[ Open ] 知らない知らない僕は何も知らない

[kaba]

Who: Koujaku (kaba) & YOU
When: 01/14–01/16 (OOC: 06/02–06/07)
Where: Various; see below
What: A general catchall open post full of misery mystery and adventure!
Rating/Warning: Drunkenness, innuendo, and mentions of drug use in the first prompt; nothing comes to mind for the rest. Consider yourself warned character-wise, however.

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01\\Novus/Replea (Evening, the 14th)

[ He finds his stool on the creaky side as he downs yet another cocktail—some bitter radioactive swill that does little but to dull his taste buds yet does wonders to chip away at his memories of the week before. Synthpop throbs in the background, bodies undulating on the dancefloor behind him, some of them with their minds all drugged up and floating freely into an alcohol-fueled ether.

It’s a shitty place that’s about as intimate and human as a robot’s chrome-plated bum and he hates it here; hates the noise and the drinks and the company (or his lack thereof), but the latter is precisely the reason why he’d chosen to come here instead of seeking out someplace smaller and cozier for a drink. Company feels a little weird when they’re likely going to tell you to stop drinking anyway (dammit Yang and Natalia).

So he’s drinking here and trying to man up a little, trying to smile. The latter’s easier with alcohol, of course. As the evening wears on and the music gets louder Koujaku gets some of his cheer back, to the point that he’s singing along (terribly) to whatever the deejay puts on and throwing his arm over the shoulders of whoever happens to be seated next to him. Be afraid. ]

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02\\“Thistle Do Nicely” Flower Shop (Afternoon, the 15th)

[ He’s slept off as much of the hangover as he could this morning, but for the most part he’s peeled himself off of his bedroom floor, straightened his hair, and wandered out into the outside world whilst squinting at the light. The dark circles under his eyes and a persistent, throbbing headache made worse by catchy club tunes from the night before do little to alleviate his condition, but fuck it. He needs a walk.

He wanders the first mall he’s stepped into until he stops at a flower shop, only blearily recognizing some of the floral arrangements as the ones that might have appeared in Natalia’s winter bash not long ago. Huh. He could definitely use the company of flowers, in any case—he’s still reluctant to go into the CERES Gardens, after all, but strewing a few of these babies around his apartment might liven his place up, if not his mood outright.

He saunters down the aisles, examining the wares with interest before he stops at one flower in particular and has to catch a whiff of it. Alien or otherwise, this one isn’t anything he’s familiar with. ]

Wonder what these’re called.

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03\\Shopping District (Basically the wildcard option; Daytime, the 16th)

[ One advertisement in particular catches his eye as he’s walking down the streets with you, either because one of you is on an errand and the other’s offered to help, or because you simply decided to walk together for no other reason than because you felt like it.

Koujaku isn’t very interested in shopping himself, nor is he intent on setting up his hairdressing business out on the streets like he normally would have done. He simply wants to disappear into the crowd for a little while, to drink in the bustle and noise of the place, because in a hopeful kind of way he’s seeing people still getting on with their lives despite the Flamines’ rudely cutting their previous ones short. And Koujaku knows all about abrupt endings, doesn’t he?

He stops at an advertisement playing out over one of the giant holographic screens—a trailer for some sappy romcom—and hey, at least movies came with proper endings.

He looks away from the screen as some lovey dovey pop song begins blaring out from the speakers, self-consciously scratching at the back of his neck as he does so. ]

Let’s move on. [ He shouldn’t be getting distracted right now, anyway.

Unless you’re Natalia, in which case you would’ve caught on already… ]

---

04\\Niteo (Wildcard Option the Second; Evening, the 16th)

[ Well someone’s sure in a better mood tonight. Maybe it’s the concert, maybe it’s the company, but Koujaku’s feeling all fired up and this time he hasn’t got any alcohol to blame it on. His suit’s neatly pressed and he’s still got his sword strapped to his back—presumably to make him look even more intimidating as a bouncer, if the tattoos don’t already help—but he’s perfectly comfortable in his uniform and perfectly at ease around practically everyone that comes inside.

Are you a fellow bouncer just starting out? Or maybe you’ve just started working this shift together? Maybe you’ve both been at it since forever?

Or maybe you’re one of the performers for tonight, and regardless of the audience’s reception to your act, Koujaku’s still got a kind word to toss your way. On the house.

Whichever the case, if you happen to be exiting the premises by then or are lingering nearby to pass the time or something (so long as you’re not causing any trouble or keeping the customers away), he’ll pretty much give you a wave from his post. ]

Yo! Good show tonight.

Comments

2!!!!

[hoasen]

[Now here's a familiar face, and he looks like he might need some help?

But she decides to take this less professionally since she also wants to catch up.]

Are you sure you want to know?

[kaba]

Yo, Vietnam. [ Hey, professional or otherwise, it's good to see a familiar face again. ]

It's not gonna kill me, is it? [ It's a joke. ]

[hoasen]

Hello, Koujaku. How have you been?

[Oh wait, back to making this sound mysterious again. It's probably some kind of exotic hybrid that they were testing out (daisyrose?!)]

No, but it might want to hypnotise you so that it can have your attention.

2

[floralprophecy]

((I think he works here because he's been given a florist job...? Anyway...)

[Oh, a customer! And as he comes closer he sees that said customer looks a little off... Hungover perhaps as he looks like how one of his friends does whenever he's hungover.]

Hello. Can I help you, sir?

[kaba]

[ Let's just hope it doesn't kill him… ]

Yeah. [ Hungover or no, he does brighten up at the help. ] I need some flowers for some friends of mine. Y'know…normal ones. [ AKA the kind that hopefully won't assault said friends just because. ]

[floralprophecy]

[He'll be fine, he can control all kinds of plants after all~]

I see! Well, they're over here. [And steering away from the dangerous ones!] Hmmm... does your friend have a favourite flower?

1

[pachintoki]

[If Koujaku didn't like the noise, then Gintoki's one who came here for the noise. The sights. The sounds. Something to help him forget a bunch of what he didn't want to remember here, about home, about. . . anything else, really.

Still, he's not really that sociable. He's had a few to drink himself, and so when Koujaku suddenly slings an arm around him, he'll casually slide his empty glass over in front of the other man, sliding Koujaku's half-full glass his own way.

Thanks for the drink, pal.

He'll start downing it right away unless Koujaku stops him, not saying anything until he's done. He doesn't even care what it is.]

[kaba]

[ At least this place excels at making you forget, even for just a little while.

Just know that he'll remember to be embarrassed this infraction once he's sober. Dick. ]

Fuck you. [ He titters, as whatever was left of his drink disappears down Gintoki's throat. He liked that drink. He couldn't even remember what it was called, save that it made him feel nice and warm and giddy on the inside and therefore it should be avenged.

Somehow. ]

Yer—You're paying for that.

[pachintoki]

Eh-- hah?

I thought, you know, that we were friends now so you were just giving this to me. Like, you were getting so comfortable and everything I just couldn't help it.

Friends share things, from school lunch to drinks.

[He's just so wasted right now.]

4

[helmets]

[ since the impromptu concert that happened at natalia's birthday ball last month, celty's one man daft punk routine managed to get her some attention, despite her protests that it was merely a once in a lifetime routine, probably won't happen again. the only reason why it happened in the first place is, well, she doesn't have a mouth to sing with anyway. but, details.

as it so happens, she was somehow persuaded to make a repeat performance at niteo that night: a couple of songs for an hour routine, nothing too extravagant. though her deejay experience is limited, she's been to enough bars and clubs in ikebukuro to have picked up on some things at least, and so the hour goes by without a hitch.

after giving her spot to the original deejay and receiving some advice in turn, she heads back across the dance floor to the exit, pausing when she hears koujaku. she gives him a nod in greeting, pulling out her device and tapping on the screen. an automated female voice comes from it, loud enough to be heard over the music. ]

Thank you. I'm grateful for the experience.

[kaba]

[ It is admittedly a tad disconcerting to talk with her without the benefit of her face to look at—but maybe it's just part of her act? He'd known a few performers who couldn't bear to part with their costumes long after exiting the club, but still…

Koujaku cocks his head to the side with an amused smile, before shrugging. A mute, too? Or just shy? ]

Hey, it's not up to me to choose the act. [ Not that he minds. He's only a lowly musclehead without much experience in the more complicated realm of music. ]

But if I were, I'd get you to come every night, anyway. You did something like this for Natalia's big winter bash a few weeks ago, didn't you?

3!

[undaunts]

[The weird thing is--Ruby has a lot of time. She's not a full time student in a combat academy anymore (occasionally saving the world on the side), so...time. Lots of it. Especially because she still doesn't go to the school here in Cerealia.

So that's why she's in the shopping district today. She actually wanted to go peer at the weapons, as she tends to do, but upon seeing her fellow bro in red, she ends up skedaddling over to say hello. And thus they end up walking throughout the shopping district together--until he pauses.

She actually over walks him by a few steps, before she realizes that her companion is gone and she backtracks.]

...Koujaku? What's the matter?

[kaba]

[ And how could he ever refuse her company? Especially since she seems a tad socially awkward and hell, Koujaku's a bro. He always loves to help out with these kinds of things.

But where Ruby's checking out the weapons Koujaku's eyeing the ladies' beauty products because fuck yes beauty products. You don't get manlier than testing them out on yourself before using them on your customers.

Koujaku snaps out of watching the couple onscreen get this close to a kiss and clears his throat. ]

Whoa, sorry. Was there something else you wanted to look at? [ Does she think something's wrong NOTHING'S WRONG… ]

4!

[flaredo]

Ugh... [ Yang's grimacing, lacing her fingers to stretch her arms in front of her. Hello, fellow bouncer. ]

Is it just me or were there a lot of problem customers tonight?

[kaba]

[ Chuckling. Yeah. That hadn't been fun, but he's too chipper to care. ]

Must be all these new guys coming in. They think they own the place. [ That sudden celebrity greeting they'd gotten probably hadn't helped. ]

2

[sewayaku]

[ he doesn't work here; similar to Koujaku, he's merely admiring the flowers and plants, though he lacks the hangover part and has something of an actual motive. Sort of. Though Fiona isn't here, he finds himself continuing to stock up on medicines and the like. Just in case, he says, despite the state-of-the-art medical facilities that they have - and he works at! - in the city proper. Zara just doesn't quite trust all of this, scientifically sound or not.

But that's only half of it. Part of him simply enjoys plants after his extensive studies on them. It's politer to mind his own business, he knows, but when he hears someone questioning a nearby plant, he can't help but answer. ]

Those are sweet violets, sir. They can be brewed into tea.

Re: 2

[kaba]

[ Koujaku would have had an easier time obtaining a motive, were any of these plants in any way medicinal. Or just plain…prehensile. He's seen what the vegetation back at the CERES Gardens can do, man…

He's visibly relieved when the guy next to him answers. Sounds like something they used to have back home—he'll take it. ]

That sounds pretty good, then. [ He sighs. ] Does it keep your head from spinning a lot?

[ Look, he's aware that tea often gets touted as a hangover cure, but he's simply not as knowledgeable with the more practical applications of flowers in general. ]

1

[nostatus]

[ It's not exactly Shinpachi's first choice of a drinking spot either. It's a little too modern, maybe a little too loud with the wrong things. (The chatter of people is fine, but modern music is...

.. well, it's a.. thing, alright.)

But sometimes there's decent enough company to be found, and that's the important part here. Especially since the guy draping an arm over his shoulder looks very familiar, and Shinpachi gives him a lopsided grin. ]

Yo, didn't expect to see you here. [ Totally not weirded out by being draped on? Nope, not at all, he's gotten used to it from his friends and from being so casual about physical contact himself. ]

[kaba]

[ Right?? Traditional Japanese music ftw, but even the lack of it is a small price to pay for some anonymity—

Then again, sometimes you run into somebody who just understands.

Koujaku beams at him, offering up a flushed smile and a tighter grip on his shoulder, because hey, they're all bros here, right? They're all one big homo happy family… ]

Shinpachi! [ He yells it a little too loudly in his excitement. ]

'S really great. Really great, seeing ya. Oi! [ He motions to the bartender. ]

Get this guy a drink, too! S'on me. He's a bro. He's like—He's like family…

2

[ohspearme]

[After Sano's jailbreak from the hospital after getting shot by Santa, he has been resting back at the apartment, somewhere familiar and not disgustingly sterile and where he has the freedom to do what he wants.

As long as he can limp around, anyway. At least he's able to put weight back on his leg again.

But Sano is tired of lying in bed forever and he's of the mind that he'll never fully recover if all he does is sit on his ass. Regaining strength involves doing the normal things, like walking. Okay, he's also impatient. But today finds him out in the mall in an attempt to get back to normal. It's just casual and slow strolling, really, but that's better than doing nothing at all. And so he limps along, balancing hiimself with a cane as he wanders into a flower shop. This isn't usually a haunt of his, but while he could go out in any of the gardens or parks and watch the sakura trees bloom -

Ah, but it's too early for the sakura, isn't it?

So flowers are almost like the next best thing. He notices the man near him, but says nothing, at least until the other guy speaks up. And, well, Sano can at least try to be civil and helpful.]

Is there no signage by it?

Re: 2

[kaba]

[ It's too early for the sakura and too dangerous in all seasons as far as venturing out alone into the CERES Gardens is concerned—or so Koujaku would have anyone believe.

But there isn't any need to question just how people would cross paths on such a momentous occasion, isn't it? Koujaku blearily takes note of Sano, his gaze dropping blearily to the cane through sheer force of gravity.

Some part of him wonders if he should've gone outside with something like that, too.

At the more pertinent suggestion, however, he turns to squint at the shelving, before outright giving up, rubbing the back of his head as he does so. ]

Can't read it. 'Guess my head's still hurting after last night. [ And he partied pretty hard with Shinpachi the night before, as he vaguely recalls. ]

3

[poised]

[More than caught on -- in fact, she was window shopping and looking at some dresses but finding her companion stopped in front of the ad, she stops with him. And as it concludes, she sighs happily as she places a hand on her cheek.]

Let's stop by the.... [words???] movie market? Film merchant? Well, you know what I'm referring to -- on the way back to the apartments. We absolutely must see that one!

[sorry about your thug persona, koujaku]

[kaba]

[ And he was admiring the dresses with because he maintains a healthy interest in women's fashion, okay (we won't say anything about his unhealthy interest in them, however). That thug persona's gone with the wind like the romantic way the actress's hair billows in the wind and—

He's maybe getting a little misty-eyed at the thought already. ]

Did—Did you see the way he looked into her eyes? [ Oh gosh they must certainly seek out these purveyors of films and acquire yon moving pictures posthaste!! ]

4!! hope i'm not too late

[kirkwalled]

[ hawke has many, many jobs and one of them is "bar bouncer" -- which bar that is, she hasn't decided yet. she's been floating around here and there and tonight she's on her first shift at niteo. it's... alright so far, loud and flashy as many of these "bars" she's discovered are. is there a difference between a bar and a tavern? is it the flashy lights? this is nothing like the hanged man, honestly.

but she's dressed in the suited uniform they're given and she's left her sword at home because honestly, honestly -- no one she's met here has been impressive enough to require her sword with her. she's getting the odd feeling most people here aren't like her, no dragons to slay and templars to punch in the face.

either way, she's mostly been drifting around niteo and coming back to her post, she raises an eyebrow at koujaku. ]

Is it? I hadn't noticed over all the blaring noise.

not at all!

[kaba]

[ Huh, Kirkwall must have its slow days too, it seems.

But more importantly, he'd been instructed to show the new kid the ropes, though as far as "kid" went he felt they were perhaps exaggerating. Not to mention that she looks as if she's perfectly comfortable in fights—somewhat like the boys back home used to do. ]

Hey, it's a different act every night. [ Whether or not he means the occasional bar brawl or the concert is up for debate. ]

Maybe you'll hear something a little better soon, Hawke. [ Because um he doesn't know how to break the "blaring noise" bit to her— ]