[so Junpei straight-up vanished off the face of the earth like an asshole for like a year. but there has never been a "text send failed" notification even if there's never been a "seen" one either, and every now and again she'll try a phone call and it'll go to a voicemail instead of a disconnected number alert—
ergo, Clover has had no excuse not to fill his phone with memes and garbage.
not that any photographs of weird stains and rust patterns captioned "is this the funyarinpa????" or the occasional stray letter q alphabet magnet or pipes captioned "GIMME A P" and so on and so on and so on have ever received a reply but. sometimes things just remind her of other things in a way that needs to be shared and a girl can dream.]
the preview button and i continue our strained relationship
[ maybe it was good he left his cellphone back at his apartment before setting out for DCOM, because surely enduring Clover's meme spam would count as an unnecessary form of torture.
Junpei takes a nice, long look at these messages and pictures before formulating a lengthy, well thought-out reply. Clover's probably pissed he just sort of disappeared, so he supposes he owes her an explanation. ]
why
[ but Junpei being himself, he chooses the unwise route, deletes his text essay, and sends this instead. ]
It takes her a few seconds, actually, because the first thing she does is roll over where she's napping and decide she doesn't especially want to check her new text message. The second thing she does is decide she probably should, because it might be a work thing, and Alice will be mad if she misses an important work thing. Third, she squints at the text notification, and fourth—]
what rh eFUCK
[and after accidentally throwing her phone on the floor and then retrieving it, she scrambles her way to mashing the call button.
the phone is ringing, Junpei.
there is one pissed pink brat on the other end of the line.
[Clover allows him exactly as long as that first syllable takes so that she can recognize his voice (or at least go "yeah, that's probably actually Junpei. probably") before the yelling starts.]
JUNPEI, WHAT THE HELL?!
[hopefully no one else on the entire SOIS base was trying to do anything that required even a little bit of quiet, um
There's a second's pause where she tries to prioritize what she needs to yell at him about first. She decides on:] WHAT! THE! HELL!
Happy— [and now we've devolved into confused sputtering, this is great? what competent people.]
Don't—don't you "happy new year's" me! You don't—you can't—people don't just drop off the face of the planet for a year and go "happy new year's"-ing like it's nothing! You can't just do that!
I—I don't know! Literally anything else?! Even that! That's fine! You're welcome! [does she mean that, is she sincere, she might be]
Did you consider maybe a, "hey, Clover, sorry for dropping off the face of the planet for a year"?! "Hey, Clover, here's what I've been up to the past year that I dropped off the face of the planet"?! How about, "hey, Clover, hope it wasn't too stressful for all that time you and everyone else might have thought I was dead"?!
[Okay, so the apology gets her to go silent for a few moments, even if she can't actually discern how much he really means it right away. Not sarcastic is an improvement? She guesses??? Why is that an improvement, why is Junpei that way.
Anyway that peace and quiet is pretty nice for the brief span of time it lasts.]
BUSY?! [goddamn it] You're gonna just leave it at "busy"?! That's way more than busy!
[ again holding the phone a foot away from his ear. clover why. ]
That's the gist of it! [ ...
He doesn't really want to explain the whole story, but then, the angry pink attack chihuahua is probably going to rip his leg off if he keeps giving half-truths and partial statements.
Fuck.
"I'm a private detective now and went through another death game and also pls you and your brother RSVP to my not-murderwedding next year"?? nah. nah. ]
[what, just his leg?? Clover doesn't half-ass anything. she goes for the throat.
Except no, he manages to shut her up for another few seconds while she processes that. a murderwedding invitation might have gone over better quite frankly.]
...You found Akane.
[killin' it. she sounds kind of dumbfounded, but she's speaking at a normal person volume. incredible.]
...Good...job? [Not sarcastic, just confused? Very confused. The kind of confused that is requesting more details don't make it turn into a demand]
I've been working with Seven, at his detective agency. It took a while, but we found her when she signed up for a program at the Mars Mission Test Site.
[ he's half tempted to ask if Clover remembers anything about Radical-6, but then, this esper stuff is still fucking confusing even after 390730573 timeline jumps. maybe later. for now, he leaves it at that and waits. ]
[Seven told her they couldn't find Junpei, and she doesn't think Seven lied to her, but if he found him after the fact then why did no one think to tell her she's gonna kick Seven's ass, too]
That's. Um. [is there a nice way to say this.] Really unsubtle of her.
[NOPE, TACTLESS AS ALWAYS
But really—Akane disappears off the face of the earth, too, works so hard to stay in hiding and signs up for a space mission ostentatiously enough to be found just like that. Why would she make it that easy?]
obvs cradle clover but idk where she is now so let's go for random
[ Arumat will be staring at these directions drawn upon a map...and frown. Next time he'll just ask for them to be sent electronically, because then it'll be less of a hassle. Although, the dwelling he's standing in front of it should be it, he's scared enough people upon knocking on the wrong doors.
He'll rap his hand against the door... taking care to try to hold back his strength so he doesn't bend the door itself. ]
flying by the seat of my pants turned into going too hard about space adventures
[It probably doesn't take Arumat any small amount of effort to get those instructions; the Nuwa crew specializes in being surprisingly hard to find for a giant refugee ship housing a crew of three. They're always moving; Clover loathes to be in any one place for top long and their best business comes with travel.
They've opted to spend long enough at their latest destination, though, to justify docking the ship at a port and finding temporary lodgings; they're a little cramped but this planet is like a sci-fi novel's Earth, made of cities and commerce centers and though most residents are something like humanoid, it's a major enough intergalactic travel hub to see alien species in and out (Clover forgets, most of the time, that she's the alien now, no matter where she goes) and to provide places even for ships designed less for travel. Clover finds them new odd jobs, Light restocks supplies, Alice goes clothes shopping.
And for now—Alice is out and about with Light (it's taken too long for Clover to find herself comfortable with so much as having him out of her sight and she is constantly playing morphogenetic ping-pong, asking for reminders that he's still there). Clover's sleep schedule has been so decimated that she's barely been awake for hours and she has the studio they're spending the month in to herself when someone comes knocking.]
Coming. [It takes her a minute, but it's most certainly Clover who answers the door—pink hair tied back, a step closer to wearing, like, real clothes in the form of leggings and sweater, and looking terribly tired until she recognizes who's in front of her.
She sort of just...gapes at Arumat for a moment, cogs in her head whirling as she processes that he's here, either he's found her or she's gone insane or something is screwing with her and she can't help but assume the worst because why would good things ever happen to her, but—]
[ Technically, by all accounts, the one who had been so avoidant in settling down had managed to do so before taking off on his own to locate and track down Clover and co. with these shitty directions. Would anyone believe it that Arumat had been spending most of his time hanging around with Luke and Adam, sometimes even catching a glimpse of Adam's... child and his lover? If anyone had suggested that Arumat would be doing something like that for a time before the events of Cradle happened, the space-elf most assuredly would have put them through a wall and then six feet under for good measure.
Anyway.
He needs to stop thinking about that now because the person who came out was not a shocked, resident alien of some sort, but it was really Clover. His lips twitch upwards for a brief moment, because even he's unable to fight off the urge to smile, as loathe as he would ever be to admit. He hadn't seen her in so long (and contrary to belief, Arumat can miss his friends.) ]
Arumat P. Thanatos, Captain of the 13th Independent Armory Division, reporting in; I'll assume that 'What the hell' will be another euphemism for 'it's nice to see you'.
[ ... It is possible in the duration of his time spent with Luke and Adam, he may have grown more of a sense of humor. ]
[She needs another moment, but just a short one. Never would she have imagined an Arumat with a sense of humor. She hasn't quite the confidence to step forward but she smiles, genuine and slowly growing wider.]
When did— [Something in her voice falters, but it doesn't show in her expression. Rapid blinking keeps her eyes from watering so soon and she makes a sound that's almost a laugh.] When did you learn how to make jokes? You're— [There's that almost-laughter again, shaky and incredulous, and her tone drops to a whisper when she goes on.] Oh my god, you're actually here.
[Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects dot mp3. The second day of school, the first time that this particular biology course appears in his schedule. Dio pays no further mind to the role call continued by the teacher, returning to twirling a pencil in his hand and pretending it is a microphone stand or a baseball bat. The move has treated him well so far. Of course he didn't know anyone besides his family, but a lot of freshmen are in that position, and he's met a handful of people over the summer through the baseball team. Dio firmly believes that he has earned his position through natural skill and not a lack of numbers for the less popular sport.
There is a shuffling of chairs. Dio has to ask someone what the heck happened in the past several minutes. Apparently there is a year long cat dissection project, and they will soon be introduced to the partner assigned by alphabetical order, so the seats are getting rearranged accordingly.]
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mauville2016-07-08 10:20 pm
for sudokidoki
ergo, Clover has had no excuse not to fill his phone with memes and garbage.
not that any photographs of weird stains and rust patterns captioned "is this the funyarinpa????" or the occasional stray letter q alphabet magnet or pipes captioned "GIMME A P" and so on and so on and so on have ever received a reply but. sometimes things just remind her of other things in a way that needs to be shared and a girl can dream.]
the preview button and i continue our strained relationship
Junpei takes a nice, long look at these messages and pictures before formulating a lengthy, well thought-out reply. Clover's probably pissed he just sort of disappeared, so he supposes he owes her an explanation. ]
why
[ but Junpei being himself, he chooses the unwise route, deletes his text essay, and sends this instead. ]
no subject
and it. it takes Clover a second.
It takes her a few seconds, actually, because the first thing she does is roll over where she's napping and decide she doesn't especially want to check her new text message. The second thing she does is decide she probably should, because it might be a work thing, and Alice will be mad if she misses an important work thing. Third, she squints at the text notification, and fourth—]
what rh eFUCK
[and after accidentally throwing her phone on the floor and then retrieving it, she scrambles her way to mashing the call button.
the phone is ringing, Junpei.
there is one pissed pink brat on the other end of the line.
time to decide.]
no subject
...hello?
[ He could not possibly sound any more resigned ]
no subject
JUNPEI, WHAT THE HELL?!
[hopefully no one else on the entire SOIS base was trying to do anything that required even a little bit of quiet, um
There's a second's pause where she tries to prioritize what she needs to yell at him about first. She decides on:] WHAT! THE! HELL!
[nailed it.]
no subject
Uh...Happy New Year's?
[ a+ ]
no subject
Don't—don't you "happy new year's" me! You don't—you can't—people don't just drop off the face of the planet for a year and go "happy new year's"-ing like it's nothing! You can't just do that!
no subject
[ did clover miss the doofus junpei? too bad, snide junpei is here now ]
'Hey, Clover, thanks for reminding me I hadn't deactivated my Instagram account when I left'?
[ there is so much garbage on his phone now, why would she do this ]
no subject
Did you consider maybe a, "hey, Clover, sorry for dropping off the face of the planet for a year"?! "Hey, Clover, here's what I've been up to the past year that I dropped off the face of the planet"?! How about, "hey, Clover, hope it wasn't too stressful for all that time you and everyone else might have thought I was dead"?!
no subject
...sorry.
[ a bit hard to tell if it's wholly sincere or not, but his tone isn't sarcastic, at least
An awful joke about actually being dead that comes to mind, but for once, he holds his tongue. ]
I've just...been busy. [ REALLY, NOW ]
no subject
Anyway that peace and quiet is pretty nice for the brief span of time it lasts.]
BUSY?! [goddamn it] You're gonna just leave it at "busy"?! That's way more than busy!
no subject
That's the gist of it! [ ...
He doesn't really want to explain the whole story, but then, the angry pink attack chihuahua is probably going to rip his leg off if he keeps giving half-truths and partial statements.
Fuck.
"I'm a private detective now and went through another death game and also pls you and your brother RSVP to my not-murderwedding next year"?? nah. nah. ]
...I found Akane.
[ NAILED IT 2: SON OF NAILED IT ]
no subject
Except no, he manages to shut her up for another few seconds while she processes that. a murderwedding invitation might have gone over better quite frankly.]
...You found Akane.
[killin' it. she sounds kind of dumbfounded, but she's speaking at a normal person volume. incredible.]
...Good...job? [Not sarcastic, just confused? Very confused. The kind of confused that is requesting more details don't make it turn into a demand]
a million years later
I've been working with Seven, at his detective agency. It took a while, but we found her when she signed up for a program at the Mars Mission Test Site.
[ he's half tempted to ask if Clover remembers anything about Radical-6, but then, this esper stuff is still fucking confusing even after 390730573 timeline jumps. maybe later. for now, he leaves it at that and waits. ]
HALF A MILLION YEARS LATER,
[Seven told her they couldn't find Junpei, and she doesn't think Seven lied to her, but if he found him after the fact then why did no one think to tell her she's gonna kick Seven's ass, too]
That's. Um. [is there a nice way to say this.] Really unsubtle of her.
[NOPE, TACTLESS AS ALWAYS
But really—Akane disappears off the face of the earth, too, works so hard to stay in hiding and signs up for a space mission ostentatiously enough to be found just like that. Why would she make it that easy?]
obvs cradle clover but idk where she is now so let's go for random
He'll rap his hand against the door... taking care to try to hold back his strength so he doesn't bend the door itself. ]
flying by the seat of my pants turned into going too hard about space adventures
They've opted to spend long enough at their latest destination, though, to justify docking the ship at a port and finding temporary lodgings; they're a little cramped but this planet is like a sci-fi novel's Earth, made of cities and commerce centers and though most residents are something like humanoid, it's a major enough intergalactic travel hub to see alien species in and out (Clover forgets, most of the time, that she's the alien now, no matter where she goes) and to provide places even for ships designed less for travel. Clover finds them new odd jobs, Light restocks supplies, Alice goes clothes shopping.
And for now—Alice is out and about with Light (it's taken too long for Clover to find herself comfortable with so much as having him out of her sight and she is constantly playing morphogenetic ping-pong, asking for reminders that he's still there). Clover's sleep schedule has been so decimated that she's barely been awake for hours and she has the studio they're spending the month in to herself when someone comes knocking.]
Coming. [It takes her a minute, but it's most certainly Clover who answers the door—pink hair tied back, a step closer to wearing, like, real clothes in the form of leggings and sweater, and looking terribly tired until she recognizes who's in front of her.
She sort of just...gapes at Arumat for a moment, cogs in her head whirling as she processes that he's here, either he's found her or she's gone insane or something is screwing with her and she can't help but assume the worst because why would good things ever happen to her, but—]
What the hell.
[fucking
nailed it]
The smile on my face could not be contained.
Anyway.
He needs to stop thinking about that now because the person who came out was not a shocked, resident alien of some sort, but it was really Clover. His lips twitch upwards for a brief moment, because even he's unable to fight off the urge to smile, as loathe as he would ever be to admit. He hadn't seen her in so long (and contrary to belief, Arumat can miss his friends.) ]
Arumat P. Thanatos, Captain of the 13th Independent Armory Division, reporting in; I'll assume that 'What the hell' will be another euphemism for 'it's nice to see you'.
[ ... It is possible in the duration of his time spent with Luke and Adam, he may have grown more of a sense of humor. ]
no subject
When did— [Something in her voice falters, but it doesn't show in her expression. Rapid blinking keeps her eyes from watering so soon and she makes a sound that's almost a laugh.] When did you learn how to make jokes? You're— [There's that almost-laughter again, shaky and incredulous, and her tone drops to a whisper when she goes on.] Oh my god, you're actually here.
Lab Partner AU Episode I: The Phantom Menace
That's my name, don't wear it out.
[Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects dot mp3. The second day of school, the first time that this particular biology course appears in his schedule. Dio pays no further mind to the role call continued by the teacher, returning to twirling a pencil in his hand and pretending it is a microphone stand or a baseball bat. The move has treated him well so far. Of course he didn't know anyone besides his family, but a lot of freshmen are in that position, and he's met a handful of people over the summer through the baseball team. Dio firmly believes that he has earned his position through natural skill and not a lack of numbers for the less popular sport.
There is a shuffling of chairs. Dio has to ask someone what the heck happened in the past several minutes. Apparently there is a year long cat dissection project, and they will soon be introduced to the partner assigned by alphabetical order, so the seats are getting rearranged accordingly.]