chickenchoicejudy | SAIL IC INBOX

did you know about this

🦄😁🏀🏀🏀👏🍕🌮

little pictures

[Ryan is literally at weed party, could totally be told this in person, but he has his communicator out anyway because Min-Gi NEEDS to come get some weed in his lungs. He looks a little surprised when it dings and it's someone else though.]

oh my god WHAT

😎🤩🐣🐣🎸🎵🎶🎤🍪🍪🍞

dude there's SO MANY

lookit this guy!!!!!!

😘

aren't they cool 😎

🏀👍

eddie showed me

🙀💩👽🦄🦄🥰

is that one a piece of shit with a face???

[Ryan is cracking up across the room. Why is THAT in there?]

🥴🍀🚬🤪🥖

check it out it's everyone here

huh? its ice cream?

💩💩💩

[ hear that? that's the sound of Steve laughing. maybe the first big, real laugh he's had since he came here. ]

that's pretty good

👁️👃👁️
👄

no no no THIS is ice cream

🍨🍦

both of those are ice cream that other thing is definitely poop

💩💩💩🚽🧻

[This is hysterical, Ryan can't stop laughing. If anyone near him asks he will show them the cursed emojis.]

holy shit its staring at me

👀👋

dude i worked in an ice cream parlor remember? i think i know what it looks like

💩💩💩

its ice cream with a face

like a mascot

💩🍦🍨🍧🤤👅👅

okay but what kinda ice cream doesn't have a cone OR a bowl? he's naked, man. he's a naked little shit

😳😳😳

oh my god wait wait wait wait waaaaaaaaaait

🎩
💩
👔

[ several minutes pass before he replies. during these minutes one might hear Arthur's phone rhythmically reciting "pile of faeces" nine times in a row, followed by "shortcake" ]

ok you were right it's shit

why does it have a face ⁉️❓⁉️

💩💩💩

it looks pretty good with the hat

i always knew i was right about literally everything.

the hat makes it look like the most distinguished shit there is

👑
💩

oh wait my bad it was his royal majesty king shitstainington

[ it is entirely a shame that even after weed, steve isn't the kind of guy to think up things like king shitstainington but at least he can appreciate the esteemed hat + poop combo ]

🎓
💩

what are these even for

🍆🥕🍅🥔💩🚽

wait did i ask that already i don't remember

hahaha I don't remember either man

and i dunno but they're pretty great and i'm gonna use them forever

😎🦁🎪

me too

[ this is not true ]

do you think friday drew them

if we asked her do you thihnk she could add more

what kinda stuff should she add?

wait

wait wait

w a i t

is this just so you can get a chocolate ice cream one that isn't actually shit???

no way dude

but now that you mention it

wouldn't it make more sense to have every flavor of ice cream

how can they leave some of them out

it's not fair

if you're gonna have little pictures of everything, it should be EVERYTHING

dude, there's no dino nuggets either

where's the garlic bread tiny picture

why is there GARLIC and not GARLIC BREAD

🧄????

Edited 2022-12-10 03:47 (UTC)

WAIT

whats a dinno nugget

oh my god okay so ruby showed me them they're in the buffet

they're literally just chicken nuggets B U T

SHAPED

LIKE

DINOSAURS!!!!

🦕🦖🐔

holy shit

how do they do that

are there nugget cutters

like cookie cutters but for chicken nuggets

can you make chicken nuggets shaped like ANYTHING

[ he is, at this point, getting a little too high to function, but it's okay. ]

hey akagi

can i ask you a question

sure, man! shoot 👉👉

[ oh god this is super awkward now hmmm maybe this was a bad idea but ]

nice use of the tiny pictures

but yeah cool so do you remember much about when we played never have i ever?

thanks!!

and yeah. I remember most of it actually? it's after that where it all gets kinda wobbly~~~

[From his perspective, Min was helping carry him back to the boat and then he blinked and woke up in Min's bathtub.]

why?

ok so do you remember when we talked about robin hood and how hot the girl fox is

[ he's in a predicament here where he knows it's absolutely not cool to ask a guy at random if he's not strictly into girls because it's not anyone's business but he really needs to know if ryan isn't strictly into girls ]

Edited 2022-11-13 06:05 (UTC)

[Luckily for Steve, Ryan has very little shame and has already gotten the vibe that this place isn't quite as dangerous to be out in as home.]

...didn't we talk about how they're both hot???

yeah we did

or you did

so did you mean that?

i swear i'm not trying to be weird. i know it totally looks like i am

[Offline, he squints at his communicator.]

like

did I mean cartoon foxes are hot, or...?

[Honestly there are many layers of things to be embarrassed about from that conversation - you're going to have to be more specific, Steve.]

Edited 2022-11-13 06:27 (UTC)

what? no

i mean do you really think they're both hot

the girl one AND robin hood

oh

yeah, I do. they're both hot

[An anxious beat between messages, and then a follow up--]

that's not like a problem or anything right?

[ oh wait oh fuck ]

no! god no sorry dude no it's not a problem

[ there's an even longer anxious beat (more like a series of anxious beats) between messages here ]

i'm asking because i was wondering how you like

you know

figured that out about yourself

oh thank god that would have sucked and probably been extra weird the next time I bummed weed off you

[And, you know. More serious things, but he's incapable of not cracking a joke and trying to cut the tension he made. Especially considering the follow up question.]

hm.

hard to say? I think I kinda always knew but its more like I was always like this and I realized everyone else was different, if that makes sense.

actually that doesn't make any sense lemme try again

it's like. people who like the gender they're "supposed to" don't have to think about it all that hard. and i've never hard to think about it that hard. But that doesn't line up with the world and then sometimes the world is shitty about it

you know what no I know how I figured it out

i saw star wars at the movies and watched harrison ford and carrie fisher on screen at the same for two hours when I was eleven. that did it

[ okay that sort of does make sense in a weird way. steve thinks back to the handful of times he's found himself oddly defensive of tom cruise movies of all things for reasons he couldn't ever quite put his finger on. maybe this whole thing isn't so far out of left field after all. ]

yeah i get it. it makes sense. seriously thanks a lot

[ it seems at first like this might be the end of the conversation, but then steve sends another completely totally unrelated message. definitely has nothing to do with the previous line of thought, nuh uh. ]

have you met eddie munson? he's kind of new

Edited 2022-11-13 07:33 (UTC)

sure, no problem

[Honestly, it's the fact that Steve thanks him that tips him off more than anything else. ...At least, until he mentions a specific guy.]

I think I've seen him around, yeah. haven't like met-met him but he was smoking with us right?

[ so steve was hoping ryan would say "oh yeah i've talked to him a few times" so steve could then say "did he flirt with you a lot like he means it because i think that's just the way he is but i'm also not super sure" and then they could go from there but that, of course, is not what happens. ]

oh cool yeah you should meet him, you guys would get along. he plays guitar too

oh sick does he have his here?? that's awesome

[...Wait. Does this have anything to do with what they were just talking about?]

wait

are you trying to set us up or something?

😅

oh

no, sorry i didn't mean it like that

he's just cool and i think you would like him

the two questions were unrelated

[ nailed it ]

Are you sure? cuz they feel waaaay related

But cool friend recs are always good too

it's complicated ok?

i sort of called him out for flirting with me when i was stoned and he owned up to it but i think he's like that with everyone so i don't think it means anything

but like

[ there is an overly long pause between texts here as steve types and deletes at least ten different things before he settles on: ]

i don't know, like i said it's complicated

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

has he flirted with you since?

[That seems like it would be a green flag to Ryan - admitting that flirting is happening and continuing to flirt afterwards.]

actually wait back up more important question first

are you cool with him flirting with you? or is it something you want him to like, stop doing?

i haven't really talked to him much since but i realized he's been flirting with me for a while. i thought it was just like i dont know a joke i guess

but i don't think it is

[ he knows he must sound like super inexperienced and is really fighting the urge to make it clear that he's used to BABES flirting with him and also going on dates with BABES and spending time with BABES etc etc. it's a lovely show of self-awareness, this restraint. ]

anyway i don't know. i felt weird at first but i don't think it was a bad weird.

speaking as someone who's tooootally spun it off as a joke before usually it's not. usually it's more like

like if he flirts and you aren't into it it means he can back off and say he was just kidding. Especially if he's from our time, y'know? not everyone's chill about it.

[Back home, they wouldn't have had the luxury of going up to any dude they were interested in and flirting as if it wouldn't have consequences. There's a lot of nuance and vetting that goes into it.]

Different-weird? like not what you're used to?

...have you tried flirting back?

yeah i know. small town usa, not exactly known for our tolerance.

[ steve isn't proud of it, but he used to be a major asshole in that regard. learned behavior, not that that makes it any better. he's come a long way since then. ]

i guess different-weird is one way to put it. i don't know. i don't mind it. maybe i kind of like it, but then i think maybe i just think i like it because he's familiar and i miss home.

does that make sense?

small town anywhere, my dude. did I tell you I'm canadian?? anyway I'm canadian and...yeah. small town anywhere.

[Not that he was ever overtly bullied or anything, not really. He's too good at being able to laugh at himself and be the life of the party wherever he goes. But it was also an open secret, emphasis on secret. Things probably would have been different if he was actually trying to date guys in high school.]

yeah that makes a lot of sense.

i don't think those have to be separate things though? like. think about anybody you've ever liked before. boy, girl, cartoon fox, whatever. nobody likes anyone for just one reason. so...if you like him, there'll be other stuff.

like maybe you like him because he reminds you of home and maybe you also like him because he's got nice hair and smells good. It can be a lot of things!!!

[This is oddly specific for someone who's never met Eddie, to the point where maybe it's not about Eddie on Ryan's end anymore.]

yeah you're right. its just weird because i never thought i was into dudes.

[ but now he's realizing he was probably just suppressing a lot of feelings all this time. funny how that works.

he's also got a lot of complicated feelings going on about a girl back home who he thought he was in love with but now he's wondering if he just wanted to be in love with her, or maybe he is in love with her but he knows he's never going to see her again or... god. it's too much to think about. he just knows he doesn't want to be unfair to eddie because of his own stupid confusion. ]

but like even talking about it now i feel like i should be freaking out and if was still home i know i'd definitely be freaking out but here i feel like

i don't know. shit this is hard to talk about

but if hanging out with him gives me something to look forward to on this damn ship then maybe i shouldn't make a big deal about us both being guys

i guess

that's the spirit :)

I guess that's one upside to the whole 'we can't go home' thing. like. no one from home who would've cared is here? so...I dunno, I said this to someone else here but there are waaaay worse places to have a sexuality crisis.

just take it slow, man. besides! If he's actually flirting with you and thinks you aren't picking up on it, maybe he'll start getting even more obvious and take the guesswork out of it.

[Ryan, no, this advice is bad.]

but seriously, don't worry so much about it. if he makes you happy, that's what matters right?

yeah you're right about that. there are definitely worse places.

i think that's why im not really freaking out that much about it. if i was back home i don't know what i'd do. keep ignoring it i guess.

i think i'll take it slow. see what happens. i mean it's not like either of us are going anywhere.

[ famous last words. just a handful of days after this text, eddie and steve would be kissing in front of god and everyone at the price is right. ryan just gives really good pep talks! ]

thanks man. you've helped big time. honestly you sound kind of like my best friend back home. i think she'd be telling me the same stuff if she was here.

true! you've got all the time in the world, dude.

[Not that Ryan's one to talk - he's the king of trying to speed through his own life, but he's trying a lot harder these days to not rush himself.]

yeah? sounds like you've got good taste in friends ;)

really though, she sounds cool. sorry she's not here but glad I can pick up some of the slack there?

yeah she's great. one of the coolest people i know.

[ no need to bring the mood down by going deeper into it than that but he really doesn't want to imagine robin or anyone else being forced onto this hell ship if they don't have to be even if he misses them more than anything so mooooving right along - ]

anyway we should hang out more, man. if you ever wanna shoot hoops or play skee ball or whatever let me know

[ his kingdom for more things to do on this fucking boat honestly ]

totally! i'm the king of skee ball 👑

[He is not. He's okay at it? But skee ball isn't skee ball unless you're shit talking the person you're playing with.]

plus i'm getting pretty good at that dance one from the future too

but yeah! I'd hang with you anytime dude.

[ steve has no idea what the dance one from the future is, to be honest. he's not really looked around the arcade save for the very specific things he knows and is willing to play. perhaps ryan can introduce him to the magical world of ddr (which he will probably not play) ]

cool

next time i'm there i'll let you know 👍

Edited (oop i forgot the emoji) 2022-12-19 16:08 (UTC)

[ at some point on the evening of the 24th, if ryan returns to his room he'll find a small package just outside the door. it contains a tommy bahama brand candle. sort of. it's been decoupaged to hell and back with pages from different 8-track booklets (OBVIOUSLY lady gaga is on there) and someone's painstakingly dug the candle out of the tin and replaced it with a little bit of weed.

attached is a note:

Hey Akagi -

Thought you might appreciate this

Merry Christmas

- Steve ]

SAIL IC INBOX

during weed party

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a couple days after weed party

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forward-dated to December 24th