outdistanced | turbo heaven 🌼 chrono

It does? [ this is news to him? he's never been to a store before heaven. ] Then... good. I'm glad.

[ they're better... yay ]

It might be. You never know.

[ time to try the yakisoba! food is the best distraction amen ]

Take some pride in it, man. [ yumy........ even simple, that's the best onigiri he's had for a while. ] You did great.

[ here's the thing. it is good-ass yakisoba. local fussy festival food guy makes some goddamn delicious noodles. who'd have guessed. ]

Well, Koharu still gets half the credit since she taught me how to do it.

[ so maybe he's a little embarrassed about it! maybe a little pleased too! shut up about it!

this is good though? wow. he figured he'd like it because chrono said so and he has good taste most of the time, but. it surprises him a little how tastty it really is. ]

...You really are a great cook.

I'll thank her too, don't worry.

[ no <3

and, well. he wasn't particularly nervous about the yakisoba. everyone likes yakisoba. but it's still good to see, and nice to hear, even if his ears burn a little. ]

Hah. Thanks. Somethin' I do have a little bit of confidence in, at least. [ he'll pick up the dango next. should save the sweets til after, really, but he's curious. ] Guess if the whole astronaut thing doesn't work out, I could fall back on culinary school.

[ listen. gotta diffuse his own nerves somehow. it feels a little weird to be told it's that good when he's totally new to this and they probably aren't even shaped right but anyway!

the dango is just basic tri-color dango. not even the kind with syrup. it might also be a little misshapen, and not totally uniform, but the effort is there. ]

Or you could just add it to the menu for that space station of yours. Do both.

[ he could've been way more embarrassing with his praises. this was restraint being shown!! the effort is worth far more than the shape or lack thereof.

the dango is... dango. there's not a whole lot to say, but he looks pleased anyway. ]

So my goal's "spacefaring chef" now? Guess it's got a ring to it. [ like an anime protagonist. just not this kind. ] This is good, too.

You've still got eat while you're up there. Though I guess getting the right ingredients would be a lot harder...

[ does not know about astronaut food rations ]

...Good. [ it makes him smile, a little bit, but he doesn't seem to even notice. ] Yours is still better, though.

Not really how it works, unfortunately. At least not yet. Maybe findin' a way to cook properly out in space could be a research topic...

[ seems to be genuinely contemplating this?? priorities

breathes a laugh. ]

Hey, it's not a competition. [ me glancing at the other thread. looks away ] This is a pretty realistic spread of festival foods, so we're totally in the spirit. Glad you like 'em.

What, like you don't have to eat in space?

[ he does not know anything else about it but he knows you still gotta eat? ]

Is it? [ huh. he thinks about it for a second. ] Because you can just eat this stuff while you walk...? There's not really anywhere to just stop and eat like normal back there. The noodles might be hard to eat that way, though.

There's like, specific space food. It's usually dried stuff that keeps a long time, since like you said, gettin' ingredients is pretty much impossible.

[ nodding. it's miserable stuff for someone who likes to cook.

ah. pleased! ]

Exactly, yeah. You can walk with it. Yakisoba stands will usually have little benches to sit on and eat, but also comes in smaller portions than this. [ laughs sheepishly. ] I got a little carried away.

Dried food? [ hmmm. ] Maybe it works because you're stuck there for a while, but it sounds awful.

[ back to the yakisoba... he shrugs and takes another bite. ]

Who cares? It's not like we have real people to deal with here.

It's pretty bad. I've tried it once, not a part of the career I'm lookin' forward to.

[ hmm. he'll eat thoughtfully too. looking out at the river. it's his own image, but for a moment it feels real enough that when he's reminded it isn't a pang of nostalgia and hope makes his chest hurt. ]

I'll bring you here for real eventually. Promise.

And you still signed up. [ he knows why but also. rip. ] Maybe you really should look into fixing that somehow.

[ the food at the tower isn't that great either but at least it sounds better than dried space food...

ahh but why does it surprise him so much to hear that? they've talked about reconnecting after heaven so many times now. part of him, the spiteful, pessimistic part, wants to argue, because who knows if they'll actually be able to? teleporting to an entirely different world still sounds so impossible, even if their respective abilities really are kind of tailored to that.

it'd be nice to believe it for a little bit, though. like he used to believe he could do anything when he was still a kid. ]

Then I'll look forward to it.

Thesis project to make space life a little more bearable? It's a good one, actually.

[ nods. he'll remember it, for sure - finding ways to store and transport food items really does sound like a worthwhile pick.

chrono's determination eclipses all else. there are doubts, of course. they're visible in the tightness to the corners of his eyes, the way he grips his chopsticks a little harder. but it's determination that's kept him alive, put him on the path he chose, and it'll be the one that opens up the future he really wants to experience. he won't lose anyone else.

instead of responding, he lets his image coalesce. they were nearly done, it was time enough. better to let this scene progress naturally, than make a deal of it. a few small, square lanterns begin to drift from downriver - some in the water, but most in the air. this never took place in tokyo, but fuck it. he wants to show it off anyway. ]

Bet all the other astronauts would love you if you made it work, too.

[ laurence doesn't even notice the change at first. he's focused on chrono, the conversation, the food. there's still a lot for him to process about it all - besides how different it is to everything he knows from home, it's important to the other boy, and that makes him far more interested to learn more than he would have been otherwise.

it's a glint of light in the water that catches his attention, finally drawing his eyes over to the lanterns. ]

What - What's that? Lights? [ watches them glide through the air with utter fascination. ] How are they floating like that? You don't even have demiflora.

[ he hums, approving, but lets his concentration turn to visualising this event. stealing from photos and videos he'd seen - he'd never witnessed the sky lantern festival in real life, but it would take place around the same time as the festival he'd managed to recreate. the lanterns themselves weren't unfamiliar to him - a few summers releasing small ones by the river at the orphanage, a few times with mikuru once she'd adopted him.

the lights fill the water and air, at the expense of clarity around them ; the sky and surroundings swim a little into vagueness. ]

Cheating a bit. This one's not actually from here. [ he looks a little sheepish, actually. it's sort of embarrassing. ] The sky lanterns are from another city. And that's just regular human thermodynamics - or, would be, if it was real. Candles in paper shells. Hot air rises, and all.

[ if he notices the rest of the world around them blurring, he doesn't say. his eyes are focused fully on the lanterns and their reflections in the water. beautiful. ]

They don't just burn?

[ rhetorical, because they're obviously doing just fine. but all he knows are the basics of thermodynamics; it certainly never would have occurred to him to use them for something like this. ]

I don't think it matters where they come from. What are they for?

Eventually they do. [ ...eh, well ] I think the modern shows actually use LEDs instead, but these are the ones I know best.

[ he has to keep an eye on the progression of this illusion, his mental image strong as ever but this drawing less on memory than everything else. still, he watches laurence focus, absorbs that honest thought, and feels a little proud. ]

Mm, well... wishes and hopes for the future. [ hm. ] Thought this might be a little different from the fireworks.

You guys have a lot of traditions for wishes, huh?

[ hah. it's interesting, though. there's nothing of the sort in the tower, where they're supposed to wish for nothing, because they should already have everything a demiflora could ever want. ]

It's okay. We can see fireworks anytime in the marketplace. [ pauses to glance at chrono from the corner of his eyes. ] And you're bringing me back for the real thing, anyway, aren't you?

Gotta take any opportunity to help manifest 'em.

[ he'd never believed it much as a kid, and it seemed silly to do so now that he wasn't far off being an adult, but a lot had changed. anything that affirmed a wish, made someone believe a little more that their goals might come true... those would always be more than worth the time and effort.

laurence's glance catches his own, and he smiles, fond and full of conviction. ]

Yeah. Definitely. We'll see it all.

[ a soft laugh. ]

Guess so. We could really use it here.

[ heaven is a lot more dreadful than he ever would have thought. less opportunity, less pearly gates, too much misery. a wish wouldn't do much change it, maybe, but it's nice to think about, anyway. if only it worked that way. ]

Sounds like you're gonna have your hands full playing tour guide for a while. What else are you even going to show me?

turbo heaven 🌼 chrono

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