014 ☯ Alma [VIDEO]

[alma_karma]

Yu!

[The video feed clicks on in a rush to show Alma with a rather determined look on his face. He's sitting on a small patch of concrete near the garden, a leather-bound notebook (fairly similar to one used by a certain inspector, in fact) open in his lap.]

I forgot to ask... Do you know when my birthday is?

Comments

[tothelastbreath]

[Stop taking things literally! He's seen you around the network, heard and noted the way you talk and phrase some things. You do sound old, you know, less in tone and more in attitude—

BUT THIS ISN'T HELPING US SKIRT AROUND THE ISSUE HUH. B|

>Divert flow of argument.]

All of you. I can practically hear you creaking when you move.

[crumbled]

[he can't really help it!! he feels ancient. BEING A CRUMBLING STATUE DOES THAT TO YOU.

NO, IT'S NOT.

>PRESS A, PRESS A. JUMP, GYPSY!!!]

Find something more productive to listen to.

[tothelastbreath]

[skdfhls Old Yu, what is your life. If it's any comfort, somewhere in another world, the pieces fit back together to make you a dashing hobo...!

>SUCKER-PUNCHING THAT BUTTON ON LOOP, MISTER.

(Though truth be told, the more Allen sees of you, the more he's inclined to find out.)]

[ lifting his shoulders in a very slow, very deliberate, very expressive shrug ] You're around. Not everyone has selective hearing like you do.

[crumbled]

[llujah would rather by a hobo. hobos don't get constant migraines. and they can punch.

>GRAB THAT SHOTGUN. SHOOT IT IN THE HEAD!!

(one day.. all will be revealed-- except not really.)]

Why would you even want to listen to me? [...hhhk.]

1/2

[tothelastbreath]

['llujah, Allen was doing so well too. He's on a roll here, full steam ahead—

—right into a wall, it seems, going by that sudden look of confusion. Stares for a moment, perplexed and really caught kind of flat-footed, even as his features twist automatically into a matching expression of abject DNW.]

What makes you think I—

2/2

[tothelastbreath]

[Oh.]

That's why I said selective hearing! It's not like I can choose not to hear you if you're here and talking!

[Meaning it was a convoluted way of saying I DON'T WANT TO OKAY and wow, this is some pretty hair-raising DNW.]

1/2

[crumbled]

[WELL THAT (relatively) GOOD MOOD was kind of ruined. scowling, mostly in a knee-jerk mirror-reaction to Allen's.

even after the other continues, Kanda's still kind of lingering on the first half of that reply. think he.. what?



gee. he hasn't scowled in a while.]

2/2

[crumbled]

[tossing that braid over his shoulder, it's getting heavy. this is his pinnacle of not giving any shits.



except he's still kind of hung up on it. he'll deal with that later.

it's time to be childish some more.]

You could ignore it. I ignore you guys all the time. [no.. he doesn't...]

1/idek

[tothelastbreath]

[If there's something to be said for their petty bickering, it's how it makes their interactions so much easier to manage. This being only their third conversation since 'llujah's arrival, Allen... Doesn't quite know how to deal with him yet. Even disregarding the Alma situation, there are still too many years wedged unspoken between them; years briefly outlined in that very first time 'llujah looked at him with the refracted curiosity of the unfamiliar, then summed up in an abrupt, 'Japan. You're not there.' The arguing feels natural in comparison, a bit of familiar middle ground Allen can navigate deftly enough to glean the differences between this Kanda and his own without having them expressly stated. It's a series of chain reactions he's well-acquainted with. Push, get pushed, push back. Keep it up long enough and they'll get somewhere. It worked last time. It's supposed to be, theoretically, mostly safe. So he's quick to notice when something falls out of rhythm; when that scowl on 'llujah's face looks a tad too― Affected to be written off as customary annoyance. White eyebrows tug that minute fraction closer, confused. He's been careful to avoid potential triggers and anything 'llujah hasn't already taken a shot at himself, because even in their most heated fights, there are some lines you just don't cross, yet that look on 'llujah's face says he's gone bumbling into a landmine. A quick mental review of their conversation leaves him coming up blank, it doesn't seem to have lent its course to anything more blighting than petty name-calling (nothing new) and profound levels of tsun in the form of DNW (also nothing new). And yet, if Allen didn't know better, he'd almost swear 'llujah's―]

[tothelastbreath]

[―gotten to be a lot more fabulous over the blank span of those few years, apparently.]

[tothelastbreath]

[Is that a braid.]

[tothelastbreath]

[Is that a braid on Kanda.]

[tothelastbreath]

[And did he just flip it at Allen and the world in general like a resounding up yours.]

[tothelastbreath]

[Opens his mouth automatically ― surely a display like that deserves some kind of reaction ― then just shuts it again. Er. Right. He was onto something back there, wasn't he? Where did his train of thought get derailed to, so he can hurry after it to pick through the wreckage.]

[tothelastbreath]

[ nearly blurting as he goes with his gut: ] No.

[Good thing Allen's gut seldom fails him, he's starting to connect the dots now.

'Find something more productive to listen to.'
'Why would you even want to listen to me?'
And finally, the incongruous, 'You could ignore it.'

Honestly Kanda, for better or worse, one of Allen's main problems with you has always been his inability to ignore you. Lord knows Komui could've been spared a good dozen reports on property damage otherwise.

(And let's face it, it was admitting he would pay (has been paying) attention to you on the network that was generating all the DNW. Imagine if he'd answered 'yes, because you're sort of alone here in that awkward way Mikk and the older Alma are, and I want to know how you're all doing' instead. Where would we be, then.)]

Someone has to keep up with you―

[In other words, he hasn't just been seeing you 'around', he's been attentive by choice.]

DONE

[tothelastbreath]

[now for that tempering dash of tsun: ] ―so we'll know if something like this happened to you. [ Just. Gesturing in vague, twitchy motions. At that braid. ] What happened to your hair?

[In that disbelieving, mildly horrified tone of voice, he might as well have asked so who's going to die for this?]

1/2 HSDLFK dying

[crumbled]

[..MAN it's been a while since he's witnessed some proper tsunning. how nostalgic. and annoying.

mostly annoying. (which is.. also nostalgic.)

but in this environment-- well. it's to be expected. it's no longer a situation in which he can say no one needs to keep tabs on me and actually feasibly mean it. (hasn't been for a few years now.) he's sometimes childish. not stupid.

it's too late for that now.]

[crumbled]

[after that brief stint of feeling both high and mighty and incredibly ridiculous, he's got himself leveled out again.]

I dropped by Lenalee's room the other day. [of his own accord. uh-huh. no one's going to die!]

SORRY IT WAS LIKE 8 COMMENTS OF RIDIC I swear I was only aiming for 3 ksfljf

[tothelastbreath]

[ in response, have a quiet, understated little: ] Oh.

[Suddenly, the world has been righted on its axis and resumed spinning again. It even looks a little sunnier than before, because— Well. Allen's been terribly worried about Lenalee and the toll Nesreca is visibly taking on her. Despite the brainbreak it's costing him, he's glad to know she unwound long enough to do something, anything as simple and casual and silly as braiding Kanda's hair. It's a heartening thought: that she may actually be doing better after all, not just saying it.




But still.]

The other day?

[Translation: You kept it? For days? Why?]

LMAO THIS IS OKAY my inbox enjoyed it..

[crumbled]

['llujah's worried about her too.. though that isn't entirely the reason why he let her braid his hair. he'll never divulge the other reasons, of course. that'd be scandalous.

--ah. there's a.. little roadbump. can't very well say that he kept because he couldn't do something as simple as unbraiding it, because it's ridiculously simple to unbraid hair, isn't it?

not when your fingers feel like worms half the time.]

Two days ago. [is your brain okay yet, Allen? please don't go comatose on him.] Isn't it easier to tell us apart this way?

[keeps his hair in check better too. and he can't re-braid it, sooo....]

LMFKSKHLD I think Allen is going to cry of brainbreak

[tothelastbreath]

[...'llujah. You need a hug, stat. Or maybe just EVEN MORE SURGERY to fix you up somehow.]

[This, 'llujah, is the most incredulous look. Everything about Allen's expression — from the slow rounding of pale grey eyes to the steadily skewing slope of his mouth — screams pull the other one.]

You're keeping it?

[And he'd thought he'd seen it all just a minute ago, when he'd presumably. Hurt Kanda's feelings. Somehow.

(He'll be taking an in-depth look at that later, by the way, assuming his brain is still functioning by then.)]

MY INBOX DIDN'T GET THIS

[crumbled]

[NO NO HUGS..... ;n;......

he'll gladly yank on it. this is kind of fun...]

My hair will be in a braid until further notice. [YOU GOT THAT?!] Don't get us mixed up.

[...'llujah will be brooding over that himself later. rrg.]

1/? /PUNCHES IT WITH THE FORCE OF A THOUSAND TORNADOES and Scarlet I thought you went to bed kjsdsf

[tothelastbreath]

[ALL. OF. THE HUGS.]

[...This is it. Allen Walker's life has finally hit the highest point on its bell-curve of strange. Should he survive this with his sensibilities intact, he shall be able to rejoice in the knowledge that nothing will ever faze him again.

At the moment, though, it looks to be a bit of a struggle. Pardon him while he just sort of. Boggles at 'llujah for a heartbeat with the numb silence of the dumbfounded.]

[tothelastbreath]

[Let it not be said that Allen isn't quick on the rebound, though. When your life is a series of traumatising events, you learn to quickly sweep all brainbreak under the proverbial mental rug in favour of remaining functional. Which is what Allen's doing now, judging by how that silence just went from graceless to something bolstered by intent.


So Kanda's wearing his hair in a braid.



What of it.



Link does it too, as did Marie (sort...of...) for a while, and Allen's never paid it much heed.]

[tothelastbreath]

[If he thinks about it this way long enough, he can almost convince himself it's the same thing.]