[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-17 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There is very little change in Minato's expression as he listens to Elizabeth read the cards, eyes half closed and contemplative while he turns his question over in his mind and tries to fit the reading with what he'd suspected the answer would be. Did he do the right thing in leaving his grandparents and starting anew? He had wanted to say yes before, that he'd been able to get through his schooling on his own and pick up enough work in order to support himself without having to rely on others— he thought he was doing well for himself, despite what Elizabeth so aptly picked up on as "a lack of communication and nervous energy" that always lies beneath the surface of his thoughts.

And he's being scolded by the cards. The thought makes him laugh, just a huff of breath that he lets go in order to draw another in; one that feels a little like relief. ]


That answers my question pretty well. It's been a long time since I've been scolded by anybody...

[ Not because he's been a saint- far from it- but he has precious few people who care enough to do so, who put more stock in him than his feelings. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-17 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I have a lifetime of things to be scolded for, but I'll get to that backlog later.

[ Since... his shift seems to be over, glancing up at the clock on the wall when he turns it to slide the smile off his face. He'd probably burned through a lot of those ten minutes sitting there trying to decide on a question in the first place, but it was time better spent questioning than cleaning already clean cups. ]

Still want that walk?

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-18 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
Not of your company, no.

[ He's just. Tired. And would like to go home, but even he'd feel bad about Elizabeth doing so much for him, just to turn around and go "Bye." He takes the cup instead to rinse out before hanging his apron and getting his things from the back room. ]

We don't usually do tips, but we could probably start a robot cat fund. ...The owner's allergic to cats. [ Evidently, by how overly cat themed the shop is without having an actual cat around. They haven't found a better solution than a robot cat yet. ] Or you can hold onto the coins and donate them at the shrines.

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-18 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ $20 is not "change" wtf Elizabeth

All the same, Minato finds an empty jar and Sharpies "ROBOT CAT FUND" on the glass before folding the donation up inside and setting it by the register. ]


Thanks. My roommate has a cat... I try to lint roller my clothes every morning, but if I ever make you cry, it might only be 98% my fault.

[ Cat fur is impossible to remove completely; how do you live at home ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-19 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
I've got lots of practice making girls cry.

[ ...Was that not supposed to be a challenge? He can't imagine a scenario where it would happen though, outside of letting cats loose inside the music building, so he lets that lie in silence while he ducks back to collect his coat, zipping it all the way up so that it covers his neck and mouth before leaving.

It's cold outside and he ducks his head a little further so that even his nose is covered by the collar. The shrine isn't too far from here, but he's used to going alone, setting his legs to autopilot to carry him there while his mind wanders at a different pace. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-20 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ That sounds dangerous for a multitude of reasons and he isn't sure where to start. Let's do the most obvious one: ]

There aren't many streets lights around, and the city lights wash out everything else when flying overhead. When I first flew in, the only thing I could see were the Towers.

[ Presumably Elizabeth is rich enough to have her own private jet that she goes around taking midnight flights on IDK ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-21 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ With everything imaginable in the Towers, it's more like it's the only place to shop. Everything is self-contained, something he appreciates for its convenience, but there's also the crowd that he doesn't, and sometimes it's nice having to walk from place to place, take a detour through the shrines where it's quiet and he can be with his thoughts. ]

I've only gone in once or twice, actually. Wanted to go all the way to the top floor, see the city lights from the highest bridge at night. I think I was stuck in that elevator for half an hour while it climbed, and eventually I gave up and went back down.

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-23 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
It's a round trip journey. If I'd kept going, I'd have been stuck at the top by the time the building closes.

[ It isn't like Tartarus and it's instant portalling system from the floors down to the ground, not that he remembers anything significant about Tartarus or anything surrounding it yet. Instead, the shrines are his domain, something of a backyard or a playground when he was a child and even now he feels that sense of calm when walking through the grounds.

It's the feeling of being protected, of something watching over him. ]


Even if you do it wrong, as long as your intentions are there, I don't think the deities are that harsh. Copying me would be fine.

[ Instead of explaining things step by step, he just shows her what he does, taking two coins from one of the side pockets of his bag— one he hands to Elizabeth and the other he keeps for himself to drop into the offertory box. He bows twice in front of the box, brings his hands together quietly two times as well, and then stands there with his hands pressed together and the tips of his fingers almost touching his forehead. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2017-12-29 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Eavesdropping comes as a second nature for Minato, who keeps quiet about his own conversation with people who aren't exactly gods. In his head, he speaks to his parents, briefly, and then turns inward to those other souls that share the vessel that is his body.

"I am █████. You and I are like two sides of the same coin... Remember that."
"I am █████... I was born of thee, and I shall walk by thy side..."
"Thou art I, and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I cometh. I am █████..."


...He heaves a sigh, letting his hands drop to his sides. That wasn't helpful. One more dip of the head for completion and he sits back and waits for Elizabeth to finish. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2018-01-02 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
There isn't really a list of things to do...

[ Holidays such as New Year's maybe, there would be specific places to go and things to see or buy, but today is just any other day, a little break in between work and study where he can just be and pass time as he wishes. The sun will be his alarm clock, telling him when to go home. ]

Sometimes I walk... Sometimes I sit. Sometimes I find a high place and watch the sun set.

[ Sunsets over the sea... Except I don't know which coast Recollé is on, so it's sunsets over the rooftops of the city. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2018-01-07 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ That's what it is: a nice place to be, so precious little of those he has outside of his own bedroom. It's where he can be alone, but not feel it, where it's okay to be silent and still and simply be. He really does like this place, and comes more often than he'd like to admit. ]

There are fortunes, but I don't usually get them.

[ Because he comes here so often, they become meaningless if he could change his fortune from day to day with a slip of a paper. Maybe he was supposed to learn something from that, how one can always start anew at the beginning of each day, but instead he pulls one fortune on new year's day— "bad luck," last new year's— and weathers that for the entire year. ]

I think most people only go to the shrines for special occasions, so they get them then. Since they're already there. Since you're already here...

[ No one's stopping you from doing it if you want. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2018-01-08 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
Sure. You're coming back for new year's? It'll be a lot different, then. More crowded.

[ A lot more crowded, with constant noise everywhere and the smell of food infusing the air, a certain level of energy enveloping the grounds and the people within it that's charged with celebration, a certain vigor that comes from "starting anew," as if waking up from a restful sleep to a new morning.

Minato's still on the fence about how he feels about it then, and will try to stick to the very early morning before too many people wake up and trickle in. ]

[personal profile] compendiem 2018-01-12 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's lucky and he wishes he didn't mind the crowds as much. They're fine as long as he's off to the side watching? But not if he has to walk through it and the only way he can is with headphones over his ears and a hood pulled over his head. ]

New year's is... parties, usually, isn't it? Thought it'd be more wild and cheerful than stuffy.

(no subject)

[personal profile] compendiem - 2018-01-13 22:38 (UTC) - Expand