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

[throughthelookingmax]

"Well, alright, Captain."

Max pushed herself out of the passenger's seat to allow Hitomi to reclaim her place and settled back down in the back with her water.

[espresso_doppio]

~~

The storm had passed, night had fallen, and they hadn’t hit another town yet. They hadn’t hit the end of the highway either, but they had come across something interesting—an old road. It was likely what remained of an old road that got re-routed, but it lead to the real prize: an old-timey convenience store. Everything was in English, so they relied on Max to interpret. It was abandoned and in the middle of nowhere, but there was generous tree cover that made it as good a place as any to set up camp for the night. It even had an outhouse on-site! Doppio wondered if they could store that in the paper but decided the logistics would be too gross to consider.

He and Hitomi were on scavenging duty inside the old store while Reigen and Max were getting the fire going outside. Doppio jumped slightly when he bumped into something and heard a creak, swinging his lantern around to get a better look to find it was just an old rocking chair. Doppio sighed. ‘Why am I always so jumpy…?’

“…Hitomi, can I ask a question?”

[aoihitomi]

"Sure," she said, stepping over a fallen display.

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio moved to inspect a rack. It was hard to see clearly, but there were a bunch of tins arranged on it. He picked one up and held it up to his ear, giving it a good shake.

“If you could see anyone from home or from Gaea right now…who would it be?”

[aoihitomi]

"Well..." That was pretty hard. There were a lot of people Hitomi wanted to see right now. "Probably my mom," she decided.

"What about y--" Hitomi caught herself midway through saying it. "Sorry."

[espresso_doppio]

“It’s okay.” Doppio set his lantern down to try and pry the tin open. “Awhile ago when I said I was sure there was someone out there looking for me…I still feel that way. I think…I dream about them sometimes.”

[aoihitomi]

"Do you remember anything about the dreams?"

[espresso_doppio]

“Well…I can’t remember what they look like or anything…but I can remember the feeling.” Doppio suddenly felt a little embarrassed trying to explain it out loud. “I don’t know how to describe it, but…do you have anyone in your life you’d do anything for?”

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi nodded slowly, thinking about the question. "Yeah, I think so."

[espresso_doppio]

“I thought so. I bet your loved ones really miss you.” Doppio made a noise as he put more effort into prying the tin open, but it just wouldn’t budge.

[aoihitomi]

"Do you need some help? I think i have a nail file in here." Hitomi began rummaging through her duffel.

[espresso_doppio]

“That might be good.” At the rate he was going he’d probably just end up spilling it everywhere.

Doppio turned his head towards the window while he waited for Hitomi to dig it out. There was the glimmer of the campfire beyond and outlines. The other two must have gotten it going quick, he figured.

“…Reigen is pretty nice to women, isn’t he?” Doppio mused—after all, he hadn’t put Max to work despite all his teasing. He had charmed his way into a lot of good deals for them all too. “Do you think…he has someone special back home?”

[aoihitomi]

"Like a girlfriend? Ah, found it." Hitomi pulled out the metal nail file and offered it to Doppio.

[espresso_doppio]

“Yeah.” Doppio took it and began to work it under the lip of the lid. “He talks a lot but never about himself, when you think about it…”

Maybe it was too difficult to talk about? Doppio couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild.

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi wondered where this line of thinking came from. And then it clicked.

"Do you think that Reigen--" Hitomi looked over in the direction of the fire. She could hear Max's laughter even from ehre.

[espresso_doppio]

“I mean…would it be so bad? Don’t you think they had a spark?” His tongue snaked out of his mouth as he pried metal from metal, millimeter by millimeter. ’Reigen…as soon as I’m outside I’ll sing your praises…I promise.’

[aoihitomi]

"They did seem to have a connection," Hitomi admitted.

[espresso_doppio]

The lid fully separated with a ‘pop’ and went clattering to the ground. Doppio wasted no time in holding it to the lantern.

“…Paper?” He picked it out and turned it around in his fingers. It was folded and matte to the touch. He looked at Hitomi and carefully unfolded it. On its surface was a bunch of letters that were oddly spaced out. He couldn’t read them, but even if he could, he was sure they wouldn’t have made sense. “Is this…more English?”

[aoihitomi]

"I think so, but my English isn't good enough to read it." She knew the very basics from school, but there were definitely characters or even whole words missing from the message. She couldn't possibly figure it out at her level of English.

"We should see if Max can read it."

[espresso_doppio]

“Good idea.” Doppio folded it back up and slipped it back into the tin. “…In a little bit. Hey, I’m gonna check out the hats. I think I saw snow earlier.”

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

~~

Reigen hadn’t noticed immediately—not until a few flakes had gotten stuck to his eyelashes. He blinked them away and squinted up at the sky. The smoke from the campfire mingled with the snowfall.

“First rainstorms, now snow, huh?” Reigen exhaled a stream of warm breath. “You know…for better or worse, I’m a little nostalgic. I had plenty of family camping trips that looked just like this.”

[throughthelookingmax]

"What? Stormy?" Max asked. A Snowflake landed on her cheek, then quickly melted.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“I was gonna say snowy, but…that too.” And he whined to no end when he was little, but now he could at least take some comfort in feeling nostalgic about it instead.

Reigen hopped into the back and dug out a shearling jacket for himself along with an autumnal chevron blanket. He returned to the fire and folded the blanket over the back of Max’s shoulders. “Here. I know you’re dressed the part but you’ve also been out in the cold all day.”

[throughthelookingmax]

"Thanks," Max said warmly. "Did your folks take you camping a lot?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen collapsed into his chair, sinking so far back his nose disappeared into his scarf. He groped around lazily in the cooler beside him. “Yeah, though not so much these days.” He paused. “Well. Not family trips anyway. My work takes me to some weird places.”