un: FLYHIGH

[asas]

hey my name is shōyō hinata, that’s 日向翔陽! there’s a lot of kanji about the sun and flying in it☀️🪶 i’m a pro volleyball player and i’m gonna be one of those night walkers. even if that really sounds like something you’d name a zombie, doesn’t it? why don’t they use THE FUN GUYS or WALKING ARCADE?

anyway if anyone needs a good time, i know exactly what you need! sports. it gives your brain the same amount of searatonin and dopemeen that doing nsfw stuff does so we’ll win big any way you look at!! 💪 [ searatonin and dopemeen are not typos. he doesn’t really remember how to type them correctly. head empty, only balls. ] i’ll play anything you’d like, even though volleyball’s what i know most about. i tried pretty much everything in middle school or saw it on tv so i know basics ⚽️🏀🏈🏉⚾️🎾🏓🏸🏒. beach volleyball too, i played for a couple years in rio. if you just want to talk or hug or hang out and not do sports stuff, i’m cool with that too. just uhhh not the nsfw stuff i guess. only if we hit it off, or something. like that. i’ve never been on a date before. oh, and i can do delivery gigs, too. i worked for ifood and ubereats for a while.

anyway i’m looking for a knife, how to use it and how to suplex someone in self defense as first payment for SPORTS, IFOOD or VOLLEYBALL (BEACH OR COURT!!!) but after that food and playing more sports is a fair trade. if you just want to hang out, duh, that’s free. we can be friends.

just send me a message through here or private anytime! might be a little slow on the sports still cuz my legs and bones are recovering, but i really need to move before i go rusty. obrigado! thank you! ありがとう!

Comments

[hearthebell]

[Success? Maybe? It's hard to tell. Hopefully, he gets the general gist.]

Most people feel that way, I think.

[asas]

do you??
you kinda look like a serotonin guy…… but maybe i’m wrong, and you are secretly buff but your legs hide em
like squirrels

[hearthebell]

I like a thrill.

The problem with dopamine is that over time, it takes more stimulus to get the same rush.

[asas]

i don’t mind playing more volleyball
like isn’t that the best part??? your body gets stronger and your stamina builds up so you get to do more of it all the time!!

[hearthebell]

It's not always a good thing. It's a big part of why people overdose on drugs; it takes more to experience the same effects, even if it's enough to kill them.

[asas]

ohh wait, like,
when you play so much you get a fever and don’t realize it until you’re down?
that happened to me once, during my first high school national finals and i had to get benched > bedridden
but today i take care of myself!
my dopamine is from a healthy source and my serotonin is responsible 💪
say where do you get yours? csi stuff?

[hearthebell]

[He squints at the little bicep. Maybe emojis are the secret to more effective communication over text.]

Something like that. 🧠 🔎

Anything can be addictive if it makes you feel good and releases dopamine. ⚠️ 💣 I guess it just depends on how toxic ☠️ or dangerous something is to start with. ⏱️

Knowing that chemical happiness has so much power over us is actually overwhelmingly depressing, some days. 😂 😂 😂

[asas]

ahhh!!!!! you uses emojis!!! i can see what you mean!! 😃

[ he can understand him better!! amazing, what boomers can learn— ]

we’re just a bunch of chemical reactions, right? i don’t remember much about chemistry but coach would say the same thing about volleyball.

[hearthebell]

It's going well, isn't it? 👺 I don't know why I've never tried them before.🦿

Do you think that's all we are? 💄 There are world religions with premises that would crumble at the notion that there isn't something metaphysical to rely on when our bodies fail us. 🦞

☂️ 🦴 🤪 🤖 👻

[asas]

[ 👺🦿💄 is going through shōyō’s mind now quizzically. wait, what do those mean? what does the shrimp mean? what does it mean . . . . is it a cryptic signal? a boomer message from beyond the words of wisdom?

]

oh, like our spirits! i thought that was chemical too
but i believe it
my body couldn’t move sometimes and something in there was always like “just a little bit more!!”, and it would always go that little extra even when it shouldn’t be able to
it’s kind of crazy

[hearthebell]

[It's 100% that L is an odd guy who is more or less picking the ones he likes, without consideration for context (or, at least, consideration for a highly specific context that he alone understands.)

He notes that Shōyō no longer seems to be using the emojis. As he did originally, he follows suit.]

I suppose it's the idea of a god, or that life goes on after death. Maybe the comfort people take in the idea is chemical; in fact, it would have to be.

It's not crazy. Adrenaline pushes us further than we're ordinarily able to go when we really need it; when you hear about a woman who was able to lift her car to save her trapped child, that's the reason for it.

[asas]

like heaven or nosso lar! and that we come back after a while
makes sense since living is so great but that’s why i think about living first

adrenaline is still crazy to think about!! our bodies are really amazing
i got this book on the biomechanics of volleyball and i didn’t get the tables with the numbers but there were charts and how each part and your center of gravity/posture effects your hit or an injury
we’re like
robots
but better than robots

[hearthebell]

I always consider that to be distinct from living a life normally, and to properly honor the promise of eternal happiness, heaven would have to be a complete overload of dopamine that lasts forever, and then I find myself exhausted by the thought exercise.

You sound just like someone young who believes he'll live forever. It's even more impressive because I know that your life has been threatened, in recent memory even.

[asas]

nah… i know i’m gonna die someday
and that i could’ve in that tree.
but i don’t want to spend a lot of the time i do have thinking about it. or preparing for it. i don’t think you can even prepare for it. that’s so much time i could be living that’d just go lost and i won’t get back
i want to play ball and run and spend time with people like you for as long as i can!

[hearthebell]

People like me?

That's a really nice thing to say.

[asas]

You’re my friend, of course it’s the truth.

[hearthebell]

You think of us that way? I've never really had friends before... I'm glad.

[asas]

hey there’s always a first for everything! i’m honored to be your first friend!! we should celebrate with tennis, shouldn’t we?! and maybe you can throw me some tosses after??

[hearthebell]

[L's conflicted, as to whether that's really true. He'd given someone else that distinction, once, after sealing the deal with a game of tennis... and that person had murdered him in cold blood.]

I'd like nothing more, on both counts.

[It's familiar, if nothing else, though L holds out some hope. Shoyo, after all, lacks a sociopath's slick polish.]

[asas]

[ a sociopathic shōyō is a scary thought. ]

meet me in the pit
(i mean court but pit sounds more like a huge deal)

[hearthebell]

I'm on my way to this huge deal of a meeting. I'll bring my racquet and see you soon.

[asas]

cest un raquette!!
👍

[ does he know if he’s right? no! but he’s ready to tennis brawl and will be charging down to their little playing corner made of solid ground and fishnets. it’s not volleyball, but it’s a little something! ]

Wrap or continue? I'm down for either!

[hearthebell]

[L coughs slightly, as though a laugh got caught in his throat, when he sees Shōyō response. Having inside jokes, like so many other things, is pretty new to him.

He arrives shortly after in warm clothes that are easy to move in, with his racket in hand, and several items that could serve as balls. They can test them out and see which ones work best, and which are more likely to go stray and bonk an innocent bystander.]

slams the continue button repeatedly

[asas]

[ shōyō very well does the same; already all warmed up to get there, all he needed to do was dislocate. his gym bag bounced against the small of his back as he jogged, its contents jumbling within (though he’s not exactly worried— it’s just the racket, his prized not-volleyball, some quick snacks and water). he arrives in his clean change of gym clothes of black shorts and accented red tee, complete with leggings and arm warmers underneath. the others he had drying in the bathroom of his current home after a mighty wash.

at least one can see him coming from afar; no one else is as proud to wear a striking red jersey like he is. not only that, but his energy is hot and bright like the summer sun in the middle of trench’s aggressive winter. it wasn’t volleyball, but . . . it was important because it was something. ]

Vamos jogar!

[ it makes him feel like he’s at home again. his second home, but home all the same. ]

<3!!!

[hearthebell]

[L, also, is unexpectedly glad to have something. In spite of the way he looks, he appreciates an opportunity to move and quicken his blood; since dying, it's surprising how much he values opportunities to feel alive.]

Olá!

[He greets Shōyō with a raised hand.]

It's cold, but...

[He rummages in his knapsack, pulling out the jersey they found on the ship and slipping it on over his clothes. Even over his coat, there is a laughable amount of space; L is just that skinny.]

Go easy on me; it's been a minute since I've played competitively.

[As if there's any doubt of that, given his physique.]

Since it's our first game, do you want to play a match, best of three?