Elicia Hughes

[[Nighttime; June 23rd]]

[Elicia had had a tough week.

Shuffle, shuffle—the sound of turning blankets and small feet moving back and forth through them. She's been rolling in her sleep for a few minutes now, flipping her hidden journal into a little book tepee, while it records the buzzing air and soft incoherent murmurings of a child dreaming. They're not happy dreams, after a while, and it takes but a moment before she's wide awake and horrified and crawling under her blankets with her mouth in a shaky near-crying line. The journal. That's right.

She reaches over and opens it up all the way, unable to see anything in the dark. Her voice is watery and lined with a sort of innocent, hurt desperation when she speaks.]

[Voice]

Please tell me a story. I wanna hear stories, if anyone... wants to talk... I like them a lot. I—I promise I'll go back to sleep, but I just wanna hear one...

[Pretty, pretty please...

But despite stories, sometime in the night, she rises up from her bed and patter-pitters quickly into her parents' room. Scary, they're too scary—and they could be real. Because she's seen scary real things like it before. And the last thing she wanted was a blue-eyed woman slowly creaking out of her closet, like she kept imagining, over and over and over again...]

[[Daytime; June 24th]]


[It was a cold snap, today. Elicia wore her poofy pink jacket for the occasion. Truth be told, she's had a very tiring night of trying to sleep, and she'd failed at it fairly well. There were a mesh-up of things. Scary things. She didn't want to draw any of them, so she decided on focusing her attention to playing. By the end of her short-lived playtime outside, she's laying on her arm on the front steps of her house, the fake pink sword Law gave her still clamped in her hand.

A good nap. There was nothing scary... Just good. That was important. It's a good thing children bounce back well enough, even if only for a while, because she's got a content air about her later on in the day. Anyone who wants to visit, now's a great time to; she'll be drawing funny circles all over the ground outside with a stick. Clapping her hands and smacking them. And nothing happens. :|

But she sure as hell is pretending something's happening.]
( WHAT'S UP, ELICIA? )

((ooc: Just make it clear which day you're replying to and all that. I have faith in you. |Db))

[Action/Accidental video]
 
[Aaaand her journal goes tumbling over on its side, peering up to capture Elicia... in the middle of adventure. That is, she's got a red towel cape on, and a foam basebat bat in the other, in front of Winry's house. Also, Shiro the bear and Shiva the polar bear are currently tied up back-to-back in the distance. They're really in a pickle, man.]

Let them go, evil villain!! 
Or I'll use my giant robot to stop you once. and. for. all!!

['CAUSE WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM. B(

Also, talkin' to the two tied-up stuffed animals:]

Don't worry, Chef-Pirate Sanji! I'll save you and Warrior Fighter Longshot in noooo time, so hang on!

[Let her warm up her Kamina impression. Basically sounding confident = VICTORY. And if she's going to be the youngest robo pilot, it has to be legit.]

And I've got a cool sidekick--they can kick lots of butt, too, mister! [Keh!!] 'Cause we're the strongest heroes in the whole universe!!

[If you're passing by in the background? SHE'S TALKING TO YOU. Yeah, you, with the face. If you happen to be passing by for some [action] and adventure, you CAN write [action/video], because she'll be accidentally recording all of this for your if you want friends and family to enjoy it in future movie theaters. :|b

...And yes, people can comment to your video thread, if you want some first-hand embarrassment for the people who actually play along. Anyone who just wants to comment on the video in general can just assume she's talking to air, then. |D]

[Gracia's gone.

Elicia didn't expect such an impossible idea again, not after having to experience it a first time when she herself had first arrived without her mother. Despite the news and the tears that followed, she still went to school. Be brave, be strong; mama never cried in front of people. So she won't either. She sits through her classes, blank-faced, attentive. Papa must be hurting really bad right now, too, just like mama did when he left.

So she has to be tough, like him.

School is out, and she sits quietly where she always does for her father, near the doors. Expressionless. She goes through her bag, taking out her journal and tucking it behind backpack, taking her fairytale book, tucking it behind her journal, searching, searching—and at last pulls out her sketchpad to draw while she waits; she really doesn't feel the urge to right now, but she's not sure what else to do. She flips open the front, and sees a picture of all three of them.

...all three.

Elicia hugs the sketchbook close to her, crushing her bag and everything in it. The journal slips down at her side, recording the almost-silence; little, quiet sobs shake the backpack, muffled in it. The blank look twists into a pained one, downcast into her drawing.]

...W-where did you go...? You were here, mama... Papa and I want you to come back...!!

Please come back...

[The feed had started out with Elicia sitting on the couch, showing off different drawings for the day, bringing up the idea of camping—about maybe sleeping over at Winry's house. But soon the peace is lost when something off camera forces open the front door. There's the muffled noise of Hughes—calling out something, something that one can't make out too well, but it's fairly obvious what it's about when Elicia jumps off the couch and runs into her room, journal hanging open in her one hand.

Noises of metal clashing against metal, quieted when Elicia closes her door and does what her father tells her; she hides in her closet, hugging the journal until it's just a black video screen.

...Quiet.

And then footsteps. But they seem heavy.]

...Papa...?

[The door is pulled open and a robotic hand juts across the video screen, grabbing Elicia before the still rolling journal finally falls and flips shut.]

[Audio]

[Pat. Pat. Pat!

The sounds of hands slapping paper happens a few times, as well as a young voice speaking to herself—and then scribble noises, like the usual sounds of drawing. She huffs when nothing happens, because that's the very opposite of what she was hoping for...]

...Awwww... the letter 'R' isn't alive either...

[There's a few scrip-scruff sounds of knees shuffling across the ground, toward the journal, and it's back in her hands, though she hadn't realized it'd been on for a few minutes prior.]

It's getting really cold! Everyone should get lots of blankies, for when it snows!

[a pause]

It'll snow, right? It snows sometimes at home, and it's cold here, too, so it's just gotta! Then we can make a fat happy snowman, and maybe some cool snow angels... But I get sad sometimes, because all the flowers go away when it's really cold outside. They must not be warm enough, huh?

[Action]

[Elicia will be at the school like usual at the sane time of the day, when everything's settled and kids will start getting out soon; maybe a few are already running about in wait for their parents. She's found herself the nearest pole and is currently... tying a... rope around it? Huh. Strange. Feel free to pester her about what she's doing.

Or, if your character is so willing, after school she's returned to playing outside of her and her papa's apartment room (Building 4, Floor 6). Buuut she's not in as good a mood—the reason may be obvious when you look down at her feet to discover a deflated bouncy ball, no longer round or bouncy. :(

A stray nail must have popped it! Or maybe she accidentally stepped on it instead of kicked it! Or maybe the aliens came down and denied her some happy fun times.

Whatever the case, Elicia is officially the Luxo Jr. of Luceti.]



[ooc: replying to tags tomorrow morn'! ^^]

[Video]

Hi, guys!

[It's Elicia in her room! Don't worry, she's totally normal looking here, no costumes to speak of. Yet.]

Outside is different now, and there's pumpkins and it's all... spooky! Halloween's spooky! But that's okay—I'm not scared~!

[She beams and ruffles through something to her right, and pulls up something like this, but with cute hearts and clouds~]

Mr. Regal, I drawed up your rainbow for you, for the rainbow donuts! I drew hearts, too, because I love rainbows a lot. Aren't they really cool? I still don't know how they're in the sky, but I think it might be magic! You know, maybe it thinks the sky is sad and wants to cheer it up with pretty colors!

...O-or maybe it likes just cheering people up 'cause they're grumpy they got rained on.

[She beams.]

But you shouldn't be grumpy! 'Cause the world is made oooof

[oh god no—]

LOVE. AND. PEACE!!

[Why yes, she did do the hand gesture as well.

And then quietly added:]

U-um, but sometimes it's made of pirate-y things, too...?

[Action]

[Okay, so it's not a school day, but let's just say she's there for some important tutoring! Because a girl must always be at her smartest, right? At any rate, she's waiting outside the door and observing that she is, in fact, dressed up like a kitty. While a normal child who understands Halloween would be mortified to be in an outfit they can't take off, she just assumes Halloween is magical like rainbows and your outfit just spontaneously appears every year! :D

She'll be busy doodling in her pad of paper. And yeah, every person who pops in will get a different little doodle they notice, for uniqueness' sake.]


[ooc: If you want to start out with video and turn the thread into action, you can totally pick both. I like being open about these things! I always have too much to do with this child, clearly. She'll be getting a second post a few days into the event as well~!]

[Elicia is totally grown-up. I mean, she's five whole years old! And as such, she of course needed her own room with her own little bed. One little issue: she doesn't quite enjoy the heavy rain and thunderstorm outside. She has made a resolute promise to herself that she wouldn't run like a bat out of hell into her father's room, even if the noises and colors scare her silly. And like all little kids, she doesn't realize that promises like these are silly, because that's what papas are for anyway, right?

The journal opens quietly as she hides under her blankets in her sleeping gown, frowning into her hands.

And yes, it's about 1 in the morning. Some of you must be up, right?]

When you're scared, what do you do to make it all better?

[She makes a squeaky noise when another loud boom of lightning flashes.]

I-I mean, if someone is scared... and stuff...