TEXT; UN: J.SHEPPARD

[impavid]

Alright, new pop quiz. When you think of home, what do you think of?

[ Open question, which he's not going to expand on unless prompted -- though really he's curious about something specific. Do people consider Olympia or Wyver their home now? Maybe the Natha station? Or do they think of home worlds they've been told no longer exist? ]

Comments

[planetary_bonds]

Then the next time I win a card game tournament, you can have the winnings.

[There's sarcasm dripping all over that text.]

[impavid]

Thank you, I'm glad to have confirmation in writing,

[planetary_bonds]

[Sigh.]

That being said, thanks for the question. Reminiscing about home...I'd forgotten about some of the happier memories until you'd asked that question.

[impavid]

Then I'm glad my curiosity has done some good. You ever win one of those tournaments?

[ That'd be a good memory, right? Winning a tournament with your shiny charizard or whatever? ]

[planetary_bonds]

I did, although I'm not sure if that was one of the happier times...

[The Fortune Cup was kinda weird, alright. Being a front for cultists and all that.]

[impavid]

[ Oh. Well. That sucks. ]

Too much drama?

[ Was someone a sore loser? Did someone's holo pikachu card get stolen? You know, whatever counts for drama in a card game tournament. ]

[planetary_bonds]

Something like that.

[More like mystical dragons came and kinda screwed up the tournament match by temporarily swallowing the duelists and shoving them down a time travelling space road to show them past and future visions. It was pretty weird.]

Things got a little out of hand after that.

[impavid]

[ Again: YGO is wild. ]

Well what was a happier memory then?

[ Did you get something cool in a booster pack? ]

[planetary_bonds]

Rebuilding.

[Huh.]

There had been a disaster not long before I was brought here...we were starting to make our own lives with our own hands. Looking towards that future...I can't help but remember that fondly, even if it was cut short.

[impavid]

I guess doing the same thing here doesn't have that charm, when you barely had a chance to get to like this place first.

[planetary_bonds]

Not at first, at least. Considering everyone else here has gone through the same thing, though...I wasn't alone. It just took me a while to see that.

[impavid]

So you like it here now? But it's not really home yet?

[planetary_bonds]

I do.

[there's a long pause before he answers the second question, though. a good five minutes.]

it is and it isn't.

[impavid]

Yeah, I get that. Stuff here you'd miss if you lost it, but stuff you miss from back home too.

[planetary_bonds]

something like that.

i don't regret meeting the people here. but the fact that i had to lose everything to meet them stings a little, even now. i can't completely say which i would rather have.

[impavid]

I'm guessing this is one of those things that needs time. Right now everything we've lost we had longer.

[ So much as he cares about people he met here, they're still... newer. Their impact on his life isn't as well established. John is pretty sure that makes a difference. ]

[planetary_bonds]

I guess it does.

[But he's already been here for over a year, Yusei thinks plantively. How much time does it need?]

Some things, though, time can't completely erase. At that point, I suppose it's just down to how we deal with it...

[impavid]

[ Dramatic music begins playing in John's head.

He cringes and tries to ignore, but there's just sOME THINGS THAT TIME CANNOT ERASEEEEE -- ]

Hobbies? Drinking?

[ Both? ]

[planetary_bonds]

[John...John, what are you even thinking about.]

Drinking is how my roommate prefers to deal with it. Although I don't mind sharing a bottle with him from time to time, admittedly.

[It's an acquired taste. Never mind that he tends to only drink when Sanzo offers it to him, anyway.]

Usually I just work on my bike. It's a calming way to pass the time, I think...

[impavid]

[ He's thinking about early noughties pop culture. ]

Bikes are cool! Whatever works for you, keep doing that.