stop eating grass seto

[antipathea]

[ So maybe Shin couldn't actually eat anymore. That was fine and expected; he'd been fully aware of the consequences of assuming a virtual form when he did it. But he could still remember how to cook and the taste of food and certain dishes. Day by day, spending time with the other few people that shared this little spaceship cabin, he was beginning to remember more about what humanity was really like - before Glass Cage and the human empathy project, before he learned about everything. And little by little, he was starting to open back up again. When they'd celebrated his birthday unexpectedly, he'd been pleasantly surprised - a feeling he hadn't had since that night on Tokyo Tower. But, moreover, he wasn't just pleased; he was grateful. That never happened.

Towards Seto, he especially felt gratitude. After all, he already owed him a great deal. Thus, for once, the bitter Shin felt like he ought to do something for someone, and that would be why he's in the kitchen, apparently making noodles. Just udon noodles.

Maybe he wasn't great at it, but he might as well try. ]

Comments

[wasthanked]

Okay.

[His expression brightens immediately when he hears the answer. The more Shin says, the more Seto realizes that Shin and his grandpa had so much in common. He doesn't know about onigiri, but there were plenty of books. ]

Mm. The stars are nice. They were beautiful on Earth. Grandpa had a telescope in the observatory...at the very top.

[antipathea]

[ that... does seem to catch his attention. Before he'd transferred his memories into Glass Cage, he and the other scientists had tried to snatch up land once the disaster hit. He remembered buying an old observatory for that express purpose. ]

Seto. How far from Tokyo Tower was your home?

[wasthanked]

[He didn't expect that question, not that it's difficult to answer. Seto glances away, trying to think that far back.]

Uh...it didn't take me long to get there. It was still the end of summer when I left and...when I got there.

[Not exactly meters or centimeters but that should give him a good estimate.]

[antipathea]

Days.

[ because that doesn't help... ]

[wasthanked]

[you should have taught him math you jerk this is your fault.]

I think so. A lot of days.

[antipathea]

... You said it wasn't long. [ this is like trying to give a cat a bath. ]

[wasthanked]

It didn't seem to take that long, but...

[WOW SETO.]

Oh. I have a map.

[antipathea]

Let me see.

[ good job saying please Shin ]

[wasthanked]

Okay!

[To the abyss that is his bedroom. There's a bit of noise as he sorts through his hoard to pull out his old maps. Yes, ones with doodles and sketches of monsters in the area and other silly things. He reappears moments later and holds out the paper for Shin to take.]

Here.

[antipathea]

[ Shin stares after him for a moment, then turns back to put the noodles on the table now that they've cooled, brow furrowing. How odd.

When Seto comes back, he takes the paper wordlessly, looking through them... wow, that's a lot of doodles. His funky ghost powers let him levitate the papers all together in front of himself, and he tries to put them together in his head.

It's not exact, but... ]

This is my observatory.

[wasthanked]

[It doesn't register in Seto's head at first what Shin means. It's his? No, it was Grandpa's. Actually, Seto's not sure who it belonged to. He just knows they took up residence there because it was safe. Did Shin own it before that?]

...Huh?

[Seto keeps his eyes on his ghost friend. There was something familiar about him, but he attributed that to the fact they met prior to the Thor.]

It was yours? I don't understand. I thought it was...Grandpa's.

[antipathea]

I purchased it before I created this form. [ he touches his fingers to his chest to make it clear he's referring to himself right here. It was strange, to be split into two pieces - in a way, he wasn't the "real" Shin. That was why this was worth investigating. ] ... Perhaps I never made it back there.

[wasthanked]

[Seto seems fixated on Shin's face now.]

So does that mean...all those really big books in there were yours?

[antipathea]

[ Shin gives him a questioning glance. ]

... What sort of books?

[wasthanked]

[Many hours were spent staring at the book spines in his grandpa's archive. When he says them out loud, it sounds like something he's memorized, but doesn't fully understand.]

AI Technological Singularity and...Project Glass Cage Execution Summary.

There were a lot there. Those looked like the hardest to read.

[antipathea]

... Those are mine.

[ yeah, this is weird. Could it be that he'd made it there and then died? It's not like he'd moved his belongings in there yet when he bought it... ]

Perhaps I died there.

1/2

[wasthanked]

...Huh? Grandpa had your books?

[The moment Shin says the phrase "perhaps I died there" something occurs to him. Time seems to be moving slowly now. There are many things he remembers about Grandpa. Grandpa didn't like to talk much, Grandpa liked to read his books, Grandpa liked udon noodles and things very salty and above all Grandpa liked the stars.

It's weird. Seto spent a great deal of time watching him and Shin held himself the same way, though it was a bit different since he was floating. There was something familiar about him that had bothered him from the moment they met. He pushed it aside.]

...Died there.

[The words come out quiet and he sounds shocked. All at once he's trying to absorb this new information.

Because of all the things he remembered most about his Grandpa, it was burying him at the end of summer and placing his corpse in that grave. Back then he thought he would never see him again once he put the dirt over his body.

Back before he met Shin.]

OHHHH MY GOODDDD DDDD DDD

[wasthanked]

[Immediately, Seto turns his gaze up to look at Shin. How could he not realize it sooner? There's recognition and tears brimming in his eyes. For the sake of talking, and for keeping his thoughts together, he's trying desperately not to cry. Seto's always been emotional and now is no exception. ]

It was...it was you.

[Despite how much he's trying, he can't stop them from coming out of his eyes.]

Grandpa.

HHHHHHHWWWWOARGH

[antipathea]

[ The thought hadn't even crossed Shin's mind.

Now he's looking at Seto in shock, or something akin to it - as always, he second-guessed everything until he couldn't believe it anymore. Right now, he was thinking that this couldn't possibly be true. He didn't have the evidence in his memories stacked up like Seto did. All he had was a few weird coincidences and this odd, naive little boy telling him it was so. ]

What are you saying?

[ But his voice isn't cold or condescending - on the contrary, it's full of quiet concern, alarm. Wasn't it too much of a coincidence? Could that be possible? The irony would be hilarious - raising a child that would go back and nearly kill him - no, it was too coincidental, it couldn't be... ]

RRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUWWWWWWWWWWkaKK

[wasthanked]

[Seto realizes how it sounds because even he's still trying to come to terms with it. It's not difficult for him to believe. In fact, it's painfully easy now. There were the nights he spent wishing, wanting that old man to return so he could show him this new amazing place, though a part of him always realized he was dead.

Crow, Shin and Sai always gave him hope. They had died and returned. Now here he was, or rather, had been the entire time.]

That you're right. You did...die there.

I'm saying...I'm saying that I missed you so much. I read your letter every day after you died.

WAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAK

[antipathea]

Seto...

[ he... actually looks faintly apologetic, for once. Really, he's still confused. Obviously he knows what Seto means - it's not that. It's that Seto is so very certain about it and shedding tears. And he's just floating there, not sure what to do or if he should believe it. What should he say? Even though Seto had grown up with this man - with him, if this was true - the Shin he was speaking to now had split off from "Grandpa" more than fifteen years ago. He didn't know anything about this.

The scientific approach was all he really knew. ]

How can you be certain?

PACPAPCAPACAPCACACPAPC

[wasthanked]

[That approach doesn't work with him. Grandpa may have raised him, but none of his science savvy way of thinking seemed to have rubbed off. Instead of offering definite proof, all Seto can say is:]

I know it's...you.

[It almost hurts to hear someone he once called Grandpa asking him that. While there may be two different people now, Seto could only see the kind old man that raised him. They didn't talk much, but Seto realizes now how much he loved him.

Hesitantly, he reaches out to grab Shin's hand though it's obvious he wants to do much more. Shin probably didn't like surprise hugs and Seto remembers Grandpa didn't seem too fond of them either. Not that Seto hugged often back then. Only when he was scared or wanted human contact. ]

I know that...you don't remember it. That's okay. I remember all of it. Every moment I spent with you and...it made me so happy. It makes me so happy to be with you again.

[He really can't stop crying now. It should be obvious how important this old man was to Seto.]

I never knew your name so...I never got to thank you, but now I do. Thank you for everything, Shin.

FBSDBDBDBFBSFB

[antipathea]

[ It's obvious, all right. This is not the kind of situation someone like Shin should be put into; he was bitter and unkind and anti-social, and his heart was only just beginning to heal. Yet here was this boy, sobbing and holding his hand for things that Shin didn't even remember doing - that he hadn't done yet, he supposed. The boy that he'd supposedly raised from what must have been infancy. Honestly, he has no room to doubt Seto; after all, he's the one with all the information here. He just looks at him, and then to the hand he's holding.

Why did these people keep appearing? He hardly deserved to be thanked for anything or to be the recipient of all these tears. He hadn't deserved Sai's forgiveness or her feelings, either. And yet... here he was and here they were. ]

You... shouldn't thank me for anything. [ He ducks his head, trying to hide whatever his expression is, but, after a moment of hesitation, he takes Seto's hand in return. He feels like he shouldn't. Like this is someone else's thanks that he's taking. But he can't help it. As always, he was damned selfish. Like every other human out there. ]

THUMPATHUNBKAPPf

[wasthanked]

[Somewhere between crying and trying to talk, Seto realizes Shin took his hand back. It's surreal. There's no warmth left in his hand that Seto remembered while he was growing up, clinging to that old man like he already knew they only had each other. It's cold and Seto grasps it a little tighter, as though trying to warm it. A wasted effort, more than likely, but he doesn't care.

Seto would do anything for him.]

You raised me and...took care of me. We read books and...looked at the stars and you taught me so many things. You let me...draw on the wall while you were reading and...let me sit beside you every night. We did so much together and sometimes...we did nothing together. We would just sit and not talk.

[ Reminiscing so fondly about his Grandpa to Shin makes him happy for some reason. Shin may not remember, but Seto can remember for the both of them. He has every reason to thank him.]

It's because of you that...I'm alive. That I can experience everything in the world and make friends. So I want to thank you for every single thing.

[Kinda hard to thank someone when you're crying so much though.]

HBLBIBLBIBLGBIB SETO

[antipathea]

[ None of it is familiar to him at all - nothing Seto says, not the warmth of his hand. Gazing at Seto helplessly is really all he can do. Even if he were a more social creature, this sort of position would be an awkward one to be in, and Shin is clueless. The person he's talking about sounds like someone else - for all intents and purposes in his mind, it is someone else - and yet he can imagine it. His real self, in loneliness and despair, powerless to do anything about Glass Cage in a physical body crushed by it. It wasn't out of the question that something like this could happen. All he'd intended to do when he left for that observatory was to eke out a miserable little existence for a while and then die like the rest. But if he'd found a child...

How could any child he'd raised turn out like Seto? Wasn't he the most bitter monster of them all? Wasn't he aiming to kill the remaining humans? That was his goal. Perhaps it was different for his 'real self.' Maybe that one had retained some hope when he met this boy so early on. ]

... I'm sorry. I don't remember it.

[ but he lets Seto hold his hand still, clearly thinking deeply. ]