06-25-2017, 08:43 AM
There were no minutes of awkward silence after the summoning. Fortunately for Bobby, the latest entry had the power of speech; albeit with a stereotypical 'kid voiced by an adult' cartoon voice which would probably grate on some.
"Hey, friendy friends!"
Bobby shot up to his feet, before crouching down and advancing towards the new arrival. Both parties knew exactly what to do.
"Woahhhhhhh.... LOW FIVE!"
Considering the absence of legs, the sight of Cuddles and his pot leaping up to give his owner-slash-compadre some skin was surreal, but nobody in the group batted an eyelid. Reginald gave a grudging, forced grin, clearly not happy his rival for his master's affection was now back in the picture. Sylvester just smiled and stared.
This was followed by a second instance of Bobby picking someone up and hugging them, this time more forcefully than he did when he hurt Reginald. For some reason, Cuddles didn't seem to be in any discomfort, possibly because cacti don't have nerve cells in order to feel pain.
"I'm sorry to interrupt this joyous reunion..."
He wasn't.
"But whilst we may all be together, there is one overarching problem; We are in a strange world. We have no home, no plan and no blankies. Clearly, this situation is indubitably unsustainable and must be somehow moved forth. Now, I don't know if you fine gentlemen have looked into the distance, but there appear to be various types of portals."
Everyone else looked around, even Sylvester. It was true, a few were visible, with more presumably at the opposite side of the fountain. Everyone skipped in a line around to see, and the assumption was correct; there were a total of eight, though what lay through each of them was a mystery.
"Life is an adventure! I say we just go for one!"
Cuddles was hopping around with glee, but even Bobby was hesitant.
"What if some of them aren't... Nice? We should probably try to find out more about them first. We don't even know if we can use them either, or whether it's like someone's house. You can't just barge in to someone's home unless you're a main character. I don't know if I'm a main character. I don't think I am, because they do stuff like steal potions from people's cabinets. I don't think they're all as nice as people seem to think they are. If someone came into my house and took one of you, I'd have a sad. A real big sad."
"I am in agreement. T'would be folly to head off willy nilly without any information, I say! The best source of information would be the people around, especially those who seem at ease. They are unlikely to be sharing our, erm, new... ness... to this world. They should also look friendly if at all possible, we wouldn't want to draw the attention of ruffians and riff raff, after all! It could end in fisticuffs or, even worse, name-calling."
Cuddles looked disappointed; not at the others, but at himself for being so impulsive. He arched over slightly at the base, as if looking down. His smile became slightly less wide than usual.
"Yeah, I think you guys are right. I'm sorry, I don't want you guys to get called names."
"Oh Cuddles, we know you don't! Don't worry, none of us are upset with you. You did nothing wrong, this is how discussions work; people come up with ideas and talk about the good and bad. If an idea turns out to be bad, then it just means you're one idea closer to a good one!"
And a good idea was certainly what they needed. Reginald was most likely right in that discussion with the locals was probably necessary, but the prospect seemed incredibly daunting to Bobby. Even though he knew deep down it was probably what needed to be done, he could hear his dearest Mumsy's voice in the back of his mind.
"Don't talk to strangers, Bobby. Some strangers are dangers. Some could be friends, but the bad ones can do more than the good ones. I'll take care of you, you'll always have me, any time you need help, I'll be the one there for you."
Only she wasn't there. Unbeknownst to Bobby, she never would be again. He may not be alone, but Bobby never learned to stand on his own two feet, and how long can two cuddly toys and a pet rock prop him up for? He didn't realise the gravity of the situation. He didn't realise this was the first day of the manchild becoming a man.
"Hey, friendy friends!"
Bobby shot up to his feet, before crouching down and advancing towards the new arrival. Both parties knew exactly what to do.
"Woahhhhhhh.... LOW FIVE!"
Considering the absence of legs, the sight of Cuddles and his pot leaping up to give his owner-slash-compadre some skin was surreal, but nobody in the group batted an eyelid. Reginald gave a grudging, forced grin, clearly not happy his rival for his master's affection was now back in the picture. Sylvester just smiled and stared.
This was followed by a second instance of Bobby picking someone up and hugging them, this time more forcefully than he did when he hurt Reginald. For some reason, Cuddles didn't seem to be in any discomfort, possibly because cacti don't have nerve cells in order to feel pain.
"I'm sorry to interrupt this joyous reunion..."
He wasn't.
"But whilst we may all be together, there is one overarching problem; We are in a strange world. We have no home, no plan and no blankies. Clearly, this situation is indubitably unsustainable and must be somehow moved forth. Now, I don't know if you fine gentlemen have looked into the distance, but there appear to be various types of portals."
Everyone else looked around, even Sylvester. It was true, a few were visible, with more presumably at the opposite side of the fountain. Everyone skipped in a line around to see, and the assumption was correct; there were a total of eight, though what lay through each of them was a mystery.
"Life is an adventure! I say we just go for one!"
Cuddles was hopping around with glee, but even Bobby was hesitant.
"What if some of them aren't... Nice? We should probably try to find out more about them first. We don't even know if we can use them either, or whether it's like someone's house. You can't just barge in to someone's home unless you're a main character. I don't know if I'm a main character. I don't think I am, because they do stuff like steal potions from people's cabinets. I don't think they're all as nice as people seem to think they are. If someone came into my house and took one of you, I'd have a sad. A real big sad."
"I am in agreement. T'would be folly to head off willy nilly without any information, I say! The best source of information would be the people around, especially those who seem at ease. They are unlikely to be sharing our, erm, new... ness... to this world. They should also look friendly if at all possible, we wouldn't want to draw the attention of ruffians and riff raff, after all! It could end in fisticuffs or, even worse, name-calling."
Cuddles looked disappointed; not at the others, but at himself for being so impulsive. He arched over slightly at the base, as if looking down. His smile became slightly less wide than usual.
"Yeah, I think you guys are right. I'm sorry, I don't want you guys to get called names."
"Oh Cuddles, we know you don't! Don't worry, none of us are upset with you. You did nothing wrong, this is how discussions work; people come up with ideas and talk about the good and bad. If an idea turns out to be bad, then it just means you're one idea closer to a good one!"
And a good idea was certainly what they needed. Reginald was most likely right in that discussion with the locals was probably necessary, but the prospect seemed incredibly daunting to Bobby. Even though he knew deep down it was probably what needed to be done, he could hear his dearest Mumsy's voice in the back of his mind.
"Don't talk to strangers, Bobby. Some strangers are dangers. Some could be friends, but the bad ones can do more than the good ones. I'll take care of you, you'll always have me, any time you need help, I'll be the one there for you."
Only she wasn't there. Unbeknownst to Bobby, she never would be again. He may not be alone, but Bobby never learned to stand on his own two feet, and how long can two cuddly toys and a pet rock prop him up for? He didn't realise the gravity of the situation. He didn't realise this was the first day of the manchild becoming a man.