iStones, april 6

[catpiper]

[You know those pressing, intense questions that keep you up in the middle of the night? Well, this is one such moment and anyone unfortunate enough to be awake, or awakened, during these early morning hours will be hit with an extremely important q from a confused girl.]

What's a joke?

[And, a few seconds later-]

How do you 'prank' someone? Is that a treasure? 

Comments

[postictal]

Better not try to make me laugh, kiddo. Better to tell jokes to people like Taako, or Lup.

[He doesn't laugh even when he is happy, which is a vague and difficult to define thing - a nebulous thing that's better off not really being anyone's actual goal.]

[catpiper]

[She's going to tell jokes to everyone, Tim. That's the problem. That's the terrible cursed problem at hand and his comment doesn't stick-she simply hears Taako and Lup and that's just more names to add under Tim to her list.]

Do you know any 'pranks?'

[postictal]

A few.

[Mostly by osmosis - though back when he knew Sans, he was aware of more pranks by...association.]

They usually can escalate pretty quickly. But sometimes they're harmless. You know what a whoopee cushion is?

[catpiper]

[It kind of sounds familiar, but it's been far too long and she doesn't recall anything outside of the words themself.]

What is that thing? Is it soft?

[postictal]

Kind of. It's an inflatable little...thing. When you squeeze it, it makes a noise. Like, uh -

[With no other way to demonstrate, he hesitates - before blowing a raspberry over the Stones.]

[catpiper]

[Oh, that noise.

She blows a raspberry right back at him, not even making an attempt to be quiet as she does so, and helpfully points out-]

Our mouths are already whoopie cushions. We can prank like this.

[postictal]

The idea is that it's supposed to surprise them. I knew a guy who liked to keep one in his hand, see. So when you reached out to shake hands with him, you'd just hear...that.

[His tone is neutral. He's careful about that. He doesn't mention Sans by name - why should he? The guy ditched all of them when he disappeared, whether that was his intention or not. It wouldn't shock him if it was.]

[catpiper]

Okay, the next time I hold someone's hand, I'll make that noise.

[Because that's the grand takeaway. Hold hands, make fart noises-amazing. It has the added bonus of being the heffalump call, which is why it probably surprises people.]

And I'll make other noises too.

[postictal]

It's not about the noise. It's about the...it's having a whoopee cushion, when someone doesn't expect it.

[It can be about the noise sometimes, but you've gotta teach someone about the rules before you can teach them to break them. That's just how it GOES.]

[catpiper]

[This is it. She's going to have to request a whoopie cushion from the Storyteller. It would fall in line with the other garbage she's asked for over the months, but still. A point has been reached.]

Then I'll find one of those treasures.

[postictal]

[Hey, he doesn't live with Ren, so he doesn't have to worry about the long-term repercussions of this.]

Good luck. I'm not sure if you're likely to find any lying around, but hey. MIght as well try, right?

[catpiper]

That's right, that's right! I'm going to look everywhere for that special treasure.

[It's all fun and games until she leaves the camp!!]

I'll find it. Even if it takes a very long time, I'll get it.

[postictal]

[Or just...ask the Storyteller for one. That too.]

Just make sure you don't go wandering off on your own, right? [Adult supervision is still a thing with her, right?]

[catpiper]

[Look, supervision is questionable??? Kravitz hangs with her some days and tags along when she wants to go to new islands, but she tends to wander and she's been doing fine, thanks!!!]

I'm not by myself anymore. I have a good luck charm and a treasure rock.

[postictal]

The rock that you can use to call people for help?

[He can no longer tell if that's a treasure rock or not, but he hopes to god it counts.]

[catpiper]

Yes, I always have that treasure with me.

[So no worries, she's always good to go.]

[postictal]

Good. You keep that on you all the time.

[She's probably heard that a million times, but he's still going to repeat it because god forbid something happen to Ren at this point.]

[catpiper]

I will. I don't want to ever let it go. I'll keep it very safe.

[She loves this rock, Tim. It's not going anywhere. No worries.]

[postictal]

Good. That's...good.

[It's the most any of them can ask for, apparently.]

Stay safe, then, okay?

[catpiper]

I will. I'm always safe. You have to remember to run and hide from scary things too.

[postictal]

You know me. I always do.

[Usually.]