text; un: aragaki

[petsthedog]

[Alright. He didn't want to be the first one to bring this up, but now that there's already been some Nonsense™ involving (attempted?) murder, he might as well.]

so how sure are any of us that we're actually alive here anyway
i dunno bout anyone else but i was definitely about to bite the big one before i woke up on that train
and if people don't actually remember it if they try to kill someone or when they're about to die here maybe it's because we're already dead and this is some kind of fucked up afterlife

Comments

at least he'll have a new deeply wayward teen for the collection

[petsthedog]

[Wait alright, what. He'd understood Kitsuragi trying to help him back on the train, because he understood that for someone who was genuinely a decent guy it's kind of asking a lot to just ignore an injured kid apparently soaked in blood, but this is too much sincere, earnest concern for Shinjiro. It tips the message past the point where he'd accept out of guilt to where he finds himself mentally doing the equivalent of skittering backward like a cat petted the wrong direction.]

man
you really gotta be lonely if you're scraping the bottom of the barrel like me for company huh
for all you know i could be some kind of serial killer or i dunno
vampire or something
makin people feel sorry for me and then drainin em dry

or hell
maybe that's you huh?

[this is where some manner of teasing emoji would go if he were from a few years later, but alas. his text tone will be left to the imagination here.]

oh boy, daniel's favourite!!!!

[miyagimagic]

[ It's a good thing that Daniel has plenty of experience with teenagers who absolutely don't know how to deal with being offered help - even if he doesn't even know that Shinjiro is a teenager in the first place. But Daniel is nice enough that he'd extend this sort of help regardless of that, really.

Especially in a strange screwed up place like this. ]

I would say there's no serial killers here, but.. I guess the last few messages here really disproved that, huh? [ After all, it seems to be the entire reason Shinjiro left this message in the first place. People being wild about murder and death in public.

It's not something he wants to think about too deeply, so Daniel tries to lighten things a little, if not just by joking: ]

So which one would make you a little more likely to accept some company? Me being a serial killer or a lonely old man?

[ Of course the joke is that neither are appealing options. ]

I've had at least one person say here my pasta is really good. Just so you know.

[petsthedog]

[There's something really funny about trying to lure Shinjiro of all people with pasta, but this guy has no occasion to know of his own cooking skills.]

sounds like exactly the kind of thing a serial killer would say, if you ask me

[That one is definitely a joke. Unfortunately, Daniel continues to be serious about the offer, and after a few long moments of silence, he finally answers:]

look i aint really a hold hands and eat dinner together sorta guy
and i already got someone who checks in on if i'm still breathin
so i'm good
you can go ahead and cross me off your good samaritan list or whatever

[miyagimagic]

[ .. ah.

Used to it or not, there's still something in the words that stings just a tad. Not that Daniel shows it, of course. He's exactly the type of person to shove that sort of feeling far down, and it's made so much more easy by virtue of this being text. It makes him not even really have to control his face, considering the other won't see it anyway. ]

I'm glad you have someone to help you out.

[ Those words, at least, are very much genuine. And they feel easier to say than anything else here - anything else that might force Daniel to confront the pang of hurt in his own chest. ]

I just thought it's good for people to look out for each other in this place. Sorry if I came across as too pushy. [ There. It's a little harder, inching a little closer to that hurt, but it only feels right to at least apologize if the other is too bothered by Daniel's offers of help. ]

[petsthedog]

[mmmm.

he doesn't feel bad. he does not feel bad, he does not -- damn it.]

there ain't shit to apologize for alright
i'm sure you're just bein a nice guy and all that
it's just kind of a lot when i don't even know your name

[. . . . . .]

i'll probably see you around town
so let's just see how it goes
if we don't hate each other's guts or something maybe let's talk then

[miyagimagic]

[ You're so weak, Shinji. ]

Daniel.

[ That's the reply that arrives relatively quickly, though then there's an indication that the man is still typing more, before the rest of that reply follows. ]

Daniel LaRusso. That's my name. [ Not that he's figuring that'll instantly solve everything. Daniel is way too old to be that naive.

But Shinjiro does have a point about them not knowing each other's names - so maybe that's a good thing to rectify first. ]

What about yours?

[ Let's see if the other is at least willing to share that much. ]

[petsthedog]

[SO weak. he got called out on it his first conversation with someone once.]

aragaki

[Insert jeopardy music equivalent here, he's really earnestly considering if he gives enough fucks to return the social nicety of offering his full name in return. Don's the only one he's given it to if at least partially because he had no clue how to pronounce Quixote, and LaRusso is fixing to be a pain in the ass to say too. Ugh.]

shinjiro aragaki

[Could a text read any more like it's been extracted from him like a rotten tooth]

[miyagimagic]

[ The more amazing part here might be that Daniel can actually read that tone into it, even though it's just text. Literally just Shinjiro's name, nothing else attached.

Maybe he's spent a little bit too much time around teenagers back home lately. ]

Thanks for telling me your name.

[ .. is something a serial killer would say.

Or, you know, just someone who's a touch too sappy. The kind of Dad you'd see in a sitcom, who's unaware of just how typically Dad he's being, making everyone else cringe around him. ]

I won't bother you much more right now. But I'll keep an eye out.

[ Can't beat the meddlesome middle aged man accusations.. ]

[petsthedog]

[Yeah, sorry Daniel, he's leaving you on read for this one. He's reached his limit of his tolerance for well-meaning concern. Log in and roll the teenager gacha again tomorrow.]