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[mister_10_below]

[The voices are getting to him. He's trying to pretend like they aren't, but it's harder to pretend like everything's okay when he can't ignore the voices of people he's left behind, telling him it's not. Bobby'd shifted into his ice form, wanting the distance being made of ice helped him with

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[thii2ii22tupiid]

*Sollux isn't removing pumpkins, or talking to them (or even paying any attention to the voices), but he is wandering about looking for any he recognizes and didn't find yesterday. And so he comes across Ice!Bobby talking to one and pauses, watching with a raised eyebrow. He's never seen the mutant in his ice form before, but he recognizes the voice and know his power so...*

Bobby?

[mister_10_below]

[The sound of his name startles him, and he turns from his... not-conversation, at first surprised, and then a little sheepish.]

Oh. Um. Hi, Sollux.

[thii2ii22tupiid]

What are you doing?

[mister_10_below]

...talking to the pumpkin?

[And wow, that sounds really lame. And possibly crazy.]

I wasn't sure if they'd actually talk back, or just - talk on repeat.

[Yeah, that's totally the only reason he was talking to them.]

[needsnobottle]

[Tammy is standing in front of a pumpkin that...looks exactly like her. It's uncanny and it's really starting to freak her out. But she hasn't moved it yet, because while it does look like her--at least, before she cut her hair and went off to college--it's different enough to make her wonder if it might not be. Especially since, just yesterday, she met someone who said she looked like a friend of his.

She's got pumpkin goop streaked across her neck and shirt, and unlike yesterday, her arms are empty. She's immobile, staring at the face that might be her's and listening to it whisper.]

Pumpkins with secrets.

[mister_10_below]

[He's not really expecting anyone to be in front of the pumpkins he's looking for, but if he was, it'd be Scott or maybe Logan, not Tammy. But his surprise fades when he thinks about it, because, yeah. If he'd seen another pumpkin that looked like him, he'd be curious, too.

Bobby stands next to her, looking at the Kitty pumpkin before turning towards Tammy.]

Hey, Tammy.

[And he's just going to ignore pumpkin Kitty's whispers about him leaving them, now. Yup, not reacting at all.]

Not exactly the best thing to happen in your first few days here.

[needsnobottle]

[The temperature in the vicinity drops as Bobby joins her, but until she turns to look at him she just assumes that it's...

Except it's...]

B-bobby? Is...what...are you OKAY?

[He's covered in ice. What a question. Of course he's not okay. Shitshit--]

[mister_10_below]

[He's a bit taken aback by her question at first, until he remembers that, uh, yeah, she doesn't know about his powers.]

Crap, sorry! Yeah, I'm fine. I, uh. Well, I have abilities, and being able to turn into ice is one of them.

[agentknockknock]

[Claudia was making her way through the halls. Sitting in her room hearing voices was reminding her to much of a place she'd rather forget. She rounds a corner and there's Bobby. Only an ice version. Well that's new.

He was talking, no arguing with pumpkin with a young man's face carved into it. Even though it's one sided, it's still heated.]

Bobby?

[mister_10_below]

[It's the pleas for freedom that get him most. Bobby knows this isn't John, he knows it's a pumpkin, and he's heard the whispers of secrets and cruel words everywhere, but. It's John's voice, and he can't help but reply.

He whirls when he hears Claudia, startled.]

I, uh. Hi, Claud.

[Right, he hadn't meant to do that. He needs to just ignore them. Which he's going to do. Right now. Totally ignoring John pumpkin.]

[agentknockknock]

[She raises and eyebrow at him. She's confused by his form but not scared by it.]

OK we're going to talk about this whole [She waves her hand around, motioning to his whole body.] ice golem thing, later. But right now. You OK?

[mister_10_below]

[...can they talk about the ice golem thing now? That's a much better topic of conversation.]

Yeah. I'm fine. It's just - they're just hard to ignore.

[morningfeather]

[Te Ata is wandering the pumpkins, trying not to listen too much as she looks for familiar pumpkins. She stops in front of a face she doesn't recognize, staring at it for a moment before moving on.

A real voice cuts through the whispers and she follows it, only to find a man of ice speaking to the pumpkins.]

You should not listen to them. The coyote's words are meant to lead you astray.

[mister_10_below]

[He's a little caught up in his not!conversation, so it takes him a moment to realize that someone else is talking to him. When he does, he turns around, a bit sheepish at having been caught.]

Yeah. I know, I - the coyote?

[morningfeather]

Trickster spirits.

[She smiles faintly.]

Listening to their voices will only cause trouble.

[mister_10_below]

Oh.

[He smiles back, just as faintly.]

Yeah, I'm... starting to see that. It's hard, though, when they sound like people I know.

[And are saying things that could be true.]

[stillseecracks]

[These pumpkins are creepy. Xanth has faced voices like these before, on that hellship the Elegante, but those didn't have carved faces to accompany them.

What Xanth wonders, though, is why they're here.

He's yet to encounter his own pumpkin, for which he's thankful. He's seen the pumpkins of so many other people, so it only stands to reason that he'd have one, too...

But instead of finding his own pumpkin, he finds an iceman with a bleeding, whimpering pumpkin. He must have just taken it off the stake.

Still, the sight leaves Xanth wide-eyed.]

Ah-- a-ah, um.

A-Are you... o-okay?

[mister_10_below]

[No, he's really not okay. He's been doing this for a while now, and he's on his last pumpkin death. This one's a bit harder, maybe because he's had to do it three times already, maybe because, unlike the others, Pete's pumpkin had never actually said anything cruel. Just pleaded for freedom.

But he really doesn't want to freak Xanth out.

Well, not anymore than seeing him in ice form, staring at a dying pumpkin might have already done.

So instead of admitting that, he just carefully sets down the pumpkin and turns towards Xanth, attempting a smile.]

Yeah. I just - wanted them to stop whispering.

[His voice is slightly distorted, but still recognizable.]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth is wary, but when he realizes that he's talking to Bobby, he relaxes. He's not that freaked out - just a little skittish.

He hears the voices, too.

Xanth smiles, but it's gone in seconds.]

Y...Yeah.

I-- I-I don't-- I-I don't think they're... r-really a-- alive.

[But he doesn't sound so sure.]

[mister_10_below]

[It's all right. Bobby's smile isn't really there at all, either.]

I don't think so, either. I mean, they don't talk back.

Well, they do, obviously, but they can't hear you. They don't respond, just say things.

[Like ghosts. But he doesn't want to actually say that.]