Look down, back up! [Slightly backdated]

[live_ringer]

Characters: Gene-1 (live_ringer) and OPEN
Date/Time: Mid day - May 18, 2010
Location: Out and about in the Disney World Wilderness
Rating: PG?
Summary: Gene walks about the theme park in an attempt to get away from the voice outside his head, i.e. the Old Spice guy that has become his personal disembodied narrator. [spoilers: it doesn't work]

Comments

I couldn't stay away

[snowburned]

Kazahana was taking a walk to distract herself from the idiocy of her best friend and boyfriend that had her so pissed off and probably would for a long while. The happiest place on earth wasn't doing much to lift her mood, not even with the delightful treats and fun rides.

Loud noises weren't uncommon in this version of the Wilderness, but the latest managed to catch her attention. It sounded so...confident and important, yet it wasn't saying anything that mattered, and it was talking about a familiar person.

"Gene?" She wound her way through the crowd and found him a few seconds later. "What are...why is someone talking about you?"

Old Spice guy brings all the ladies to the yard?

[live_ringer]

Hearing his name in a non-announcer-voice capacity caused Gene to look up. It was a little hard to pic Kazahana out of the crowd at first, petite as she was, but it didn't take her long to bustle her way through.

"Yo." He raised a hand in greeting, then hiked a thumb over his shoulder as if to indicate the voice that was constantly following him. "Memory Punishment." The response was almost automatic. He even paused to see if the Voice would pipe up this time. When it didn't, he assumed it was spiting him for trying to predict it.

"It's been like this since yesterday."

"Look at your man. Wait, he's not here. Perhaps he's because he's in the doghouse? That's what happens when you cross a cat and a bunny."

Ah, there it was. Just waiting for him to drop his guard. "See what I mean? And it doesn't even seem to make sense half the time."

((ooc: I've been pulling from meta for the Voice's material, but if you don't want it bringing up that sort of thing just let me know and I'll change the post.))

god, so late. cries. I hope not too late.

[snowburned]

Wait.

What was that?

Kazahana frowned, not exactly mad at Gene-she couldn't be, since she understood immediately what he was talking about, and she knew how annoying these things could be-but it had apparently uncanny insight into her own stiuation.

"I see," she said, not entirely glad that she did. "I hope you got something worth the aggravation. I can't imagine having an invisible announcer is much fun."

[ooc: nooo it's perfect!]

You're fine~ I fault no one for lateness. /been slow as Christmas

[live_ringer]

Luckily for her, Gene didn't have nearly as much insight as the voice and only got the vaguest idea that there was trouble in paradise. Hardly the sort of thing he'd pry into right now, in any case.

"Worth it? Eh... It didn't really answer much. Kind of brought up more questions than answers, but then, I think that's mostly due to the lack of sound. But it's not exactly something I can get a refund on, much as I'd like to send this guy back where he came from."

Christmas is slow?

[snowburned]

"That's the frustrating part about these things." She made a sympathetic face at him, remembering full well how annoying some of her own recovered memories had been. "Context makes all the difference, and we don't have that-even more so when we can't hear what's happening."

Point. Slow as the DMV, then.

[live_ringer]

"Mm, true enough. This is the first time I've ever used a memory crystal like that, where it left little tidbits of the experience out. The last left everything in, though it still wasn't as much context as I'd like."

It was then that Gene remembered that his first memory crystal was one of the two he and Kazahana had... earned? Stumbled upon? He found himself wondering if Kazahana had used hers yet, but it didn't seem like a good idea to ask. Even if they were in the Wilderness, he still had the loudmouth memory punishment following him.

Or the Midas where I spent this morning, sob

[snowburned]

"The one we found?" For her part, it didn't bother her to talk about the fruits of their labors on Crystala. Memory crystals, though not common enough that you got one every day, were a simple fact of life in Edensphere. It would be silly to feel squeamish. "That's--rare, actually. I'd never used one that revealed everything before. I don't quiz others on their memories, but I gather that gaps are the norm."

And Gene had ended up with a disembodied announcer (with, admittedly, a very nice baritone) for his troubles this time? She wondered if the punishment could be related to the contents of the memory uncovered. But then, they often seemed nonsensical.

Maaan, never fun to be stuck in the waiting room during car work.

[live_ringer]

It was more the circumstances of finding the crystals, and the odd note that accompanied them, that Gene was worried about discussing. Still, hearing Kazahana reference the incident did put him more at ease. She had been here longer than he had, after all, and likely knew more of what was and was not safe to discuss.

"Yeah, that's the one. I didn't really realize it was a rarity, though I'd heard about the gaps before. I wonder if it's significant or if it's just one of those random things that happen around here."

As if taking 'random things' as a cue, the Voice chose that moment to interject. "Did you know women prefer complete memory crystals one bajillion times more than crystals with gaps AND men who smell like lady-scented bodywash?"

((ooc: References used are pulled from commercial #2))

[snowburned]

"Who knows?" She shrugged. "It's hard to gauge any level of normality or abnormality here, unless you start assuming that abnormal is normal."

She paused when the voice started up again, and then laughed. "That's not entirely true."

[live_ringer]

He let out a chuckle at her speculation on normalality. "True enough. Would that make previous notions of normal abnormal? Or is everything abnormal which would then make it all normal?" He grinned as their conversation started to become ridiculously circular. He wouldn't be surprised if the words started to lose all meaning, soon.

Gene stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned backward in a casual stretch as Kazahana responded to the voice. "Which part isn't true? The bit about--"

It seemed the voice wasn't overly concerned with manners, because it decided to interrupt him. "Very well! Sometimes women prefer incomplete memories. But everyone prefers a manly smelling man."

[snowburned]

Kazahana stared for another few minutes before giggling again, this time practically uncontrollably. It was just so ridiculous.

"Maybe I should leave you two alone together," she said, grinning hugely. "Or at least spare you the embarrassment of another witness."

[live_ringer]

Her giggling got a quirk of a grin, though it turned wry when she mentioned leaving.

"I was alone with him for about a day before I couldn't stand it anymore. I figured I should come out among the people and spread the wealth. Or the exasperation, one. I can understand if you want to get while the getting's good, though."