make him a member of the midnight crew

[bakegarasu]

Who: Otoha and YOU!
What: The bar is open. It's booze time.
Where: The Crow's Nest (Otoha's bar)
When: Late afternoon Sunday - Early morning Monday
Style: Either!
Status: Open

Four in the afternoon. Time to open. Otoha makes sure the door to his room is closed and locked, and heads over to flip the sign on the front door to 'open'. Business has still been slow, but it's something to do at least. He heads behind the counter, sitting down and checking to make sure his sword is in grabbing range before cracking open a book.

Maybe someone would come in today. Hopefully.

Comments

... I suppose Otoha does enough killing to qualify as a member

[bufudine]

[Serph enters the bar at 5:30pm. He hasn't personally been in the Crow's Nest before, and judging from their brief interactions over the Network, he guesses Otoha is a bit of a loner. But he'd like to know the guy better, and it's as good a time as any to find out what a bar is like.

He makes sure his footsteps are audible so that his entrance isn't a surprise.]

I just associate that kind of music with him...

[bakegarasu]

[Otoha looks up as he hears Serph head inside. He chuckles a little at how obvious he's being, but doesn't say anything. He puts his book away and grabs a glass, checking it.]

Hey there. Didn't really take you for a drinker.

[bufudine]

[Serph's response is quick.]

I'm not.

[He clarifies, though.]

I have never been in a bar before.

[He approaches and takes a seat by the counter; it seems like the natural thing to do.]

[bakegarasu]

Ah. Well, do you want to try a drink? Or I can get you something non-alcoholic, if you want.

[There's too many kids around to not have something like that, so.]

[bufudine]

[Serph nods.]

A drink is fine.

[A pause while he thinks back to the party on that boat.]

I've only tried champagne.

[bakegarasu]

[He thinks for a minute and pulls out a cream liqueur, pouring him a glass.]

Here. This isn't all that strong. It's something good for someone who doesn't have a lot of drinking experience.

[bufudine]

[Serph looks closely at the liquid in the glass, taking a moment to smell it, before taking a sip. Not bad. He gives Otoha a nod in approval.

But more importantly...]

How have you been?

[bakegarasu]

Me? I've been fine. It's been quiet... I don't mind it so much, though it means that patrolling is pretty boring.

[bufudine]

[Serph makes a gesture to the seat next to him, an invitation for Otoha to bring a bottle and drink with him. He doesn't know much about human food and drink, but he knows that it's used for socialising just as much as nourishment.]

Do you feel you need excitement in your life?

[Otoha had mentioned that he was finding it hard to adjust to not killing, last time they spoke.]

[bakegarasu]

[He'll grab a bottle of some stronger stuff the mun's not a drinker and pour himself a glass, going around the bar and sitting next to Serph.]

There's always something going on in Shinjuku. The lights, the noise, the birds and cats and demons wandering the city... even if it's not people doing anything, the city herself is always active. Vatheon... isn't like that.

[bufudine]

[Same here. Serph is inclined to disagree, but he's aware his perspective is quite different from others'. He's not quite sure he understands Otoha's statement, though, and tilts his head.]

How can a city be active?

[bakegarasu]

Well, putting aside the fact that the will of the city is its own entity where I'm from... there's always something going on. Someone's always in the streets. A store's always open. There's life all the time. This place doesn't have enough people for that, I think. Shinjuku has something like three hundred thousand people living in it. This place has a few hundred at the most.

[bufudine]

[... Sure, he comes from a world with more people than there are in Vatheon, but three hundred thousand? That's a lot of people crammed into a very small area, if Shinjuku is roughly the same size as Vatheon, and he can imagine the clashing of wills that would bring about.

But something else Yosuke had said was interesting. Serph tilts his head.]

Does that mean Shinjuku can speak to its residents?

[bakegarasu]

... To some people. The city's will and her guardian are a team of sorts. The city's yurine relies on her Karas to defend her and her residents, and the Karas relies on their yurine to unlock their power. So she can speak to residents... but only a very few know how to listen.

[bufudine]

[Serph has no idea what Yosuke means when he starts talking about yurines and karas. But that isn't really important at the moment.

He downs the rest of his drink and nudges the glass over for Yosuke to fill it with whatever is in that bottle he brought with him.]

Are you one of them?

[bakegarasu]

[He pours Serph a drink and nods.]

She found me when I was close to death. She didn't offer me a choice - I didn't really have one.

[Otoha picks at the label on the bottle. He doesn't mind what he's become... but the ability to walk away would have been nice.]

I'll serve the city until I'm killed - which is hard to do. I think only another Karas can kill a Karas, and they don't usually cross city borders. So there'll only be another one in Shinjuku if the city decides I'm no longer serving her best interests.

[bufudine]

[Serph takes a sip of this drink. Mmm... he thinks this one is more to his taste. He doesn't down all of this one, though.

So if Yosuke is a Karas... that means he spent his time defending Shinjuku and its... yurine?]

What did you defend Shinjuku from?

[bakegarasu]

So far, the only thing I defended it from was its previous Karas. He decided that because humans didn't believe in demons and that was making the demons sick, he should kill off all of the humans.

[Great logic there, Eko.]

He modified demons with machinery, and sent them against countless people... it was pretty messy.

[bufudine]

[Sounds like he was kept pretty busy, then. It's almost like a war, except...]

Were you the only one defending the city?

[Or are there multiple Karas?]

[bakegarasu]

Yeah, I was. One of the other Karas stepped in to rescue me once when I couldn't use my power, but for the most part I think they're forbidden from interfering with the matters of other cities.

[It's a little annoying... but he can deal with it. It's not like he was unused to working mostly alone.]

[bufudine]

[Hmm, that makes sense. Most Tribe matters are kept within the Tribe. Interference from another Tribe isn't done.

He lets his gaze drift to his drink.]

It sounds lonely.

[There's no judgement or sadness in his voice, just a neutral statement. Serph's always been surrounded by people so...]

[bakegarasu]

I guess.

[It's not like he gets that much choice in the matter anyway.]

... What's your world like?

[bufudine]

It's likely it doesn't exist any more.

[Serph doesn't sound too bothered by it. They kind of blew it up... after most of it had been deleted. He's just concerned about what will happen if he's sent back to it... There's no point worrying over something he has no control over, though.]

But it was a land of rain and endless war.

[Serph takes a swig of his drink.]

[bakegarasu]

... I'm sorry.

[There's really not much else he can say about it. He's no good at comforting people.]

[bufudine]

[Serph finishes his drink before he shakes his head. It's fine. He doesn't need comfort.]

We're seeking another land, anyway.

[He lets out a small breath, an almost half-laugh, before holding out his glass for another refill. At this rate, Serph will finish the entire bottle if Otoha doesn't drink more.]

Vatheon is an improvement.