o v e r f l o w

[ashioki]

Comments

[ashioki]

what else do you do on your free time around here?

[ lowkey asking about vanitas' hobbies and interests... nbd. ]

[maladie]

I mostly stay in my room, but sometimes people watching can be insightful.

I've been in the library a lot lately too.

[ashioki]

people watch? insightful how?

[ is vanitas studying people? what the hell for? ]

what do you like to read?

[maladie]

That's a secret.

[Just collecting knowledge about anything, and simply for amusement most days.]

I like learning new things.. [A subtle way to express he likes to study in his free time. He just might be a nerd.]

[ashioki]

[ a big nerd.......... a cute one, tho— ]

if i'm ever by the library i'll pop in and say hi

[maladie]

What would you be doing in the library?

[Looking for him, probably, but Vanitas doesn't want to presume.]

[ashioki]

[ definitely looking for him. ]

getting lost, probably

[ but if he had no intention of looking for vanitas then, yeah. that. now if it were a pc cafe, that's a different story entirely. ]

[maladie]

I can help you find whatever you're looking for.

[If not Vanitas himself, then definitely the direction of the exit.]

What about you? What do you do in your free time?

[ashioki]

play video games, mostly...



do you know what that is?

[maladie]

No but they do sound very self explanatory.
You should show me some time.

[ashioki]

yeah?
you'd be interested?
it's pretty different from books or people-watching...

[maladie]

I'm interested to see what sort of thing you're interested in.
And I have heard about something called an "arcade" here.

I'm curious to see, but not enough to wander in there on my own.

[And under no circumstances will this hypothetical activity be considered a date.]

[ashioki]

video games are pretty different from the stuff you'd find in arcade but it's not impossible...



we'll go together some day then

[ nope, nope. just two bros, hanging. ]

[maladie]

Which do you prefer?
I want to learn the ones you like.

[ashioki]

[ this rizz???????? stop.... ]

if it's anything like the ones i have back home, there's a good handful i like
i'll show em all to you if you want

[ ahhh should he check out the arcade on his own beforehand so he can practice?? would vanitas be impressed if he managed to get a toy from a claw machine...... ]

[maladie]

[Vanitas wonders if Oushi is blushing wherever he is.]

Yeah, I'd like that.
It will give me a better idea of you as a person.

[And he's genuinely trying to get used to technology.]

[ashioki]

[ yes. incredibly. ]

so what's someone gotta do to get a better idea of you as a person?

[maladie]

Why in the world would anyone want to get a better idea of me?
I can save you time and effort, there's nothing worth knowing.

[ashioki]

what, so you get to know all about me but i don't get anything?
bullshit
i can decide what i want to use my time and effort on, thanks

[maladie]

Not everyone's life is so splendid that their worst experience is being turned down by a girl.

[He doesn't really know for sure if that is the worst of it, but based on what he's learned about Oushi, it's enough to use against him. Belatedly, it's probably a low blow, but too late now.]

[ashioki]

[ ....yeah, actually. it is a pretty low blow. and instinctively oushi feels himself flinching back at the first brush of it, and he feels it all — hurt, embarrassment, betrayal. anger.

it's fortunate that this is through text. that his initial reaction isn't the one he's left to mull over, long after the interaction is over.

because he breathes. tries to reorient himself. realizes that, if the meanest thing someone can say to him is mocking him over a broken heart, then yeah — he can stand to be punched down a little. especially by someone who is clearly lashing out in response to his own pain.

so, fine. vanitas wants him to back off? he will. ]

next time, you could just say you don't want to talk about it

[maladie]

[The longer he waits for a response, the more it dawns on him that he likely went too far. He thinks about sending a follow up message to downplay the severity of what he'd sent before, but maybe this is fine.

Distance is better than the pity he thinks would follow that conversation. But then again Oushi is..not someone he wants distance from. It's very much the opposite. So the message he receive stings, but he deserves that.]

I'm sorry. Sometimes I push people away.
We can talk about it in person, okay?

[ashioki]

it's fine

[ honestly? it is. it stung like a bitch, but oushi is more than aware his pain is so much more minor than most everyone else's suffering. ]

you can tell me as much or as little as you want
you can even push me away
so long as it's something YOU want
and not something stupid like you think it's what i need or deserve or whatever

you get to decide how you want to live your life
just like i get to decide i'd still like to get to know you even when you're being a jerk

got it?

[maladie]

I didn't have the happiest life.
I just don't want you to pity me.

[And usually he's perfectly find keeping people at a distance and never revealing anything specific about himself in that capacity. But there's something about Oushi that makes him feel...safe? Comfortable? He doesn't know, and stubbornly won't think about it too long.

But he does know that he doesn't want Oushi to feel bad because he's so uncomfortable getting close to people.]

I understand.

[ashioki]

[ oushi thinks of the scars he had seen, the very first time they met. ]

then i won't pity you

i don't think i would have anyway, but now i definitely won't

but if i fuck up and start to anyway, you have my full permission to beat me up until i stop

i think

[ hm. ]

i had a pretty easy life compared to... i think almost everybody here
it'd probably take me a million years to even wrap my head around half the stuff you probably had to live through
i know a chump like me has no business pitying someone who's seen and gone through worse
that's like a chicken pitying an eagle

so i don't think you'd have to worry about me pitying you
i'd probably be way too busy admiring you