This is just a bit of IC development that I'm doing for Shenmock. Enjoy! ;D

Title: As Usual

The Aqua Capital city of Mac Anu was crowded today. The first few days of summer proved the hardest for the servers to handle. Players flocked to buy weapons, go on massive quests, do events, and talk to friends in Mac Anu. Other places like the Theta and Lambda server were near empty, because this was probably the most popular place to be at the moment, where everything was happening. The buildings were, as usual, empty, rats or small little animals being the only ones on top or in the abandoned buildings. The rooftops were empty, all for one, where a boy sat, legs hung over the edge. He wasn’t thinking, he wasn’t examining everything, he was just…sitting, nothing else. His hands were folded, green eyes not focused on anything in particular, and his legs swung back and forth over the building. He couldn’t think of anything because there was nothing to think about. He could’ve thought about a pink pony prancing around a field of flowers, only to be ambushed by a bunch of pony-eating monsters. He could’ve, but he wasn’t; he was just sitting and swinging his legs back and forth, back and forth. Maybe an eye or two would notice the blue-haired boy, but only for a second before they went back to talking to friends or getting in line to buy a weapon.

Finally, after sitting in the straight position for almost twenty minutes, the boy fidgeted, but only an inch. Then, he resumed his position, not thinking, just sitting. Why was he sitting like this and not thinking? Well, he didn’t know himself, but maybe it was because he was bored, maybe it was because he just felt like doing so, or maybe it was because of how his mind worked. Some people became suspicious that this boy might be asleep, but others were sure it was just an act to gain attention. The blue-haired boy was not trying to get attention, but just…sitting. His butt was probably aching by now and the actual player wanting to click something, but the player didn’t. Nothing happened for seconds, minutes. The boy started to think, finally. Thinking of what he was doing here. What am I doing? The boy didn’t know how to answer himself; summer was a time when he usually just sat on his bed staring, not thinking. Maybe the habit was coming back for this summer too…he didn’t like that.

He finally got up and stretched at the top of the building, yawning and looking down at the few players who looked at him. He walked off in the other direction, still yawning and stretching his arms and legs. His hands found themselves tucked into his pockets, unmoving until on light feet he jumped over the edge, one hand outstretched and grabbing onto the edge of the ladder. He slid down with ease and gently took a step on solid ground, eyes rising to look to each side of the alleyway. One side was crammed to the top with boxes, the other crammed full of people, people, and more people. He started walking in the direction of the people, his blue hair flowing out of the way of his eyes. He slowly took a step out in the middle of the crowd, sounds of laughter, talking, jokes, cussing, the sound of people begging for a discount at a Weapon or Item’s Shop, and maybe even a yell or two, directed at random people, maybe even him. The boy headed in the direction of the bridge, his favorite spot, as always. He dodged through the crowd on light feet, his body not making any contact with any other people that pushed through the crowd. He slowly stopped dodging people and eased to a walk as he made his way up to the top of the bridge.

He stopped and slumped down, eyes wandering only to look at an NPC rowing a boat slowly down the river. The boy could’ve always started fishing, but he didn’t move a muscle, even though he was tempted to. His eyes averted to a few birds spreading their wings and taking off from a building on the right side of the river. He focused on a crow, eyes following its movement in its wings. The bird glided across the river, its talons outstretched as it readied to catch a fish. Its talons hit the water and almost instantly it came out, a fish in its talons, ready to be eaten for lunch. Everything did their own thing in this world, had their own interests, and did their things their way. He wasn’t sure what his interest was in this world; was it examining things, was it fighting things, was it collecting items, was it discovering mysteries, or was it something entirely different? Questions arose and he was left to try and answer them unsuccessfully, as usual. Everything was always ended with ‘as usual’ and he was getting tired of it. Everything was always the same these days. As usual, as usual, as usual, he repeated in his mind multiple times. He frowned. He needed to find what he enjoyed and what he hated; not the usual, but something different.

With that, golden rings surrounded him and he was teleported out of ‘The World’, as usual.