pontmercyfriend: (Kid!Marius 5)
Marius ([personal profile] pontmercyfriend) wrote2015-04-12 07:02 am

Running around like a clown on purpose.

Awakening beneath a jumbled pile of sheets, Marius doesn't register that anything is off, at first. He yawns as he blinks awake, staring at the mostly unadorned wall across from his bed. His first thought follows the loud, rumbling noise of his stomach. Suddenly, he doesn't remember if he actually, in fact, had dinner last night at all. He'd spent almost all of yesterday reading; he must have forgotten to eat, his head too much wrapped up in both the clouds and his past week in general.

"Mrow?"

Courfeyrcat mews before pouncing on him, landing clean on the middle of his stomach. Marius winces, surprised by how much heavier his cat seems, before he blinks again and gets a good look at himself.

Most of the sheets he finds himself entangled in are his own pajamas; he is all but drowning in his own shirt, and his tiny legs are tangled in just one side of his pants. He blanches before flailing, much to his cat's dismay, and falls off the side of his bed. He makes his way to the mirror above his dresser, which, he realizes, he can't see unless he stands on the tops of his toes.

"Dieu," he exclaims, clamping his hands over his mouth at the high pitch of his voice. His hair is a brighter shade of red, longer, and even more out of control than usual; his eyes are widened, trying to take in the sight of himself. He looks exactly as he did back in Paris when he was 8. And still, Marius; stomach grumbles. How on God's green earth did he suddenly become younger again?

That's when his pajama pants slide off him completely, and Marius knows his first order of business; as much as he wants to freak out right now, he requires clothes that actually fit; and then he can have a proper cry, or whatever it is young children do these days.

"Right," he tells himself, glancing around. He owns absolutely nothing that will possibly fit him, so he'll have to go out and purchase a new outfit for himself. In the mean time...

He runs over to his bed again, crawling back up and grabbing one of the pillows. He shakes it out of the dark brown case, and takes said case with him to the kitchen; he grabs one of his belts, too, before he goes. By the time he finishes, Marius feels relatively accomplished; he's managed to fashion himself an outfit, not entirely unlike a toga - he's cut holes in the case for sleeves, and wrapped the belt around the middle to keep it up. He lacks shoes, so he'll just have to go barefoot for the time being. Inexplicably, he giggles at thought.

With all that said and done, and a mournful Courfeyrcat glaring at him, Marius grabs some cash from his wallet and makes his way to his door. Forgetting, of course, his apartment keys.

"Damn it!" He shouts, banging his tiny fist against the door after it falls shut. He groans; he'll just have to convince someone he is actually himself, he supposes. Or learn how to pick locks, whichever proves the easier option.

Still, there's nothing that can be done now; Marius needs new clothes so he looks less ridiculous. His stomach interrupts the thought with another growl. Okay, after breakfast.

He makes his way to one of his favorite cafes close to Dimera apartments. The pavement hurts his bare feet, especially with the morning chill, but he finds he doesn't mind; oddly, Marius grins at the sensation. There's something oddly freeing about being this small and having only the ground beneath him. He's tempted to run, the way he's seen gamins weaving in and out on the streets of Paris.

"Hold it, kid."

He approaches the cafe, only to be stopped by a nearby police officer he failed to notice. His shoulders tense and scowls at being called a 'kid.' He is a twenty-three old man, thank you very much. Currently trapped inside the body of an eight year old, but still. The indignity of it all.

"Yes, sir?" He says, trying to stay polite. He doesn't want to cause any trouble if he can help it. "I'm just trying to get something to eat."

"Where are your parents?" The officer asks him, peering down at him over a pair of sunglasses. He looks like a monster, Marius petulantly thinks. But then he realizes: he has to lie. He has to think of some convincing lie, just to get the officer off his back.

He is a terrible liar, even as child.

"Dead," he says, plainly, as if he were answering a simple question such as 'what's your favorite color.'

The officer stares at him, clearly taken aback by the answer. "Alright kid, I'm going to need you to come with me."

Marius glares; he really, really dislikes being called 'kid.'

But then, the policeman is reaching for him. He recoils and ducks, grateful in that moment for his small size as he turns to run as fast as he can.

"Kid, come back here!" The officer huffs, though, unfortunately for Marius, he is not the sort of police uninspired by running. Indeed, as Marius glances back, he finds the other man keeping up with him, nearly overtaking him.

Shit, he thinks, wincing as his feet stumble over debris on the sidewalk. He only barely manages to swerve and avoid a shard of broken glass; bouncing off a nearby brick building as he runs, grinning at the thrill of it. He feels like he could fly, if he just set his mind to it.

This is, of course, the moment when the officer grabs Marius by the arm.

"Alright now, kid, come on. It's alright, we'll take care of you - Jesus Christ!"

Marius doesn't think; he elbows the man where he knows it will hurt the most on instinct. And then he's off running again, making himself move as fast as he can possibly go. His stomach starts to cramp, though, as it reminds him that he still hasn't had breakfast, and suddenly, as he turns into an alley, searching for a place to hide, the dumpster, perhaps, he is actually flying, for a few, brief moments.

"Ow!" He grimaces, glancing down to find his knee cut up and bloody. Damn it all.

"Don't cry, don't cry," he mumbles to himself, chewing on his lip as though that might stop his tears. Grandfather disapproved of him crying.

He manages to right himself, clinging to the wall for support as he keeps his tears in check. He eyes the dumpster, even as the thought repulses him. Better than letting that awful man take him away.
propertool: (you aren't afraid of the dark)

[personal profile] propertool 2015-04-25 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"The world is always scary. No matter how big you are. You just get numb to it," Dorian says, stroking Marius' hair despite himself. There is a part of him that will miss Marius being this small and open. When he is older, probably, and Dorian still has the urge to stroke his hair comfortingly, probably.

It's a little less socially acceptable.

"How do you know about adult stores?" Dorian asks, suspicious, forgetting for a half second that it's very likely that Marius, old as he actually is, knows about things like that.

"But no. I don't go to those stores. I get that sort of thing delivered discreetly to my chambers by other people. I'm going to a massage parlour."
plaguedrat: (Frozen Heart)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-25 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's a play," Rat said, thoughtful "It's not quite the same as reading aloud a story." But Marius knew that, Rat had to remind himself. Marius had the memories of a grown man and he needed to stop talking to him like a child but...god.

He sighed a bit and then went to sit on the couch, beckoning Marius to join him while the cat sprawled out on top of his feet. Rat gave Polyphemus a look before nudging him over to make room for Marius.

"Go play with the damn mouse," he said, nudging the cat again.
propertool: (with all my desperate symmetry)

[personal profile] propertool 2015-04-25 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Dorian gives a guffaw at the idea that Marius managed to get a gift card to a sex shop in return for language tutoring. He is very handsome, and moreover, Dorian can only assume now that what he's heard about Orlesian men follows through with French ones. They must hold some sort of allure that the domestic sort just didn't have.

"She must have seen a little je ne sais quoi in you," he jokes. The sales attendant doesn't seem to be nearly as amused as Dorian about the turn of the conversation he's having with a child, however, and she lets Dorian know with a glower over the forbidding tortoiseshell frame of her glasses.

"Sure, a spa. Close enough. Why not?"
plaguedrat: (Eve)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-26 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
"She is. Sit here and you can read along," he said. Making no other comment, he wrapped his arm around Marius, tucking him him close.

There would be no easing the pain. He had read to Grey, performed for him. But he was an actress. If he couldn't move past the troubles of his own mind to perform, he was in the wrong business.

"Who's there?" he read. "Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself."
propertool: (every day the sky gets lower)

[personal profile] propertool 2015-04-26 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
Dorian snorts at Marius' continued, uncaring about the disapproval of the sales attendant. Dorian ought to take a lesson from this little Marius. He'll never see the sales attendant again. Why should he care for her opinion?

Taking a pair of shoes that look to be in the right size, he hands them off to Marius.

"Take these," Dorian says. "And yes. I like to get massages. I like big, strong hands all over me."
plaguedrat: (Macbeth stew)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-26 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
He read slowly through the first act, taking his time with the voices and making as many gestures as he could while lying on a couch with a small body curled up against his. He used to read like this to some of the kids in the West District before he'd realized they were getting too attached to him.

"You're so quiet, I'm going to think you fell asleep."
spirit_of_vitriol: (amused (Hollow Art))

[personal profile] spirit_of_vitriol 2015-04-26 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"I suppose I ought to have worked that out on my own," she says, as Marius identifies himself. "There's only so many ginger Frenchmen around." Once again, Darrow has shrunk another of its citizens to a much younger age; she tries not to think about how it had done the opposite to her--and only her, so far as she can determine--only a few months previous.

Grudgingly, she slows Gladys to a less breakneck pace, turning her towards Dimera.
plaguedrat: (Tender)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-27 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
"I suppose it would be," he agreed, even as he nudged the cat off his feet so he could lift Marius into his arms and carry him to the bedroom. A grown man's brain had quickly found itself undermined by the energy of a childish body and Rat folded Marius into bed before heaving the cat up to sit with him.
plaguedrat: (Tender)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-27 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
"You're not even going to stay away," Rat said. Thumbing to the first page of Act II, he tucked the blanket more securely around Marius and began to read.

A traitorous part of him told Rat that he'd never read to Grey like this, the other dozing away while he sat at the edge of the bed. Pushing the thought away, he stroked his hand over the cat's head.
behindmothersback: (Default)

[personal profile] behindmothersback 2015-04-27 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)

"It will go by faster than you imagine. And at least you can still study things, and read, and speak to your friends. The time will pass." But at the same time, I could imagine it would be a terrible inconvenience to be so small. Or maybe I'd had it easier, receding completely into the haze of my childhood, never knowing the difference.

Opening the door of the cab, I let Marius get in first in case he needed assistance as I give the cab driver the address of my apartment.

plaguedrat: (Tender)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-28 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
He turned briefly away from Hamlet to smile at Marius and run fingertips through his hair. "Liar."

Hamlet could wait. While Marius slept, Rat decided he needed a very strong cup of coffee and a splash of cold water to the face while he reminded himself that every part of this was a terrible idea.
plaguedrat: (Double Double Toil and Trouble)

[personal profile] plaguedrat 2015-04-29 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Of course you're not," Rat said, watching Marius drift off. The cat settled on top of him and looked at Rat as if to say he had the situation well in hand.

Tired and heartsore, he hummed an old song that had once kept the sadness at bay.
spirit_of_vitriol: (smirking (Hollow Art))

[personal profile] spirit_of_vitriol 2015-04-29 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Confounding the police is something I've had quite a lot of practice with," she boasts, smiling to herself as she imagines how Inspector Hewitt and his underlings might've reacted to her little show, had they been there to see it. P and accomplice evaded capture, she imagined he'd write in his casebook (one day soon, she was going to work out what P stood for; she hoped it was something impressive). Damned frustrating, but P so brilliant, can't find it in my heart to be upset.

"Thank you for not criticizing my French," she says. Catching sight of the apartment building only a few blocks away, she presses onward, closing the distance a little more with each revolution of Gladys' pedals. "Even if it didn't really matter what I said, considering he couldn't understand a word of it."

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