text with image;

[juniorchampion]

[ Yuri is very used to social media, but the network here isn't quite like the social media back at home. That doesn't stop him from trying to use it in the same way.

He posts a picture of himself in a simple all-black outfit in front of the skating rink. ]

First day back at skating.

#iceskating #yuriplisetsky #goingtokeepwinning

[ Nailed it. ]

Comments

[bisection]

Ah... is it inappra... inappropriate? I, ah, am sorry.

[ He shakes his head. ]

I have not spoken to people outside of the Order... not until I arrived in this place... what I should and should not say is confusing.

[juniorchampion]

You don't just go up to somebody you just met and tell them about your sex life. It's weird and sounds like bragging even though it's a dumb thing to brag about.

[ To people? Is that an exaggeration? Or does he mean 'many people'? Is this guy for real?

This world is way too weird. ]

Or if you talk about it being more sufficient, they're going to think you're coming on to them or something.

[ If Yuri is giving you advice outside of skating, you really do know you've been locked away. ]

[bisection]

[ Sinistra looks like he's paying very close attention. His dull eyes are wide, taking in Yuri's words seriously. He needs to learn these things, doesn't he? He's going to have to keep talking to people in some form. ]

Ah... I will remember for next time... I have no ill intentions.

[juniorchampion]

If I thought you did, I'd punch you in the face.

[ Small as he may be, passive he is not. It's advice he's offering for the future. After all, the hands currently connected are innocent, and Sinistra hasn't tried to move it further up Yuri's arm or anything. ]

But nobody likes a pervert so keep it in mind.

[bisection]

Ah... understandable.

[ He furrows his brow and frowns. More words he doesn't know. He's learning a lot of words in this world. ]

A pervert...? I know about perversion... it is like a distortion. Do I seem distorted?

[ That's a genuine worry for him. Distortions are caused by the soul twisting and the form becoming corrupt in manifestations of the person's anxieties or guilt. He has a feeling what Yuri means is different. ]

[juniorchampion]

Huh?

[ Yuri leans across the partition and studies the man. ]

You're really weird, you know that? Perverted? Like somebody who's obsessed with sex and is only nice to people because he hopes they'll have sex with them. If you talk about having sex with people you just meet, they'll think you're telling them you like sex and hope they'll have sex with you. That'd make you a pervert.

[bisection]

Ah... no... that would not be my intention.

[ That's quite a different thing. He had, probably, been called a perversion of nature when he and his brother were small, still conjoined together. Perhaps this perversion comes from 'perversion of the mind'? ]

I am sorry that my intentions appeared that way.

[ He tries to slip his hand away, feeling a bit ashamed. ]

[juniorchampion]

Wait!

[ As he tries to pull back, Yuri clings to him. He needs the chroma. ]

I already told you I know you're being an idiot instead of a pervert. If I thought you were, you wouldn't still be wearing your face. I need the chroma if I'm going to keep skating. Don't back out now.

[bisection]

Ah--

[ He stops trying to pull his hand back, pausing to look at their hands then at Yuri. He gently clasps his fingers around his hand again. ]

Okay... okay.

[juniorchampion]

[ Skating is everything to him. It's been his life since he was a child, and the obsession hasn't faded as he's grown older. ]

Why don't you know this stuff, anyway?

[ Since he has no way of knowing how long it'll take to get enough chroma to finish a full session, it's better to be safe than sorry. It'd be awkward to just stand here and look at each other. ]

[bisection]

Hm...

[ He supposes telling all of it would be 'too much' to share, too. He considers his words for once. ]

The Order of Malkuth did not teach us about such things... And we spent our time in that hospital room for many years.

[juniorchampion]

Order of...

[ Yuri considered himself reasonably mature before coming here -- rightfully or not -- but he's met so many people who have had a life so wild most people wouldn't believe it. He's not fully equipped to handle so many serious and hard topics. ]

Is that a cult?

[bisection]

Mm...

[ It's an unfamiliar word, but by the way Yuri's tone shapes the word, he feels it isn't a good one. Was the Order of Malkuth bad? Good? It was hard to say. He thinks that the Archangel is the source of all the foulness in the whole affair. He isn't sure he can blame the Koriel at all. They are damned to an eternal state of undying pain... who could do anything but pity them? ]

A religious sect. They wanted to hear God's will. My brother was... the arbiter, in the end. We were given to them by our parents... probably due to the complications of our birth.

[juniorchampion]

It sounds like a cult. It's probably a good thing you don't know about sex then.

[ From what Yuri knows, which is admittedly limited, cults and perversions aren't a very good mixture.

He leans forward, putting more weight on the partition between them. ]

That's why you don't know about ice skating, too. Wonder what else you don't know about. Cats? Junk food?

[ It's just a random list of his favorite things.

The guy probably does know about cats. ]

[bisection]

Maybe.

[ If that's what it sounds like, that's what it sounds like. He can't exactly deny it.

He ends up frowning more than he already was. Yuri is right again. He hasn't heard of either of those things. He shakes his head slowly. ]

I haven't... no... I haven't experienced those things. I have heard of a cat but not seen one.

[juniorchampion]

You've never seen a cat?

[ He didn't really expect that much to be true. His eyes widen with genuine surprise. As someone who loves cats, it almost feels like a crime.

And no junk food? ]

What do you eat now? Just vegetables? That's pretty boring.

[ As an athlete, his diet isn't complete trash, but he also trains a lot and has a good metabolism so he can cheat often enough. ]

[bisection]

No.

[ Who would bring a cat into the hospital room? And now, probably, all the cats in his world were dead or mutated. ]

Here? I eat whatever I am given. I am not very selective.

[juniorchampion]

[ Yuri nods to a bag that sits just outside of reach of the ice. ]

Grab my bag.

[ He doesn't explain why, which is probably the polite thing to do. Still, Yuri gets the impression that Sinistra will listen.

The bag holds his phone, which holds a picture of his cat. It's some kind of crime that he's never seen a cat before. ]

[bisection]

[ He looks at Yuri... then at their hands. He'd told him not to let go before, right?

So Sinistra stretches, still holding Yuri's hand, to awkwardly grasp for the bag. He grabs it, just barely, and lifts it over to Yuri. ]

[juniorchampion]

[ It would have been fine to make an exception, but if Sinistra wants to go that route...

Letting the other man hold it, Yuri uses his free hand to undo the zipper and pull out his phone. With some practiced tapping, he brings up a picture and turns it around for Sinistra to see. ]

Potya. She's my cat. She came with me.

[bisection]

[ He immediately looks intrigued, tipping his head and looking at the photo with wide eyes. He maybe saw a creature like this once in a book when he was very small, but he's never been around one. He didn't really think one could 'have' an animal. ]

Ah... right... they have fur. She is small.

[ 'Small' relative to the monsters he's pretty much always around. They're the closest things to animals he's experienced outside of this place. ]