reverienet | [text/video] un: @skull

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[text/video] un: @skull

[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.]

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You're obviously a viewer. Or a participant, if you wish to shed your clothes and join me.

[yeah, mull over that suggestion for a bit, ryuji]

The cuisine here leaves much to be desired, unfortunately. I hope Haru's garden bears fruit. Or vegetables.

[he was skinny to begin with, and protein goop is not exactly appetizing]

Ryuji's good over here.

[No one needs to see him naked, okay? HARU TOTALLY AGREED WITH HIM ON THAT.

He leans forward, covering his lower body even more. It's not even that he's usually that self conscious about the way he looks, because he's not, it's more that Yusuke is so... absolutely care free.

Admirable? To some extent, otherwise kind of terrifying.]

You know... I'm not a botanist or anything, but... vegetables take at least a month or two before they start bearing anything.

You can't just... starve until then.

[He thinks about the ramen in his room, perking up a little bit.]

I have some ramen though, if you want.

Actually, bean sprouts and pea pod plants can take as little as two weeks until harvest.

[this is one of those statements that really reveals just how meager a lifestyle yusuke is used to]

But as long as you are offering, I won't refuse ramen.

Yeah, you can't just live off of peas and not have a lick of food to eat until the 2 weeks are up, man.

[And with that, he lifts himself downward into the pool.

COMPLETELY STILL IN HIS UNDIES, for the record.]

Hey...

We never got a chance to go grab that beef bowl together. I guess we finally can, now.

[he can and he has. but anyway!! yusuke glances over at ryuji, innocently. not minding any of this casual nudity]

That is true... do you know of a place where we could obtain some? Oh, but I don't have any money with me.

[The lack of decency in these glances is absolutely appalling. He leans up against the edge of the pool, arms draped over as he leaves his chin up against his hands.]

There's no such thing as money up here, dude.

[Goodbye, capitalism, hello communism.

Have you worked at the farm -er- garden lately, fellow utopian?]

Oh.

I was talkin' about my secret stash. [Desperate times call for desperate measures.]

I found packages of ramen in my toilet a few weeks ago. I mean... they're still safe, none of the water got into them, but if you can get past that fact, they... taste pretty good, actually.

[YUSUKE, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TOILET RAMEN?]

[good, capitalism is a blight upon civilization]

I cannot say their origin makes them sound particularly appetizing, but... given what's available, I can't think of a good reason to refuse.

[and he kind of wants to]

This place feels almost prison-like.

[watch, we'll be making toilet hooch in a few weeks]

I've had one already. Just to test it. You know, like make sure it ain't poisoned. I gotta be the one that's gonna take poison for my friends if that's how it's gonna be here. I'll go down first.

Over ramen.

Yep.

[He smiles at Yusuke, dumb as ever, and earnest as ever.]

You think it's prison like? I mean, aside from all the horror sci-fi shit going down, it's mostly just kinda... normal, I guess.

I first noticed it with the uniforms. The jumpsuits, they're very depersonalizing. The same goes for the rooms; though they're comfortable, they're void of any real sense of having been lived in. The food will sustain us, though it's clear we're not meant to enjoy it. But perhaps the most prison-like quality about this place is the isolation. We're cut off from the rest of civilization. All that is missing are wards, and frankly, if we need an element of terror and oppression, that much is already covered. Being so separated from society...

[he glances sidelong at ryuji]

It's no wonder you were feeling lonely.

[This is honestly, a complete 180 in the way from which he was thinking before. He had never really seen the parallels between the penal implications of being a criminal and the motifs present in this station. But it's... kind of fucking him up, now that he has.

It all just plays in the back of his mind, too, knowing that Ren... went to juvie for a while to pay for what they all had done over the last year. Not that he came from that point in time, but knowing the future. It was scary.]

You think we're payin' for what we did as thieves?

[His shoulders slump downward, even in the pool, and he wants to just... go under water for a while. Hear the emptiness under the top layer. Not have to worry about this shit for a few minutes. But--- he has to clear something up first.]

That's not why I was feeling lonely, by the way.

[There. He owned up to it.

Making a friend with a robot and personifying it into something more than a robot was completely, easily a dead give away and Yusuke's sharp eye had pierced straight through it.]

I don't think there is any particular reason why we are here, though I could be wrong. And if we are being punished for our actions as Phantom Thieves... then, a jailbreak is in order, I would think.

[in some ways that's the simple answer, but it comes from a place of faith. faith in himself, in ren, in ryuji, in all of the phantom thieves.

he puts his hand on ryuji's shoulder after a moment. physical reassurance? not yusuke's forte. but ryuji has always been comfortable with casual affection, and it's bled into how yusuke approaches him.]

That aside, what was it that has you feeling this way?

[How sad is it that he's starved for physical contact as it is, that he just finds himself easily being swayed by Yusuke's hand there. He turns his head over his shoulders to look at him, feeling a little awkward for it, but it's not a bad thing, either. Just sort of... smiles at him.]

Yeah, we gotta get out of here, huh?

[It's not said with conviction or the normal fanfare that comes with his shounen manga protag expressionism. Part of him... really, really wants to go home, and yet part of him wants to stay here. If not to figure out what the hell went wrong for everyone here before them, than at least... for the new people he's met that are also stuck here and can't return. And then, the friends he's made in the last month.]

Eh. Just life in general, I guess. [He gestures vaguely with one hand coming off the ledge of the pool where he was holding himself up against.]

[yusuke keeps his hand there. just two dudes floating in a pool five inches apart cause they're not gay]

Have you been feeling uninspired?

[that's the best way yusuke can relate feelings of depression to others--it all revolves around his inspiration, or lack thereof]

[Ho mo rules, friend. Ho. Mo. Rules.]

Huh? No, it's not...

[Ryuji has to stop and think about that for a moment. What the hell is inspiration anyway? Does it just plop down on your lap one day and yell "HEY IDIOT, I'M HERE, TAKE MY HAND AND WE'RE GONNA BLOW THIS POPSICLE STAND?"... or is it something you have to go and look for yourself?

Why does Yusuke always make abstractions that never make sense, and yet, completely do, at the same time.]

It's more like... when a race starts, but you get a leg cramp and end up not bein' able to push off.

Has your leg been bothering you recently?

[he went from abstract to literal in like zero seconds]

[He wades his bad leg backwards through the water to check to see if it actually does. Some days, it's okay. Other days it hurts to do a lot of things. Usually after a lot of physical exertion, the day after it seemed to cramp up a lot. But no, feels okay today.]

I was... goin' for a metaphor here, bro.

You're worryin' too much about me, Yusuke. I'm fine! Just probably bored or something.

Would you say the same thing if it was Ren who was acting this way?

[Heartbeat sound.

Freeze time.

Fast forward to the confession booth.

Hell no, he wouldn't let Ren get away with it.]

Uh.

...

Uhh...

[Caught, yellow handed.]

Do you always gotta be right at the worst time?

[yusuke scoffs]

If I could not even see my friend suffering right before my eyes, how could I call myself an artist?

[he lets go of ryuji's shoulder and hoists himself out of the pool (still butt naked) to stand up. there's no shame here, and there kind of should be.]

Let us dry off and move this to your room, shall we?

[He's not sure what Yusuke is planning on doing, since he didn't announce that he was intending on getting out of the pool and...

He sees it.

He sees all of it.

God, why does he see all of it?

Immediately, he puts his forehead down against the concrete edge of the pool. This is more penis than Ryuji had ever wanted to see in one sitting. In any sitting.]

Please... please? Please be a little more modest. You're gonna give a guy a size compl---

[FUCK

FUCK ABORT.]

Yeah. Room.

That's a better idea.

[He lifts himself up.]

A what now?

[sure, let's just stand here butt naked dripping water everywhere]

Nothing.

[Getting up, he looks down out of the floor, but of course, it's STILL THERE in his peripheral. He gropes around for a towel on one of the chairs (thanks, Haru), before keeping his gaze averted and drapes the towel around Yusuke's shoulders.]

Here, dry off.

[Under his breath--] For both our sakes.

Oh, thank you. I did not think to bring one.

[and he's gonna get cold if he stands there for too long. time to dry off! and put clothes back on! ARE YOU FEELING LESS COMPROMISED NOW, RYUJI]

[That's it. That's the straw that breaks the camel's back.]

HOW DID YOU NOT THINK TO BRING A TOWEL IF YOU'RE GOIN' INTO A POOL.

[Neither did he though, and yes, he realizes that is completely hypocritical on his behalf, but then again, he didn't dive into the thing naked as the day the good lord Yaldabaoth decreed him to be so.]

Uh, er. Sorry, man.

[He picks the back of his undies down. Wedgies got him crazy like whoa.]

Can... I have that towel when you're done?

[you're so weird, ryuji]

I wasn't planning on swimming today until I saw your post.

[he'll hand back the towel after he's dried himself off]

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