prismatica | text; un: aphrodite

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text; un: aphrodite

so i've been stuck inside because i don't know if i'm allergic to bees, and i'm DEFINITELY allergic to giant ants, and also i'm pretty sure half of my friends have vanished.
not trying to whine or anything. i mean, that's sort of how life is after getting space dimension kidnapped?
like, don't get me wrong, i WANT to whine. but it's happened before. and unless we find a way to change that it'll keep happening.
so i guess... if you recognize me just say something?
just so i know you're still here.

anyway.

i've got three days left as a teen, life sucks, and i've still got a few bottles of the drinks from last place i was at.
i want to make bad decisions. give me stupid ideas
like... are there clubs around here? can anyone recommend one?
i've never been clubbing. and i kind of feel like there might be a time limit on that??

screw it. who wants to get fucked up and go clubbing

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okay. as long as you're sure?
i mean i'm totally okay with that so.
ummmm.

sorry i'm trying to think? like
before i got kidnapped i was sort of a sheltered kid?
like. really sheltered.
so the only real ideas i have are like, clubbing, and getting fucked up and doing stupid things, and maybe both at once??

other than that...
i mean there's always food? there's some fancy restaurants i still haven't bothered to go to even though i can basically afford anything at this point
oh! and there's uhhhh. amigara? did i get that right
i still haven't visited so that might be fun

Amegahara

[It's close enough to Japanese that it's not hard for Akira to remember.]

Why don't we throw both together and go to a restaurant there?

yeah! amegahara.
honestly that sounds pretty great? i don't know anything about the food there but it's probably going to be awesome. haha
what sort of food do you like? is there anything we should look for

All i know is that donuts are really big over there
But they probably have other stuff too. Ever tried sushi? or ramen?

uh. ssssort of?
i'll pass on the sushi i think. ren took me for the first time a month or two ago
and now he's gone, so. i'm pretty sure sushi's just going to remind me of the only person to ever ask me out.
which is sort of a bummer?

also i mean...
i've had ramen? i didn't know it was a restaurant thing.
do they use like, fancier broth than the stuff you buy at the store?
i'd be willing to try it at least

[ you're talking to a girl who grew up in the american southern midwest, in a rural food desert, with conservative parents. sorry, she's thinking top ramen and that's ti. ]

Edited 2020-06-01 21:13 (UTC)

Yeah, the stuff at the store is just instant stuff. Restaurant stuff is real noodles in broth with lots of other ingredients like meat and veggies

When and where do you wanna meet?

oh whoa. i had no idea ramen was an actual thing?
i just know we used to eat it sometimes when money was tighter
it sounds... kind of like chicken noodle or vegetable soup? i'm assuming it's like, a little different at least, but. you know
either way that sounds really neat, so

how about tomorrow at... six, maybe?
i've got plans later that night but that gives us a few hours to just. you know. have fun

A few hours is plenty. I'll meet you there.

[And, true to form, he'll take the highway to Amegahara and be there for the agreed time. He's messing with his communicator, but when he spots Venus, he grins and waves.]

Hey.

[ when akira spots her, she just smiles and gives a dorky little wave back. it's funny, what a change in setting will do for the mood of a conversation? also the part where she doesn't have a reason to think she's fucked him and forgotten his name. that's probably a pretty big part of it, now that she thinks about it. ]

Akira! [ she doesn't run to him, exactly, but she does pick up her pace. ] Hey, um. You haven't been waiting long, right?

[ making your way through a completely foreign, absolutely beautiful area is a lot more difficult when you can see everything around you at once. she's had to actively work to not get sidetracked... more than three times, at least. ]

[The area is definitely beautiful, and definitely more like Nara or the more traditional parts of Kyoto than the life Akira is accustomed to in Tokyo. He shakes his head.]

Nah, I got here about five minutes ago. I'm glad you made it.

[She seems to be naturally nervous, so he wondered if she might get cold feet and change her mind at the last minute.]

[ venus has nothing to compare this sort of world to. her life to this point has been spent in deserts and concrete wastelands; there were parks in duplicity, yes, but nothing like this. even as she speaks to akira, she has trouble keeping her attention focused in one place. ]

Honestly, me too? I definitely thought I was going to get lost, haha. I actually left twenty minutes early??

[ ...so she's still nervous, clearly. but maybe a different type of nervous. eager, overstimulated, excited rather than panicked. it's a weird vibe to get from someone who claims to be the devil, that's for sure. ]

So... do we just head on in? I couldn't figure out if we were supposed to do reservations or anything.

In Tokyo, lining up for the best places was kinda part of the experience... You just had to deal with the wait times. Looks like it's not so busy here, though.

[He leads her inside. It's definitely less like a traditional Western restaurant and much more like a ramen bar, which makes it obvious why there's no reservation system. There's also no menu -- just a list of items pinned to the wall.

Once they've both chosen a spot to sit, Akira scans the selection. He can already feel his mouth watering in anticipation.]

I'm starving... I could eat one of everything!

Oh! We had a couple of places like that in Topeka. I never really got to go to any, though...

[ the moment they make it inside, venus's attention is captivated. eyes roam in every direction; she turns and stares, taking in the whole place with wonder. she lags just a bit behind as akira chooses a spot, sliding in next to him while she tries to figure out what items are what. ]

Oh my god. Ramen's fancy?? [ the smell, the atmosphere, the complete unfamiliarity of the layout are all getting to her. there's a little of that nervous energy, yeah, but more than that she looks excited. ] Should we- actually do that? One of everything?

[He has to stifle a laugh when he sees how in awe of everything she is. Ramen's completely mundane to him, and this is only a little exciting given the foxes have their own little quirks and distinctions that differentiate their way of life from Japan's. Still, he grins.]

I know you're a devil, but can you really eat that much? I know I could.

Mmmmaybe? Oh my god. I don't know?? I've never tried to! [ she babbles excitedly as she rereads the menu, biting a lip and trying to decide on how stupid she wants to be today. ] I've only been a devil for like. Two years?? So I still haven't tried out everything yet. I know I don't really need much, but.

[ wait. this place has alcohol?? oh my god. oh my god. ]

Oh my gosh Akira if we do get a lot can we also get some. Uh. [ she squints. ] House sake??

[ she pronounces it exactly as you'd expect - like "keepsake." never change, venus. ]

Really? Because on my first day I was eating like a horse--

[He's cut off by her excitement about alcohol, and he bursts out laughing.] Sa-ke.

[...He's technically underage, but saying that right now might make him sound a little lame?? Plus he's already admitted to clubbing, so maybe she thinks he's older than he actually is. Oh well.]

Yeah, we can try some if you want some. You got enough chroma if we split the bill?

Oh, uh. I sort of assumed I was paying for all of this? So, I mean... yeah, absolutely. Let's do it.

[ something strikes venus as off about what akira says, even if it doesn't immediately register. even if it had, she'd still take a moment to mull it over. so she spends another few seconds looking at the menu, asking dumb questions - "is the egg hardboiled," and "wait does seaweed actually taste good," things like that - and watching akira from a dozen eyes at once.

when it's finally clicked, and when her curious gaze is too obvious to ignore, she finally revisits the topic. ]

...hey. What did you mean, "your first day?"

[Akira had been edging around the topic, so to realise what he'd accidentally blurted out in the excitement of the moment is. Uh. He scratches the back of his neck and looks away sheepishly.]

The first day I became a Devilman. I said we weren't that different, and I meant it.

Oh.

[ oh. ]

Oh. [ she whispers, and then- ] Oh my god? Oh my god, you too! We're both-

[ her hands literally come up to cover her mouth. good job, akira - for once, you're not the first person in the room that looks like they're about to cry! ]

H-hey...

[He doesn't know what to do about a reaction like that, and is alarmed about making her cry, so he reaches forward to... pat her on the shoulder? There, there.]

[ she reaches up and grabs akira's hand. and now that her mouth is free again, it should be clear: those tears welling up in her eyes are the happiest goddamn tears imaginable. ]

You're literally the first devil my age I've seen in over a year. Like, there were five or six of us back in Duplicity, but now it's just me and Grimm? And- and Grimm's great, don't get me wrong, but he's kind of more of a dad that doesn't suck, not- you know, someone who gets it, and- and now you!

[ there is just. an unashamed, unabashed adoration in her eyes. all like two hundred of them. ]

Wait, was it summer camp for you too? Sorry, that's not too personal, right?

Uh--

[Akira seems a little overwhelmed, and, unsurprisingly, his eyes begin to well with sympathetic tears of his own.]

It was the club I talked about. We went to a Sabbath party, and it happened there.

[ it doesn't immediately sink in, what he's saying. she's too busy smiling, and giggling, and thinking about how nice it is to finally have someone else that gets it. but her brain halts on "sabbath party," and it's that little pause that finally sinks in. at a club. the club he'd been to. he'd said people had been hurt, right? a lot of them. and that means...

the smile fades away on her face, even if her eyes stay misty. after a moment, she reaches up and wipes at them. ]

Crap. I'm sorry, I didn't... [ think about it? yeah. obviously. ] Should I change the subject?

It's okay. I gained the power to protect people, so it wasn't all that bad.

[Some people were saved because of his actions, or so Ryo had said. Akira really doesn't remember it much either way.]

We should go ahead and order first. [It's rude to just sit here and talk, after all.] Still want to try everything?

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text; un: aphrodite

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i'm PRETTY SURE akira hasn't mentioned he's a demon to venus proper so!!

he hasn't! he's a dummy

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