We'll meet in the stars (Chapter 12)
Nino slipped out of the ship as they landed and a small tired smile appeared on his face as he felt the warm sun on his face.
“What day is it?” he asked his silent companion who followed him slowly outside, sunglasses perched on his nose as he lifted an eyebrow.
“How should I know?” Jun asked, making Nino frown.
“Come on. You have set a date, haven’t you? At least to make sure that I won’t run into myself?”
“You’re right,” Jun agreed after a moment of silence with a small laugh at the back of the throat.
“So?”
“It’s April, year 2018. A few weeks from when you cancelled your contract,” he explained with a shrug. Nino frowned, wanting to ask how that would work, when he was on Earth again, living a normal life, but the thought made his head hurt.
Jun would know when to bring him back to try to get used to a normal life again, he hoped so at least.
“I should visit my mother,” he hummed. “She is going to get mad if I stay away for too long.”
“You call her.”
“Of course, I do,” Nino said as he rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t you?”
Jun shrugged. He supposed he would if they were that close. He hummed thoughtfully. One would think that families were close-knit if they lived so long together, but it was also hard to stay close to the same people for hundreds of years.
“We see each other each couple of years,” he said then.
“Knowing you it would be centuries for me,” Nino said with twitching lips. It seemed as if Jun didn’t care much about time, but it was okay for some, he supposed.
“So you want to visit her?”
“Yup, I’m going to give her a call,” Nino decided, pulling out his phone to do the call and talking with his mother for a bit.
Jun stepped a few feet away as he stared at the blossoms around them. It fit Jun to be in the middle of a park, Nino supposed as he ended the call with a smile.
“She said she would be happy to meet us around four.”
“Us?”
“Yup, I told her I’m bringing a friend. She will make us dinner.”
“Huh…” Jun said but nodded after a while.
“You will like her food. She is the best chef I know,” he grinned.
“How many chefs do you know?”
“A few. My father is a teacher in a culinary school. But my mom is the best,” Nino said as he stuck out his tongue. “Now come on. I know you want to walk around, you are a strange man that actually likes to take strolls. We can buy my favourite coffee beans, and I will bring my coffee maker. I miss delicious coffee, and you will like it, I promise.”
“You are quite chipper today,” Jun realised with a frown. He was not used to that.
Nino shrugged. He knew that it was strange, but he had cried most of the night with Jun trying his very best to get him to smile again, and now that he knew that he was going to meet his mother he felt strangely better. The long crying session probably had helped, as well.
“Does that mean you are not mad at me anymore?”
“The play was good. And I wanted to watch a good play,” Nino said carefully as a shudder went over his back. “Still, to know that those people died…”
“But you already knew, right?”
“Yes,” Nino breathed. “It’s strange, right? I knew from classes at school. But it didn’t seem to happen to real people. Now they are.”
Jun hummed a little as he walked beside him, looking at the nature around them, which Nino copied. Being with Jun had made him wonder about nature more than before.
“You must think humans as being very insignificant in this world, right?” Nino asked. “Not the human race maybe but individuals?”
“No,” Jun said with a smile as he ruffled his hair with his fingertips. “Each individual has a part in the goings of the universe. You might see yourself as insignificant, but I don’t. Everybody has the potential to change the course of life. If anything, this work has taught me how important each person is. But what I’ve also learnt: Most people who do big things think they are unimportant.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes, because in their life they are just as important as anybody else around them. There are of course exceptions, but people who think they are born for big things are often not good people.”
Nino hummed with a small frown on his face as he muddled that over. That seemed about right from what he remembered from his History classes. “I see.”
Nino stared to the ground as he led Jun through the park in slow steps, before staring at the other again with a small frown. “Do you mourn the deaths?”
“Yes,” Jun said softly. “I always do. I’m not as emotional as you clearly, but of course, it’s not easy to know that they will die. But it’s also not in my hands to intervene and try to stop or start things. I’m an observer.”
“Are there people who intervene?”
“Yes,” Jun said with a small laugh. “Of course. We know the future, the past, and the present. Time has no meaning to my kin, and some are trained to see the fix points more clearly than others and know what to do to make sure that they happen.”
“What will happen if they don’t?”
“The world, as you know, it will cease to exist. Time is a very fragile thing while at the same time, very hard to stop. It always finds a way, and some are more dangerous than others.”
“Huh,” Nino mumbled, deciding that he really should stop thinking about how this all worked. It made his head hurt.
“Let’s go buy the coffee and I want to get some things from my flat before we go to my mom’s place. I should also check my mail,” he said with a frown. “Not that I missed any bills. Can’t you do something about that?”
“Don’t you get them on your phone?”
“Not all come in by e-mail,” Nino said with a small sigh. He dragged Jun to the little store he frequented for the coffee beans chatting with the older woman operating the register as he paid for the beans and then brought Jun to his apartment.
He groaned as he saw all the mail stuffed in his box, luckily it was mostly ads that he chucked into the bin while he took the others upstairs to his room. He scanned them, being happy that he didn’t miss anything and rubbed his face.
“If it’s so much I can bring you back here once a week?”
“Sounds good,” Nino agreed with a small smile.
“At least until we get tired of each other.”
Nino nodded again, nibbling at his lower lip. He honestly was already tired of waking up somewhere else each day, but still, going home was not an option just yet. There was a small chance that Ohno was somewhere in the universe as well, and he wanted to meet him. To at least ask him why he hadn’t come.
“Your apartment is tiny,” Jun observed as he looked around.
“I know. But the salary is not that much at the coffee shop. I liked it, but still.”
“Huh,” Jun mumbled deciding that he would make sure that Nino had enough money to live in a bigger and better complex. He didn’t care for money that much. He had more than enough, and it wouldn’t hurt to transfer a bit of it to Nino’s account.
He sighed as he ruffled his hair. He had gotten to come to like the boy he travelled with. He was a good, even if snarky, companion and he was surprisingly easy to get along with.
Nino looked up as he tilted his head with a smile. “I’m ready. We can leave. Do you mind if we visit the coffee shop for a bit, before going to my mom?”
“No today’s to do what you want,” Jun sighed. “As an apology for the other day.”
Nino grinned wickedly at those words as he nodded and made sure that everything was in a bag, that he handed to Jun who pointed at it with a console and it disappeared. Nino had already learnt that Jun had many appliances to fiddle with and this one would send everything it pointed to to the ship. It was convenient.
-
“Hey, Nino, looking good,” Yoko greeted him in surprise.
Nino moved his shoulders slightly as he greeted the rest of the workers he had shared space with for a long time. He sat down at the counter grinning when the other already made his customary coffee and motioned for him to do a second one for Jun.
“Life’s good, I suppose.”
“Your man had been here a few days ago,” Yoko hummed, making Nino choke slightly.
“What?”
“That guy? That stood you up? He came here, asking for you. He said he lost his phone. What a lousy excuse, right? Of course, I told him to shove it and leave,” he said, and Nino blinked his lips slightly open as he took the cup in his hands.
“Ne Yoko? Can you do me a favour? If you see him, tell him my contact details, yes?” he asked after a while. The chance was slim, but maybe he was lucky.
Jun lifted an eyebrow as he took the offered cup when Yoko’s mouth fell open. “What?” he hissed. “Are you out of your mind? After all that he did?”
“Maybe there is more to that story than he told you,” Nino said with a small smile. “I’m sorry for all the troubles I always put you through, though.”
“Sure, if you say so,” Yoko said after a while. They talked until the afternoon rush came in and Nino slipped from his chair, taking Jun’s hand in his own.
“We should leave. You don’t want to be here when it’s busy, and mom’s waiting,” Nino mumbled as he dragged him out of the shop to go to his mother. The evening was lovely, and Nino felt really good as he finally was back on the ship with Jun and his turtle.
“What day is it?” he asked his silent companion who followed him slowly outside, sunglasses perched on his nose as he lifted an eyebrow.
“How should I know?” Jun asked, making Nino frown.
“Come on. You have set a date, haven’t you? At least to make sure that I won’t run into myself?”
“You’re right,” Jun agreed after a moment of silence with a small laugh at the back of the throat.
“So?”
“It’s April, year 2018. A few weeks from when you cancelled your contract,” he explained with a shrug. Nino frowned, wanting to ask how that would work, when he was on Earth again, living a normal life, but the thought made his head hurt.
Jun would know when to bring him back to try to get used to a normal life again, he hoped so at least.
“I should visit my mother,” he hummed. “She is going to get mad if I stay away for too long.”
“You call her.”
“Of course, I do,” Nino said as he rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t you?”
Jun shrugged. He supposed he would if they were that close. He hummed thoughtfully. One would think that families were close-knit if they lived so long together, but it was also hard to stay close to the same people for hundreds of years.
“We see each other each couple of years,” he said then.
“Knowing you it would be centuries for me,” Nino said with twitching lips. It seemed as if Jun didn’t care much about time, but it was okay for some, he supposed.
“So you want to visit her?”
“Yup, I’m going to give her a call,” Nino decided, pulling out his phone to do the call and talking with his mother for a bit.
Jun stepped a few feet away as he stared at the blossoms around them. It fit Jun to be in the middle of a park, Nino supposed as he ended the call with a smile.
“She said she would be happy to meet us around four.”
“Us?”
“Yup, I told her I’m bringing a friend. She will make us dinner.”
“Huh…” Jun said but nodded after a while.
“You will like her food. She is the best chef I know,” he grinned.
“How many chefs do you know?”
“A few. My father is a teacher in a culinary school. But my mom is the best,” Nino said as he stuck out his tongue. “Now come on. I know you want to walk around, you are a strange man that actually likes to take strolls. We can buy my favourite coffee beans, and I will bring my coffee maker. I miss delicious coffee, and you will like it, I promise.”
“You are quite chipper today,” Jun realised with a frown. He was not used to that.
Nino shrugged. He knew that it was strange, but he had cried most of the night with Jun trying his very best to get him to smile again, and now that he knew that he was going to meet his mother he felt strangely better. The long crying session probably had helped, as well.
“Does that mean you are not mad at me anymore?”
“The play was good. And I wanted to watch a good play,” Nino said carefully as a shudder went over his back. “Still, to know that those people died…”
“But you already knew, right?”
“Yes,” Nino breathed. “It’s strange, right? I knew from classes at school. But it didn’t seem to happen to real people. Now they are.”
Jun hummed a little as he walked beside him, looking at the nature around them, which Nino copied. Being with Jun had made him wonder about nature more than before.
“You must think humans as being very insignificant in this world, right?” Nino asked. “Not the human race maybe but individuals?”
“No,” Jun said with a smile as he ruffled his hair with his fingertips. “Each individual has a part in the goings of the universe. You might see yourself as insignificant, but I don’t. Everybody has the potential to change the course of life. If anything, this work has taught me how important each person is. But what I’ve also learnt: Most people who do big things think they are unimportant.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes, because in their life they are just as important as anybody else around them. There are of course exceptions, but people who think they are born for big things are often not good people.”
Nino hummed with a small frown on his face as he muddled that over. That seemed about right from what he remembered from his History classes. “I see.”
Nino stared to the ground as he led Jun through the park in slow steps, before staring at the other again with a small frown. “Do you mourn the deaths?”
“Yes,” Jun said softly. “I always do. I’m not as emotional as you clearly, but of course, it’s not easy to know that they will die. But it’s also not in my hands to intervene and try to stop or start things. I’m an observer.”
“Are there people who intervene?”
“Yes,” Jun said with a small laugh. “Of course. We know the future, the past, and the present. Time has no meaning to my kin, and some are trained to see the fix points more clearly than others and know what to do to make sure that they happen.”
“What will happen if they don’t?”
“The world, as you know, it will cease to exist. Time is a very fragile thing while at the same time, very hard to stop. It always finds a way, and some are more dangerous than others.”
“Huh,” Nino mumbled, deciding that he really should stop thinking about how this all worked. It made his head hurt.
“Let’s go buy the coffee and I want to get some things from my flat before we go to my mom’s place. I should also check my mail,” he said with a frown. “Not that I missed any bills. Can’t you do something about that?”
“Don’t you get them on your phone?”
“Not all come in by e-mail,” Nino said with a small sigh. He dragged Jun to the little store he frequented for the coffee beans chatting with the older woman operating the register as he paid for the beans and then brought Jun to his apartment.
He groaned as he saw all the mail stuffed in his box, luckily it was mostly ads that he chucked into the bin while he took the others upstairs to his room. He scanned them, being happy that he didn’t miss anything and rubbed his face.
“If it’s so much I can bring you back here once a week?”
“Sounds good,” Nino agreed with a small smile.
“At least until we get tired of each other.”
Nino nodded again, nibbling at his lower lip. He honestly was already tired of waking up somewhere else each day, but still, going home was not an option just yet. There was a small chance that Ohno was somewhere in the universe as well, and he wanted to meet him. To at least ask him why he hadn’t come.
“Your apartment is tiny,” Jun observed as he looked around.
“I know. But the salary is not that much at the coffee shop. I liked it, but still.”
“Huh,” Jun mumbled deciding that he would make sure that Nino had enough money to live in a bigger and better complex. He didn’t care for money that much. He had more than enough, and it wouldn’t hurt to transfer a bit of it to Nino’s account.
He sighed as he ruffled his hair. He had gotten to come to like the boy he travelled with. He was a good, even if snarky, companion and he was surprisingly easy to get along with.
Nino looked up as he tilted his head with a smile. “I’m ready. We can leave. Do you mind if we visit the coffee shop for a bit, before going to my mom?”
“No today’s to do what you want,” Jun sighed. “As an apology for the other day.”
Nino grinned wickedly at those words as he nodded and made sure that everything was in a bag, that he handed to Jun who pointed at it with a console and it disappeared. Nino had already learnt that Jun had many appliances to fiddle with and this one would send everything it pointed to to the ship. It was convenient.
-
“Hey, Nino, looking good,” Yoko greeted him in surprise.
Nino moved his shoulders slightly as he greeted the rest of the workers he had shared space with for a long time. He sat down at the counter grinning when the other already made his customary coffee and motioned for him to do a second one for Jun.
“Life’s good, I suppose.”
“Your man had been here a few days ago,” Yoko hummed, making Nino choke slightly.
“What?”
“That guy? That stood you up? He came here, asking for you. He said he lost his phone. What a lousy excuse, right? Of course, I told him to shove it and leave,” he said, and Nino blinked his lips slightly open as he took the cup in his hands.
“Ne Yoko? Can you do me a favour? If you see him, tell him my contact details, yes?” he asked after a while. The chance was slim, but maybe he was lucky.
Jun lifted an eyebrow as he took the offered cup when Yoko’s mouth fell open. “What?” he hissed. “Are you out of your mind? After all that he did?”
“Maybe there is more to that story than he told you,” Nino said with a small smile. “I’m sorry for all the troubles I always put you through, though.”
“Sure, if you say so,” Yoko said after a while. They talked until the afternoon rush came in and Nino slipped from his chair, taking Jun’s hand in his own.
“We should leave. You don’t want to be here when it’s busy, and mom’s waiting,” Nino mumbled as he dragged him out of the shop to go to his mother. The evening was lovely, and Nino felt really good as he finally was back on the ship with Jun and his turtle.