A day out (Sharaku)

Her cheeks would turn red from embarrassment, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you on something that you didn’t think was very fun. I mean, I forget that not everyone is an adrenaline junkie.” She knew that she was, but she forgot some people didn’t get a rush from the rides. She didn’t want to be the only one enjoying her time here, especially since she’s the one who invited him. This was humiliating. She wanted to have fun with a friend, not just drag someone else along for the ride. She would laugh a little in her head at that phrasing. Get it? Ride? Because they were at an amusement park? Yeah. Her sense of humor was completely shot. It would have to be for her to laugh at her own bad joke like that.

When he said the arcade would do, she would give a silent cheer to herself, “Follow me.” She’d wander off to the park of the amusement park where all the games were. Just as she said, the ones outside were closed with the exception of two or three. That wasn’t the part that mattered though. Almost out of place, there was a building near the stands. She would motion him inside as she opened the door. It was clear upon entry that this was the arcade. There were crane games, and shooters where you actually got to hold your gun, and some kind of confusing one where you stacked blocks in order to win increasingly better prizes. She gave a smirk. This was a different kind of adrenaline rush, “Land of chance and skill, this place is. I think we can find something right up your alley.” She could imagine there was at least one thing here he’d like. She just didn’t know what.

She tapped her chin, “I won’t force you to have fun. I can’t really. But, you’ll never know if you’re secretly a ball of laughs and bad momentary decisions unless you try.” She joked at him. Her point was that fun did strange things to people. She just wanted to help him come out of his stuffy shell for a moment. She knew it may not happen, but she was happy to help people discover more about themselves as long as it was harmless. When he joked at her about finding something he would like, she mockingly rolled her eyes. She couldn’t even think up a funny remark at the moment.

She would walk over to a machine and slip a few bills in. In exchange, she would get back quarters. She waltzed back to Sharaku and handed him four of them, “Let’s start with the best one in my opinion.” She walked over to one of the games where a plastic gun was attached. She bent down to feed the machine four quarters of her own. The screen suddenly changed to tell her to pull the trigger when she was ready. She waited to see if Sharaku would grab the gun next to her or if he was just going to stand there and watch. Either way, she would eventually pull the trigger, “Just follow the directions and aim steady and true.” Not that she was all that good at these games, but it was fun. She lifted her gun and took aim at the screen before pulling the trigger to take out some ‘evil robots’ that were apparently taking over a building and threatening to destroy all humanity. She would pause for a second, “You know, most of the robots I’ve met have nothing against humanity. Wonder why this troop is so popular.” She would continue as more seemed to appear and she had to switch the direction her avatar was facing by flicking her gun.

((Sorry for the holdup. It was a busy day))

Naomi awkwardly tapped her forehead with the gun while she thought, “In that case, let’s forego the bad decisions for now. It’s time to make better ones.” She lowered the gun suddenly as she noticed another adversary to aim it back toward the screen, “I’ll personally start with not withdrawing my weapon from use. You should make your own plans to. Maybe figuring out how to solve whatever’s on your mind.” She was an emotion reader. She could tell he was thinking about something quite often. It was probably related to what he said earlier about getting on people’s bad side, but she wouldn’t pry, “It’s just an idea though. Can’t particularly say if you should heed my advice or not, but it’s always there as a suggestion.” If he wanted to talk about it, she would be here for him. She learned from talking to him, however, that he didn’t always like to go into too much detail about his affairs. She respected that, but would still give some friendly advice.

She would shrug as she shot down more enemies, “Well, it’s kind of strange once you actually know a few robots. It almost feels like I’m shooting them when I’m not. Then again, I guess these games have human enemies all the time and I don’t feel anything then.” It was weird. Certain enemies didn’t make her blink, but others could cause her to question her own morality, “I guess as long as I’m not imagining them as the enemies, it’s okay.” She didn’t think Alphonse or Beep would like the idea of being target practice. She cared about them too much to do that anyway. She would briefly look over at Sharaku’s screen to see how he was doing. She couldn’t tell if he was enjoying the game or not. Her perception of people’s emotions was good, but not perfect. It didn’t help that he had a hard face to read.

That idea sounded nice, “If I had that superpower, I’m sure I could have avoided many a bad decision over the course of my life.” Then again, did she want to? Sure, they were bad decisions, but they were her bad decisions. She admitted that there were some ones she really wished she could change, but there were others she might have been better off not changing. Then again, it would still be a nice ability, “Maybe trying isn’t the thing you should do then. In fact, maybe you’re trying too hard. Maybe you just need to stop and relax.” Once again, she was not a therapist. She was just spouting whatever came to mind. She almost wondered if she sounded crazy.

She would almost look panicked when one of the robots got too close and she started seeing red on her screen, “I’m not sure about that. I mean, I only know a few robots, so I can’t say, but they seem to have emotions like humans do. Besides, I like how people have emotions. It allows them to all be different. Then again, I guess we wouldn’t have bad things happen if we all acted on something other than emotions. Still, I wouldn’t want that.” She finally got the robot off of her and continued where she left off, “I’m grateful they can’t feel this. I think I would stop playing these games if they could. I mean, I think it would be rights issue at that point in time.” That was a disturbing thought. At that point, she was sure this would be murder. Right now though it was only violent fun.

Naomi would give a slight frown as even she thought of what she meant, “Well, I mean, if trying make things more complicate, what if you just stopped that. Instead of trying, just go with the flow and do what comes naturally. Maybe you’re just trying too hard and it’s getting in the way.” She thought that made sense. It did to her, at least, “And how you do it is simple. Just say whatever first comes to mind and express who you are without having to think about it. If it’s hard, you can practice on me. Just say whatever pops into your mind.” She didn’t expect him to do it, and she wasn’t going to force him. It was just a suggestion, after all.

She would look almost confused for a second before correcting herself, “I have to admit, I forget that he’s a robot most of the time. I mean, I sometimes remember, but…” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence, “But I know what you’re talking about. Still, it doesn’t feel like he’s faking them either. It’s complicated, I guess.” Heck if she knew the answer. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore, “But emotions are a necessary evil. They may make us completely irrational, but I don’t think life would be as fun without them. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t be as dramatic, in a good way. It all depends what you’re looking for.” She shrugged. She was sounding like a bad fortune cookie, the kind that didn’t even have fortunes, “But I’m not a fan of violence either. But this isn’t violence; it’s strategy.” She preferred that much more.

She would look at him as she finally got taken out by some robots, “At the risk of making a friendship speech of my very own, I would like the real you. I mean, I think of us as being close, so…” She had no idea how to not make this sound cheesy, “Without sounding too stereotypical, even though you may like to play it off, you don’t have to around me if you don’t want to or don’t feel like it. I would like to believe that I’m not easy to make go insane.” She would give a lighthearted chuckle before continuing, “But this isn’t about your relationship to me. It’s about with everyone. Honestly, I think the people closest to you won’t mind either way. It may drive them insane at first, but then they will just get used to it, and all should be good.” She had no idea what had gotten into her today, but she felt like saying this stuff. Maybe it was because she saw something in Sharaku she didn’t feel like she had seen before. Vulnerability, no; weakness, no; it was just something different. It was… Was there even a word for it? It was just, something that made him seem not so different than the her she had been hiding for so long. He was human (even if he didn’t really like that comparison), “Maybe the solution is knowing when to be free not to do it…” She doubted that, but she couldn’t think of anything else.

She would make a half pouting face, but as a joke, “I know I’ll never know what it’s like, but I would like to believe I’ve been watching long enough to get a feeling for what it may be like.” She had been around robots and AI for a while now. She felt safe saying that treating them like people was probably their best bet. Then again, she had no idea how to treat them differently. The robots she knew were all her friends, “And my relationship with Hyde has less to do with our difference in emotions and more to do with how he acts on them blindly. Emotions are a good thing, but they can’t be the only thing. We have brains as well as hearts. We have to use them both.” She would not deny that she hated Hyde, however. He annoyed her to no end. Sharaku just couldn’t put the entire thing on emotions.

She would rub her head as she put in more quarters to finally continue, “Well, I do worry about violence, but not as much now that you’ve informed me that they are just figmants and not real creatures. See, you really are rubbing off on me.” She laughed as she started shooting the robot that had taken her out before, “But this is a type of strategy. It’s useful to be able to think on your feet.” She loved these kinds of games. She wasn’t sure why though. Better yet, having Sharaku by her side made it more fun. Today was a good day.

And, once again, she could see it. She had said something weird and now she made someone uncomfortable. How was she so good at doing that? She would just sort of tap her foot on the ground while she thought, “Good or not, it can still happen. Unless you really don’t want it to.” She was bad at saying what she meant, but she didn’t mean for him to interpret it in a way that was creepy or made him uncomfortable, “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean that is a weird way. It’s just… I don’t know.” She couldn’t explain it. She would rub the back of her head nervously and smile, “No offense, but the feeling of being stuck together was mutual when we started. However, I would trust you at my back now.” She meant she trusted him enough to let down her guard around him, “And, feel free to not answer me, but are you upset about that? Did you want to be close to them?” If it was heard for him, it may have hurt to have that person change so drastically.

She rolled her eyes, half as a joke, half saying it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, “Reading people’s emotions is nice sometimes, but it mostly makes you paranoid about how everything you do and say affects them. I swear I must be a neurotic mess by now because of it.” She really wasn’t holding up very well in that department, though she tried, “I do admit that Alphonse is a bit harder to read than most people, but I’m not sure if that’s because his emotions are not completely natural or if they don’t display the same as a normal humans.” She figured it was the latter. She thought Alphonse showed pretty basic emotions. Enough that she couldn’t call him emotionless, at least.

She’d put away her rifle once again as she died from a robot that had snuck up on her from a different side, “Well, I can’t say I know him well enough to know his ideals. All I know is that his attitude doesn’t change, no matter what happens. He’s too idealistic. There are times when giving up is the best option, and when stepping back does more good than fighting. It’s all about looking at it and realizing what kind of situation you’re in.” She didn’t want to talk to talk about Hyde though, “At least you’re a more rational person. Have to admit, it’s pretty nice. I like people to be honest with their thoughts and emotions, but there’s a time and place for everything.” Unfortunately, that’s something not everyone seemed to have learned yet. Maybe she just picked it up a while ago. She would sigh with a bit of a laugh, “I knew they weren’t real. I was just thinking of them as the real robots I know. It was just a moment of thinking too deeply about it. I felt a little guilty, but not anymore.” She was good at thinking about too many things at once.