Of The Astral Expressit Was Clear That The Hotel Bellboy Part Of Him Wasn't Exactly Leaving Anytime

‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 of the Astral Expressㅤ—ㅤit was clear that the hotel bellboy part of him wasn't exactly leaving anytime soon. That truth had been made more than obvious by the very image of the child scurrying about the main train car and cleaning every surface that could POSSIBLY be cleaned. Sure, his efforts weren't making THAT much of a difference with the conductor having done the job alreadyㅤ—ㅤbut he was sure he was picking up a few dust bunnies and ACTUAL bunny ( . . . ? ) fur !

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤSo focused the child had been on his self - appointed duties that he practically jumps when the OTHER new member of the Astral Express speaks out to him. The boy turns; periwinkle eyes blinking for just a few moments before he SMILES and shakes his head. Technically, there was no hierarchy or fancy titles like ' Family Head ' or ' Watchmaker ' separating them anymoreㅤ—ㅤand it wasn't for that reason that he refused. It was just the CUSTOMER SERVICE that was apparently stuck in him.

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤIt's OKAY, Mister Sunday ! I couldn't POSSIBLY make you do all this work !ㅤ❜

@indeliblepromise ♡'d for a starter !

flaxen hues watch as the young boy tidies up around the parlor car, wiping down the tables and sweeping even though the conductor just did that not even two hours ago. its almost a little bizarre, the two of them now being members aboard the astral express, when before their interactions were few and far between. the halovian wonders if he should speak the boy, but his own shy nature made him struggle with it still. then again, it also wouldn't do to stay strangers when they'd be traveling together for the foreseeable future. so he gets up from his seat and walks over to misha, offering a small, but unsure, smile.

❝ um... would you like some help, misha ? if you plan on cleaning the rest of the train, it'd be an awful lot of work for just you. ❞

‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ❛ㅤI'll have you know, ' CONVINCING ' and ' MANIPULATION ' aren't the same thing ! ㅤ❜

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤBut PROBABLY NOT ! ㅤ❜

"No manipulation. That's off the table." Set the ground rules. "Oh, but--can Vanitas speak other languages besides French?"

‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆; one that the child usually WOULD have taken on despite his own timidness. Butㅤ—ㅤit's not really fun anymore when the other was expecting it. The duo would have to wait for a more OPPORTUNE timeㅤ—ㅤpreferably when the other forgot about this encounter and was no longer aware.

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤWe would give it another shotㅤ—ㅤbut it doesn't really WORK as well if you know it's coming ! A good scare is one you're NOT expecting !ㅤ❜

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤDoes this Morty scare you ALL the time ?ㅤ❜

Will gave the child a smile. "Don't feel too bad about it; I would have detected your pokemon's presence sooner or later anyway. I just happened to have experience with Morty's."

And speaking of said pokemon...

Will winced at the unholy screech, covering his ears while giving a blank, unimpressed stare at the gengar. "You'll have to do better than that to get me," he said, fully aware of the challenge he just threw down.

PELAGEYA SERGEYEVNA, aka PELA

‧₊˚ ⋅ ꒰১ ᯓ ☆ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘. Was that progress ? Was that a good thing or a bad thing ? Nobody really ASKED him about those experiences or how he felt aside from Father. Aside from Father, only BROTHER knew about that pain. He wasn't really certain if he SHOULD answer the questionsㅤ—ㅤbut he didn't think he had a CHOICE in the matter either.

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤW - Well, after my MOTHER died, I was taken to this weird place. It was all white and full of creepy people and they were supposed to be nice to meㅤ—ㅤbut they wound up hurting me a lot ! It was where I met BROTHERㅤ—ㅤand he said when I came, they had already hurt a lot of kids and that we were the only ones left . . .ㅤ❜

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤJust telling that story already had him visibly shaking even MORE. Surely, this place was exactly the SAME ! Even the rooms were pretty SIMILAR ! As far as he knew, it was only a matter of TIME before he was hurt again.

˚ʚ ☾ ɞ˚ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤSo can I LEAVE now ? ! I can take care of myself !ㅤ❜

@indeliblepromise

 Kunikida froze in concern and confusion when he heard what the boy said. “What?”

Children usually did not react this badly when they hear hospital or orphanage unless they had a negative experience. He could understand why the boy could react negatively to the word, orphanage. Even though orphanages are supposed to be a place that cares for children, some orphanages abused their orphans. Atsushi was a good example of that.

But a hospital… Was he scared of needles? But still… a fear of needles should not have this strong of a reaction. He couldn’t help but think back to Yumeno. Yumeno also did not like doctors due to their experiences. Just the thought of an orphanage or doctors abusing a child infuriated him. Children were meant to be protected and mentored, not abused.

“Calm down. I promise you that nobody is going to hurt you.”

If there were adults who mistreated the boy’s trust, gaining his trust would be hard.

“Can you please explain what you mean by earlier? What did the hospital and doctors do to hurt you before?”