Entry tags:
( OPEN ) i don't want a mental suplex, i want quality customer service
Who: Elliot Nightray (
meriter) and you!
When: IC 11/25—11/27
Where: Residential District (primarily the CERES Gymnasium) + Shopping District (anywhere)
What: Elliot has a terminal allergy to common sense: a lesson in three (four) parts, comprised of psuedo-drowning, Machiavellian swindlers, and terrible book taste, respectively speaking.
Rating/Warning: None, probably.
1. INSERT SWIMMING PUN HERE (ceres gymnasium.)
2. CULTURE OF THE YOUNG AND VAIN (around, somewhere ...)
3. LMAO, SPOILERS (still around ...)
4. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (wildcard!)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
When: IC 11/25—11/27
Where: Residential District (primarily the CERES Gymnasium) + Shopping District (anywhere)
What: Elliot has a terminal allergy to common sense: a lesson in three (four) parts, comprised of psuedo-drowning, Machiavellian swindlers, and terrible book taste, respectively speaking.
Rating/Warning: None, probably.
1. INSERT SWIMMING PUN HERE (ceres gymnasium.)
- [ In reconciliation of every self-deprecatory impulse in his body, Elliot actually shows up for lifeguard duty for the first time in two weeks.
He'd been staving off the financial necessity of having real credits on hand to buy very real things for a long while (like microwave dinners, for one thing, considering he'd survived thus far on a diet of refried peas and mashed potatoes with the consistency of clumping dirt). Monetary gain: the true motivator of any stalwart teenager in these trying, trying times. It wasn't as if he was going to turn to his brothers in some prostrated act of weakness. Just because he'd been hairsplitting nebulous concepts like coming to the gym during his technical shift and maybe staying the whole period instead of flat-out leaving whenever it suited him didn't mean he was a stranger to manual labor. Not at all.
So. It's just another routine day at the swimming pool, and by the third hour he's sweating bullets attempting to get a grip over his genteel, strait-laced Victorian morals. There are just so many exhibitionists about in the afternoons, all in varying levels of undress, and he's blistering red up to his ears keeping his gaze trained at all the patrons without turning away at the sight of scantily-clothed bodies. Literal lingerie, at that — it was nothing short of incredible that Vessalius hadn't succumbed to utter debauchery, exposed day in and day out to water-slick forms and all manner of loosened morals. He'd always been a weird kid, anyway.
But his tension reaches a culminating point hits when someone's apparently spritzing out at the deep end of pool, an arm stuck out and frantically waving him over. Reluctantly, Elliot strips off his jacket and cravat and strides over, peering down at the swimmer in question with scrunched eyebrows a stare tipped toward palpable disdain. ]
Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and take my hand already, I don't have all day.
[ Too bad he doesn't have any sense of peripheral awareness to comprehend the rather peculiar grin he's shot with until the stranger's got their hand grappled around his, and then — ]
Gh — no, no, n-o-t again ... !
[ — he falls in. Panic briefly settling in his lungs, he spends a second or two in slantslide vertigo, water rushing around in some great, disorienting deluge before he kicks up, hard, breaks the surface with audible frustration. ]
I HATE THIS JOB!
2. CULTURE OF THE YOUNG AND VAIN (around, somewhere ...)
- [ When his mood considerably sobers, he takes his paycheck for a supermarket splurge to refuel his stockpile of frozen dinners and comes away with several plastic bags full of cheap, cholesterol-inducing foods. Normally he'd head straight for his apartment, but Elliot decides to take the scenic route and ends up finding the kitschiest merchant stalls known to man. One minute he's minding his own business, and the next he's surrounding by a copious amount of creams and lotions purported to rejuvenate youth, like he'd just been plunked in the middle of a health ad and was ethically obligated to spout off some hypocritical drivel about the losers who'd buy into such scams. Seriously.
Well, beggars can't be choosers. Elliot wastes no time forcing his way to the front to blithely jab a finger at one of the offending vendors in question. ]
What a load of crap! It's just like CERES to promote these kinds of underhanded ruses. They're a bunch of raving idiots. I'm surprised they can get anything accomplished.
[ You know, because there's nothing wrong with waxing poetic on insurrection to the merchants. With this kind of bullheaded mentality, Elliot's lucky he isn't get his ass hauled away by security guards right this minute. ]
3. LMAO, SPOILERS (still around ...)
- [ Wayward hellion of paltry exasperation that he is, Elliot Nightray can't get by without self-gratifying himself on one of the finer things in life. Namely, literature. So he makes a habit of scanning the shelves of the bookstore with a probing fixation at least once a week, turning up his nose at the YA section and heading for the classics to spend hours turning through the pages, scouring the contents for answers, or maybe just a quick read.
Only — today it's different, because he's currently engaged in some kind of weird, heated argument with the cashier. On closer inspection, it's composed mostly of angry, one-sided outbursts, like: ]
It's a clear ripoff! This isn't the series I ordered at all. DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING?!
[ Or: ]
What do you mean, you don't have any copies of Holy Knight IN STOCK?! What kind of blasted establishment is this? I demand to speak with your higher-ups IMMEDIATELY!
[ If nothing else, bystanders can at least pick up on the fact that there's a very frustrated fanboy hogging the front desk to blather on and on about the most emotionally bloated, self-indulgent novels to ever grace the Latowidge Academy library. ]
4. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (wildcard!)
- other than that, he'll be roaming the residential and shopping districts because
2!
[COMES A VOICE FROM THE PERILOUS BEYOND--
No it's just Kaoru, coming in to rescue this poor vendor from being railed into by an angry hedgehog. Since the stalls are a bit of a rip-off (a bit), Kaoru doesn't actually have any bags in hand. It's just a nice area to stroll through, okay!! The hustle and bustle of the larger streets seem to fade away in the smaller backalleys. It's a more intimate environment, and while there are still a lot of people, its relative quietness is appreciated.
EITHER WAY, stepping on over!! Elliot clearly has a lot to learn about being an underground revolutionary if he's just going to spout angry rhetoric right out in the open...]
Is there something you're dissatisfied with here?
y this .......
It's still weird all around, but hey. One of the many things he's come to appreciate in his strange post-mortem existence as part-time whiny nerd and part-time useless insurgent. ]
... Kaoru?
[ He abruptly freezes mid-rant, jaw hanging unhinged as the interloper rapidly approaches, slurring a bit on the last syllable as she calmly — how does she do that, there's like, at least thirty people swarming this cart alone — strides forward with soft-beaten grace and settles beside him, eyes tinged in some manner of concern.
Elliot, true to himself as any shonen protag ought to be, is having none of it. ]
Are you kidding me? Isn't it obvious? What kind of MORON — [ reverting to petty insults always helps him win the argument, gdo, if he didn't want to drop his plastic bags on sullied asphalt he'd totally be jabbing fingers at the vendor ] — thinks people are swayed this easily? It'd be one thing if they wanted to sell off overpriced crap. But lying right to my face?
[ How scandalous. ]
no escape...
And just as always, Elliot sure isn't a let-down this time! He's so buttruffled about the weirdest things?! Not that Kaoru is really one to talk, but still. Fixing Elliot with a mildly baffled look, he gets a gently-voiced:]
But you aren't planning on purchasing anything here, correct?
[As if to say, "why are your knickers so twisted if this has nothing to do wtih you???" That's the true question that everyone should be asking Elliot Nightray, honestly.]
looks like ur stuck w/ me 4 good
A little.
... Ugh, the things he does to maintain even the pretense of friendship. Why can't everything be one-sided and unrequited on his part?! Why does he have to care?! ]
That's not the point, is it? If I stand idle, they'll assume they can continue taking advantage of everyone else. It's acclimatization. They'll gradually resort to larger and larger degenerate acts unimpeded. If you don't strive to nip actions like these at the bud, ignoring them will eventually backfire on you in some shape or form.
[ Nevermind the gross overgeneralization Elliot's making about practically everyone working in the pitiless service industry known as retail, he's literally waging this battle over the necessity of cheap foot cream, like what even. His priorities are horribly, horribly skewed. ]
thats my line punk
The smile presented is patient and kind, at least. Like a schoolteacher having to deal with a particularly obstinate and rambunctious child, maybe...]
Markets have always worked in this way, sir. Rather than acclimatization, it's already the status quo in quite a number of worlds. The shoppers who go through these places are aware of the fact that unrealistic claims will be made, as well... In an attempt to sell their wares, exaggerations are common, after all. [A beat, and then:] Do you not often go to marketplaces?
[callin him out on being a DUMB SHELTERED RICH KID.]
no subject
It's not Elliot's fault if people don't see eye-to-eye with him. Frankly, that's none of his concern. ]
What — [ splutter, splutter, that idea's so preposterous and not at all realistic, where would she get such an inane theory like that ] — are you talking about? I've been to plenty of marketplaces! I could describe several of them to you in detail, if necessary.
[ Or rather, he'd been to auctions for people in well-to-do opulence who have never had to worry about their next meal or actually having to scrape up a means of living. They're nothing more than charades, conventions for demonstrating wealth and prestige. And while the Nightrays have never been sincerely appreciated for their reputation, it hadn't impeded the annual revenue they garnered as one of the Four Great Dukedoms. ]
And you? Are these type of greedy practices commonplace where you come from?
no subject
Ah? You have? [The smile presented has a gentle sort of amusement just below the surface, but it comes and goes quickly. Kaoru's head inclines forward, toward the shopkeeper who is now succinctly distracted with helping other customers with Elliot The Loud And Unbearable distracted.]
We could discuss it sometime - now, perhaps? Unless your business here is of greater importance, in which case I would hate to intrude more than I already have. Still, I wouldn't mind learning more about the world that you come from.
[The second question, of course, goes left unanswered.]
no subject
[ As for Elliot, his reluctance to admit that he knows absolutely zilch about anything that isn't hypocrisy or his bone-deep existential need to spew out profanities and never shut up again rears its ugly head. Promptly giving his pride the bum rap, he scoots off a few paces away from the stall in slight discomfort, much to everyone's audible relief as they surge around the vendor and his big-ticket foot creams.
Scrubbing briefly at the nape of his neck, he vaguely accedes. Just one bobbing nod, protracted and thin, and then Elliot's negotiating his terms for Talking about Unpleasant Things on the down low, steering away from the panoply of effusive customers to grip his grocery bags even tighter. ]
If you want to know, I suppose I wouldn't be against telling you. It's nothing I thought you would ever be concerned with, however.
no subject
So neatly setting that aside - and stepping outside of the throng of customers, as well - Kaoru will redirect focus to the second topic. It's always good to learn more about other people, especially if the exchange can be kept uneven. Information alone is certainly not enough to give someone enough of an edge to survive, but it doesn't hurt to have it.]
Well, I've known you for several months, but I hardly know a thing about you. Where you're from, what things are like there... If I'm to call you a friend of mine as I'd like to, I can't rudely remain uneducated.
[A smile follows, faint but friendly, before Kaoru turns to start heading out of the maze of shops. TRY TO KEEP UP, STUFFY MCNOBLES.]
no subject
[ DIVERSION SUCCESSFUL. Even if it was spoken in the least-offensive manner possible, he would probably stalk off if his pride was too badly damaged.
Nevertheless, Kaoru's succeeded distracting Elliot enough that he completely retracts his key goal of making the poor beauty cream seller cry because he only pauses to tighten his grip over his grocery bags before continuing in pursuit. It's only after they're decently stranded from the rest of gossipy civilization as they know it that he continues speaking. ]
How about a trade, then? We'll exchange questions and answers back and forth. I wouldn't want to leave things so one-sided. And — ... I am interested. In learning more about you as my ally, I mean.
[ He certainly dodged a bullet right there, because of course the word ally is synonymous and yet completely different from the word friend. You know. Semantics. ... Yeah. ]
no subject
Kaoru is good-natured about it, at least, and ends up laughing in a polite and unobtrusive way.]
You are? I'm afraid I won't have many interesting things to tell you. [Glancing over! There's a mildly teasing expression present, but it's just soft enough to not be offensive to certain delicate sensibilities.]
But that trade sounds fine to me, anyway. Would you like to visit a cafe so that we can sit and talk, then?
no subject
[ Elliot's just a handful of contradictions thrown into the body of a prepubescent nerd, it's no wonder Kaoru's treating him like he's made of porcelain. ANYWAYS, it's been a while since he's actively sought out someone's attention, so he'll nod in assent, already trekking in the direction of that one place they agreed upon visiting way-back-when or something. Ignore the fact he's literally fast-jogging there, he might be a little too excited by the prospect. Someone spray him with water before he gets too yappy. ]
Certainly. I've saved some funds in the meantime, so as such, I'll take care of the bill.
no subject
But it's down the streets they go, familiar as they are now that it isn't even necessary to check landmarks, really. All of the shops that are most often frequented are as easy to get to as Kaoru's own apartment.]
Oh— Are you certain? It's a kind offer.
[A faint smile! Even if Elliot's looking forward or otherwise not directly at this dingus, there's a little upward lilt in the tone of those words, too.]
no subject
They're some ways in their trip when he speaks again, brushing stray lint off his shoulder in lieu of staring at Kaoru directly, because it's just like a lady possessing higher sensibilities to worry about petty bills. ] I don't mind. It's nothing you should you bother yourself about, either.
... How has your sister been?
[ Apparently, no one gave him the memo since the last hack-and-slash clown incident. ]
no subject
But Kaoru will look back up at his dingus traveling partner when he decides to speak up again, mildly amused by his chivalrous bill-paying ways. A tab is an important thing to consider! No one wants to feel in debt even over something as simple as a coffee and biscuit, probably--
And then there's that question, and all thoughts of coffees and bills are neatly derailed. OH BOY... Elliot sure knows exactly what topics to hone in on to make a conversation unpalatable, doesn't he? It'd almost be an impressive skill if it weren't for the bitter taste left behind in Kaoru's mouth. Chizuru's friends have noticed, probably, but Kaoru hasn't told anyone. It's too unpleasant. It makes him too unpleasant. Walking on eggshells:]
—She isn't here anymore. [A careful balance of displeasure and mourning and upset to hide just how deep and dark the sentiments below the surface get.]
no subject
Briefly, he falls out of step, wavering like a high-strung piano note tuned out-of-key, the sharp strung inordinately tight, and then in stark intonation: ] ... What? For how long now?
[ But Elliot is always, always blunt: crude where he should be kind, sharp and callous and nothing less than inconsistent where it really matters. He'd never told anyone about Leo, either, how he'd appeared and departed so quickly that he could've been the continuation of yet another incoherent dream. Finally, a sense of unreality, several months past normal acclimatization. After so long, the dichotomy of resentment (how it built and destroyed people) distorted as an awfully implicit truth. And maybe he did despise Leo in a residual sense, but he hated himself even more.
In the end, he never did get to make it up to him. ]
I'm sorry, Kaoru. I had no idea she'd already left.
no subject
There's a paleness to the smile Elliot is given, but it just looks homesick rather than sick from the unfortunate person he is.]
It hasn't been very long. Less than a week. [It's still a fresh pain, even though Kaoru is equally talented at shoving away new and old things alike.]
Thank you, though... I didn't want to speak much of it, since everyone has their own worries and struggles here. Her friends know already, so that seemed enough.
[It isn't enough, of course. Even the promise of her safety isn't enough. Nothing will ever be enough until they're back together again, side by side, suffering through whatever Cerealia throws at them with equal, matching steps.]
no subject
A proclivity for insults without real basis — a temper he can't even outlive, and it's exasperating with Kaoru stock-still and paling in the windless air. Belligerence its own knife. He curbs his anger around his mouth, forces control into his hands to outstretch one hand, palm Kaoru's shoulder in a wholly clumsy movement. ] We can look for her. Do you know of her last whereabouts? Was a search party organized?
[ His voices lacks that virulent temper, but somehow, it doesn't really seem to matter. ]
That doesn't make your own any less inconsequential. Don't go so far as to devalue your needs as less significant than those of anyone else.
no subject
Still, despite a brief hitch in step, Kaoru maintains flawlessly. Elliot is given a somewhat sheepish smile and Kaoru's hands fold together at waist level, knitting nervously.]
Elliot is truly kind... Saying things like that and offering to help - I appreciate it. [Followed by a gentle nod to illustrate that very real gratitude.]
I've already looked everywhere for her. [LITERALLY. Several times over, in fact. The motivation of a distressed siscon is strong...]
A search party wasn't organized, but the people who know her have been keeping an eye out. She isn't the first to disappear and she won't be the last, I'm certain, but... [A pause, discomforted. Then:] It's upsetting. I don't want something like that to become "normal" here, but there's very little that can be done about it.
no subject
His expression blotches at the compliment, which he dismissively waves off with a sigh entrenched somewhere in his lungs. At some point he's dropped both hands, which remain idle at his sides. ]
I know. Leo ... he's made several reappearances now. [ There's nothing thick and cloying his voice, no mawkish sentiment for his valet, because that's something he reserves solely for his first friend (which is really kind of sad, given the context of his hellish canon, but whatever). ] I don't expect it to be any different from your sister's disappearance in that regard. She may show up yet again when you least expect it.
[ Noncommittally shaking his head, he proceeds further down the path, and it's only when they're just a block away from the café that he speaks up once more. ] Have you tried contacting CERES about the matter? Under duress, they may answer differently in private lines.
no subject
I'm sorry that you've had to experience this, as well.
[Whoever Leo is - friend or family - is surely important for Elliot to specifically bring them up. Not that Kaoru actually cares much for shared experiences of any nature, good or bad; there's not much solace to be taken in not suffering alone in this case, even though it does bring some satisfaction.
Content to remain silent for the duration of their walk, nothing more is said until Elliot is the one to break that quiet air. Kaoru glances over, but only for a second or two.]
It's something that I intend to do as soon as I have a decent plan. It would be reckless to approach without an idea of what to say or what to expect.
[Which is actually putting it very mildly. Kaoru's paranoia and preparations always extend much, much deeper than they appear on the surface...
But they're at the cafe soon enough, and Kaoru steps through the propped-open front door without hesitation.]
no subject
[ Nonchalance, full stop — or some semblance of it, because pretensive as he is, loss still strikes him in the same manner. Unraveled, he averts his gaze, fingers itching with restlessness gone incendiary, fleshing out his the sheer discomposure when he turns aside. ]
Then it's better to be prepared for every eventuality. You can't be sure if or when you'll run into a situation that calls for the last resort.
[ And Elliot, if nothing else, is familiarly acquainted with the guileless art of smothering his contempt for his own weakness by means of verbal assault. Trailing in after Kaoru's flitting form, he draws forward a few paces, gesturing to the coterie of tables and seats littered through the coffee shop. ]
Is there anything in particular you'd like to order? While I properly order at the front, would it be alright if you could find us a place to sit?
no subject
[Kaoru only addresses the latter part, because "it's nothing" almost always means the opposite, unless the conversational partner in question is some sort of sociopath, which Kaoru can only assume Elliot Nightray is not. Either way, anything with that much emotion packed into it is something better left untouched.
But the question is a good enough springboard, used swiftly to get away from those heavier topics. With a smile:]
I can do that, certainly. As for my order, just a cup of green tea would be sufficient... Thank you.
[And off Kaoru sets, feet barely making a pitter-pat against the floor. The table selected is a cozy one, tucked away from the brighter lights of the front seating area framed by its outward-facing windows.]
no subject
The loss of someone indelibly dear.
After placing and receiving the order, he returns with a tray set with two cups filled with green tea, which he cursorily sets on the table before sliding into the seat across from her.
There's a beat of silence, strange and protracted in the wake of his reveries, and then: ] What's your sister like?
no subject
The smile remains perfectly in place even as the question is posed, and the familiar bite of bitter-green envy surfaces to coat his tongue like the green tea still left untasted. What's Chizuru like? Everyone who hasn't met her wants to know eventually, for this or that reason. The answer changes sometimes, but the core always stays the same. Sweet, tolerant, kind, lovely: the sort of person that everyone wants to know, and the person that everyone protects even if they barely do know her. Kaoru's gaze shifts to settle on the surface of the tea, idly watching as licks of steam rise from it and dissipate into the air.]
Chizuru is... the sort of person who tries her best for others, no matter what the situation is. [Foolish.] She's dependable and reliable. Very, very giving. She would sooner put herself into a compromising situation than see those close to her suffer. [A person who doesn't understand how the world truly works.] Above all, I suppose I would describe her as being kind. Chizuru is a terribly kind person... It's a good trait to have, even though it gets her in trouble at times. [And yet, despite all of the carefully guarded blades that those words hold, the next ones spoken are said earnestly.]
She's my only sibling and my little sister. If she makes mistakes or trips, I want to be there for her. [But that statement, while relatively benign without examination, taps into a wealth of madness that Kaoru is all too aware of. Shifting out of that gear quickly, Kaoru looks up from the cup with a fleeting smile.]
I hope that the two of you might be able to meet and get along, if she returns.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
time 2 pull the plug on this trainwreck
me staring into the sky over these nerds forever help elliot nightray