Catch-All for Minato

[specialdog]

Comments

[compendiem]

Yep. It involves a lot of coffee and arcade games.

[ That's how he does it at home. Just eats until he feels better. ]

[specialdog]

That sounds more like reasons for wanting to improve.

[ fucking rude, akane. but delivered with a smile! ]

[compendiem]

I like my coffee and games. They're great motivators.

[ They work, okay!! And, as shoddy a personality as he has now, it's still leagues better than it was when he started a year ago.

That's kind of sad. ]

[specialdog]

I like coffee and games, too.

[ but akane you just said they were reasons a person should want to change... hrm... ]

[compendiem]

[ hm... ]

Do you think a person can subsist on just coffee?

[ Do coffee beans count as a vegetable or protein? Either way, it should be healthy taken black. ]

[specialdog]

Probably. They wouldn't be healthy, but... I mean, they'd survive for a while.

[compendiem]

If I made a bet with somebody that I'd be able to subsist on just coffee... do you think I'll make it until we're able to leave?

[ He asks it like it's a hypothetical question, but. He's already made this bet. ]

[specialdog]

With what we know, now? Sure. Because you'll probably die before your body can give up.

... But I don't think you should even try.

[compendiem]

Oh.

[ Akane has no faith in him ): ]

Do you think I'll die that easily...? I thought people could survive a month or so without food...

[specialdog]

But in that month, you might get murdered. Or murder someone.

[compendiem]

That's true...

[ That's very true, and he accepts this and moves right along to what's important. ]

In that case, I should probably go back and clarify the bet, huh? Surviving on just coffee, versus dying due to starvation. Death by other causes doesn't count.

[specialdog]

[ Akane's laugh is abrupt and--a little startlingly sincere?! ]

I-I don't think the terms of the bet matter anymore, at that point! And I'm saying, you shouldn't do this either way!

[compendiem]

[ It always surprises him when people laugh when he's being serious, in the same way they deadeye his jokes. But he can adapt, pretending this was the latter, and gives Akane an amused smile. ]

I really didn't think I would lose, so it wouldn't have mattered... But if you really think it's not a good idea, I can call off the bet. I don't mind losing.

[specialdog]

Call it off.

[ ... Despite answering near-immediately, Akane is quiet for a moment, mulling over a thought. Eventually: ]

Actually, do whatever you want. You've been doing whatever I say, but doesn't that just mean that as soon as someone else tells you, "No, go through with the bet," you'll just say okay to that instead?

[compendiem]

[ "Do what you want" is sort of how Minato prefers to live his life— how he prefers others to live their lives- but it's always a bit difficult when it's posed to him like this. Doing what people say is just easier... he finds himself doing that a lot, and most people don't seem to mind. It's just easier for everybody involved. ]

I'd never get anywhere that way, huh? I guess... what I want is to go through with it. I'd feel bad backing out, when the bet's supposed to be something fun.

[ He will accept whatever consequence may come from this, even if that consequence is death ig ]

[specialdog]

It won't be fun if you get sick.

[ despite suggesting with a smile that he do what he wants, Akane is... Very disappointed that what he wants isn't what she told him to do. ]

[compendiem]

...Yeah. [ This, at least, he can agree with. ] I tend to get sick a lot, and it always sucks. But in a place like this, I can sleep whenever I want, do whatever I want... sort of, anyways.

[ And the root of it is that he just wants to sleep all the time, still, and he doesn't know what in the world he's doing. Despite all the coffee and arcade games in the past year, he doesn't feel like he's improved at all. ]

[specialdog]

[ she's quieter now, losing a lot of that vehemence. Sleeping whenever you want, doing whatever you want... Huh... ]

... Did you ever think that maybe you would get sick less if you had a healthier diet?

[compendiem]

[ Yeah... That's all he did for the entirety of winter vacation, really. Sleeping whenever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted turned out to overlap quite nicely: he slept all of December away, and still woke up exhausted every morning. ]

I guess I didn't mind being sick, since it sorta felt like the norm... [ Tired and run down, that's just how he feels all the time. It's a little bit better now, eating other people's cooking in this place and not having to run everywhere all the time. ]

I'd been trying harder to take care of myself, though. I make sure to eat lunch every day. [ bread from the cafeteria, but Akane doesn't need to know that ] And a variety of foods for dinner, too. [ which ranges from ramen to burgers and other fast foods, but Akane doesn't need to know that either ]

[specialdog]

But aren't you about to stop? [ trying harder to take care of yourself until you decide it's boring... ]

Just for some dumb bet?

[compendiem]

...Yeah.

[ Yeah, that's exactly what he did, trying his best until he realized it didn't matter, and then slipping again. Coffee and bread is good enough to keep him going, and as long as he keeps going, that's fine.

He does look a bit sheepish, though, almost guilty. ]

It's a dumb bet, huh... I guess I just find it easier if it feels like I'm doing something for somebody else's sake, instead of my own.

[ Bet with Naminé is fun because it involves one other person. Taking care of himself isn't, because it's just him. Something like that. ]

[specialdog]

[ judgmental silence here. but... it's debatable who she's being judgmental of. i mean, definitely minato. definitely him. but who else? ]

What does the other person get from it? Watching you get sick? Why do you want to give them that?

[compendiem]

[ The silence is somewhat uncomfortable when he's on the receiving end of it. ]

...It... would be entirely my fault. I accept the consequences of my actions.

[ He says the words like he's reading them out loud, instead of really saying it. The other person wins the bet. That's all they should care about. ]

[specialdog]

[ she is... frustrated and unimpressed. akane likes people that will listen to her, but what's the point if they don't listen to only her? and what's with running away from taking responsibility for yourself like that? ]

That's so stupid.

Were you only trying to change because someone told you to?

[compendiem]

[ Yeah, it's stupid. He's stupid. He's tired. ]

Not because somebody told me to...

[ But he can't say it wasn't for the sake of somebody else, either. If he were smarter or kinder or more reliable, maybe people would pay him mind and it'll be easier to get along with them. Something like that. ]

Do you think it's wrong to change? When somebody else wants you to, and you don't feel strongly about it either way?