Private Meet the Family, Day 1: Surprise!

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

Three Weeks Earlier

Ari span slowly in his chair, his phone held up before his face as he stared at the other name on his phone, debating, did he really want to subject himself to that kind of suffering? The answer was, of course, hell fucking no, but this wasn't really about him. It was about Toko. She'd seemed a bit down after he'd mentioned he lived in America. And, figuring that it must get a bit lonely in a small town like Ogimi, what better way to fix that then to drag all of Toko's friends to visit her with him!

Unfortunately for Ari, he really only knew two other people who knew Toko, the first of which being Brutus. Who Ari was about 90% sure had a thing with Toko, or something. The 10% was really just caution and not wanting to make an ass of himself by saying something and being wrong. Ari actually got along very well with Brutus too. The man was the definition of a gentle giant. Just, perhaps, a little bit louder and rambunctious.

And then there was Fiora...

Yeah, enough said about her.

Sighing, Ari added her to the group chat. He was going to hate himself for this, but he'd feel worse if Toko missed out on the chance to meet her friend just cause he was being a petty bitch.

Good morning, you may be wondering why i have gathered you all here today...

Who wants to come visit toko in japan with me? Planning for start of next month, hoping to surprise her. You guys in?

Present Day

Sitting on a bench beside Theo, Ari absently scrolled though his social media feeds as he waited for the others' flights to arrive (thankfully all mercifully within a single hour each other). Why in the hell was Theo here? Ari dragged him along, solely because A, the man needed to go outside and smell the goddamn roses, almost more than Ari did. And two, he figured Theo would help him rag on Fiora when it came to it. And it would definitely come to that.
A notification pinged in the super secret group chat, both Brutus and Fiora having arrived and gotten their bags, the whole crew was here. "Yo," Ari said, slapping the side of Theo's leg with the back of his hand. "Looks like they landed," he said, before typing out a quick message.

Dope! Jin and i are waiting by the entrance. Look for the e boy and the depressed mofo

@Toko | @Jin | @Brutus Dahlgren | @Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Three Weeks Earlier

It had been a long session this time around in Terrasphere with the whole ordeal in the mines deep within Eastern Brisshal her and Ronja had worked a quest on, and as she logged off and prepared herself to nap, only to have a literal earthquake inside her bedroom happen and panic begun to- Oh, false alarm, just her phone vibrating unsupervised against the desk with a new message popping up.

"Thought I turned these off..."

Further inspection revealed this super secret group she automatically muted for 1 year, the maximum it allowed her or it would be for eternity, yet before dipping out she gave it a chance to read up what this was all about. If only the word 'Toko' and 'visit' wasn't mixed in that message bubble, his name alone would have made her instantly leave and report his account for spam.

Present Day

Shock. She's still in shock. Partially the aerophobia and the relief of having her feet on the ground yet again. Not even the clusterf* of people on the airport were enough to settle down that last emotion. She really should have expected it, and having coordinated with Brutus to group up and leave the airport together to find the rest felt logical.

...

"Nah dude you look like Brutus's chinese knock-off you gotta be shitting me." She broke into a mockery of a laughter. "Man we need to help you get on that Brutus Juice." Hipocritical coming from the couch potato herself, but that little detail flew over her head and she hit him with a smile as they would head outside, one arm busy with her baggage, the other dealing with her phone, right behind Olivier as she used him as some kind of meat shield to avoid crushing onto anyone.

We got our bags, where are you.

You brought someone else? Bruh, that desc. doesn't narrow it down in the slightest.

"Do you see them even?" A hand worked as cover from the sunlight that almost flashbanged her once again, a quick scan around didn't help for much, and she relied on Olivier who proved to be the tall one here. It didn't take long that the descriptions matched: A bench and a depresso, a dark-haired duo she didn't know which one was worse.

This is for Toko, do it for Toko. She repeated to herself, steeling herself with a deep breath as she approached Ari and Theo with Olivier presumably tagging along on her lead.

"So... E-boy." She eyed him up and down, sharp as if the rancor of the past still carried on today, despite just being her resting bitch face of usual. "Yup, fits you right. And who's the coglione next to you?"

@Toko @Brutus Dahlgren @Jin @Yugam

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Thump Thump Thump.

Why the fuck was he here? Well, he knew why he was here but not like WHY he was here. It was already bad enough that someone knew his horrific secret of being a manlet, but now multiple people, some of which he was only tangentially aware of despite their parts in some of his hypest moments in game.

Now they were going to bear witness to him visiting his...girlfriend? For the first time.

"If anything Brutus is the knock off, I just remade me and then...made some edits."

Nothing to worry about, you know, coupling that with the fact that everyone was going to compare him to Brutus fucking Dahlgren, the chad to end all chads. Here he was, Olivier Clisson, and he apparently needed to hit the "Bruce Juice" according to the woman Nico. He was mostly the same, but you know, a few key differences. He wasn't as tall, he wasn't as big, and he didn't speak like he was declaring independence from England with every word. He would keep his eye on the messenger, but honestly he was just keeping an eye out for a good morning text from Nao, who was hopefully none the wiser. Actually, he would go ahead and preempt her with one.

"Morning Bun Hun, hope you have a great day today! I'm about to hit the hay, but I'll catch you later T-side?"

Perfect, she would never expect them to show up now! He would turn back to the pink haired woman and raise an eyebrow. "That's Theo, you know, Jin. Were you not reading the group chat at all? Or do you just run off full cocked all the time without actually formulating a plan?" He would turn to the two E-boys, his bag slung over his shoulder. He'd packed fairly light, but also he didn't have a lot of clothes that weren't chainmail and period attire, or weapons, and there was no way he was getting a rapier through TSA.

"Whats the actual plan boys? I don't normally throw myself on a plane and yeet myself halfway across the world but here we are. I'm trusting you have the particulars nailed down no?"

@Toko @Jin @Yugam @Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Jin]

"...ugh."

The idea of meeting people in the outside world made his skin crawl. Here, he didn't wear a mask that protected his identity, and he was subject to the binding rules and laws of the society they were shackled to by birth. He was not at liberty to come and go as he pleased, and now, in the far off reaches of a foreign land, he no longer had the luxury of "just going home."

Why he let Ari drag him along was a mystery. Or at least, it should have been a mystery. The reality was, when the other youth showed up at his home and told his mother that he'd paid for a trip to Japan, the older woman was beside herself.

You can go see a whole new part of the world. You mean to tell me you'd rather stick around here and mope, maybe sleep for half a day, and go to work? No way- you're going on that trip, Theo, and I won't take no for an answer. You owe it to me, since you decided not to finish high school---

He groaned, because he knew there was no alternative. Ari told him in front of his mom to force this exact scenario. As he glanced at the man next to him on a bench, in an airport, in Japan- Theo shook his head.

"You didn't have to involve me in all of this."

Before the other man had time to engage and turn the statement into an argument, someone else appeared. More than someone. Several someones. He glanced up at them, looking at a man who was not towering over the rest and...

His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. Who is this person? Not blonde, not tall, but... ah... there, nevermind, he knew exactly who she was. He didn't have to understand Italian to know that whatever the woman said was an insult, and therefore, divine exactly who she was. No matter how beautiful she was at first glance, the damage was done. "Guess you didn't recognize me because I took a shower and wore a pair of shoes other than my Vans," he teased Nico.

When Olivier asked what the plan was, Theo glanced to Ari. The energetic party face was the brains of this operation, after all. If it was up to Theo, he'd be logging some hours in the game right now. That was off the table. "I just want to make sure, do people actually say yeet?" he asked inquisitively. "What year is it, 2022?"

He smirked up at the man, who on the other side took the form of Brutus Dahlgren.

@Yugam @Fiora Di Angelo @Brutus Dahlgren @Toko

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

No sooner had Ari sent the message did he hear Jin's phone buzz, promptly followed by the man groaning in annoyance. "You didn't have to involve me in all of this," the man complained, shaking his head.

"Like hell I didn't," Ari scoffed, casting the other man a sideways glance. "I am not about to deal wi-" Ari would have to finish that thought later, as it appeared that the two people they were waiting for finally arrive.

Ari looked at Oliviere first, who looked exactly like Brutus did in game except...a lot smaller. "Uh...this is not what I expected," the man admitted before looking at the woman, who could have only been Fiora aka Nico. "And neither are you..." She could take that as a compliment or an insult, Ari really didn't care.

Thankfully, Oliviere took over the job of (re)introducing Theo to Nico which gave Ari the room to say, "Really? No insult? No punch to the face? Are you sure you're really Fiora?" Now that? That might get him punched.

Assuming that his nose wasn't broken, Ari turned back to Oliviere, this time with a big grin on his face, now that the worst was over. "I'm glad you could make it man, I bet Toko's gonna be stoked when she finds out we're all here...speaking of which," the man pulled out his phone and then, quite pointedly, glared at the two trouble children of the group. "We're taking a group photo to send to Toko, you better smile, and if you fuck around I'm tying cinderblocks around your ankles and throwing you in the ocean."

Cheese!

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

"I dig it. You and Brutus I mean, I just need to get used to you not looking like a terminator with a cannon y'know?" She replied, shrugging it off until they finally made it outside and Nico stored her phone back on her jacket and make her way to the group, with Olivier taking a moment to explain exactly who the 'depressed' fourth wheel is on this tricycle. "Huh? Are you for real? Naaah I mean-" No, no she didn't read the damn group. She took a nap, skimmed over the details and just went #teamFullCock on the situation, the unwinnable situation turned winnable, which was the airplane itself, she could just turn her brain off afterwards.

Or so he hoped, until Theo opened his lips and used her own words against her, whiplash so hard she almost felt shouted at. "So it REALLY is you, weeb." She paused, only to jump on Olivier's defense like Protect action just triggered. "Same kind of person whose called Theo on 2032; but hey, I appreciate the common decency to look nice for the occasion."

Ari finally opened his mouth, just to state the obvious about the duo, and she rewarded him with a middle finger and a shit-eating grin. Yet games were set aside once he demanded an explanation about the lack of violence happening right now, like they didn't have more important plans than their differences right now.

But the opportunity, oh the opportunity...

Nico shot a side-glance at him. If Jin's smirk was condescending, then this was her own method of belittling someone "You really are into that kind of stuff?" Stoic in tone, with not an ounce of disgust on her voice, despite the crystal clear disappointment.. She didn't have to portray it, Dropping the aggression all of a sudden was more than enough to put him on evidence.

Finally did Olivier ask the real questions and the group's E-boy proved to everyone he should not be legally allowed to carry a camera, a cellphone, or any means of contact in a surprise party.

"So much for a surprise you troglodyte." She muttered under her breathe, turning her face away from him with one hand to cover her face, to no avail.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Olivier would scowl at Theo, and then watch as Nico lept to his aid. "The word yeet transcends mere fads, it's a primal expression of release. I figured a pretentious hipster like yourself would be down with that, but here we are." His blue eyes would flit to Ari and glare at him a bit. "Yeah yeah, I'm not the fucking Rock in real life, lets get it out of our systems now." He wasn't going to even mention the whole punching/kicking debacle and all of the things that implied about his friend. When he pulled out the camera, however, his eyes widened and his pulse quickened.

"Are you fucking-" Olivier's hand shot to cover the lens with a speed that most could not muster outside of the game. "Daft!" He disarmed the E boy with all the grace of a trained fencer, twirling the thin electronic in his hand with a flourish and immediately deleting any and all photographic evidence of their exploits.

"Do you want ruin the surprise my man? I was thinking we take an uber or a cab or some shit to her place and surprise her with a knock at the door! Hell, we could try and snag a rental car if we've I've already laid some smokescreen for our approach and got her details and everything. Save the group photos from where we get her flustered ass right in the middle of it all." With the end of his lecture he would pass the man his phone back and would readress the group.

"We could also take a bus, I didn't know if there would be delays or anything so I didn't prebook any tickets either, but most routes will take us about another hour and a half drive to get to Ogimi Village. Any thoughts?"

@Jin

 

[Jin]

What a chore...

In talking with Ari on the way to the airport, and during the flights and various layovers from JFK to Tokyo, he'd slowly learned a dangerous truth about their current adventure. While Ari had been the one to suggest the trip, it was a matter of hype. Good ideas that just sounded good, but had no structure. With a sigh then, and another now, he pulled out his phone.

Naha Station. They were nearly a thousand miles from Tokyo, one of the biggest cities in the world, and the heart of Japan. He always wondered what it was like, but now, so close and yet so far... ah, it seemed a shame that he was going to see Okinawa instead.

But that was the group's plan. That was where their resources lay, and where the people they knew lived. If they tried to do something different, it would choke them. It would force them to struggle. That wasn't ideal. He assumed that Olivier had done the research, certainly, but probably assumed Ari had more of a plan than he actually did.

That left Theo to connect the dots.

"The buses run hourly, which means we'd have time to catch lunch before the next one," he spoke without looking up. He'd timed everything out in a way that would expend the least, and accounted for the possibility of hiccups. That was the only way to plan. "We can take an Uber if we really need to, but that wouldn't be ideal. For four of us, we'd have to splurge on a premium ride, and from here to Ogimi is long enough of a drive that it would take a deep bite out of our funds. We want to avoid that if at all possible."

He thumbed the screen a few more times and sighed again. "I don't know Toko all that well, so it has to be your job to make sure she's home when we get there, otherwise we're going to be awkwardly waiting outside until she gets back," he drawled, looking up now at Olivier. "Alternatively, it'd also be ideal if you can keep her occupied and keep tabs on her location. If nothing else, we can surprise her at someplace else if its absolutely necessary."

It was absolutely ridiculous to think they could come halfway across the world and surprise someone without clueing them in to their intentions. It was poor planning. It irritated Theo. Still, it was far too late to back out. He held the screen out toward the others for review. "This is a list of places to eat that have good reviews from both locals and tourists, and its compiled in order of affordability. I think we should grab a meal, replenish, and nail down the plan. Since we have enough time to do that before the next bus," he repeated himself, for emphasis.

"I'll double check the bus schedule to make sure there aren't any delays in the meantime."

@Brutus Dahlgren @Fiora Di Angelo @Yugam @Toko

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

"You really are into that kind of stuff?"

Ari's eye twitched behind his glances as he deadpanned back to her a simple, "No."

Similarly, Olivere seemed generally displeased with Ari's presence, despite him being the one bringing everyone here together for their first real life meeting.

Seriously? No one else was excited about this? Buzzkills.

Things only seemed to escalate from as as soon as Yu went to snap a picture, Nico hid her face, Theo's face mutated into one of equal parts disgust, anguish and annoyance, and Olivere leapt forward, snatching Ari's phone right out of his hand.

"Hey!" Ari shouted in surprise as the other man rapidly scrolled through Ari's gallery deleting however few photos the man had actually managed to snag. "Dude, what the fuck?"

Of course, after a lengthy lecture, it made a little more sense to Ari, but hey. It wasn't like the fact the four them were on Okinawa at all wasn't gonna be a big surprise in and of itself...What was also a surprise was how in depth Theo had gone into planning everything, and the way he listed their itinerary out like he was some big corporate CEO's personal assistant.

"Uhhh, what happened to you not wanting to come?" Ari asked Theo, a confused look on his face.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

It only lasted for a second, but that deadpan he pulled off was glorious, enough to make her drop the facade for her to grin, to let him know just how good it felt to tilt him off. But that seemed to be like one brick out of a tower, as everything begun to escalate for the worst between the camera and Olivier's reaction. A sigh of relief as the not-so-big man managed to pull the camera right before Eboy could do something stupid, and for once she remained quiet to let him explain what felt should have been obvious by now.

"Yeah I kinda agree with Theo here, a twenty minutes Uber is already a scam. One hour trip on one? We gonna be dry and I dunno about you all but I'm not about to leave Japan without a souvenir either." She crossed her arms, listening to each suggestion given, only for Mr. Edge to come up with the whole briefcase of logistics, sharing the same confusion Ari just had, the only thing they agreed on unconciously.

"Dude did you took your meds like I told you last time? Couse you went from zero to stalker in one-point-creepy seconds." Concern actually shown on her tone. Being so close to him, in real life? Yup, it gave her the chills, and it made her keep distance while skimming over the list. "Ehh, I say if we buy something for lunch we do it now and head over to wait for the bus. I sure as hell ain't waiting another wholeass extra hour, and it feels kinda safe that way. Keep it cheap so we don't lighten our pockets."

And then she clapped her hands together, bright, sarcastic smile all over her face. "Alright then! big question, who of you all know japanese so I can stick real close and ask you what I'll order?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"We're in an international airport for one of the top vacation spots in Japan, sans Tokyo." He would chuckle slightly. "A good deal of any of the restaurants here probably speak a litany of languages." He would then raise his fist to his mouth and cough slightly.

"I also, may or may not be in the process of learning japanese, so uh, I can do my best to take point. It wont be perfect but its better than nothing" He would motion for them to follow him to where most of the food options were clustered in a central, point. There were several options, a noodle stall, something called donburi? He would scan the menus, all of them filled with local delicacies as he would turn to the group. With the help of a translation app and a takeaway menu, he would manage to get everyone's order and would approach the Donburi place. "Go ahead and figure out where the bus stop is while I get food eh?"

"Sumimasen, Wastashi wa nihongo ga sukosji shika hanasemasen. Koko ni eigo o hanaseru wa imasu ka?" The woman at the counter would give him a warm smile despite his clumsy words and nod.

"Yes, I speak a little English. How can I help?"

He would proceed to place the order through her, falling back on English when his bootleg Duolingo lessons failed him, and would return to the group with a couple to go bags filled with plastic containers of various orders.

"Behold!" He would bow gracefully as he returned to the group, a grin on his lips and his eyes alight in the triumph of victory in a way similar to how Brutus would always look in game. "I have successfully managed to acquire lunch!"

@Jin

 

[Jin]

"What, you expected me to not take the initiative and plan things out when it was clear that you'd jumped in a puddle before putting your shoes on?" Theo deadpanned at Ari before the others started to speak up. Suddenly, he was being criticized about medication by the girl with rage issues. Had he made her uncomfortable again, somehow? Probably.

"You guys wanted to surprise this girl. Like, fly across the world to a country you've never been to, go to this lady's house who you've never met, as a group from a video game of dubious legality, and you're calling me stalker-ish?" he blinked incredulously at Nico. "Do you want to surprise her or not?"

With a sigh, Theo shook his head. When Olivier mentioned he was learning Japanese, he chuckled. "Well, at least someone came prepared," he muttered sarcastically.

He blinked and looked toward Not!Brutus.

"How do you say Sushi in Japanese?"

@Brutus Dahlgren @Fiora Di Angelo @Yugam @Toko

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

"Yeah, I'm down with the bus idea. I'm not really keen on dropping a ton of money on just transportation." Which meant in the meantime, they could get food. "So what do you guys wanna eat then? I'm fucking starving, not gonna lie."

Before they even got that far though, Nico brought up a really good point..."...who of you all know Japanese...?"

Oh...yeah...No, Ari didn't think about the language barrier part. "Uh, not me," Ari said, then looking at Theo. 'Yeah, no.' Ari looked at Olivier, "Olivier?"

Oh thank god, someone had their shit together and wasn't a sociopath.

"How do you say Sushi in Japanese?"

Ari looked at Theo with a look of complete and total disappointment..."You're kidding right?... Oh my god, you're not kidding..." Ari sighed in exasperation as Olivier made his grand escape to go them all food, leaving the three to figure out where the nearest bus stop is.

Pulling out his phone, Ari began to use the savior of all single-celled brains, Google! "Nearest bus stop...here!" The man zoomed in on their location and the location of the stop, only a block away from where they were now. "Not too far. We can probably just eat there, they should have benches right?"

With surprising speed, Olivier came back, chest puffed out and proud looking as he toted a couple bags with their back. "Awesome! How much was it? I'll pay you back," Ari said as the man returned to the group.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Nico scratched her chin for quite sometime with a blank stare directed at Brutus as he explained, nodding along his words with a soft and honest 'mhm' rather than a sarcastic one. "Yeah that's true..." Her words trailed off, having no idea how true that is or not, but he said he is learning japanese so it's gotta be true because he most likely did his research.

Once E-boy spoke up, being on the same boat as her basically, Nico pulled a thumbs up back at him "No worries, big guy will handle it." Food was all she could think about right now, not even Theo's stalker behaviour or Ari's Ari behaviour could put down her mood right now. She was in nirvana, the nirvana of japanese food that Big Guy would bring over.

"You guys wanted to surprise this girl-
"Yes." She nodded
-Like, fly across the world to a country you've never been to-
"Yup." She bobbed.
-go to this lady's house who you've never met, as a group from a video game of dubious legality-
"Sounds legit." She dipped.
-and you're calling me stalker-ish?"
"Checks out." She replied, with a stupid smile on her face and stars on her eyes as she simply went into auto-pilot and ignored everything else, with her target being Olivier and Olivier alone.

And with Theo's last question, Eboy made his way out in clear frustration, entering her peripherical for a second, before taking a completely different route than Olivier did earlier.

"Sushi, I think that's how you say it." She merely made mention of it, waving him off as if to disregard it all entirely, at least until both boys came back, Oli first with a most grandiose entrance befit of Brutus himself, or did Brutus make entrances befit of Olivier himself? The line got blurry to her, but matter not, she pointed a finger right back at him with intensity only the blonde could pull off. "LET'S GO!!! I owe you one big guy, I'm starving over here."

And then, Ari made his way back, flat chest all puffed out and holding even MORE food for the group, as if they didn't had enough already. Her hands ended at her lips on a praying gesture as she took in the situation between their hands...

"You know what? It's chill, I eat like a fat dude, let's just find somewhere to sit. Theo, how's the clock tickin'?"

@Brutus Dahlgren @aledog

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Olivier handed out food like a man running for office in Detroit, grinning ear to ear. "We're good yall, I figured we can do this in rounds ya know? No problem." He raised an eyebrow at the fact that he found them exactly where he'd first left them, but it would appear that Ari had found the bus stop.

"Captain, give me out heading!" He would declare loudly, causing several people to turn and stare at him. He would blush slightly, grabbing both the E boy and the Sullen twink and dragging them.

"Come on Nico! We can eat at the bus stop! The last thing I need to be is any later than necessary." The not so giant man with a larger than life personality seemed too excited for just visiting a friend. He would stomp through the airport with the power of plot progression, making quite the scene.

Finally, the group would arrive at a lightly covered bus stop. It was a nice and balmy mid 80's, but the humidity was especially high. Couple that with the asphalt of the highway complex surrounding the airport, and you had a perfect mix for ball sweat and a bad time. His phone would buzz, and he would pull it up.

Haaai, oyasumi Ollie-chan~ I'll log into Honeyhome this evening, see you then?

He would smile like an idiot and quickly shoot back some texts.
Sounds good to me babe!
Also, I know I said I was going to sleep,
But damn I can't sleep
Again? (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
You have a long day tomorrow though...
Try rolling him onto his side?
Fucking Tony is snoring like a bear again.
Got any plans for today? Anything special planned?
Iie, just got back from dropping the latest orders at the post office. Gonna work out now before the day gets too hot (╯︵╰,)

@Jin

 

[Jin]

There was a flash of disdain when the no-so-massive man grappled him that almost reflected one of Jin's trademark scowls. The level of "Don't touch me" ran parallel to edgelord on the charts just long enough that if Nico saw it, she'd declare 'oh, THERE it is!'

And then, it was gone. "Hey Smiles, do me a favor and next time you need me to move, use your big boy words, kay?" he requested, a bit less maliciously than his alter-ego would have. The disappointment at a sure answer to his question other than conjecture from the Italian woman was palpable. He made a note to ask Toko about it when they arrived.

The other two swarmed the food like insects, not unlike the swarm that had plagued them several weeks prior inside of Terrasphere. He looked at them in much the same way Jin had those adversaries. Eyeblights. Annoyances. And they were eating all of the god damned food.

Before he could grab any of the take for himself, Olivier announced they could eat at the bus stop. People were already staring at them, which probably had something to do with the way that they were going through food and not stationary. "Hey. Hey. People are watching you," he warned, though neither Ari or Nico seemed to hear him, or if they did, they did not appear to care.

He facepalmed. "Fine. I'll eat later." Theo packed away the bento that was set aside for him and hurried toward the bus stop. He was past done with the lot of them.

"We have about twenty minutes til the bus gets here. Use the bathroom, wash your hands, do what you need to do before it gets here, because it's a long haul to where we're headed."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

Wow, was Nico not being a complete and total bitch? The world must be ending. Or food was just the only way to get her to shut her trap. Honestly, the likelihood of either was about the same. Should Ari start running for the nearest fallout bunker? Naw, he'd just hand Nico her bowl and a plastic spoon before grabbing his and being tugged along by Olivier with him calling back at Nico. 'Why not eat and walk at the same time?' Ari wondered as he shoved a spoonful of rice and beef into his mouth. "Hey. Hey. People are watching you," Theo complained.

"Yeah? Who cares?" Ari said, barely managing to swallow his food before responding.

By the time they got there, Ari was already halfway done with his food, and still starving for more. "Yeah, yeah, we got it, mom," Ari droned as he stuffed more food into his mouth like the heathen he was. Standing off to the side of the bus stop, Ari just enjoyed authentic Japanese food for the first time in his life.

And goddamn was it not worth buying a ticket for Theo, putting up with his complaining, dealing Nico. Everything. "I could die happy now," the man said, leaning against the bus stop with a satisfied smile.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Grabby hands and a smug face awaited for Not-Brutus to deliver the goodies. "Don't mind me if I save three rounds for myself." It was hard to tell if she joked or not, most likely not if anyone paid attention at how desperate she was to Rip & Tear her portion of a meal apart, interrupted only when Olivier called out to her, mouth stuffed full of Oyakodon once she raised her gaze back up to him.
"MMMHN?!" She said, in a non-intelligent language, only to tag along seconds after.

Apparently, they shared one braincell right now as they both ate as they walked, and Nico had close attention to these eyes Theo produced out of a sudden, that pure look of edge, as if his recent shower could not contain the filthy weaboo deep inside. The demon wished to escape from his prison of soap and hair conditioner, clearly. Yet Nico saw an opening, an exploit, as Ari talked with a full mouth. She leaned closer to him, catching up to his rhythm to keep herself shoulder to shoulder with the Eboy, and send her spoon right into his bowl to steal the tastiest meal known to men: Another person's

"This shit's good, don't be greedy and share with the rest!" She exclaimed with evident gluttony, the pinkette sending her spoon yet again unless stopped, her desire to Č̵͔͂̃́̔ò̶͎̖̈́̐̑̉̄́͊̚͘n̵̙̎̈́̒̔̚s̶̘̮̭͙̍̅̀̍́͘͠u̵͖̗̔̋̂̊m̷̨̛̝̳̣̠̫̮͉̘͂͐͊͗̍ë̶̡͎̱͕̙̭̩̗͖́̑͂̀̍̏͛͋̋̕ halted only momentarily once Uncle T begun to bitch, sending a spoonful of her own bowl towards his mouth in hopes of shutting him up for good. "Yeah mom, get the fuck over it." She smiled.

Once they ended up on the stop, with Theo's mom moment done for, and Ari about to sit back and die peacefully, either by overdose of tasty meals or the humidity that forced her to take off her jacket and wrap it around her waist.

Shit's hot around 'ere
And then she got a peek of Olivier, noticing the man self-absorbed upon his phone, she decided to play stealthy and tippy toe behind him to try and get a better look at the text messages. "How's Toko doin?"

An excuse, betrayed by the crumbs-coated grin plastered all over her face.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

He would raise an eyebrow at the two gluttons going apeshit on their food, frowning slightly. "Yo, we're in Japan, eating on the move is hella rude." He would shake his head. "You should look up some other cultural shit, we're going to a small village, if Toko's neighbors see us with her being all rude and shit you're gonna make her look bad."

He would turn to Niko and smile slightly. "Yeah, Toko is doing well. She's about to work out for a little bit after having just taken care of her chores."

Oh, working up a sweat are ya? I've been hitting the weights myself too, anything else going on today?

While waiting for her reply he would pocket his phone and pop open up his to go box, scooping rice and beef into his mouth gingerly, eyeing those who had scarfed their food down like animals.

Yeah, a nice cold shower right after...
the heat is unbearable this summer (⋟﹏⋞)
Mmm, brunch I guess...
Woke up late so I had to rush for the post office
So no breakfast ╥﹏╥
. . .
You should really try to sleep though,
didn't you have two different shows tomorrow?

He would pause his meal and shoot back, grinning as he texted back.

If I gotta I'll drag my sleeping bag out into the woods, it's a clear night tonight. Wish you were here tho, I could use a snuggle partner. I'm not super worried about tomorrows show, I know it'll be a blast.

He would watch the dots with "Honey Bun is typing" sit there for a solid couple minutes, buying him some time to finish his food and discarding it into a nearby trashcan. "Seriously though, once we're on this bus I'm ready to just sleep off a lil jet lag and fast travel to Ogimi. Let's not do anything to fucking derail that process please."

He would tuck his phone into his pocket and chuckle a bit, waiting for the telltale smattering of buzzes that would announce Nao's flustered smattering of responses. When they arrived, he would pull his phone out and chuckle menacingly.

Wait... is that safe? ●﹏●
⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄
I just don't want you to get hurt by accident because you're tired...
I'll be fine lover. I just won that huge tournament, I'm on top of my game.



@Jin

 

[Jin]

The youth saw her spoon coming for his face and, with eyes wide like headlights, he dodged out of the way at the last second. "Are you crazy?" he asked. "There was a pandemic within the last decade and our countries still haven't figured out how to completely get rid of it. Don't put your germs in someone else's mouth!"

He grimaced again. It felt like he was babysitting a gaggle of small children; and Theo hated children, but he almost would have preferred actual kids to this pair of morons. The way they ate was embarassing to watch, made monolithically more so by the number of perplexed, disgusted, and offended Okinawans that bore silent witness to the scene. Theo looked away from the group, hiding his face.

He heard several people nearby in hushed voices exchanging words in a language he didn't understand, and he decided to ask Olivier what they meant. "Hey, uh, Big Dog. What are guy... jeans?" he inquired, certain that the man might know something, or at the very least, know someone who did. "And uh... boo... ray? Isn't that like, those discs you watch movies off of?"

Oh god, were these people saying that it was like something out of a movie, watching the pair gorge themselves? He felt a cold sweat running down his neck. Even in the real world, Fiora was obnoxious, it seemed.

He hadn't expected anything different from Ari.

What he did not expect was how the two of them were in perfect sync. E-boy and Gamer Girl, the Romeo and Juliet story of Terrasphere? Theo had to sigh audibly when that thought crossed his mind. He knew Ari well enough to know that his head was empty, especially when it came to w*men.

He bowed his head in deference when a pair of workers passed by and glared at him, as if there were no escape from being guilty by association.

"I'm so sorry," he muttered. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

He hurried to the train stop and hung close to one of the poles, well away from the other three. Even if it were a short lived reprieve, he was overstimulated and tapped out of the patience not to scream. Their destination couldn't come quickly enough.

@Yugam