discedo | ( video )

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[ There's some fumbling as the video turns on, giving only a view of crumpled sheets, then a messy room. In the background is some slightly labored breathing, like the person recording has been running (or stumbling) around. The view stays skewed, facing a corner of the bedroom as America talks. ]

Aha! Finally found it! Okay. Man that took a while, haha! Someone decided to turn out the lights on the world. Ain't the first time in my life, and good thing is that this time it's not gas or bullets or pencils or nothing to make it hurt, but I gotta say that feelin' your way around is a helluva lot harder when you've only got one hand to do it with.

...Shit. Just realized. This think on voice recorder mode? If I'm talking when I should be writing–

[ The video switches over to voice, where some muttering can be heard, then text. ]

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[ Then back to video. Now it's facing America. He looks frustrated, but his gaze is blank, eyes staring off into nowhere. ]

–nd when I make mine it'll have voice control. No, better, it'll have something that'll talk back to you so you know that you're talking into it, and it'll be in a pleasant lady's voice.

[ SIGH. Then his frustrated expression flickers to something more vulnerable, almost like a nine year old that's afraid of the dark but too proud to go to his parents for reassurance. ]

...Anyone out there?

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[Knocking politely on the door but calling loudly] America? America! Is your door unlocked?

[ He heads in the direction of the door but bangs his knee into something. Taiwan can hear that followed by an "ouch!" from behind the door. ]

Uh... gimme a sec, I'll get it!

[ It's locked. He knows it's locked. After limping and feeling away his way around, he finally manages to get to the door and fumble the lock open. When he opens the door he greets Taiwan with a big smile. America estimates his gaze to where he thinks here eyes are, but sorta... aims a little too low and ends up staring at her chest. Whoops. ]

[Eep! Even though intellectually Taiwan knows he can't actually see (...right?), it's still kind of freaking her out.] A-america! [She did not squeak, she did not squeak] Um-!

Yeah?

[ He has no idea what the problem is, so he just assumes it has to do with his lack of sight. ]

Don't worry, it doesn't hurt, it's just all sorts of dark.

[She's trying to ease her ~~nonexistent~~ chest out from under America's view] You can't see...anything at all?

[ He obviously doesn't notice her moving away. His eyes don't follow her chest, just stay fixed at the same level. ]

Nope! Not the first time this happened, not the first time here, and definitely not the worst encounter with blindness.

[ It looks like he's about to say something more––memories of standing ankle-deep in blood, frightened voices calling for him, so close but never coming in contact with anyone, and then another instance involving a pencil in the eye––but he swallows his words. Instead he silently shuffles to one side, giving Taiwan enough space to enter. ]

[Taiwan blinks at that as she moves past him, experimentally wiggling her fingers in front of his face, and then stopping, thinking that it was really quite rude of her to do so. She'll impulsively grab his hand as she gets inside and eases the door closed.] When was the last time you ate something?

[ America doesn't react to the finger wiggling so no worries about it being rude. He does, however, gently squeeze her hand when she grabs it. ]

You mean something edible?

[ He grins at a place somewhere over Taiwan's shoulder. Slowly giving up on that whole "meeting her gaze" quest. ]

Uh, guess it's been a few hours.

[ Except his stomach growls loudly, indicating that it's been longer than that. He just laughs nervously in response to being caught in his ~~lie~~ exaggeration. ]

[Wow, it's a really good thing he can't see her, since her face is like, beet red. But she's still smiling, so he can hear her and tell her things. She leads him to the couch, trying to urge him to set down] Uh, sounds like it's been a lot longer than that... [She laughs a little bit. venting some of her nervousness] Why don't you rest, and I'll make you something?

[ He sits at her nudging, utterly oblivious to anything being off. ]

Sounds good to me!

[ But be prepared for the abhorrent mess his sorting system is. Oh sure, the kitchen itself doesn't look too dirty, not on the surface. A few unwashed dishes in the sink, crumbs on the counter, but nothing too bad about a bachelor pad. Then you open the cabinets to get something out and realize to your horror that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. This may be in part because some things aren't labelled in English, but that's no excuse for why a can of soup is next to a bottle of bleach. Like the shit isn't even clumped together it is literally just placed haphazardly in the cupboards.

Good luck, Taiwan.

Meanwhile, America starts fidgeting on the couch. Time seems to pass so much slower when you cant see. ]

天哪！ [Taiwan whispers it to herself under her breath, and then her mouth firms as she rolls up her sleeves. She is absolutely determined to get this cleaned up - a little bit, at least - or America would probably accidentally poison himself banging around in the dark.] What do you want to eat? [She'll start with the dishes. Maybe she can at least get started on that...]

[ He's probably accidentally poisoned himself several times over even with his eyesight.

Sick of feeling useless and not content to sit in an endless stretch of time in darkness, America gets up and slowly stumbles his way to the kitchen. ]

Anything! Lessee, I think there's a can of beef stew up–– [ before Taiwan even knows it, he's reaching over her to rummage around. SURPRISINGLY HE FINDS IT god only knows how. ] ––here!

[ But as he yanks it out, a bunch of other stuff falls to the floor. America just stares dumbly at the floor. ]

Uh. Oops.

[ Against his will, his own cheeks heat up in embarrassment and shame. Wow does he hate being this helpless. For once he's actually glad he's blind so he doesn't have to see Taiwan's reaction. ]

[Wow, she really hasn't seen America blushing like that before. She didn't even think he knew the meaning of the word 'shame'.]

I-it's all right, I can get this cleaned up. [But she knows that bad experience of sitting around feeling useless] D-do you want to help me?

[ He's just shamed by different things than most people. Running around naked? Nope. Shameless. Under the influence of multiple substances and passing out in a gutter? Nope. Lifting up his car and walking out of a traffic jam while cackling at all the poor souls still stuck? He'll do that any day.

However, being so helpless (in front of another country no less) will certainly do it. America smiles gratefully at the chance to not be so useless. ]

Yeah, sure, 'course. You just uh, step over me or on me or whatever if I'm in the way of something. And you just direct me to do something and I'll do it!

[ He gets on his hands and knees, feeling carefully around with his one good hand like Velma looking for her glasses. The chainsaw gets a little cumbersome, so he just takes it off and sets it aside so he can use his stump for support. It's slow and careful work, but America refuses to feel pathetic. ]

[It's really ~~scary~~ strange watching America fumbling like this, his usual loud cheer muted, like a dirty or dusty lamp, the light from it obscured. She wrinkles her nose a bit at the chainsaw, but only moves it aside so as to be out of the way. She offers quiet instructions, ignoring America's failed attempts, but between them they get most of the mess out of the way if not completely clean, and at least she manages to supplement the canned food with some other things.

At least it smells edible.]

Do you think you can bring the chairs over to the table?

Yeah sure, no problem!

[ The good news is that he's still clumsy, he's not walking around recklessly anymore. He's starting to gain a little confidence with slow but sure steps as he feels around for chairs. He manages to push them in the direction of the table (and keeps pushing until some part of the chair smacks into the table).

Good news is he got all the chairs to the table. Yay!

The bad news is they're all facing weird directions. Whoops. ]

[Well, that actually turned out pretty well, and Taiwan carefully leads America into a seat after turning it around. She brings all the food and utensils over next, and tries to set things within easy reach of his...hand.

She's actually not sure how he eats one handed all the time, to be honest, but consider what happened last time she asked about something similar, she'd just leave the question alone.]

Okay, so the soup you picked is right in front of you, and on the forward left is some...meat [Again, she'd just done the best she could with what she had, but she'd snuck some vegetables in there too] and on the right there's a glass of water.

Do you need anything else?

[ Once he's seated, he sorta just... shuts his eyes for a sec. Not that it makes any difference in his vision. Mostly just taking a second to collect himself and convince himself that, even blind, he's not totally useless or helpless.

He opens them again. ]

Nah, that should be good, thanks!

[ He gestures with his stump to where he assumes another seat should be. There isn't a chair there, but you get the point. ]

Wanna join? Don't think I've had real-life company for a sit-down dinner ever since-- [ Tatsumi ] uh, when Namine left.

[Gulp, this was...kind of like a...date wasn't it?]

W-well, I don't want to bother you-

[ He waves a hand flippantly while staring vacantly at the adjacent wall. Obviously he is oblivious to any dinner implications. ]

You're hardly a bother! I love company, and since I can't exactly eat in front of the TV, dinners alone are just boring.

Y-yeah, I...guess? [Taiwan is used to both loud family dinners and quiet alone ones, and she's still not entirely sure which one she prefers.]

I don't think I'm that good at finding stuff to talk about though.

You say that like I don't have plenty to say! Don't worry, I'll keep the geeky stuff to a minimum.

[ even if he can't see her, he winks in the general direction of her voice. ]

Please talk about whatever you want. [She'll just sit here. Listening.]

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[Action] - feel free to drop, I know it's been a while...

[Action] NEVER though the same applies here hahaha /slowest tagger in the world

[Action] I love tagging with you so ^_^

[Action] ehehehe you too! <3

[Action] ♥ x infinity

[Action] ♥ x infinity + 1

[Action] ♥ x infinity^infinity?!

[Action] oh god I don't think I can beat that

[Action] you already did in that other thread /sobs