Such egregious rule-breaking!

“Aww, come on~” Alibaba was quick to slide over, throwing a hand over the others’ shoulder before making a gesture to the phone still in Joshua’s hand. “It’ll only take a sec.”

“All you have to do is show me how this little thing is supposed to drop objects from the sky like you said, then I’ll totally leave you alone. Deal~?” If owning one of these for himself really couldn’t happen, then the next best thing was experiencing how one of the magical tools from this world worked, right? Not to mention, this one sounded completely amazing! “After all, if this ‘cell phone’ thing really is that powerful, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Right?”

#sxluja #well; joshua is an adult #even if he acts like it like 0% of the time #...idk that he even actively remembers it a lot of the time? b/c personality wise i write him as acting fairly kid-like #b/c he's pretty much interacted with nobody but megs who he can do work voice with #and hanekoma who he can do 15 y/o voice with #also he watches kid's cartoons #...but basically he interacts with someone with this much energy and he's like 'yeah i'm an old man'#'but not as old as hanekoma'

“As I said, that’s a special feature - and it doesn’t work in all circumstances.” A sigh. “Besides, it’s unusual, so it’d attract attention.” At this point, he’d adopted the tone of someone admonishing a child.

“...It’s a communication device. It’s not supposed to be powerful.” ...How old was this boy supposed to be, really? “Anyway, it’s magic. You’ve had experience with that, haven’t you?”

“Well, I’m really no magician. But from what I’ve seen, it’s magic that lets you see things in different locations without actually being there yourself. Not to mention, it’s powerful enough to show events that have already happened, too.” The magic probably had more capabilities than just that, but Alibaba could only speak from person experience. It wasn’t like he had Aladdin tagging along on this adventure to help him explain anything magical.

Still, Alibaba’s had his attention stuck on the phone. They might not have been anything special to the people of this world, but to someone who’s home seemed light years behind the technology of this city; the object was way more than fascinating.

“Hey, if they’re really that common here, maybe you can show me where to get one! Or, at least show me how yours works?”

#sxluja #((josh's somewhere between his 'intimidating possibly dangerous strangers' mode and his 'dealing with kids' mode #neither of which are heavy on the ;)#...or i think that's what's going on #and lots of thinky can be fun to write #...sometimes))

“So, that’s not particularly different from here, then.” He wasn’t really curious enough to pry about details - and it didn’t seem like he’d get any interesting answers, anyway.

“...I doubt it’d be a good idea for you to get one - something like that somewhere it didn’t originate from is usually a bad idea.” At least, that was what television generally made of the situation. “...I don’t think there’s any reason to show mine off, either.” His phone was a bit too important to pass off to just anyone, after all.

sakvraba-a

‘You know where he stays! Why not just walk over there yourself?’ Though, Neku kept that much to himself, the only thing escaping him a light irritated huff before switched his focus to his empty ramen bowl. He was almost sorry he’d brought the topic up. But, even to someone like Neku, keeping quiet over something like this was almost impossible. The sooner they could get definite answers, the better.

“Look, I’m done here.” Neku pushed his bowl forward a bit more for emphasis, “If we’re really gonna wait for a text from Mr. H, let’s do it somewhere else. It’s not like I want to spend all day here, either.”

#playersakurabaneku #but neku. walking is effort and effort is the enemy #...yeah; neku's not really actively enough of a jerk to do that #and my josh isn't malicious enough to mess with the mural #probably not even the headphones unless prompted #though that one depends significantly more on the situation

“Then let’s leave.” Before Neku can respond, Joshua got up. “I’m willing to leave your world, too, but if you really want me to hang around for long enough to listen in on my conversation... I don’t care where we go next.”

A pause. “I’d rather it not be Cat Street, though - the walk’s longer than I’d like.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what those ‘Eye of the Rukh’ things do, too. Only, they use clairvoyance magic to send messages across to people in distant locations, so long as the other person has one.” Alibaba…didn’t really understand how they worked, but he’d been lucky enough to use one himself when he and the others had contacted Sindria during their chase for pirates out at sea.

“But, wait a minute. You mean that little box thing…can really do all that?” Alibaba was already stepping closer, trying to get a better look at this ‘cell phone’. He had no idea what a ‘car’ even was, but dropping things straight out of the sky? “That’s amazing!”

#sxluja #((megs on the other hand...#he thinks through things but. in the wrong ways.#i think josh's still pretty thinky when it comes down to it #but nobody's a fair comparison to hanekoma #...josh just doesn't wanna ;) in this thread #maybe he's still busy trying to be threatening? idk))

“...What, exactly, is clairvoyance magic?” He’d considered adding a comment about being some amount of clairvoyant himself - but anything other than a simple comment would make it less likely for him to get information, and he was curious about how the other’s world functioned.

“Well, mine’s a bit special.” In part because he was the one who owned it, but Sanae had made a significant number of modifications to Joshua’s phone. “Still... they’re pretty common. Most people don’t think they’re anything exciting.”

The noise had been more than enough of a distraction for Alibaba, too. Having no idea where the sudden sound had originated from, he sent glances to both sides of him before a small, orange object in the others’ hand caught his attention. “Uh—”

“Hey, that thing you’ve got there.” Alibaba pointed toward the device. Had that thing been what had made that noise? And it could apparently send messages, too. “What kind of magic tool is that? Some kind of object that let’s you talk to people that are off somewhere else, right? Sort of like one of those…’Eye of the Rukh’ things?”

#sxluja #((in which joshua actually explains something #...and joshua's just 5000x easier to write than hanekoma #i mean; hanekoma's more fun but. he actually has to have /thinking/ behind what he says #whereas joshua's just like 'stranger? time to be an ass ;)'#...speaking of which i don't think he's been living up to the ;) of that statement in these replies))

“Well, I wouldn’t call it magic....” He giggled. “I don’t know whether or not it has an equivalent in your world, much less whatever you just named, but it does indeed allow me to talk to people from a distance. It’s called a cell phone.”

“I can play games on it, too.” A pause. “And drop cars on the heads of people. That’s always loads of fun!” ...Not that the other would necessarily know what a car was, but Joshua hoped that the implication would be enough.

There was something about this kid that just…rubbed him the wrong way. No matter how much the little brat boasted that he was apparently ‘something more,’ Alibaba couldn’t get past the thought that all of this was just some trick to see how much he’d actually fall for, being someone lost in this weird land and all.

“Well, no. Guess I’ve got to give you that much, but…it’s not like I’m the one hinting at things I obviously don’t feel like talking about, either. So me asking, isn’t just because I felt like being rude.” There’s a pause before Alibaba adds, “Though, I still don’t get how someone like you could be more ‘powerful’ or whatever.” This scrawny little pipsqueak barely looked fit enough to go dungeon diving himself, let alone anything else.

#sxluja #((...it's not like i've been keeping up with my drafts fantastically #and i'm pretty impressed that the replying at 8 thing happened even once #given nst and all))

...This conversation was starting to bore Joshua. “Would you prefer I hint at things we both know already? I mean, I’m pretty sure I could do that all day - and in a way that’s fun for me.”

Fortunately, the arrival of a text message, and corresponding noise helped him dodge the question. “Ah, it seems like Sanae’s gotten back to me.” Flipping his cell phone out of his pocket... and the message was about what he’d expected. “He’s available now, so we’ve been heading in the right direction.”

“…”

“You concern me sometimes, Yoshiya Kiryu.”

#rhymebitou #*applauds*#...i need to get on that 'doing replies' thing

“......”

“All in a day’s work, Rhyme.”

sakvraba-a

‘…Ugh.’ Another internal sigh of irritation. So now Josh was asking him? Just two seconds ago, the Composer had sounded set on leaving him behind, completely out of the conversation, without so much as a hint to cluing him into anything afterwards. He was almost being as indecisive as Shiki on one of her shopping sprees to 104.

“Yeah, ‘cause you always make sure to clue me into everything.” Though, over something like this, maybe he gave Joshua more trust than he was honestly letting on. “Look, I want in. But if we’re not going right now, it really doesn’t matter. I can always just ask Mr. H myself. And it’s not like any of this seems to be changing any time soon, either.”

#playersakurabaneku #josh's grumpy but he actually feels more mature than usual to me rn #...he doesn't usually act all that mature to begin with so.#...and i don't think josh'd take a temporary loss of his phone too terribly #it'd depend on what sort of mood neku was in and whether the phone seemed to be in any real danger; actually #he'd only go all-out if neku was being malicious #...i was going to say he'd try to call in an intervention but then i remembered the point was he didn't have his phone #and the mural's off limits regardless of circumstances - that'd be targeting more than just neku which'd be unfair

“The sort of things I have to deal with don’t usually concern the well-being of you and your friends. Forgive me for assuming that you’re not interested.” ...Unless this Neku was vastly different from his own, Joshua doubted he’d have much patience for detailed descriptions of the creativity of various clothing brands.

A sigh. “I don’t know when I’m going to talk to Sanae - or did you forget the part where I texted him?” It had been a while since it happened... but considering Sanae, Joshua still didn’t expect a response anytime soon. “He hasn’t responded yet, so I’d guess we’re not going now.”

sakvraba-a

‘…What? You’d be the one in the conversation! How is that boring to you?” If anyone would’ve been bored during a UG talk between him and Mr. Hanekoma, it would’ve been him. And it’s not like either of them would have made an effort to clue Neku in on anything, either.

…Maybe skipping out really would have been the best way to go, despite wanting more information on what was going on with his friends.

“Indecisive? I was just making a point.” He wasn’t even going to comment on the ‘annoying’ jab, either. “Besides, I already said I don’t care. It’d just be nice to know what’s up.”

#playersakurabaneku #this post is basically just josh being bratty #...and it's not like i've been particularly active lately #josh would definitely get the phone back somehow #he'd sulk a lot first; though #probably come up with some revenge against neku; too #probably not the headphones; that's overdone

...Why was Neku making such a big deal about this? It wasn’t Joshua’s fault that Neku wasn’t supposed to know about the UG, and it wasn’t his fault that Neku hadn’t really wanted to hear anything about it, so it wasn’t his fault that Neku didn’t have the information or context to understand the conversation.

A sigh. Neku’s comments weren’t making things any clearer. “Do you want to hear our discussion or not?” ...What sort of point had Neku been trying to make? “Even if you don’t go, I’ll make sure you know - so you can go enjoy being alone like you usually do.”

“Don’t blow up the multiverse, Joshua. Then where would we live?”

#rhymebitou #rip nix the eternal #...what i really want to know is why this orientation is two days long #i mean; i don't wanna waste one day on this sort of crap

“...Would blowing the multiverse up with fun truly destroy it, or would it save it?”

“You see, Rhyme, it’s all a matter of perspective.”

“Yeah, your sharks are definitely the bomb.”

#rhymebitou #bombsharks should be eternal. i can't believe #...and i /thought/ we'd decided that i'd try computer science and go information technology if i hated programming #but apparently my mom missed that conversation or something?#and i don't really care enough to have it again #...nix how many times are you going to die in this conversation

“I bet they’ll blow up in popularity, too, once they really start showing up - anything else would be a shame.”

“Great! I’ll save you front row seats next time. Maybe we could even invite some of your bombsharks or something.”

#rhymebitou #i've thankfully got everything done that needs to be done immediately #...but my mom's insisting on me thinking about a major and picking classes rn and i don't wanna #i mean; i'm pretty sure we've gone through all this already #...sigh. it'll all sort itself out eventually; hopefully.#on another note... i can't believe i forgot about bombsharks.

“I can hardly wait.”

“...And they would be a good source of excitement, wouldn’t they?”

“…I know! I just didn’t expect that, is all. I already apologized.”

“Well, I suppose next time I cause a scene in the multiverse, I’ll let you know and advance and make sure that you have a front row seat.”

#rhymebitou #l aug hs #my college experience thus far has been 50000% less effort than any class i took in high school

“I’m not going to hold you responsible for any of that.”

“And I’d appreciate the thought. I haven’t gotten to see nearly enough excitement recently.”

“…I don’t know… another version of you got really offended by it.”

“Which…wasn’t really what I was aiming for. I was just… I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to make Beat feel better by giving him something to laugh at.”