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

(Ren expects Leo to really not even remember the names on the long run! If they end up here, Leo would know. Ren would be glued to them, showing them the Void and introducing them to the new friends he has made.

It's with a throat-y chuckle that Ren notices the shift in Leo's mind.)

I think so. She's very extroverted and friendly.

(Ann, that is. A fierce lady who is not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself. Ren's eyes turn into little half-moons, he's so proud of her...)

Yusuke is a painter. He shares your art ideals, I believe.

(He is equally as proud of Yusuke! He went through hell in his journey to follow his dreams and inspiration just hits him from every corner and nothing compromises his ideals of art...)

You're extroverted and artistic. You remind me of them, in a way?

(That being said, Leo is his own person, with his own quirks. He likes both the parts that are similar and differ him from his friends...

Confidant rank up?)

The three of you would hit it off immediately.

Edited 2020-08-29 12:57 (UTC)

(Eh-

Wuxian forgot the soap. Ren excuses himself for a moment before he returns with a little round object in his hands. He reckons it might not be something Wuxian has seen? When was soap invented? Either way, he turns one of the showers on to wash his own hands as demonstration before handing the bar to the other.)

Try with this.

(It's with a shrug he replies.)

When you go inside, maybe you'll see it differently.

In the end?

(Was the fight truly over or does she mean it because she's here? Or was she not involved in this fight at all? There are many aspects of Tifa's rebellion that he was still trying to put together...

If there is still a fighting chance, then it's not over.)

We're assuming the bathhouse is ours. There is one very similar near LeBlanc.

Still better than me, I think.

(It was too much coincidence to have his point proven right after, so he chuckles, barely bothered by the fact he will have to clean the place for the tenth time today. It was part of the occupation.

He waited for it to cease before he poured her coffee, taking it back to the booth and presenting it to her.)

Now try together.

[ In this place, eight hours and three days are probably the same thing, Rinoa thinks, but she can't help but laugh anyway. It's true that after all the anxiety and worry she's felt since arriving here, the idea of sleeping for three whole days is a wonderful one.

Or maybe it's just nice because it would actually be something to do other than wander around aimlessly in the hope she bumps into someone she knows. Felix has helped, but...

Speaking of her companion, she watches with a smile as he rolls over under Ren's attention, displaying his belly to his new friend. ]

I told you about Angelo, right? She's named for a figure from history. Sant' Angelo di Roma's her full name. So... this is Sant' Felix di Girona.

[ She's not sure if they'll ever have the chance to meet, of course. But at least this way they're connected somehow. ]

The heck do they got kids working at a bar for if they can't even have the fun of it? How lame!

[Blue laughs it off, and takes another sip of his own drink. The food was surprisingly delicious for ...random food that had appeared out of nowhere in the void, in the basement of a cave, with no one around to cook it! Blue just hopes it doesn't end up being a weird illusion caused by a trickster Pokémon.]

How's things going, anyway? I almost never see you outside the bar these days, but I guess even you wanna eat somewhere else sometimes, huh?

Bullshit, but you can pretend to yourself that you suck at it. I see you chat people up all the time.

[She sighed as the wind began to die down, taking the coffee and having a sip while having a little more of each of them.]

Ok... the coffee with the coffee might be a bit too much. Might want to pair it with something sweeter to drink or milder anyway. Ngh... but what makes you of all people say you're bad at small talk?

[She laughs, although it's not a cheerful one. A scoff, more than anything.]

Funny, that your bathhouse got merged with another piece of our world. Wonder if that's a coincidence.

[Whether it is or isn't, it doesn't make her any more pleased to hear it. This world sure does have an odd way of picking and choosing what it brings along with them, and how it mashes them all together.

Tifa falls quiet, and she's starting to poke at her food with the end of her fork rather than eating it, contemplating on how she's going to say what she wants to next. Bringing up LeBlanc reminded her that there was something she needed to talk to him about. Eventually, she sets aside her food on the desk beside her.]

Ren. There's something I need to tell you.

(Of course, Ren just beams when Felix displays a tummy, a hand moving to scratch it immediately. Last time they spoke, there was a nostalgia regarding their lost companions so it's fair to say Ren feels a little relieved to see that she is dealing with her own loneliness well and even found a way to honor Angelo herself.

Him, on the other side, could not find something close to Morgana even if he tried. The cat talks and fights. He can't be considered a pet as it is, just a friend stuck in cat form. Either way, he offered Rinoa a soft smile and a nod.)

Who's Angelo di Roma?

(He does not pay attention to class. Sorry!)

( If anything, Crossroads paid very well and it opened several doors for him to improve certain parts of himself through conversations with patrons. Drinking for Ren wasn't an option back home, not only his cat would disapprove (?) but also, the last thing he needed was issues with law-enforcement, should he be caught. Finally, it just wasn't something that crossed his mind too often?

Here, it is a different story. No probation and a dragging boredom and a never-ending curiosity in the way things work. Can they really get drunk or is it truly subjective? How impared would he turn out to be? Won't have answers if he doesn't try it, right?)

Everything's fine. (Nope, but there's no change in Ren to bring out suspicion, anyway.)

It's important to keep busy here. There's a lot going on and nothing at the same time.

(That being said, he takes another sip. He should be halfway through the can as of now, still not exactly feeling it - or recognizing it.)

Edited 2020-08-31 17:33 (UTC)

That's a different thing.

(He tends to be in conversation often, but how much does he talk in comparion?

Either way, he takes the note in his mind regarding the taste.)

When have we ever small talked?

(As in, aimlessly conversed about something that wasn't of interest just for the sake of talking.)

I can, but I don't like to talk when there's nothing to be said.

Edited 2020-08-31 17:58 (UTC)

And it's been a long damned time since I ever really chatted about meaningless things. If someone's talking to me, it's because they want something, or because it's time for me to do my job. Here? They banter.

I don't even think I remember what small talk is [She grunted.] I don't think we're a good couple to compare. Do you talk with someone else about dumb thigs? Like Osomatsu? he's probably better at that than both of us combined.

[Sorry, Oso. She's not wrong though.]

(Comfortable silence. A page flip. The scratching of a pen tip on thin paper. Soundless breathing aside from the occasional short sigh, the surroundings a gentle mix of colors resembling an indoor flower field.

This is a rare moment, with Ren sitting on his bed, scribbling thoughts and findings on his probation diary and Akechi on the chair, reading his overcomplicated philosophy book.

The pen is spinning in Ren's fingers for the time being while he decides to read back on the entries he had written back home. Maybe there's something there that could tie to this situation and he has overlooked.

After a few pages, Ren's low chuckles fill the room with sound.)

You will never let me touch your hair again, will you?

(ooc. any part of this thread can be heard through the void, should you want to! we're playing with the whole thing that sound and distance are inconsistent. if your character is a Nosy, feel free to have this conversations echoing in their ears, wherever they are!)

[ ... ♪♪♪

that little bit of half-uncertainty at his edges makes way for just a hint of amusement and interest in what ren has to say. it's good leo's eccentricities haven't quite put him off, though leo didn't expect him to say anything particularly damaging. ren is pretty kind, after all.

talking about all these people from home makes him wonder who ren most reminds him of... he's kind and unexpectedly personal like naru, but maybe he's more like... oba-chan? ah, the glasses and messy hair match, too-- ]

Intense art types don't always hit it off! A guy I know hates my guts and he's something of an artsy genius too? Not that I won't try real hard to get along with your Suke and Ann.

[ he'll try... and shu is something of a special case, anyway. a tumultuous relationship, but not exactly a bad one. ]

Mmm... though the best case scenario is if I never get to meet 'em, right? It's weird! Wanting to meet someone but not wanting to meet them at all, wahaha!

[ he's had that kind of feeling before, but in a very different context than now. ]

...Yeah, [Blue agrees thoughtfully, fidgeting with his drink. It felt like everything was one long, dream-like series of events, with no sleep, no days and nights, no knowing how the time was passing or how long they'd been here. Anyone would start to get uneasy, and try to occupy themselves to take their mind off it.]

[Blue feels surprised he hasn't broken down a little more, just by virtue of his own crappy brain running circles around itself. But somehow, maybe all the mysteries of this place had kept it busy, even when he had no Pokémon or other pasttimes to occupy it.]

Heh, a drink now and then sure helps, though! [He tilts his towards Ren, like a little 'cheers!', and sips. Uh, Blue maybe had one a little more than 'now and then'.]

...Speaking of a lot goin' on, how's things with Akechi-kun, huh? [Blue elbows Ren playfully, grin brimming wider.] He's kinda the hot-and-cold type, huh? Heheh. I get that a lot, too. So that's your type.....

Too bad you're just a schoolkid, though...

[.....There's a lot to unpack here, but, also a lot of assumptions... Blue sips his drink again, an oblivious agent of chaos.]

(With one of his hands currently too busy petting Eevee and giving it the softest pets behind the ear while the other held the beer in place, fit on his kneecap, Ren took a moment to think. One problem at a time, as per usual... The most immediate concern is escaping the void, surely... But there aren't any clues that point to that even being possible.

And then Blue speaks the second Ren was about to take another gulp.

Look! Another very important and rather unescapable issue he has to deal with. The beer gets stuck in his throat and all the muscles in his body freeze before he made an effort to down it, a series of coughs following.)

I beg your pardon?

(The question comes in a hoarse voice, as he attempts to breathe again after this near death occasion. Time to grab another can and down at least a third of it before Blue explains the very obvious.)

I am not sure at this point. The bar and the café made sense... If this does too, it's not clear to me.

(The fact that they are two hospitality establishments acting as a hideout for authority defiant groups easily explained that meshing, but... What would a simple bathhouse have to do with red-light, inherently dangerous districts is beyond him...

Unsurprisingly, Ren starts to grow worried when the silence fills the room. From his end, surely it happens more often than not, but Tifa tends to be talkative and there's something heavy in the air that doesn't feel like comfortable silence in the slightest.)

What is it?

(Of course there's much concern in his voice and he too sets the food aside to give Tifa his full attention.)

(He is not telling her for the 128371876th time that he is talking to her for the company that he enjoys, so he just watches her talk. At least there are many upbeat and optimistic people in the Void. It would be much worse if the majority of the population was screaming in a loop.

At the question, he simply shakes his head, because the last thing he talks with Oso is that. Oso takes a very similar action as Parsee regarding Ren, called picking at Ren's brain because he doesn't talk about himself, so nope!)

I haven't thought about this.

(He's not categorizing his conversations!)

Due to the situation, most conversations circle back to trying to understand this place, anyways.

[Yeah, she wasn't actually asking him if he was doing it for that reason. He was clearly masochistic enough that he enjoyed these little talks for some reason. Her chin went to rest on her knuckles and she considered for a minute before changing the topic a little.]

Pretend for a moment that you're stuck here for ten years. Time works funny. So you find out eventually that when you get back? No harm, no foul. Let's take away all the reasons you have to get away, and you're not able. Just stuck here. Long enough to have a life. Ten. Twenty years.

What do you want with your life? Doesn't have to be detailed. Just a thought.

... I'll burn that bridge when I get to it. I can't think that far ahead.

(It's his biggest problem. Ren is blind to consequences, to futures that are not an immediate thing to solve, not an urgent issue he can grasp. Can't fix it now? Next thing until he can.

He barely had thought about his life back home. Hadn't Akechi told him what happened, he expected to be in detention by now. Sort of hard to think of a future behind bars.

Here? The unpredictability factor makes it even harder to imagine.)

What about you?

[Now that she's brought it up, her mind goes blank. She doesn't know what to say, or how to say it with his full attention fixed on her. More silence follows, and it's only broken when Tifa lets out a breathy, nervous chuckle. It's silly, she knows, to feel nervous or jittery about these sorts of things—even sad—so she isn't sure why she's suddenly hesitating.

Best she just comes out with it, right? Rip off the band aid, as they say?]

I think I might need to leave Heavenly Blanc for a while.

[Before he can give her any reaction to that, she quickly goes on, trying to keep her voice steady throughout.]

Seventh Heaven was destroyed, the night before I came. Shinra dropped the pillar right on top of it... I was standing there when they authorized it, and I didn't even stop it from happening. I couldn't! I tried... All of Sector Seven was gone. People's homes, my home, the bar... [Her hands ball into fists on the desk, and she gives it a punch to level herself again.] I thought I could handle being in there, but... all it's done is remind me of that. The fact that I couldn't stop it, and seeing it gone... because of them...

[Blue watches Ren choke and cough on his sip with an impassive expression of knowing amusement, and waits for an answer..........]

[But it doesn't come. Instead, now Ren is trying to drown himself. Yikes, now there's an answer.]

Hey... slow down, kiddo, [Blue nervously laughs, reaching for the can to stop Ren from suddenly drinking himself into a stupor- as relatable as that was.] Sheesh, sorry, sorry for asking!

That bad, huh? [Blue pulls the can away from him and sets it on his other side, Eevee hopping up with a pitying sound as he watches Ren gasp for air. Great, another human kid trying to drink himself to death on his watch.] Don't worry, you can tell big bro Blue~ So, start at the beginning, what happened?

[She reached out and flicked at his nose, narrowing her eyes.]

No burning bridges. If anyone's burning bridges around here, it's me, you. [She smirked.] I don't know. I guess maybe I'm liking the normalcy here, so maybe just have a normal life? I haven't had that in a long time.

(Well, if he didn't feel it before he definitely feels it now, that the panic that installed in his brain made everything a little clearer. Ren's definitely a bit more dizzy than he antecipated earlier and there was quite the delay in seeing Blue's hand reaching for his beer, something that he would have seen miles away...

There's no way he's weak in alcohol tolerance, right? He must have drank it wrong. Or the void tampered with it. It's fine. This is fine.)

Huh?

(At the beginning? Like, as in when Akechi outed himself as a Metaverse user and they had to do a dance of lies for months? Or the beginning of where they are now, dealing with things that were buried and repressed for who knows how long? Or the beginning of the mess Ren put them, when he just lost his patience and kissed the one person who attempted to kill him twice?

Or even, the beginning of Ren's current crisis - not knowing what goes inside Akechi's head.

Ren sighs, not even able to formulate an answer for the time being. Should just let him have the beer, Blue.)

It's just very complicated. You and Red are rivals, are you not? You can categorize us under that as well.

Eh-?

(Ren makes the decision to not dodge it, even though he easily could. It was only a flick and he wanted to show her some form of friendship? Anyhow.)

As much of one as we can have, I suppose.

(Not so normal without organizations, schools, money, concepts that just lack in the void for now due to the whole society building.)

Would you leave the bridge?

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

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closed to raccoon, but open for characters to eavesdrop.

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p5 spoilers!

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