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So let's sink another drink, 'cause it'll give me time to think; [Open], please PM
Topic Started: Jan 10 2017, 07:10 PM (404 Views)
Zesseract
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The glass-front doors of the lounge opened themselves to allow strange underground chamber that was the Adyton to connect to the surface once again; descent would meet with secret cellar beneath the false 'temple' comprised of the nearby buildings, releasing intoxicating vapors that carried with them sweet, earthy smells of chicory and other coffee spices. Providing a gathering place, for bibliophiles and frenetics of the goddess 'Caffeine', the Adyton had quickly become something of a mainstay in the itineraries of its clientele, and for Ryou who had found gainful employment as part of the service staff in the employ of one Ishikawa-san.

The eccentric character seemed sprung from one of Ryou's books, with a forthrightness that he found equal parts off-putting and enviable. He only wished he could approach people with such an unabashed enthusiasm for his subject matter... heck the entire coffeehouse was built around this very pivotal part of Ishikawa-san's being, a love for all written media. Which is why the walls on either side were lined with spilling book-cases, and even the little alcoves found between each pillar that held-up the central parlour, were dotted with this month's selection of 'readables' for new and oldcomers alike.

The coffee-shop had opened to a raucous crowd of some 20 patrons, and had regularly maintained attendance within these numbers, helped along with special events like weekly reading nights and the odd one-night band-stand every other month. But things had hit a strange sort of lull lately, whether because of the times or perhaps a dying trend in coffee-shops, numbers had been trending a bit down, and with students having to once again worry about schoolwork, attendance was reaching all-time-low numbers.

Which you'd think would please the staff, if they did not in fact depend on the coffee-shop's livelihood in order to maintain their own. So the day began and peaked on the 5th or so day of this dry-spell, and the Adyton saw only a skeleton crew manning its stations. Ryou was performing his usual stock-boy duties, along with waiting tables and sometimes manning the espresso machine if Michiyo-san allowed. He'd only begun to get a hang of the intricacies regarding the coffee machines, just so that he could make a couple of simple drinks reasonably well and without horribly burning himself. Anything more complicated than a latte was asking for trouble though.

At the least he was learning a new skill-set, not a bad thing all things considered.... but terrible if this trend kept up, as he'd soon have to find another more gainful place of employment. Ok maybe things weren't quite so bad, but he was starting to tire of the whole lack of action he'd experienced these last couple of days, almost made him wish a fresh face would walk in through the front door, just to liven things up a bit...
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theredarcana
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In a rather unusual way, Ryou's wish would come true. A new face would indeed enter the Adyton.

A new, smiling one at that.

If he bothered to pay attention, he could hear the sound of someone descending the staircase and entering the cellar - first he'd see black sneakers, followed by blue jeans, a green hoodie over a white t-shirt with a star in the center, a dark green messenger bag slung over the shoulder of the girl, some mid-length black hair, and finally a pair of bright green eyes taking in the environment, equal parts wonder and curiosity in their gaze.

It was only by accident that Yoshie Kurosawa had found the Adyton. She looked lost, somewhat, in that large environment full of books and strange albeit tempting scents. The rich smell of coffee reached her nose, giving her a small indication of what kind of place she was in.

Well, if she was to be fair, she didn't enter the coffee shop by pure accident. Ever since a specific event had taken place a few days ago, she knew she had been irrevocably changed. Now she could manifest a small funerary hat out of thin air, do things humans normally shouldn't be able to do... and see more things than humans should be able to see. Such was the power of her Persona, and ever since she left the Ruins that day, she had been able to see information on people merely by looking at them.

All was well and good. It had taken her a good while to get used to it, but she was getting accustomed to the near-constant stream of information, or so she chose to believe. However, the reason she had decided to enter the coffee shop was because she had sensed... something within it. Something she could not put into words - something that wasn't really beckoning her to come, but felt strange all the same.

Not something, someone. Within her mind, the voice of a woman spoke.

Hm... how do you know? The girl replied.

No response came back, however.

With nothing else to do and having descended the stairs fully, Yoshie looked around. That certainly seemed like a cozy place - slightly warmer than the outside, which might be a problem in the summer - but she couldn't really tell what had--aha!

She spotted a certain boy with messy black hair and glasses and, the instant she did, the stream of information she received intensified. That boy had to be the reason why! Approaching him specifically, she spoke. "Er, excuse me?" Relaxed, as always. "What is this place?"

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Zesseract
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(Okay: Dante, Benedetti... and Ito? -Ok- you got me, apart from each of them being poets, I fail to see the connection, Ishikawa-san...)

It was difficult for anyone to understand what went through the owner's mind at any given time, and really this was something that fell more in line with the staff than the clientele, but even Ryou who admired Ishikawa-san's eccentricities couldn't always see beyond -what appeared to him- his baseless decision-making. Letting out a small exasperated sigh, he stocked stations 1-6 on the cafe parlour before moving back to the island settled in its midst; a catchy cover of Billy Idol's 'Dancing with Myself' subtly damped the whirring of coffee machines.

It was cacophony, but over time he'd come to appreciate a subtle dub that put the disparate noises into order, almost creating something not unlike a symphony. It wasn't often he could put himself through these ponderations, and really he hoped these wouldn't become a habit... but that wasn't to say they were unpleasant things. It's just he really wished he wouldn't have to welcome them anymore than he had to, (Maybe if we did something like a poetry night?), he posited while fetching his returns cart to re-organize the Adyton's catalog, "I suppose... I'd best take a look, and make sure the books didn't disorganize themselves when I wasn't looking..." he said to no one in particular, though that bit about there being 'no one' didn't exactly hold true at the time.

Startled, he quickly let go of the cart and straightened himself up, ready to reply until Michiyo (manning the coffee machines) beat him to the punch, "Hiii, and welcome to Lounge Adyton." she chirped, in that practiced form only a former hostess could manage. Ryou could only dream of coming off even half as charming as she did, but he managed 'polite' and that was well-enough for his fall-back role as host. "It's as Michiyo-san has stated;" he began, trying to save a bit of face, "Welcome to Lounge Adyton, and if you'd would allow, I'll show you to your seat." he offered, making a curt bow as he gestured towards the parlor and later to the alcoves on the walls, "Or if you'd prefer, we've also preferred seating available if that's more your fancy." It took him a bit of effort, but he'd comfortably managed to settle back into the role of host.
Edited by Zesseract, Jan 13 2017, 11:46 AM.
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theredarcana
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legal now binches | i like dudes | <thinking emoji> | <eggplant emoji> | inappropriate most of the time | dogs are blessed
"Oh!" That was certainly an introduction she'd been given to that place.

For a few seconds, Yoshie's gaze locked in on Ryou. Maybe for a split second he could catch a glimmer of red in her pupils, despite not knowing what it meant. In that time, she'd already completely scanned him... bingo! You were right, Viri!

Do not call me that.

Aww, why not...?

In that split second, all the information on Ryou and his Persona-user status had been shown within the girl's mind. The visage of a large, naked, muscular red man carrying a large sword - Astaroth... that's his name - appeared between blinks before disappearing. She had finally found the source of the energy she'd felt coming from that place.

"Ah, yeah, that sounds good~!" Unless Ryou had really paid attention or used his own scanning powers he would not be able to tell what had just happened. "Well, I'll follow you~!"
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The newcomer seemed to be busy taking in the Adyton, which Ryou could understand as he couldn't quite believe the place existed at all his first time here as well... only the stranger's face didn't quite seem to match with that general feeling of 'pinch me if I'm dreaming' that characterized newcomers; no in fact, Ryou was sure that Yoshie (not that he knew her name) was drawing a bead on him. (Yes, I am in fact opaque...), he mentalized as a rather flustered sigh left his lips, having no idea how to react he seemed to default to 'deer in the headlights' as that briefest of moments seemed to stretch on for an eternity. (Wait....), and so a nagging suspicion began to plant itself in the back of his mind, as that moment ended and the customer finally seemed to return to the task at hand. For he wasn't -in fact- the type to be ogled, he was kind of average looking, his uniform was very simple, and he bore no especially distinguishing marks, so then why did he seem to be the object of attention by this person?

"If you'll follow me..." he added in a gentle tone, choking any uncomfortableness that might have arisen in that moment, he picked up a menu before briefly departing the front, and moved over to the parlor as he analyzed the customer's words and thought better. He repressed his intention to stop at the parlor, and almost feinting he continued on towards the alcove directly across from the island where the coffee machine was housed. Sure, it wouldn't do to make the Adyton appear busy, but he'd other things in mind at the time, where a regular seat just might not suit his purposes. He gestured for Yoshie to enter the alcove and then cleared the way, awaiting for when Yoshie might slide into the booth before producing a leather-backed menu with the adyton's different varieties of coffee, pastries and other edibles.

"I'll give you a moment to get acquainted with the menu while I bring over some beignets, -excuse me-" giving only a slight nod, he departed the alcove and headed back behind the wall where the cooking station was, thinking it'd give him ample time to get a read for the stranger. He looked towards Taiyou-kun, who immediately tossed a bit of pastry into a skillet to fry the beignets. He briefly considered 'stepping out' for a moment, but wasn't entirely sure how he'd manage that without the mask, he couldn't well summon it here and if he took too long with his analysis the staff would undoubtedly begin to ask questions. He resigned himself to his waiting duties as he emerged from behind that wall, carrying the glass-sugar sprinkled pastries which he delicately placed on Yoshie's table. "Courtesy of the lounge, and what will you be having?" he punctuated with a facsimiled grin.
Edited by Zesseract, Jan 13 2017, 12:38 PM.
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theredarcana
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legal now binches | i like dudes | <thinking emoji> | <eggplant emoji> | inappropriate most of the time | dogs are blessed
"Alright~!" The girl was doing her best to adjust to the atmosphere of the place, and thus far, she was being successful.

Her waiter - the other Persona user - had left for a while, while she picked up the menu. There were several different products in here that she had never even heard about, so it maybe wouldn't be prudent to order them mindlessly.

Soon after, the boy came back. "A mocha, please." She was certain that was part of the menu. It wasn't overly complex, and it was something she had already tried before, so not much could go wrong here.

As the boy took her order, she couldn't help resting her head on her hands and looking at him with a small smile on her face. "So~!" She began speaking, before lowering her tone.

"For how long have you had a Persona?"

The same, familiar glint came back to her eyes, a bit more obvious this time, as the color of Yoshie's irises changed to red for a few seconds. Her smile grew. Clearly she didn't mean a threat.
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With a request so straight-forward, it took him no time to write down Yoshie's order, "Certainly, and would you like me to add a shot of anything extra?" he replied in his usually practiced manner, moving forward to take Yoshie's menu if she had placed it down, "We can add an extra shot of mocha, or other flavorings if you wish." he continued in his server shpiel before rattling off the list of flavorings available to the clientéle, but Yoshie was having none of this it seemed, as she soon just out and went with what had really come to her mind, "We have mint, hazel car-I'm sorry what?" he interrupted, his look a cross between deer in the headlights and shitting bricks. Acting as though he didn't quite hear that, he attempted to bury it beneath his veneer of CSR-ness that he'd perfected while partly-working as a waiter in the Adyton, but he found this too much to bear and quickly lapsed back into his usual grumpy self, complete with awkward facial contortions to match his shifting mood! "H...how do you know that? he whispered, as he shot a glance back at the relatively empty coffeehouse in search of anyone who might've overheard them.

He was at a cross between keeping up his act, and prodding further into the matter of how he'd been found out, with the latter quickly receiving more support from the currently less-than-rational part of his mind concerned with survival. Battling these conflicting drives, he ultimately settled on a bit of a compromise, marrying both intents with a guile that was less-than-effective, but suitable enough for the situation at hand. "I'll -uh- I'll be back with your order in a moment." he added before adjourning to the coffee station to ask Michiyo-san to prepare the order. Alas the short time to prepare the order did little to calm his nerves, and so only halfway succeeded at maintaining his unperturbed facade. The change in music certainly didn't help as the next song came into play, seemingly to add to the awkwardness of the entire encounter.

As he set the the mug of mocha down for Yoshie, he soon slid into the alcove in the seat opposite to her, looking especially flustered and unwilling to make eye-contact. "Why do you ask?" he finally said, still not particularly enthused with the subject matter of Yoshie's inquiry.
Edited by Zesseract, Jan 27 2017, 11:53 AM.
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theredarcana
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legal now binches | i like dudes | <thinking emoji> | <eggplant emoji> | inappropriate most of the time | dogs are blessed
"Thank you~!"

The girl merely looked on as the desperate Ryou ran around, trying to make heads and tails of the situation. She felt bad for thinking that way, but it was almost entertaining.

She took a sip of her mocha. It was good. "Mmm, this is good!" As she so eloquently proceeded to state.

Before long, however, the conversation shifted to Ryou's powers. A facade had evidently been broken by Yoshie's question. "I mean..." The girl closed her eyes and, when she opened them once again, her red irises were back. "I got my own Persona recently and, since then, I've been trying to get as much information from it as possible, through its powers."

Her.

"Sorry, her. Viri doesn't like being called an 'it'." The girl took another sip from her drink. "Wow, this is really good! Anyways, where was I...? Oh, yeah, the whole Persona stuff." Yoshie looked to the sides. Nobody was around. They could keep talking calmly. "Mm... see, my Persona has this skill called 'Analysis' that lets me see a lot of information on other people, but it's mostly limited to Shadows and Persona-users. Besides the two people that were with me when I awakened, I don't really know any Persona-users. When I felt that there was one down here, I decided to come, and, well... here I am~!"

Evidently she wasn't taking the entire situation too seriously.
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He sighed a sigh of relief as the girl expressed herself as being a scanner, exhaling his worries albeit in some minimal way. Given a bit of time to absorb this, his initial reaction may have been entirely too cautious, and realizing this he seemed very visibly to relax in front of the newcomer. "That's a relief..." he punctuated by bringing a hand to his temple before brushing away some hair out of his face. "So you were testing out your power, and came up with a hit?" he added, some of that CSR-ness creeping in as a follow-up question to her statement. He mentally pondered what little information she'd revealed of herself since her introduction, and weighted in each little factoid to some very quick scrutiny.

So far, Ryou knew that she was a user, a scanner (not unlike him) and that she too had awakened recently, and that -like he- she had awakened with more users, though probably more to his one. He couldn't help but feel reminded of the thread he'd necroed in Bedlam, as he attempted to reach out to some of the better-established scanners in the community. Thinking it was worth a shot, he went out and asked her, though he couldn't recall the exact user that had replied after his post, "Something-luna, right? Is that you?" he tried to keep his tone relaxed, a task that was slowly becoming easier as he recognized a sort of genuineness to the girl's forthrightness. It had a bit of a charm to it, that was, to be completely sincere about your intentions as he considered this he wondered when was the last time he'd said something without there being an ulterior motive behind it.

"Sorry about my freak-out, I'm just un-used to being approached in general." he added, trying to excuse himself though even he wasn't quite sure if that would come across. "I thought there was a sort of witch-hunt going on, so I've been remiss to pull out the mask in public -uh- by the way, how DO you use your power without -y'know- being so conspicuous?" he seemed to lapse into normal conversation now, though his stone was a bit reserved as he couldn't well be seen chatting up customer during work hours.
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theredarcana
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legal now binches | i like dudes | <thinking emoji> | <eggplant emoji> | inappropriate most of the time | dogs are blessed
"Mmhmm~! That's the gist of it, basically!" Yoshie took another sip from her drink, not once taking her eyes off Ryou. Her gaze wasn't threatening, however... though perhaps the boy would feel threatened just by her presence there.

Her eyes seemed to brighten up when Ryou mentioned that Bedlam thread. "Ah, so you're the guy that posted there! Nice to meet you~! And yup, my nick on there is lunatsuki1993! So you're Vespa, huh?" She pondered the idea for a few seconds. "So you're a scanner too, and you're having some trouble with your powers, huh...?" She wished she knew of some way to help with that, besides simply telling him to practice more.

"Ah, no, it's fine~" She smiled. "It's not the first time that someone freaks out bad when I talk to them, really! Hm, I wonder why that is..."

She set her drink down upon hearing Ryou's next comment, however. "The thing is that... I went to Bedlam and read a few threads, and it looks like there is a witch hunt of sorts going on. I haven't really ran into any trouble and from the date of the last thread, it seems like the witch hunts have been dying down somewhat, but still... better safe than sorry and all that, you know?" Her tone seemed to get more serious as she spoke.

"Mm... I don't know... I guess my powers just manifest different from those of other people..." She blinked, and her irises turned red. "Well, you know, a girl with red eyes might be a bit conspicuous, but I've lived in Nagashima my entire life and there's some people with really weird hair and eye colors in here... I have lost count of the amount of green-haired peeps I've seen..." She blinked again, and her eyes turned green once again. "Though, how do your powers work? Why aren't you inconspicuous when using them?"
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