maskormenacelogs | so you feel entitled to a sense of control

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so you feel entitled to a sense of control

WHO: Alfie Solomons and Josuke Higashikata
WHERE: Maurtia Falls
WHEN: Bright and early, April 11th
WHAT: Probably a lot of regret
WARNINGS: TBD

[Still a little sore from having been hung up on the day before, Josuke makes good on his word when the sun rises. After confirming his probationer's address, the Porter in Heropa's outpost takes him to Maurtia Falls where, thankfully very familiar with the city, he's able to make his way to Alfie Solomons' home without much difficulty. Being registered doesn't mean the whole of his trip is short, though, especially not with his attention half divided between the task at hand and perusing the network for Alfie's most recent activity. He's not about to go into today as blindly as he did the phone call from last night!

And what he learns is...that the other man doesn't always seem to be as much of an ass as he was the night before. By the time stores are opening up shop for the day, Josuke's read enough to think maybe he and this fella just got off on the wrong foot. And if Alfie's interest in the Porter is really all about wanting to go home...hell, Josuke can understand why he put up such a fight about the damn thing.

Doesn't mean he's willing to bend over backwards and make all kinds of concessions, of course. But it does mean he'll make a small detour on the way to Alfie's house that morning to pick up a couple of steaming hot coffees, fixings on the side. Because staying in's not on the docket this morning. Provided he doesn't get the door slammed in his face.

When he arrives, not at all dressed in his typical over the top fashion, opting instead for a dark burgundy blazer, white button down, and dark jeans, he gives the door a solid rap before taking a step back, putting himself in proper view of the little peephole.]

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Mm.

[Alfie continues to study him, narrowing his eyes a little.]

I don't like policemen.

Good thing I'm used to being on peoples' shit lists, huh?

[He takes another bite of his sandwich and, for a moment, he's quiet. Thoughtful, even. Before he swallows and adds...]

You don't have to like me. Hell, I don't even want you to if that's not what you want. All I want is for you to know that I wanna help people. And there's a limit to how much I can do if I'm not working with other people. You asked. So there it is. I'm the guy who gives a shit.

Telling me you're a policeman does not constitute proof of that, to me. You understand? I have known many policeman who do not give a shit.

I've known a lot of people who don't give a shit, doesn't matter if they got a badge or not. I wanna stop people like that. But you're right, you don't got a reason to believe me. You'll just have to decide for yourself, same as me. I don't got a reason to believe you're guilty of what they say, or believe you're innocent based on what you say. All I got to go on is your behavior.

I wanna help, Mr Solomons. I do. But I can't if you don't let me.

I don't want your help. I want your transport. Porter escorts. That's all.

And you think it's fair to ask that of me and give nothing in return?

Mr. Higashikata--

[He stumbles over the unfamiliar name a little.]

Am I misunderstanding? Did you sign up for this duty because you were expecting payment of some sort from me? I wasn't given notice of that.

Please. I'm not expecting monetary compensation, just cooperation. You know...instead of that shit you tried to pull when my back was turned at the counter? Heading for the door and all.

[He sighs and shakes his head.]

And it's Higashikata. [He pronounces the name slowly, but not condescendingly. Hi-ga-shi-ka-ta.] You can call me Josuke, though.

Higashikata. Yeah. But-- the door?

[He raises his eyebrows.]

You misunderstand. I went for the rubbish bin.

After my Stand stopped you, yeah.

[He leans back in his chair.]

You know, I may just have been a student back home, but I spent the months leading up to my arrival here tracking down criminals of the worst sort. I know an attempt to flee when I see one. What I don't know is why you wanna get away so bad. Is it just an authority thing, or are you trying to hide something? Most people trying to hide shit who've already been caught feel like they got nothing left to lose, they attack. But maybe you're not 'cause of the nullifier? I dunno...

[He shakes his head.]

I really dunno, but I'm trying to figure you out. Care to help?

Fucking hell, you're a paranoid sort. I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.

[And Alfie's good with a bluff - he sounds genuine, here.

He also leaves Josuke's question hanging. The answer is, of course, an unqualified no.]

[Paranoia, after everything Josuke has been through, is just being cautious. The majority of the friends he'd made back home had once been enemies who would have taken his life if he'd been less careful or befriended fewer people along the way. Still, even if Josuke has no cause to believe Alfie, the man sounds genuine enough to convince Josuke to drop the interrogation for now.

His Stand, however, continues to hang close, playing invisible guard at the table's edge. Just in case. While Josuke focuses on polishing off the rest of his sandwich.]

You ready to head home yet?

Yeah. I'll let you ask me questions as we walk, if you like.

[Though there's no guarantee that he'll answer all of them.]

Alright, deal.

[He pushes up from his seat and leaves the table side to deposit his sandwich wrapper in the trash before turning to face Alfie again.]

First question...what's it like where you're from?

[Alfie follows, carrying his cane now rather than using it. He likes that question - both because he likes talking about home, and because it's the sort of thing that will be less immediately useful in Josuke's role as a parole officer than something like What's your schedule like here?.]

Camden Town. It's a neighborhood in London - in England, right, which is a country here on Earth.

[He figures he'll just cover all the basics. For all he knows, Josuke isn't from Earth himself, and so he might not know much about its geography.]

I'm from the year 1922; that's about a hundred years into this particular world's past.

[Josuke follows along surprisingly well. His great grandfather, is a British man from the middling-to-late 1800's. The time period isn't so drastically different. There might only be fifty or sixty years between Alfie and Jonathan Joestar.]

Don't know the neighborhood, but I know of London. My gramps is from England.

[As he heads for the door, his Stand follows behind Alfie.]

Place I'm from, Morioh, it's in Japan...but it doesn't seem to exist here. What about Camden Town, you look it up?

I've seen pictures on the internet. There's some sort of market there now; it's an artist's quarter.

And your grandfather, whereabouts is he from? London is a big city.

Not London. Like I said, I just know of it. I think he's from Liverpool? Never been there myself, though.

[Not for lack of wanderlust, but because until he found himself in this world, he'd never met his great grandfather. There wasn't anything for him in England.
Nothing he knew of, anyway.]

So, Camden...you live there your whole life? Is it that kinda place, where everyone's real close?

Yeah, it is. My corner of it, yeah. The Jewish quarter. I've never lived anywhere else.

What'd you do for a living before you came here?

I ran a criminal gang.

[It's true, but he's absolutely saying it to get a reaction.]

[There isn't a reaction. Not yet. Or at least, not much of one.

Josuke keeps walking, paying close attention to their surroundings and to Alfie. A 'criminal gang' could mean a lot of things. It didn't tell him anything he needed to know, or anything that he could use to figure out anything more about Alfie. It didn't really tell him anything at all. Except that maybe he was used to being in charge of things. That was something.]

What kind?

It's my turn for a question, isn't it? Two in a row, I think. Yeah.

Tell me how you like it here.

Huh, I guess it is...

[His lips purse in thought, and then he shakes his head.]

I've been here almost two and a half years now. There's shit I hate, but things I've grown to really like, too. I'll be honest...I'm not facing any more or less danger here than I was back home. There was always something going on in Morioh, always some asshole to worry about stopping. And it helps...knowing that home is waiting for me. That I'll get to go right back to the moment when I left. Let's me live life here as freely and fully as I wanna, to really make the most of it. So...I guess I'm happy.

Are you attached to your life here? Would you wanna stay?

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