[FIN] Girl Troubles

[Suudonym]

"I'd sure as hell hope not!" he replied, gesturing broadly at the ceiling. "Hot damn, I can only imagine you going to a restaurant or something and placin' yer order and the server says they're out of that and you're like 'oh no, she said they're out, but maybe it's because the color of my shirt is offensive to her, maybe my tone of voice upset her, maybe I'm putting pressure on her by ordering something she can't bring, what have I done, I'm so terrible at dealing with people!'" The smirk in his expression was clear in his voice, though it sobered with the sound of a sigh as his gaze fell to the room's other occupant, "Man, you don't need to be so uptight about it though. If you spend five seconds thinking about how someone else feels, you're already miles ahead of like 50% of the rest of the human population. Who cares if you mess up; at least you gave enough of a s**t to try."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Despite his every effort to hold back, Akira couldn't help the laughter that escaped him upon hearing Nate's hypothetical scenario. "Yes, well...let's just say my upbringing made me a little more sensitive to superficial details - words, behaviors, tones - as opposed to the things I'm learning really matter, like what is really meant by them. I'm just glad I know at least one person who can tell the difference and recognize them for what they are."

"Mm. Thank you, Nate," he said sincerely. "I think you'll find, if you haven't already, that I'm pretty uptight about most things. Trying to learn how to wind down. Without getting...inebriated." Tossing his soda bottle, he added, "I never really found out what supposedly makes you such an expert on people. Let alone the human population." He smiled weakly. "What puts you in the position to assess the statistics of their empathy?"  

[Suudonym]

"Heh, you're bound to catch up eventually," he replied with a shrug. "I mean like I said, at least you're trying and not just 'oop I'm bad at this, oh well, society will surely forgive me.'" He raised a leg to rest an ankle on the opposite knee, leaning forward on an elbow. The smirk in his features was half-hearted; he didn't need to invest so much effort into an expression that the other party couldn't see. "Dunno if you can call me an expert," he said, drawing a breath to inject an authoritative cheesiness into his tone, "All my claims about humanity as a whole are merely deductions extrapolated from a diverse, randomized sample set of unique individuals." He abandoned the voice, shrugging. "You get a pretty broad look at people in general when you've worked as many jobs as me. S'all just experience."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"One can only hope," he answered. "Some people don't ever seem to change. No matter how hard they try. But I guess you're right - trying is better than nothing at all."

With a snort of amusement, Akira shook his head. "If you say so. Guess I'll have to take your word for it until I get there. Sorry for bothering you at this hour. I just really needed someone to talk to and wasn't thinking straight. I'll let you go, now."  

[Suudonym]

"Yeah yeah, no problem," he waved an unseen hand dismissively. A grin spread into his features. "Make sure you're sugar sober or whatever before you go talkin' to Sera."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Tch, I'm not drunk! It just...seems that way, alright?" he defended, feeling flustered again. "I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid." Hanging up the phone, Akira shook his head, not wanting to hear or say anything else lest he make an even bigger fool of himself.