Walter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beholdmydemons) wrote2013-12-26 11:33 am
beholdmydemons) wrote2013-12-26 11:33 am
eighth fusion - video
[The post starts off normally enough; Walter flips on the video and starts talking right away. He's got a small Chimchar sitting on his shoulders, arms around his head and dozing quietly, and Pokemon in the background seem to be busy with something - possibly cleaning, from the looks of it.]
To anyone who knew Ramza, he disappeared from Johto over the weekend. I know he'd want to be certain his Pokemon fare well in his absence, so-
[He's interrupted for a moment by a harried-looking Drapion, who taps him on the shoulder and hands him a Pokemon egg. Walter takes it from her without thinking, continuing with his sentence.]
-if you've found one from him, make note of it. He'd a number of Skarmory, a Houndoom, a Purrloin, a-
[The egg jolts and cracks, drawing Walter's attention. It hatches almost in an instant, leaving a flopping Magikarp.
...and a suddenly wide-eyed trainer.]
HGAAAGH!
[The 'Gear goes flying, the Magikarp goes flying, from the loud sounds of things crashing into each other it seems like Walter has also gone flying, and there are Chimchar yelps and frantic Drapion yells to accompany the storm of loud, indignant (but a little high-pitched and unnerved-sounding) swearing that starts up.]
-OF ALL THE FOULEST DAMNED THINGS-!!
[A Skarmory beak grabs up the Pokegear and shuts it off with an unconcerned chirp.]
To anyone who knew Ramza, he disappeared from Johto over the weekend. I know he'd want to be certain his Pokemon fare well in his absence, so-
[He's interrupted for a moment by a harried-looking Drapion, who taps him on the shoulder and hands him a Pokemon egg. Walter takes it from her without thinking, continuing with his sentence.]
-if you've found one from him, make note of it. He'd a number of Skarmory, a Houndoom, a Purrloin, a-
[The egg jolts and cracks, drawing Walter's attention. It hatches almost in an instant, leaving a flopping Magikarp.
...and a suddenly wide-eyed trainer.]
HGAAAGH!
[The 'Gear goes flying, the Magikarp goes flying, from the loud sounds of things crashing into each other it seems like Walter has also gone flying, and there are Chimchar yelps and frantic Drapion yells to accompany the storm of loud, indignant (but a little high-pitched and unnerved-sounding) swearing that starts up.]
-OF ALL THE FOULEST DAMNED THINGS-!!
[A Skarmory beak grabs up the Pokegear and shuts it off with an unconcerned chirp.]
Video
Dude, are you...are you afraid of fish!?
[The irony of Walter supposedly having to follow his family trade of fishing is not lost on Leon, but unlike the rest he's...surprisingly not laughing, looking rather more flabbergasted.]
So that's why you dropped the piranha, you're afraid of fish!
Video
[He makes a weird, mortifed strangled noise, sort of like "ghhhk".] ...So it may be, what of it?
no subject
...you're not the only one that's afraid of somethin' you should be doin'.
[The last bit comes out more as a mumble as Leon casts his eyes somewhere offscreen.]
no subject
[Kind of a weird addition at the end, there, but Walter doesn't have the faintest clue what that could mean. He won't pry. This is probably tradeoff for shit given over the guitar thing.
...Actually it's more than tradeoff but he'll be nice.]
LOCKED
[Leon's just going to lock this feed right now, thanks.]
...remember that time I told you about baseball an' me? Back home, I went to this school for gifted kids, called Hope's Peak. 'Cause I was the best at baseball, they gave me the title, "Super High School Level Baseball Player."
But then somethin' happened. Somethin' real bad that made me feel nothin' but the worse despair.
An' now...now I can't play baseball anymore. Everytime I see a ball flyin' my way, I just lose it. I can't ever go back to the pitch, an' there's no fuckin' way I'll be able to bat. Sure I can still throw, but...yeah.
I'm afraid of flyin' balls dude. Things don't get much worse than that.
LOCKED
...Oh whoa, this is getting heavy fast.
Walter looks surprised at first, then confused (and still comically grouchy), but as Leon keeps talking, his expression goes sober and attentive. He plunks himself down in a chair to listen, shooing a Pokemon away and briefly eying the corner of the room to make sure they're taking the Magikarp somewhere else.
He still doesn't quite get...most of the background here; it seemed strange and unreal the first time they swapped stories, and it's not any less strange now. The kind of fear Leon's describing right now, he can barely comprehend - what exactly does "despair" mean? What's to fear from thrown balls? His own strange fear is a simple, lifelong phobia, no particular reason, nothing complicated there.
But he's roughly familiar with the other kind of fear, even if he can't completely understand it himself. Gun-shy residents of Tokyo, flinching at odd times and weeping to themselves. One man in Shibuya who couldn't bear the sight of blood (when he walked down the corridors, he kept his head down and trembled.) Twitchy Samurai with vivid scars. Probably most revealing of all, life stories told by Gaeans, who drowned their own terrors in rage and bloodlust.
So maybe Walter doesn't get it. He can certainly accept it, though.]
There's worse. [Heading that off, because there is always worse. Don't jinx yourself.] But I can't say I envy you.
[And...huh. Maybe it's Ramza's conspicuous absence talking, but Walter doesn't feel too bad about being told something like this. It's almost a relief, actually - he's not used to the kind of isolation he'd come up against lately, so he's not going to turn down what's clearly an offer to...well, to realtalk. Something his life has sorely lacked ever since he gained something worth talking about.]
So - what you told me before, about being herded into this sport, and wanting to do something else, where does the fear come into that? [Because you seemed pretty decisive about that on its own (which he gets), and being afraid of flying balls is pretty terrible in general, but the way you're talking now...]
LOCKED
...but anyway, point is I wasn't ever allowed to play anythin' but baseball. An' I started hatin' it. But at the same time...baseball was all that I was good at. Like, ever.
[Leon leans back and covers his eyes with an arm as a bitter smile finds its way on his face.\
So yeah, when you get executed by a million fungoes, that's a fuckin' laugh right there. Fungoes are practice shots, normally you throw a ball up in the air and hit it with your bat. An' I can hit these in my sleep, but it's a different case when you're chained up on a post.
An' it's not like those balls are comin' at me nice an' easy. You know what a gun is right? Take a gun, multiple that by a million fuckin' times, and imagine bein' hit by a million balls at that speed an' tell me you won't be fuckin' terrified of flyin' baseballs.
LOCKED
When Leon gets to the word "executed", Walter lifts his head, and his expression shifts into one of outright astonishment, darkening as the details follow. He's seen executions in Mikado of late - more than he'd ever have liked, and the word has a sour taste now. The question of "for what crime" flits across his mind - but not for long. An execution implies the judgment of an authority, and he doesn't have near enough faith in authority to consider any such judgment automatically sound.
But what Leon's describing is hardly an execution. Walter can imagine perfectly vividly what that would do to a human body, and has a fairly accurate sense of what it would take to finally kill such a body. There's no purpose to doing something like that except to inflict pain - not when you could put a bullet through their skull or cut off their head at the neck.
He looks at the Pokegear with an expression that's not quite horror and not quite pity; it's a look of frozen disgust, mouth set in a thin line and eyes wide under furrowed brows.]
You're dead? [Walter's voice is low and deadly serious. That...makes a few things make sense (not all of them related to Leon.)
He runs a hand back through his hair, lost for words.]
...Well, you...took a fine afterlife, from all options. [He's half serious.]
LOCKED
[Leon's equally at lost for words; his mouth forms a puzzled frow, before he eventually settles for gratitude. That's always a safe bet to go with.]
Thanks. I...guess.
LOCKED
[Hell, he's terrible at this. Whatever "this" is. People don't normally have to talk to the dead. Unless they're ghosts, but demons don't really...count.
He suddenly lets out a snort of laughter, surprising himself. There's absolutely nothing funny about this. But it shatters the tension in him, leaving behind a sour, angry feeling in the pit of his stomach and a lightness everywhere else. Walter bows his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a knuckle and grinning wryly.]
It's, ah...it's no laughing matter, I don't mean to... [Give him a moment to breathe. The one kind of hesitation is gone from his voice, replaced by another kind, something honest and ] Hoy, I'll tell you something. I'd - pushed it far from my mind, so as to not be troubled, but - I believe I, ah. That I've died, as well.
["Not dwelling" involved not telling Ramza about it, then forcing himself not to think about it. Walter doesn't regret doing that, but it feels very strange to say that aloud.
He stops harassing the bridge of his nose and rubs the back of his neck instead, still kind of grinning in that ruminating way.] You and I, we hardly have a thing in common behind us, but - but we've two roads very alike resting before us, eh?
LOCKED
No w-way...so you're dead too? Shit man...I'm sorry to hear that. How'd you-
[He catches himself right there and swallows hard.]
...sorry. I shouldn't ask.
[The nervousness dissolves into an awkward grin right back at Walter. He doesn't even realise he's mirroring Walter's movement when he rubs the back of his own neck and chuckles dryly.]
Kinda fuckin' weird if you ask me but...yeah, guess we do. Never thought I'd say it though.
LOCKED
[The realization of their commonality makes him feel a little...he's not quite sure. Leon appears to have some idea of what to do with himself. While Walter...sometimes he feels aimless in the good, lawless way, but other times he feels deeply lost, like his mission is over and he's not sure why he still exists. It comes on when he's practicing writing out the alphabet, or fumbling with the microwave, or standing out on the street watching people walk in and out of stores and offices with cheerful purpose.
He wonders if Leon sometimes gets that feeling, too; if it's something about being dead.]
Hey, did you get the Pokemon I sent you?
LOCKED
Actually...if you really need someone to take the Magikarp off you, I could if you want.
LOCKED
This kind turns into a sea serpent, if you wish to train it. [He knows what you did with the last one, though he doesn't really care.]
LOCKED
LOCKED
Oho? I've never heard of anyone wooing the ladies with a...dragon...fish, but, ah, perhaps she'll appreciate the novelty. Who would I be not to lend to an effort like that?'
[okay but seriously] Hah, I'll send it to you later. And thanks.
LOCKED
[There's a reason why most people don't...have one...]
But seriously, she's...well she's cute but...I dunno man. Not too sure if I'm feelin' it! I jus' think she's the best person to take care of Magikarp.
LOCKED
Nothing gained by hanging back at the gate, you know... [GO FOR IT]
Re: LOCKED
Re: LOCKED
Fair enough. [Some of the demons he's met have had a similar(?) effect. Understandable.] I meant it in jest, anyhow.
Re: LOCKED
You got any girl you like here? I don't, not yet anyway. Like I said, dyin' takes awhile to get over, but I'm thinkin' of tryin' again soon.
LOCKED
Ahh...not of late. But I have to say, uh, the ladies of Johto...[SHORT SKIRTS ARE AN AMAZING INVENTION BLESS THE MODERN ERA]...they're an invigorating sight! And brazen, too, on the whole...
[His grin is getting wider, almost guilty-looking as he glances off to the side.]
LOCKED
Hey, you should come with me! Girls dig the fancy accents, I'm sure we'll be able to hook you up with someone.
LOCKED oh good god
...But by that time, I'd, ah, like to no longer have the "accent". It's difficult to break, and faster for now to speak like this, but... [having people look at you funny gets old, even when it is an intrigued kind of funny.]
LOCKED they go from dying and death to girls, lol
LOCKED
LOCKED