Meow or Never

[imaphantomthief]

WHO:Ryūji and anyone who lives, works or wanders around near any porter in existence. He put these things up EVERYWHERE.
WHERE:See above.
WHEN:Anytime after September 1st. Taking all of these down will be a big project.
WHAT:Removing the Lost Cat posters he's plastered all over a dozen cities or so. Oops.
WARNINGS:He curses a lot and is generally embarrassing and loud. Also there might be some paper cuts, who knows.

[About a month ago, any city or town within a day's journey from a porter started to see an uptick in litter of a very particular sort. Posters, specifically.

The posters aren't winning any design contests, but the idea they convey still gets across. Call Ryūji. The number is all over the posters, occasionally with a number or two transposed, but if he noticed, it dpesn't show.

However, his friend is back now, he's been getting a lot of spam, and the cat might just never come back at this rate. So Ryūji has resorted to pulling them all off every electric pole, unsuspecting tree, mailbox, message board and store window he's pasted them up over. he can be found grumbling to himself in alleyways with a scraper, trying to pry them down from their glue patches. Maybe he should've thought about what would happen if the damned cat came back.]

Comments

[prayercycles]

[ Fortunato sees (or hears) plenty of Ryuji, of course, but he'd never been quite sure it was the one he knew that put up those posters until now. They were certainly...eye-catching, though maybe not in the way Ryuji wanted.

Still, when he sees Ryuji taking them down near their government housing, he feels a little obligated to walk up and help. Ryuji's been a solid housemate, after all. ]

Ryuji? [ He's got a hand out- he's willing to take any posters Ryuji is holding, if he's got them. ] Did you find the cat?

I’m sorry

[imaphantomthief]

Hey man, unbelievable timing! Here.

[Ryūji is only too happy to shove an armload of posters at his roomie. They’re going to fill the whole recycling bin with these things and probably tick someone else off, but it’s totally worth it since Akira is back now. It’s only after Ryūji has ripped another handful down from posts and trees that he realizes he hasn’t answered the question yet.]

Nah. That cat’s probably up on Mars with whoever was trying to blow us up. He’ll come back when he’s ready I guess. But the other guy, that’s Akira. With the glasses, see? He’s a friend from home, who disappeared like a total jerk. He’s back now, though!

[In his usual exuberant way, Ryūji loops an arm around Fortunato’s shoulder and pumps a fist in the air. There’s tape, paste, and poster tack everywhere. A stray staple pokes out of one of his knuckles, while a trickle of blood oozes out around it. If Ryūji notices any of this, he doesn’t let on. Instead he just continues with his story.]

Sometimes that just happens, ya know? In fact before I lived with you and Chloe and Carl-well, when Carl still lived there... then again, that just proves my point, right? Who knows where that guy is! He might be back in America! Uh. I mean. I guess-do you know where Chicago is? Maybe we can check it out and see if he’s doing alright. Not like he’d remember us, but we’d know if he made it ok. Whaddaya think?

[prayercycles]

[ Ah. Hm. This is many things happening at once. First the posters being shoved into his arms- which he'll certainly take, but Ryūji does it far faster than expected- and then his statement about the cat, which Fortunato would definitely have a follow-up question for if he hadn't been cut off by both Ryūji wrapping that arm around him and noticing the staple. ]

Your hand- [ He sputters, but he doesn't manage to get much of it out before Ryūji continues. Well, they're on another topic now, apparently. ]

I- I do not think he would be in the Chicago here. [ Which is just as confusing as it sounds, but he's got his mind wrapped around that idea after two months, at least. He hadn't known Carl well at all, but he couldn't deny that someone being Ported out was as surreal as others had described it.

Anyway. ] Your hand is bleeding.

[imaphantomthief]

Huh. Yeah, I guess that sounds right. We didn't have flying cars and teleporters at home. Don't think he did either.

[But were they in Florida at home? Who would have ever thought to check in Florida? It's still hard to understand, really.

Ryūji glances at his hand when Fortunato points it out. Oh. Guess it is bleeding. He frowns for a second and rips out the staple, which doesn't help much. The trickle of blood actually speeds up a little. But it'll clot over in a minute, no big deal. He doesn't have healing magic like some of his friends, so it'll have to do.]

Whatcha up to? Skipping class?

[prayercycles]

[ He doesn't really have a real response to Ryūji's first statement; he thinks it's just as bizarre, though considering some of the things he's been through, it didn't take too long for him to adjust to the idea, even if it overwhelms.

The staple is something else; it reminds him of some people he knew back home, although Ryūji is far more lackadaisical than anyone he knows. He himself might react similarly, he realizes. ]

There was a half day. [ But that tells him something, doesn't it. ] You...do not go, then.

[imaphantomthief]

[Ryūji really should at least pretend to be sheepish, but he’s never been that good at faking things. He laughs instead, loud and bold and free.

Who’s gonna get hurt if he gets in trouble here? Just him? That’s fine, then. Besides, people who pissed off some Maryland or whatever must have better stuff to do than worry about his education.]

Busted! I never registered after summer ended. Nobody even noticed, man, can you believe it? Bet you wish you thought of it too, right?

[prayercycles]

[ He's gotten that impression of imPort teenagers- he had felt that going to school would help his leftover goal to remain undercover, but he's starting to wonder if being an imPort that goes to school makes him stick out more. He's certainly been asked for more autographs than expected, and he doesn't even really have much of a public presence. ]

I do not mind it. [ He admits, adjusting the posters in his arms so they're not as uncomfortable to hold. It's far better than the school he was at. He won't pry further if Ryūji seems uncomfortable, but- ] Why- why did you not go back?

oops *Martians not Maryland thanks autocorrect

[imaphantomthief]

You know, it never was my thing anyway. Athletics clubs were fun when I was a kid but I grew outta that, right? Why waste my time learning stuff I'm just gonna forget when I go home anyway?

[He pauses mid-poster ripping to shrug indifferently. It just seems like a waster of time, right?]

How come you did?

[prayercycles]

[ Why learn anything? He's been asking that to himself since the moment he got here, particularly considering the circumstances of his arrival, but he's not the type to be that open about his thought process.

He's not really sure how to explain why he decided to go, then. It calls too much into question. How to put it? ]

It seemed...normal. [ Maybe that's enough? ]

[imaphantomthief]

Ah, I gotcha. You were just trying to feel at home, right?

[If there's more to it than that, Ryūji doesn't seem to put any thought into it. He gives Fortunato's back a slap -probably a little harder than he should, but he's getting worked up already- and continues his assessment of the situation.]

Man, don't worry. You'll get back home someday. It's like hiccups, you know? Everyone gets it but nobody knows how or why or whatever. Until then, just rely on me. We can do all the normal stuff you miss, ok?

[School being the obvious exception, but as far as Ryūji is concerned, there's no way anyone could actually miss school.]

[prayercycles]

[ At home is a phrase for it. Plenty he could say about that, but he's not going to. He jerks forward a bit when Ryūji slaps his back, not expecting the motion, but shrugs it off with a slight eyebrow raise and nothing more.

He shifts and looks away when Ryūji assumes he's particularly homesick- if he's homesick for anything, it's specific people, more peaceful times from far before he was ported in. He looks somewhat uncomfortable, but he'd rather not focus on himself. ]

Do you want to do anything?

[imaphantomthief]

[Ryūji catches the sideward glance, which gets a quirk if the eyebrows in return. He shouldn’t still be surprised by that. Even his best friend doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get back to life at home. Maybe they’re just excited to take on this adventure. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t understand that much, at least.]

Hmm. You know, I do. We gotta try all the American stuff! Er. I guess I can show you some Japanese stuff if you’re bored of America. But we gotta do both, ok?

[prayercycles]

[ It's a nice offer. He's not sure what he can show of Brazil, and it almost makes him feel bad to think about- it's been a couple years since he's been, and that time was predicated on leaving. It's a strange thing to feel.

Still, it's a nice offer. He's lived around Americans- among others- for enough of his life that none of this is especially strange, but. ]

Okay. Then- what "American stuff" do you mean?

[imaphantomthief]

Like going to Texas!

[Admittedly, he doesn't know what they have in Texas. Possibly Hollywood. Possibly the capital city. Maybe some kind of historic sites. Definitely gotta be big museums and stuff. Most importantly, he's like 90% sure they have cowboys there. That's pretty American, right?]

Or we could start smaller first. We could get the pizza with cheese inside and outside.

[prayercycles]

I think that would be easier.

[ He says that very seriously. He may not know every single thing about America, but he does know Texas is a few thousand miles away. ]

Um- why Texas?

[imaphantomthief]

It's the biggest.

[And hopefully full of cowboys and movie stars and stuff, who knows?]

[prayercycles]

...Is it?

[ He feels like he heard something different in class. Was he wrong? Does it matter...? ]