466/Adult Beverages

Adult Beverages
Date of Scene:	20 September 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Kyouka runs into The Kiseru Lady at a local bar one evening.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Kiseru

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Tokyo is literally chock full of night spots. Restaurants, clubs, bars, you name it. From the seedy to the ultra-exclusive and everything inbetween. The area around Radiant Heart Academy is, as one would expect, not exactly rife with nightlife. But if you go a little further out, there's plenty to be found.

    On a well-lit street in a trendy area full of shopping and expensive-but-not-crazy restaurants, there's a bar called Squeeze. Are they referring to juice, or maybe finding someone to squeeze you..? Or maybe they just picked an english word and ran with it. That last one is probably most likely. Anyway, it's a pretty nice place, with a modern aesthetic. It has a glass-topped bar with stools, but also some tables with comfortable chairs. The lighting is dim but not too dim, the music is generally unobtrusive, and the food, while hardly gourmet, is good.

    This is the place Kyouka Inai finds herself in on this particular evening, perhaps around 9pm. She's sitting at one of the tables, by herself. She's dressed to be out on the town- or at least, her version of 'out on the town', which is a rather nice red top with a ruffled neck under her leather jacket and a pair of pressed black slacks. She has one leg crossed over the other, and there's a drink sitting on the table in front of her on a coaster- beer, by the looks of it, though at this place probably some fancy microbrew. She's scrolling through her phone, and looks as though she might be waiting for someone. Or maybe she isn't, and is just killing time.

Kiseru has posed:
    If Kyouka is waiting for someone, then this is going to be a rather short interaction. But possibly still a memorable one. As far as 'out on the town' and 'classy' goes, a local bookstore owner runs by her own definitions of both. What she's wearing may be 'extravagant' and 'classy' for certain kinds of establishments, but for this one she might be a bit overdressed and potentially underdressed at the same time.

    Short black hair in a pixie cut, smokey gray eyes, and pale skin as usual, along with the collection of ear piercing that she somehow keeps track of. But she's also wearing a lacey black... Something or other. It has sleeves, and the collar, and covers her shoulders, but it appears to only be attached to the rest of her dress by more lace at two points. The rest is a black evening gown, with the side from half-way down her waist on the left to all the way down her left leg being see-through aside from some fishnet-like black mesh, and some additional adornments and lacey supports to keeps everything held together.

    Sheer black gloves, and a diamond-shaped opening over her belly, along with killer heels and, it appears, the inside of her hair in back colored a cross between powder blue and smoke blue, and she is quite the sight! So is the way that she moves, measured, in-control, aware, and purposeful. A predator on the prowl.

    She spots Kyouka shortly after arriving, takes a moment to consider her, and then gets a glass of a red drink that seems a bit thick and viscuous. She calls it a 'Red Room', and the bartender(s) seem to know what that is. Then the goth woman heads over to Kyouka's table, pausing once she's in line of sight across from her. She smiles a black lipsticked smile, and says, "Counselor." with an incline of her head.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka is just scrolling through her phone, minding her own business. Who even knows what she's looking at. Could be super important business, or it could be funny cat gifs. Her attention is diverted, however, when she is greeted by.. well, not her name. Her title. One of her titles (she has several, as it happens). She glances up from the screen and examines Kiseru standing before her table. The outfit gets a quirked brow, but nothing more- it's certainly attention-grabbing, but Kyouka is not the type to exclaim over other people's fashion choices.

    "Well, you finally got it right. Or at least, not incorrect." She says, with a lopsided smile that is some degree of friendly though trends towards amused. "Is it a special occasion? Or are you just in a good mood tonight? I'm surprised to see you outside of your shop. I suppose we all need a break from business sometime."

    So saying, she picks up her glass and raises it in a toast, as if to say, 'I'll drink to that'.

Kiseru has posed:
    Kiseru tilts her head and smiles mysteriously. "Hm. Maybe I just enjoy dressing up. There will be no customers this evening." She leans forward and rests her elbows on the back of the chair in front of her. "Out here," she says as she gestures loosely with a gloved index finger, her other hand carefully holding her glass, "I avoid using titles or names that people would rather not have associated with them. Bad for business to disrespect boundaries." Her head is still tilted as she looks over Kyouka. Still with the jacket. She smiles a bit wider for some reason known only to her. Probably just the things that people still hold onto even when they to shed themselves for a change.

    "Are you anticipating company? I certainly wouldn't wish to be in the way and cause questions if a boyfriend is on the way." She chuckles throatily and says, "Of course, we could always just say that we are technically business partners."

    The drink comes up to her lips, and she sips at it. It's definitely not blood. It looks exactly like blood, but the bartender is not just keeping a tank of blood on supply under the counter in case a weirdo comes in. That would be weird. So, instead, someone went through the trouble of figuring out the combination of steps and ingredients needed to make a drink that looks exactly like blood, without being blood.

    That is also very weird, but these are weird people in weird times.

    Maybe the Kiseru Lady goes to those underground goth/vampire nightclubs.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "You can enjoy dressing up all you like," Kyouka says, definitely sounding amused now, her ash-grey eyes twinkling as she sips from her beer before replacing it on the table, "but surely there are more exciting places to go once you have than here. I only like it because it's nearby and it's quiet." She quirks a brow t the comments about titles and names, as if to say 'you sure about that' but she doesn't question it. After all, there's no point arguing when the woman had gotten it right. This time.

    At the question of company, the redhead shakes her head. "No.. not tonight." She says, without commenting on 'boyfriend' in either the negative or affirmative. "Just wanted to get out of the apartment for a bit. I tend to go a bit crazy if I stay home for too long. Even on a school night." She smirks, and takes another sip of her drink. "I'll go home and go to bed soon enough, like a good wage slave."

    She then corrects, "I'm an occasional customer. I think 'business partner' might be overstating the relationship.. not that I mind a chat with a friendly store clerk after hours. I used to be a store clerk myself, in another life, you know."

Kiseru has posed:
    The goth inclines her head in acknowledgment. No more titles then. "Kyouka then." No honorifics, just straight to first names. "I would give you a name to call me by but even a fake name would be..." She doesn't elaborate. Probably something related to faeries or magical defenses to keep people from finding/spying on her, or maybe she just likes being mysterious. "...Hm. How about 'friend' for now? I do not really have any friends, sad to say. The profession doesn't lend itself to relationships that do not end and begin on the opposite side of a counter. But perhaps we can pretend. Just for tonight."

    Straightening up and stepping back, the Kiseru Lady gestures indicatively at the chair, as if to ask, 'May I?'

    She does not address the rhetorical question of if she knows that Kyouka was a store clerk herself in the past. She most likely does know, but there is also a lot that she does not know, and presenting the image that the former is true and the latter is not is a habit too engrained to drop right now.

    Things we cling to indeed.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "I don't really do 'friends'," Kyouka says, with self-deprecating humor. "Too many bad experiences. But if we're just talking convenient appellations, then I guess I have no objections, 'Friend'." She gestures to the seat when it is questioned. "Knock yourself out. Just be aware I wasn't kidding about the whole going to bed soon enough thing. Life is hard for those of us who aren't self-employed."

    She picks up her beer again and takes another drink, holding it in her hand this time, balanced on her leg rather than replaced on the table, as she considers the woman across the table from her. "Thanks again for helping with the... previous request. I hope you used the payment wisely. My source wasn't particularly happy to give it up, but I convinced her of the necessity."

Kiseru has posed:
    The 'Friend' pulls out the chair and seats herself, setting down her drink and holding up a hand to show she understands. "I will not be here much longer myself. I was just looking for anything interesting to occupy my evening. I have a bit of an instinct for it, and my instinct led me here. Likewise on the lack of friends, as previously explained. Entanglements add troublesome complications." She does not volunteer if she has also had bad experiences with friends, or if she has ever had friends at all. It's not something most people would ask about or wonder about, and it's not anticipated to change in this situation either. Instead she just finishes off the rest of her drink in one go so that she is free to depart on a moment's notice. She licks the crimson liquid from her lips and looks thoughtfully at Kyouka.

    "It is secure. No thanks are necessary on that matter. It was a transaction in which both of us received what we bargained for." She's not trying to be standoffish by dileneating that interaction in specific terms. There are very valid reasons, mundane AND magical, not to say that one owes someone or even imply it. When it's magical reasons, it can imply a debt that may become more real simply by being acknowledged.

    Kyouka has already made clear she mostly punches things and the nuances of magic like that aren't her forte, and Kiseru is already being helpful by not pressing for an admittance of debt to gain an advantage. She isn't going to also volunteer the knowledge of verbal contracts in her line of business. She is neither Charity nor Greed, after all.

    "That said, there will be no problems as a result of the payment. You need not anticipate it ever seeing the outside of its storage space again, let alone the outside of my shop." She can learn so much about it without letting it out of there at all.

    A gloved finger circles the lip of her wine glass, as the shopkeeper asks a question. "As a professional courtesy, with no expectation of reward, would you be willing to voluntarily tell me if you have noticed a large, unaccounted for change in the mana balance of Tokyo recently? Perhaps around the start of the month."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka nods her head at the reassurance about the grief seed. Even without said reassurances she would still have gone through with the deal, as even if the price was steep the results were worth it. But it's nice to hear that the Witch will not re-hatch and cause more harm in the future because she gave the seed to Kiseru rather than letting a Puella consume it. Or at least, Kiseru is claiming that it won't. For the moment, Kyouka can choose to believe her, having no reason not to do so.

    She sips from her beer again- not chugging it the way Kiseru just polished off her drink, but clearly not intending to take all night either. The glass is about half empty, maybe a bit more. If the alcohol is effecting her at all it doesn't show- though she'd have to be a pretty big lightweight to get significantly effected by a single beer anyway.

    "Mana balance?" She repeats the phrase, brows rising. "Can't say that I have. But that's not the sort of thing I'm generally sensitive to. My power comes from within." She considers for a moment, then says, "Do you suspect something is amiss? Or are you just making an observation?"

Kiseru has posed:
    "Hm." About what she expected, but she had to be sure. Sometimes those who are charged with keeping the balance or status quo have additional tools at their disposal to do so. Sometimes those tools include keeping an eye on what's happening. Of course, Kyouka could be lying or hiding something in regard to what she can pick up. But Kiseru chooses to take the other woman at her word for now.

    She continues circling the glass, producing a rising, ringing tone. "Just comparing notes. I have no desire for potential customers," she stops with the circling and raises the still red-slicked glass to Kyouka, "or interesting acquaintances, to decrease in number. Call it preventative maintenance to verify that eveyrthing is working as intended."

    Though she just sat down, already the Kiseru Lady is looking like she is about to stand. Something that needs to be managed carefully in that dress, no doubt. "Though, hypothetically speaking, and with no expectation of reward for doing so, if I were to make an observation that furthers the interests of yourself or others, perhaps it is worth looking into to verify the source of your power is still where it should be." As she walks past Kyouka, glass in hand, to deliver it to the bar and save the staff a walk, she traces a finger along the table, seeming like it's going to reach Kyouka but being lifted before that can happen. They are not on a touching basis, not even to annoy each other by messing up their hair, which was Kiseru's first impulse, oddly enough.

    "Sometimes, when a dynamic changes, things may wind up..." She selects her words carefully. There's Significance built into the term she chooses to use next. A Weight to it. "...Askew."

    A sensation like a thread snapping affects those sensitive to magic in the bar right, whether they know they are sensitive or not. It's a minor thing. A trivial thing. But a binding has just been cut.

    "It was lovely seeing you again. Perhaps at our next meeting we will have more time to get to know each other better."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka quirks a brow as she listens to the Kiseru Lady, her expression one of mild interest. "I see. Well, near as I can tell, everything is in working order... so you don't have to worry about me falling apart anytime soon. I'm sure I'll be darkening your doorstep with a request before very long. Once I have something I can justify the price to know."

    She watches as the other woman rises, so soon after sitting. She remains as she is, leg crossed and beer in one hand. "Don't you worry about the source of my power." She says, with a faint smile. "I'm pretty sure it's right where it's always been. But the warning is appreciated nonetheless. It's not exactly a surprise to me that things are happening. Askew? We'll see."

    She raises her glass as the woman departs, then tips back the rest of her beer. "Goodnight."