video; @unchained

[hedonistic]

[There video opens to a beautiful scene of a sunset at the Fishing District, sky painted in magnificent pinks and oranges that reflect against the pristine ice. A few moments later, a young man's voice accompanies it, tinged with the telltale slurring of someone who's rather drunk.]

Hey, question.

[A pause hangs in the air for a minute, almost long enough that one might wonder if he's gotten distracted or forgotten.]

Did you like your life, before the Storm? [. . .] If the Natha gave you a chance to go back, would any of you stay here?

[Kagari doesn't miss Japan. He doesn't feel homesick. He misses his friends, sure, but he's had more in the past nine months than he did in the twenty-one years before it. But he's starting to feel like the only one.]

Comments

[hedonistic]

Nah. People go back to sleep, sometimes, but I've never heard of anyone leaving.

[He shrugs, like it doesn't really matter to him either way. Which--in honesty, it doesn't. You know how there's that saying, home is where the heart is? While Kagari would never admit something so openly sentimental, it rings true for him, too. Which ... is related to this bender, tbh, given one of his friends woke up and it didn't exactly go as he'd wanted.]

Don't get me wrong, dude, I'm not trying to feed you some false hope bullshit or whatever. But a month ago, if someone told you your universe was gonna implode and you'd wake up on a space station with dozens of people from other imploded universes, would you have believed 'em?

[He winks, obnoxiously.]

See, you never know.

[stuns]

I'm gonna say, [ and juno lingers on this ] that you're a little too deep in the bottle to be reassuring anyone. Much less me about that sort of thing.

[ it's not false hope, but it feels like a pat on the head being given to him by a kid who's had too much to drink already. ]

For all we know, we could be dreaming right now. Wake up in little weird test tubes. That'd be the real kicker.

[ he hums ] I remember we talked a bit about where you're from. Would you stay?

[hedonistic]

Hah, like some Matrix shit, huh?

[There's a little drunken half-chuckle at that. It doesn't sound quite -- as okay as he might have sounded while he was talking. Imagine if his whole fucked up life was some kind of computer program. That'd really be something, wouldn't it.]

Suit yourself. [The verbal equivalent of a shrug follows] Aaaaas for me. I mean, I'm dead, so it wouldn't be an option to leave anyway, but even if I could, I wouldn't. I'm free here.

[stuns]

[ the matrix... that's some old shit for a space man of the future, kagari wtf.

but in any case, juno picks up on that laugh, not really in the right place. he knows it because he's familiar with letting it out himself, hell. ]

Can't blame you there. As logical a choice as any, really, who doesn't wanna be free if they had the chance...

[ juno can think of one situation where that wouldn't be true. ]

What's got you thinking about it?

[hedonistic]

[look "entertainment" is super fucking boring when the goal is to avoid literally all stress of any kind. kagari's fave things are all like a century old at this point.]

Not everyone, as it turns out! Some people need time to think about it!

[i.e. someone in stasis woke up and they had a big fight and have been pretending everything's fine ever since and now he's on a bender because SPOILERS pretending you're not upset about something does not in fact make the thing go away!!! a revelation for sad detectives everywhere.]

[stuns]

[ juno knows all too well how that goes. everything is fine, even better than fine when you've got a drink in your hand and whatever comes out your mouth actually feels like the dirty truth. ]

Yeah, well, you seem to have your mind pretty made up, don't you?

How long you been here, Kagari?

[hedonistic]

Hahah, I guess I do, huh? It's been some nine months, but I knew on day one.

[He makes that noise again. This one's even less of a proper laugh--it's more like a cross between a huff and a wheeze, soaked through with bitterness.]

You wanna know a funny joke though, Ju-chan? [yes. ju-chan. that's who you are now.] Isn't it really fucking funny to get everything you ever wanted and still want more? Like, what the fuck.

[stuns]

[ he winces a little at the nickname, but lets kagari go on, have his drunken fit. because what else are you gonna do over these weird devices? ]

Can't bring yourself to be fully satisfied, huh?

[ his voice is low, not sympathetic. juno just knows how this feels. sort of. get everything you ever wanted, have it laid out in front of you, offered to you on a silver platter even... and then you take that silver platter and you just turn it over and walk away.

because do you really deserve it? ]

Human nature, I think is what it's called. Or something like it.

[hedonistic]

[That's not quite right, but he can't find the words to explain it. It was enough when his friends were all asleep, because he held that hope in his heart for all of them to be awake someday, for them to be together. It was a stupid little dream--he'd even been surprised himself when he realized he wanted it, when he'd had the dreams beaten out of him long ago and life became about survival, and eventually, stealing snatches of joy where he could until he finally expired.

Then Masaoka woke up, and suddenly that dream got a tiny bit closer to reality. But Masaoka wasn't as elated as he was; he was conflicted, and confused--an old man needs time--and like a fucking fool, he'd felt rejected. Suddenly, freedom didn't feel like enough anymore, after all. So maybe--yeah, maybe Juno put it right after all. Humans could just never be satisfied with what they had, could they. It always had to be better. It always had to be perfect. Fitting, maybe, for a product of Sybil. Even a latent criminal.]

Sounds about right. What a garbage species we are, huh? Few exceptions, here and there, but most of us...hah.

[stuns]

Wouldn't be doing what I do if I thought everyone wasn't worth doing it for.

[ just facts. juno doesn't know what's going exactly through kagari's head, but sometimes you just need to get hideously drunk to work through it yourself. not the healthiest of choices, but juno's not one to scold for coping with booze of all things. the only person kagari might hurt is himself if he takes a wayward tumble into the water (though maybe it'll just sober him up instead if that's what happens). ]

If you stayed here, what would you do?

Thought much about it? Beyond the whole "being free" bit?

[hedonistic]

Meh. Can't say I relate.

[The amount of people who he thinks doing just about anything for is worth his effort is so small he could count it on his fingers. Kagari might be ride-or-die for his friends, but he hates humanity as a whole, and he's never felt any inclination to have his mind changed on that score.

The question Juno asks, though, that gives him pause. Briefly, at least--he never really has thought about it, and after a few moments of reflection, decides he doesn't need to.]

I just wanna have fun, man. You never know when we'll fall asleep again, or hell, I could drop dead tomorrow for whatever reason and the Natha might not be around to scrape my ass off the pavement again.

[Ever since leaving the facility, he's lived every day like it would be his last. What did he need long-term plans for, after all? He didn't expect to last a decade with the MWPSB.]

[stuns]

[ kagari's got a point. they don't know if the natha won't be around every time they need help. they've shown themselves to be pretty damn omnipotent, but there's something to be said about choice alongside omnipotence. they may just not want to res someone at the end of the day.

that gets juno's goat in another way, but he'll just let that seethe a little while longer. ]

Fun.

[ a hum ]

And what counts as fun in a place like this? Because if it's asking questions on your comms while getting drunk, then you might want to like. Add some throwing rocks at dumpsters into the mix while you're at it.

[ not that juno can talk. this is exactly what he does. he's a fucking hypocrite. goddamn it. but whatever, kagari's too young to do the whole brooding while staring out into the horizon bullshit just yet. ]

[hedonistic]

But then I wouldn't have as nice a view.

[In fairness, Kagari wasn't drinking to have fun, this time. There was that deep-gnawing emptiness in his gut that's been bothering him for weeks, ever since his fight with Masaoka, and the alcohol had numbed it for awhile. It's not quite as active a distraction as his usual, sure--but sometimes you're in too gloomy a mood to cook or seek people out for spars and he only has like, one video game here.]

But if you know where a man can get some fireworks, we can turn this into a regular party.

[drinking and fireworks are absolutely a great combination, what are you talking about.]

[stuns]

[ juno is pretty sure he'd have thought the same thing back in old town without even batting an eyelash. everyone likes fireworks. especially when you're drunk out of your mind. ]

Yeah, fireworks sounds like a great idea when you're up to your gills in booze, but I'm trying not to be responsible for you losing a couple fingers or limbs.

ARGH DW WHY

[hedonistic]

[Trying to be responsible for Kagari is like trying to be responsible for a hurricane tbh, but ... the effort is secretly appreciated .... very secretly.]

Wellllll, you could always set 'em off.

[He looks so hopeful, like clearly this argument is sound and good.]

[stuns]

[ this argument is the complete opposite of sound and good and juno's voice is flatter than ever. ]

Well Kagari, the thing is, I don't need to go losing anymore parts of me either.

No fireworks.

[hedonistic]

[He...blinks. Genuinely perplexed by this statement.]

But you're not drunk.

[stuns]

No, but I have a streak of some real bad luck. Better safe than sorry in this case.

[hedonistic]

[There's the quiet sound of a something that's a cross between a huff, a pout, and a sulk.]

Y'know, for a guy who was gonna fight a mirror, I didn't figure you to be a chicken.

[shots...fired?]

[stuns]

Alright.

[ ONE LONG BREATH IN. one short breath out. ]

You know what?

Fine.

Where the hell can a lady get some fireworks around here? And ASAP. I don't have all damn day.

[ THE NERVE OF SOME GODDAMN KIDS!!!! ]

[hedonistic]

How should I know? I thought you were the one who's supposedly an expert in losing parts.

[what happened to this conversation]

[stuns]

Bold of you to assume that it makes me an expert in finding fireworks.

It was your suggestion, you had to have some idea of where to get 'em.

[hedonistic]

I started with asking if you knew where!

[He would point at Juno accusingly, but due to being Drunk he ends up pointing somewhere offscreen.]

Aren't you some kind of detective? You oughta be able to find shit like that when people ask.

[he says, as if he is not also a detective. smh.]

[stuns]

Yeah, I'm a detective, not your damn errand boy. There's a difference between finding a perp and finding some stupid dumb fireworks!

[ wow! ]

[hedonistic]

What if a perp was hiding some stupid dumb fireworks, huh?? How would you find 'em then?