meriter: (i know damn well y'all feeling this shit)
elliot nightray is a prissy nerd ([personal profile] meriter) wrote in [community profile] estoria2015-03-05 06:24 pm

( OPEN ) i don't want a mental suplex, i want quality customer service

Who: Elliot Nightray ([personal profile] 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.)
    [ 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 i didn't put him in school elliot's a wishy-washy miscreant to the bone, so feel free to encounter him there. do you see him sneaking peeks at feline cybuddies passing him in the streets whenever he thinks he won't get caught? brooding about existential angst/nothing in particular? want to punch him in the face? the sky's the limit.


souredsweet: cupnoodles (take a bow)

2!

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-06 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
What a surprise... I never expected to run into you in a place like this.

[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?
souredsweet: cupnoodles (super smash bros champ)

no escape...

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-07 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[He sure is JUST AS ELLIOT AS EVER, isn't he... Kaoru's sort of grown used to Elliot's particular brand of gruffness and his perpetual clumsiness in all social matters is vaguely endearing, in a "aw look the three year old scribbled a flower on the wall today!" way...

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.]
souredsweet: breadcrusts (bitches get stitches)

thats my line punk

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-09 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
[HIS PRIORITIES NEED SOME HELP. Actually, Elliot in general probably needs some help. That's a conclusion Kaoru came to a long time ago and he still has no actual intention of helping the poor guy out though, since it's pretty dang amusing as long as the target is someone or somewhere else.

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.]
souredsweet: jackandtink (reassurance)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-10 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Kaoru isn't one to talk either, honestly, as someone who lives off the income of a clan without having to split a single ounce of it with anyone else... But as someone who interacts with the general public much more than a hoity-toity son of a duke, Kaoru also (blessedly) has more street smarts than a noble might.]

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.]
souredsweet: jackandtink (uninspired)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-15 01:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[For the sake of Elliot's sad, sad pride, Kaoru will be kind enough to leave his first question unanswered. "Yes" would probably be rude and might shut down the conversation, after all!

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.]
souredsweet: (i'll kick your dog's ass)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-18 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
["AS MY ALLY." ELLIOT NIGHTRAY, THIS IS WHY YOU ATTRACT PEOPLE LIKE OZ... And conversely, people like Kaoru... So it's really just a lose-lose situation.

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?
souredsweet: cupnoodles (super smash bros champ)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-18 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's just a polite laugh at that BECAUSE WHAT ELSE DOES ONE SAY, SERIOUSLY. Elliot is a handful and Kaoru isn't even the one dealing with him, more often than not...

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.]
souredsweet: cupnoodles (your eyes get darker every day)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-03-27 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[He's going to be a dang work in progress for the rest of his life at this rate ELLIOT... PICK IT UP PUNK!!

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.]
souredsweet: jackandtink (serenities)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-04-01 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
[The space of time in which Elliot talks is more than enough for Kaoru to regain control again, to present what needs to be presented in a situation like this. It would be awful, awful to come this far only for the facade to come crumbling down for the same reason it always does.

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.]
souredsweet: breadcrusts (wake up again)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-04-06 09:38 am (UTC)(link)
[OH, ELLIOT... This moment will become a paradigm, without a doubt. If only he hadn't tried so hard to be a somewhat decent human being, Kaoru would have probably just continued to view him as a vague amusement to pass the boring hours with and little else, but there's something about kindness - even rough and inelegant kindness - that strikes every wrong chord no matter what it is. Kindness directed at him is something that he, at his core, desperately desires. It's also something that he greatly despises, but it's attention-grabbing either way, and not the positive variety of attention-grabbing.

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.
souredsweet: cupnoodles (not today satan)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-04-09 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[There's a low, sympathetic-sounding hum at that, and Kaoru's gaze shifts to the left and then toward the ground.]

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.]
souredsweet: breadcrusts (springtime)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-04-10 08:20 am (UTC)(link)
Preparation does seem to be key in situations like this.

[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.]
souredsweet: breadcrusts (bitter fruit)

[personal profile] souredsweet 2015-04-14 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
[Kaoru smiles up at him as he sets the tray down, reaching forward only after he's taken a seat to pluck the nearest cup from it and hold it between both hands. The cup itself is hot, but Kaoru doesn't seem to reel from the heat at all.

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)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-04-14 09:18 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-04-16 10:11 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-04-18 08:58 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-04-25 06:40 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-04-30 03:36 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-05-15 02:36 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-05-16 07:27 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-05-19 13:10 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-05-23 15:40 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] souredsweet - 2015-05-28 05:01 (UTC) - Expand