It was weird riding through a big city on horseback, but as JW passed through the more residential areas and made his way into the city proper, he found that a literal unicorn was not that unusual a whip. Roaring dragons soared overhead and all types of birds and great hopping creatures took the places of busses and trainlines and cars.
He traveled like a nomad, with a patchy fluttering poncho blowing in the snowy wind behind him. Hot Stuff, his Sizzlipede, was wrapped around his neck and doing an awesome job of keeping him toasty but still, his breath puffed in the new year's chill. He held his Poke'Gear out in front of him in one gloved hand as he stopped occasionally and showed the address to passers-by. Some people would give him a helpful nod and point him the way. Others would scowl. They knew that house. They wanted nothing to do with JW.
With confusion creasing his brow, JW soldiered on. Eventually, Lady and JW found their way to the front lawn of Handsome Manor. JW pulled her to a stop and squinted up at the windows, a hand shielding his eyes from the snow.
"Damn..." was all he really had to say about it. JW wondered if this fellow was going to invite him in, dope him up, and then hunt him for sport.
Jack was waiting. He'd been waiting, willing time to go faster because holy shit he was not used to this kind of living. He's been on a bustling space station in the process of being built, he was practically never alone. Ignoring the fact he'd ended up here right in the middle of an attack...
But living in a house? He couldn't remember the last time he did that. It was big and felt weirdly empty, even though there were all the weird animals. That seemed to like him, at least, so that was one thing.
But they weren't people. When JW was expected, Jack hung out by the window, waiting. There were only so many people he knew here, and even fewer that were in any position to actually hang out with him. Which was...weird. Considering. But he wasn't gonna dwell on that, because there was his fancy unicorn and his new buddy!
Jack rushed to the front doors of the ultra modern style mansion, grinning broadly as he threw them open.
"Hey, buddy! Hop on down, don't worry about Miss Stallion there, she's got a whole...thing out back and a Pokemon will get her saddle and shit off. Come on in!"
When Jack threw the doors open, JW had to stop himself from making a face. Double doors. Ugh! Rich people! But...this was not the guy who had this place built. He seemed really lost the last time they spoke. WHELP. Time for. Whatever this was going to be. It was going to be cheaper than a hotel, that was for sure!
"Alrighty," JW grunted and dismounted. He gave the fairytail unicorn a fond pat, having spent a whole week with a Pokemon he wasn't very familiar with but also didn't hate. She was a horse! Horses were horses. "Oh, ow. Ow ow ow oof."
He'd camped plenty and let Lady rest, but man it still was weird to straighten his legs out after that last long leg of the ride. He wobbled a little in the snow and made his way up to the landing.
"You got a good horse there, Jack! I don't think I can go back to walking."
Jack beckoned JW in, moving out of the way. The house was done in a sleek ultra modern design inside, lots of chrome and black leather. It had come that way.
"Don't worry about the saddle sores, there's a huge ass hot-tub! You can boil the ride outta ya. And sleep in a comfy bed...it was worth the trip, trust me."
JW followed along behind and took his sweet time rubbernecking. He'd never seen so many shiny surfaces outside a doctor's office.
"A hot-tub, huh..." JW said it aloud more to himself than to Jack. He rubbed the small of his back. "A bed sounds nice. I think I slept on a rock."
Hot Stuff poked her head out of JW's poncho and peered around, waving her little mandibles.
"Oh! Almost forgot about you, girl. Take a rest." JW recalled her into her Poke'Ball before tugging his poncho off over his head. His coat was comically puffy.
"A huge hot-tub!" That was important to note. "And there's like three different guest rooms, so pick whichever the hell one ya want. There's a game room, too, if ya play pool and stuff. And a ton of Pokemon that I haven't learned all the names of yet."
Jack waved vaguely to a pile of dog Pokemon in the living room, two of which JW would be familiar with. They all seemed at ease now, though.
"Oh, and if ya haven't eaten yet, there's a pretty good delivery place around the block!"
JW noticed those dogs alright. He gave them a very obvious side-eye and a slight curl of the lip. Of course he still had those stupid dogs. Ugh.
"Now that you mention it, I could use a bite to eat." JW scratched at the road whiskers along his jaw.
After a long week on unfamiliar roads, JW was in no mood for his self-imposed rules. He was here on a mission and that mission was to...occupy part of a house? He still wasn't entirely sure. He'd accepted on a whim and on about the third day into his trip he realized how strange this was.
"You weren't kidding when you said the other you left you a mansion..."
"Right? Dude was stupid rich. And I mean...I've got money, back home. I'm pretty up there on the ladder, I worked my ass up it. But I got here with nothing, just the friggin Baby's First Weekend Hike Backpack. Kinda nice to make it here and not have to worry."
He's got money and a house and Pokemon and that's...that's pretty much it, here, as far as he can tell. And he doesn't have to work! That's honestly pretty nice, he can't remember the last time he got an actual break from work.
"We'll order some delivery! Pizza good? Ya like pizza? Who the hell doesn't!"
JW opened his mouth a time or two to comment on the things Jack presented to him, but the man just kept talking. He wondered just how long Jack had been in this house alone.
"Pizza's great--no mushrooms though. I can't fuckin' stand mushrooms." Normally, JW wouldn't be so bold as to make requests, but if Jack was willing to wait a whole week just to feed him a pizza, surely he wouldn't mind.
"Meat lovers cool?" Jack had been alone way too long, at least for him. He was a man who thrived on social contact and having people around him. The Pokemon just didn't cut it.
Of course he rarely shut up under normal circumstances, either.
"And I dunno if you're into drugs at all, but somebody sent me a bag of drugs for Christmas, so...that's a thing!" He still wasn't sure who, but he figured it was somebody who'd known Future!Him. He wasn't going to complain, he liked getting high.
"S'fine," JW commented, pausing to admire a huge framed portrait of an extremely fat Houndour. Wow, haha, what the fuck.
But then, so very suddenly, there came the offer of drugs. JW whipped his head around so fast you could hear his neck pop. Surprise, temptation, suspicion, all these expression rippled across his face in a flash. It had been a YEAR since JW had been able to get good and high...but he also didn't really know what the drugs in Pokemon world were like.
"No acid." That was his answer. Jack could take it how he wanted.
"Don't got any! From my own mild experimentation with random alien drugs from an unknown source, it's pretty much just pretty potent weed. Tastes a little different, but does basically the same shit."
It was pretty good stuff, too. And he had plenty to share with his new buddy here. It's just way more fun getting high with somebody else. Sometimes, anyway. Sometimes it was a purely solo activity.
Right now, though? Yeah, Jack was into the idea of sharing a joystick with JW and actually hanging out in person for a change.
"I can roll us a little something something to enjoy while we wait for dinner to get here!"
Ah, damn fuck and shit. He'd wanted to be the one in charge here. He wanted to be able to dangle his glorious presence over this very clearly desperate man, but the guy had weed! Weed that he could deny JW access to!
JW swallowed a mouthful of spit. "S'fine," he repeated. He was cool. He was collected.
"Hey, it's cool if you're not down! I'm not gonna be a dick if you don't do drugs. Just means all the more for me!" He assumed JW's mild reply was one of those 'I don't want to say no and be a square in front of this super cool guy' reluctant agreements. Which he could understand, that was fair, he was a pretty cool guy.
But Jack wasn't that sort of jerk. There were a whole lot of other more important things to judge somebody for.
"NO, no, no, do not misunderstand. I want to get fucking destroyed, sir." The words rushed out and it was all he could do to keep from raising his hands for added affect. "It's just been a long week."
Jack grinned and went to order an extra large pizza - and garlic cheese bread and a couple molten lava cakes for dessert - and grab his drugs. Okay, JW was down, cool! He wasn't gonna have to go outside or some bullshit to get high, and he had a smoking buddy!
"Make yourself comfy in the living room. I got a huge ass TV and a pretty sweet sound system for entertainment options. If there's a dog in the way, just push'em, they move when ya push'em."
"Alright!" Finally sounding excited, JW headed over to the sofa and started tugging off his coat. His Violet City t-shirt was stuck to him with sweat from using his Sizzlipede as a scarf. He tugged it away from his skin and flapped it a little, eyeing the dogs.
They looked pretty peaceful but...every snuffle, every move they made caused JW to jump. He just couldn't shake the fear. They were almost like the dogs he saw in his nightmares, horns and all. JW swallowed and draped himself over the plush chair furthest from the pile of hounds.
"Oh, sitting. I forgot sitting. Sitting good. Ow ow." He leaned his head over the back of the chair and stuck his legs straight out in front of him. The chair was not made for somebody lanky like him but right now he didn't care.
"Just wait till you get to soaking and lying down in a real bed!"
Jack grinned. It didn't take too long for the first joint to be smoked - Jack rolled a few, JW did say he wanted to get destroyed - and the pizza to come and be eagerly consumed.
This? This was what he'd needed. Just good old fashioned hanging out, blowing off steam, goofing off with a buddy. It's been so friggin weird since he woke up here and so few things made sense to him, but this did. Plus JW was a hoot to hang out with!
And after dinner was time for the main event.
"There she is!"
Jack stood, arms open, showing off the opulent black hot tub that sat in a third floor room and faced a wall that was mostly window, offering a view of the city and beyond. There were no dog Pokemon up here, but there is a Stunky nappy on one of the comfortable looking waterproof chairs opposite the hot tub.
It had been a long time since JW had enjoyed a hot pizza and an even longer time since he'd enjoyed a good smoke. A good smoke. This trip had become well worth it.
JW walked up behind Jack, shoulders no longer tensed, back no longer hunched. He stood at a placid, lazy slouch instead and gazed out over the snowy city with what looked like honest appreciation. He didn't even register the smell of the Stunky.
"Man..." He scrubbed at the soft spots under his eyes with a thumb. "That's great. This is great. You're great." He gave Jack a lazy slap on the middle of his back before coughing. "I hope I don't die of the flu."
"I'm the best!" And Jack was actually starting to believe that. It turned out it was a whole lot easier to buy into your own reinvention when there was hardly anyone who knew you around.
"Come on, I'll get it going. Nothing like a good hot soak on a cold night! Plus I got another joint for when the buzz starts fading cuz...we deserve a good long buzz, buddy!"
He kept talking as he turned on the jets and got the hot tub going, then casually stripped down to his boxers. Normally he wasn't one to just take off his shirt in front of people didn't know too well, but he was stoned and JW was cool people. But he still made an effort to keep from turning his back on the other man, self conscious of the mass of old scars that covered him from neck to ass.
"Yeees," was JW's very eloquent but enthusiastic response when Jack told him that there would be more weed later. Whatever Jack had given him was easing the ache in his shoulders and back and had let him actually eat like a normal human being.
For a long moment, JW was distracted by the snow outside. From in here, it was actually nice to look at.
"Huh? Yeah, absolutely." JW finally turned and noticed the dress code. He shrugged. JW was also somebody who didn't really like people seeing his body because everyone always had an Opinion, but he was also tired and high and didn't want to flip out and think his wet clothes were attacking him.
He kicked off his jeans and tugged his shirt off over his head. JW was thin as a rake with his own share of weird scars. A few deep grooves crossed his heart and a winged snake tattoo decorated one of his protruding shoulder blades. He kept his socks and the pressure bandage that covered his entire right arm on though.
"Haaahhh! Hot hot hot, ah shit!" JW yelped as he stepped into the tub and did that painful little dance one does when willing themselves to acclimate to hot water. Finally, he had to give up and perched himself on the hottub's edge like a gargoyle, knees around his ears. "I think I'm gonna need that other hit!"
"Hey, nice ink!" He held up his right hand to show off the tribal style gear pattern tattooed in blue around his wrist. Oddly, it was the only ink he had on him. Weird scars? He knew not to say anything about them. He didn't like questions, why would somebody else. Sure, he was curious, but it wasn't the kind of thing you just asked somebody about.
"And I got ya, don't worry. I always take care of my people, and you? You're my people Jay-Dub!" Jack joined him in the hot tub after getting a second joint out of his discarded jeans. "God I love that view! I really...I'm the luckiest son of a bitch. All of this just waiting for me! I mean...it's full of little memories of a life that wasn't mine, but I gotta hand it to future-me, he...he did good for himself. He was married! To this chick I'm super into back home and some...I dunno, random hot dude with orange tips. At the same time! Go future-me."
"Huh?" For a long moment he had no idea what Jack was talking about. Then, Jack showed off his own tattoo. JW barked out a laugh. "Oh! Oh, haha, I always forget that's there. Remember how I said no acid? That's why."
He didn't seem too rueful about it though. JW reached out a long arm to take the joint from Jack.
"Huh. Jay-Dub. Haha, I like that. Shit." Once pacified with smoke, JW eased himself back into the water. He still hissed through his teeth but it was best to do it sooner than later--if he dried off he'd get cold and then it would be worse! The view distracted him.
He wondered what it would be like to time-travel the way Jack had. He hummed a little at Future-Jack's accomplishments. JW never would have dreamed that he'd be soaking in a hottub with the guy he ran feverishly around a festival with trying to fight their fate.
"I've only time-traveled forwards." After a beat he let out a snort. "I mean, faster than we all do naturally."
"Hey, if the dumbest thing ya did while on a bad trip was get a tattoo, consider yourself lucky! I known guys who really messed themselves up." Of course living on a highly advanced space station with a zillion ways to die also adds to that.
Don't drop acid in space, is the lesson.
"Time travel gives me a headache, but I always figured if you could go through time, it'd be forwards. I mean....that's how time works. How'd you do it?"
JW let out a hollow little laugh. Oh, that was one party he wished he could forget. He decided not to comment further on his youthful drug adventures and instead turn his attention to the topic of time-travel.
"I wish I knew, man. One minute I'm riding my horse across a bridge, the next I wake up in a ditch thirty years in the future."
He leaned his head back, finally adjusting to the hot tub's temperature. His achy muscles and saddle-sore back slowly grew numb. He never wanted to get back out.
"Maybe it had something to do with the thunder storm..." JW twisted his head from one side to the other to work out a crick and paused when he caught sight of the Stunky napping on the chair. He let out a half-laugh half-scream.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
almosthandsome) wrote2020-12-26 12:09 pm
[ACTION-- January 3rd, 2021]
He traveled like a nomad, with a patchy fluttering poncho blowing in the snowy wind behind him. Hot Stuff, his Sizzlipede, was wrapped around his neck and doing an awesome job of keeping him toasty but still, his breath puffed in the new year's chill. He held his Poke'Gear out in front of him in one gloved hand as he stopped occasionally and showed the address to passers-by. Some people would give him a helpful nod and point him the way. Others would scowl. They knew that house. They wanted nothing to do with JW.
With confusion creasing his brow, JW soldiered on. Eventually, Lady and JW found their way to the front lawn of Handsome Manor. JW pulled her to a stop and squinted up at the windows, a hand shielding his eyes from the snow.
"Damn..." was all he really had to say about it. JW wondered if this fellow was going to invite him in, dope him up, and then hunt him for sport.
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But living in a house? He couldn't remember the last time he did that. It was big and felt weirdly empty, even though there were all the weird animals. That seemed to like him, at least, so that was one thing.
But they weren't people. When JW was expected, Jack hung out by the window, waiting. There were only so many people he knew here, and even fewer that were in any position to actually hang out with him. Which was...weird. Considering. But he wasn't gonna dwell on that, because there was his fancy unicorn and his new buddy!
Jack rushed to the front doors of the ultra modern style mansion, grinning broadly as he threw them open.
"Hey, buddy! Hop on down, don't worry about Miss Stallion there, she's got a whole...thing out back and a Pokemon will get her saddle and shit off. Come on in!"
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"Alrighty," JW grunted and dismounted. He gave the fairytail unicorn a fond pat, having spent a whole week with a Pokemon he wasn't very familiar with but also didn't hate. She was a horse! Horses were horses. "Oh, ow. Ow ow ow oof."
He'd camped plenty and let Lady rest, but man it still was weird to straighten his legs out after that last long leg of the ride. He wobbled a little in the snow and made his way up to the landing.
"You got a good horse there, Jack! I don't think I can go back to walking."
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Jack beckoned JW in, moving out of the way. The house was done in a sleek ultra modern design inside, lots of chrome and black leather. It had come that way.
"Don't worry about the saddle sores, there's a huge ass hot-tub! You can boil the ride outta ya. And sleep in a comfy bed...it was worth the trip, trust me."
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"A hot-tub, huh..." JW said it aloud more to himself than to Jack. He rubbed the small of his back. "A bed sounds nice. I think I slept on a rock."
Hot Stuff poked her head out of JW's poncho and peered around, waving her little mandibles.
"Oh! Almost forgot about you, girl. Take a rest." JW recalled her into her Poke'Ball before tugging his poncho off over his head. His coat was comically puffy.
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Jack waved vaguely to a pile of dog Pokemon in the living room, two of which JW would be familiar with. They all seemed at ease now, though.
"Oh, and if ya haven't eaten yet, there's a pretty good delivery place around the block!"
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"Now that you mention it, I could use a bite to eat." JW scratched at the road whiskers along his jaw.
After a long week on unfamiliar roads, JW was in no mood for his self-imposed rules. He was here on a mission and that mission was to...occupy part of a house? He still wasn't entirely sure. He'd accepted on a whim and on about the third day into his trip he realized how strange this was.
"You weren't kidding when you said the other you left you a mansion..."
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He's got money and a house and Pokemon and that's...that's pretty much it, here, as far as he can tell. And he doesn't have to work! That's honestly pretty nice, he can't remember the last time he got an actual break from work.
"We'll order some delivery! Pizza good? Ya like pizza? Who the hell doesn't!"
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"Pizza's great--no mushrooms though. I can't fuckin' stand mushrooms." Normally, JW wouldn't be so bold as to make requests, but if Jack was willing to wait a whole week just to feed him a pizza, surely he wouldn't mind.
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Of course he rarely shut up under normal circumstances, either.
"And I dunno if you're into drugs at all, but somebody sent me a bag of drugs for Christmas, so...that's a thing!" He still wasn't sure who, but he figured it was somebody who'd known Future!Him. He wasn't going to complain, he liked getting high.
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But then, so very suddenly, there came the offer of drugs. JW whipped his head around so fast you could hear his neck pop. Surprise, temptation, suspicion, all these expression rippled across his face in a flash. It had been a YEAR since JW had been able to get good and high...but he also didn't really know what the drugs in Pokemon world were like.
"No acid." That was his answer. Jack could take it how he wanted.
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It was pretty good stuff, too. And he had plenty to share with his new buddy here. It's just way more fun getting high with somebody else. Sometimes, anyway. Sometimes it was a purely solo activity.
Right now, though? Yeah, Jack was into the idea of sharing a joystick with JW and actually hanging out in person for a change.
"I can roll us a little something something to enjoy while we wait for dinner to get here!"
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Ah, damn fuck and shit. He'd wanted to be the one in charge here. He wanted to be able to dangle his glorious presence over this very clearly desperate man, but the guy had weed! Weed that he could deny JW access to!
JW swallowed a mouthful of spit. "S'fine," he repeated. He was cool. He was collected.
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But Jack wasn't that sort of jerk. There were a whole lot of other more important things to judge somebody for.
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"NO, no, no, do not misunderstand. I want to get fucking destroyed, sir." The words rushed out and it was all he could do to keep from raising his hands for added affect. "It's just been a long week."
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Jack grinned and went to order an extra large pizza - and garlic cheese bread and a couple molten lava cakes for dessert - and grab his drugs. Okay, JW was down, cool! He wasn't gonna have to go outside or some bullshit to get high, and he had a smoking buddy!
"Make yourself comfy in the living room. I got a huge ass TV and a pretty sweet sound system for entertainment options. If there's a dog in the way, just push'em, they move when ya push'em."
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They looked pretty peaceful but...every snuffle, every move they made caused JW to jump. He just couldn't shake the fear. They were almost like the dogs he saw in his nightmares, horns and all. JW swallowed and draped himself over the plush chair furthest from the pile of hounds.
"Oh, sitting. I forgot sitting. Sitting good. Ow ow." He leaned his head over the back of the chair and stuck his legs straight out in front of him. The chair was not made for somebody lanky like him but right now he didn't care.
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Jack grinned. It didn't take too long for the first joint to be smoked - Jack rolled a few, JW did say he wanted to get destroyed - and the pizza to come and be eagerly consumed.
This? This was what he'd needed. Just good old fashioned hanging out, blowing off steam, goofing off with a buddy. It's been so friggin weird since he woke up here and so few things made sense to him, but this did. Plus JW was a hoot to hang out with!
And after dinner was time for the main event.
"There she is!"
Jack stood, arms open, showing off the opulent black hot tub that sat in a third floor room and faced a wall that was mostly window, offering a view of the city and beyond. There were no dog Pokemon up here, but there is a Stunky nappy on one of the comfortable looking waterproof chairs opposite the hot tub.
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JW walked up behind Jack, shoulders no longer tensed, back no longer hunched. He stood at a placid, lazy slouch instead and gazed out over the snowy city with what looked like honest appreciation. He didn't even register the smell of the Stunky.
"Man..." He scrubbed at the soft spots under his eyes with a thumb. "That's great. This is great. You're great." He gave Jack a lazy slap on the middle of his back before coughing. "I hope I don't die of the flu."
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"Come on, I'll get it going. Nothing like a good hot soak on a cold night! Plus I got another joint for when the buzz starts fading cuz...we deserve a good long buzz, buddy!"
He kept talking as he turned on the jets and got the hot tub going, then casually stripped down to his boxers. Normally he wasn't one to just take off his shirt in front of people didn't know too well, but he was stoned and JW was cool people. But he still made an effort to keep from turning his back on the other man, self conscious of the mass of old scars that covered him from neck to ass.
"Way better than a cheap hotel, huh?"
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For a long moment, JW was distracted by the snow outside. From in here, it was actually nice to look at.
"Huh? Yeah, absolutely." JW finally turned and noticed the dress code. He shrugged. JW was also somebody who didn't really like people seeing his body because everyone always had an Opinion, but he was also tired and high and didn't want to flip out and think his wet clothes were attacking him.
He kicked off his jeans and tugged his shirt off over his head. JW was thin as a rake with his own share of weird scars. A few deep grooves crossed his heart and a winged snake tattoo decorated one of his protruding shoulder blades. He kept his socks and the pressure bandage that covered his entire right arm on though.
"Haaahhh! Hot hot hot, ah shit!" JW yelped as he stepped into the tub and did that painful little dance one does when willing themselves to acclimate to hot water. Finally, he had to give up and perched himself on the hottub's edge like a gargoyle, knees around his ears. "I think I'm gonna need that other hit!"
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"Hey, nice ink!" He held up his right hand to show off the tribal style gear pattern tattooed in blue around his wrist. Oddly, it was the only ink he had on him. Weird scars? He knew not to say anything about them. He didn't like questions, why would somebody else. Sure, he was curious, but it wasn't the kind of thing you just asked somebody about.
"And I got ya, don't worry. I always take care of my people, and you? You're my people Jay-Dub!" Jack joined him in the hot tub after getting a second joint out of his discarded jeans. "God I love that view! I really...I'm the luckiest son of a bitch. All of this just waiting for me! I mean...it's full of little memories of a life that wasn't mine, but I gotta hand it to future-me, he...he did good for himself. He was married! To this chick I'm super into back home and some...I dunno, random hot dude with orange tips. At the same time! Go future-me."
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He didn't seem too rueful about it though. JW reached out a long arm to take the joint from Jack.
"Huh. Jay-Dub. Haha, I like that. Shit." Once pacified with smoke, JW eased himself back into the water. He still hissed through his teeth but it was best to do it sooner than later--if he dried off he'd get cold and then it would be worse! The view distracted him.
He wondered what it would be like to time-travel the way Jack had. He hummed a little at Future-Jack's accomplishments. JW never would have dreamed that he'd be soaking in a hottub with the guy he ran feverishly around a festival with trying to fight their fate.
"I've only time-traveled forwards." After a beat he let out a snort. "I mean, faster than we all do naturally."
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Don't drop acid in space, is the lesson.
"Time travel gives me a headache, but I always figured if you could go through time, it'd be forwards. I mean....that's how time works. How'd you do it?"
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"I wish I knew, man. One minute I'm riding my horse across a bridge, the next I wake up in a ditch thirty years in the future."
He leaned his head back, finally adjusting to the hot tub's temperature. His achy muscles and saddle-sore back slowly grew numb. He never wanted to get back out.
"Maybe it had something to do with the thunder storm..." JW twisted his head from one side to the other to work out a crick and paused when he caught sight of the Stunky napping on the chair. He let out a half-laugh half-scream.
"WHAT IS THAT!"
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