open

[strictdiscipline]

Who: riza hawkeye (strictdiscipline) & open!
What: a catchall, basically
When: all month
Where: oot 'n aboot
Warning(s): none yet, will update if necessary


I - SHADES DARKER

[ Work at Shades Darker, despite the customer base, is far more tame than she imagines. For the most part, she completes and files paperwork in the back, tidying up schedules and correcting small mistakes in wages for employees whose names she's slowly beginning to commit to memory.

But sometimes she's expected to put on a good face for the public, especially when information's needed, and so she treks outside to the streets, false modesty and cheer on her face as she flags down passersby. ]

Excuse me, we're looking to gather opinions for our next [ entirely made up, please don't kill me mods ] promotion. If you could take a look at these two photos—

[ At which point she hands over said photos. Both are very revealing, though of entirely different things. ]

Which do you prefer?

[ THE QUESTION: Are you a tits or an ass person, please respond truthfully. ]

[ ooc: feel free to assume some basic handwaved cr if your character also works there. ]

II - SHOOTING RANGE

[ Somewhere between Shades Darker and the gun range, her persona shifts. The polite smile drops from her face, her shoulders straighten, and her stride takes on an almost dangerous efficiency as she collects her equipment and heads out to the back. There's been little use for a firearm of any sort so far, her job now dealing with wealthy clientele rather than criminals, but she's hardly about to sit around and wait for the next emergency to occur.

She's a regular at the range, and if there's anything particularly notable about her, it's the way she never smiles after making a perfect shot (often) and makes less noise than the gun in her hands. It's obvious she means business, though less obvious just what exactly she's training for.

But if you're struggling, or you ask nicely, she'll offer a few tips here and there. ]

III - OUT AND ABOUT (FEAT. DOG)

A - [ Riza's not the only one that needs exercise. Twice a day she grabs the leash hanging by the door and takes Hayate out for a walk around the city blocks. For the most part, the walk's uneventful, halted by a cursory sniff here and an obligatory bark there.

But as it turns out, lengthy periods of stasis and an entirely new environment does no favors for anyone, least of all a dog still partly in the throes of puppyhood. Something - a squirrel, another animal, that tasty sandwich in your hand - catches Hayate's attention, and he bolts, pulling the leash out of Riza's hands as he darts towards the newest thing to catch his eye. ]

Hayate!

[ Better move quick, else there'll be a small dog getting all up in your business. ]

B - [ On her days off, and when he behaves, she takes Hayate out for a bonus walk, but not through the main city area. Instead, they turn off towards the nearest park, meandering until they find an unobtrusive spot by a tree. There, she runs him through drills - sit, lie down, stay, and come to name a few - careful to reward him after each trick accomplished. It's a surprisingly successful session up until the last trick: she lifts her hand and mock fires a gun, but instead of collapsing and rolling over, he merely wags his tail, tongue lolling out one side of his mouth.

Well, she tried. ]

IV - WILDCARD

[ ooc: you know the deal. write a prompt, or leave me a blank comment/comment with any prefs and i'll write you a custom starter! feel free to hit me up via PM or private plurk at speedforce to discuss anything. ]

Comments

I

[planetary_bonds]

[She caught him outside a junkyard hauling a few pieces of scrap in his arms. Yusei shifts them around so he's holding them to one side so he can look at the...samples, raising an eyebrow. He'd turned around to answer politely on reflex, but he's apparently regretting that decision, if the long period of staring at them with absolutely no change in expression means anything.

His eyes shift from one photo to the next, back and forth, before looking back up at Riza. Somehow, even with just his resting neutral expression, he doesn't look very amused.]

I don't.

[Oh.]

[strictdiscipline]

[ Why you gotta be like this, Yuusei, it's a perfectly valid question!

And while she's hardly the type to pry on a person's private interest - do unto others as you would unto yourself, after all - somehow she's unwilling to believe such a statement, especially after such a long pause. If he truly had no opinion, he would have said so from the get go.

Also she's pretty sure Koralle would just tell her to go right back out if she stopped at such a vague answer. ]

No preference whatsoever?

[ She looks completely unfazed by his garbage answer, and her voice holds a doubtful tone. Try again. ]

[planetary_bonds]

[He's a garbage man, from a garbage land, with garbage in his hands, and only garbage plans. The garbage answer is totally valid.]

None.

[Now that he's ascertained that this really isn't some kind of joke, he's able to give the answer straight up, at least. Sorry, Riza, you picked the shonen protagonist with a laser focus on his designs.]

[strictdiscipline]

[ Man, tough crowd today.

But! She's nothing if not persistent and since her survey sheet's looking awfully barebones right now, she gives the whole thing one more whirl. The pictures are decidedly female in gender, so perhaps...

She slides the pictures away and tries again. ]

Would it make a difference if the...assets belonged to men?

[ Apparently that's a prevalent thing here, or so she's learned. ]

[planetary_bonds]

[He tilts a head, this time garnering an actual visible reaction. This time, he looks somewhat...perplexed. What is the point of this, he's wondering.]

Why would that change things?

[strictdiscipline]

[ The point is obviously to try and entice more clients to the brothel, though she hardly says so aloud. Either they're interested or they're not, and this man (boy, really) seems to sit firmly in the latter camp.

In answer, she merely shrugs, a simple raise and drop of one shoulder. ]

People have interests in different genders, or so I'm told. [ Her experience in this department is rather limited. ] I was wondering if it would be the same for you.

[planetary_bonds]

[Is that what it is? What an odd thing to survey on.]

It hasn't been something I've thought about. [He tends to gravitate towards people with similar interests, honestly. He shrugs.]

I don't think I'm a good fit for this...survey. What was it even for?

[strictdiscipline]

[ So if all the races on this planet were suddenly exterminated and only a few select individuals were left and tasked with repopulation, Yuusei would be a bad first choice. Got it. ]

An upcoming event at Shades Darker.

[ She says it professionally, like she's delivered the line twenty times now - she has - though her dubious gaze suggests she's not sure this man even knows what that is. ]

Have you ever visited?

[planetary_bonds]

[A very bad choice, if that puzzled expression of his means anything.]

...I haven't heard of that place.

[Very, very bad.]

[strictdiscipline]

[ The answer's not particularly surprising, given his past string of responses to all her questions (entirely useless!), and while she's not particularly inclined to invade his private life and sexual preferences, she does still have a job to keep.

She slides her pictures back in her bag and swaps them for a different sheet of paper that she offers. Entirely racy-picture-free, never fear. ]

If you'd ever like to visit, we are having a promotion. All new clients get 15% off.

[ The flier has more detail, albeit worded in some very suggestive language courtesy of Koralle. ]

[planetary_bonds]

[Thank god for small mercies. Yusei skims the flier, not having much of a visible reaction to the offer of "multiple positions" being available, nor the claims of a vibrant crowd attracted to the locale. He does, however, have a small laugh at the mention of "satisfaction guaranteed," if only because that brings back old memories. Still, this kind of flier...]

...Red light.

[Aha. So he does know what this kind of establishment is, at least.]

[strictdiscipline]

[ What could have possibly tipped him off to that? There's a small sigh - of relief! - when he finally puts two and two together, or at the very least utters the fact aloud. ]

The nearly naked women weren't enough indication?

[ Most people get it right then and there. ]

[planetary_bonds]

I hadn't quite considered the reason you would have been asking about those kinds of preferences.

[Frankly, it felt like an odd question to come with out of the blue, and-]

Trying to appeal to more customers?

[strictdiscipline]

[ She spreads her hands out slightly, palms upwards, in a gesture of acceptance. ]

No harm in that, is there? It may not be typical, but it is a business still. Though [ and here she watches him again ] I won't be offended if you decline.

[ Koralle might be, but that's a different story entirely. ]

[planetary_bonds]

It's understandable.

[He shrugs. What Koralle thinks of him isn't any of his concern.]

That being said, I have my own preferred seedy businesses to inhabit, if any.

[strictdiscipline]

[ Well, that's not sketchy at all, coming from a teenage boy. She raises an eyebrow. ]

That's not something most people your age openly admit to.

[planetary_bonds]

It's something that was necessary to survive where I came from.

[He shrugs.]

You either got the dated, expensive leftovers of the city, or you got better quality at the black markets. And of course, there are necessities you can only get there, too.

[strictdiscipline]

[ A fair enough assessment, even if it has her tipping her head slightly as she gazes at him, expression sober. ]

That may be true, but surely you don't need to live like that here if you don't wish.

[ Then again, maybe he does wish. Who is she to judge anyone's life choices? ]

[planetary_bonds]

I don't.

[His smile is a little thin and mirthless, but genuine all the same.]

I'm grateful for that, at least. [Even if there are many others back home that would have deserved this second chance much more than he does, he thinks.] It's much more straightforward to be able to get what I need at accessible stalls than hunting down some nebulous black market.

[strictdiscipline]

[ It sounds like a difficult life, whatever it was - and however it was - he'd lived before. Part of her wants to ask about it, but the bigger part of her respects his privacy, enough to let the topic go.

She smiles, slight but genuine. ]

It does sound easier to obtain things legally rather than illegally.

[ Anyway, she's probably taken up enough of his time, and they've strayed far from her original purpose here. She takes a step back, voice turning crisp again. ]

But thank you for participating in our survey. [ Even though he literally didn't answer anything. ] I'll be sure not to contact you in the future regarding these things, if you prefer.

[planetary_bonds]

[It was difficult, but he wouldn't have changed it for anything. Those treasured friends-he wouldn't have met them otherwise.]

I'm not sure if you would count what I did as "participating." [At least he's aware of it.] I doubt I'd have any productive answers in the future regarding that, so if it saves you some work, that's fine.

[strictdiscipline]

[ No more sex questions for this guy, got it. Which is all well and good; if Koralle asks her to do this again, she'll have to politely decline. The amount of sex talk she's heard today has been through the roof. ]

Still, you were polite about it. That's more than some people have been.

[ And for that, she appreciates him. ]

I'll let you get back to your work though.