☆12 [voice]

[skaterbrain]

[He is not dealing with the draft announcement well. The idea of going is bad enough, but his sister going? Unforgivable. He needs a distraction like a fish needs water and he's going to do it in the only way he knows how.]

Yo, Sooks! And that weird Midguard kid - I didn't get yo' name. Uh...sorry.

But you guys said you wanna learn to skate and I'm in a skatin' mood.

Meet me at the B-Dome in twenty!

And any other dudes who wanna skate or learn ta' skate, you can come, too. B-Dome's got the boards, you just gotta bring yo' own self.

Aight, Beat out.

[Action]
As promised, Beat is at the Battledome about twenty minutes later, punching in the simulation needed for a big skateboard park with its own skateboards and everything. He has his, of course, and his brow is furrowed, not out of concentration, but for trying to not think about something for once. He never thought he'd have this problem.

Comments

[skaterbrain]

...

[Oh my gosh, girl, you need to come here and find out about skateboarding...]

Uh...no? I mean, I skated back in Shibuya so it ain't from here... You really ain't never heard of skateboarding before? Where you from?

[etudes]

I'm from Hikarizaka City. .. That's in Japan. [ in case the name didn't make it obvious enough already.. ]

[skaterbrain]

...ain't they got pavement there??

[How are we from the same country....]

[etudes]

Of course they do. I suppose it would be very difficult for people or even cars to go down the street if there wasn't pavement.

[ See, any other person might notice his line of questioning here. But Kotomi's way too oblivious to pick up on what he's trying to say. ]

[skaterbrain]

...

Wait, if you got pavement, how come you ain't got skateboarders? We go wherever there's space to skate, yo.

[etudes]

.. I'm not sure if I have seen any of these "skateboarders" before.. what kind of animal are they?

[ this is the sound of it going over her head. ]

[skaterbrain]

[verbal keysmash here]

I ain't no animal!!

[etudes]

W.. wah! Bully, bully...!

[ there's a sound like a thud, like she dropped the journal in surprise - heck, she does sound pretty panicked suddenly. ]

[skaterbrain]

W-what? No, I ain't!

You called me an animal!

[etudes]

P-.. please d-don't bully me..! M.. my b.. boyfriend's really strong..!

[ you sound so intimidating with your shaking and crying when you say it, Kotomi. especially since all of this is just one big misunderstanding.. ]

[skaterbrain]

I ain't bullying! You said I was a animal, yo!

[etudes]

I.. I didn't.. S-.. s-s-sorry, mister bully..! I'm sorry..! I'll be a good girl!

[skaterbrain]

Ugh! I ain't a bully!!

[etudes]

.. Then.. you're not going to bully me..?

[skaterbrain]

I said I ain't a bully??

'Sides I only got mad 'cause you said skateboarders was animals and I ain't no animal. I'm a kid.

[etudes]

.. Well, of course you aren't an animal. Animals aren't capable of speech.

[ She just doesn't get that he's a skateboarder.. apparently. ]

[skaterbrain]

An' I'm a skateboarder! We ain't animals, we're skaters! It's a sport, yo. Ain't you never heard of it? It's pretty much everywhere there's pavement, yo.

[etudes]

No, I haven't heard of it before. It's not one of the sports at the Olympic games, is it..?

[skaterbrain]

Naw, it should be though. I'd be winnin' gold then. Ha!

Jus' a regular sport, but lotsa people do it. Kinda surprised you ain't heard of it.

[etudes]

How does one play this.. "skateboarding"? I want to try it for myself one day too.

[ no, kotomi, don't do it.. you'll just fall.. ]

[skaterbrain]

You don't play it, yo. You ride it.

You got good balance? I can teach you if you do.

[etudes]

[ Good balance.. let her think for a moment. She's never been in situations where it was tested.. ]

Well.. I can stand still for a long time straight up. [ Yup. ]

[skaterbrain]

...Ain't quite what I meant, but aight. I can teach you if you wants.

[etudes]

Please teach me.. I want to know more and more about this mysterious skateboarding.

[skaterbrain]

Well, if you got the heart, you can do it! Jus' gotta be ready for a couple a' bumps an' bruises on the way, yo.