[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.]
[that's absolutely something he would bark, absolutely]
I don't need it.
[It's clear by Simon's curt reply that he isn't one to bother with subtle niceties. Akira is lucky that, while he delights in feeling victorious and vanquishing foes, Simon is not one to attack someone out of the blue. Not unless he's feeling particularly volatile. That's energy that should be saved for a real threat.]
[Akira could probably take him-- or at least take him enough to get him outside before he broke something in the cafe, at which point he could probably work out a means to get him to calm the fuck down. Luckily, that isn't the case and he doesn't have to figure it out.]
[There's a brief moment where he's startled by the way Simon just demands an apology. He had planned to apologize, but he hadn't exactly planned for Simon to demand it right off. He artfully dodges the first question, going instead for the second.]
...because I like reading, and you wanted somebody to read your book.
[At that, Simon just narrows his eyebrows in disbelief.]
Ch'yeah, right.
[Years of pitifully attempting to get his best friend to read his stupid book has left him jaded, with the belief that no one would really be interested. If the girl who had been by his side through thick and thin couldn't care less, why would a stranger?]
[The way he just spits I hate it, Akira almost flinches. He closes his eyes, taking a slow, careful breath before he opens them again and looks directly at Simon.]
I was bored, yeah, [He raises a hand before Simon can bite back a response.] but I do like reading, and I do wanna read your book. And I'm sorry, for letting the conversation get way out of hand and out of line. I'm honestly not great at socializing, I prefer to listen, so I got ahead of myself. Can I please buy you a soda or something?
[He sets his hand down, on the menu, and pushes it toward Simon.] Please.
[Simon stares blankly at the menu, blinking three or four times.
This whole place, this stupid human establishment, it leaves him with a bitter taste in his mouth. He is disoriented, trapped in a world he was taken from as a child that he vowed to never return to. His palm and arm no longer grow green, so in this realm, he has nothing to measure himself by. In all honesty, it's only made Simon's ever needling insecurities worse.]
Uh, I'll just take whatever soda.
[plz don't say mountain dew]
And a bottle of water, if you guys do that? To go.
[A short gust of air leaves Akira, and he realizes he was holding his breath. He smiles, faintly, and waves Sojiro over.] Coke and a water bottle? No cups.
[Continuing to play the part of not living above the cafe he's pulled Simon to, he pulls out his wallet and leaves some yen on the table as Sojiro grumbles something good-natured in Old Man, bringing the soda and water bottle over. He sets them on the table, and Akira shifts to stand up.]
If-- you're leaving, can I at least give you my number? That's only as hitting on you as you want it to be.
[simon.exe is processing... most likely probability??? is that someone would just try to hit him, especially... considering his behavior
Akira may notice the way his forehead creases beneath those unkempt bangs, not wrought with fright or disgust. Just confusion.]
Okay.
[Love, affection, desire... All these things are won. Much like battles and all the military campaigns he's gone on to idealize, for someone to pay attention to you, you must put in years of hard work, and in Simon's case, he's still waiting to cash in on that particular investment. Grace does not look upon him in the same way he does her, and for good reason- They have never been equals, not once, and their future shows that very clearly.]
[Akira watches him process, watches him disbelieve. At least he's pretty openly honest with emotion. That's new and refreshing. That's different.]
[He pulls his phone out of his back pocket.]
I messaged you on a dating app, Simon.
[He pulls up his contact and flicks his wrist, spinning his phone and turning it outward for Simon to see.] I'm definitely more the type to be friends before anything else, but, gotta start somewhere, yeah?
[Simon stands there like an idiot, one hand curling into a fist that remains cemented to his side. Any normal person would have already made the connection. After all, that was the whole point. He wasn't even entirely sure that he'd get any hits in the first place, not without showing off that he could best a null twice his size in combat or scale a wall in record time. This whole situation had been the result of quite a bit of coaxing.]
No! You weren't, you couldn't be...!
[To any bystander, Simon's behavior appears nonsensical and erratic. Why, not too long ago, their conversation had been entirely civil. It would be easier, in fact, for the blond to just call it quits and sit down. Unfortunately he opts to stay in the emotional tornado of his own creation, confused by the very idea that anyone new would want him at all-]
I'm leaving.
[And of course, just like every other time...]
I can't be here anymore.
[He's ruined any chance of happiness for himself by his own hand.]
[There's so much familiarity in this, except Simon acts younger. He's still yearning for friendship under his mask of being hateful, in enough of a way that Akira can hear it in how he spits his denial.]
[He reaches out, regardless of Simon's obvious upset, moves close to him, ushers him out of the cafe whether it requires touching him or if he just moves to evade contact.]
You'll have to tell me what's my fault, but I think we both know nobody's done anything wrong, here.
[He acts younger because, not only has he never really been forced to grow, but because he has done everything but confront his problems, constantly running in the opposite direction. He blames Akira when this is yet another misstep of his own, shying away from any attempt at touch much like a wounded animal would, only to move backwards and envelop himself in his own arms.]
[It's Simon who is at fault, as usual. Yet he still turns the blame outwards somehow, without fail.]
This was such a dumb idea. How did I let Grace talk me into this?
[um
bc like... that's???? ur entire life? simon ratfinkius laurent
Perhaps there was something. A glimmer of hope and maybe the notion that somebody, somewhere would want him.]
You've wasted my time.
[It would be nice to be admired, desired...]
I should be findin' a way back to the train.
[But truth be told, it's not as if Simon truly believes he's worthy of those things, not in his heart. No matter how loudly and bitterly he insists that he is right, that his insatiable demands are worth fulfilling, he is constantly haunted by the idea that perhaps Samantha was right to leave him behind.]
[He lapses back into quiet, because Simon has shown he's the sort to say quite a lot in short bursts. There's a particular finality to what he deems his last word, and Akira waits to hear it before he leans forward like he's considering stepping toward him again.]
Sorry, for wasting your time. I can walk you to the station? [Because he doesn't understand that Simon doesn't just mean a train. He leaves the mentions of Grace and calling Japan a sorry dump alone, filing the name away for later and not entirely sure he's understanding what he means by "this sorry dump"-- surely a guy in Japan wouldn't call the entire country that. Right?]
[Well, no, from what very little of Simon he's come to understand, he very much might. But it's still safer to not comment on it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
momijizukamori
no subject
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 🎶🎧]
no subject
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.]
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:06 am (UTC)I don't need it.
[It's clear by Simon's curt reply that he isn't one to bother with subtle niceties. Akira is lucky that, while he delights in feeling victorious and vanquishing foes, Simon is not one to attack someone out of the blue. Not unless he's feeling particularly volatile. That's energy that should be saved for a real threat.]
Aren't you gonna apologize?
[It's really all he wants to hear.
Even Simon isn't sure for what. He's curious.]
Why did you message me, anyway?
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:17 am (UTC)[There's a brief moment where he's startled by the way Simon just demands an apology. He had planned to apologize, but he hadn't exactly planned for Simon to demand it right off. He artfully dodges the first question, going instead for the second.]
...because I like reading, and you wanted somebody to read your book.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:26 am (UTC)Ch'yeah, right.
[Years of pitifully attempting to get his best friend to read his stupid book has left him jaded, with the belief that no one would really be interested. If the girl who had been by his side through thick and thin couldn't care less, why would a stranger?]
Just say you were bored and be done with it.
Don't lie to me.
[With an added ounce of hostility-]
I hate it.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:35 am (UTC)I was bored, yeah, [He raises a hand before Simon can bite back a response.] but I do like reading, and I do wanna read your book. And I'm sorry, for letting the conversation get way out of hand and out of line. I'm honestly not great at socializing, I prefer to listen, so I got ahead of myself. Can I please buy you a soda or something?
[He sets his hand down, on the menu, and pushes it toward Simon.] Please.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:43 am (UTC)This whole place, this stupid human establishment, it leaves him with a bitter taste in his mouth. He is disoriented, trapped in a world he was taken from as a child that he vowed to never return to. His palm and arm no longer grow green, so in this realm, he has nothing to measure himself by. In all honesty, it's only made Simon's ever needling insecurities worse.]
Uh, I'll just take whatever soda.
[plz don't say mountain dew]
And a bottle of water, if you guys do that? To go.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:50 am (UTC)[Continuing to play the part of not living above the cafe he's pulled Simon to, he pulls out his wallet and leaves some yen on the table as Sojiro grumbles something good-natured in Old Man, bringing the soda and water bottle over. He sets them on the table, and Akira shifts to stand up.]
If-- you're leaving, can I at least give you my number? That's only as hitting on you as you want it to be.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 03:58 am (UTC)You're hitting on me?
[simon.exe is processing... most likely probability??? is that someone would just try to hit him, especially... considering his behavior
Akira may notice the way his forehead creases beneath those unkempt bangs, not wrought with fright or disgust. Just confusion.]
Okay.
[Love, affection, desire... All these things are won. Much like battles and all the military campaigns he's gone on to idealize, for someone to pay attention to you, you must put in years of hard work, and in Simon's case, he's still waiting to cash in on that particular investment. Grace does not look upon him in the same way he does her, and for good reason- They have never been equals, not once, and their future shows that very clearly.]
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 04:03 am (UTC)[He pulls his phone out of his back pocket.]
I messaged you on a dating app, Simon.
[He pulls up his contact and flicks his wrist, spinning his phone and turning it outward for Simon to see.] I'm definitely more the type to be friends before anything else, but, gotta start somewhere, yeah?
no subject
Date: 2021-06-14 06:36 am (UTC)No! You weren't, you couldn't be...!
[To any bystander, Simon's behavior appears nonsensical and erratic. Why, not too long ago, their conversation had been entirely civil. It would be easier, in fact, for the blond to just call it quits and sit down. Unfortunately he opts to stay in the emotional tornado of his own creation, confused by the very idea that anyone new would want him at all-]
I'm leaving.
[And of course, just like every other time...]
I can't be here anymore.
[He's ruined any chance of happiness for himself by his own hand.]
This is your fault!
[no um
simon it's yours
anyway]
no subject
Date: 2021-06-15 01:42 am (UTC)[He reaches out, regardless of Simon's obvious upset, moves close to him, ushers him out of the cafe whether it requires touching him or if he just moves to evade contact.]
You'll have to tell me what's my fault, but I think we both know nobody's done anything wrong, here.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-15 01:56 am (UTC)Why did you message me?
Of all people.
[Angry as he is, he would like to know.]
What was it that-
[A growl.]
Ugh!
no subject
Date: 2021-06-15 02:06 am (UTC)I told you already-- I like reading, and you were asking if somebody wanted to read your novel.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-26 06:23 am (UTC)[It's Simon who is at fault, as usual. Yet he still turns the blame outwards somehow, without fail.]
This was such a dumb idea. How did I let Grace talk me into this?
[um
bc like... that's???? ur entire life? simon ratfinkius laurent
Perhaps there was something. A glimmer of hope and maybe the notion that somebody, somewhere would want him.]
You've wasted my time.
[It would be nice to be admired, desired...]
I should be findin' a way back to the train.
[But truth be told, it's not as if Simon truly believes he's worthy of those things, not in his heart. No matter how loudly and bitterly he insists that he is right, that his insatiable demands are worth fulfilling, he is constantly haunted by the idea that perhaps Samantha was right to leave him behind.]
I hate this sorry dump anyway.
[did... don't say that about japan??? nO
it can be misintERPRETED WHITE MAN]
no subject
Date: 2021-06-29 06:52 pm (UTC)Sorry, for wasting your time. I can walk you to the station? [Because he doesn't understand that Simon doesn't just mean a train. He leaves the mentions of Grace and calling Japan a sorry dump alone, filing the name away for later and not entirely sure he's understanding what he means by "this sorry dump"-- surely a guy in Japan wouldn't call the entire country that. Right?]
[Well, no, from what very little of Simon he's come to understand, he very much might. But it's still safer to not comment on it.]