impheired | Second Hit | Audio + Action for Route 35

Audio:
[If you thought Kuzuryuu would be happy about the prospect of a fancy red carpet event, then you are sorely mistaken. Though, at the moment, this might have more to do with the uh...method of invitation Clair decided to employ than the event itself. Three guesses who got beaned right in the head with a few of those ping pong balls. First two guesses don't count.]

[It was Kuzuryuu.]

Why the everloving fuck would you decide to invite people to something by dropping goddamn plastic balls on them!? That's not fucking normal, who the hell does something like this!? This better not be something that happens regularly here, I swear...

[He trails off, falling into a sort of contemplative silence for a few moments.]

What the hell is a prom, anyway? Some kind of party or something? [Hello, I am very Japanese and we do not have proms. Also I went to murderschool. There are no dances at murder school, only murders.] VIPs I get but wh-- son of a bitch!! [The sounds of a jostled struggle can be heard, along with a range of very happy Ariados noises.]

Goddammit, Meiwaku!! You can't fucking-- [What is even going on over there...] Get off you dumbass!! I swear to fu-- [Thankfully, the transmission cuts out fairly quickly into the unseen scuffle. He'll uh...he'll get back to you if anybody actually wants to answer that question about prom.]

Action:
[For anybody who happens to be out and about, they might run into Kuzuryuu mid-spider scuffle just outside of Goldenrod on Route 35. He's been out here training for most of the day (as per usual) and has two new evolutions to show for it: Bisharp and Ariados. The former appears as calm as she ever does, cradling Kuzuryuu's Pokégear in her hands and watching the scene before her with something that might be amusement. As for the latter...apparently she either hasn't noticed or doesn't care that evolving means she's quite a bit bigger than she used to be. So she's very determinedly trying to climb all over her master just like in the (not so) good ol' days. It's not really working but that isn't stopping her. Nothing is stopping her.]

[She WILL reclaim her fuzzy throne, rules of physics and everything that is logical be damned!!]

[Needless to say, Kuzuryuu is not amused and there's quite a bit of yelling going on and even more swearing.]

You're too big for that now, dipshit!! Fucking-- QUIT!! I didn't even-- DAMMIT! How about I fucking sit on you for a change, huh!? Then what, fucker!?

[He wasn't kidding about that because after a few more moment's wrestling, he definitely plants himself squarely on her back. Though...since he hardly weighs more than she does, the impact is probably not as impressive as he was hoping for. It surprised her enough to pin her to the ground, sure, but she barely seems to mind if the even happier noises and excited squirming are anything to go by.]

[Approac-- more like turn around and walk away and pretend you didn't see this. Why would you...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...

Sure it does.

[ He gets what you mean. Regardless of this world being better, and even though he's said countless times that he doesn't miss home, he does feel... uncomfortable not carrying out his duty, not finishing his mission. He feels wasted in this kind of place, to be honest. ]

I still don't know how I got here, or how this place decides I'm not supposed to be. But if I knew how I got here, I doubt I'd stick around... I still have a job to do back home.

On the one hand, maybe I'd like to stick around here without any responsibilities, but on the other... I can't live like this. [ Snake pauses, thinking. ] I'm not meant to live like this.

Responsibilities back home, huh?

[The way he says it makes it seem more like he's repeating it for his own sake as opposed to expecting clarification from Snake. It rings pretty true, after all, he's got important stuff he's supposed to be taking care of back home as well.]

[But at the same time...]

So how are you meant to live then? I'm guessing you're some kinda soldier, yeah?

[ Snake pauses a bit, thinking on what to say. He's not about to blurt out his origins to a random civilian, at least. ]

Yeah. I've been a soldier for most of my life... Don't really know how to do much else. [ Another pause. ] It's not to say that I don't want to do anything else, I'd be okay with being able to live quietly, but... It's just not in my genes. [ It was funny that that was already a figure of speech, considering how literal it was as well. ]

Yeah, I get that. [He may not be a soldier, but...life in a Yakuza household can be a battlefield all its own sometimes. Especially if everyone in your family is particularly hot-blooded and violent.]

So how do you deal with it? Being stuck somewhere so at odds with what you know and stops you from doing the things you need to do?

At first it was tough, I guess. There was a lot going on the first time I was here; enough to keep me distracted from what I had to do back home. After a while I just got used to living here, and I started to understand that this place is way more easy-going than the place I cam from and what I grew up learning.

This time around... I just don't think about it so much. I know I have a job to do... and I'll finish it whenever I get back. Maybe it's selfish of me, but... I'm not going to try and rush things so I can get back to that hell hole.

[ Snake absently touches the now scarred-over burn covering half of his face, remembering how it came to be and the cost that resulted in its creation. ] I have a job to do here, too. I'm not running away... Just taking a forced vacation.

Wait...hold on. Back up for a second; you've been here more than once and you actually remember it?

[DERAIL FOR A SECOND BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST HE'S HEARD OF THIS.]

Yeah.

... I know that's not the case for everyone.

Second Hit | Audio + Action for Route 35

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