but when I took down my defenses

[mirrorbastard]

WHO: 8-year-old zombie MIRROR MASTER and YOU
WHERE: In ur reflections!!
WHEN: Wednesday (morning, at midnight) through Saturday
WARNINGS: Doubtful, but will edit as necessary
SUMMARY: You know how Evan has no tact and bounces around reflections with no respect to privacy or boundaries? Well at least as a child he's more polite about it. And maybe not as obnoxious to talk to.
FORMAT: Whatever!


He barely slept, anymore. He hadn't felt much need to since "the accident" just like he hadn't felt the need to eat much, but sometimes boredom won out over necessity and he settled in for a nap anyway. It did get boring, staying only in the mirror even if he could still look out it the same as always, or send clones out -- the clones had seemed off, sure, but they functioned. Too bad they couldn't drink beer for him.

But then he woke up, and everything was different.

He didn't know where he was. He definitely wasn't in Miss McCulloch's orphanage, or even Scotland, but rather some kind of abstract dark corridor with millions of windows dotting the endless abyss around him. He was cold, his skin slimy and pale like marble. He stood, slowly, and began skulking down the corridor, looking through the windows for someone that might help him. He was breathing hard, but not panicking, not crying. He just shivered, and knocked on the glass now and then, warily, when he thought he saw someone. (Sometimes he didn't even knock. He just looked out, in confusion or envy or curiosity.)

"Hullo?"

Comments

[seedofevil]

[It was one thing to wake up and suddenly find that you're a child again; it's another thing entirely to wake up and find that you still have the green skin you most definitely did not have as a child. This required further examination, and the only mirror she could think of off the top of her head (which felt rather muddled and strangely focused on the idea of pretty flowers) was the one at her rarely-used MAC apartment. So, there she went.

Her preening careful scientific exploration was rudely interrupted by a strange little boy tapping on the glass. Figures.]

What do you want?

[mirrorbastard]

Er--

[ Of all the things Evan had been prepared to see, or already had seen through his various reflection windows, a little green girl was not among any of them. At age eight, he'd never seen anyone even vaguely abnormal yet. Seeing her, though, makes him feel slightly less concerned about his own blue-white skin. ]

Whoa. Yer not sick, are ya?

[seedofevil]

No, I don't get sick. You look sick; you look like a dead person. [She crosses her arms and glares at him.] Why are you in my mirror?

[mirrorbastard]

I don't! I'm not the-- [ He looks upset at the insinuation. ] 'Coz I cannae get oot, that's why. I'm stuck.

[ He taps on the glass to demonstrate. ]

I dinnae ken how I got in here t'begin with, it's pure mental. I woke up like this.

[seedofevil]

And I woke up as an eight year old, so it seems as if we're all having problems today.

[She knocks on the glass, a bit harder than his tap.] Have you tried breaking the glass? It can't be that hard.

[mirrorbastard]

I broke one. Smashed it in with a shoe. But it didnae open anything, it just fell to pieces and the window disappeared. It's awright, though. It's nice an' quiet in here.

[ He seems perturbed, but not upset. As perplexing as it all is, the distance isn't something he minds. ]

Are ya one o' those people who're old, normally?

[seedofevil]

Old? I'm not old! You take that back! [just getting all up in his mirror grill 'til her face is practically against the glass]

[mirrorbastard]

[ He just smirks back at her, flaunting that gap-toothed grin because he knows she can't reach him through the glass. Or at least he hopes as much. ]

I bet ya are. When yer not the same age as me. Why else would ya have skin that color?

[seedofevil]

Haven't you ever seen a plant before?

[mirrorbastard]

[ He stares. ]

Aye. Of course I have. I live next to a forest. None o' them have eyes and mouths or hair.

[seedofevil]

And yet they can see and speak the same as any human. It's just that only I can hear them.

[she will concede one point.] Most of them don't have any hair, though.

[mirrorbastard]

Ya talk t'plants? What are ya, mental or something?

[ He sounds curious, not malicious. ]

[seedofevil]

Only legally.

Are you really having trouble believing something when you're the one trapped in a mirror? That kind of thing only happens in storybooks, so I should be the one calling you crazy.

[mirrorbastard]

[ He wrinkles his nose. ]

Don't call me that. I didnae ask to get stuck in here. It isnae so bad even, anyway. Least I'm far enough apart from any weirdies.

[seedofevil]

Well, if it's not so bad, why don't you just stay in there forever and stop bothering me? [she feels an overwhelming temptation to stick her tongue out at him, which unnerves her]

[mirrorbastard]

Maybe I will! [ He does stick her tongue out at her. But he's not really one for manners. ]

[seedofevil]

Good! Bye.

[huff huff turning away]

[mirrorbastard]

Away ya go, ya barmy weirdo! [ Juts out his jaw in irritation. Though even he isn't sure how that escalated so quickly. ]

[seedofevil]

[just

looks back

really quickly]

... You're still there, you know.

[mirrorbastard]

Well --

[ Oh yeah. Huffily, he crosses his arms and moves away from the reflection. ]

Fine. I'm out of here. See ya around or not.

[seedofevil]

Good luck with the whole "spending eternity trapped in a pocket reality" thing.

[Perhaps she ought to feel a twinge of guilt about leaving a child alone

But he's a icky boy, so she doesn't.]