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

[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."

[runningred]

"And not all American tourists are assholes." He concedes. "But the ones who are, are loud and memorable. And they can be arrogant about other people's mistakes rather than learning from it."

Jay pulls him a little closer at the realisation, squeezing softly. "There are survivors, yes. There's a memorial park. Some of them gather there, to talk and play chess. If you want to, we could go talk to them?" It might be a bit much but he has to offer.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee is silent for a while, watching the scenery pass.

"No, I don't think I could," he then says quietly. "It isn't my place to do so. Just knowing that they exist is enough for me."

He sighs.

"I just want to see if I belong."

[runningred]

Jay gives him another squeeze. He could tell Emcee that belonging was a state of mind but it sounded trite, even to himself.

So he settled for giving Emcee whatever silent support he could.

[i_am_your_host]

To Emcee it's more than a state of mind; it has to feel like home.

He's quiet for nearly the rest of the ride, only pointing out shapes in the skyline that look familiar or commenting on some shiny, modern structure.

At one point he asks, "What is McDonald's and why are there so many of them?"

[runningred]

Jay chokes a laugh. "Um, yeah. I guess there are a few of them, aren't there. It's a massive chain fast food restaurant. The food is awful but it's cheap and pretty much the same anywhere you go. Anywhere in the world, really."

He muses for a moment. "McDonald's is like the cockroach of foods. Gross and unkillable."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee huffs a chuckle and shakes his head. "That's ridiculous. We passed about three of them already, almost all in a row. At least that's something I can blame Americans for."

Luckily Starbucks hasn't caught on in Berlin yet.

He leans forward again, pointing through the window.

"Our stop should be coming up. I see the dome of the train station."

It's shaped the same as he knows it in his time, but it's an entirely new structure made of shiny steel and glass. Everything is just so shiny these days.

[runningred]

Jay chuckles and gives him a little squeeze. "Yeah, that you can blame us for."

He cranes to look at the dome. "I take it that's been replaced since your time?"

[i_am_your_host]

"Yes. It's very strange to see how some very old buildings are still standing yet everything surrounding them is utterly unfamiliar to me."

He blinks, and frowns, and puts his fingers to his lips. Thinking of Sam Stewart. All those air raids.

"Oh, fuck. No wonder I hardly recognize anything. The city had been bombed."

[runningred]

Jay wraps his arms around Emcee, resting his head on Emcee's shoulder. "Yeah, love. Sorry. The Americans were responsible for a lot of it."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee is silent again.

He doesn't know the details of who bombed what and where and when and for how long. All he knows is that it was a vastly different war than the Great War. This war actually came to Berlin.

After a while, he squeezes Jay's knee.

"This is our stop, darling," he says, moving to get up as the bus approaches a glass bus shelter on the curb.

Once they step off, Emcee takes it all in, turning a full circle as if to orient himself.

A lot is missing. A lot has changed.

"What do those rainbow flags mean?"

They seem to be in almost every shop window, hanging off every awning.

[runningred]

Jay moves silently at his side, there for support without pressure.

Until Emcee ask the question, then he grin. "Pride, darling. Gay pride. We must be here in time for Christopher Street Day."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee raises an eyebrow.

"You mean they're going to have a gay festival in my own neighborhood?" he says wryly, though it's evident that he's highly amused by this.

There's a rainbow bear by one of the shops in the square. Emcee has to laugh at that.

"This area was always home to us. To our kind. I have to admit, it's-- it's rather wonderful that it still is."

[runningred]

"Joy endures." Jay smiles, giving the bear a once over. "You've got to admire the rainbow claws."

He grabs a festive flyer from a vendor with a greeting of Happy Pride and offers it to Emcee. "We should check out an event or two while we're here."