[He nodded in response. He was glad they'd talked, too. Betsy may have had a point about that. He felt like they were...closer, somehow, and hated himself a little bit for not letting her in sooner. She was the most beautiful and graceful girl he'd never met, a complete antithesis to him, but she was still his friend, even if his rough edges probably chafed.]
We're headin' there. Passed the place in the cab on the way in. They've got flatbread sandwiches.
[ She blushed slightly and then, very hesitantly, spoke: ] Flatbread sandwiches? I...assume you do not eat them with silverware? Minato took me to the Wild-Duck Burger and that was the case there.
I see! What a wonderful way to avoid wasting time. [ Because taking a long lunch could indeed waste a considerable amount of time. She considered the question for a moment and then looked at him very seriously. ]
I'll defer to your judgement here, Shinjiro. It appears you're the expert here.
Hey, eatin' ain't wastin' time. Food's important. [And that's why he's going to make sure she's eating.] What the hell did you guys eat while I was gone?
[He shook his head as they neared the stall, taking a moment to look over the ingredients before ordering two with prosciutto, spinach, and mozzarella. He's just not going to ask many questions about the variety of food you could find in this place.
The vendor is clearly a master, pouring pattern across a heated stone platter, all the works. While the man worked, Shinji deposited a handful of coins from his pocket into the vendor's payment platter and the vendor nodded his thanks.
while they waited, he stepped them off to the side so other customers could browse, looking over to Mitsuru again.]
You really never stopped at the strip mall? Not even once?
[Their food was finished and he moved to retrieve it. bringing over their wrapped flatbread sandwiches, offering one to her.]
To not just do work. [He raised his own sandwich, pulling down the paper enough to be able to take a bite.] Ain't any special rules, by the way. Just dig in.
There's quite a lot of work to do though. [ She watched him carefully and then nodded. ] O-okay. I will...just dig in then. [ Yup, that sounded foreign coming from her. She did however begin to unwrap it in a rather dainty manner before taking a hesitant bite. ]
Sure, but it doesn't have to be all work. That's bad for you.
[He watched her watching him, watched her carefully and delicately unwrap her sandwich, and smiled slightly as he did. He'd seen her as many things before: powerful, collected, commanding, effortlessly graceful and refined, but...not cute, not before this moment.
I assume you, I am more than capable of managing quite the work load.
[ After her response she returned to taking bites of the sandwich. It wasn't bad, that's for sure, but she did find it rather embarrassing to just be standing here holding it. Perhaps it would be a more enjoyable experience if they had found a table. She cast a glance his way, unaware of the bit of sauce on the side of her mouth, and frowned. ]
[He wasn't patronizing her, but he understood how she could see it that way. Being pretty practiced at glaring at people, he was able to shove down his smile, aided by looking down at his free hand to sort out a napkin before reaching out and wiping the sauce from her mouth.
He didn't waste any time looking at her afterward, but instead turned toward some of the tables nearby, pulling out one chair before taking a seat in another.]
"Managin'" is great, but you don't have to do it alone.
[ The fact that he actually wiped the sauce from her mouth practically caused Mitsuru's entire face to turn bright red. Had she really had sauce on her mouth? Had he really just done that? Why was her face burning? She quickly took the seat he'd pulled out and tried to duck her head down in the hopes he wouldn't notice how embarrassed she currently was. ]
I-I know that. [ Was she stumbling over her words? This was getting more embarrassing by the moment. ]
[He's not actually sure what possessed him to violate Mitsuru's personal space that way, why he'd thought it was fine or why he'd thought it would go well once he'd done it. Instead, he decided to give her some of that work to focus on so that this didn't get more awkward than it clearly already was.]
What is that supposed to mean? [ She frowned and then took another bite of her sandwich. She waited until she was completely finished chewing and then reached for a napkin to make sure there was nothing on her face before she said anything further. Her face was still a light shade of pink and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to look over at him. Why was that? ]
I've isolated several areas with increased monster activity.
[At the moment it meant he'd made things awkward and they needed to change the subject. He was nearly finished with his own sandwich, and navigating the ends of the breading took his eyes off of her, which wasn't a bad thing.]
[ She finished her own sandwich and then went about folding the wrapper up in preparation to dispose of. Did it occur to her that it seemed weird to fold a wrapper so precisely rather than just ball it up? Nope. ] I...thank you for the sandwich. It was quite good for something so inexpensive.
[ She risked a glance his way before answering. ] Compared to the main city. There are a few locations that seem to potentially hold nests. [ It seemed a bit like the more dense floors of Tartarus actually. ] The sewers seem to hold large rats and giant...bugs of some kind.
[It wasn't as though he ate of four star restaurants or anything, though he did know how to do things with the food he did buy. He nodded at her thanks but didn't comment. He never knew how to handle compliments.]
And nobody's tried clearin' 'em out, huh? Some guard. [It almost sounded like a job for them.
How interesting. I wonder how they're capable of keeping the prices so low. [ Truly was something interesting to contemplate. How precisely could they managed to maintain such low prices while also keeping the quality of the taste. ]
Perhaps some have tried and failed? [ That seems a bit hopeful to think of. ] Guard? There's one?
You can make a lot of good food with cheap ingredients if you're creative enough.
[He cleared his throat, because that was getting close to talking about things she'd already pointed out he seemed to be an authority on. He wouldn't call reading a few magazines and watching a few cooking shows 'being an expert', but he wouldn't call himself an expert on anything, either.]
Yeah. Some guy named Nida works with 'em. Besides seein' some of 'em walkin' around, I don't think they do much.
I suppose I have a lot to learn on the subject. [ A light blush touched her cheeks again and she looked down. It could go into the folder with all the other things she still had to learn about the world outside of the one she'd grown up in. A part of her wanted to ask if he'd teach her more, but she didn't want to display her ignorance any further and she certainly didn't want to burden him with it. ]
Perhaps they simply don't have the capabilities to notice such things. [ Kind of like how their own police lacked the knowledge and ability to deal with the Shadows. ]
If you want to. [It was a subtle offer, but there nonetheless. They'd never really had much of a chance to share their dissimilar childhoods. He'd never thought himself on the level with Mitsuru, but if she was interested in things like that, he'd teach her.]
I think people know about the monsters around here. [It wasn't exactly the same.] And a lot more's common knowledge here than back home.
[ She hesitated for a moment before nodding. ] I would. I realize there are many things I don't quite understand due to my upbringing. Even if I can't bring this knowledge with me back home, I still think it could be valuable. [ There might not be as many uses for it here, but perhaps it would let her understand others better. ]
It's simply disgraceful to think they know about the problems and yet they've done nothing. [ But, it did seem that was most likely the case. ] Though, I suppose it is possible they lack the abilities to deal with such things? Perhaps it would be a good idea to try to learn more about what others here can do.
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We're headin' there. Passed the place in the cab on the way in. They've got flatbread sandwiches.
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[Says the guy who seems to know some food trivia. It probably comes from reading cooking magazines and watching cooking shows.]
You want meat in yours or not? I'll take care of orderin'.
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I'll defer to your judgement here, Shinjiro. It appears you're the expert here.
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[He shook his head as they neared the stall, taking a moment to look over the ingredients before ordering two with prosciutto, spinach, and mozzarella. He's just not going to ask many questions about the variety of food you could find in this place.
The vendor is clearly a master, pouring pattern across a heated stone platter, all the works. While the man worked, Shinji deposited a handful of coins from his pocket into the vendor's payment platter and the vendor nodded his thanks.
while they waited, he stepped them off to the side so other customers could browse, looking over to Mitsuru again.]
You really never stopped at the strip mall? Not even once?
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She shook her head, a bit confused that he seemed surprised. ]
No. We hardly had time for such things while we were out.
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Well...we got time, here.
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To not just do work. [He raised his own sandwich, pulling down the paper enough to be able to take a bite.] Ain't any special rules, by the way. Just dig in.
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[He watched her watching him, watched her carefully and delicately unwrap her sandwich, and smiled slightly as he did. He'd seen her as many things before: powerful, collected, commanding, effortlessly graceful and refined, but...not cute, not before this moment.
It was a nice change.]
You're doin' great.
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[ After her response she returned to taking bites of the sandwich. It wasn't bad, that's for sure, but she did find it rather embarrassing to just be standing here holding it. Perhaps it would be a more enjoyable experience if they had found a table. She cast a glance his way, unaware of the bit of sauce on the side of her mouth, and frowned. ]
I don't need patronizing.
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He didn't waste any time looking at her afterward, but instead turned toward some of the tables nearby, pulling out one chair before taking a seat in another.]
"Managin'" is great, but you don't have to do it alone.
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I-I know that. [ Was she stumbling over her words? This was getting more embarrassing by the moment. ]
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[He's not actually sure what possessed him to violate Mitsuru's personal space that way, why he'd thought it was fine or why he'd thought it would go well once he'd done it. Instead, he decided to give her some of that work to focus on so that this didn't get more awkward than it clearly already was.]
Have your scans turned up anything useful?
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I've isolated several areas with increased monster activity.
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[At the moment it meant he'd made things awkward and they needed to change the subject. He was nearly finished with his own sandwich, and navigating the ends of the breading took his eyes off of her, which wasn't a bad thing.]
"Increased" huh? Compared to what?
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[ She risked a glance his way before answering. ] Compared to the main city. There are a few locations that seem to potentially hold nests. [ It seemed a bit like the more dense floors of Tartarus actually. ] The sewers seem to hold large rats and giant...bugs of some kind.
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[It wasn't as though he ate of four star restaurants or anything, though he did know how to do things with the food he did buy. He nodded at her thanks but didn't comment. He never knew how to handle compliments.]
And nobody's tried clearin' 'em out, huh? Some guard. [It almost sounded like a job for them.
Almost.]
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Perhaps some have tried and failed? [ That seems a bit hopeful to think of. ] Guard? There's one?
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[He cleared his throat, because that was getting close to talking about things she'd already pointed out he seemed to be an authority on. He wouldn't call reading a few magazines and watching a few cooking shows 'being an expert', but he wouldn't call himself an expert on anything, either.]
Yeah. Some guy named Nida works with 'em. Besides seein' some of 'em walkin' around, I don't think they do much.
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Perhaps they simply don't have the capabilities to notice such things. [ Kind of like how their own police lacked the knowledge and ability to deal with the Shadows. ]
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I think people know about the monsters around here. [It wasn't exactly the same.] And a lot more's common knowledge here than back home.
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It's simply disgraceful to think they know about the problems and yet they've done nothing. [ But, it did seem that was most likely the case. ] Though, I suppose it is possible they lack the abilities to deal with such things? Perhaps it would be a good idea to try to learn more about what others here can do.
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Not a bad idea. I'll keep my ear to the ground around town. You're better at info collection than me, but I can get a feel for the place.
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