video; @unchained

[hedonistic]

[There video opens to a beautiful scene of a sunset at the Fishing District, sky painted in magnificent pinks and oranges that reflect against the pristine ice. A few moments later, a young man's voice accompanies it, tinged with the telltale slurring of someone who's rather drunk.]

Hey, question.

[A pause hangs in the air for a minute, almost long enough that one might wonder if he's gotten distracted or forgotten.]

Did you like your life, before the Storm? [. . .] If the Natha gave you a chance to go back, would any of you stay here?

[Kagari doesn't miss Japan. He doesn't feel homesick. He misses his friends, sure, but he's had more in the past nine months than he did in the twenty-one years before it. But he's starting to feel like the only one.]

Comments

[maipokerface]

You're not that ignorant of all the stuff that's happened, right? I'm not talking about just the dragon. Before that it was the Shamans and the kidnappings and before that it was Olympia and Wyver fighting.

[hedonistic]

Eh. Bad shit's always happening everywhere. This place isn't anything special.

[maipokerface]

... Well, you've got a point there.

[hedonistic]

Better going through shit with people than by yourself, right?

[maipokerface]

Well. Maybe. It's kind of easier to just watch out for myself rather than everyone else too.

[hedonistic]

I mean, your friends can't fight for themselves?

[He'd die for any one of his friends--did, honestly, back home--but that doesn't mean he doesn't think they could kick ass on their own. There might be more people to watch out for, but it also meant having people to watch your back in return. It's a worthwhile exchange, he thinks, much as he wouldn't say something so sentimental out loud.]

[maipokerface]

Well yeah, of course. That doesn't mean I'm going to willingly drag them into things either.

[hedonistic]

I'm just saying, they would've been in "things" whether or not they were here, unless you guys just had some real cushy, boring-ass lives before.

[maipokerface]

Not particularly. I mean they've been quieter lately, I guess?

[hedonistic]

Your lives before the Storm.

[maipokerface]

I know. Before the Storm we had a war that had been going on long before I was born that just ended a year ago. And just before it hit I had been dealing with my brother's kidnapping by a former friend and my ex-boyfriend.

So you could say life was kind of hectic.

[hedonistic]

So why're you fussed if they wake up here, then? Sounds like El Nysa's practically like a vacation.

[maipokerface]

Just because we've been through stuff before doesn't mean I want anyone to keep going through it. And in a totally unknown place too.

[Though... well, after a year, it didn't feel that strange anymore.]

I'm not fussed about it.

[She sorta is.]

[hedonistic]

You're still arguing with a drunk stranger about it. I'd say you're pretty fussed.

[maipokerface]

[Mai goes through a few expression trying to pin one down. She finally settles on a disgruntled look.]

Okay, sure, fine. Maybe I am then.

[hedonistic]

[For his part, Kagari sure is wearing a dumbass "did I win" sort of grin.]

Weeeell~

Good luck on your friends not waking up then, I guess~