29 Chimera Court, Wednesday Morning

[firstofitskind]

When Liam had gone to sleep the night before, he'd been a child. He knew, on some level, that something had gone wrong, because his instructions from his father when he'd been born hadn't involved spending any time as a child, and yet there he was. He hadn't been overly concerned about it, in any case.

Still, when he woke up this morning and noticed that he seemed to be taller, his limbs longer... well. It was a relief.

Until he looked in the mirror and saw a face staring back at him that still seemed kind of childlike. Older, yes, but too young to infiltrate Companion Services and fulfill his destiny. That was... troubling. Perhaps human DNA interacted oddly with Kimera DNA? Liam had no idea, and it wasn't as if there was anyone around he could ask.

He figured he ought to just make the best of it, starting with finding some breakfast.

[ooc: open for housemates or anyone else! i'm off to work until afternoon so pings from me will be sloooow for a bit.]

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[raspberryturk]

Reno stared at him for a long few seconds. And then he walked across the kitchen, grabbed an egg from the carton, and marched right back over to Liam.

"Hold out your hand."

[firstofitskind]

Liam did so slowly, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at Reno. What was going on?

[raspberryturk]

"Okay," Reno said, lifting his chin a little. "Now tell me, is there anything at all that's annoyed you, even a little bit, since you woke up this mornin'?"

[firstofitskind]

Did 'not being an adult yet' count?

"Yes." Liam decided it did.

[raspberryturk]

"Is it somethin' you can throw somethin' at?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam considered that. He could throw an egg at himself, he supposed. But then he'd be covered in raw egg.

"No."

[raspberryturk]

Reno sighed.

"Step outside with me for a minute, Rookie," he said, already starting for the door.

So friggin' help him, Liam, you were gonna throw that egg.

[firstofitskind]

"... 'Rookie'?" Liam echoed.

[raspberryturk]

"You're new," Reno replied, by way of explanation.

He meant 'to life around Reno,' mostly. But he wasn't wrong, either, was he?

[firstofitskind]

"That's true," Liam had to admit.

[raspberryturk]

"So c'mon," Reno said, because he'd clearly won that one, "you're gonna throw that egg at somethin', dammit."

It was the hill he was willing to die on, apparently.

[firstofitskind]

"Okay," Liam said, still sounding somewhat dubious but following Reno to the door nonetheless.

[raspberryturk]

Reno stepped outside, and then looked around for a moment. Something... something that Liam wouldn't be pissed about egging later, maybe.

He pointed at a nearby tree.

"Think you can hit that from here? Don't throw it yet, just answer, yo."

[firstofitskind]

Liam considered the tree.

"Yeah," he decided, after a moment. Although... he frowned. The tree hadn't done anything wrong, it was just a tree.

[raspberryturk]

Reno was going to despair of this kid yet.

"What's the matter now?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam was far too empathetic for his own good. It was what had made him good at his job, but it also made things like this somewhat difficult.

"It won't hurt the tree, will it? If I throw it?"

[raspberryturk]

"It'll hurt the egg a hell of a lot more'n it'll hurt the tree," Reno said, resisting the urge to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose.

Barely.

"We can find a wall or somethin' to chuck it at if you feel better. Or we're right by the beach. There's gotta be a big rock somewhere, yo."

[firstofitskind]

"That might be better," Liam decided. Look, Reno, just be glad he didn't bring up the fact that this was wasting food!

[raspberryturk]

Reno had grown beans to supplement eating rations in a nuclear wasteland for about a decade now.

He knew all about wasting food.

He'd probably cry, less about the food, and more out of despair.

"C'mon," he sighed, gesturing toward the shore. "There's gotta be a nice inanimate rock to chuck that little bastard at, yo."

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded and followed along, rolling the egg between his palms.

"For fun," he said, still sounding kind of dubious.

[raspberryturk]

"At this point, I'll take doin' it just to get me to shut up," Reno replied, picking his way over the beach, looking for a nice big rock. There, in the water, was a pretty decently sized one, not terribly far from shore. "How 'bout that? How you feel about that rock?"

[firstofitskind]

"It seems fine?" Liam said, gaze following Reno's. "I could hit that."

[raspberryturk]

"Good," Reno said. "Pretend that rock is that thing you're annoyed about. Just, really look at it hard and pick it out. That rock there? That's that thing you hate."

[firstofitskind]

Asking Liam to channel his emotions towards a physical object, Reno?

... That was a good way to end up with exploded rocks.

He could already feel the heat of the shaqarava building in his palms.

So, naturally, he panicked and flung the egg at the rock in question, hitting it square on, before jamming both his hands in his jean pockets.

[raspberryturk]

... Reno looked at the egg. And then at Liam. And then down at those hidden hands.

"That was interesting."

Not quite what he was going for. But interesting.