anyprice | IC INBOX = KAISOU

[ The first sound out of the doll after Sampo answers her is laughter. Sparkle laughs long, and hard, to the point the doll wobbles with the force of it--nearly falling off the box in the process. ]

Ahaha-- hah-- お前は馬鹿なの? (Are you stupid?)

What if I already have? You know better than anyone... I could be aaaanyone you've passed by on the street. The poor, bent-over old woman walking with a cane. The little boy walking his dog...

Maybe I've been in this city all along?

[ She bursts into laughter again. It's hard to tell if she actually finds it funny at all. ]

Maaaaaybe I'm inside one of these boxes. That's a fun game, isn't it? Where in the world is your best friend Sparkle...?

--You!!

[ okay he admits he walked STRAIGHT FUCKING into that one. She's right, she COULD be anyone. It was her who taught him how to shapeshift in the first place! She was really good at it. She could have been anyone. Hell, she could probably be the plushie itself.

...

He's gonna quickly pick it up and give it a little shake just to make sure it isn't. Surely she didn't see that, if she's not the plushie.

He's also gonna move to sit on one of the boxes. She won't stand that if she's actually a box. ]

If you're in my house, I'd advise you come out quick. I live with two fellas who like to punch first and ask questions later, you know! And as crazy as you drive me, I'd rather not see anyone get their lights knocked out 'cause of me, you know!!

...

How the *heck* did you track me down, anyway! You could have--I don't know. Called? Knocked? Spilled coffee on me at a cafe I visited recently!

[ The doll only laughs again as he picks it up and shakes it. Definitely not the real Sparkle--just a doll that she happens to be able to talk through. Hopefully the only one....? ]

Awwwww, Sammy has roommates? Finally found some new friends to replace little old Sparkle...?

[ Nearly the instant he sits down on the box, there's a tap on his shoulder. And then a tap on the other side. Not with a hand, by the feel of it, but maybe some kind of stick? ... Of course, there's nothing there no matter where Sampo looks. Until... he turns back to look ahead of him. There's Sparkle! With her hair let down instead of in her typical twin-tails, standing with one hand on her hip and the other clutching a gnarled tree branch. ]

Boo. [ She snickers, a long shot from the wild cackling that was emanating from the doll. ] 私がいなくてさみしかったですか？(roughly: did you miss me?) When did you make friends without me? Are they any fun? You haven't become boring over the years, have you...?

[ okay okay okay he's safe its not a real sparkle in the form of a doll. He can gently put it down and stare at it as it asks such a ... ...well, it's a legitimate question. Sparkle had been with him a number of times through the years, through some rough shit and easy times alike. What was the one thing he always told her?

I can't afford to keep friends. They'll be in danger.

And yet, she always insisted... ]

Oi, oi oi. Who's replacing anyone! We were both people who couldn't afford to sit still very long and you know that. [ she was on the run too, after all. But she never really gave him full details. Cagey, this one. But he did know it wasn't from the Black Order. How many times did she agree to body double with him and split off in different directions to confuse them with him?

He's lost in that thought for just a moment but-- ]

Edited 2026-01-18 06:10 (UTC)

[ then he's being poked. and he almost jumps right fucking out of his skin. Seriously, he just about leaps up from the box he'd seated himself down on, looking... well. She wasn't using the appearance he often borrowed from her. So he puts a hand over his chest and BREATHES, trying to catch himself. ]

Can you! Knock! Please! I need to put a BELL on you, come here! [ he's gonna reach to try to grab the branch she's holding. ]

And the day I become boring is the Day I Die, you know that! Aha won't allow it.

Of course my--

...
They're not new friends! Anyway! They're my old friends. [ the ones he ran from. years ago. ] They're plenty fun. [ he... did miss her, actually. huh. weird. ]

[ As he reaches for the branch, she tugs it back, out of reach. This is her toy, and she won't let him take it away from her just yet. Not when she hasn't even gotten to knock him over the head with it! ]

No bells! Bells are noisy, and noise makes it hard to hide. You know better!

[ The branch comes down, aiming to bonk Sampo lightly riiiiiight in the middle of the forehead (16). She then releases her hold on it completely, letting it fall in his direction--all to use the distraction of it to snatch up her doll and cradle it to her chest. How could he mistreat her so! It's bad enough he's gone and replaced Sparkle, he can't be so mean to Sparkle-doll, too... ]

Fun enough for Aha, are they? Soooooo much fun that you went back to them after years and years and years? Maybe I should meet them, then~!

We could play a game... How good are they at hide and seek? [ The doll speaks entirely on its own. There is no sign of Sparkle moving her mouth. ]

... I promise nobody will get hurt. Yet.

Of course I know better!! That's WHY I think you should have a bell on! You can just POP up out of nowhere... Ol' Sampo's getting up there in years, yanno, what if I have a heart attack because of your antics?

[ A hand is going over his chest, just for the dramatics, but...

He gives her a sort of funny look when she says she wants to meet them.

Meet them... ]

They'd be pretty good at it, I think, given most of them are crazy strong. And I'd reeeallllyyyyy suggest you don't hurt them, because some of them are crazy strong, too. As much as you drive me crazy, girl, I don't want to see you blown up to smithereens because you said the wrong thing to Gil, yanno??

...
[ sudden... realisation. ]

...Aw, fuck.
Some of them might mistake you for me when they see you...

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