Stuck In The Wrong Place

Same Old People, Wrong Destination

Today you get a message from the Malnosso. They’ve found a way to send you home. You’ll remember Luceti, but it’s a one way trip. You’ve said your tearful goodbyes and prepared yourself for the inevitable return home. One moment you’re in Luceti, the next you’re not.

But nobody ever said the Malnosso ever got everything right. Sure, you’re not in Luceti anymore. Yes, you’ve lost your wings and barcode. But this isn’t your world. It’s some other world and now that you’re cut off from the Malnosso, you have no hope of ever getting back home. Which means that wherever you’ve ended up, you’ll be spending the rest of your life there.

On the up-side, you’re not the only one stuck here. Someone else from Luceti, also alien to this world, is stuck with you. With the common bond of being strangers to this brave new world, it’s inevitable you’ll stick together. But for how long?

Considerations

1. You can go to any other world you want! It just can’t be one either of your characters are from. You can make up something like a fantasy world, something from a sci fi, or something just like the modern world. Or you can pick a canon neither of your characters belong to.
2. Ideally they should both be from different canons altogether. But this isn’t required!
3. There’s supposed to be no way back. Even genius characters ought to find it impossible. But does that mean all hope has to be lost? For those who have been gone from Luceti a long time, it might be fun if they were given a chance to go back to Luceti and be trapped again.
4. For an optional extra level of complexity, give consideration to your character’s appearance or to their abilities. Will they stand out in this new world? Will they have to hide what they can do? Or will they even be able to use their powers if the source of their powers is gone?

Prompts

1. Day One - You’ve both just arrived on this world and by chance, you run into each other. Two heads are better than one. Now you just have to figure out what to do next.

2. One Week Later - You’ve been in this world a week. Things are starting to sink in. So is the idea of being stuck here. It’s time to start thinking about the long term.

3. One Month Later - Now that you’ve both been here awhile, you’ve learned the ins and outs of your new home. You’re making a living and getting by, but you still think of home.

4. Six Months Later - It may not be home, but you’ve learned to be comfortable. By now, your relationship with your fellow Lucetian has certainly evolved as well.

5. One Year Later - It’s been long enough that you sometimes wonder if you ever did live in a place like Luceti. So what’s life for you like in this whole new world?

6. Other - Don’t be limited by the above. This could be two weeks later or twenty years later! Of course, you can always time skip once you’ve established what you want to do at one time period.

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Yes. Six months. [His voice sounds weak -- he wants to believe it, but there's still a part of him that's afraid he could wake up any minute. He's at a near-loss for words.]

Is... are there any others?

I don't know of any.

[And now she has so many questions, it seems like she can't manage to ask them all first or fast enough.]

Have you been here all this time?

[He nods. And then nods again to her question... but not before reaching up and wiping at his eyes a little. He's been alone all this time -- and Nephry was here. She was here...!]

[He isn't thinking about the implications of what her being here means just yet. He's so happy to see her, he just can't think of anything else than this right here. Still wiping his eyes, he looks up and smiles through tear-filled eyes.]

I... I missed you.

I missed you too. Oh, if only I'd known about this, that you- I'm sorry you've been alone.

[Even if he...found a family, or something, in this place. It wasn't the same as Auldrant, or even Luceti. It wasn't Home.]

[He hadn't. Here he was, sleeping in a cafe because he didn't have a place to go home to. No one was here. How could this have ever been home?]

[But now Nephry was here. And with every passing second where he's still here, he begins to realize that this can't be a dream. This... this was real.]

You don't have to apologize. You couldn't have known. I... I had no idea someone else was here.

Neither did I. Are you all right here? Who...who do you stay with?

[...]

[His hands find their way to the edges of his hat, still sitting on the table, and grip it tightly.]

I... live alone right now.

But how? This world is much more similar to Auldrant that way - children don't-

[A possible situation for Ion is building itself into her head and freezing her heart.]

[It shouldn't be too hard to put together with the pieces he's given her. Sleeping in a cafe in the middle of the day, wearing old and very well-worn clothing, and not looking to be anywhere near the peak of health... he was homeless.]

...it's not as bad as it sounds. [He's keeping his eyes low again, and the words are coming out quickly. He doesn't want to see that look on her face.] There's a shelter I go to sometimes when they have room. Though I try not to take up space there for people worse off than myself... and if I work early enough in the morning, I can just sleep in places like this during the day.

[What if she hadn't spoken to him at all? Had chosen a different cafe, a different week to visit the city, a different city entirely? Nephry can't keep the pain of those thoughts out of her eyes.]

Well. [Or her voice, apparently.] If it's- if it's all right with you, you can stay with me from now on.

[On another day in another world, Ion might have tried to protest. He wouldn't have wanted to become a bother or a burden. Isn't that why he lies to his boss that he lives with relatives here? Isn't that why he sleeps in cafes rather than let those working at the shelter think they've forced him to the street on days when no beds are available? Isn't that why he still tries so hard, knowing it would trouble those who knew him here if he were to suddenly disappear someday?]

[But this? This gets none of that. He pulls his gaze up from the table and all at once, he needs to wipe his eyes again. How long has it been since he's been this happy?]

Of-- Of course it's all right. I would be honored if you let me stay with you.

[She doesn't want either of them to cry in public.]

I have an hour or two before I need to be anywhere. Why don't we go back to the room I'm staying in and catch up?

I would like that. [And he nods, finding the strength to smile far more brightly now. And he'll just go ahead and put his hat back on and pull his bag over his shoulder. He really does look like just a regular kid without his green hair showing.]

[And of course, he wipes at his eyes just one more time before standing up.] Shall we?

[Picking up her purse, Nephry circles the table to put an arm around Ion's shoulders.]

I think we've been through worse than a peaceful busy world, wouldn't you say? [It's gentle, as though she expects it might break him somehow anyway.]

[He almost -- almost -- shies away from the touch, but only because it's unexpected. And if she tries to pull away because of it, he'll just be leaning into it regardless.]

I suppose that is one way of looking at things, isn't it? Though I don't know if I would go so far as to call New York peaceful... it took me awhile to get used to seeing cars everywhere.

It took a while to get used to a lot of things. But it is more peaceful than Luceti in some ways, isn't it?

[She did pull away, but only for a second.]

...in some ways, yes.

[Ways he would much rather focus on, as opposed to the ways in which is was worse. He had a warm bed to sleep in back in Luceti, and all things considered, Luceti had far less crime. He doesn't want to dwell on it.]

Have you been living in the city as well? Or have you been staying somewhere else?

I live in a small town about an hour from here. Actually, I came here looking for...for work that was more like what I used to do, at home. [Actually, that raises a concern for her, but she doesn't voice it as they pass out the door into the cold.]

You've been here? In the city for...for months?

Really? I guess that means we were right when we called this a coincidence before.

[Much like her before, he'd rather not think about what would have happened had they not met today -- or ever, for that matter. He nods to her question.]

Yes. Though I admit I didn't get off to the best start here, I've been doing better these past few months. I wasn't sure where else I could go, and this city is all I know.

Do we need to go anywhere to...to gather your things? Unless you've changed your mind now that you know I don't live right here. [She hopes not. It would be impossible to abandon him here.]

Nothing could make me change my mind, Nephry. [Spoken rather quickly after that last remark. He had no intention of going back to living on his own again if he could help it.]

And... there's no need for me to stop anywhere. I already have everything I need right here. [Not that he carried everything he owned on him, but he certainly carried everything that couldn't be replaced with him. Money, a makeshift ID courtesy of his boss, and the clothes he wore when he arrived... which, at times, seemed to be the only proof that everything that happened before now was real.]

Oh, though I should probably tell my boss that I'm leaving. It would be troublesome for him if I just stopped showing up without a word.

Do you work today? If not, I'd be happy to accompany you tomorrow in order to tell him.

[Their bus pulls up to the stop. Nephry nods to it, giving Ion a gentle push in its direction; she'll get in his way if he tries to pay the fare, though. Her treat.]

I already worked today, actually. I deliver newspapers. [He'll try to pay, but stop soon enough when Nephry pushes past him. D'aww.]

[But he'll still insist she be the one to take a seat if it's available. He's fine with standing.] That's the reason I was sleeping when you found me... I have to wake up much earlier for the Sunday papers, since I can't carry as much at one time.

Well, perhaps that's a job you'll be able to keep, so to speak. There are paper carriers everywhere. [There are, unfortunately, no seats. It lets her keep an arm around him for balance though and she is so okay with it.

No longer alone in this world. Not forced to consider whether Auldrant, or Luceti, was something she made up in an unstable mind trying to escape the world. The chances of that dropped considerably now that someone else with those same memories was here. Who knew how many more there could be?]

Are you...well? You haven't been sick, I hope?

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Stuck In The Wrong Place

Same Old People, Wrong Destination

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