IC Contact

[offtracks]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, NOBORI.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 17.128.903.472

*** NOBORI has joined 17.128.903.472

<NOBORI> Hello! This is Ingo!
<NOBORI> How may I help you?

Other Handles: Wayward [anon]

Comments

[offtracks]

...yes. It is.

[.......they literally just talked about it. He should just say it.]

You have been there when I...woke up from that a few times, recently.

["Woke up" is not precisely the phrase he wants. It isn't like being asleep at all; he's still generally aware of what's happening around him, even if he can't really process it. Emmet's presence has never startled him, like he was snuck up on. He just isn't sure how else to put it.]

I do not mean to do things like that in the living room.

[i_am_emmet]

It happens.

[Emmet says this pretty laissez-faire tone, for him at least.]

I would sit down and wait it out with you in case you needed anything, yup. Mine are embarrassing for me, so I didn't want to draw attention to yours.

[offtracks]

Thank you. I... [Hmmmm. This is a bit embarrassing for him to talk about, that's plain. He's not sure that knowing it's innate and not some sort of brain damage helps?] I know that it is not always that noticeable, especially now that I am napping so often anyhow...but I would feel bad if Gladion saw I was awake and tried to speak to me.

[He couldn't answer, even if he was able to parse what someone was saying. Rare, when Ingo can't or won't speak, but there it is.]

Is there...anything I ought to do for you?

[i_am_emmet]

I don't remember what you would do to be honest- but somehow it always helped when you were around.

[Because Ingo would sit near Emmet and eventually, Emmet would start copying his breathing.]

[A small thing, really noticeable, and Ingo may not even had been doing it knowingly! It just made Emmet follow a pattern of breathing!]

Things just get too much, you know.

[offtracks]

...I'm sorry for leaving, then.

[Though not that sorry - he sort of suspects his presence is only helpful if he remains calm himself.]

[i_am_emmet]

You didn't know, and I couldn't explain anything. So it would make sense to leave, yup.

[offtracks]

I thought it seemed best at the time.

[Certainly, sitting there and watching would only have stressed him much more acutely! But Ingo can forgive himself fairly easily for this, knowing that he had to go have his own moment.]

Well, next time I shall know better.

cw: ableism

[i_am_emmet]

I also try and hide when I feel one coming, mostly because it is embarrassing. As I have been told before 'I'm a 'grown-ass' adult and shouldn't be doing this.' and all that.

[offtracks]

That seems...harsh.

[Ingo sounds less certain of this than he would have, back in the day. Emmet is, after all, his only real guide for understanding these things; it's difficult to contradict him. But Ingo knows that no force of will can stop his episodes. Even if they could - well, it happens because things are difficult already, there's no call to be mean about it.]

[i_am_emmet]

It is, but most people just think I am having a temper fit.

[offtracks]

...but that is not it at all! At least - I suppose it is an excess of emotion, in a way, but it is not as though you simply...decide "ah, yes, this is what I shall do now!" Like someone shouting, or some such thing!

[i_am_emmet]

People are weird, they don't understand.

[offtracks]

I know that not everyone has those exact experiences, but surely everyone becomes upset? Or - well, I suppose other people do manage the city much better.

[A lot of that was Felfri-born trauma. A lot of it is also just that the place is overstimulating. There's a lot of reasons Ingo struggles with places like the arcade!]

[i_am_emmet]

Its the entire 'You should handle your feelings differently' thought. They don't understand the programs stop running.

[offtracks]

...I don't understand what you mean by that.

[He wasn't going to say anything but this is the second time Emmet's brought up programs!]

[i_am_emmet]

Oh, modern things.

[Emmet paused trying to explain a program.]

The thing your laptop runs are called 'Programs' like the program to connect to the network, or make a Word document, or draw a picture. If your computer runs too many of them, it can make the computer stop working.

[offtracks]

It can draw pictures? I thought it was only for communication!

[Ingo knows how to use the network and That Is It!]

[i_am_emmet]

You never investigated it more?

[offtracks]

I know how to use the network! What else do I need?

[i_am_emmet]

Word documents, art programs, games! There is one called V-Pets I downloaded.

[offtracks]

Are the word documents like books?

[i_am_emmet]

Not really, think of it like a digital scroll. Did they have scrolls in Hisui?

[offtracks]

Yes, parchments. But what is in them, then?

[i_am_emmet]

Whatever you write, or what other people write. Back home I used to save stories that Independent Authors would write on my computer. And tried to write one once myself, yup.

[Emmet was reading fanfiction.]

[offtracks]

...I'm not sure I understand how this is any different than paper, but I do like reading stories.

[nightmare scenario ingo attempts to find new romance novels from "independent authors" on the internet now]