#amapoints

@despairinversion​

At first, he feared the sun.

It was hot and blinding, and a reminder of vulnerability. Phoenix slunk back against the wall, bringing up an arm to protect himself from the light until his eyes adjusted and sight was returned. Slowly, he lowered his guard and let himself finally see what was before him.

And it was beautiful.

People. It was humans who sauntered the streets peacefully, exchanging and speaking. Children were playing in the green parks and the elderly watched them from the park bench. While this Earth was not the one he was most familiar with, it quickly became his most preferred.

The buildings were small and primitive, like the ones he’d seen in pictures and web articles on the Internet as a child, but their compact size was quaint and the brickwork was admirable. He reached out and brushed his fingers on the rough stone walls, appreciating the art of work put into them.

                  ❝ This is well unbelievable. ❞

He started alongside the walls, wandering for a while, touching and examining everything that he could come into contact with. Not damaged, not dirty, and in fact well maintained. Exactly as it should’ve been. There were no robots to speak of, but that was fine by him. Because there was people. Not alien overlords or aquatic beastdogs.

Real, actual people.

                  ❝ Excuse me, laddie. ❞

He stopped one man, reaching out to touch him. He stole a moment to really look at the man, who might have never known the shadows under bridges and the salty scent of hunters. And that astounded him. Slowly, he opted not to touch the other and retracted his hand.

No. He wasn’t surprised. He was still startled by the first appearance because he hadn’t seen it yet before, but Steven knew more than well enough to not be that surprised. Aliens, and space travel, and magic, all those things should’ve made him numb to this.

But a walking, talking fox!

            “Whaaat!?”

He couldn’t help himself, hurrying over to the other, ignoring all mannerisms for the sake of excitement. Something new to learn, a new person to meet. Starry eyes examined the unusual existence before him as he circled the fox for a better look. Finally, he stopped and met with his gaze.

            “You know. The left over stuff in the deep frier. That’s what I want! I want the bits!”

This was the fourth shop he made his attempt for the ever elusive fry bits. One shop had been kind enough to oblige but it wasn’t the same. So, began his hunt all over town for fry bits that would suffice enough for him. (For now, that other place would just have to do.)

He finally pulled himself away from the fourth fry counter and leaned back on his heels as the cashier told him to either buy something or leave. Steven opted for latter.

He hadn’t made it very far away from the counter when he spotted a half-familiar face. With a slight smile, he cast aside his current mission for the sake of a friend and approached her promptly.

            “Hey! It’s you!”

As he made it to her side, he realised he didn’t really know anything about her. She was just a face he saw from time to time and, simply, he just remembered. Perhaps a time like this would ideal to make introductions.

Steven had been watching him for a while now, and he knew it was rude to stare but he really couldn’t take his eyes off the guy. He was praying the stranger wouldn’t catch him or wouldn’t mind a brief conversation. He had come to watch a movie and instead he was watching strangers...

Regardless, he finally decided it was best to say something. The boy approached the man and pointed up at his head.

He had almost forgotten about them. Well, not actually, but he figured that he should make use of them before they weren’t good anymore. Besides, it was sweltering out and he would appreciate any way to cool down.

Steven placed down his box of water balloons behind a bush in the gardens and grinned to himself. Well, he was here; might as well have fun with the things he had been given.

He pulled a water balloon out of his tiny arsenal and chuckled a bit to himself. He peeked out from behind the bush and looked around for a perfect victim. He grinned, wound up his arm, and whipped the water balloon as hard as he could towards the male.

The water balloon landed a good few feet to his left and Steven laughed, popping up from his hiding spot.

              “Missed! A perfect chance and I blew it!”

He picked up a second water balloon and tossed it in the air with one hand.

              “Here! Catch!”

He tossed it at the stranger and smiled.

He walked down the street, glancing at all the streets signs and trying to gauge which of them seemed the most interesting. Currently, he was munching away on some fries from a fast food, handful at a time, though he wasn’t particularly moved by their taste.

Fryman always had the best fries. (And fry bits.)

The place was massive, comparable to Empire City, but at least he wasn’t lost yet. (Well, he might’ve been, if the Spiral place wasn’t so tall that he couldn’t see it from far away.)

The people seemed fairly normal, capable of small talk before walking away again. Well, most people seemed normal. This guy, who Steven saw not far ahead of him, was definitely not even close to normal. Actually, if he dared implore, this guy almost looked like he should’ve been an... alien!

              “Hey! Hey, Mister!”

He threw one fry greased hand in the air and ran up to the alien-looking man, eyes wide with interest. He glanced him around, looking up and down, then finally grinning at the weird man.