Last Train to London

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen told himself that he'd celebrate every good thing that came his way from now on--no matter how small. He wouldn't celebrate it in want of something but for it's own sake. After all, there was no higher power to bargain with. It was just him.

Him and two kids.

Him and two kids and a giant VW Bus he was 60% comfortable handling. And a magical piece of paper that kept their entire lives packed neatly and lightly.

He kept reminding himself of how far he'd come in just a few weeks whenever he started really missing a nice matcha. He had Doppio on a strict assignment to look out for even the instant stuff. Every day was a new lesson in unpredictability but they'd found that there were clusters of stability. Some towns had mostly escaped the rupture unscathed and others were like patchwork from a monkey's hands. You just took what you got, hustled, and hoped for the best.

Today--today wasn't bad. They'd lucked out with a highway cutting through a sprawling plain with small patches of life in the distance. There was no telling how long the road would last, but word had spread across the town they'd just left that it went on for awhile. The street signs weren't in a language he recognized but it's not like they'd serve their purpose even if they did. Reigen spared a thought for all the taxpayer dollars gone to waste.

"Quartermaster," he snapped his fingers and adjusted the thick technicolor shades on his nose, "coffee me."

Comments

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

He quickly moved to do just that--struggling with the lever as it caught before managing to get the window down all the way. When he finally got a good look at her, Reigen was struck how modern her look was. 'An American, huh?'

"...Yo!" He flashed her a peace sign. "What's a groovy cat like you doing this far out?"

[throughthelookingmax]

"What?" Max almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. And Max could believe a lot of things these days.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

'What does she mean 'what?'' He'd seen plenty of Western period pieces and that sounded pretty American to him!

"Going north? I'm traveling here with my sister and company."

[throughthelookingmax]

"Just going anywhere but here." Here was definitely not a good place to be. "Think you can give me a ride?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

She struck Reigen as honest enough.

"Passenger of the wind, huh? Hop in, sis." He gestured towards the van's sliding door.

[throughthelookingmax]

"Thanks. I'm Max, by the way."

She opened up one of the back doors and climbed inside. There were two others there. A young woman with pink hair and a brunette sitting up front who watched her as she climbed in.

"You headed to a specific place? Or is North it?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Reigen. This is my younger sister Hitomi and our friend in the back there Donatella.” The bass of the ELO track that came on made the interior thrum. Reigen fussed with the window handle to roll it back up and shifted gears to get it out park. “Well, how should I say it…we have a lead on someone we know being out this way.”

[throughthelookingmax]

"That's more than what most people have. I feel like everybody is separated from everybody right now."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio watched as Max settled down into the back with him. She seemed tired--exhausted--and he wondered if she had been alone this whole time.

"Can I get you something to drink? To eat?" He didn't bother with changing his voice anymore when he spoke to strangers. He tried to go falsetto at first but found that it didn't matter either way.

[throughthelookingmax]

"You got water? I'm parched."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio bent over to open the cooler stored under the drop-down table. He pulled out a water bottle that was nice and chilled and handed it over. He wanted to boast about how clever they had been with storing a ton of ice to chill goods they found in their magic paper but he figured Reigen wouldn't want him outing all their tricks at once.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else? We have a lot of food."

[throughthelookingmax]

"That's pretty generous. What do you have?"

Maybe it was a bad idea to accept food and water from strangers, but Max was parched and starving. And in any case, wasn't it worse for her to get in a car with strangers than take a water from them?

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio made a face as he thought of everything he made in the last day. They’d been on the go so it was a lot of stuff that stored easily. “Do you…like dumplings? Soup? Or oni—ong—“

“Onigiri,” Reigen helpfully filled in. He and Hitomi had taught him how to make it.

[throughthelookingmax]

"Sure. Thanks."

There was something off about the woman, but Max wasn't about to cast judgment.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

If they never found out Doppio’s real identity, Reigen was sure he had a serviceable future ahead of him as a waitress.

“Hey, Hitomi-chan.” He lowered his voice. “How far would you say we’re out? Halfway yet?”

[aoihitomi]

"Mmm, yeah. I think so. Reigen-san, how much gas do we have?" Hitomi could get a sense of how far away they were from the nearest town, but even Hitomi wasn't sure how far away the last town they left was.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“I’d say a three day’s worth unless we find a place to stock up.” Whether that was a nice displaced fuel station or another abandoned car to siphon it out of. He’d trade gas for more highway. He’d had enough of camping for one lifetime at this point.

“We’re doing fine for now. How are you holding up?”

[aoihitomi]

"I'm just worried. I'm getting a bad feeling." Hitomi hoped this didn't mean they were going to break down. "I'm trying to ignore it, but..." She trailed off.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Suppressing your worries is like trying to trap smoke in your hands." A patter of rain hit the windshield and Reigen felt around for the lever for the wipers. "Did anything happen to spark your anxiety?"

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi shook her head. "No, it just came on all of a sudden. Before all of this happened, the things I worried about all came true."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen hummed. The rain was really starting to come down now.

“Well, I’m not gonna tell you not to worry…a lot of pretty worrisome things have happened. It’d be strange if didn’t feel anxious now and then.” Reigen dug around in his pocket—pulling out a little smooth green stone and passed it over to her.

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi took the stone and turned it over in her hands. "What's this?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“I picked up a wicked nicotine addiction in college. I was in a major I couldn’t stand and the pressure was getting to me.” Reigen was slightly red. This was more honest than he was used to being. “I tried to quit a lot and it never stuck. I finally kicked the habit a few years ago. I was committed, but…it sucked. Oddly, out of everything I tried, what helped me most was carrying around a worry stone. I pulled it out every time I got the itch and rubbed it until the urge passed.”

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi's fingers clasped the worry stone tightly. "But... won't you need this?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen waved that off. “I’ve been clean for three years. I know you’ve got that incredible pendant of yours, but this is a gift from the magnificent and wise psychic, Arataka Reigen.”

Thunder clapped in the distance. Reigen turned the wipers up to max speed and smiled sideways at Hitomi. “So every time you get anxious, take it out and remember that you’ve got friends here. And if you need to, come talk to me.”