ITP: Claiming first in the name of horrible roommates

[little_miss_snarker]

[After a few false starts there's eventually a clear video of a young girl who looks very frazzled and annoyed as she figures out how to hold the mirror to make her post.]

Hey, does anyone mind if I crash on their couch tonight? Apparently one of my roommates is a psycho fishperson with territory issues who keeps threatening me with a trident.

[OOC: Context]

Comments

[little_miss_snarker]

Like from when? You actually met people like that?

'If this place can pull people from different dimensions, then why not different time periods?'

[deusexhormones]

Surprisingly, more people from around the Meiji Restoration than the Sengoku era. You'd think there would be Sengoku people everywhere, but no, way more Shinsengumi in particularly. Also a few people from the 80s and 90s.

[little_miss_snarker]

I wonder if there's something particular about those periods or if it's just that Luceti place you went to.

[deusexhormones]

Well they are major historical landmarks, you know.

[little_miss_snarker]

But not the only ones out there. There's also the Heian and Edo periods and a few others, too.

[deusexhormones]

Can you even tell me when the Heian period was?

[little_miss_snarker]

Seven-ninety-four to eleven-eighty-five. I didn't do that bad on the exams, Haruki.

'Just don't ask me about Edo, though.'

[deusexhormones]

[Wow, he's mildly impressed. He didn't think she'd actually know that. He shrugs as they round the next corner. They're at the wake up building now, so he's going to go ahead to talk out with the security officer (a lizardwoman who has an eyepatch) about going back in. He's apparently as charismatic as ever, because this only takes the better part of forty seconds]

[little_miss_snarker]

[Hey, she managed to score decently on the Kouyouen entrance exam. Not good enough to get in, but enough most people would realize she's intelligent when she puts her mind to something.

Too bad most of what she got in cram school pretty much dribbled out her ears since then.

She rubs her arm as they go back into this place, the halls she'd seen when she'd made her way out into the city. It's unnerving for her to be back here, yet somehow she's not freaked out like she was before. Probably because Haruki is beside her. He is something familiar. Slightly different, yes, but someone familiar to her.]

[deusexhormones]

[Okay down this hall and... and he woke up on that room at the end of the hall. He's quiet now, confident there has to be something there. And when he opens the door he goes to crouch and look under things. Chairs. This desk. It probably looks more than a little vain and fruitless in all due honesty.

But he wants it to be true.]

[little_miss_snarker]

[Under the desk is where he'd find it: a small box labeled 'Extraneous articles: take to Lost and Found to be retrieved at later date.' Likely left for the janitorial staff. Inside he'd find a small number of items from Luceti of Zero's choice that the mods okayed that may or may not be due to his extreme desire to do so. In fact, Kyon didn't even see the box when she checked there a second ago.]

[deusexhormones]

[And when he looks in there- he finds something. There's a shoebox right on top that he pushes aside from other items in there to pull out and immediately open. Inside there's a lot of pieces of paper, but he just sets those aside to get to...

Photographs. Photographs of everyone who used to be in his Luceti Brigade are in this box.]

[little_miss_snarker]

[She looks over her shoulder when she realizes he's digging through the box and approaches.]

Did you find something? 'Seriously? I just checked there!' [She leans by (and possibly against due to proximity) his arm to check what he's looking at.]

[deusexhormones]

It's then... Really them.

[Good. It's only been 20 hours but somehow, the thought he is lost from these people forever(?) is made easier knowing there's something left of them. He starts to flip through the photos right here, to check if there's any missing.

Usagi Tsukino (at least five of her exist in here), Alphonse Elric (without armor), Leon from Star Ocean, Zell from FF8, Excellen Browning from Super Robot Wars...]

[little_miss_snarker]

'them'? Did you make another Brigade or something in Luceti?

[She picks up a picture of Alphonse and studies it, trying to figure out what sort of stereotype Haruki would pigeonhole everyone in. Or has he changed enough, been hurt enough, that he stopped doing that? It's hard to tell.]

'Besides, I'm not even sure if this is an improvement or not. Yes, it's Haruki and he's familiar, but he's not the one I know and that complicates everything so much.'

[deusexhormones]

No---yes. Sort of. [...Tch. He flips through a few images and then holds it out to her - a picture of her. There] You were there.

[little_miss_snarker]

'You mean this is the third time I've been dragged to an alternate reality?! Geez, I really do look like some ridiculously bad cosplayer with those wings.'

[The hair's a little different, longer, and her figure is slightly more filled out, but that is definitely Kyonko in the picture and she can't help but stare at it, a look of complete shellshock on her face.]

I don't even remember this, Haruki.

[deusexhormones]

I know. [Of course she wouldn't. No one ever does. He sighs and then tosses her photo back in the box. He looks through a few more of the others, before tossing them in too. Usagi and Alphonse on top. ...And then he goes to look back into the lost and found to see if there's more he missed]

[little_miss_snarker]

'That's all he has to say? 'I know'? So is it common for people to forget this Luceti place? Is that why the Haruki I know has no idea about it? Or is this Haruki from some indeterminate point in the future? The me in those pictures definitely looked older so it has to be in the future, right? He isn't going to be alone in that weird place, is he?'

[Kyonko picks up the box, half expecting it to disappear the moment they stop looking. She follows him into the Lost and Found with it, glancing through the various items on the shelves. She keeps glancing at Haruki's back, a million questions--] 'How long was I there? Did you leave before me? How did you know I can't remember? What year was it when you left?' [--swirling through her mind that she just can't bring herself to ask. Instead, she says:]

Anything else you see?

[deusexhormones]

...Oh man. [it's here? This thing is-? He goes to pick it up - it's a gauntlet made out of a glossy blue metal which despite being solid almost seems to be liquid in form. Emblemed on the back of the palm is the SOS-Brigade symbol. He cradles it in his hands gently. And then he gulps, nods, and motions for her to open the shoe box to he can put it in there]

[little_miss_snarker]

What is.... [Her voice trails off as she sees the gauntlet, her eyes going wider. That thing is by no means something that could've been made on Earth. Not as far as she knows, which even she can admit is not a lot. She opens the shoebox, lets him put it in, and closes it almost solemnly.]

'That place really did have an impact on him, huh?'

[deusexhormones]

... [He can't just say nothing, can he? But he always does, it's how he handled, for example, when Rena came back not having remembered things. It's how he handled every time a person comes back without memories. They've a new person. It's why you get so attached to someone. It's why you...]

Someone made me that. [The implication, a serious one, is that it holds significant sentimental value. And it does. He's missing her already. He looks through the pile and shelves some more, but nothing else stands out. He nods to himself before turning to head to the exit. Clearly expecting Kyon to follow still holding the shoebox -- not thinking about if she'll open it to examine its contents again]

[little_miss_snarker]

[She's still reeling on some level from the fact she's done this not just the one time but twice. And the apparent "first time" involved her memory of the experience being erased. Haruki's, too. It's strange, and creepy, and she has no idea how to handle it beyond sticking close to Haruki even if he is a little different.]

'And that it means he'll get home at some point since the Haruki from home would've said something if he remembered any of this. Does this mean we won't remember going home from here, either? How many other times have I been pulled to other realities without even realizing or remembering it?'

What's it for? [she asks of the gauntlet and, just like before, she follows along behind him. She would look in the box, but she's been getting hit with brainbreak after brainbreak today. She doesn't need another one by looking through those pictures again.]

[deusexhormones]

...I don't know. Fighting? I asked Winry to make it for me...

[And he bites his tongue. Winry. Mentioning her was a bad idea. She doesn't remember, there's no need to subject her to his memories. He grunts and walks faster...

...Which causes him to trip over a stuffed dinosaur (a green brachiosaurus) and land on his face.]

[little_miss_snarker]

Who's Win--[And that would be when he lands on his face. Kyon makes a little sound of concern and puts the box on the floor before kneeling beside him.]

You okay? [Despite herself, she lets the worry seep into her voice. She can't help it after everything she's been through at home and now knowing what he's been through himself.]