shithogs | open post

Six months. Roger had lasted six months before the cracks started to show.

It didn't take a genius to pick up on being lied to. Yuri is inclined to believe he's never been a genius, now or ever, but the old man's behavior raised so many red flags Yuri finally forced him to come clean.

...by getting him super drunk at his favorite bar. It was a night - full of tears and snot (from Roger) along with confusion and anger (from Yuri). It was only after he spoke to Keith and Margarete, getting their side of the story, did he even believe his name was really Yuri.

After that, it's been nothing but downhill.

A year and a half later he finds himself living a life he imagined he used to have - drifting through towns, stowing away on trains and boats. Well, boat. Nobody warned him about the horrific seasickness that seems to try to kill him on the way over to China.

Never again. Roger can figure out how to fly places.

Shangai doesn't bring what he's looking for - recognition. Nostalgia. Anything other than the indifference. Margarete offered to travel with him for a time, thinking her own stories would jog his memory, but he's on his last leg of hope here.

Does he even want any of that back? He has run across a few shopkeepers who recall him visiting - the reactions have been mixed, to say the least.

He's standing outside a bar, hands on hips and contemplating just going inside and getting obliterated. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Without further thought, he enters the bar, not worried about keeping a low profile by any means. What's the point of it? A fight might do him some good.

[With some fish successfully caught, 2B admires their catches as she cradles them in her arms, an uncharacteristic glow behind what features are still visible. Her mouth falls open as she considers their weight – decent – and she looks at Kaine with newly formed conviction.]

Good catches.

[She seems... excited about this, and is making sure that Kaine is listening before she turns to her support unit.]

Pod. What are they?

[A blip in response as it considers for a moment...]

Koi Carp. Arowana. Killfish. Bloatfish.

[Wow!!!]

What does a man who has been so caught up in the plights of the world do when there is no longer a world that needs his intervention? It's a question that Nier asks himself each day that he rises, faces himself in the looking glass as he trims and grooms the scraggly facial hair that dots along strong jaw line. In a simple room over is his daughter, an existence he didn't realise he could come back with. In the face of hopelessness, somehow...

They've managed to come out of it unscathed. How? He's asked himself that plenty of times as well. Is this the real world, or is simply a dream created from everything he's ever wanted? It's unrealistic in the world that everyone can be saved. It's unrealistic that he can partake in the world with those he considers closest. Yet that seems to be the way of it, doesn't it? His brow furrows, a hand tracing along his jaw in thought.

His work never ends. He still runs errands. Still travels. Still misadventures for the sake of those of the village, a name synonymous with 'home.' When he steps out for the day after exchanging a hug with Yonah, her words echo with him.

"Don't be out too late, Dad, otherwise dinner will get cold!"

He wears a weakened smile. He's made plans on this day. At least, they'll be plans if he can find the one they involve. Kainé is a wild spirit. Always has been. Unrestrained. A storm with no leash at times, though one he has come to appreciate. Difficult to hold onto, but despite whatever may sometimes leave her mouth, her heart and her intentions have always been purely good. In her, he has found a confidant. A particular spark of affection that he doesn't always acknowledge the way he'd like to.

Broadsword slung over his back, he eyes the sky, squinting into the distance. The village is a good ten minutes by foot behind him. She's never much liked visiting it and he understands why, despite the idea that she's ever infinitely welcome in his home, at his table, for she too, is family.

"What's the best way to catch a Kainé?" he contemplates aloud, the grim little smirk growing. "Obscene words."

It's a joke, really. If she was a fish, he'd catch her with every swear word he knows. He hopes he won't have to resort to that, however.

tonight we're gonna party like it's 1920! in shanghai wow so nice

pressing fast forward on our old meme thread a teenie bit

I'M SINGING THE WORDS TO A SONG THAT I DON'T KNOW. Post game bullshit? Everyone lives?