video;

[112ounces]

[ Here's Carl, looking a little older last time he posted a video network. He's sitting down on the couch, staring straight at the camera. His hair is a shaggy mess, but apparently that's all the rage. Back home. Where brushing one's hair is not mandatory in interacting in normal, sane human beings. ]

So. Um, hi.

So I kinda went dark cause I went back home. Is it weird to think coming back home to where there is the end of the world, like something you really need? Man I dunno, that sounds really really bad. Worst than it sounds. I'm not good with this.

[ He starts to tug at his fingers, one joint at a time, while he rethinks on his next words. ]

Like, I go home and I find this place after living like a nomad in the woods for god knows how long. Totally untouched. Perfect suburbia. Full of homemakers. People on the porch enjoying their smokes. I didn't fit in. It felt like living in a dream, and I kept expecting to wake up. Totally surreal.

[ He stops his idle finger tugging. He folds them together. ]

I guess what I'm saying is that - I don't feel bad living here. Because for a long time here, I thought there was something wrong with me for not living this world like I ought to. I even try to seek actual medical help on that. [ And that went as well as being nibbled by a walker. ] But I go back home and experience the same thing, and that feeling of the heebie jeebies and it's like - nah, I'm not the freak here.

[ He gives a small, ironic smile at the camera. ]

It's everyone else, honestly.

[ A bad attempt at a joke. He leans back, hands on his knees, gripping tightly. ]

Also today is my birthday. We don't really celebrate birthdays back home since calendars aren't being published anymore. I'm amazed I can still remember mine - sometimes I forget how old I am, honestly. Pretty sure I'm 15. Or I'm approaching 16, depending if I'm adding up the months I've spent back home plus here. My math skills only go as far as multiplying and dividing nowadays.

[ Carl gives a small shrug. He looks a little more sure of himself now, although it is a different kind of confidence. There are still a ways a go before he's actually in peace with himself. ]

At least I know I'm too old for trick or treating, that's for sure.

[ Whether or not he would actually celebrate Halloween, on the other hand, is a little different. ]

Comments

video;

[textualhealing]

[Aw, awkward kid, never stop being oddly endearing in a apocalyptic murderer kinda way.]

Happy birthday, kid. Never be ashamed to live life however the hell you want.

video;

[112ounces]

Yeah, it's something I gotta . . . not let bother me. No one is gonna 100% get it.

...although can I get away with trick or treating?

video;

[textualhealing]

Don't see why not. Comes with the whole 'living your own life' package deal. Never to old to trick or treat if that's what you wanna do.

[Not that you'd catch Jeff doing it, he's got a reputation to uphold!]

video;

[112ounces]

I suppose if someone asks me if I'm too old, I just tell them the truth that I have real no idea.

audio

[restingstitchface]

Well, you're younger than some of those who've knocked my door searching for candy. But if you believe trick or treating is all there is to the Devil's Holiday, then... Well, you must be taught. The practice is believed to have roots in a medieval practice called Mumming. But perhaps you can start by lighting a candle on the grave of your mother.

audio

[112ounces]

[ And almost immediately Carl's good mood is completely gone. The crawling, twisty sensation strikes down Carl's spine like lightning hitting a tree. ]

Don't talk to me as though we are acquaintances or whatever. Not after what you've done.

permaaudio

[restingstitchface]

[What an unfortunate thing it is that Crane can't see that, huh? And his mood is good, thanks for asking. He's sitting cross-legged on his bunk, thinking how interesting this chat shall become. Or perhaps he's trying to scale Carl's pain.]

Well, we are acquainted, you know. And I haven't done anything. [He sniffs.] It must have been someone else.

video.

[nitidus]

Happy birthday. In my own experience, going home and coming back often feels - jarring.

[Living on an actual meteor and then coming back to an actual house is weird. ]

Not bad, but it does cause the head to spin a little. Circumstances are never the same between here and home, are they? And honestly, you are never too old for trick or treating. Trust me.

video.

[112ounces]

Ever get caught? Trick or treating, I mean.

Re: video.

[nitidus]

Oh, here? Not that I can recall. Which is odd, given that none of my costumes have been very hammed up to make me appear younger?

video; id reads "robin"

[performance]

[ Oh, hey. It's that kid he tangled with at the swear-in. Will he even remember? Robin adjusts his sunglasses and gives him a little wave. ]

We get used to our circumstances, whatever they might be. I don't think there's one definition of normal that applies to everyone, no matter what people would like us to think. There's nothing wrong with that.

[112ounces]

[ Chances are, Carl won't. He would remember a costumed hero as a rotten corpse, trying to eat him alive, but nothing else. ]

Yeah. It . . . just took me nearly a year to figure that out. Kinda stupid, in a way.

[performance]

[ Probably for the best. Fresh starts and all that. ]

Not that stupid. It sounds like it'd be nice — safety, security, the end of all your problems. But if you're used to something harder, sometimes you just get anxious. For me it's like... can't relax, I'm waiting for something to go wrong.

video

[justanotherlink]

Carl?

[She remembered him from the supermarket. But he'd been...what had he said?]

You mean you went back to your uhm, dimension?

video

[112ounces]

Yeah. I did. I went ... well, not exactly home, but yeah. My world, basically.

video

[justanotherlink]

So the...machine thing, it let you go home but then it made you come back.

Ugh! It's all so stupid.

[Video]

[hands4healing]

[Birthday.]

I could make you a pie for your birthday if you'd like!

[Video]

[112ounces]

Thank you. You really don't have too.

[Video]

[hands4healing]

But I'd like to make it for you. Or I could make you cookies...?

[video]; ID reads Kaito Kuroba

[tuxedo_magician]

No one, but no one, is ever too old for free candy.

[So say the kid who didn't even know why girls were giving him free candy on Valentine's Day until his best friend clued him in.]

[video]

[112ounces]

I can get behind that.

[video]

[tuxedo_magician]

Right?

And seriously, if you didn't want to go alone, I would totally join you. Because this whole thing sounds like a ton of fun.

video;

[grimreaping]

I don't think it's strange. Being here causes a strange sort of... shift, in people. It's no one's fault, but it happens all the same.

Happy birthday, Carl.

video;

[112ounces]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Hi, Kid. Are you going to celebrate Halloween.

Re: video;

[grimreaping]

You're most certainly not.

I'm planning to, yes. It's one of the holidays that's easier for me to celebrate, because of its largely modern interpretation.

[ he offers no context for such a weird statement ]

What about you?