If Fate Were Real... (Open)

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Phoenix stared up through his dark sunglasses at the building before him, wondering how and why the trail of green smoke he had been following around downtown for the past several minutes had led him here. He was running high on a recent hit, but he could still tell that his hallucinations were getting weaker, even if it was very gradual, and it terrified him. What was he going to do if they stopped completely?

Well, he had told Oriel that he could be his drug, but it really wasn't the same thing...

Nevertheless, this building, the Globe Theater, had caught his attention. It wasn't a really impressive place, but it was nice enough, and the fact that there was an actual theater in town surprised the drama newb. He even risked a glance inside to see a tall, thin, nerdy-looking guy chasing after what looked like a ferret (or maybe it was Phen's hallucinations).

There was a help wanted sign outside. Phen vaguely wondered what kind of help was wanted, and if it paid well.

Then he shook his head and laughed a bit, beginning to turn away. Yeah, right, like he would ever get any sort of job.

Without looking where he was going, he ran smack-dab into someone passing by, nearly knocking his weak body off his feet and setting his temper ablaze. "Watch where you're going!" he snapped at whoever it was, adjusting his sunglasses to get a squinty-eyed peek at the person.

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Junpei was on his way to the skate-park again. He had started making it a habit to go there after class when there weren't club activities and skate around until Yue got done with her afternoon things. Really, he was so impressed watching her work so hard at everything she did, it motivated Junpei to be more active and outgoing and to work harder on the things he did.

Well, it didn't really help his grades, but at least he was succeeding in other areas! Whoo!

Junpei was usually pretty careful when he skated through town, but for some reason, he had taken his eyes off the sidewalk for just a moment to look at something pretty he saw in the window across the street and then WHAM!

The Asian skater had barely a moment to react when he was suddenly rammed into from the side by a person exiting the building, which knocked Junpei right off the skateboard with a yelp and into the nearby trashcan. And yes, I mean into the trash can, head first, feet up.

How embarrassing! Though Junpei's primary concern was getting himself out of there somehow.

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What the...

Where had the guy gone? It took Phoenix several moments to realize the person that had so rudely and roughly crashed into him was now face-first in a nearby trashcan. The Korean stared at the guy for a minute before breaking out into cackling laughter.

The guy deserved it! He saw now that he had been riding a skateboard along the sidewalk, and Phen kicked at it as he went over to get a better look. "Might teach ya t' look where you're goin', huh?" he growled, grabbing the back of Junpei's collar and tugging him out of the bin. It took some effort, considering Phen wasn't exactly strong, but he managed to wrangle him out and get a look at his hitter.

.... Awwww. Of course it had to be that adorably naive Japanese exchange student Phoenix had seen with that weird tiny terror chick around campus. As much as Phoenix wanted to be angry... He couldn't verbally abuse someone who probably wouldn't understand his snarkiness anyway.

Still, it didn't mean he was going to be particularly nice. That wasn't in his nature, either. "Ya got some shit in your hair," he grumbled, pointing to the top of Junpei's head, where who-knew-what was sticking to his ruffled 'do. Of course, the little pixies dancing alongside them were probably just his imagination...

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Having fallen upside down in a trashcan was not the worst thing that could have happened for the skater who, for the one time he'd done in his life of skating, was not wearing a helmet. He could have run into a pole, or onto the street and had gotten his head run over by a car.

Nope, the trashcan was not the worst thing that could have happened.

But luckily, the person he had run into was kind enough to help him out of the trashcan, and Junpei was immediately appreciative of this kind gentleman. As soon as he was right-side up, Junpei lowered his head in apology. "I am sorry! Thank you berry mach for helping."

Junpei might have seen this person around campus before, but he wasn't too familiar with who he was. He definitely didn't know he was a druggie or half as much as the asshole most people already knew him to be.

"Ah! Thank you!" Junpei exclaimed. How nice this person was, to not only help Junpei out of the trashcan, but also to dust his hair off for him of the whatever-it-was that had stuck to it.

Junpei had to repay him somehow.

"Can I do thing to exchange for helping?" He asked eagerly and innocently with his bright black eyes.

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As soon as Phoenix dragged the guy out of the trash can, he was already bowing and apologizing and thanking him, which made Phen blink rapidly several times. But what could he say? He didn't want to be cruel when he was being so incredibly apologetic and fuckin' adorable. Phen didn't even know he could FIND people adorable.

"Just... Watch where you're goin' next time, okay?" he grumbled, dropping his gaze to the ground. He was pretty sure he could feel a bruise already forming on his chest where he had been hit; he bruised so easily, it was ridiculous. He would have to explain that to Oriel...

It was obvious Junpei didn't know much about him, otherwise Phoenix was pretty sure the harmless guy would be running in panic, or something. Wouldn't he? Whatever, but for some reason Phen was... Glad that someone didn't have pre-conceived notions about him. It was sort of... Refreshing. For all Junpei knew, he was the nicest guy in the world.

Well, despite his not-so-polite words. Although in all honesty, this was about as polite as he got.

He brushed aside the pixies and the... Whatever was in Junpei's hair, chuckling a bit as the little creatures seemed to tumble off his head and disappear. "Don't mention it," he mumbled gruffly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Er...." He blinked again. Had anyone ever been in his debt, like... Ever? He almost turned Jun down, saying it wasn't necessary, but he was looking at him with such an eager, innocent expression that Phoenix couldn't say no. "Sure," he replied slowly, trying to think of something the boy could do for him. He didn't particularly enjoy eating, so asking the guy to buy him lunch would be sort of pointless. "You can, uh... Buy me a new sketchbook?" he asked; it was the first thing that had come to mind, since his current one was getting pretty full. "I mean, unless you're as broke as I am..." he mumbled.

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"Hai!" he exclaimed with fervor. Junpei would definitely watch himself next time, in fact, he might even call of skateboarding in the street altogether after this incident, restricting himself only to the skate-park. Well, while he thought it, Junpei knew that he probably wouldn't, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't try to be a better, more courteous skater.

But Junpei was just glad that this person he had run into was such a reasonable person and not one of those scary violent types he always heard about in stories about America. There were always tales circulating around the school and in the community and his family about how America was such a dangerous place, that everybody carried guns, and people were found dead in the streets all the time, especially in the biggest cities. While Junpei knew that Pilot Ridge was far from a large city, there was still that small voice of caution whispering in the back of his mind.

And luckily, this person would allow Junpei to repay his kindness. Junpei beamed when Phen agreed and mentioned for Junpei to buy him a sketchbook. As luck would have it, Junpei had been here long enough to know that there was an art store somewhere nearby where he could buy art supplies. He was already looking up the store on his smartphone when Phen spoke again.

"Eh? What is broke? Arm? Leg? Then, I can take to hospital too!" Junpei wore a terribly worried expression as he spoke, completely ashamed at the fact that his collision with this boy had caused him harm enough to warrant a hospital visit. "Right now, before hurt is worse."

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Hah. Ahahah. Haha. Oh, if only Phoenix knew what Junpei was thinking... While it was true he wasn't a particularly violent individual (usually, when he wasn't tripping), the idea that he was a 'reasonable person' would have had him bent over in laughter for a very long time. He had known some of these 'scary violent types' when he was younger, had even considered himself... Not necessarily friends, but allies, sometimes, until they ended up stabbing him in the back like he should have known they would. Which was why he tried his best not to do the same to others, why he pushed most of them away before they could get close...

Mehh. Anyway.

Why he was sticking around and letting this guy repay him for his 'kindness', he wasn't sure, but hey, if he could get a sketchbook out of the deal, it'd be worth it. Just have him buy it and then be on his way, right? He wasn't going to make any sort of relationship with this guy, nope. He blinked as Junpei pulled out his phone and did who-knew-what, blearily pressing a hand against his face as a wave of colors crossed his vision. He was still very high on dust.

"Wha... Oh, God, no," he snorted a laugh, unable to help himself at Jun's worried look. "No, broke is... It's an expression for when y'don't have any money," he explained slowly, trying to fight past the hallucinations. "I ain't broke. I mean, my body ain't broke. I don't have money, though." Ah, jeeze, this guy... He was so terribly naive. Though, he supposed he would be the same if he went to, say, Korea. "How long've ya been in the States?" he had to ask, squinting as he turned to walk again, unable to keep his twitchy self still. "And while we're askin' questions, what's your name, anyway?" He thought it started with a J, but he couldn't be sure.

Not that it really mattered. He didn't even know why he asked.

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And that was the wonder that was Junpei, the boy had the capability of finding good in anybody, even someone like Phoenix Tang, as he had the optimistic view of giving people the benefit of the doubt, even when they seemed like scary individuals. Junpei was sure that even if he had known if Phen was not a particularly "good" person, he would have treated him amiably, though because of his ignorance, Junpei was already seeing this to be some sort of divine cosmic meeting for the two of them to become friends.

Because karma was a thing and coincidences didn't just happen for no reason.

Having found the art supply store on his phone's GPS in an instant, Junpei and Phen started off as they conversed over the meaning of the term "broke". "You are…not hurt?" English was so confusing! Why didn't he just say straight out that he didn't have money? "I understand. Do not worry. I have money." And a lot of it too.

Junpei had to think about Phen's questions for a moment before answering. "I come to America in July." So it had been a few months already. Though his smile broadened to the greatest heights when Phen asked for his name. "My name is Junpei. It is nice meeting you!" And he stopped to reach out his hand to Phen, already certain that the two of them could become great friends. "What is your name?" The almost immediately after, "What is your power?"

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Oh, if it had been anyone else, Phen would surely have ditched the guy by now... As it was, Junpei's eager eyes and naivety continued to pull at some weird heartstrings in Phen's chest, which he hadn't really known were there until now. He should've just left him in the trashcan! Now he had to deal with... Whatever might come of this meeting.

Well... Maybe it wouldn't be bad, right? He supposed it was possible... But maybe that was the dust talking. People didn't like him; it was only a matter of time before Junpei didn't, either.

"Nah, not hurt," he reassured the boy, rolling out a few joints for good measure. "Er, hope ya didn't hurt your noggin- uh, head when you fell into that trashcan," he added. For the sake of avoiding awkward silences. Yeah. He smirked faintly when Junpei reassured him that he had money. "Great. Glad one of us does."

Phen nodded, thinking it had been sometime in the summer he had first seen the guy. "Not too long then," he replied distractedly, his eyes following a glowing blue butterfly through the air. He did, however, manage to catch his name, and his mouth quirked into an unconscious smile. "We'll seee," he mumbled under his breath, before clearing his throat and saying louder,"Phoenix. Phen is fine." He stared at Jun's hand blankly for a moment before realizing he wanted to shake it. He took it in his light grip, jerking it awkwardly before tucking both hands back in his pockets and resuming walking. "My power?" he replied in a slight stammer. It wasn't often that people asked him so outright, which was fine with him; it was hard to say without making him sound like a complete loser. "I, uh, have wings. And I can make a dust that makes people hallucinate - uh, see things that aren't really there." Like the butterfly that had lifted up and away over a nearby building, leaving Phoenix to start to fall out of his high.

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Junpei shook his head with a smile. Wow, how nice, this guy was, even asking about Junpei's well-being! It was hard to find people who actually did that nowadays, he thought most Americans would just ignore a person who had gotten hurt and walk away. Well, he had heard stories of such things before, so he was glad it wasn't completely true. "No, head is not hurt." His smile widened. "The thing hurt is only puraido." Junpei chuckled at that lame attempt at a joke, hoping he had gotten the pronunciation correct on it. "Trash is not good place for person," he followed up with.

Junpei wasn't noticing how Phoenix's eyes tended to wander, he was too busy following the GPS and being excited that this random encounter had turned into such a friendly one. However, Junpei did snap his head up upon hearing Phen's name.

Phoenix?

As in the legendary bird which dies in a burst of flames and is reborn from it's ashes?

SO COOL!

Junpei could not contain his excitement over that mere revelation, especially since birds were easily his number one favorite animal, and the phoenix was his number one favorite legendary creature! Even to the point that he imagined that every one of the cranes he ever made was actually a little mini phoenix as his shikigami familiar.

So cool!

However, he was even more surprised to hear about Phen's power.

"Wingusu?" he said with bright, sun-beaming eyes. "And dusto? Like, tinkerbell fairy wing and dust?" Junpei wasn't meaning to make fun or anything, he just thought it was one of the coolest powers he'd heard of thus far! But then his brow furrowed, confused. "See what kind of thing?" he asked, genuinely curious.

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Phoenix... Nice... It really was a shame he couldn't read Junpei's thoughts. He probably would have actually felt all warm and fuzzy at knowing someone actually was thinking positive thoughts about him that wasn't Oriel. Not that he didn't appreciate all that Oriel did for and to him, but that had become... Almost normal. In the two and a half months they had known each other, Phen had become closer to him than he had anyone else in years.

But this guy was almost a complete stranger, and thinking good things about Phen. That was a miracle.

He even let out a small laugh at Jun's words. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," he promised. Puraido. So fucking adorable. "It's not," he agreed, covering his mouth with his hand to hide another chuckle. God, what was this silly doofus doing to him?

And now he was getting all ogle-eyed as Phen told him his name, and he rubbed the back of his neck, unused to such open adoration. Even though Junpei didn't say anything, it was obvious from his reaction he thought it was something pretty special. Phoenix didn't know how to react, so he didn't, just kept walking along awkwardly as the hallucinations died down around him.

Though, as Junpei began asking about his ability, his cheeks flushed, and he looked away. "Er... I guess," he mumbled. Ugh, yes, he was a fucking fairy, and he knew it. But poor Jun was being so completely innocent about asking, he couldn't be irritated long. He glanced back over at his question about the dust. "Um..." How the hell did he explain that? "It's hard t'... Explain it... Without experiencin' it," he stammered, scratching his hair. "It kinda depends on the person and the time an' place. It varies." He thought he saw the craft store appear around the corner, and kept walking, trying to figure out how he felt about his new acquaintance and why he couldn't stay annoyed with him for long.

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If Junpei could speak English better, then he may very well be spilling everything he was thinking about Phoenix right now. But honestly, Junpei might just have been a special case, as he was probably one of the friendliest and most trusting people around. He was truly the type to believe a person was a kind and decent person until proven otherwise.

Junpei accompanied Phen in his laugh, glad that the guy was cool enough to follow up on Junpei's self mockery. He liked this guy, Junpei decided.

Junpei was interested in knowing more about his brand new friend(instantly upgraded!), so he was quite pleased to hear more about Phoenix's unique ability. Because after all, friends shared that kind of stuff with each other, right? "You can fry too?" Because that would be an awesome ability to have. Junpei had often wondered what it'd be like to fly. With wings.

But the naive Junpei was also painfully unaware that the hallucinogenic dust that made people see things was in fact a drug. Which was why he was already interested in seeing/trying it without knowing exactly what he was getting himself into. "I think to try is ok," Junpei said innocently as they approached the craft store. "It sound fun." Like a game or something.

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Junpei liked Phoenix. And, for as much of a non-people person Phen was, and considering how he usually acted around strangers (especially when high), he supposed he... Didn't dislike Junpei already. Or... Was a little above neutral about him, even. Simply because Phen didn't have this sort of innocence in his life very often, and it was sort of a relief, in a way.

Was Phen getting soft?

....

He was getting soft. Dammit, happiness.

"Fr-? Oh, uh, yeah. I can fly," he replied, grimacing slightly. "Not very long, though. An' it hurts." His wings weren't the strongest, not like those avian- or bat-winged metas that could fly circles around him. And he looked weird when he flew; there were a lot of reasons he didn't do it very often. He hadn't even shown Oriel. All he really cared about was the powder that came from the wings.

As Junpei seemed to show interest in trying said dust, however, Phen's eyes widened. "I try not t' make other people inhale it," he replied quickly, slight panic in his voice. "It... It messes with you. It's like... Well, it's a drug," he mumbled, even though he hated using that term for what he still was addicted to. "It can be fun, but..." He shivered, pulling his coat tighter around himself. "It's also hell." He was rambling at this point, obviously still jittery and riding on the fumes of his last hit, but he also did not want to make Junpei experience what he did.

"Uh, anyway... Looks like we're here," he mumbled, tugging the sticky door open with a jerk of his weak arms.

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So he could fly!

THAT WAS SO COOL!

Junpei had always wondered what it would be like to fly, if he could change his power, he definitely would change it for flying. With wings, without wings, it didn't matter. Oh! Maybe Phoenix could take Junpei flying sometime??

Junpei was getting ahead of himself. They had only just met, they had barely become friends. "Frying hurt? How?"

As Phoenix explained about the truth behind the dust, Junpei tried his best to listen. It was….a drug? Well, that much was obvious. What Junpei also didn't understand was that the word "drug" had different connotations in Japan from where it did in America. While Japan too had "drugs" and "street drugs", Junpei had unfortunately been painfully sheltered. What he did understand was that Phoenix did not seem to like it. If that was the case, Junpei decided that it couldn't be a bad thing to just trust his judgement. After all, it was Phoenix's power. He would know best, right? "I understand, I think. I will not ask to try."

Junpei looked up as they arrived at their destination. "Yes. We are here," he echoed with a nod. He trailed his hand against the door, holding it open as he walked into the supply store. With a smile, Junpei looked over his shoulder. "Please, choose something you want."

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Sadly, Phen's wings were hardly strong enough to carry his scrawny form, let alone another person. He didn't know of any meta that was strong enough to take someone else for a ride, actually - even his bones, he had been told, were structured in a more lightweight way, kinda like a bird's, or something. It meant frailer limbs, as though he wasn't frail enough.

"Um... Well, I don't do it very much, so the muscles that connect with the wings aren't very strong, an' I get sorer than a mothe- I get ridiculously sore afterwards," he replied to the question, rubbing his shoulder. "They look kinda cool when they're not out, though. Like tattoos on my back." As feminine as the inky lines may have been... Phen did have to admire their sort of exotic beauty sometimes.

But ugh, why was he telling this guy all this?! It didn't matter!!

He did, however, let out a small, relieved breath as Junpei said he wouldn't ask to try it. The truth was, if Jun really wanted to see what it was like, Phen... Miiiight let him just try out a few tiny particles, just to get a taste... Since he seemed so genuinely curious and confused. "I mean... I guess if you really, really wanna know, I could... Maybe let you try a tiny, tiny bit," he mumbled, holding up his thumb and index finger to show just how little. "That... Wouldn't do any harm." It took way more than that to get addicted. "But it'd need t'be somewhere quiet an' calm." If Jun really wanted to do it, then fine. He could do it. But not in public. Waaay too many things to hallucinate with for someone who had never done it before.

He stepped inside the store, a little overwhelmed at first at all of the bright colors and materials offered. Phoenix blinked slowly, gaze turning to Junpei at his kind offer. Even if Phen had been the one that had asked for a favor in return, he felt a little bad now. But it was too late to go back. "Okay," he said quietly, walking with hesitant steps towards the aisle that seemed to have the sketchbooks. There were so many.... Brands, weights, types... How did he choose? He eventually settled on a 9x12 Strathmore bristol pad, which was much, much nicer than any dumpy sketchbook he had ever been able to afford. If only he could get some decent markers... The Copics were practically taunting him across the aisle. But they were fucking expensive as hell. He gazed sadly at them for a few moments before looking back at Junpei. "I like this one," he told him, nodding to the paper in his hands.