002. video

[tadeadshi]

[The video opens with a view from inside a car of some bad stand-still traffic, complete with angry horn honking and many car engines humming. And then there's the sound of someone groaning frustratedly a lot closer to the camera and the faint background noise of multiple DS game sound effects.

It's taken then a few extra days longer than he'd planned for them to get to California but that's okay! That's. Okay. They were prepared for this, for the long haul. Just not the 4 hour stand still traffic that came with it. Ugh.

Eventually the person holding the camera finally speaks. Anyone may recognize his voice from such classics as Hiro's Memory Theater or greatest hit single, the televised Shark Park Blind Date that he still doesn't know was televised. Or was a date.

He's been absent from the network for a good two weeks since the dream-comas started so he's a bit out of the loop for a lot of stuff. For anyone that knows him, though, the fact this is video is a pretty big deal. Tadashi forgets for a few seconds he's even recording video before he remembers and speaks up.]

Okay first, please tell me the cities are still in one piece. I'm pretty sure we missed a swear in and I hope everyone had a good time.

Second, if anyone has any good stories while we're stuck in traffic, that'd be awesome. We've listened to the same five playlists for three thousand miles.

[Or in the case of Shinjiro's car, a single cd repeated over and over.]

Comments

[runningstart]

Jaime steals that Shinji guy's copy and I come over and play it a lot. [shamelessly] His casa es mi casa.

[dormition]

Oh, Shinjiro-san is a friend of mine from home. That's not actually Jaime-kun's house, though...

... But I'm sure they don't mind.

[runningstart]

Oh no no no dude I haven't been over to that guy's house, I play it at Jaime's. But I know a few people going with you, and I'm like.........twenty percent sure I've talked to you before. [twenty percent is not a whole lot but ok]

[dormition]

Maybe you spoke to the me that was here before. He was friends with Jaime-kun before me.

[runningstart]

Oh yeah probably. Well cool, now I don't feel bad for forgetting what we talked about. [wally] Anyway if you really wanna get Jaime going, play some hyped-up Americana stuff from like...the eighties. He gets so mad. It's great.

[dormition]

We can start over. [Minato wouldn't care if he forgot, anyway...]

What's 'Americana'? [He's actually making mental notes on this, in case he ever needs to get Jaime riled up.]

[runningstart]

Uhhh it's this kind of music that's like...sorta like country rock ish? I think? Actually I have no idea, hold on I'm gonna look it up.

[a couple moments of silence later:] No actually I was completely right. I think it's more than Jaime hates old popular stuff, most likely because he's a hipster when he pretends he isn't. Maybe he hates the Beatles too.

[dormition]

[Minato has to look up the word hipster himself but then makes a mental point to tease Jaime about being one if the opportunity arises.]

I had no idea Jaime-kun had so many deep and abiding flaws.

[runningstart]

By the bucket, my friend. But I mean, that's what makes him human I guess. Plus sometimes he virtues something so hard that it circles back around into a flaw.

[dormition]

A virtue can be strong enough to be a flaw?

[runningstart]

You're roadtripping with the evidence, dude. Reyes is the perfect example.

[dormition]

Which virtue are we talking about?

[runningstart]

Dude take your pick. How about the obvious one, the pacifism? I'm pretty sure he would try to give career counseling to a guy holding him at knifepoint. [wally is pretty sure of this because he haS SEEN JAIME DO IT.]

[dormition]

It might dissuade him from attacking if he's kind. Does Jaime-kun get held at knife point a lot, though?

[runningstart]

No.

Look, it might dissuade him or it might encourage him to stab him in the gut. You never know. That's why when cops do those school visit things they always tell kids to do whatever their attacker says if he's got a weapon he looks like he might use.