03. || video/event

[puckoff]

[[ return from hiatus as well, went with the coma option so no he hasn't been around for a week or two. <3 ]]

[ The camera clicks on but it's shaking really badly in the hands of the disoriented Canadian holding onto it. His teeth chatter and there is a flurry of movement as he repositions himself and sits up. He hasn't even looked at the other videos, too busy pulling on as many clothes as he had. Kumajiro is resting his large head on his shoulder, looking tired but worried as he chuffs in his master's ear.

Matt would probably be more touched by Kumajiro's concern if he could actually focus on something else than his trembling. It was all he could do to reach out for help. He didn't even think he could make it out of his apartment he's so groggy and out-of-it. The first sight you'll see is Matthew rubbing his eyes with his free hand- huddled up in his bed without his glasses on. ]

W-What's going on? I j-just woke up out of a r-really weird dream 'm so c-c-cold! I c-can't have slept that long right- is it w-winter all of a sudden? I d-don't think I have a fever...

[ His teeth clack loudly as he switches the phone to another hand, hugging the large white bear around his furry neck. The hood of his sweatshirt goes over his head. Swallowing, he shakes his head and mumbles before he puts the phone down. ]

I never g-get cold, eh- Something's v-very wrong...

Comments

[heirrant]

[And he barely even noticed the implied question. Maybe the bear is just such a normal part of his day that he doesn't even register it as unusual anymore- he's guilty of that himself, in his own way.

He doesn't chase it up, regardless.]

Hmm. I'm not so sure. If you just woke up like this after having slept for a reasonably long time, it seems unlikely that you caught it from somewhere else recently. How long have you been asleep for?

[puckoff]

[ There's a little pause as he tries to check a clock, but his phone's is blocked by the audio conversation. And without his glasses he can't make out the one on the wall. ]

I, eh... I don't know, actually. It's still Friday, r-right?

[heirrant]

... ah. [A minimum of three days, then? And that's assuming that it's not been week, which can't be immediately discounted in a place like this... no, that's not sleep. That's a coma.] Actually, it's a Monday.

[puckoff]

...Monday??

[ Looking panicked, he looks around hurriedly, finally finding his glasses on the windowsill and pushing them on his face. Then he grabs his alarm clock and ogles at the date. ]

I've been asleep for over a w-week! How d-did this happen? Oh, man-- D-did no one notice I was gone?

[ ...not that it would be unusual. To be honest. ]

[heirrant]

[Off-camera, Ataru winces a little. He hadn't intended to give him a scare, but looking back it seems that he was always going to get a rude awakening. Figuratively speaking.

Calmly, and in a clipped, almost paternal voice, he answers-] I couldn't possibly tell you- I only arrived here a little while ago. I take it a week isn't normal for you?

[puckoff]

N-no, usually if I sleep n-more than 8 hours it's weird... I know some people [ America ] who can sleep for, like... 12, but... A week is definitely not right.

[ He sighs as he rubs his face. This city. He'd had enough of it. ]

Wait when did you get here? Did I miss another group of arrivals?

[ And more importantly why were people still coming here.... ]

[heirrant]

[It's easy to feel sorry for the man- as if the usual problems inherent in even being here weren't enough to contend with, he'd somehow lost a week.]

We got here on the eighteenth- it can't have been long after you fell asleep. [Does that make it better or worse...?] My name is Soldier, for the record. Kinnikuman Soldier.

[puckoff]

[ Still shivering a little. ]

Nice to meet you, Soldier. I'm Matt-- eh, or Canada, whichever. America wasn't too shy about letting that cat out of the bag.

[ He rolls hie eyes. Typical. There is a reason they have the human names but why would that matter to a country like America. ]

[heirrant]

It's nice to meet you t... [Ataru trails off, wrongfooted. Or Canada? Is this some sort of coy nicknaming system he and-- "America" have for each other? He's making it sound so natural and obvious.] "That cat"? What do you mean?

[puckoff]

Sorry, weird expression, I honestly don't know where it came from. English is strange...

[ okay no more avoiding it. Just- Yeah there's no easy to explain this. ]

Yeah, we're- Well, countries right? Lots of them. They each have their own... person who represents them- are the nations, for intents and purposes. And I happen to the the human form of, uh, Canada.

[heirrant]

No, I understand the expression, I just... [and he immediately trails off because what the hell is that supposed to mean.

There's a few moments of dead air as he mulls over that one again, trying to work out if Matt is serious or not. He doesn't sound as though he's joking around- and, if he were, he's not sure where the punchline is- but... really?]

... let me see if I understand you. [He speaks slowly and deliberately.] You are the human personification of the country Canada. As in, Canada- the place- made human.

[puckoff]

[ Matthew looks pensive for a moment, chewing on his lip and mumbling a bit before he finally says, ]

Yeah, that's basically the best explanation I can give you. Something bad happens to Canada the country? It happens to me in a more... human version.