[ 1v1 ] Rattle (Lurks/Rojo)

[Smerdle]

In spite of the months he'd had to acquaint himself with the school, Rojo still didn't know his way around campus all that well. Most of the time that wasn't a problem. It gave him an excuse to see new things and meet new people he never would have come across had he possessed a better sense of direction.

He didn't think knowing his way around Amityville would have helped him in this instance, however. Somehow, he had ended up wandering into a house he hadn't known existed, a house where each room was a strange and interesting new place. This unplanned adventure had been quite fun so far, but he had yet to find a way to leave and he was starting to get... not worried... not concerned... just... antsy. The place would have been loads more entertaining with a little company as well.

"Hello?" the calaca said, his normally loud voice swallowed up by the wall-to-wall pizza present in his current location. Rojo pushed at a large piece of pepperoni, climbing through into another room as the slice of meat swung open like a door.

cherno astra

 

[its me debz]

Lurks frequently wandered the grounds of Amityville, but did not often find himself within the confines of the Haunted House. He had contently made sand-angels in a room Almost Like the Home That Was Almost Home, and splashed in the water of the Tiniest Ocean, and slept in a Forest That Did Not Sleep.

And now, he was in A Room of Food, amongst slippery mountains of skellyghetti and meatball boulders.

He popped up over a garlic toast ledge and waved his arms heartily, eyes alight with the sight of someone with a skeleton too.

"Hello!" Lurks said, waving wildly, tumbling over himself to greet the other.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Rojo immediately snapped to attention as the bony figure emerged from behind his bready cover. The boil waved back just as wildly as he started forward, learning too late that one creature's wild was another's too wild. Without warning, his left hand flew away from his wrist with a dainty crack, arcing toward Lurks in what seemed like slow motion.  

[Smerdle]

He lunged in an attempt to reclaim it, catching himself before he fell over and dislodged a great deal more of his parts; his hand, free and clear, continued to soar majestically through the air. Had he been capable of frowning he might have done so then, but instead he could only watch as it dropped onto the horseman's head and tapped at its perch in triumph.

"Don't tap!" he scolded half-heartedly, his mood lightening again in a figurative heartbeat. "It... I am just proud that it landed so beautifully! Did you see?" His remaining hand rubbed at the silver braiding on the side of his pants as he stepped closer. "I am sorry." His bearing was apologetic enough, but his voice betrayed his excitement.

cherno astra

 

[its me debz]

"Oh!" Lurks yelled excitedly as the hand landed on the crown of his head, nestling comfortably between his horns.

"It was very very good, a good landing!" The horseman pried it free, and a wispy, shadow-moth crawled out of his mouth to land on it, perching majestically...as Lurks flung it like a discus back at Rojo.

"Catch!"

hp// 40
dmg// 7 lurks why

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

It was an unexpectedly wonderful feeling, receiving praise from this strange undead. Rojo remained unsure of where he was, but he was certain that everything would turn out all right as long as he had this skeletal gentleman to look out for—

His own hand had curled into a fist on its way back to him, and he let out an oof of surprise as it punched him soundly in the ribs and splatted into a nearby meatball. Taking a step back as he gathered himself, he reached over and reattached his hand, only noticing there was something in his fist once it was a part of him again. The moth might have been a little dazed, but no worse for wear really. Still, he brought the shadowy insect behind his back before opening the cage of his fingers completely to free it, not wanting his new friend to see.

"You are very strong! I dream I will one day be tall and strong too, but I have been told that I will probably only be medium-sized and loud. I am Rojo, Master of Public Relations." He had tried out a number of variations on his title in the weeks since it had been bestowed, but this one was new. He liked it a lot.

"Master, o ho! Good, good," he whispered under his breath, dipping his greasy hand into his pocket in search of a pen but finding nothing. Oh, well.

HP: 23
Damage: 1

cherno astra

 

[its me debz]

As soon as Lurks saw what Rojo's hand did, he burst into giggles, shielded behind skeletal fingers.

"Who says?" he asked, skittering closer, circling around Rojo like a curious animal. "Someone once told me if I did not follow the red thread home, I would never go home at all. But I did! It was a lie. But it had a reason. Did someone tell you for a reason to keep you small?" He reached out to pinch at Rojo's bony face.

"What is public relations? Do you write in scribe books like a sage?"

hp// 39
dmg// 2

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Mostly everyone says so," he admitted. "And they don't give me very many reasons for anything." He shrugged, opening his jaw in a grin as the horseman reached for him. Back home, pinches were more commonly reserved for creatures with skin, but that only made him covet them even more.

"I don't mind being loud. Everyone can't help but listen, and it helps me relate to the public, which is what I do! I could live with being small forever too. It would be nice to be strong someday, though." He was on okay terms with the bully who had plagued his youth these days, but Rojo firmly believed that he could have saved his younger self a lot of grief had he been able to punch Chio in his bony, fat head.

He paused, first crossing his arms, then placing his hands on his hips, clasping them behind him, and finally swinging them at his sides as he rocked back and forth.

"What is a sage?"

HP: 21
Damage: 0

cherno astra

 

[its me debz]

Lurks blew a long raspberry, stretching several seconds. "That is dumb. But I do think being loud is good. In case you get lost, then the Mother could find you." Maybe if he had been a little louder, then the Mother would have found him in the caves, or come back to find him, instead of leaving him alone.

He looked thoughtful for a second. "I am not sure. But they have a lot of paper and write a lot and use much much ink. It is boring. Public relations does not sound as boring. Can anyone be it?" Lurks began violently shaking Rojo, eyes alight with a blazing intrigue, a huge smile on his face. "I want to make everyone listen to me for always and do as I say, is that what you do? How do I get it?"

hp// 39
dmg// 12

smerdle

lurks
no
lurks why

 

[Smerdle]

This one had a funny way of speaking and seeing the world. Or maybe he was just crazy. Either way, Rojo liked it and him quite a bit, at least until the shaking began. It was all he could do to keep his skull from flopping uselessly as the horseman interrogated him, though he did manage to raise a hand and place it on Lurks' face, squeezing gently as if to discern its ripeness.

"I...I... think... this... is... a good... way... to... get... pee... pul... to lis... sen," he said as cheerily as he could manage. "Bet... ter... than... my... way."

HP: 9
Damage: 2

cherno astra

because lurks is the best do not question

 

[its me debz]

Crazy is as crazy does, Rojo. Which just meant that Lurks was, indeed, absolutely off his ******** rocker. Rojo's hand would meet a bit of flesh, on the side that had it. Sort of gaunt and pulled tight, but there. After the skeleton's answer, Lurks let him down none too gently, and jumped a little.

"Better!" he barked, clapping his bony hands together, because between the two of them, there was more bone and smiles than anything else. "Yes, yes it might be. What do you make people listen to? Do you tell them about your family, or something else? Tell me!"

Lurks plopped down in front of Rojo, expecting a story.

hp// 37
dmg// 3

smerdle

no rush, dragon age has me by the balls too >.>

 

[Smerdle]

Solid ground. Rojo had never been happier to feel it under his feet again. He wobbled a little as he regained his balance and by the time he had fully recovered, the horseman had taken a seat nearby. What did he want? He looked like he was waiting for something very exciting to happen. But all he had asked about were the sorts of things Rojo told his classmates, and those things were kind of boring. Definitely not worth such an expectant expression. Maybe he should lie.

"I tell them about presents and ball pits and confetti and sometimes... fighting. Robot fighting!" He didn't really know where that last one had come from, but it actually sounded like a pretty interesting idea now that it was out of his head.

HP: 6
Damage: 0

cherno astra

i love it a lot

 

[its me debz]

Of course. Why had Lurks not thought of such wondrous things?

"I want," he said, very slowly and excitedly, with ever growing eyes, "THAT!" In fact, the Famine wanted all of those things for himself. Presents in huge number and variety, all for him. Confetti and celebration, for his arrival. A ball pit, so that he might play in it. A new invention, but he had wandered into a shut down Mac-Don place, and they still had some left that he had entertained himself with. And fighting.

He was not sure what a robot was, but if it fought, then Lurks was interested.

"I WANT ALL OF THAT!"

And then he drop kicked Rojo in his utter excitement, because of course he did.

hp// 37
dmg// 7

xsmerdle

bull is my murder boyfriend *___*

 

[Smerdle]

As it turned out, being drop kicked was rather horrible, especially when you weren't expecting it and your FEAR had been whittled away to nothing through well-meaning bouts of shaking and face pinching. Rojo's body burst into a shower of bones that rained onto the saucy ground as a distressed but barely audible noooooooooooo issued from his flying skull. He had no other answers at the moment so he remained silent after he landed, contemplating bringing ball pits and fighting competitions to Amityville just to make his new friend happy.

cherno astra

<3