002 [video;]

[irenicly]

[When the feed turns on, Banjou has a guitar in his lap, the camera at an awkward angle that focuses more on the guitar than it does Banjou. He doesn't seem to mind this, idly strumming at it without trying to play a particular song. It's not like he can actually read sheet music, so everything he does is played on the fly anyway.]

I have a question.

[He finally settles on something melodic, if repetitive, before he continues.]

Does anyone here have hobbies they find difficult to continue here? Or something they've found they have more time for here as opposed to where they come from? Take what I'm doing-- I never had as much time as I wanted back home.

It's complicated, but I think I'm beginning to enjoy the freedom this place gives me.

I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way.

((bonus alternative listening.))

Comments

[adai]

You're welcome. I've never tried playing a musical instrument before, but I like listening to them.

[Banjou's words actually do get a smile out of him, even if it is a bit of an awkward one.]

I'm sure I will too. I never had time for any hobbies back home, so I didn't bother trying to find things I liked. I have plenty of time here though, which is something I'm very thankful for.

[irenicly]

It takes some practice, but it's not impossible to pick up.

[It's probably easier to do the normal way. Now that Banjou's trying to actually learn to read sheet music, he's realized just how badly he's taught himself basically everything.]

This place usually has a slow pace; there's plenty of time to learn something new here.

[Banjou's not about to question not having time for hobbies, not when things were constantly happening to him.]

[adai]

Maybe I'll look into something like that at some point. It would be interesting.

[He probably doesn't have any musical talent whatsoever though...]

Thank you for playing, I really liked hearing it. Oh, my name's Rossiu.

[irenicly]

[Let's be honest with ourselves, Banjou doesn't have much of a talent either.]

It's nice to meet you, Rossiu. I'm Banjou.

[adai]

[But at least you're learning!]

Perhaps you could show me in person sometime? If that's not too much to ask.

[irenicly]

[He stops playing for a moment before he starts to play something a bit slower this time.]

Sure, that's no problem at all. Where are you right now?

[adai]

I'm in Cherrygrove, but I'll probably continue travelling once the weather's better. I'm not really sure where to go. This place is nice, but I'm interested in seeing some of the bigger cities. I haven't seen any sort of city before, so this is all very new to me.

[irenicly]

I live in Goldenrod. I think it's one of the bigger cities in Johto. It's not bad, but it's a long hike from Cherrygrove.

Are you from a small town?

[adai]

I hope I'll make it there someday, then.

[He doesn't seem very confident, but at least that's settled him somehow. Having a destination in mind is much better than wandering aimlessly as far as Rossiu's concerned.]

I'm from Adai village. It was very tiny and our resources were limited. We could only comfortably have fifty people in the village at a time.

[He looks sad for a moment before continuing, though Rossiu's no longer looking at the camera.]

...That was my whole world for a long time. I didn't know there were other villages and I didn't know that being sent to the surface was being sent to your death. Maybe if I had known, I...

[Then he realizes what he's saying and looks startled.]

Ah, I apologize, that was unnecessary. The point is that yes, I'm from a small town underground, so I've never seen buildings like this on the surface. Most of Adai's buildings were very small anyway, so seeing homes with two stories is still very strange.

[irenicly]

[....wow, and he thought being a ghoul was rough. That doesn't sound like an easy life.]

Tokyo has a lot of skyscrapers. Most people live in huge apartment complexes where you'd never meet all of your neighbors. I didn't live in anything like that, but you see them all over the place. It's a little strange compared to here. Even in Goldenrod, the buildings don't get so big.

I'm sure it'll still be impressive for you, if you've been underground your entire life.

[adai]

Skyscrapers? Apartment complexes?

[Uh oh, you lost him already, Banjou.]

I came to the surface world not too long ago, but there aren't any buildings there. There are gunmen, but they're different. They move around; even the largest ones can walk. The buildings we had underground were all very simple, so all of this has been interesting.

[irenicly]

[...whoops. Sorry!]

Skyscrapers are huge buildings. There's nothing like them in Goldenrod, so they're probably hard to explain. Apartment complexes are lots of houses stacked on top of each other.

[adai]

I've never seen any huge buildings, unless you count the gunmen. I've heard that in other villages the houses were stacked on top of one another.

[It all sounds very interesting!]

[irenicly]

I'm sure you'll find it very cool looking once you actually get a chance to see a large city.

[...let's be honest, he'll probably be amazed at something Banjou hasn't even given much thought to. It'll probably be cute when it happens!]

[adai]

I'm sure I will! Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it.

[He seems genuinely excited, which is better than the very serious expression.]

[irenicly]

You're welcome. Good luck.