neededlassie

...Are you sure I don't look silly?

Are you kidding me? You look badass. C'mon, hurry up and turn the thing on.

Wait! What if... what if someone laughs at me? [Like a girl. Or worse, a cute girl.]

Then you tell 'em to go fuck themselves.

Okay... Okay, I'm ready, are you ready?

Yeah. Let's do this.

[The camera clicks on to the two boys. Shaun's trying to look confident (and only partly succeeding) sitting next to Yusuke, showing off his brown hair that's slicked back and poofed up into a perfect imitation of Yusuke's own trademark pompadour. He gives a cheeky grin and a wave.]

Hi!

[Yusuke grins and gives Shaun a hearty clap on the shoulder.]

Check 'im out, guys! He cleans up pretty well, doesn't he?

[Shaun's grin disappears with a squeak and he elbows Yusuke in the side.]

Yusuke!

[Yusuke grunts and spreads his hands.]

Hey, I'm just sayin', y'look good now that I fixed your hair. Maybe now people won't mistake your big-ass head for a mop.

[He emphasizes this with a light push to the side of Shaun's head.]

Yeah and then you're gonna mess it all up.

[Shaun touches the side of his head carefully, seeing if it's messed up after the indeterminate amount of time they'd spent with Yusuke fussing over it and combing it back.]

And my head's not big! Your head's big.
Oooh, nice comeback.

[Yusuke folds his arms and lifts his chin, looking smug.]

Anyway, you don't gotta worry about anything messin' up your hair. I greased it up so good, you could roll down a hill and not dent it.

[He shoots Shaun a sly sideways look.]

You wanna try?

[Shaun grins again.]

Wanna have a race to see who can mess theirs up the fastest?

[Yusuke smirks.]

Sure, but you better not cry when you lose.

Bring it, Yusuke!

[And then Shaun remembers that they're on camera still.]

...So, uh... I don't know what else to say. I guess, bye?

Yeah. Later.

[Yusuke reaches out to switch the 'Gear off. Then he pauses.]

... oh wait. One more thing––

[He glances at Shaun, then leans in conspiratorially towards the camera. He doesn't even try to keep his voice down.]

If any girls out there want Shaun to take 'em out on a date now that he knows what to do with his hair, speak up. He'll show you a great time.

[The grin on his face can only be described as "shit-eating".]

Yusuke!! [Except Shaun's embarrassed little boy voice cracks even more embarrassingly on the last syllable, making a dive for the Pokegear as Yusuke cackles and clicks the camera off.]

((If you want one or the other in particular, say so in the header! Otherwise, either Yusuke or Shaun will respond (probably Shaun, since it's his 'Gear).))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That is exactly what Blake was afraid of.]

You can't let a fuckin' twelve year old do whatever he wants! He's just a kid, he's supposed to have somebody responsible keeping an eye on him!

He doesn't need me to tell him to do the right thing, he does it just fine on his own!

[URGH. Why does it feel like this conversation is going nowhere fast? Yusuke doesn't even know where the hell any of this is coming from. He points at Blake again and snaps:]

Look, why the hell do you care, anyway? What, didja run out of things to bitch at me about, so you decided to just get a bug up your ass about me giving some kid a hairstyle you don't like? Get a fuckin' life!

Edited 2014-10-12 20:15 (UTC)

That kid's--

[A weird look comes over Blake's face for a second. He rallies and shoves it away. If Shaun hasn't told Yusuke all about the whole damn mess back at home, he's sure as hell not spilling it.]

He's from the real world. That makes him under my jurisdiction. That means I keep any damn punks from going around giving him cigarettes!

I'm not GIVIN' him cigarettes, you fucking--

[Wait. Yusuke stops, his brow furrowing. Did Blake just say what he thinks he just said?]

Hold on. What do you mean, "the real world"?

You damn well better not be, or I will kick your greasy-haired ass so hard into orbit it'll take goddamn NASA to find you.

[Blake huffs impatiently.] The real world. The one with a government, and no ghosts and monsters.

What, like worlds with ghosts and monsters can't have governments? Gimme a break! How do you know the president's not some kinda alien where Shaun's from?

[Look, maybe he's just imagining things, but something about the way Blake answered him a moment ago struck him as kind of strange. After all, this isn't the first time Blake's talked about "the real world". And that look that flashed across his face for a second...

... well. Point is, Blake's response was weird. And now it's bugging him, so you know what, he's gonna pursue this topic a little. Better than just sitting here listening to the old man yell his ears off.]

Cause ghosts can't vote. [He rethinks that.] Except for those couple times in Chicago.

[This one he's heard before.] The president is not a fuckin' alien, I have had this goddamn argument before, he showed the damn birth certificate--

[Blake huffs and waves his hand at him.] I told you, the kid's from the real world back home.

[... Blake, you are going to give him weird ideas about what goes down in Chicago if you aren't careful. Good thing that last statement grabs his attention before he can get a chance to think too hard about it. Have him pointing at you and bellowing:]

HA! I knew it! You and Shaun're from the same place, aren't you?!

[FUCK YEAH HE DEDUCED THE SHIT OUT OF THAT is he the greatest detective ever hell yes he is]

Great fuckin' job, Sherlock.

[He draws the line at sarcastic applause, but only barely.]

So we're from the same planet. Didn't the kid ever mention that?

[Though really, the less he's said about Blake the better.]

Nope! Never said a word about you! Guess you guys must not be that close.

[Way to be blunt there, Yusuke. Seriously, though, this whole conversation makes so much sense now that he knows that Blake and Shaun are from the same place! Man, does he love figuring stuff out ahead of time. It happens so rarely.]

[It might be weird to see that Blake isn't bothered by that. What he's feeling is a kick of relief.]

We're from the same city. Philadelphia must have some shitty luck with people getting kidnapped to magic monster island.

Right, Philada-- Phil-- uh... yeah, that. Shaun told me that's where he's from.

[THAT PLACE WITH THE NAME THAT'S FULL OF SYLLABLES. English names are hard.

Anyway. Yusuke doesn't think much about Blake's lack of offense to his statement. He does have a question, though, and that question is:]

How do you guys know each other? No offense, but you don't exactly seem like the kinda guy who hangs out with kids a lot.

[Much less decent ones like Shaun.]

We don't.

[There's a mechanical clang in Blake's voice, and his lips have become a thin line. It's sunk in too late that this isn't something he should be talking about.]

I never met him in person before here. Just his dad.

[There. That'll end the conversation and ensure that Yusuke forgets about it and is never curious again.]

["I never met him in person before here. Just his dad."

Oh.

It takes a moment for the significance of that statement to set in, but the instant it does, Yusuke's expression sobers. Blake knows Shaun's dad. Why would a cop from the same city as Shaun know his dad, who'd saved him from drowning in a well?

Yusuke thinks he knows the answer. And as many questions as that raises, he knows now isn't the time to ask them. Not with Shaun so close by.]

Right.

[His voice is grave. It takes some doing for him to sound as casual as he does when he continues speaking a few seconds later, but for the sake of not alarming the kid in the room with him, he manages. He shrugs.]

Well, anyway. Like I said, old man, he's fine.

[Then, giving Blake a significant look, he adds:]

I'm not going to let anything happen to him.

[And if that isn't enough confirmation that Yusuke knows what happened to Shaun, well. He'll straight-up tell him as much later on. If it comes up, that is.]

[Well, whatever he might say, the punk's not stupid. The look on his face says he knows something. How much, Blake can't say.

One lesson he's learned the hard way is that there's things you're better off not knowing.

It's pure damn luck that the kid changes the subject. Thank fuckin' god for short attention spans.

Blake grumbles,] He'd damn well better be. You keep an eye out for him, or I'm gonna smack you upside the head, you hear me?

[Something of the usual asshole vigor is lacking from his voice, but he does the best impression he can muster.]

And don't put any weird shit in his hair.

Video

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video] 1/2

[video] 2/2

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]