PC WITH AOI

[commedia]

Comments

[commedia]

Your purpose, hm.

[They look a little disappointed, somehow.]

Say, Aoi...how does a "date" work?

[gamerbrain]

[ she doesn't notice their disappointment. ah well. ]

A date is... Spending time with the person you like!

[commedia]

Well, can't you do that with friends? Those aren't necessarily dates...

[gamerbrain]

You can still call them dates.

[commedia]

But friends are friends, yes? Not romantic prospects. [A beat.] Yet.

[gamerbrain]

Exactly. So going on dates might change that.

[commedia]

Does one simply announce that this is a date?

[gamerbrain]

Yep!

[commedia]

Okay. Acchem.

[A long pause......................]


THIS IS A DATE! [And a pause.] Aha, is that it?

[gamerbrain]

[ ... ]

Yep, exactly.

[commedia]

Eh? You sure? You're not just saying that to take pity on me, mmm?

[gamerbrain]

Aoi is sure! Aoi doesn't take pity on anyone!

[ which she means in the kindest way possible? ]

[commedia]

How nice of you, little doll.

[And a beat.]

So what next? What do people do on dates, besides spend time with one another?

[gamerbrain]

That varies. It can be something like shopping in an open market and stopping for crepes... Visiting an aquarium or amusement park...

As long as the sense of yearning is there, any kind of outing works. And then it raises your affection meter.

[commedia]

...

You lost me at "affection meter".

[gamerbrain]

It's the hidden record of how much someone likes you. You can gain or lose points by doing and saying things they like or dislike.

[commedia]

Oh! That sounds useful. How does one access this affection meter?

[gamerbrain]

You can't.

Some games have a side character who has the function to reveal it, but... Aoi doesn't think there's anyone like that, here. The best you can do is ask your love interest how they feel about you.

[commedia]

...

But can't people lie about that?

[gamerbrain]

Yep.

[commedia]

Ahhhh. So what is even! The! Point!

[HEAVING A SIGH]

Oh, little doll, this sort of thing is really quite hard!

[gamerbrain]

Even people who are lying will have tells. You can still learn a lot from someone who's lying.

[commedia]

Oh, I know that. [A little grumpily.] But when it comes to emotions like these...ah, I have yet to understand the depths of them.

[gamerbrain]

[ she nods knowingly. ]

Aoi doesn't understand emotions very well, either...

[commedia]

[...]

[Something seems to occur to Douman, who reaches over to hold Aoi's hand.]

[They don't say anything. They're just...holding hands. Just like that.]