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

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( 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.)

[ 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. ]

[ 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 — ]

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. ]

[ 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: ]

at all

[ Or: ]

Holy Knight

[ 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!)

~~i didn't put him in school~~

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[ Well, imitation's supposedly the best form of flattery, and Elliot's done plenty of people-watching because the concept of restraining orders apparently never existed in his particular dimension. In his mind, there's nothing wrong with (needlessly, stupidly) mouthing off bottom-of-the-bucket peddlers if no one bothers contesting him for it.

Then again, he wasn't expecting much of a retort. Mouth snapping audibly shut, Elliot levels his gaze, just that side of insipid, with all the disinterest of staring at a discarded piece of gum wedged into the sidewalk instead of a real person. ]

What's wrong with that? I'm voicing an honest complaint.

[Well if there wasn't anything else Nice was good at doing, he's pretty good with getting underneath other people's skin. In contrast to the way Elliot was looking at him, Nice keeps regarding him with some form of amusement.

He really does like getting under people's skin.]

I never said anything was wrong with it. I'm just saying you're being kind of hypocritical. Yelling at people trying to sell a product about how they can't get anything done...

[He eyes the bags.]

What've you gotten done, besides shop for food?

[NICE YOU'RE BEING A HYPOCRITE TOO OH MY GOD]

[ SHIT, THEY'RE BOTH HYPOCRITES ... at least Nice is infinitely more subtle about it, which is ultimately better than Elliot smearing slanderous insults left and right onto poor vendors in some stupid effort to prove his ... idiocy, maybe. It's not like any of the shopkeepers insulted his mother or anything. ]

Who are you to talk? You don't know who I am or what I've done.

[ Oh, looks like he doesn't care about the grocery bags anymore, either, because he drops them to stride over, visibly straightening like gaining a few more inches will magically inject credibility into his pretentious (nonsensical) rant. ]

You're just some imbecile buying into all of the lies CERES is feeding you. You think any of this is going to matter in the long run? Unlike you, I don't buy into this bullshit. And I'm not afraid to say it, either.

[The only way that Nice reacts physically is that he straightens as well and puts his hands in his pockets. Otherwise, he still looks pretty neutral.

...He's used to people yelling at him.]

And there you are, being a hypocrite again. You don't know me either, right? Then why are you jumping to conclusions that I've bought into what they've been telling me?

[A beat.]

You're really not good at arguing, are you?

[ That's kind of sad ... then again, Elliot's usually the one using doling out a repertoire of petty rants at the receiving end, so it's not like he's the slightest bit remorseful about his life as a plaster saint ... ]

Says the one who couldn't leave business well-enough alone. Do you try to instigate everyone you see on the street? Badly, at that. If you're trying to convince me, at least bring up valid points first.

[This is never going to end...but Nice just scratches at the bandage on his cheek idly as he considers what to say next.]

Not everyone. Just some.

[Lucky you, Elliot.]

Well, since you seem like a stubborn kind of person, I don't know how well I'm going to change your mind. Anything I say you'll have to just take my word for it, and are you going to do that?

[Just wondering.]

[ Wow, it's actually difficult to people who don't take his open bid for convoluted arguments over nothing. He's running out of actual reasons to not just walk off, which might actually be in Nice's favor. ]

What, you make exceptions for reasonable things? You know, that offer sounds completely —

[ And he builds up some failing momentum by actually smiling, which is an anomaly in and of itself because he never smiles. Admittedly, it holds stupidly on his face for a few protracted moments before he continues prattling on. ]

... stupid. You aren't even trying to understand my way of thinking. Why should I do anything for you?

[ Oh, well. A diversion's just as good as halting Elliot Nightray in his tracks, right? ]

[He's not falling for that smile one bit, and he's still not bothered a whole lot. It's not like he has any personal stake in the conversation at all -- but he does like working people up sometimes over really stupid things.

Which. He's doing right now.]

Who said I'm not trying to understand your way of thinking? If I agreed with everything you said, I wouldn't be able to understand anything at all.

[Why is this such a thing, you guys]

If I have an opposition to your argument, I can see more of your side instead of just agreeing and letting it go at that. Like I said, it's not like I'm going to change your mind or anything at this point.

[Fancy way of saying he's being contrary for the sake of being contrary. AND HE's BORED so sue him.]

Then why don't you ask straightforwardly about it? If you're that interested, then you wouldn't frame it like an insult.

[ Awful. Just terrible. That sounds exactly like something Elliot would do, and is currently doing, so in a sense this could be karmic retribution. All the split-second equivocation of arguments that will never go anywhere with none of the minute relief.

So yeah, maybe it would've been nice (in the generic, cardboard cutout, "we both realize this is bullshit but that's not even the point here" sense) if he had his Chain with him so he cut this guy's head off and merely deal with the repercussions for murder yet again. It couldn't be that horrible, all things considered. ]

You don't need to persuade me. You only need to be reasonable and maybe I'd actually respect you more?

[ Like he earnestly respects anyone ever nowadays, sure, what an innocuous white lie. It's not the worst he's ever told.

TL;DR: THEY'RE ALL BORED, OKAY. When he isn't shopping, he's getting chased by deranged clowns and all manner of faceless robots? A guy needs to vent somewhere. ]

[Nice just shrugs...he really has no comment to Elliot's first question because how does he even get to know people normally anyway. He doesn't. He doesn't have normal relationships.

Or conversations. Or anything.

He scratches at one of the bandages on his face, and he looks off to the side slightly.]

Respect's too conditional for me. If you don't act a certain way, people lose respect for you, so it's not really worth it is it?

[Being unreasonable is Nice's Thing, really.]

[ So they're both abnormal. Okay. This is nothing new. A little weird, yeah, because most people he's met so far at least pretend a veneer of normality, but you know, maybe that just makes all of them fakers.

Elliot shifts in place, staring back at Nice with a particularly critical eye. ]

What, so you'd prefer people think badly of you? What kind of logic is that? In the first please, you shouldn't be doing things that would make people disrespect you. It's not that hard. If you're acting by your morals, it doesn't really matter what people think, anyways. Just as long as you're honest.

[ THIS IS COMING FROM THE GUY WHO WAS YELLING A SHOP VENDOR, c'mon. Bad advice doesn't have discernible limits. ]

[There's nothing normal about Nice though -- I mean, just look at him.

Nice will just keep staring in an almost neutral way, but he will start fumbling with his headphones absently at this point. He's not really used to standing in one place for so long, but that's ok.]

My version of honest tends to make people lose respect for me. [It doesn't really sound like a complaint; his voice doesn't change through this because it's just a fact.] I don't really care what most people think of me at all -- only one person matters when it comes to that.

[And that person isn't here, so.]

[ Dunno', he's seen a two-headed ogre complimenting his arithmetic skills before, normality isn't a usual occurrence for him? Comes with the territory, to be honest.

But he picks up on the fidgeting, and tucks his hands in his pockets, all signs of mild petulance on the rise because he really wants to get back to ... needlessly insulting people ... ]

Respect is something you have. If it's like that, then it doesn't really matter what I tell you or what you tell me, does it? It's a matter of perspective.

[ And then, bluntly: ] Do you care about anyone else besides that person to begin with?

[They have busy lives. Irritating people is labor intensive, you know!!

He thinks about it, looking off to the side briefly. He even looks a little thoughtful, but that's replaced by his neutral expression quick enough because he doesn't!!! Miss people!!]

Maybe. [He's sure not thinking about Art, Murasaki, or Hajime...not at all. While he cares about what Hajime thinks of him he cares about those other two losers too!!] It'd be lonely if I didn't, wouldn't it?

[Wow it wasn't an asshole statement for once...]

Edited 2015-04-07 14:27 (UTC)

[ Everything about this conversation is so surreal. Elliot, talking to someone without the simultaneous desire to rip heads clean off necks, as if dismemberment's the only answer to petty arguments. Nice, humoring an otherwise convoluted series of events.

HE'S ON TO YOU THOUGH, MAN. Elliot misses people too, like the whiny, attached dweeb he is, but whatever limbo they're in now has to be better than ~~Skynet Central~~ the world of Tellus ... ]

Then you care about what they think of you. You wouldn't want people you miss thinking badly of you.

Is there anyone you know from where you're from here now?

[Nice is so used to convoluted series of events that this doesn't even bother him. Again, he's bored so this is entertaining in a weird way.

Wow.]

I know they won't think badly of me, so that's why I don't care what they think.

[His...ego is so big I'm so sorry.]

Nope. Haven't been the entire time I've been here.

[~~sorry you're obscure Nice~~]

You can't expect people to blindly forgive you every single time.

[ This is kind of sad. It's a little hilarious in that kind of mutually fucked-up way, but mostly depressing because he keeps getting war flashbacks to every way he's disappointed the people he actually gave a shit about. ]

It's probably for the better. It doesn't seem like CERES is even that coordinated about bringing people over in the first place. It'd be better to find a way out of this place first.

Edited 2015-04-14 02:54 (UTC)

Why not? It's worked so far.

[Besides, his friends have been way worse than he is lately...!! Going off the deep end, beating each other up, etc. He's the one doing the ~~ignoring that it happened~~ forgiving back at home.]

Well yeah, obviously that's always going to be best. But it'd be helpful if I had my partner, honestly. We'd probably be able to figure out how to get out then.

Because you'll never end up anywhere in life expecting people to cater to your needs.

[ Like, isn't that obvious, though. Just because your friends decide to jump up off a bridge doesn't mean you automatically follow in their stead out of a desire for conformity ... right ... ]

There's no point in wishful thinking. From my experience, having people you know from home here isn't in your best interests. They could be used as leverage against you if — and when — things go south.

Yeah, yeah...

[And he's moving his hand as if he's dismissing the idea, because Elliot just doesn't understand!!

Well no but only one of his friends would be dumb enough to jump off a bridge in the first place. He normally is the one jumping out of things...and his friends are the ones cleaning up his messes. Whoops.]

Murasaki wouldn't let that happen to himself. [He has. So much faith in his partner...] How do you know that the same thing won't happen to people you get close to here?

[ Maybe there's nothing to get. Maybe Nice is just eccentric. It wouldn't be the first time he encountered a weirdo ~~like him~~.

Anyways, those are just digressions obscuring the fact that Nice is likely the kind of guy that accidentally gets himself killed. He just strikes him as recklessly self-destructive. ]

Just be they wouldn't stand for it doesn't mean it won't happen. [ A ringing scoff. ] You can't be so simple-minded and assume that the status quo will remain intact the whole time. This colony is a powder keg waiting to burst. I wouldn't be surprised if everything fell into anarchy tomorrow.

[ Elliot didn't even reply to the question, but his omission likely tells enough of an answer, regardless ... ]

[All of these things are true...really.

All Nice is getting from Elliot that he's loud and kind of cynical, but that's a lot of people.]

I'm not saying it won't explode eventually. It probably will. To be honest, it'd probably be more entertaining if it did.

[Don't say things like that, Nice.]

[ Yeah, he can't fault him there. At least Nice doesn't beat around the bush for five minutes driveling on about nothing. ]

You wouldn't want to see your friends die.

[ A presumptuous accusation, not a question. ]

I can't say I misunderstand, but there's no way in hell I'll allow that to happen. If you're going to stand by and wait for the end to come, then you're just like the rest of them.

[At least there's that.]

Who would want to see their friends die?

[WELL NICE, YOU SEE...THERE'S THAT ONE GUY YOU KNOW.]

I'm not really like anyone else. But I don't think anybody really is, right? Isn't it the point that nobody actually thinks the same way as the next person? [Your point...??] What if someone thinks that things should change, but don't have the means to help? Would you judge them too?

[He's not speaking from experience but he's just setting up an example. Because he can.]

[ HOW THE HELL HAVE THEY KEPT THIS CHARADE OF A CONVERSATION GOING FOR THIS LONG ... ]

I don't know, you tell me. If you happen to be a sadomasochist, it doesn't seem unlikely.

[ Or a sociopath. Look, half the people he knows in his own canon are so hyped up on their own derangement that they'd kill each other for petty disagreements. Or nothing. Sometimes it's nothing. ]

Then it works in everyone's best interests to be honest instead of willingly deceiving others, but that's not what happens at all. People can't always see eye-to-eye. [ Case in point: them. ] Probably. But I wouldn't judge them for who they were, but what they did. Or in your example, what they didn't do.

There's no such things as futile effort. Every bit counts.

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