you've been acting awful tough lately

[reassures]

Date & Time: The 8th, from 12pm - 3pm
Location: Outside town
Characters: Nill and YOU
Summary: Nill promised to meet an anonymous person on the network, and has decided to send smoke signals with cigarettes to find them. Also action spam.
Warnings: None! Will be updated if needed.

[It's a strange day that finds Nill smoking during daylight hours, but one way or another she's found herself doing exactly that. Small promises made and easy modes of identification, she supposes - she'll end up going through half a pack by the end of this, but it's worth it if she can actually manage to help the person she promised to help.

Even so, it's not difficult to tell that it's a strange sight, a blond girl bundled up, sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree beside one of the better-known ways to town, just... smoking. She doesn't appear to be going anywhere, apparently comfortable where she is, though she smiles at anyone that spares her a glance while they're on their way. She'll be there for most of the early afternoon, from noon to about three, and will welcome anyone that feels like sitting with her.

Hopefully it won't decide to snow while she's sitting there. It's cold enough out as it is, and a new layer isn't going to make her stay terribly pleasant.]

((ooc: Telepathy permissions!))

Comments

[reassures]

[She's quick to start typing again, though she backspaces more than once while she does. Normally words come easily enough to her, even though she has no traditional voice to speak them with, but now her fingers move and nothing that makes sense comes from them.

It takes her a few moments before she can hold the tablet up again. When she does, the smile is mostly gone from her face, replaced with something similar to a conflicted expression.]

Thank you. I appreciate it-- even if that's not very practical here.

[She could let him leave, just like that. It would be easy enough. But the way he says it - "I'm probably just in the way." - makes her heart ache. She fumbles to type up another message, more quickly this time.]

You aren't in the way. Please don't think that.

[juneshero]

[he blinks. Why would she look conflicted? Yosuke's about to wander off when he sees her fumbling again. So he hangs around (not crowding though!) to see what she was typing...

His smile relaxes a bit, not so awkward or uneasy, but... Relieved? Genuine, maybe]

... Heh. Thanks. [for what? He's not sure himself, but he means it]

Hopefully that other guy shows up soon. Being left out here to wait kinda sucks.

[reassures]

[She cracks something close to a smile, more genuine this time, and nods just the slightest bit.]

I hope so too.

[And then, because she's looked him over at least once, and maybe she can't help herself a little, she decides to ask a question, no matter how odd it might be.]

How old are you?

[juneshero]

Hm? [he looks at the screen, looks at her, then looks at the screen again to make sure he read it right] That's kinda random.

I'm 17. I think? Time travel's made it weird. It was May when I left, but it's January now, so... [he shrugs a little helplessly] I'm going to stick with '17' though.

I'm so sorry please pretend those italics were courier gkjdahkgjd

[reassures]

[She tries to look a little sheepish, as if it hadn't occurred to her just how odd the question might be, but she doesn't pull it off well.

His response is actually a lot different than what she was expecting. He looked a little older, but... 17? May?

Senpai had come from a world where something horrible happened, and he thought about it frequently; Nill was certain he'd never made it to May. The boy she'd left behind in the Port had seen November as his last month in his world, also about 17 by that point in his world. And the one who had been in Exsilium before... she had no idea what point in time he was from, only that it was probably earlier than this version of him. Which meant...

Maybe, somehow, this Yosuke would have a future in his own world if he ever made it back there. A good one. Maybe his world wasn't going to only lead horrible places.

Nill smiles, and though it's warm, she has to blink back tears.]

May is a good month-- I like it. And 17 is a good age.

I'm 20.

[juneshero]

[he doesn't understand why she looks like she's about the cry, even while smiling. Well, no, that's a lie. He totally understood how it felt sometimes to be happy enough to want to cry. He just doesn't understand how his answer could have brought that sort of reaction]

20? [but he smiles back at her anyway] Could've fooled me!

And yeah, the weather's not too warm and not too cold during May... Golden Week too! That's always a good time to set up get togethers for the team.

[reassures]

[She is happy. It doesn't make the pit that opens up in her stomach whenever she looks at this Yosuke go away, exactly; she's not sure anything could, but for this moment, at least, she's happy. Somewhere, a different version of one of the people she cares about most could have a normal life. Somewhere, he could be okay. It's a little sad, knowing that might not be the case for the ones she does or has known, but at the same time it's so much better than just nothing.]

The team? What do you do?

I thought I replied to this ;o;

[juneshero]

Huh? [he reads over her comment again]

Oh, it's the friends I have back home. We kinda became friends over the course of the last year. I mean, I could just call them 'my friends' but... It sounds cooler, doesn't it? Calling everyone a 'team.'

[ah, wait, she's older than him thisprobablysoundssuperdumb]

No worries!!

[reassures]

[Nill doesn't seem bothered, and she certainly doesn't look like she thinks it's dumb. He hasn't mentioned Souji's name yet, and though Nill was on the fence about his other friends, she had nothing against them personally.]

It sounds a lot cooler.

[juneshero]

Right? Eheh. [he looks really happy at that. Because YEAH IT SOUNDS COOL the part of him that never got past being manga fan is super stoked]

Though I guess we're all supposed to be a team here. Working together and everything... I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it.

[reassures]

[Yosuke's enthusiasm for silly things like this is nothing new to Nill. She just keeps smiling, because compared to the news she got from Seras months ago when she arrived, this is... great. Wonderful. Amazing. It's the first time she's ever known that someone she loves could exist somewhere in some form and maybe have a happy future.]

Teams are a little harder to make here, but it's not impossible.

Do you have many friends here?

[juneshero]

[he kind of flutters about at the friends thing because on the one hand, he's never been particularly good at making them but on the other...]

I've got a couple. It probably looks really stupid to some other people but... [he looks a little sheepish] I think I'm getting better at it. And the people here are pretty cool once you get talking. [Kamen Riders omg]

What about you?

[reassures]

[She kind of knows, which is why she asked. Any substantial relationships seem to be hard for a kid like Yosuke, so even if she doesn't talk to him much again after this... she wants to make sure he's okay. Nill would sleep a lot better a t night knowing he had people to rely on.]

It's not stupid at all.

I don't have many friends. The ones that I do have are very good people though, even if they don't think so. I'm very glad to have met them.

[juneshero]

[he smiles at her reassurance, the earlier awkwardness nearly gone]

... Eheh. That seems to be better. To have a few good friends rather than a whole bunch of, uh... acquaintances.

I know I'd say the same thing about my friends. The 'glad to have met them' bit, I mean. [he grins] It feels good, right?

[reassures]

It feels wonderful.

[The agreement is fast and easy, because there are few things in the world that were truer for Nill than that. Life hadn't been easy, but if she had to choose between that and never having met the people she cared about... the friends definitely win out.]

Your friends at home-- do they treat you well?

[juneshero]

Well... [he crosses his arms and makes a show of thinking really hard about it] Chie and Ted think that I'm just made of money or something and we get into dumb fights every so often because I swear the girls have it out for me but...

[he smiles] They're willing to accept me for who I am. Especially partner. So yeah. I guess they do.

Except when Chie's wringing every last yen out of my wallet. That I can do without. [laugh]

[reassures]

[Souji accepts him?

The idea of it isn't foreign, but the few Soujis she's known were so absentee that it's difficult to picture. Even with little flickers of images and flashes of generally good things, it doesn't add up in her head. The information doesn't make sense.

She keeps smiling though, because if it's true, then this boy hit the different universe jackpot.]

That's wonderfully.

Hopefully when you see them again, you can keep your yen safe.

[juneshero]

[Yosuke just missed the Souji that had been in Exsilium for a month. He still things his partner is the best because of it even though he has his trolling moments. But 'absentee' is still weirdly applicable... Souji's just weird]

Haha, here's hoping! [he holds up his hand with fingers crossed for a moment]

Kinda makes me wish I could just go back home but... I dunno. It wouldn't feel right.

[he frowns, but shrugs it off] Hey, y'sure you don't want me to grab you a hot drink or something? It's pretty cold out here and everything.

[reassures]

[Souji is weird indeed.

That first bit catches her a little off guard though, and for a moment she does look surprised by it. It wouldn't feel right? Really...? He hadn't been here that long - she'd seen his name when it showed up on the list, but even so... wow.

She tries to make it seem like she's surprised by the offer.]

Are you sure you want to do that? Walking back and forth is cold, too.

[juneshero]

[and Yosuke completely fails to notice that the surprise wasn't at the offer. Ace Detective! Solves murders, saves people!]

[he laughs a little before waving it off] Hey, we're already freezing out here, what's a round trip? And between moving around and having to hold onto hot stuff, it probably won't go too bad.

[then he winces] Unless, I dunno... I come across some vengeful ice. Or penguins.

[reassures]

[She seems to consider it for a few moments longer, until he mentions penguins as a source of danger, and she can't help but laugh. It still looks and sounds a little odd considering, you know, the mute thing.]

If you're sure, that would be nice.

Are penguins that dangerous?

[juneshero]

Oh yeah, sure! I mean, those guys are super vengeful and those beaks hurt! And when you're holding onto hot stuff that spills? It's like this huge target gets painted on you so that kids and mascots end up running you over and spilling things everywhere.

[and you can bet that there is animated gesturing all through that talk. Because that's just how Yosuke rolls]

[reassures]

[Only Yosuke would know that penguins are vengeful. She kind of wonders what he did, but well.. it probably wasn't that complicated in the long run. She giggles quite a bit.]

Try not to slip on any ice, too.

[juneshero]

[now, normally she'd be right to assume that he did something to draw the ire of some bird or another, but he didn't do anything this time! They just went and nipped him that one time he was trying to help decorate the museum for christmas. So rude]

Aha, I'll try. [he grins awkwardly before waving off. And despite the jokes and warnings before hand, Yosuke still somehow manages to almost land himself in a trash can. But it's fine! He's fine!! He even takes the time to yell out 'I'm okay!' before continuing. Sure, his dignity isn't, but at least he's not stuck in a trash can in snow.

But it takes a few minutes before he comes back with two covered drinks in hand. Yosuke hands Nil one sheepishly]

I forgot to ask and didn't know what you'd like, so I just got some tea. Didn't spill anything though!

[reassures]

[...That exit was nowhere near reassuring, Yosuke. Nill watches him go, and wonders if she should follow to make sure he'll be okay... but no. She promised to meet someone here, so she really can't take off just like that. She just hopes he makes it where he's headed in one piece.

She can't help but look slightly relieved when he comes back in one piece. Didn't even burn himself with anything hot! Nill smiles gently, and takes the drink offered to her. She's very skilled with typing, because she manages to type up the next message with one hand.]

I love tea. Thank you.