yogen | npc contact.2

Haha, tough crowd! Too bad, they've been pretty popular with third years who're getting set up for graduation, y'know. Hinata-kun, Lucifer, even the infamous Akehoshi-kun is a big fan — and he's at the top of his class.

( or near the top, and he had a fanclub too, didn't he? something like that. )

It'd be a shame if you missed out without even finding out what I'm talking about.

[ HE'S REALLY TRYING....... ]

It better not be drugs. I know better than to give in to peer pressure.

Of course not — everything we sell here is 100% safe. ( during working weekday hours. ) Anyway, these are better.

( he'll let go of their hand, but only for a moment — he needs to grab his side of the road rock here. placing it in kamo-kun's hand, he'll pull their hands together so that they can hold it with both, wrapping their fingers closed around it. maybe if they don't have to look at it, they won't think about how ugly it is. )

This here's called hornfel, and it's known to give you mental power. Whether it's studying for a tough exam, or getting the courage to ask out the person you like, it'll come in handy for overcoming any challenge you find yourself faced with.

[ ... ]

Do you really expect me to believe that? I'm not paying for a placebo. What a sham. Don't insult me.

( pffft they look so upset with him help... he bursts out laughing )

Ahaha — it's true, though. I picked it up in one of my clubs. Reliable source, I promise — I know a few kids got tested on it.

[ It's my favorite, but Amami!!! you gotta keep in character, come on, make the sale ]

Yeah, and how is it helping your mental powers? Can you prove that all nontrivial zeros of the Riemann Zeta function lies on a vertical straight line when the function is set to zero?

I'm not the one holding it right now.

( it's in their hands, with his just holding those — making sure they don't let go and damage the merchandise or anything. )

But something tells me you know the answer. ( wink )

[ ...

Tosses the rock at Amami's face as gentle as they can manage while cracking up ]

Ohhh, you're so bad at this! You're better off as my commercial artist and let me handle sales!

[ THE WINK, STOP ]

( he'll catch it, grinning all the while. )

That bad, huh? To be fair, you did give me a pretty tough pitch — can't make a sale like that without a smile as cute as yours.

( no shame at all as he says this, because it's true, and amami absolutely did make his rock purchases exclusively to see them smile more at first. )

Maybe I am better suited for back-end kinda stuff for business though.

Oh, I already have a debt collector.

[ If that's what Amami means by back-end... shady stuff you can't let the shopkeep, the face of the store, do. ]

It's not like my smile's any cuter than yours, though. You just don't smile like you mean it.

( amami is taking blow after blow here and he's not sure how to deal with all of this hitting him at once actually. he's just got this frozen ass smile that probably conveys pretty well that he wasn't expecting it, together with his blinking for a moment before responding. )

I was thinking more like, business partners and contract negotiations...

( he opens his mouth. he thinks. he shuts his mouth, and opens it again for something different, looking sheepish. )

But jeez, really trying to call me out here, huh? I plenty mean it!

( the one when he bombed the sale, at least. )

Hm.

[ Business partners sounds too much of a 50:50 deal and they can't afford that sort of cut, and contract negotiations? If Amami can't even sell a rock, how's he supposed to negotiate contracts.

Not important, though. ]

Smile for me like you mean it. I can help, if you need me to.

( stop it's different when you're not trying to sell people on something you picked up off the side of the road... )

This one's not good enough, huh? Okay, okay, I guess I'll need your help then.

( this can be their challenge — in return for him trying to pitch that rock sale. )

[ npckun can do it, why can't Amami ]

Okay! Look at this face and do what I'm doing! How can you not smile for real while looking at me?

( oh, they do get a bit of a laugh for that one. )

Yeah, you're right. How's this then?

( he is smiling pretty big, and as far as he's concerned it is a real one. more on the amused side of things, but his affection for kamo-kun is dangerously sincere after all — their words actually do ring pretty true. )

[ Okay so I looked through his icons and he has like... maybe two passably happy icons that might meet npckun's standards. ]

Brighter! Smile like... umm...

[ swings his hands a little, thinking of what might make them smile, then brings them up so they're both like \o/ ]

Like you've just sold a rock to a sucker for a hundred thousand million yen and you've fled the country and they'll never find you!!

( not how they've set a goal!! insane... work hard, kamo-kun.

ooohhh but they are so cute, maybe they won't have to, actually. laughing along a little as they swing his hands, he breaks into an even wider grin at their words. )

Only a hundred thousand million?

A hundred thousand million to start!

[ no such thing as a goal when you can keep wanting more and more and more and more ]

We'll pull heist after heist and get super duper rich and nobody can stop us! We'll buy a private jet to escape the authorities, and you have to learn how to fly it, and I'll be your copilot, and we make base in Sa—- [ ... ] Where would you want to go, Tarou-nii?

( oh, there it is — amami's expression is brightening already with that. )

Me? Ahaha, if we're pulling heist after heist, I'll be satisfied with that.

( they can take all kinds of trips, to all kinds of places, and go on all kinds of adventures. not that amami would ever let kamo-kun in on anything that's too dangerous, but... showing them the world a little bit, that doesn't sound so bad. even if he is just playing along, it's easier to get into it as his own favourite hobby comes up too. so with a bit of thought, he starts to compile a mental laundry list of locations the two of them could visit, together. )

How about you, where do you wanna go, Kamo-kun? Well, to start with, do you like hot or cold better — though I guess we could find somewhere more temperate too. A place on the coast, maybe.

Hmmm... Cold more than hot, and some place with not a lot of people! A place on the coast... means I get to see the beach for real?

[ And proceed to never touch the water, because they read in books that even the most experienced swimmer can get caught in a riptide and swept out to sea never to be seen again. But maybe it'd be nice, just for a change of pace, to live somewhere not surrounded by trees and things that could pop out of the shadows at any given moment. ]

Northern Europe might be nice. I think you'd like it there — the views are just like you'd see in a story book. It's really something special.

( picturesque landscapes, and people friendly enough to get along with, but distant enough not to pry. it'd make for a good place to have a private escape, he thinks, and there's plenty of places along the coastline they could settle down at. )

We can go to the beach any time, make sandcastles, watch the sunset and the sunrise... Maybe you can learn how to sail a boat too, if you wanted.

( amami wouldn't mind having the chance to teach them something like that. )

[ Northern Europe... they don't know the language, and without being able to communicate, how are they supposed to— ...maybe in this little fantasy, they wouldn't need to anymore.

It'd be a quiet life. One they yearn for, because it doesn't matter where they end up as long as they're with someone, and they would feel safe if it were Amami, because Amami wouldn't toss them overboard into the water. Probably.

... ]

Maybe! A little sailboat that goes wherever the wind takes it... And since we're rich, we can be a hundred floaties and tie them all around the boat and then there'd be no way we would tip and sink and drown!

Aw, c'mon, have a little faith in me. I'm a good navigator, and a good swimmer too — I'd never let anything happen to you.

( sighs. not him just me.

but... it does sound nice, when he lets himself think about it a little. maybe it's unrealistic — he knows this little play pretend between them can't last forever; eventually, they'll have their real brother back, and he's sure that will be that. even so... even so, he'll treasure them the same way he does his own sisters, and he'll let himself have this little fantasy for now. one where he can show kamo-kun all of those horizons they regretted not getting the chance to see before, and where they can expand that small world of theirs, together, one step at a time.

it might not be the bright grin kamo-kun was looking for, but with the gentle affection that colours his current smile, it would be hard to claim it's not sincere. )

Let's go one day. I'll show you for real, as long as you're up for it, 'kay?

[ Look, you can never be too careful. What if Amami falls asleep and npckun falls overboard, who would save them then? Their hundreds of floaties, that's what.

They're big plans, but... they think of how much time they have left, and know it will be impossible. ]

...Yeah. Once I reach my goal, and you reach yours, let's go together.

It's a plan then.

( they can have this much though. the thought of it, at least. )

npc contact.2

full navigation

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject