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Spin, spin, sugar; [Ryou, Ren, Ng]
Topic Started: Jun 12 2017, 08:13 PM (595 Views)
Czernobog
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Wei's hadn't been directly watching Ren, keeping an eye on him out of the corner of his eye while he read, and when the boy began making hand gestures, he glanced over at him and squinted as if Ren were doing something profoundly stupid. He turned a page and used the momentum to make a very quick "cut it out" gesture, drawing his fingers across his throat. He then leaned against his upraised hand, furrowing his brows as he looked down at the book.

This was all getting too drawn out. Perhaps they should just punch Arakawa in the throat, wrestle him to the ground, and tell him what the score was. It would be unexpected, at least.

He drank from the fancy coffee he had been given, and shook his head.
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Zesseract
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"Really?" his tone unperturbed, and just a little overly familiar, but then how else was he to regard Ren? If he was to refer to anyone in that manner, it'd have probably have been him, much as it distressed the junior. Still, his jumpy demeanor was entirely unwarranted, he felt... it was almost as though there was something else on his mind? " That's a bit of a shame, for a moment I could've sworn you were waiting for someone outside." he proceeded with his line of thought, his wistful tone denoting equal parts longing and disappointment, as he recalled Taira's desire to meet someone outside of the circle of 'freaks' Taira had run into, not the least of which sat across the nervous boy. He couldn't have imagined having a worse time than he, being someone alien to Nagashima, he could empathize with dealing with all of the undue pressure that 'new kids' had to deal with, but Ren seemed to have it especially worse. Something that brought something of a perverse hint of pleasure from Ryou, thinking that at least he didn't have it as bad as Taira.

"The owner said he wanted to see me not surrounded by books once in a while, I think this constitutes just that, wouldn't you say?" he added with a smirk to the fidgeting boy across him.

The talk about stuff going online went over his head, as he'd not kept abreast with the goings on surrounding Bedlam's community. He wasn't -really- the type to browse online, and the community aspect of Bedlam was at odds with some fundamental aspects of himself. So his interactions tended to be limited in scope, keeping well within the 'haves' to his own 'have nots'. He'd met another scanner whose ability did NOT entail figuring out a series of unreadable impulses, and whose arrival had complicated things for Ryou ever since the two had been seen leaving the Adyton together. Not that "Luna" seemed to mind, but Ryou didn't think of himself in that manner. Then there was 'Coach' and the two's nightly outings to the ruins... it seemed to Ryou, that without setting out to do so, he'd garnered something like a circle of allies, which begged to question why Ren seemed to have such a hard time of it.

"Sorry..." he said rather glumly, "..but I find myself with no desire to browse online listings after pulling off an all-nighter... plus my company likes their outings." it all seemed rather surreal to him, that was to call anyone his 'company'... but as he'd hit up those nights with Coach, he'd found something like a stable of friends around him. "You uh...? You think I should worry about this?".
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Wagoo

Ren blinked, looking as if he'd seen a fish walking on two legs. Ng Wei had seemed to have chosen an action that, while it got the message across and confirmed he noticed, made Ren feel a little more like he was an idiot. Which, going by his grades, currently seemed likely, but being called out for lack of subtlety still seemed to affect him. He turned away in the end, hoping that he wouldn't just walk out with the Limiter Ring.

Ren cringed a little at Astaroth's amusement and not-so-subtle calling out of Ren being outside waiting for someone. "It's... well, it's not quite like that," he admitted. He took a deep breath, before speaking again. "I, well, I was trying to muster up the courage, I guess, to get in here. It's, ah, it's hard to go and speak to someone like you. Your reputation precedes you completely." He found himself stuffing his hands into his pockets again, grasping onto support of some sort by scrunching them in his hands. "I've got to take some sort of medicine to help me focus," he commented.

"Wait, the owner?" Ren seemed a little confused. "Why would the owner care about that sort of thing? Doesn't that seem like something your parents would care more about?" Then he blinked, and he looked a little more disturbed as a thought came across his mind that he hadn't thought of before.

What happened to his parents!?

Ask, Aesop hissed.

With that, Ren let out a long sigh, before speaking up as if he didn't believe he were saying what he was at that moment. "What do your parents think of all this?" he asked out of the blue.

"Um, company?... nevermind." Ren looked much more worried though, as he registered the term. How many are on his side? Do they know? It's not some sort of cult, is it? Oh crap oh crap oh crap!

Enough, you nitwit with a requirement for micromanagement, Aesop chimed. You possibly hold more knowledge than he. Use it to your advantage, and let him know just how precarious his position is.

Ren seemed to look about, concerned for something. He spotted nobody in particular, though he did linger on the exit for a time. But when he turned around to speak, it came out in a quick deluge. "Some people went and covered the memorial in Ruwashi Park with graffiti, stating that 'we remember' something. Considering what happened to cause that memorial to be built, it's... well, it's not hard to figure out what they're talking about. And the thing is, they've... well, they've struck. Someone I've met, she... well, they attacked her, tried to break her leg. And that's not getting into who made a post online either." He paused, and took his hands out of his pockets, clasping them tightly together. "How much do you know of anthropology?"
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Czernobog
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Wei continued to listen, flipping through the poor translation of The Water Margin, and his antipathy towards the translation distracted him somewhat from the conversation going on just a few tables over. He began to just drink the non-coffee beverage he had ordered. At some point, the moment to act would come.

His eyes flickered over to them. Some point. Not this point.
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Zesseract
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"That... is a mental image I'm perfectly comfortable with."

The boy opposite to Ren, drew a subtle smirk from his comment; having to gather courage to talk up to someone, himself even, was a notion he was perfectly content with; better to be reviled than be seem as familiar, he thought, as any degree of comfort around someone usually translated to getting taken advantage of; but the manner in which Taira expressed it was a touch worrisome, his manner was always jumping at something that seemed just outside of his vision, to Ryou it seemed as though Ren was constantly running away from something, or worried of being seen by whatever spirits danced across his vision. The visage of some manner of impish being, taunting one wasn't exactly a way in which Ryou would've liked to live, and Ren's comment about needing medication seemed rather distressing.

"You really think that's necessary though?" his demeanor all but changed before Ren, as he spoke out of concern than his usual derision. But then, he was something of a hardliner for his own morals, however strange they may have seemed. "I mean, I know we're not friends or anything, but considering what we've been through... -actually- forget I said anything, your life and all." he caught himself before stepping over his own set boundaries, and seemed to return to a state resembling normalcy, or whatever passed for it in Ryou's case, as Ren then asked something that caught him completely off guard. "My folks..." his tone became more reserved, as a more sullen look overtook his smug expression, "I -uh- I don't really see them that much. They both have crunch-time to worry about... " he started to ramble, as he suddenly found himself unable to formulate any coherent thoughts. A rush of emotion, as he recalled the reason for his transfer to Reitaku, took him; beyond his parent's need for a more fertile labor market, the move had been greatly motivated by Ryou's mental state then.

"I don't really see my folks all that often; they're only vaguely aware of my job here, and I don't usually bother them with stuff outside of school... " he seemed to finally agree on something to be said, half-forcing the issue and half-answering Ren's question, his words were almost coaxed out of his person, as though he were very reluctantly humoring his therapist. "I don't want to give them any more things to worry about..." his pained expression reflecting the somewhat sensitive nature of this subject for him. Thankfully Ren himself changed the subject, as he directed it to things falling more within Ryou's purview, as he referenced the recent strings of attacks on users. As though roused from his sleep, Ryou perked up at the mention of this, not out of want to hear about people being targeted, but that the subject of his parents had been pushed out in favor of something of greater import. "I hadn't kept... abreast of these goings-on online, but this isn't the first time I've heard of these people. "

Having donned his usual mask, his tone became colder, almost cruelly so as he regarded the very real threat of the black hoods as instanced by Ren; "I hope for your sake, that you've taken some manner of precaution... it's been getting to the point where one can't go out alone anymore. Strength in numbers and all."
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Wagoo

The smirk that emerged on Arakawa's face continued the running theme of Ren being spineless; his face remained worried and disturbed, yet though his mind seemed to be running a mile a minute, there was confusion upon him as well. There was also creeping in a little bit of defeat; it seemed that Astaroth was well in control of his fate.

But the circumstances shifted the moment Ren asked about Arakawa's parents. Ren noticed how his fellow opponent in conversation had gone from his intimidating behavior to one of solemn awareness of defeat. Ren looked more and more concerned as what seemed to be Arakawa continued to speak.

Unfortunately, changing the subject was not a smart move. Ren got the feeling he was speaking to Astaroth as Arakawa's body perked up in response. And Astaroth, going by his tone, was aware of what had happened, and wasn't pleased.

Ren took a deep breath, clasping his hands together on his lap. This time, it was successful, and with it, there was an attempt to calm down. It didn't work on his face at all; it still looked exactly as someone on thin ice ought to look. His tone of voice did too. Yet the words that came out had a sharp point to them in their content.

"You are," he began, before dropping his voice. "Not as in control as you think. Is that right... Astaroth?"
Edited by Wagoo, Aug 29 2017, 05:03 PM.
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Czernobog
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Wei glanced over, eyes flickering over the two of them when the Arakawa kid basically told Ren that he needed to have backup for this. Which was true, but it was a transparent ploy to get that backup to reveal itself, which was stupid. Wei would wait until the right moment, and then would make the situation stop. Fast as lightning, quiet as a whisper, serious as a heart attack. At least, that's how he hoped people would discuss it.

Boasting always meant so much more when other people did it for you.

Ah, here it was. The cherry on top of the sundae. How would Arakawa respond?

Quietly, he slipped one of his gloves out -- the right one -- and laid it in his lap, all of the fingers stretched out, palm up, so that it was ready to accept his hand if need be, and he listened.
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Zesseract
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(That was ... a... lapse?)

He seemed to completely disregard Ren's words, as Ryou felt his attention was needed elsewhere; this pressing turn, turned his serious expression to look of utter confusion as he regarded his surroundings with an air of depressing unfamiliarity. His mind darted through his scattered memories, as it gathered up the errant shards of thought and pieced together something like a lattice of his memories. (You got up and went straight to work...) he heard himself say, as though re-asserting himself in the real, -in the now-. (It was sunny, you thought it was a waste having to spend the day carting returns around...]), he felt something stir within him, and gently guide him to something resembling his operating normalcy. He felt himself walking down a familiar path, lead by someone's hand; his natural instincts suppressed, he welcomed its grip, feeling its slightness interlacing itself between his fingers. It felt much smaller in comparison to his own, but tugged at him with surprising strength.

(Miyuki-san thought the same, she promised to teach you how to man the coffee machine...), the haphazard array of memories quickly sprung from within, and began to assemble itself before him, rushing past him to step into the condensing gestalt of the placid coffeeshop. (She was busy, instead the cook took over... he had no patience to teach you...); he tried to reply to Ren, but felt that same grip covering his mouth, as though pressing him to better choose his words. His own instinct didn't fight back, and soon fell in line with these new urges, (Despite few people coming in, there was an inordinate amount of books needing to be put away. You felt it unfair, you'd gotten used to waiting on the customers... you picked up the books and did it anyway.). Sound seemed to gently creep in now, unmuted from an absolute silence that'd he'd only noticed in its absence. He regarded the boy across from him with a curious look, as he tried to speak again, (Not yet...), he heard himself say, as the words engraved themselves into his mind.

Throughout his inner exchange, he could only look back silent at the boy across him, -rather- at the space beyond him, as his eyes attempted to focus on a point in space that only he could appreciate. Suddenly, the grip on his person seemed to vanish, as he finally regarded the person before him, not as an unknown, but a face he could put a name to. Urged not by some hidden feeling, but his own self, he finally answered Ren's question :"You misunderstand." his eyes focused intently on Ren's own as he finally got his message out. A wave of relief began to spread all over him, as he -once again- retreated into the comfort of his mind, "I have to get back to work.", he said finally. His hand reached out beneath the table, and very gingerly placed itself atop the other boy's, as an odd sort of comforting gesture. "Just let me know if I can get you anything, 'kay?" drawing a soft smile on his lips, he withdrew his hand, curtly bowing at the junior as he took his leave.

It wouldn't do to have him sitting around while he was still on the clock, while he appreciated the small mercy of this brief bit of levity, he thought he'd overdone it. No doubt he was going to catch some flack for it now... these and other more banal thoughts began to occupy his mind, as he settled into a sort of routine. Eventually he'd passed by the other seated patrons to ask if there was anything else they'd want, but these were more a show of pleasantry than any sort of meaningful exchange. He'd gotten used to it, -that was- putting on his customer service face, so much so that it'd become second nature to him. He didn't mind as much anymore, he couldn't think of what it was like before wearing it all the time.
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Wagoo

All inner confidence in Ren vanished the moment his fellow component of conversation spaced out. Instead, he immediately looked confused by the swerve of events. He'd expected there to be a poor reaction, anger, fear, getting up and stomping away, even laughing out loud at him then and there. But instead, nothing had happened except the eyes in front of him were not looking at him anymore... somehow.

"... Huh? What?" was all Ren could muster aloud, his tone matching perfectly with his face. Aesop, meanwhile, growled in annoyance. Ren shook his head at that, and looked at Arakawa again. "I... I guess you are," he began, but he still seemed spaced out. Letting out a sigh, Ren ran his left hand through his hair, clearly not knowing what to do with this turn of events. Where did I go wrong? he wondered.

To begin with, you questioned why you failed when you have not done so, Aesop chimed, But wait, there will have to be a response eventually... from someone.

Sure enough, Aesop was correct, and he didn't even have to wait long for said correction to be evident. Ryou spoke, and it seemed different from before- not the Astaroth that Ren knew, but the glimpse into another person Ren had met briefly before vanishing.

Then somehow it changed in a few words, and his hand was in Ren's lap. "Gah!" he yelped, immediately going to move his chair back. A few patrons turned to look at him, but Ren paid them no heed. He instead remained focused on Arakawa, who presumably was currently piloted by Astaroth. The smile Astaroth was making came across as a sneer to that moment, and he sounded coy as he spoke to Ren.

"... See you later," was all he could lamely say. Ren lingered there, standing next to the table, not quite registering to move. But when he did, he began to make his way for the exit. As he did so, his eyes glanced to the ring bearer briefly, but didn't turn his head an inch,continuing to face towards the exit. As Ren exited the Lounge to get above ground, three thoughts entered his head.

It... it has to be done in a fight... oh crap... please don't happen at school!

What hour into the night is he free of his obligations?

I don't know! Sometime at... night. When does the Lounge let employees go home?

Aesop made a sound of pleasure and agreement as Ren began to think along this train of thought. Perhaps he'd have a plan executed and mission accomplished before his parents wanted him back home tonight?
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Czernobog
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Was...was Arakawa grabbing the other kid's dick? Wei had only been watching out of the corner of his eye, but there had been a definite hand-into-lap motion there. Was there some layer to this that hadn't been made known to him? Because Wei felt that, if he was going to be roped into some kind of bizarre double-reverse-secret-demon-possession-exhibitionist-BDSM-roleplay -- as opposed to the perfectly normal kind? Was "bizarre" actually a necessary descriptor? -- he was going to be at least a little annoyed by the fact that he hadn't been given the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether he wanted to participate or not. He was so angry he might cut somebody. Not severely, just enough to make sure they knew he was annoyed. He had other things to be doing.

Time for a tête-à-tête about this bullshit so that they could quickly put an end to things.

He got up, laid two crisp thousand-yen bills on the table and then walking out, pausing to yawn at the door and letting out a somewhat loud belch. It was obvious that he was gratuitously overpaying -- no one would dare leave a tip in an upscale place like the Adyton -- and the fact that he said nothing as he left would be a bit of a slap in the face. Of course, this was all calculated: better for people to remember the incredibly rude foreigner, rather than the fact that those two young men just had a very tense and heated discussion.

The fact that Ren had gone ahead and used the name "Astaroth" might tip someone off as to something going on here. He wanted to make sure that they remembered him being an ass instead of that.
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