Day 56: Main Street

[mustbethesuit]

After extricating himself from Harvey's company, Peter found himself at an utter loss for what to do. He drifted away from the park (too cold for that), munching on his breakfast muffin and searching out some place where $15 might be useful. The coupon pack was about as helpful as it had ever been. He wandered past Pearl's Prettification Parlour,

Comments

[oneman_onekill]

Always nice to talk to Mele again, even if half of their conversations just consisted of him baiting her in some way or another. But then, weren't most of his conversations like that anyway? It was always so interesting to see how people reacted...

He'd given Mele a farewell salute before jauntily heading out of the bus and into town. The last time he was here, he'd still been getting his bearings; now that he had some more orientation and some actual money in his pocket, Niikura figured it was time to get things done, even if he had to slog ten miles uphill in a snow storm to do so. (No, there wasn't really a snow storm, and the ground was flat, but it just made things sound more dramatic.) But what to do? How much could ten dollars buy him? Nothing of significance...what was even the point? Maybe he'd just buy some reading material or something.

Niikura sighed, readjusted the cap, and pulled his jacket in a little tighter. Well, maybe if he did some window-shopping, he'd find something of interested.

[for Byrne]

[corvus_veritas]

By the time he'd walked off the bus, Byrne had collected his thoughts enough to be able to jump back into a more sociable setting. Once again, he was ready to start searching for more information - and this time he was going to listen to whatever he was told with an open mind. A totally open mind, not the open mind he thought he had yesterday. Other dimensions? Super powers? Zombie alien robots? Hell, anything could happen now that he knew time travel was possible here. Or at least, he knew it was possible to see someone who was from seven years in the future

[oneman_onekill]

Oh? What was this? Someone had actually approached him? Not that it was so unbelievable, but Niikura's previous experiences dictated that he usually had to be the one to initiate social interaction, unless they were talking about that prissy, blue-haired lady from yesterday. He wouldn't have called their conversation "social" anyway.

...actually, he kind of liked this sudden role reversal, come to think of it.

"Good mornin'!" Niikura grinned widely. "Aye, it's pretty cold out, but it's nice that they didn't force us out here in t-shirts and stuff, y'know? Know those military folks are all about buildin' character...rather build it while I'm warm, myself."

As he was talking, he was already discretely sizing up the man who'd approached him: just a little bit shorter than him, on the older side, nothing really remarkable...but who knew? A lot could be hidden underneath "average" - he knew that better than anyone.

[corvus_veritas]

"Couldn't agree more," Byrne replied, chuckling. "I miss L.A. already. There's a reason I live near the beach, after all!" And it was not to be stuck out in the snow freezing his butt off. Sheesh, even in this heavy coat the soldiers gave him, it was too cold out here. Waaay too cold. Snow was pretty to look at, but that was all it was good for, really.

But anyway. It was about time Byrne properly introduced himself to this man. No handshakes this time, though - too cold for that. When it was this cold out and he wasn't wearing gloves, his hands were never leaving his pockets. Ever. "I'm Byrne Faraday. It's my third day here now." Compared to everyone else, who'd probably been here for several more days or even weeks, it was a trivial feat. "You?"

[oneman_onekill]

Really quick with the name-drop there, huh? What was that for? Some of these guys liked to really wait until the last second for introductions, but Faraday had jumped the gun straight away. Either he was desperate for friends or recognition, or he just liked making friendly impressions for whatever reason. Looking for something, probably

[corvus_veritas]

"Really." Hm. Both a veteran and knowledgeable of others from L.A.? Wow, Byrne had practically hit the jackpot here. "Then add me to your tally. I'm a prosecutor from there." And there was no sense in hiding the fact. If he was going to get any information, he had to offer some of his own as well. It was only fair. Besides, they were all on the same side here, right

[oneman_onekill]

Geez, another man of the law from L.A.? What gave? All he needed now was a defense attorney (and maybe a judge) and he'd have the gamut, come to think of it. "Speak of the devil, huh? Will do," Niikura said with a grin and mock salute.

"Eh, I've only met two of 'em as well. The rest I just know in passing. Don't know if you know 'em. Damon Gant, Police Chief" - he couldn't help but laugh at that - "and..." He paused as he tried to remember what Badd's first name was. It wasn't that important. "...some detective named Badd. Know those two? Colleagues of yours?"

[corvus_veritas]

Oh thank god. Byrne even sighed a little out of relief. The last thing he needed was to find out that half of the LAPD were kidnapped and brought here for some reason or another. Seriously.

"Those are the same two people I've seen here, actually. And I know both of them, although back home Gant's a detective, not the Chief of Police." On second thought, he remembered Gant saying he was from 2017 or something like that, among being Chief of Police and a few other things. With his testimony and Niikura's confirmation, it seemed to be a fact after all that Gant was Chief, and it apparently happened some time after Byrne had...well. Rather not think about that right now. Anyway, the important thing here was that Gant was Chief of Police. That's all.

"Well, I'm not too close to Gant. But Badd..." Byrne grinned a little wider, even letting one hand leave the warmth of his pocket to reflexively tug at a finally existent scarf around his neck. "He's my best friend, in fact. We work together."

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura blinked. "Huh? Detective? Pretty sure he's the Chief of Police - he always signs his notes that way, and Badd-san confirmed that fact for me. What, are ya from a different time than him? Heard that happens sometimes..." Talk about awkward, though. If this guy wasn't aware of the way time could work around here by now, he'd be in for a rude shock.

"Really? You and Badd-san, huh?" He guessed that would make sense. Badd didn't seem like he could get along with anyone, let alone get them to cooperate with him peacefully. It made sense that he needed someone a little more charismatic - and vice versa. Sometimes in order to get stuff done, you needed a little muscle as well. "He's..." Niikura rubbed the back of his neck. "Gotta hand it to ya, Faraday-san. We hung out together for a night, and man, it was like pullin' teeth sometimes, ya know? He really thinks most of the people here are crazy--"

Wait. He gave the other man a swift look. "--wait, ya don' think the same way, do ya?"

[corvus_veritas]

Hmm. Maybe Byrne should start saying back in my time period rather than simply back home? In any case, he shook his head and responded, "No, I believe you. I think you're right, I'm just from an earlier time than Gant." Wow. Hard to imagine he was so quick to agree with a theory he'd been fiercely denying the past two or three days... But what else could he do? The shocks would come to kill him if he didn't, right?

To Niikura's comment about Badd, Byrne couldn't help but laugh. Really, it wasn't surprising to hear Niikura had been bothered by Badd, especially if the detective had been in that 'everybody's crazy' mindset. (He should've seen Byrne when he first interacted with Badd. Oy.) "Oh, you did? Yeah, he's a pretty stubborn guy! I don't blame you for thinking that. He was acting the same way when we met up last night. But..."

He glanced off in another direction, his smile half vanishing for a moment. "Trust me, he won't think this place is full of crazy people anymore." Not after everything that happened last night.

[oneman_onekill]

"Ohhhh I see--why didn't ya say that in the first place?" Niikura rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Would've saved me from lookin' like an idiot for a second there, heh." It made him wonder how far back Faraday came from, but that could potentially be a kind of sensitive question - not really good form to ask for such personal details when you'd only just met. (Yes, even Niikura could understand the concept of tact.)

"Oh, is that so? Guess I'm supposed to be relieved about that." But really, his issues with Badd had extended far beyond the older man's stubbornness. There was that whole holier-than-thou attitude...ugh, it really rubbed him the wrong way when adults were so condescending like that. He hadn't exactly helped things with his natural personality, but Niikura could tell that Badd's attitude toward him was less by virtue of his personality and more by virtue of the fact that he was some kid.

"What'd ya say to convince him? Out of curiosity." Would always be good to know what had worked for others for future reference

[corvus_veritas]

"Well..." You're insane? It had been more than just Byrne saying that, of course, there'd been 'you're crazy' accusations on both sides... Not to mention hair grabbing and chest feeling, but that was another thing entirely. Just showing his face to Badd to begin with had started the whole dilemma, really. There wasn't one thing he said to convince Badd that he wasn't some specter coming to get unholy revenge or something. It was a mess of accusations and conversation. It was a bucket-load of misunderstandings. It was...

"...It's complicated," said Byrne after a short pause, letting out a small laugh. "When we met up, we both thought the other was crazy. I guess that was kinda how we realized we weren't." And that was that in the briefest sense. He wasn't about to go into any detail. There were some things you just didn't tell strangers on the street, even if you all were stuck in the same situation.

[oneman_onekill]

"...'complicated', huh?" Niikura tilted his head to the side, eyebrows raised. "I get it. Somethin' personal. Makes sense since ya know each other so well and whatever." He laughed. "Shucks, though. I was hopin' for some pointers. For some reason, every time I try to give people the low-down around here, it just doesn't work out the way I want it to, ya know?" That might have more to do with the flippant way he tended to hand out information, but no one needed to know that.

"But ya did him a great service, lemme tell ya--don't tell him I said that, by the way. But yeah, great service. 'Cause trust me, if he didn't hear it from you, he was gonna get a really rude shock some time or another. Best to delay that, I guess. Make your transition easier and stuff

[corvus_veritas]

Byrne kept pace with the younger man as they walked, his hands shoved deep into his pants pockets in an attempt to keep them warm. "To be honest, if I'd talked to you a day or two ago, I'd have thought you belonged in the loony bin, too! But we've all gotta open our eyes sometime, right? No matter how much it hurts." The truth was the truth, after all. Byrne ignored his own feelings on the subject and instead thought of Badd and his reaction. Was he handling this all well? Well...as well as could, with circumstances like this? Last night had been more than a little traumatizing. Was he doing alright now? Byrne would have to catch up with him later, to make sure he was fine.

For now, though. The kid seemed pretty eager to hear more to the story, but Byrne wasn't about to give away anything else. Instead, he put his focus on Niikura's other statement. "Oh, really? Can't a guy just plain be nice to strangers?" He laughed good and hard at that. If Niikura knew Byrne a little better, he'd know that the prosecutor practically greeted

[oneman_onekill]

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Niikura said emphatically, pointing a finger at the other man. "Sometimes ya just gotta admit that the stuff that's beyond comprehension's possible too." And he would definitely know about that, what with his "powers" and all.

"Ah ha ha well...if I were bein' a friendly guy, I'd go for people in my own age group, ya know? Just the way things work out, since most of us teenagers seem to think that you older folks - no offense, by the way - are pret-ty uncool. But eh, whatever." He shrugged. "Maybe I'm just too much of a cynic.

"But go ahead, fire away. I'll answer to the best of my limited abilities." He'd never said he would say the truth; therefore, the playing field was now wide open.