Video 07 → What Do Women Want, Anyway?

[irregular]

[Unfiltered. Let's see how long it takes Ken to realize this.]

[Ken sits on the edge of the fountain in Espoir, frowning into the camera in aggrieved confusion, as if it personally has done him some disservice.]

Uh... this is probably gonna sound dumb but Does anyone know what kind of stuff you get a girl you like that isn't totally stupid or creepy?

[The head and neck of a toy giraffe are just visible in the lower right hand corner of the frame. Ken glances over at it as he speaks, then shoves it quickly down in an attempt to get it out of shot, without any real noticeable success. An awkward look flickers across his face. Great, so he's already seriously regretting deciding to ask this question and he hasn't even finished saying it yet...]

And I'm not gonna do flowers.

[The feed cuts off quickly.]

Comments

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

Hm... that could work. I guess she normally wears her hair up, so ribbons would work too. I wonder if she likes rabbits? I know she likes monkeys.

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

I guess it's best to pick what she's comfortable wearing... and just imagine how she'll look with the one you'll pick. It'll help if you know it looks good on her. ... Speaking of monkeys, I met a talking monkey when I first arrived here... which was actually the other day.

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

Hm... you're probably right. If it's something that looks good on her, she'll probably like it. Maybe I'll get her some hair ribbons...

[He blinks once at the last bit, looking curious.]

Hey, you're new here? How're you finding it?

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

Well, good luck.

[and a smile to that, if only a bit awkward] I am. It's not so bad, but it's a little bothersome to be elsewhere all of a sudden. I was waiting for someone back... uh, back where I was last.

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm probably gonna need it...

You were? I was asleep in the basement. Still, it ain't like you could do anything to help it, right? Maybe they'll come here too and you can tell them what happened?

[Ken logic. It is a special place.]

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

It still... bothers me, though. I wanted to be there when she would wake up. But the important thing to me is that she and everyone else would move on to a new life without regrets. If that came to be, then I'm fine.

But I wonder how long I'll stay here...

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

[Ken smiles, and he hopes it looks vaguely sympathetic. Still, that first part sounds like something he shouldn't really have meant to hear, so he's going to be focusing on the second bit.]

I don't think anybody can really say about that one, sorry. I've known a couple people been here ages. Some of 'em come and go real fast, though. It's hard to say until it happens.

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

[Otonashi caught sight of the other's sympathy and he appreciated it. he can somewhat tell that Ken is a kind guy.]

Yeah, I didn't think anyone could... Being stuck here and all. It was similar back in the world I was in before this.

But there were a few known ways to leave.

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

Yeah? That's gotta be kinda better, right? At least you know what you gotta do to get out and it ain't just 'cross your fingers and hope'...

[Though the more Ken thinks about that one, the more he's starting to wonder if he even wants to any more. It's... well, it's simpler here, in a lot of ways. Aya's here, and a whole lotta other people he'd never have met otherwise - Hell, he probably doesn't even have to be a florist any more if he doesn't want to b--

[Ken. Ken. Why did it take you six months to figure that out?]

It's not so bad here when you get your head round it. Sure, place goes totally crazy every four weeks and you could set your watch by it, but if you gotta get stuck anywhere here's as good a place as any, I guess.

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

It was.


... Wait, goes crazy every four weeks? What happens during those times, then?

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

Well, it's full moon and... well, 's probably easier to say what don't happen at full moon, round here. We've had creepy abandoned warehouses, dreams you got stuck in, everyone got super powers for a bit, that was kinda fun... dinosaurs, that more kinda wasn't...

[I could probably carry on.]

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

...

[okay, that's just great.] This is even worse than the last world I've been in.

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

It ain't so bad when you get used to it. 's fine three weeks out of four.

[... on the other hand, if you're not expected to kill people for money back home and aren't glad to see the back of it here, this probably sucks kinda worse.

[Not that Ken can explain that one.]

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

Well, it's good that it only happens once in a while then.

... Speaking of which, when did the last one happen?

[insorrow.livejournal.com]

Uh... about a month ago, actually...

[Oh, snap.]

Maybe it's the festival? I mean, it don't usually do dinosaurs outta nowhere.

[memory-fugue.livejournal.com]

So, you mean... this event might possibly be one of those, and anything could happen?

[getting bad vibes now D:]

Well, how about that... I guess I'm forced to try and get used to this place faster.


Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Otonashi.