< 04 . TEXT >

[dormition]

Hi. I'm back.


What I learned on my road trip:

1. Always take a head count before you drive off.

2. Ken-kun is a trustworthy keeper of the coffee.

3. Akihiko-senpai and Gogo-san should not be driving the cars at the same time.

4. Tadashi-san has no idea when people flirt with him.

5. Flowers in Animal Crossing are very serious.

6. Akihiko-senpai should probably not have been introduced to coffee. Sorry.

7. Points 2, 3 and 6 are related.

8. Everyone looks cute in mouse ears. Everyone, including Shinjiro-senpai.

9. If you go camping, you have to have a fire, smores, and ghost stories. And scorpions.

10. Dippin Dots.

11. It takes Hiro-kun and Tadashi-san less than fifteen minutes to completely dismantle a car.

12. No one else wants to hear the Rocky soundtrack ever again.

13. California has a lot of traffic. Corollary: America is very big.

14. Points 11 and 13 are related; see Tadashi-san's previous post.

15. Hotel beds can only comfortably fit two people. Some people would rather sleep in a bath tub.

16. Jaime-kun is a wimp about eating weird food. I finished it.

17. I missed getting to fight evil jello with Hiro-kun.

18. It's okay to text someone when they're sitting next to you.

19. Driving at night while everyone is asleep is peaceful.

20. I'm glad I have my friends. And I think I made a couple new ones.


Also, I have souvenirs. Including some for a few others... Oba-san, I got you something, too.

And I was wondering, what happened at the swear in this month?

Comments

the most important thing

[ktfod]

What's wrong with my Rocky soundtrack?

[dormition]

No one likes to listen to something that many times, senpai.

text

[dangerouslyinlove]

Sounds like you guys had fun!

It was a beach party. It was pretty cool. I think I got a sunburn, though. [since lol guess who forget sunblock was a thing.]

[dormition]

We did. I'm sorry we didn't think to invite you... we'd only have had room for you in the trunk.

The sunburn was worth it, wasn't it? Did you meet anyone?

[grimreaping]

It sounds like you had a great time :)

[dormition]

I got you something. It's symmetrical.

[resipiscent]

What is that thing you ate? Also, it was a beach party. You missed out, it was fun.

[dormition]

It's from Denny's. Cheese sticks in a grilled cheese.

That sounds a lot better than my swear in. Terrorists attacked.

text;

[oceanthief]

Most of these seem really specific.

[she thinks. road-tripping for gems involves conquering planets and mining them for resources, so she's not entirely certain on that statement.]

[dormition]

It was my first road trip. Not enough to generalize.

How have you been?

text

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

holy Patricia Hill Collins! you didn't mess with someone's ac flowers did you!?

[dormition]

It wasn't me. Do you play Animal Crossing? I just started on the trip.

[lasthugs]

[She seriously loves all these unofficial but totally real nephews she's getting.]

Wow for me?? You're too sweet!

Looks like someone had a lot of fun. How wonderful! You have to tell me all about it. The swear in was a beach party so it was pretty fun over here, too. :)

[dormition]

It isn't an object. I'll send the files over.

[There's a decent sized file request sent. Inside the zip file are pictures, perhaps two dozen, that Minato had sneakily taken of the trip. A lot of them are of Tadashi and Hiro, obviously taken with the intention of giving them to Cass later. There's them arguing, eating, sleeping, Tadashi driving while Hiro sits in the passenger seat and fiddles with the radio (Minato suspects he's doing something not covered under warranty)-- but he hadn't removed the ones of his friends. Shinjiro and Akihiko sitting together on a bench in Disney World as they wait for something, bodies pressed together in a long line, expressions uncommonly comfortable if not soft. Ken with the box of coffee from Starbucks and a resolute set to his face. Honey Lemon and Gogo making smores around a camp fire, Jaime with huge sunglasses on at a truck stop or staring with trepidation at the Denny's menu...

There's only one that Minato himself is in: the group shot of all of them in Mickey Mouse ears at the park. He's in the center, hands in his pockets, and if he's not smiling it's nonetheless the most relaxed he's ever looked in a picture, surrounded by all of his friends in the California sunlight.]

The pictures probably speak better than I could. I'm glad you got a fun swear in; mine had terrorists.

text

[khajidont]

I'm not a wimp you just have a stomach of steel

[dormition]

Level up your courage stat.

text

[rathercommon]

It looks like Jaime's got good sense.

[dormition]

We paid for it so we might as well eat it.

text; comm tag is "Tadashi"

[tadeadshi]

[He's reading over this but one thing sticks out]

what

[dormition]

Would you like some help with flirting, Tadashi-san?

[earnedmystripes]

are there mouse ear pictures
inquiring minds want to know

[Shinjiro in mouse ears how even could he resist asking.]

[hoboagogo]

no

[of course there are]

text;

[attainment]

How long did it take to put the car back together?

[dormition]

Not much longer than that. Their powers helped.

[hoboagogo]

shut up about the mouse ears dumbass
and man i had no idea america was that big

[dormition]

I can stop mentioning it, but there's pictorial evidence.

We didn't even see half of it, either.

[orangehoodie]

Evil jello?

I think those hotels rooms were the one time I was grateful for my height.

[dormition]

I didn't get any more explanation than that.

I would've shared with you if I'd known you had to sleep in the tub, too.

voice

[runningstart]

Dude he really didn't finish it?! Man, what a loser. Good thing you were there to finish what he started.

[dormition]

Yeah. I told him I got his back until he levels up his courage enough.

text

[sewoften]

When wouldn't it be okay to text the person sitting next to you?

[dormition]

The idea is if they're sitting next to you, you should speak to them, not text.

text

[lyingheart]

I think the only thing I've even had on a camping trip out of that list was the fire.

Sounds like a personally informative trip altogether, Minato. The swear in dealt with a mystery game I didn't understand and time spent on a beach.

[dormition]

I got a fire pit for the party we had before we left. I could show you how to make smores. No scorpions, though.

There was a mystery game? Everyone else just mentioned the beach.

text | he doesn't even go here, but...

[thinhammer]

what's an animal crossing?

but new people are Minato's favorite thing!!

[dormition]

It's a video game for a portable system, Nintendo DS. Are you familiar with video games?

text; comm tag is "Hiro"

[microbrobotics]

bet i could get it down to five with practice

[dormition]

I could time you. And Tadashi-san, too. Like a competition.