coastal | voicemail.

[ . . . . is 1000 credits a lot of money.

Maybe it makes sense.... the credits that were put on the card to decorate her home weren't... enough.... to suit her tastes. She didn't get all the blankets that she wanted and only barely got her canopy?! Truly, life is hard (not it's not, she's just expensive).]

I-I'm not some idiot....!

[She just

has no concept of spending

she already casually gave away like 3 pieces of her own jewelry after all]

[ Guess who chose the cheapest, dinkiest apartment to live in and is mostly content with sleeping on a futon on the floor? This Kid. Which means he has money to spare... please give him some taste, Lili, he hasn't any to call his own.

There's a gulp on Atsushi's end of the line, but he's beginning to understand that Lili will yell at him a lot... it's just what she does. ]

I- didn't mean to imply that! But if there's anything you need help with, I can try to explain...

[ Wait no, focus Atsushi, focus. ]

...And it might be easier to do that in person? Either way, please don't worry about the money, I've got that covered.

Edited 2016-01-19 09:24 (UTC)

[It is just what she does.... mostly because her pride is easily damaged and she gets defensive fast. Sorry about it, Atsushi. Even then, she'll eventually even out into pure dere....... maybe. idk. save her life a couple times.

For now though, she's just waffling..... Maybe she does need help with a few things -- but it's hard to admit it.

So instead of straight out admitting that she needs help like a normal person, she just agrees to at least... meet with him in person and maybe learn by observing?!

Thanks Lili.]

... When and where?

[ !! She agreed...!! And he didn't have to get stabbed through the gut for her to say ok, this is a good start.

His tone brightens, and she should be able to see the smile that's creeping up on his face even if this is purely an audio call. ]

Really? Great, I can meet anytime you'd like...! And I can meet you in front of wherever you live, and lead you to the tea shop from there?

[ This is exciting! Maybe Lili will actually have fun in his presence this time around, what a novel thought. ]

[ . . . . this is so sudden. She looks up from where she was fixating on her coffee table, pondering what she has going on today. She wasn't scheduled to work which is why she picked up in the first place and she already finished her homework since she's studious af.....

But she still needs to get ready since she didn't expect to see anyone. Even though her appearance is probably perfectly manicured since she's... also kinda vain.

So her answer comes easily.]

Thirty minutes in front of [she explains the exact location of her apartment building]. Fair?

[25 of those 30 minutes will be spent mentally preparing herself for this. Don't mind her.]

Edited 2016-01-19 09:41 (UTC)

E-eh? Thirty minutes?!

[ He looks at himself to make sure that he's not... a total mess, which is questionable since he's always wearing the ragtag cobble of clothes he'd been given by his coworkers at home. He's too fond of them, okay. ]

I can manage that— [ she'd definitely hear how he's shuffling around on his end of the line, looking for his wallet, making sure all the stoves in the kitchen are turned off. ] —I'll see you in thirty minutes, then? I'm really looking forward to it...!

[ Atsushi, stop ]

[ . . . . . . . . . . .

What.

Is that too short of a time?

It almost makes her feel bad as even as she's rising from her place on the couch to go inspect her hair, she mumbles into the phone.]

Are you.... rushing?

Rushing? No, I'm just— [ ah... there goes his work equipment for his tiger wrangling job, crashing down onto the floor. ABSOLUTELY NO RUSHING HERE... ] —Ah, I was just looking for something, don't mind me.

[ He wants this to be the time when he doesn't act like a total ween in front of Lili, and he's already fucking it up... go Team Atsushi. ]

If I come too early, I'll be waiting for you in front of the building, so please don't feel like you have to hurry, either...!

Edited 2016-01-19 09:56 (UTC)

[She's wincing on her end when she hears the crash of stuff.... what the hell is he doing? Can't he look quieter?!

Though maybe it's.... sounding like it's her fault. Is thirty minutes not that long? She thought that it would be a long time! Or maybe he wasn't prepared to go out so soon? But he was the one who called and left it up to her discretion!

Boys are dumb.

So she's just going to huff vaguely into the phone.]

Just don't hurt yourself getting over here.... and be on time!

[NOT EARLY OR ANYTHING. GOD.

But she'll end the call after that.... gomen Atsushi, you try so hard.]

[ Boys are absolutely dumb, and Atsushi is absolutely one of the dumbest— but at the very least, he manages to get to Lili's place without much incident after the call. Most of the thirty minutes was spent making sure that the tea place wasn't completely booked (he reserved a table, just in case), checking up to see whether or not his mentor from home was still alive (Real Concerns), and then hightailing it to a completely different section of the Residential District. Man, these buildings sure are nice.

There's a distinct sense of feeling out of place, but that dissipates quite quickly when he spots Lili in the distance!! He breaks into a smile, waves one hand in the air as he trots towards her. ]

—Lili-san! It's me, Atsushi. [ as if she needed to be told?? Just in case, ok. ] It's good to finally meet you outside of ViViD.

[ . . . . why is he smiling at her like that.

It makes her uncomfortable -- he doesn't even know her! So why is he so excited to see her that he'll even walk up to her like that? He looks like an idiot.... and she hates that she feels more flattered than irritated. Feelings are dumb!

But regardless she's just going to keep it together otherwise, nodding once. It is good to be outside of ViViD.... she's not in those stupid clothes that aren't hers anymore, having long-since traded them for sets of long, loose dresses that she feels considerably more comfortable in....]

Well.... it's not like you changed much.

[In her opinion, anyway.

He's still a huge nerd.]

S...so harsh?! Well, I can't say that I look any different, that's true.

[ He's never harbored any illusions about looking impressive, so he's at least got that out of the way, right. Lili is...exceedingly pretty, of course, and it might have occurred to Atsushi that he should perhaps be a bit more self-aware of this entire situation if he didn't regard this as "a day to make Lili smile" as opposed to "being alone with a very very good-looking girl".

So he presses on, of course! He turns on his heels in the general direction of their destination, taps his toes on the ground once, twice, as he thinks. ]

But, still. It's nice, isn't it? This definitely feels more real.

Well, you're not wearing the stupid clothes that the game picked out, at least. These suit you more.

[Did you ask her for her opinion? No?! TOO BAD.

But she'll be honest about that much. Everyone looked dumb before.... but if he wears things like this, then she's not entirely surprised. Still an improvement.

She'll follow after easily enough, though, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she does. She was more than a little out of her depth in the level and for the first few days, but it seems like some time away has managed to get her settled and more of her natural grace (read: haughtiness) returned. Even if she doesn't know where they're going, she'll try to walk in step with him because she isn't used to... not calling the shots....]

Though as for reality - it both.... does and doesn't. This place is very different from my home... It still feels like a dream.

[ It's funny: she's not used to not calling the shots, and he's not used to calling the shots. So much of his time back at home was spent chasing, chasing, chasing, and he has to agree wholeheartedly with Lili when she mentions that being here feels like a dream. There's none of the turmoil that he'd gotten used to back at Yokohama, and the freedom of their hopeless situation is daunting— what is he supposed to do here? How can he make himself useful here?

He leads, but not by more than half a step. And even then, he spends most of his time looking behind him, to make sure Lili is there. ]

Ah, that's the same for me... it's a little overwhelming, isn't it? [ Seriously, what the fuck are cyborgs??? How can machines talk??? ] —Though, come to think of it... where do you come from, Lili-san?

[Well, if he's going to look back at her, she's just going to meet his gaze evenly. For now... she doesn't feel that embarrassed so eye contact only feels polite. Just don't run into anything because you keep looking back, Atsushi... Lili doesn't think to look out for him.

Overwhelming though.... she's not going to mention that all the lights gave her a headache the first day she got there -- and they still do, if she stays out when it's night for too long. There's so much artificial lighting her that she doesn't know how to handle it.]

Suiko, the capitol of the Water Tribe, in the country of Kouka.

[ . . . . lengthy, isn't it. But she'll elaborate because she... loves talking about home....]

It's a beautiful, bustling place. Said to have the most luxurious gardens and elegant scenery in the entire country.

[And... she misses it, so very much. She doesn't even notice how her voice grows warmer as she thinks of it.]

Ah... I've never heard of it, so we must be from different worlds...

[ Which is a little sad to think about, that this might be the only place they could ever have met. But in a sense, that's amazing too— it's hard to know how to feel about anything here.

But his lips curl upwards when he hears the roundedness in her tone, when he notices the quiet fondness. ]

It sounds really nice, though. I've never really seen big gardens, so I can't even imagine what that'd be like.

[ Turning a corner now, leading her into a busier part of the city! The tea place isn't too far, thankfully, for ease of travel. ]

[Lili glances at him, curious as to what makes him say something that she thought was obvious. They don't have any sorts of similarities between them and if anyone had heard her name, it would've elicited a reaction..... but well, she supposes that it'd still be a surprise.

Before she answers though, they enter the busier part of the city and.... she walks just a fraction closer. She's a little too used to being randomly ambushed and even though she doesn't notice, she walks closer to Atsushi at the same distance that she would walk with a guard.

A small detail though, one that she doesn't even notice as she answers.]

It's lovely... It rains plenty and so there are lush gardens with great big ponds. It's very peaceful.... [And a bit quieter:] I wish you could see it....

[ . . . but not because they're friends or anything!]

[ Her edging closer doesn't make it any harder for Atsushi to walk, so he doesn't mind it at all— barely notices it, really. He steers the both of them towards the side of the walkway, away from the main crowd, and adds as a gentle notification: ]

We'll be there soon.

[ With that disclaimer out of the way, he can address the rest of what she just said, which is... again, nice of her. He doesn't understand why she keeps having such visceral reactions to being called kind, this is such a sweet sentiment. ]

And... I wish I could see it, too. If it's something you like, it must be something amazing. [ Not because he thinks she's picky, but...!! ] I hope we can find you some way to go home soon, then— a place like this must make you pretty homesick.

[Without seeming to notice, she follows him away from the crowd without much question or hesitation. At this point he's managed to earn her favor, whether she even seems to notice it herself.

That said, she's not kind.

There's no way she can be kind when she stiffens up at his genuine offer. Even as much as she misses Suiko--]

.... That's unlikely. Keep your idealism to yourself. I don't need your help.

[She doesn't know if she'll ever see it again and the pain of that realization makes her lash out.]

[ Ah, a misstep: not uncommon with him, but still, something he could've held his tongue about. As much as it hurts to be told that he's not needed, his expression only troubles for a second. ]

Ah... a lot of people have told me that it wouldn't be good to lose hope. So I'll keep on being stupid and idealistic, but— I'll keep it to myself, if you'd prefer it that way.

[ He knows when he's being stubborn, he's self-aware of that, at the very least. But still, he has to run himself ragged.

Turning the both of them into a quieter side-street, he motions towards one of the strangely older-looking buildings, one that actually has a screen door and wooden foundations: how novel. ]

—We're here, at any rate.

[ . . . . . The stubbornness earns him a glance from Lili even as they stop. That's new. Normally he comes across as such a wilting flower. Before she steps inside, there's just one thing that she has to say:]

.... I normally hate it when people talk back because a lot of the time what they're saying is stupid.

[Lili, where is this going--]

But what you have to say isn't bad. [She keeps her eyes fixed on the building. It's not a matter of losing hope as to whether or not she'll be able to go back home and see the capitol.... There are just things that are out of her control even if she made it back to her world. As for how he talks about hope-] ... I don't mind it.

[And with that, she'll be walking ahead inside, refusing to make eye contact.

Was that praise?]

Huh? Th...thanks? I-

[ ... Was that praise? Atsushi isn't sure, but it's also a little familiar: harshness to convey a truth, one that isn't so readily obvious. There's something so staggeringly upright about Lili, even when she's being dismissive.

So he stands there, boggled for a few seconds, before he snaps out of it and follows Lili inside to a rather classy, rather cozy Japanese-style teahouse that's. Full of girls.

Okay... he can do this. He can do this!! He gives one of the servers his name, and they're led to a nice table in the back corner of the room. The place is lit with dim lights, and he immediately feels a bit more at home; hopefully Lili feels the same way, away from all the shockingly artificial lighting. ]

—Alright, well... feel free to get whatever you'd like on the menu, it's all on me! We won't have to worry about any of it having strange effects, so...! [ weak laughter, why did he even mention this... ]

[It settles her a lot, actually.

Even once they step inside, the line of her shoulders relaxes immediately upon seeing the familiar lighting and architecture. She doesn't even seem to notice the other occupants as she's instead focused entirely on just how nostalgic it feels. It feels... a lot like home. The one she was homesick for just moments ago.

She begins to peruse through the menu with a considerable amount more ease than when they were roaming through the city just moments ago.

And she spares a glance up at the 'strange effects' comment before shaking her head minutely.]

You joke too easily about your own well-being.

[Another small chastisement -- but really, she just doesn't even like joking about the idea of him being hurt again.]

[ There's a certain ease in being surrounded with organic things instead of the harsh chrome and metal of Cerealia proper, and Atsushi sinks into his wooden chair, on hand-made cushions and crafted armrests, before considering what Lili means by him being too casual about his own mishaps.

Even after being found, no one's said things like this to him before. ]

Haha... I guess it's a bad habit of mine. It can't be pleasant to hear, sorry.

[ And there it is again, the patented 'sorry'. ]

But, I wasn't lying before, when I said that I'm sturdy. I guess I've just gotten a little desensitized...?

[Sturdy…? That makes her look up at him again, not particularly any happier with that answer. What does it matter if he’s desensitized? Does that mean that he gets hurt often and just brushes it off? That’s…. cruel.

He’s too kind for that.

But the words won’t leave her mouth.]

Does that mean it doesn’t hurt….?

If you’re really sorry, then you should work harder so that you don’t get hurt as much. Being sturdy doesn’t make it okay.

[Yet by the end of that, her face is most certainly red as can be, so she’s going to move her menu back up to create a bit of a barrier between them.

Words that she doesn’t know how to say: I’m worried about you.]

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