[Video]

[madeinoblivion]

[Joe is wearing a Portside Aces baseball cap, NV propped up on another greasy table in the Underground Mall's food court. There's the crinkle of fast food paper, the slurping noise of an oversized fountain drink, and milling-about sounds of a busy afternoon. The boy sighs glumly, unsure where to start. There's a lot of restless anger brewing in the piercing cyan of his eyes, but it's tempered down since his raging fits of last week. He seems tired, like he hasn't been getting the best sleep.]

One week we have a newcomer business convention, the next week newcomer businesses are burning down, and it feels like more and more people keep disappearing.

I really hate it, when it feel like everything's changing for the worst. Maybe they think they can keep us all down and playing by their rules when there's less of us.  [A lower sigh of resolve, then-]

But I  won't stop fighting.

It's really not fair these mall businesses always seem to be safe. (I mean, besides the big darkness breach that happened around this time last year, but-) Why are only some places left alone when they're not taking sides between AGI or SERO? Can somebody tell me that? The Underground Mall Clubs Association... how do you get in on something like that? Do you have to be a native with lots of munny?

[Joe reaches and tilts his NV so that it shows newest addition to the foodcourt behind him, a bustling counter service with a long line, thick hand-cut fries, and a round serving station filled with several dozen condiment pumps and bowls of relish. Sitting on his tray in front of him are five plastic cups of very different dipping sauces, ]

...and can somebody tell me why 'pomme frites' are so much more special than french fries that they're charging nine bucks for a paper cone?

[He sticks a fingertip in one of the cups in front of him, sampling a dollop with a casual shrug] The sauces are pretty delicious to try, at least.

Poutine.... [he points at the gravy on his far right, then goes right down the line of red hot, yellow, green, speckled white-] "War Sauce", Sweet Mango Chutney, Wasabi-Lime Mayo, Parmesan Peppercorn. So much for plain ketchup!  (And this is just 5 of 42 they've got. It reminds me of ice cream flavors.)

[He shakes his head, giving a dry smile and a roll of his eyes.]

Everything's gotta be a good gimmick to be original, huh.

Comments

Video

[madeinoblivion]

Well, I thought about just getting the fries cheap, from the burger place, then coming down here to get the sauces.

But I'm not the first one who's thought of doing that.

Text

[motioned]

well, did they taste better than normal fries? even a little?

Re: Text

[madeinoblivion]

Oh sure! I mean, they 'hand cut' them, and they're not frozen or whatever. They're really good.

But they're still just french fries.

Text

[motioned]

then why do they have a different name?

Text

[madeinoblivion]

To make them sound like something new.

[There's a small, underlying crawl of something like shame in his voice.]

Text

[motioned]

that doesn't sound like a very good reason to charge more. at least the sauces are good, though.

[madeinoblivion]

Yeah. At least there's that.

[motioned]

what's your favorite?

[madeinoblivion]

The wasabi-lime, I think. So far. There's more I haven't tried yet.

The mango one reminds me a little of Paopu. Sweet. Weird to have with salty fries. But still good.

[motioned]

reminds you of what?

[madeinoblivion]

Paopu-

Ah... it's this fruit, from the islands. The ones Riku, Sora and Kairi are from. There's a legend that if you share it with someone, your destinies are tied together, forever.

It's shaped like a star.

[motioned]

oh! sort of like the charm i gave you?

[madeinoblivion]

Yeah. Yeah, that's...sort of exactly what it reminded me of, actually.

[motioned]

i didn't know it was supposed to be sort of like a mango though

[madeinoblivion]

Well... Mangos, Pineapples, Paopu...

I've never actually eaten one, but I guess that's sort of how they should taste.

[motioned]

well i really like pineapple! i bet it'd be good

[madeinoblivion]

yeah. I bet too.

[motioned]

i bet it'd be good if it had its own taste too

[madeinoblivion]

Yeah. I can only imagine it, though.

[motioned]

i guess that's true for most people here, though

[madeinoblivion]

That's true.

Is there any legend like that, where you're from? Sharing destinies with people?

[motioned]

[With most people, and even normally with him, she would just answer 'no'. But this week has been so tiring, and so many people she cares about are gone, and there's so much she didn't get the chance to tell them... Even so, the reply doesn't come for a few minutes, and it's certainly not the lengthiest.]

sort of

[madeinoblivion]

Sort of?

[motioned]

it's about two people who didn't share a destiny even though one of them loved the other

[madeinoblivion]

Oh.

I guess it wasn't because one of them didn't have a heart...