Shawn followed the plastic bag with his eyes, almost in a reverie from his tiredness. He almost jumped when he heard the knock, but quickly composed himself as he headed towards his bedroom door to see who his guest was.

"Shawn." Dad's muffled voice came through the door. "Someone's here to see  you at the front door." Dad said. Then Shawn heard his Dad's footsteps fade away from the door. Dad had now become accustomed to knocking on Shawn's door and then walking away. It had become obvious in recent days that Dad didn't like the smell of Shawn's room.

Shawn took a moment to compose himself, once again regretting that he hadn't found time to clean his room a little. But then he headed to the door to see who was there to see him.

Shawn got out of his room and was greeted with fresher air from the hallway and down the stairs. The front door of the house was slightly ajar and when Shawn got downstairs and when he opened it he was greeted by a giddy looking Junior who was staring up at him with a toothy grin.

"Hi Shawn! I'm your number one fan! Do you want to come outside and play?" Junior asked doe-eyed and expectant, like he was putting himself on the line and that Shawn's next response could make or break the young boy's day.

"Well..." Shawn tried to remember if he had any important obligations. If Mr. Clayton was having a nap, he would definitely come out and play with Junior. If he had to practice more, then he could always invite Junior in to play inside.

Shawn knew that Mr. Clayton was inside the case where he had left him. Up in the closet on the top shelf, just where the Puppet said he felt most at home. And of course, covered in a blanket and with the closet door shut so it was extra dark and out of reach.

And because Mr. Clayton was out of reach, only sudden memories and echoes of the Puppet's voice could be felt by Shawn in the hear and now. It was as if Mr. Clayton was part of a dream. It was far different that the present and often intrusive Feddler who's voice Shawn would often hear in his own mind not so long ago.

"Well, what?" Junior asked, giddy with the prospect of hanging out with his idol.

If Mr. Clayton was put away, then it meant Shawn was probably done practicing for the time being. "Yeah, let's play!" It'd be fun, though he should probably also use it as a chance to check on Junior - things had been a little strange last time they'd met.

"Alright! You won't regret it, I promise you won't." Junior said, seemingly slightly surprised and more than just a little gushing.

"We should spend all day together. Do you want to have a sleep over at my house?" He asked as they walked down Shawn's driveway and onto the sidewalk near the street.

"Or a double sleepover!? Two nights in a row! Boy that would be great!"

Shawn followed after Junior, happy to get a chance to just play a bit. "I dunno if I can sleep over, I've got a bunch of practice I still have to do. But we can hang out tomorrow too!"

Junior didn't do very well at hiding his disappointment. "Ughhhh." He belly ached. As if Shawn's response was just what he was fearing. Then when Shawn said he would still hang out he murmured. "URghh--Ahhh!" with a bit of positive cheer at the end.

Shawn hated to disappoint people, especially when they were as obvious about it as Junior. "You can come and watch me practice if you want. You've already seen me do it before, though, so you might be bored."

"Practice? Like, mooovie auditions? That sounds so exciting." Junior marveled at the idea and his eyes grew as wide as dinner played, jaw slightly dropping. Of course, Shawn hadn’t actually mentioned anything about movies but that was how Junior interpreted it

"It's kinda like that, yeah." Shawn wasn't sure what, if anything, Junior remembered from the last time Shawn had 'practiced' with him around. "But we can do that later, we should play!"

"Alrig...." Junior suddenly cut himself off. "What movies are you doing right now?" He asked, Shawn's agreement having peaked his own interest.

Shawn was a little embarrassed that he wasn't auditioning for stuff anymore, even if his feeling about his movie career were a little mixed. "Well, it's not for any one movie yet, it's more like acting exercises so I'm better at any audition, you know? My coach wants me to get good at ventriloquism - you remember the bits I showed you?" If he considered Mr. Clayton his current acting coach, Shawn reasoned, it wasn't even really a lie. And part of him was wondering if Junior remembered anything from last time - even Shawn's memories towards the end were a little weird...

"Oh....yeahhhhhhhh" Junior said, his voice changing from mere fascination to a deep, gravel-like hunger.

"That sounds great. Doesn't it?" Junior asked. "It's probably the best thing I've ever, ever seen. Better than G.I. Joes and better than Thunder Cats. It's better than playing S.P.U.D. outside or even playing Red, Light, Green Light: 1, 2, 3. You know?"

Shawn nodded. "Exactly, and I'm still practicing the routine. Imagine how good it'll be at auditions once I really get the hang of it!"

"Imagine...." Junior marveled. And then, Junior spoke a bit about his desire to join Shawn in these auditions and his great admiration for Shawn. Somehow, through the twists and turns of his speech, he started talking about how Shawn had a great family and how Junior wished that he could live with Shawna and how Shawn probably had the best parents in the world, which were much better than Junior's parents.

"Does you're Dad help you put ketchup on hot dogs?" Junior asked.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Composure
This message was lightly edited by the player at 11:29, Sun 15 Mar 2020.

OOC: 08:04, Today: Shawn rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,8,5,4.  Wits + Composure.

Shawn could feel the presence more than see it.

A car was following the two boys. It was following Shawn and Junior down the street as they walked. It wasn't obvious at first, but then as they turned down main street, the way the car turned with its slow purr of a motor, it became more clear.

"So, does he? I bet he does. I bet you Dad knows how to make the perfect hot dog. Not my Dad." Junior lamented.

"He used to - he's really busy now though, so he can't. Hey, wanna take this way there?" Shawn made a turn to a side street that was maybe a roundabout way to get to where they were going, but he wanted to see if the car would follow.

Junior moved alongside Shawn, turning the corner of the roundabout and talking with great admiration for Shawn’s Dad.

“Is he a movie star too? I bet he is. He probably works at some important office in a big, super tall sky scrape building. And so then when he comes home he teaches you how to do things like build things using hammers. And how to do fun things like going fishing and playing baseball!” Junior fantasized with delight.

The car behind Shawn slowed down and turned when the boys were about a hundred feet into the roundabout

"I think my dad's a lawyer?" Shawn wasn't actually sure if his father still worked or not...or even what he did, but he didn't want to tell Junior that. He noticed the car turning, and wondered if maybe it was someone Junior knew. "Hey, do you know that car over there?"

Junior turned around to look at the car.

"Umm, nope!" He said confidently, basking in the conversation, like it was the richest conversation and Shawn was the most interesting person he had ever met.

"Yeah, I usually like to eat hot dogs on Saturdays, yeah. But we never have them at home. I like to eat them right before I watch WWF wrestling. Hey, have you ever met Hulk Hogan!?" Junior asked.

“Nope, have you?” Shawn picked up a bit of speed on his bike, wanting to head for somewhere there’d be more people watching.