lapinfrost | ✸ voicemail

[The message is sent at approximately midnight. Rather late, because what is having a normal sleep schedule. (What is having a sleep schedule in the first place, really.)]

Shining One, are you awake?

[ Luckily for him, Hiro's a night owl, so he's still (mostly) awake for text messaging. ]

Still awake! ~ヾ(＾∇＾)
What's up? ( ・◇・)？

[They can be night owls together.]

I simply wish to ask you something.

[Though he doesn't exactly say what, right now. Next text message...and maybe after he figures what the hell those...things in parentheses are supposed to be.]

Sure~ What's the question, doc? (｀・ω・´)

[ Probably something important? At least, that's what he's guessing. ]

I am not a doctor.

[Just...gotta clarify that first. He pauses, as if taking a breath before asking this question.]

For how long will you consider me your friend?

[If the answer is "forever", then...he's not sure what to make of it.]

I didn't mean that literally! ( ´ ▽ ` )

[ There's a small pause as he goes through his mind's thesaurus. ]

Permanently, for all time, always, now and forever, till the cows come home...should I add more? I can keep going for a while. (ノ*゜▽゜*)

[ And after another pause.]

And I do mean that literally.

[...This is really not helping his ~feelings~ about the issue. But he can hardly bring it up right now, so subject change.]

I see.

[Pause.]

Another question. What are you attempting to convey by using those characters in parentheses? I'm afraid I do not fully understand.

[Kaomoji...]

[ He's really curious about why he brought that up, but if AO doesn't want to bring it up, then he'll just have to go along with the subject change (for now). ]

Emotions! The character's in parentheses are like facial expressions in text form. (＾▽＾)

Emotions? I hadn't thought facial expressions could be represented through text-based interaction. Man's means of communication have developed more than I had expected. How intriguing.

[Another pause as he tries to make out that emote. Eyes...closed. The ^s are...arched closed eyes. Happiness? Yes. But the mouth...]

They seem to be expressions that are physically impossible for humans to imitate.

Why so serious? (°◇°;)
It's only supposed to be representative of expressions, since there's only so much you can do with characters. (o;TωT)o

I see now.

[He'll try a few out for good measure.]

(＾▽＾)

That is an expression of happiness, correct? But ( ´ ▽ ` ) and (°◇°;) elude me.

[One of them is...tired? And the other is...surprised? He thinks. Humans are so confusing sometimes...]

The second one is happy too, and the third one is confused! (｀・ω・´)

[ At least, that's what he's always thought they were. ]

[Kaomoji are so confusing yet fascinating...]

I assume there are many, many more variations as well.

Yup, tons of them. I can't even count how many there are. (“⌒∇⌒”)

[He'll try another one, for good measure. Thinking of a face to express...]

A most curious means of conveying facial expressions.

(´▽`)

[He supposes that with developing communication, comes developing new expressions...so really, it would be hard to count them all. Humans are rather creative, giving old things a new spin.]

[Sent at another ungodly hour at night, a few hours after Yamato left...because yes, AO was most certainly doing his thing and being a stalker when it happened. He just wasn't sure whether to...contact Hiro and check on him or not.]

Have you noticed already, Shining One?

[Just testing the waters out for now. Hiro was attached to the friends he made, no matter who, so it wouldn't be surprising if he already knew Yamato disappeared from the contact list and departed from this world, and the only ones of their group remaining were them. Shining One and Anguished One. Perhaps it could be said that the departure made AO feel both hurt and relieved at the same time, moreso than it did for Hiro, but Hiro's well-being is more worthy of concern than his very own. What's done is done, and to wish for someone like him, especially a child of possibility who had something very important to take care of, to stay in this world any longer was a selfish wish indeed.]

[ Getting a message like that, especially from AO, never boded well for him. ]

I'm guessing this is bad news? (*´；ェ；`*)

[ Hiro's habit of checking the contacts list happens mainly in the morning, so he hadn't checked it yet. Still, his mind is already going over the possibilities and narrowing it down... After all, AO wouldn't message him for no reason, especially so late at night. (...Then again, didn't most of his texts come at night? He'd have to recheck that later.) ]

[...Oh well.]

Indeed.

[Looks like he's going to have to be the bearer of bad news.]

It seems that the last of your comrades has left this world, and returned to the one you know.

[ With that message in mind, there's only one possibility why AO contacted him. Slowly, he typed out the statement, not a question, to be sent. ]

Yamato left.

[ He didn't really want to check the contacts list right away. Daichi and Joe's names disappearing from the list had been bad enough; seeing it dwindle again isn't exactly something he's eager to confirm quickly. ]

Are you doing okay?

It pains me to say so, but you are correct.

[...He really didn't like being the bearer of bad news in situations like these.]

I could ask you the same. You considered him much more of a comrade than I did, after all.

[If his attack at the Tsuutenkaku was any indication. Granted, he made sure not to get as many innocents involved as possible (holding back so the JP's and SDF members were merely "defeated", blocking Otome with his arm, distributing the death clip), but the fact still remained that he displayed a rather large amount of unexpected hostility toward the chief. Was it warranted? Who's to judge...?

Sure, they had some history together, but it was nothing but bad blood between them now, and there was nothing he could do to change it. (And perhaps, in the back of his mind, he considered him something similar to his...child, as he acted as his caretaker long ago, but that was the past, and the past was the past, while the present was the present.)]

[ Hiro sighs once before typing up his reply. That means he and AO are the only ones left. He supposes he should be happier about people going home, but he can't help but feel a little lonely about it. Anyway... ]

But you've known him longer, right?

[ He's 85% sure of that. Yamato may not talk about his past much, but he's picked up on the small clues that he knew who AO was even before he met him. ]

True.

[Sigh. They can sigh over this together...long distance.]

However, it is clear that Yamato Hotsuin has long since discarded what history we shared.

[...Or at least, he tried to. But AO always had a way of barging into people's lives when they didn't ask for it.]

[ They should totally sigh over tea one of these days. Siiiiigh. ]

Even if he wanted to, I doubt he did. It's not exactly easy to go "hey, this neeeeveeeer happened" and actually mean it.

[ Especially if it pertained to teleporting AOs. ]

[He would not mind that. He would not mind that at all.]

He is still attempting to. Perhaps he will succeed.

[~~But it's totally possible when you get reset route...~~ Not exactly easy, but since when has Yamato Hotsuin ever given up simply because things weren't exactly easy?]

Who knows? I'm not clairvoyant. But I hope not. Throwing away the past isn't exactly the most healthy reaction to things.

[Then again, dwelling endlessly on mistakes isn't the healthiest thing either...~~looking at you, AO.~~]

Then, what is?

[He's honestly curious about what would be a more...productive? Less straining way of going about the issue.]

Today is your day of birth, is it not?

[How did he find out? You'll never know. But as the Lifespan Star, he couldn't help but take interest in birthdays. They were markers of the short lifespans humans had...and this was one human to whom he was grateful for being born.]

I wish you happiness upon reaching this date.

Correct! Thanks for remembering! (*≧▽≦)

[ That was certainly a surprise text. Especially since he hasn't told anyone about his birthday, from what he remembered. Then again, this is AO he's talking about, so Hiro can't say he's too surprised that he found out. Somehow.

Still, he's curious as to how, so he quickly adds another line to the return text before sending it. ]

But how'd you find out?

[...How to make this not sound like he was being a stalker. How to...

...Well. He never cared too much about looking like a stalker anyway.]

One of your friends informed me.

[...After he kind of...intimidated them by existing. Especially after Daichi's birthday passed and he was a bit curious as to when their birthdays were...save for Yamato's, because he already knew his. And it didn't end well.]

[ No worries, AO, he already knows you're a stalker. ]

Hmm~ I'm guessing that's Daichi. （＾＾）

[ Since that's the most logical conclusion and all. And speaking of birthdays, there's something that he's been wondering about, and now's a good time to ask as any! ]

So when's your birthday anyway? Gotta return the favor! （＾ω＾）

[Daichi is too easy to intimidate, sometimes. But he'll leave that to interpretation.]

My own date of birth?

[There's a rather long pause as he tries to reach into his memory to grasp at a single bit of information he wasn't even sure of 4.54 billion+ years ago (not to mention that he was around before you humans came up with a calendar system)...

...no dice.]

I've completely forgotten, and it would be difficult for me to translate it into terms of human time.

Edited 2012-12-18 03:47 (UTC)

I so should have seen that coming. （￣□￣；）

[ Of course AO wouldn't give a straight answer to that... ]

Does that mean you don't celebrate your birthday? (￣◇￣;)

[ He's...already guessing what the answer is, but he might as well ask. ]

Yes. I cannot celebrate what I cannot recall. Furthermore, celebrations are human customs.

[And if you knew what he really was, would you want to celebrate the day of his birth/awakening in Polaris' consciousness? Probably not.]

But celebrations are pretty fun! And we should totally celebrate your birthday some time. (☆^ー^☆)

[...That...didn't sound like a bad idea. Human celebrations were nice...it did the heart good to see everyone festive and enjoying themselves. But...he still can't remember his birthday!]

The problem remains, Shining One. I do not recall my date of birth.

[He's that much of an old man.]

Then you can just choose one, Gramps! (´ω｀★)

[ While that's typed jokingly, he's entirely serious about the choosing part. Because really, why not? ]

Choose one?

[Hahaha...asking him to choose. Of course, choosing was as easy as breathing to the Shining One. Well, it was a strange thought...and he didn't really have any particular days in mind.]

I hadn't thought that such a significant date could be so easily decided by one's self.

Well, you did say you couldn't remember! And acknowledging and celebrating a significant event like a birthday is more important than the date itself, I think. (｀・ω・´)

[...Human celebrations were so strange.]

I see. So that is how your culture has developed so. Fascinating.

Admittedly, in terms of human time, I'm afraid don't have a specific date in mind.

[...January 1st? New year's? Those who couldn't see him were said to pass away by the year's end...it'd be like a "congratulations for surviving" thing. Or something.]

You don't need to come up with one right away! But do tell me when you decide, okay? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[...Yeah, he's thinking January 1st. Makes things easier on him. No need to remember too specific of a date, and it could be said that the day he awakened was the beginning of the creation of Earth, and its calendar system...and it'd be a slightly morbid thing, given the mythology surrounding him.

~~...shame about not matching up to Ophiuchus though.~~ This will have to take a bit more thought, and you know how indecisive he can be at times.]

All right. I shall ponder this matter some more. Thank you Shining One, for enlightening me.

[Because he's never gotten an opportunity to choose something like this for himself before...it means quite a bit to him.]

No prob! I'll be looking forward to it! (ゝω・)ノシ

[ He'll have a calendar ready to write his answer down when that time comes, that's for sure. ]

[Ah...he almost forgot to say what he was going to say at the start.]

I would like to thank you for being born as well.

(´ー`)

[See? He even used an emoticon like you taught him...! He felt that this one most accurately represented his facial expression at the moment.]

Thank you! I'm glad you're here too. ♩ヽ(・ω・ヽ*)♬

[ He's so trying not to laugh upon seeing the emoticon. Sure, he's the one who taught him about them, but still, it's pretty funny to see in action. (As for what AO's saying, he's so used to that sort of talk that it barely registers as something eyebrow-raising at this point...) ]

And yes, that's how you use emoticons! (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*

I'm glad to hear that.

[To both things, that is. Nobody ever really told him something like that before...! Warm fuzzy feelings. And he's glad that he's getting the hang of this 'emoticon' thing.]

They are more useful in conveying expression through text than I had expected. Communication involves both the body and the tongue itself...given the medium, it is a suitable substitute for the former, I suppose.

[Though his Tico(s) are better...but much more time-consuming to program/execute, obviously.]

✸ voicemail

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text; you should've expected this

text; and I should've replied much, much earlier where did my reply go???

text; /pets

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text; quietly conquers the inbox

text; why are you hogging the inbox

text; do you have a problem with this, hironata-kun

text; if you're calling him that, then yes komaedalcor, we have a problem

text; how could you treat shsl shining one maniac like that...

text; because you are a stalker

text; crosses arms with unsure look

text; what I should be the unsure one...

text; okay fine hironata i will shuffle away

text; but you never shuffle

text; fine i will float away

text; is it time to get out the rope

text; as long as you remember to feed me this time B(

text; as long as you try not to be scary beyond all reason :(

text; i just want to be a stepping stone for hope i mean freedom

text; you masochist

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