"Heeey, you've reached Yang! Well, actually, you didn't reach far enough, 'cause I'm not here right now! But don't yang up! Just leave a message on this baby, and I'll get back to you soon enough, okay?"
Who said anything about being lonely? Are you sure that you aren't the one lonely?
[A little defensive... But, well, true enough things didn't go well at all. Naoki wonders, though. He's sure that if there were a lot of missing people, he would've felt their distress...
[FLINGS HIS CEREVICE ACROSS THE ROOM!! no, not really]
I didn't
Just
It would've been more interesting with you there. That's it.
[HE WASN'T LONELY. But he likes hanging out with her... It reminds him a lot of hanging out with his friends, back when things were normal, and he can just have fun with them. But it's different than that, too.]
[Naoki just smiles, resists the urge to say she'll probably spot him first before pocketing the CereVice. Once everything's all wrapped up, he sees himself out and sets off at a light jog to the shopping district. He glances around once he arrives before taking a seat at a nearby table.
He's not really hungry or anything, this just seemed like the easiest place to meet up. He'll keep scanning any people around until he can spy her pretty distinctive head of hair.]
[ She won't be hard to spot, probably one of the few people moving at a brisk jog. Ultimately, it had been an unsatisfying day, but she hadn't gotten her hopes up too much.
And her smile is bright and genuine when she catches sight of him, waving an arm over her head, as though he'd somehow miss her. ]
[Yep, there she is. Though she called out to him before he saw her, so one win to Yang. She doesn't know he's keeping score, though.
He returns her smile with one of his own, his hand raising in a lazy wave as he leans back on two legs of his chair. Gripping at the table, he pushes himself to his feet and steps around any people in the way to meet her.]
[Naoki goes blank-faced and puzzled as he sorts that one through. Wait, 'cause they're meeting up? Is that jumping to conclusions? Nnngh don't say nice things to him, Yang.
He turns quickly to one side and indicates with a thumb.] It'll be even better when we're out of this crowd. C'mon, let's walk.
[Naoki nods slowly, rubbing his hand against the side of his head.]
It could be that. I mean, with all of the time I spend in ViViD... I've never noticed any people in it who looked lost in the last couple of weeks. If there were a ton of people lost in there somewhere, they'd probably be feeling panicked...
[He trails off with a thoughtful look, like the words hold some significant meaning to him.]
[ It's because he trails off, and because of how he words it that has Yang's steps slow as she considers the statement. Not "I would have seen them", or "I would have heard panicked noises", but... ]
[He pauses before slowly elaborating. He almost steps past her, too, reacting to her slowed pace too late, but slows himself to walk next to her:] I can sense emotions to a degree. I pick up on negative ones better, though, like fear or panic.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I'm not fighting anything, at least. But I'm holding you to that, Naoki!
Actually, are you finishing up soon?
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Why, what's up?
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I figure once we wrap up, I could drop by and say hi or something. You know, since you were so lonely without me.[ also because she's faintly discouraged, even though she'd suspected it wouldn't be as easy as finding a bunch of missing people. ]
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[A little defensive... But, well, true enough things didn't go well at all. Naoki wonders, though. He's sure that if there were a lot of missing people, he would've felt their distress...
But he's not going to mention that now.]
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Well, if you'd rather I stay put, that's fine too!text; 1/2
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because Yang is laughing too hard to type coherently. ]
That was almost cute.text;
why can he not be cool]
There wasn't anything even almost cute.
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You could have just said you missed me!text;
I didn't
Just
It would've been more interesting with you there. That's it.
[HE WASN'T LONELY. But he likes hanging out with her... It reminds him a lot of hanging out with his friends, back when things were normal, and he can just have fun with them. But it's different than that, too.]
text;
But it's still funny as hell. ]
Where do you wanna meet up then?text;
You're still in the shopping district, right?
We can meet up at the food stop and go from there.
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Sounds good to me! I'll be waiting.action;
He's not really hungry or anything, this just seemed like the easiest place to meet up. He'll keep scanning any people around until he can spy her pretty distinctive head of hair.]
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And her smile is bright and genuine when she catches sight of him, waving an arm over her head, as though he'd somehow miss her. ]
Naoki!
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He returns her smile with one of his own, his hand raising in a lazy wave as he leans back on two legs of his chair. Gripping at the table, he pushes himself to his feet and steps around any people in the way to meet her.]
Hey.
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Except no, not really, and she slows to a stop as she clasps her hands together behind her back and shoots him a grin. ]
Now it's a good day!
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[Naoki goes blank-faced and puzzled as he sorts that one through. Wait, 'cause they're meeting up? Is that jumping to conclusions? Nnngh don't say nice things to him, Yang.
He turns quickly to one side and indicates with a thumb.] It'll be even better when we're out of this crowd. C'mon, let's walk.
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So, did I miss anything exciting?
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Nothing that I can think of. ViViD was the same as usual.
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I mean, I figured it wouldn't be that simple... maybe they just didn't have any luck pulling people here this time.
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It could be that. I mean, with all of the time I spend in ViViD... I've never noticed any people in it who looked lost in the last couple of weeks. If there were a ton of people lost in there somewhere, they'd probably be feeling panicked...
[He trails off with a thoughtful look, like the words hold some significant meaning to him.]
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Feeling... huh?
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[He pauses before slowly elaborating. He almost steps past her, too, reacting to her slowed pace too late, but slows himself to walk next to her:] I can sense emotions to a degree. I pick up on negative ones better, though, like fear or panic.
[Which is just kind of a part of who he is.]
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