damp | homo: alex

Ah, same as me then.

[ tilts his head ]

Where're you from, anyway? America...?

Yeah. I'm from Oregon. It's—out west, by the coast.

What about you?

[ Rin only knows like three American states, but he nods. ]

I'm from Japan. No where close to Tokyo though, my town was on the southwest coast.

[ it's fine. ] Huh. But this city looks a little like Tokyo, right? The same way it looks like big cities that I would recognize.

So weird.

It does look like Tokyo, it was kind of disorienting at first. [ ... ] But there's no room for a huge IKEA in the middle of most cities I know.

I don't think they're that uncommon in my local big cities. But I hadn't been to one before.

It's fun, though. Lots to, uh... Look at.

You think?

[ He looks up at the sky. ]

I thought all I'd need is a pool but... It'd be nice to have some other restaurants. Maybe a movie theatre.

I'd definitely take more restaurants already. Theater's less important, but it'd be nice.

[ hum ]

You like swimming, huh? It's in your profile.

[ He looks a little more pensive. His sports history... ]

Yeah, it's been pretty much my whole life since as long as I can remember. Feels a little like I've been living with blinders after talking to everyone else here.

To be fair, I bet everyone is feeling that way. We all only know what we know. And with different worlds that's—a really small amount, no matter what you've been doing.

That's true.

[ Looks up at the sky. ]

It's still a little overwhelming... There's so many worlds there are out there.

... Homesick?

[ that's kind of the opposite vibe of what he was saying, but it's how hearing about all those worlds makes her feel. weirdly. ]

[ he blinks, looking surprised ]

... Yeah. It feels like I should be excited and adventurous but... yeah. I feel homesick.

[ she pauses, like she's not quite sure if she wants to say this or not, but. ]

I'd been thinking of going out of state for college. It's not for a while, but...

I don't know. I wanted to get away but now I'm homesick, too.

[ That makes him smile a little. ]

I know the feeling. I actually just got back to Japan a few months ago, and I hated being back... It felt so stifling.

But now I'd give anything to be back there.

What about it was so stifling? Just... the familiarity, or?

Yeah, I think so. [ he shrugs ] Is that why you wanted to leave for college?

Basically.

[ anyway ]

You said you just got back to Japan. Where had you been?

I was studying in Australia for the past five years. It's pretty different from Japan. It might be more similar to what it's like in America?

Iiii wouldn't know. I've never been to Australia. But they speak English, so that's... something?

[ fair enough ]

It seemed similar from the movies I've seen. School dances, prom... We don't have that stuff in Japan.

School dances are awful, but it does sound kind of boring without them. Do you have other school events or what?

We have school festivals, which are pretty fun. We do sports events, or each class will do a booth... We put on plays too.

They're way more work than a school dance though.

... I wouldn't want to put that much effort in for my school.

[ He laughs. ]

It's a pain, in a lot of ways. But actually working on it is a lot of fun. The actually day when you have man your booth or shop is kind of exhausting.

(no subject)

camena - 2023-06-18 18:39 (UTC) - Expand