[Closed]

[yokunaru]

who: Yuuri Katsuki & Jonathan Kent
what: Meeting up and swapping stories
when: forward dated 4/16
where: Communal Housing
warnings: None yet


[About a week after they first met over the network, Yuuri finally sends Jon the text after double checking the other's username. It's late enough in the morning that Yuuri doesn't think he'd be disturbing his sleep. Hopefully.]

Jon, it's Yuuri! I found some books in the library and there's some things about the portal you might want to hear. Would you like to meet up today? Miss Jones messaged me earlier in the week and said it'd fine if we did.

Comments

[supersweet]

[ Miss Jones had informed him as well. Jon was a little excited too. It was cool to be someone with the know-how. Usually he's the one the least informed while Damian and the others know everything. ]

Sure! Where would you like to meet up?

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri takes a moment to glance around his kitchen before firing a reply back.]

I can cook something for us if you'd like to come over to my apartment around lunch time?

[supersweet]

Ok! I'll come around then!

[ And he does arrive promptly. Superspeed makes it hard to ever be late. He adjusts his glasses once more, feeling it slip down his nose. His father's glasses were a little too big for him and Jon probably should find his own.

He hates the disguise though. Tentatively, he knocks on the door. ]

[yokunaru]

[With a muffled "Coming!" through the door, Yuuri takes a few seconds to open it for his guest.]

Hey, Jon. Come right in. [Smiling slightly, he steps aside and beckons Jon into the apartment.] I was just finishing up with lunch--have you had piroshki before? I should've asked before I started making them earlier.

[supersweet]

Uhm, I don't think so.

[ Jon has never heard of it. Tugging his jacket, he looks around curiously. ]

But I can eat pretty much anything.

[ Growing superboys have a large appetite. ]

[yokunaru]

[Jon's reply makes Yuuri grin. Having spent a lot of time training with growing athletes, Yuuri's all too familiar with how that goes.]

That does make things easier. Have a seat at the table! I'll bring the food over in a minute.

[supersweet]

[ With a nod, Jon climbs onto the chair, placing his hands politely on his lap. He looks over the room with quiet interest. Jon hasn't been to other people's houses before, at least not regularly. ]

You sure I don't need to help with the food? I can wash the dishes later too.

[yokunaru]

Really? [That's a pleasant surprise, and the smile Yuuri gives him for that offer is small, but warm.] Ah, between the two of us, there shouldn't be a lot of dishes to do. Thanks, though.

[Yuuri, hands wrapped up in mitts, grabs the tray of warm piroshki from the oven and then slides the filled buns onto a large plate. All of that's placed onto the table in front of Jon as Yuuri joins him again.]

Here you go. Help yourself. We can talk about the portal while we eat.

[supersweet]

[ Jon eyes the food curiously before reaching out to grab one. He can feel the touch of heat, but his powers seem to be holding up. With a smile, he takes a big bite, grinning at Yuuri. ]

S'good!

What would you like to start with?

[yokunaru]

[Jon's approval draws another smile from Yuuri, this time just a touch bashful.] Thanks. One of my friends likes these--I thought I'd try my hand at making them.

[Yuuri selects one of the pastries for himself before getting right down to business. He pulls one of the books out of the main pile and taps at the cover.]

So, it turns out that the orientation left out some information about the portal. I get the feeling they don't like talking about what happened, but... I found a few books like this one that go into depth on this place's history. [Now he flips to one of the pages he's bookmarked.] The portal we came out of isn't the only one they had before--they made a lot of duplicates at one point.

[supersweet]

[ Jon nods, looking over the book. Big words tend to fly over his head, but he understands math very well. It stands to reason that there wouldn't be just one portal. ]

Maybe someone stole the duplicates and spread them across other worlds.

[ He hesitates. ]

I . . . made one once.

[yokunaru]

It's... worse than that, I think. [Yuuri worries at his bottom lip as he frowns down at the book.] According to the history books, there was a war--a really bad one--between this universe and another. The duplicates were destroyed during that time.

[At Jon's words, Yuuri breaks out of his musing and looks up with some surprise.]

You...you did?

[supersweet]

[ His grin was sheepish. ]

For a school project. Though, I don't know how it became a portal and it might have been tampered with. It took my dad and I some time to figure it out.

[yokunaru]

[Frankly, Yuuri's a bit worried that a school project could be turned into anything like a portal to begin with, but that's...in the past. He still looks Very Concerned, though.]

You and your dad must be really smart if you figured out how to deal with the portal at all. [He waves a hand at the books.] It all sounds really complicated to me.

[supersweet]

My dad has experience with that kind of stuff.

[ He rubs his neck, sheepish. ]

They can come in all sizes though. This one was shaped like a box.

[yokunaru]

How big of a box? [Asking, if only because he's imagining people trying to squeeze out of something the size of a shoebox.

The mental image makes him grin, which he tries to cover promptly.] Sorry. Just, when you said they come in all sizes, I imagined something really tiny.

[supersweet]

Uhh. The one I made was about the size of a jewelry box. Like the kind my mom has. I just . . . pictured it in my mind and it came to me.

[ What Jon is blissfully unaware is that he was manipulated to create that portal. ]

That's what I mean about sizes. Some permanent portals are large, like doorways. Others just last for a short time.

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri leans forward, both curious and puzzled.]

Wait--a jewellery box? How does something that small transport people between different universes?

[Someone's still caught up in the whole doorway comparison, from the looks of it.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon takes a moment before he brightens, putting it in the right words. ]

It can project. Like a ray. So you can get pulled or it can create a temporary portal for you to enter.

[yokunaru]

Oh. [He's a little embarrassed that he'd been way off, but he supposes it would make sense when his experience with portals is limited.] That makes a lot more sense.

I didn't think there'd be all these different ways for portals to work before... I wonder if which universe you're in affects what kind you'll get.

[supersweet]

It . . . might? Most worlds call upon others that are similar to the original. Magic worlds connect to other magic worlds and so on.

All the realities we went always had something familiar about them, something like home.

[yokunaru]

Hmm. It wasn't that way with the other universe I was in.

[He nibbles a little at his piroshki before he continues that train of thought.] Though...you said that there's special circumstances that allow people from a whole bunch of universes to exist together in the first place, right?

[supersweet]

Uhhm. Sometimes the universe can collapse. Orrr there could be someone who bends reality to collect people. I think sometimes the reality can't handle the weight of so many similarities.

[ His dad has been through both of these. ]

[yokunaru]

[Wincing, because that sounds pretty awful.]

Wait, there are people who can bend reality? [Yuuri frowns.] Why were they collecting people in the first place?

[supersweet]

Dunno. Some complicated evil reason, I guess.

It's always some evil reason.

[yokunaru]

Of course it is. I'm guessing they were stopped, and the people they took were saved, at least?

[Yuuri shakes his head.]

Living in a world with superheroes sounds like you end up seeing a lot of interesting things.

[It must be, if Jon's so casual while talking about these things.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon gives a weak chuckle. He's really bad at this secret identity stuff. ]

Yeah . . . It's always on TV so we get pretty much everything. And they give interviews sometimes, letting us know what went down.

[yokunaru]

[Almost as if Yuuri's picked up on the direction of Jon's thoughts, he leans on his hand looking thoughtful.]

I wonder what they think of it all. It's hard enough giving interviews of any kind without worrying about giving away too much personal information away.

[supersweet]

If they've been doing it for a long time . . . they're probably used to it.

[ It's second nature for people like Batman and Superman. Jon, however, only found out a year ago. ]

[yokunaru]

Guess so. [Jon has a point there. And besides, Yuuri figures these superheroes are probably a lot more put together than someone like he is.

They must be if they can balance their every day lives with running around and saving people.

As Yuuri's mind wanders a bit, he realizes there's something he's curious about.]

How have you been doing in the city? I know you have Miss Jones here, but... you didn't know her until she was assigned to you.

[Even if he's knowledgeable, Jon's still pretty young. Yuuri wonders how he's handling being on his own, essentially.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon bites into the food, thoughtful. He always has to pause to find the best answer without giving too much away. He's still new to lying, but he's getting better at it. ]

Yeah, it was a bit weird at first. But my dad's here. Well. An alternate version of my dad and mom before they were married n' stuff. So I spend most of my time with them.

[yokunaru]

Wow, really?[That makes Yuuri pause, brows raised in surprise.] I knew there were alternate versions of a few people around the city, but...

[ A few questions immediately pop into his head, but he figures that they might feel invasive if it's a sensitive topic. Yuuri thinks for a moment before settling on one that's a bit more neutral than the others.] What do you think of them?

[supersweet]

[ Jon leans back, rocking the chair slightly. ]

Think of them? — I guess . . . it's weird. To see my dad and he's not quite my dad. Or my mom doesn't bake anymore. They haven't had me yet so it's probably way weirder for them than it is for me.

But they feel the same. You can tell with some. The bad ones, they feel off. Not right.

[yokunaru]

At least there's that. [Yuuri presses a his pointer finger to the corner of his lips as he thinks.]

With alternate versions, there has to be something different, right? There are...these two other figure skaters I know from home. They were in that other portal universe with me before, and they're in Riverview, too. It sounds like they remember the same things I do, except for that other universe I was in before.

[supersweet]

[ Jon shrugs. ]

Of course. They're gonna have different experiences n' stuff. No one's exactly the same. They may remember the same stuff, but the way they feel about it may be new.

[yokunaru]

Still a little strange seeing the same faces and knowing they don't remember the same things, though. [He thinks he understands how Jon feels about his not-parents here in the city.]

Do you...think you'd want to live with them eventually?

[supersweet]

[ The chair stops rocking. Jon glances at the table steadfastly, not sure how to respond but not wanting to lie either. ]

It depends on them. I'm the person they don't remember. They shouldn't have to do things for me.

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri winces. Dealing with alternate versions of people you know and care about is definitely one of the most confusing and complicated things he's ever encountered.]

They might not know you now, but they will once you've spent some time with them. [He pauses.] Have they said anything to you?

[supersweet]

[ He blinks. ]

About what?