video; take a chance on me

[kaowont]

Name: Kaoru Hakaze.
Date: 6/30.
Format: Video.

[ The frame shifts and stops awkwardly on a fairly attractive young man accompanied by lovely music in the form of squawking and banging, and it's kind of obvious this is an amateur recording with how shaky it is. His tweed waistcoat is a little singed and dusted up, but the little wink he gives makes it seem like he's looking straight at whoever's tuning in ( you... yes, you! ). There's something a little mesmerizing about that gaze of his. Maybe it's those grey, vulpine eyes.

He's also kneeling on the floor with a cute little pup wrapped up in his arms, daisies arranged in their hair and tail wagging. Poochie here is ready to play!! ]

Hey, all you dandelions out there. ♪ [ like there are no guys in the city, ] We're looking to find... uh, what was it? ... — forever homes! Forever homes for these cuties. It's a real sad situation, you know... the unrest going around after that really weird moon. [ and dream, ] Like there's been an increase in people just packing up and vanishing? I guess they're just not in their right mind, or... well, not to be a total downer or anything, but a bunch of these little guys need to find a new friend. Like Justine-chan here.

And you want a nice new owner, don't you? There's a good girl. [ he wiggles one of the dog's paws for the audience, ] Justine-chan's about four years old and super friendly. We've also got, uhm... Clarice-chan is pretty new, and there's a whole bucket of beckos that need a home... — I guess they're cute? Just hard to keep an eye on. And catch.

Ah, and it's not just the ones I mentioned. We've got a wide selection of critters. Hmm... I've got about thirty minutes to answer questions if you're looking to adopt a new best friend... and might be willing to swing for a little more time if a girl asks me to do it. ♪ [ this is his last day to make this work, anyhow ]

Comments

[wolfcorgi]

shes special you bastard! of course it'd be a good thing to tell people she smells divine!?

[ hello????? trust the guy with an actual pet? who are you???? ]

course i am! thats literally our job!
why wouldnt you want these guys to find a better home?
the reason they didnt pick me is cause ive been goddamn bedridden for a week, asshole
just make sure you actually tell people all their good qualities okay? all of them got a lot of nice stuff going for them
they deserve a nice home!

[kaowont]

couldn't you at least praise me a little?
i'm following the instructions you left to a t, you know~?
like, where everyone likes to be scratched and stuff like that...

[ there's a pause, and it's a little irritating to have to cut his advertisement short to answer these scathing texts... — after all they've been through 'till now, does he really still seem all that unreliable? how many mistakes has he made up until now? why can he never seem to connect? ]

... ah, yeah.
you sure you don't need me to bring you anything?
i assume... they know, right? it'd be kinda hard to hide.

[ hmmm. ]

[wolfcorgi]

you aint a little kid that needs to be praised
youre just doing your job, so man up!

[ insert classic koga oogami pause here. ]

ill consider treating you something if these kids find homes

[ that's enough Being Nice for the day.

the next messages come a little later, because the implication that comes with the last text doesn't taste good in his mouth. they know, what? what are they supposed to know? there isn't anything wrong with him.

there has never been, and there never will be. people here are just weird. next candidates to yumenosaki's oddball group once the current one graduates. ]

yeah i'm sure. its cool
dunno what the hell you mean with that but theyve been treating me well enough
too well if anything, its really damn annoying sometimes!
pipsqueak works here anyways, so you aint gotta worry about me
just worry about getting these guys a good home, hakaze-senpai

[kaowont]

[ 'don't know what you mean'. it's not like kaoru to speak of the awkward, of the elephant in the room, but it's also not like they can afford to be so vague all the time anymore. they're mere saplings on the great tree of change in this world, and it's only now and after a lot of trouble that kaoru's starting to accept...

— the fact that there isn't much they can do but try to weather the storm together.

and so he's abandoning the broadcast, the advertisement, watch in hand and one arm leaning against the wall in frustration. ]

what i mean is...
are you sure they're treating you for the right thing?
at this point... you need to stop holding back, koga-kun.

[wolfcorgi]

[ annoying. annoying, annoying, annoying. there isn't anything wrong with him. not how late he has been waking up, how the sunlight leaves him fatigued, how his own palate has been slowly changing, how he has caught himself staring at people's throats and arms. there isn't anything wrong with him.

maybe if he tells himself that enough times, this nightmare will end and his sickness will be cured.

it's just a cold. maybe a fever. slow hallucinations, or whatever. it's all temporary. ]

hah? the hell you talking about?!
i just have a bad cold
and i'm not holding anything back

stop lumping me together with these people
i'm a goddamn proud wolf, remember?!
and i won't ever be anything else!

[kaowont]

these people?

[ and it's funny. funny, because he used to be the same, holding on desperately to even the smallest fragment of normalcy he could find, just clinging onto some semblance of hope until the way home reveals itself. waiting and waiting until what's precious seemed to be slipping out of their hands.

he thinks about his own changes. he thinks about how koga never mentions them, too. they've always been on rocky terms, but... how does koga see him now? ]

every wolf has a pack, right? even the proud ones.

[ sighhh. ]

i reeeally hate to be the one doing all this lecturing.
being the responsible one doesn't suit me in the least.
but... having to picture you lying there isn't exactly fun for me, either.
so. i'm not going to beg you to be honest or anything, but...
no one expects you to do this all on your own, okay?

[wolfcorgi]

[ that's not it. it doesn't matter whether he's withstanding these changes quietly, all by himself, or if he's letting the whole world hear. it's not even that they're happening, either. he may spill spiteful words about monsters every now and then, may hardly be the most friendly towards them, but koga's a simple boy. he has noticed changes in people, have even considered growing wolf ears and tail and claws and fur of his own. becoming a real wolf! that'd have been much cooler than this.

it stopped being about the fact he's changing into something he's not a long time ago. what he can't accept, what he won't ever accept, is what he's changing into.

karma sure is a bitch. ]

yeah yeah i hear you
im not some helpless kid that cant power through whatevers going on with me right now alright
i aint got plans to die either
if youre so damn worried about me just bring leon next time you come visit
and make sure you get everyone nice homes
otherwise youre gonna be the one stuck in a damn infirmary bed next time!

[kaowont]

[ even kaoru's got limits... well. maybe he just needs to approach this from another angle to get the point across. ]

oh, i don't mind bringing leon along.
he'll be super excited to see you, naturally.
it's not like i can be a replacement for you, after all.

[ there comes a pause in texts, and then: ]

it'd be a shame for your little corgi-chan if this were his last time seeing you though~.
so maybe you should come clean and just accept what's happening.

[wolfcorgi]

[ he really, really doesn't like it. what kaoru is trying to say, how he is even trying to say it. leave it to his senior to beat around the bush and not be direct with his words. it's infuriating. it worsens koga's mood more than it's necessary. ]

i told you i aint got plans to die
and i don't know what the hell you mean by that ok?!
i don't know what the fuck is happening!
the sun fucking hurts, i cant stay awake during the day, my skin's pale as shit, and i keep vomiting everything i goddamn eat! the hell you want me to say? huh?!
you seriously think i'm just letting this happen? that i like being stuck in a damn infirmary bed being taken care by pipsqueak?!
if i could make all of it stop then course i would! but i don't know how to do that
is that what you wanted to hear from me?

[kaowont]

[ the texts run together so closely and so quickly that it feels like the print will leap off his distorted display and start to trample him right there. koga's angry, and for good reason, and... he's never going to get any better at this, is he?

once upon a time their leader dropped the duty of caretaker into his lap, and while he's never acted like it mattered much in the least, now it's so... ]

... you couldn't enter the theater, koga-kun.
pale as a sheet, overwhelmed by the crowd...
... it's obvious you don't want to talk about it, but haven't you... been feeding?
it's kind of wild to think about how our unit's aesthetic is why i know so much about this, but...
if you're a vampire...

this is exactly how twilight went

[wolfcorgi]

shut the fuck up.
shut up. don't you fucking say that word to me.

[ this, this one specific thing is exactly what koga has been desperately trying to avoid. it's something he knows, something kaoru knows, something most people around him know. it's not news, but for two months he has been avoiding it, avoiding talking about it, avoiding thinking about it, avoiding acknowledging it. maybe if he didn't, it wouldn't be true. he'd be able to forget all these weird changes and symptoms and whatever happens under the bright full moon, and things would get better.

it has been wishful, hopeless thinking since day one, but it has been always easier to deal with everything if he just denied it all. mentally easier. otherwise it has been a living hell. ]

i'm a wolf, i'm never gonna be anything else
i dont give a shit what you think i am, you're wrong, ya hear?!
as if a proud wolf like me would ever turn into one of those shitty creatures!
if i fight these changes they'll just stop. i ain't gonna give in to them
i'm not gonna lose this goddamn fight

[kaowont]

[ ... he expects the backlash, but maybe not like this. not with an intensity that's a little off from the usual. if he pushes the matter any further they might never talk again at this rate, so... ]

okay, okay

[ he concedes, plain and simple. ]

i hear you loud and clear~
by the time you're out of there i'll have found homes for every single one
then you'll be forced to say good things about me ♪

[ ... ]

just focus on getting better