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 Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:32 am
Quinn was grateful for the help. He didn’t want his host to think that he wasn’t, but he was still worried about what Jack might want in return. He stayed in the shower maybe longer than he should have, but the heat from the water washing everything away and thawing out his limbs was a reprieve he didn’t expect to get.
He didn’t know what bottles were what, but he used whatever smelled the best on his hair. Used the same stuff on his face and the rest of his body as well. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to, but he didn’t know any better. Either way, it was nice seeing the water turn clear as the suds and dirt washed away.
A towel and clothes were waiting for him, and he dried himself off as best he could before pulling on the sweatshirt and sweatpants. He didn’t even care that it felt like he was drowning in them. They were warm and comfortable and he could hide his feet inside the pant legs, and his hands in the sleeves.
A comb was located to pull through his now sunshine hair, instead of the gray mess it had been before his shower. The bandages were used on his thigh, and he was grateful that other than it being swollen and red, it wasn’t too deep. He could at least walk.
He shuffled a bit anxiously out of the bathroom, not knowing if Jack was waiting around for him, or if he would be upset that he took so long. Or maybe he was going to tell him to leave now that he’d used up his welcome.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:43 am
Jack would do no such thing. He was a good guy. Kind of obnoxious. Maybe not always the sharpest tool in the shed. But good. In a general sense. There was good and bad in everyone, but Jack liked to think he was a case of the good outweighing the bad.
“Hey,” he said when Quinn emerged. “I ordered some food. It should be here soon. Sorry, I don’t have a lot. I usually only have to fend for myself and Roxy, and I’m not the best cook, so…”
So he didn’t do it often.
As if summoned by a single utterance of her name, Roxy bounded in from one of the bedrooms. She hopped a bit, clearly excited to have company, and made her way over to Quinn to sniff at him, then nudge at his hand like she was looking for pets.
“Roxy. Sit.”
She sat. Pale blue eyes stared up at Quinn expectantly.
“Sorry. I promise she’s harmless when she likes someone. She likes you, so…”
So he had an alien in his condo. An alien his dog liked, which meant said alien couldn’t be all bad. Dogs were generally a good judge of character, right?
Okay, maybe Roxy could be a better judge than she was, but whatever.
“So… uhh, welcome to Earth?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:49 am
Quinn stiffened and froze when Roxy came bounding up to him. He dared not to move, lest the fur covered creature decide to attack him. She stared at him with her big eyes, but seemed to obey commands from Jack.
And she… liked him?
“What… what does she want?” he asked with uncertainty. This wasn’t the first time she seemed to expect something from him. But Quinn held very still, keeping his hands hidden under the sleeves and drawn up against his chest and out of teeth range.
He couldn’t spare a glance over at Jack when he welcomed him to Earth. He would have scoffed if he wasn’t staring down a harmless animal. Quinn didn’t want to change his expression and make it seem as though he was a threat or dangerous or whatever. Animals were sensitive like that, weren’t they?
“I don’t know why I’m here,” he admitted, a bit helplessly.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:51 am
“She wants you to pet her,” Jack explained. Did they not have dogs on Incel-world? (Jack almost felt bad for calling it that in his head, but it was funny, too, so… oh, well.) What a sad place that must be to not have man’s best friend for company.
Roxy continued to sit, striving for patience. It was difficult for her. She was a sweet, affectionate girl. Practically a baby. The love of Jack’s life.
“Just, like… touch her gently,” he continued, uncertain. Surely Quinn knew what it meant to pet. Jack moved toward Roxy to demonstrate anyway. “Her head and her back. She might get a little excited and try to jump, but if you tell her to sit, she’ll sit, or if you tell her to lie down, she’ll lie down. As long as you say it firmly. She might ignore you if she senses weakness. It’s a work in progress.”
Jack studied Quinn — what he could see of him through the oversized clothes, at least. So his hair and his face. He didn’t look like an alien. He looked completely human. Maybe his eyes were weirdly bright? Was he in disguise? Hiding the non-human-ish parts of him?
It would probably be rude to ask.
“Is your spaceship broken?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:53 am
“I’m not weak,” Quinn said through gritted teeth, but his voice wasn’t as strong as he wanted it to be. He was still hesitant, but eventually followed Jack’s demonstration and very gently pat his hand on Roxy’s head. After he’s unearthed it from the sweater sleeve.
“She’s soft,” he said in surprise, looking up at Jack as though he wanted to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. Was she supposed to be this soft? He was still cautious about her teeth, and he didn’t think he wanted to be jumped on, especially since she was so big, but she didn’t seem so bad. At the moment at least.
“Spacesh-- no,” he started with a confused frown, and ended with shaking his head. “No I… there was a voice or… light or something. I just… was there one moment, and then the next I was here.”
Which was good, because he was pretty sure he would have drowned before breaking through the ice in his exhaustion.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:07 am
“Oh, so like teleportation. Instant transmission. Disapparating. Beam me up, Scotty.”
Jack smiled. He had a nice smile. High school superlative worthy. It was in his senior yearbook, which was in a box somewhere, probably in his parents’ attic. Jack didn’t need it as proof, though. He was an attractive guy. That was indisputable.
What he wasn’t was somber or humorless. Jack was no negative nancy. There was always an opportunity for a joke, or a positive comment if jokes would be tasteless.
Maybe jokes were tasteless right now. Chris did say some of these aliens had been living for a thousand years, watching their worlds crumble and their people die.
“Anyway, ignore that. Uhh…” Jack scratched at his jaw through his beard. “I’m told there’ve been other Senshi in your situation. I only know the ones who’ve been born here, but I guess some of you got stuck for a while?”
How long is a while? Just… a really, really long time.
Nope. Jack was going to be serious about this. He was.
“Sorry. So, no spaceship. You’re hearing voices. Heard a voice. And now you’re here. Cool. So… it turns out there’s this weird cosmic war going on, and Earth isn’t as safe as it seems. Actually, you know what, umm… even without the cosmic war there are shootings and murders and… other things. Wow, I’m really bad at this. Why don’t you just tell me what happened to you so we can figure out how much I actually have to tell you about what’s going on.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:12 am
He had no idea what Jack was talking about. It was confusing and somewhat distressing to have no idea what someone was talking about. Probably about as distressing as being on a completely different world. Or as distressing as waking up underwater, under ice.
Quinn swallowed thickly, still patting Roxy’s head a little longer before curling his hands back up against his chest.
“I think I need to sit,” he admitted. He was still exhausted, and if he was going to be told what was going on -- Earth sounded like a horrible place already -- he didn’t want to have to focus on standing. It made no sense that there were Senshi who were stuck for a while. What did that mean?
He already had so many questions on his tongue, but -- Oh… but Jack wanted to know what happened to him first. But Jack was a knight. Of Jupiter, but was on Earth. Because….???? He still didn’t know why, but he supposed Jack would get to that eventually.
“Something was attacking my World. Chaos. Not sure where it came from, but I… my people need a Senshi to keep the volcanic activity under control, so they… they made me--”
His head was spinning. He was having trouble with his memories. What happened? There’d been a fight. He didn’t want to be put in that coffin. It was to protect him, he was told. But he didn’t want protection. He wanted to help. They said he was helping by getting inside.
He didn’t go willingly.
“I was… put to sleep. I think. Then I woke up and. I was underwater. There was ice over that.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:30 am
“Oh, right, sorry.”
Jack was really, really bad at this, apparently. He hadn’t even offered his guest a seat, or something to drink while they waited for the food to get there.
He bustled around, guiding Quinn to one of the couches. The condo was modern and sleek in design; white walls, wood floors, and black accents. The furniture was well made, but basic in design. Jack wasn’t the type for anything fancy even when he spent a good bit of money on something. Comfort was his priority. The couch was gray, soft, good for napping.
Roxy followed and sat in front of Quinn, watching, waiting, like she expected to be invited up.
The living area was just off of the kitchen, so Jack could still see and hear Quinn while getting him a glass of water. He came back, gave him the water, and sat in one of the armchairs to give Quinn some space.
Jack tried very, very hard to put on a serious face.
“There’s Chaos here, too,” he said. “‘S what makes it more dangerous than normal. I’m not totally clear on the details. Like, it’s a lot. Something about a war from a long time ago, and a lot of us had our starseeds reborn here on Earth, ‘cause everything out in space is—...”
He stopped himself before he could say dead. That seemed insensitive.
“Uhh… I mean, apparently some of us Knights descend from people from back then instead of having the starseed, but… I think we were all reborn from back then in some capacity? Maybe. I’m still learning. I just became a knight back in November. Uhh… that’s about three months ago, if you don’t know what November is. Wait, do you even know what a month is or do you measure time differently?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:36 am
Quinn tried to keep up with everything. Now that he was sitting on something comfortable, and out of the cold, with the promise of food on the way, he could feel the adrenaline wearing off. He graciously took the water, but wasn’t sure the words of appreciation made their way out of his mouth.
He didn’t like that there was Chaos there too. He didn’t like that he was powered down and couldn’t feel it, but Jack was also not currently in his knight form, so Quinn wasn’t going to draw attention by powering up.
Nothing Jack was saying made sense. A war from a long time ago? What war? And being reborn on Earth? Why, when they had their worlds?
He tried willing himself to ask those questions, but he could only swallow down the knot in his throat as he held onto the glass.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. But it seemed as though Jack knew something.
“How long was I asleep?” he asked, voice barely a whisper. To be completely underwater like that… For people to be reborn, and descended or whatever…But if everyone was being reborn on Earth, then…?
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:40 am
“Uhh…”
Jack wasn’t normally at a loss for words. He could talk to anyone about anything at any time. But this was much different territory than the usual. It wasn’t every day he sat down with an alien and tried to explain a situation he wasn’t even totally familiar with himself.
As in, that never happened. Ever. Until now.
“Well…”
Scratch scratch went his fingers through his beard. How was he supposed to tell someone they might have been sleeping for centuries? Talk about traumatic.
“I’ve been told some of you — the Senshi from space — have been out there for a thousand years or so. But, I mean, I can’t say for sure in your case when I don’t know when you were put to sleep.”
Roxy seemed to sense that Quinn was in some sort of distress, even if he didn’t show it all that much. In the absence of an invitation to join Quinn on the couch, she put her head on the cushion near his leg. Pet me, her eyes said. It’s wonderful. You’ll feel better. I’ll feel better.
Jack almost called her away, but he thought she made good comfort.
“I don’t know if it means anything to you or if things are so different where you’re from that you don’t have the same concept of time — sorry, I don’t meet aliens often… or at all — but it’s 2023 here on Earth.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:42 am
In his heart, he already knew the answer. For the water levels to get that high, something catastrophic would have happened.
Quinn was glad he didn’t really have anything in his stomach. He felt nauseous, but held his breath in the hopes that it would pass. The dates Jack gave him meant nothing, but if some of them had been out there for a thousand years…?
“Everything is dead, isn’t it? Chaos destroyed everything and Earth is all that’s left,” he surmised, and eventually placed his hand on Roxy’s head since she was looking at him like that.
Everyone he knew on his world. His brother and sister. Everyone he’d ever known.
“You said there are others like me,” he remembered, looking up at Jack for a moment. “Do you know who?” Maybe there was a slim chance that he knew them. Maybe he could get a better understanding of what was happening from them instead of this nice but somewhat stupid man who joked about things he didn’t understand.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:45 am
Jack winced, then nodded. At least he didn’t have to say it himself with Quinn making such an accurate guess.
“Sorry, I don’t really know any of them,” he said. “Some guy named Devyn, I think? He’s been here long enough to marry my friend’s brother. I don’t think I’ve heard what his Senshi name is. Unless that is his Senshi name. My friends Chris and Paris — that’s Valhalla and Ganymede, they were different people a thousand years ago and got reborn here — they know some of the others, might have some living with them. But I’ve never met them.”
The smile hadn’t left Jack’s face, but it was smaller, more comforting than his usual bright grin of amusement. He didn’t know what to say or what to do to help Quinn feel… well, less awful than he must be feeling at the moment. Maybe there wasn’t anything. Maybe this was something Quinn had to work through, regardless of who he had supporting him.
At least he wasn’t out in the cold anymore. At least he’d have food and water and a comfortable place to sleep. That had to be enough for now, from Jack’s perspective anyway. If Quinn needed anything else, all he had to do was ask.
“Chris said at least one of them was asleep for it. The Fall of the Silver Millennium, I think is what it was called. They were in stasis, or something. But some have been awake the whole time, just trying to survive, I guess. I don’t know how that works. A thousand years is a long time, you know?”
Yes, dumbass, Jack told himself. He probably knows that better than anyone.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:56 am
The Fall of the Silver Millennium sounded pretty grim. But he did recall his era being called that. Which meant that he must have been in stasis that whole time like the other. He was grateful that he didn’t have to watch the water levels rise. And the destruction of his world. He was pretty sure he would have died long ago if that were the case. As horrible as being in that encasement had been, it had saved his life, probably.
It seemed as though Jack only knew so much. Only been a knight for three months? Sounded like they did away with the Academy at some point. He recognized the names of Ganymede and Valhalla, if only through his brother.
“Thank you,” he said after a few moments, his hand still on Roxy’s head. “I don’t have anywhere to go. My world is just… water.” Even if he could go back, he wasn’t sure what there was to go back to. Just a hellscape of ice and water?
“I don’t want to impose on you,” he added after another moment. He didn’t want to go back out into the cold, but he also didn’t want to build up a debt that couldn’t be paid.
“I… let me rest and then I can repay you,” he frowned as he stared down at his lap, unable to look Jack in the face. It was verging on a scowl, but only to keep the tears at bay.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:11 am
“You don’t have to repay me,” Jack said.
A furrow developed between his eyebrows. He looked confused, like he didn’t know what he’d done to make Quinn think any sort of repayment was necessary. Was it something he said? Maybe that was just how Quinn’s culture worked?
Regardless, that wasn’t in his nature. He gave without any expectation for anything in return. He gave because he wanted to, because he liked to take care of people. Helping someone out was no inconvenience to him.
“I’ve got plenty of space here. Two extra bedrooms, so you can pick whichever one you want, but one’s a bit more private than the other. Has its own bathroom and everything. I won’t force you to stay here if you don’t want to, but I’m not gonna make you leave either. You can stay as long as you need to. Roxy’ll love the company.”
At the sound of her name, Roxy wagged her tail. She nudged her head further beneath Quinn’s hand.
“And… I know of at least one way to get you back to your world. Back here again, too, if you can’t stay there. Or don’t want to. The… uhh… Mauvians? One of them can give you a phone. That’s, like… a device we use to communicate, and look up and store information.” Jack pulled out his non-magical phone to show him. “Apparently their phones are capable of letting you travel to and from your world. My buddy Chris should know one. He and Paris know a lot of people.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:43 am
Quinn tensed and grit his teeth. “Did you not hear me? There’s nothing but water. Where the ******** would I stay if I went back there?” he snapped, although he regretted it because he wasn’t trying to be impolite to his host.
His eyes burned with tears that he refused to let fully develop.
“Sorry, I’m just tired,” he said as an excuse, hoping it was good enough. It probably wasn’t.
“Can we talk later? I want to lay down, I think,” he requested. He felt bad because he knew that Jack said there was food on its way, but if he stayed there he would start crying and he really didn’t want to look weak in front of someone who was offering him a place to stay with apparently no desire to be repaid.
The more Jack said, the more overwhelmed Quinn was becoming. He didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but he could hardly focus on everything as it was.
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