to Berlin with love.

[runningred]

 From here

Jay opens the door into a quiet back alley that could belong to any city - the lingering scent of garbage and the miss-matched colours where graffiti has been washed off or painted over. In the mid-afternoon chill of early spring, he takes Emcee's hand and leads him out into the street, pocketing the key. The sunlight is thin but warm and picks out the green swell of buds in the branches. The tree lined avenue is quiet this time of day. Not lacking in people but without rush, a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Comments

[i_am_your_host]

"Well, this is familiar," he quips with a smirk when they step out into an alley.

But when they emerge onto the street, he stops short, squinting a little in the daylight.

He wonders if this is such a good idea-- but he's surprised at how familiar it really does feel.

[runningred]

Jay chuckles. "You and me both."

He gives Emcee time to adjust as they come into the sunlight, not letting go of his hand. The bells of Berliner Dom call the hour, echoing across the city. He gives Emcee a little squeeze.

[i_am_your_host]

He glances up at the sound of the bells. They sound as familiar as if he'd just heard them yesterday.

"Let me get this straight first," he murmurs, looking up at Jay. "This-- this city, this time-- I can come back here-- and I can stay here-- if I use that key?"

[runningred]

Jay nods, giving it time to sink in. There's more too but he doesn't want to rush Emcee into it.

[i_am_your_host]

He takes a deep breath and nods.

"Just so I know. In case I actually-- like it."

He tries for a crooked little smirk. Of course he's going to like it. Maybe even too much, but he's willing to face the possibility.

"All right. Where to first?"

[runningred]

Jay nods and smiles, offering Emcee his arm. "Up to you. I think there are markets along the river. Could be a nice walk. We could find a beer hall of a cafe later. Even a club if you're up for it."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee nods, curling his fingers around Jay's arm.

"Along the river should be nice," he agrees. "And so I can get my bearings. I-- I would like to stay until tonight. I want to see the city in the dark. I think-- that's how I will know how I truly feel about it."

[runningred]

"You probably know the city better than I do." Jay nods, heading towards the river. Along the banks of the Spree is a rambling food market - boutique cheeses, slow cooked meats and heritage vegetables. A little upmarket but in route to the Berlin Stadium, the stalls were doing a roaring trade in prepacked baskets with the families in their way to the night's football match.

Jay strolls at no hurry, letting Emcee set the pace and explore as he wishes.

[i_am_your_host]

"I might. It will be strange navigating these streets. Everything just seems so much brighter and cleaner. I hardly recognize anything," he chuckles.

The atmosphere of an outdoor food market never changes with time, however, and Emcee is glad of that.

"Well, it still smells like Berlin," he muses with a grin as they pass stalls selling staples such as sausages and sauerkraut.

[runningred]

There's a large beer garden off to one side. With it is the solid smell of hops and beer ingrained wood.

A couple of people glance at them, arm in arm but no-one says anything, seeming to take it in their stride. A knot of students come racing towards them along the path, singing the German national anthem at the top of their lungs.

Jay chuckles as they pass. "I guess it's an international game then."

[i_am_your_host]

"Yes..."

He glances at the students as they pass, waving scarves and pennants in the German colors. It's a little jarring for Emcee to try to reconcile patriotism in the name of a simple sporting event with...patriotism of a different sort. How far they've come.

"I never caught on to football. Not that I don't enjoy watching fit men run around in clingy shorts."

[runningred]

Jay sees the moment of darkness crossing Emcee's face and reaches to squeeze him gently. "Me neither but then I'm an infidel American who still thinks of the game as soccer."

He gently guides Emcee off the path and up a side street, away from the shouting jubilant crowd. "Would it help to find familiar landmarks?"

[i_am_your_host]

He chuckles at that. "Ah, yes. While your football involves large men who carry and throw the ball around more than they actually use their feet with it."

As they wander down a side street, he considers Jay's suggestion. Even though he hesitates in answering, this is the reason why he's here in the first place.

"I'd like to see the neighborhood where I live. Funny, I was about to say used to live. I don't know why I thought of it like that first. Time travel does weird things to one's word usage."

[runningred]

"I'm more of a baseball fan myself." He shrugs. "It's a bat thing." He remains deadpan at his own awful pun. Even if Emcee has no reason to get it.

He nods and lets Emcee lead the way, keying a map on his phone if it will help. "I don't think human language was designed for the possibilities of Milliways."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee just glances up at him with a small smirk.

"We may have to take a bus or a tram there, but it ought to be nice to see the city go by. The Nollendorfplatz was-- is a central area of activity. Or I hope it still is."

[runningred]

Jay nods and uses his phone to find the way. "Looks like the fastest way is by train but the view might not be so good. Shall we jump a bus and see how we go."

Jay's never been very fond of underground trains, having grown up surfing the elevated trains of Gotham.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee nods at the suggestion.

"I hope they still have double-decker buses. I adore those."

Just as he says the words, big yellow-and-black double-decker bus rumbles by going in the opposite direction of where they're headed. Emcee's expression lights up like a child's.

"Well, they're much shinier than in my time, that is certain."

[runningred]

Jay laughs warmly and cranes to find the nearest stop, darting ahead to hail an oncoming bus.

He buys tickets, making a point of putting a Canadian accent to his solidly good German.

He shrugs to Emcee, dropping back to English, his voice low. "No one likes an America tourists."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee follows him, hopping up through the doors after him before they close.

"Oh, I disagree!" he insists, holding onto a pole as the bus moves on. "Germans have always welcomed American tourists."

Pointing upwards, he says, "Come on, let's go to the top level."

With a grin he darts up the narrow stairs. The windows are large and wide, and there are empty seats at the front, which Emcee immediately claims.

[runningred]

Jay chuckles. "Maybe in your time but in the last few decades Americans have distinguished themselves for being loud, rude and disrespectful. I've gotten very good at sounding Canadian or Australian. They're harder to dislike."

He follows, bounding up the stairs and perching next to Emcee.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee frowns at that. "Oh, well, that's unfortunate. I suppose every country has its boorish travelers, but perhaps America sends the most of them abroad," he says with a wry chuckle.

As he sits on the edge of his seat, he stares out the windows at the passing buildings with awe. He's a little more comfortable now, even if things still feel different to him.

"I know I shouldn't hold out hope that my usual haunts are still there. Maybe at least the buildings are still standing."

[runningred]

"Or taken out of their culture, Americans discover they really aren't the leaders of the free world they think they are. So they become obnoxious just to defend their right to think they're right." He mutters darkly, not particularly proud of his own country.

He leans against Emcee, arm around his waist to support him. "You never know. Time moves on but history leaves it's mark."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee looks at him and rubs his knee. "I think I have more faith in your own people than you do," he says, as he looks back out the window. "But I don't know. Perhaps they really have changed."

A contemplative pause.

"History leaves its mark on people, too. Maybe that's what it was."

[runningred]

"Maybe. Maybe we only really see our culture for what it is, good or bad, when it's take out of the context we see it from." He muses.

He hugs Emcee softly. "I think the scars are still there, just below the surface. But I think there's pride there too."

He points to the buildings around them. Every balcony is hung with flowers, with green and growing things. The shops around them are well looked after, clean and vibrant. "The people of this city clearly take so much pride in the place."

[i_am_your_host]

He leans into the hug, settling back against the seat.

"It's possible to be proud of one's culture and country without being an asshole about it," he declares, glancing up at him with a smirk.

"I'm sure there are Americans like that. But people are people, really. It's ideologies that screw us up and make us think we're better than everyone else. I'm looking at all these people now and thinking, what is the lesson here? Have they all forgotten? How do they live with such a black mark on their country's past? It's not even distant history, not even a hundred years have passed."

And it dawns on him.

"There are actually still people alive who survived."