under clear night skies

[nolongerunwise.livejournal.com]

He's been having some rather unpleasant dreams as of late -- nothing unusual in and of itself, since he's long become habituated with nightmares of all kinds. However, that doesn't mean that his sleeping patterns have improved much, even as Judai has become able to predict what kind of recurring dreams will choose to bother him on a given night.

The usual method -- traveling until he could barely stand up straight anymore and then crashing on any suitably flat surface, relying on sheer exhaustion to keep him asleep enough for full functionality the next day -- can't really be applied within this place, if only because this island is remarkably small, despite its quirky diversity of landscapes.

Yawning lightly, Judai rubs at his eyes with one hand, before stretching more comfortably on the roof of the Osiris Red building, dark eyes pinned on the gleaming skies above. It's the dead of night and there's no trace of light to drown out the faint twinkle of the stars spread out before him -- one of the few things that he can truly claim to love about this odd place. Star-gazing becomes so much easier when all that surrounds him is soothing darkness.

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[breaktherainbow.livejournal.com]

Johan's sleep wasn't all that deep or restful either, and he took to wandering a bit in hopes that he could calm his mind down. The dreams that he has aren't very clear ones, and he avoids thinking about them, since he thinks he knows what they concern anyway.

He returns to the dorm area and as he does, Ruby Carbuncle twitters at him some. She gestures up to the roof and he tilts his head back, moving around until he thinks he sees a vague shape up there. A convenient tree branch allows him a way up there and he peers at who is there.

"Judai?"

[nolongerunwise.livejournal.com]

Judai noticed Johan as soon as the other approached the Osiris Red building -- yet he remained silent, recognizing which one this happened to be. The two of them haven't seen each other in quite a while, mostly due to the entire mishap with the mirrors of desire and Judai's own worry that overbearing protectiveness on his part would only serve to make Johan feel chained once more.

However, he can't hope to remain a silent and passive observer now that Johan has noticed him.

"A bit late to be wandering around, don't you think?"

Judai's tone is light and conversational as he asks this, glancing over at Johan and allowing a faint smile to settle itself over his features.

[breaktherainbow.livejournal.com]

Johan comes over closer and settles down. It really has been a while, and he's spent a lot of his time just wandering, trying not to do much thinking. Thinking made him remember more of his past in vivid detail, and he didn't want to do that.

"Maybe. I like it, though." For all that the Juudai of his world is the master of the darkness of destruction, Johan was growing to like the shadows. They comfort him in a way he hasn't known before coming here.

[nolongerunwise.livejournal.com]

Judai stretches, shifting a bit in order to settle himself in a more comfortable position, folding both hands underneath his head. The expression upon his features remains a gentle one, even as darker ruminations overtake his thoughts -- most of them engendered by what he now knows.

There's no doubt within his mind that the Hell Kaiser he met earlier was from this Johan's particular reality -- something which raises very unfortunate implications and makes Judai honestly ask himself is he should tell Johan about this particular development.

The fact that the Hell Kaiser offered him a picture of indescribable grimness forces Judai to hesitate in this -- the last thing he wants is to knock Johan off-kilter once more, wrecking whatever balance the boy has managed to build for himself lately.

"I see. You're more than welcome to stargaze with me, then."

He avoids inquiring into the reason for Johan's insomnia -- almost certainly no different from his own right now.

[breaktherainbow.livejournal.com]

"I used to know the stars by heart back home," Johan says as he leans back and stares up at them. "These are all different, though." He recalls the shapes in the sky with some effort. They were frequently all that he or the others had to navigate by in their travels to battle Judai. Once he was captured, he didn't really get out that much, however.

The thought that someone from his own world, from farther down the timeline, could have arrived, hasn't once crossed his mind. He doesn't think about Judai arriving. That's how he sleeps at night. When he does sleep.

[nolongerunwise.livejournal.com]

He can somewhat recall the perpetually darkened skies of Dark World and the fact that the stars in that place were different as well -- however, all detail beyond that is lost to Judai, drowned out by far more vivid recollections, most of them having to do with the manner in which he crushed every single one of Brron's henchmen that ever had the misfortune of coming face to face with him.

Grimacing lightly -- once again quite aware of the small voice of doubt that sometimes whispers in his ear and wonders just how different he really is from the monster of this Johan's world -- Judai shifts again, keeping his eyes fixed on the sky.

"Don't ask me their names, because I never bothered to learn them" Judai murmurs, with a note of dry humor in his voice. He knows that the brightest star in the night's sky is Sirius, but aside from that he's entirely clueless.

[breaktherainbow.livejournal.com]

Johan considers for a few moments, then grins just a little. He's trying so hard not to think about home or the differences between this Judai and the one that he knows in far too intimate details.

"Then we can name them for ourselves. Who would care, right?"

[nolongerunwise.livejournal.com]

Judai can't help but return the other's grin with one of his own -- something which dissolves most of the moodiness from his features. That is certainly an idea that he can get behind, even if he would have thought it unbearably silly or downright pointless years ago.

"Sounds good to me" he murmurs, voice tinged with quite a fair amount of amusement and eyes carefully studying the dark vista spread out above them. One of his gloved fingers points to a star with a faintly reddish glow about it.

"I'm tempted to name that one after Burst Lady."

[breaktherainbow.livejournal.com]

Johan nods, grinning just a bit more. Naming the stars is a good way to keep his mind off everything he doesn't want to think about at the moment.

"See that?" He points to a particular constellation. "Doesn't that sort of look like Ruby Carbuncle?"

[boatlights.livejournal.com]

Judai still wasn't used to this strange place. There were too many suspicious characters for him to be able to sleep comfortably. He was almost afraid that if he went to bed that he wouldn't wake up to see another day. He of course was no insomniac, so attempting to stay awake and vigilant was not working out too well.

He sat on a large branch of his favorite tree that stood by the Osiris dorms. He was leaning back against the large trunk, his eyes drooping heavily. At times like this Judai almost wishes Haou was still with him. The stubborn king was good at staying awake.

He scans the ground briefly, waking up a bit when a certain voice in his head informs him that he's not alone. No one. Yubel corrects him by telling him that someone is on the roof and Judai's eyes finally rest upon the figure of another double of himself. He shifts so he's crouching on the large branch. He's debating whether to jump from the tree and reveal himself or not.