Joker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pipers_son) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
victory_road2016-07-13 08:44 am
pipers_son) wrote in victory_road2016-07-13 08:44 am
Entry tags:
026 // Closed Log
Who: Joker and Ralph
Where: Goldenrod
When: Forward dated to the 17th
Summary: That awkward moment when you try to mug your boss...
Rating: PG probably
Log:
Normally, for all this world's fascinating little marvels, Joker still keeps his wardrobe as close to his old one as he possible can even years later now. Button up shirts, flashy suits, that kind of thing. It's just as much for his image as his own comfort, besides- people remember you if your appearance stands out. But he has more somber clothes, too, and a few things more casual because some days you just want to shrug something on and not have to worry on how you're going to do it up with one hand.
Tonight, it's a bit of a mix. With his face clean of makeup and his dyed black hair only loosely tied into a ponytail, he could be anyone hustling through the dark streets. In his backpack, there's a napping Mime Jr. and some rope he'd had to pick up for the circus. He still carries a certain cane, too, just because old habits die hard. Johto is peaceful more often than not, but he remembers the kind of things that can lurk in dark corners in darker cities. He used to be one of them.
Still, he's not expecting any trouble as he goes along streets and ducks through allies back to the Circus. It's just a night like any other, isn't it?
Where: Goldenrod
When: Forward dated to the 17th
Summary: That awkward moment when you try to mug your boss...
Rating: PG probably
Log:
Normally, for all this world's fascinating little marvels, Joker still keeps his wardrobe as close to his old one as he possible can even years later now. Button up shirts, flashy suits, that kind of thing. It's just as much for his image as his own comfort, besides- people remember you if your appearance stands out. But he has more somber clothes, too, and a few things more casual because some days you just want to shrug something on and not have to worry on how you're going to do it up with one hand.
Tonight, it's a bit of a mix. With his face clean of makeup and his dyed black hair only loosely tied into a ponytail, he could be anyone hustling through the dark streets. In his backpack, there's a napping Mime Jr. and some rope he'd had to pick up for the circus. He still carries a certain cane, too, just because old habits die hard. Johto is peaceful more often than not, but he remembers the kind of things that can lurk in dark corners in darker cities. He used to be one of them.
Still, he's not expecting any trouble as he goes along streets and ducks through allies back to the Circus. It's just a night like any other, isn't it?
no subject
“I ain’t gonna lie, I’m a bit worried. If ya do stuff so close ta where ya work- both ways- it’ll get ya in trouble a lot quicker. Ya ain’t particularly lackin’ in common sense, so… Is there any reason ya were stickin’ in Goldenrod ta jump a fella?”
no subject
"I'm late on my quota...haven't been able to sleep a wink this weekend." He didn't really think it would help to add that he didn't know it was Joker when he'd initially decided to mug somebody. If it hadn't been Joker, it would have been some poor sucker. "I don't know where to start."
He stared at the sawdust between his feet.
"Back when you asked me to join, I wasn't stealing. I was still tryin' to be a Good Guy. I was just the laundry boy. But I couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't what I was made to do, so I sucked it up and started doing the job. And I'm good at it." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Naturally."
no subject
“As for you- stop with that rubbish right now. Take a look at yerself. Yer sayin’ it’s what yer made for, but if that’s the case, I feel like ya would be a damn bit more happy about the whole thing. Instead, yer sittin’ here, miserable as all hell and practically chokin’ on yer own guilt.” This is starting to remind him of a lot of things, actually, and a sigh rattles out of him. He really wishes he could run from his own past here. A whole new world feels like it would be the perfect place to do just that. However, he guesses you can’t run from your own memories of what you’ve done. Damn shame.
“Y’know, that kind of thinkin’ is what I heard way too much from people about my own family.”
no subject
"But it's true." He holds up his big hands to explain. "Back home...I was made to do one thing--wreck the building. Felix was made to do one thing--fix the building. Every day, all day, for thirty years. Quarter alert after quarter alert."
He pauses, clenching his fists.
"It was different. Everyone...knew they were part of a video game. But here? They don't. Something's happened to them. Everyone thinks they're real. It's just so--"
Ralph brings his fists down on the edge of the ring, leaving huge pits in the sawdust, but nothing like the damage he would have done if he were in the arcade.
"What's that like? Having a family?"
no subject
...But then again, he can communicate with a small furry purple cat using only the cat’s mind, so he’s not going to discount that.
However, that means he’s mostly quiet for that particular bit of despair, fingers tapping into empty air. It’s only at Ralph’s question that he stops, blinking.
“Ah…” Well, that’s certainly something he has to answer. At least this time his silence is more contemplative as he tilts his head to the side in thought. “When it’s at its best…. It’s havin’ a place ya can return ta at the end of the day. Somewhere comfortable, not really in the, ah, physical sense, but emotionally, y’know. Knowin’ they’ll have yer back, even if it might not seem that way sometimes, and so ya won’t be alone…” He drifts off, gaze directed elsewhere and a bit far off, before he shakes his head.
“S’what I’ve always considered the Circus’ troupe ta be like, frankly.”
no subject
That sounded a lot like--the Circus! What he already had. No wonder he liked it so much. And no wonder he felt so terrible about all of this.
"I tried to be a Good Guy once. That's how I wound up here. I left my old game and tried to win a medal in another one to prove I was somethin' more...but then I wound up here and they stuck me right back into my old role and I guess I let it get to me."
He grabs up a fistful of the sawdust and lets it sprinkle out, making a little pile between his feet.
"I'd like to try again."
no subject
“Ya ain’t the only one.”
A faint hint of wistfulness is in his own grin, but it’s banished like it was never there by a wide grin.
“Shoulda come ta me in the first place! We’ll figure out how ta get ya outta this. Might take a bit, but never say never, eh?”
no subject
Joker was good people. He thinks back to the day Joker found him discouraged in the streets. And to think he thought Joker was sketchy at first.
"Thanks." Ralph's smile quickly dies though because there is A Problem. "I've actually talked to an ex-rocket about leaving before--and it's not that I'm afraid of what they'd do to me for bailing...but what they might do to the kid. You...you know Wrath's part of the team, don't you?"
no subject
“He probably doesn’t see much wrong with it, young as he is. Still, he has folks like Envy watchin’ after him, so it’s not too bad yet... “ Jack’s words are rolling around in his head. “Hey, Ralph, how long have ya been stuck with the Rockets, then?”
no subject
He holds his fists up again. Why would they ever waste time picking locks when they had a one-man wrecking crew on their team? He props his elbows on his knees and looks back at the sawdust.
"Since day one...so...jeez, three or four years now I guess. It all runs together after a while."
no subject
“So has anyone ever… tried ta sneak into the Rockets?”
no subject
"Not that I know of...why would they?"
no subject
“Oh, well, I’m sure there’s tons of reasons… For example, payin’ what goes around comes around, or tryin’ ta make it so that they wouldn’t be able ta chase after anyone tryin’ ta leave…”
no subject
"You'd do that..."
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He finishes with a laugh, because that’s just in his nature- easing up on the serious with a smile or a chuckle or something. When he has to act serious, it’s a bad time. Besides… Treating it as a relaxed thing makes it seem more possible. Doable. Like it’ll all go off without a hitch. Joker knows it’ll probably be a basket of vipers, but what can you do?
Thinking a bit more about it does make him somber, however, a grimace twisting his face a bit as he rubs the back of his neck.
“Ah, but… It might take a bit. That sort of thing, I can’t be reckless about. So… might take a while.”
no subject
"Right, right..." The wrecker's mouth becomes a grim line. "Alright. I'm...I'm done, boss. I'm quitting. But I'm gonna have to do some time."
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Johto isn’t like England. Ha, that much is apparent right out the gate, but even in this area, he’s sure it’s different although he’s never gone looking. Still. There’s worry on his face.
“Ralph, are ya sure ya want ta do that? I mean, if ya don't want ta wait, but...”
no subject
"I don't mean tomorrow. I gotta tie up some things and talk to th' kid. See if he'll jump ship with me. But after that...heck, I dunno, maybe instead of turning myself in I'll run. Run all the way to New Bark town and Reset." He drew himself up, face stern. "As a Good Guy."
no subject