◎ Bout 2: The age question [action/voice]

[thunderfists]

[action]

[Akihiko's been adjusting well enough to Luceti following the crash back to reality that Luceti was a different world that was not the TV world he was supposed to have appeared in. He's back to a "civilized" level of hygiene and no longer running around in survival pants and a cape -- no, now he's back to sweatpants and T-shirts for his jogs and training. He can be found jogging on the village roads and into the forest, which he's now fairly familiar with after spending so much time out there.

Later in the day, after he's finished with his training for the day, he opens up his journal. Ever since that "experiment," he's been wondering something. But before he asks, he should probably introduce himself...]

[voice]

Hey. I'm Akihiko Sanada. I arrived here in the recent ... cycle. I guess that's what you call it. I've heard that I might have met some people here before, so I thought I'd warn you that I don't remember ever being in Luceti.

Anyway, I've got a question. How do you decide when to celebrate or acknowledge your birthdays here? There can be a lot of different kinds of calendars, even in the same world, so... I'm curious how other people handle it.

Also, if anyone knows how I can get my hands on a speed bag, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Comments

[thunderfists]

[Well, he was talking more about birthday parties, but...]

If there's a lot of parties around here, I can't imagine keeping up with all of them. Sounds tiring, and not in the good way.

[repudiate]

Yeah, there are a lot of parties. There's one each time all the New Feathers come in, aside from the occasional birthday parties and parties for special days and who knows what other reasons people make up just to have parties. [ a sigh. ]

It's good to hear that this place is apparently bringing in more reasonable people now though then.

[thunderfists]

[He lets out a short laugh -- more of an amused 'heh' than anything. But her remarks have him still thinking about parties.]

It sounds like it could still be worse. If there's people here from a lot of different worlds, they could probably find a holiday to celebrate every single day.

[repudiate]

Don't even say it out loud. Before you know it, someone will figure that out and we'll have daily parties. [ she doesn't seem to be fully serious - it's more a deadpan kind of thing. ]

[thunderfists]

I'll have to remember that around here.

[It's hard to tell if he's taking her seriously or humoring her.]

Have you been here long, then?

[repudiate]

It's been well over a year by now. I arrived last year May. [ it does feel pretty long too by now, honestly, but it's not like she minds that anymore. ]

I guess that's longer than the average stay, but there's also been people here for years on end already.

[thunderfists]

Does anyone know why some people stay longer than others? I have a friend who's been here while, and apparently he's watched us come and go before.

[repudiate]

Who knows? If it was at least some entity directly dragging us in I could just say something like 'maybe they like certain people more than others', but if it's really random or whatever then I guess it's just a case of bad luck. .. Or good luck, considering some people like this place.

[thunderfists]

...I can see liking it in the short term, but not after maybe a year or two. Less than that if you're used to going to other cities. [Or, well, being able to travel freely in any capacity.]

[repudiate]

So in other words.. caged birds wouldn't mind the cage they're in compared to the other birds, huh?

[ It sort of counts for her, either way. Heck, she's been more 'free' in this place than she's ever been back home. ]

[thunderfists]

If the conditions they're used to are worse than what they see here, it's easier to focus on the nice things than what they know should be a bad situation. [Because he can't imagine knowing you're a captive would settle well for anyone.]