estoria | (OPEN)

Entry tags:

(OPEN)

Who: Touka (

ukakus) & whatever unfortunate soul ends up in her vicinity.......
When: Somewhere between 12/22 to 12/23 (OOC: 04/17 - 04/20??)
Where: Around-ish???
What: Coffee shops, clothes shopping, and squinting at books.
Rating/Warning: General profanity warning.

OPTION A: COFFEE SHOP IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE.

[So. You're a coffee shop employee. Or, maybe you're just an unlucky customer standing in line, waiting to get your caffeine fix. Whatever the case, there's suddenly going to be one (1) Displeased Customer^TM cutting to the front of the line, all while holding a still warm cup of coffee.]

Hey, you — excuse me. [Talking to the cashier, or... whoever's manning the service counter, anyway.] Could I get another coffee? I ordered a black, and this one has cream.

[Look. She's trying to be polite about this, okay? She understands the customer service woes...

That said, if they keep screwing her order up for whatever reason, she just settles for shoving her cup at the nearest person. Doesn't matter if they're a kid, or if they already have a cup of coffee on their own.]

Here. You can have it. [It's free coffee. Enjoy it.]

OPTION B: HAPPY HO-HO-HOLIDAY SALES.

[And with Christmas just around the corner, there's gotta be a sale going on in some part of Cerealia... Right? Right. Whatever the case, all this hubbub has put her in a shopping mood. Roaming around the Marketplace and entering several of the more affordable clothing stores, Touka has unanimously decided to shop for the most important person here:

Herself.

Okay. Maybe she isn't the most important person here, but she's getting hungry and she needs to de-stress while figuring out where to go from here. This would have been easy back home, but now that she's in uncharted territory? She needs to be a teeny bit more careful about that.

Regardless of her ghoul woes, those walking through the women's clothing section will find Touka looking through the several options on display, occasionally mumbling—]

No... [—while discarding a piece, as well as:] Hmm... [—when she finds something she likes, and when something is particularly terrible:] Gross.

[Very eloquent. Let's hope you're not on the other end of the rack, because she's spinning those things around faster than she should.]

OPTION C: BOOKSTORES, THAT'S THE TITLE.

[Okay. So. She's not thinking about buying something for someone else. Really. She just decided to stop by this bookstore on a whim. She enjoys staring at books and trying to decipher what the hell they're about, honest...!

Except, uh. Literature of this type is the bane of her existence, and it's kind of obvious. Anyone who stumbles upon Touka this lovely evening will find her making all sorts of faces as she goes through the shelves, trying to make heads and tails of the different genres the shop has to offer.

If she's trying to look like she knows what she's doing, she's kind of failing. Like, horribly. It's pretty hard to miss it when she grabs a random book off one of the shelves, stares at the particularly long title, and scowls.]

...How the hell does that make sense?

[BIOLOGY BOOKS? AWESOME. Encyclopedia sized mystery/horror/classic literature books? Not so much. Someone please rescue her.]

OPTION D: PICK YOUR OWN ADVENTURE.

[Not into coffee shops or shopping? That's fine. Touka can also be found working as a barista, using the gymnasium, walking around, and heading towards her own apartment. Please feel free to make up your own scenario.]

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[It had been by chance that Hide had found out where Touka worked. He had been passing the cafe one day when he had spotted her through the window, taking someone's order. That was the moment a plan had formed in his mind. Operation Surprise Touka At Work went into effect.

His plan is full proof. Slipping in while Touka was distracted, he asks the hostess to seat him in her area. The menu gets a cursory look from him while he waits for his unsuspecting barista to come and take his order.]

[Of course, Touka hasn't really told anyone from home where she's working, so it's only natural that the last thing she expects is to be found by either of the boys. As such, she's completely unsuspecting as she approaches the table, notepad in hand and ready to take this customer's order.]

Hello! [Very sweet, cheery voice. It's literally the same one she used, when she served their table all those months ago. Obviously, she hasn't quite noticed who's behind that menu.] Are you ready to...

[Okay. That didn't last long. She's trailing off as she recognizes him now.]

...Nagachika-san, you're here. [Not mentioned: Why is he here???]

[He tries to suppress a smile at hearing her customer service voice, which fades off all too quickly once she sees who she's serving. Her reaction is about what he had been expecting which gives him the perfect ammo to tease her.

In this case that means pouting at her like a kicked puppy.]

What's with that reaction Touka-chan? You don't sound very happy to see me.

[ Mercury has an iced coffee on one hand. See that bendy straw? It's a totally cool and mature thing to use.

When he met her the first time, he was the one who gave her something. So this was pretty interesting. To receive a gift like this... he can't help but think of the irony. He blinks curiously at the cup that's shoved at his direction, but he takes it (rather uneasily) with his free hand. ]

Well, well. This is rather charitable of you.

[There is a 99.9% guarantee she didn't really look at his face before shoving the coffee cup his way, so. Yeah. This is her, blinking when she recognizes that voice and then establishing eye contact. This is also her, making an expression that could curdle milk.]

Oh... It's you. ["You". The dusty dildo guy...] Don't make me change my mind. I can still take it back.

[ ... dusty dildo guy. It was a complete misunderstanding, ok?!?!?! ]

No takebacks.

[ He points a finger at Touka, though it isn't so obvious since he's holding a cup, too. This is difficult when both hands are busy. . . ]

It's mine now.

[Too bad. His reputation is preserved in amber for historians to shake their heads over millions of years later...]

Yeah? [Alas, she's missing the fact he's pointing a finger at her... Which is good, because that's hella rude as far as she's concerned.] Don't try me. I'll pry it out of your hands, if I have to.

[ He's getting worked up about this, because takebacks are VERY OFFENSIVE. ]

You're the one who gave it to me. So why would you want it back? That's rude.

Because I paid for it, dumbass.

[Said like this should be the most obvious thing in the history of the world.]

[ He puts very little force in it, but he shoves the cup back to her. ]

Take it back, then.

[Oh. Huh. That was easier than she thought... Except that, despite all her talk, she doesn't actually want this coffee back because she can't drink it??? This has kind of backfired on her.]

... You know what — I changed my mind. Keep it.

[Shoves..... it back...........]

[ ... this isn't going to get any smoother for Touka. ]

Iced coffee, see? [ He raises his other hand and shakes the cup of iced coffee he has. ] And I thought you didn't even want to give this to me?

[ One might wonder why Shuu is in the women's section of the clothing store.

.. or maybe not. He already looks feminine enough already if it wasn't for the fact his default outfit back home shows off part of his bare chest.. but he sure isn't very restricted to gender-appropriate stuff when it comes to clothing, so he's also just looking through the stuff on this side of the store.

Except Touka just has to come in and spin around the rack he was looking at. Rude, much?! After all, Shuu is never rude to anyone. Nope. Never. He's a precious little angel, how dare you do this to him.

And he's enough of a spiteful five year old that he just starts spinning the rack too every single time the other stops it to look at something. See how you like it, Touka!! Passive aggressive rack spinning war.

[Oh, boy. It's on. Being petty and totally mature is her thing, so she pretty much starts spinning the rack right back every single time. It doesn't take long for her to get fed up with it, though, and she'll be using that ridiculous strength of hers to try and hold the rack in place.

No more spinning allowed, Rude McRudester. She was here first.]

Excuse me. [Glaring right over the clothes rack...! Which is slightly ineffective, because she's 156cm tall and these things almost reach up to her shoulders.] If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to browse here.

[Also, has she seen this person before...??? Maybe. She needs a better memory for faces.]

[ At least she's not the only one here with a slight vertically challenged problem here.. It's not like Shuu is all that much taller than her, just a little bit - just enough to glance over these things, really. ]

Oh, you were..? [ As if you didn't notice, you little shit. ] That's funny, so am I..! I was just trying to look at these clothes here..

[ It's hard to believe he's even trying to act innocent though when there's such a clear tone of passive aggressiveness in his tone. ]

[That's good. Except... not, because that just makes this a battle of the shorties. Will this clothing store go down??? Only time will tell...]

Really. [Wow. Scoffing at him. If that isn't enough of a sign that she doesn't believe him, the sarcasm in her voice should be enough.] That's hilarious. I thought you were spinning this crap just for the hell of it.

Me? No wa-y, I'd never do that..

[ He totally would. Not even just to annoy Touka in this case, he'd also just do it because he felt bored or something like that.. but then again, the grin on his face already betrays as much. ]

You sure are a paranoid kind of person! [ And with that he immediately gives the rack another spin. ]

[She's a paranoid kind of person, alright, but that doesn't really apply to this case. Not really. This is more along the lines of, uh. Being able to see the obvious? You know. No paranoia required.

She looks hella unimpressed when he spins the rack again, and just stops it mid-spin with her hand.]

Am I? Maybe I'm just the kind of person who has eyes.

[ At that statement - and maybe because the rack has been stopped so his moment of fun there was ruined already anyway - he leans closer towards her. Hell, he's probably moving around the rack so he can get all up in her personal space, leaning in to stare at her eyes. ]

Hmm.. you do. [ As if that really required intense observation, Shuu.. ] But.. what should we do.. like this, it's your word against mine, isn't it..?

[ It's no real surprise that Kaneki was the type to go around to the various bookstores to see what they had to offer and now was definitely no exception. He had the day off today and wandering about had become a thing as he'd been a bit restless and staying at home wasn't entirely an option right now.

Absently he'd started looking through the aisles of books when he heard a familiar voice, which wasn't the strange part as much as it was to hear said voice in a place like this. It wasn't exactly a place Kaneki ever expected to hear Touka being in willingly, so naturally he quietly wandered an aisle over in time to see her staring down what looked like a fairly decent-sized fantasy novel in hand.

She looked more than a little lost and out of place here, unintentionally bringing a smile to his face without fail. ]

I think that's the second one in that series so it wouldn't make sense unless you'd read the first one.

[ Hello, Touka. Don't mind him. He knows books quite easily, and there had been a glimpse of a II somewhere on the book so it meant it was likely the second one so there IS that but hey. Details. ]

I didn't expect to see you here, Touka.

[Y...eah. That feeling people get when they're caught kind of, sort of shopping for someone, by the person they're shopping for? That's what Touka's feeling right now, and she's trying not to sputter as she's caught red-handed. Well. He's already seen the book she's holding, so there's no point in hiding it. She tries to look a little less out of place when she glances at him, still scowling.]

Is it? [...Except that isn't what she's supposed to say if she wants to play it cool, and even she looks a teeny bit surprised for all of two seconds. That is, before she realizes how uncool this is and clears her throat.] I mean — I already knew that. Don't state the obvious, dumbass.

[Shoving... that book... right back on its shelf. There's nothing to see here. The first part is probably right next to it, too.]

What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you be somewhere else? [This is a very stupid thing to say. She has no idea what that "somewhere else" would even be, but...! Shoo away, Kaneki. She's busy dying over here.]

[ Everything about the way she seemed to act when he showed up said a lot without anything being initially spoken.

Perhaps that was why he looked briefly surprised before his expression softened somewhat and he looked back up to Touka fully with a look that was almost apologetic. She really was quite cute when trying to cover for something she'd done but he'd never outright say that in knowing she'd be liable to hit him for it. ]

Ah... I probably should be, but... this place is one of my favorite bookstores to visit.

[ Unconsciously he wasn't intending to, but maybe it almost seemed like he was his old self again in this instance as he turned his gaze to the shelf and ran a hand over the spines of a few books subtly. Even letting his fingers linger a bit longer on a few particular titles before his hand fell back to his side. ]

I had the day off and was just wandering around. I really didn't mean to bother you or anything.

[Hit him? Maybe. Murder him? More likely. Alas, she doesn't know what he's thinking, so he's spared from this horror. That said, she should have expected him to pop up in a bookstore somewhere. It's only natural, with how many incomprehensible books this guy reads. She can only imagine his tastes in plot and genre have only gotten weirder, in the sense that she needs to reread the sentences six times now instead of five.

Resisting the urge to drag her hand down her face, she gives him one heck of a sigh. Oh, well. When he puts it like that, it's a teeny bit hard to chew him out as much as she would prefer to.]

... Whatever. [Doesn't stop her from being the biggest grump in the world, though. If she's not going to kick him out of a store she isn't even working at, she at least gets the right grumble.] Make yourself useful, then. You understand this sort of incomprehensible shit, right?

[... She may also be testing something out on the sly.]

What doesn't make sense? [ He was here just checking out what got published. He can't help but eavesdrop because it seems that a lot of people like to speak their mind. Personally, he's holding a book about nutrition.

He just happens to be in this section, he's not sure how. He does wander aimlessly, so that's his justification. ]

[At least a nutrition book is way more normal than the one she's holding. Which is, uh. Pretty weird. And she's not sure what mortifies her more: that she was overheard, or that she was seen holding this monstrosity.]

Uhm — this book. I mean... Look at it.

[And cue her turning the cover his way, giving him a nice view of what seems to be an alien and a sexy, shirtless, sparkling Santa Claus. The title? A Fault in Our Santa. What a nice combination of things.

...This book is probably in the wrong section. ]

[ Give him a moment to let the cover image sink in for him. He'll blink once--no, twice. He feels like he should say something, but he's speechless. Thinking that he saw weird things, this kind of take the cake for that moment. ]

Do they fall in love? [ Erotica is strong in this book, he guesses. Might as well ask happier and normal questions. ]

[Alas, another set of eyes fall victim to the atrocities displayed on this cover. Touka would be sympathetic, except she's too busy regretting the fact she curiously took this out of the shelf in the first place.]

... I don't know. [But they obviously do the thing.] I haven't opened it.

[She's too terrified to look at anything beyond the cover, tbh. Cue forced, awkward laughter.......]

[ There's only silence as he ponders on her answer. His attention lays on the book and he starts coming up with some conclusions. This stuff is probably raunchy. Like /d/ written fan fiction.net kind of raunchy or something. Is it better to tell her to give it a read and maybe she'll find something she likes about it?

After a couple of seconds, he'll gently pluck the book out of her hands and places it back on the shelf. ]

Shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this one has Santa without his shirt on.

_{[Ah, there is not a better place in the world than a bookstore. And a library, too. Ruca with a big happy smile on his face holds two books in his hands, thinking which one should he choose, before he hears the girl's voice.

He blinks when he notices her expression.]}

Um... is there something wrong?

[She should probably be a teeny bit more quiet with her commentary, but it's too late for that. It's not this dude's fault this crap makes no sense, so she easily slips into her polite-ish, civilian act.]

No—everything's fine. I'm just trying to find something [normal] I can buy.

[... She may or may not be holding a copyright safe version of this.]

_{[He notices the book and blinks a few times. Well, it was kind of strange-looking, but you should never judge a book by its cover, right?

Anyway, he puts on a smile (albeit it's an awkward one) and offers:]}

Ah, w-well, maybe I can help you somehow?

--Uh?

[ well, that was certainly the last thing he expected when he came in here to, you know, buy coffee. he doesn't really frequent coffee shops himself, but if this is a regular thing in them, then he'll gladly visit them more often. ]

Um, thanks! You sure I can have this? [ because there's no takebacks. ]

[Alas, it's probably not a regular thing, but today just happened to be his lucky day. Or, rather, Touka's unlucky day. She shrugs at him, just the teeniest bit peeved with service here. Why is it so hard to make a black coffee...]

Yeah. It's yours. [Speaking so casually.] Knock yourself out and enjoy it.

[ oh. WELL THEN. he's not one to complain about free stuff, especially free coffee. though he did overhear why she skipped the line in the first place, and well… ]

Wait, weren't you gonna get another coffee?

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(OPEN)

D. I feel like I should apologize for his level of dork rn

no apologizing just embrace the dorkiness

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im so sorry

stop.........

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