[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[It's a cold, overcast day when Richard steps outside the house this morning, but that doesn't deter him one bit from the errands he has planned for today, even if it does cause him to duck back inside for a scarf first. It doesn't matter how much he hates the cold; today is important, so he can't wait for it to get warmer.

His first stop is the item store in search of the perfect gift. He'll probably linger around this store for the longest, because he wants to find just the right thing. After that, he'll head over to All Passions, where he makes a beeline towards the suits.

Finally, he heads to the bakery to grab a cake. This stop on his little shopping trip requires the most self-control... or not, as he'll probably end up emerging with a few more things than just a cake. Oh well, his housemates will eat them, right?

Once all of this is accomplished, he heads back to House 28, looking both very pleased with himself and just a little bit mischievous too.

He can be found in any of these locations or on the journey between them. Feel free to stop him and say hi or ask what he's up to!]

Comments

[ledbythewind]

It's nice to meet you, Henry. I'm Richard.

And I suppose this means the two of us aren't strangers anymore.

[The kid seems so eager to help, how can he say no?]

[theboywiththebook]

I guess it does.

[Look at Henry, being all sly and stuff. But you know he's never had a problem with strangers before...which probably isn't a good thing.]

So where are we going?

[And he'll be taking some of those boxes from Richard now, if he doesn't mind.]

[ledbythewind]

[Richard likes Henry already, because that's exactly the sort of thing he would pull on someone.

He'll bend down a little bit to make it easier for Henry to take those boxes, watching carefully to make sure he doesn't overload himself.]

House 28. It's just a bit south of the plaza, across the bridge.

[theboywiththebook]

[Richard is going to try and make Henry a troll isn't he?

In any case he does take a couple of a boxes. Not enough to become a weird looking box creature like Richard was just before, but probably enough to help with the load.]

Oh, I live close to there so that won't be a problem.

[ledbythewind]

[HE JUST MIGHT.

And help it does; Richard straightens up with a quiet sound of relief, though he tries not to make it too obvious.]

Where do you live?

[theboywiththebook]

[Hoh boy.

Sorry, Richard it's kind of obvious now that your arms aren't shaking.]

I live in an apartment in community building one.

[ledbythewind]

[DARN, BUSTED.]

All by yourself?

[He certainly hopes not; he remembers his own childhood and how terrible it had been to be alone all of the time.]

[theboywiththebook]

[Silly, King Fabulous.]

I-

[There's a pause. It seems like everyone reminds him of the fact. Not that they shouldn't but still, to know he doesn't have his mom or grandparents here, it stings.]

Yeah, but I know some of the people on my floor so I'm not really alone.

[ledbythewind]

I see. That's very brave of you. But don't feel like you need to do everything by yourself. Sometimes it's nice to have friends you can lean on, even if it's just to spend time with.

[theboywiththebook]

[Brave? Not really. He just doesn't know anyone well enough and he doesn't have family here. His life might've sucked back in Storybrooke but at least he had a mom and then he had grandparents and Emma. But Here? No one.]

I won't. Everyone's been really welcoming so far.

[Even if he's been writing letters to Santa asking for Emma and Snow to get home and/or just seeing his family for a minute or two.]

[ledbythewind]

[Richard doesn't really know what it's like to be close to one's family-- his mother died when he was very young, and while he respected his father, he can't say that the two of them were ever really close. So the idea of missing family... it isn't something he understands all that well.]

I'm not surprised to hear that-- people here do tend to be on the kind side. It's one of the best things about this place.

[theboywiththebook]

Yeah, I guess it is.

[The last shift wasn't too bad but that was probably Henry's first. So um...gonna be great next round!]

How long have you been here anyways, Richard?

[ledbythewind]

[His smile fades just the slightest bit, and Henry might notice a bit of a wistful note in his tone.]

It will be three years this next March. It's strange... sometimes it seems like it's been much longer than that, but other times it feels like I haven't been here very long at all.

[theboywiththebook]

[Three years?! He couldn't even imagine being here by himself for that long.]

Oh...I'm sorry.

[Because from the looks of it he probably hit a sore spot.]

[ledbythewind]

[But Richard just shakes his head, quick to smile again.]

There's no need for you to apologize. After all, you weren't the one who brought me here.

[theboywiththebook]

I just wish there was a way I could help.

[Even his storybook didn't have the answers to a place like Luceti. But walking along he'll look to Richard.]

Are there any magic trees around here?

[This totally has to do with something.]

[ledbythewind]

Magic trees?

[Well, that's an interesting subject change. Richard can't help but wonder what brought that up.]

[theboywiththebook]

Yeah, in my storybook, that's how they sent Emma to my world to keep her safe from an evil curse. So maybe there's something like that here.

[ledbythewind]

As interesting as that sounds, I'm afraid I'm not under any evil curses that I need to run from. I'm not sure a magic tree would work quite as well in that case.

[theboywiththebook]

[Are you patronizing him, Richard? Because it sounds like your making fun of it.]

It's true. But I just thought if there was someone could get out of Luceti and find a way to break the barrier.

[ledbythewind]

[Not at all; he's just teasing playfully, as he has a habit of doing. Henry will soon find this out if he spends much time around Richard.]

So in other words, this magic tree acts like a teleporter of sorts?

[He knows about those-- the Amarcian ruins are full of them.]

[theboywiththebook]

[He won't have much choice will he?]

Yeah it did. I'm just wondering if there are more out there.

[ledbythewind]

[Nope. No one does.]

You know, I don't think anyone here has searched for anything like that before.

[theboywiththebook]

Really? No one has?

[That's actually kind of surprising.]

[ledbythewind]

Not to my knowledge. As I said, I'd never heard of something like that even being possible before now. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same for most of the other people here.