infreefall | redacted ★ claude

How could I let our dear Rabbit down after they went through the trouble?

Also its a Wednesday so what can go wrong on a Wednesday besides you know everything it's fine.)

I don't think Rabbit would do anything mean so this was either a harmless trick or a chance to see you. Looks like I got lucky.

You can see me anytime you want, Riegan-san - no tricks necessary.

[ you know with certain other characters this curse would be fine? but right now i am suffering. ]

(SO FAR THIS IS FINE???)

I know that. (They're friends!!) Since we're here though... it'd be a shame to let this opportunity go to waste, don't you think?

(When a cursed flirt and a natural charmer meet. HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE FERRIS WHEEL?)

You mean you actually want to humor them?

[ somehow she just seems amused by this instead of the usual levels of embarrassment... it's fine. they're friends now. ]

Sure, why not? Have you been on a ferris wheel before, Riegan-san?

If they've gone through all this trouble and are watching, we might as well give them something.

(He doesn't mind. Let them watch!!)

Never. This will be my first time.

Oh, so I get the honors of introducing you to it?

[ well. guess she's taking claude's hand and gently tugging him toward the ferris wheel, then. ]

I've never been before this week, either. But it's kind of fun to be able to see everything from the top!

(Ochako..............

Usually he's the one leading people so this is a twist! The fact that it's Ochako of all people is also ???

...)

Oh, the honor is all mine.

(He's rolling along with this but. Ochako?)

Shall we go to the top, then?

[ she just! beams as she takes a seat! there is nothing at all wrong here! ]

To the top!

(Someone help Ochako, please.)

To the top!

(Whoever is watching... can tell they're having fun, okay? But once they're both taking a seat across from each other and the door behind them closes, the Ferris wheel starts up! Give it a bit and once they're a few cars up, he'll just say,)

I don't think anyone will really be able to see or hear us once we get higher.

Mm, probably not. Maybe they'll get bored and leave before we make it back down.

If they went to all this trouble, I think they'll stick around.

(Hah. But. Right.)

... Sorry.

[ she was watching the beach slowly recede, but that pulls her eyes back to claude. ]

What for?

This is a set up, isn't it?

(Someone is trying to set them up?)

Well, yeah, but it's not like it was your idea.

I know but... well.

(How does he put this.)

You like me. (It's obvious. No one gets this flustered just because they have a normal friendly relationship. ) And I like you.

(He can admit that much.)

But it seems like some people have certain ideas.

[ just having it laid out there like that makes her cheeks flush, and ochako looks away, hands curling into fists around the hem of her dress. there's no running when they're on the ferris wheel, but she focuses instead on watching the boardwalk and the beach get further smaller as the ride climbs. ]

...I know. I keep telling them that we should focus on more important things instead of... [ whatever this is supposed to be?? ] ...but maybe I should've tried harder to get them to listen. I didn't mean for you to get dragged into something like this.

[ so really, if anyone should be apologizing, it's probably her. ]

(...)

Don't worry about it. I don't think there's anything we can really do to stop them and I don't mind.

(It hasn't caused him any trouble and really? He's just gotten a cute date out of it so it's been fun.)

Maybe if circumstances were different... (A little wistfully,) But you're a sweet girl.

You're cute, your sharp, and you're really strong too. (Just gonna... touch his face and r e m e m b e r .) But you're also really kind and thoughtful. I admire you a lot.

(And she definitely deserves a lot better.)

[ she'd read that "i like you" to mean as friends and now claude is saying all of this and it kind of makes her want to scream? she doesn't, but she's blushing even harder so she just drops her head into her hands with a groan. ]

You're not making it any easier, Riegan-san!

(HE'S LAUGHING...)

Sorry, sorry. (He holds up a hand to show he's stopping,) What I'm trying to get at though... is that I'm not exactly the best guy here. Really, I'm a whole lot of trouble...

You deserve a lot better.

I know you are, but...

[ slowly, she lowers her hands. ]

I told someone before that I think people like you - the ones who lie a lot, and hide who they are - are the ones that need people the most. I still believe that.

...

(Not a word, just that usual smile... even if his eyes betray him as usual. This time, he seems a little... caught off guard?

"The ones who lie a lot and hide who they are are the ones who need people the most."

(There's a photograph in his pocket. One that confuses him more and more each day. Really, he isn't sure why he keeps it with him. He just knows that he's carried it with him for as long as he'd had it.))

I think the world would be better if there were more people like you, Ochako. (He can't completely explain it, too many things are missing, but there's just enough that he can believe this, still.) And there would probably be fewer people like me, too.

But that would be boring!

[ she makes a face. ]

People don't become like you because it's boring otherwise. I may not understand why, exactly, but there's always more to it than that.

But I don't expect you to tell me why, if you even remember.

(He leans back in his seat a bit and taps at the edge of the Ferris wheel.)

I don't remember exactly.

(He speaks calmly, evenly, as if he isn't bothered by his lost memories one bit!!!)

I can only remember the last few years clearly... maybe three or four years. Everything before that... (There are so many holes. He can barely piece anything together.) Barely a single image comes to mind. But I remember how I felt.

Different. Alone. Hated. Misunderstood. (...) Like everyday might be my last one alive.

(Miserable, really.)

[ hm, no, ochako doesn't believe how calm he sounds for a second. but this is... one of the few times he's actually been honest with her, isn't it? so she doesn't call it out. ]

That's awful. No one should have to live like that.

[ stating the obvious, she knows, but she tries to keep too much sympathy out of her voice. claude doesn't strike her as someone who would appreciate that, even if ochako has been pestering him about these things for a while.

it does explain some things, though, even without context. ]

But.. you don't still feel like that, do you?

(He is calm though. Because even if he doesn't remember, those feelings seem so natural to him, it's almost as if he was recalling any other memory.)

No one should.

(He can agree with that. Even if he isn't sure exactly why. He's quiet at her question though, thinking...)

I am different. The years I remember... I'm not popular. And I don't understand myself anymore. (So some things are the same,) But I have a dream now. I don't think I had that before.

(Because he remembers coming up with it a few years ago.)

As long as I have this dream, I can't die. And as long as I live, I'll do anything to make it come true.

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