113/Fizzy Lifting Drinks

Fizzy Lifting Drinks
Date of Scene:	18 July 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Caffeinated sugar water is good for lifting spirits. Tori, Takashi, and Soda Girl share a friendly interaction before going their separate ways.
Cast of Characters:	Tori Morte, Zephyr Windstar, Takashi Agera

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Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori got her allowance today! And she's spent almost all of it already. Walking down the street of Mitakihara Ward with several shopping bags emblazoned with smiling anime characters, she's chatting animatedly with someone who most people can't actually see - the ghost of Sayo Hasegawa, a white-haired girl who looks to be the same age as Tori, forever stuck wearing an outdated version of the Radiant Heart Academy uniform. Tori herself is wearing casual clothes, a black t-shirt with a heart-eyed skull surrounded by roses that looks like a heavy metal album cover, and a purple skirt that reaches past her knees.

    The fact that she seems to be talking to the air doesn't seem to bother anyone else, because this is Tokyo.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Mitakihara Ward, one of the major thoroughfares that cross the area like vast arteries, with human beings as the blood. Along this thoroughfare is an unassuming mobile stall. It's got an Akibahara Mall store logo on the side, the English words JAN KEN POP! under the logo and the hirigana of the same above. An awning to keep the sun off the tender and a price list and menu attached to the awning support.

    The stall runner is a very tall woman of clearly foreign descent, her mismatched eyes making her look even more out of place.

    She's hawking her wares in a fairly loud but polite tone, her words thick with an odd accent. "Blueberry Soda! Cherryade! Lemonade and more! Guaranteed delicious and thirst quenching or your money back!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi is, perhaps not to the surprise of people who know him, injured for a second time. Technically he shouldn't be on his feet, but he has a problem - a caffeine headache. And the leg damage wasn't as bad as the arm damage. So even though both his leg and his Device were whining at him in their own ways, he was outside walking - only a slight limp and wince on the right leg steps.

     The tall, half Japanese boy is one of the few (though more than you might think) who can rival the height of the girl working the cart. He doesn't have mismatched eyes though. Just bright green ones. And beyond that is in a standard Radiant Heart uniform.

    "That's a clever name, Jan Ken Pop... Please tell me there's caffeine in something here?" He asks as he gets closer. Takashi is one of those who can sense the girl nearby is talking to something... But not the what. Still, when you work for Obsidian that's not that strange.

Tori Morte has posed:
    "<Oh, fizzy drinks!>" Tori chirps in English as she notices "the Jan Ken Pop" stall, giving the drinks their adorable English name. She almost skips her way up to the stall, face alight with giddy excitement.

    Look, she's nine years old.

    She stops in her tracks as she notices Takashi, staring at him a bit longer than is polite - but she manages to tear her eyes away and look up to Zephyr. "Hi! You're almost as tall as my dad!" she chirps while digging into her bag for her purse. "Umm, could I have..." she glances at the menu. "The blueberry one, please?" she asks, as she digs into her purse for change.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr perks up and offers a smile. "We have cola, and a line of energy drinks that just came in this week. I'm not familiar with them as much as our main lines but they have plenty of caffeine." she replies to Takashi. "And thank you, I didn't come up with it, I just work there. We're based in the Akibahara Mall. Second floor, third shopfront on the west side! Come check us out sometime."

    She looks then to Tori, and offers a big smile to the little girl. "Thank you very much!" she replies to the comment about her height, then plucks a regular sized can of sode out of the cart with a bit of a flourish. "Special price today for such a cutie. Half price, 150yen." she says, setting the can on the flat top of the cart, and accepting the money from the girl. She tenses as her hand passes through the ghost, a thrill of goosebumps running up her arm briefly... but she shrugs it off and the frown fades rapidly back into a smile as she provides change.

    Takashi's Device would probably be able to pick up another Device nearby, though it's obfuscating its precise location. Akin to being able to see a wifi-signal, but not knowing the source.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi has gotten annoyingly used to knowing magic things are 'around' but not being able to pinpoint them now - since all the magical girls awakened and all of the new power coming to Obsidian, he's not been able to triangulate inactive magical items, from Devices to trinkets. Too much interference.

    In fact he assumes it may be the small girl next to him, since she was talking to nothing - but she could just as easily have a Bluetooth earpiece and be talking on her phone. "Ah, if its half for her then it must be free for me..." He teased, but at the same time already had the yen in his hand. "Yeah give me one of those energy drinks, all it has to do is taste less bad than the worst I've had." He adds.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Unseen to all but Tori, Sayo does a full-body shiver as Zephyr's hand passes right through her. Tori valiantly manages not to giggle.

    Tori blushes a bit as she's accused of being cute and given half off on that basis. Part of her wants to refuse, but another part of her manages to convince her that that would be more awkward, so she hands her money and takes her change. "<Thank you,>" she says in English automatically. "I mean, uh, thank you," she repeats, in Japanese, giggling a bit.

    She looks up at Takashi as she opens the drink and takes a sip. "...Hi!" she says, brightly. "I'm Victoria, but everyone calls me Tori. What's your name?" Does this girl usually introduce herself to strangers?

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Not cute enough." replies Zephyr to Takashi, bringing her arms up in a cross in front of her... which makes her bracelet jingle faintly from the motion. She opens her green eye and gives a lopsided little cheeky smile. "I'll give you 20% off though, because you're hurt." She pulls a can with a camouflage pattern from the cooler box, setting it in front of Takashi. It has a W that looks like claw marks, and 'WANSTER' underneath in a similar looking font. It also has some other english words. 'Energy' and 'Assault'. She accepts the money, doles out the change then leans on the cart.

    When Tori introduces herself she smiles wistfully. "I'm fluent in the local language... I doubt any of you would understand my native tongue." she replies idly, plucking a waterbottle out of a smaller cooler unit and taking a sip. It's one of those sipper bottles runners use, and it's purple, much like most of the young woman's wardrobe.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi smiles. "Well, I'll certainly take it." He wasn't expecting any kind of discount and was just being cheeky, but he'll take the 20% for sure. He does notice the girl drinking water rather than her own product but that's probably smart in the summer sun. "Thank you."

    He turns to the girl who got his attention as he opens the can of totally safe human rocket fuel. "I'm Takashi Agera. I go to Radiant Heart Academy, do you as well? Or are you from out of town?" Takashi is quite personable today, but maybe it comes from wanting to talk to something other than his device which has been complaining mentally and incessantly about his new injuries.

     He takes a drink of the canned caffeine. "Oh well uh... That is certainly... a flavor."

Tori Morte has posed:
    "<Oh, right,> I do attend Radiant Heart Academy! I'm in grade four," she responds, smiling warmly up at Takashi. That makes her around the same age as Fate, doesn't it? "Pleased to meet you, senpai! Are you okay?" she suddenly asks out of the blue.

    She looks genuinely concerned for this person she literally just met. Maybe she noticed him limping?

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Seems I set up in a really good spot for you guys. I get a lot of traffic from the Academy here." remarks Zephyr as she puts the bottle away. She notices the look from Takashi and gives a one-shoulder shrug. "I'm not allowed to 'sample' my stock... plus it's better in the heat to drink water than soda."

    She glances at Tori, then takes a bit of a closer look at Takashi. "Yeah, I noticed you limping, you sprain your ankle in soccer or something?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi laughs, and sighs. "I'm sure this is going to sound like a bad lie, but I took a tumble down since stairs." It sounds like a bad lie because it is. But what is he gonna say, the director at the company I work for played with gravity because I delayed bringing her a magic stone?

    "I'm going to be fine but I appreciate your concern." He turns to Tori. "Oh you're in the same age as someone I know. Have you ever spoken to Testarossa-chan? Blonde twintails? She's nice. Also fond of black clothes, you might get along well."

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori frowns, just a little bit, before reassuming her natural bright smile. That wasn't really what she was talking about, but if he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't want to talk about it.

    "Testarossa... chan? Isn't... isn't that a car??" She hmms. "I suppose they must've named it after someone. Mercedes was named after someone..." she muses. "Oh, um. No, I don't think I've met her! But I think I might have seen her at the dance? She was dancing with that cute brown-haired girl who... I also don't know the name of. She's in my math class." She giggles a bit. "I'd love to meet this Testarossa-chan! I need more friends my own age~"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Stairs... right." Zephyr smells a rat, but she's not invested with this so lets it drop. "Just, be more careful, gravity is a harsh mistress and has the hardest right hook in the universe."

    She shrugs, then goes to serve someone else who wanders up, putting her customer service face on like someone might a mask.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi watches Zephyr, and is always a little bit impressed the way those involved in customer service like that can just go into that mode - it really is like a henshin, only it's for fighting a very different battle. He also resolves for the thousandth time to not be in that position himself ever. He'd rather be slammed into the occasional table.

    "Well, she may not approach you. Her mother keeps her very busy - I was surprised to see her at the dance." Takashi considers the situation with the dark energy. "Actually I'd appreciate it if you'd be very nice to her. She has a difficult home life." He didn't explain, but. He was trying to help Fate's little world in his own way. "Actually. Can I get one of the... Berry sodas?" He asks the vendor. "Something a kid would like. No, two please." He says, stopping and scrounging up the cash for a couple treats.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori finally takes another swig of her soda. She clearly likes it! Or else that smile is just her neutral face. "Oh, I know what it's like to not wanna approach people, heh," she admits with a giggle. That giggle peters out, though, as Takashi asks her to be extra nice to her. "A... bad home life? Mmh..." She frowns a bit, then nods. "Okay. I'll be sure to be extra nice to Testarossa-chan," she says with a determined expression.

    "I should definitely try to meet the... brown-haired girl. Ugh, what was her name again, I know I've heard the teacher say it... her family name is Taka-something, I think..."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr finishes up, and is just returning to her 'idle animation loop' when Takashi speaks up. "Hmm? Oh, sure..." he then says, 'Something a kid could like.' and her face softens. She plucks a pair of cans out, and then pushes the cash back into Takashi's hand. "Take'em. I'll balance my cash box out of pocket." she holds up a hand to block any protest. "Seriously."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi smiles at the young girl. "I'd really appreciate it." Of course, Takashi doesn't know how friendship will likely pull Fate to a different path... But in the moment he's just thinking of the fact that if Precia was so willing to give her daughter Dark energy... Well, he knew a lot of crappy parents now.

    "Well that's very nice of you. I'll certainly make sure people know where you set up shop with tasty soda, and be back myself." He says taking the two sodas. "What's your name, anyways? I think it's only fair I'm able to thank my benefactor by name?" He asks her.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori drains the rest of her soda, then glances around for a moment before frowning. "Oh, right. Public trash bins aren't a thing here. Oh, well, this is technically recycling anyway, I'll bring it back to the dorms with me..."

    Tori is very clearly not quite used to living in Japan yet!

    "Um, so... it was nice to meet you, senpai! I should probably get back to the dorms, but I'll probably see you around school sometime, yeah?"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "My name isn't important. I'm just the Soda Girl here." replies Zephyr, as if her unique design doesn't make her at least a secondary character instead of some background fodder. "Just let people know about Jan Ken Pop! I'd appreciate it and so would the owner."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi shrugs. "Alright then, Soda Girl it is. And yeah I'll let people know you have good stuff." He says with a smile and a wink. Then he turns to Tori. "I'm sure I'll see you around or vice versa. I'm sure we both stand out a bit in the crowd." He adds. "I'm going to get these to their designated drinkers while they're nice and cold, though." He says as he turns and starts to walk... Not particularly fast.

Tori Morte has posed:
    "I'm pretty sure Japan has refrigerators!" Tori calls to Takashi in a playful tone, then gives Soda Girl a beaming smile, before heading off. She's soon chattering away with Sayo again and promising to drink a soda while fused with her some time so she can taste it too.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    <Take Care and Safe Travels> calls out Zephyr in a vaguely familiar but wholly alien tongue. It almost sounds like japanese but it's just... wrong. She then returns to serving the odd customer that wanders up.