turbo heaven 🌼 chrono

[outdistanced]

this boy's hair is so mystifying

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[clockpunk]

[ ...shrugs. awkwardly. ]

Wanted me to join him. I said no. Turns out megalomaniacs get pretty pissed when you tell them their genocidal ideas are shit, no matter how much garbage they spout about peace.

[outdistanced]

...Guess that makes sense. Madam is kind of the same way.

Was that the guy you said your dad worked with before?

[ the one who turned chrono into some kind of science experiment. ]

[clockpunk]

...she's in charge of the Tower, right? So, Iris's mom?

[ hm

anyway ]

Yeah. Myoujin. He and my dad had a pretty bad falling out after that, which he never got over, I guess.

[outdistanced]

That's her.

I guess if they're that insane in the first place, you can't really expect them to be normal about something like that.

[clockpunk]

So that's kind of... her "ideal", then? The way you make it sound.

[ those eyes, then... there's always a payoff.

chrono's expression flickers, and he starts moving again with a kind of. pat to laurence's arm to prompt him to follow. ]

He did genuinely think he was doin' the right thing. World peace, sounds great on the surface, right.

[outdistanced]

Don't know if I'd call it an ideal. But she always talks about things like - honesty, and trust, because "if demiflora can't trust each other, who can we trust?" But she's the one using all of us, and hurting people who learn too much.

[ he'll follow, frowning. ]

Maybe it's a little different if you really think it's the right thing. But I guess everything's too complicated to be solved that easily.

[clockpunk]

[ he nods, though the motion at this point makes his head spin unpleasantly. ]

It's all just contradictions. Speakin' against violence until it suits your goals. Preachin' about trust while lying to people's faces.

[ it all feels a bit familiar, here. ]

Too complicated, and not the call of a single person to decide what's best for everyone else. It's selfish.

[outdistanced]

[ if he looks at all unsteady, laurence will offer him some support with a hand on his shoulder. ]

It really makes you wonder who you can trust. And this place isn't any different.

[clockpunk]

[ the contact makes him realise he's just going to have to slow down a little. they're lost, and haste isn't helping any.

a sigh. ]

Mm. Get lied to enough, and you start thinkin' that's what everyone's doing by default. [ glances at him. ] ...well, maybe not everyone.

[outdistanced]

A lot of them are.

[ sometimes there's just no choice but to deal with it, anyway. stay in your lane, keep your head down, and wait.

...he sees chrono's look and turns his eyes away. ]

But no, not everyone.

[clockpunk]

[ even like this, a tiny upturn of the corners of his mouth makes it through. ]

Guess us year two thousand and whatevers gotta stick together, huh. Sorry you had to see that, man.

[outdistanced]

[ laurence huffy out a breath, just short of a laugh. ]

Guess so. [ ... ] I should be the one apologizing. You had to see... all that. I'd know how hard it is to take that in.

[ human body parts? knowing that it may not even stop at eyes? that can really screw with anyone. ]

[clockpunk]

[ the reminder has him feeling a little ill again, but he shakes his head. ]

S'okay. I mean, it's not at all okay, but you get what I mean. [ bad at words. gestures vaguely instead. ] When we get outta here, you want somethin' to eat? Promise I won't stick you on potato duty this time.

[outdistanced]

[ same, buddy. ]

It's not, but... yeah.

[ maybe it's better not to talk about it when there's nothing to be done, anyway. what would be the point? ]

...Sure. We could probably use something good, after this.

[ a nice distraction wouldn't hurt. ]

[clockpunk]

[ not talking about it in the creepy mirror maze is at least, like, baseline being sensible. probably. ]

Okay. Great. What d'you like? Is there anythin' you won't eat, aside from mystery meat?

[outdistanced]

[ dumb teens can agree on one (1) point of common sense. it helps that it means not having to talk about emotions tbh. ]

I'll eat the mystery meat, it's just not good.

[ it's the saturday special, three times a day... either you eat it or you starve until sunday. ]

I don't know, man, you guys all know different foods than I'm used to.

[clockpunk]

[ emotions are lame unless youre shounenly screaming them at someone. and like even then ]

Sure, but you gotta have preferences. Sweet stuff? [ thinkin as they walk. ] You liked the curry, right?

[outdistanced]

...It was a little spicy.

[ mumbling because he's a weenie about spices and doesn't like to admit it to someone whose opinion he actually cares about. it's a little embarrassing at his age. ]

I guess I don't mind sweet stuff, though.

[clockpunk]

A-ah. [ chrono does look a little sheepish at that. ] My bad. I was worried about that, but my spice tolerance is real high, so I probably didn't notice.

[ he tried to get kaworu to taste test but maybe that wasn't the right call... ]

Somethin' sweet... tiramisu? You've probably never heard of it before, but it's good if you can handle coffee flavours.

[outdistanced]

No, it's fine. It could've been a lot worse.

[ could've been hot sauce everywhere. ]

Never had tiramisu, but coffee's fine.

[clockpunk]

[ we're keeping that out of cookies, at least. ]

Alright. That's easy to make, no problem. You might not even have to do anythin'.

[ no more peel incidents.

he looks up, as if the ceiling will guide them out. ]

D'you reckon we're any closer?

[outdistanced]

We'd better be. I'm tired of these stupid mirrors. What's the point of a place like this, anyway?

[ sir never seen a fair before let alone a funhouse ]

And hey, don't make it sound like I'm completely useless just because I never had to cook before.

[clockpunk]

It's s'posed to get you lost, but not this lost. Like a game.

[ sir practically lives in the festival branch of the vanguard association, whom has helped set up this exact kind of thing before

raises eyebrows. ]

I mean, if you want to help...

[outdistanced]

Ugh. If we keep getting mazes like this, I really will start carrying around a ball of string. What a pain.

If you need help, I will. It's not like I can't.

[ probably. ]

[clockpunk]

That's... actually a really good idea. Man, we should start just puttin' stuff in our pockets at this rate like some of the others do. Never know what's gonna be useful.