[closed]
Characters: livelyhood and middayitaly
Location: Casualty Communal Entrance, then Recreational Center
Rating: PG? Besides Romano's typical profanities.
Time: August 28, afternoon
Description: Suzaku and Romano decide to explore the city a bit, and possibly play some soccer.
( Making Friends 101! )
Location: Casualty Communal Entrance, then Recreational Center
Rating: PG? Besides Romano's typical profanities.
Time: August 28, afternoon
Description: Suzaku and Romano decide to explore the city a bit, and possibly play some soccer.
( Making Friends 101! )
Though if asked, he would have to admit he'd never imagine doing it with a Nation.
It wasn't fair, if he kept thinking that was a delusion: worlds were most obviously different ('the United States of America' being a prime example of itself), and maybe... Personifications made sense, wherever they were from. Romano hadn't started laughing at him when he'd said he was from 2018, or that the Britannian Empire ruled a bit more than one third of the world. Suzaku owed the 'Nation' the favor back. It wasn't as if the other was that difficult to get along with-- easier, actually, than most of the people he'd spoken with so far. So, in repayment... Well.
For starters, he could not be late to meeting the other at the Communal.
"Romano?" He really hoped 'South Italy' hadn't been waiting too long; he seemed to be checking the network, or something like that, but that was probably a bad sign. Suzaku himself had been the rec center so often with Neku that he knew the route by heart, even if it was a bit off from the main way of things. Came to a stop a few paces off, just enough distance to make sure he wouldn't encroach on any personal space. Not that he knew if Romano had any-- though he was betting the nation did, for one reason or another.
This would be their first face-to-face meeting, though, wouldn't it be? To think, they'd only spoken a few times. Well... Relations grew fast, when you were enclosed in a small place. It was probably a good thing.
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After that embarrassing display, he tucked the DEMISE under his arm, with his expression a mixture of sheepishness and attempted nonchalance.
"... Hey," Romano replied, rubbing the back of his neck and just knowing that probably did not make the best of first face-to-face impressions.
Of course, face-to-face, he was starting to realize that some things did feel a bit different than over webcam. Like how Suzaku was actually around the same height as him, if not taller. And how Romano had in fact assumed the guy to be in his late teenage years at the least, by the guy's mannerisms, but Suzaku actually did look it in person.
"So are we going straight to the rec center?", he asked in the most casual tone he could muster, still a little flustered from his earlier scrambling. Not to mention, he felt a bit of that awkwardness that always accompanied meeting someone in person for the first time. Goddamnit.
[ooc; Sorry, just assuming that Suzaku's probably a little bit taller? ;;; I'm guesstimating Romano to be around 5'7, or possibly 5'8?]
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No, a bit more disconcerting was the... awkwardness? Wait, no- a mental and outward pause for a second-- uncomfortableness. He wasn't sure what he'd done to inspire that, but he already told himself that he'd do everything he could to make sure it smoothed over by the time they hit the rec center. Romano had sounded pretty excited over football, though Suzaku wasn't entirely sure why.
Finally, a smile. A nice one, too. "The route there does pass a few shops or restaurants, if you'd like to stop somewhere else first? Or if anything catches your eye." Once they got into the center, it probably wasn't as if they would be leaving for a bit. If... things went well, anyway.
He really hoped they did.
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He caught the smile on Suzaku's face though, and although he didn't smile back, his expression definitely did become much more relaxed. "Yeah, sure," he replied, with a willing tone. "We'll just see if anything looks okay. Maybe not restaurants, with the shitty shortage and all, but..."
With a small huff, he started walking in the direction he had noted while studying the map, expecting Suzaku to follow. Again, he found it odd that he couldn't find it in him to be antagonistic towards the guy. Usually, it was the easiest thing in the world for him, but... for some reason, being mean to this kid would feel like kicking a puppy or something. He couldn't describe it, but it was a bit like being around Veneziano, only that he was used to his brother's mannerisms enough to ignore his puppy faces. (Not to mention all the flailing and tears and whatnot, too.)
"What else is there besides restaurants, anyways?", Romano wondered, half to himself. Because with honesty, he didn't pay much attention to anything not relating to food.
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But then again, everything else seemed to be. Restaurants might have littered the city, but other establishments...?
"There's... a pet store." He sounded a bit thoughtful himself, honestly having to wrack his mind a bit to match up any of those buildings he never really visited to something to mention. That problem with the foot shortage was a good point. "And an arcade. Bowling alley. Movies... Uh..."
Scratch to the back of his neck, thinking, thinking (feeling very out-of-place, acting as if he were back in Ashford, normal and the same)-- "There's a playground and park, too, but those are right by the rec center."
Come to think of it...
"Death City doesn't actually have a lot." Awkwardly, kind of.
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Romano shrugged, because as a whole, it sounded like the typical sort of fare you might find in a smaller sort of city like this. He made note of the things Suzaku mentioned, with a small observation of, "Well, we can at least play in the park if the football field's shit, anyways..." But dammit, with all of the food places out for the count because of the shortage, it took out a lot of venues that Romano had been planning to see anyways. Fucking inconvenient...!
He sort of slowed his pace a little so that he was walking alongside Suzaku, simply so that talking wouldn't be as unnecessarily difficult. "What kinda stuff did you do back home, anyways?", he asked, with a glance that showed more curiosity than he was willing to admit. "I guess you're not that much further in the future, but a lotta fuckin' things can change in that much time." It was almost a culture shock when computers and cell phones became integrated in everyday life so damn quickly, after all.
[Btw, they should totally hit up the pet store anyways. Just because. *____*b]
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... He did when this had come about, hadn't he? Though he'd imagined going straight to the rec center--
That question threw him off a bit, an extended pause being given in consequence before he managed to remind himself that he did do- some- average things. Granted, they were only because he had been set on observation duty, but. Sheepishly (somewhat genuine): "Well, I... trained a lot, since I was part of the military. It wasn't really anything of much interest. Did you do a different thing every day?"
With being a complete nation, he wouldn't be surprised. But, past the level of 'insanity,' it was interesting.
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"If you wanna get real simple about it, yeah," Romano replied after a moment of consideration. Not including all of the rules and nitpicks, that was essentially all you needed, anyways. And he was feeling a bit too lazy to explain all of the little details to Suzaku, anyways. He supposed it was better if they kept it simplistic anyways, seeing how this kid didn't seem like a professional or anything.
The little statement about being in the military did catch Romano off guard. It made sense when he thought about it, but... for some reason, he hadn't expected it at all. "Oh," he answered simply, with a blink. "Didn't pin you as the soldier kinda person, actually."
Then at Suzaku's inquiry, he had to actually think on that, because... well, it was really hard to sum up. "Er, depends on what's happening, I guess. Sometimes it's boring meetings, sometimes it's fighting, sometimes it's just going around town." With a slightly sheepish expression, he shrugged. "Sorry for the shitty answer. Hard to put simply, though."
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"It's... really your game?" A mile, attached to those words - maybe a bit more open amusement, too, but it shouldn't have come off as mocking. Friendly. True friendliness, too, not the forced type he typically took up with people he was just talking with. Romano's obvious excitement was somewhat entertaining, though maybe Suzaku shouldn't have been privately chuckling to himself-- he had plenty enough moments in his (younger) life where competition took priority over everything else. But Romano's devotion to football...
Seemed a bit different.
He kept on smiling, though, even when the other noticeably balked. Was it surprising? Maybe. He hadn't thought about it for a while - everyone in his home had known, after all. "I haven't been one for long, so that might be why. I'm... a warrant officer." Because if Romano ever spoke to Euphie, he didn't want the chance of 'Knight of Seven' slipping out.
His own amount of eyebrow-raising was given to that answer, but-- "It was kind of a bad question. Well... Do you have a favorite place to visit? -- Or, uh, that's a bad one, too." For someone who'd lived, what, a few centuries? Longer? Maybe he should start studying into nations of this Earth.
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Romano processed the information with a short hum. "Warrant officer, huh? That's really impressive, for a guy your age." Maybe in the future, martial talent was a bit more common? Then again, he couldn't really judge based on Suzaku's world, with all of its major differences. Either way, his home didn't allow people to join until they were 17 at the least, so it was still a surprise to hear.
"Spain," he replied immediately and naturally, as if he didn't even realize what he was saying. And... well, he didn't. His eyes blinked wide at his accidental answer, inwardly cursing vehemently for letting himself relax that much.
"I-I mean!!" Shit, he really hoped Suzaku hadn't processed that- "I... like Rome." A pause, then a nervous sort of fidgeting of his hands. "... kinda makes me sound like a douche, picking my own capital, but it-", reminds me of Grandpa- "-'s where I spend a lotta my time, anyways." It wasn't as if this wasn't true. If he did love his capital city the most, and it was the most honest answer besides... well.
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"Ah, thank you." Because when not knowing how to really answer that statement - he probably would have been far beyond 'warrant officer' by the age he was if he hadn't been an Eleven, especially with piloting the Lancelot (facts, these, not boastfulness) - gratitude was always best. Always.
A curious look at the one-word answer, happy to move on to it. Especially seeing as he actually knew what Spain was, though it'd been torn enough by war he hadn't really wanted to visit. Still, there had been plenty of places in it that had sounded like good 'vacation spots,' so he started to ask,
"The countr--?"
Before Romano seemed to jump out of his skin. Why...?
- Oh. Covering that up.
Why? "Rome has a lot to offer, doesn't it? I don't imagine you'd get bored easily there, no matter how much time passed." A smile, doing as not-verbally-requested. Maybe even a bit of a joke, though it was a tentative one (don't blame him for it). "You probably get to go there free, too, right?"
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The relief was very evident in Romano, whether it was his expression or the way the tenseness in his shoulders dissipated just as quickly as it had settled. He was honestly surprised that Suzaku had just... let the matter go like that, because even he knew that his attempts to cover up his initial answer were pathetic. And he knew for a fact that a lot of the nations he knew would've bugged and pestered him about the matter until he snapped.
... well, it was a nice sort of surprise, to say the least.
But he had to give a laugh at Suzaku's words. "For free? It's my damn house, and it's part of me anyways. So yeah, I guess you could say I go for free," he quipped, with amusement in his tone. Then, with a little more fondness in his grin, he added, "But... yeah, definitely not boring. Nothing of my Grandpa's was ever boring, I guess."
They were now in the general area of the shopping district, and... Romano couldn't help fearing that maybe China was hiding somewhere, waiting to spring a puppy on him with his usual advertising fever.
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"Your grandfather?" Countries having relations like that-- well, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. It had to make all of those years of living a lot more breathable, though he was relatively sure Romano never actually thought on his age. And then the next question popped into his mind, and he went ahead and asked it, eyes looking up toward the signs on the stores without really processing them. If a house stood for land...
"Does everyone in your world know who you are, when you show up?" It was an honest curiosity.
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Romano blinked at the question. "Pretty much," he answered. "For the most part? The people have always had us around, so it's sort of a way of life where I'm from. So they don't make a big deal of it or anything." It was actually a bit odd explaining this to someone, because it was still common sense for him too. It felt sort of like explaining why water flowed and air didn't, in an odd sort of way.
"It's pretty damn easy to blend it with the crowd if I want to, though," he added as an afterthought. "We've even got our other names and everything."
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The next part... wasn't as amusing, since all he could think of how different Death City was for all of them. Especially the countries, with how... different things had to be. Just talking with people - introducing yourself. At least he only had to double-take when someone called Japan Japan.
"... Why is that? I mean... keeping the same human name." Assuming... that the other actually did.
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... huh. It was an interesting question, one that he hadn't really ever questioned to himself before. "... uh. I guess it's like..." He paused a moment. "You're Japanese, right?" Even if Suzaku didn't exactly look it to him. But whatever. "I hear a lotta Japanese people get different names if they go to... America, or somewhere in Europe," he attempted, instinctively making vague hand motions as he spoke. Romano gave a small frown as he fought for an explanation. "So I guess they don't really have to, but it makes things... easier?"
... He wasn't even sure if he had even answered the actual question or not.
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