our dawn is hotter than day
the thing about gathering information was that one could not sit and laze around if one should ever be much of a good dealer of such. the world was out there and in it were all sorts of happenings, all sorts of people coming across in all sorts of endeavours and it was all so very fascinating to behold. a slow, jazzy tune was filling the restaurant as jasper was sitting by the counter, enjoying a cold lemonade while the sizzling of pans and the chopping of knives could be heard from somewhere nearby. the music brought him back to jazz bars in america, a memory of years back that he wasn’t even sure was his own any longer (it probably wasn’t as he had never been old enough to drink before leaving for korea), but even so one that he treasured as it reminded him of home. now he was well of age, but jasper had always made it a habit not to drink on the job -- at least not alcohol -- furthermore, drinking in the middle of the day was a downwards slope he believed.
with the sun blazing hot outside the airconditioned interior of the restaurant was a nice escape from seoul’s merciless summer heat. at this time of the day the clientele was rather lacking: most people would be either studying or working through these hours, but that was just perfect. even if he was simply a customer visiting his favourite place to dine, there was always more to a story than what met the eye.
like the restaurant owner being infamous in villain circles -- would that not be absolutely hilarious?
as a hero it was his sworn duty to protect the citizens, innocent lambs who were just trying to go about their daily lives, from any harm that might come their way. but everyone had to acknowledge that jasper’s quirk was never one that was meant for combat although he could manage on his own in a fist fight. his job had always laid in intelligence, sniffing out any nasty rumours of villain activity and punish accordingly. even more hilarious.
it would be such a shame to see his favourite business go down.
“what’ve you got for me today?” he asked as shik finally appeared. at first jasper had taken to make his order on his own, but after eating everything on the menu he had started letting the other have free reign. resting his chin upon his palm, elbow on the counter, jasper was taking in the scent, lovely as ever. a smile wide enough to reveal his fangs appeared on his face. “whatever it is it smells amazing. you never cease to deliver.”
albeit going easy on the compliments jasper meant every word he said -- although some might consider him a fraud, he took pride in only relaying the most accurate of information, and thus he barely ever lied. eyes glanced from the plate that was placed before him to the chef that had made it. “you didn’t happen to cut yourself on accident while making it did you? i could do with an appetiser.” definitely spoken as a joke, jasper kept the pretense of innocence on his face. they both knew though that jasper would never actually pull through with his words and break the unspoken agreement between them. not unless shik actually offered. eyes lingering on them for a moment longer, he eventually began his meal instead. it was moments like this that jasper felt the most drawn to; moments where he could forget the hunger his own lousy cooking could never satisfy, the thirst that always grew in his throat and mind when he hadn’t fed on anyone for a couple of days. a true monster he was, he supposed, for there was nothing in his quirk that dictated he would die without his rather unique tastes -- that was purely a habit, an addiction, what he would assume it would feel like if he were to take a drug, exhilarating.
“haven’t eaten for days,” he eventually opted to explain his ‘joke’. “knocked out a guy the other day so the boss put me on fast. can you believe.” jasper might or might not have pretended to have troubles with the locating as payback for some rather crude comments, but of course the boss had seen through that folly. “either way it was his own fault for being so damned stubborn.”
