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Spin, spin, sugar; [Ryou, Ren, Ng]
Topic Started: Jun 12 2017, 08:13 PM (594 Views)
Zesseract
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( Another day, another grind...), punctuated the single voice in his head, as the willowy kid pushed himself through the familiar glass-front of his place of employ. Each motion painfully carved into the ague of his tired muscles, those forays to the ruins began to take their tolls and he was beginning to feel the after-effects of his own determination, as each taught line of sinew thinned and stretched taughter through his graceless gait. The sting of exhaustion -ever present- throughout each laborious step, served to remind him -through plodding refrain- of what happened when one pushed too far in one direction... without taking into account one's own insistence to pull back to a familiar frame of reference, and his own was that of a mostly indolent child with little interest in things outside of his books.

He wanted -more than anything- to leave that version of himself behind, to ignore the fact his most salient concerns at the time where limited to his next literary repast, and circumventing the annoyances which others presented; but it was proving to be a more comfortable existence than the self-determined vigilante what went around slaying the creatures in the ruins, it was certainly a less tiresome existence... he thought, whilst ignoring the signal flares his legs were giving off with each protesting motion. He drew a deep breath as he pushed himself beneath the threshold to the Adyton's entrance; it wouldn't do for the busboy to look miserable during his work-hours, being in the service industry often meant that one had to endure well-past the point others would've just given up... this was one of those times.

If he could only survive the next 6 hours...and the walk back to the apartment... " Hrm... walk..."
(Maybe we can splurge on a cab ride today?), the voice suggested as he moved behind the divisory wall between the kitchen and general seating areas; he found the cook well-into half of his shift today before setting his pack down near the lockdown area, though not before producing a neatly-folded black apron which he then donned. Dealing with the usual pleasantries, he moved to his 'work area' as he scanned the aisles for any stray books needing re-arranging, though a somewhat full returns cart provided a more succinct answer to his question. Curiously letting his mental monologue hang, he moved to distract himself with the monotony of work, hoping it'd pass the time.

It was a bit jarring, returning to your daily life after something like the ruins. He hoped -with time- that this transition would be easier to undertake, with each foray increasing his desire to settle into the lull of everyday life. What he didn't count on, was that his own life was altogether an unsatisfying affair, it didn't seem ... right, for him to go back to his usual self. So why then all of this opposition, from where did it originate? Busying his thoughts only with the task at hand, he scanned the titles on the return cart, and mentally pictured their allotted spaces throughout the Adyton's built-in library... naught but another day at work, right?
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Czernobog
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Wei entered, and looked around the cafe. He hadn't ever been here: while he considered himself to be an intellectual, this place just seemed...pretentious. A cafe dedicated to reading? Who the hell wanted to hang out there? You were supposed to get into arguments with people at a cafe to prove your intellectual superiority. Like whether the milk on cereal was broth, beverage, or sauce. Or what exactly Différance meant and whether it was worth knowing about.

He had taken off the gloves, and zipped shut the pocket with the ring, meaning that he just looked like a customer.

Why was he doing this? He had other shit he should be doing. Instead he was...babysitting. It struck him as a useless thing to get roped into.

Looking around, he tried to spot the person he was being sent here to find. Hopefully this wouldn't be all day.
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Wagoo

Ren, in the meantime, waited out on the street, looking at the cars going by the road, the people moving about, and the general demeanor of Uptown. This place certainly felt both nicer and safer than the area where his family's apartment was. Granted, the building inside was perfectly safe, and in daylight, the rest of the neighborhood was as well. But when darkness fell, it seemed less so; it slightly transformed into a seedier version, and when he hurried to an Internet café to utilize Bedlam, he tried to be the only one on the street. Uptown, in comparison, seemed like it would be safe for a much longer time, and Ren could see himself walking about the area, eating some sort of fried octopus variant for dinner, just taking it in.

So he remained just outside of the Lounge Adyton, as the ring bearer looked within to evaluate Ryou Arakawa himself. Ren had given a good enough description of Arakawa, but had stated he wanted to remain out of sight, to avoid being recognized on sight and alerting Astaroth. So for now, he took the opportunity to try and forget, and promptly failed, instead dwelling on whether there had been a point back at the Metalworks.

This can't be worse... can it? If it is, I don't know what I can do. This way, he'll at least have some ability to go back to before all this started fo-

Hold your tongue. The puppet of Astaroth will not abstain. Have you the intention to have him abstain, due to your belief you can't?

I can and I wi-

You shan't, coward with no belief in his natural abilities!

Ren sighed. This debate was going to be awhile.

Note
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Zesseract
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Operating the returns cart was just one of the many responsibilities he'd acquired at the lounge, and one which he grew more impatient with as more interesting responsibilities were taught to him. At first he relished any chance to step-away from any kind social contact (potential or otherwise) with the adyton's clientele, now he couldn't help but gravitate towards the strange sorts of crowds this quaint coffee shop often attracted. He certainly felt as though he'd run the gamut of potential patrons, having been subject to the clientele's eccentricities... as well as the owners he'd found a sort of common ground them, resulting in a strange sort of kinship arising from a shared interest in literature. Looking back, it seemed kind of dumb to restrict himself as he'd done for so long, when there seemed to be a perfectly alright group of people around him that ... for the most part, seemed to enjoy his company.

His momentary levity -however- lasted but an instant, observing an unknown take his seat after a brief scan of the area, he defaulted back to his service-industry persona, subsuming his inner reflection behind a neutral mask, followed by a servile tone... though perhaps that last bit was something of an exaggeration. Over-eagerness did not come easily to him, so -at best- it was a departure from his usual monotone towards something that resembled a warmer, possibly, kinder tone of voice than he was used to. "I'll be with you in a moment, sir." he chimed, before making a brief trip towards the central hub where Michiyo-san manned the coffee machines. Digging through a neatly-stacked series of wooden folios, he took with him a menu, as well as what appeared to be this month's suggested reading list, noting a distinct lack of national authors this month.

Puzzled, he straightened his expression before walking up to his (that is Wei's) table, and extending the menu to the new customer; "Welcome to the lounge sir, would you care to browse our selection?" he offered.
Edited by Zesseract, Jun 15 2017, 02:30 PM.
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Czernobog
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"That would be good," Wei said. He peered through narrowed eyes at the boy. There was no outward sign of possession, but there didn't tend to be, did there? Wei had never actually dealt with a possession situation. It was, honestly, kind of exciting. He had to admit that there was a part of him that looked forward to this, even though he questioned the logic of the whole situation. How did they know he was possessed?

How was he going to find out.

He grimaced at the boy. Was he a scanner? Would he know that Wei was a persona user? It seemed to him that would have been pertinent information for someone to share with him.

Well, either way, they were going to get into this, he supposed. When a menu was offered, he took it, an looked over everything. He wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but if they had one of those coffee drinks that was essentially a milkshake, he would probably gravitate towards that. Chances were that this place's branding was more on the "sophisticated intellectual urbanite" end of things.
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Zesseract
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While the Adyton was certainly an odd sight, its main venture was still that of a coffee-house; along with the usual entries for hot beverages (both filtered and un-filtered varieties), there was also a series of blended coffee preparations to be found towards the end of the menu. Admittedly the selection was rather limited, and while this could be taken as a sign of 'weakness' for the business venture, it wasn't the Adyton's main draw. The relative stillness of the place, its decor and odd blend of public library was what had drawn its patrons to it, more over what had lead them to stay. It had something of a small base, albeit a fiercely loyal one at that; coupled with the short dais in the center, that served as a stage for local acts and monthly events, it enjoyed a small measure of success, at the least to cover their day to days.

Ryou minded his training, putting on his practiced smile before the customer and holding position as he tried to get a read on them. Good service practices often recommended giving a through examination of the clientele, in order to best suit their needs. He was fine with this, as he usually stuck to a more 'observer' type role, throughout his daily life. He couldn't really tell if there was anything in particular about this customer that denoted a specific want, but then it wasn't as though he could just 'tell' from looking. There was nothing in his demeanor that suggested a harried or urgent state; his tone seemed pleasant enough, and even amicable to a point. In spite of this, he couldn't shake the feeling of being held up to some manner of scrutiny, it'd behoove him to mind his behavior around this one.

He couldn't -well- begin to ask him about it, but Wei struck Ryou as something of a newcomer to the Adyton... at the least he didn't remember seeing him any time during any of his shifts; though there was still the distinct possibility that he simply got around to the lounge earlier, and left just before he arrived. He really couldn't presume anything, and given the nature of his current role, he wasn't in a position to strike up a conversation. But maybe he could glean more of this person if he changed up his script: "We're also offering a new double-shot, salt-caramel macchiato blend, and Uji-Matcha Frappuccinos; If sir so wishes, I can also bring up our suggested reading list to complement your order. Now, may I take your order?" While he wasn't as genki as most serving staff presented themselves, he maintained a cordial tone throughout his script, all the better for a place that resembled a literary cafe.
Edited by Zesseract, Jun 23 2017, 12:02 PM.
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Czernobog
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Wei looked at the young man. There should be some kind of sign of something unnatural about him, right? Like, he should look more like a meat-puppet or something, but people should be ignoring it because they were convinced that possession wasn't really a thing.

"Just get me the caramel thing. And yeah, get me one of those reading lists."

Wei sat with his shoulders loose, consciously working to ban all tension from his body. If this guy figured out what he was there for, it might result in a confrontation, and he wanted to be able to react properly. Tensing up in preparation for that would just result in lost time as he decided what to do. The conscious mind was the last part of the mind to discover what was actually happening, so it would make sense to just ride the reptile brain through any conflict. Work by reflex, as it were.

That being said, this guy didn't seem to notice anything. Maybe he wasn't a scanner? Maybe he wasn't possessed?

If so, then Wei would probably just turn around and stick the ring on that Taira kid as a lesson. They'd probably have to chop his finger off to recover it, but Imoto could just put it back on him after they yanked the ring loose. Wei spent a moment, imagining the scenario and planning out what to do in various eventualities. He looked through a window, out into the blue sky, where fluffy white clouds drifted, trying to remember the right way to work a knife through a knuckle joint to remove the finger as quickly as possible.

Probably wouldn't come to that, but still.
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Zesseract
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"I'll be back with that reading list, and your order." Replied the boy, his servile words followed by a brief bow before moving back towards the serving station near the coffee machines. Relaying the order to Michiyo-san, he saw her pull out the French-press for this particular job, and wondered when he'd have a hand at that one. Business had been a little slow lately, so the staff had begun experimenting with switching up their roles... occasionally, Michiyo would let Ryou have at the coffee machine, and after some near-death experiences via steam, he'd gotten the hang of some of the preparations the Adyton offered. He hadn't been given the reigns of the French-press apparatus though, appearing to be a more elaborate affair than anything the ornery coffee machine could throw at him. Still, there was a certain artistry to it that Ryou admired, and while thinking on this, he recalled he was supposed to also get the reading list. Those were -unfortunately- not at the serving station, and were more toward 'his' area. Walking back to the returns cart, he picked up this month's list and plunked a couple of the pamphlets into one of his apron pockets, before making way towards the kitchen area.

The pamphlet seemed filled with an odd assortment of authors, not one of which seemed Japanese Nationals; the theme for this month appeared to be toying with the nature of identity, recognizing some of the titles like 'Aura' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'... the latter of which, he was sure he'd seen a movie of, and the former a manga.

Behind an unconnected coupure, the small wall acted as a divisor between the service and cooking areas, the usual cook wasn't around today, having taken leave for something or other... Ryou wasn't sure. Thankfully the station was not unmanned, as some of the serving staff filled-in for today... while the customer hadn't asked for anything from the list of meals available in the Adyton, he'd still get a little something... a courtesy from the Adyton. He soon emerged from behind the wall, with a small saucer in-hand: with 3 raspberry-créme-filled, fried pastries. Returning to the coffee machines, he picked up the customer's order en-route to their table, and placed them gingerly in a spread that'd be comfortable to eat from. Without missing a beat, he produced one of the stashed pamphlets with this month's reading lists, and handed it over to Wei: "If you should like anything on the list, just let me know. And -uh- would you like me to leave the menu with you?" He was always a bit uncomfortable asking that one, as the norm was the customer would rather have the space on their table, but he imagined it'd be ruder to take it on the off-chance they still wanted something to browse.
Edited by Zesseract, Jun 24 2017, 11:55 AM.
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Czernobog
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Wei looked over the reading list. Would people just come here and devour a whole book? Would they take it with them when they go? Did the staff write down what page you were on when you finish? What was the business model? How did this even work? And all of these books fell into that narrow band of the intersection of "literary" and "trendy" that turned up its nose at anything too postmodern. Neither Murakami was on the list, nor was Yukio Mishima. And, of course, Yasutaka Tsutsui was absent. Probably too associated with anime these days. That sort of thing made the serious literature types cringe.

He looked up at the boy. The list was full of dead white people. Wei had no interest.

"I might go off list. Think you could find me a copy of the Water Margin?" he said, then glanced at what was brought. If they expected him to eat those, they had guessed right. If they expected him to eat and pay for them, they could go to hell. He picked up the first of the pastries, and bit into it. He chewed furiously for a moment, and then looked up at the kid. "Tastes good. Thanks."
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Zesseract
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Something about the customer's manner was... off; he thought maybe he wasn't the type to go for these forced cordialities, and while the Japanese service industry while certainly full of these, Wei (though he'd now way of knowing his name) seemed to be rather off-put by the place. Either that or he didn't particularly care for his waiter... It was fair, he himself was guilty of the same, -in fact- he generally didn't care for a good majority of people, but then he was wearing the mask of waiter today. The customer's request for something 'off-menu' was met with genuine surprise, as he asked for a rather uncommon text. While the Adyton attempted to be a library, it couldn't be as fully stocked as one, given the space and the fact most of the books were mainly the eccentricities of Adyton's owner. Ishikawa-san, while enthusiastic in his pursuits, was by no means an authority on the written word. Then again, neither was Ryou, but he too shared this particular interest. It's why he'd originally taken up the role of stock-boy, though he'd gently found himself inching towards service-oriented roles, as the charm of putting away books had begun to die off.

With that title in mind, he attempted to recall if he'd seen such a title in stock, vaguely remembering something that could've been what Wei referred to. He must've passed through it on occasion, or perhaps he was taking single words from the many titles in the small library, whatever the case he couldn't say 'no' in his position. Service demanded that he instead say "I'll see what I can do", though he didn't particularly cared for those words either. It was more polite to say: "I'll take a look at our stock, are there other titles you'd like to peruse as an alternative?" He didn't mean to imply he didn't have it in stock, but the customer sttuck him as someone who disliked being bothered with too many questions; if he could limit the amount of times he had to distract him from... whatever he was doing, he thought maybe he could ensure this person's return.

(Table's looking cluttered too...) he grimaced, and while Wei had given no indication to wanting to keep the menu, he sure didn't seem to want to keep the reading list with him. Thinking it a reasonable assumption on his part, he moved towards taking it back (if the customer had set it down), misjudging the distance between his and the customer's hands, he briefly brushed the side of his hand against the customer. "-Ah!- Sorry, I didn't ..." but he interrupted himself, as he experienced something not entirely unfamiliar to him.

A brief pang of pain cut through his thigh, before several smaller wounds shot up from the base of his spine, all the while an august-sounding voice sounded-off a hearty laugh in the distance; keeping himself from doubling over, as that sudden bit of insight erupted in his mind, the teen seemed to seize up before the customer, almost in a seizure as he quickly, and painfully retracted his hand from the customer. While he had no idea, what, nor who exactly he'd experienced just then, he became certain of Wei's status as a user; more over, there was something else he'd experienced while in the vision, rather 'someone' he hadn't in a long while.

Attempting to recompose himself after his freak-out, he tried to stammer out an apology to the customer whilst reaching for his metaphorical mask; but no reply seemed to emerge from the boy, as he lost his voice. Ryou, reached up to clutch at his chest, as his heart's own frenetics kept him from assuming the usual roles; from where did this fear originate? Though rather than receiving an answer, he found a strong force pulling him towards something resembling normalcy. Something heavy gripped his head, pushing it down with inexorable pressure. In the barest moment between closing and opening his eyes anew, his distraught expression melted into the placid, overly-servile mask, as the force did well to remind him of his station.

"Apologies for that, I seem to have stepped out of myself for a moment... " it said rather casually, with an uncanny coolness exuding from each exhalation, its cowed expression twisted into a facsimile of something resembling a grin, before giving its back to the customer. "I shall be along with your text, shortly" it said coldly, and while it walked towards the nearby book-cases, it made a point to visit the person outside, now more aware of its situation and reminded of its status as a server, it thought it wouldn't do not to invite customers into the lounge. Returning to the customer, it gently deposited the afore-requested 'Water Margin'. "Your text as requested, if there's anything else, I shall be around."

(There's just the small matter of an indecisive customer still hanging around outside, and I know just the remedy for that.)

It reminded itself as it took leave of the customer and headed beyond the doors of the lounge; to Ren, it emerged from the shadow cast by the lounge's overhang, stepping through the threshold of the Hades' descent that lead to the Adyton. The thing, standing above the stairs leading down to the lounge, made a beckoning motion toward Ren.
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