[backdated: july 3rd] video —> text responses; un: otoproxy

[ends]

[ although the thought of reaching out via text had crossed his mind (exhausted as it is) more than once, Otonashi ultimately settles on video for the sake of consideration. if anyone had seen Ruca’s earlier message and still had lingering concern, seeing him functional and able to speak for himself should alleviate it.

he’s not quite fine given the tells of poor sleep etched into his face, but he’s not torn to pieces or missing, either. ]

Hey... I just thought showing my face would be the right thing to do after I wasn’t able to for... uh, however long. [ a pause before he continues: ] 3, 4 days? I’m... not your go-go person if you need someone keeping track of time.

[ death will do that to a person. what do days matter when they blur together in endless time? ]

With that great character flaw covered and out of the way... I’m Otonashi. Anyway, I wanted to pitch an idea to everyone for—something like a club? A support group? I haven’t been here very long, but I’m, ah, noticing a trend... [ of people with poor socialization, or who have issues making friends, or trusting people, or... hm. his point. ] ... and I think there’s a lot of strength in organized numbers. I know there are groups designed to protect, clinics, recreation, but I was thinking something a little more informal?

[ he has to workshop it a bit more, but the world certainly has enough space to accommodate wishes such as this. surely it’s feasible, and if it already exists? all the better. strength in numbers. ]

I’m going to leave this here... My roommate insisted I sleep with him, and he was pretty adamant on not taking ‘no’ for an ans— [ almost as if on cue, the sleepy, comfortable voice of Ruca cuts in for those who may be familiar, slurring Otonashi’s name. Otonashi, in turn, takes the opportunity to turn aside to yawn a little. ] —answer... Right, so, let me know what you think..? See you later, switching to text.

( so Otonashi is running on empty, getting back from a series of unfortunate events, and letting everyone know he’s fine following some choice, sleepy wording. chaos may ensue. responses may come from Otonashi or Ruca (demonicbookworm), probably text but may swap depending! disclaimer: they are not, in fact, about to go to town on each other. )

Comments

[nojohnyouare]

All right. If you're sure about it.

Support group. Support for this place? Or something else.

[ends]

yeah. positive.

support for this place, and for whatever background a person came from that might still be troubling them, or keeping them from at least getting by here.

does... does that make sense?

[nojohnyouare]

It does. It might be difficult. But maybe it could help people. And they'd make friends.

[ends]

I think just having a base of operations to organize people can make a difference.

and no matter who you are or where you come from, there has to be someone out there who will understand you, right? so ... wouldn’t it be better if people knew they had a space to go right away instead of wandering until they bump into someone willing to try?

if you’re lonely or having a problem, you won’t have to wander around aimlessly anymore. you could talk about it there, or just sit with someone until you’re ready to.

[nojohnyouare]

That sounds nice. And no one would have to worry. Or get upset about someone else not having help. Right?

[ends]

the idea would be that someone would always be around to help. that’s where the strength in numbers comes too.

do you want to help me come up with a name for it? or a place to set up?

[ speaking with her is one of the (many) reasons he’d thought something like this might be needed. ]

[nojohnyouare]

A place... Level 2 has large community centres. One might have space to rent. Probably.

[ends]

after I've gotten some sleep, I'll go check it out. thanks for the tip!

I haven't actually had a lot of time to explore the whole place before-

you know.

[ casual abduction, no big deal. ]

by the way, have you had better luck with the device's map interface?

[nojohnyouare]

Practising with it. To not bother people again. It's useful.

[ends]

...

Kawasumi?

you’re not a bother.

[ he realizes this is too simple a statement to resolve everything, but it needs to be said. ]

I’m glad you came up to talk to me that day.

[nojohnyouare]

[...]

A nice person. Thank you. For saying those things. You weren't the only one who told me to stop sleeping in the park.

[ends]

well I’m glad I can count on at least some people to have basic decency...

[ he would have had to have some dialogue with people if he’d heard they were trying to push her around or be otherwise nasty to her, so hearing otherwise is heartening. ]

if you ever get pushed out of your apartment again, call me. we can have another sleepover. it was fun, right?

[nojohnyouare]

I didn't mind it. Thank you. You must have a lot of friends.

[ends]

huh? not sure what you mean. I really don’t have very many.

[ he’d lost a lot by coming here. ]

but I’m not the only one without them... so that’s why I should do something about it.

[nojohnyouare]

What I mean is you're easy to get along with. And people worried when you were kidnapped.

[ends]

because Ruca put out that post... he’s the kind of guy you can’t help but want to look out for and protect.

[ while Otonashi isn’t denying that some people had genuinely worried for him, it seems only natural that so many more would respond favorably to a cry for help. especially coming from someone like Ruca. ]

I’m glad you think I’m easy to get along with ... I hope that means other people will too. to be honest, I’m a little nervous about leading a group.

[ not unwilling, and not unable, but—nervous. apprehensive. ]

[nojohnyouare]

Difficult. I wouldn't be able to. But people can talk to you.

[ends]

you never know. I think you’d be a good listener!

[ she’s... not much of a talker, no, but sometimes all someone needs is an ear. so, he’ll stick by it. ]

but thanks for the vote of confidence... I haven’t had many of those today.

[nojohnyouare]

Try to stay safe. People will look out for you, too.

[ends]

I will. I’m sorry if I worried you, too.

[ and he’s sorry his metrics for “safe” and “reasonable sacrifices to make” are so skewed... ]

let me know if you hit on any great name ideas or find the perfect space in your travels. I’ll check out level 2!

[nojohnyouare]

[look if SHE'S not allowed to be stupidly self-destructive]

I'll look. A name that makes everyone happy.

[The next day in his inbox, he will find a message labelled "list of names," which, when he opens it, are all along the lines of "cat-san," "dog-san," "rabbit-san," et cetera for a total of 167 animals.]