coolerjunpei | expi inbox

What, me? Mate, I'm aces.

[ said with a bright, easy grin. even though charles — well, he thinks briefly about the whole week, about the chaos on the streets, about his own worry for his friends, how shitty he felt when he eventually had to leave junpei there on his own, to not make his murder impulses worse; he thinks of richard, not himself at all, remembers the horrific burn of iron smoking against his skin, remembers the crackling flames —

yeah, he's fine. he's so fine, thanks. compartmentalising going real well here, too.

glancing donw at the bag, his grin (never once wavering), turns a little sheepish and he lets go of junpei's shoulder, giving a kind of half-shrug. ]

Well, didn't know what you like, did I? Figured I'd bring a bunch. You can just save the rest for movie night. [ speaking of — spying the projector, charles crosses the floor with a few, quick strides, crouching down to look at it. ] Oh! This for the whole thing, then? You know how to work it, yet?

[Great, they're both absolutely fine, good to know. Junpei likes to think of himself as an expert in masquerading as totally fine, despite the fact that he has never in his life convinced anyone that he's totally fine, but even so: he can spot the signs of someone not wanting to talk about it.

That's alright; it would be a bummer. He hums, acquiescing, and rifles through the bag as he brings it over to plunk down next to the projector, sitting down right there on the floor with it.]

Well, I went to middle school, so how hard could it be... [guy who went to middle school in 2018 joke] You plug it in and point it at the screen, or in this case, a big sheet.

[ "not wanting to talk about it": the charles rowland special. he's spent most of his afterlife not talking about things like his death, or his dad, or other things he didn't want to think about when alive and so isn't thinking about when he's dead — and all things considered? it's worked out pretty well for him, his complete breakdown after the devlin house murders notwithstanding.

so why stop when it's going, you know, relatively well?

instead, he huffs a laugh and says, ] Well, betting your middle school had a pretty different curriculum from my middle school.

[ he reaches out to poke at the projector. ] But you're right, can't be that hard, can it? So you've got all you need for the big day, then? It's a nice thing to do, [ he adds, with a softer smile, ] Gives everyone something else to do and think of.

[As it happens, not talking about it and immediately moving on to trying to plan a Social Event—with zero experience in that, and also after sulking for a week about the things not talked about, but details—is probably a better strategy than Junpei's usual, anyway. Who is he to deny Charles the sweet relief of not talking about it...]

Well, I've got someone who's going to help borrow blankets, and a couple people looking for snacks... and the sheet, too.

[He counts these off on his fingers and gives Charles a look and a shrug, like, that's probably everything besides the literal movies? He doesn't really know what normal parties are like, if this even counts.

Caught being soft on main, however, he huffs and reaches for the drinks bag again. Haha, who, him...]

Anyway, you know—it's my birthday.

I know.

[ the smile he gives junpei is at once pointed — as if to say, yeah, i know what you're doing here, using that as an excuse to deflect from this nice thing you're doing — and warm — as if to say, and i like you for that.

but speaking of his birthday, charles gestures at the bag again. ] Right, pick something! I tried to get a real good selection of stuff. A bunch of different types of beer, course, and you know there's these canned cocktails now that are supposed to actually taste like the real thing? Not like the ones we had when I was alive.

[ not that he'd been legally allowed to drink any, then, but that fact hadn't stopped him from sneaking into clubs and trying some drinks anyway... ] So, you gotta try them for me and tell me if they're good or total shit, and I'll either feel real good or real bad about not being able to try them too.

[Ah, jeez— that look is almost too much after sulking alone for a handful of days, leaving Junpei kind of half-stunned under the combined forces of being read like a book and genuinely cared about. Bringing him birthday alcohol is one thing, but the earnestness... jeez, again.

He does not blush, because he is an adult and he's got to save that for when he's had too many of these cocktails anyway, but he does allow himself to just watch Charles chatter about the drinks for a few extra seconds. Okay.

Drinks. Yeah.]

So no pressure, huh... Let's see, [he shuts his eyes to pick one of the cans at random, holding it up with a, frankly, dorky flourish. As one does. He opens his eyes to look, and,] I really don't know that much about good cocktails, so don't quote me about any of this.

[Can: cracked. Cocktail: sipped. He considers it.] ...It's... grapefruit-y?

[ the flourish is appreciated, as charles breaks into what can only be described as giggles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. once the laughing subsides, he says, grinning still, ] Well, good thing I know even less, innit?

[ so they can just be clueless together, it's fine.

he watches for any changes in junpei's expression as he tastes the drink, and then hums at the conclusion. ] Not my favourite thing, that. Too acidic, if I remember right. [ he shrugs. ] To be honest, I don't really remember too many flavours, anymore. I mean, I know if I liked them or if I didn't, but —

[ another shrug, then, to signify don't remember the exact taste. ]

[Junpei takes another sip and then makes a face; fizzy grapefruit is somehow more shocking the second time, but he's opened this can and now he's got to drink the whole thing. Hmm...]

Well, this one's grapefruit-y with notes of that bitter way seltzer water tastes, [he lifts the can again, this time to swirl its contents in the way knowledgeable drinkers aerate their glasses of wine.] And a hint of, uh, more fruit. And alcohol.

[One should hope, anyway. He's not an expert. This one's okay, but,] It kinda sucks. You're not missing out.

[sssssip....] What's the best drink you remember?

Thanks for that expert description, [ charles says and fights back more laughter, but it spills over into the way his voice lilts — though he rolls his eyes, then, as junpei takes another sip. ]

Oi, if you don't like it, you don't have to keep drinking it. Maybe you forgot, but there's more where that came from. Like, loads. The lady at the store looked at me like I was a bit mental.

[ and then charles had spent a few minutes trying to convince her that he's not, in fact, an alcoholic or trying to drown his sorrows or something, and had possibly just made things worse. anyway — ]

Hm, alcoholic or not? Cause for alcoholic drinks, it's gotta be that one from the club I used to sneak into, near the boarding school I went to. They'd let me in, but the barkeep, well, he'd only sell me a few things, but there was this one drink, they called it The Swerve. No bloody clue what was in it, but it was real good. A bit sweet, a bit sharp. Have a couple and you'd get this pleasant buzz, you know? Not too much, but just enough.

Am I supposed to throw out alcohol? On my birthday?

[Faux-affronted; this can of hard juice cost money!! He's going to drink it out of a misplaced sense of obligation to Money Spent, more or less. But maybe save the rest of the cocktails for the movie night crowd...

Sneaking into clubs from boarding school sounds way cooler than Junpei's foray into underage drinking, that is, wait for the friend with the fake ID to buy something cheap - maybe he'd know more about cocktails if he snuck into more clubs! Alas.]

Okay, Goldilocks and the Three Drinks. I've never heard of that one, but again: most cocktails are just pretty and expensive to me, so... [Shrug!] You do a lot of sneaking?

You're supposed to do whatever the hell you want, on your birthday.

[ but, alright — if he's that determined, then charles isn't going to argue. maybe he'll just pick a beer for him as his next drink, though.

a sharp oi! is his response to the creation of a new fairy tale, but he doesn't comment on it otherwise, instead choosing to answer the question, shrugging one shoulder. ]

Guess you could say that. First to get out of the house, you know, and then from school — I mean, St. Hil's was real stuffy, you know, all posh white boys from rich families. I was there on sports scholarship. Some of the lads in the team would sneak out with me, go clubbing. Think they were in it for the booze, but I, well, you know. The music scene was pretty aces, getting to talk to people who weren't — [ he waves his hand to indicate what he said earlier about most of the boys at school ] — yeah, it was fun.

[Sssssip. This is what he wants to do, drink this mid-tier cocktail here on the floor, listening to boarding school stories. It's a whole party.]

I don't really know a lot of posh white boys. [Maybe one, but does it count if he's a fellow weirdo, probably not,] And I've only ever been to cheap bars, without any sneaking, so I'm gonna believe you about the relative fun levels.

[He elects not to say that he was actually quite boring in school, instead taking another swig of fizzy grapefruit.]

What kind of music? Something fast, I bet. You're... [he wiggles the can at Charles, vaguely,] peppy? Not poppy.

Wait, do I need to take you clubbing?

[ charles is — well, the grin blooming on his face is kind of like the sun coming up, really, with the way his eyes light up and all. he hastens to add, though, entirely sincerely, ] I mean, if it's not your thing, I get it, won't be offended. But the offer's there.

[ right, there was a question, wasn't there? in an answer, his outfit flickers; he'd arrived with just his red polo shirt on, but now, in a blink (because ghost clothes, much like ghost everything, depends entirely on the will; if he wills that he's wearing certain things, he is) he's dressed in his black overcoat, with the pins adorning the lapels. he points to one of them that reads ska. ]

Here's one answer. Two-tone and ska're pretty aces, but I like other stuff, too — Freddie was brills, yeah? [ mercury, obviously. ] And you know The Church? Like, the band. It's a bit more chill, but I like that, too.

Are there clubs here? [Genuine question, he doesn't know. He also thinks he'd be the most awkward person in any given club by default, but that's not necessarily a no. Going from DIY movie night in the park to Clubbing seems-- doable? Like, he could do that, maybe?

He'll think about it. The ghost outfit change makes him blink, then he leans forward to squint at the pins.]

I know who Freddie was...? [ha ha... what's two-tone, he was born in 2006,] There's probably not a bunch of albums sitting around this city, huh.

No idea. We could find out?

[ making use of his height, he leans his arm on junpei's shoulder as he smiles his most convincing smile and even bats his eyes a couple of times, for good measure, entirely shameless. (look, don't at him, he's had thirty-odd years to perfect his puppy eyes look and this particular combination has not failed him so far!)

and then he's distracted from that by the fact that clearly there's more of 80s wonders he needs to teach junpei. though — ] Yeah, shit, you're probably right. I'll figure out a way to get some, though, I promise. Introduce you to some good music.

[ a pause. ] But enough about me, yeah? What do you listen to?

[This is probably an unfair use of height, actually, but Junpei simply raises an eyebrow at him over his fizzy grapefruit. It's not not working, but give him a second to, well, drink the rest of this can in a swift chug—]

—Sure, why not.

[Maybe there will be off-brand 80s music at the club! Who can say. He nudges the bag of drinks with his knee so he can better reach it, considering the next one immediately after chugging like a third of this grapefruit cocktail. It's fine.]

I listened to the radio, I guess... Before I moved out, my mom had a lot of city pop records, so I absorbed that stuff. And then, uh, I don't know when they came up with this actually, but they make these compilations of hit songs? They're numbered. I had a bunch of those, but not all of them.

[now that's what i call normie music taste]

[ oh no, are his puppy eyes driving him to drink, is that's what's happening here —

no, never mind, charles just beams at his agreement (a bit lackluster though it is, but hey, he'll take his wins where he can!) and settles back down to his spot on the floor, actually shrugging off his coat this time, instead of letting it disappear; he drops it into a heap next to him. ]

City pop? Huh, not sure if I know that. Gotta see if I can find some records. [ at the mention of the compilations, charles brightens up. ] Hey, I know those! I used those to catch up with modern stuff. Pretty easy, right, when it's all gathered together, yeah?

[ shifting in place, he leans his elbow against his knee, slouched over as he fixes junpei with an intent look. ] Actually, don't think I know where you're from, or what you've done, you know, aside from the whole PI thing.

[Let him have another drink and then maybe his agreements to activities will be more spunky, okay—

More importantly, oh? A fellow Now! enthusiast? This is an actual surprise.]

Wait, really? They've got a ton these days— I even had some knockoff CDs.

[Fondly recalling his ancient copy of Totally Hits 2 for a moment as he says this, so jot that down as a new Junpei Lore Fact. He picks a completely grapefruit-less beer, leaning back against the wall to think about what he should share... He is truly just some guy, so, hmm.]

I'm from Japan. We moved to the States when I was, like, twelve... [Meanwhile he's eyeing this beer like maybe he'll just try to twist the cap off with his hands and the hem of his shirt, that seems like a good idea—] Uh, I went to school, then to college, then I got kidnapped the first time, then I dropped out to do the PI thing. Then I got kidnapped the second time.

[Which sounds like a bummer all in a row, so he'll throw in,] I collected sneakers for a while, that was fun.

Really. I like keeping up with pop culture stuff.

[ said with a small shrug; he's not as well-versed as he could be, not with most of his time having gone to case work, but they did have plenty of free time too and when you don't have to sleep, well, suddenly there's at least seven more hours in the day to just devote to listening to new music and sneaking into concerts or movies, or, in some memorable occasions, movie sets. handy when no one can see you and all that!

as junpei grabs the beer and seems to contemplate how to open it, charles reaches into his overcoat pocket and produces a bottle opener, sliding it over the floor to the other. ]

Huh, so right now, are you speaking English or Japanese? [ he wonders if he's hearing his actual words, or if it's translated. somehow, it matters.

and then he's launching into his very brief and mildly depressing life story, and charles — well, charles evaluates his options, and after a few seconds, scoots to where junpei's sitting with his back on the wall and just settles there next to him instead of being across from him as he was. he slides against the wall a bit so that he's sitting kind of slumped over, a triangle of air between his back and the wall, a position that'd be uncomfortable if he could feel it; but it allows him to sit more or less level with his friend, so that's really what matters. ]

Sneakers sound aces, [ he says with a small grin, then, instead of anything else. ]

[One day they can compare notes on pop CD compilations, and Junpei can insist that Now! 4 was the best one. Bonding experience.

For now, he says "oh" to the bottle opener and lets go of the mess he's about to make of a fistful of his shirt hem, picking it up to open the beer properly. Thanks for the save...]

Right now? English. I mostly only speak Japanese with family, these days.

[Which is a nicer tidbit of information than his sad backstory, he figures, so it's worth sharing. Not that he's all that hung up on sharing the worst things that have happened to him after Charles figured out that one time, he quantum-died by dismemberment, but. Still.

Sharing the nicer little things feels like the same kind of gesture as whatever Charles is doing with his slouch right now; Junpei raises the beer in response. Cheers to his cool sneaker collection, yeah.]

They were. Shame I didn't bring any here, I'm going to be stuck wearing crap when this pair goes. Just picture me in wooden clogs.

[he's assuming it's clogs.]

[ he may be without his bag of tricks, here, but he does still carry around a number of useful items. and it'd have been silly to bring a bunch of bottles but no bottle opener, now wouldn't it?

the mention of his family makes charles smile and nod. ]

Cool. My Mum tried to teach me some Urdu, you know, until Dad thought it was stupid so we stopped. I tried studying on my own afterwards, but not like there were classes I could go to, and then St. Hil's had mandatory Latin — [ he shrugs; he'd tried asking if he couldn't learn what was his mother's native language, instead, but the headmaster had spouted some nonsense and denied him and that had been that, and anyway then he'd died. so that was the end of his language learning.

he laughs at the mention of wooden clogs, because, really? but, hm, ] Well, I've heard some people say that shit from home sometimes shows up here, yeah? Maybe your collection will show up, too. Save you from the evil clutches of Dutch shoes or whatnot.

[ and in the meantime... if he's able to find hoodies in the local stores, they gotta have sneakers, too. maybe this solves his problem of what to get junpei as a birthday present. ]

[Junpei samples the beer, meanwhile, and gives it a brief thumbs up of approval for not being grapefruit. Or the cheap crap he usually buys for himself. This one's a winner.]

If my shoes show up, I'm gonna have to get a bigger room. [It's not that many, but it's enough for a dedicated shelf, and where would he keep that in here.] But Latin, wow. Everyone I know who speaks even a little Latin is kind of a nerd, so... [assigned nerd. Congrats.] And Urdu iiiis... South Asian? I'm not a languages guy.

[Or a geography guy, really, so please don't ask him linguistic and/or geographical facts. He's doing his best.]

Oi, [ charles says, mock-offended, pressing a hand on his chest as if wounded. but it's true — he may have never learned much at school, but it's been impossible not to have picked up some things over the years, what with a lot of the spells edwin uses being in latin — but then, edwin also speaks ancient aramaic among other things, so maybe charles' metric of what's normal to know is a bit skewed.

instead, he gives junpei an easy grin. ] I'm half-Indian.

[ and then, with a teasing edge, ] You know that much of geography, yeah? Where India is on the map?

[Junpei gives him a grin right back— for the nerd thing, specifically. Ribbing him about the map is, also, a nerd thing.]

Yeah, I've seen a map before, I remember. It's huge. And kind of under China.

[R...right...?? He takes a heartier swig of the Good Beer and nudges Charles' leg with his foot, for getting on him like that. Have mercy.]

Before this place, I was in Nevada. Can you find Nevada on a US map?

[ shit, is it possible to have become some kind of nerd/jock hybrid... he's invented a new kind of being.

charles, in an answer to the little foot nudge, just knocks their shoulders together, ducking his head and laughing. ]

I mean, "under China" is a pretty broad descriptor, mate. [ but alright, fine, he'll let that go! what he won't let go is nevada — ]

Well, no, but you just described the most populous country in the world as being, I repeat, "under China", so... [ did he say he'd let that go? wrong. his grin is very, very pointed and very, very bright. ]

What were you doing in Nevada? Or is that where you live? You said you'd moved to the States.

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