voidtreckerexpress | but not yet, 'cause it's only begun; [OPEN]

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but not yet, 'cause it's only begun; [OPEN]

Who: Ken and OPEN!
Where: Various Cars
When: Orchestra 3-5
What: Ken is getting some practice and cooking in.
Warnings: Mmmnope!

Training Gym

Most people who come across Ken in the training gym have probably seen or heard him practicing with his Persona. Not today. Today he's even got the spear set to the side and is punching a dummy as hard as he can.

He kicks it a few times for good measure, but it's pretty clear from his stance that he has no real idea how to punch properly. His knuckles are getting redder and redder the more he punches, too.

Garden

The garden is full of rocks and thankfully not the flammable things that would normally be in a garden. Ken sits near one of the larger stones, hands held out. Occasionally a flame appears on the surface of the stone before he closes his hands,s puffing out the flame with nary a wisp of smoke. He's been sitting there for a while, just doing the same thing over and over again, and is likely to continue if uninterrupted.

Kitchen

The kitchen is always busy, but Ken tries to avoid the morning rush by slipping in a bit later. It's easy enough to find him in there, though - whether it's waiting for a fresh pot of coffee or working on his usual stew. This month he's got octopus to work with, so he's been cutting it into chunks and seeing if that'll work in stew. He's also got a stew without meat going, and containers to put them in so they can be stored in the refrigerator.

Wildcard

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.. It's only on the train that you can see people setting things on fire and think 'ah, yes, this is totally normal', huh.

Though with Madoka being Madoka, she does worry a little when she enters the carriage, only to spot the fire.. After all, it wouldn't even be the first time someone set something in the train on fire. Thankfully she realises that it's very much a controlled fire with the way Ken is quickly putting it out.

But.. then he summons the flame again. Without a match or anything either!

Madoka slowly approaches, as if she's afraid he'll set something else on fire if she snaps him out of his concentration too rashly.

".. Ken-kun?" She softly and carefully calls out.

He looks up at Madoka and nods, sitting back after he puts out his latest attempt. "... I've been trying to learn magic from Lea. I... can only use my Persona with my evoker, so I want to be able to defend myself long-range if something happens where we don't have our stuff again."

"You can use magic..?"

Granted, she's seen him fight before, but it feels like there's something extra special about using magic so directly. It feels.. well, for the lack of a better term, magical. Somehow even more so when someone relatively close to her own age like Ken is using it, compared to some random adult.

The girl moves to sit down with him, though she's keeping a slight distance, not wanting to accidentally touch the fire if he were to summon it again.

"Isn't that hard..?"

"... I'm just learning. I still can't make very much of it, but that's okay. But... yeah, it is. I've been getting headaches if I push myself too much with it..."

He's been trying to not do that, but it's hard when there's still so much he feels he has to catch up on.

Honestly, even with all these caveats - that he gets headaches if he tries too hard, and that he's only just getting started with it - Madoka still looks so impressed with everything he's saying. She's practically hanging off his lips, staring at him in awe.

"That's so amazing, Ken-kun.." Even attempting to learn something like that seems so amazing to her! "I don't think just anyone could learn it like that. Even if they'd work really hard."

(At least, they couldn't where Madoka comes from, which is the baseline she's going off.)

"There must be something really special about you."

"It wasn't - well, maybe because of my Persona it was easier, but I bet you could learn it, too. You could always ask Lea if he would teach you."

He's not sure how it works, but that seems to be the most sensible explanation he can come up with. "... It's not like you're not special, too." There really is something oddly charming about Madoka. He'd call it magical, but he knows better.

"Huh?"

Apparently she didn't see that compliment coming. Madoka was glancing at the spot where the fire had been only moments ago, but now she's raising her gaze towards Ken, looking totally startled by suddenly hearing that from the other.

"M.. Me? U-Um, no way..! I'm just about as normal as can be, you know..?" Even among her friends from back home, she definitely was the normal one. Or it always felt that way to her. "I've never been able to use any kind of magic before.. That's something I always just saw in stories."

"... I don't think 'normal' really matters in a place like this. This place is like what you'd hear about in stories. You could learn that sort of thing if you wanted to. I think you could, at least."

He's still not sure that Madoka's normal after being here for a while. Normal people in most universes don't know about other worlds. He's pretty sure that everyone isn't normal anymore after being here.

... It's not like they haven't seen things on missions that are pretty scarring, which pushes them out of 'normal' territory anyway.

He's right, Madoka thinks. Maybe none of them could be called normal anymore after ending up in this place. Not when they've been through stuff that people back home would never believe it they heard about any of it.

.. and yet, she seems to hesitate. Or something about her does, at the very least. Perhaps it's just her negative self image refusing to let her believe that she could ever be anything more, and the girl lightly bites her lower lip.

"But do you really not need some sort of talent for magic..? If it was something anyone could do, then a whole lot of people would be using magic, right..?"

"... I don't think so? I think it might just be easier for some people. But... you're not afraid to work hard. And besides, I think a lot of people where Lea and Vexen and the others are from can use magic"

As far as he knows, at least? He hasn't heard of anyone who can't, but he's aware that he's talked to a somewhat odd set of people from there that things have Happened to.

"Hmm.."

Madoka softly hums, and then nods her head. It doesn't sound too strange, the idea that maybe there are worlds out there where everyone can use magic. She's heard about a lot of strange worlds, after all, after being here for so long.

But maybe that means you'd have to come from a world like that to use magic? But Ken can use it..

It sure is a headscratcher, but she says the best thing she can right now to compromise: "I-- I'll ask them about it sometime."

Even if she's a little nervous about it. She sure doesn't want to put anyone in the awkward situation of having to tell her she doesn't have any talent at all..

So Madoka shakes her head, trying to take her own mind off it.

"And.. how about those powers we got in Diagad, Ken-kun..? Some people said they can use those powers again now.."

"Good. ... And you should be able to defend yourself a little if you have to." He's... been more worried about that than he wants to admit. Even if she has other people around her... that's not always reliable.

He frowns and shakes his head. "I don't think I kept mine. Even if I did... I can't use them. It let me digivolve a digimon, which comes from a specific world. I kind of swapped out for a friend's power, and he's not here anymore so neither is his digimon..."

... He really misses the other Ken a lot. There was an understanding there.

A digimon, he says, and that immediately makes Madoka realise who Ken swapped powers with. It's got to be either Takato or the other Ken, right? Neither of them are here anymore, and they both had those odd but cute creatures..

".. I'm sorry." Since she figures it might be hard on him to see other people use those powers, yet him not having anything like that. At least Ken has his own sort of power, but then again, he hasn't always seemed 100% comfortable with that one from Madoka's point of view either..

"Honestly, I'm not sure I can still use mine either.." Maybe that helps, she thinks..? "I haven't really tried yet since I'm not even sure where to start."

"I still have my Persona. ... She's always with me, even if I can't always summon her." He'd like to summon her without his Evoker, but he just... can't.

"Um... what was your power there? Maybe you still have it but don't realize it?"

"Um, I could make.. shields.."

It's hard to put it into words, especially since she never really put it in words back then either, back when they had all of those fake memories. So rather than trying to further describe it with words she can't find, Madoka instead gestures around her, almost drawing the shape of some sort of bubble around her.

Force fields. She's describing force-field-like shields, but is mimicking what it'd look like, since she can't find those words.

"So.. if I could do that again, um.. It might be helpful on missions, I thought.."

"Like an orb around you... that's really useful. But the way to figure it out would be something like throwing things at you, so... I don't really want to do that."

She's a... well, she's a something. Something like a friend, but also not? He's not sure.

"I don't know... how did you make the shields there? Do you remember?" It's been a while, and his false life memories are getting fuzzy. Hers might be, too.

Thanks Ken, for caring enough to not throw things at her. Madoka genuinely does appreciate that he doesn't want to do that, and it makes her smile - though a little awkwardly, considering she's still thinking about the powers, and about the question he's asking her here.

"Not really.."

It's true. It's been a while since then, and even so, her fake life memories feel.. very hazy to begin with.

"I think the first time I did it in that world.. or, um, in what I 'remembered', anyway.. I did it because I was really freaked out and worried about the safety of someone I cared about.."

"... Maybe that just has to happen again. And knowing this place, it probably will. You'll figure it out."

He believes in her, for what that's worth. Which is a lot - he doesn't believe in most people, but there's just something about Madoka that he can't quite shake. She doesn't fit his normal pessimism. He still can't quite figure it out.

"Oh.. um, thank you for saying that.."

It's a genuine kind of gratitude. Because Madoka can kind of read into those words that he's saying that he trusts her, or at least that he thinks well enough of her to think that Madoka could figure it out again in time.

Which is a lot more faith in Madoka than Madoka herself has.

"T-Though it'd be nice if it could happen outside of a dangerous situation.. But maybe that's what it'll take." Even if it's not exactly ideal.

"Maybe. ... Let's just try to make it not needed." He'll protect her if she needs it. He'll try, at least.

He looks down at the rock in front of him again and nods firmly, as if coming to a decision. "I'm sure we can make sure that you don't need to. Or do our best to."

... Ah. Is he... is this a friendship? This feeling? ... He's not sure. It's been a long time since he's had a friend and not some sort of immediately adopted family member.

There's that 'we'.

Don't think Madoka doesn't notice that 'we', Ken. She totally does. It makes her look over at him. And she starts to smile. First shyly, but then slowly a bit more widely, and then she repeats: "Thank you."

She slowly reaches out, with both hands, just to grab one of his hands and hold it gently between two of her own.

"I.. um, I know this doesn't come super easily to you.." He did seem a little grumpy at first, after all. Maybe not specifically towards her, but more towards the world as a whole. "But I know you've been really kind to me, and you've really been making an effort to be nice and help me out.. I really appreciate that, you know?"

He doesn't move away, though he does twitch briefly. Touch is still something he's not the best at with most people.

"I... um. Well. You're a... good person. Even if you're kind of..." How can he say this without being accidentally insulting?

"You're a lot different than me. B... but different isn't bad... it doesn't have to be, at least." He keeps his breathing calm, fingers curling slightly around Madoka's own. "... This sort of thing isn't easy for me at all though, you're right..."

".. it's okay. I know we're different!"

It's almost as if she can sense his intentions behind it - or at the very least, that he's trying really hard to not make her feel bad as he tries to put it into words. It's why Madoka so explicitly replies with that. To show to him that she understands, and that she doesn't feel bad about it.

It's not a.. bad kind of different, after all. Just like Ken is saying.

And while she does keep on holding his hand for a moment longer, then she lets go of it, not wanting to make things too awkward. Especially with that little twitch she felt.

"But there's a whole lot of people here on the train who are different from me.. A-And I'm sure there's a whole lot of people here who are different than you too."

There's such a wide variety of people on the train, after all.

"Yeah, there are. And... we're all just trying to get along together, right?" It's not like it's easy to live in close quarters with other people. Sometimes it's all he can do to keep calm, but he's gotten through it so far.

And he's gotten family out of it, too. He gives her the slightest of smiles. "We're... doing our best, anyway."

Seto, as a loyal orange member who does his chores, is slowly adjusting to cooking octopus. He's learned all the basic preparations and some new ones. They're edible. It'll have to do.

He pauses when he spots Ken hard at work. "You're that interested in octopus? We're even having trouble getting all the orange members on board."

While it's true that he doesn't have to prep meals, he doesn't mind it. And there's no sense in someone staying out of the kitchen if they know how to make food.

He smiles a little bit at Seto. "Not... really. But I know how to soften it up, it's pretty easy. And there's no sense in not using it. We'll just end up with it left over if we don't."

"Makes sense. I'll get to work on seasoning."

Seto gathers up what little they have of spices. He seems to know his way around this part of the kitchen, at least.

"Somehow, I have to make this into a birthday dinner. Doesn't have to be exquisite-looking, but the taste needs to be there. Could you taste it for me once I've prepped something?"

"I... sure. Whose birthday is it?" He tilts his head curiously at his brother. He hasn't really bothered keeping track of months on his own...

... So it's definitely not his. Maybe... "If you're trying to cook it, is it Yugi's?" That'd make sense. Either him or Siebren, at least.

"It's Jonouchi's," Seto admits with an awkward chuckle. He's getting better at the food prep as he goes.

"Jonouchi is Yugi's best friend and a strong duelist. We never got along in our home worlds...but we're both different these days. And I wanted to thank him for what he's done for me."

"... That's really sweet, Seto." He smiles a little bit. "Maybe I should meet him. I'm always looking for new people to play with."

Sure, he's cooled it a little on the Duel Monsters a bit since he lost his 'rival', but it's still fun to play. He doesn't really want to bother people about playing, though.

"Jonouchi doesn't play the game so much anymore," Seto shakes his head. "It's worth asking, he might come out of retirement for you. But the game has more serious connotations for him than most. The monsters were based on true stories and dark games from the past, and he has more of a connection to all of that than most of us."

He thinks a moment and smiles as he rolls his first few pieces. "But I'm sure he'd play another type of game with you. A board game, or a video game."

"... Oh. Maybe not, then." He's not a dick - he doesn't want to bring up traumatic memories for no good reason. "Other games might be fun, though. I keep getting stuck in that fantasy game with the headsets. I think it's really more balanced if there's more than one person."

"Oh, yeah, that one. Soloing that's almost impossible without a terrible, fun-sucking grind."

Which irks Seto, because he has some fondness for solo games even now! But:

"I'll play with you if he doesn't. But if I'm involved, he might join just to outdo me."

"You'd think they'd have it be more balanced, but I guess it might be trying to encourage people to get along."

He can't help a small smirk at that. "Like anyone can outdo you, Seto. You're really smart."

Ken moves the octopus over towards Seto so he can season it and goes to start cutting up some vegetables.

"Jonouchi's playstyle is all about gambling. He takes big risks for a chance at a big reward, and...sometimes he hits."

The meal is coming along nicely, at least.

"He's finally an adult, so I thought I'd give him something nice. For once."

"Gambling, huh... not really my style at all, but I guess it's impressive if it works."

He prefers to not gamble on things outside of combat It's not worth the risk, and he only gambles in a fight if he's pretty sure eh can pull it off.

That's nice of you to do, Seto. I'm proud of you." It might be small progress, but it's progress nonetheless.

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but not yet, 'cause it's only begun; [OPEN]

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