DAY 55 - [Video]

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro have been busy for the past week. Between working, training his Pokemon and chipping away at his latest programming project (a game based on one from his childhood), he didn’t have a lot of free time to himself. But lately, he feel a sense of… something foreboding in the air.

Like as if something is waiting, watching, for an opening from him. But that can’t be right… right? Maybe he’s overthinking it.

But it’s hard for him to think about it, when it seemed like his Pokemon are acting a little more unruly than before. So that would be why, after saving his work and walking away from his laptop, that Atsuro idly brought up his PokeGear and turns it on for a broadcast.]

Have you ever feel like there’s something in the air, as if something is waiting to happen? Like the calm before the storm?

[For anyone paying attention, they might hear the sounds of Pokemon talking to each other. And if they can understand their language, it sounded like they’re counting down…]

Or maybe it’s the call of the road, asking me to get down and dirty by travelling again.

[3… 2… 1... GO!]

Or maybe I want to chat because I’ve been staring at programming code for far too long and needed a bre--AH!

[The view suddenly spins, as Atsuro found himself being tackled by his current Pokemon team. He dropped his PokeGear as a result, showing nothing but darkness. Mainly because it’s facing down on the floor. There’s the sounds of Atsuro’s muffled voice and questions, “what are you guys doing?” “Get off!” “Naoya, help!”.

A moment later, someone picked up the fallen PokeGear. Turning it around to show an… upside down view of a Clefable, before she turned it right way up and pointed the camera to Atsuro under a pile of five Pokemon.

Happy birthday, Atsuro. Get buried in Pokemon.]

Comments

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya clicks his tongue, and Jayatu flies over to him and lands on his outstretched hand.]

... He's still excitable. The world's still new to him.

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro's own Pokemon slowly moves off their trainer, now that their surprise ambush is slowly wearing out its shock. He pushes himself up until he's sitting on the floor. Kimiko floats down and lands on his lap, as Asterisk just stares at her.]

That's good. There's a lot of exciting things for him to learn about the world.

[The world, not "this world". Atsuro doesn't know if they can bring their Pokemon with them, if they find a way back home.]

[crouching_sin]

That's true. ... But just so you know, we're going out to dinner tonight. You can pick where you want to go. Unless you don't want to go out at all.

[They can always just stay in and watch Sharpedonato again.]

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro just grins widely.]

I say we eat out!

[Eating out with another person. He misses it. But where can they eat? Atsuro's mentally going over all the places he knows, if they're still open.]

I can think of somewhere we can go to.

[Chances are, they have a good meaty dish or he's curious about it.]

[crouching_sin]

Lead the way, then.

[He recalls his Pokemon to their Pokeballs. They'll just get in the way as they walk. He can spend more time with them later.]

[babel_hacker]

[After recalling his Pokemon into their Pokeballs, it didn't take Atsuro very long to get ready to head out. During the warmer seasons, he doesn't need to wear a lot of layers.

As they walk out, Atsuro looks up at the sky.]

...It's still kind of surprising that I'm still in this world. Long enough for me to have another birthday.

[crouching_sin]

That's the thing about time. You never really notice it until you try to look at it all at once.

... But being in another world for so long... does it feel like home to you?

[Not 'home' as in their world, but... a home, at least.]

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro stops walking at that question, and lower his gaze to look ahead.]

...A lot of times, yeah. It's sometimes scares me how much I think of this place as a "home", after everything that happened to me.

[crouching_sin]

[He stops walking too, and nods.]

It's only natural to feel like that. After settling for a while, it's strange if you don't get attached.

[babel_hacker]

Right. It gets tricky for me since I'm worried there's a chance that I might have to choose between this world and our world.

[Such a hard choice, for him.]

[crouching_sin]

... That's a choice only you could make.

[As for him... staying here is probably preferable. He doesn't want to see what He'll have done.]

[babel_hacker]

Yeah... I know.

[He knows about it far too well. This topic have been on his mind over and over, and he never come to an answer he would be happy with.

Eventually, Atsuro looks up and brightens when he sees a restaurant.]

Oh, that place!

[crouching_sin]

All right.

[He grins a little bit, and opens the door for Atsuro.]

After you.

[babel_hacker]

[He laughs and nods, walking right inside. Once he's inside, he looks around. The interior isn't that bad looking, and he can already see some people sitting down on tables and eating.

In front of them is a desk, where the receptionist is.]

[crouching_sin]

[She leads them over to a table, and they sit down. After looking over the menu, Naoya sets his down, looking over at Atsuro. ... It's always interesting watching people grow up, even if they're not his own children. And he can't say that he doesn't feel somewhat fond of Atsuro, in his own way.]

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro's browsing through the menu, not really noticing that Naoya's watching him. There's a lot of nice sounding meals he could order and the prices sound about right. Naturally, he ends up looking at the meat dishes more than the vegetarian ones.

He looks up and blinks, noticing Naoya's look.]

Did you decide on what you want already?

[crouching_sin]

I think so, unless I spot someone else having something better.

[babel_hacker]

Hahah! That depends if that "something" is really better than your choice.

[crouching_sin]

Well, I know my tastes by now.

[A waitress comes by and takes their order, and Naoya mentions that it's Atsuro's birthday. She smiles and nods, mentioning that Atsuro will get a small free dessert, before heading off.]

I thought it might be worth a try.

[babel_hacker]

[He gives a bright, happy smile.]

Really? Thanks! I wonder what kind of dessert I would get...

[A little something for him to look forward to.]

[crouching_sin]

I don't know, but it's free, so there's no point in complaining about whatever you get, right?

[He grins a bit. It's probably something generic, but whatever it is, it's still a nice idea.]

[babel_hacker]

Yeah. But I can still get excited about it.

[The mood is still pleasant and Atsuro wants to enjoy it. Even though, knowing that it's his birthday, it brings up a lot of thoughts to his head.]

...Say, Naoya?

[crouching_sin]

That's true.

[He starts to look off into the distance a bit so he's not just staring at Atsuro, but then he's addressed.]

Hm?

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro's quiet for a moment.]

Well, it's... [Does he want to talk about it? Especially on his birthday? But it's because it's his birthday that Atsuro's aware of the passage of time.] ...you know how we don't know if and when people leave this place?

[crouching_sin]

That's right. What about it?

[He tilts his head a little bit. What's he getting at?]