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[lakebrat]

Hello. You've reached Goro Akechi, known as Frog. Please leave a message.

[Beep.]

[[ooc: WARNING that threads with willowandoak may contain unmarked NSFW. Tread lightly. Blame Sunflowren.]]

Comments

[lakebrat]

Goro brushes the edge of one of the saucers with his fingertip, as if checking for dust. He doesn't need to tell Ren what their world is like; Ren knows it better than he does. He's heard rumours that Yaldabaoth is already to blame for the indifference of society, for its shallowness and cruelty, but Goro knows he can't be responsible for it all. After all, where was he when Goro was a child, when the whole world crushed his mother, while the Inaba and Odaiba events were taking place? Where was he when any of them were children?

"Yeah," he agrees, taking up the carafe so it doesn't seem too much like he isn't looking at Ren. "I guess all our luck had to go somewhere, right?"

[willowandoak]

"Yeah. It could always be worse. We could always have a Maruki world."

Having gotten the fae god's name from Sam, he replies in turn and turns his phone to show it to Goro—just in time for Sam's text to appear. I really should say hello to him. Check out this paragon of yours.

Oops.

[lakebrat]

The corners of Goro's mouth jerk up. Paragon. Really. "Sounds like my reputation precedes me."

[willowandoak]

"Shut up. Ugh." He takes his phone back. "He was just surprised you let me fight with you. When his team lead boyfriend took care of the guy who tried to kill him, the guy ended up dead."

He says it matter-of-factly, unperturbed.

[lakebrat]

And that... is not something Goro expected to hear. "You must have liked him."

To have told him everything, he means.

[willowandoak]

He makes a noncommittal noise. "I was just thinking... remember Hamuko? When I told her half of us were murderers after she'd been here for months, and she got real upset? I was trying to dodge another situation like that."

...Which he wouldn't have cared about as much if he didn't like Sam. So Goro is right. But never mind that.

[lakebrat]

Yeah. But there's no point digging beneath the surface of that. Instead, he hands over the coffee, taking his own cup in turn, and moving back a few steps in the conversation.

"Us..." he tries, before giving up. "I have no idea how to read that. Or what language it is, annoyingly. It's not English."

[willowandoak]

"It isn't?" He looks at the name again. "How do you know?"

make irish ppl hate you with this one weird trick

[lakebrat]

Goro stares down at it for a second himself. He has no idea how he knows, not really. "It doesn't look like English," he says, confidently. "That y and s, for instance. Plus the -en at the end—in English that would be a verb, not a name."

He touches his chin. "I wonder if it's one of the old British languages. Irish, or something."

oh my goddd sunflowkechi

[willowandoak]

"What about Madden NFL, though?" he asks, naming a sports video game that's fairly obscure in Japan. He pauses for a second to frown. "I guess that doesn't have to be a name. I just always figured it was."

[lakebrat]

Goro hmms over his coffee. He knows what NFL is, even if he doesn't know that game. "Madden... that's a place, right? Or is it a player?"

[willowandoak]

"I dunno. I only played it a little but I don't remember a guy named Madden."

So is it a name, actually? Or is it something else?

...They're getting distracted. "We could maybe google the god, though?"

[lakebrat]

Pulled back on track, he snaps his fingers and reaches for his phone. "You're right. Assuming we get anything...."

But a quick search reveals a screen of pleasing information. Goro can't repress a smirk. "Look at that, Welsh. I knew it was ancient British."

There's even a convenient button for pronunciation. Goro gives it a tap and listens closely, and then contorts his face in the most disgusted way.

[willowandoak]

Tragically, because he would love to laugh at that face, Ren misses it entirely, too busy studying the screen as if he'll find answers there. "Sam didn't say it like that."

[lakebrat]

"Maybe the Internet is wrong. It would hardly be the first time, especially here."

He gives the button another tap, listening closely, then makes another effort to approximate it, with an overemphasised English-style th sound. "Us. Usbathden. Usbathadden. Crap, I hope he doesn't appear if you say his name three times."

[willowandoak]

"Imagine if he did show up here." He frowns. "How would we shrink him down? Or whatever Sam's team did? He made it sound like they went all over the country, but can't even leave the city."

[lakebrat]

He glances up from the phone; that's a revolting thought. "Don't borrow trouble. Nobody else's gods have shown up."

Except then he frowns. "Yet. Other than Sagiri, I mean."

[willowandoak]

His mouth is open to protest when Goro tacks on his mention of Sagiri. He sits back, only somewhat mollified. "See? If he's here, anyone could show up."

Then again, Igor has Sagiri under control...

Then again, Igor failed to keep out Fatalis.