#pizzadoff

@pizzadoff is calling, pick up phone!

don't mind guini, sacch. he's just awkwardly sort of...half-hiding behind you. it's fine. don't worry about it.

oh! couldn't say he was expecting to see guini holed up in creech's apartment, but he supposed it did make sense. the two of them seemed to be pretty close, understanding each other in a way peppino simply could not, being the only human of the lot.

enough time had passed since the tower had fallen that peppino had lapsed back into his old routines, no longer on high alert for danger or on the lookout for changes in his environment. while he was never totally at ease, he at least was not buzzing with anxiety each time he set foot outside his restaurant at night. the darkness was vast and mysterious as it once was, rather than in strange new ways that required him to spend much more time than he liked to assuring his surroundings were safe.

unfortunately, his relative ease as compared to the past few weeks worked against his favor tonight. because if he'd been just a little more suspicious, a little more wary, he would have noticed a pair of strange eyes peering out at him from amidst a pile of boxes.

the clone was desperate. it was running low on nourishment, no longer in plentiful supply thanks to the resources of the tower which had once been available to it. and desperation had made it aggressive, angry, and stupid. it KNEW that this territory had been claimed, and that hunting on ITS turf could only end badly if IT caught wind of the stray clone's presence.

but the stray clone was so hungry. it had nothing left, no fellow clones to hunt with, no shelter to rest in, no objective to keep its addled and malformed brain occupied with rather than agonizing over why in god's name did it exist why did it think and what WAS it and who was it and why god WHY DID IT EXIST

so. it would eat. if it could eat, it could survive. that simple drive was all it had anymore, so it surrendered to that simple truth.

peppino, for his part, had no fuckin' clue he was about to be jumped. his only warning was the sound of boxes shifting as the thing braced itself for the jump, and then —

LUNGE!

@pizzadoff is calling , pick up phone!

the clone slinks through the doors, cupping something in its hands with surprising gentleness. It makes its way over to the kitchen, stopping as soon as it inevitably gets pepps attention. " ppino has. present. " in its hands is a small brown frog that it..somehow managed to catch. the little thing is surprisingly calm, considering the circumstances. perhaps it's frog to frog communication of some kind.

peppino had no idea what to expect when pino mentioned a ' present ', eyeing the creature's closed hands suspiciously as it unfurled them.

" ... a frog, " he stated, still at a loss for a proper reaction to this scenario. " what, is it a pet? a snack? i hear froggies taste pretty good breaded and fried ... "

pepp offered a finger to the little amphibian. it was sort of cute, he guessed. he hadn't had any pets since he was a boy, so he wouldn't know the first thing about attending to its needs.

oh, this does not ... look. great.

the splatters of blood make him think there must be a body out here, somewhere. maybe pino ( ??? is that pino?? ) has already devoured the corpse of its prey, so. that makes things ... easier?

pepp stares down the thing currently peering at him, frozen in place. an old fear creeps up from deep within his mind, that this will be the day his strange, inhuman clone turns violent and decides it no longer has use for him.

except for as its next meal

send me a △ and ask a really invasive question aimed at my character.

[ how much he wants to answer: 8 / 10 ]

" huh? you really want my opinion? "

given guini had started working for him by just ... showing up and starting a shift, it kinda surprised him the guy wanted his input on the matter! he figured it was a clone thing, being made to do something specific and finding the most comfort in simply returning to it.

PARRY SFX

gui ni want s . ... . In

" sheesh. maybe i got to start charging rent here. "