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 Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 1:36 pm
Daichi was like a kid. Even in his bigger form, he still needed someone to look after him. Or moreso, Noctis felt a sense of protectiveness to look after Daichi. At least for now.
Nocits hated having kids. It was too bothersome. But he couldn't help it-- he had to look after the humanoid demon for now. Without a doubt, someone would kidnap him again if he took eyes off Daichi.
Which was why he was sitting on the side of the park as Daichi investigated the playground near the bar he worked at. Sure, it was strange seeing a "big kid" trying out the swings but Noctis was pretending not to know him at the moment, so it was fine. Noctis was leaning against the wall with a book, on the verge of falling asleep. It had been a long day at the bar and he didn't see why Daichi had to be curious now. (Although, no matter what time Daichi asked, any time would be inconvenient for Noctis, so it was an overdue trip outside for Daichi.)
------
Daichi sat down experimentally on a swing, nearly falling over backwards as he tried out the momentum of the "mysterious invention" called the swings. The small castle had been far safer-- with it's sturdy metal poles and footing, like a house. But Daichi had been a little too big to travel in there. Even though the park playground was empty of kids, Daichi had some sense not to look like a fool going through the castle that fit kids half the size of him.
"Interesting. Humans sure like simple things. Noctis says that simple things are most amusing.. but I'm not quite sure I get it." Daichi scratched his head, softly swinging back and forth, thankful that at least this thing could fit him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:28 pm
Yamato was jogging through the park, carrying his school books and kendo equipment on his back. It was rather heavy, but Yamato knew that it would be good for his body. The park was mostly deserted at this point--most everyone would be at home with their families by this point, Yamato thought to himself. He would have been home too, except he had taken longer than usual to clean up and get his things together. There were two people off to the side, near the swing set. Yamato didn't pay them much heed, as he needed to be home in time to start some dinner for his little sister.
He felt his eyes slide over to the duck pond, wondering if his new-found friend would be there like he had before but quick observation indicated he wasn't. Yamato sighed to himself. He hadn't seen the boy since the first time he had met him. He would have gone to visit but his instinctive wariness of the church prevented him. Still, it would be nice to meet him again, Yamato mused.
He slowed his pace a bit and got a better look at the two people by the swingset. They both appeared to be grown men, though one seemed inexplicably entranced with the swing set. The other, who was reading a book, seemed to be pretending that he wasn't with this other person, though his proximity to the swing set was rather telling.
Yamato blinked once the recognition struck him. He knew them. Well, the one with the book at least. Up until a while ago, he had come nearly every day to Daily Goods to buy one thing and one thing only: tofu. He was also always accompanied by a small, very sad toy whenever he came. Yamato didn't see the toy with the man, perhaps he had lost it?
That would be a shame, Yamato thought to himself. He had seemed rather attached to it after all. He did a very good job of making it move and talk. Yamato had always wondered if he was an aspiring ventriloquist but never felt it appropriate to ask for fear of embarassing the man.
Then again, there were a lot of people with toys that came in to the shop lately. The toys were never the same but the owners always came with them and bought food. Was there a ventriloquist party in town? Yamato slowed down to a walk. The man at the swing set looked strangely familiar, yet Yamato was certain he had never seen him before in his life.
He stopped rather obviously a distance away from the two men. The man on the swing set was dressed in the same shade of blue that that toy was.
And he looked inexplicably sad.
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Yamato Worchesthalshire Crew
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:26 pm
Oh. Someone was in the area. Daichi looked around, his gaze landing on a familiar man. The man was familiar to him-- even if Daichi's current form wasn't familiar to the man. Daichi tugged Noctis forward, to come and re-acquaint themselves with the food-man who always had the best tofu in stock. Oh, Daichi had enjoyed those days when Noctis wasn't burning tofu all over the place.
Noctis grumbled, being led by the demon with obvious reluctance and it wasn't long before the distance was crossed between the two parties. His glasses were shoved crookedly and his clothes was on the messy side but Yamato often saw him like this when he rushed to the grocery store to buy food.
"Hey there! It's been.. a long time.. or is it awhile? I wonder how long it has to be to say a long time?" Daichi said, his own words confusing him. More like, human language confused him. He never had to communicate so much to his world of inhabitants. (Well, they never really communicated at all but that was beside the point.) He gave a friendly wave to Yamato, a grin taking over his usually forlorn expression.
"Noctis says he'll show me the road there later. Then I can come pick up good tofu whenever I want!" Daichi said eagerly.. as eager as he could get anyways. Noctis had registered the vague familiarity by now, eyes widening just a tiny bit.
Well, it seemed like most of this town knew of demons right? The church.. the alchemist store.. Noctis had been under the assumption that Yamato knew as well but it was an uncertain assumption because certain visits seemed to display Yamato's ignorance of the situation. Hm.
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:37 pm
Yamato blinked. Had it been a long time? Yamato didn't know, he had never met this man before. But still, it was always best to be polite. The man looked considerably happier when he smiled at least.
"Nice to see you again," he replied, returning the wave. "Are you the one that Mr. Noctis always bought the tofu for?" Yamato knew his name, it came up all the time in his records for the store, along with other customers who had accounts tehre. He wondered if the man's obsession with tofu had run out, Noctis hadn't come for more tofu in quite some time. Perhaps he had moved onto some other kind of food? Yamato didn't want to seem prejudiced, but the man seemed like he wasn't... quite all there.
The absence of the toy made Noctis seem like he was missing something. Perhaps this new man had something to do with it.
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Yamato Worchesthalshire Crew
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Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:33 pm
"Yep, I'm the one Noctis always bought tofu for." He said, repeating Yamato's words with a wistful note. "You.. dont remember me? I came in very off--- often." Daichi corrected himself, a confused look coming across his face, Daichi was Daichi. Why didn't Yamato recognize Daichi? Daichi was blue.. and sad.. and still Daichi either way.
Before Daichi could go on some babbling explanation, Noctis intervened with a smile, standing between Yamato and Daichi now.
"Yamato, it's been awhile. Say, have you had any new customers lately?" Noctis said smoothly, silencing Daichi with a grinding boot to Daichi's foot. "You know-- any of those customers with those things? The pets?" Noctis said, keeping his voice vauge. Not that anyone was around to listen to it but secrets were secrets for a reason. You don't say it clearly because you never know what listening devices may be lying around.
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Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:00 pm
"I'm afraid we've never met... before..." Yamato replied to Daichi slowly, confused. Before he could think much about it, Noctis stepped into, literally Yamato noted, the conversation.
"There have been a few more of those customers," Yamato replied with a smile. "All of them are unique. I assumed you would know about them, Mr. Noctis. Aren't you all in the same ventriloquist club?"
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Yamato Worchesthalshire Crew
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:36 am
Ventriloquist..?
That's how it was. Noctis debated his next line-- was the man supposed to be oblivious to the knowledge? Could Noctis tell the man? If the information wasn't supposed to be revealed, surely, that strange masked demon called Tino would have mentioned something.
So. Noctis deduced that it was allowed to tell the man. After all, he had been feeding these demons without any knowledge. Ignorance may have been bliss. Or not.
"These aren't ventriloquists, my man. What you've been feeding are the things in the fairy tales--" Noctis leaned in closer, cupping his hand in a whisper meant for Yamato alone. "-- demons."
Would the man get his meaning?
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:34 pm
Yamato blinked at the word 'demon'. Demons were something about of stories and his old sci-fi space books and TV shows. Demons that came to prey on space pirates in the middle of the dark sea of space.
So, of course, there was no way they could be real. Those things weren't real, no matter how much Yamato enjoyed them.
Unless of course, this was a code. Maybe the man was trying to get him to join his club. Yamato couldn't afford to join another club. He was busy with baseball, kendo and the 'working hard' club. He'd just have to turn the man down.
"Sorry Mr. Noctis," Yamato said apologetically. "I can't afford to be in another club right now. I have enough on my plate."
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Yamato Worchesthalshire Crew
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:59 pm
Club..?
Noctis couldn't keep up fast enough with the guy's train of thought, staring blankly at Yamato for a moment. Only when he did realize it seconds later did he start laughing, hand covering face in a show of impolite laughter. His red and yellow eyes were almost tearing up, a palm wiping the moisture away.
Meanwhile, Daichi was standing there, confused as hell. He was still confused over the fact that this food-man clearly did not recognize him and that his contractor was laughing over something that didn't seem funny.
Noctis's laugh subsided, words finding their way in through the string of laughter. "A club? Nono. But man, you're impressive. I can almost see why you're the trade center of food for these guys." He put a hand on Daichi's hand, rubbing it almost affectionately.
He withdrew his card and handed it to Yamato. It had Noctis's name and work place along with a phone number.
"If you ever need me or have any questions, or just to hang out, we should sometime. I make horrible tofu and I'd appreciate some help if you're ever bored. I can definitely assure you that I'm not some occultist club. Just your average bartender with a hobby for finding out how things tick."
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:50 pm
Yamato took the card and quickly pocketed it. Noctis said some strange things. 'These guys' and 'occultist'...
Yamato had never said anything about the occult. He never even suspected such. Such things COULD exist, he supposed. It seemed the man was hinting at something. Probably something Yamato didn't want to be pulled into. He was a good boy and liked being good. Then he noticed the way he had touched the other man's hand.
Yamato relaxed. 'These guys' weren't bad people or occultists. They were just ordinary people.
Yamato wondered if the manager knew that their store was the place that all the gays bought their groceries.
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Yamato Worchesthalshire Crew
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:46 pm
Noctis couldn't believe how seriously dense a guy could be. It was dense in the truest sense of the word and perhaps fate had meant for him to stay that way. Noctis decided to let it go for the moment, herding Daichi back to get his items, considering that Daichi had dragged him here in the first place, Noctis thought it was only fair to Daichi to go and get it.
"We'll be leaving now. Let me just make it clear, I'm not part of a ventriloquist party. Hell, if I could waste my time on that useless hobby, I would have more time to waste on my projects." With that informal note, Noctis shoved his other hand in his pocket and gave Yamato a brief wave. There went Daichi, skipping ahead.
"Bye." One curt voice.
"Bye bye food man!" One cheerful voice.
It wasn't hard to differentiate the two.
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