[Of course, he's a foreigner, so that's no surprise. But he can't help commenting on it. (It's fair though, considering "Marco" is more like "Mah-ko" than anything. Maako-san. But it's no trap! All of that non-existent worrying was for naught, because the most the boy does is take off his backpack, flip it open and pull out two cards. There aren't any envelops, and one is handed to him first before the other.]
This one's yours.
[It's clearly a sheet of card stock folded in half to use as a card, with a very detailed watercolor fish on the front of it. Inside the card itself are various sketches of fish and Lake Dala, though none of them are colored. There is also a message written in childish hand writing to go along with it, probably a big contrast compared to the detailed artwork.
I'm sorry I took your card, Marco-san. And I'm sorry I knocked you out! I was gonna give the card back with this but you took it earlier, so you'll just have to be happy with this instead. I hope that's okay. I asked Shingetsu-kun to hug me when I saw him again like you said I should and he actually did it! And it was okay, though I don't think it was still right. But I'm glad I did, so thank you for saying I should.
-Kemuri Jataro]
You don't have to open it right now. But maybe, if it's not good enough, you'll want to, that way you can throw it away while I'm watching. I guess that'd be okay if you wanted to do that. But um, this one is for Snake-san.
[Marco gives him an apologetic half-smile. It's not the first time he's had trouble with Japanese names.
At any rate, he takes the card Jataro first gives him and spends a good few seconds just looking at the watercolor fish. Wow. By the time Jataro tells him he doesn't have to open it, Marco's thumb is already in position to unfold it-- but he stops, looking at the child with concern.]
What? No, no, no, it's lovely! You... draw really well, you know? I'm impressed.
[Then he takes the other card. He's not sure if he'll be able to keep his curiosity in check and not read it before Fiddleford does.]
Thanks. I'm the Super Elementary School Level Arts and Crafts, so...like I said. It's the only thing I'm good at. But I'm really good at it, at least.
[He guesses he has that going for him. But really, you don't have to open it. It's nothing special. You can throw it away, you probably don't want it!]
Is that his name?
[He makes a few attempts at saying it, never really making it past the "fid" part, and eventually purses his lips a little.]
No, it's not. [It's a mumble, but he means it. He knows Jataro is good at things, no matter what his - was it his mother? - his mother made him believe.
Also, he can't quite conceal a smile at Jataro's difficulties with Fiddleford's name.]
[That's where you're wrong, Marco!!!! He's so bad at everything!!! Why can't you listen to him?]
Southern...I think I'll stick with Snake-san. It's a lot easier.
[He's not sure he even wants to try practicing saying that name. Not that it's really worth it anyway, since he's an adult. Who cares if he can say his name right? But it also just seems like too much effort.]
Oh...it means I'm really good at arts and crafts. There's a high school back home called Hope's Peak, and all the teens that go there are really really talented. They're the best of the best! And the elementary school I go to is um...affiliated with it. I think that's the word. So all the kids that go there are really good at something too.
Like me and art! I can make statues and pottery and wood carvings and paintings...I can do anything if it's arts and crafts, and I'm really good at it. I want to make a life size statue of a monster and use it to scare people. It'd be really realistic, so I could totally do it. Shingetsu-kun is the Super Elementary School Level Social Studies. Though he's really smart and knows a lot more than just stuff you learn about social studies. He'd probably know everything by the time he could go to the high school!
Kotoko-chan is Drama because she's really good at acting. She's really, really popular, everyone loves her a lot. But...you can't always tell when she's acting or when she's being truthful about stuff because of that. Though I know that she definitely hated me, that wasn't an act! And Daimon-kun is P.E. and he's faster and stronger than anyone else at school! He always wins everything, at least when it comes to sports and running and stuff. He's also really good at pranks...that doesn't have anything to do with his talent, but I think it's probably another talent he has. I always fall for his pranks all the time.
[And Monaka was Home Room but...he still isn't sure what he wants to say about her, ever, so.
A pause.]
We were those anyway. Actually, we ruined our school, so I guess you can't say that those are our titles anymore. But everyone else is still really talented like that, even without their titles. They're all really cool.
[Marco listens, doing his best to process everything. These schools would be in... Japan, he presumes? And they sound noteworthy, but he's never heard of them. Maybe they didn't exist in the Earth that Marco comes from - or maybe they just didn't exist yet. Jataro could be from the future.
But, well, that doesn't matter all that much. Schools for gifted children, that's the main point. Funny how Jataro was accepted into a school like that and yet he seems to have so little love for himself. And by funny, what Marco's inner thoughts mean is that it's actually quite upsetting.
(Wait, is Shingetsu the social studies kid? From what Jataro is saying, it sounds... about right. More right than P.E., anyway.)]
Ah. Got it.
[He's not going to ask what he means by "ruined our school". Considering what he knows about these kids, something tells him he's better off not knowing.]
... Erm...
You know, if you ever want to show me more of your art, I'd love to see it.
[You'd definitely know if they existed in your world, Marco. Though it's possible you would also be dead if they did too. Also Nagisa is definitely not the P.E. kid.
Jataro tilts his head curiously, clearly only half believing him that he'd want to see his art, but doesn't actually say anything just yet. Instead, he pulls out the only item left in his bag - a leather bound sketchbook - and holds it out to the man with a little shrug.]
I only have my sketches right now. And I haven't made a whole lot of other art yet, since I'm still getting materials. But if you really want to see it you can look through that. Though you have to promise to be careful with my sketchbook. Shingetsu-kun gave that to me as a birthday present, so it's really special to me.
[He holds out his right hand, with its metallic joints and messy wiring connecting it to his arm, to take the sketchbook - and then laughs sheepishly.]
Oh, don't-- don't worry. I'm sure it looks scary, but, ah, I'm used to it by now.
[He wiggles his fingers as easily as if they were still made of flesh, despite the webbing connecting them being clearly made of a less flexible material than that of his real hand.]
[Then he easily let's the man have it, watching him curiously. If he does indeed decide to go through with looking through it, he'll find that most of the pages are taken up by detailed land and cityscapes, most of which are colored with colored pencils. Surroundings he found interesting, or the spot where he was supposed to meet with Nagisa (an appropriate note attached reminding him of that) before The Park had been destroyed. Speaking of the other boy, there are quite a few portraits of him in there too. Some from when he was human, some in between and more recent shots of his changes. And, maybe surprisingly, there are other people in there. Adults, monsters, families he's seen while he's been out and about. There are some sketches of scary statue ideas and dioramas and a few of various robots.
There's also a portrait of a tall, pale woman in a white kimono with cascading black hair to the floor, labeled "Fog God?" On the opposite page is a small child dressed in a school uniform with almost cartoonish looking robot arms and little antennae coming up from his head. This one is labeled "Fourth God?" along with a note about maybe adding more antennas or a propeller coming up from his head too.
The only other two pictures to note are one of a red headed boy with hooves, horns and much buffer than any ten year old should be, labeled "Daimon-kun as a minotar!" The other is of a pink haired girl with matching pink cat ears, tail and demon wings. This one is "Kotoko-chan as a mantacore" apparently.]
Honestly, this goes beyond him wanting to support Jataro and be nice to him; he's genuinely impressed by what he's seeing. How did it go again? "Super level..."? Well, it's prodigious stuff, that's what matters.
And yet - a smile shows on his lips - Jataro's portraits still have that incredibly endearing something that children's drawings invariably have. Even the ones of the gods.]
These are all really good. You draw much better than I do.
[He hands the sketchbook back with a smile and a weak laugh.]
[He takes it back, holding it in his hands and nodding in agreement. Yeah, he was pretty sure he did.]
I draw better than a lot of people. I make better statues too. And dioramas, probably, though a lot of people don't like them. Oh, and mosaics! And wood carvings...probably ice carvings too but I haven't done any of those. People usually use chainsaws for those, but I can't even lift a chainsaw on my own.
[Which is probably for the best.........
He gently tucks his sketchbook away, moving to put his backpack back on.]
[Jataro has tried to lift a chainsaw on his own, hasn't he?
Unless things in his life start taking a turn for the better (and Marco desperately hopes they do), the day when Jataro finally accomplishes that will be one to fear.]
O-Oh, of course. It's your sketchbook and it's absolutely lovely. I couldn't... not be careful.
[He 100% has tried and failed before. And he will definitely try again in the future. Chainsaws look fun!]
Well...you say that, but adults usually don't care about kids stuff. They think we don't care about it, really, unless it's a toy, and then if the toy gets ruined they can just replace it and that makes it all better.
[Despite insinuating that he figured Marco would be the same, he still means it in an appreciative manner.]
But you listened and you were really careful. So...
Well, that's mean. [Marco gives him a nervous, cautious smile.] Adults can get pretty angry when kids accidentally break their stuff, so why wouldn't they get that it works the other way around too? It's pretty unfair...
[He trails off.
It is unfair that someone like Jataro had to grow up the way he did - and, Marco is sure, the same goes for Nagisa. These poor, poor children...]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[Of course, he's a foreigner, so that's no surprise. But he can't help commenting on it. (It's fair though, considering "Marco" is more like "Mah-ko" than anything. Maako-san. But it's no trap! All of that non-existent worrying was for naught, because the most the boy does is take off his backpack, flip it open and pull out two cards. There aren't any envelops, and one is handed to him first before the other.]
This one's yours.
[It's clearly a sheet of card stock folded in half to use as a card, with a very detailed watercolor fish on the front of it. Inside the card itself are various sketches of fish and Lake Dala, though none of them are colored. There is also a message written in childish hand writing to go along with it, probably a big contrast compared to the detailed artwork.
I'm sorry I took your card, Marco-san. And I'm sorry I knocked you out! I was gonna give the card back with this but you took it earlier, so you'll just have to be happy with this instead. I hope that's okay. I asked Shingetsu-kun to hug me when I saw him again like you said I should and he actually did it! And it was okay, though I don't think it was still right. But I'm glad I did, so thank you for saying I should.
-Kemuri Jataro]
You don't have to open it right now. But maybe, if it's not good enough, you'll want to, that way you can throw it away while I'm watching. I guess that'd be okay if you wanted to do that. But um, this one is for Snake-san.
[Another card is held out to him after that.]
no subject
At any rate, he takes the card Jataro first gives him and spends a good few seconds just looking at the watercolor fish. Wow. By the time Jataro tells him he doesn't have to open it, Marco's thumb is already in position to unfold it-- but he stops, looking at the child with concern.]
What? No, no, no, it's lovely! You... draw really well, you know? I'm impressed.
[Then he takes the other card. He's not sure if he'll be able to keep his curiosity in check and not read it before Fiddleford does.]
You mean Fiddleford, right?
no subject
[He guesses he has that going for him. But really, you don't have to open it. It's nothing special. You can throw it away, you probably don't want it!]
Is that his name?
[He makes a few attempts at saying it, never really making it past the "fid" part, and eventually purses his lips a little.]
What kind of name is that?
no subject
Also, he can't quite conceal a smile at Jataro's difficulties with Fiddleford's name.]
Heh. It's... southern.
[-- wait wait back up]
S-Sorry, what's an Elementary Super Level...?
no subject
Southern...I think I'll stick with Snake-san. It's a lot easier.
[He's not sure he even wants to try practicing saying that name. Not that it's really worth it anyway, since he's an adult. Who cares if he can say his name right? But it also just seems like too much effort.]
Oh...it means I'm really good at arts and crafts. There's a high school back home called Hope's Peak, and all the teens that go there are really really talented. They're the best of the best! And the elementary school I go to is um...affiliated with it. I think that's the word. So all the kids that go there are really good at something too.
Like me and art! I can make statues and pottery and wood carvings and paintings...I can do anything if it's arts and crafts, and I'm really good at it. I want to make a life size statue of a monster and use it to scare people. It'd be really realistic, so I could totally do it. Shingetsu-kun is the Super Elementary School Level Social Studies. Though he's really smart and knows a lot more than just stuff you learn about social studies. He'd probably know everything by the time he could go to the high school!
Kotoko-chan is Drama because she's really good at acting. She's really, really popular, everyone loves her a lot. But...you can't always tell when she's acting or when she's being truthful about stuff because of that. Though I know that she definitely hated me, that wasn't an act! And Daimon-kun is P.E. and he's faster and stronger than anyone else at school! He always wins everything, at least when it comes to sports and running and stuff. He's also really good at pranks...that doesn't have anything to do with his talent, but I think it's probably another talent he has. I always fall for his pranks all the time.
[And Monaka was Home Room but...he still isn't sure what he wants to say about her, ever, so.
A pause.]
We were those anyway. Actually, we ruined our school, so I guess you can't say that those are our titles anymore. But everyone else is still really talented like that, even without their titles. They're all really cool.
no subject
But, well, that doesn't matter all that much. Schools for gifted children, that's the main point. Funny how Jataro was accepted into a school like that and yet he seems to have so little love for himself. And by funny, what Marco's inner thoughts mean is that it's actually quite upsetting.
(Wait, is Shingetsu the social studies kid? From what Jataro is saying, it sounds... about right. More right than P.E., anyway.)]
Ah. Got it.
[He's not going to ask what he means by "ruined our school". Considering what he knows about these kids, something tells him he's better off not knowing.]
... Erm...
You know, if you ever want to show me more of your art, I'd love to see it.
no subject
Jataro tilts his head curiously, clearly only half believing him that he'd want to see his art, but doesn't actually say anything just yet. Instead, he pulls out the only item left in his bag - a leather bound sketchbook - and holds it out to the man with a little shrug.]
I only have my sketches right now. And I haven't made a whole lot of other art yet, since I'm still getting materials. But if you really want to see it you can look through that. Though you have to promise to be careful with my sketchbook. Shingetsu-kun gave that to me as a birthday present, so it's really special to me.
no subject
[He holds out his right hand, with its metallic joints and messy wiring connecting it to his arm, to take the sketchbook - and then laughs sheepishly.]
Oh, don't-- don't worry. I'm sure it looks scary, but, ah, I'm used to it by now.
[He wiggles his fingers as easily as if they were still made of flesh, despite the webbing connecting them being clearly made of a less flexible material than that of his real hand.]
See? I promise.
no subject
[Then he easily let's the man have it, watching him curiously. If he does indeed decide to go through with looking through it, he'll find that most of the pages are taken up by detailed land and cityscapes, most of which are colored with colored pencils. Surroundings he found interesting, or the spot where he was supposed to meet with Nagisa (an appropriate note attached reminding him of that) before The Park had been destroyed. Speaking of the other boy, there are quite a few portraits of him in there too. Some from when he was human, some in between and more recent shots of his changes. And, maybe surprisingly, there are other people in there. Adults, monsters, families he's seen while he's been out and about. There are some sketches of scary statue ideas and dioramas and a few of various robots.
There's also a portrait of a tall, pale woman in a white kimono with cascading black hair to the floor, labeled "Fog God?" On the opposite page is a small child dressed in a school uniform with almost cartoonish looking robot arms and little antennae coming up from his head. This one is labeled "Fourth God?" along with a note about maybe adding more antennas or a propeller coming up from his head too.
The only other two pictures to note are one of a red headed boy with hooves, horns and much buffer than any ten year old should be, labeled "Daimon-kun as a minotar!" The other is of a pink haired girl with matching pink cat ears, tail and demon wings. This one is "Kotoko-chan as a mantacore" apparently.]
no subject
Honestly, this goes beyond him wanting to support Jataro and be nice to him; he's genuinely impressed by what he's seeing. How did it go again? "Super level..."? Well, it's prodigious stuff, that's what matters.
And yet - a smile shows on his lips - Jataro's portraits still have that incredibly endearing something that children's drawings invariably have. Even the ones of the gods.]
These are all really good. You draw much better than I do.
[He hands the sketchbook back with a smile and a weak laugh.]
no subject
I draw better than a lot of people. I make better statues too. And dioramas, probably, though a lot of people don't like them. Oh, and mosaics! And wood carvings...probably ice carvings too but I haven't done any of those. People usually use chainsaws for those, but I can't even lift a chainsaw on my own.
[Which is probably for the best.........
He gently tucks his sketchbook away, moving to put his backpack back on.]
Thank you for being careful with it Marco-san.
no subject
Unless things in his life start taking a turn for the better (and Marco desperately hopes they do), the day when Jataro finally accomplishes that will be one to fear.]
O-Oh, of course. It's your sketchbook and it's absolutely lovely. I couldn't... not be careful.
no subject
Well...you say that, but adults usually don't care about kids stuff. They think we don't care about it, really, unless it's a toy, and then if the toy gets ruined they can just replace it and that makes it all better.
[Despite insinuating that he figured Marco would be the same, he still means it in an appreciative manner.]
But you listened and you were really careful. So...
no subject
[He trails off.
It is unfair that someone like Jataro had to grow up the way he did - and, Marco is sure, the same goes for Nagisa. These poor, poor children...]