Voicemail

[samsa]

Hello! I'm not around at the moment, but if you leave a message I'll get back to you!

[Beep!]

Comments

[samsa]

[...LISTEN.]

...it seemed fitting, considering.

[preybeforemeals]

Oh, I'm not arguing with that at all. It just wasn't quite what I expected.

[samsa]

I can't think of a Pokemon that would be more deserving of that kind of name, anyway.

[preybeforemeals]

Indulge my curiosity and tell me what you named the Abra.

[samsa]

[There's only a short pause before-]

I named her Carrie.

[preybeforemeals]

[...

SHIT, KANEKI, HE HAS PROBABLY JUST TERRIFIED POOR MERIDIANA WITH THE SUDDEN BURST OF LAUGHTER FROM THE ROOM NEXT DOOR.]

That angry, is she...

[samsa]

[SORRY MERIDIANA...]

She, uh...she holds a nasty grudge, let's put it that way.

[preybeforemeals]

[Things he needed in his life: THAT.]

I'll keep that in mind if I ever come across her again; I assume she won't like Banjou-san, either.

[samsa]

Probably not, no. Especially not since he's the one who caught her in the first place.

[If anything, she hates Banjou more.]

[preybeforemeals]

Banjou-san caught her using my snake. It was something of an ugly capture.

[samsa]

It must have been. She gets really testy if I try to put her in her Pokeball, most of the time. And Rikki can't stand her.

...I mean, Rikki doesn't like a lot of people or Pokemon, but she really doesn't like Carrie.

[preybeforemeals]

Put Carrie in charge of babysitting Angmar, perhaps - it'll give her something to do outdoors, and after all, she is no man.

[samsa]

[...okay, now it's his turn to laugh because really. But that's...actually not a terrible idea, all things considered.]

That's true. I can't say she'd like it all that much, but she'd be able to handle Angmar better than I ever could.

[preybeforemeals]

I'm sure you're doing fine, actually.

Thank you for talking to me, by the way. I appreciate it.

[samsa]

I'd hope so. I guess I'm probably better at it than I was when I first got here...

[...that always gets him, when Tsukiyama says things like that. It's not necessarily in a bad way, per say, but even so it's still a little...strange, hearing that sort of thing.]

You're welcome. And...thank you for checking up on me at all. I really wasn't sure how this weekend would go, but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

[preybeforemeals]

I'm glad to hear it. You were actually here once before, during one of those weekends - before you were brought on a more permanent level.

[It's something he's not certain he should have said, really, but he imagines there's not much harm in it either.]

[samsa]

[That...okay, he doesn't quite know what to do with that, at first.]

I was...here before?

[It takes him a moment, but he does send something after that.]

I don't remember that at all...did you talk to me?

[preybeforemeals]

Yes, I did.

I'm not surprised you don't remember; you had been brought here from around the same time I was, in July. So technically, you haven't experienced it yet.

[samsa]

[...that's so weird though.]

So...it was me from the future. Or, I guess...it seem that way for me, anyway.

And when that weekend was over...I disappeared again.

[preybeforemeals]

Yes, you did. I had been told in advance that that much would probably happen, so it wasn't terribly jarring, but it was strange.

I met up with you near that lake that's up by Mahogany Town.

[samsa]

I see...I wonder how common it is for people who showed up during one of those weekends to end up coming back afterwards and actually...staying.

[preybeforemeals]

I actually don't know, and it's a bit difficult to say without polling the network directly.

[...]

For reference and peace of mind, I'm not saying this to you with the intention of...I don't know, implying that I would prefer it if you'd come to us as you were that weekend, as opposed to how you are now. You know that, n'est-ce pas?

[samsa]

Yeah, I do. I guess it's just...strange to think about, that's all. I wouldn't even think that sort of thing would be possible before I came here.

And it's not as if that person you talked to that weekend wasn't still me. It was just me from a different time.

[preybeforemeals]

I know, Kaneki-kun.

[And there's a pause, for a moment, before another text comes through.]

I'm glad that you're here, you know.

[samsa]

[There actually isn't any hesitation this time when he responds.]

I know. ...I'm glad I am, too.

[...]

...are you glad to be here, Tsukiyama-san?