wing_attack | IC; Pokegear Contact Post

"Uh. It's Tobias. Leave a message."

[Tobias' life sounds so...turbulent in every way possible, given how casually he's talking about this, but at least it's a more pleasant topic than previous, so Ashley just nods along, and listens.]

I'm sure you were happy for those...little moments.

You have to find something, right? Marco... Marco said something to me a few times. "If we're not laughing at this stuff, we're crying. And I don't know about you, but I don't think crying's gonna do much." Something like that. Even here, in those few times where it's been scary, I had to find something.

... Marco and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but I think he might have been right about that one.

...That...kind of reminds me of someone I know too. Chris, he's-

[Here comes the silly smile and the looking away and the playing with her hair.]

Well. He's my best friend. He loves making people laugh, cheering them up... That kind of attitude.

[... He's not one to pick up on crushes, given that he was oblivious to how he felt about Rachel for... a while... but he's not sure if that's a crush or just normal 'talking about best friend' behavior from a girl. Cassie and Rachel were the only female friends he had at home, and. Well.]

Sounds about right. Do you want to tell me about him?

[It'd be nice to hear her talk about her own stuff...]

Chris? Ah... [Ohhh she's all shy. How the hell did she keep her crush on him a secret for so long? (The answer is she didn't, he was the only one who didn't know.)]

He's just amazing. Funny and sweet and smart and very loyal to his friends. He's so smart too, all into technology to a scary degree. He wants to be an app designer- oh, that's a smart-phone thing. He's brave too- but in an understated way, like...he always tries to make sure you're okay even if he's uncomfortable too or...

[A gentle sigh.]

He's the kind of guy you want around. You want him to have your back, because if he does...everything's going to be okay. That's what it feels like.

You like him a lot, huh? ... It's good that you've got a friend like that. Sometimes it's hard to know where to turn... so if you have someone who you can trust, it makes things easier.

How long have you known him?

I can trust him with my life. [Warm and joyful.]

I've known him for... Oh, nearly nine years? Since I was ten. He's...incredibly important to me.

You didn't meet by him tugging on your pigtails, did you?

[He doesn't sound like the guy who would, anyway.]

Oh, no, of course not. If anyone did that'd-- [She falters for a second.] My friend Josh was the kind to. I met Chris through him, or rather...I met them both at the same time. Shy new kid in school, exuberant welcoming committee. That old story.

[... Ah. Josh is a problem, isn't he? He doesn't need hawk eyes to see that falter.]

It sounds nice. They didn't tease you about reading books, I'm guessing. No getting nudged for hiding Lord of the Rings in your textbook?

[Oh, Tobias. You have no idea.]

Nope! Well, no malicious teasing. Poking fun. I did it right back, the more I got to know them.

It's a thing. All my friends are kind of assholes in their own way. [Said matter-of-fact.] But I like them all.

Well, at least you're all assholes together. Marco's like that, too. The rest of us... not quite as much. I... well. Rachel was like that sometimes too, I guess.

[And awaaaaaay from that thought we go.]

But like... Ax didn't get Earth humor a lot of the time. When we were hauling Rachel's family out to safety one of her sisters called him a Pokemon and he had no idea what that was.

[Seems like he's got a hot-button topic too... She won't ask.]

I'd imagine as much. He's an alien, yeah? Different...background, different everything.

Yeah, exactly. He got addicted to soap operas, though. He... also didn't understand that commercials weren't like regular shows, either. But he got better about humor the longer he spent around us and Earth culture. Andalite culture's pretty serious a lot of the time. A lot of emphasis on warriors and stuff like that. They're not warlike, just... serious. They used to graze and travel in herds... kind of like deer.

Soap operas? Of all the things for an alien to get into... I think I understand, though. The uh, more serious culture idea? At least, I've read books with those, so why not...? Are they really-

[Her question's cut-off, however, as the waitress arrives with their food!]

[Oh yay food! He grabs his burger and takes a bite while he thinks of how to respond. ... And swallows before he answers.]

Aside from me and Ax, the rest of the team had school a lot of the time. So he was watching TV in his scoop - that's what Andalites live in, it's kind of like a house - and there isn't a lot on during the day.

[While he talks, she eats, and her eyebrows shoot up at that. Waiting until she's finished her bite, she just-]

Both of you watched the? ...Soooo, you got into soap operas too?

Nah, not really. I usually hunted while he was watching. The thermals were usually good around noon or one in the afternoon, so it's a good time for hunting or just flying around.

Oh. Well, I had to ask.

[Whenever he brings up being a bird... She's not sure how to follow that up. So instead, she eats.]

It's fine. I'm just not interested in that kind of show.

[He shrugs, and keeps chowing down. Mm tasty. It's been a bit since he had a burger like this... he's been trying to eat a more balanced diet than just meat.]

... What kind of stuff do you like to watch?

Edited Date: 2016-05-12 11:43 am (UTC)

Me? Uh... Fantasy shows, some Sci-Fi. And sometimes dramas, or just...things adapted from books! It's so interesting to see the changes between a book series and a TV show.

That sounds kind of fun. I haven't seen a lot of those... I never had cable. Just mostly PBS for me, but Ax had been leeching cable from... somewhere. It involved a lot of science that I didn't understand.

I never had like...big packages or plans? But there's always finding things on the internet...and going over to friends' houses.

... I keep forgetting that the Internet is like... a thing that isn't really slow in the future. I mean, the way you talk about it... I'm used to it taking like a whole minute to load the page if the connection's fast.