disrupts | NOCTIUM IC INBOX

[ V'd figured young, but not that young. Johnny's an entire decade younger than he is, and suddenly the gravity of the situation pulls hard into focus. Eighteen years old and doesn't remember anything about how his life plays out.

There's too many strands of thought that lead to a depth of feeling that almost steals his breath away. Mostly, V's more freaked out by this than he was with Ker. This isn't just young Johnny, it's not Johnny at all. ]

No, there's not. 'cept this place ain't forgivin' sometimes no matter how old ya might be.

Guess that's where I come in.

[ Nevermind that V would already do anything for Johnny. There's something disconcerting about Johnny being this green. ]

What was ya plan, anyway? Woke up someplace that ain't Texas anymore... where ya gonna stay?

Didn’t have a plan. [Hands come out of his pockets and cross against his chest, eyebrow arcing again.] Figured I’d find some answers out here. What the hell would you have done if you were me?

[This line of questioning is uncomfortable, making him come to terms that he’s going to have to strike it out on his own on an alien planet. And a moot one, too, he thinks — isn’t this V guy supposed to help him?]

‘Sides, aren’t you supposed to help me? It’s what you were assigned to do, right? I ask you ‘what’s fun to do around here’ and ‘where should I sleep at night’ and you tell me. Or show me.

You’re the one who’s been here for months. I should be askin’ you what’s your story.

[ It's almost funny they're having this conversation, like V's got a real strong urge to pinch himself, hard. Last month he'd been the choom that needed help. This month... ]

Maybe you got a point. I'm a nomad. Used to gettin' dropped places I don't know.

But I was just askin'. Tryin' to figure out what you know 'bout lookin' after yourself this young. [ He pauses a second, a deeply thoughtful expression seeping into his features. ] Got no idea how much experience you got with this kinda thing.

[ Not that his expression seems judgemental or condescending, it's just weird to experience truth like this first hand. Hardly like Johnny's the most reliable narrator of what history V actually knows of. ]

You hungry? Food's never a bad place to start. Welcome to stay at-- my place. Share it with some friends'a mine.

[Something twists across his face, wry, maybe looking a bit like the Johnny V knows in the faintest way possible.]

Know plenty about lookin’ after myself. Age’s got nothing to do with—

[The cards people are dealt in life. But Robert clicks his tongue, and all that slides away and off his expression, as though he can’t bother finishing the thought. Doesn’t matter to a guy who’s a stranger, anyway.

Besides, the notion of him being a nomad? That seems to spark a little interest. Food, too, but Robert’s already forming his own itinerary in his head. It all spills out in nearly a single breath.]

Take you up on that but… you’re a nomad? Guess that makes sense, you got the look of one. Hey, that means you got a nice pair of wheels somewhere around here, right? You can’t shuffle me back indoors without taking it and me for a spin, and showin’ me what’s good around town. I’ve been walkin’ all day, my feet feel like they’re ‘bout to fall off.

Didn't say it did. Don't think age means much at all sometimes.

[ The look pins V in place, a few seconds of weird not quite deja vu but memories of all the times Johnny's been wry at him. Huffing out another amused breath, the non-stop order of events takes a moment to reach its conclusion. ]

Guess old habits die hard. Nomads that easy to pick out?

[ Not that it matters; V's proud of where he's come from. And the interest is easy to pick out from Johnny's tone. ]

Yeah I got wheels. Depends what ya think nice is.

[ The motorcycle he's been working on isn't exactly looking like new, but she gets him from place to place. The urge to laugh at the request to be driven around is hard to tamp down. Too many times he's heard Johnny complain about his style of driving. ]

All you need is a grease smear across your face and you’ve got the complete look of ‘nomad’ written all over you. Maybe sprinkle some dust on your shirt.

[Stereotypical, generalized. But hey, he can imagine it on this guy as easy as anything.

Robert grins a little.]

You won’t know what I think ‘nice’ is until you show me. Gonna stop playing coy?

Mmhmm. 'zactly what no nomad's ever 'thout.

[ This is like that weird conversation he had with Ker, back in Night City. Stereotypes. Gonna get ya every time.

But he's not offended; far from it. If anything he laughs, grins in some weird moment of levity. Johnny was a lot more charming when he was a kid. ]

Don't mix ya words. Okay, gonna make ya walk though. She's parked a few blocks over and 'm not your driver.

[The light in his eyes looks vaguely amused still as he tilts his head in the direction of the street performers. Their set is coming to a close — he can hear it in the outro of whatever song they’re playing.]

These guys are wrapping it up, anyway. So yeah, I’ll walk. Still got a few miles left in me if I have to.

[He’ll let V lead the way, and if he does, Robert is keen to follow, finding a small more of comfort in knowing that he doesn’t have to float through this city like flotsam. At least he can anchor himself to this man who knows what he’s doing.

Eyes linger on his back for a moment as they walk, considering. Then—]

Like your arms. [There’s a blunt compliment, but it’s linked to a curiosity. He’s never seen anything that advanced before. He’s pretty sure not even the military is utilizing prosthetics or augmentations that look quite like that.] Where does a nomad go to get somethin’ like that done?

[ It's barely occurred to V that his cyberware is way beyond what Johnny's used to seeing. It's hard to tease apart, but eventually he realizes he's gotta stop thinking of this kid as Johnny. It's him, yeah, but not really. This kid is Robert Linder, not Johnny Silverhand. As if that wasn't obvious enough by a very obvious lack of a chrome arm.

Raising his brows, he glances back, slows his walk just enough so Robert can catch up. ]

Night City.

[ Which... considering history, and how old Robert is, isn't going to mean anything. Doesn't even exist yet from the time Robert's got memories of. ]

's where I was when I got pulled here. Still don't know how that works.

[ But he does lift his right hand, splays his fingers out to give Robert a better look. ]

Called a gorilla arm. Never seen anythin' like this before?

Never heard of it.

[Night City, he means. Must be a real top tier, high-rolling city if a nomad can waltz in and get that kind of work done. Like something out of a sci-fi novel, he thinks, and Robert doesn’t bother to ask as he clamps a hand around V’s extended wrist to keep it lifted, just so he can get a better look as they walk.

His brow wrinkles. Hard to tell where the flesh ends and the chrome begins. This is the kind of thing that’s available now?]

Could knock a guy’s head off with arms like that. How’d you scrounge up enough to afford it?

[Nomad = loaded with eddies = doesn’t compute.]

[ V really hadn't thought through what kind of questions Robert was going to ask, and how difficult they are to answer. No nomad needs a history lesson on what days gone by were like. In fact, there's a fair amount of history and bad blood tied up in Night City itself. And still that was after Robert's time. Admitting that he's from 2077, that he was born decades after Robert doesn't seem like the best idea right now.

Surrendering his arm fully to be inspected, the only bonus to their Synchrony being a fraction of what it was before is that both of them can keep walking and talking. Feels weird and not something that V knows how to get his head around, but that's something to deal with later. ]

Yeah. Don't wanna get on the wrong side'a one of these.

[ Which would make more sense as to why he's only got the one instead of both hands if Robert actually knew who he was and why he'd make a choice like that. ]

Same way as any other merc. Take jobs that're dangerous enough the pay out's good. Sometimes people'll pay a lot just so they don't gotta put their ass on the line, or get their hands dirty.

Went to Night City to make a name for myself. Eddies get bigger the bigger ya get.

[ And he's just going to neatly side step mentioning anything about the Relic. One day you're gonna want to kill me, and then you're gonna save my ass. He falls into a contemplative silence. ]

[It’s a contemplative silence that Robert doesn’t even realize is there, because this new information about V being a merc is even more impressive; enough to distract him from his enhanced arm, freeing his wrist and severing the weak, underlying sync.]

Wait, so you’re a nomad and a merc? Jesus. You kill people sometimes, too?

[Robert’s overblown idea of what a mercenary does—what a mercenary must be like—isn’t so overblown when it comes to putting lead in a guy’s body. But now he’s just imagining V tearing along on his bike, going to city to city, doing whatever the hell he pleases and picking up dangerous jobs along the way. The guy looks tough, there’s no doubt about it. Could probably knock Robert on his ass in three seconds flat.

Somehow this shouldn’t be weirdly appealing to him, but here they are.]

Meanin’ you’re rollin’ in eddies ‘cause of your rep. Just say it if it’s true.

[ On the receiving end of this amount of curious interest is weird, but less weird coming from a kid. A kid that sounds like he's got some ideas about what shit like that's like but maybe not the life experience to confirm it.

V glances at Robert sideways and raises his eyebrows. Yeah, still weird looking at this kid with Johnny's face and struggling to match the two up. There's a heaviness that's just not there, cynicism evaporated along with all those years. ]

Flatlinin' people's not-- it's the last resort.

[ Though maybe Robert can read between the lines. Yeah, V's killed people. Couple of 'em not on any job at all. Johnny'd know that, that V looks for outcomes other than zeroing somebody unless there's really no other way. In the case of Woodman, and Grayson, that was personal. ]

You been on the back of a bike before?

[ It's a question he asks once they've made it to the motorcycle he's been lovingly restoring. Fixing shit is part of the fabric of who he is, and though the bike doesn't compare to what he's got in NC, it still looks better than it did. ]

[The lines are easily read between, but the subtlety of meaning is lost. Johnny would know that there’s a lot more to mercenary work than rushing in with a hail of bullets, devil may care who nails one between the eyes. Robert, thus far, sees only glorification in the implication; this is a guy who’s really lived, who’s made a name for himself and walks and talks like it’s all easy, like it comes natural. Put down the opposition, made a name for himself. That’s pretty nova — he wonders what it would be like to see him work.

He’s starting to wonder a lot of things about him.]

Yeah, I guess.

[Not that Robert knows anything about flatlining anyone. Not yet, at least.

For now, the bike. Once he nears, he circles it, eyes lifting back up to V.]

Once or twice. You’re gonna have to make it a hell of a ride if you wanna be the memorable one.

Edited 2021-07-11 23:43 (UTC)

[ The answer provokes its own kind of amusement. He's still got Johnny's complaints echoing in his mind, and that just makes this bordering on hilarious. There's a challenge he reads in the answer, one that he knows he's more than capable of rising to. He's just taking a second to let that sink in before hitching a leg over the bike.

Jerking his head over his shoulder, he's inviting Robert to sit behind him. If he wants a hell of a ride, V's only too happy to make that reality. ]

So I don't gotta tell ya to not let go.

[ Of course, he's saying it anyway. Flinging Robert off the back of a fast-moving bike isn't his aim here, but he's not going to hold back either. He starts the engine, the sound of a well-oiled machine resurrected from close to scrap-heap material a preem sound, in V's opinion. There aren't any helmets to speak of, just a question of trust that V knows what he's doing. ]

[It’s definitely a challenge, and one that Robert is looking forward to seeing if V can rise to the occasion. He’s never ridden with a nomad, so the expectations are kind of exciting; unlike his older self, he also doesn’t have the miles upon miles of riding with V to the point where the activity is akin to always being mid-street race. Maybe Johnny doesn’t need that adrenaline rush every time they go from point A to point B.

Maybe it’s novelty enough for Robert to seek it out.]

‘Course not. C’mon, then.

[Hitching his own leg over the back of the bike, Robert takes his place behind V. His arms secure against him in the next moment, a frame that’s a little lighter than his future self. The synchrony begins to buzz dully again.]

Impress me.

[ It seems like Robert, unlike Johnny, is likely to be a lot more easily impressed by what V's planning. Street racing is nova, but there's too much in the way of other vehicles on the streets. Kicking off at the same time he releases the brake and twists the throttle, there's no small amount of force as the bike launches forward.

Of course, vehicles on the streets are all part of the fun, and V's soon weaving in and out of them with what feels like barely a hair's breadth between their legs and the sides of the traffic. He's good at this, and he knows he is, but he's still taking the time every chance he gets to make sure he can still feel the pressure of the other man's arms around him.

He rides them all the way out to the edge of the more populated city streets until they're gifted the sight of an open, straight road and nothing to stop them. And that's when V really cuts loose, opens up the throttle and sends them hurtling down the straight like two men fleeing the scene of a crime. ]

[If there was any doubt in his mind that this man was really a nomad, who really knew what he was doing, it’s all banished the moment they practically rocket off the pavement, Robert’s grip tightening and his stomach dropping in that on-a-rollercoaster-ride way. He’s never ridden like this before, weaving through traffic with so very little room for error, and the experience should be terrifying — on some level, maybe it is. But that thrill laces with excitement, the danger of it all so novel that he can’t help but grin wide as the wind whips past. As cars are just blurs behind them with each passing second.]

Holy shit!

[—and the random expletive, all lilted with the sound of a man having fun, escapes him now and again. But it isn’t until they hit a stretch of straight road just outside the city that Robert really gets to experience what it is to speed along at a breakneck pace, to really lose oneself to the mercy of the engine rumbling beneath him. It’s like being atop a monster, hanging on for dear life, but V’s tamed it with such an ease that he doesn’t even look all that worried.

The sync between them floods with adrenaline, an addictive loop that has Robert practically laughing the whole length they zoom down that road.]

Holy shit! [For good measure.] Gonna fuckin’ fly off the tarmac!

[ Their ride's an all-encompassing trip of sensation, from the way the wind whips in V's face and the sound of Robert's laughter just about audible above the sound of the engine. He's never heard Johnny laugh like that, with such a lack of cynicism that it's practically wild abandon. The adrenaline's coursing through his veins and though he's got a synaptic accelerator working on his behalf, he can still feel the heights Robert's adrenaline is reaching.

Simply put; this is fuckin' preem, the kind of experience that's likely to stick out in his mind too as unforgettable. He doesn't know how he should feel about that, if the fact that he's enjoying this more with Robert than with Johnny means he should feel like he betrayed the older man's trust, somehow.

Regardless, he eases off the throttle, the bike still smoothly zipping across the tarmac below. Least if he slows down a little he can actually talk. ]

Fast enough for ya?

Hell yeah! [A reply that’s still a little wobbly with receding laughter. Robert feels his heart beating in his throat, his limbs staticky-numb from the adrenaline surge. It’s like he’s ran a marathon, and all he’s done is hold onto dear life on the back of this bike.] I’m not scared to admit it: you know what you’re doin’. Never gone that fast. Ever.

[Since they’re moving at a pace a little slower than breaking the sound barrier, Robert eases his grip, but only a little. Their sync throbs between them, buzzing and bracing. Looped between two people sharing the same experience.]

Damn, so this Synchrony thing… It means you feel that, too, right?

[That fluttering excitement, feeling like something liquid moving through him.]

Mmhmm. Synchrony's just like... sharin' what ya feel with somebody else. Closer two people are, stronger it is.

[ Usually with Johnny it's a cacophony of feelings that are so intense, so all-consuming, that it's hard to really pick apart everything that V feels, and what Johnny feels. With Robert it's more straightforward, less overwhelming and more a chill kind of vibe that feels like a pleasant buzz. He and Robert aren't connected in the same way that he and Johnny are, but V can appreciate the differences and enjoy them both all the same.

If V was worried that his feelings for Johnny might slip through somewhere, it'd be easy enough to chalk some of that up to how he feels in the moment. Clearly he's a big fan of riding fast, and being able to share that with somebody else who's just as into it feels good. ]

So - prob'ly didn't get the memo on that, but... all of us gembonded need Synchrony here. Die 'thout it. Turn into some rock... sounds fucked up, know it does.

[ Maybe he shouldn't be explaining this right in this second, and after a moment of contemplating he switches avenue. ]

Ya wanna try ridin' her?

[Die? A smidgen of alarm sluices through their connection, though one can hardly blame him. Not exactly what he wanted to hear, though he did get the run-down from a native or two before he met V; he knows that it's an important part of their vital functions (as well as functioning as cash on the side), so to hear that going without it for so long leads to death-by-turning-into-a-rock? You know, that about tracks given everything else that's happened by now.]

I was told a little about it. Know that we gotta do it just to pay to eat -- and dyin' isn’t something I want on my radar for a long time. [Ah, the irony in that.] But if the connection is stronger the closer two people are-

[He lets that thought fall off, as if he wasn't sure where he was taking it, either. But V's question is heard and not totally ignored, just slotted into the back of his brain for now, because Robert picks up where he left off just a second later. Fingers push a little harder into the fabric of V's shirt, his arms still wrapped around him to hold steady, as if wondering just what a stronger sync might feel like. The implication isn't terribly subtle.]

You wanna help me with that, too?

[Robert apaprently isn't lacking in Johnny's boldness, casual as he says it, clearly fishing for some interest.]

[ Riding without being beyond drunk on Synchrony is doable, but Robert's fingers tightening just that little bit into his shirt provokes two distinct reactions. Definitely a little harder to ride when somebody's propositioning him in a round-about way. But mostly Robert can probably feel rumble of laughter in V's chest, and some endearment slips through the connection.

This is... wild. ]

Didn't mean physically closer. Meant two people who're emotionally close... it's uh. Yeah. Can't 'zactly describe how that feels. Don't got the words.

[ While it might be weird talking about this with Robert, the young version of the exact person who has that kind of effect on him, V's open enough to not feel embarrassed by it. It is what it is and he's not the choom denying that. ]

Curious 'bout what ya thought you were gonna do on the back of a bike, though.

[ Maybe he's teasing a little, and for a brief moment he takes his optics off the road and glances back over his shoulder at the younger man sat behind him. He's smirking; there's no doubt he's just playing around. ]

[Robert's eyes are glinting and searching, wind tousling his hair back the whole while. It's hard to know what to make of V's response -- it's not exactly a rejection in the most immediate way, and it's wrapped up in good humor to boot. Catching that smirk on his lips, the merc's profile cast against the sun's light, entwined with the rumbling engine and the murmuring sync, momentarily stalls out any quip he had ready to launch back.]

Uh...

[Christ. A moment and he recovers.]

Nothin' back here, but find a remote place to stop and I'm sure we could figure somethin' out.

[He smirks right back, a little lopsided. A little, you know. Flirty.]

I don't have a problem with just 'physical'. Do you?

[ All of this really is like some departure from a reality that's not even their own to start with. For a long moment, V has absolutely no idea what to do with that. If his apparent taste in men hadn't been clear enough, Robert's a few decades shy of what generally turns V's head. At least, it is when it comes to V's most recent forays into a variety of things that could be messily called 'romantic relationships'.

'course, the fact that this is the painfully young version of one of those men who's had more than just V's eye for a while now barely scratches the surface. Age doesn't mean much back home, legal's fair game as far as most people figure it. And V's not discounting Robert on his age; not exactly. Hardly like Robert's not preem to look at, and he's fun in a way V's barely known Johnny to be. Kid's 18, yeah, but he's also the past version of a man who's made it clear enough that he's just not interested in V like that.

Except... that thought alone is splintering certain beliefs that V's holds into too many different pieces. Johnny's tastes either changed as he got older or... he'd been lying. The way their Synchrony feels? Now V's slowly coming to the realization that lying's probably what it is. He just doesn't know why.

Aware that he's been quiet for too long, his optics are already back on the road ahead, but he's slowing the bike down gently, plans to stop just off the road and try to explain why he just can't. Not when he knows that, for whatever reason, Johnny didn't want to do this with him. ]

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