maybe one of these days they'll go on an actual date

[cutefaced]

Comments

[zerotohiro]

It might be for the best. Aunt Cass doesn't check the garage if I'm not here so she won't notice anything's up. I'm not going back out until tomorrow though.

[cutefaced]

...in that case, can I go out and explore the city during the day while you're gone?

[Yona no.]

[zerotohiro]

Depends. Are you going to know where you're going? [YONA NO.]

[cutefaced]

I'll memorize the way I go so I know how to get back!

[YONA NO.]

[zerotohiro]

That sounds like a recipe for disaster, so maybe not. [He raises his eyebrows.] At least not until I catch you up to speed with how the modern world works. You can't..be all princess-y here.

[cutefaced]

Does your world not have princesses?

[that's not what he means, yona...]

[zerotohiro]

I mean yeah, it does, but not here. We have never had princesses in this country. Maybe if they were visiting but not living here. I think.

[cutefaced]

Oh... okay. Um, I'll just have to get used to it, then.

[Her expression falls a little at her next thought - I'd have to get used to it even in Kouka - but she is aggressively trying not to think about what exactly it is that's brought her here, so uh. Here we are.]

But in the meantime I'll wait until you're free to show me around.

[zerotohiro]

[He feels a little bad, but...he gets an idea soon enough.]

...hey Yona. What if I told you there's a way to show you a lot of the city without even leaving the garage?

[cutefaced]

Really?

[That sounds fake, but Hiro wouldn't lie to her, so... she'll allow herself to be intrigued.]

How?

[zerotohiro]

[He's moving almost immediately, grabbing a Kreitech laptop from his workbench and settling near her chair as he boots it up, navigating his way to a web browser and pulling up real-time maps of the city.]

There're satellites and cameras everywhere that take pictures all the time.

[cutefaced]

Eh...?

[She peers at the laptop as he pulls up the maps. They default to the location, of course, so she's greeted with... the outside of the garage! Her eyes go wide.]

That's right outside. If we go out there will they see us on these?

[zerotohiro]

Probably. [Definitely, but let's not go outside? He's going to click away to another map that shows the golden gate bridge.] It's cool though, right? You can see everything from here.

[cutefaced]

It's so big!

[She stares at the image of the golden gate bridge with no small amount of interest, and leans in to get a closer look.]

...I think I saw this when you were bringing me back here? Or, um. Before that. When I was falling. You could see it even from where we were even though I think we were far away.

[zerotohiro]

It's pretty much the most identifiable landmark of San Fransokyo. It's also how people travel across the bay and stuff. People come from all over the world to see it if you can believe that. If you want, later on we can go take a closer look. [A beat.] It's worth it. Trust me.

[cutefaced]

I want to!

[she spent most of her time in her room or the castle grounds before coming here, hiro, she wants to see the world]

You have to tell me how they manage to get it to stand up like that. It looks like it could fall over, but it doesn't!

[zerotohiro]

[...just...staring...]

Yona. Do they not have bridges where you're from?

[cutefaced]

They do! But they're made of wood, and usually go over a stream or a river, and they're never that big.

[CUT HER SOME SLACK, HIRO.]

[zerotohiro]

The Golden Gate Bridge is definitely not made of wood. It's science. It's angles and physics and materials that keep the whole thing standing.

[cutefaced]

I don't really understand it, but maybe I will if you explain the science of it to me later?

[zerotohiro]

Have you ever understood any of the science I've told you before? I could try, but some of it's a little complicated.

[cutefaced]

Some of it, but I didn't get many chances to actually use it...

[Being dead and then going straight back to seeing your dad murdered will put a damper on science experiments.]

I don't mind taking the time to learn, though. ...we'll have plenty of time for that.

[zerotohiro]

We have a lot of time for everything. I just...wasn't sure how much patience you had for that kind of thing. I could talk about it for a while. Just a fair warning.

[cutefaced]

If we start with the basics, it will probably be okay...? I might not look it, but I'm a pretty fast learner.

[Especially when she wants to have something to focus on to distract her from the dead dad, evil cousin thing.]

[zerotohiro]

...Yona I've always known that. That's why you were the best game partner. [A half-smile.] Did you think I didn't notice that?