i turned off the music

[revengier]

Comments

[revengier]

I wouldn't mind that. Your reference to "Dave and Busters" is a bit lost on me, but I do get the point.

[ Actually, he'd like it a lot. He also likes that intensity, too. It feels honest. ]

Do you know who is beating your score?

[dissimulative]

Yeah, someone named "Aster". That's the name they use when they beat my high score.

[ Wait a minute. ]

You don't know what a Dave and Busters is?

[revengier]

[ Hm. Aster, the mystery person...

But Kurapika shakes his head. ]

I do not. I assume it's an arcade, however.

[dissimulative]

Yeah, something like that. They also have it combined with an eatery and a bar. So, when do you wanna go? I got some stuff to do next week, mostly daytime through evening so that probably won't work.

[ Sure is busy... ]

[revengier]

[ Wow, Oria's schedule sure is packed, huh? Kurapika wonders if it's full of extracurriculars or if it has to do with his family. ]

The weekend, then? I'm off on Saturday evening.

[ His one rare weekend night he doesn't have to work. ]

[dissimulative]

Sounds good! I'll be free then. You're free for once, huh?

[ Oria says this in the place where Kurapika most likely works. He doesn't care. ]

[revengier]

My boss is feeling kind enough to give me a few days off.

[ He takes a bite of his sandwich, quickly moving on from the subject. ]

Growing up, the most we had in my area was a Dollar Tree, and even that went out of business.

[dissimulative]

A Dollar Tree that went out of business?!

[ Bro... That shit must have been dire. He's known about their scummy employee situations and stuff too, but that's. ]

Wow. Not even groceries?

[revengier]

[ He reaches for another chip. ]

An hour and a half away. We grew some of our own food and hunted, then everything else we supplemented with trips to the store every few weeks.

[ Self sufficiency via necessity. ]

Our town was really poor, obviously.

[dissimulative]

[ He's heard of small towns, but not one that's so... dilapidated. ]

With the way you put it, it sounds like you were away from civilization or something...

[revengier]

I lived in a small town in the Appalachian mountains. That practically is away from civilization.

[ A big contrast to northern California, that's for sure. ]

[dissimulative]

The mountains?!

[ He can't even fathom living in such a place if his dad doesn't have some villa there off the cliffside or something. I remember going hiking once and there was this fancy ass house in the mountains... what the fuck.......... ]

What was your daily life like apart from the hunting?

[revengier]

Have you really never been to a mountain town...?

[ He's a little surprised, but hey, maybe Oria isn't one for ski trips. ]

School, tending to our plants, helping with chores around the house, studying, hanging out with my friends. No different than most childhoods, really. I just didn't have all the technology and luxury goods that some people have.

[dissimulative]

Now that you have the luxury goods, what do you think?

[ Tools to make them lazier? It really does sound like that average childhood experience, except they're probably more involved, such as hunting for food. Not that Oria would know what it's like, but he's heard of them.

Oh, to be an average kid with average kid responsibilities and worries. ]

[revengier]

[ He shrugs. ]

Having more than a flip phone is nice, and I've enjoyed having streaming services.

[ Being able to watch shitty reality TV is very, very nice. ]

It really isn't necessary for me to have these things, but I don't think they're bad things either. [ He shrugs. ] There's good and bad aspects about everything, including the lifestyle I lived before.

[dissimulative]

[ Welcome to the world of shitty reality TV, Kurapika.......... (tears) ]

You're neutral on a bunch of stuff unless it has to do with you personally, huh...

[ Which, honestly, isn't a bad approach to life. Oria is surprised that he doesn't have much opinion about it. Maybe that's how he keeps his cool? His calm and collected demeanor with a resting bitch face... or something like that. ]

[revengier]

[ Kurapika has another chip, thinking over that as he chews. There are quite a few things he really isn't very neutral on, but.. ]

I suppose so. [ A pause. ] And you aren't, I assume?

[dissimulative]

[ Truthfully, Oria is pretty apathetic on many things that don't concern him. He doesn't really have the energy to spare in dealing with things that he has nothing to do with. He's not a bleeding heart and doesn't ever want to be. ]

I'll definitely form an opinion on something if I ever experience it.

[ Yeah! That tracks, but also. ]

Coming to a university like this must have been a real shocker then.

[revengier]

[ So they’re similar in that way, are they? Or at least, to an extent? It has Kurapika curious, but he’s learned his lesson on asking Oria too many questions, and he has a feeling he’ll hit his limit soon. ]

It was, but this is the best school in the region, so it was worth the stress.

[ He sits back, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. ]

I’m never going back anyway, so I may as well get used to life in a city.

[dissimulative]

Never?

[ Oria looks surprised. That sure is a bold statement... ]

You're not gonna visit family or anything?

[revengier]

[ He pulls the bag of chips closer to himself, grabbing a couple of them and swallowing before casually saying: ]

I don’t have family to visit.

[dissimulative]

[ The chips looks like they're slowly dwindling... Oria wonders if he'll ask for another bag of them. But wow, the fact that Kurapika just says that bluntly is, quite something. ]

Everything about you is such a surprise.

[ Look, he's not gonna pity him. It sucks, but that's how it be sometimes. ]

[revengier]

[ The fact that Oria doesn’t pity him earns him a lot of points—where Oria was under the “neutral” category before, he is now someone that Kurapika kind of likes.

Of course, he’ll never like someone enough to not raise an eyebrow, his tone almost challenging Oria to say something offensive. ]

What do you mean by that?

[dissimulative]

You subvert a lot of expectations that you shouldn't have to live up to. That's a good thing, by the way.

[ Oria finally sips his sprite through the straw. ]

Also... you're really unpredictable.

[ Apart from being an asshole, but. Y'know. ]

[revengier]

[ A genuine compliment? From Oria? Kurapika doesn’t really look like he believes it, or at least, that he believes it cautiously. ]

I wouldn’t want to be predictable. [ He eats another chip. They’re almost gone. ] But you say that as if you aren’t similar in that way too.

[ … ]

Or… you consider the subversion a good thing because you do the same.