everythinglost | IC Inbox

everythinglost

Call for a good time

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

crab_rangoon

"But they didn't! Their minions had phones, but they didn't. I had a phone. Big fucking thing that it was. But it existed!"

He sighs. "Well, it doesn't matter. I left and I still got to keep my title. Just pushed the drugs from Kyrat to Singapore and cut them the fuck out of the deals."

From:

everythinglost

"I'd hope you'd at least have a phone." Pagan had still been young, which, as Fitz had said, does sometimes do his head in a bit when he thinks of where he'd be in the '80s without time travel. "They clearly lacked proper paranoia." Personally, he doesn't think he'd be keen on not having a phone when his minions did. Seems like just setting yourself up.

"Are you still thinking of going back to Kyrat?"

From:

crab_rangoon

"Yes." The answer comes out steady. "There is nowhere else for me to go. And I am too old to try for another world."

From:

everythinglost

Fitz nods, seriously. "It's true. You are getting up there in the whole age department."

From:

crab_rangoon

"Fuck off, 1950s." He waves a hand at him. "If you're not going to be supportive, then you can walk off." He grins.

From:

everythinglost

He makes a face. "I refuse any association with the 1950s. Norton's from the '50s, and that's his burden to bear. I'm just in my prime, untethered from time."

From:

crab_rangoon

"What is that like?" he wonders. "Not having a time?"

Not having a home, he can understand. Not having a planet, well, he hears that from Rawne. But not having time?

That's different.

From:

everythinglost

"It can be a bit odd, sometimes," Fitz admits. It's not something he's often willing to admit.

"Don't always realize how much of a reference point it can be until it's meaningless. You're not quite linked to events the same way, which can wear on the mind when you're not really built to be outside of time."

From:

crab_rangoon

"But you have your childhood," he points out. Not a great one. Not with his mother, but there is one. "Does that make it easier or harder?"

From:

everythinglost

"That what makes it more complicated. If I'd always been outside of time, than anything but personal chronology would've always been meaningless. I mean, just say '1948' or something and it's not like that means anything. But for me it means being twelve and everything that happened then as followed by 1949 and so on. Right up until years stop having that meaning because now 1948 is also being twenty-nine and fighting aliens in Australia."

From:

crab_rangoon

"So you don't skip outside of your own timeline, then. You go back to it, cross into it. So does that mean that, in 1948, when you were twelve, there were aliens in Australia that you didn't know about? Or was htat a different -- place?"

The whole thing gives him a headache.

From:

everythinglost

"Yeah, and I helped stop them from taking over the world, except I knew they didn't except they still could've." He shakes his head. "I'd say that's why I drink but that came way before any of this nonsense with time."

He hesitates for a moment.

"And it's gotten a bit more complicated, recently. Because I'm not entirely sure it still happened. My childhood, I mean. What with, ah, certain troubles. And it's generally fine because I'm planets and or centuries out, but just before I came here I was in 1937 and either right across the channel I was also toddling about even as I was also getting involved with the war, or I wasn't."

From:

crab_rangoon

"Best not to think about it at all, then," he suggests. "And perhaps just have more to drink." Which is always his answer when he gets too deep into this.

"There's a reason I stick to the easier endeavors. Like running countries."

From:

everythinglost

Having a bit more to drink is generally Fitz's response to whenever he accidentally thinks about any of this stuff, and he feels like it's a method that's always served him well.

"You do make it sound like you take the easiest approach to it, if you have to go about running a country."

From:

crab_rangoon

"Drink and hide myself away for twenty years, making body doubles do things and never appearing on television? Yes," he laughs. "Isn't that what you'd do?"

Actually-

"What would you do? If I let you lead Kyrat?"

From:

everythinglost

"Fake my death and flee the country." An automatic and very reasonable response to the word 'lead'.

He considers the question a little more, as he takes another drink.

"Hiding away drinking does sound like what I'd do, if I spent those twenty years massively depressed. Not that ruling a country sounds fun, but drinking alone isn't actually that high on my list of preferred activities either." He shrugs slightly, running a hand through his hair. "Honestly, running a country just sounds awful. All responsibilities and consequences - and even totally ignoring those, not really many appealing benefits."

From:

crab_rangoon

His laugh is warm and friendly. "I considered it many times! But I had already run once."'

Even if Pagan had also spent those twenty years massively depressed. Not that he'd ever admit that to himself or anyone else.

"Running a country is- well, that's where we differ. There's nothing I'd rather do now. Not even retire."

From:

everythinglost

He doesn't think that Pagan had spent the time in a great mental space, to use understatement he feels is appropriate, but he's certainly not going to bring that up.

"I'd definitely recommend not quitting to go into advertising, as you haven't sold the appeal." He laughs a little. "Though I'd probably be in demographics not even worth bothering with. Going around saying you don't want power tends to give people an impression I'm not trying for, but, in my experience with questionably charming dictators, part of the type of power that makes having a country appeal to them is a type that gives me hives. Definitely don't want a job where plenty of people are bound to hate you. Not that I want any job. Wouldn't want to be stuck in one place or have to listen to endless stupid shit or keep track of other stupid shit or give answers for never ending problems..." He shudders, only a little theatrically.

From:

crab_rangoon

Wait-

"Questionably charming dictators? Fitz?" He puts a hand to his heart as if wounded. "So what you're saying is that you want no job, but if you must have one, then it should be one where you are always liked and are not asked to do a damn thing?"

From:

everythinglost

"A scale of dictators I've met, if you feel that 'questionably' applies to you..." He widens his eyes in mock innocence, before falling back into a smirk. "The only 'job' that I've ever actually wanted - and traveling the universe on someone else's dime is still more appealing in practice - was to be a popular musician." He's pretty sure that's a short form of Pagan's offered job description.