Video 04 → No, Really, I'm Just Curious.

[irregular]

[Filtered from Weiss]

[Ken, wearing a blue apron, is standing in what appears to be the stockroom of Nectar.]

So...

[He hesitates for a moment, gazing around himself apprehensively, clearly worried he might be overheard. When he turns back to the screen, he closes his eyes briefly and takes a deep breath, as if steeling himself for something.]

What would it take to make you decide you couldn't be yourself any more?

Comments

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

That's where I'm getting stuck. I don't know. I was kind of hoping someone else did.

[theignorantfool.livejournal.com]

[Okay, so he'd pretended to go against his own nature to get out of a sticky situation in the past. It sounded close enough, didn't it?]

If I was stuck in a position I couldn't get out of with my own methods, I'd use someone else's. But there's a difference between changing who you are and how you're acting.

[The words alone made the question sound hypothetical, but the behavior in the video suggested otherwise, or Ed would have just dropped it there.]

Are you thinking about changing how you act for some reason, or watching someone else acting weird?

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

No, the first one's not the same at all, though. It's not like it's for ever if you're just acting different for a bit to get out of something. It's the other kind I don't get.

[Damn, it was that obvious he wasn't just asking out of curiosity?

[This leaves him with two options. Claim once again to just be curious never mind that this time it would be an outright lie, and probably get caught in it, and risk pissing whoever this was off and feeling lousy about it for hours; or 'fess up. Ken fesses.]

... someone else. A friend of mine. He's not doing it all the time, but... well, it's really hard to watch.

[theignorantfool.livejournal.com]

If you're stuck in that position for a long time, it could go on for awhile.

[Damn his inquisitive nature, now he wants to help.]

If he's not doing it all the time, have you noticed a trigger? A certain person or thing present when he starts acting weird?

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

It's still different. Because when it's over you can always go back to who you were, even if it's been months.

I've only seen him like that once. But everyone else acted like they were used to him doing it, they even all call him a different name. I've never seen him like that before, ever. And I don't want to see him like that again, it's just... it's not who he is.

[theignorantfool.livejournal.com]

So, you're starting to see this guy for who he was before you met him, and you're not liking it?

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

God, no! That's not who he is, he--

[Ken breaks off again, and sighs.]

It's... complicated. See, I knew him back from before but he's here now as well. Him and several other guys I know, they're all here. But they're all...

This is going to sound stupid.

I mean they're all from the future. My future anyway. Whatever's gonna make him want to be this guy, it hasn't happened for me yet. But it has for them, and they all... they get it. They've seen it. I haven't.

[theignorantfool.livejournal.com]

[In normal circumstances that would have been enough to make Ed question this kid's sanity, but after seeing Hughes listed on the Dreamberry when he first got here and talking to a girl that claimed she was supposed to be dead instead of here, the idea that people were from each other's pasts or futures wasn't all that bizarre a concept to follow.]

So, you're seeing what he's going to become. Do you know what makes him change, even though you haven't actually seen it yourself?

[The next question came after a long pause, uncertain he really wanted to even touch on the subject.]

It hasn't happened for you yet, meaning you are around to see that future yourself, right?

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

I guess I must be.

[That's not a comforting thought, somehow. Not when what they've become - all of them, not just Omi - seems so strange sometimes, and so disquieting. What could have happened to change them all like that?

[It all begs the question, how's he gonna change?]

I... think he said something about it when I asked him what the deal was. But it didn't explain why he'd think he'd have to change like that. It... it kinda didn't seem enough, you know?

And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get to see it. Normally. They don't want me knowing what'll happen back home, but they've said enough I know I'm probably not dead yet.

[He can understand the hesitation, there.]