Claudia sat up on the bench she had been lying on, and blinked a few times, before rubbing her eyes. What had happened? One moment she was in that dark cave with Zalgo, and the next, she was - well, here. Claudia looked around herself, trying to work out where here was. With little success. It was a garden, a rose garden, that much she knew. It was very pretty, and filled with wonderful floral scents. There were roses of almost every colour imaginable, casting a rainbow effect across the expansive bushels.
Claudia slid off the bench in an attempt to walk around, but found herself very dizzy all of a sudden, and fell. Before she could hit the ground, something caught her. A little puzzled, she looked at the long, white tendril, and followed it up to the body of a very tall and slender man. She was about to cry out with joy, but then realised that she did not know this man at all. He was not her Slenderman.
This man dressed differently. That was the first thing Claudia had noticed. Instead of the clean black business suit, this man wore a black trench coat with a tie, business-like pant, a stylish black hat, and black cowboy boots. The trench coat was loose enough for Claudia to realise he wore little else underneath.
Despite this style change, Claudia didn't notice anything else that set him apart from her Slenderman - well, almost. Claudia did recall that her Slenderman had black tendrils, not the white ones this man sported.
The man lifted her up by her waist to get a better look at the child, and then did the weirdest thing. He smiled.
Claudia's eyes widened as she looked at the large toothy grin, filled with rows of sharp fangs. Slenderman couldn't smile, she knew this for a fact. Her Slenderman had no face - no mouth to smile.
"Why, hello there~" the man purred softly, reminding Claudia of an over-sized kitty-cat.
"Um, hello," Claudia said in amazement.
The man carried the girl over to the bench and sat down, placing Claudia on his lap.
"Your tongue is black," Claudia stated suddenly, causing the man to look at her with confused shock.
"What?"
"Your tongue," Claudia repeated. "It's black. Why do you have a mouth anyway? That's silly."
The man laughed. "Why do you have a mouth?" he questioned her.
Claudia shook her head. "It's not the same," she insisted, in a matter-of-factly tone. "You're like Mr Slendy-Man, and he doesn't have a mouth."
"Ah," the man said, taking off his hat and setting it down beside him. "Well, you see, I am his brother."
"Oh," Claudia said. "Are you called Mr Slendy-Man too?"
This made the man laugh again. "Oh, no, dear little one~" he purred. "You may call me Se- er. . . I mean, Offenderman."
Claudia smiled and nodded. "O-Off. . . Offen. . . Offendy-er-"
"You'll get it eventually, kid," Offenderman chuckled. "So, why don't you tell me your name, huh?"
"Claudia!" Claudia chirped in a sing-songy voice.
Offenderman flashed her a cheshire smile and the plucked a single red rose from a nearby bushel and offered it too her. "Well, Claudia, my dear, would you like a rose?" he asked.
As if a three year old knew any better, Claudia smiled and nodded as he took the rose, smelling its beautiful floral scent. "Thank you!"