[Simon isn't quite sure how to feel about that. He's wanted to be close to Grace for as long as he can remember, and unfortunately, navigating puberty when you're stuck on a murder machine that stretches onwards infinitely for miles and miles with no one but your beautiful best friend is guaranteed nightmare fodder. To cope, he's somehow grown up with the fucked up notion that urges of the flesh are to be bottled up, to be tamed and conquered, much like any other weakness.
Unless they can be linked with a romance of the legitimate sort, which is noble, just like in all his favorite stories.]
Wow.
When my mom told me the internet was a dangerous place, I assumed it was all crazy old lady talk.
moms tend to have pretty good advice, especially if they've spent any time on the internet. that's a generalization, but, still relatively true. so is sexy book club tinder your first foray into the realm of the internet? if so i'm sincerely sorry and please be careful it can get kind of dangerous around here.
[Simon isn't quite sure what he was expecting. It would be nice to receive a compliment of any kind, but despite that ugly inkling of hope, it's not something he was anticipating.]
I used to play computer games when I was a kid, but it's been a long time since then.
[How are you supposed to form relationships with people through a screen, anyway? He's already so ill-equipped to do that in real life.]
hey, no, that sounded like a story. i'm all-in for samantha kittywhiskers' creator's tragic origin story here. and i mean call me nosy or meddling or whatever but people don't usually start statements like "my whole life, i've" without wanting to tell somebody the rest of the sentence.
[Oh, that's the biggest of red flags. He knows your type, Simon. He knows your type and now you are absolutely not getting rid of him.]
i never said you were weak, simon. and especially if your life hasn't been easy, sometimes it can do a person a lot of good to have somebody to talk to. it isn't weak to want companionship.
[He is reminded of why he never wants to leave the train in the first place. Sure, this person's words are kind, but they don't know what he's truly capable of. All the victories that were near misses, they are going unappreciated-]
[The only kindness Simon has ever received has been intertwined with petty horrors and codependence, although in her defense, she was a child all the same. Killing hadn't felt good at the start, oh no, not at all, but after almost a decade he is numb to the bone chilling consequences of his evil deeds.]
I don't do coffee.
[A control freak of the worst variety, Simon finds that caffeine only worsens his neuroses and jittery nature.]
pretty sure we have soda, too. or tea. just let me apologize properly for pissing you off so you don't take to your grave the hatred of that random asshole on tinder who made jokes about sexy book clubs and warned you about the internet being for porn, yeah?
[that was a joke butt um holding grudges is one of simon's #1 pasttimes]
How do I know you aren't tryin' to pull a fast one on me?
[He does love seeing people grovel. People, nulls. Anyone, really. Simon would be willing to take the risk, but he's not coming unprepared. He'll hide weapons on his person, as per usual.]
I don't plan on dying in a place as dumb as this one.
But, if you really do mean whatcha say-
[It's up for debate. Simon is beyond putting his trust in strangers.]
[He panics, a little. This guy reads so much like what amounts to "the one that got away", so many of his mannerisms are exactly like what Akechi did before he disappeared from his life all together. And it isn't fair to Simon, to immediately make that correlation, but Akira is sure of one thing above all else-- he doesn't want something like that to ever happen again. He's never even met Simon, and he knows he needs someone to talk to. Maybe he's in as dire of straits as Akechi had been. If he'd tried a little harder, maybe that all could have been avoided.]
[So he'll rise to that and try a little harder with Simon.]
okay, cool. do you wanna come here or should i bring something to you?
[He has needed love and support of the normal variety, and discipline, for many years. Neglect and self loathing have made his anxious mind a terrible place to inhabit, as in eight years time, he's done nothing to properly heal the damage that's already been done.]
[He knows his type all too well, and he isn't about to lose another person to the insidious neglect of adults who failed him. He hasn't stopped to consider the fact that this task shouldn't fall on his shoulders alone.]
cool, okay. uh, there's a cafe i know.
[Okay so maybe it's the cafe he lives above, making it not smart on a handful of counts, but-- he's still panicking a little.]
[Don't fuck this up, Akira. No pressure or anything. He indelicately explains the basics of what's going on to Sojiro, and claims a booth at the far end of the cafe, nearest to the door. It's secluded, somewhat. He has a cup of coffee for himself (one he probably made before sitting down, in all honesty) and there's a menu sitting across from him. There isn't a lot on the menu, mostly a wide variety of coffees, but there are a few soda options, and one tea.]
[He has to laugh at himself a little, in his head-- how did he always manage this? He was just being a dumbass teenager vaguely flirting with a guy who wrote a fantasy novel and used it as a way to talk to people on tinder, and now he was stressed the hell out about trying to inject himself into the life of someone who clearly needed support. Had he even written a book at all, or was that just a way to get someone to pay attention to him?]
[His coffee is getting cold, and he's plucking at his cuticles whenever Simon shows up and the bell above the door jingles loudly. He stands up without realizing that he never shared any details about what he looks like. So he just clears his throat and waves.] Uh-- Simon, yeah?
[Simon took note of Akira's features before blazing forward. Messy hair, eyeglasses. Kind of looks like the sort of idiot who'd be caught sleeping in a library. The type of person that Simon might have become, had his number gone down instead of up.
He stands in the doorway seeming particularly nonplussed, long blond hair tied into his signature teeny ponytail. The other boy will notice that Simon's pants are ripped only on one leg, and that as the Apex's second in command folds his hands over his chest, the sleeves of his hoodie cut off at his elbows. In fact, none of his clothes fit particularly well, and he has indeed grown out of them. The red sine wave that Simon would hardly be caught dead without is painted over his sharp nose without fail.
Simon simply grunts in response to that faint acknowledgement, nodding huffily.]
Akira.
[There are knives hidden in various places on his person, as that's what all the pockets on those hideous torn khakis are for, but that's neither here nor there.
He refuses to sit down.]
You first.
[he is eighteen going on nineteen, and mentally ill as hell 🎶🎧]
[Dude definitely looks like he needs a friend. And... maybe a good shopping trip. But Akira takes his time to look him over taking note of the pants that don't quite fit, the one leg cut off, the torn sleeves of his hoodie. The stubble on his face, the strange line drawn over the bridge of his nose.]
[The fact that his hair is definitely that color naturally, because someone with such an otherwise unkempt appearance wouldn't have keeping their hair bleached be the one thing they maintained. He purses his lips, nodding when addressed, and trying to figure out how, exactly, he keeps getting himself into these disastrous situations. He turns, making sure to turn his back toward Simon when he walks to the booth and sits back down. Someone as uptight as Simon would likely bark something like "don't turn back on someone you don't know is trustworthy", but he wanted to trust him.]
[Wanted Simon to trust him.]
[He slouches horribly when he sits, curling over the table and picking up his cup of coffee.] There's only one sort of tea, but there's a couple sodas. [Sojiro had started keeping soda fairly shortly after meeting a one Sakamoto Ryuji, who couldn't stand coffee. It was a bit of a blow to his ego, but he did a lot of things for the collection of wayward teenagers he'd taken in.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
momijizukamori
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Date: 2021-06-13 10:15 pm (UTC)ooh, a real smoothtalker.
you sure you're not running some kind of sexy book club, simon?
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Date: 2021-06-13 10:27 pm (UTC)No.
I didn't even know that book clubs could be, um
[wow yep he can't even say the word]
Like that.
[Although that's not to say that he isn't interested in the idea.]
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Date: 2021-06-13 10:36 pm (UTC)[He's laughing again.]
pretty sure anything can be sexy if you try hard enough.
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Date: 2021-06-13 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-13 11:01 pm (UTC)the internet, as they say, is for porn. rule 34.
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Date: 2021-06-13 11:04 pm (UTC)[Guess who, despite being an eighteen year old boy, has never watched porn and definitely hasn't the faintest clue what rule 34 is.]
Bizarro.
What's the 35th?
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Date: 2021-06-13 11:24 pm (UTC)which tracks, really.
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Date: 2021-06-13 11:44 pm (UTC)Unless they can be linked with a romance of the legitimate sort, which is noble, just like in all his favorite stories.]
Wow.
When my mom told me the internet was a dangerous place, I assumed it was all crazy old lady talk.
[pls??? don't bring your mother into this]
I can't believe she was actually right.
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Date: 2021-06-14 12:26 am (UTC)that's a generalization, but, still relatively true.
so is sexy book club tinder your first foray into the realm of the internet?
if so i'm sincerely sorry and please be careful it can get kind of dangerous around here.
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Date: 2021-06-14 12:38 am (UTC)[Simon isn't quite sure what he was expecting. It would be nice to receive a compliment of any kind, but despite that ugly inkling of hope, it's not something he was anticipating.]
I used to play computer games when I was a kid, but it's been a long time since then.
[How are you supposed to form relationships with people through a screen, anyway? He's already so ill-equipped to do that in real life.]
Pfft, danger? I can handle danger.
My whole life, I've
[Shoot.]
Nevermind.
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Date: 2021-06-14 12:47 am (UTC)i'm all-in for samantha kittywhiskers' creator's tragic origin story here.
and i mean
call me nosy or meddling or whatever but
people don't usually start statements like "my whole life, i've" without wanting to tell somebody the rest of the sentence.
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Date: 2021-06-14 12:51 am (UTC)[Oh no.]
Sure, my life hasn't been easy.
[understatement of the century]
But that also means that I'm not weak anymore.
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Date: 2021-06-14 12:56 am (UTC)i never said you were weak, simon.
and especially if your life hasn't been easy, sometimes it can do a person a lot of good to have somebody to talk to.
it isn't weak to want companionship.
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Date: 2021-06-14 01:06 am (UTC)I know that.
[He is reminded of why he never wants to leave the train in the first place. Sure, this person's words are kind, but they don't know what he's truly capable of. All the victories that were near misses, they are going unappreciated-]
Of course I know that!
I'm not stupid.
[yes he is butt anyway]
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Date: 2021-06-14 01:14 am (UTC)look, can i buy you a coffee or something?
i definitely overstepped somewhere, so let me make it up to you.
[Is he worried about a near-complete stranger? Yes, yes he is.]
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Date: 2021-06-14 01:21 am (UTC)I don't do coffee.
[A control freak of the worst variety, Simon finds that caffeine only worsens his neuroses and jittery nature.]
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 01:38 am (UTC)or tea.
just let me apologize properly for pissing you off so you don't take to your grave the hatred of that random asshole on tinder who made jokes about sexy book clubs and warned you about the internet being for porn, yeah?
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Date: 2021-06-14 01:46 am (UTC)How do I know you aren't tryin' to pull a fast one on me?
[He does love seeing people grovel. People, nulls. Anyone, really. Simon would be willing to take the risk, but he's not coming unprepared. He'll hide weapons on his person, as per usual.]
I don't plan on dying in a place as dumb as this one.
But, if you really do mean whatcha say-
[It's up for debate. Simon is beyond putting his trust in strangers.]
Then I accept.
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Date: 2021-06-14 01:56 am (UTC)[So he'll rise to that and try a little harder with Simon.]
okay, cool.
do you wanna come here or should i bring something to you?
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Date: 2021-06-14 02:04 am (UTC)Simon's fate is similar, if not worse.]
Public place.
[He has needed love and support of the normal variety, and discipline, for many years. Neglect and self loathing have made his anxious mind a terrible place to inhabit, as in eight years time, he's done nothing to properly heal the damage that's already been done.]
Pick a public place and I'll meet you there.
[Simon is angry, and unnecessarily so, sure.
But he is lonely, too.]
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 02:08 am (UTC)cool, okay.
uh, there's a cafe i know.
[Okay so maybe it's the cafe he lives above, making it not smart on a handful of counts, but-- he's still panicking a little.]
i'll send you the address?
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Date: 2021-06-14 02:14 am (UTC)Fine.
[Not unless you count the Cat.
To have survived on the train for hundreds of years as she has-]
I'm on my way.
[You'd have to put yourself first above all else.
Even small, impressionable children.]
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Date: 2021-06-14 02:28 am (UTC)[He has to laugh at himself a little, in his head-- how did he always manage this? He was just being a dumbass teenager vaguely flirting with a guy who wrote a fantasy novel and used it as a way to talk to people on tinder, and now he was stressed the hell out about trying to inject himself into the life of someone who clearly needed support. Had he even written a book at all, or was that just a way to get someone to pay attention to him?]
[His coffee is getting cold, and he's plucking at his cuticles whenever Simon shows up and the bell above the door jingles loudly. He stands up without realizing that he never shared any details about what he looks like. So he just clears his throat and waves.] Uh-- Simon, yeah?
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 02:40 am (UTC)He stands in the doorway seeming particularly nonplussed, long blond hair tied into his signature teeny ponytail. The other boy will notice that Simon's pants are ripped only on one leg, and that as the Apex's second in command folds his hands over his chest, the sleeves of his hoodie cut off at his elbows. In fact, none of his clothes fit particularly well, and he has indeed grown out of them. The red sine wave that Simon would hardly be caught dead without is painted over his sharp nose without fail.
Simon simply grunts in response to that faint acknowledgement, nodding huffily.]
Akira.
[There are knives hidden in various places on his person, as that's what all the pockets on those hideous torn khakis are for, but that's neither here nor there.
He refuses to sit down.]
You first.
[he is eighteen going on nineteen, and mentally ill as hell 🎶🎧]
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Date: 2021-06-14 02:56 am (UTC)[The fact that his hair is definitely that color naturally, because someone with such an otherwise unkempt appearance wouldn't have keeping their hair bleached be the one thing they maintained. He purses his lips, nodding when addressed, and trying to figure out how, exactly, he keeps getting himself into these disastrous situations. He turns, making sure to turn his back toward Simon when he walks to the booth and sits back down. Someone as uptight as Simon would likely bark something like "don't turn back on someone you don't know is trustworthy", but he wanted to trust him.]
[Wanted Simon to trust him.]
[He slouches horribly when he sits, curling over the table and picking up his cup of coffee.] There's only one sort of tea, but there's a couple sodas. [Sojiro had started keeping soda fairly shortly after meeting a one Sakamoto Ryuji, who couldn't stand coffee. It was a bit of a blow to his ego, but he did a lot of things for the collection of wayward teenagers he'd taken in.]
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