Kino "needs help reacting to something" (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
onlyatraveler) wrote2014-08-30 01:25 am
onlyatraveler) wrote2014-08-30 01:25 am
Inbox for CDC
kino@cdc.org
(1) UNREAD MESSAGES
kino@cdc.org
(1) UNREAD MESSAGES
kino@cdc.org
(1) UNREAD MESSAGES
kino@cdc.org
(1) UNREAD MESSAGES
Day 52, thirty minutes after departure
Hey Kino, how's the road?
FROM: Hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Kino, hey
FROM: Hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Heeyyy Kino!!!
FROM: Hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Wait are you driving Hermes in this?? Don't read these messages until after you stop!!!
HES SO CUTE IM GONNA EXPLODE
It does take Kino a while to reply, mostly because they wait for a straight-away with no hills so they can cruise while texting. Nic doesn't even seem to notice (at least Kino doesn't think so).]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
Too late
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I'm driving the jeep though, actually.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
The road's empty, which is why I'm replying. It's pretty easy driving.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
How are you doing?
THESE DORKS I CAN'T HANDLE THEM
If you crash it's not my fault!!!!
[just so they had that clear.]
[but Hinata isn't too worried about it: the fact Kino could drive at all at her age seemed beyond impressive, so she had to be great at it. plus, if her stretch was anything like his ... yeah, she'd be fine.]
[moreover, on his end: two people who obviously knew each other but kept a tense distance, one of which had already made it clear she'd be hovering over him (which he was mostly fine with, but it also put in an itch to prove something, anything, to her). so. not exactly conversationalists.]
[moreover... talking to Kino brought its own charms.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
I'm fine, it's easy driving over here too. I think we might eventually be crossing the frozen sea, so that's cool...??
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Maybe
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Misaki's driving, do you know her?
SO CUUU U U U UTE
Vehicles like this just had more buttons, though. They were easier to drive physically, since you didn't have to put your body weight into any of the turns.
Regardless, Nic isn't talkative (for specific reasons), but Kino always has Hermes to chat with. It makes the going less boring, alternating discussing their involvement with the CDC with Hermes and responding to Hinata.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
As long as your driver doesn't decide to put on the brakes while you're crossing.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I don't believe I've met her, no. What's she like?
my heart won't go on
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
I don't know! Think I could tie a sled to the back of the jeep and catch some air?
[heh... . . .]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
She's kind of bossy but nice?? She sorta seems like a mom that works a lot, you know?
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
But oh hey who are you with???
no subject
Please don't. That sounds dangerous.
[Detecting sarcasm through text was really difficult for Kino, okay?]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I suppose I understand.
[But not really?? Kino's thoughts on parents were complicated, okay, so it wasn't usually a good avenue to pursue for analogies.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
His name is Nic Brown. I had never really spoken to him before, but he kind of... insisted on coming along.
I'm watching over something today as part of a mission, and I think he wants to be back-up for it.
no subject
[for right now:]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Watching over something as part of a mission during a mission??? Is it some kind of special bait, does it glow, would a madu try to eat it?
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Wait do you mean Nic the mafia man?
no subject
Kino's actually pretty surprised on one of Hinata's random guesses.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
It actually does glow, though I certainly hope it doesn't function as bait for hungry madu.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
From what I know, it's very important, and I have to keep it safe.
[In truth, Kino didn't know too much about the rock. Whenever they went to speak to the other Orange Team members who found it, what they all spoke about made Kino feel uneasy. It was a great mystery to be solved, but such things had never been Kino's strong suit. They were a simple traveler, not a code-breaker.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
Perhaps? What's a "mafia man"?
no subject
[Kino must just be jealous.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
It really glows!! That's cool!!! It's like it knows it's super important! [yes, that ... well, whatever. dream big, Hinata.] What's it look like?
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
You don't know???
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
It's a man that works in the mafia! He's got a scary face and a tattoo and talks like he wants to use you for sword practice!
Oh and he's deaf I guess
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Is it that Nic?
no subject
Kino isn't particularly sure on what they promised to and not to discuss with others pertaining the rock, but what harm could it do just telling Hinata??]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
It's a sizable rock with inscriptions on the faces. It might be important that not many know about it, though, so please keep this to yourself.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I... think that's him. He is deaf, and I suppose his face might seem scary, but I haven't seen a tattoo or heard him talk.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I still don't believe I understand what this "mafia" is, though. [Not everyone understands all these things from your world, Hinata!]
1/3
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Got it! My lips are sealed! But I have to say, that sounds interesting for a rock.
[less interesting, more surprising (and more Hinata forgetting not all humans were from his Earth, despite Kino's talking motorrad),]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
How do you not know what a mafia is?? They're criminals that beat business owners up for money while selling drugs to school kids
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
The police would do something about it, but half of them are in the mafia's pocket, or so my dad says
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
You've really never heard of the mafia until now?????
no subject
Guess now you have something to talk to Nic about
no subject
Except don't actually do that, he might beat you up!!!!
no subject
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I guess. The glowing is the only interesting thing about it. Some of us are trying to figure out what the symbols mean, but I'm not good at things like that.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
So I'm just watching it to make sure it's safe.
[Guarding stuff is a lot easier than trying to solve a puzzle, in Kino's mind. But no, Kino doesn't really understand the word "mafia," but the concept sounds... (very) vaguely understandable after Hinata explains it. You know, if you take everything he says without a volleyball-sized grain of salt.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
He doesn't seem like a guy who would sell drugs to school children.
[But you never know... Kino steals a glance at Nic before looking back between the road and the blackglass.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
No. There might be people like that in some country in my world, but I haven't visited it yet. Maybe one day I will find it, and I will be sure to not upset them.
[Or upset Nic, though Kino doesn't think they will ask about if his hobbies include beating up store-owners, supplying drugs to kids, or paying off police.]
no subject
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
You said he hasn't spoken to you yet!!! Isn't that creepy already????
[or maybe you should work on your own constitution, Hinata.]
[ah, but the sigh his next text must be typed in is practically visible.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
But that's the best you can do...
[another pause.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Either that or ask him to teach you how to sword-fight, that'd be pretty ballin
Actually yeah, you should do that
no subject
He hadn't spoken to me when you first mentioned him. He's texting me now.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
He seems nice enough.
[Right now he was just coming to terms with the fact that Hermes was sentient. It seems to be a little less easy to understand when you can't hear him talk.
But yeah, Kino has no idea what "ballin'" might mean (does this have to do with volleyball??), but they can use context to figure out what Hinata means.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
Maybe I should. I can fight with a knife, but I never learned how to use a sword.
I did fight someone who was very good at fighting with the sword, once. He was a dangerous adversary.
[And when Kino says "very good at fighting with the sword," they mean he had literally either deflected or cut in half all of Kino's bullets. The traveler had bested him in the end, though.]
no subject
Be careful!!!
[this would be a time for poor Nic with Hinata's level of wariness directed at him, but that line about making him pay later ....... well .... anyway.]
[much, much more interestingly: this new news. rather, this new story. ("adversary" was, remarkably, one of the four-syllable plus words Hinata recognized on sight). the level of interest he felt might be illustrated very shortly.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Yeah?? What happened????
no subject
I'll be fine.
[Shh, it's okay, Hinata, Nic doesn't know about this conversation. You'll be alright.
If Hinata's interest or investment in something could be judged by how many punctuation marks he used, Kino assumes that he's interested in this story. Unfortunately, Kino does not believe themself to be the most gifted at telling stories (they prefer to listen), and it's even more difficult when texting. They'll try, though.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I defeated him. It was not easy, though. He could move faster than the eye could see at one time.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I managed to catch the bottom of the grip with my revolver and knock his sword out of his hands.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
Had I not done that, though, he most likely would have killed me.
[Not that Shizu had wanted to. Both of them had begged the other to step down from that last fight in the coliseum, but Kino had perceived his situation and knew that the path he was on would lead him to nothing but ruin. So Kino had stepped in and taken the mantle of that ruin from him, placing it upon themself.
All in all, he had been a respectable person, and Kino hopes that his travels bring him and his dog, Riku, happiness.]
no subject
[(with unknown respect to Shizu and his dog,)]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Bottom of the grip with your REVOLVER??!! That's intense!!! Really really intense!!
And you say you don't even know swordsmanship...!!
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
He really would've killed you?? Geez
[when would he start taking these things with more gravity...? not any time soon, probably.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
So you pinned him down and took his sword and what happened after that?????
please watch thru the coliseum episodes before i have to tag this again i dont want to spoil
FROM: kino@cdc.org
It was. Or, rather, the crowd really thought it was.
[Did Kino not mention they were fighting in a coliseum? Whoops.]
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I don't. I was just faster, and a bit luckier.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
He would have. He didn't want to, but he believed it was his only option.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
Nothing, really. I knocked his sword away, and he knew if he tried to go retrieve it, I could shoot him as he did so.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
He was fast, however. Faster than anyone I've ever fought. He could've dodged a bullet if I shot at him point-blank.
FROM: kino@cdc.org
I ended up shooting, but it wasn't at him, though.