Chapter Text
118p9 was weird, she decided, pushing the playground gate open.
Taking the place she always took on the swing, m1l3je pushed off the ground, swinging for a bit before stopping. She had food with her, she had water, so there was no real reason to leave until the end of the day. Glancing at the school block at the bottom of the hill, she could see a group of kids outside on what looked like a basketball court, on the more grown-up side of the school. Gym class, she guessed.
The sun had almost passed her, so they were probably going to leave soon. Then maybe she could find 8p9...if he was easy to find. Not every robloxian under the sun was blue, especially not in this realm. (In hindsight, it'd probably make him easier to spot. She felt a little stupid.)
Humming to herself, m1l3je swung again, letting the wind brush past her as she did. It was a bit warmer here today. Very nice. She hadn't been here long, just an hour or two, and even then most of her time was spent travelling; where 8p9 lived was so far away from the station she defaulted to...
m1l3je's mind wandered. 8p9 really was weird. What kid didn't have an ID at his age? He didn't have one already, it was weird. She got hers when she was seven, and even then she'd just nagged her mapa until they gave in. But she had one, and she could wander. Not like him.
Had he been on a train yet? He'd probably like how chaotic they were. The yelling, the pushing and shoving, the strategy-talking, the music....the quiet, if you could find it. Mostly made by people too old or shy to start chaos, but when a car was quiet, it stayed quiet. ...she fell asleep once, and almost went to a realm about horses.
Bickering cut her out of her thoughts.
"...you, and you didn't!" The voice was older, out of breath. Someone not used to the hill.
"I gave you the paper!" There 8p9 was. "It's not my fault if-"
Uh oh. m1l3je stood from the swingset, going to the fence to try and see what the hell was going on.
"Shut up! Shut up, I don't wanna hear you if you're just gonna take the mick of it!"
"I'm not-"
"You are!! You think I'm dumb!"
"I don't!"
m1l3j3 could see someone taller than 118p9 standing by him, getting too close for comfort. The poor kid was visibly nervous, even though he tried to keep a brave face.
"If you touch me I'll-"
"You'll what? Go to your mammy? 'Cause that worked last time, huh?"
Right. m1l3je slipped over the fence so she wouldn't have to open the creaky gate, slinking closer to the altercation.
"She helped you! So much!" The boy laughed, pushing 8p9 back. He caught himself quickly, bracing for another. "Maybe she'll help you out again!"
"HEY!" m1l3je barked. The bigger kid looked over, but 118p9 didn't. She was a bit disheartened when he flushed and turned away.
"Who the hell are you?" Letting go of 8p9, the bigger kid came over. It took a lot not to growl at him.
"Get lost! Leave him alone!" Hands curling into fists, m1l3je stood a little taller, tensed to try and look bigger.
He didn't say anything for a few moments, before turning back to 8p9 with a snicker. "What, you're friends with girls now?"
118p9 took a breath to say something, but gave up. He broke eye contact, unsure of what to say.
"That's why you've been a no-show, that's why you.....heh. Penny's got a girlfriend!"
"She's not my-!!"
"Whateeever! She's got more balls than you, that's for sure!" He ruffled 8p9's head— him flinching at the touch— before turning to leave. "See ya tomorrow, freak!"
It was only when the other boy had left that 8p9 let himself face m1l3je. "What. Why??? Why would you-?!"
She deflated a little. "...I thought it'd help....and it did! He went away!"
"Y-yeah, but I still have to see him tomorrow!"
"...oh."
8p9 didn't go to the swing, instead going to sit cross-legged under the slide, palms on his cheeks as he looked blankly down at the floor. Hesitating, m1l3je went to join him, fiddling with her hands as she lowered to the floor.
"...sorry." she mumbled.
"It's fine." he said.
"He's not gonna hurt you, is he...?"
"Wouldn't. If he beats me up I don't need to do his homework."
A pause.
"....was that Thoby?" she asked.
"...yeah."
"He's big."
"Yeah....he's in the comp side."
"Comp?"
"...yeah, like....uh...." 8p9 thought for a while. " ...high...school?"
"Ohhh...."
The two fell silent for a bit. 118p9 scratched a spot on his cheek.
"...are you gonna be okay?" m1l3je scooted a little closer, which made 8p9 look over.
"Yeah."
A pause.
"OH YEAH- I wanted to show you something-"
Turning his bag to be at his front, 118p9 rummaged in it, before taking out a phone. The screen was chipped, a few coloured stains here or there on the back. He selected an app, before scrolling back a bit, showing her the screen.
m1l3je's eyes scanned over the texts. She started at the top of the screen, skimming over a 'where are you', an 'i'll be home in 20 minutes'....before realising she was probably looking in the wrong place.
"I'm gonna get an ID soon!" 8p9 said, his voice chipper. "Mam said she'd let me get one on my birthday!"
"Heck yeah!" m1l3je smiled, sitting straighter up. "You can go wherever you wanna go then!"
"Yeah!" 8p9 put his phone away.
"And!!! And and and! You get to make an account so you get to have a display and you can change your name to whatever you want it to be! Only in realms though. You're still...y'know, you, but..."
"So a nickname?"
"Uh huh! ...you said it better than me."
A small hush ran over them for a bit. m1l3je slowly rocked back and forth, her hands tapping her knees.
"You said you...didn't have a display." 118p9 mumbled, fiddling with the pebbles on the floor.
m1l3je paused, turning to look at him, not sure if she heard him right.
"...why not?" he asked.
m1l3je shrugged. "Dunno. Never had a nickname. Also I kinda like being m1l3je...like 'oh look, it's me!', and no one else can be m1l3je but a lotta people have displays."
8p9 nodded a 'that's fair'.
"Aaaanyway-" She let herself slouch again, getting comfortable in the smaller space under the slide. "What's yours gonna be?"
8p9 took a little while to respond. "I dunno...I don't really have nicknames. ...there's penny, but no one calls me that because they like me."
"Penny? Why Penny?" She blinked at him.
"Because 8p. 8 pence. 8 pennies." 8p9 sighed. "...89p, 11, quid....a lotta dumb stuff. But my user's just numbers and 'p' so I had it coming."
"Huh." m1l3je paused for a moment, before sitting straighter up again. Her tail brushed against the playground floor, sweeping over the pebbles and the occasional wood bit.
"When you get your ID?" she scooped a handful of tiny rocks, before pouring them back on the floor, "When you get it, we're gonna go everywhere. I'm gonna show you the big main station and all the trains and everything," (8p9 perked up at the mention of trains, and she grabbed his shoulders) "and, Pence, I'm gonna show you the world."
A pause. "Can I call you Pence?"
"O-okay!"
"Cool! It's gonna be so cool, dude! No one's gonna be able to stop us!! No one ever!!!" Shaking him a bit, m1l3je let go, grinning. Her excitement seemed to bleed through to him, 8p9 looking a bit more alive now.
"When's your birthday? When are you getting it!"
"Uh- t-two weeks! December 7th!"
"Two weeeeeks!!!!" she shook him again.
"Okay, o-okay!" Letting himself laugh, Pence raised his hands to try and stop m1l3je, which made her let go of him.
The joy lingered until he had to leave, and the squeak of the playground gate as he left seemed to cut off the conversation. He put his headphones on again, leaving with a slight pep in his step.
- + -
m1leje couldn't stop smiling. She knew she probably should, her mapa had told her she'd look crazy if she smiled by herself, but she didn't care. She was happy! She was really, really happy! She'd finally get to run around stations not by herself! It was gonna be awesome, she just knew it! The swings felt boring all of a sudden, so she swung around the merry-go-round until the world spun too much, sat in the pebbles until it stopped, and then picked her bag up and started to skip back to the station.
She didn't see anyone she recognised, which was a relief in itself. She didn't wanna be stuck in a conversation with someone she wouldn't remember, she just wanted to run. Of course she couldn't run, not on the street, so she settled to jog instead. Was she in a rush for the next train? No, not really. She had nowhere to be except here and home.
Speaking of home...she looked up at the street clock. Her mapa probably wanted her home by now. Whatever, they could wait for her to get off the train. It wouldn't take long, just....what, twenty minutes? Some realms took hours to get to! She could be further away, she could be out of the Robloxia district, they had worse to worry about! But she was right here!
Scanning her ID at the ticket booth, m1l3je strode in with nothing weighing her confidence. She knew the drill, anyway. Catch the train to Brickmill, walk through the smallest realm there for a quick scenic detour, and then take a quick turn into nowhere to where home was.
Was her mapa gonna be pissed off? Probably. Their problem. She wasn't late, or whatever, just lingered a little longer, walked a little slower, looked around a bit more. Not even bothering to test her key (they didn't leave home if she was out very often), m1l3je jiggled the handle before pushing the front door open.
"Where the hell have you been?" The sound of beads and clacking heels welcomed her home.
"Nowhere!" m1l3je didn't bother to put her bag down.
"Don't say 'nowhere'. I know you've been everywhere except nowhere." Looking a bit red in the face, 5h1k4um0 turned the corner, hands shaking as they held onto a book m1l3je never bothered to read.
"I mean nowhere!" She crossed her arms with a huffed exhale, her tail flicking behind her. "I've literally just been in tiny realms, it's no biggie!"
"You're late, m1l3je. And- ugh, you didn't even bother to hide-?! You know what? No. You'd better have a good frickin' reason for not coming back earlier."
"Come on, It's like half four!"
"It's duskhour in ten!"
Her eyes widened. "Damn."
"...so?" Her mapa's eyebrows furrowed, and they looked through her, demanding a response.
"So what?"
"Where the hell have you been?!"
"Why do I gotta say?!"
The silence lingered for a moment.
"Fine. I'll tell you again."
She was tired of hearing it.
"Do you know what you are? A Drako. Do you know what they do to Drakobloxxers nowadays?"
"They lock 'em up." she muttered with a scowl.
"They lock them up." 5h1k4um0 snapped right back. "And they're going to kill YOU."
Bla bla bla. m1l3je toned out half of her mapa's complaints. She wasn't expecting understanding. They always kept yapping on about the price of keeping a dragon well hidden, only for her to come along and mess it all up. She wished they'd swear, so the Network's censor would at least shut them up for a word.
"Do you want to die, m1l3je?"
"...no." She couldn't help but scowl.
Her scowl only seemed to piss 5h1k4um0 off more. "Then stop being stupid."
"Yeah, yeah."
Her bag strapped to her shoulders, m1l3je started to go up the stairs. Her mapa didn't try and stop her, instead sighing with a mutter and going back to their study. Witchcraft wasn't readily available, not anymore, so they were often swamped with commissions. Not like it mattered, m1l3je thought with a huff. She didn't want attention anyway, that's what the realms were for! Yeah, she'd started to tone down her travels, but she still ran around and had fun, hopping to another if someone recognised her as...illegal? She thought it was stupid how that rule was only put in just after she spawned. It wasn't fair.
m1l3je threw her bag onto her bed, doing a spin for no real reason before she dropped to a kneel, face buried in the covers. There was never anything to do here, it was so boring! This realm was kinda...under the law, or whatever, so people only really came here to buy or to sell, never to play. Or if they did, never for long.
Standing back up again, she looked at the small CD player she'd gotten the same year as her ID. She used to run around, switching tix for bux, buying dumb looking albums just for having them. With a smirk, she went to pick out her favourite one, putting the CD in the radio.
Just til' December. Then she'd have a train buddy who stuck around.