CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[dissimulative]

Yeah. I definitely got something nice.

[ lmao

Anyway, when the round begins, he begins the ruthless barrage of attacks against Sinclair's character. ]

[insinning]

You're mean.

[ And help his poor Kuma.... he's trying to valiantly put up a good fight but with the distraction...aaaaaaa]

[dissimulative]

I'm being friendly!

[ It's really nice to have spare time to do mundane things like this that it almost makes Oria think that everything in the past has been worth for these moments.

Even Aria's death?

...

The thing about being great at P3 is how he can angst all he wants without being noticed.

He keeps up the barrage of attacks against Kuma by inputting combos one after another. Despite his sore and slightly numb yet somehow stinging palms, he taps away at the correct buttons for input. ]

Come on, you can do better than that!

[insinning]

[ It's nice distraction, isn't it? Pretending everything is normal... pretending they can have something normal together. Maybe it's not even pretending.

Sinclair scowls and tries to recover but he can't quite the first round]

...you wont get it that easy this time.

[Round two has Sinclair smashing those buttons immediately. Die leopard man!!!]

[dissimulative]

Bring it.

[ He welcomes this challenge, but Sinclair is faster with those buttons and gets to King first. Oria tries his hardest to be free himself from this combo. Free him.......... ]

[insinning]

I will.

[ Up up down down left right. The onslaught will not stop as he tries to stunlock Oria]

[dissimulative]

[ He's being so walled right now... Oria continues trying, but in the end, he's practically stun locked to death. ]

When did you learn that?

[ He laughs, looking pretty impressed. ]

[insinning]

Ummmm. Practice?

[ Sinclair is very happy with his win. Ehehehe. But the tie means round 3]

[dissimulative]

Practice, huh? You've been practicing with other people?

[ "you know other men?" vibes right here, though it isn't serious. He's trying his best to create it though. Oria thinks Sinclair should have the right to be with whoever else he wants.

Even if--

Even if... ]

You've been doing real good. Alright, let's go for round three!

[insinning]

[ There is definitely a strange tone there but it's not something Sinclair can place]

Huh? No, not at all.

[Unless 'he' counted but...he wasn't interested in these things. Time for round 3!!]

[dissimulative]

[ poor prisoner sinclair...

Oria starts inputting combos and tries to predict what Sinclair would do... rush at him? He's gonna try to grab that bear. ]

[insinning]

[he really is only allowed to leave with like two people.

Rushing seems like a bad idea this time so Sinclair has the bear jump back and above. Dodge!!! and then combo if that works]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria sometimes processes things too fast that his hands can't keep up with his thoughts. It's no problem when he has the gauntlet, but in everyday situations, everything feels so... slow.

But Sinclair really read him, didn't he? He absolutely did. King puts up a guard as soon as possible and tries to counter. ]

[insinning]

[ There is something about working together in a squad that makes it easier for Sinclair to read how Oria would act. Of course, the same would go for Oria too in return. That's probably what makes this so fun. He gets countered and counters Oria's counter in turn, health bar chipping away.

It's a coin toss for whoever wins this round even as Sinclair's hands begin to cramp on the controllers]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria's palms feel so numb, bro. It's making his fingers feel uncoordinated and he misses some inputs.

And that is why Sinclair win the tiebreaker! I flipped my phone for this ]

We really know each other too well, huh.

[insinning]

[ rip your phone but also Oria vs rng huh. Sinclair exhales with a laugh as the VICTORY sign pops up over his screen and he shakes out his hands. Ow. Cramps. ]

Isn't that what makes this more fun?

[dissimulative]

Yeah. It's like playing 4D chess in real time!

[ Whatever that means. Oria seems satisfied with their run of games, but if Sinclair wants to play some more, he won't object. ]

Keeping each other on our toes and all.

[ Ironically, Oria feels that he knows Sinclair, but at the same time, he doesn't. There are so many things he doesn't know and he wants to learn. ]

[insinning]

4d chess...? I thought you didn't like chess.

[ Sinclair liked it until he kept getting trounced by a certain someone]

Did you want to get something to eat?

[They played quite a bit so they can take a break now. He does wonder about a lot of things though. Oria makes things so transparent that sometimes it feels like it's not]

[dissimulative]

It's a figure of speech!

[ Sinclair is right though. Just because Oria is good at something, doesn't particularly mean that he enjoys the activity. Sinclair's chess nemesis though. Gee, wonder who that could be. ]

But yeah, I'm starving. Looks like your body sores are a lot more manageable now too. Let's get something to eat!

[insinning]

[ There is no nemesis because he will never willingly play again without prior intensive training.]

Mm. [ Being distracted like this sure helped him forget]

What did you feel like? There's that burger and pancake place everyone keeps talking about.

[dissimulative]

Oh my god, that sounds like a breakfast and lunch together... a brunch! Can't believe I forgot that "brunch" existed. Anyway, that sounds great. Let's get that bread.

[ Burger. Pancakes. Yeah. He's so ready to Devour. ]

[insinning]

[ 'Brunch' huh...]

You know, I've never understood why pancakes were considered breakfast only even though they're cakes...made in a pan.

[Thanks for leading Sinclair down this rabbit hole of thoughts, Oria. It's definitely too late for brunch but he'll take it. Sinclair takes Oria's hand and pulls up a map in his selcom. Charon pops up.

Magical Burgers and Pancakes. Vroom vroom. On our way.]

Charon says it's this way...I think her direction AI settings are better than before.

[ Mysterious exclusive AI for Sinclair and a handful of other people? Maybe.]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria's Keropoyo is miffed that it got beaten by Charon again and now Oria has to suffer this frog being insufferable. ]

I remember that one time when she led us to this shady place where they were doing some sneaky gambling. She's definitely gotten better than before.

[insinning]

Ahaha...that was a little scary.

[ Especially when Sinclair got grabbed by that guard trying to intimidate him. How did they get out of that one again]

But she knows the difference between East and West now at least.

[ Cheerful!!

Charon will always choose the best route even without a bus. Maps are unnecessary.

Sinclair will not argue with his AI. RIP Oria.

They arrive in short order at least. Hopefully Oria gets some reprieve from the frog...]

[dissimulative]

[ What about north and south.

WHAT ABOUT NORTH AND SOUTH?? SINCLAIR??

Anyway, Oria promptly ignores Keropoyo, since he's gotten good at that, especially after arriving at the eatery. ]

It's weird though, since AIs usually aren't incorrect on objective information. Maybe Charon just learns really slowly?