tabularasa_rp | open | i hit the bottom but I'm on the mend

Beecher?

[it's a good guess, he thinks. Beecher's about an hour away from Chicago, accounting for traffic, and just down I-57. it's also the first town south of Chicago he can think of, period, but never you mind that part]

[and either way, regardless of her answer, his own remains the same] It was 2013, when I ended up here. [a beat, then] November. [which is why he's dressed like he is. sure, it's not cold here, unless you get into the snow on Mount Silver, but it's not hot, either, and it's just sort of -- force of habit, at this point]

For starters, you can't get your coffee and drink it on the run.

(He calls the attention to a habit he has noticed about Damien, with his little tumbler.)

And punctuality is key, so put that into consideration when making plans.

[Damien stares at him for a moment, and then barks out a laugh. look, he came out to have a good time, but honestly, he's feeling so attacked, right now]

Duly noted.

[a beat]

Both parts of that, actually. [he may have had the occasional issue with punctuality, back home. it wasn't a habit, mind, but -- well, who doesn't get absolutely absorbed by something, once in awhile? people in Japan, apparently]

(He laughs too, a little quieter than the other before shaking his head.)

Not a drive-by. (He won't expect something like that from a foreigner!)

Reputation is everything as well.

[he sobers a little, as Ren continues, attentive, and at the idea that reputation is everything, he's silent for a moment, before:] I know there's some sort of -- for lack of better wording -- business with business cards, isn't there?

[something like you're actually supposed to pay attention, when someone hands you one of theirs?]

Dunno. I've never been in here before today.

[ The woman who responds shrugs, looking perfectly content to have no answers and to be exploring the area on her own. Aerith glances around at their surroundings, humming thoughtfully. ]

I guess it's your first time looking around, too? [ She ventures, cocking her head curiously to the side. ] Find anything interesting yet?

It is. [he glances over at her, then back to the not-mall, spread out in front of them] And not yet. [if she hadn't noticed, he really hasn't gotten that far, a little hung up on how jarring the combo of school and mall is, right off the bat]

[rather than say that, though he glances at her again, squinting, and then:] You're one of Tifa's friends, aren't you? [he remembers her, thinks he remembers her from the end of the memory he got from Tifa. it's a little fuzzy, now, like a memory of something that happened to him when he was younger, the details less razor sharp, but still. he's still likely to respond more favorably to her, for that very reason]

There is.

(Ren nods, trying to remember if he has any with him, but he doesn't, unfortunately!)

It's respectful to read and not just store away. You're aware of bowing, too, right?

(He figures. He has bowed to Damien several times as of now...)

[Damien will answer the question in a second. for a brief moment, instead, he squints at Ren before he shifts, reaching for the wallet in his back pocket. he hasn't touched it, since they arrived here, since he doesn't have to pay for anything (or pretend to, if he's just going to steal the money from someone else), but he does actually have one of his business cards]

[he holds it out to Ren, to inspect, and well, it's a simple thing, the same blue-gray as his hat, with silver writing on it. there's a seal the top, made up of a silhouette of Chicago's skyline and the words Chicago RFL, and below it, the basics -- his name, job title, phone number and extension, work email address. Damien waits for him to go through the motions of checking it out, and either putting it away somewhere safe or handing it back, before he finally answers the question]

I've noticed it. [a beat] But there's something ... [hm, how to explain what he's trying to say?] I've noticed it's different, depending on who you're talking to. [different depths to the bow, different time spent holding them, that kind of thing. what does that mean? does that mean anything, or is it just personal preference?]

Probably too distracted by how weird it is, right? This isn't the only place like that...

[ She's thinking of her church now, and its combination with the cafe. Though she hadn't minded it to begin with, it's still a strange merger. ]

Oh? [ At the question, Aerith looks pleasantly surprised, and nods. ] Yep! That's me! I'm Aerith.

[ She doesn't ask how he knew, because...well, in this place, there are a lot of ways it could have come up. Considering the recent memory scramble...maybe he'd seen something of her in Tifa's past. She doubts the other woman had just mentioned her in conversation in vivid enough detail for this man to recognize her on sight. ]

[he hums -- she's not wrong about how weird it is -- and then shifts, turning to face her more fully albeit somewhat awkwardly, his limp and the brace he wears to help with it obvious in even that small a movement]

Damien Brenks. [and he's just going to hold out a hand] I'm a friend of Tifa's, too. [ ... it's bizarre, thinking of himself as having friends, but well, here we are. Tifa saw at least some of him, really saw him and didn't flinch. that counts for something]

Yeah. Been spending a lot of time down here trying to get it off the ground...

[The closer they get to the stand, the more it starts to smell like barbecued meat. Even without anything cooking on the grill, the scent still lingers around the area with nowhere else to go. Not that she minds... especially with an endless supply of it to go around.]

The Navy Pier? [Her voice goes up with curiosity.] Doesn't sound like an entertainment district to me...?

[Once they arrive back at the booth, she pats a stool on one side of the counter. Take a seat, she's going to cook you a meal before you go to the bathhouse, Damien.]

(Mhm? Is Damien reaching for a demonstration?

Very politely, Ren reaches with both hands to accept the card, with the thumb and forefinger of each hand gently taking the card into his sight and performing a standard 30 degree bow before he tends to it. Of course, his eyes travel the card carefully, noting the details and the personal information in it. It's almost an extension of Damien in a way, so he takes time to appreciate it.

Instead of going into a pocket, Ren just leaves it on the table, placed with the information facing him.

Of course, there probably is much more to it, but it's not like Ren spends a lot of time in business meetings in a suit. He's only done what feels natural.)

There are many rules, but I can't say I know all of them. Akechi might be better for business related traditions. (He recommends.)

There is. Different levels of respect.

Well, it definitely smells good.

[to the point where he wouldn't be surprised if his hunger went from zero to sixty, like he does here, at the smell. thankfully, after a few seconds, it becomes clear that the smell isn't going to turn out to be tempting fate, and a little relieved, he sits down at the counter, as ordered. he'll still eat, even if he's not stupidly suddenly starving]

As far as Navy Pier goes, though ... I don't think it was, originally. [he knows it wasn't. it was, as the name implies, originally used by the Navy] But at some point, someone bought it out, and now there's a few dozen restaurants and shops, a Ferris wheel, boat tours of Lake Michigan, the works.

It's all ...

[kind of magical, at night, all lit up, like Wall Market seems to him to be, now. rather than finish that statement, however, he simply shrugs]

[he was, and he watches Ren with interest, before leaning back where he'd leaned forward a little. interesting]

I might ask him about them.

[he also might ask after Akechi, period, once there's a pause in the lesson. he suspects Ren wouldn't be here, if something had gone awry, if the wound was infected or something, but -- well, has he mentioned he likes Akechi?]

[but anyway]

Like the honorifics you all use.

(He has! Ren likes him too, to nobody's surprise.

Damien is absolutely right. If Akechi hadn't been in a good shape, Ren definitely wouldn't be here, just chatting.)

That's right. Everything rotates around respect, reputation and hierarchy in Japanese culture.

Edited 2020-10-08 18:03 (UTC)

Joliet is the nearest city to me. Though based on the year you came from, I'm from an area of the state that didn't exist yet.

[Just in the past few weeks Lysandra had learned Hell, magic, and more were all real. The year being different from person to person seemed simple and logical by comparasion.]

It is the year 2100 back home for me.

[ She moves to shake his hand in return, nodding again in acknowledgment. ]

Nice to meet you, Damien! Did you meet Tifa here, or...?

[ Is it possible he's also from Midgar? Either way, Aerith steps back and smiles affably, hands linked behind her. ]

[ similarly, Raihan has at least gotten glances of Damien but hasn't yet taken any opportunity to introduce himself. he's gotten used to people coming to him first - if his height didn't catch people's eyes immediately, Duraludon certainly did. but seeing as everyone here is in the same boat, what harm is there trying to get to know everyone? ]

Let's hope it stays that way! It'd be nice to have a train line to get around... not that these cars look like they're going anywhere. Talk about a tease.

[ there hasn't been any sign of things budging since Raihan got here, and without any signs of technology working the way it should, he's not expecting it to anytime soon. but saying all of that feels needlessly pessimistic, so he keeps it to himself as he hops out off the train with his hands stuffed casually in his pockets. Duraludon follows, carefully hopping onto the platform. ]

What kind of stadium was it? [ he's vaguely curious; surely it wasn't one for Pokémon battles like Hammerlocke Stadium was. from the sporty-looking uniform number emblazoned on his uniform shorts, Damien might be able to parse why he's interested. ]

Edited 2020-10-09 05:00 (UTC)

[Firing up the grill, Tifa tries to imagine that in her head. Wall Market doesn't have the Ferris Wheel or boat tours, and to the outside eye, it looks completely harmless, so she can where he's made the connections—lots of restaurants, shops, and it looks like the kind of place that would be filled with people at night, which it is.]

I'd rather go there than Wall Market, to be honest. Sounds way more fun...! Wall Market might look nice, but they walled off the Sector for a reason. Pretty dangerous for women to go alone at night—outside of Shinra's influence, there's no one to keep an eye on it.

[But not wanting to turn this into another downer conversation about Shinra, she steers the topic by pulling some sliced meat from the fridge.]

Any preferences? I've got any kinda meat you can think of, and some veggies too.

[he shakes his head a little -- a confirmation that he doesn't recognize the name of the town she's from. he starts to ask how there can be an area of the state that doesn't exist, then, and then stops, floored by the idea that she's from almost a hundred years in his future]

[when he recovers from that, he barks out a laugh]

Well, at least the L survives.

[he nods once, as he takes his hand back, another soft hum accompanying the gesture. nice to meet you, too, Aerith]

Here. I spent a lot of time at the bar, when she was still working there. [mostly because, before Kaiba and his walkways, his options as to where to hang out were limited. at least he could be social, at the bar. at least he could sit down when his leg started to bother him] Though, from what she tells me, I'd fit in well, back home.

[Tifa said he'd make a good member of AVALANCHE. he's -- still not sure if he believes that, all things considered, but]

[Damien hasn't been actively avoiding him or anything, the opportunity to approach him just hasn't really come up until, well, now. no time like the present, though!]

Believe me, I know. [he'd love it more than anything if the train would actually run. it'd make getting around easier for him especially, when he's the reason Kaiba's building the ramps in Mount Silver in the first place. it's hard out here for a disabled man]

But it was a baseball stadium. [he pauses, looking Raihan over] Do they have baseball, where you're from? [he figures the uniform is for whatever Pokemon fighting sport thing goes on in his world, but it occurs to him he has no concept of what other sports they might have -- or what Pokemon training and battling really entails, actually]

Edited (html fail. sorry.) 2020-10-09 22:08 (UTC)

Its a nice place. I'd say you should visit if you get the chance, but I'm not sure if thats possible.

[She was a bit used to responses like that, but a laugh certainly was better then a look of despair or worry.]

It did! I'm pretty sure the people in the city would be so mad if they tore it down.

[Noct makes a face, shaking his head a little.]

Yeah, kinda getting that.

[He sighs.]

Thing is... the stuff that happened at home before I got here? I don't know if this is... supposed to happen?

[He knows he got pulled into the Crystal, but as far as he knows, there's no precedent for that sort of thing. For all he knows, this is some weird alternate dimension and the logical place for him to have ended up? Especially since Tifa's world has some similarities to his.]

open | i hit the bottom but I'm on the mend

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