sciencelizard | « [IC Inbox- Hadriel]

「Nah, is it? NAH... but it might be better to talk in person.」

wanna eat a sandwich with me at the park maybe?
my roommate made a lot

[one fear]

oh
sure!!!
ill meet you there =^o^=
c u soon!

「Atem doesn't reply to that but does hurry to the park with a few sandwiches made of different stuff, PB&J included. Hopefully she'll like the variety.

He waits for her at a bench under the shade of a tree.」

Edited (wowtf) 2018-05-13 22:50 (UTC)

[Listen, free food is free food, there's very little she won't eat. She arrives promptly, giving him a little wave as she approaches, plopping down next to him.]

Hey! Nice to, uhm, see you. Thanks for lunch.

[She's a bit nervous on what he has to say, but hopefully it's not too serious.]

「Just seeing his little friend approach has Atem smiling already. He seems just fine and not nervous so, maybe that could help.」

No problem. 「He says as he offers the bag for her to choose anything she wants.
A-anyway, enough pussyfooting for a day.」

You haven't met Seto Kaiba yet, have you?

「He looks at her, waiting for any reaction that name might or not produce.」

[She digs through, taking one out and unwrapping it as she listens to his question.]

Uhm... no, I d-don't think so. I don't recognize the name, anyway. Is he a friend of yours?

[That's a loaded question, probably.]

「Nahhhhh, why would you think that? He nods, tho.」

He is. 「Not quite to the other's eyes.」

It's just... 「How to say it.」 He can be... 「A massive jerk/asshole/pedant/bastard, could go on, but hey, friends...」 abrasive at times. 「Understatement of the millennia.」 And given how science oriented he is, I felt like I should warn you about him. I have the feeling you and he might cross paths at some point.

[She munches away at the sandwich, listening to him speak with her head tilted to the side.]

Oh, so, uh... w-warning me like, uhm, you want me to help him even though he's kind of mean? Or just that... he's actually nice, and uh, it'll just take a while to get there?

No, he's not nice, he tries very hard not to be and keep people away. You're useful, he'll come to you. But that's it, he's not here to make friends with anyone.

「Okay that's a bit of a lie, not the friends part tho.」

I mean, he has a way to be nice that doesn't show that way, he's... complicated. But even so, he's not a bad person, and helping him it's up to you. I just wanted to tell you about him, so you don't get too offended when he yells at you, if he does. But if he's mean to you, tell me so I can kick his ass.

[She does giggle just a bit at the last part, having been previously starting to get worried about this guy. Atem doesn't look super worried, so they must have some kind of positive relationship. But she doesn't have a lot of experience with those kinds of rough friendships- monsters are made from their care of others. Even when Mettaton shows himself to be rough around the edges, he was always tender with her. Maybe she can envision it like Marian. Just determined. Goal oriented.]

Well, if he's y-your friend, I want to help him. If I can. But uhm... I guess I'll keep in mind to stand up for myself?

[It's hard to talk in hypotheticals here, but maybe she'll figure it out if she meets him.]

「To stand up by herself? Oh... that brings back a memory of someone dear to him telling him the very same. Was he probably overstepping again? It is so hard to not try to protect his friends from everything, he keeps doing these things... He keeps quiet for a little moment in which he seems to ponder if he's doing the right thing or not, better be safe than sorry. The least thing he wants is one of his friends hurting another in some way. He forces a smile then.」

Sure, I know you can handle him. But now that you know what to expect, it might be easier.

「It never gets easier with Kaiba... but hey, he can dream.」

Edited 2018-05-25 21:02 (UTC)

[She nods. He's right, after all- it gives her time to emotionally prepare. Alphys isn't so fragile that she can't handle a single conversation, but it will absolutely make her feel better to know it's coming.]

It, uhm-- yeah. I'll keep it in mind.

[Besides, this gives her a chance to try and make a good first impression! Or something like that.]

Do you... do you like him? I mean, I know you said he was k-kind of mean, but. Have you known each other a long time?

I do. We have a complicated history together, but I will always think of him as a good friend, one I often want to strangle. 「He smirks at that.」 Often he struggles with his own choices but, in the end he does the right thing, reluctantly and followed with a few incredibly obnoxious remarks.

「Alphys, do not mind the little smile on his face as he talks about the worst jerk in the world, according to a few people. He makes the smallest of pauses to look at her.」

He's also one the best duelists I know. 「Thats a huge compliment in their geeky world, ok?」

I think he needs more friends, but he doesn't give his trust to anyone. Except his brother, who is here too by the way.

[It's a bit of a hard thing to understand, frankly. Not when her world is so, so different. But she tries, and latches on where she can.]

Oh, w-well, at least he's not alone! That's good. It always makes people feel better to see someone they know. So... maybe he'll make more friends here!

[At the very least, even if its not her, it'll be someone.]

Yeah... I hope he does.

「There is nothing else he'd want for Kaiba, to allow himself to be happy for a change.」

Anyway, enough about him, what have you been working on?

[She smiles, happy for the topic change.]

Well, uh, y-you know! The Door, and uh, some repairs for some friends...

[Like a certain Null she's keeping very very quiet about.]

Mostly just, uh, tasks for other people, really. What about you?

「Repairs...? He doesn't go as far as to think someone has a broken microwave oven, or a prosthetic limb. He idly wonders what kind of things Kaiba and her would do together if he allowed it. Something great, that might be for sure.

But then he gives a little shrug and munches on a sandwich.」

Not much... Same old. Waiting for the next thing to hit us, you know, the usual.

「There weren't exactly many projects around Hadriel for him, except keeping his friends safe in some way.」

[Don't think too hard about it, Atem. Null stuff is hush hush. But she nods, idly letting it slip by as she takes another bite of her sandwich.]

Do you have any like... h-hobbies, you do here? I feel like it'd be pretty boring just, uhm, waiting for time to pass.

I'm always try to keep myself busy; there is my part job at the Speakeasy, then I spend some hours training with a few folks. On free days I come up with dueling strategies.

「He's all but bored, really.」

Oh right, y-you're at the speakeasy.

[She pauses a moment, considering if she's opening a can of worms here, but then decides she really wants to know.]

By the way, uhm. What's dueling?

「What is dueling, she asks, and Atem's eyes seems to flare at that.」

Dueling, my friend, is the best game there is.

「He fishes out his deck from his duelist belt, and handles it to her.」

The idea is to defeat your opponent with these, monster, spell and trap cards; you have to build your deck using a strategy, ready it for anything the other can send at you.

[She takes the deck gingerly, sliding the cards over in her claws.]

Oh, it's-- it's a t-trading card game! I've heard of these.

[Heard of being the key word. No one would throw out stuff like this, so she never got it.]

I've never played, though. Just, uh, heard of them.

Would you like to learn?

「At this point, after trying to coerce a few friends into it without much success, he's not nearly as enthusiastic as he had been at the start.」

[She looks up from the deck, having been flipping through the cards.]

Oh! I mean, uhm. I don't want anything to be boring to you, I d-don't think I'd be very good, and uhm, I don't have my own cards...

[She kind of always wanted to do stuff like this, but she never had friends who would be interested or nearly enough opportunity. Though, now that she's on the surface, maybe it's time...]

Why would you be boring? You're anything but. I think you'd be good at it, you're good at analyzing things, and planning ahead. There is a lot of strategy involved in Duel Monsters.

「He does ponder for a moment, he doesn't have enough cards to make her a deck... But Kaiba does. But Kaiba is Kaiba.」

I will try to get you some.

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