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"Oi, it's me. Leave something here, would ya?"
Text | Audio | Video | Action
"Oi, it's me. Leave something here, would ya?"
Text | Audio | Video | Action
[Kaneda notices, and watches as Ken makes himself comfortable on that couch, watching the way he shuffles closer to him than he usually did. It's not unexpected--he knew that Ken would need someone close to him.
But that doesn't mean Kaneda should draw attention to it either way.]
Didn't trip or anything, right?
[His eyes search Ken's face, both looking for new redness and trying to read it or anything underneath.]
But that doesn't mean Kaneda should draw attention to it either way.]
Didn't trip or anything, right?
[His eyes search Ken's face, both looking for new redness and trying to read it or anything underneath.]
No. I was okay.
[That one fall was enough to jolt him into functioning enough for that. Instead of the proper manners he usually was adamant about -- keeping the bowl near the table, not slouching -- he picks up the bowl and draws his feet up on the couch as is most comfortable for him and starts to dig in.]
We were supposed to meet up today.
[That one fall was enough to jolt him into functioning enough for that. Instead of the proper manners he usually was adamant about -- keeping the bowl near the table, not slouching -- he picks up the bowl and draws his feet up on the couch as is most comfortable for him and starts to dig in.]
We were supposed to meet up today.
[At least Ken doesn't have to worry about impressing anyone--Kaneda's the trashbag with his feet on the table, anything Ken does is a step up from that. But seeing him eat is a good sign, and he can't help but let his shoulders relax a bit once he sees him start to dig in.
It's not much, but he can stop the poor guy from slacking on his basic needs.]
You'll just have to give him hell when he's back.
[He speaks so confidently...hoping that some of it will reach Ken.]
It's not much, but he can stop the poor guy from slacking on his basic needs.]
You'll just have to give him hell when he's back.
[He speaks so confidently...hoping that some of it will reach Ken.]
[Even Ken knows he has to eat the minimal amount. He's not allowed to stop moving. He always has to keep moving forward, and Kala-Nemi is there to keep him going. He has no real desire to eat, still, but the food is good and he was physically hungry, so he eats. But while his eyes water as he does and little tears drip into the bowl, he stays silent, holding on tightly to himself because he isn't sure he could come back together if he fell apart right now.]
... Yeah. [His voice comes out strained and he takes a big mouthful of rice to avoid talking.]
... Yeah. [His voice comes out strained and he takes a big mouthful of rice to avoid talking.]
[If Ken were ever worried about falling apart...well, an arm loops around those shoulders of his, hand securely on his opposite arm. A warm, almost TOO warm body presses close to him, hand moving up to run through that mess of brown hair.
Kaneda had certainly gotten touchy over these last few months, but a lot of it was because Ken needed it. And maybe because he needed a little bit of it too.]
Write him notes if you have to.
That usually always brings em back.
[He smiles, pushing his cheek against that hair as he holds his bowl with the other hand, swirling it idly.]
Worked with you.
Kaneda had certainly gotten touchy over these last few months, but a lot of it was because Ken needed it. And maybe because he needed a little bit of it too.]
Write him notes if you have to.
That usually always brings em back.
[He smiles, pushing his cheek against that hair as he holds his bowl with the other hand, swirling it idly.]
Worked with you.
[It takes a minute for him to respond, deciding to take this somewhere outside of Nonah 05 before he continues. Thankfully, he's a master of...idk, climbing out windows (thanks, Inuyasha), and makes his way to the sidewalk outside towards the lamppost before switching it to voice.
If they're talking about Ken, best to stick to this.]
He's pretty open with me, yeah. I don't really understand all of it, but he tells me it.
If they're talking about Ken, best to stick to this.]
He's pretty open with me, yeah. I don't really understand all of it, but he tells me it.
Trust me, nobody understands all of it. Well... almost nobody.
[Minato does. They're on the same wavelength, Minato and Ken, in ways that Jaime's only ever been able to envy.]
Look, if he's told you most of it, that means you know that he was in, uh, pretty rough shape around the time he first got here. Yeah?
[Minato does. They're on the same wavelength, Minato and Ken, in ways that Jaime's only ever been able to envy.]
Look, if he's told you most of it, that means you know that he was in, uh, pretty rough shape around the time he first got here. Yeah?
[Something they could agree on. Kaneda couldn't understand Minato, and Ken had taken so many of Minato's qualities. Granted, Ken was a lot easier to read than Minato at times, but...their connection was like Jaime said, the same wavelength.]
Ah...he mentioned that.
[His voice is short, as if the conversation he'd had with Ken had been just as heavy as this felt.]
Was it really that bad? [and there it goes, from short to almost...quiet. Gentle.]
Ah...he mentioned that.
[His voice is short, as if the conversation he'd had with Ken had been just as heavy as this felt.]
Was it really that bad? [and there it goes, from short to almost...quiet. Gentle.]
[This hasn't been a fun month or two for thinking. On himself, on people, then life, then back to himself. He'd skirted the issue a couple times before talking to Kaneda anyway, either ignoring the chance to say anything, or almost... but no. And of course, it's always late at night when he's sleepless, staring blankly at Megalodon's tank...
So, time for continuing what's becoming a trend.]
Oi. Kaneda.
[It's past late; maybe Kaneda's asleep. Maybe not. Tetsuo's not speaking loudly enough to really risk waking him up.]
So, time for continuing what's becoming a trend.]
Oi. Kaneda.
[It's past late; maybe Kaneda's asleep. Maybe not. Tetsuo's not speaking loudly enough to really risk waking him up.]
...uh.
[Jaime's not normally forthright about these sorts of things, but the mere idea of losing the bedrock of what Minato means to him is enough to startle him into honestly, something that virtual strangers like Kaneda usually don't get the luxury of.]
Never tell him I told you this, but... yeah. I've seen a lot of things since I got here, bad things, but that was the worst. I can't think of any worse, either.
[It's hard to get that out of his memory. It took a long time for the first mental image to spring to mind when he thought of Ken to be one of his smile, and not the way he looked that night, so small, and lost, and scared, convinced the only way to solve his existence was simply to not exist at all.]
Kinda glad you weren't around then. It's good for him to have someone who only got to know him after.
[No matter what, Kaneda's always going to be less gentle than Jaime is. Part of that is through sheer force of personality - Jaime is, at his heart, a soft touch, finding it easier to murmur than to yell, and Kaneda seems to be the opposite - but part of that is when and how they had gotten to know Ken as well. Ken's strong, stronger than most kids, in more ways than one, but part of Jaime's always going to see that scared child, beside him, but still just beyond his reach.]
[Jaime's not normally forthright about these sorts of things, but the mere idea of losing the bedrock of what Minato means to him is enough to startle him into honestly, something that virtual strangers like Kaneda usually don't get the luxury of.]
Never tell him I told you this, but... yeah. I've seen a lot of things since I got here, bad things, but that was the worst. I can't think of any worse, either.
[It's hard to get that out of his memory. It took a long time for the first mental image to spring to mind when he thought of Ken to be one of his smile, and not the way he looked that night, so small, and lost, and scared, convinced the only way to solve his existence was simply to not exist at all.]
Kinda glad you weren't around then. It's good for him to have someone who only got to know him after.
[No matter what, Kaneda's always going to be less gentle than Jaime is. Part of that is through sheer force of personality - Jaime is, at his heart, a soft touch, finding it easier to murmur than to yell, and Kaneda seems to be the opposite - but part of that is when and how they had gotten to know Ken as well. Ken's strong, stronger than most kids, in more ways than one, but part of Jaime's always going to see that scared child, beside him, but still just beyond his reach.]
Mmm?
[Kaneda's eyes are closed, and his breathing's regulated, but he's in that half-awake state where you teeter between consciousness and unconsciousness, that moment where you feel yourself slowly fall into the depths of sleep, shrinking away from your own body. Kaneda found it relaxing now, instead of just one more stress to add onto his many, many added ones, and the soft sounds of the filter of Megalodon's tank as well as the soft hum of Ebi (soon to be renamed) in sleep mode.
His body shifts, eyes slowly prying themselves open and focusing on the ceiling, palm rubbing against one to help clear away the bleary presence of grogginess.]
Can't sleep again?
[Kaneda's eyes are closed, and his breathing's regulated, but he's in that half-awake state where you teeter between consciousness and unconsciousness, that moment where you feel yourself slowly fall into the depths of sleep, shrinking away from your own body. Kaneda found it relaxing now, instead of just one more stress to add onto his many, many added ones, and the soft sounds of the filter of Megalodon's tank as well as the soft hum of Ebi (soon to be renamed) in sleep mode.
His body shifts, eyes slowly prying themselves open and focusing on the ceiling, palm rubbing against one to help clear away the bleary presence of grogginess.]
Can't sleep again?
...damn.
[It's all Kaneda has to say as the weariness starts to show in his voice, too. Even just his hesitance to go into detail is enough, and when it came to Ken Amada, there's no sugar coating anything. Everything the boy went through now was bad, he can only imagine what he was like before that. They'd certainly talked. Ken had told him he wanted to die--to just stop existing. And for as much as Kaneda told him that line of thinking was bullshit...he wasn't there for when it was the ONLY line of thinking.
That's jarring...
A shaky breath into the comm takes over, as he sinks against that lamppost.]
I've seen people at that level back home. Not something a 12 year old kid should have to deal with. [But the world was never that kind, was it?] I kinda wish I was...but it looks like you guys pulled him through, right? I mean...he wouldn't be so 'okay' without your guys' help.
[An attempt to at least lighten up this...incredibly heavy conversation. Futile, he knows, but Jaime wasn't wrong in the slightest about him. Loud...an immovable pillar. That's just what Kaneda was.]
...So why now? What's got you telling me this now?
[It's all Kaneda has to say as the weariness starts to show in his voice, too. Even just his hesitance to go into detail is enough, and when it came to Ken Amada, there's no sugar coating anything. Everything the boy went through now was bad, he can only imagine what he was like before that. They'd certainly talked. Ken had told him he wanted to die--to just stop existing. And for as much as Kaneda told him that line of thinking was bullshit...he wasn't there for when it was the ONLY line of thinking.
That's jarring...
A shaky breath into the comm takes over, as he sinks against that lamppost.]
I've seen people at that level back home. Not something a 12 year old kid should have to deal with. [But the world was never that kind, was it?] I kinda wish I was...but it looks like you guys pulled him through, right? I mean...he wouldn't be so 'okay' without your guys' help.
[An attempt to at least lighten up this...incredibly heavy conversation. Futile, he knows, but Jaime wasn't wrong in the slightest about him. Loud...an immovable pillar. That's just what Kaneda was.]
...So why now? What's got you telling me this now?
Because the only reason we got him out of that hole the first time was because I had Minato on my side. Wouldn't have been able to do it without him -- not the first time, and definitely not every step after. He's still getting better, y'know. It takes a while, and it takes more than me.
[He's quiet for a second, because saying it out loud makes it real, but he does it anyway.]
Minato's gone. Maybe it'll be a month, or maybe he'll never come back at all; you never know with this place. But I'm more interested in making sure I got my bases covered than waiting around. It's kinda hard to describe how important Minato is to Ken, but... well, you must have heard him talk about him.
[Like when Minato smiles, everything's suddenly better -- and now that power's gone. He takes a deep breath.]
But - and no offense - I'm pretty sure you're second in line when it comes to people who're important to Ken. Which means that if this goes bad, losing three of his team in a couple weeks, I'm gonna need your help.
[And that's need, not want; if it was just want, he wouldn't be calling. But he knows the way taking care of Ken goes, and that means he knows that it's not the sort of task he can tackle without having someone else around to bounce ideas off of, or someone to ask how they think he's doing. Ken's a team effort, he really is.]
[He's quiet for a second, because saying it out loud makes it real, but he does it anyway.]
Minato's gone. Maybe it'll be a month, or maybe he'll never come back at all; you never know with this place. But I'm more interested in making sure I got my bases covered than waiting around. It's kinda hard to describe how important Minato is to Ken, but... well, you must have heard him talk about him.
[Like when Minato smiles, everything's suddenly better -- and now that power's gone. He takes a deep breath.]
But - and no offense - I'm pretty sure you're second in line when it comes to people who're important to Ken. Which means that if this goes bad, losing three of his team in a couple weeks, I'm gonna need your help.
[And that's need, not want; if it was just want, he wouldn't be calling. But he knows the way taking care of Ken goes, and that means he knows that it's not the sort of task he can tackle without having someone else around to bounce ideas off of, or someone to ask how they think he's doing. Ken's a team effort, he really is.]
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