[text/video] un: @skull

[ryuji]

[A few days after gravity is restored to the station, Ryuji returns to the mess hall from Haru's garden to find a small robot flipped upside down, panicking through a series of morse beeps and boops, which- okay, that's kind of cool, and quickly figures out that the paneling and suction entrances of the little guy means it's probably meant for filtration and cleaning.

Looks pretty study, looks... waterproof, maybe? He lends a hand to get him right side up and it starts slowly moving forward. Ryuji takes out his communicator and immediately films this as it happens, because, why not?

He posts two videos on the network- the roomba moving down the hall and one, a few hours later in the fitness center as it crawls from the edge, and dives right in.]

Oh shit! Are you supposed to do that?

Whoa, whoa- I don't know how to fix you if you--- WHOA, COOL.




Hey, sup?

Just lettin you guys know the pool looks crystal clear now. All thanks to this little dude.

I figure I should give 'em a name but uh

Everything that comes to mind is kinda lame

Anyway, I think it's good? Anyone wanna give it the first try?

[Complete with file0033.png - a picture of crystal clear water.]

Comments

[ryuji]

[A smile crooks its way up the side of his mouth, unintentional as much as it is just... natural when it comes to bugging the figurative shit out of people. Tolerating is very different from accepting, and Ryuji can read a room enough to know that he's getting the former treatment rather than the latter, but these things take time. You don't just walk up to an animal in the wild and stick your hand out trying to pet it. Even Simba, who had a brave heart and a good temperament, would get protective of his countenance and reject it. Probably with a bite.

But Ryuji's always about placing his hand on a hot stove, and he opens his mouth to continue on anyway-]

I cut Hajime's hair. It wasn't too bad. Definitely need more practice, though. [And as far as artsy goes, Ryuji is particularly out of his element in that department. Never had an eye for detail, but he liked doing things with his hands (don't take that the wrong way, gross), and it gave him hope that there were little things that he could grow in; become better as a person and more skilled over time. It wasn't so much as translation as it was just... practice, really.

Kind of like all things in life, to be honest.]

Yeah. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, huh? [He looks down at the poolmate and sighs.]

If we ever manage to come across a copy, you should watch it with me. Even if you're a sourpuss about the entire thing and try to ruin it, it has some pretty good songs.

[His head tilts, smiling still, welcoming in a way that wants to reach out and pet the wild, reticent animal next to him.]

You like music, Ryo-yo?

[luciformis]

[ It's an apt comparison. Even when Ryo was young, he could never quite bridge the gap. When Akira first held out his hand to him, Ryo (who would deny it) had been too afraid to initiate the first brush of skin. Even with his fingertips so close to Akira's, he couldn't take it.

If Ryuji is patient and Ryuji is kind, then it might come to be in time that Ryo would warm to him. Ryo had always been despised and had only later been appreciated for his appearance, his intelligence, his wealth. He never let anyone else close. He knew the truer shape of himself would be rebuked.

Still, he considers Ryuji's earnest expression and finds himself lowering his eyes to pay attention to how he unrolls his other sleeve. He tugs on the cuff here and there, almost as if to prolong it. ]

Not interested, [ he says. He's made no effort not to be blunt. ] Maybe once you've cut hair a few times.

[ He has a particular way he likes his hair, after all. Most people do. But, he reaches out again. He turns Simba over, delicate and thoughtful, and balances the aquabot on its metaphorical "back." There's no latches here, but he's investigating the attachments. He's quiet for a long moment, almost long enough that it seems like he's dropped the conversation entirely after that nickname came through. But then: ]

If you find it, [ he starts, tilting a momentary glance to him, ] I'll come by. [ He gently rights Simba again, continuing. ] Music is fine. I usually played it while I worked, but I listened to a lot in America.

[ You know, at the parties he went to mostly. ]

[ryuji]

[Ryuji respects people who can freely state their preferences without skirting around issues. He's always been pretty blunt himself, only in the realm of things where it wasn't directly about him, so it's a bit of an opposite effect. He's apt to speak what's on his mind when it happens, like thoughts get lost if they're not spoken about directly. He's not offended in the slightest about the refusal to let him cut his hair- he takes it as a challenge, all things considered.]

Sure. I'll come back in a few months, then.

[Hajime's hair didn't turn out that bad.]

Yeah? You're promisin' that, huh? [Maybe one day the space ghosts, WHO ARE PROBABLY LISTENING TO THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW, will shower their favor on Ryuji. Probably unlikely considering the recent slew of "gifts" he's found. Probably best to set up a shrine and purify it instead, or something.]

American music is the best. Classic rock, y'know? The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Led Zeppelin... I got into all that stuff when I was pretty young. What's your flavor?

[luciformis]

[ There's never been any point in sparing anyone the sharp edge of his tongue as far as Ryo was concerned, besides where he desired or it benefited himself and Akira in some way. For Ryo, who finds it difficult to interact with other individuals at any level he'd consider more than casual, Ryuji has an advantage that most lack: he puts up with him, no matter how distant or abrasive (purposely or accidentally as the case may be) he is. He's charismatic, sure, but the more one nudged at him the more the veneer lacked. All it takes, in the end, is earnest behavior and continual kindness to get into what Ryo is. Or, at the very least, an understanding that he was ill-equipped for more than carefully calibrated social appearances no matter how refined he's become over the years.

So, there's something fleeting that skirts the edges of Ryo's expression as Ryuji takes it up as a challenge. It isn't a smile, but his expression seems less neutral somehow. ]

I'll come, [ he restates. He takes the filters up by the designated handles and moves them toward Ryuji instead. ] Clean these before you run it again. [ It's almost like an aside, because Ryo drops them (albeit gently) next to him. He actually does seem to consider Ryuji's question, though, and: ]

Classical and instrumental are the easiest to research to, [ he says after a moment, his hands coming to settle on the tops of his thighs. His fingers curve soft and natural, relaxed. ] I prefer electronica and synthwave when I'm out or alone.

[ryuji]

[And it isn't even by any specific design or purpose that he's trying to worm his way into Ryo's good graces, he just has a lot of impatience to give and so many hearts to steal. Wait. No. He has a lot of patience and his heart to give. That's not right either. Look, he's a bit of a persistent son of a bitch, and equally doesn't understand the concept of wanting to be left alone. Ryuji Sakamoto hates being left alone himself, as he's come to find out over the course of time spent learning how to make friends again. He just knows how to speak his mind and doesn't hold himself back from stuff, and sometimes, that works really well to his advantage. Other times, disaster. In the end, it kind of evens out over a long enough time scale.]

Yeah, sure.

[He looks down at his new best friend, his son, the thing he would absolutely give his life protecting. That thing is going to be so clean you could eat doritos off of it. But please don't eat doritos off of it, Ryuji would have to go and clean that shit up all over again.]

Wow, man, you are...

[He hides a smile back, but it's hard when you're practically made of sunshine and sarcasm.]

The most interesting person I've ever met.

[Classical music, yeesh.]

Oh hell yeah. Havin' a little rave in your room 'n shit. Shakin' your booty like no one's intensely staring at it. [Please shut him up.]