous, and it wasn't just because they were going off script. But nonetheless, he closed his eyes as tight as he could - he was scared of what he might see if he opened them at the wrong moment.

OOC: Shawn Join's Thread

Shawn: What a Wonderful Surprise!