ridin' on a horse, ha

He wondered if the game had some sort of system for keeping track of who you had been with the most for these sorts of cutscenes. Or maybe it was just some sort of luck that they had managed to log in and activate the quest at the exact same time. Though what kind of luck that was he wasn't really sure of... But it couldn't be good luck. Especially not with how dour Furrlicity Purrfection looked right now. He was sure that when they logged in the cat man would have immediately started in on harassing him. But instead there he was, just staring out the window.

Even Inari could tell that there was something wrong. But he wasn't exactly sure what it was or if they were 'close' enough for him to be asking about it. But that didn't mean he was just going to leave it as it was. Not when they were stuck in here for this cutscene. He cleared his throat just a little bit, to gather Furrlicity's attention. "Do you want to exchange friend ID's?" Out of all the times they'd met it had been something that he'd never even considered. But now... It sort of seemed like the right thing to ask.

Casually Inari accepted the friend request. Noticing only just now that Furrlicity Purrfection was the only person in his friend’s list. Maybe there actually was something seriously wrong with him? He hadn’t really thought about adding other people to the list while playing. Mainly because he had just been playing by himself for the most part. Except for that big event that had happened. Everything else had just had Furrlicity involved. Including the few starter quests that he had managed to complete. And by few… He meant exactly one.

But he wasn’t exactly expecting the cat boy’s next question. Especially not since it pertained to real life and not the game. He knew what happened when you died in the game. You whited out and got sent to one of those fancy shrine things. He had yet to actually visit one, mainly because he hadn’t dealt with wild Pokemon yet in a major capacity… Unless you counted that strange Magikarp. But he didn’t really count that at all. So instead, he thought for a moment.

“Well, my parents think that we will reincarnate… They’ve told me time and time again that whatever I am in the next life it will be to atone for the sins of this one.” And to them he had committed a great many sins. Especially when it came to his love life. “And maybe they’re right. But I don’t think that anything I’ve done personally demands I be something terrible in my next life.” But he didn’t really believe in all of that either. He knew nothing about Furrlicity, other than the fact that he was big and mean and liked to tease him. But that didn’t mean he didn’t see an actual issue arising when it was.

“Did you know in the Chinese mythos there’s a god dedicated to homosexuality? The gods took pity on him being slain for being in love and turned him into a god himself to protect his people.” He didn’t know why he was pouring this out to a man who had at best only flirted with Inari to make him uncomfortable. And while Inari had been trying to pretend to be straight, he wasn’t doing it well obviously. It was impossible. “The Chinese government banned his worship for the longest time, saying it was an affront to nature but there are entire shrines dedicated to him. Along with temples that are being rebuilt after they were torn down.”

With a nod he seemed self-assured of himself now. “So, I suppose whatever happens in my afterlife will be up to Tu’er Shen, won’t it?” He wasn’t well versed on what the rabbit God did with gay people after death. But certainly, it couldn’t be punishing them after they’d died so long as they weren’t terrible people? Right?

He watched @furrlicty carefully, knowing how soft those ears were and the fact that they were listening intently as he gave his little speech. Inari didn’t exactly know the circumstances behind Furrlicty being sickly. How could he? Especially since every time they met up, they were one step from fighting or well… flirting he supposed to put it in a non-crass way. But he was pretty sure that it was just Furrlicty being cruel to him. But now he’d confirmed in everything but actual words that he himself was a gay man. So hopefully that would either cut it out or something. If it was just the cat man being cruel.

“I thought about it a lot before and after I tried to kill myself.”

And he still thought about it a lot more than he liked to think about that fact. Living day to day the way he did there wasn’t a lot of chances to think about a lot else really. There were a limited number of ways for him to get out of his situation and sometimes death seemed like the easiest and fastest way. That way if he was going to come back as something, or someone, else that maybe their life would be easier for multiple reasons. But he still hadn’t been able to do it yet. Not successfully.

The lashing tail catches his attention as it gives Furrlicity away, just like it would a normal cat. Scooting closer to the other man, and not breaking the eye contact given he grabs the tail gently and brushes it down some with his hand. “You’re annoying. But I suppose you could be worse.” He was quiet about it really. Furrlicity was the only friend he had in this game and thinking about it… Maybe outside of it too? It had been so long since he’d actively spoken to someone that he couldn’t remember.

He was a fish out of water where he lived, and you didn’t make many ‘friends’ in earnest in his line of work of just bartending when he felt like it. You got admirers and men who wanted to get you in bed for the night occasionally. It wasn’t something that he really enjoyed per say. But it was his way of life here.

If this had been real life, Inari supposed this would be some sort of 'moment' between the two of them. But in real life men didn't kiss his hand and say somewhat kind things to him. Even if they were annoying. This was all a game and there were roles they all had to play. And of course Furrlicity Purrfection wanted to flirt with him. It was all he'd done up till now besides torment him. So he wasn't about to let himself be taken in.

"I was... scammed by a guy I met online. He told me he wanted me to move in with him and so I moved to an entirely different country for him. And now I can't get home because I don't have any money. Any family to go back to and going back and forth between the borders is impossible most of the time. You chose one and stick with it."

Going between Korea and China was hard enough once. There was no way he would be able to go back now. Not with nowhere to go.

"It's not dying but I don't have anything or anywhere to go."

It was pathetic. And not at all the same as what Furrlicity was going through. But he still linked their pinkies together to seal the promise. It was the least that he could do.