02: Acumen

Marielle panics and tries to run away, leaving Bohoja behind. Big Brother pays Bohoja a visit.

"Of course I know your name. Why would I choose you for this if I didn't know your name? Or anything else about you for that matter." Bohoja turned around and began walking towards her. "I've been monitoring all of your dreams ever since you were just a child. I always knew that you'd be the one to save these Worlds." he stopped walking when he was about 3 feet in front of her. "We need you. For the sake of the survival of the entire Human population, for my sake, you have to do this!" he took both of her hands in his and looked her directly in the eyes. "Please, Marielle..."

A wave of trepidation washed over Marielle. She became cold and started to tremble. "But I... I can't..." she trailed off and began taking slow steps backwards. "I'm sorry... you've got the wrong girl." her voice quivered. Slipping out of Bohoja's weak grasp, Marielle started running in the opposite direction. Just as she'd entered this nightmare, she'd continue. Blindly running, hoping to get away.

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Bohoja silently watched after Marielle. He could understand why she was afraid. Anyone would refuse at first, right? "Well... that's understandable, I suppose." he said to himself. "I can just send Big Brother after her." he closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. "Poor girl..."

Bohoja opened his eyes and, as expected, he was back in his house. He walked over to the bag of food that he'd set in the table earlier. He began unpacking it all, walking each item, one by one, over to a counter in his kitchen. Upon looking over it all, he noticed that a cup of yogurt was missing.

For a while, Bohoja just stood there with his usual dead-pan expression. He shifted his weight to his left food and placed a hand on his hip. With a click of his tongue and an irritated sigh, he said something through gritted teeth. "Big Brother. Come out. I know you're here."

"Aw!" a man's voice said. "You caught me." Big Brother climbed through one of Bohoja's windows with a grin on his face. His eyes and pendant were red, signaling that he was in Ostili state. Usually, when in his Ostili state, he's hostile and picks fights with everyone and everything he sees.

"I just thought I'd liven up your hum-drum life for a bit." he gave a charming smile, causing his jagged, triangular teeth to shine in the dim morning light. 

"You're only causing trouble." Bohoja frowned a bit and stuck out his hand. "Give me the yogurt."

Big Brother tossed the yogurt at Bohoja, who caught it without any effort. "You're no fun!" he pouted and took a seat on a counter top. "Gimme some food."

"Get your own food." Bohoja scowled and walked over to Big Brother. He stood on his toes in order to reach the man's pendant. With a swift tug, he forced Big brother to go into his Dayālu state, causing his eyes and pendant to turn an icey blue color. This was a technique that only Bohoja could perform.

Big Brother's eyes softened and he frowned. He shyly unfolded his fan and held it up to his mouth, lightly fanning himself. "I'm sorry..." he said in a gentle, quiet voice. His eyes were shifted to the side, looking down as if he were ashamed.

Bohoja gave an empathetic sigh and patted Big brother's shoulder. "That's alright. You have no control over it. Now get off of my counter." he stepped back and allowed for Big Brother get off of the counter and sit at the table. "You're hungry, aren't you?" Bohoja glanced over his shoulder. Big Brother just nodded.

Big Brother looked around at the kitchen. There wasn't much of a border between the dining room and the kitchen, so you could sit at the table and watch someone cook. The kitchen had dark blue granite counter tops and Tigerwood cabinets. There were pots and pans hanging on the walls, along with numerous paintings. 

Bohoja quietly sang a song while working on the food. His voice was like honey, causing nothing but pleasant thoughts. Big Brother closed his eyes for a while and let his mind drift to another world. This seemed to be something that happened to everyone when Bohoja sang.

For the best effect, please listen to this song.

Big Brother imagined himself sitting on a hill near a valley, surrounded by nothing by grassland for miles. Deep in the valley was a forest. Birds flew around above the trees, calling out for each other. The morning air was crisp and fresh, the light scent of flowers drifting around. A light breeze tugged at him, beckoning him into the valley. 

Standing up from his spot on the hill, he walks down to the entry to the forest. A small stream ran through the forest, the tranquil trickling sound of the water washing over the rocks accompanied by the tweeting from birds overhead made for a serene setting.

Suddenly, Big brother was snapped back to reality by the click of a plate being set in front of him. He partially opened his eyes, bringing his fan closer to his face to conceal the smile that had somehow crept onto his lips. He didn't know how long he'd been day-dreaming, but it didn't matter.

"Thank you." he nodded at Bohoja. The food that Bohoja made consisted of two slices of pumpkin bread with some jelly spread on top, a bowl of rice porridge, some sliced strawberries and a glass of soy milk. Big Brother sat his fan down and picked up a spoon. 

"Were you sleeping just now?" Bohoja asked in a slightly haughty tone. He was almost smiling, but managed to stop that from happening.

Big Brother shot a glare at Bohoja. "No. What makes you think that?" he gritted his teeth together, trying to keep his personality from shifting again.

"You had your eyes closed for quite a while... Well, never-mind that." Bohoja hurried to change the subject, sensing Big Brother's irritation. "Would you like anything else?"

"No. I'm fine, thank you." Big Brother shoved a mouthful of rice porridge into his mouth, still slightly annoyed. Bohoja sat down and propped his head up with his hand, leaning on his elbow. For a while, he just sat there with his eyes closed.

"I need to ask you another favor." Bohoja finally spoke up.

"What now? You've already asked me for something today." Big Brother groaned.

"I need you to catch up with Marielle. She's having a panic attack. That's understandable, though. She's only a girl, after all. Probably isn't well-prepared either." Bohoja cooed. "Poor girl..."

"Poor girl, indeed! She seems scared out of her mind. I'd be a bit scared too! Wouldn't you?" Big Brother pointed his spoon at Bohoja.

"I suppose..." he trailed off and watched Big Brother eat for a while. "Well?"

"Mm?" Big Brother looked at Bohoja with a clueless expression, a few grains of rice were sticking to the corners of his mouth.

"Will you go capture her?"

"Ob cosh ah wur." he said, food falling out of his mouth. He swallowed the mouthful of rice porridge. "Let me finish eating."

"Okay..." Bohoja sighed. He stood up and walked over to the kitchen to clean up. "Be gentle with her, okay? Don't scare her too much."

"I know." Big brother rolled his eyes. He downed the entire glass of soy milk, wiped his mouth, and stood up. "Well, I'm off. I'll be back in about 30 minutes."

Bohoja waved him off with the flick of his hand. "Be gentle."

"Yes, sir." Big Brother waved, walked out the door, and disappeared.

Author's Note

This chapter should be put together better than the previous, seeing as I wrote that one at 3 A.M. This time, we get to see more of Big Brother and Bohoja. Hopefully this will reveal more of their personalities.