outdistanced | turbo heaven 🌼 chrono

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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