| Princess Shizuko and the Wild Woman | ||
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Sometimes a place gets its reputation for well deserved reasons. Though there may be days where the Usual can serve as a 'normal' cafe/bar, the truth was that it very much tended to attract hooligan types, it was a place that was oddly family friendly despite being a hot spot for unsavory types, all were served in the Usual and that sometimes was a double edged sword. Case in point, the latest visitor to the Usual was one who was entirely new to the city itself. A young woman, probably in her early 20s, though she could pass for more younger due to her stature and slender figure that almost gave her a teenager appearance. Black hair and olive skin, and not to mention a.. peculiar.. choice of dress, as she left very little to the imagination wearing little more than a tank top that left her bare arms and midriff exposed, tight jeans pants, combat boots, fingerless gloves and a black choker- a goth/punk-rock style of clothing. Combined with her sullen eyes and the look on her face that resembled that of an animal being chased, this girl was certainly nothing but trouble. The dark haired young woman staggered her way inside and took seat at the bar, quickly leaning on the counter with her elbows and looking straight down as if she hadn't slept in days and was on the vergue of passing out right there and then. Shizuko blinks and looks at the woman that takes a seat near her. Well, she WAS people watching. Sure, the newcomer looks like an ordinary human at first... it's more the body language that got her attention. "...You look like you walked here from..." She takes a moment, trying to determine a suitable place to compare to. "...Roshtaria," she settles on. With that thought in mind, she does a second look to see if there's trace of the desert sands surrounding that kingdom on the newcomer. The woman's reaction was immediate. The moment that Shizuko began talking to her, she bolted up straight and turned her head violently towards the highschooler with a look that was part fear and part 'I'm going to jump you and bite your face off'. It was clear that she was in full fight of flight mode and even the lightest thing could set her off, though whether she'd run or attack was anyone's guess. Fortunately, the girl appeared either too tired, or had enough of her senses left on her that she didn't try to flee away from Shizuko, nor did she try to attack her. She settled instead with deflating just slightly seeing that it was just a girl talking to her and staggered slightly on her seat. "Hola.." She said in tired greetings and leaned her body on the counter again, only barely able to stay up right. "Something like that... you could say.." She struggled to say as Shizuko tried to guess where she hailed from. Wherever it was it must have been hell considering her current state of mind and body. Shizuko winces quite hard at the reaction to her speaking. Perhaps flinching might be the better word to describe her action, really. "O... O...la." It seems she's not the most familiar with the language... or maybe she's just that intimidated by the reaction. She is a rather timid girl. Most of the time. "Oh, uh... sorry. Um... are you okay?" she manages to get out, at least. The attempt was at leas amusing. Most people would have dismissed the greeting entirely and continued noting how weird the girl looked. At the very least one could say this about Shizuko; she was trying. An attempt at being friendly meant a lot for this troubled youth, who despite all her struggle began to smile ever so faintly. She knew she shouldn't lower her guard, but Shizuko's concerns felt too genuine and she just couldn't help herself. More importantly, she was just tired of being on edge all the time, it would do well for her to relax, even for just a moment.. maybe. "I'm fine.. now.." She said and exhaled, looking up to the other girl. Now that she got a good look at her it was a rather interesting sight, enough to make the girl think that it was Shizuko who was the odd one out here. With all her frills and bows and pretty face, it made the troubled one's head spin at how cute Shizuko was. "What's a pretty princess like you doing in a place like this, hm? Maybe I should be the one asking the questions here." She wasn't sure why she felt compelled to tease her, it was just coming out naturally. Shizuko winces a bit less dramatically at being called a princess, but winces nonetheless. "Eeehhh... Just... people watching. And... yeah, not remotely a princess." This outfit is, in a way, her pride and joy... it took so many months of saving up and watching for bargains to fully put it together... so she does wear it prooobably too often for something this nice. "And there's not really much to ask of me, I'm just a student still." The wince was somewhat unexpected but still amusing enough that it lightened the girl's heart. At least sufficiently so that she didn't look like she was ready to bolt or attack the nearest person. She gave a chuckle at the reaction, and she could somewhat sense that Shizuko was not keen on the teasing, unfortunately Shizuko appeared to be dealing with some sort of wild child and she made no attempt to try and ease off on it. "People watching while hanging out in your pretty dress? That seems very princess like to me." The girl chuckled again, though at that point even she got a feeling that her teasing was bordering on bullying and tried to reign herself in as best she could. Indeed, there was not much to say yet.. and so she settled with introductions. "I'm Laura.. what's your name? Unless you want me to keep calling you Princess, Bonita." She added something in that other language she was speaking not bothering to explain what it meant. Shizuko sighs. Is that why she keeps getting the attention of people from Richside? She's putting out some sort of princess vibe despite the fact that she and her mother are barely scraping by on her mother's pay? "I don't come here to do that THAT often," she grumbles. But she straightens up slightly before saying, "Iwamatsu Shizuko. Please, just call me Shizuko. And I don't have anything to do with fish." Yeah, no clue about the other language's words from this one. "I wouldn't know that- it's my first time here." Laura tried to defend herself. First impressions were kind of a thing and knowing absolutely nothing about Shizuko's backstory, all Laura could go off on was that she was a very pretty girl dressed in a very fancy dress hanging out at the bar to.. watch people? Yeah, def princess vibes. With that being said she could tell that Shizuko was getting irritated by all those assumptions and she decided to ease off on that, the last thing Laura wanted to do was make an enemy of the first people that had showed her kindness in quite a while. "Nice to meet'cha." Said Laura and rested her her chin on her palm, elbow on the bar counter. "Good, I'm not sure I could pronounce that first one." As Shizuko clearly didn't understand what Laura meant by calling her Bonita, she gave a cheeky grin and winked at the other girl. "Of course you don't, Chula." Yeah, what was she saying anyway? Shizuko raises an eyebrow slightly before lowering it in a twitch. "I... yeah, fair point, I guess." She takes a deep breath in, then out. Clearly Laura knows how to survive, making her a tough individual in at least some sense. And Shizuko would rather not get another 'tough' person to think of her as an enemy, or worse a target like that other guy. And now that that particular individual comes to her mind again, she warily looks towards the door, as if he were going to step in and open fire on her at any moment... but no, just another random customer walking in. "Nice to... meet you too, Laura," she says somewhat distractedly at first. Her visual attention is back on Laura in full again, however, at the new unfamiliar word. "R...right. Well, I'm glad you can pronounce Shizuko, at least." Laura is indeed quite the rough and tumble type, so much in fact that she recognized perfectly well the look of someone being chased. As soon as Shizuko's eyes darted for the door, Laura was on edge as well and looked to where Shizuko was looking. Her fist clenched and she once again looked ready to either bolt or attack. There was no threat however, but Shizuko's body movements had made it clear that she had some powerful enemies, that had not been the look of a teenager being worried about their parents showing up and busting them at the bar- oh no, that had been the look of someone who was worried about someone showing up at the door to gun them down. Interesting.. and troublesome, Shizuko had more than she was letting on, and maybe it made sense why she'd be at a bar like this, if she was here it had to be because she was tough as well. You had to be to hang around here, either that or you were suicidal. "Hm..." Laura pursed her lips as she relaxed once again looking a little less certain of herself. However, she had nowhere else to go and she didn't much feel like wandering off into the night just yet, so she pressed on. "So, you're a student? Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend yet?" Laura was fairly certain that was a normal question to ask a teenager like Shizuko. Shizuko tries so very hard not to show that she noticed Laura also getting on edge when she looks back, but she's not quite able to keep the mild surprise off her face. "Uhh..." She then nods at first at the student question, but then freezes at the mention of having a boyfriend or girlfriend. "W-what? N-no!" she says in surprise at the question. Yeah, she kinda considered that to be a bit of a personal question to come from someone she just met... but maybe that's just because she's never had one. Do people in love take any opportunity to gush about their significant others? Hard to say... actually, she's fairly certain if Basil got a boyfriend or girlfriend, Shizuko would know far, far too much about them within minutes. "Huh.." Laura looked -almost- dissapointed that Shizuko wasn't taken, seemingly not at all getting the sensation that it had been a very personal question. For some reason it had felt natural. Oh well, she wasn't completely certain why she had asked something like that and something told her that pressing the issue was just going to irritate Shizuka some more. Boy, she was really bad at this whole 'interacting' thing, but that was to be expected when you were a warlord's personal attack dog and you knew hardly anything outside killing people in numerous and creative ways. "Well, I'm sure you'll get one one day, one or the other depending of your preference of course." She decided to leave it at that, certain that it was a totally normal closer to a perfectly normal question. "Say, that thing you're drinking looks tasty. What is it?" Laura said pointing to Shizuko's parfait. Shizuko blinks. "'Huh'?" She's not sure how she should take that response. Unfortunately, Shizuko isn't always the best at communicating, either... perhaps this has something to do with why she's never not been single. "U-uh, yeah. Maybe. Probably. We'll see." No mention on preference from her, though. "Drinking?" She blinks at the word choice and... looks down at her parfait. "Gah! It's melting! How long have I been here?! It's a mocha parfait, it USED to be more solid!" With that said, she quickly scoops up some of the still mostly solid ice cream with the long but tiny headed spoon that's also in the glass. At least it's not completely gone yet. "Ah.. it's not supposed to look like that?" Laura asked in wonder and leaned ever so closely to sniff at it. "It smells delicious, I think I'll try one." She glanced over at the bartender to hail them. "Give me one of those." Laura said rather.. well, rudely, this girl had absolutely no manners and was pretty much navigating this whole interaction by pure instinct. Once the bartender brought her the parfait she stared strangely at it and scooped some of it with her finger licking at the tip. "Hm..hmm!!" The girl's eyes widened in surprise and then she went and did the daft thing everyone does when they first try ice cream. She began eating it way too fast and got a brain freeze. "Whahaaaa! FRIO!!" She exclaimed holding her head before shaking it off slightly. "You eat things like this all the time around here?" Laura turned to Shizuko looking rather incredulous. Shizuko shakes her head enthusiastically at her parfait being in its intended state. She also leans back away from Laura slightly at the sniff, considering its proximity to her. The opposite of Shizuko, under normal circumstances. The student tries very hard to be polite in most situations (she doesn't always succeed). "Uhhh... yeah, it's pretty good," she says idly. "Uh, you're supposed to use the spoon," she then adds dryly when Laura uses her finger instead. She blinks at the response of the rapid eating and predictable reaction. She tries very, VERY hard not to laugh, requiring her to actually cover her mouth with a hand... but it's still obvious she's holding a laugh back by the sound of the snort. "No, I only stop by here like... once a month, tops. I can't afford to eat out that often." Spoons, and cutlery for that matter, are for suckers, Laura clearly resembled more of a cavegirl from her mannerism and it was a wonder that she actually ordered a parfait for herself instead of trying to eat some from Shizuko. Which, let's be honest, judging by her sniffing and the way she had been looking at Shizuko's ice cream, she was really considering it, but her intuition told her that it was probably not a good idea- though she at a fundamental didn't know why, she just got the sensation that it was not going to go well if she went and tried to eat Shizuko's food. Laura, in general, seemed to have pretty good senses as she heard Shizuko laughing despite the schoolgirl's attempt to hide it. Fortunately, she didn't really take herself very seriously and laughed along with the other girl, still eating the parfait at a faster speed than normal.. with her mouth.. still not bothering to use the spoon. "Hm, yeah, it does seem expensive." She said and looked up to Shizuko, ice cream all over her mouth and on the tip of her nose, not bothering to clean herself outside of licking the side of her lips. "I probably just blew off all my money on this- but man, was it worth it." Well, that's one way to not let it melt on her like Shizuko's did. And it didn't take heightened senses to tell Shizuko was trying (and almost failing) to hold in a laugh. Still, she is glad Laura didn't just... take hers. She can't say she didn't almost expect it. "Uh, I mean, it's not THAT expensive, but when you're on a tight budget and you have other things you're saving for..." and your mother won't let you get a part time job... But she's actually a little relieved to hear that Laura, in fact, actually does have money. She was starting to be afraid she would end up stuck with the bill. "You have to spoil yourself every once in a while," she finally says with a smile. Not a toothy grin, no. She tends to be careful to not show her teeth. Another reason she hid her mouth when she almost laughed, in case she failed and showed that one fang. Laura knew better than try to mooch off on other people. In fact, she didn't like relying on anyone, people lied and cheated and betrayed her, it was always better to be off on her own. That she was talking to Shizuko now was rare form for her, but even then, it that perceived moment of weakness for her, she kept the 'Princess' at arms' length. She already suspected that Shizuko had some dark shadows of her own and it was better not to get too involved. Still.. goofing around like this felt good, it made her feel less like an animal, less like a machine made for killing, and more like a normal person. If she didn't know any better she'd almost believe she was hanging out with a friend like a normal girl her age. If only... "Hm.. maybe." Laura looked at her almost finished Parfait, it really meant that she had just spent all her meager savings on the ice cream, but Shizuko was probably right on spoiling herself once in a while. Once in a while she had to get ice cream. Once in a while she had to.. talk.. to people.. to remind herself that she wasn't just a thing made for killing. "It's been.. uh.. nice talking to you, Shizuko." She said awkwardly. "I don't get to.. hang out very often." Or ever, for that matter. "Would you mind...hanging out some more? With me I mean.. I'm kinna new to the city." Something the two have in common, not that they're aware of it yet. Shizuko's best friend is... quite wealthy, but Shizuko is loathe to take advantage of that in any way, shape or form. Other than letting Basil pay when they're out somewhere eating together, of course. She... quietly just lets that happen. She nods once, enthusiastically at the 'maybe'. "Even if you have to save up for a while to do it," she says. She's at least finished her own while Laura was pigging out. "Oh, you're already leaving?" she asks, taking a hint (right or wrong) at the change of tone. She tilts her head slightly. "I... guess I wouldn't mind, no, but I've not been here more than a year, either." Well, that's nearly a year longer than Laura, though, isn't it? "Uhhh, do you have a cell phone?" Because she's not telling this newly met woman her address. She was reluctant to even let Lillia know where she lived. Perhaps they do have more in common that they might realize. Laura did get the sensation that Shizuko was no regular soft Princess, despite her appearances, and perhaps that was the reason why she felt like she could ease her guard just a little bit. A normal, wealthy and haughty princess type would have been horrified with Laura's absolute lack of manners, but despite her looks Shizuko was actually not from a wealthy family and she sort of could understand Laura.. even though Laura was clearly on a completely different level of poverty. She was more than just homeless. She was actually on the run from someone. "Yeah.." She mused as Shizuko assured her that saving up to treat oneself was a worthy goal. She pondered that.. while being absolutely covered in ice cream, Laura licked her arms and the tip of her nose like a wild animal. Treat herself... sure, why not? Maybe that should be her goal. It wasn't as if she had any other than just surviving. "Eh.. well no.." She stuttered, realizing that what she said could be misinterpreted for her leaving. "I just didn't want to leave and never see you again... and uh.. I'm running out of things to say so I thought I'd bring up before it was too late." Something was really wrong with Laura, and that may become very evident when she stared at Shizuko and her question. "...What's a cell phone?" Shizuko pauses a moment before saying, "You know, they don't charge for napkins. You can just take one. Or twelve." Yeah, she's a little offput by that. "Oh, uhhh... Yeah, sorry. I'm... not the best conversationalist, myself, sometimes..." She blinks at the question that followed the awkward silence and asks in turn, "Are you from Distant Oceans?" Or is there no coverage outside of Senta City? She actually never considered that, but she still thought phones would be heard of... "Uhhhh, it's like, um, a communication device. It connects to the network and... you can call or text people..." She's never had to explain what a cell phone was before, and she's struggling to figure out how much she should dumb down the explanation. "Is that what these pieces of paper are?" Laura asked in wonder at the apparent napkins. She had noticed them laying around but hadn't figured their true purpose just by glancing at them. Now that she knew they were free she put some to use to clean off the ice cream off her hands and her mouth, that thing sure was sweet but it was really sticky and the smell kind of overwhelmed her senses, so it was best to try and clean herself after eating it as much as she could. For future reference... maybe she should use the spoon after all! Ah, so there was a practical use for it after all, learned something new today for sure. "Hm? No." Laura frowned at the question, her origins being questioned made her clearly uncomfortable but she didn't seem to know how to dodge the question entirely. "Look, I just... my keeper didn't let me get out much, or have.. things.." It was the best way she could explain that until recently she was essentially an attack dog slave. Once Shizuko explained what it was though, Laura frowned and looked a little crestfallen. "Well, I don't have one of those things, is there another way I can stay in contact with you?" Shizuko manages to fight off the urge to facepalm. It sounded at first like it was a joke but... it wasn't. "Yeeeeessss..." She lets out a huff of air, then listens to the explanation... or rather lack thereof of where Laura is from. At first it's a look of confusion. Her parent wouldn't let her... no, she didn't say parent. She said keeper. The realization dawning on Shizuko is visible as her look of mild confusion evolves into one more of horror. Still, she can tell the question was dodged... and she knows not to pry further. "I... uhhhh... I'm not sure." With Lillia, it was through Basil, who has a phone. "I... guess... we can agree to meet somewhere later?" she sounds unsure of herself with that, unsure how well that will work. She's had plans get nixxed by her mother in the past, afterall. Laura recognized that look of horror well enough. It was the sort of thing that she expected from anyone from the city that somehow understood her story. Fortunately, all her assumptions from Shizuko had pointed that the princess was actually of tougher stock and she didn't run away or turn away in disgust as most other city folk would have probably done. Yeah, this one was a keeper, and Laura allowed herself a ghost of a smile to appear on her lips when, against all odds, Shizuko still wanted to hang out with her. "Ok." Laura said at last, an actual smile now forming on her mouth. She looked better when she wasn't licking herself like a cat or was covered in ice cream after her sloppy eating. "Where do you want to meet? And when?" Laura's blue eyes widened with expectation, visibly thrilled. Shizuko may get the sensation that this was the first friend Laura had made, possibly in her entirely life. Shizuko blinks a couple of times at the change of expression on Laura again. "Uhhhhh... I haven't given that thought yet. Definitely not some place we have to pay money for..." She sounds unsure of herself. On the other hand, if this is some sort of trap... well, she's made a kidnapper regret grabbing her in the past, even if she was just a side grab alongside the primary target. "I guess just... in the park? Um..." She pulls out her phone to look at her calendar, making sure she isn't going to interfere with anything else. "...Three days? Uh, midafternoon?" Shizuko wasn't the only one thinking that this all could be a trap. For all Laura knew, Shizuko was yet another enforcer from her keeper masquerading as some student to slip under her guard and collar her to drag her back to her supposed 'Owner'. But trap or not, Shizuko's words rung true within Laura's heart. Sometimes you got to treat herself. She had to roll that dice, if this could be a real friendship it was worth risking it. Besides, Laura was fairly confident that she could fight off her attackers if it was indeed a trap. Either she made a friend, or she got to kill a whole lot of people. There was literally no downside to this interaction. "Alright! Let's do it then!" Laura said, sounding very excited. One might say she was giddy with enthusiasm all of the sudden. She paid for her ice cream with mostly coins and went to stand up. "Es una cita, nena." Laura leaned a bit closer to Shizuko and grinned, speaking in that foreign language of hers. For her mannerism and toothy grin, one could assume she had said something rather risque. "Ah, I think that's a good note to end it. I'll get out of your hair before you change your mind." Smirked the girl and began moving away, finger waving at Shizuko as she headed for the door. "Adios~." Laura said with a wink before making her exit, feeling rather revitalized and full of hope. Maybe being in this city won't be too bad after all. Shizuko blinks and shifts back slightly at the enthusiasm, but nods. The unknown words get a predictably blank look from Shizuko, who was almost going to slowly nod but instead rears back again slightly at the getting so close. The heck did she say that she's grinning like that for? "Uhhhhh... sure!" she finally says, but tilts her head ever so slightly at the now actual declaration of intent to leave. "Yeah, and I should... probably get home before my mother calls me asking where I am again..." It's different for her, of course... her mother does genuinely care for her, even if she is a little overbearing at times. She does let it go unsaid that if she actually were to change her mind she'd just... not show up. "Um, bye, then, see you in a few days?" She still sounds just a little unsure of herself... but she does get up to head home herself after paying as well. | ||
