choo choo open log train

[unevoke]

Who: Shinjiro (unevoke & open
When: misc. days after event 9
Where: PLACES
What: THINGS
Rating/Warning: shouldn't be anything crazy!

---

a - mcceres
[By this point, work's become a monotony. It's a way to earn money, and he doesn't bedgrudge it for that purpose, but the forced socialization doesn't suit his tastes and the risk of running into someone he's conversed with - particularly after the events of the previous week - leave him tenser than he usually is.

At least he's an entertaining sight, dressed in his standard uniform of brightly colored apron and hat, sporting one of the flattest looks known to man as he asks:]

What can I get you today?

b - some random thrift store
[Shinji's stay thus far in Cerealia has been unkind to his limited wardrobe. His hat's looking particularly worse for the wear, his pants have small rips in them, and his coat is probably going to disintegrate the moment someone touches it.

Hence, his presence at the local thrift store.

There's not a whole lot on display, most of either not in his size or in atrocious colors and patterns he would never think to wear in public. Like the shirt he pulls out off the rack in sheer disbelief: a lemon yellow, with pink beach balls and blue umbrellas.

Who the hell even thought this was a good idea? And no he's not going to buy it, don't you dare ask.]

c - the cybuddy store
[Out of all the places in Cerealia though, the CYBuddy store is where Shinji's spent the most time of late. His guilt over attempting to sacrifice the things (and in some cases successfully) have led him to return time and again, to offer assistance in the store and give the remaining CYBuddies some proper attention.

It also gives him an excuse not to be social, and to put off thinking about the terrible things he tried to do.

Of course, there's no point in spending time in the CYBuddy store if he's not going to buy anything. There's Mitsuru's CYbuddy to spoil, and since he can't exactly buy gourmet CYBuddy food (does that even exist?) he settles for toys, picking out two and weighing them against each other.

He turns, eyes questioning.]

Hey, you got any idea which of these lasts longer?

[Quality over quantity, yo.]

d - game center
[Shinjiro isn't much for games. Having played only a rare few during his childhood, he'd never developed the fervor for them many of his peers had. That said, the pseudo-game of live action Pac-man he'd played his first day here had been kind of fun. He wanders into the game center one day when it's mostly empty - blame the early hour for that - and spends a good ten minutes just walking down the rows, checking out what there is on offer.

He stops in front of a fighting game and cracks a small smile. Akihiko would probably love this.]

e - choose your own adventure
[ooc: feel free to make your own scenario or pm me for an individualized prompt!]

Comments

[littlestbaskerville]

Okay! Thank you, Shinji!

[Lily watches him hit buttons before she nods. That was more than enough for her to eat...she always left half her food, maybe she could finish this!]

Yes, please! When are you off, Shinji?

[unevoke]

[Lily no....you're a growing girl, you need to eat more!

The question comes as a bit of a surprise - people usually don't extend offers to eat lunch with him, and even if they did he'd always automatically turned them down, but he thinks it might be a nice change of pace to get out of McCeres for twenty minutes and eat lunch with a ball of sunshine.

Of course, that's assuming she doesn't have better things to do.]

Five minutes. You sure you aren't meeting anyone else for lunch though?

[She doesn't seem like the kind of girl that would ever be lacking in company.]

[littlestbaskerville]

[Jokes on you, her body stopped growing thanks to a chain contract!

Waiting she hopes he might be off soon...or on break. She really wants to eat with Shinji, he's really nice. It's a lot nicer to see him in his body and not some weirdo taking it over.]

Nu-uh! I wanna eat with you.

[unevoke]

[Oh no, those words go straight to his heart and his face turns red. (Good job, Lily, you've broken past his defenses in one easy go.) Well, there's no way he can say no to her now.]

Then pick a table and I'll sit down with you once I'm done.

[littlestbaskerville]

[She sees the red and just giggles, she has been having this affect on people. Though she's not sure why.]

Okay! I'll find a good one.

[She might be making this into a challenge. Placing her money on the counter, she grins, then off to grab a table!]

[unevoke]

[It's that cute exterior. Attracts all the people who are tough on the outside but squishy on the inside. Shinji nods at Lily's reply and watches her scamper off for a second before returning his attention to the crowd now growing.

His service is a little quicker than usual, probably because he actually has lunch plans today instead of his usual 'sit alone in the corner of the break room' plan, and it's not too long before he's weaving his way through the dining area with both his food and Lily's, sliding down in a seat across from her when he spots that familiar mop of blonde here.]

Here.

[And he slides her chicken nuggets and very lightly salted fries over.]

[littlestbaskerville]

[She has a gift for it. Though they haven't seen anything until she goes crazy Lily about something.

Sitting down at the table she swings her legs, as she waits for her friend to find her. It's nice to eat lunch with people, it's become a favorite thing for her here. So she's more than happy he agrees to eat with her.

Perking up she sees the food and she smiles at Shinji.]

Thank you! ...are you going to eat?

[unevoke]

[--Oh right, he hadn't brought any food. He hadn't particularly thought about it, mostly because he's not a huge fan of the burgers here and partly because he figures he can eat after his shift anyway (he's not really hungry right now).

So he waves one hand vaguely and brushes off her question.]

I'll eat later. I'm not gonna grow anymore so I don't need to worry about it as much.

[littlestbaskerville]

[A look of concern on her plate she looks to her food and then to him. She does this a few times before she pushes it towards the middle of the table. She can share!]

Here! Lily won't grow anymore either!

[unevoke]

[--Well, if he was going to say anything else (and he was, Lily makes him a bit chattier than normal), that's all gone now in the wake of her proud exclamation. Shinji blinks owlishly before squinting at Lily.]

What's that supposed to mean? You're still pretty young, aren't you?

[Unless she's a youthful midget??]

[littlestbaskerville]

[Just smiling at him, she eats a chicken nugget. It's kind of common knowledge in her world but she's having to explain it more here.]

Well, 100 years passed when I was in the abyss, so I'm a 112. But! When you make a contract you don't age like normal people.

[unevoke]

[He can't deny that this is the strangest lunch conversation he's ever had, with maybe the exception of the first time Mitsuru had explained Personas to him. Any traces of hunger completely forgotten, Shinjiro stares at Lily completely confused, as though she's speaking an alien language to him.

(Technically she is, but thank god for magic translation powers.)]

What's an abyss and how do you get stuck in one?

[He'll deal with contracts later.]

[littlestbaskerville]

[Lily, providing awkward conversations since forever!

His broken stare just gets her to smile a little. She's become a pro at explaining this!]

Well...you fall into. The Baskervilles fell into the Abyss and we were stuck there until we found a way out.

[unevoke]

[One of her many natural talents.

Her explanation only makes the tiniest bit more sense and makes him picture some sort of dark gloomy hole in the ground, neverending and infinite. It sounds pretty depressing, actually.

And while he has a million other questions for her, given that she still seems to act like a 12 year old despite being way older, he tables all of those for the simpler question of:]

That must've been pretty lonely then. Or were there a lot of you guys all stuck together?

[littlestbaskerville]

[Best talent.

It was kind of like that but more scary. Although she wants to see what it was like before all of this. It was supposed to be beautiful.]

...I was alone, but it didn't feel like as long as it was...but then it did too.

[She never wants to be alone like that again.]

[unevoke]

[Ah, that's like a knife in the gut. There's nothing worse for him than the knowledge of kids left by themselves, willing or otherwise (but really, what kind of kid would choose to be willingly alone?) and Shinji shifts uncomfortably in his seat, eyes dropping to the clean white plastic of the table in front of him.

Good thing he hadn't brought any food with him; his appetite's gone completely.]

But you're not alone anymore, right? You've got those people you're livin' with?

[Please at least let that much be true.]

[littlestbaskerville]

[It doesn't seem to affect her too much anymore. It was a little while ago and she's out now. They had to help Master Glen and that was her main goal with the other Baskervilles. Something that they all wanted to achieve.

However...when she sees the other man's face she frowns a little bit.]

Shinji?

[Shaking her head side to side.]

Nu-uh! I'm not alone now and, and! Here I have friends! Like Shinji!

[unevoke]

[He's jolted out of thoughts by Lily piping up again, her small eyebrows furrowed in a frown. Usually people leave him alone or give him space to wallow in his self-pity, and list him off as an acquaintance if anything. It's been a long time since someone's cared and even longer since anyone but Aki's considered a friend.

Still definitely a strange feeling but he can't say it's unwelcome. There's another beat of silence before he speaks up, but when he does he's smiling. A real smile.]

Yeah. Dunno how great of a friend I'll be but if you ever need anything, I'll get it for you.

[And because the discussion of friendship still makes him squirm uncomfortably inside, he switches the topic near immediately.]

How're your chicken nuggets?

[littlestbaskerville]

[Lily was quick to call a few friends but the closeness was all depending on the person. With Shinji she knows he's a good person even if they met in a weird way, he's never been mean to her or given her a reason to not trust him. So that means he's a good friend so far, right?]

You are a great friend already!

[The compliments will flow with Lily. Back to food though she smiles brightly.]

I like them! They are really tasty!

[unevoke]

[sdfljkfd no Lily stop, his heart can't take any more of this otherwise it'll stop being all black and crusty and no one wants that. Thank goodness for the distraction of chicken nuggets, at least.]

You should get someone to make 'em for you instead. The ones here aren't healthy at all, and fresh ones taste a lot better.

[littlestbaskerville]

[Aw, but she wants to see his heart nice and clean. Accept the love, Shinji!]

...How do you make them?

[unevoke]

[Work hard Lily and you can make it happen!! In the meantime, they'll shift back into the deep discussion of how to make chicken nuggets.]

You cut up pieces of chicken into small pieces, cover 'em in breadcrumbs and flour, and then deep fry 'em. It ain't hard.

[A pause before he hesitantly offers:]

I can make 'em for you one day, if you want.

[littlestbaskerville]

[She has a new goal with you Shinji! They will have the best conversation about chicken nuggets.]

Oh...I don't know how to cook though!

[At the mention of him cooking for her, her eyes light up.]

Shinji would cook for me!?

[unevoke]

[Ah, this is really embarrassing...Shinji sinks into his seat some, face coloring a little at Lily's sheer enthusiasm. But he answers all the same in the affirmative.]

Only if you want.

[Said like his cooking isn't worth much at all.]

[littlestbaskerville]

[Nearly bouncing in her chair, she puts her palms on the table as she nods enthusiastically.]

Yes please! I would really like that!

[Congratulations Shinji, you made her day.]