#benzaiten steel

[Image description: A four page comic of Juno Steel watching a video of himself and Jack Takano from his childhood. Full description under the cut. End description.]

They still ask for you Jack

Start Transcript

Page one:

A handful of people mill about a room decorated with streamers and balloons. Most of them are adults, but in the far background a black woman and her sleeping child are snuggled on a couch. 

In the foreground there is a table set with snack and punch. Yellow text, like you’d see on a captioned video, appear at the bottom of the frame. 

“Look, like,right there. Just wait for it.” says the camera holder. 

A small dark hand pops into view from the other side of the table. One of the party goers, a man with graying hair, tan skin, and an oversized purple-grey sweater, takes notice of the figure trying to reach the table. The captions say “*snickers* oh my god.”

The man makes his way over to the table as the little hand waves frantically. He bends down to pick them up. The snickering continues, and the camera holder says “Oh, Jack, careful, he’ll getcha!”

Jack picks up the figure attached to the little waving hand- a black toddler with a short afro wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt and a pink skirt over yellow pants. He’s biting the knuckle of his thumb and looking down at the table of snacks. 

“All right, what would you like, Juno?” asks Jack. 

Juno points to a plate of cookies. “Those one,” He says. 

“These ones?” Jack says, grabbing one, “Ah, you’re a young man of taste I see.”

Jack hands the cookie to Juno, “Here we are!”

“I need two,” Juno says, looking at Jack. 

Page two: 

Jack gives Juno the one cookie and puts the hand that is not holding Juno up on his hip. “Hmm, I think you should start with one, and we’ll ask your mother for seconds after, okay?”

“I need two for Benten,” Juno insists, holding his one cookie. 

Jack picks up a second cookie from the plate, “oh, I see!” he says. He fixes Juno with a look. “Alright, but will you promise me that if I give you another, you will definitelygive it to Benzaiten and not just eat it yourself?”

Juno pouts and glares at Jack, clearly offended beyond belief. Jack snorts, trying to keep his composure, as the camera person laughs. 

“Oh, the insult! Jack, you’ve wounded his honor!”

Jack gives Juno the second cookie and puts him back down. 

“I am so very sorry, Juno. Do forgive me, I won’t make such a grievous mistake again.” Says jack, clearly more amused than apologetic. Juno glares at him, holding a cookie in each tiny hand. He runs off to the woman and child in the child in the background- his mother and Brother, Benzaiten.

“God, his little face! He was so mad!” Says the camera person. JAck turns his head to look at them. “I know, they’re both ridiculously ador-”

jack is cut off by more laughter as attention turns back to Juno, who has reached the couch and is pointing at his brother and mother while glaring daggers at Jack. He’s given both of them a cookie. Sarah holds hers up towards Jack, as if asking what’s going on. Jack, the camera person, and several other party goers are laughing to hard to respond.

Page three:

The camera has zoomed in on Juno as he points to his family, so his outrage can be seen more clearly. Someone starts to say “Oh my god, he looks just like Sa-” when a thumb appears over the screen, pausing the video. 

Huh,” says the current Juno, non-plussed 

A much older Juno with a patch over one eye is sitting in the dark of a plain apartment, illuminated only by the screen of his comms. Two boxes, a big one full of papers and a smaller one full of chips, are sitting around him as he leans back against a his couch on the floor. 

Juno takes a small memory chip out of the side of his coms as the screen goes dark. “Ramses, you sap,” he says. 

He looks down at the little chip in his hands, the room now completely dark.

“Hanging on to this all these years…”

Page four:

His hands start shaking. “…Like it meant anything to you.”

Juno sniffs, staring at the chip in the dark as a tear travels down his cheek. Then turns on his comms again and slots the chip back in.

He settles with his back against the couch. The video begins to replay-

“Look, like, right there. Just wait for it.”

End transcript.