The Catalyst

[Sly Cooper]

"No, he just angers me constantly. He accuses me of stupid stuff. He's such a hypocrite." Jacob slouched over more than usual and made a semi-sad face. "I do have my dark secrets, yes I will admit to that, but none have anything to do with him" Jacob had a tone of disgust. "I just want him to SHUT UP for once-- does that make sense?"

[Bunny]

"No, I have absolutely no idea what it's like to have someone keep talking to you regardless of how you, uh, try to chase them away with unveiled insults and sarcasm." He continued before Jacob could flare up, the words falling into one another as though they were all parts of the same thought. "Anyways, if you want John Penis to, uh, be quiet, why don't you cut out his tongue? That'd silence him. Don't complain if you're not going to try and solve the problem."

[Sly Cooper]

Jacob didn't say anything. He knew exactly what "Butt" was getting at, and he was all but sick of hearing it. Instead he just gave him a look of displeasure.

I'm beginning to see why he doesn't have many friends. Jacob tried to just shrug it off. It's going to be harder than I thought to replace Damon as my best friend-- Did he really hate the way I would ramble and complain a lot and he was just being polite?

He put a hand over his mouth and his forehead wrinkled as he worried. Now paranoid, he ignored that Elijah and Rhett where there for a moment as he fret in his head. But-- It's not like Damon to just keep his mouth shut and be polite-- Who am i kidding, yes it is. But we are-- Were best friends, and that's what friends do. Right? They listen to complaints and rants and ramblings-- and then they listen. After he convinced himself that he wasn't always ignored he smiled, in an almost goofy way.

[ellie]

Deborah was skipping down the road looking for others to play with. She already finished her work...well sorta. The big kids were mad that she was putting grass in the salad mix instead of more lettuce for the meal later and she was told to just go play. She was a little hurt at first. After all she was only trying to make the salad more green and Issac wouldn't have yelled at her. But it did mean more time for play so things evened out.

She spotted the boys talking and hesitantly walked over to see what they were doing. Maybe they knew what Issac was doing! The five year old girl tried to pull at Jacob's pants. "Hi! You guys wanna play?" She squeaked as she tilted her head back trying to look the much taller boys in the eye. "We could...ask Issac to play too. And and..." Her voice trailed off. For some reason she got the feeling these big kids weren't up for playtime. Big kids were like that. It probably had something to do with becoming corrupt with age and becoming shy. Poor big kids.

"We...uh...or...We could go sit outside the corn field and see if we can spot He Who Walks Behind the Rows. He's ALWAYS walking behind to Rows so if we wait long enough maybe He'd pass by and wave at us!" Deborah suggested with glee. Of course she knew He probably wouldn't wave. He probably was too shy to something so bold like that. But if HE did wave then Issac would want to hear all about it!

[Sly Cooper]

"Well, Debora, I'd be more than happy to play." Jacob turned around to look at the small child. It would be more fun that staying with Rhett. "But it's getting too dark for me to play in the corn. I get lost easy. See this bell?" He jingled the cowbell attached to a piece of twine around his neck, "It's because when I get lost in the dark, people can still find me." He patted Deborah on the head, and smiled. "But if you want to ask Isaac, I will come with you."

OOC: Meh post. it's 2:18 and so my posts are crap... i would've posted sooner if I knew you were going to be on.

[Bunny]

Rhett fixed a mildly curious gaze onto the child. At five years old, she was filled with life and vigor and pure unadulterated irritation. Also at five years old, she was far older than Rhett would get to see his own daughter age. He being eighteen and Delilah being two, he would just barely see her make it past her next birthday before being catapulted to death. And it was death, whatever anyone decided to call it.

Rhett didn't think he'd mind dying so much. He just wished everyone would just call it dying instead of this "going to him" garbage. But, then, when was anyone ever honest? Besides when they were five, wide-eyed and innocent. Maybe He Who Walks Behind the Rows had something going when he said age corrupts.

"I dunno if I wanna go see him," he said politely. "Not before I gotta, anyway. But yeah...we should ask Isaac if he'd play with you." Rhett would like to see the boy preacher sidestep his way out of that humiliation.

[Sly Cooper]

"But before you get your hopes up, Isaac might be busy. Okay Deborah?" Jacob bent down to look at the five year old in the eyes. "But I will play with you. What do you like to play?" He turned to look at Rhett to see if he was just toying with the girl like he seemed to do with Jacob earlier. "So you're not going to play then?"

[ellie]

Deborah's eyes grew large with apprehension at the mention of the cowbell. Poor Jacob might disappear before he's 19 just cause he's bad with nighttime. "Don't worry! I'll protect you!" She tried to latch herself to Jacob's leg. "Now you can't gets lost cause imma attached." She nodded solemnly. Besides she'd need him to help ask Issac to play. She turned her head to Rhett. He didn't want to see He Who Walks Behind the Rows before he had to? Why? She pondered for a second before everything became clear. He's too timid to meet new people cause he's old. Poor old people. They get lost at night and were too afraid to make new friends unless they were forced.

"KAYS! Let's all go ask Issac to play. We could play 'kill the outlander' or or or 'hopscotch'! Oh! Or we could play tag!" She exclaimed with glee. But her face fell. "No we can't play tag. Cause then I'd have to let go of your leg and you'll get lost. But we can still play kill the outlander or hopscotch!"

[Sly Cooper]

"I guess that means that hide and seek is a no." Jacob put on a face pout, joking with her. Although, it hit him after he said it, she might take him seriously. "So, to play 'kill the outlander' do we have to find a real outlander, or is it just pretend? Cos I don't know how often an outlander comes to Gatlin, and then we might have to wait a while." He looked around then back at Deborah, then he whispered to her, putting a hand to hi mouth like it was some sort of secret. "I don't know how to play hopscotch, will you teach me after we ask Isaac to play?"

[ellie]

Deborah looked horrified. It was true they couldn't play hide and seek! And it seemed like Jacob REALLY wanted to too. Poor Jacob. Poor poor Jacob. But he'd get super lost and nobody would ever find him again if they have trouble finding him when he wasn't hiding.

But the second question knocked Deborah back to the task at hand. Finding a game that they could play without becoming lost. "Oh um no silly! We won't really kill an outlander. One person pretends to be an outlander and we pretend to kill em'." She chuckled. Silly big kid never playing kill the outlander before! But it got worse he didn't know how to play hopscotch either! She nodded vigeriously and whispered back so that Rhett couldn't over hear. "Yeah. I'll teach you. We'll do it private." She shifted her eyes back and forth.

[Bunny]

"But I wanna play too!" Rhett's voice, already nasally, tilted into a whine. He was only half-acting. There was nothing better to do, really.

Besides. Hopscotch was great.

"But, uh..." he blinked at the earlier proposition to play 'Kill the Outlander', "how about we not play, you know, pretend-kill someone. I don't really like pretend games..." he wrinkled his nose. Everyone was already playing pretend, anyways. He didn't have any intention to ever join in that lifelong game.

[Sly Cooper]

"Well, you heard Rhett," Jacob said loudly enough for Rhett to hear, then he whispered, "'sides I have you to teach me how to play. I'll bet you're the best teacher of hopscotch ever!"

[ellie]

Deborah looked confused. Why wouldn't anyone want to play pretend? Those were the best games EVER! But if they couldn't play pretend, or tag, or hopscotch what games were left? She shifted her feet uncomfortably. She whispered back to Jacob. "I hopes so. Otherwise we'll just...um get help from another girls." She nodded then turned to Rhett. "Ums...okay no pretend...and I uh....don't wants to play hopscotch right now. And not because Jacob anyone doesn't know how to play it or anything. Cause everybody here knows how. I just...don't wanna play it right now. So what should we play then?" She looked up with puppy dog eyes at the two big boys who became her would be playmates. She grinned.

[Sly Cooper]

"I got an idea!" Jacob shifted his weight on one foot, then bounced around like a moron, "We could play Marco Polo in the corn field! I say Rhett is Marco, and Deborah and I can be Polo! We'll be team awesome, and his team will be team not so awesome, but still pretty awesome--" He crossed his arms and a smug look crossed his face. "And then i won't get lost because I will have you with me!" He pointed at the girl.

[Bunny]

Rhett blinked at the 'not-so-awesome' title he was deemed, but that was the only reaction - externally or internally - that was given. "Hmmm..." he puzzled, "'Ya know, we could try that. But, like, you know, maybe we should make it a little, um, a little more interesting?" Before the word 'dirty' could be accused her tried to sidestep it by elaborating. "Like, you know. A bet. Between you and me, Jacob." He didn't want to get the kid in trouble, after all. Rhett never paid too much attention to the laws of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, but he figured that gambling was frowned upon.