the one with junpei;

[oraculi]

someday i'll put gifs or something here but not right now!!

Comments

[oraculi]

Oh, good. More surprises. Fantastic.

[But fine, he'll go bother Dick after this. But first: more alcohol. Third shot? Third shot.]

Keep up, kiddo.

[crashout]

[He narrows his eyes but takes the third, and fourth, shot back to back. He's also refilling the shot glasses as they go.]

Get him to translate for you. I'm gonna guess you can't read Japanese.

[oraculi]

You . . . would guess correctly.

[He says it as he takes his next shot, leaning back, his head bumping against the wall. Fingers tightening around the rim, he shrugs a shoulder.]

Never heard of it, either.

[crashout]

--wait what? [All this time he deadass assumed Haymitch was from Earth and now he's openly staring at him.] Actually I don't think I've ever asked you where you're from.

[Hm.]

[oraculi]

Panem.

[He, on the other hand, has long given up trying to figure out who comes from where.]

District 12, within it. You?

[crashout]

Currently? Nevada. It's...a state in America, which is a country by itself. Japan's another country but it's on the other side of the world. I used to live there as a kid, and I guess Chuuya was from there considering his letters.

[Panem is 100% new.] How many districts were there?

[oraculi]

Used to be twelve, alongside the Capitol. Now, I got a feeling they're gonna be all mixed up before long.

[But wait, that stirs a memory . . .]

. . . you ever hear of a North America?

[crashout]

[Okay. So Haymitch confirmed for apocalypse survivor, maybe? He'll take another shot because he's curious where this is going.]

That's the continent. North America's made up of a couple of countries including the United States, Canada and Mexico. [Thank you for knowing basic geography, Junpei.]

[oraculi]

. . . well. Not anymore, it's not.

[He stares at him for a long few seconds, and it's funny, honestly, because he was so numb before, but now he's just wildly weirded out.]

That was at least a hundred years ago.

[crashout]

[...well. Okay. That. Hm.]

In some timelines, the world experienced an apocalypse in the year 2029 because of a virus outbreak. Six billion people were killed, and the world wasn't the same after that. In the timeline I'm heading back to, we're hoping to prevent a different kind of apocalypse and stop a nuclear war.

I wonder if you're from a timeline where we didn't fix either of those things.

[oraculi]

Might just be.

[Which is unfortunate for Junpei, but not so much for Haymitch, living on the other side.]

Gets worse before it gets better, I'll tell you that much for free. But we were . . .

[He draws a quick, rough shape of North America, although it's a bit narrower than Junpei might remember. He then points towards Appalachian area, nodding.]

Lived there.

[crashout]

Sorry about that. [Sorry for the apocalypse, and the doomed history. But he's watching Haymitch draw and there's a noise of recognition.] You're a little further from where we were.

[He'll just notate the space where Nevada should be on this map.] But I've always know everything gets worse before it gets better. I'm just constantly waiting for the "better" part.

[...it's kind of a morbid joke, but here they are.]

[oraculi]

[He's silent for a time after he says that, because it's not a joke, not really.]

. . . it's coming.

[And what a thing to say, coming from him.]

It'll be here for a while. And then maybe it'll get worse again, but I think . . . I think it's just a pattern. We don't remember much for too long, you know?

It'll come. One or two more days. You just savor it while it's there.

[crashout]

[...he seems to pause then, shot hovering near his mouth but something seems to be stopping him.]

Things that come and go, right? [...the shot is set back down for now.] Sometimes I wonder how fucked up it is to have found some good things in this place when everyone around us keeps dying. But it's not a celebration, it's just...glad to have it.

[He remembers what Haymitch said, at least.] What do you think? What're our chances that tomorrow might actually be better?

[oraculi]

[He nods. It's no bad thing to find some good in your life, he thinks. Even if it's small. Maybe especially then.]

Tomorrow?

[Hmm. He sits up, then downs the shot quick. Five.]

I think we've got a shot. You, me, Edelgard, Dick . . . we're not exactly rookies. I think we've got a good shot, but it won't be easy.

[crashout]

Well you heard Edelgard. She's absolutely not budging on the idea of the demons getting close to our worlds and leaving the dead behind. So we'll have to see how it'll work.

[He'll pour more shots but he seems to be stopped for now for a reason or two. Give him a moment to clear his throat and cough.] But I think so, too. We just have to remember how to work together. That's gonna be the fun part.

[Last weekend sure was. A thing.]

[oraculi]

We've managed it before. And she's not impossible. Not entirely.

[He says it somewhat grimly, though.]

One way or another.

[crashout]

Just a lot of the time if we're being honest. [But he sounds calm about that, it's fine.] But you're right. One way or another we'll manage.

[Another shot for him and he'll pass one of the bottles to Haymitch.] Until then...guess we wait.