001 [video]

[a_gentle_boy]

[The video flips on and a young boy with golden blonde hair and somber blue eyes blinks slowly into the camera for a few moments. His speech is hesitant and his manner apologetic.]

Hi.

I, um... I think this is working now. Can anyone hear me? ...I'm sorry if I'm not doing this right; I've never used anything like this before. But they said this was how I could communicate with everyone, so... hello.

[He shifts uneasily as he speaks, though he manages a small smile as he introduces himself; his gaze falls now on a point just slightly right of the camera. Technology was not something he was terribly familiar with using - or ever really wanted to be.]

My name is Lucas. And it's very nice to meet all of you. I guess I'm using this now, because I... I'm happy to be here and help, I am, but I don't think I really understand why I'm here. I mean, I do understand about the monsters and the 'demons' and all of that kind of thing, and... of course, I want to help, but what I mean is... I'm not sure I understand why me and why... now. I-I know it's a bit selfish, but I...

I'm very tired.

Do you think I can go home for a little bit before I start here? I promise I'll come back and help; it's just -- you see, the thing is, I sort of needed to see if there was a home to go back to, still, and then this happened, and I really should... check.

[He swallows, and his eyes flicker to his feet as his speech becomes ever more incoherent.]

Um. Sorry, that didn't come out right at all. It's not like that -- I mean, it is, a little bit, but not very; it all should be fine, I just -- Oh!

...I'm sorry. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

[He blinks hard and brushes briefly at his eyes before reaching to fiddle with the COMP, trying to turn it off. It will take him some time to be successful.]

Comments

[a_gentle_boy]

A-Ah -- I'll be OK.

[He manages a small smile, though his face is still turned away from the camera.]

I'm sorry to worry you - I didn't mean to make it sound so... dramatic. But, um. I think what I mean to say is just... I don't know how many more monsters I can fight.

[hetried]

If you're sure... [He's a little iffy, but he doesn't wanna touch any bad subjects or anything...]

Heh, I know how you feel... Uh, kind of. Maybe. [Just gonna try and play that off with a chuckle.] Honestly, I'm not big on the fighting either. But there are plenty of other ways to help, if you want. If not, you can just hang back and chill-- most of the time this place is a.. pretty normal city.

[Sorta.]

[a_gentle_boy]

...I know, a lot of the time, there's no choice - if you don't do it, something even worse will happen. But...

[He shakes his head.]

It still never feels right.

But, um.

I thought the reason they wanted people here was to fight monsters...

[hetried]

[Oh boy wasn't this starting to sound familiar.

He visibly drooped, but he was uh-- trying, not to let that show.]

Yeah. I know how it is..

I guess that's why we're here, but I think we're really-- just here to protect the city. And there's more than one way to do that...! There always is!

[a_gentle_boy]

I guess... in my experience, the only way to protect what you love is to fight. But, um. Maybe if there's something else I can do...

[hetried]

I used to think the same thing, but there's all sorts of stuff you can do to help! You can provide medical or technical support depending on the operation... some people just need stuff built and taken care of, you can plan things, or I bet even covert op missions or, something.

[...]

Probably not best for a kid to go on covert ops though. I think those are the hardcore operations.

[a_gentle_boy]

U-Um. Actually...

Medical aid is sort of what I do. That's how I usually help out in fights - heal. It's probably my strongest talent...

But it still involves being in the fight. And I know if I'm not there, people will be hurt.

[hetried]

Awesome! That's what I like to do too-- I mean uh, I only have a few healing spells, but it's better than fighting.

With enough people around, you don't always have to fight directly at least-- you could help on the battlefield, but I know when stuff got bad here, we had to rush a lot of people to the hospital, so there were plenty of people behind the scenes that were busy helping out.

[a_gentle_boy]

Oh -- that's right. You're defending a city...

It's a little different that way. Um. When you're traveling around, the fights sort of... always come to you.

[Lucas seems thoughtful for a moment or two before he glances into the camera and smiles.]

Thank you. I feel a little better now...

[Still, he knows he wouldn't be able to bear the guilt if he sat in a hospital healing people when there would be desperate need of his abilities on the front lines, too.]

[hetried]

Good!

[Well, maybe it wasn't all better, but helping did make Daichi smile.]

It's kind of different, but that just means there's more people to help. Although you can't really avoid trouble when it comes to you...

But hey, if you need any help, just... ask, OK? I mean, I've got experience fighting these things too, and lots of people actually like to do this sort of stuff...

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas responds with a quiet nod.]

Thank you.

And, um, I will! ...I guess I already did, just now. And I'm sorry about before, again. I think I was just feeling a little bit... alone.

Oh -- I'm Lucas. I don't know if I said it yet...

[hetried]

It's no problem! My name's Daichi-- it's nice to meet you.

And uh, like I said... just ask, if you need anything. You don't have to be alone here.

[a_gentle_boy]

It's nice to meet you, Daichi.

[Lucas manages a more cheerful smile now.]

...I should have known. No matter where you go... you won't ever have to be alone if you don't want to. I shouldn't have forgotten.

I... I think I'm going to need a little time to think about this. Um -- I'll talk to you again soon, though.