Calling Overseas, a cirque du soleil fanfic

Calling Overseas

March 20, 2011

Dialogue:

*click*

"Hello, you have reached the cell phone of the Trickster, lord of Kooza etcetera etcetera. Leave me a message after the beep and I'll call you back, unless you're calling for strictly fangirl purposes, in which case don't bother, please. Kiku tame ni watashi wa nihongo, 1 o oshite no itta koto o.* Thank you."

*beep*

"Trickster? Damn you, you dashti kxteve na viota, sstle kajga me back, please call me back, I need to know that you're al-"

*click*

"Narrator? What's the ma-"

"MY GODS, YOU'RE HERE, oh gods... Trickster, you're an idiot, you know that? An idiotic, selfish, thoughtless, lying bastard. Skeleite karr. Bastard. Please tell me you're all right."

"Moha, could you stop shouting at me? You're hurting my ear. I'm not understanding what I did this time. Explain."

"Trickster... just tell me you're all right. Please. Please."

"...I'm fine, narrator. Are you okay? Has anything happened over there?"

"I. Have. Been. Trying. To. Call. You. For. The. Past. Nine. Days. And. I. Couldn't. Get. Through. And. I. Had. No. Way. Of. Knowing. If. You. Were. Even. Alive. Why Japan? You could have gone anywhere in the whole damn world, but it had to be... Japan..."

"Moha?... Moha-Samedi?... Narrator?... Listen to me. I am fine. So is everyone else in Kooza. The tent wasn't hit by anything. They moved us and everyone from Zed into China. We're camping out with the Zaians. The phone server in Japan was down, which is why you couldn't call me. We just got here last night, narrator, it's been a bit crazy. Narrator?"

"I... miss you so bad, I... was going cra... crazy over here e... ver since we... heard the news on the... radio... I thought you... were..."

"I'm not, narrator. I'm so sorry to have put you through this. ...Listen, narrator. I'm not doing anything here anyway. I'm coming to Vegas. I'll head to the airport as soon as I hang up. Okay?"

"Y... really?"

"Yes, narrator. I miss you too."

"Trickster..."

"Mm?"

"I love you."

"Love you too, narrator. See you soon."

Third person:

He couldn't believe he'd gotten through. Nine days of calling and calling and calling every ten minutes and getting the this-number-is-currently-unavailable message until he could recite along with the stupid thing exactly, and now, after any sane person would have given up, he'd finally gotten voicemail. And that familiar voice talking smoothly, with a hint of a smile, as if nothing in the world was wrong, when in reality everything was.

He was so upset he couldn't even keep himself talking in English as he babbled into the machine, cursing in Cirquish when really he wanted to beg and cry and just talk to the person on the other end directly, so he could confirm that he was alive...

And his prayers were answered, as the line went click and that voice started to ask "Narrator? What's the matter?"

At the other end of the line, the Trickster winced and held the phone away from his ear as he received quite a few mixed messages in response, most of them in a rather loud tone of voice. The phone had woken him up, and he wasn't quite understanding what was going on.

"You bastard. Please tell me you're all right."

Trickster blinked, and carefully brought only the mouthpiece of the phone closer to his face. "Moha, could you stop shouting at me? You're hurting my ear. I'm not understanding what I did this time. Explain."

Moha-Samedi rested his head against the wall, the anger that he didn't really want subsiding a little. He shouldn't be shouting. Really he shouldn't. "Trickster," he said quietly. "Just tell me you're all right. Please. Please."

And Trickster frowned puzzledly at the man he couldn't see. "I'm fine, narrator. Are you okay? Has anything happened over there?" Samedi's tone of voice was worrying him.

Moha gritted his teeth. The man didn't understand what he was calling about? Had he been living under a rock? "I. Have. Been. Trying. To. Call. You. For. The. Past. Nine. Days. And. I. Couldn't. Get. Through. And. I. Had. No. Way. Of. Knowing. If. You. Were. Even. Alive." The dam of worry and panic broke all at once. "Why Japan? You could have gone anywhere in the whole damn world, but it had to be Japan..." His voice cracked on the last word, and then he was crying and couldn't stop.

Oh, jeez, Trickster thought, as he realized just how the events of the last week and a half would have looked from Moha's perspective. Natural disaster hits. Kooza is right in the middle of it. Trickster doesn't call. Oh, jeez.

But surely Moha didn't think that he couldn't take care of himself at all? "Moha?"

Moha didn't answer. "Moha-Samedi? Narrator?

"Listen to me," Trickster said, trying to use his 'calm' voice as much as possible. "I am fine. So is everyone else in Kooza. The tent wasn't hit by anything. They moved us and everyone from Zed into China. We're camping out with the Zaians. The phone server in Japan was down, which is why you couldn't call me. We just got here last night, narrator, it's been a bit crazy." He paused. "Narrator?"

"I miss you so bad." Moha-Samedi was crying into the phone and not even caring that it was stupid and bad for the electronics. "I was going cra- crazy over here ever since we heard the news on the radio... I thought you were..." He trailed off, and Trickster took over smoothly.

"I'm not, narrator. I'm so sorry to have put you through this." He paused. "...Listen, narrator. I'm not doing anything here anyway. I'm coming to Vegas. I'll head to the airport as soon as I hang up. Okay?"

Moha stared at the wall. Oh gods. Please let this be real. "Y... really?" he managed."

"Yes, narrator." Trickster sighed. "I miss you too."

Moha leaned his cheek against the wall again. "Trickster..."

"Mm?"

"I love you." Those words which used to be so hard for him to say. Which were still not simple.

"Love you too, narrator," Trickster whispered. "See you soon."

Second person (Moha-Samedi):

You're not really hoping for anything as you dial the number for the thousand and twenty-seventh time. You've given up, really you have, but your fingers still retain stupid, unrealistic hope, pressing the buttons in the pattern your fingers have memorized again and again. Nine days and you haven't gotten through. Nine days of calling every ten minutes. Even during shows, whenever you're not onstage you're calling, maybe this time the line will work, and getting that beep and damn prerecorded message telling you that the number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable.

Maybe he just lost his phone, you've thought before, maybe he dropped it on the way out, when they were evacuating everyone, maybe he'd lost it in the rubble, maybe he'd just had to leave his luggage behind - after all, his wand was more important than his cell phone. Except there was no time when they'd evacuated everyone, and honestly, if you only have two small carryable items to your name, how hard would it be to hang onto both of them? And even if he'd lost the phone, even if something strange had happened to the number, why hadn't he called? Why hadn't he called? Nine days and every part of you but your fingers have given up. Or that's what you need to tell yourself. Stop hoping. Stop dialing.

Wait.

The phone is ringing.

It didn't do that before.

The line clicks.

"Hello, you have reached the cell phone of the Trickster, lord of Kooza etcetera etcetera-"

Oh gods. Oh gods. Voicemail. You're not sure if that's better or worse. His phone is alive, but what about him?

His voice, his voice prerecorded while the world was still normal and nothing was wrong, keeps talking as if everything is still normal and right. Which is, of course, about the opposite of reality. His voice in the white abyss, talking the way he always did, smoothly and casually and self-assured and living. Just the voice. Zeus.

"Leave me a message after the beep and I'll call you back, unless you're calling for strictly fangirl purposes, in which case don't bother, please." Then the voice says something in Japanese - of course - and finishes with a "Thank you." And his voice stops talking.

Then you're cursing him into the phone, cursing that damn voice which is him and not him, and begging him to call you back. You didn't expect to get anything, you have no idea what you should be saying. So you just shout.

The line clicks. And his voice says your name. He's there. Alive.

You shout at him some more, too upset to stay in one language, not that it really matters, because he understands you no matter what language you speak in. You're angry at him now, extremely angry, because if he's alive over there, what has he been doing not answering your phone calls for the last nine days?

He sits there at the other end and takes your abuse, and then asks quietly, "Moha, could you stop shouting at me? You're hurting my ear." You stop.

"I'm not understanding what I did this time. Explain."

You find yourself too tired suddenly to shout at him any more. It occurs to you that he could be alive and hurt. This is not a thought you want to have had. "Just tell me you're all right," you tell him. "Please."

"I'm fine, narrator," he says, sounding puzzled. Just listening to his voice is something you've missed so much. But he then demonstrates that he completely doesn't get it. "Are you okay?" he asks. "Has anything happened over there?"

Zeus. "I. Have. Been. Trying. To. Call. You. For. The. Past. Nine. Days. And. I. Couldn't. Get. Through. And. I. Had. No. Way. Of. Knowing. If. You. Were. Even. Alive," you hiss. "Why Japan? You could have gone anywhere in the whole damn world, but it had to be... Japan..." Your voice breaks on the last word, and there goes that whole freaking dam of emotion. You're so weepy all of a sudden.

"Moha?" he says, still quietly. You can't answer. "Moha-Samedi? ...Narrator? Listen to me." What is this calm-and-reasonable voice all of a sudden? The Trickster is not calm and reasonable.

"I am fine," he says. "So is everyone else in Kooza. The tent wasn't hit by anything. They moved us and everyone from Zed into China. We're camping out with the Zaians. The phone server in Japan was down, which is why you couldn't call me. We just got here last night, narrator, it's been a bit crazy." He pauses, for you to answer. You still can't. "Narrator?"

What you have to say comes out brokenly, confusedly, in between sniffs. "I... miss you so bad, I... was going cra... crazy over here e... ver since we... heard the news on the... radio... I thought you... were..." You can't say it, but he knows what you mean.

"I'm not, narrator," he says. "I'm so sorry to have put you through this." There it is again. What is he apologizing for? The Trickster does not apologize. Then again, it's been a crazy week and a half.

"Listen, narrator," he goes on. "I'm not doing anything here anyway." You can hear the grin in his voice. "I'm coming to Vegas."

What?

"I'll head to the airport as soon as I hang up. Okay?"

"Y... really?" you stutter.

"Yes, narrator. I miss you too."

"Trickster..." This has to be said before you disconnect.

"Mm?"

"I love you."

You can hear him smile again. "Love you too, narrator. See you soon."

First person (Trickster):

I wake up because my cell phone is ringing right by my ear. Oh, that's right, we've got reception now. I'd more or less gotten used to having the phone be a square of metal which for some reason I have to keep carrying around. I wouldn't have gotten the stupid thing in the first place if it wasn't that I wanted to have some form of contact with Moha, but all I've been getting since I first bought it is fangirls. Fangirls twenty-five hours a day. Gods know where they got my number in the first place. Even the message on my answering machine only dissuades about fifty percent of them. Stupid fangirls, don't they know that it's six in the morning in China?

I sit up against the side of the bataclan - hooray for shared sleeping arrangements, honestly I feel kind of bad about all of us using the stage of Zaia as a sleeping area, but there isn't a whole lot to be done about it - dig the phone out and stare at it. The caller ID says Treasure Island, Las Vegas.

Hang on a minute...

I flip the phone open and listen to the voicemail. It's Moha. He's shouting at me.

He's going on like there's some massive emergency going on at the other end. Even knowing Moha, I am concerned.

I press the talk button and start to ask him what in the world is going on. He stops dead at the sound of my voice, then starts to shout at me again, even louder. I think he's waking people up over here. As well as making me deaf in my right ear. I turn the volume on the phone down.

"Moha, could you stop shouting at me?" I request politely. "You're hurting my ear. I'm not understanding what I did this time. Explain." I mean, I've been half a world away from him for the past month and a half, unless he's found out about something I've done in the past, then I should be relatively blameless. For once.

"Trickster, just tell me you're all right." His voice is quieter this time. "Please. Please."

Um, me? What? It's too early in the morning for this, seriously. "I'm fine, narrator. Are you okay? Has anything happened over there?"

"I. Have. Been. Trying. To. Call. You. For. The. Past. Nine. Days. And. I. Couldn't. Get. Through. And. I. Had. No. Way. Of. Knowing. If. You. Were. Even. Alive."

Oh. That. Right.

"Why Japan? You could have gone anywhere in the whole damn world, but it had to be... Japan..."

Oh, jeez, he's crying on the other end. He really has been worried crazy about me, hasn't he. Honestly, I can take care of myself, I'm a freaking god, it would take more than an earthquake and a handful of malfunctioning power plants to take me out, but he's still been worried. He sounds awful, to be honest.

I feel guilty. It's not my fault we just happened to be in Japan when the earthquake hit - I would never have left the US at all, preferably staying as close to Vegas as possible, if it hadn't been for Mr. La-li-ber-tay and his we-own-your-possible-soul-and-also-your-bataclan paperwork - but I still feel guilty.

"Moha?" I say, because there has been silence on the end for a bit except for sniffing. He doesn't respond. "Moha-Samedi?" I try. "Narrator?" Then I give up and just talk to him, trying to calm him down as much as possible. "Listen to me. I am fine. So is everyone else in Kooza. The tent wasn't hit by anything. They moved us and everyone from Zed into China. We're camping out with the Zaians. The phone server in Japan was down, which is why you couldn't call me. We just got here last night, narrator, it's been a bit crazy. Narrator?"

He goes back to 'outpouring' mode. "I... miss you so bad, I... was going cra... crazy over here e... ver since we... heard the news on the... radio... I thought you... were..." He stops, but I know what he means. "I'm not, narrator," I tell him. No kidding.

He's right, though, I should have found an intact phone booth or borrowed someone's Skype or gotten through to him somehow. I think a lot of the servers here have been down, and it's been absolutely insane for the past nine days anyway, but still. "I'm so sorry to have put you through this."

Then I have an idea. And don't have any idea why this hasn't occurred already. They don't need me here. Everyone is getting along just fine, forming alliances and attempting to learn each other's languages and continuing their training and generally taking a break from show life. Jeez. Yes.

"I'm coming to Vegas," I tell him. "I'll head to the airport as soon as I hang up. Okay?"

"Y...really?" he stammers.

"Yes, narrator. I miss you too." I really do.

"Trickster?" he whispers.

"Mm?"

"I love you," he says quietly.

I smile. I love this man so much.

"Love you too, narrator. I'll be there soon."

A/N: This started out as a dialogue drabble and... expanded into a writing exercise. I like the first person best here, I think. I started writing it at the end of March, when the Japan earthquake was still fresh in everyone's minds and I just had to write something about it. I had more or less exactly the same reaction as Moha when I first realized that Kooza was right next to everything that was happening over there, and stayed in a state of semi-panic until I heard that they were all okay. Is that jerkish of me? I'm sorry. And oh, yes, the cast and crew of Kooza and Zed did indeed end up in China hanging out with the Zaia people, though I imagine it was a bit less literally than I've written here. XD

Yeah, this takes place about a month and a half after Goodbyes, so they're definitely connected. Moha and Trickster did get about three weeks together in Vegas until Kooza went back up, so it turned out all right...

*This is horrible Japanese. Horrible, horrible, horrible. I apologize to any readers who may actually speak Japanese. I couldn't find any translator which worked better than Google Translate, and that does awful things to grammar between Asian and European languages. I am learning to speak Japanese, but at this point pretty much all I know how to say is 'I speak a wee bit of Japanese,' 'Thank you,' and 'Nice weather we're having'. When I know how to say 'To hear this message in Japanese, press 1,' I will update my writing.