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Man, oysters and everything! These birds have a fancier diet than I do!!

[ Who buys oyster shells for their chickens?? God, Terry is suddenly fascinating. ]

What do you know about bearded dragons? Scorpions??

[ It's so weird being on the other end of someone being incredibly enthusiastic all of a sudden when he's not feeling any of that. He's been on the other side for a lot of things lately and it makes him wonder if this is how tiring it is to hang out with him when he's in a normal happy mood.

...

Anyway. ]

Uh... adult bearded dragons can go two months without food because they have lots of fat stores and can lose weight to healthy levels. They like eating live insects like crickets and mealworms, but can also eat sweet potatoes, parsley, and fruit. They also shouldn't eat fireflies.

[ Don't ask. ]

... Most scorpions aren't a danger to humans. The most venomous one so far lives in America somewhere. Meerkats and mongoose are strongly resistant or immune to their venom.

[ He once baited a scorpion by using a mongoose so that he could kill and eat it. Life in the wildlife is pretty wild. ]

[ Kano wants to ask a lot of questions, but he works hard to hold his tongue until Terry's done talking, though the occasional "ooh"s and "ahh"s still slip out. He also has no idea what parsley looks like but all the other things sound pretty easy to get, and scorpions are a problem for a different time.

But yeah! This is great! Terry is acting just like Mav, who also wanted to murder Kano in cold blood the first time they met. It's all very encouraging for him. ]

How cool~ Looks like I gotta take a roadtrip back to America sometime to see!! Do you like bearded dragons? Do you want to pet one? Here, here, say hi to Nightmare! Don't be shy~

[ His bearded dragon that's just hanging around in his pocket- the opposite one from which he stuffs junk into. The lizard's about a foot long from tip to tip, but smaller when curled up. It blinks at Terry. ]

[ Terry looks over at Nightmare and... huh. It's so small. He doesn't quite reach for it just yet as he peers over curiously. He glances at Kano before looking back at Nightmare. There's something about the way Kano acts that lets Terry let his guard down completely. It's as if he's finally seeing something genuine from him. And, well, if this is an act too, then Terry only has himself to blame.

Pets are important to some people. Maybe Kano is one of those people who feel that way. That's probably why he asked about bearded dragons earlier, since he owns one.

...

He smiles a little. Terry doesn't reach out to pet Nightmare, since, well... them standing on the railing in a high place is already a hazard and he doesn't want to disrupt that balance, since Nightmare doesn't look like it's coming out of Kano's pocket. ]

You should keep Nightmare inside, since you don't want him to fall.

It's okay, it's okay~ Nightmare won't fall!! You won't let him.

[ You'd better not!!!

Kano told Terry not to be shy, and here Terry is being shy. So he reaches into his pocket and takes the lizard out to plop onto Terry's shoulder— or onto his hands if Terry reaches out for it. If Terry is paranoid enough to pinpoint the lizard, it's a real lizard. Warm since it's been pressed up against Kano's stomach this whole time, and soft despite appearances, especially on its stomach and sides. ]

Mhm, I won't let him fall.

[ He is absolutely not paranoid at the moment because he has his guard down, so he believes that the lizard is a real one. Despite having killed a lot of animals, Terry takes care not to hurt Nightmare or hold him too tightly as he plucks it from his shoulder so that he can hold it. There's a difference between having to kill one for food or defense and holding a companion in his hands. He's cute--Terry lightly pokes his side as if to tickle. ]

[ The lizard's beard immediately puffs up in reaction to being poked, which just makes Kano snicker, hands back in his pockets and not bothering to save his pet from this apparent threat Nightmare's throwing a hissy fit over. The interaction is cute, or something ]

Hey, Boss. If I jump, would you let me fall?

[ ... ]

Theoretically, you know?

If you stop calling me that, I'll give you your answer.

[ But Terry will pluck Nightmare and put him on Kano's shoulder. ]

No deal~

[ Kano takes Nightmare back and slides him into his pocket so he can go back to sleep. ]

What's up? You hate being called that?

I gave you my name.

[ So maybe you should use it???

Maybe that's his answer the question itself. ]

So what?

[ That doesn't answer his question at all. Got to state things clearly if you want Kano to do something, and maybe he won't do it anyways.

Standing around is going to make him itchy, so he starts walking the railing like a tightrope, occasionally leaning slightly one way or the other but never with his arms out to make it easier. ]

Just think of it as a nickname or something~

[ Yeah, Terry will just give up already on making Kano stop calling him that. He sighs, his shoulders droop, and doesn't follow after Kano as he starts walking on the railing. ]

I won't stop you if you want to fall.

[ it's the initial freedom of choice. ]

[ This is great; Terry finally answers one of Kano's questions directly and he looks so ecstatic about the breakthrough, turning around on his heel and manages to get ]

Don't worry, I won't—-

[ out before his foot slips and he plummets over the side of the railing ]

[ You know what. This was one of the scenarios that Terry already imagined in his head. Maybe Kano would have jumped with some trick behind his sleeve or whatever, but he's not here to kill Kano. And despite how annoying he is, maybe he doesn't deserve to die for it?? Maybe?? Wow, he sure feels the conflicting thoughts in his brain.

Anyway.

He summons Vassago to go swoop in and catch Kano, because he was more or less prepared for this kind of outcome, intentional on Kano's side or not. Terry decides to just sit on the railing instead of standing as Vassago flies back up with Kano in tow. He still has the bandaid on his hand. ]

You won't what?

[ Terry looks so done lmao ]

[ Yep, it sure is very hard to die, Kano thinks to himself as he gets a second bandaid out to stick on Vassago's hand. This time, it goes on Vassago's other hand, but in a slightly different position, and he pats Vassago on the arm. ]

Fall, 'cause you won't let me. Or something like that?

[ He doesn't look worried at all, nor does he look surprised at the outcome of events, but he does look rather pleased about how this is all going. ]

[ Get that smug face outta here--

Vassago hands Kano over to Terry, but Terry just drops Kano, letting him fall until Vassago catches him again about 30 feet down below. He carries Kano up again and gives Terry an unimpressed look. Terry looks pretty unimpressed right back at Vassago, but he shifts that same gaze at Kano too. ]

Something like that.

Edited 2019-09-30 20:21 (UTC)

[ Ugh, free falling is never fun; it makes his stomach feel queasy as heck. But as long as he doesn't splat on the ground, Kano isn't too worried, letting Terry drop him and Vassago have to ferry him back up however many times he feels like it. ]

"Something like that" is good enough~ We'll try this again later too, so it's okay!

If you take this exercise of "trust fall" too much, you might actually die one day.

[ aka HE DOESN'T WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN LATER, KANO. what the fuck ]

[ haha ]

I won't die~ What, you don't trust me??

[ It's not his trust in Terry that's being tested here, but Terry's trust that Kano won't let himself fall to his death, and there's absolutely no trust here. Things can only go up. ]

I don't really care about trust.

[ Either way, yeah. If Terry had a semblance of caring about trust as much as other people did, he'd say something like "I can throw you farther than I can trust you". Which probably shouldn't apply to him anyway because of how far he can yeet Kano across town.

Vassago puts Kano down over the rail this time, right on the rooftop before disappearing. He even treats Kano better than he does for Terry. Amazing. ]

[ Terry and his Persona have some problems to work out, but Kano doesn't know how deep that runs so he just rocks back and forth on his feet on the rooftop, looking up at Terry. ]

So what sort of stuff do you care about? Besides chickens. Oh— we never finished talking about the road thing, huh? Oh well, I'll save that for later!

Why would I tell you that?

[ His headache is getting worse... Terry turns around on the rail to face Kano, but he's still sitting on it.

If he turns into Kido again, he's going to throw the first sharp thing he can get in his pocket at his head. ]

Edited (redundancy... ) 2019-09-30 20:44 (UTC)

[ He doubts Kido would be able to get the answer out of Terry any better than he can, so Kano just remains Kano, hands in his pockets and rocking like it's impossible for him to stay still. ]

'cause you want to. Or you won't, because you don't. That's how it is, isn't it?

Yeah, so you're not getting anything from me.

[ He briefly gets his phone out to check the time and shoves that back into his pocket. ]

I think that's enough "fun" for today.

[ He needs to go kill an animal or something before Lockdown happens. ]

Hmmmm... Then, one last time before I leave you alone!

[ He pulls his hands out of his pockets, closed into fists, and holds them both out to Terry. ]

Your left, or your right?

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