justanexpression | Video 5: Now with Bonus Swablu Hat! (Action for Traveling Party or Azalea)

[For once, the feed clicks on and Jack looks, not happy or excited or even amused, but vaguely confused and unimpressed.

A large part of that may have to do with the Swablu cooing and preening his hair. It's wrapped itself over the top of his head like a hat, and while it looks a bit worn out like it's just reached the end of far too much traveling, it also looks supremely pleased with itself.]

So, uh... Akito? I think this is your fault?

[He tries to look up at the Swablu only for it to coo even more loudly and hunker down on top of his head, as if it knows he's thinking about trying to pry it off. He sighs, but it's offset by a tiny smile.]

I think I need some advice. Don't get me wrong, okay. It's cute. Like really cute. But...

It won't move. It hasn't moved, and it's been like an hour since it came out of nowhere and landed on me. It won't even go into a pokeball. Here, watch.

[He pulls out a pokeball, and the Swablu gets pulled in at first, but soon enough, the ball pops back open as if he'd tried and failed to catch a wild pokemon. The bird flutters straight back to his head, cooing an admonishment this time.]

So yeah. Advice.

Help?

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Well, Jack, casualties happen. Sometimes, it's just unavoidable if you wanna get something done right.

[There's a teasing tone to his voice. He doesn't particularly mind being played by the cats; it's obvious they're doing it, but hey, cats. He has a soft spot for them a mile wide, used to feed the strays back home, and pokemon aren't different enough for that to change anything about how he treats them — or lets them treat him.]

Have you named her? Hate to break it to you, I don't think you're getting rid of her any time soon.

[Now he laughs outright. This guy really isn't so bad. Minus the cats wanting to eat his bird, anyway.]

I'll keep that in mind, too.

Anyway, I don't want to get rid of her. I just want her to... you know... move a little. But no, I haven't named her yet. Nothing really seems to stick.

I could give you suggestions, but so far, I've been calling mine Things One through Thirteen.

[He hasn't exactly gotten into the spirit of being a loving caretaker to a bunch of fuzzy critters that aren't cats quite yet.]

Though if these guys could talk, they'd probably say you should call it Chow.

[He'll... forgive Jack for staring a little bit, hopefully?]

One through Thirteen? Really?

[He knows how ridiculous it sounds, so any and all staring is kind of expected — and preemptively forgiven.]

Well, my partner names all of his for pretentious literary references. I kinda have to make up for it somehow.

[And so far, he's done that by putting in zero effort. It'll change eventually, but today is not that day.]

...Well, I guess they don't seem to mind much.

[Or they're just waiting to show their displeasure at the perfect and most embarrassing time. They are cats, after all.]

[Biding their time and plotting is very likely, this is true. Niou probably feeds them enough ridiculously overpriced seafood that they're willing to tolerate the super lame names for that alone, though.]

Pretty sure they like it better than stuff like Cernunnos and Narcissus.

Cer... what?

[He's not even sure he can pronounce that name. Narcissus he knows, sure, but only from the early-blooming flowers with that name.]

Think there's a middle ground, maybe?

Sure, but then it'd be leaning too much toward the pretentious references side. Gotta average it out, right? Too much effort and the house'll be full of nothing but Shakespeare and stuff you can't even pronounce.

[The smile he gives Jack is downright conspiratorial.]

Gotta save the world from that, right?

[Jack can't help but chuckle over that line of logic. It's certainly not wrong, but it is unusual.]

Think it might be too late to save the world from Shakespeare.

You mean he's already escaped from his cage in the fiery pits of Mount Doom?

[Niou's shock is entirely feigned, but he's a pretty good actor even when he's not trying all that hard. Anyone not looking too closely might think it was real.]

[Between the acting and the Mount Doom reference going straight over Jack's head, Niou just ended up with one confused kid blinking at him.]

Huh?

Shakespeare. Loose on the world, ravenous hellbeast, imminent doom?

[He figures it's pretty believable after some of the worlds he's heard about.]

I don't remember him being that bad.

[The guy, that is. Or the plays. They were kind of fun to watch sometimes. He's never read them, though, which is probably the difference."

You're lucky, then. Back where I'm from, we call him the "Phantom of the Opera." You used to hafta wear garlic to all the theaters to ward him off before Chekhov sealed him away.

[Truly, they were trying times. Or would be, if there was an ounce of truth to Niou's story.]

Your world sounds... weird.

[Hey, in his world, Santa and the Tooth Fairy are real. Anything is possible.]

It's a gritty, dangerous place. The streetlights only work half the times and all the buildings have sharp corners. You could say it's dark and edgy.

[Niou may feel sorry for this one day. Maybe.]

[Jack just blinks as that one sinks in. Even he can figure out the pun behind that one. And from that, he slowly realizes he's been played, and badly. But somehow, despite that, he finds that he has to respect the integrity of the prank and can't even be that upset.

It doesn't deserve an answer, though. He just rolls his eyes dramatically and turns the feed off. Niou deserves those cats.]

Video 5: Now with Bonus Swablu Hat! (Action for Traveling Party or Azalea)

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