teaism | even if we must part again tomorrow

[Eichi has no idea how he got here. He was asleep in his bed in his apartment, the last he knew, but now he woke to blinding lights over him, a machine beeping alongside him. A medical bay of some sort, from what he can determine, and his heart begins to race as he sits up. Panic... there's panic, of course there is, because everyone is gone, and he doesn't know what this is. Another kidnapping? One more like the first?

Somehow, there are no needles, despite the fact that he's sure the monitors on the wall are showing his vitals. There is a bracelet over his wrist that he rips off, and that causes the machines to go into alert, warnings speaking over the speakers of the room. A staff member will be by to assist you shortly. Please remain where you are.

Of course he doesn't. His feet touch the ground, and he heads straight for what he can only assume is the door, but hit by a wave of dizziness, he stumbles and catches himself on the wall. Groggy... drowsy, even. Drugs? Something gets to the door before he does— a robot, though it's fairly close to looking human. It's the uncanny face and the vacant expression that gives it away. It tells Eichi to go back to the bed, so more medicine can be administered, and he shoves past it, yanking away from a metallic hand that tries to grab at his wrist, and runs down the curved hallway.

Honestly, he wouldn't have been able to make it far like this, anyway. He's in a medical gown of some sort, he's completely out of it at the moment, and running is taking too much out of him. Just a few steps, and he's out of breath, but he pushes, and pushes, right until he slams face first into someone else. A warm body. Someone human...?

He clutches at the arm of whoever it is tightly, but temporarily slumps as he loses consciousness there. He'll wake up in a bit, sorry about that.]

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[His hand shifts, moving to perfectly match the handprint. Definitely his. His skin pulses with heat for a moment - not enough to burn, but enough that it might jog Eichi's memory a bit better.]

We've definitely met.

[He removes his hand then, and turns his attention back to Eichi's face. He looks sick again...]

You alright?

[ It’s the heat that really does it. Just a small taste of it, but he remembers it vividly. Not like Asra’s magic, but something harsher. Distant, but so close... when was it? He’s sure he remembers it now, he realizes there must be a handprint on his back, but... that wasn’t there before. When did he get it? When did he forget?

He ignores that question, reaching to catch one of Dodger’s hands with his own, studying his face more. He’s paler, his heartbeat is shakier, but it’s important to push past this, right? ]

We’ve done more than meet, haven’t we? [ How could these memories be so faint? He’s never been the one to forget before. Or has he? ] How could that be... I’m having difficult recalling clearly.

[Dodger is silent for a moment, watching him carefully. A part of him regrets taking his medication, but he can only go so far down that road before he'll need proper medical attention. And anyway, he doesn't like the idea of being the only one that remembers.]

I didn't put that mark on you. Some other.. version of me, did. The one that met you. [He hesitates before elaborating.] It happened before.. somewhere else. I knew someone that met me in another world. Whenever I touched him, I remembered him a little better.

[The memories he got from this kid are much more pleasant... almost cute. With Ivar he'd remembered being tortured, pinned down and humiliated. It had been a rush, but he'd hate to be trapped alone with someone like that.]

I guess it doesn't matter. If you don't remember either.

What are you saying? Of course it matters. Some other version, but you still remember? So isn't it the same as yourself?

[He huffs a little, squeezing that hand before he drops it so that he can finish putting on his clothes. Button his pants, grab his shirt—]

This is the fifth time I've been kidnapped already, though I'll call it the third time I've switched worlds that I can recall. There have been countless people who have forgotten me, so I won't settle for forgetting something myself. It's there, in pieces, so over time, we can—

[Well, he was going to continue his little speech, but something hits the side of the ship and jolts everything pretty roughly.]

[The blow to the ship makes Dodger immediately enter panic mode, and he disappears in a flash of sparks and a loud pop. He reappears a moment later, pressed against the wall until the ship steadies itself. It's another moment before he catches his breath, and checks to see if Eichi is alright.]

...Think we should be worried about that?

[He'd rather not go snooping around when it seems like they have a lot to discuss, but... he also isn't going to argue if Eichi wants to.]

[Eichi stumbles, and he can't catch himself on Dodger, so he catches himself on another locker. By the time Dodger reappears, Eichi is reading to pull his shirt on and button it up, shoving his phone and meds into his pockets.]

It would be foolish to ignore it. Are you alright? That sort of magic you're using... I vaguely recall it.

[It's different from Asra's, too. Is it still magic? It has to be, right? There's another loud noise, this one more like a piece of the ship moving, far away, and faint rumbles that follow. Something is happening, but there are no alarms, no announcements. And apparently this is a ship of some sort, not a building? Ugh.]

If you know the layout by now, where can we figure out what happened? Do you have a guess?

[He swears under his breath, shaking his head to clear it.]

It's not magic.

[It's really just splitting hairs, but he wants to make that point clear.

He glances around, gears turning in his head as his expression seems to sharpen.]

The other announcements were automated, so they must not be prepared for this... There's a hallway through there, we might be able to see what's going on through the windows, but the cockpit's bound to be crawling with androids.

[Probably not steering the ship, but definitely encouraging passengers not to go fucking around in there.]

It's not?

[He looks over at that... but he'll have to ask for the details later. Hmm. He glances down after his shirt is buttoned, pulling his phone from his pocket. Without lifting it, or touching a button, the screen turns on to show the battery, and Eichi blinks. Okay, so he still has his electricity.]

I have an idea to deal with some of them, if that's the case, at least. I may be frail, but I can manage a few things.

[He slides his phone away.]

Shall we?

[He's silent for a moment, still a bit annoyed that there are things to focus on aside from possibly knowing each other. More than that, it bothers him that he's got incentive to keep the kid alive, rather than blowing on ahead. Which means... walking through doors. Ugh.

He does notice Eichi's phone reacting to him, but he files it away for now. Probably some weird mutation... or magic.]

Come on.

[The doors here have touch screen panels instead of door knobs, which is just plain annoying to the old soul that Dodger is. The door slides aside and reveals a curved hallways along the side of the ship, with a large window pointed out into space.]

Do you have a plan for what we do, if it's something serious?

[Because his plan is to hide and wait for death. He really doubts there's much he can do against a space collision.]

I always have a plan. Though, of course, it will depend on what we find...

[He'll work it out. After he's popped a pill of his own medication and made sure his phone and meds are securely tucked away, he moves after Dodger, eyes taking in everything he can. High tech, most likely a spaceship, from how it all looks...

There are more sounds in the distance, though it's unclear what they are. Things moving, things creaking... Is it ship damage? Someone boarding? It's still unclear.]

Have you heard anything about where we've been headed this whole time?

[Dodger has a sneaking suspicion that Eichi doesn't have a plan at all, but he pushes the thought away. This is already making him nervous enough, and he'd rather just focus on the present.]

Information implies choice. [There's a pause before he elaborates, as he just looks around on high alert.] If they were announcing it, that'd sorta... tell us we could choose to stop there or keep going somewhere else - like a bus system.

[Does the kid even know what buses are? He doesn't like dealing with rich folks often.]

Once we get into the cockpit, we'll probably be able to find information. They speak English, so we've got that going for us. [Dodger hasn't figured out that they're being translated universally.] All I know for now is that we got three days before arrival...

[He trails off, but he isn't sure if he should bring his thought to the table. They have three days left unless the ship is getting damaged... then what, how long can they survive here if it breaks down?]

...I'm capable of conversational English, but that's not what I'm speaking now, you know? It's Japanese. Something must be translating for us.

[Huh. In the ship? On their person? Now he's concerned about that, but he doesn't stop walking or slow his steps. He stares ahead, thinking... continuing that train of thought even if Dodger doesn't. They need to focus.]

I believe you should leave the speaking to me. If that falls through, then I'll give a signal to try a different approach... It should be pretty clear from my actions what to do. This is assuming there's someone to greet us at all.

even if we must part again tomorrow

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