lostnetwork | ITP: Claiming first in the name of horrible roommates

I'm pretty sure we came only with what we had on our backs, Haruki. I hated being in the clothes I fell asleep in, but I'm managing.

[Which happens to be a sweater, skirt, and the usual stockings. Someone was nice enough to give her some shoes.]

Well I'm going to check anyway. Come with me.

[You don't have anything better to do than make you way there in the dead of the night, right???]

'I don't even have a place to stay.'

Fine. Meet up outside the apartments?

Yeah, I'll... meet you there.

[It's her. It's her, it's her. He's hoping he sounds normal and confident]

[Maybe a bit off, but she thinks it's because he's on the freaked out side, too, and trying not to show it.

Anyway, down in front of the apartment building!]

Hey.

[Naturally, he was waiting for her. And when she arrives-]

H-hey. [He's trying to be normal, he really is. He really is. but he's not. He's not normal, he's barely even okay. He's looking at her like he's seen a ghost, and he's also older - almost nineteen now - taller, and there's other things. the scar under his bangs (not visible), the barcode on the back of his neck (visible, but probably not from this angle), some other minor details like hair length]

[And here's Kyonko, still fifteen--almost sixteen--with the ponytail he likely remembers and not a scratch on her. She knew he'd likely wind up tall but daaaaaamn. She thought she felt short before at five-zip. Not only that, but--]

'Remember what I said about the Uncanny Valley? It was one thing to see it over the network, but in person it's even stranger. I don't know anymore if this is the Haruki I know or not. Not with how tall he is, how off his hair is, and just how out of it he seems.

Is this another timeloop? Am I really caught in another reality where I need to fix something to go home? Am I going to have'

Uhhh.... so, you wanted to see if you left anything?

[She needs to break the ice somehow. It's awkward for both of them and he's not okay. He's not. Not with the way he's looking at her and he's older and--]

'Is he from the future or something where I.... died?'

I... yeah. I- [She's not the one from Luceti. They were both still young then, but she should have some more scars. her hair should be slightly different. Her face got slightly smaller. Other little nuances that he used to know so well, and he still does from all the pictures. He swallows, and he shakes his head to clear it]

Yeah, that's right. [And with that, he turns to start off towards the building, not pausing. He needed to not look at her.

Of course, with his back to her, the tip of the barcode on the back of his neck is probably visible]

[And that gets an alarm bell to go off in her head. Normally, she doesn't do this, but she literally threatened an Eldritch abomination and got herself stabbed for his and Yuki's sake only to wind up in another world altogether again.

So she's not even going to think as she rushes up to him and grabs his arm. Her back aches in memory of the knife cutting into her so fast she hadn't been able to register it until she'd hit the ground.]

'Did I go through all that.... for nothing?'

What's that on your neck, Haruki?

'Please let it be a trick of the light or something. I know I complain a lot but to whatever deity may be listening, let it be a trick of the light and not what I think it looks like.'

[Dammit, he forgot about that. With her attaching to his arm (What's she doing, she's not mine, we're not like that. We're not-) he can't go any further (-What am I saying, I'm past her, I'm in love with Winry now.) and as such he just stops. He hangs his head, gritting his teeth. (Why am I even thinking like this?)

He should make an excuse. He should dismiss it or- It's funny. He doesn't even have his wings. His bright gold wings he's gotten so used to in his time in Luceti. His back still feel weird, and he keeps trying to use muscles which are no longer there reflexively. And yet it's the thing he often forgot about in Luceti which is standing out here]

It's nothing. It's nothing.

[They're not. As far as she's concerned there's no way they could and yet--]

Haruki. [That one she used whenever she was being dead serious and he needed to listen to her.]

'That is not a look that should be on Haruki's face, a look like he is in pain and suffering. Angry, yes. That smile like a black rose spelling out my personal doom, yes. Frustrated, sure. But a look like this, regardless on if he's from the future or another reality or not, is not one that should ever be on his face.'

What's going on?

'Because you're acting so strange you're scaring me and it's kind of weird it's not just because I'm scared the world might end. I told myself I wouldn't let the others do all the work when it comes to him and let myself be pinballed around. Haruki is a person with feelings, even if they're screwed up. Whatever is going on he probably needs, more than anything, a friend.'

Talk to me. Please.

Edited 2012-08-19 04:45 (UTC)

[...] I was in another world before this one for the better part of two and a half years before arriving here. That's a legacy of it on the back of my neck.

[...Dammit for some reason, despite what he's said he doesn't want to explain this. Not to her. Not think about this. He'd only just promised Winry he'd never leave Luceti without her. That he would be there as long as she'd have him. and here he is]

[Kyonko freezes a bit upon hearing that, her grip on his wrist tightening a bit. She went through all that just before Christmas and Haruki wound up stuck in another world himself?! For two and a half years?!]

'And if I fell apart after just one day I can only imagine how awful it's been for him. No wonder he's looking at me like I'm a ghost if he hasn't seen me in almost three years. I must be the first person from home he's seen.'

[Her grip on his wrist loosens and she steps back, trying to give him her usual flat look, but it can't really mask any of the worry on her face.]

....so, about this stuff you might have left behind?

[...Dammit, he hopes she didn't get the wrong impression. Not that there's a right one. He tries to put an annoyed look on his face, but their situation is now somewhat reversed. He can't stand that look on her face. Not one bit. He only looks at her briefly, before turning away again and nodding]

Yeah, I ought to have something there.

[I have to have something from Luceti left.

I believe I have something from Luceti left.]

Let's go then.

'Because if he's this insistent, it must be important to him.'

[So they head off and Kyonko constantly tries to keep the sinking feeling out of her guy. She can't help it. Haruki is here but he's not her Haruki--] '--Not in that way!--' [--and she's stuck here too for who knows how long and he hasn't been home. He hasn't seen the Brigade or his parents or me or anyone for almost three yea--]

'What all happened to you in that other world, Haruki?'

[It's this question that keeps her glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as they wander through the city and for her to walk closer than she normally would alongside him. She's here. If nothing else, she's here for him. It's all she can do right now.]

Yeah, let's. [And so they set off - in silence to begin with, as he allows his thoughts to stew. It's her. It's her, and she isn't the same one. She doesn't remember their experiences, or that Valentines Day, or any of it. It's unfair, really, even if he never expected it to be fair. And... maybe it's for the best.

But she keeps looking at him. Scared. Worried. Possibly even wondering if he's the same person. He remembers the male Kyon's accusation that he wasn't a member of his SOS-Brigade, and wonders if this one will be the same. Even if she's the right gender. ...He can't keep thinking about this- talk. she said to talk, as they walk - well, he'll talk]

It was called Luceti. Everyone had those barcodes I have and wings... I guess I don't keep the wings off-world.

And here it was I was always the one you tried to get into wings. [She tries to keep her tone light and mostly succeeds. Mostly. It's probably the most inappropriate thing to muse about right now given the situation but she's kind of stopped being able to really think. Not really beyond any kind of response to what he says and putting one foot in front of the other.]

'It's still Haruki under there. Just like with the Haruki I met in the other world. A little different, but the core is still the same, right?'

Seriously, they were ridiculous little things too, not even arms length. Cosplay-worthy other than being attached to our back.

[...And he can't help it, he goes to try to flap the wings that are no longer there. In his effort to move the phantom muscles, his shoulder blades shift a bit.]

Did whoever take you there have a fetish for them or something?

[She sees the shoulder shift and wants to ask, but figures it's just a quirk of Haruki's now. Or his shoulders hurt. Or any number of things. Her main concern is making sure he's okay.]

You know, we never did get a clear story for the wings, other than that both us and the Organization's people have them. So it's probably that everyone the world sucked up gets them. Probably to survive Shifting or something... or maybe it's the universal translation.

[A beat]

...You know I haven't thought about it, but have I been speaking Japanese?

[She actually has to stop and think about it for a moment.]

....I think we've been speaking English this whole time.

'Which is kind of disturbing when you really try to analyze the situation. Speaking Japanese is as natural as breathing and yet here I am fluently speaking a language I could barely ever even write in back home like it's second nature. Did they rewire my brain somehow when they brought us here so everyone could talk to each other with no fuss about language barriers?'

[In Japanese, now that she's actively thinking about it:] Am I speaking it now?

[Same from him, represented in green text from here on-] Yeah, you are. That's weird. In Luceti, everything just translated so I heard everything people were speaking in Japanese and they heard my stuff in whatever they spoke. If you focused, you could even "hear" the echo of the translation process before your brain or your wings or whatever auto-corrected it. I guess here, we just speak English instead.

[Which he frankly finds insulting, now that he thinks about it.]

Edited 2012-08-19 05:58 (UTC)

[Then we'll go with green text here, as well!] It's kind of creepy we could be speaking another language without realizing it. Did they rewire our brains or something?

[She scratches the back of her head. It's kind of scary how much something as simple as language can disturb a person when you start to notice someone has been tampering with it.]

Probably, but I think I'll assume enchanted. Given all the species here and that they would want to communicate with us too, maybe it's like a magic cell tower wherein if you're within range you can speak English...

[...That's actually a neat idea. He'll need to ask people, and hope it's something like that. It seems less invasive somehow]

That would be a lot less disturbing than the idea of our brains getting tampered with. The mirrors they gave us are a cross between a tablet and something out of a fantasy movie so I guess that makes sense? It'd make sense with how we're talking people here with wildly different anatomy are the norm here. It was probably here to begin with just so they could hold a decent conversation.

[Yeah, she's so distracted she has no idea she's slipped right back into English. Concentration, thy name is definitely not Kyon.]

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