Smile perked up the moment he heard the locks clicking as the door was opened. He grinned toothily up at the lady who entered the room. "Hello, again. It's nice to see a familiar face around."
He was sitting cross-legged, directly in front of the door, waiting. He'd been at it since he'd woken up, just before dawn. There wasn't much else to do in an empty padded room, when you're still bound up in your straight jacket.
Smile wasted no time in getting up to his feet upon hearing Mrs. Nightingale's words. "That sounds to die for, " the boy chirped. He skipped towards the door of his cell, but waited just before the threshold for Mrs. Nightingale to walk ahead of him, so that he could follow. He propped himself against the wall, and ducked his head a little before he spoke, "If you don't mind me asking, do you enjoy doing this? Your job, I mean."
Smile hummed in consideration of Mrs. Nightingale's answer, before striding alongside her. "You're very sure of your answer? How admirable," he said in a wry tone.
"Anyway," Smile tilted his head up sideways to look at Mrs. Nightingale as he spoke, "what do you think of art, Mrs. Nightingale?"
Smile huffed, and turned to face forwards. Mrs. Nightingale seemed so adamant in trying to ignore his attempts at conversation, it was getting annoying. He supposed he'd have to wait for Mrs. Nightingale to warm up to them patients more, before he'd be able to ask her for anything.
His fingers twitched at the thought--the absence of a pen or pencil or paintbrush between his fingers...it was fairly unsettling. But Mrs. Nightingale was likely to just become more guarded if he tried anything else. Made more sense to just wait, for now. So he took to humming a rather butchered version of "Scarborough Fair", until they arrived at their destination.
The moment they entered the room, it was like clicking a light switch--Smile brightened instantly. "Hello," he said, quickly choosing a seat directly opposite the two girls already in the room. He leaned forward in his seat, fingers on one hand tapping his knee absentmindedly. His eyes were glassy with what could only be described as child-like wonder. Meeting others who were presumedly like him was something he'd been rather looking forward to, considering his loner status back home.
"Most know me as Smile Dog. Call me Smile. Or Dog, if you prefer. And you guys are...?"
Upon hearing Scarlet's and Ink Shadow's words, Smile couldn't help the pleased chirrup from the back of his throat. "Eh, erm...thanks..." He knew that that the Smile.dog image file he created some years was quite well-known, but having people talk to him like that? He'd be wagging his tail if he had one.
Ink shadow's smile made him feel cheery, like he was in good company. And Scarlet's eyes held a pretty hue, Smile noted with a small nod to himself. They were a curious colour. Smile itched to find a blend of paints to try to mimic them. He decided he rather liked these people. Things were going along very nicely, indeed.
Smile perked up again at seeing the doors open, and turned to see another boy entering.
"Hello," Smile said to the boy. He knew a few choice French words, but could never quite get the pronunciation right. He figured he'd be better off not messing around with it. Smile waved the boy over to the ring of seats. "Come 'ere. And, eh, you understand English?"
