51 [video]

[hurricanebomber]

[Gokudera turns the video on. He's in his room. In the background is the usual jumble of explosives and books. Most of the latter appear to be on psychology.

He's flicking his lighter in an unsuccessful attempt to light a cigarette. After a moment, he gives up and addresses the camera.]

Anyone want to fight me? [A pause. He scowls.] Anyone who

Comments

[video]

[echo_of_utopia]

Not about fighting me I hope.

[video]

[hurricanebomber]

No. Just some of the same stuff as last time.

[video]

[echo_of_utopia]

I will be in the practice. Come by whenever you find the time.

[[OOC: Log, thread here or handwave?]]

[video]

[hurricanebomber]

It'll be later today.

[ooc: Thread here if it's okay? It doesn't need to be super long.]

[video]

[echo_of_utopia]

Until then, Gokudera.

[ Smile, transmission off, thank you, see you later.

[[OOC: Sure, absolutely!]] ]

[action]

[hurricanebomber]

[Gokudera turns up at the practice an hour or so later and knocks at Lamb's door. He's smoking as usual, but his posture is a bit less defensive than the last time he visited.]

[action]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ There is no trace of Lamb having smoked herself this time, though apart from that the procedure is the same. She greets him with a smile and motions for Gokudera to take a seat. ]

Good to see you again.

[action]

[hurricanebomber]

[He sits and doesn't put out his cigarette right away this time. He figures she'll tell him if she doesn't want him smoking in here.]

I meant to come sooner. I lost track of time.

[Which is just a chronic thing here, isn't it?]

How long've you been here now?

[action]

[echo_of_utopia]

It happens. Holding on to one's sense of time can be difficult here.

[ She takes a seat as well. The cigarette is not a problem. ]

Me? Six months, almost to the day.

[ For just a moment her smile falters. She has been dead for six months. ]

What about you, Gokudera?

[action]

[hurricanebomber]

In two days, it'll be a year and two months.

[Now he finds an ashtray which I'm just assuming is there idek and crushes his cigarette out, stalling momentarily.]

...At what point is it okay to just...give up?

[action]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ Ashtrays scattered everywhere. EVERYWHERE! ]

You already returned home once. There is no reason to think it would not be possible again.

[action]

[hurricanebomber]

Yeah, I went home, and then ended up right back here. And it's possible that when I die, I'll come back and be here for eternity.

[action]

[echo_of_utopia]

It may seem like an eternity to you already, but I have yet to meet anyone who has spent such an amount of time here.

Let me ask you, is it that you miss home or that you tire of this place?

[action]

[hurricanebomber]

[He doesn't point out the obvious exception of Alice. She's definitely not the rule.

He's quiet for a minute. Not because he doesn't know his answer, but because he's not sure of how to approach it.]

Juudaime's here now, so things are better. It's not pointless to learn new stuff or to train.

But what about people whose homes suck? Or who are dead at home? This place is crap, and getting attached to people always comes back to bite you in the ass. So how're you supposed to deal with that?

[action]

[echo_of_utopia]

Wonderland has its disadvantages, as do all places; some perhaps more than others.

In the end it does not depend on the place, but on what you and the ones you care about make of it. Just for that reason attachment to others is never wasted.

[action]

[hurricanebomber]

[He nods slowly. He chews on his thumbnail and eyes the wall to the left.] How do you tell that to people who are too stupid to listen to you?