fifthbeatle | (no subject)

Once Viktor is well and truly satisfied that Luther isn't dead, he takes some time. First, it's alone with himself, examining feelings and teasing out... memories, maybe? Really, it feels like they are, but it's not possible. It can't be. Viktor's been here. Instead of landing in the righted timeline in 2019, Viktor had landed here. He never saw--

(the outline of Reginald's new children, siblings tossed around the Sparrow Academy, a blinding white discharge of power, a busted-ass hotel, his family licking their wounds, a diner downtown...)

Dissonance so extreme has a sound now, like a throbbing, blinding hangover that comes and goes. It is not entirely dissimilar, Viktor knows firsthand, from torture.

What guides Viktor back is himself. That guy in the mirror. Viktor Hargreeves, concert violinist, forgotten child, destroyer of worlds, is considering his reflection with something he's never felt: patience. Elation. Freedom. He turns the shower on to begin a day of chores and errands, smile bright as the sun.

1. Boutique Shop
The sun is shining outside, too. It's hot, but a faint breezes seems to follow Viktor where he goes. Whether it exists in the air or the sway comes from him, he couldn't say. Bony little hands stay tucked in the pockets of his jeans as he walks, passing a window with a very handsome pair of sunglasses in the window. Viktor drops the underwhelming pair he has on to give them a better look. As he examines them, he sees his faint expression in the reflection of the window and knows he's about to spend more money on a garment that he has since he ended the world.

It's not like colors are brighter -- though there is a tint to his new shades he's not used to. It's trying on clothes that fit in a way he likes. Being excited to try it on. The way he nervously pulled his ID out of his wallet to pay for his new clothes to find the ID in the window slot has changed, as well.

Viktor leaves the store in a whole new getup, shades to shoes.
And tosses the old shit into a nearby garbage bin.

2. New Leaf Used Books
Errand one, check. A pleasant task, shedding old shit to make way for new. The second is just as breezy. Viktor spends a good enough amount of his free time in bookstores. They all know him, and they all know (much to Elio's annoyance) that New Leaf is his favorite. They get strange and interesting curiosities, often of unknown origin. Viktor has found some fascinating music books, and it's reached his ear that some new ones have hit their well-loved shelves.

Viktor checks his new watch: still early enough for coffee. And if he's got the timing right, around the time Dani might be needing a pick-me-up if she's working this shift. He knows her order, and the barista knows them. Though, this time, it takes him a minute for the kid to register. Instead of writing what they always do on the cup, the kid asks for a name. Viktor smiles brilliantly.

Two cups of coffee in hand, Viktor strolls to the bookstore. If Dani's not around, someone will surely take a free coffee while Viktor gets his hands on some new sheet music.

3. Piano Bar
Someone from the orchestra invited him, and he wasn't going to go, but Viktor can't be home tonight. Whether it's the dream or Five's weird, unsteady vibes or the creeping feeling that something terrible is coming... these are the shitty feelings Viktor's been steeped in so much of his life. Scrimping for attention, a feeling, a purpose -- belonging. Darrow is a place Viktor belongs. It's where his family is, where his people are, and it's given him another gift: a shortcut to healing himself, to be who he's always been.

It's a raucous night, at least for classical musicians. People drift in and out, smoking or meeting dates or relocating to the next bar along the stretch of them. This is open mic night, and there are many atrocities to be visited on these poor, unsuspecting patrons in the form of terrible spoken word poetry from a harpist and even a few basically-karaoke hits. The night is exactly as Viktor guessed it might be when he was telling his friends and family about it. That was only yesterday, but it was a foot and a half of hair and thousands of memories ago.

The next person Viktor recognizes will be treated to a warm, brilliant smile that didn't exist before this man was let out of the box he didn't know he'd been in.

[Find him at some little clothing/accessories boutique, at New Leaf Used Books, walking between either of these locations or at a little jam sesh in the evening at the piano bar.]

Threaded | Flat

Obi-Wan doesn't like to presume. In the shop, a small place he had stopped to see if they might have something Klaus might like, not for any reason in particular, but simply because he likes to see Klaus smile, he spots the small and rather familiar young man.

Familiar or not, he won't make assumptions, and so Obi-Wan simply shifts near enough for his presence to be known. Either this is simply a young man who looks terribly like Vanya, not an impossible thing, he knows well enough from his own experiences with Dan, or something has changed. And, if it's the latter, he'd like to give Vanya the space to tell him.

"Whoa, so... new twin?" Nathan asks, spotting the little Vanya-lookalike and falling in step beside him, because what the hell, why not? He looks just like Klaus, only more handsome and younger, so the thought of some little dude looking just like Vanya isn't really all that surprising.

"Are you one of them?" he asks. "Another Hargreeves? Ooohh, alternate universe Hargreeves? That's gotta be a thing, yeah? Somewhere out there you've got these other siblings."

He pats down his pockets for a joint and his lighter, then shoves it into the corner of his mouth, looking at the dude expectantly.

With classes over for the summer, Dani is spending more time than usual working at New Leaf. Technically speaking, she's studying while she's there, too, getting ready to start having training sessions in the near future, but she likes to stay busy and also to get paid, and New Leaf is a pretty perfect place her. It's quiet enough that she can get other work done too and not get overwhelmed, and busy enough to keep her actively doing something.

Today, she's shelving some new acquisitions when she hears the front door open, the little bell hanging from it jingling and a brief burst of heat flooding into the front of the shop. "I'll be right with you!" she calls instinctively, brushing a strand of hair away from her forehead with the back of her wrist. When she turns to glance at the person who's walked in, though, she's greeted by the sight of a friend. A smile spreads across her face, pleased and a little surprised. "Hey," she says, leaving the rest of the books to put away later and heading closer. "Trying a new look?"

It's been two days since he's been home, so Klaus leaves Obi-Wan to his meditating with a kiss on the forehead and then leaves the building. It's gotten to a point where he doesn't even need to pack an overnight bag anymore, because he has enough things in both places to make it home. It feels like he lives in two places, and he supposes that he does. He likes it that way. It does something to settle the wandering nomad in him, even trapped here in this city.

He decides to stop and get some coffee and pastries on the way home for whoever might be around, but when he ducks into the coffee shop, he finds his sister already waiting in line. At least, he thinks that it's his sister. The haircut is new, and something seems a little off. Not wrong, but different. So much so that Klaus wonders if this is a different person entirely, like him and Nathan, or Obi-Wan and Dan.

But then Vanya turns and sees him, and Klaus knows for certain that it's her. Or maybe not her at all. Rather than jump to conclusions, he'll wait for Vanya to talk to him about it, if she wants.

"Hello there, tiniest sibling," Klaus greets fondly, tucking his hair behind his ear and smiling as he walks over to join said sibling in line. "I am loving this haircut on you."

With about an hour to spare before a departmental meeting, I ducked into the little boutique a few blocks from campus. I was in the market for a new pair of shoes, but tended to find things for Elio more often in a place like this.

Empty-handed, I made my way to the door, glancing up just as a petite young guy turned away from the register, dressed head to toe in clothes I'd seen hanging in the shop.

I smiled in a politely detached sort of way, then did something of a double-take when I realized how familiar he was.

"I—"