Fate Alteration

“Biduèllu and the entire coastline remain intact. According to Miss Lisa Lisa, she had to traverse a sprawling desert from the north before arriving here. To the west is the sea as we knew it, but…according to our most experienced sailors, the mainland is nowhere in sight.”

“We drove in from the east. We followed a highway for weeks.” But it looks like their luck would be running out soon if there was no road left to follow from here. Reigen would worry about that later - first, Vento was gazing up at him as they walked and his floofy face was in dire need of some scritches.

From:

"I guess that means we should fill up on gas and get that oil change while we're here." On top of a lot of other things. "You think Anri's going to be able to handle that much sand?"

From:

“I don’t think the old girl has that kind of juice in her.” And if she did they’d burn through all their reserves of water just to keep her from overheating. “We should probably develop a plan B or C…”

Edited Date: 2025-02-12 05:39 pm (UTC)

From:

‘A plan B…’

Doppio suddenly stopped walking as he was struck by a thought, but it was broken when Hitomi walked into his back as a result. He stumbled forward and spun around with a panicked expression.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’m such an airhead.”

From:

aoihitomi

Hitomi stumbled back but quickly regained her footing. She was an athlete after all.

"Everything okay?"

From:

When their eyes met, Doppio had to look away. He waited until everyone had taken a few steps past them before answering. When he looked back at her, he mustered a smile.

“…Will you meet me outside tonight?” From his low tone of voice, it was clear he wanted to be private about it.

From:

aoihitomi

Hitomi nodded wordlessly. "Sure," she added a moment later.

From:

"Sooooo..." Max droned once the kids had finished their secretive whispering (yes, she had noticed -- she was a teacher, after all). "I don't suppose you have a car dealership in town."

From:

“‘Fraid not. My good friend and I handle most of the repairs for the village. Everything we have for parts are scraps from the trucks we had to retire. If it’s just a bit of maintenance, I can take care of that for you.”

The rectory was within view now, and Reigen was quietly struck with a surge of nostalgia at the sight of the broad garden in front. It looked a lot like his mother’s. He hoped she and the rest of his family were managing.

From:

"Trust me, it could definitely use any sort of maintenance you can offer." Max learned enough from Chloe about patching up trucks (she'd helped with more than one repair job until her truck gave up the ghost), but she couldn't do everything. "Let us know if there's anything we can do to give you a hand. We're not here to take advantage of your hospitality."

From:

“You’ve already done me a great good by taking such care of my boy. A little repair work is the least I can do.”

While everyone passed him by to enter the house, Doppio lingered as he took it all in. The garden, the oak trees, the face of the two-story building itself—it was achingly familiar, but something was…off. Like a shoe that didn’t quite fit.

His anxious state was broken when he felt a lick on his palm. It was Vento. His black eyes were gazing up at Doppio’s curiously, as if he were trying to get a read on him. Then, he felt a gentle hand at his back. Father Serra smiled at him, and Doppio tried to smile back. Even if he felt off kilter, the man’s presence immediately made him feel a bit better.

And that had to mean something, right?

“I’ve given everyone the tour. While they get settled, would you like to relax in your room for a bit?”

Doppio blinked. When he looked around, he was suddenly inside. ‘When did I walk inside…?’ When had his father given everyone a tour? Had he been part of it?

“S-sure.”

He looked up the stairs but shook his head. His room was downstairs, he remembered that. It used to be upstairs when he was a kid, but he moved downstairs at some point. It was a room overlooking the courtyard. When the moon rose to the east he would watch it.

As he approached his bedroom, the unease grew, as well as a sudden aching loneliness. ‘I must have gotten used to sleeping with all the others.’

From:

Meanwhile, Reigen was scoping out the rooms upstairs with the rest of the party. He whistled, feeling somehow overwhelmed by even the most basic of living spaces anymore. Had he really been living out of a van for that long?

“Four rooms up here. Technically all of us could have one to ourselves if we wanted, right?”

From:

"Sorry, Hitomi, but there is no way I'm not taking the opportunity to have my own room." The few times they weren't living out of the van, Max and Hitomi shared a room.

From:

aoihitomi

Hitomi was quick to dismiss Max's apology. It wasn't necessary; she didn't take offense. "No, I understand." It felt like ages since she'd had her own room. "I used to have to share with Merle before we were separated."

From:

“Neko-chan, right?”

From:

aoihitomi

"That's her. I wonder what Merle is doing now..." She hoped at least that she was with Van.

From:

Reigen’s lingered on Hitomi. He couldn’t help but feel worried—about both her and Doppio.

“…Ah.” Reigen looked down at the smallest among them. “Chid-kun, how do you feel about having your own room?”

From:

princechid

"I had my own room at the palace." Chid was more ambivalent about sharing a room than Hitomi or Max, but he didn't want to impose on anyone. "It doesn't bother me to have my own room at all."

From:

Reigen nodded, turning the handle to the room he chose. It was humble but it was practically heaven. A bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a window!? He could have cried.

“Sorry ladies, I’m calling first dibs on the tub.”

From:

"You'd better not use all the hot water!"

From:

~~

Doppio had watched the moon rise from his room after he, Chid, and his father had returned from the pastures. He was exhausted, but he wasn’t able to rest. The room gave him more space than ever had in the van but it felt too cramped somehow. He quietly crept out to get some fresh air. The stairs inside were creaky, and his father would have surely heard him if he had to scale them. That left the matter of Hitomi, though…

She had taken up his old room, and beside his old room was a massive oak tree with branches that hugged the window. Its canopy was as welcoming as he remembered it as a kid as he gently kicked his legs where they hung over the edge.

‘I’m sorry, Hitomi. Thank you for saying yes to this.’

Doppio scooted closer to her window and gently rapped it.

From:

aoihitomi

Hitomi had been waiting for Doppio all night, ready to reach for the handle at the slightest indication he was standing outside her door. She wasn't expecting him to be outside her window. And more importantly, she wasn't expecting him to be in a tree outside her window.

She opened the window quickly, though it took some effort to push it up as it was stuck; the room had been well-maintained, but Hitomi got the sense from how much she strained to open it that maybe it wasn't aired out very frequently.

"Here," she said, offering her arm to him so he could scramble inside with more support than a tree limb alone. "I don't know what I'd tell anyone if you fell right outside my window."

From:

“Oh.” He wasn’t that clumsy, was he? “Actually, I was wondering if we could take a walk.”

From:

aoihitomi

"A walk?" Hitomi had a habit of repeating things back to people when she was puzzled by what they said. "I haven't really climbed down a tree since I was a little kid, but I should be able to manage it."

From: