Poi 05 - Voice

[firewalled]

...It's Rich.

[Might as well not bother with preamble, though that's certainly odd for him. Odder still that he has the video off, even if there's still the faint strumming of guitar suggesting that he's nervously plucking at strings as he often does.]

I'm 18 now, according to the roster. Guess I missed my birthday. I knew it was coming up, but I was kinda distracted with stuff.

[Like having a mental crisis for the better part of two months at least.]

Anyways, was just wondering like... what's the longest someone's been stuck here before they got to go back home? Maybe, uh, maybe it was wishful thinking? But I was kinda thinking with the whole Ministry investigation and how fucking useless I am on the missions that the train would boot me off by now.

[He's really trying to laugh, trying to make that sound like a joke.]

Just. Was thinking about it. At this point, my friends back home probably assume my dad stabbed me or shit... maybe they'll believe those messages we got to send at that river, but more likely they'll think I'm nuts.

[Just another certified Rich Goranski Comedy Routine. He'll be here all week, folks.]

Comments

voice

[blitzcheer]

Hey, it's Tidus. [ It's voice right now, so let's stick to that. ] I know this place really sucks, and - you wanna hang out? I got some drinks. --Energy drink or stronger. And snacks.

We can have a crappy birthday celebration. [ He's trying to keep it light too, a note of humour. He doesn't want to say too much over an open speaker. ]

From one guy to turned eighteen here to another.

[firewalled]

[...He's just going to hope his voice doesn't show any indication of the tension he felt in his body at the implication of something stronger.]

No booze. I'm... I'm not super hungry, but...

[He wants to turn him down, wants to push him away so he can be alone like he wanted, but... If he really wanted to be alone, he probably wouldn't have even turned on the ICP, right? He would have kept hiding, like he has been.

...God, he can't even punish himself right, can he?]

If you really wanna do something for your birthday, I wouldn't mind.

[blitzcheer]

[ ...well, it's not his birthday right now, but whatever. Focus on what's important, and all. ]

Sure, where're you feeling? The music room, maybe a movie? Or we can hang out for a while in your room.

[ Wherever. ]

[firewalled]

[Listen, a belated birthday party would still work. It's technically not his birthday anymore either.]

...A movie might be cool, actually. [At least it'll be harder for Tidus to see he's miserable and bug him with a dozen questions in the dark theatre.]

[blitzcheer]

Sure! I'll meet you there, we can pick out a movie - s'long as something isn't already playing.

[ The biggest obstacle in only having one screen to watch anything. But they might get lucky. Whatever. Sounded like either way, getting Rich out of his own head might be good. ]

[firewalled]

[Rich doesn't bother responding, since it doesn't much matter to him what's playing or not. He just heads over there as soon as possible, and when he arrives, tries his best to look casual and unbothered while watching for Tidus. It certainly isn't easy, though, with his head buzzing with activity.]

[blitzcheer]

[ Well, guess the comm just shutting off is as much of a signal as any. Tidus makes his way to the cinema car, getting there first to be fiddling with the ICP with the movie catalogue before Rich makes his own arrival.

The larger screen shows the category he's in - action comedies, with names and thumbnails that don't mean too much to Tidus until he goes in to read the synopsis.

He happens to clue into someone else in the space with him, and he looks over his shoulder briefly. ]

Hey! Feeling any better? Better places to be turning eighteen than stuck on a train, huh?

[firewalled]

[Sorry, Tidus. He's usually more personable than this, but like he said, he can be a bit of an ass when he's feeling down on himself. At least he doesn't keep Tidus waiting long, and doesn't make a comment on the movie selection as of yet. Comedies are fine with him, and action can be fun once in a while.

He even gives sort of a half-smile as he gets closer, even if it doesn't reach his eyes.]

I'm doing okay. Not like this place is much worse for birthdays than back home. Think more people might have actually said something here, but I guess I don't really talk about it much...

[He hadn't even planned on saying anything before Devero had made a big deal about it.]

[blitzcheer]

[ Tidus doesn't take it personally at least, pausing his flip through the list. Though, he does have his eyes on trying to spot a title that looks interesting. ]

S'hard, I think. Most of the time you won't notice unless you're really paying attention to the roster, then some people, they haven't celebrated their birthdays for a real long time. 'Cause always something else was going on.

[ War, mostly. ]

[firewalled]

Yeah. Makes sense that not a lot of people here know how to celebrate. I only checked the roster because I was thinking about how long I've been here.

[And you know, moping.]