video | dating show attempt #1: naked attraction

[lyingheart]

[ The video opens from an angle, filming what looks like a film crew and a man wearing a very large cravat talking with Annie. Both faces can be seen from the side. ]

So get this, [ he says, lifting his hands. ] you start out by seeing everyone's bare feet—

[ Annie stares at him, unblinking. The man's smile fixes in place, and he continues on. ]

Then you see their bare legs—

[ Annie continues staring without blinking. Determined, the man goes on. ]

Then you see bare everything from the legs up, and then their faces—

[ Annie stares, her eyes narrowing. ]

Before at last you step out, naked, and—

[ She holds up a hand, cutting him off. ]

When they said this was going to be a dating show, I didn't realise they really meant pornography. A young woman like me might take offense.

[ The man waves his hands, shaking his head. ]

No, no, no! It's not pornography, it's art! There's no touching invol—

[ His voice is cut off as Annie moves forward, her quick throw of the man landing him on his back on the ground with Annie placing one knee on the middle of his chest. His arms are held overhead. He's breathless, wheezing a little, eyes wide from what whites can be seen by the camera, which floats closer. ]

To hell with art. Contact me when you have a real proposal.

[ She pushes up to her feet, dusting herself off with a look of irritation still on her face. Her eyes flit to the camera, then to the one holding it. ]

Turn it off, Fritz. Now.

Comments

[lyingheart]

Dating, or dating shows?

[ She's vaguely amused at this. ]

I'd like to believe I'd choose when and with who to get naked around with more care than... that.

[ She flicks her fingers, dismissing the whole thing because Why This. ]

[forsaintcecilia]

Dating shows. They're kind of fake and over-the-top most of the time. I wouldn't think you'd agree to something like that. We're they paying you good for it?

Y-yeah...! [Math problems! His grandmother! Pickled vegetables! NOT NAKED WOMEN!] That's, um... Yeah, that should always be something you choose.

[lyingheart]

I wouldn't know, I haven't watched any. Besides, I didn't agree to something like it in particular—there's a gear sponsorship tied in with being willing to show up on some "reality show."

[ Kazuki................. ]

Probably just like who you date. Since the one seems to lead to the other.

[forsaintcecilia]

Oh, okay. Yeah, you gotta watch out for stuff like that. You show up at the studio one day thinking they're only going to shoot your hands while you play, and then the next, you're on national TV...

[lyingheart]

Speaking from personal experience?

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah. It's a long story, but basically, I ended up modeling for this commercial that was aired all over Japan. I spent most of my 12th year in school running and hiding from girls...

[lyingheart]

[ There's a soft snort of amusement, and a hint of a sardonic grin. ]

Sounds like you hated the attention. Fame not really your thing, or was it the way they acted like they knew you?

[forsaintcecilia]

Both? I think they go hand in hand. Like, they really didn't care about me, just whatever guy they thought they saw on TV. Even "care" is too strong a word. They were just chasing their fantasies.

[lyingheart]

People seem to do that to a degree, even when they're in relationships, marriages... but I think I understand. Pursuing an idea of a person without looking to see who they actually are.

[forsaintcecilia]

I guess everyone idealizes the people they know a little bit, but yeah, when they've never met me? The attention is really uncomfortable.

...Unless it's an audience! That's totally different.

[lyingheart]

The audience you're seeing and performing in front of, instead of the audience you don't see. Right?

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah! I mean, I feed off their energy, so I can't blame them if they do the same. Even if they saw me on TV, at least they'd know a little bit about me from the performance. The commercial I was on really had nothing to do with who I am as a person.

[lyingheart]

What was that commercial even for? You mentioned playing on it... but that's it.

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah, I pretended to play. They played a different track over whatever I did...

It was for an MP3 player. It's a little device that you can store music on to listen to. And that's cool and all, but all I did was stand there and look pretty, I swear.

[lyingheart]

Mm. So you made the commercial worth watching.

[ Genuine statement. She's watched a handful of commercials on the television here, lost patience, and has resumed not watching tv at all. Also, yes, a tease, but what she thinks is gentle. You are good looking! Ergo, you would be making something worth watching. Eyes appreciate agreeable sights. ]

[forsaintcecilia]

No way! Anyone can be pretty if you do their make-up and dress them up right. I'm not anything special.

[Come on Kazuki. You love clothes and shoes and have a skincare routine and everything. You put energy into looking good. You know how it works.]

[lyingheart]

[ Eyebrow quirk from the young woman who does nothing more than use facial soap when she washes, never wears makeup, and does not put any effort into looking anything other than "put together enough to leave camp." ]

Consider that a matter of personal interpretation. To me, you're special.

[ Not even lying, look at his hair! Also she's from a world where it's much harder to... really keep up your looks and not also be crazy rich. So. There's that. Sorry, Kazuki, she's still going to point out you're attractive. It's just a fact? ]

[forsaintcecilia]

[Lol, the fact that it's green or the fact that he obviously uses product? That's a totally fair assumption though-- It's easy to look decent when you have hot running water in your house and hygiene products are both cheap and widely available.]

Special, huh...? [Kazuki reaches up to bashfully play with a forelock of hair.] When you say it like that, I can't pass it off...

[He already knows that Annie doesn't say things she doesn't mean, unless she's obviously teasing.]

[lyingheart]

[ Both, but the green admittedly stands out p r e t t y starkly. They don't even have chlorinated pools to give people like Annie green-seeming hair, though wait, now she needs to suffer that in game..............

For her part, she's... content? Probably? Probably that's what she's feeling, when he accepts the compliment instead of dismissing it. As he knows, she doesn't bother saying what she doesn't believe in without pointing out she doesn't believe in it, or without making a tease pointed enough to know. Usually also a bit mean. That's less intent, and more how she knows to rub against people's natural grain. ]

You shouldn't. It's not like it defines you, either, but it's a fact worth acknowledging.

[forsaintcecilia]

[At least it's not totally unheard of in the Pokemon world, so he doesn't stand out too terribly... When Annie says that it doesn't define him, it causes him to break out into a more sincere smile. It'e nice to be told something like that. Even though he likes fashion, he doesn't want it to be a defining feature either... Just something people can appreciate about him.]

In Japan, there's a sort of cultural thing-- "refuse a gift twice before you accept it." Modesty is kinda expected of everyone.

[lyingheart]

[ No worries, Kazuki, you can be eye candy, but the sum of you as a person is not "eye candy." Not that she knows that term. The point stands!

However, learning this bit of Japanese culture gives her pause. ]

Then with you I should be persistent?

[ An awkward way to ask if she needs to be repetitive for things to? Make sense? Not to take his refusals or turning things away as a true refusal? ]

[forsaintcecilia]

[He likes the way she phrases that, and lets out a little chuckle.]

If it seems like I'm being coy for no reason, then yeah, maybe you should!

[lyingheart]

[ She blinks, then lifts an eyebrow. ]

Meaning you'd also be coy on purpose?

[ How the hell is she supposed to know when it's one or the other? More to the point, why would he bother playing coy around her? Can't she just assume anything similar would be a matter of this modesty culture... ]

[forsaintcecilia]

Ah, that's a good point. I don't think I'd do that... But you read me really well. I think you'd be able to see something like that.

[He'll also admit that he's easy to read in general. Like he's said; he's not a complicated guy.]

[lyingheart]

Imagining you playing coy is one of the last things that comes to mind when I think about you.

[ She bluntly admits this. Whether or not she's as good at reading him as he thinks is a matter of perspective: she thinks she doesn't do so badly, but there are differences in culture and expectation that throw her off, time to time. She has no guide to Japan, and no immersive life lived there in order to read the people around her to know how to suss out intentions. ]

For one, you're not particularly flirtatious, and I'd figure if you were, it would be genuine instead of... [ She waves her hand. ] Provocative for the sake of it. For another, you don't strike me as the type who'd bother with that kind of word play and body language in most situations. Maybe that would change when you were particularly interested in someone, but either I'd have to witness that, you'd have to tell me, or someone else would have to make the observation.

[ If he was ever curious how she forms opinions on people's tendencies, this is a bit of insight into the process, delivered with a considering air. ]