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 Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:07 pm
Prompt While out and about in Destiny City, you notice a particularly strange street performer who isn't getting much attention on the corner he's stationed himself at. He's a rather peculiar looking clown, complete with cliche red nose and squeaky shoes. No matter how many balloon animals he makes or tricks he tries to play, no one seems to pay him any attention. You happen to make eye contact with him and unfortunately, it seems to excite the fellow to have finally won over someone's attention. You manage to cleverly excuse yourself from the situation but nearly everywhere you go after that point, the strange clown is following you. The more you try to ignore him or brush him aside, the angrier he seems to get - and it's a little creepy, just how menacing he looks with that bright red smile gets turned upside down. Even as you manage to make your way to you or your friend's home, you can't help but notice the familiar, disturbing honks of a bicycle horn or the squeaks of oversized shoes following you... even up onto the front porch steps. Owen Courcel was not the sort of person who liked clowns. He never had been - had always found them kind of disturbing at best, downright scary at worst. When he was six years old he was invited to the birthday party of another kid in his class and there was a clown; he'd hid in the bathroom the whole time the clown was putting on his show. (He'd accepted a balloon animal from said clown as a tentative peace offering before the performer left, but he'd never really felt safe around them.) This was made even worse by the truly stupid decision to watch It a few months back, when he wasn't even fond of horror movies let alone ones like that. (But dares were dares, and he was wanting to be braver so that he could help protect Bailey and Daniel as much as they tried to protect him.) So, no, he didn't like clowns. And that was why he had tried very hard to ignore the one on the corner as he walked by. If he didn't look directly at him, if he ignored him like everyone else was doing then it would be fine. Maybe a little sad for the performer, but Owen wasn't really in the mood to be charitable even for the sake of balloon animals. Except somehow, at some point, he must have made eye contact with him, because - because now, everywhere he went, it seemed like the clown was there too. Following him. Getting angrier. It was to the point that he wanted... no, needed help. At least he was supposed to meet Miss Jessie today! If anyone could scare off a stupid clown stalker, it was her! Right?
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:25 pm
The upcoming Monster Truck Rodeo was going to be the first time Owen was going to be working a show. Of course, Jessie fuilly intended to get him a full dry run along with making sure he had the full permission slip work and showplan for his mother. There was no danger to him, of course -- she LIKED the squirt -- but she didn't have the patience with most to dally today, so she made sure her arrival was timely. Except her little team mate looked incredibly anxious and scared, which immediately put all of her pent up irritation into "Protect the Small One" mode, and the woman walked ovber, touching his shoulder. "S' wrong kid?" Jessie asked, tone serious. "Did someone try to hurt you?" Did she need to shank a b***h?...Please?
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:35 pm
"N-no," Owen stammered, trying to look braver than he was actually feeling as he bumped into Jessie, looking anxiously over his shoulder. Had that been a bicycle horn just now? Or - was that a flash of color out of the corner of his eye? "Nobody tried to hurt me," he says, stressing the fact because the woman looked like she was seriously considering hurting someone, and he... wasn't sure if there was really anyone there for her to hurt. Maybe there was? But maybe there wasn't. Ugh, he just didn't know, and it was scaring him again just thinking about it. "I think I'm being followed, though? And... okay, it's probably going to sound crazy, but crazy things happen here so I don't think it's that crazy all things considered, and um - " ... Ugh, even thinking it in his head sounded stupid. "I think there might be a crazy clown following me? I don't even like clowns but he noticed me notice him while I was on my way here and I'm pretty sure he's been following me ever since? Or - maybe it's a ghost clown or something, it's weird. Weird and stupid and I shouldn't be scared of something that probably isn't real, right? That's just - that's just dumb!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:45 pm
"Hery." Jessie reached immediately, gently flicking Owen's nose. "Don't EVER insult yourself like that again." She was as gentle as she could for him, but the scolding was firm, intended to catch his full attention, and she pulled him to her protectively. "We both know that anything's possible, and you don't know what's going on. It's perfectly normal to be scared of the unknown. Hell I've been scared before. Being scared of ghosts and clowns doesn't make you stupid, pretending you aren't scared is." She nodded, keeping her arm around him as she tried to soothe him. "Why don't I stay with you until you make it home tonight. That way if something's there, I'll be able to kick it's stupid a** for thinking it can scare you so." Besides, she wasn't really afraid of clowns. Or ghosts. There were scarier things.
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:53 pm
"... Sorry," Owen said, yelping and rubbing his nose a little as it was flicked. He didn't really mean to be hard on himself like that, but he didn't think he was a particularly brave person, all things considered, and definitely not if this really was just all in his head. Brave people didn't trick themselves into thinking creepy clowns were following them, did they? (From somewhere behind him, he heard a soft 'honk', the sound somehow slow and threatening despite being a squeak that turned shrill the longer it was stretched out.) "You're... you're not hearing that, are you?" He asked, trying not to shake. Because if it was just him, did that mean he was going crazy or something? Or that he was haunted personally for whatever reason? And if she did hear it too, did that mean he really was being stalked by an enraged clown? "This is revenge for not liking the one at that birthday party when I was a kid, isn't it?" Owen groaned, leaning against Jessie and trying not to flinch at what might or might not have been squeaky footsteps nearby. "It is and and I'm never going to live it down, I just know it."
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:17 pm
Jessie watched Owen several moments, before sighing, touching his shoulder. "No. I don't. But I also don't thinkyou're crazy." Jessie said calmly. "It's not anything bad. Sometimes people get flashbacks. Maybe something set off flashbacks to that birthday party. You're not crazy. You're truamatized." Jessie sighed softly and shook her head, motioning. "Like my Dad. He has the same thing after his deployment because he was a POW. Sometimes Dad's back in combat, or fireworks put him on the defensive. Dad's not crazy. He's getting help. You might even consider it. Don't feel bad either. It's okay is what I'm saying." She leaned in, hugging Owen protectiuvely. "It's okay. You're okay. Breathe."
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:38 pm
"It wasn't that bad of a party, I just didn't like clowns," Owen protested, feeling the bizarre urge to defend someone he hadn't spoken to since he was seven. "Nothing I'd call traumatizing, really?" Trauma was a lot more serious than having a bad time at someone else's party, wasn't it? This didn't seem like it was related to that. Another honk sounded nearby, like the clown that wasn't there was going out of his way to try and taunt him and make him feel like he wouldn't or couldn't get away, but the joke was on him. Jessie was the kind of person who could kick the butt of the nonexistent if she needed to. "...Unless watching a scary movie that I probably shouldn't have counts. In that case, then maybe."
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 10:54 pm
"That sounds closer to it and the party might cement that. I mean, it wasn't anyone's intention to truamatize you." Jessie motioned dryily, thinking before speaking her next few sentences. "The man that told us Dad was gone when we all thought he was KIA didn't mean to mess me up. Mom didn't mean to mess me up freaking out and getting knocked up while he was a POW twice -- hell, I still look after my sisters, fostered off or not. And Dad doesn't blame anyone or anything except the ******** terrorists." THEN she paused. "Well, he kind of blames my screwiness on the man in uniform for not being immediately aware I was going to be ******** up but that's a whole other mess." She laughed then at her half-joke, and ruffled Owen's hair. "Truama is different for everybody. So don't feel badly if you're having flashbacks. You know now. Don't look at damn clowns. And avoid Stephen King. Pennywise is ******** Satan incarnate and anyone who says he's not creepy is a damn dirty liar." Even SHE hated ******** Pennywise.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:45 am
"I don't know, it still seems kind of... you have rea things to be upset by. I don't," Owen said, shrugging. He tried to smile for her, though, because even though he was still pretty young and not all that great with people, either, he knew that it wasn't normal for Jessie to open up to people like this, and that she was trusting him this way... Well, it was pretty flattering, actually! Not that he could help her any, even though he wished he could because frankly what she was telling him was pretty awful all things considered. "No arguments on the last thing, though," he added, making a face and shivering. Maybe if he wasn't alone and ignored the strange sounds and almost-glimpses a little harder, they'd eventually stop on their own? Yeah. Yeah, that was a good plan, it'd work. It would absolutely work.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 12:56 pm
"Stop discounting yourself." Jessie scolded, and flicked his nose again, scowling at the steen scoldingly. "Not having tyhat bullshit from you. Just because it doesn't bother others doesn't make it at ALL less scary to you. Your experiences are just as valid as mine. You aren't me, God help you if you were you'd probably be just as surly -- but, Owen. Kiddo. My friend, don't you dare discount your fears. It's okay to be afraid. It's okay if a scary movie truamatized you. It doesn't discount that it happened." She rubbed a temple. Oh, she was terrible at this pep talk and bonding thing, she just knew it. She did NOT have her mother's charisma. "All I'm saying it you can be scared. Brave isn't not being scared. It's being s**t-a** terrified and doing the thing anyway. My first time trying to drive a truck? I was excited and terrified I'd run my Dad's car over. And I still did it because I'd get to wreck something.... And still accidently trashed the car." NOT a fun memory, learning to adapt to the truck. Jessie made a face at the entire memory. "And one day, God willing, you'll be in that seat, scared to wreck my truck. And you will, but you knowe what? You still do stuff. THAT'S brave. Now, let's get to the 'wreck my truck' thing." And she handed him the papers. "I wrote down the part in the show for your mom I wanna do -- Pit Crew Parked Truck Press. You're trashing that awful pickup I have." So she could buy a BETTER car to sound like a Micro-Bear. Maybe a nice Challenger.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:09 pm
"I - uh, okay," Owen said, deciding to shake off the thought of clowns entirely and focus on what was cool instead; and what was cool was trucks. And wrecking things. (He hadn't really ever expected to get into something like this but miss Jessie had persuaded him and it was pretty cool, especially since his Mom didn't mind as long as he was being careful.) He'd never really thought of himself as the kind of person to have fun watching - or participating in - monster truck stuff or wrecking things but... Well, it was pretty cool, wasn't it? "Really? That... that sounds pretty awesome!" Definitely better than thinking about clowns. Anything was better than thinking about clowns. In fact, he was going to do his very best not to think about clowns even the slightest bit for the next week, and pretend he wasn't still hearing little squeaky shoe sounds just around the corner. If he didn't hear them, they weren't there, and he could focus on what real and here and a lot more fun to think about.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:23 pm
"And you aren't gonna drive into the middle of the damn parking lot because you can't see walls well because it's more obvious." Jessie grinned, ruffling his hair. Good -- he was distracted, and she wrapped an arm around him warmly, guiding Owen in the direction of where she planned to treat he and his mom to dinner while explaining. After all -- his first drive alone. Yes it was approved by the proper authorities but Owen didn't know, or his mom, it was a solo while she watched as a stunt. But publuicity might get him a truck and THAT... With all of his idfeas? He deserved to help foirm a team beyond Jessie and Big Bear. They worked well in the ring, and she knew it was healthyto have after school activities, and so she hummed, glaring bnehind them as they moved, just in case.
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