Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach

[mildwildchild]

Who: Flashstep and YOU
What: assorted shenanigans with the Flashbabes
Where: Pride HQ and all around Vista City
When: mid-late April-ish??
Warnings: probably some manpain


The world tour looms, all of Pride Records is feeling the strain, and Flashstep is certainly no exception. There are new song and dance routines to be memorized, public appearances to be made, and promotional stunts to be undertaken, in between which the boys have to wrangle with the burgeoning reality of their situation and maybe try to have some semblance of a social life.

Life is stressful for the band, but stable, maybe even predictable - at least, until Sora's unexpected firing.

[Individual prompts below!]

Comments

Wildcard after her supposed death.

[faithfulflame]

It's out and about around town that Rei Hino ends up running into someone she hadn't seen in a while. Someone who's...basically sitting alone in a TGI Fridays with an untouched platter of ribs. And someone who she'd very much like to speak to again.

Sliding into his booth, she pulls down her glasses and gives him a ghostly smile.

"Boo."

[mildwildchild]

He looks startled when the girl slips into the seat opposite him - little things like this seem to startle him a lot lately, like he's so zoned out he's just not aware of what's going on around him - and for a moment or two he doesn't recognize her. And when he does, well - his reaction is kind of embarrassing. For him, at least.

"I thought you were dead," he croaks. Is he tearing up? He's tearing up. It's been an emotional week, okay.

[faithfulflame]

Rei smiles gently, leaning down closer and keeping her voice low, warily letting her eyes flicker to the server that largely seems to be ignoring the two of them. Maybe it's just because he's such a mess he wasn't recognized, or maybe she just looks like an ordinary groupie. Either way, she reaches across and squeezes his hand.

"I'm not dead. Swear it. I'm...it's a long story, but I'm free from Virgo. Some people got me out. Friends from home."

[mildwildchild]

His gaze darts down to her hand for an instant, as though he's not really sure it's real, but after a moment he squeezes back. He's trembling a little and biting his lower lip to try and maintain his composure as he looks back up at her.

"I'm glad," he says, in a hoarse whisper. "I'm glad you're okay and you're - you're free."

There's a pause then, filled with the ambient noise of the restaurant, the clatter of dishes and too-loud conversations of people who are actually enjoying their lives instead of suffering from teen angst. "What - what about your. Your family."

Your band, he'd almost said, but he'd caught himself in time. She'd always thought of them more as her family, anyway. Jamie'd thought it was strange at first, but he understands now.

[faithfulflame]

She had seen the reports, that they'd all died in a fatal car crash. Ironic that it was supposedly a fire. She was certain she couldn't burn at this point. She leans in, still smiling.

"They're with me. We...got out. Blanche faked our deaths. My family's fine, we're working on a way to help get the rest of you out."

That much was true. For Yosuke's sake, she would get him clear too.

"I know we didn't talk much after the breakup, and then he got fired. I'm sorry about that."

[mildwildchild]

He shakes his head quickly. "No, it's okay, I know you probably had a lot going on." He gives her a watery attempt at a smile. "It's - it's good to see you."

Jamie goes silent again for a few moments, keeping a eye on their surroundings and trying to keep calm. He doesn't know how much the former Virgo musicians will have heard about anything now that they're out of the loop, and Sora was close with Luce and Pao-Lin and Ivan. They deserve to know.

"H-have you heard about, um...about Sora?" He's looking at a spot on the table near their hands, hoping Rei can't see how stupidly emotional he's getting again. "He um. He got fired."

[faithfulflame]

"I hadn't heard that, no," Rei says simply, offering a sympathetic look. She can feel it as well as see it. It's a huge deal for him, and that's obvious.

"I'm sorry. I know that's two gone now, or...are there more?"

[mildwildchild]

Jamie shakes his head. "No. Just them." Just them. As if their absence is no big deal.

"I think...you guys are lucky you got out when you did," he says. "Before they took any of you."

He falls silent for what feels like a small eternity as he slogs through things in his head, trying to decide what, or even if, he should tell her about what he knows. "They're still alive," he says finally, in a rough whisper. "Probably somewhere in HQ, being used for - for something."

[faithfulflame]

"It's not good, Jamie. I know a little bit about what's going on, and...look, it's bad. Blanche and Lesedi...they're going to hurt you guys. They're using you, and the people I'm with? They're here to help stop them...and take us home."

She just hopes you believe her, and reaches out to touch his hand gently.

"I know they're alive though. And we'll get them out too."

[mildwildchild]

Jamie appreciates the gesture, moving to hold her hand tentatively in his, as though he doesn't know if he should or not. There's a lot he could say in response to her words - about how he doesn't know where his home is or if he even has one, how afraid he is that he's just alone like he always thought he was, how he doesn't even know where Sora and Yosuke and the others are being kept or what might need to be done to free them - but most of it would probably just make him burst into tears, because it's been that kind of week.

He finally settles on, "It's - it's dangerous. Do they...those people you're with - do you think they can actually do it? Get everyone out?"

[faithfulflame]

She curls her fingers around his, squeezing tightly and not letting go. She understands, in some ways, knowing that there's more at play in her home than just being a girl from Tokyo. The horrors she's faced down, the terrible doom that clearly befell her in a past life, the act of dying...and remembering it from the other side of death, and that horrible loneliness that plagued her dreams.

"I think they can. Most of them aren't human...and all of us can do things that ordinary people can't." Her skin heats a little, fingertips just a touch warmer than normal.

"Including me, remember?"

[mildwildchild]

He looks down at their joined hands on the tabletop, eyes widening just a little as her fingers warm around his. He's reminded, just for moment or two, of Luci's combustible-hands trick.

He feels small and lost and powerless in the face of everything that's going on, but he swallows the lump in his throat and focuses on the solid warmth of her touch. "Is - I dunno, is there...anything I can do to help?"

[faithfulflame]

"Tell no-one I'm alive. That's a start. The fewer people who know, the safer we'll be," Rei responds quickly. She trusts him, but...only so far. And she'll take the offer at face value.

"Other than that, I know it'll sound off and a little crass but money is always a help. I stashed several thousand dollars away in cash before I left Virgo. I'm just...completely supporting five people. A few dollars goes a long way though. While we bide our time."