Between the Lines, All the Days and Nights... And the World is my Playground

[ktotheatothez]

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Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 6, 2063 || Saturday

[iamvice]

[Some thirty minutes after the conversations wind down and everyone starts doing their own thing around the table (there's still no sign of Brianna and Brigade), this one's standing up.]

Might as well do an inspection at their Shatterdome since I'm here. Schedule's clear anyway.

[Now lifting an eyebrow in his new student's direction.]

You free, kid?

[ktotheatothez]

[He has to blink twice before he realizes Jessie is talking to him.]

O-Oh, yeah... Erm, yes sir, totally free right now.

[Let it never be said that Kaz wasn't at least trying to not be too scared of Jessiah Vice.]

What's at the Shatterdome?

[iamvice]

Vice gear that needs inspecting, and personnel that need a quality check.

[Which is pretty much a euphemism for 'Somebody Might Get Fired'.]

Come on.

[And with little else but a nod in Lia and Hikaru's direction, he's off. Nope, not going to bother waiting for you to catch up. Neither is Fenris, apparently.

Roxas is already on his feet, by the way, and bowing respectfully to the other people at the table.]

[ktotheatothez]

[The words 'Vice Gear' pings on him like a UFO on a radar, so maybe he stumbles on his goodbyes and promises to meet up with the others later.

Much as he loves his current set of weapons, he can't help but wonder if he could access better guns at some point. So yes, there is a gleam in his eyes when he catches up. Hanging around with a bunch of gunners was turning him into a gun nut.]

[iamvice]

[Jessie, in the meantime, is already lighting up a cigarette as he walks along, and lifting a hand up towards what initially appears to be nothing at all --

-- until a small blue door opens up somewhere above him, opens, and deposits his tablet into his waiting hand.

As for Fenris, he's matching Roxas' pace.]

Tell me more about your Second Breath.

[That sort of thing is, after all, best discussed when no one else is around.]

[ktotheatothez]

[Kaz pauses. He's not too sure how to word it, so he decides not to mince words.]

I, ah... Woke up on Twilight Town's Clock Tower, thinking that it was my own personal heaven or whatever. Then Roxas pops up with Sea-Salt Ice Cream.

[iamvice]

[Listening, and from the way he doesn't ask you about the names? It's because he's familiar. Geek in the room, news at eleven.]

And then?

[ktotheatothez]

[Under normal circumstances, and with someone else, he would tease. But not with Jessie, so he continues.]

And then he asks me what I would do if this were my last summer day. I told him I'd want to wake up. He tells me that it was different for him, that on his last summer day, he chose to go to sleep.

[His eyes wander over to Roxas, his Shadow, his other half.]

We talked for a bit, and then he knocked on a Velvet Door. We went in, and Hikaru-nii just said "What the fuck, Igor?!".

[The regret and embarrassment at not trusting in Hikaru's strength more, and worrying that he'd overextend himself floods back into Kaz.]

[iamvice]

[Cue an amused lift of an eyebrow on this one's end.]

Sounds like him. He hates the guy.

[Jessie has his own words on the matter, but for different reasons.]

Anyway. Go on.

[ktotheatothez]

Um...[He can sense that there is a point to this, because Jessie wouldn't be asking for kicks, that much Kaz knows.]

Igor told me that I'm a Card of the Fool Arcana, and Hikaru-nii promptly dragged me away as soon as we were done.

[Your new student looks really embarrassed, Jessie.]

And then... Then I woke up on the Mech.

[iamvice]

Huh.

[And now Jessie Vice has his thinking face on.]

You remembered your Second Breath immediately. You do know that that's not supposed to happen, right?

[ktotheatothez]

U-um... I didn't know?

[All the alarm bells are going off in his head so fast it's not even remotely funny. So Kaz is totally quailing in front of you right now, Jessie.]

[iamvice]

Man, what ARE they teaching you kids at St. Quincy's these days?

[Sigh.]

That, and didn't you finish your turn at Balamb?

[You should know these things.]

[ktotheatothez]

[Welp, that's got him in a tizzy. The alarm in his head, probably defcon 4 now. No, definitely defcon 4, because all he can do is look at his boots and shake his head.

It wasn't that he didn't want to finish his turn at Balamb but, well... One thing lead to another, and engagement after engagement.]

U-um...

[What did he know about Cards? Second Breath, The Velvet Room, the 21 Triumphs and the Minor Arcana. That and playthroughs of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Devil Survivor.

Eep.]

[iamvice]

[Stare. Then:]

Hit the books ASAP. I'll be nice this time, and NOT tell your former instructors that you don't have your Persona 101 down pat.

[ktotheatothez]

Y-yessir. But what does it mean though, the fact that I can remember?

[Hm. Self-preservation on one hand, curiosity in the other and Kaz goes with his curiosity.

His phone does vibrate in his pocket, but he's giving Jessie his full attention right now. He kind of has to, the man is his teacher in all things Card, after all.]

[iamvice]

Well, first it means that you're a lucky butt who didn't have to go on a Pilgrimage and figure out that you actually died in a universe that is pretending that you didn't.

[Blunt as ever.]

Second: I don't know. You're the first case of a Card coming around automatically after dying with his Persona and his memories of his exchange with Igor intact.

[ktotheatothez]

[A gleam in the boy's eyes has appeared, Jessie. You've gone and made him ask questions inside his head - questions that now require answers.

The first thing in his head is that he could always ask if he needed to. The second thing is that he's definitely hitting the Naufragio Arcanum for resource material later.]

Okay. [He pauses.]So, I'm a Card that's not like most other Cards, and what part does Igor play in my life now?

[iamvice]

He's the guy who used to make every Card his bitch. Due to interesting circumstances [Try Jessie Vice saying a big Fuck You! to fate and literally breaking the game], you may or may not have him dropping into your dreams or during random parts of the day just to "check in" on you and drop hints at whatever happens next.

[Meh.]

If you learn the Minor Arcana, though, you can, if you so choose, be the one who ends up trolling him.

[ktotheatothez]

[Well, now that pings on Kaz, mostly because he's been sort of neutral towards Igor. He decides to press on said interesting circumstances first, though.]

Interesting circumstances?

[Why yes, your new student is a curious little cat.]

[iamvice]

Yep, ones that I'm not too keen on telling you all about right now.

[Giving you a smile that could only be described as an accurate ":D!" before the two of you are walking into Naufragio's Shatterdome. Jessie, of course, makes a beeline straight for the wing that's been cordoned off for Naufragio Leviathian's use.]

Let's focus on you first. The faster you know how to be a Card, the better.

[Suffice to say, while Jessie and Fenris look like walking into a place like this is no big deal, Roxas is gaping at pretty much everything.]

[ktotheatothez]

[With anyone else, he'd probably press. Being the fledgling Card that he is, he just follows. Dropping his voice to a whisper as he catches up to his Persona.]

You might wanna close that.

[He grins and tilts his head towards Jessie, a silent "c'mon". When he does catch up, he looks at Jessie questioningly.]

So um... What're we gonna do here?

[iamvice]

[Roxas, of course, obediently shuts his mouth and looks rather embarrassed. He smiles, though, just once, at Kaz before following.

In the meantime:]

First: give the Wings to me.

[Jessie's already turning in your direction, and holding his hands out.]

[ktotheatothez]

[There's an unformed question on your new student's lips, but he closes his mouth and draws the weapons out, handing them hilt-first to Jessie.

He hasn't really let anyone else touch them since his initiation, so he hopes they don't react badly, though Oswald's probably keeping them quiet.]

[iamvice]

[He shifts them both to one of his hands in order to give himself some leeway to fetch a cigarette for himself and light it. Then he's moving to the work bench.]

C'mere. We'll take a look at it together.