The car slowly began to pick up speed, trailing behind Shawn...

"Hey, wait up!" Junior said. "I didn't get a chance to ask you if you ever saw Ted Dibiase, the Million Dollar Man! You know, the million dollar dream?"

Junior began to pedal faster to catch up with Shawn

Shawn made sure to go slow enough that Junior could catch up, but fast enough that they were still heading for (relative) safety as fast as he could. "No, but he seems mean. Remember the kid with the basketball?"

"The kid with the basket......AHHHHHH!!!!" Junior said as a roaring sound and the screech of wheels made him jump in his bike seat.

The car roared passed Junior and stopped abruptly, turning into the middle of the road, the smell of burned rubber filling the air and tire treads leaving dark lines across the pavement.

Junior was so startled that he fell over, the bike clattering in the middle of the road, tire spinning.

Shawn screeched his bike to a stop next to Junior. He dropped his feet to the ground for balance, but didn't get off the bike as he tried to help his friend up. "C'mon Junior, you gotta get back up!" He kept his eyes locked on the car.

The car rolled down its window and the driver was suddenly visible.

"Shawn!" Shawn's Mom said. "Oh my God Shawn! It's you!"

"Mom?" Shawn wasn't sure who he was expecting to be in the car, but it definitely wasn't that. Still, he didn't want to let Junior down either, so he tried to help his friend to his feet.

"Thanks!" Junior said. His arm was scraped and bleeding, but he looked up to Shawn with a smile, more concerned about what Shawn thought than his own arm.

"Shawn, I my God! My baby!" Shawn's Mom gushed, the car now in park, both of her hands outstretched through the driver's side window and extended towards Shawn in a gesture of love.

"Come here! I haven't seen you in so long. Oh my Shawn! I love you so much!"

Shawn helped Junior put pressure on his arm to stop the bleeding before he properly got off his bike and headed towards his Mom. "Mom, what're you doing here?"

Junior somehow lingered behind as if recognizing this might somehow be an intimate moment of sorts between mother and son.

"Shawn! I came here to see you. I came here just to see you!" She said. And she extended out her arms to give Shawn a hug, albeit weak and awkward, with both of her arms outside of the driver's side window.

Shawn awkwardly approached to get an awkward hug through the car door. "Thanks Mom - it's good to see you!" He was still baffled as to what might be going on, but he knew he couldn't show it.

"Listen." Mom said, still excited and giving Shawn a big hug, speaking in his ear. "I want you to come with me. I want to buy you an ice cream." Mom said.

"OH!!! I haven't seen you in so long."
This message was last updated by the player at 21:27, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

Shawn naturally wanted to make his Mom happy...but he also didn't want to get in trouble with his Dad. He felt like this was another situation where he couldn't make both happy. But he didn't show those thoughts on his face, playing innocent as best he could. "Sure - can Dad come along?"

"Yes!" Mom said emphatically.



OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Empathy (to "read the situation" / A minimum of 3 Successes are required

OOC: 18:44, Today: Shawn rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,7,8.  Wits + Empathy.

Try as he might, Shawn couldn't tell if Mom was lying or not. But what he could understand was how she was looking at him. It wasn't a threatening stare, but rather one marked by hope. In that moment, everything that Shawn's Mom had hoped for was in Shawn's hand. Accepting Mom's proposal would be akin to bringing that hope closer to Shawn and letting it bloom. Rejecting Mom's invitation into the car would be a like crushing all of Mom's hope.

"Shawn?" Mom said, tears welling up in her eyes as if she sensed that what came next would define the relationship between Mother and son.

"I'd love to get some ice cream!" Shawn could tell this was about more than just ice cream, even if he didn't know what it was. And he loved his Mom, and didn't want to hurt her hope. "Can we bring Junior too? I said I'd play with him today, and I don't wanna break my promise."

When Shawn agreed to get ice cream, Mom opened the door of the driver's seat and hugged him. When he said that he wanted to bring Junior, she broke the embrace, looked over Shawn's shoulder at Junior and said "Maybe next time Junior. My son and I need to catch up, there's some important things we need to take care of as a family."

In that split second, Shawn couldn't see Junior's face, with his back turned towards the boy, but he did see Mom's quick reaction as she stated "Family things" in a firm but pleasant manner as if to ward off any objection by Junior.

"Come on Shawn." Mom said, easing Shawn around into the passenger side of the car. The car was still running.

Shawn took a look at Junior as he rounded the car, wanting to make sure he wasn't too upset at him having to go. "I'll see you later, Junior!" Assuming his friend wasn't really upset, he got into the running car. "Are we going to pick up Dad?"

"See...you." Junior croaked, his face slowly welling up with tears. It looked like he was doing all that he could to hold back weeping that would become total sobbing. If Shawn had succeeded in making Mom happy, it looked like Junior was on the verge of total collapse.

"We're going to do the special things that a Mom and son should always do. We're going to spend time together and make memories together and be together." Mom began to regal Shawn with all of the ideal things that family members should and could do and then went on and on about her promises to fulfill them.

"One sec, Mom, I should say goodbye to Junior." Shawn hopped out of the car quickly, and rummaged around in his pocket where he knew he kept some change. He managed to find a penny, and went over to Junior's side. "Hey, Junior, I'm sorry we couldn't hang out longer, but I have to listen to my Mom. But I want you to have this - it's the most important thing I have. It's my lucky penny, I found it on the set of the first movie I ever acted in. I wanted you to have it, since you're my friend and all." It was all made up, of course, but Shawn tried to deliver it with sincerity.

As Shawn approached Junior, he saw that the boy was on the verge of sobbing. His eyes were bulging, silent tears running down both cheeks like his father had just died or he had discovered that his Mom was about to abandon him. It was all he could do to grunt at Shawn in response to Shawn saying his name “Junior”

“Urcghhck” Junior croaked.

Then when Shawn placed the penny in his hand, Junior looked down with raised eyebrows. Normally Shawn would have had to look for some sort of sign to see if Junior believed him. But this time he didn’t have to. It was obvious as Shawn was weaving the tale about the penny that Junior was totally immersed in Shawns words. Sure he was still upset. But Shawn didn’t have to check and see if Junior believed him. He knew before he finished the sentence that Junior believed. It was the same way that a bowler knows that it’s going to be a strike before letting go of the bowling ball. And certainly way before the pins all get knocked down.

“Penny!” Junior repeated, still with a hoarse voice but somehow more animated. Perhaps more shocked and not knowing how to place these extreme emotional swings in feelings that were pressing upon his young mind: the pain of being left behind and the immense joy of being singled out for such a memorable and meaningful gift.

And that was it. That was all Shawn was going to get out of Junior. That was all the young boy could give

Shawn could see Junior's intense mood swinging, and he could only hope that when the boy eventually leveled out, it would be with him as a friend. But he couldn't stay to make sure - he had to go with his Mom. Shawn patted Junior on the shoulder. "See you later, alligator!" Then he scurried back to the car and hopped in.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: Mom's Big, Super-Star Plans Are All-Inclusive Hollywood Style