#affogatitos

[soundsurfing]

[greetings-sheeple]

@affogatitos is this anything?

[soundsurfing]

@affogatitos

"Don'chu worry everyone. I know exactly what to do," Beat declares to no one in particular as he walks over to Hanekoma with purpose. Looks like CAT-Man was being a bitch today, so that meant one thing. Beat's eyes are locked on Hanekoma's as his feet echo across WildKat's empty area.

In a flash, he reaches forward to snatch Hanekoma's wrist, then raises it slightly. "You ain't you when you're hungry, man. Check this shit."

With perhaps a bit more force than necessary, Beat slaps a churu into Hanekoma's hand.

"I put real beans in this for you, yo. Cuz you a special man."

[greetings-sheeple]

★

★ and I’ll bold everything they feel toward your character.

I like you (I haven't had a good cup of coffee in a while.) // I love you // You’re one of my best friends // You’re like family // You are family // I dislike you // I hate you // I’d kill you if I got the chance // I want you to like me // I’m scared of you // I would adopt you // I’d date you // I’d sleep with you // I’d marry you // I’m worried about you (can't be easy, rebuilding Shibuya) // You confuse me // You’re annoying // I pity you // I respect you // I trust you // I feel protective of you // I’d invite you with me to parties // I’d lend you my money // I’d borrow your money // You’re good-looking // I’m suspicious of you // I’m hiding something from you // You’re fun // You’re boring // I’m upset with you // You’re nice (Surprisingly easy to talk with) // You’re mean // I’m envious of you (what natural charisma. it seems to come so easy for you...) // You’re smart // You’re stupid // I look up to you // I think you’re a better person than me // I think I’m a better person than you // I want to apologize to you // I wish I’d never met you // I never want to forget you // I want to get to know you better (I'd love to get your opinion on a few things...)

[greetings-sheeple]

@affogatitos in response to [x]

There was something comforting about the barista's coffee. It wasn't nostalgia or anything like that... maybe it was just the sense of it being made from love. As if the man really put his care into the ground beans. Maybe that was why Shiba kept finding himself returning to this little hole-in-the-wall when he could have gone anywhere else. Maybe it was because it was quiet and that atmosphere let him gather his thoughts.

Shiba holds the saucer gingerly as Hanekoma speaks, resting his hand over the steam to let it warm him for just a moment. Though, one part sticks out at him in particular.

"Nothin' really plays out th' way we expect in life."

A small, huff leaves his nose as his gaze moves from the swirling brown liquid to the barista in question. "Isn't that the cold truth? Even outside of the whole mess I made in Shibuya, there were plenty of things that didn't go my way."

Especially back when he'd been alive. Between his dear old dad's company falling apart to not being able to make it through college, Shiba had always felt like he wasn't ever headed the direction he thought he ought to be. Plateauing in his Reaper career had simply been the latest in a long line of road blocks that had made Shiba feel inadequate.

At the mention of leaving Tokyo, Shiba's expression shifted to something more nostalgic.

"Actually, I wasn't even born in Tokyo. I grew up in Sendai--Miyagino-ku, specifically. I moved down to Tokyo to seek my fortune like every other poor fool in the 90s. As you can see, that didn't go as planned either," Shiba says lightly, waving his hand a bit theatrically. His own death happened long enough ago that he doesn't mind making light of it.

However, when he circles back to the first question Hanekoma asked him, he pauses. "Well... you saw what I wanted to do, didn't you? Or, what I thought I wanted to do, I suppose. I thought I was a real trail blazer, setting fire to Shibuya and..."

Shiba hesitates.

"Ah... well, aside from all that nonsense. I..." Shiba frowns and puts the saucer down on the bar-top, lifting his head to massage at his forehead.

"I think I wanted to keep them safe, or, no... that doesn't... If that was the case, then why would I...?" That last part is muttered quietly to himself, but undoubtedly audible to Hanekoma.

[argentanguis]

" 'm not leaving until yer temperature 's normal. yer gonna have t' make yer peace with that. " he'd been doing busy work around the flat while megumi was down. there were still things that needed to be sorted with his code. things that made him human. he was either gonna get too hot or too cold which was going to get him sick. a normal hospital was out of the question. he only had so much medical knowledge, too. " this won't be th' first time this happens either. yer immune systems fucked up still, an' if i try an do anythin' i might make it worse on accident. i'm gonna bring you some medicine before long an' yer gonna do as yer told an' go lay back down. "

maybe he'd be able to cook for him in a little bit. that might be able to help. curry was always good when you were sick, right? maybe? it'd been awhile since he actually took care of someone under the weather.

Megumi was staring blindly at the ceiling while Sanae twittered around him. Normally, he'd disregard his body. When he was human, he had been fueled by all sorts of drugs he shouldn't have taken. Mostly uppers, to keep him from thinking terrible thoughts. But it was harder to get those nowadays, and even then, Sanae wasn't going to give them to him while his Soul was oscillating between stable enough and ready to fall back into the nothingness of nonexistence.

"Is this something medicine will even help? Am I still human enough to respond to it normally? Fuck, I just want something spicy to let me focus on anything else."

He groaned and laid his head back on the pillow. He wanted to be a snake instead. They didn't need to eat very often, and the warmth of a heating pad would be bliss. Maybe it would stop the fever. But he wasn't strong enough to manage that change right now.

[argentanguis]

“ you think i don’ acknowledge what’s happening?! every mistake i make has costs, an' those costs are often the lives of innocent people! i've got their blood on my hands, megumi. that blood is never gonna wash off. i have to live with that every day, so don't tell me i'm not acknowledgin' shit. you have no idea what i'm dealing with jus' because 'm not a fuckin' visual checklist of distress. “

A smart comment quickly turned into a heated exchange. This was someone who hadn't been doing this as long as him. Megumi had been Conductor when this Angel had played his first game, and was Conductor at the moment he was risen.

"You're not the only one with blood on your hands. I have established the way this Game plays for as long as you've known it to exist. I have to live with the decisions I've made, which have erased countless Players and Reapers to let their Soul cycle back into the City. But I am well aware that She is far more important than any one life. And that is why I have been in charge of the Reapers as long as I have."

Megumi wasn't any better at dealing with it, he just had a long honed flat effect to the world around him. Only the City mattered. He had been betrayed by nearly every one of his Officers, he had been betrayed by his own Composer who he respected beyond measure. He couldn't afford to let himself care about dead humans. Humans die every day. He had to keep the Composer together. He had to keep the whole City together. No one else was going to do a good enough job.