tabularasa_rp | (open) where have you been? been searching all along 𝅘𝅥𝅮

[Akechi's back tightens at the accusation, but it doesn't stop him from pulling his shirt on, buttoning it as quickly as he can and tucking it into his pants. Leave it to Ren to cut straight to the heart of the matter. It's something Akechi had always appreciated, even when his princely personality had forced him to take a more roundabout route.

So the answer he gives Ren in exchange is equally as direct, though he doesn't turn yet. He's still getting dressed, after all.]

Do you trust me?

[He pulls his tie around his neck and works to tie it, fingers moving automatically as his muscles stay tense. It's a rhetorical question, really. He knows Ren can't trust him. He's never had any reason to trust him.

He glances back over his shoulder, his own gaze sharpening at the sight of the anger in Ren's eyes. There's a sick sort of satisfaction to knowing he's sparked such a reaction from him, even as much as he wishes Ren wouldn't.]

We have a job to do, Ren. I won't let you get distracted.

(Back home, back then, the answer would be very straight-forward: No. Not before they, as Akechi puts it, "parted ways". Even then, with Akechi confirming that he would get in their way, Ren offered him a chance to join them, to make things right. The certainty on his side that Akechi could, and still can be trusted should the mist in front of his eyes clear. Ren thought it did then.

So, with the tone unchanging, he replies.)

I do. Why don't you?

(It's all he says. If Akechi wants to add anything, he can find Ren outside. He takes the remaining items from his locker, glasses back on his face and next thing, he returns to where the rest of his clothes are.

Coward. Thanks for the input, Satanel, to which are you talking about...?)

[The question only earns Ren a derisive snort. Is that what he's hurt about? Akechi doesn't trust anyone. Ren's special enough that he tells him more than most, and even still, he can't tell him the whole story. It shouldn't surprise him that Akechi can't trust him or anyone else.

He finishes getting dressed and stalks toward the door, grabbing his coat and his sword on the way out. Fuck Ren for making this all so complicated. Fuck him.]

I'm going back to the apartments for now. Come find me when you've got your head on straight again.

[He'll grab something to eat in Wall Market first and then back to the apartments it is. A tactical retreat, not running away.]

(As if.

Bold of Akechi to think Ren is coming to find him on his bullshit terms, like none of this wasn't going to be relevant anymore because they have a job to do. Like he doesn't just want to stop him and kiss him again, like he can just swallow the lies again.

There are no words coming from Ren, perhaps a shake of his head and the glare that follows Akechi as he leaves, the glasses doing nothing to soften it.)

You modern boys and your grocery stores, brimming to the gills with food all rotting away for want of someone to buy. So spoiled.

[She said it in a lightly teasing tone. Look, he fed her, so she could actually taste the food now instead of inhale it. She was in a mood to be conversational.

She shifted the cardamon over and took a bite, trying the flavor out a bit more carefully this time.]

...where'd this spice come from anyway? Wish we had this in my day.

[ wow, eight...

there's a thought of his that he can't leave unvoiced as he hears about that, and that's: ]

I'm glad you found such a big place, Ren!

[ despite everything. truly. ]

Anyway, I think I remember you saying I'd get along with someone in particular a little bit ago... That was her, I guess? Why d'you think that?

(Very much agreed!)

... It's this thing here.

(Again, this was expected. Thank God he was here before Wuxian found this place... If he hadn't come in before.

To exemplify what he means, he just turns one of the showers on, allowing the water to make his point.)

First this, then the bath.

Edited 2020-08-25 16:37 (UTC)

(He smiles too, a little. They're his family after all.)

It's her and Yusuke Kitagawa.

(That would be it. He can see Leo and those two becoming best friends in a matter of seconds.

Yusuke with his ART and Ann with her easy-going personality.)

Same vibe on both accounts.

Edited 2020-08-25 16:39 (UTC)

Didn't you have markets?

(It's an honest question! There surely was a trade by the time she was alive, wasn't there? ... With all the alcohol she mentions to go around in hell, how does it appear, too...)

... Great question.

(Ren is not that much of a culinary nerd! All he knows is what Sojiro had told and taught him, and he certainly didn't mention the origin.)

... That's yours?

(Brand new piece of information! He knew the church was Aerith's place, sort of, now that he works there as well. The market, however, nobody had mentioned it to him with familiarity so far! There's a smile to his lips. It's good that such a nice thing went through... Assuming that it is.

Ren was about to take his first bite when she catches her inspection - she could probably make up the basics, but the spices and sauce are a secret. There's antecipation in the idea of whether she'll bring up what she tastes.

He narrows his eyes playfully, and just a little as she keeps on chewing, withholding the critiques! And there it is. He clenches his fist in a happy celebration before he smiles.)

I learned back at the café. I'm really glad you like it!

8 hours or 3 days.

(Both are probably the same with how time is warped and strange. Ren can't even comprehend the amount of time he spends at the bar in relation to the time he spends in his recon missions - all that come unsuccessful in determining what's going on, or even finding his friends.

It's a little disheartening, but he'll push through. When Felix opens up for the pets, there is no hesitation from Ren in giving it to him. He's pretty sure that maybe Felix can actually recognize him on their next meeting after this. The last one was too brief for him to expect him to!)

Why Felix?

(Oops. It has started.)

[Considering fish dwell in the pipes, could one (1) not-quite-demonic cultivator really have made things worse? ... Well, maybe. But as long as nobody is pooping, and presumably nobody is sweating either, at least the damage is limited.]

Convenient!

[Stuck halfway between admiration and confusion, he tries not to let either show through too much.]

But then, do we even need the bath?

Hey now, don't go calling out the spirit of envy on being jealous that you had better markets than she did!

[She snorted and harumphed, folding her arms and giving him a little glare. That's cheating, using her own game against her like that. Actually, she was a little more amused than she let on.]

And I guess the youkai trade. They don't talk to me much. [Shrug.] This isn't bad though. Little... uh... sweet for my tastes. I actually like the stronger bitter one. Let me have some of the last.

[She nods, enthusiastic as she takes another bite, trying not to laugh through it at his reaction. Tifa comes back around to his first question, because she's surprised that not even Ren knows that it is. Then again, to his credit, it did just show up a "day or two" ago with the church and the apartments.]

Wall Market is from our world, yeah.

[Though she doesn't look or sound all that thrilled about it.]

It's real name is Sector Six. An entertainment district. [More like red-light district.] They call it Wall Market because it was walled in a long time ago. The sector's run by a famous crime lord, Don Corneo. Not exactly the safest place to be in Midgar...

[Especially for a woman.]

(He listens, as per usual, keeping his eyes on her while he takes the occasional bite off his curry. Every time Tifa talks about her homeworld, there's always that hint of sadness or anger towards the situation they found themselves in, and it's something he has noticed through all his conversations with her. It doesn't sound like the greatest of places...

At least she is willing to talk, though, and without him asking way too many questions. It surprises Ren that, even after him and Akechi were so secretive around her regarding their own world, she feels comfortable with him enough to keep telling him about hers. This openness of her part, and even the fact that she already knows about the Metaverse, gives Ren a little relief when it comes to picking out extra carefully what sort of information he can give her.)

Ah.

(Never a dull moment in Midgar, is there?)

I'm familiar with people like this.

(Kaneshiro. All of the people the Phantom Thieves went up against were despicable, each with their own sin distorting the very reality of their beings... It sort of sounds there is quite a lot of those in Midgar as well.)

I hope there was justice. Men like this don't deserve any peace.

(Parsee seems to be in a good mood, even with the glaring. Is that the secret? Give her food?

He smiles, largely and with teeth.)

I can make you the strongest I know how another time.

(If she visits him again, because he is not going for Interrogation Shrine so soon. Let the man breathe!)

(Ren is working on it, he promises. He will try to make the bath fish free for everyone...!)

Relaxation.

(Get clean in the showers, soak in water and forget your problems for a little bit!)

Did you not have something like this?

[ these are names he's going to forget again, absolutely, but he can try a little harder for ren. ann and yusuke, ann and yusuke, ann and yu--

--ah, wait, he's a little concentrated on that task and almost entirely disregards what ren just said. that was... um. he looks a little as if he just got snapped out of a daze, which he did a little bit... ]

Ahhh? What was that? Same vibe?

[ maybe? is that what he said? he's gonna continue on like that's what ren said, ]

Should I take that as a compliment, Ren? My mind says yes, since these are your important companions...! But my mind's not always so reliable, you know? What is my vibe, huh?

[ it's said playfully, yes, but part of leo...

... does want to know, very genuinely, the answer to that question. maybe that comes through a little bit. despite his grandiose personality, and despite his ability to go on without being affected too much by people's opinions on him, he does still want to be liked. that's just human, after all. ]

[Better yet: add some tiny fishing nets, play around while getting clean! (Until the fish pooping starts.)]

Of course, we had baths!

[He gets clean in the meantime, trying to work out what he thinks of these showers. The warm water is really nice, but the sheer volume of it is a bit -... It feels more like a massage than a wash, and Wuxian isn't sure whether that's a good thing. But he's doing it! He's behaving!! (Wait - why is he even listening to someone younger??)]

But for relaxation, isn't swimming better? Or even lying around.

[Tifa shakes her head.]

They won in the end.

["They" being Shinra, and Don Corneo was just an associate in the big plan, sending his men to gather information on Barret and AVALANCHE... Justice wasn't served, and he's still out there in Midgar, running Wall Street the same way he always has. Men like Corneo make her sick to her stomach.

His day will come.]

So we've got Seventh Heaven, the church, and Wall Market... if a place like that showed up, I wonder what's next. Maybe one day, you'll get to see the pillar...

[Blue doesn't really like that idea, he thinks. He thinks he likes better the organic, natural concept of the world populating itself with what it thought they need. It felt nurturing in a way deliberate control didn't- that felt a little nefarious. A little human.]

[When Blue went off to school on his own, he was suddenly thrust into a world he hadn't realized he'd been missing. 'Normal' socialization, getting along with your schoolmates, navigating teen social circles and the norms and exploration of growing up........ It had all been a torrid affair he tried not to look back on too much, but all in all, he thinks it had been pretty normal, and he thinks less strange of it than he does all his life up to that point.]

[Highschool kids tried stuff out. That was just the way it was, right?]

[He laughs a little at the face Ren makes, and gives him a soft, backhand smack on the upper arm.] The first taste is weird, right? But you get used to it.

[Food was a good starting point with most folks. Didn't hurt here. She snorted and tried the last, reaching up to take a bit while she considered.]

This one's pretty mild isn't it? Kind of taste more the baseline. I definitely like the coffee one.

[Yeaaaah, the shrine was a great place to go and earn those kindness points, but she was a TOUGH teacher when it came to that. ... ok, now what did she say? What was it that humans filled their conversations with? Oh right... uh... normal question, normal question...]

So, how's the weather?

[....nailed it.]

(To be fair, Ren isn't fond of this. The lack of sleep, the overpowering hunger, the ever-growing boredom that is taking over him, the fact that it is so rampant that it forces him to deal with things he much rather not to, which comes right with the fact that he is much required back in his home reality.

It isn't all bad, though. Had it not been for the Void, he wouldn't have met Blue and everyone else he now considers friends. He grins at the thought, but it was quickly broken by Blue's slap. His own laugh followed Blue's and he shrugged a little. His cat would absolutely kill him right now...!

It's with boldness that he gulps next, shaking his head to halt the goosebump the taste brought.)

I've worked at a bar before, but same Heavenly Blanc rules.

(No shit this is his first drink. Nobody is surprised.)

(He takes notes! Of course he had eaten every single variation from the second he moved to Tokyo and there are some favorites to his own heart. Sojiro advised him once that the most important thing one can do is to know your clientele, though. He's pretty sure he's getting there.

Now that she has tasted them, he should bring the complimentary coffee to see if her perception changes. Ren stands up, stretching arms as he walked towards his green apron before he hears the question. Sorry, he can't not laugh.)

Windy.

hey, come on now! I suck at small talk, alright?

[And as if the prove the point, a little dust devil kicked up in the bar for about a minute. Hoo boy, that was going to be a mess later. Parsee gripped the rail and glared back at the weather.]

That's not funny! Everyone's a critic!

(open) where have you been? been searching all along 𝅘𝅥𝅮

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persona... 5.... spoilers...

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