The Old College Try

[mansbestend]

Sender: Denji
To: Everyone
Subject: i write in the book and people read this???


OK so

I had a genius idea and wanna test sumthin

someone come swing at me. one guy and one girl. kick my ass if you want.

then we go eat or whatever after. i dunno.

Comments

[sos_pilot]

Oh, you bet! My whole family loves adventures! We go on them every day, all the time! Why, I've been adventuring since I was younger than you!

[ ... She assumes he's young, anyway. You human people and your dang tallness. ]

[mansbestend]

Aw, man...! I would'a loved goin' treasure-hunting and stoppin' ancient curses and stuff! You even look like you fly planes and get into dogfights and everything, too!

We only get video games for that. ...Unless a devil flies a plane and wants a brawl sometime. But that's not happened yet, and I dunno how to fly a plane.

[sos_pilot]

[ Planes??? OH BOY. If anything, she seems to get even cockier and happier! ]

You have the eyes of wisdom - I am, in fact, the best pilot there's ever been! I take my plane, the Cloudslayer, all over the world for my family! And I've already begun teaching my kids how to fly, and I'd gladly take you under my wing!

[ Pause. Pause. Pause. Then she deflates. ]

... If... there were planes here. Which they don't have here. Which sucks here.

[mansbestend]

[He canted his head.]

But... dreamotion is about feelin' good and making stuff, right? You can't dream yourself a plane or look for parts?

I heard some people found a power plant out in the woods.

[sos_pilot]

Nah, man, nah! Planes are wayyyy too complicated for that. Look how much time and energy it took for you to make a ball!

Besides, no plane here could ever beat my precious, perfect Cloudslayer.

[ A pause, contemplating... ]

... But maybe one of these days, if I wind up dreaming about it, you can come aboard!

[mansbestend]

[Maaan but she was loaded with nice mom energy. She could totally make a plane if she wanted! Him? He made a ball. He was made of... Denji energy? Denergy?

He broke out of his momentary distraction.]

...Oh yeah, I remember hearin' about that. You can just dream about whatever, like a video game, and people can just pop in?

[sos_pilot]

Yup! It doesn't happen all the time, but I've gone into dreams before... Like, I went into this dream of a little girl decorating a Christmas tree, and it was sooooo cute!

[ And the mom in said dream was a drunken ass-hat that Della wanted to punch, but let's leave those details out. ]

[mansbestend]

That's really cool! And the kid knew you were there and everything? Damn, maybe I should think really hard of a good dream...

[He rubbed his chin.]

[sos_pilot]

Sorry, kiddo, I don't think it works like that. We don't exactly get to choose what dreams we share. Believe me, if we could, all of you would be flying planes in my head all the time!

[mansbestend]

Damn. ...Explains the weird shit that happens in my dreams sometimes. I think I was drowning in a bowl of udon once, and I even like the stuff.

[A pause.]

Yeah, I'm officially hungry. Let's get some udon.

[sos_pilot]

Aw, yeah! All this talk's got my stomach growling! And don't worry about the food, I'll pay for the both of us. No one else pays when you're a friend of Della Duck!

[ Which is why she... usually has no money and is definitely not going to inherit her uncle's bajillions. ]

[mansbestend]

Hell yeah! I know a place, too.

[He nodded to follow and was on the move. Yeah, that was enough testing for one day. He needed food in him and to think of some sort of plan. Dreamotion was gonna be something to think about and practice... 'cause what if he really could make whatever he wanted if he tried hard enough?]

Guy makes the noodles from scratch and they're freakin' perfect. Feels gourmet but don't cost much.

[sos_pilot]

[ She follows along, now totally distracted by food. Ten years of nothing but black-licorice-flavored oxy-chew has given her a new appreciation for almost everything edible. ]

That sounds awesome! I don't think I've had noodles that sound so good since my last visit to Tokyolk!

[ not a typo. ]

[mansbestend]

[Toki-what? ...Wait, was that a pun??]

Just don't ask him his process. He goes into nerd mode and it gets complicated. I'm sure some foodie can work it out, but I just wanted to see if I could maybe make some at home if I'm feelin' lazy.

Oh well. I do a little work delivering for the guy sometimes and he lets me eat instead.

[sos_pilot]

No problem there, I'm not exactly great at cooking either. Last time I tried to make some cakes, I set the oven on fire, put one kid into a sugar coma, and gave another one stomach-aches that lasted all night.

[mansbestend]

Ah... I can make basic stuff, I guess- a roommate I had made sure to push that into my skull- but the most I can make for dessert is my bowl cake.

When I was a kid and Christmas was comin' up or my birthday, I'd get a bowl and some flour, water and a spoonful of sugar. I'm sure it's nowhere close to the real thing, but I couldn't be picky.

[sos_pilot]

[ Record needle scratch. What did she just hear? ]

... Oooh, are we about to enter some super depressing backstory? Cause I've got hugs ready and raring to go.

[mansbestend]

[He paused and stared at her. You had him at hugs, Della Duck. He scratched the back of his head and looked up in thought.]

I dunno about super depressing, but I had to work a lot as a kid to make ends meet is all. I get a headache thinkin' about all that, though.

I'm not good at storytime, I guess. Sorry.

[sos_pilot]

... Hugs it is!

[ And he's not getting a say in it. She yoinks him by the hand to bring him in for a snuggle, buuut there is a height difference, so he might be forcibly bent downwards. ]

[mansbestend]

[Oof, yep, he has to bend down a bit. But he's more confused than in any discomfort.]

O-oi...! It's not a thing I gotta worry about anymore! I work, have a roof over my head and I eat plenty now!

Just gotta work on the rest of 'normal life' stuff, though.

[sos_pilot]

Don't care, hugging anyway. It's the mom instinct. If any children have been sad in any capacity, the hugs are automatic.

[ She pats his back, maybe taking more comfort in this than he is. ]

[mansbestend]

...friggin' mom instinct...

[Well, he... couldn't argue with that. After a while, he lowered to his knees to make it easier and hugged back. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he needed it. No wonder Pochita said what he had... hugs really were kinda nice, huh?]

...thanks.

[sos_pilot]

[ Awww. That made it all worth it. After a good, long, warm squeeze, she began to pull back. ]

You're welcome. And now... onward, to noodles! Our hearts are full, now let's fill our stomachs!

[mansbestend]

[His eyes stung. Thankfully she pulled back before he could process or even really fathom why.]

Yeah, noodle time! It ain't far from here. C'mon.

[And leading the way meant he could take deep breaths of the cool air and calm himself back down. Della was a pretty cool person and a badass mom. He could really only hope the boys knew that.]

This is an extra-noodle kinda day. Maybe with some extra gochujang, make it extra fiery!