ambidex voting #15

[vivariummods]

A M B I D E X  V O T I N G Once everyone exits their respective rooms, Zero's voice will be heard over the speakers: "Proceed into the Ambidex Rooms and cast your vote. You will be given 45 minutes to decide." And with that, the elevator doors open and the PA system turns itself off. It seems as if there are no rewards or any of that nonsense this time around... BASIC INFO ✖ VOTES + FORMS ✖ RESULTS + REACTIONS

Comments

[detectiveofthewest]

A
Heiji came out of the elevators looking a little out of sorts, but by now he'd had a little time to recover from the events of the grey room. He sought Snake out at once, of course, and he needed to find Sasuke at some point, too... SURELY NOTHING COULD GO WRONG.

B
Shortly after exiting the room, however, Heiji was going to do something a little out of character and climb up into one of the trees in the garden to do his best Sasuke impersonation. No one had to know about this...

[not_that_sasuke]

...Well this is an unusual sight. Ever since Simon left, Sasuke's usually the only person who hangs around in the trees these days.

"Heiji...?" Is everything okay...?

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji actually jerked a little in surprise when he heard the sound of his name, looking awkwardly this way and that when he saw it was Sasuke. Was he in Sasuke's territory, was Sasuke here to oust him from his ninja perch

this was a terrible idea why was he even up here in the first place

Just going to rollll his eyes nervously around the 'sky' of the garden, nothing suspicious here, nope nope

[not_that_sasuke]

...?

"You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?" He had the grey room, right? That one's usually pretty... rough.

[detectiveofthewest]

"N... no..." Well, it wasn't right to keep Sasuke's memory from him, right? He deserved to know. If he wanted to, that was. Heiji couldn't just keep pretending he couldn't talk.

"...What about you? Did you get hurt?"

[not_that_sasuke]

"No. But Dove had a hard time with it-- he lost the chair, and we couldn't just carry him, either."

He feels extra bad about the whole thing. He'd fared extremely well, all things considered, but...

[detectiveofthewest]

"Is he okay?" There was something weird about Heiji's voice. It seemed a little flatter than usual, less volatile in pitch and volume. But maybe that was just because Heiji hadn't been talking much for the past few days.

"He didn't reinjure his knees?"

[not_that_sasuke]

This is admittedly getting Pretty Weird. It's good that Heiji seems to be able to speak again, at least?

"He... probably did. You need to move around a lot. Even the beginning seemed to take a lot out of him."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Then I'll have to check on him." Poor Princess Clive, what would he do without his squeaky chariot. Rather atypically (for him, anyway), Heiji switched languages, changing from the weirdo common language all of them spoke back to Japanese.

"Listen, Sasuke, about that grey room -- " Heiji stopped mid-sentence.

It wasn't just his delivery that was weird, it was the words. And the words that were coming out of Heiji's mouth were straight-up standard Tokyo dialect, without any of that weird Osaka intonation that always snuck in whenever Heiji was trying to speak standard on purpose.

He sounded

like a textbook......

[not_that_sasuke]

...

...

...

Okay, seriously concerned now.

"Tokyo standard?" That's... highly out of character for Heiji.

[detectiveofthewest]

DON'T SAY IT

DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT, SASUKE

"What did... he do..." What was wrong with him. What if he never went back to normal. What if he had to talk like this for the rest of his life.

HOW COULD HE SHOW HIS FACE IN PUBLIC, clearly the only option open to him now was an existence in the shadows, lived in shame......

[not_that_sasuke]

YOU ARE PRACTICALLY OSAKA PERSONIFIED THIS IS STRANGE AND PROBABLY A BAD SIGN.

"Just what was the grey room?"

[detectiveofthewest]

Oh... yes. He had to get hold of himself. He needed to get it together. So what if he was now reduced to the level of the cultureless swine irritating Tokyoites who always gave him shit, he should tell Sasuke about the room...

"They... Zero took us into a room and gave us each a memory. But not our own memories. The memory of another person here. I got yours..."

God this shit was so weird.

[puzzlinglad]

Yeah, the tree thing is too good to miss. Hershel walked by, stopped, did a double take of Heiji, squinted as though he was trying to decide if he was hallucinating from being tired or some bullshit, before finally walking over almost reluctantly. Maybe Heiji was just feeling a tree climb, nothing weird about that, no reason to be weirdly paranoid, goodness.

"Heiji?" He asked, glancing up the tree but making no move to climb it. "You're stealing Sasuke's favorite spot, you know."

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji was slouched forward, arms resting on his knees and face half-hidden behind them in a surprisingly good sulk. He was still a teenager; he could be dramatic if he wanted to.

"...I didn't think anyone would look for me up here." His voice was partially muffled by his knees, hmmmm.

[puzzlinglad]

???????

That's what went through Hershel's mind, literally just question marks. He stared dumbfounded for a moment before clearing his throat. "I... see. Who exactly were you hiding from?" He tried, wondering again if he was in some weird half asleep hallucination where Heiji continued to act weird. Of course he probably saw some of this before in the earlier thread but hey, it doesn't stop being surprising.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Everyone..."

Literally everyone. You couldn't possibly comprehend the level of shame okay Hershel. Heiji had been shot, stabbed, poisoned, and tossed off a cruise ship, but by god he'd kept his accent throughout all those things. Now what was going to happen?

"I tried talking to Sasuke earlier, but... my accent. It's gone." And without his accent...

WHO WAS HE??????????

[puzzlinglad]

Hershel was just so baffled right now he didn't even know what to say for a moment. Then, after said moment of bafflement, he sighed softly to himself, staring the tree down. Was it a good idea to try climbing a tree with three days of no sleep and a slightly injured arm he totally wasn't letting anyone know about because he's a shitlord? Yes, but friendship beckoned and god damnit, he would listen to it's call.

So he started climbing the tree, clumsily and with a few close calls before he managed to get basically on level with Heiji, offering a sympathetic look when he finally settled near him. "Well... I'm sorry, you'll be stuck with me for a bit. The British are a very stubborn people, you know." Actually this is more Heiji rubbing off on him but shhh.

"Because of the memory, I imagine?" Hershel asked, leaning forward a bit. "Come now Heiji, I'm sure the minute you get another of your own memories back you'll be speaking in that peculiar way of yours in no time, if this doesn't wear off on it's own. Your head must be confused, having a memory that doesn't belong to it."

If that hadn't been Jackie Chan I would I quit rp forever so well done.

[detectiveofthewest]

Hershel. Hershel, what were you doing. What kind of climbing was that, clearly the British were not an arboreal people.

"It's not peculiar!" Heiji said, rather defensively. God, he hated the way he was talking right now, even in this weird unknown language they all spoke. "You don't understand, Hershel. People in Tokyo, if you show up speaking to them in a regional accent, they look at you like you're from the sticks. That's why a lot of people from Osaka learn to speak standard, so they can pretend they're like everybody else. They don't have any pride in where they're from."

Let's all watch Jackie Chan movies....

[puzzlinglad]

Look, you try climbing a tree after days of no sleep, you wouldn't be a graceful majestic monkey or whatever climbs trees. A Sasuke. Not that he's ever a graceful, majestic Sasuke but shh.

Hershel lifted a hand, offering an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I know it's important to you, just- don't lose hope, you'll get it back. I'm pretty sure you live, eat and breath Osaka, there's no way one memory could take your accent from you." He certainly hoped so at least, he couldn't imagine Heiji would take it well if it didn't. "Worse comes to worse you can always relearn an accent, right?" He's trying.

Also Jackie Chan Adventures because that cartoon was the best.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji shook his head. "I tried, but it sounds all wrong. I sound like someone trying to imitate my own accent."

CURSE YOU, SASUKE, AND YOUR NINJURED MEMORIES.

He'd try to look on the bright side, though. Just for you, Hershel. "You really look tired. You shouldn't be climbing trees when you're that tired, Hershel; I had to catch Sasuke to keep him from falling out of one before."

[puzzlinglad]

Heiji being so down on himself is the weirdest, Hershel hesitated before speaking again. "Are you alright? I mean... I know this is important to you, of course, but you seem rather-" He struggled for a moment with what to say. "-depressed, heavily so. If there's anything else the matter you can talk to me, you know."

Thank you, bud, fight through those ninjuries. "Yes well, you were up here and looked like you needed a little company so I am too." He gave a small smile, everything's totally fine and no one's going to fall out of a tree, probably. "Don't worry, if I feel like I'm in danger of falling asleep I'll climb back down immediately."

[detectiveofthewest]

"I already told you why. I'm proud of where I'm from." Come on, Hershel, pay attention!! "It's one thing to stab a guy. It's another to make him talk in some fishy accent he doesn't even want. How would you like it if you suddenly sounded like a foul-mouthed American?"

Not exactly the same, but it was the best comparison Heiji could come up with on short notice.

"And don't give me that. Come on and climb down. I'll get down, too, so you don't end up falling over." He dropped to the ground and looked expectantly at Hershel.

[puzzlinglad]

"I understand that, just-" How did he say Heiji, you're acting weird dude, what's up. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe Heiji was acting normal as hell. He was beginning to doubt himself a bit, reality was subjective now. "I think stabbing might be a little worse, but cultural erasure isn't acceptable. Just keep trying to have hope it'll settle itself." Let's be real, he'd be horrified to sound American so he can barely talk.

"I-" Hm, well. Okay, he can't fight that. He sighed a moment before starting to climb down, making most of the way before rather gracelessly falling on his ass at the bottom. It didn't really hurt at all but he made a face regardless. "Don't start..." Yes, you were right. He stood, brushing himself off.

[detectiveofthewest]

Hershel. Hershel. Maybe you should lie down. "I know, I know," said Heiji, grumbling a little. "This had better be temporary, or I'm going to stuff that stupid complaint box."

"So now that I can talk again, does that mean you'll be able to sleep tonight, too? Maybe you should try to take a nap now and see what happens..."