morning after | outsiders canon | ryusei and kengo

[mathemagician]

The night had been rather uneventful. While Ryusei slept, Kengo had quietly worked at his desk on his latest project. There were no Foodroids to do any kind of reconnaissance work, which had made him feel even more useless during the adjutant attack. He would have felt bad for sending Burgermeal into danger, but that was what they were for -- to handle jobs that he couldn't risk his life with. Tracking the adjutants would have been useful.

Aside from that, he'd talked with Daisen, the salarian who owned Ariake Technologies (or at least the branch he worked at) about alternatives. There were combat drones that could be created and compatible with the omni-tool. It wasn't good for tracking, but it would be a handy defensive tool when Kengo had few options. There was the option of depending on others, but Kengo didn't want to be defenseless for the rest of his life.

During the night, Kengo occasionally got up from his work to clear his head, quietly pacing around the room and checking on Ryusei. Some part of him expected the other would suddenly die or disappear now that someone familiar had finally shown up, though he wondered if he should have been more worried about the potential that Ryusei would try to kill him while he was distracted.

After a number of hours had passed, Kengo had put his head down on his desk to rest his eyes for awhile, but had ended up falling asleep instead. The last three weeks, he'd barely slept at all thanks to different factors. It would have surprised him, though, that he had managed to fall asleep in the same room as Ryusei.

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[asteroidbelt]

It had to have been worse for Kengo, Ryusei thought after a minute or so. You ruined our chance of winning, he'd said yesterday. It would no longer be a comfort for Kengo to hear that Gentarou had been revived after that incident. It must not have been a comfort to see Ryusei at all.

He could deal with that. He could deal with everything.

Start with the beginning— No they couldn't. There was no way back. Discard that, then. Discard it all. Start with their arrival. Kengo and Ryusei had arrived with.... He held out his arm. "How does this work?"

[mathemagician]

Kengo wasn't sure how he'd allowed himself to get so emotional in response, though he knew his outward display was nothing like how he was feeling on the inside. It really was a constant struggle among how he felt he should treat Ryusei, considering how Gentarou had treated him, how he wanted to treat Ryusei, and his pride that only allowed him to do certain things. Everything really was such a huge mess.

Stepping forward, Kengo grabbed Ryusei's arm and turned it just enough that the display would be facing Ryusei and he would be working backwards. It was the same way he had worked with a girl who had been confused over the interface. For now, Kengo tried to ignore how awkward he felt with Ryusei's hand resting on his, giving Kengo easier access to manipulate the object on his wrist. With a quick press of one of the raised areas on the wristband, the program snapped to life and the orange interface covered Ryusei's arm as Kengo's own had worked earlier.

"You should get used to using it. It works like a portable Kaban." It was like a cell phone was in Japan, really. Everyone had one and was always using it for something.

[asteroidbelt]

If it was going to be used to lock and unlock doors, Ryusei was going to have to. Works like the Kaban, Kengo had said, which meant, probably, that it had analytical functions. And Ryusei already knew about the healing. Kengo had shown him how to turn it on; Ryusei could figure out the rest on his own.

Next. "You came here earlier than me. How often do people show up at the hangar?"

There was some kind of space-time compression theory out there, Ryusei knew, but without knowing exactly what the theories were or how space travel actually worked here, he didn't know whether it applied to his and Kengo's temporal displacement situations or not.

—It didn't matter. The question he'd just asked didn't matter.

"No, never mind that." Next. "How'd you get this apartment? Not allowed to have one without a roommate, did you say? Allowed by who?"

[mathemagician]

Kengo didn't see the point in ignoring the first question when it was something Ryusei wanted to know, so he went ahead and answered it anyway. "It's hard to tell how often people show up. In the beginning, there were large groups on a certain day of the week. Now, it doesn't seem to make any difference. The amount of arrivals is random and dwindling. ... I already wondered if there's some specific reason we've been drawn here, but no one seems to know why we're here."

Not that something like that made a lot of sense, but really, none of this did. Kengo only then let go of Ryusei's hand and left him to work with the omni-tool on his own. He returned to his food, opening the packet and shaking it again before starting to poke at it with a utensil.

"There's a woman here named Aria. I made arrangements to meet with her once, but no one ever responded to me. She rules over everything, somehow. Her role isn't as passive as something like a queen. She's constantly keeping an eye on everything and anyone who is from this world seems to be afraid of her, or at least respect her. Aria's rules dictate that we have to pay a certain amount of money for protection. You can't afford it while living on your own." He hesitated to take a bite of his food. At least this one seemed to taste better than the last one. "I found someone else who needed someone to stay with and made arrangements with him."

[asteroidbelt]

Specific reason? That didn't matter; what mattered was the how. But that didn't matter, either. It couldn't. Unless time could be traversed backward, but that—

He couldn't allow himself that line of thinking. Focus on the present.

"Rules over...?" Kengo would have already thought of the possibility that she'd been the one to bring them here. That might have been why he'd asked to meet with her. Paying for protection. Sounded like some idiotic money scheme, if his suspicions were true, but it also seemed like so much effort for very little gain. With that kind of ability—

Who was to say that it wasn't a common or low-class ability? Ryusei certainly wouldn't know. Ryusei didn't know much about cons, either. As far as Ryusei knew, he and Kengo were trapped here for life. Multiply that by however many people were living here.... But there was nothing Ryusei could do. Not right now. "What else do you know about her...?"

[mathemagician]

"That's about all I know. She's the unofficial ruler of this place and most everyone respects her because of her power." Kengo leaned back against the counter and continued to eat, focusing more on his food than on Ryusei. "I never heard anything back about my attempt to meet her. Since all of us have been here, I haven't heard about her speaking to anyone. I'm not sure what she's up to."

It was a little worrying, with how powerful she was rumored to be, but Kengo couldn't do anything abou that. He still had the research data he'd gained during the adjutant attack, tucked away for safekeeping. What was he supposed to do with something so important? He really didn't know... There didn't seem to be much he could use for his own work, but it always seemed like such a waste to destroy research.

[asteroidbelt]

That was that, then; they'd need to do some proactive poking around to learn any more. Next.

What was next? Naturally, the question of lodgings. Ryusei couldn't stay here, not when he'd be ousting Kengo from his bed. "Kengo... can I stay here... on your couch until I can get myself...."

Until Ryusei could get himself some things. Some information. Situated. ... Made a new home for himself, whatever that meant. Focus. "I'll pay you back," he continued, softly.

[mathemagician]

Kengo wasn't sure how to respond to that. What could he say? There was still the anger he felt over the whole situation with Aries, though it had calmed significantly from the first days he'd arrived on Omega. Survival was far more important than holding a grudge. There was also the factor of the attachment Kengo still felt towards Ryusei, despite all of that. The core of his feelings hadn't changed even after the betrayal and seeing him again. It really was insane. This Ryusei and the one who had lied to him couldn't possibly be the same person... but he could still feel the similarities. Somehow.

He really did owe it to Kisaragi. He couldn't be angry when his friend had cared so much -- or at least, he couldn't feel as justified in his anger. ... and there were still Kengo's feelings to consider.

Kengo kept his head down as he responded. "I would rather you stay here." He didn't know how Ryusei would ever pay him back. At this point, Kengo wasn't sure there was anything he wanted.

[asteroidbelt]

So, yes, then? Did that response mean Kengo wanted Ryusei here for longer than Ryusei's question implied? Ryusei didn't want to ask. He had to remember that Kengo didn't—had said he didn't—trust anyone. Maybe he just wanted to keep Ryusei close to monitor him.

Did Ryusei really want to think that way? This was getting dangerously close to distrusting Kengo. Ryusei was getting confused. He needed to stiffen into someone who could handle all of this, but— But he couldn't stiffen so much that he'd be easy to break. He had to remember that. It was adapting that he had to do, not—

"I won't get in your way," he said, head down. "I'll just... be around," he finished lamely.

[mathemagician]

"I don't have a way right now. All I'm doing is trying to survive. ... that should be your focus, too." There was that conflict of interest again, but Kengo really didn't want to see anything happen to Ryusei now that he was here. Maybe it was some crazy psychological issue where he was overly attached to Ryusei now that the other was the only familiar thing in this world.

Lifting his head, Kengo motioned at the other's food packet. "You should eat. Stay here and rest for awhile if you have to. I'll give you coordinates for the shop that I work at, once you get out for the day."

[asteroidbelt]

There were so many things that he needed to get used to. This room that didn't look like anything back home. This stuff which was allegedly food. He wasn't hungry, but he started eating anyway. He had to keep his energy up. If it really was morning—and that was another thing; how was he supposed to get used to the lack of time of day like this? He had to. He could get used to anything. But. But—he would have eaten something, back home, before he left for school.

School. No, don't think of that now. That was in the past.

Now. Now he needed to familiarize himself with the place he'd found himself in as soon as possible. There was no time for resting. "I'll follow you around for the day," he said. "If... that would be okay by you," he continued hesitantly. He'd follow Kengo anyway, but there was no reason to make Kengo suspicious. "I'll be able to handle myself by... tomorrow. Please bear with me for now...."

[mathemagician]

"That's fine. You can learn your way around and it's probably better than being in here all day." Kengo continued eating, occasionally focusing his attention on Ryusei in an attempt to judge how he was handling things. It had to be easier to have someone else around, right? Kengo could still remember how lost he'd felt when he'd first arrived and how scared he'd been. Even though Ryusei was here now, enough of a sign to prove that his life before had really happened, he could still feel the pangs that he was completely alone.

"Take your time with adjusting. It's... difficult. I'm still not entirely used to it yet, but it gets easier." Kengo didn't know how well Ryusei would adjust to a new environment -- if he would adapt better or worse than Kengo had, but grudges really did have to be pushed aside for now. He couldn't just leave Ryusei to fend for himself. Not when he was acting like this, even if it was some sort of trap.