yogen | npc contact.2

I don't want to go to the beach when it's hot. That sounds miserable.

[ The beach really doesn't have much going for it that interests them. The water is a no-touch zone, the sand is scratchy and sticky, it's hot, there's probably gulls everywhere that poop on your head and dive bomb you to steal your food, and you can't wear shirts. ]

That's why we sit under the palm trees.

( and use the shade as their blanket, he thinks as a hand lifts as he can settle it on top of the youth's head. )

We hide from the sun, lean back against its bark as he watch the waves crash back and forth, how the crabs dig under the sand and hide again because they're startled by our prescence... wait for the wind to blow, shaking down a coconut that barely avoids cracking out skulls, and we decide that'll be the one we crack, and you and Amami-kun can share.

( because komaeda can't have what an ultimate has, that would be too much. ) Watch the jellyfish wash upon the shore, and you pick them up to throw them back... search for shrimps that have an invasive isopod parasite attached to their gills, harming their chances of making babies.

[ There's that little jolt again at being touched on the head, but they tilt their head up to look up at him, leaning back a little as if imagining the large fanned leaves of the palm trees overhead, narrowly avoiding death by coconut... ]

What kind of shrimp is that...? You must really like the beach...

Shrimps with the shell, the isopod lays on their gills, and you can just pick them out... there's a female, and a male counterpart, the male is tinier.

( it's gross too, especially when he watches npckun flinch, he thinks it's because of the information rather than anything else. )

...I lived on one for awhile as I watched my friends die one by one, you get used to it.

[ what... kind of shrimp is that, what...

... ]

That's not something you should get used to.

[ There's that part of them that wants to call Komaeda out for saying before that he didn't have friends, but maybe it's because they're all dead now and pointing it out will be callous ]

( ...stop, i just watched this man on tiktok do it!! idk... shrimp with the shell... )

It's fine, people die here as well. Monokuma prepared me for this, I'm not proud of it... but I've done things before I'm not proud of before going to the island.

( so he's used to death, and people dying. )

Have you ever seen someone die before?

...no.

[ Never seen, but they know of people dying, knows what it feels like, knows the sheer terror of staring imminent death in the face and the helplessness of being able to nothing about it. ]

I don't want to.

How lucky.

( to not see people die, to not watch their life just disappear instantly after one final breath. komaeda doesn't feel much anymore when people say no, because he thinks differently that death should be the norm. even with those thoughts, maybe he's just a little glad that the other has avoided seeing someone die. )

You should keep it that way, tons of people would be jealous...

( to avoid instantly seeing red, to watch someone almost die in your arms. it's an experience, one that komaeda wishes he didn't know all too well. )

[ Are they lucky? They think they're probably just... young. Young and sheltered, much of their world for much of their life being a single room, let alone a house or neighborhood or town.

Maybe that's luck, as much as they'd always thought otherwise. ]

I'm doing my best to keep it that way... That's why you have to get lots and lots of people to buy from my shop, because the things there will protect them and I won't have to see them die.

( let him think about it, yawning softly as his eyes close, and little tears swell in the corner and it burns. you know the vibes. )

They'll die outside your vision, but... is that truly what you want?

( ... )

Seeing a few deaths... it strengthens the core, and yet... missing out on an experience won't motivate your hope, so we have to do something if you won't see their deaths... maybe you collect the bodies...

That's gross. I don't want them.

[ What are they supposed to do with dead bodies? ...black market organ trade... But it's also gross. ]

I just want their wills. Whatever liquid assets I can get my hands on.

( thinking how their dad is on the black market, so you never know. )

Is my will not enough?

( not like he didn't give his will, but he looks at the top of npckun's head like he doesn't care much for the answer. )

But let's talk about you, I don't care about them right now...

[ Maybe they don't want to be like their dad ]

Me? What about me?

( they're better than their dad, look how accomplished npckun is?

he wants to talk about them because he likes them best compared to others that could come to mind at the moment. )

I've noticed... you hate something that I do.

I hate a lot of things you do.

[ But this isn't about Komaeda, they thought this was supposed to be about them. ]

I'm a very hated person.

( tell him something that he doesn't know, anyway. )

When I touch your head, you seem to... react in a certain manner, do you want me to stop touching you?

[ They want to argue that they can hate the things a person does but still love them as a person; that seems to be the trend with father figures. But they're distracted by the question— and the proceeding claim, especially, which makes them pull back and place their own hands on their head as if testing out whatever sort of reaction Komaeda is talking about.

...

They let their hands drop. ]

I don't react any weird way. Don't stop touching me.

( don't argue it because komaeda will just get petty and try to leave, he likes being the top hated person because then no one has to hate each other. he watches npckun touch their head, and see no reaction makes him feel like he's observing a spice challenge.

he raises his hand again, hovering it over their head. )

...What if I'm told to? Stop touching you, I mean.

( slowly, he places his hand promptly on top, running his fingers through their hair. )

[ There's that little reflexive jolt again that npckun seems to think nothing of, that happens even though they watch Komaeda's hand approach the entire time and should know when to expect the weight on their head, fingers combed through their hair as it's happened a number of times before. ]

Since when do you do what you're told?

...Why do you do it?

( you think he's going to ignore it after seeing it again, no matter how many times npckun brushes it off... it's visible again, and a detail he keeps noticing. )

You can tell me, unless you'd rather I ask a different question.

Do what? It's not...

[ They frown a little, touching the top of their head. It's like asking why they breathe or blink— this isn't something they ever consider. ]

I told you it's okay. I'm okay.

...Ah, then it's fine to ask something else?

( he asks, blinking slow as he removes his hand when he sees npckun touch their head again. he doesn't want to be in the way, so he's cautious as he watches, and drops his hand to the side.

i was about to be like wait i have something for them, but that's post coma. now they must carry on with komaeda looking a little defeated because he thinks npckun lies to him. )

[ npckun day 1: con artist ]

...Yeah. What do you want to know?

...

( he can ask something else, or he can just lay here and stare whole he's quiet without saying anything. it's like he's trying to catch npckun slipping or second guess the next thing that they say. either way, there's a plan to this despite being a little annoying about it. )

...

[ ...

okay, so he doesn't want to know anything, that's fine with them. Apparently they're lying down and this is the naptime thread so they're just going to press up against Komaeda and physically lift his arms so that he's hugging them. They're the little spoon. ]

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