I am the Walrus, goo goo ga joob

[make_it_better]

The last twenty-four hours were a psychedelic blur. Jude vaguely remembered the party at Dr. Robert's agent's loft, drinking the pink punch that had started all of this, and listening to the man--sing? He was pretty sure there'd been singing and a lot of nonsense, but at the time it had all seemed to make sense. He remembered taking Lucy into one of the bedrooms, and that had been transcendental, but the decision to join Dr. Robert on his road trip...that part he didn't remember as well. It had seemed like a grand idea, and so they'd all gone, he and Max and Lucy and Sadie and JoJo, and it had been an extension of the party, laughing and music and colors and sounds and sensations.

Night had turned to day, and the bus had kept on driving. He remembered going out onto the top as it sped down the road, Lucy held against him as they reveled in the rush of wind past them. And now...where were they now? He still wasn't entirely down from the trip, but he'd sobered up enough to at least realize the bus had come to a stop. He smiled at Lucy without a word and carefully got to his feet, ready to find out where they were now.

Descending the steps of the bus, he blinked when the grassy field he'd seen through the windows was no longer there. Now it was a busy train station, and the bus had become a train. His friends had disappeared, as well, and he smiled and shook his head. Right, so he wasn't quite done tripping yet, it seemed. "That was some punch," he laughingly told a stranger as they moved past, giving him a suspicious look. He supposed they'd just have to take his word for it. Now he just needed to find the others again. He was sure he would, sooner or later. It was fine, everything was more than fine. I am me as you are he as you are me as we are all together, after all.

Comments

[silverhammer]

A couple of days ago, Max got the call that he'd been fired. It's not that Max hasn't been expecting it— his boss hated him from day one and has been trying to push him out for months now— but he's still not particularly happy about it.

He hasn't even been thinking about what to do next, instead trying to figure out how to do anything with his arm fucked up how it is. There's a cut healing on his forehead and there's no bandage on it anymore, but he'll have the cast and sling for something like six or seven weeks. Even if he hadn't been fired, he wouldn't be able to work for at least a few months anyway, so he's trying not to worry about it too much.

Though, he feels like Lucy's been treating him like an invalid since the crash, and he's probably imagining it, but it seems like Brian's being weird about it too. It's all too weird for him, so he's been trying to get some time away. There's this place near the train station, this hole in the wall pizza place, and he figures if anything's going to make everything start seeming normal again, it's grabbing a slice at a place he used to pop into every once in a while before trying to pick up a nearby fare.

If nothing else, he should probably tell a couple of the regulars who work there that he's probably not going to be around much anymore.

Except he's turning a corner and there's a familiar silhouette. A shaggy mop of dark hair, that familiar almost-hunch to his shoulders... these days, Max is more convinced than ever that he's completely lost it, but if this is the real thing, he'd fucking kick himself for not saying anything.

"Jude?" Max says to himself, unsure, and then, louder, "Hey! Jude!"

[make_it_better]

Jude turned at the sound of his voice, smiling and giving Max a little wave as he headed out of the building toward his friend. Oh good, at least he'd found one of them, it was a start. "Max, there you are. This is all a bit mad, isn't it?" he said cheerfully. "Have you seen Lucy?"

[silverhammer]

"Holy shit," Max says on an exhale, a small and relieved laugh following the exclamation. It's been what? Two years? No, more than that. Not since before he shipped out, and holy shit has he missed this guy.

There's a smile pulling at the corners of Max's mouth as he heads over to Jude, and he pulls his friend into a hug with his good arm without any hesitation at all. "Jesus, man."

So maybe he's not exactly answering Jude's questions, but Max is gonna need a second first.

[make_it_better]

Jude chuckled a little, amiably bewildered by the hug but more than willing to return it, even so. "Right, good," he murmured, patting Max on the back lightly as he pulled back, blinking a bit as he took in some things that...didn't seem quite on.

"Hold up--when did you do that?" he asked, nodding at Max's arm, brow furrowing. There were other things too, little things like Max's hair, his face, but he focused on the cast because--they'd all been on the bus for hours, so how had he even hurt it, much less got it treated?

[silverhammer]

"Long story. Like probably the longest one you've ever heard long," he replies, and he knows he's going to have a hell of a time explaining all of this to Jude, between the city and all the shit with Lucy and all. Him crashing a cab and breaking his arm is probably the least crazy part of the whole thing, come to think of it.

Still, he can't stop grinning. Not yet, anyway.

"Did you just get here? Like, right now? Did you get your thing at the train station yet?"

[make_it_better]

"...Yeah, same as you," Jude said patiently, more confused than ever. Max had been right there on the bus the whole time, why would he even ask that? "We just got here. Are you still tripping, mate? What thing?"

At least Max sounded like he knew what to do next, so he was one up on Jude there, anyway. That was probably good.

[silverhammer]

He boggles for a second, squinting at Jude, though he's still got that same grin on his face. It's starting to make sense now, though. At least a little. Max leans in to get a closer look at Jude's face, one hand on his friend's cheek just for a second.

"Shit, you're high, aren't you?" he laughs, but it's familiar and almost comforting in some kinda weird way. He pulls away and turns back toward the train station. "Okay, come on. Let's get your IDs and stuff and I promise I'll explain."

[make_it_better]

Jude still had no idea what was going on, but when Max laughed, he laughed too, scrubbing his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, probably." He followed Max with childlike trust, though he had to question that last comment.

"IDs? I don't think they'll give me any," he pointed out, starting to feel like he and Max were having two different conversations, but still too high to really figure out why it felt like that, or how he should feel about it. He felt amazing, had since last night, so why should he fight it?

[silverhammer]

He leads Jude back inside the train station, to the information desk, where, just like he figured, there's an envelope waiting.

"You've gone over the rainbow, man. Everybody gets IDs here," Max says, and with a small flourish, hands the envelope to his friend, "So what? Was it Doctor Robert's? The fucked up bus to nowhere? Well, welcome to nowhere. This is gonna sound like I'm probably making it up, but just go with me here, alright?"

This would probably be a lot easier if Jude wasn't high, but Max doesn't think he can keep Jude in the dark that long.

"This place is called Darrow. No one knows how we get here, no one knows how to leave, and I've been here something like two years."

[make_it_better]

"Bus to here, so I guess that makes this nowhere, then." He took the envelope with a surprised blink, because despite trusting Max he hadn't actually expected there to be something waiting. With his name on it and everything.

He opened it and started poking through the contents, looking at the ID with his photo, the strange device with little buttons that he dropped right back into the envelope, the sheet that seemed to indicate he had a bank account with money in it and everything, in addition to the cash within the envelope.

Before he could ask anything about any of it (and oh, he had more questions than ever, now) Max's final words soaked through the pleasant haze still filling his mind and he looked up, frowning in confusion. "...You're having me on." The frown dissolved into a laugh. "You were just on the bus with me, you prat." He wondered if this was some sort of...parting gift, a big prank at his expense before Max went off to answer Uncle Sam's call, and the laughter faded, though his smile didn't disappear.

[silverhammer]

"Any other time, and you'd probably be right," he says, knowing that he's getting to the really weird shit now, the stuff he definitely wouldn't have believed on his first day in Darrow if it wasn't Luce he talked to first.

"Time does a weird thing here. You were just on the bus, but when I showed up I'd already been shipped out and come back."

And he hasn't even gotten into Lucy's stuff yet. Max still can't completely wrap his head around most of that, even after all this time.

[make_it_better]

Jude just stared at him for a long moment. None of this was making any sense, and he was starting to think it wasn't only the laced punch to blame. "...What are you on about?" he asked weakly, but the laughter had dried up. "I don't understand. How is that possible?" This whole conversation was starting to sober him up, at least--though he was becoming less and less sure that he wanted that.

[silverhammer]

Max pauses for a long moment, not sure where to take this next. He's no good at this anyway, even when it's a sober person he's telling about it. And from the look on Jude's face, it's not exactly clicking just yet.

Yeah, this is a bad idea.

"You know what? Forget it. Let's go get a drink. I know a place," he says, and figures he can explain later. He'd probably end up having to re-do it all later anyway.

[make_it_better]

Jude nodded. "That's the first thing you've said that made sense since we--I--got here," he replied, shuffling the various papers back into the envelope. They'd sort it all later.

[silverhammer]

"Yeah, don't worry about it, man," Max replies, and he wraps his good arm around Jude's shoulders as they walk out of the train station again, "Luce is here somewhere too. I'll call her."

Though, come to think of it, he can't remember whether or not she's got a shift at Semele's tonight. And it's probably for the best if Jude gets a chance to sober up first anyway. Shit, tomorrow's gonna be a hell of a day.

[make_it_better]

When Jude opened his eyes the next morning, he had no idea where he was.

At least for a few moments, before hazy memories of yesterday (and a hangover) came rushing in. He sat up from the sofa he'd passed out on with a low groan, rubbing his eyes. He'd gone straight from being high to being drunk, and with what he remembered Max telling him, that was probably best. In fact, he was none too sure he didn't want to promptly return to one or the other of those altered states, despite his head throbbing and stomach flipping at the thought.

He was in some strange city he'd never heard of, no idea how he'd got here, and somehow Max had been to Vietnam and back, but he didn't remember any of it? That was the part that made his head pound that much harder, trying to figure out how that was even possible.

He sighed and gave up on making any sense of it for the moment, collapsing back onto the sofa and staring at the ceiling. At least Max and Lucy were here. He had that much and he clung to it.

[silverhammer]

Max found himself awake a hell of a lot earlier than he wanted to that morning. With Jude still passed out on his couch-- he'd fallen asleep on the floor himself-- he figured heading out to the diner to pick up something greasy for both of them was a good idea.

Of course, that'd turned into a conversation with Brian that was way too confusing to have while hungover, but Max figured that was something to deal with another day. Today, he's just glad Jude's around. Even if he isn't glad about how much he drank.

"I bring offerings," Max says, once he enters and finds Jude awake. There's a takeout box of pancakes, eggs and bacon in one hand, and a coffee in the other.

[make_it_better]

"Dunno whether to throw something at you or thank you," Jude admitted as the smell of the food hit him, less than appealing. He rubbed at his forehead and rose to his feet, giving his best friend a thin smile. "So. All of that shite you were telling me yesterday. That wasn't the acid, was it?" He knew the answer, it just wasn't the one he wanted.

[silverhammer]

"I'll settle for your undying gratitude. We can call it an IOU," Max says, and sets the food on the counter in the kitchen before walking over to sink down onto the couch next to Jude. He shifts the coffee to his left hand— the one attached to the good arm— and holds it out to him.

"And uh, no. Not the acid. Sorry, man."

[make_it_better]

Jude took the coffee with a sigh, holding it without drinking as he tried to even think of what to ask. "How is this even possible?" he went with after a moment, frowning. "How am I here? I just--none of this makes sense."

[silverhammer]

"Bad news is it doesn't ever really start making sense," Max says, and he hates to have tell Jude that, but it's the truth. Two years now, and this place still manages to fuck with his head.

[make_it_better]

"Brilliant," Jude groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So...what now, then?"

[silverhammer]

"You, I don't know... you settle in, I guess," Max says, because he sure as hell didn't know what to do when he'd first shown up in Darrow. It'd been a while before he finally resigned to being stuck there and found himself a job. To be honest, if it hadn't been for Luce being there too, he doesn't know how he would have taken it.

"Lucy's gonna flip though, that's for sure."

[make_it_better]

Jude nodded and sipped his coffee, because really, what else could he do but settle in? "I'm just glad you're both here, and all. Dunno what I would've done if you hadn't found me," he said with a little smile.

He slapped a knee and squared his shoulders. "Right. Let's eat and you can tell me everything I need to know about this place."

[silverhammer]

"Probably wandered around town or into the street or something," Max replies, because Jude had been out of his mind when he found him. They'd all been out of their minds that day, even if Max had spent part of it pissed because his last big blowout had turned into all of them ending up stranded.

"I already ate, it's all yours, man. So stave off the hangover and start with the questions."

[make_it_better]

Jude nodded and grabbed the food, staring at it as he tried to think where to even start. "So I have ID, money, a flat..." he vaguely remembered an envelope with all of that within. "How? From who? Who set that all up?" he asked, starting to eat. He should probably find that envelope at some point, too. Provided it had made it home with them. If it hadn't, well--he'd gone without all of it before, he'd find a way.

[silverhammer]

"Nobody knows," he says, and it's still creepy and weird, even after a few years in Darrow, but be's sure that smarter people than him have tried to figure it out and have failed, "You kinda stop worrying about it, after a while."

Besides, who is he to question everyone's own personal Daddy Warbucks? He has to admit, though, since Little Yellow Cab fired him, he's missing the days when that wasn't the only money coming into his bank account.

[make_it_better]

"Bit weird, isn't it?" Jude commented with a small shrug as he started slowly eating the greasy food in front of him, knowing it would help his hangover no matter how unappealing it was. "Where'd that packet get to? The one with all me stuff in it, we brought it home from the pub, yeah?" He stood up again with a piece of toast in his hand and started looking around the sofa for the envelope containing his identity and God only knew what else.

[silverhammer]

"I uh, I think it's in the kitchen. On the counter maybe," Max says, because he knows they picked it up yesterday, and knows they brought it back to the apartment, but a big chunk of last night is still a blur.

"And if you think that's weird, just wait until the other shit starts happening."

People disappearing without warning, ending up in other versions of the city... and then there's all that shit with the bees.

[make_it_better]

Jude looked over at the counter and spotted the envelope, relaxing a bit. "Ah, good. It's going to be odd, existing again," he observed absently. He wasn't sure he wanted to ask the next question, but..."What other shite do I have to look forward to, then?"

[silverhammer]

"Congratulations, you're a bonafide citizen of Darrow, whether you like it or not," he says, and wonders if Jude's really all that happy about it. He'd seemed pretty okay with no one knowing he was in America, last Max remembers.

Then again, there'd been a lot of shit he'd missed, being Over There.

"And as far as weird shit goes, there's everybody being from about fifty years in the future, for starters."

[make_it_better]

"D'you? Like it, I mean?" He didn't mean being a citizen, really, it was a more general question. If Max liked it all right, Jude wouldn't worry so much about this new life he was still trying to wrap his mind around.

"Are they?" He chuckled and took another bite of food. "You're not. And thank god for that, don't think I'd much like showing up to find me best mate was an old man."

[silverhammer]

There's a lot of shit about Darrow that Max really can't stand, he thinks, but all in all, it's not half bad. It's not any worse than New York was, and it's miles better than being deployed, so he can't complain.

"Most everyone I've met, yeah," he replies, "I mean, there's you, and me and Luce, and she's got a friend who's supposed to be from the 1800's, but I think people like that are pretty few and far between."

[make_it_better]

Jude nodded, adding that detail to the other ones he'd gleaned, slowly building a tentative picture of the new life he'd just stumbled into. "So everyone's from the future. That explains some of it, anyway." He laughed weakly. God, he wasn't sure he could handle this. It was just all too mad, all too much. If Max wasn't here, he'd likely just lock himself away in his room and not deal at all.