forum “You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful... something not everybody knows how to love.”// No more people please // OcxOc

Started July 17, 2021 by @michael_rainer_eats_uranium group

tune

Mothman nodded, immediately remembering the way. “Yeah, I can take you there. No problem. Hop on.” He lowered his wings so that Pogo and Ender could climb on. Ender got on, and held onto the top of his wing.

Pogo climbed on, clinging to Mothman with a newfound anxiety now that it seemed to dawn on him what exactly was going to happen.

"Y-You, uh…. you don't fly too high off the ground, do you…?"

Mothman shrugged. ”I kinda have to, to be able to see the way out of here…”
Ender put his hand over Pogo’s, gripping it gently. “It’ll be over quickly.”

Pogo didn't respond, too busy clutching to Mothman like his life depended on it. He hated being afraid, but he was absolutely petrified by heights and that hadn't changed since he was a boy.

"J-Just… get it over with…"

Mothman took off, and they started making their way out of the woods. Ender grinned the whole time, loving the feeling of the wind on his face. After about 2 minutes, he landed just outside of the woods and lowered his wings for them to climb off. Ender’s hair was blown back by the wind, and settled to the side. It looked nice, but was very different to how it usually looked.

Pogo slowly climbed off of Mothman, only now realizing just how badly he was shaking.

Holy Hell, kid, are you okay..?

He clung to Ender, almost instinctively. He'd be okay, he just… needed a minute.

Ender held him, stroking his hair gently, trying to calm him down. “Hey….it’s gonna be okay….we’re on the ground now….”

Pogo eventually managed to pull himself together. He pulled away from Ender, managing a smile.

"P-Probably should'a told you about it earlier," he laughed weakly. "Sorry, just… not so good with heights."

He took Ender's hand, turning to face away from the woods and towards the city that bordered it.

"Thanks for—… for getting us out," he told Mothman, before glancing up at Ender.

"Where, uh, did you want to go?"

Mothman gave him a small headpat. ”No problem, kiddo. See ya around.” He took off again, flying back into the woods.
Ender’s eyes lit up. “E v e r y w h e r e”
He had always wanted to see all the average and mundane places and things humans did. They were new to him, and he wanted to learn all about it.

Pogo grinned.

"Well, I… could take you to my place," he suggested. "As a starting point. We'd have quite a few options from there, and I'd just like to water my plants before we really start exploring."

Ender nodded excitedly. He was absolutely ecstatic to see all of the human things.

"This place is close to where I entered the woods from, which means, hopefully, my place is nearby…"

He pulled Ender along, his gaze focused upwards at the street signs and traffic directions. He stuck to the sidewalk, for the most part, only crossing the road when cars were mostly absent.

"Runner's Avenue.. Poplar Road… aha! Lancing Way, that's the street!" he breathed a sigh of relief. "We were closer than we thought."

The two eventually arrived at a small apartment complex. Pogo let go of Ender's hand, searching through his satchel until he found his keys. He made his way over to a door with the number "107" printed on the front, fumbled with his keys for a moment, then pushed the door open.

Inside was a small apartment house, the doorway immediately opening up to a living room and branching out into only two other rooms – the kitchen and the bedroom. Most notable about the apartment was the numerous kinds of plants that decorated the place. Succulents and cacti sat on the windowsill, a bonsai tree sat on a coffee table in the living room, and many plants hung from planters on the ceiling — and that was the tip of the iceberg.

"Make yourself at home; we won't stay here too long."

Ender admired all of the city scenery, curious about anything and everything the city had to offer. When he got inside, he was immediately captivated by the plants. He had never seen these plants before; he had only ever seen weird, radioactive variations. He looked at them closely, grinning.
“How do they name the streets? Do they just….. pick something? What if there’s already a street named that?” He tilted his head.

Pogo dug through his closet, pulling out a watering can and a pair of gloves. He snickered at Ender's question.

"I dunno. It really does feel like they just slap on a name, doesn't it? You'll definitely find duplicates, but less so in the city itself. If we were to go to another state, we could probably find a street name that's the same here."

He got to work, putting on the gloves and filling the watering can up at the sink, dousing each plant in the kitchen carefully with a bit of water.

"From my apartment we've got…"

He paused both his sentence and his watering to try and recall just exactly what there was to do. He wasn't someone to get out much.

"Well… I dunno. We could wander, figure out some places together. I uh, hah, don't really remember."

Ender smiled at him. His excitement practically radiated from his body. “I wanna see it all!” He already loved the city, and was so curious about all the things humans did there.

It did take a good few minutes, but eventually Pogo had gotten around to every plant. He put away his gloves and watering can, wiping his hands on his shirt and his brow with a sleeve, sighing quietly.

"Okay, now I can rest easy. If you don't need something while you're here, I'm all set to go."

“I’m ready.” Ender was hopping up and down, waiting at the door.

Pogo shook his head slowly. Ender's enthusiasm for the city, he had once felt himself — but that enthusiasm had faded a long time ago.

But he smiled. Ender could be enthusiastic for the both of them.

He opened the door, shutting and locking it when the two had left. He took Ender's hand in his, nodding his head forward.

"Lead the way. We can hit whatever place catches your eye."

He looked around; everything looked so different. The city wasn’t very crowded, since most people were at work at this time. Hee was fascinated by screens and TVs, especially. He didn’t understand how they worked, but he loved them.
He pointed at a McDonalds. “What’s that?”

Pogo blinked. "Oh. Wait. Really? You've never seen a McDonald's before?"

Holy cow. He knew Ender didn't get to see the city much, but this made him determined to make sure Ender got to see everything that made it great.

"It's like.. fast food. You don't even have to go inside. If you're in a hurry, you just pull up your car beside the building, get your food, and leave."

He hesitated, seeming to debate with himself.

You can hardly afford rent, Al. There's no way you'd be able to splurge, Kapnos muttered.

But… just once wouldn't hurt, would it?

You say that, and I'll remind you when you get evicted.

He sighed. Fine.

"We just had breakfast, though, so we can come back later."

“Woah!” His eyes shimmered. In his excitement, an extra eye popped up on his cheek. He didn’t seem to notice.

Pogo's eyes widened, and he pulled Ender to the side, facing him, and hopefully so that no one passing by would catch a glimpse.

"Hey, you're.." he began, gesturing at his own cheek to subtly inform Ender of what was going on with his visage.

“Oh-“ He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating hard on keeping up his human form. The eye closed, and went back to its prior scar-like appearance. He gave a sigh of relief.
“Thanks for telling me…that could’ve been bad….”