I wanna take you for granted, yeah, yeah well I will - Phone

[ceasetoexist]

[Phone]
[There's a small, throat-clearing sound on the other end of the phone before Pokey finally begins to speak.]

I found something in the ghost town that opened up during the fight with that stupid robot. You jerks have fifteen seconds to get a pen and paper, because when I start reading? I'm not stopping.

Alright. Hope you're ready, cause here we go.

[And Pokey will proceed to recite what's written on this note. He goes at a moderate pace, not super fast but not particularly slow or meticulous either. He doesn't stop, aside from one time. He pauses a bit before the last paragraph, and that one he reads noticeably slower then the others. And then a short pause after he finishes.]

I hope you losers caught all that, or at least one of you did, cause I don't want you bugging me to repeat.

[Filtered to Legion of Doom Members]

Alright listen up. The Riddler's droned, probably not for good, but we should probably elect someone to act as an impromptu leader with him gone if he hasn't done so already.

That being said, I'd actually like to do something now that we're settled down after all the bullcrap of the last few weeks. We were supposed to have a meeting last week but, uh, oops, understandably that didn't happen. So I suggest we have one this week, or try to. If no one else can host it, we can use my place because there's only drones here aside from myself, so if you have family members you don't want finding out about this, you don't have to.

I also want to suggest that everyone brings some kind of list of what they saw, what happened, and who they met during this mess. It's going to be best to try and understand this crap from all angles and, because of the mess it was, if any of us have info on the other people in this town we're stuck with, it'd be a good idea to get it out now so we can compile it in case we have to go against these jerkoffs sometime.

[Filtered to Mindy]

Hey squirt. I just...wanna make sure you're alright, after all that went down last week. That's all. Just making sure you didn't go and somehow get hurt.

[A pause. And then, he asks, slowly.]

...You wanna do something today? Like play a game?

[And after these phone calls, Pokey prepares to put the phone up. And stops. And for a long moment, he hesitates between putting it up and dialing one last number.

In the end? He chooses to dial that number.]

[Filtered to Lucas]

[When Pokey starts speaking, his voice is low. Trying to force calm. Struggling to say what he's trying to say.]

Stup-

Pig's bu-

Lucas.

[It was a struggle just to get your actual name out. THink that was hard? It's even more strained when he says the next part. Strained, and somewhat angry, but oddly enough? There's an odd sincerity in his tone. He means it.]

What you said about other people. About needing them. About some of them actually being good.

You were right.

I was wrong.

[And he just stops. He'll stay on the phone for a moment or two, waiting for a reply. And if none comes, he puts the receiver down.]

Comments

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

Buneary knows the difference between paper and food.

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

Just making sure.

Think you can get it so I can copy it down myself?

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

Do you want to just come over and copy it down? It'd be easier than reading it over the phone, probably.

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

I guess. I'll be there in a few moments then.

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

All right. See you in a few minutes, then.

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

Seeya.

[And, a few moments later, he'll be over to copy the note you have done.]

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

[Dawn's voice comes from the other side of the door.]

Just a minute!

[When she opens up, she's just finishing brushing her hair, leaning over to set the hairbrush down on a stand by the door.]

Sorry about that!

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[Pokey just shrugs. He's...oddly calm and non-irritable, for himself, today.]

It's fine. You've got the note?

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

Yeah, right here.

[Dawn hands over this note (http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n572/mayfieldmods/diarytuse.png) for him to read.]

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[And Pokey will take it and start to copy it down.]

Thanks.

...Do you need to see mine to copy it down more?

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was pretty long and I missed some stuff.

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[And he'll just hand you the note from his shirt pocket, wordlessly.]

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

[Dawn copies it out.]

Wait... so Westport didn't happen before Mayfield?

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

Apparently not. It was either a town established in the system around the same time, or shortly after, or established by the people who left outright.

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

So what happened over there might have been the people in charge of Mayfield punishing the people who went to live in Westport for leaving?

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

Probably. And reclaiming what was lost.

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

That's really scary... to think that even if we manage to get out of here, they might be able to hunt us down and bring us back anyway.

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well.

That's why we've just got to make sure not to screw up.

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

We'll just have to try things nobody ever has before. Just getting out isn't good enough. We have to find out a way to leave where nobody can follow us.

[Dawn nods confidently for a moment before her expression fades into something a little more worried.]

...Hey, Pokey? Can I ask you something?

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

Or find a way to rework the system.

[He pauses for a moment, before asking.]

Yeah, what?

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

Do you think if we ever get out of Mayfield, that we'll really be able to go home? Or is getting to the highway or one of those other towns the best we'll ever do?

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[Pokey knows what he thinks, and he knows it's probably going to hurt when you hear it. Usually, he'd think about lying to you to try and spare you that but...he might as well be honest. He'll try to say it gently.]

...Anything's possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath on getting home. I think we're best off hoping to get to a different town.

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

Y-yeah... I thought so.

[And if this was six months ago, Dawn probably would have just started crying at this point. Her eyes display all the sadness associated with that reaction, but she manages to keep it down to a sniffle and wiping at the corners of her eyes a bit before she takes a deep breath and calms down.]

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[Pokey just looks on, passively, for a moment. If this has been a few months ago, he simply would've walked away at this point. Instead, he opens his mouth once, shakes his head, then finally says.]

Are you going to be alright?

[noneed-2worry.livejournal.com]

[Dawn takes a deep breath and nods.]

Yeah. I'll be okay. No need to worry.