XXI.

[hellshaped]

[Hello Paradisa!

You might come across a small red boy with horns and a tail scampering around the halls. Or maybe he's in the kitchen. Or maybe he's climbing trees outside. Or maybe he's poking around in the stables. Or maybe he's in the lobby, hiding behind a potted plant.

Wherever he is, he just looks curious and excited by everything!!!

And if for whatever reason you don't stumble upon this little guy, there are some nice doodles for you to comment on in the journal.



He's also singing some dumb rhymes as he runs around, so you might hear that too.]

If in Heaven we don't meet, hand in hand we'll face the heat. And if things ever get too hot, Pepsi-Cola hits the spot ...

[ooc. loss start! open over the journal or in person, whichever!]

Comments

[hellshaped]

[He is two ... technically ... so that doesn't help.]

Err, I've only had plain and chocolate chip. Oh, and blueberry sometimes. What other kinds are there?

[molotov]

Well, where I am from, there are whole restaurants for pancakes, and they make many different kinds. But I do not know those recipes, so how does chocolate chip sound?

[hellshaped]

[HE JUST LOOKS

IN GOD DAMN AWE

AT THAT INFORMATION.]

Whole restaurants for pancakes? In the Soviet Union?!

[molotov]

[OH. WELL. Molotov forgot about that fact. But what's the harm in a little white lie that makes the motherland seem awesome?]

Da. Whole restaurants. Lots of them.

[hellshaped]

[Molotov, just stop.]

Do you wait in line? For the pancakes, I mean.

[HELLBOY STOP]

[molotov]

Of course not. That was -- is all propaganda.

[Working on making pancake batter......]

[hellshaped]

[A pause. And a blank look.

And then he squints a little.]

I don't know what that means ...

[molotov]

It means that it is just a made up thing from America, to make the Soviet Union sound bad.

[hellshaped]

Do the Soviets make things up about America too?

[molotov]

Hmm, I do not remember anything that was completely made up. Exaggerated, maybe.

[hellshaped]

That's weird. Why would people gossip about each other like that?

[molotov]

Well, they are two countries who do not know very much about each other. It is easy to make up stories, isn't it?

[She starts pouring batter into the pan. Molotov makes enormous pancakes.]

[hellshaped]

So people who don't know anything about each other always make up stories? That seems pretty mean.

[molotov]

There is more to it than that, I think.

[hellshaped]

Like what?

[molotov]

Well, if you do not know anything about a culture halfway across the world, you have to think of them some way, da? And the American government does not like the Soviet one, so they tell their people bad things about the Soviets. If they did not, then maybe people would want to live like the Soviets, or vice versa.

[hellshaped]

... that just sounds really complicated. What's wrong with people deciding for themselves how they want to live?

[molotov]

Governments do not like that. They would lose their power if everyone did that.

[She hands him a stack of enormous, pan-sized pancakes on a plate.]

[hellshaped]

Well, the professor is from England, I think. So -- did England lose some power when he went to America?

[OH MY GOD DESE PAMCAKES Hellboy's eyes just go wide.]

I need ... a fork.

[molotov]

Nyet, because England and America are friendly. The professor can always go back, if he wants.

[Molotov opens the refrigerator, and removes a stick of butter, from which she slaps a thick pat onto the steaming pancakes. She then hands Hellboy a syrup carafe and a fork.]

[hellshaped]

[YES GOOD he immediately drowns his stack o' cakes in the syrup. Delicious.]

Thanks! [OM NOM NOM NOM also speaking with his mouth full time is go] So did -- did it hurt the Soviet Union when you came to America?

[molotov]

[Molotov just takes a seat. No pamcakes for a lady who has to wear a wedding dress soon!]

Mm, da, I think so. I worked for the government there.

[hellshaped]

[He seems concerned about her lack of pamcakes anyway, and looks from her to his plate a few times.]

Are you going to have any?

[molotov]

I cannot. I have a wedding soon!

[hellshaped]

[Squint ...]

So ...?