youraffection | [IC] Overflow @ cerealia

[ She's still not entirely certain where to place it on the moral spectrum, herself, but it definitely seems better to her than actually allowing someone to die. Of course, that has more to do, for her, with why they did it - but no real answers are forthcoming and so she is inclined to reserve judgment on how angry she should be about it. The known facts of it do, however, make it somewhat less frightening. ]

[ More than anything else at the moment, however, she's worried about him. He's the one who's being introduced to all this, after all. It wouldn't do not to make the transition as easy for him as possible, stranger or not. Which is why she smiles back with the same intent in mind, brief and a little wry but kind. ]

I couldn't say. A lot of this is still a bit over my head. [ Or she hasn't been informed well enough on the matter, that is. ] They said afterward that it was an oversight. To make up for it, they gave out these robots that--... well, they weren't very nice, either. They started trying to replace people, after a while.

[ For as little as he really understands the implication of the situation, there is something he knows: he has friends here already. Yu and Rise and probably even Teddie are around here somewhere, and as long as they're together, they can get through anything. When it finally sinks in, he'll be a little more confused, distressed, but it would be a hundred times worse without them around. He's lucky. ]

An "oversight"? [ He scoffs at that, despite not having experienced it himself. ] That sounds like a crappy excuse to me. All I'm hearing is we can't trust these guys at any cost...

[ He pauses, considering. ]

You've really been through a lot, huh?

[ Luckier than she was, to be sure - the only person she knew from home who was in her first ViViD level didn't even remember her. It'd come as some relief to her, however, if she hears he's not quite as alone as she was, in that respect. It's not something she'd wish on anybody. ]

I thought so, too. [ Although she probably phrased it differently. ] And I... wouldn't take anything they say at face value, no. [ Briefly she considers mentioning the question that's been posed to everyone at the moment about who to trust, but that seems like it would be a bit much. One step at a time. (She's still not sure where she stands, anyway.) ] They seem to tell the truth sometimes, but it's hard to know one way or the other.

[ Proof of things is rarely forthcoming, in her admittedly limited experience. She lapses into silence when he does, regarding him patiently as though in waiting for any other questions he might have. The one he comes up with, however, seems to surprise her, because she perks slightly, blinking. ]

Me? [ By the sound of her tone, it hadn't even occurred to her. ] Oh - no. Not as much as most of the others have. I haven't been here for very long, after all. I've heard about all sorts of other terrible things that have happened in the past, but I wasn't here for those.

[ Although it's patently false to suggest she hasn't had a hard time, that just... mostly happened to her before Cerealia. But she recognizes after a moment how it must sound, how awful the colony is being made out to be, and that's no good. That's no good at all. ]

It isn't-- that this is a bad place to be. Most of the time, it's actually really peaceful. There are lots of things to do, and so many kind people, and everyone really seems to look out for each other. Bad things happen sometimes, but... the rest of the time, it's not hard to be happy here.

Edited 2016-05-24 07:20 (UTC)

[ That's probably been the most consistent thing that he's heard. Don't trust them. And the more people tell them about what has happened, the more he understands why people keep saying that. She tries to waive it off, probably not so that her experience seems any worse than others. But...that's not the point, right? ]

That still doesn't make it easy. I mean...you've seen enough to know not to trust them, right? I'm sorry. You seem nice.

[ Never let it be said that he's anything but empathetic. Not that he thinks there are a large number of people here that deserve that kind of treatment, but she's so soft spoken and...yeah, it doesn't seem fair. At all. ]

Heh...I'll have to take your word for that. [ He quirks a small, lopsided smile. ] I've got a few friends here. I know it won't be as bad as long as I've got them.

[ It's never suited her to think too hard about her lot in life, not here and not back home. (She'd be a bitter, angry mess if she did.) That's why it feels so strange to be faced with empathy, and she blinks at him as though having difficulty processing it. Soon enough, however, she's ducking her head slightly with a smile that's half warm, half shy. ]

Well, I don't know about that. [ Funny how she never feels like she's a nice person, even though she is. ] But-- yes. Not... that I trusted them from the beginning. The whole thing always seemed fishy to me.

[ Of course, that might be because she 'grew up' surrounded by conniving, self-serving snakes in the grass who lied through their teeth all the time. That'd make anyone suspicious. She still brightens noticeably when he mentions having friends. ]

Really? How lucky...! They must have been happy to see you. [ Or-- well, she assumes they've seen him, since it's hard to tell who else is here while you're in the first ViViD level unless you bump into them. ] Are they close friends?

"Fishy" definitely seems one way to put it.

[ Kind and understated, perhaps. Yosuke hasn't even experienced anything to the degree to really believe their intentions were evil, but they definitely don't seem to be nice. It's everything that he's heard afterwards that really cements that idea.

To her question, though, he nods with a warmer smile. It's hard not to when he thinks about them. ]

Yeah, they are. One of 'em is my best friend, my partner. We've been through a lot together already, so...this'd just be one more thing.

Mm. It was too convenient.

[ Hey, she's heard much, much stranger things than that the worlds were all destroyed by aliens. Most people's 'completely outlandish' is her 'Tuesday'. ]

[ Anyway, she takes pleasant note of the way he warms when talking about his friends. A good sign - both for him and for them, not to mention that it's something that speaks well of him. She can definitely appreciate someone who feels strongly about their friends. ]

You're even luckier than I thought, then...! [ Not that having gone through other things is fortunate, necessarily - and she does wonder about those things, yet there's a much more pressing question that occurs to her. Canting her head slightly, she seems to hesitate. ] But what do you mean by... partner?

[ They're not part of some organization, are they? ... She may or may not have seen a buddy cop show or two since having come to Cerealia. She also may or may not be picturing Yosuke stopping crime in an appropriate uniform with somebody who has a question mark for a face. (No, surely not. He looks way too young to be a policeman.) ]

[ It's definitely one of the few times that his luck seems to be working out for once, but he'll gladly take it. His friends are what keeps him going, really, especially in circumstances like this. ]

I'm really lucky, yeah. I don't know what I'd be doing without them back home or here, whatever here ends up being.

[ But oh, she asked the best question. Because Yosuke has a whole bunch of feelings about his partner that are confusing to most people and a little excessive to the rest. A crime show would probably sound cooler. Sorry, Namine... ]

Ah, Yu? Well, he's my best friend and more, you know? He's an amazing guy and being around him helps me be a better person. He's the kind of person that everyone's drawn to and is able to inspire people just by virtue of being who he is. Like I said, we've already been through some crazy stuff and came out for the best. We've always got each other's back. [ HOW CAN SOMEONE SAY ALL THAT CHEESY BS SO EASILY, we will never know. ] So I'm proud to say I'm his partner.

[ He's not so terribly unlike some other people she knows, in that respect. It's a mindset that she's quite familiar with, and one she's actually a little comforted to find here as well. In fact, the level of cheese with which he describes his dear friend is so strongly reminiscent of the preposterously high level of importance every good-aligned person in her corner of the universe seems to put on their relationships that she spends the whole time listening to his description with great interest, lips slightly parted. (That is, after the initial brow raise at the name 'Yu' and the accompanying flash of recognition.) ]

Oh...! So it's like that. [ The warm smile that's settled fully onto her mouth proves the lie of, ] I'm a little jealous, then, that you have each other. [ No she isn't, she's glad for them. Jealousy is something she had to let go of a long time ago. ] When I first came here I could only find one person I knew from my worlds, and he didn't remember who I was.

[ She ain't even disappointed in that explanation. In fact, she sounds very approving. (So apparently 'partner' in this context is a very... Important Friend?) ]

Your partner - you said his name was Yu. Does he have silver hair? About-- [ Lifting a hand, she makes an actually impressively accurate approximation of Yu Narukami's height. ] -- This tall?

[ She seems to get it, or at least doesn't question his infallible logic. He has a lot of partner feelings, he really does, so it's probably for the best that he doesn't ramble on too much. But he's surprised by her own account. ]

...Didn't remember? [ Yosuke raises a brow, a little concerned. ] Like...amnesia didn't remember?

[ He hasn't been introduced to the idea of different timelines yet, so he doesn't know that's a possible explanation.

And then she starts to describe Yu to a T. Yosuke blinks, lighting up almost instantly. ]

...Yeah! Yeah, you've met him?

[ Only belatedly does she realize that such a subject probably can only lead to more questions; retroactively she regrets having admitted to her own situation and falters, though she recovers quickly. ]

No, not exactly. It's... a long story, and I'm still trying to work it out myself, but-- he didn't have amnesia. Those things just hadn't happened yet, for him.

[ Or that's the running theory, anyway. And she really should introduce him to that timeline thing because that would probably be the sensible course of action, but she's hardly sure about it, herself. She's still not totally certain whether to believe in that idea or that there's actual memory tampering going on, like there would be if she were in charge of things and had megalomaniacal urges. ]

[ Yu is a bit more pleasant a subject, however, and she brightens considerably to discover that he and this partner of Yosuke's are one and the same. (Maybe even as much as Yosuke does.) ]

Yes, I've met him...! Actually, he was one of the first people I met here, back in the other ViViD simulation. [ You know, the one with the people and monsters all trying to kill each other. ] I owe him my life. Or-- my simulated life, anyway.

[ It's not really any of his business, but he is curious. She's such a nice person, it does make him feel bad to think that someone could have forgotten her. Friends are important. What she says, though, is actually going to become very important to his understanding of the place. Yosuke's eyes widen slightly. ]

Wait, like...from the future? Are you serious?

[ That's news and really weird to think about.

He's always ready to talk about Yu, though. Maybe a little too ready. ]

No way! [ He perks up immediately at that. ] Yeah, he's just the kind of guy that helps people out. That really sounds like him. He wouldn't want to see something happen to a nice girl like you.

[ Oh, she'd have plenty to tell him about forgotten - which is why it's probably good that she doesn't think to at the moment. Being off-time from someone is a lot less horrible than actually having been discarded. At least this way it's somewhat less crippling for her self-esteem. ]

Mmhm. At least, that's the idea. Apparently that sort of thing happens a lot here - people being from different points in time. [ Again, she has her own concerns about the theory, but-- better not to get into that. ] The person I mentioned... it's like I'm from his future. He didn't remember me because to him, in his time, we hadn't met yet. He's not the only one, either. There's at least one person here who says he's from more than a thousand years ago.

[ Of course, she already knew who Roxas was even back then, but-- details. Details which are unimportant because talking about Yu Narukami is apparently considerably more interesting to both these kids than essential world mechanics. She seems to have a lapse back into a certain amount of shyness at being called 'nice' again, her shoulders rising slightly and cheeks threatening to color. Can't take a compliment, this girl. ]

I-- well, I don't know if it had anything to do with that. I got the feeling he really was just a good guy. He started protecting me right away, before we'd even had a chance to talk much. It was very impressive...! [ Both on a personality level and actual fighting ability level. Coolest senpai, hands down. ] -- But I'm sure you'd expect that, since you're good friends. [ Speaking of which, ] How did you two meet?

Really? That's crazy...

[ Considering that he knows that he was apparently here before is strange enough, so he guesses that the timeline thing actually makes more sense congruently with his own memory woes. ]

So you knew him but when you went up he was like "who is this"? That's gotta be rough if he was one of your friends.

[ Thinking back on it, Rei had said they were friends before. That's got to be how she felt, huh? He makes a mental note to make a good effort to get to know her again. ]

He is a really good guy. [ Yosuke looks almost proud to say that, common knowledge as it seems to him. ] He'll do whatever he can so people don't have to get hurt. [ But, oh man, how they met? Yosuke looks a little embarrassed at that and shifts on the stool, not entirely due to his swimsuit. ] Uh, well...he transferred to my school our second year of high school. We ended up in the same class. I'd also transferred out there six months earlier, so we had similar circumstances. It was kind of inevitable, you know?

[ TOTALLY GLOSSING OVER THE WHOLE GETTING STUCK IN A TRASHCAN THING. ]

It kind of was.

[ Because even though she's seen some pretty crazy things and some especially strange stuff relating to memories, she's really not used to people forgetting her without it being her intention for them to. It was all the more unnerving because of her experience with the matter. ]

Sort of. That's not exactly what he said. [ Close enough, though. ] We weren't... friends, but... [ She says it as sadly as though they were. There's a peculiar sort of grimness that follows after; clearly this is something that troubles her a lot, regardless of her claim. ] ... He was-- is important to me. So yes, it was pretty 'rough'. I think I made him uncomfortable at first. I've been trying not to since then, but I don't think it's working out as well as I might have hoped.

[ In fact, she feels pretty sure that she has not been successful in that endeavor. Not for lack of effort, at least. Taking note of Yosuke's shifting, she registers the slightest hint of curiosity in the subtle raise of her brows, but the explanation that comes after is relatively mundane. Maybe he was uncomfortable about something else...? (Glossing over successful.) ]

I understand. So you had some things in common, then. [ Makes sense. Although - once she's had a moment to parse the whole 'transfer' aspect of things (which she has to sort of jury-rig a comprehension of because most of the worlds she's familiar with were probably too small for that kind of thing), it holds her interest. Seems like a shame being uprooted like that, if she has accurately construed his meaning, especially for someone who appears to value their relationships. ] Why did you move?

Oh--uh, sorry.

[ WHOOPS? Jumping to conclusions? He just assumed--man, what would it be like if he ran into Adachi and Adachi had no idea who he was? That would be weird. ]

I shouldn't have just assumed.

[ Is she just avoiding him then? He kind of wants to ask but has a feeling he'll just end up with his foot in his mouth again, which is fairly par for the course for him, sometimes. He does feel bad if he's made her uncomfortable, though, which she doesn't seem to be too keen on the subject. Might as well blab on more about himself, huh? ]

My dad got a new job, so we moved out from the city into the middle of no where. It was a pretty big culture shift. But it ended up okay in the end. The place kind of grows on you, you know? I made a lot of friends.

[ The way she cants her head at him, her confusion reads clearly: she doesn't know why he felt the need to apologize. He clarifies that quickly enough, however, and she's quick to attempt to rectify things. ]

You don't have to be sorry. You didn't say anything wrong. [ Although now that she's thinking about it, she's imagining it being someone else from the Organization, and that-- well, that'd be weird in a whole different way. ] I would have liked for him and I to be friends. It just didn't quite work out that way.

[ If only for lack of opportunities to interact. Ah, but it isn't discomfort that plagues her; no, she would be sad about that whole situation no matter how or with whom it came up. Still, Yosuke's life is a lot more welcome a topic than her own. ]

Oh...! [ There's something just a little bit off about it, like she has to think harder than she ought to to wrap her head around the idea. It doesn't last long, however; that's another one of those things she has no personal experience with but doesn't have trouble comprehending if she's had a second to envision it. ] I think I might know the kind of place. [ Destiny Islands were sort of like that, weren't they? ] It's good that you were able to adjust, then. It must've been hard to have to leave your other friends behind when you moved.

[ He nods, accepting that since he doesn't know all the details. Still, awkward for her and probably awkward for the guy, too. How is someone supposed to deal with that kind of stuff, anyway? The same way Yosuke and his friends deal with the whole TV World thing...? Just don't talk about it?

But she seems to understand what he's getting at, at least to some degree. He smiles, although her final comment gets an awkward laugh. ]

Ah...well, it was kind of a rough transition at first, but I'm probably better off for it. I knew people back in the city, but my real friends are in Inaba. So it's worth it.

[ Oh, but he's just talking about himself, huh? ]

Sorry, it's easy to blab about them. They're good people, but you already kind of know that, huh?

[ She's still trying to work out how to handle things, herself, but semi-avoiding each other appears to be the plan of attack so far. Don't have to worry about not talking about things if you flat out never see each other. (Except that's horrendously sad, too. The whole thing is sad; she and Roxas were created together, and yet they may as well be strangers. This isn't how she wanted things to turn out.) ]

[ In any case, she's sufficiently distracted from that by his awkward laugh and her own reaction to smile back, gentle and unperturbed in an attempt to soothe any discomfort he might have. ]

I'm sure...! I'd never lived in a city before I came here, and it's been a big adjustment this way, too. [ Although she does wonder briefly about that - was he not close with anyone in the city back home? Funny - especially considering how many more people there probably were there than Inaba. Still, she chooses not to read into it. ]

Oh-- no, I don't mind...! But yes, I got the idea. [ About his friends being good people. She's not inclined to disagree if Yu's any indication of his taste in associates. ] Actually - I think it's really sweet that you care so much about your friends. It's always nice to meet someone who does. Even-- considering the circumstances.

Oh yeah? Really? [ He's definitely never lived in a city quite like this, he'll come to realize. At the moment, though, all he's seen is sand and...more sand. There's been a lot of sand in his two dives into ViViD. He'll be happy to see something that isn't sand soon. ] Where're you from originally? Small town?

[ He's learned that there are good things about small towns, at least. ]

Well, hey...friends are friends no matter what, right? As long as you've got them to back you up, it's like you can do anything. And that goes for you too.

Mm. [ The smile on her lips ebbs slightly as she gives a quiet 'um' as her initial response to his question. The way she pauses, it's not hard to tell she really has to think about how to answer that, but it isn't out of any dishonesty. ] Not exactly. [ A mostly empty castle in an indistinct part of the universe is not a small town, but it was certainly small population-wise. She does not actually explain where, 'originally', she is from, and instead, ] But I lived in a pretty quiet one for a long time. It wasn't small, exactly, but it wasn't nearly as... busy as things are here. There weren't as many people, either. [ She falters briefly, as if debating with herself, then adds, ] I didn't get out much, anyway, so I never got to see most of it.

[ If 'much' and 'ever' are the same thing. In any case, her smile begins to regain strength at his other words - although the last bit makes her perk as though surprised. ]

-- Me? [ ... Huh. Well, he's not as wrong as he might have been before she came to Cerealia, but even now there are only a few people who have hit her upside the head with the 'friend' title and gotten it through her selectively thick skull that she's allowed to call them that. She's not quite as somber about it as she might otherwise have been, at least, but there's still a sort of subtle wilting. ] Why do you say that...?

[ Yosuke, of course, has no reason to imagine anything but towns and cities and villages and...bigger cities? You know, normal places to live and grow up. So he pictures maybe a quiet suburb. Still fairly innocuous. ]

So that's something you get to do more here, right?

[ It's easy for him to throw those ideas around, though. Ever since he bonded with the Investigation Team, it only seems right to do what you can for nice people, regardless of how well you know them. ]

We're all in this together, right? So that already makes us teammates. I'm sure Yu feels the same way.

[ Twilight Town may as well be a quiet suburb, just in a different style than most and probably with taller buildings. Not many white picket fences there, but maybe more of the sentiment than anywhere else she ever got the chance to visit. ]

Right. [ It's a touch hesitant in her bemusement, but not out of any lack of actual agreement. ] More than I ever have before. Sometimes I don't even know what to do with myself, or all the free time I have.

[ Because there's so much, all of a sudden. So many people and places and things and for the first time the freedom to explore them. It's been quite overwhelming for a girl like her. Even so, her experiences have yet to make her so eager to throw around such ideas, herself. ]

Well-- I suppose that's true. [ And she has to resist saying, 'You really think he does...?' After all, if they're close friends, she probably shouldn't be questioning it. Cautiously, she attempts a smile, but it turns out a little weak and a little odd. The feelings associated with such a notion - she's fine recognizing they're all in it together, but giving it a name like 'teammates' feels a lot more personal than she's used to. ] I've... never been part of a team before. [ Remembering something, she pauses for a second, and then her expression becomes slightly more neutral, as though she's trying not to remember it again. ] Not this kind of team, anyway.

Edited 2016-06-26 04:16 (UTC)

[ Free time to go exploring? Really, this place seems to be a juxtaposition on itself. Battle Royale and a city to pick up new hobbies. How people reconcile those two extremes?

He sees that attempt to smile and tries to silently encourage it. She seems hesitant...is it an odd sentiment? He's gotten fairly comfortable with the concept of just right out helping people, maybe at one point a bit of a hero complex, but he learned that thanks and glory aren't the point, nor is acknowledgment. It's to do the right thing. That's the point.

Yosuke is a little surprised by her response. ]

Not even for clubs or anything? [ Maybe she's being more literal than he had meant, but... ] Well, it's like...solidarity for shared circumstances, you know? Helping each other out just makes sense.

[ By being from pretty crazy situations themselves, probably. Or at least, that's how she's been able to work it out. Her life never made sense before, so why should it now that she's been ripped away to an alternate world and or time by a suspicious and possibly nefarious organization she knows almost nothing about? ]

[ She can hardly disagree with him, in actuality. He has not, in her opinion, thought wrong, only phrased it differently in a way that's difficult for her to fit into her world view. But sensing that he might be surprised, she looks very slightly more self-conscious. ]

No. I've never been in any clubs, either. [ For a second, she falters; her reflex is to try to explain, but it feels as though there's no real way to do that accurately without giving away more than she'd like. So she says instead, ] I never really had the chance.

[ And just to be sure he knows she knows-- ] It's not that it doesn't make sense. It does. In fact, I'm really glad that everyone has been able to work so well together so far, for all our sakes. It's just.... [ Her head tips slightly as she parts her lips, then presses them together, mentally trying out one phrasing and then discarding it. ] ... I never would have thought to call us a 'team'. It seems kind of-- [ Presumptuous? Is that the word? Like saying they're all friends, somehow - but that's more her perception of the word than anything else and she can recognize that. Still, she tries, ] Forward?

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youraffection - 2016-07-11 03:16 (UTC) - Expand

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lethechained - 2016-07-11 05:51 (UTC) - Expand

[IC] Overflow @ cerealia

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she is so sweet...

;//w//; !! Thank you, she tries.

you are MOST WELCOME

uwaah <3 C:

<3333

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