[open] and then it hit me... literally.

A word near his ear that sounded directed at him caught his attention, and Dax just about jumped into the air. "Oh gosh!" His entire body shook, and he blinked a few times, before turning his head to look at her. Phew. It was just a woman. For some reason, he was afraid it was going to be one of the boys from the home complaining about how he came home late since he was supposed to pick up dinner on the way back. He really didn't want to disappoint those guys. Wait a second. Why did he think such a womanly voice could belong to one of the teenagers or children? And why would they be way out here? Dax looked completely puzzled as he stood there and stared at her for a moment, not even realizing he was doing it. He often fought with his own thoughts in the middle of conversations.

Finally it had registered with him that only a few seconds ago she had asked him a question. He then proceeded to stand there for another full section while he subconscious tried to remember it. Bingo! He smiled at her and nodded. "I'm okay! Thank you for asking." He looked over at the pole with a little chuckle before turning back to her. "I've hit that one before. I swear someone keeps moving it around." He laughed, but in truthfulness, he really assumed someone had moved the pole. The last time he'd hit one near his home, one of the younger boys told him they move them around every month or so, and yeah... Let's just say he's not a major in sarcasm.

"I'm Dax, by the way." He held out a hand for her to shake. For some reason, he already felt the need to introduce himself. If she was kind enough to come over here and check on his well being after he foolishly hit a pole, then she must have had a kind heart. Kind hearts made good company, even if Dax thought most of the world was made up of them.

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"I know, isn't it?" He responded, glad that someone seemed to understand the problem. "Though, I'm sure they have a good reason for it." Maybe it was how they got their entertainment or something of that nature. Maybe they carried street poles from spot to spot like flashlights when their was too much of a gap. "I wish I knew who owned them so that way I could apologize for running into so many..." He wondered if his head had ever done any damage to the poles seeing as there wasn't much more harm the poles could do to his mind.

Dax smiled brightly when she shook his hand. "Aria. That's a cool name. I've never heard one like that before." Dax pondered over the girl. It was almost as though something seemed familiar about her, but he pushed it off. His friends were always telling him that if he had a hunch about something, he wasn't supposed to follow it. He was probably way off. Ignoring the fact that tons of laughs would usually follow that situation, he was glad they were looking out for him.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a little stuffed pig on a key chain and held it out to her. "Do you want this? I've already got three, and I bought one of these random boxes this morning that gives you a chance of any animal, but I keep getting the same one." He frowned, but then his face went blank when he thought about something. He was being weird again, wasn't he? He was offering things to people he had just met like a lunatic. Dax pulled back his hand. "I'm sorry, that might be a little strange. Forgive me, I just sort of remembered it, and you seem nice, and well... I just thought you might like it." None of the other guys where he lived were into the same things he was, so it wasn't like any of them would want it. The last time he gave them something, he found it on the roof. On top of that, it was missing it's eyes. He figured since she was here, why let it go to waste?

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"I hope so..." He nodded. Even though meeting them sounded like it would be the right thing to happen to allow him to apologize, he couldn't help but be slightly afraid of how angry they would be about it. Dax seemed to always be doing something wrong. He was always making people angry. He was always having people tell him how dumb he was and how incapable of anything he was. He knew they were right, and that's why he was always trying so hard to make sure he did things correctly. Even his best efforts weren't ever enough, but Dax would never stop straining himself. His life consisted of helping around the orphanage Felix created, working, giving his money up, and tending to everyone else's needs. Dax rarely did much for himself, and even when he did, the boys were always doing something to make sure it didn't turn out how it was supposed to. Just like the little stuffed pig. It was something so simple, yet they choose to walk on it. Still, Dax was happy. He knew he deserved it. He intended to fully continue with the way things were, because he knew that the comments they made left them all laughing. Their laughter meant they were happy. That was all Dax could ever hope for.

"Well, it hurts a little, I guess. But, it happens a lot so you might be able to say I'm becoming immune." He laughed, knowing full well that it hurt a little more than he was letting on. He was told he needed to seem stronger, and so he was trying. Still, he felt a little sick to his stomach even from half a lie.

He shook his head. "I'm the only Dax I've ever met, so maybe I am the only one out there." He thought about it for a brief moment and then shrugged. "One of my... roommates told me my name practically sounds fake, so I'm just guessing my parents had pretty fun imaginations or something."

Dax's face lit up when she extended her hand. Happily, he placed the keychain within it. "Thank you!" He was so happy she was taking it. Maybe he wasn't being as weird as he thought. "So what are you going to name it?"

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Dax looked down at the sidewalk when she asked her question about asking his parents. "Well, ummm, no."  He hesitated a little bit, but it wasn't like Dax to keep in any information at all. "They left me at a gas station when I was six." He looked back up at her, worried about his expression, so he decided to just smile. He didn't want her to think anything was out of the ordinary, though Dax wasn't good at hiding just about anything. Truthfully, it stung a lot in his heart every time he really thought about them. He was sure they had a good reason for it though. Like, maybe they couldn't handle how incredibly dumb he was, so they had to do something about it for their own sanity. Wherever they were, he hope they were happy and living their lives to the fullest now that they'd gotten rid of the one thing that was probably holding them back.

"Peter?" He nodded, and his face brightened. Something about that name made him happy. "That sounds like a fantastic name." She then proceeded to speak to the key chain, and Dax only got happier. He often talked to inanimate objects, and it made him think that the little thing might have made her happy. He felt successful. "Well, I'm glad he likes it. You two make quite the pair." He laughed. This lady was so nice. Hopefully they would be able to actually continue to be friends after this encounter. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another little pig key chain. This one was missing one eye and two legs. He held it up for her to see. "Mine's named Stumpy."

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