kaisou | Just a normal day at the amusement park... (Closed)

He has memories of amusement parks--or at least things that LOOKED like Amusement Parks back during ... some sort of event in Chaldea. The memories are foggy, though, and it feels more like they were dreams than a reality. Which is why when he shows up to join in this ... fun expenditure, he's doing his very best to look decent and demure as he can.

Because inside, he's vibrating.

He's never touched a rollercoaster in this life. Maybe in ANY of his past lives. And watching one loop up and spin down in the distance...

It makes something buzz in the back of his brain.

"...The air smells sweet." What is that scent.

The man has no idea what cotton candy even is.

Arjuna was probably the only one here even trying to look calm. Ritsuka, for her part, was clearly excited, and made absolutely no effort whatsoever to hide it.

"Huh?"

That hadn't been a comment she expected.

"Oh! That's probably the food stands, they have snacks and stuff to eat."

March had absolutely no desire to look calm and collected, her tail swishing excitedly as she ran rampant all over the amusement park. The camera shuttered away as she took photo after photo, cooing over the various attractions on display.

She'd split off from the group for a moment, only to return with four cones of cotton candy as pink as her hair. "I got us cotton candy!" she proclaimed, with the air of a hero now expecting treats. "Do you guys want any? Or anything else?"

Yasuho can't quite tell what the process of picking everyone was, but she's more than a little amused when she shows up ready to treat at least part of this as a date (Ideal. Perfect. They're about to run out of time for summer, technically already had, she's going to push through this like a champ, seasonal affect be darned-). As much as she's only seen so much of Arjuna, she has...at least a bit of an idea now of what he's like.

So it's immensely funny to watch him contain himself as they enter the boundary of the theme park.

At least he's technically not alone. Much as she's happy to be here, she can't quite shake off the winter eepies that she's so cursed with on a yearly basis now. Maybe if it was December, but still.

"That probably explains the smell you caught," she quietly teases, turning a beaming smile to March from there. "I'd love one, thanks..~ I think that'll be it until we're done with the more twisty rides though, otherwise I'll get sick..."

"I... haven't tried cotton candy before."

He says this in a way that more than certainly comes off as entirely embarrassed--having to admit that he's never had common life experiences that are probably so normal for the other three he's currently standing with.

"I think I'd like to try it. And... the other strange things I'm smelling."

It's a mix of sweet and salty. His own choices with food always being very strict due to his profession...

It's okay to cheat a little, right?

"--Do you get motion sickness easily, Miss Yasuho?"

Ritsuka, of course, was already reaching for a cotton candy for herself pretty much as soon as March offered. When Arjuna expressed interest as well, she passed the one she was already holding on over.

"Here, it's really sweet, but it also feels kinda like, well, cotton!"

If he'd never had it before, she really wanted to see his reaction to it, okay.

Throughout the day, whoever Ritsuka was with at the moment--whether it was the whole group, or just one of the others--might find her suddenly turning to them with an excited grin. More excited than she already was. Somehow.

"Hey, wanna go on that one? It looks like fun!"

Almost inevitably though, the ride was one of the more terrifying-looking ones, complete with the screams of its riders.

Dare you accompany her? Or try to find a way to... politely redirect her focus?

Eventually, the day began to draw to a close. The sky was already darkening with the ever earlier night that came with fall, with the lights illuminating the rides and buildings of the park providing their own artificial starscape.

At the moment, it was just Arjuna with Ritsuka, though the other two would doubtless rejoin them shortly. Ritsuka watched as the lights of one of the rollercoasters zoomed along its track, her expression thoughtful.

"... It's kinda nice here, isn't it? Kaisou--this world, I mean."

It'd all been new experiences. Eating fried foods his mother would click her teeth at him even touching, the strange rides that almost made him sick with how fast they spun. The calming feeling of a ferris wheel...
He'd loved the roller coasters, as it made him feel like he was flying. That was a memory of his past life that he'd missed. Being able to float through the air, weightless...

He turns his gaze to look at her, a very clear smile hitting his features before he has the moment to suppress it, as he normally may.

"...It is a nice world. Its magic is strange, and the city is far different than the India I grew up with. But it is vibrant, here. The people so full of life, there's ... far less dangers here. You can just live, without worrying about too much."

Certainly there are dangers--and have been dangers, but.
In moments like these, it felt... Ordinary.
In a good way.
In a way he could get used to.

Ritsuka nodded at that. For all its dangers, Kaisou was quite a step up from what she'd been dealing with before. Which was why she'd had something on her mind for a while. Something that it might be good to hear the opinion of someone who was familiar with her world on.

"Did you know that for us isekais, when we go back to our original worlds, it's like no time's passed since we left? Like, when someone falls asleep for days, and wakes up remembering having been back to their world again. Someone told me that just a little while after I first got here, but... I wasn't sure if I could trust that it'd work until that happened to me. When I went back for a while.

"And the thing is? It really was like I never left. Not just that no time had passed, but like I hadn't been gone. I didn't remember Kaisou at all, and none of the things that have happened here were there. No powers, nothing. And even if I just couldn't remember them, I'm pretty sure somebody would've noticed, you know? And here... Technically I didn't leave Kaisou, either. Not physically. I was just asleep for a while. So I think that maybe, it's not just that these are different worlds we're going back and forth between, but more like when there's a branch in the timeline that makes another world, but it's just that person."

Arjuna of all people probably had an idea of what she meant. Even if he never picked up on all the nuances of the various worlds that coexisted as part of a single whole, still there was a parallel in how Servants were summoned. That multiple instances could exist in different times and places without interfering with each other.

"And I was thinking that if that's the case, then that means nothing that happens here will affect that world. So maybe I could just stay here. This version of me, that is. And... I think that, maybe, I'd like to, if I can. At least stay here as long as possible. And I figure that if I were still just back with Chaldea, if I found out another version of me got a chance like that and didn't take it, I'd be pretty mad at myself, so..."

She trailed off, and was quiet for a long moment. Long enough that it might almost seem like she was done talking. But then, just before that point, she spoke again. A little quieter, eyes focused off on some distant point in the park.

"... Or is that just being selfish?"

As is his usual, he listens with complete silence, letting Ritsuka get out everything she's thinking, feeling, before he even starts to consider his own response. She's been in this world, so far from home for so long now--of course she'd have her thoughts and feelings on the place vs. her old home. Her real home. He's always quietly thinking about it in the back of his mind. He hasn't been on the Zodiac App long, but he sees how people come and go from it. He never knew any of them personally, but he's sure there are Isekais just like Ritsuka who somehow went home, left this world.

One day he might wake up, and Ritsuka would be gone, without a trace. Returned home without so much as a goodbye. It was a genuine fear, and one he sincerely hoped he never had to see. But of course, he'd have to be okay with it. This isn't her world, this is not her home. So it'd make sense for her to WANT to go home, right? She still had a duty, she had her little Family in Chaldea--people who surely missed her.

And then she says that.
She reveals her experience with 'going home', and how it didn't truly happen. How the hook between here and there was ... it sounded an awful lot like how the Throne of Heroes worked. Summoned to different times and places, at the whim and whisper of the world.
And most importantly...

She says she would... rather stay here...?

Once again, Arjuna completely fails to mask his reaction. Maybe it's because he'd wished SO MUCH to keep her here. But how SELFISH he knows those feelings are--how he wouldn't dare speak something so black and cruel to someone who may well be waiting to go home every day.

'or is that just being selfish'?

He... starts to laugh.
It starts as a small, gentle chuckle. But as the moment continues, his shoulders are absolutely shaking with the wild laugh that escapes him--even if it's quiet. He's not Gilgamesh. He knows how to control himself, even in such moments of wild and intense mirth.

"...Ritsuka..."

He mumbles just her name as he covers his face with a hand, trying to steady his expression so he doesn't make a fool of himself with how ...silly, he feels, in this moment.

"Ritsuka, your life is yours. It's always been yours. And if it's your desire to live it here, in another world, then it's your freedom to choose just that."

No. No, that's not all he wants to say.

"If it's selfish, then the gods can strike us BOTH down. Because I've been quietly wishing for the same thing, this whole time.

That you'd never disappear in the dead of night. That I could... stay. With you, here."

Stop just babbling. Say something proper.

"...even if it's selfish.

...Even if it's extremely selfish.

You should stay here."

Please stay here.

Of all the possible ways Arjuna could have responded, Ritsuka hadn't expected that. Not... him laughing? She couldn't help but stare in confusion. Not upset, just utterly bewildered as to what would make Arjuna, of all people, laugh like that.

And then he finally answered her. The first part, well, that wasn't really surprising to hear. She'd certainly known a reply like that was possible, even if part of her had still wanted to be certain. For all that plenty of people had encouraged her, trying to shake off a certain constant sense of responsibility and obligation had never been easy.

But then he continued speaking, and now Ritsuka wasn't even sure what to think of it. What did he mean, wishing all this time? She remembered what he'd said to her in his past life, once, but had that wish truly been so strong as to carry over into another life entirely?

"I think I would like to, yeah. I mean, I guess I don't know if I can, but... I've been thinking about it for a while, so."

There was a lot she would miss, of course, as it would mean giving up seeing her previous home again, but there was no denying the opportunity that existed here.

She would, though have to ask Arjuna about what'd meant. Later. If she remembered to.

Maybe it's because he's had a really good day; had really good experiences and is feeling a little... less clammed up after everything they've enjoyed today. While normally he'd clam up and be silent about all his thoughts and feelings, he... just let everything come flowing out when Ritsuka admitted something he never would have dreamed they'd see eye-to-eye on.

This world wasn't anything like her own. There's no Chaldea and there's no world-ending threat solely on her shoulders. Why shouldn't she enjoy this life?! She was right--if her Chaldea-self could stand, face-to-face with Kaisou-Ritsuka, he's sure that the former would tell the latter to go live.

There's something in that ... that makes his chest warm.

"...Ah, you have." Been thinking about it for a while.

Arjuna tries to settle down. Taking a deep breath to rein himself in, to be the cool and calm companion that he's always focused on being, a hand setting over his chest. "I'm honoured you felt comfortable enough to open up to me about such a line of thought, then."

She was comfortable enough with him to actually discuss something like that...

It makes him feel oddly ecstatic. His heart felt heavy, and yet it fluttered, all the same. What a strange sensation. Surely it was just the cotton candy and fried funnel cake that's making his body feel strange, right?

"Thank you."

Something was definitely off about Arjuna. Or at least different than usual. Which, to be fair, Ritsuka had just dropped a lot on him, so maybe that was part of it. She was just thinking of apologizing, even... when suddenly he was thanking her.

Ritsuka blinked, still a bit confused for a moment, and then ah. She recalled a conversation they'd had late one night, how Arjuna had gently but firmly insisted she stop holding so much back, as she always had around the Servants. That would explain things, wouldn't it?

Well, that would make sense, and honestly, it was nice to be able to talk to someone about things like this. Sure, she'd explained her thoughts to Yasuho before too, but Yasuho still came from a pretty normal background, and certainly didn't know first-hand what it had been like with Chaldea. So having another person to talk to about those things... It felt good, in a way that was hard to describe. A sense of security and support she'd never realized she'd been lacking.

"Well, you did say you didn't want me to just keep things to myself, right?" said with a half smile. "I... know it'd mean I probably won't see everyone again, but.... If I go back, I won't even get to remember everyone here. And I don't want to lose that, either. So, yeah. I think I'd like to stay here as long as I can."

While the day had been comfortably warm, now that the sun was gone it the heat was quickly going with it. Ritsuka tried not to shiver as a cool breeze picked up. She probably should have brought a light jacket or such, but they'd be leaving soon anyway, so she could manage until then.

There's nothing off about him don't worry about it. It's just that the world got a little lighter, that he doesn't have that impending feeling of a poor conversation coming in the future... the idea that one day, someone could find a way for people like her to go home and she'd just... go... disappear, just like that.

After he's already decided to live here, at her side until ... well. He didn't have a plan for what would happen if she left. So if she just stayed...

"Yes--well, I." He did say he'd like it if she was a little more open with him. Maybe there was just a small part of him that expected her to take a much longer time to warm up to the idea, but... "I did. But thank you, for trusting me with it.

Maybe... one day we'll keep finding others from Chaldea, in this world. Like Diarmuid and Waver; even that fool Gilgamesh and others.

...Ah, one day, I ought to invite my brother to come visit. He doesn't have any memories of his past life yet, but he's uncannily just like the Bhima from back home..."

Loud, eats a ton, friendly, big as an ox...

"It'd be lonely to go back and forget everyone here. But it's a good thing to look forward to, maybe. Meeting your friends here, in another time, another life. Free from the strife that our other world has gone through."

Oh, did Ritsuka perk up at that mention of Bhima.

"Really? It'd be great to meet him, whether he remembers anything or not."

She'd be thrilled to meet any of Arjuna's family here, the people who were important in this life of his, really.

"Though I think that even if I don't find anyone else I know here, there's still a lot of other people to get to know, too."

"Mmm. Maybe seeing you would make him remember things. Though, I'm not sure. I once brought up 'past life' stuff and he said I was a 'big dreamer', haha."

He's gonna move to take his phone from his pocket, scrolling through photos... pausing on one to show Ritsuka the photograph his mother took of her two sons.

"...You're right, though. There are... many people worth getting to know in this world."

Don't mind Ritsuka while she just. leaned in close to get a good look at that photo.

"That really is him, isn't he? It looks like you two were having a good time too."

There was something that simply felt nice about that, for some reason. Perhaps because she knew that the lives of all too many of the Heroic Spirits had been fraught with difficulties and tragedies. For even some of them to be given a chance at a new life, without those concerns... It was nice to think about.

"Yeah..."

Though, on that note, her attention suddenly shifted as she happened to catch sight of some distinctive amounts of pink approaching.

"Oh! There's Yasuho and March! Over here!"

Aaaand she's off.

"It is. He's just like you'd remember. He works as an executive chef at a restaurant in Dubai..."

He starts to tell the story of the photo, that it was taken outside of the man's restaurant when he first opened it, how Arjuna was his first customer, but his voice trails off as his brain starts to stall a little, how he starts to realise how...

Close. Ritsuka's standing. He can smell a slightly sweet scent. Perfume, or maybe just deodorant. The warmth from how she's pressed close, and he can nearly hear her heartbeat.

Wait, no, that's HIS heartbeat as he realises at once that his face has started to flush a deep red color as he freezes.

Maybe it's a good thing that the other two catch up with them, because as she races off to meet the two pink-haired girls, he remembers how to breathe.

What the... hell was that.

...

Maybe he's just tired.
Yeah, that's it.
He's just tired after the adrenaline spike.

Right?

He's going to get up and follow them, putting his phone away as he trails behind the trio...

Just a normal day at the amusement park... (Closed)

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finally escapes thanksgiving like COTTON CANDYYYY

💀i didnt get the notification for this

oh noooo :(

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Evening, closed to Arjuna

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