``s.l.e.e.p.i.n.g |beauty| -open-

[Panda-Tan]

The park. There was nothing better than a beautiful park on a sunny day. The big yellow sun was shining in the sky, and white puffs of clouds dotted the light blue sea. Everything was average in the park, people strolled by, children raced along the path, and birds and squirrels roamed freely, except for one thing. There was a box, a big box, placed next to a bench. People looked at it as they passed by, too afraid to find out what could be inside.

Children would run up to the box, only to be scolded by their mothers. Many things could be in that box. Maybe it was an instrument of some sort, someone's lost luggage. No one would expect it to be occupied by something quite magical... Something like a doll. The doll inside laid there, eyes closed, sleeping as if she would never wake up. Her dress was red, shoes shiny and pitch black, a green bow with a small rose tied a bonnet to her head.

She was just waiting for someone to drag the box home, carry her away to paradise.

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[When They Cry]

A lone figure made his way along the path of the park, dressed in what he hoped was something average, nothing embarrassing enough to make him have to endure more ridicule.
His aunt's sweaters, the 'cute/adorable~!!' ones always seemed to hold the ability to ruin whoever wore them's reputation. In public, it was the equivalent to wearing a pink tu tu or something highly flamboyant and inappropriate for guys to wear.
Nevertheless, Wesley Anderson's outfit for today was fortunately something normal, just a pair of blue jeans, white sneakers, and a black t-shirt. On his back, was a tan backpack currently filled with books that he picked up from the library, which was easily accessible with a short walk through the park.

"Wessy~!" Wes heard one of his peers from school say in a mocking, singsong voice, obviously making fun of the fact that his aunt called him that, all the time.
He ignored it and continued his stroll, glad that the person from his high school was going in the opposite direction, his hands shoved in his pants pockets.
He would have continued on if it weren't for the box that caught his hazel-green eyes.

It was just a box, next to a bench. You would have expected someone to have picked it up or something by now, but no, it was just there, untouched.
Not having his aunt to bother him about what he did or a care for parents (who weren't his, I might add) who would most likely 'recommend him to stay away from it', he strolled over to the box next to the bench, looking it over.
"Why would somebody leave something like this here?" He thought to himself, tapping the box with his left foot before kneeling down infront of it, to get a closer look.

Finding the side that it opened from he slowly opened it, as if expecting something to jump out at him for his curiosity and much to his dismay, (or rather, relief) there was no such thing in the box.
It appeared to be a doll, the kind of doll you'd expect to see on a shelf among other dolls, in some old lady's collection or something.

Not finding too much interest in it, he figured his aunt would like something like this.
After all, the doll was in good condition, which was surprising after sitting here in the middle of a park for god know's how many hours.

Closing the box's lid, he lifted it up off of the ground, and took it with him on his commute home, hoping that this would somehow make his aunt cease her buying of embarrassing sweaters, and maybe actually start getting the things he ACTUALLY WANTED for his birthday.

[Panda-Tan]

It wasn't long before someone had opened the box, and the doll had slowly opened her eyes as he closed the lid. She felt the box being lifted up, and put her hands on the sides of the box to keep from sliding around. Shinku, with wide blue eyes, kicked the side of the box, hoping the boy carrying it would be more gentle. She was a magical doll, not some raggedy old toy to flip and flop around.

She wished she could open the box, but she wasn't sure where they were, unsure is people would be there to see her. Shinku knew better than to walk out in public. With a roll of her eyes and a grimace she gave the box a couple more kicks, hoping to catch the boys attention. If only he would have carried her outside the box, but most young boys didn't carry around pretty dolls. She let out a sigh, just deciding to lay back in the box and enjoy the ride.

Being stuck in the box for such a long time was nothing but a pain. Her mind floated off to thoughts about her sisters. She wondered if they had found mediums, wondered what else could have changed during that time. With a soft sigh she blinked her ocean blue pools and snapped back to reality. She didn't want to deal with her sisters...

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[When They Cry]

"The hell?" He thought outloud to himself, thinking that he felt a tap from inside of the box.
His heart skipped a beat, but then returned to normal after Wes realized that there was no way in hell that a doll could move.
He seriously hoped this wasn't the case...
Unfortunately for him, it WAS the case, the doll HAD moved.

Well, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him - for now.
He continued walking, glancing at the box every now and then.
His head snapped back completely to the box after he felt taps - SEVERAL more times!
"There's no way in hell..." He muttered to himself, shaking his head.
"It's probably just moving around from the box shaking or something."
Sure of that thought, he continued on, speeding up his pace, his street in view.

He was greeted first, when he made it to his house, by the myriad of lawn ornaments on their front yard. There were creepy gnomes that stared at you as you walked to your front door (his aunt described them as 'cute', but Wes disagreed with that thought greatly), and pink flamingos that had wings that spun when the wind blowed. The only things actually appealing about their yard was the group of trees outback.

After unlocking and opening the door, he stepped inside his house, taking his shoes off (setting them aside near the door). He shut and locked the door, and made his way over to the kitchen (which was in the back room, near the backyard) to grab himself a can of Pepsi from the fridge.
He didn't bother announcing that he was home to his Aunt, as she was most likely asleep and waking her up when she was asleep was like stopping a tornado with your hands - it wasn't going to happen.

He went straight to his room, (shutting AND locking the door after entering) to find that his aunt left a "Be back later went food shopping" note on his desk. Excellent! Peace and quiet! At least until she got back.

He set the can of soda on his desk, next to his computer,
and placed the doll's box on his room's dull-gray carpeted floor, among many piles of books.
He sat down infront of the box after setting his backpack down and cracking open his can of soda.
"Now to look at you a little bit more closely, I guess." He muttered, taking a sip of the can of soda before opening the box, not quite expecting what happened next...

[Panda-Tan]

She heard the mutters from the young boy, a smile coming to her lips. It wasn't long before she could feel his pace quicken. Shinku knew that kicking the box would get him to move faster, like whipping a horse when you wanted to gain some speed. He heard a door unlock, open, and then close shut. She looked about the dark box through deep blue eyes, a small smile on her lips. She knocked lightly on the side of the box, hoping their trip was soon to be over.

She soon felt the box being set down on the floor as a soda can popped open. Shinku covered her eyes as light flowed into the box, a little squeaking noise coming from her. She sat up in the box, rubbing her eyes before she looked over at the boy once her hand left her eyes. She tried to look as sweet and innocent as possible before lashing at him like a wild animal. With a sweet smile she held out her hand, allowing him to shake it. "Hello there." She said softly.

With a soft sigh she fixed her hair with her hands before gazing back at the young boy.

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[When They Cry]

No way...
There was no way in hell that this was happening.
Maybe he fell and hit his head at the park, and was just dreaming?
Maybe he didn't even go to the park at all, maybe he was still asleep?
In any case, he still choked on his soda after it was made clear that indeed, the doll was moving.
TALKING, too, even.

"This can't be real...Stuff like this only happens on TV! And in books, and in video games!"
He actually went to the extent of slapping himself across to face to see if this was a dream or not. Much to his dismay, it was all quite real.

"What the hell are you? Dolls shouldn't move... or talk!" He backed away from Shinku for a bit before realizing that if she was dangerous, she most likely would have attacked by now.
And besides, nothing threatening was going on at the moment, so he calmed down, and shakily shook her hand with his own trembling nervous one.
"Wesley, Wesley Anderson. Just call me Wes, please..."

He prayed to God, or whatever entity ( if any ) that oversaw the world, that his Aunt didn't find out about this doll.
The LAST thing he needed in this situation was her involvement.

[Panda-Tan]

She listened to him go on and on about how this couldn't be happening. Shinku was slightly shocked by this. You would think that people would be happy to have such a magical doll at their side. She slowly shook her head as if in disappointment. It was quite humorous to watch him choke on his soda and slap himself across the face, though the sweet smile had left her lips. She blinked a couple times, looking at him with intense curiosity.

"I am a Rozen Maiden, one of the seven dolls." She informed, a serious matter-of-fact tone tinged her words. Shinku felt his hand nervously grip hers, shaking it gently as he introduced himself. "I'm Shinku, the fifth Rozen Maiden doll." She introduced calmly. With a soft sigh she stepped out of her box, playing around with her dress as she fixed it up, getting out the ruffles and wrinkles. Laying in a box could really wear away at you.

Shinku, being leader and head boss, walked over to his bed and struggled to get up. It was a couple minutes before she actually was sitting up there, a sheepish smile on her lips.

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[When They Cry]

"A Rozen Maiden?" He responded before sipping some more of his can of soda, that he fortunately didn't spill.
He began to think about this for a moment.
She was a magical doll, but what was she doing in the middle of a park?
Who would actually LEAVE something like that there?
Unless, they were as clueless as hew as?
"And that's my bed, you know, and I can only assume that the box is yours, right?"
He sighed, wondering what he had gotten himself into this time, which was something he didn't like doing, getting himself caught up into webs of crap.
Too late to call it quits now, he supposed.
"And um, what exactly happens now? Do you think you're going to stay here?"
Something told him that she was going to say that she did.

[Panda-Tan]

She rolled her eyes in exasperation at his stupidity, though she didn't really expect such knowledge out of a boy his age. Shinku was the one that should feel stupid and unwanted. She was the one that had been left in a park to sit and gather dust in a park. The doll looked down at her little heeled shoes, a sigh soon escaping her lips. It wasn't like Shinku to feel so...unwanted. She was normally one to take charge and be so demanding that it was annoying.

"I'll explain everything later..." She said softly. Her eyes soon inspected the room. It wasn't much, not compared to a lot of the places she had seen in her lifetime. Shinku heard his question, she wanted to be sarcastic and rude and bitter, but something held her back. "Yes, that box is my bed. It suits my needs and that's all that matters." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Another question streamed through her ears. It was like he wanted her to leave. She didn't want to be stuck in that box, not now, not ever again. It was bound to happen sooner or later. "I don't have to stay with you. I can find someone else, someone that believes that I am worthy enough to stand in their sight." Shinku answered with a shrug of her shoulders. The doll would have to take charge, have to get her backbone back. This wasn't Candy Land, and she wasn't about to skip through the Peppermint Forest.

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[When They Cry]

If that was some kind of guilt trip, it worked, for the most part.
"You can stay if you want, I guess..." He said, shrugging, looking down at his dull gray carpet.
His head snapped up quickly as he addressed the most important part of this deal,
"Just stay away from my aunt! She's a bit..." He searched for the word that suited her. Eccentric? Possibly. "...eccentric. If she knew that living dolls were real, she would become more annoying than usual."

He climbed to his feet, sitting at the chair infront of his computer and its desk, looking at Shinku.
Having to wear reputation-demolishing sweaters would be childs play compared to what would probably happen if Shinku's existence was known to his Aunt.
Wes decided that it would be his mission to hide this 'Rozen Maiden' from her and if the likely event of Bertha finding out should occur, well... Wes wasn't sure what he would do.

[Panda-Tan]

Shinku was glad to see that her little guilt trip had worked. She was welcome to stay, and that was all that mattered. Once she tired of him she would just wander off without a goodbye, taking her box with her. That was unlikely to happen... This would be her domain and she would be queen. Suddenly Wes caught her attention, talking to her about his crazy aunt. "Well, I'm supposed to keep myself a secret. Not everyone should know about a walking and talking doll, it would get kind of hectic." She explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

She watched as he moved from the floor to a chair in front of a desk. Being locked up in that box had kept her away from her true love. Tea. "Do you have any tea?" She asked, rather politely. Shinku crossed her legs as she sat on his bed, petite hands resting in her lap. She soon found herself thinking about her sisters. Had they woken up yet? It was only a matter of time before she met up with them, and time was running out. She would have to explain everything to Wes soon.

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[When They Cry]

"Good then, my Aunt won't have to know about you, which is good, she would probably be over-eccentric about the whole ordeal." He nodded, AT LEAST they came to an understanding about his aunt, who would most likely somehow find out soon anyway, hopefully not anytime TOO soon.
"...Tea? Sure, but why? You want some?"
These things /ATE/ and drank things too? What was next, having to tend to their every whim or something?
Little did Wes know, that was actually the case, and Shinku's monarchy would be put into place very, very soon.
And yet, being bossed around by a doll would STILL be a hell of a lot better than wearing those reputation-crippling sweaters.

[KEiMEi]

Luna sighed and looked at her countless collection of books. She pulled a french one, the one and only she took from her previous Medium. Her eyes widened at the sudden aura. "No way.." Her body start to shake violently. She threw her book to the air and jumped happily. "Shinku!She's awake!"