You have to start smaller than flips if you want your bones in one piece. [ and he knew the question was coming, knows it's bound to happen whenever he mentions the circus, and-- he'll always be upset about it, but he likes the older memories too much to not even attempt to share those, so: ] My family was murdered when I was nine. During a show. One of the people in the crowd that night was a superhero. He took me in, helped me bring the guy responsible to justice. I've been doing this since.
[ he's staring at his hands. it's been a decade, now. he's been without his family-- with batman-- longer than with. it's wild to think about. ]
[...well. That also explains some things, but unlike everything else it does actually surprise him. He grows quiet again, processing that information and tucking it away in some Dick-Grayson-Shaped file in his head. He doesn't say "I'm sorry" because it seems insincere, especially for something so long ago and something that impactful.
So instead, he tips his head a bit to rest on Dick's and stares at his feet while Dick stares at his own hands. He's hard-pressed to ever be openly affectionate, but time and effort means sometimes he'll make an attempt.
Where do you go from there...?]
Makes sense then. Habits are a hard thing to break. [Being a hero full time, he means.]
Maybe. But I like doing it, and I'm good at it. [ and, to break off the tension from his little reveal-- ] Incidentally, also true of other things you've experienced first hand.
[He opens his mouth to say something and immediately decides not to reveal one of his kinks and changes the subject.]
And it took me almost two week to learn. Looks like I'm slacking. [He can do quips. That's fine. He's 100% not sure what to do here so he'll follow the beat Dick sets.]
[ share your kinks, coward, dick's feeling a little exposed right now. he huffs a little instead, nudging junpei's foot with his own ]
Yeah, detective. Where's your work ethic at? [ but he won't just fake roast junpei, adding-- ] But I guess we've both been neglecting the "get to know you" part of roommate duties.
[No!! His kinks are staying right where they belong, they can talk about how Junpei's response was about compliments and praise kinks when they unlock new s-links. He nudges back with his foot, a thin smile on his face and still looking unsure where the line of saying things is. ]
Escha's got us both beat by constantly bringing us snacks. [There's an almost fondness to his tone before he frowns.] It's been a while since I've done this. I'm out of practice. And maybe you're not the only one who sucks at sharing.
[Has he bothered asking or concerning himself with Dick's tattoo? Nope. And he's not asking for explanation now.]
I already told her she was my favorite roommate. [ it's said very solemnly, because it is? a fact. Dick tenses a bit at the reminder of his magic tattoo, but doesn't move otherwise, looking wry again. ] I wasn't requesting anything. Talking to a guy with a secret identity, remember? You could always practice sharing to the mirror, dude, we'll probably hear you anyway.
[ because junpei mumbles his thoughts out loud a lot ]
Yeah, well, she deserves that. [Escha is a good girl who did nothing but suffer with these two. He doesn't seem to know what to think, but he at least looks a little embarrassed being called out on that.]
Sorry. Habits are a thing. [He says nothing about talking to a mirror because he thinks of what Hizamaru said a week ago. "If your painting could talk, what would it say?" His would say a lot he doesn't need to hear.] Let me ask you something. What are you requesting?
Nothing. I was joking. [ he sounds amused and-- a little sorry. he'd meant it as a tease, not as an actual call-out. ] I've spent years working with people who don't even know my name, JT. I'm self-aware enough to not actually throw stones from glass houses.
[He raises an eyebrow, not entirely dissuaded. He doesn't seem bothered because it was a real question. He doesn't mind requests and he's good with instructions when it's something he invests in.]
Requests were open for anything, but if you're really sure...[A soft shrug. He won't take the offer back just yet. ] I ruined my chance at a secret ID a while ago. [It has nothing to do with anything but he thinks about codenames and Akane and the nonary game because of course he does.]
I meant including things besides talking. [But okay.] Last year when I woke up on a ship after being kidnapped, I found eight other people. We didn't want the guy watching to know too much in case it was used against us, so we picked code names. But everybody already knew my name by then so I'm the only one who didn't get one. Talk about a rip-off.
[Sometimes you just casually talk about kidnappings. And maybe it's said that way because while it wasn't really a ship, it felt too real back then. This week has been something.]
My mind is way too in the gutter right now for any normal request. [ it's light, as he takes in the rest. it's... a lot. A lot of bad luck, mainly. Dick's used to talking about kidnappings with victims, but not usually in this kind of context. he stays quiet before he asks: ] That why you tried to see if you could jump off?
Like I wouldn't--never mind. [He's also fine with dirty favors right now but that's just him and secretly liking to please. He doesn't ask how Dick knows because he figures it's the same way he knows about things he isn't present for. So he shakes his head. ]
I tried to jump because the building Carlos and I were in before we got here is out there. [A gesture to the horizon ruins.] Or a really good duplicate. Hard to see the full thing but it's hard not to notice.
[ dick is trying to concentrate on that reveal, but he's smirking at that almost slip. ]
Raincheck, remember? [ he's feeling too-- needy to feel comfortable asking for anything right at this moment, so talking it has to be. Dick tries to catch which of the buildings Junpei is gesturing to, a small frown on his face. ] ... The building you were in... Was it a hospital?
[Raincheck. Right. God. But Dick may be able to see Dcom, the strange looking group of buildings, poking out from the waves and the like but Junpei frowns at the mention of a hospital.]
Did you go to see him, too? [He shakes his head.] We were in a bomb shelter. The hospital is...different.
Beck told me she managed to get in contact. [ he doesn't ask anything more about the hospital, instead he looks at the grouped buildings with a thoughtful frown ] They've all got different places. Four of them, four places. So here's the question-- was there anything on that horizon before Polly did the ritual?
[Unsurprising. Beck seems to say a lot.] I've been asking myself the same thing. The worst part is we can't know because we were locked inside. But given a suspicion I have the answer is "no."
The right key? [ its?? a possibility??? but shitty jokes aside, dick leans back a bit, straightening up by reflex as he thinks. ] It depends on what there actually is. Are the buildings physical at all? We're directly transported to them when we request a talk. I've been working under the assumption they're their own... pocket dimensions, but it could also be that they're simply on a different plane of existence, like the Tower of Fate. [ dick does not explain what that is, at all. ]
I don't know. I get the feeling this whole area is a pocket dimension, but if that's true then we need to really find what we're missing to get there. I don't think those are the places we really go when we see them. Then again...I don't have proof.
Yeah, maybe. That ship I told you about was actually a building in the Nevada desert. But everything about the inside looked and felt like a luxury cruiseliner, right down to the flooded floor. So what if it's true? What if inside those buildings are things we can't even predict?
[There's a quirk of his lips.] That's the part that gets you? [He looks at his hands. He hasn't actually told anyone about the Nonary Game, so...give him a sec.]
Like I said, it was a building but at the time we didn't know it. One day last year, I came home after work and a guy in a mask unleashed some sort of white smoke in my apartment and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was in a third class cabin on a ship. The room was locked and the floor I was on started flooding, so...I had to solve a puzzle to find the cards needed to activate the sensor myself.
The entire hall was full of water. D Deck was flooding fast, but when I headed up to B Deck that's when I found everyone else. All of us had the same experience. Guy in a mask, kidnapped, shoved into a room with a bracelet on our wrists and forced to find a way out before the room flooded. Once we were all together, a speaker in the corner started playing a broadcast.
[He pauses, digging into his memory to begin reciting.] "Welcome aboard. I welcome you all, from the bottom of my heart, to this, my vessel. I am Zero, the captain of this ship. I am also the person who invited you here. I mean to have you participate in a game. Some of you, I know, are familiar with this game. The Nonary Game. It is a game where you will put your life on the line. The rules of the Nonary Game can be found upon your persons. The purpose of the game is simple. Leave this ship alive. It is hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out. Seek a door that carries a 9. There is one last thing I must tell you. As you have no doubt surmised, this ship has begun to sink. On April 14th, 1912, the famous ocean liner Titanic crashed into an iceberg. After remaining afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes, it sank beneath the waters of the North Atlantic. I will give you more time. 9 hours. That is the time you will be given to make your escape."
We split up and started looking around. Five decks, several locked rooms, puzzles behind all of those locked doors. We couldn't get the windows open and the water had completely submerged D Deck. What else were we supposed to think? Everything about that place made us really think we were going to sink.
As it turns out, it was a building that was used as part of the first Nonary Game nine years before. Building Q, designed to look exactly like the Gigantic, a sister ship of the Titanic. We were there to play a game for something really important, and the setting had to be exact.
I don't think any of us were expecting to find the desert and a car waiting for us when we finally reached the surface, but that's how it happened.
[ this is... a lot. dick listens to him speak the whole time with a light frown on his face. he'd known parts of this from junpei talking vaguely about it, but whole story... honestly, from the description alone, it sounds a bit like something the riddler or some other gotham villain would do. dick doesn't mention that, though.
because there are other things on that that strike him as a lot more important. ]
... So, a boat with multiple decks, puzzles with locked doors and nine hours. [ he raises an eyebrow a bit ] Maybe you were right to assume this was similar to what you'd been through. [ that aside-- ] Is that where you had to use the "morphogenetic field" the first time?
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[ he's staring at his hands. it's been a decade, now. he's been without his family-- with batman-- longer than with. it's wild to think about. ]
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So instead, he tips his head a bit to rest on Dick's and stares at his feet while Dick stares at his own hands. He's hard-pressed to ever be openly affectionate, but time and effort means sometimes he'll make an attempt.
Where do you go from there...?]
Makes sense then. Habits are a hard thing to break. [Being a hero full time, he means.]
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Maybe. But I like doing it, and I'm good at it. [ and, to break off the tension from his little reveal-- ] Incidentally, also true of other things you've experienced first hand.
[ quips!!! ]
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And it took me almost two week to learn. Looks like I'm slacking. [He can do quips. That's fine. He's 100% not sure what to do here so he'll follow the beat Dick sets.]
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Yeah, detective. Where's your work ethic at? [ but he won't just fake roast junpei, adding-- ] But I guess we've both been neglecting the "get to know you" part of roommate duties.
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Escha's got us both beat by constantly bringing us snacks. [There's an almost fondness to his tone before he frowns.] It's been a while since I've done this. I'm out of practice. And maybe you're not the only one who sucks at sharing.
[Has he bothered asking or concerning himself with Dick's tattoo? Nope. And he's not asking for explanation now.]
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[ because junpei mumbles his thoughts out loud a lot ]
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Sorry. Habits are a thing. [He says nothing about talking to a mirror because he thinks of what Hizamaru said a week ago. "If your painting could talk, what would it say?" His would say a lot he doesn't need to hear.] Let me ask you something. What are you requesting?
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Requests were open for anything, but if you're really sure...[A soft shrug. He won't take the offer back just yet. ] I ruined my chance at a secret ID a while ago. [It has nothing to do with anything but he thinks about codenames and Akane and the nonary game because of course he does.]
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he kicks at junpei's foot again like an asshole. ]
Alright, if you're gonna twist my arm about it. [ this is definitely what happened? ] What's that about?
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I meant including things besides talking. [But okay.] Last year when I woke up on a ship after being kidnapped, I found eight other people. We didn't want the guy watching to know too much in case it was used against us, so we picked code names. But everybody already knew my name by then so I'm the only one who didn't get one. Talk about a rip-off.
[Sometimes you just casually talk about kidnappings. And maybe it's said that way because while it wasn't really a ship, it felt too real back then. This week has been something.]
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[ how does he know about that? mystery ]
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I tried to jump because the building Carlos and I were in before we got here is out there. [A gesture to the horizon ruins.] Or a really good duplicate. Hard to see the full thing but it's hard not to notice.
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Raincheck, remember? [ he's feeling too-- needy to feel comfortable asking for anything right at this moment, so talking it has to be. Dick tries to catch which of the buildings Junpei is gesturing to, a small frown on his face. ] ... The building you were in... Was it a hospital?
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Did you go to see him, too? [He shakes his head.] We were in a bomb shelter. The hospital is...different.
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Beck told me she managed to get in contact. [ he doesn't ask anything more about the hospital, instead he looks at the grouped buildings with a thoughtful frown ] They've all got different places. Four of them, four places. So here's the question-- was there anything on that horizon before Polly did the ritual?
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Next question. How do we get there?
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I don't know. I get the feeling this whole area is a pocket dimension, but if that's true then we need to really find what we're missing to get there. I don't think those are the places we really go when we see them. Then again...I don't have proof.
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[ the kaleidoscope dimension, ]
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I'm sorry, can we go back to where a ship was in the middle of the Nevada desert?
[ DICK CANT TALK ABOUT THINGS BEING WEIRD BUT ???? ]
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Like I said, it was a building but at the time we didn't know it. One day last year, I came home after work and a guy in a mask unleashed some sort of white smoke in my apartment and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was in a third class cabin on a ship. The room was locked and the floor I was on started flooding, so...I had to solve a puzzle to find the cards needed to activate the sensor myself.
The entire hall was full of water. D Deck was flooding fast, but when I headed up to B Deck that's when I found everyone else. All of us had the same experience. Guy in a mask, kidnapped, shoved into a room with a bracelet on our wrists and forced to find a way out before the room flooded. Once we were all together, a speaker in the corner started playing a broadcast.
[He pauses, digging into his memory to begin reciting.] "Welcome aboard. I welcome you all, from the bottom of my heart, to this, my vessel. I am Zero, the captain of this ship. I am also the person who invited you here. I mean to have you participate in a game. Some of you, I know, are familiar with this game. The Nonary Game. It is a game where you will put your life on the line. The rules of the Nonary Game can be found upon your persons. The purpose of the game is simple. Leave this ship alive. It is hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out. Seek a door that carries a 9. There is one last thing I must tell you. As you have no doubt surmised, this ship has begun to sink. On April 14th, 1912, the famous ocean liner Titanic crashed into an iceberg. After remaining afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes, it sank beneath the waters of the North Atlantic. I will give you more time. 9 hours. That is the time you will be given to make your escape."
We split up and started looking around. Five decks, several locked rooms, puzzles behind all of those locked doors. We couldn't get the windows open and the water had completely submerged D Deck. What else were we supposed to think? Everything about that place made us really think we were going to sink.
As it turns out, it was a building that was used as part of the first Nonary Game nine years before. Building Q, designed to look exactly like the Gigantic, a sister ship of the Titanic. We were there to play a game for something really important, and the setting had to be exact.
I don't think any of us were expecting to find the desert and a car waiting for us when we finally reached the surface, but that's how it happened.
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because there are other things on that that strike him as a lot more important. ]
... So, a boat with multiple decks, puzzles with locked doors and nine hours. [ he raises an eyebrow a bit ] Maybe you were right to assume this was similar to what you'd been through. [ that aside-- ] Is that where you had to use the "morphogenetic field" the first time?
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