maskormenace | 02 | video (backdated to the 27th)

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02 | video (backdated to the 27th)

[the video opens to the sound of the Thanksgiving dog show in the background and Jonathan settled contentedly on the couch, clad inexplicably in a turtleneck featuring the four Pac-Man ghosts. he smiles cheerfully.]

This isn't my holiday, but I hope that everyone who celebrates has been having a good time. I'm not entirely certain what purebred dogs have to do with being thankful, but I'm certainly grateful for the opportunity to watch them.

I never realized that dogs would be among the things that had changed in the future, but I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise. People are always looking to improve their breed however they can.

Perhaps it's a bit childish, but owning a dog again is one of the things I'm looking forward to most when I finally feel able to leave the government housing. It's been a while since I've had a pet.

[he scratches his cheek, the smile becoming a tad nostalgic for a moment of two. the television announces the start of judging for the hound group and he shakes himself out of it easily with a roll of the shoulders.]

Ah, but I hadn't meant to simply chatter away about inanities! I've been thinking about this for a bit, and I wanted to ask someone who was more experienced in the matter - how does finishing one's education work here?

There's no way I could prove my qualifications, after all, but I'd like to finally graduate if at all possible. It's the principle of the thing.

[finally completing his degree feels kind of like a symbolic closing of the worst chapter of his life, even if in Heropa that wasn't technically true. and it would give him a little more confidence in perhaps looking for a job actually related to his field of interest.]

Thank you for your time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I do, yes. It's the right thing to do.

[which, given their conversation at the banquet, probably sounds more than a little familiar. the way Jonathan's smiling makes it clear he's aware as he moves on to more exciting topics. dogs are always exciting, ok.]

Do you think they really fit me so well? I've always been fond of dogs, but that may be because my closest companion as a child was one.

Good luck! If you have any trouble, let me know.

[That's ominous as fuck but Jojo probably won't get that, so. Moving on to dogs.]

But yeah, they do fit you. They're loyal and strong! I have a guard dog back home, too. They're smart.

[lmao Killua please don't piledrive any of his future professors they won't pass him because of that]

They're really quite intelligent when you allow them to show their full potential! I used to teach Danny all sorts of tricks, and he picked up on everything very quickly so long as I was consistent with my training.

[babble babble baby loves his dogs]

What sort of breed was yours at home?

That's so cool! I help walk and play with Kate's dog here sometimes, too. I want to surprise her by teaching all the coolest tricks.

[She said the hoverboard was off limits but there are so many more opportunities.]

Mike is some kind of hound, I think. [Let's go with that.] He's reaaaally big and he's been following the orders my family gave him for years. They wouldn't let me teach him any fun tricks, though.

Ah, that's truly a pity. Teaching a dog tricks is one of the best parts of owning one, in my opinion. If you'd ever like any help in training your friend's I'd be happy to give suggestions.

[don't let him do it Kate's dog will be opening doors and peeling grapes in a month]

I want to see what kind of tricks you can teach! I'll have to ask Kate, though.

[She might be less inclined if the reasoning is 'tricks'... Hm.]

Can you train alligators, too?

[uh, what. he raises an eyebrow.]

I've...never attempted to, so I couldn't really say one way or the other. Why do you ask?

[Ah, the true question. This is the regular private, not anything fancy. He just doesn't want to get scolded if Kate pops up again.]

Gon, Mabel and I caught one a while back. It's trickier to train him than a dog, but...

[oh, what does this new header on the response mean? ...huh, this shit can do private? that seems useful he'll have to figure out how to swing that later.

also Killua is super duper lucky that culture clash is coming to his rescue again. Jonathan Joestar, fresh out of the Victorian age where weird exotic pets were kind of the norm when it came to the upper class, really doesn't see anything too wrong with trapping an alligator. you have been spared the lecture a more modern version of himself would almost certainly have given.]

Well, you also have to take into account that you're attempting to train a wild animal. There's no domestication to fall back on like a dog - you're essentially starting from the ground up.

That's what's fun about it. If it were easy, I'd get bored.

[Killua can be pretty simple sometimes, too. It just takes the chances and right opportunities.]

I beat him at wrestling but I don't think he's smart enough to recognize me again when I try to train him.

If that's the case you may simply have to ingrain the habits you want him to observe so deeply that he'll follow them regardless of who gives the commands.

[reptiles aren't as smart as mammals, or even some species of birds, so the methods of going about this would obviously be different. that or Killua's going to have to wrestle him every time he feeds him.]

I was thinking along those lines, too. That's going to end up taking a little while, though, and Gon's kind of impatient...

[Not that he's a saint either, but.] I'll just see what I can do from there.

You'll have to tell him that he's going to have to tolerate the slow going if he wants this done correctly. Animal training involves a great deal of repetition and small steps.

[especially when you aren't working with an animal that has any sort of inclination to learn from you, but that kind of goes without saying.]

I don't think I really have much more knowledge than you on the subject, but if you'd ever like a hand with things I'd be more than willing to help.

It's fine when you put it like that, but when you actually have to tell him these things, it goes right through...

[He'll hear what he wants to hear. But he waves that away with a smile, afterwards.]

Anyway, it's okay. We all know what we're doing, so the alligator will be fine, too. But I'll definitely call you if we need anything.

[maybe Gon's the one that needs a little friendly training rather than the alligator. but Jonathan only half means it, and he keeps the joke to himself.]

I'm glad. If it isn't too much trouble, I'd be grateful to be called if you manage to teach him anything particularly spectacular - I'm interested in seeing how much a reptile can be taught in the way of parlor tricks, to be perfectly honest.

Definitely! I'll teach him something cool and show it off later!

[Finally, an adult who isn't scolding them about it! Support! With that, though, he switches the call back to normal instead of private.]

I'll be looking forward to it. It ought to be quite a show!

[HE BELIEVES IN YOU KILLUA]

Yeah!

[He's checking out of all of these replies to Jonathan's post, though, and he comes to a point where he frowns at Hisoka. Ahh, that's right-- he'd seen them talking before, too.]

By the way, are you getting along with Hisoka?

[geez Killua stop creeping on a guy who can barely understand how to open other people's conversations]

Hm? Ah, yes, I am. He's quite friendly and I've enjoyed our conversations so far.

[is he a friend of yours..? is the sort of unspoken question hanging in between his answer, since that's kind of a random thing to bring up otherwise]

Friendly?! Really?

[There's a long pause in which that unspoken question grows more and more awkward. He's trying to formulate how to respond, here!]

As long as he's not being weird, I guess... I know him from back home. He's, uh, friends with my big brother.

[what Jonathan doesn't know is that he's been so friendly because the first conversation gave him some kind of weird power sadism boner or. something. I don't even know.]

Is that so? It seems as if you have almost as many people from home as I do!

[he's still not entirely sure what to make of that reaction, and it's apparent in his expression, but for the moment he doesn't press it.]

[That's exactly what happened welcome to the club Jojo.]

Yeah, there's six of us if you count me. [He's trying to find a good balance in handling this, and the awkwardness probably shines through a bit too much. Hm.] You know he's in jail, right?

[Jojo wants out of this club his brother's bad enough as it is.]

No, I didn't. Do you happen to know what for? [his brow furrows. the answer is kind of important, as he understands that there are a lot of things which are right that could still get you thrown in jail...and then there's prison grade shit.]

[nope our casts have melded you're doomed.

This situation had Killua wondering if he should really say anything. Jojo could stand up for himself if anything happened, and he felt a little bad ruining his vision of someone immediately... So his answer comes a little hesitantly.]

Yeah... It was for murder.

[someone get the inflatable life raft out I'm bailing on this I don't need this in my life.

Jonathan falls silent for a time, gaze drifting away from the camera to focus on nothing in particular as he digests that. his face is so serious, and that expression doesn't change when he finally speaks. his tone is a little softer, but just as even as it was before.]

...I see. Thank you for letting me know.

[that does change things, although perhaps not as much as it would to a sane rational person. even murder has its caveats - how many 'people' had he killed after they'd become zombies, after all? they weren't human anymore, but they still had rational thought and awareness. it was easy to imagine suffering some sort of punishment for those actions.

but Jonathan isn't stupid, and he knows that more often than not murder is simply a vile, disgusting act. he won't stop chatting with Hisoka, or be any less polite to him, but this will always be at the back of his mind as he does so. the benefit of the doubt doesn't mean he has to be unprepared for the worst.]

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