IC Inbox [Victory Road]

[forsaintcecilia]

Please leave any mail for Kazuki here, whether of the electronic or physical variety! He'll get back to you ASAP!

Comments

[forsaintcecilia]

Woah, seriously? Like, a big boat? The kind that you could really take out to sea?

[schachmeister]

Yes. In fact, it's big enough to live on. Permanently.

[This isn't just a little boat Armin can take out onto the sea once in a while. This is a home. A floating home.]

[forsaintcecilia]

Uwaaaah! That must be like, a dream for you! So you can be out with your Water Pokemon all the time!

Good job, Armin! That must've taken a lot of hard work to save up for!

[schachmeister]

Well, I was very fortunate. Shiro never let us pay any rent, so all that money just accumulated. And honestly, I would do the work I do at the marine centre even if it was a volunteer position, so I am really lucky that I do get paid for it. Plus beating the Elite Four helped too.

[Plus, growing up with very little money means he also isn't really prone to spendthrift, to begin with. He's the type who'd buy second-hand clothes, not because he needs to, but simply because it seems like a more sensible decision.]

[forsaintcecilia]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the prize money! I mean, they have to make it worth your while, when you have to make the trek through Victory Road to get there.

Have you been out on it yet? Did you give it a name?

[schachmeister]

Well, I feel like the experience in and of itself was worth it already. I'm definitely thinking of visiting the area again in the future. But I guess that would be true for some other people.

[People who have no appreciation for the goddamn beautiful of nature.]

Not yet. The guy I bought it from got too old to live and work on it, so it got neglected a bit the last few years. I'll still be living with Shiro until I can get it all fixed up.

I... I hadn't even thought yet about naming it.

[Oh no. Not naming things. Armin's kryptonite.]

[forsaintcecilia]

You've gotta name it! It's bad luck to go out on a boat that doesn't have a name!

[schachmeister]

Wait, really?

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah! I'm pretty sure that's the whole reason sailors give them names at all.

[schachmeister]

... I really hadn't thought about names yet. I wouldn't know where to begin. Is there some sort of... theme people generally follow?

[forsaintcecilia]

Um, normally it's like, a woman's name, or a name related to the sea, or sometimes a pun...

[schachmeister]

Well, I don't think I really know any women to name a boat after...

[He already named a pokemon after Mikasa. He can't name everything after her. And even if he wanted to, this boat doesn't really suit her name. Maybe if it was a sleeker, quicker model. But not this type of slow and languid thing.]

[forsaintcecilia]

You can always just choose a name you like! And you have time to think about it while you fix her up.

[schachmeister]

That's true.

When it is done, you should come and check it out. We could even go out onto the ocean if you wanted. You could bring Shimizu and give him a chance to really stretch his flippers.

whoops, missed this!

[forsaintcecilia]

Do you think that there's enough room for two people to stay on it?

1/2

[schachmeister]

Sure. There is even a bed fit for two!

2/2

[schachmeister]

[Wait, in his excitement about his new boat, Armin just said something weird, didn't he? Something that could be taken in a completely different way and oh no! That is super not what he meant.]

N-not that we would be sharing the bed, of course! I just meant that it is a clear indication that this boat was meant for at least two people! Nothing weird!

[forsaintcecilia]

[Kazuki gave Armin a confused look at first-- why was he so flustered? If there wasn't much room on the boat, sharing a bed was understandable-- but that soon dissolved into amusement and laughter as he understood Armin's embarrassment.]

Don't worry, I didn't think anything of it! Even if we have to share a bed-- that's fine, right?

[schachmeister]

No, of course not. Eren and I used to share a bed all the time. I just... didn't want you to think I was suggesting something which I was not.

[Because it was Not Like That. Not that there is anything Wrong with being Like That. It just wasn't.]

[forsaintcecilia]

I've never gotten the impression that you're that kind of guy anyways.

[Kazuki knew Armin was married to the ocean.]

[schachmeister]

[The ocean is the perfect body of water for him, it is true. But also--]

Ah, well, about that...

[Armin has never admitted this to anyone, but if it is Kazuki, it is okay, right? If there is one person who won't judge, it is him.]

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah? What's up?

[He was correct! The Kazuki Zone was a No Judgement Zone.]

[schachmeister]

It is not entirely true that I am not a guy like that.

[Listen, he's going to admit it, but that doesn't mean he has to be very forward and blunt about it. Kazuki is only the first person he's actually really telling this and this is not the sort of subject anyone would ever talk about back home.]

[forsaintcecilia]

Huh?

[When Kazuki said that, he actually meant more around the lines of Armin being too reserved to take advantage of a situation like that. He was a nice gentle coconut boi, not a sexual predator. So without clarification, that statement was a little confusing...]

[schachmeister]

[Lord no, Armin is definitely not a guy like that. That's just-- no, he wouldn't even contemplate something like that.

He is, however, entirely unaware of the bit of miscommunication happening here. He honestly had been hoping Kazuki would've picked up on his broad hints by now.]

Uhm, well, you know. A guy like Shiro to some degree.