bug crossing

[ourtomorrow]

Who: Ken (the young one) (er, the sad one) (er, the one who learned Duel Monsters) (.....THE ONE WITH A BUG), said bug, & YOU!
Where: Hallways of the train
When: Llama 20
What: Wormmon is a slow walker. Oops.
Warnings: prepare to be crushed beneath a weight of apologies, and maybe also the weight of some other things


Ken-chan!

Ah - !

[ WHUMPF.

That is the sound made when a young boy, carrying a pile of bedsheets higher than he is, trips on the bug that was waddling in front of him.

And everything he was carrying is now falling right towards whoever's approaching.

His eyes widen. ] Look ou---

[ And he hits the ground, hard. Ken had been so worried about warning his fellow passenger that he neglected to look after himself! ]

Comments

[blue_ice]

[ Seto is off for a walk, distracted as he's thinking about...other things. So he's caught off guard when a pile of sheets crashes into him. He bats them away, growls, and...oh, it's them. It's them!]

Ken?

[ Seto extends a hand to help, crouching low. ]

There are enough of us that you don't have to carry that many.

[ourtomorrow]

Kaiba-san....I'm sorry.

[ He's angry, isn't he? Except...not? Ken isn't sure what to make of this. But he can't bother Kaiba when he's already just run into the man!

Wormmon has no such compunctions. ]

Ken-chan, where are you? Ken-chaaan....

[ .....Granted, Wormmon is a lump beneath a sheet, so he may be asking in a more immediate sense. ]

[blue_ice]

You're fine. I just don't want you to overwork yourself and hurt your dueling arm, or something.

[ It's a playful, gentle tease. He starts to help gather the sheets when he hears a familiar voice and sees a wiggle. ]

...ah, Wormmon? I'm going to pull this sheet slowly, you're not stuck to it are you?

[ourtomorrow]

Ken-chan, it's daaaark!

[ From the flailing, nothing seems stuck. Ken nods at Kaiba-san. Please feel free to pull. In fact, here, let him come over and help.....he feels bad.

Let us excavate a worm.

(Also, today he has learned his dueling arm needs to be protected. That is sensible. Ken will remember that.) ]

[averyusefultray]

[If she'd seen him just a little sooner, she might have predicted this. Blocking one's field of view is only a good idea in Jedi training exercises. But here she is, pushing bedsheets aside.

He sounded more lively, at least]

Hey, you okay?

[ourtomorrow]

Yes......I'm sorry.

[ Ken hangs his head. At least he had been on the way to the laundry room instead of returning....

The pile really has scattered everywhere. He sits up, begins gathering them up again in a hurry to get out of Hera's way. ]

[averyusefultray]

[They're not in combat. They're not in danger of combat. THere's absolutely no reason to not stop and help him pick the scattered sheets up.]

It's okay. But you don't have to work so hard that you run the risk of getting hurt.

[ourtomorrow]

I'm all right. This is our chore....

[ Or, well, he thinks it is. Cleaning bedrooms? Does that include sheets, when sheets are also laundry? He hopes he has not overstepped. ]

She's right, Ken-chan. Don't push yourself.

[ Wormmon, ever sage, has a pillowcase draped over his body like a blanket. ]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken is knocked over by the sheet pile and falls on his butt, opening his mouth to be frustrated, but -]

Ah! Are you... okay?

[It's a lot harder to be mad at the other Ken than at most people...]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Oh, he inconvenienced his friend. Ken feels bad now. ]

I'm fine. What about you, Amada-kun....?

Ken-chaaan....

[ .....how did Wormmon end up flipped over. ]

[miseris_socios]

[Fortunately, Ken-kun is pretty sturdy.]

I'm okay. It's just sheets...

[He searches through them to try to help Wormmon get back on his feet.]

[ourtomorrow]

Ken-chaaan!!!

[ Wormmon, feeling himself be righted, gloms onto his helper without checking to make sure he has the right Ken. The right Ken smiles sheepishly: thanks for your patience with him. ]

I haven't seen you lately.

[ Ken and Wormmon have been keeping to themselves. They couldn't go on the mission because Wormmon caught a bug cold.

Ken is still cleaning web off of his bunk. ]

[dreamtamer]

[ Some day Takato would manage to run into Ken without being knocked down.

Some day.

He glances up too late, and just has time to shout a warning before he is being knocked to the floor under the pile of laundry.]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Oh, no! Not Matsuda-kun again!

Ken is so embarrassed. He bows his head in shame as the sheets settle all around them. ]

I'm sorry.

[ A pillowcase floats down to drape on his head. ]

[dreamtamer]

[ Takato was still slightly stunned, but he pushes a sheet off his head and starts trying to gather the laundry up. ]

No, its okay. I should have been paying more attention.

[At least it hadn't been Wormmon this time? Takato fishes around for something else to talk about.]

I guess its been a while since we talked. Have you and Wormmon been okay?

[He was smiling, as usual. But there was something a little more subdued and tired about his smile. He'd had a difficult time in the last mission, and he was still working through everything.]

[ourtomorrow]

Mmn......We've been busy.

I got sick.

[ Wormmon cups his head in his top claws as Ken hurries to gather sheets, as well. ] Ken-chan nursed me back to health! He is so kind~

[ Ken blushes, but he's smiling. He's happy Wormmon is feeling better. That had been....a lot......of web.

Except. ]

....The mission was hard, wasn't it.

[ And they couldn't be there for it. ]

[happyends]

[ If the missions have given Madoka one thing, it's at least slightly better reflexes than she used to have.

At least good enough reflexes to quickly step backwards when she hears someone warning her, only barely managing to avoid the huge pile of bedsheets that's coming down - though that does mean they fall all over the floor, turning the carriage into a patchwork of bedsheets everywhere.

It's not the first thing Madoka is concerned with though. Instead her gaze falls on the fallen boy. ]

K-- Ken-san?! Are you okay?

[ Look, she'd walk over towards him, but what if she steps on all these freshly washed bedsheets!! ]

[ourtomorrow]

Ah....

[ Ken is still stunned. Wormmon, less so. ]

Ken-chan!!! I'm sorry! Ken-chaaaan!!

[ Wormmon is underneath the sheets, so he hurries towards his partner....

....or what he thinks is his partner....

he's hurrying towards the wall. ]

[happyends]

[ Today Madoka is presented with a dilemma.

Does she abandon poor Ken on the floor like that, and rescue Wormmon? Or does she save Wormmon from a potential headache and save Ken?

Granted, it's not quite life-threatening, but with Madoka being the way she is, of course she's worried about snubbing either one or the other. She nervously glances between the two, but then decides at least Wormmon hasn't had anything happen yet. So she doesn't waste time, trying so hard to move between the sheets towards the bug-like shape. ]

Wormmon..! Wormmon, please stop moving..! [ PLEASE. ]

[paopuofyourlife]

[That was not good at all. Kairi at least had enough time to try and move out of the way, but event then she still ended up with a bedsheet falling on her/ That was fine really. She wasn't annoyed or anything. Accidents happen.]

That was certainly a lot of bedsheets you were carrying there. Considering what happened want the help?

[She was taking the one on her head off and started to fold it. Her plan was to help either way.]

[ourtomorrow]

No, I couldn't...

[ It's the protest of someone who feels bad for imposing, not the protest of someone too proud to accept help.

But when he sees she's helping anyway, Ken thinks he understands what's going on, relaxes a little, and smiles. ] Thank you.

Ken-chan? Ken-chan...?

[ A small lumpy sheet ghost is wandering around! ]

[paopuofyourlife]

[Kairi looked over slightly.]

I think your friend needs your help. I guess he might not be able to get the sheet off himself.

[Look at the little sheet worm ghost she can't help but think that is cute.]

[consider8]

[And down they go! A rough pile of fabrics ready to be cleaned or be put away cascading in a cataclysmic crescendo onto a cornered cephalopod!!]

Oh no!! [Alas, poor Ken, the only solution to minimize the damage is to slip into her octopus form, but even that is not enough to protect her from the crashing force of several pounds of tumbling linens. Only a soft SPLAT and small scattering of magenta ink can be seen of a somewhat dazed inktopus smarting underneath the covers.]

[ourtomorrow]

[ There....there had been a person there, right? Ken blinks in confusion, but as the chaos settles he notes the....that's not blood, is it?

Carefully, but with concern, he peels back that covering sheet. ]

Um.....?

[consider8]

[Behold Ken! From within the unwitting tomb of fragments a rather dazed octopus wriggles before thee! She looks a bit flat but mostly unharmed? She'll just... she'll just a little moment to recompose (and reconstitute) herself.]