[ while it was only brief, ace had met sage and felt off about the swimming comment she'd made. thinking about that and her, well... it makes him frown a bit. unsettled and uncertain about what he's able to do.
why should he care about his swimming compared to her...? he doesn't know, but it does put him off. ]
Yep! Sage asked me to order all of this.
[ did she though, ace? did she really? but about the booze comment: ]
You think a bottle this size is really going to get me drunk? That's funny.
You're really gonna drink it all yourself? I was orderin' for the table...
[ yes, he's looking at ace, hoarder of rum. ordinarily, he wouldn't care but for some reason right now... he cares? weird. he reaches into one of the boxes of pizza and grabs a slice for himself. he's probably just hungry! ]
I know better than to think a man your size would stop at just one bottle, but know this: the more you drink, the more food I plan on sneaking away, because it's only fair for it to balance out!
[Tamamori declares this while sipping furiously on a bottle of the soft drink he finally managed to get out of the bar -- why is getting Calspi so difficult here, and why does it feel like he's drinking something entirely different just because the bottle and the packaging and the name are off?
No, it's definitely off. At the least, it's a flavor that's not in the convenience store, but he can feel himself growing restless (maybe it's the thrumming of rain outside, a sound that he reacts to instinctively, something that crawls along his bones nowadays; he stops for a moment to look for a window). Irritable. He's probably definitely hungry.]
Hmm? Is that how you eat that thing? It looks like a neater version of monjayaki... [luckily, right now pizza is here to distract him from everything, leading him away from the point of the CYOA like a dog with a particularly savory stick; Tamamori hoists himself forward and starts trying to gather himself a piece while looking back and forth at the others, turning the crust sideways... folding it up...? WHICH WAY DO YOU EAT THIS] Mmm, I see, I see.
[ with the comment from ryouma he looks at his bottle and then sets it down with a firmness. ]
Well, we'll just have to get more for everyone!
[ at this point, ace is just... crawling over the bar to get to the other side??? uhm.
he goes over to the bartender and tugs at his sleeve. ]
You should come enjoy yourself with us, too! No reason to be gloomy over here.
[ despite the confidence in his actions, he's doubting what he's doing. might as well make up with a lot of bravado instead. fine on the outside, ??? on the inside.
but he's going to also grab a few bottles of rum for the party and sets them down with a THUD in front of bennett and tamamori. hell, even ryouma can have a random bottle of rum. ]
[ ryouma likes that answer and the pizza seems to be helping (fold it, bruh!!). also the sake. he has a cup in one hand and a half-eaten slice of pizza in the other and takes his "free" bottle of rum along by tucking it under one arm. it's fine!
he's not in any particular rush to sing but he finally wants to meet this sage person. some answers maybe? why is he always trying to do things with less than adequate information? if he has to do a job, wouldn't it make sense to have all the facts?? and as for his stupid rip-off of a job— wait.
why is this happening? he doesn't do this! he's the guy who doesn't spiral! focus!! he has to see to this sage business before anything else... ]
There's no point in having a party without drinks! So you'll thank us later!
Pretty sure he's gloomy because you left an imprint of yourself on his bartop? Seriously, I don't know if I want to know what you guys look like while drunk...
[It should come out peevish, but it comes out good-humored and also incredibly muffled through layers of crust because Tamamori has given up figuring out the complex geometry of pizza consumption and is just stuffing it in his mouth any which way he can. He kind of wants to know what's up with this Sage character, actually, but instead--
Well, for now his eyes are sparkling and his soul is aflame. This stuff? Amazing. Heavenly. Transcendent. Sublime. He doesn't know half those words but it's about the vibes. He nods frenetically at his companions and gestures like he's choking or something but it's just fruitless attempts to convey the fact that pizza is rocking his world without karaoke even being in the picture.
(Off-handedly, he just shrugs and slides the bottle of rum over to Bennett. Courtesy dictates that he not slap the host with his own rum but his bizarre calculus-besotted alter ego dictates that he should not give this bottle to Ryouma. He's a little too busy to be fighting with his alter ego again, really.)
........ the really amazing thing about pizza. The real benefit of pizza, he discovers time and time again, more benefits all the time -- is that he can just grab several slices or an entire box if he wants to run off somewhere. Animated by the pizza gods and his inner angry banker, Tamamori hurries after Ryouma, trying to clear his mouth along the way.]
Mm, I want to do more karaoke too... Now, are you telling me this Sage exists?
[ Sage drags herself out of the room and lays eyes on the 20...pizza boxes. Oh, my. ]
What? I paid for the room, asked for two pizzas and – there's a mountain of 'em. What the hell.
[ She sounds pretty pissed, but she ends up just throwing her hands up as she goes over to the bar. She rips off a piece of pizza and seems to have resigned herself to half-heartedly partying it up with everyone else. What a mess. ]
God, whatever, fuck it. Who cares! Bartender, gimme some of whatever he's having.
[ Sage gestures over at the bottle Ryouma's got with him. The bartender lets out an audible sigh. ]
They took the last bottle, sorry. Mind pouring the young lady a glass, sir?
[ did he get ignored by the bartender? sad face. but really, ace opens up a box of pizza and motions toward it. ]
You can have a slice or two.
[ he, himself, taking a swig from the rum fire bottle directly before double fisting pizza that he's dumped some red pepper flakes all over.
and without fully swallowing, he's starting to talk. ]
Two, twenty, who cares? They gave us plenty of breadsticks to make up for things.
[ NO IT DOESN'T. ]
I think they gave some extra soda, too. So cheer up and have fun with us, Sage.
[ even if feels more unsettled than he had before.
best way to solve it? make it a bigger party. so, he's leaning over the bar awkwardly to grab at his phone and fumbles around uselessly for a few moments before he finds a group chat for the swim team and sends out: ]
[ ryouma holds the remaining pizza crust in his teeth while he reaches over the bar to grab another couple of shot glasses. he fills them up before sliding one over to sage. switching gears to the rum, he keeps the other for himself. ]
C'mon! It's a party! Live in the moment!
...
Besides, you're the key to everything, right?
[ it's funny! only it's not? there's that feeling again. frustrating. ryouma solves puzzles and fixes things and sets timelines right and this all feels wrong so there must be something needing to be fixed! it's only logical based on his experience! everything wouldn't be converging on this party and sage in the middle of everything if she wasn't important... ]
[Oh, are they not hitting the karaoke. Damn. He was kind of looking forward to seeing more of that crazy business -- but maybe it's better to get a sense of what Ryouma's calling the key of the... something or other? Why are they looking for a key again when he's already found the key to life--
Wait, that's probably his anti-Ryouma bias speaking again? Anti-Ryouma character bias?? This really would be easier if they had proper character names to go with their confusing character arcs -- he finally swallows his mouthful of pizza, pointing at Sage the whole time.]
So that's Sage. You know, from the pictures. [just in case we were in doubt] So this is a pizza party, not a karaoke party?
[ Bennett was also kind of looking forward to karaoke, but the pizza is really good. And Tanamori even passed him something to drink! And yeah, even just thinking about Tanamori makes him feel kind of strange right now, especially now that Sage has emerged from the karaoke room to join them. He offers her a wave but says nothing, already bitterly wondering if she'll even notice him.
He shakes the thought off, telling himself that isn't fair before he offers a followup to Ryouma's comment. ]
[ Sorry, Ace, the bartender looks like he has no interest in having fun right now. He texts the swim team, though, and gets, like. A few responses. ]
PIZZA PIZZA??? yo dude i'm there!! been a rough day for some reason Sick.
[ And so on so forth.
Sage only gives Bennett a glance (sorry, Bennett) and looks over at Ryouma with a confused look in the midst of taking a shot. She sort of almost-slams the glass onto the table. ]
What? "The key to everything?" You feelin' alright?
[ And then to Tamamori, she snarls a bit: ]
Yeah, it was supposed to be karaoke, but you guys decided to hang out here instead. There's a screen up here I guess that we can use, but, then what was the point of me getting a room –
[ She's working herself into a tizzy. The bartender ends up just sitting on a stool behind the counter, a little slumped over. ]
[ ryouma forgets what he was going to say when bennett agrees with him. that's what he meant, right? ]
Yeah. Hah, of course, that's what I meant. You invited all of us!
[ he's not being weird about this at all! ]
Who cares where we are? Isn't it better that we're having a good time? You shouldn't be so picky!
[ ordinarily, ryouma doesn't argue. or fuss. right now? it's hard to keep fighting against that frustrated feeling, so he gets some of it out the only way he can at the moment. ]
Ehh, don't look at me? These guys started drinking a while ago, just think of 'em as a bunch of drunks getting lost on their way to the room!
[Tamamori more or less deadpans this with his hands held up in a mock-peacekeeping gesture. He is not keeping the peace. He is almost definitely trying to provoke one or both of the fired up rum people; is this a stupid idea? Of course. Does he have any other sort of idea? Dream-him sure doesn't.
He's also, by this point, surreptitiously gathered at least two boxes of pizza for himself; will he finish it all??? He's a skinny little bastard, but you never know -- this could be his Milan origin story. He could also just be getting ready to dine and dash given the atmosphere in the place, but for now he's still comfortably installed with his hoard.]
And we've got so much food having an extra room couldn't hurt -- like if we had a karaoke pizza concert.
[Is that even a thing, either way he's just here saying words and phrases.]
[ why did he do this? start the party out here when he knew about the reservation. he shakes his head. to hell with that, he's not the type to care about the location. even if he has some doubts, for some odd reason. ]
It doesn't matter what happened. We're having fun.
[ his voice sounds a little irritated, though. even if he's trying to make peace and get everyone on the same page.
but now that he knows that more guys are coming to devour pizza, he's going to stuff more food in his mouth. he's bringing his own competition, but he wanted it as a distraction from whatever this feeling is. it's the right way to do it... right?
either way, he grabs five (yes, five) pizzas and a couple bags of breadsticks to squirrel behind the bar. since the bartender isn't kicking him out and seems to be in a depressed funk, he might as well become the bartender and use it for squirreling away what he wants. no big. ]
But if you're going to keep complaining about the kind of party it is, go to the room and spend some alone time with Sage doing whatever.
[ this is pointedly directed at tamamori. go away. shoo. ]
[ Frustration might not be Bennett's Designated Negative Emotion for this weird dream-test thing, but even so that's what edges the feeling of isolation and discontent that settles over him. No surprise he's being ignored again, but it sure does feel just as bad!
He doesn't like the idea of the group splitting up, though. ]
We may as well stay out here. It's raining so hard I doubt anyone else wants to come.
Who's the one that planned this shit?! I did, you're using my card for all these pizzas --
[ SPEAKING OF PIZZAS, here comes the swim team. They're all in speedos because it's raining and most of them just burst through the door excitedly. There's a lot of them. Tons of dudes. Ace's friends.
They're making a mad dash for the pizza, and when they get their hands on a box, they're snagging it away from the group.
The bartender doesn't make any attempt to stop this and Sage just looks personally offended. ]
[ for a few moments ryouma just takes all this in — the complaining back and forth, sage's attitude, people claiming pizzas for themselves — and it doesn't sit any better than anything else. and now it's raining? that figures! ]
What's the rain gotta do with it? Watch the power go out anyway because that would figure. [ because he's only been awake in this place a short time but this day already sucks??? ] What is your problem? Are we having fun? Huh? Are we really? Because all he's done is complain the entire time! [ where is the lie, tamamori? ] Shut up and eat your pizza!
[ he takes some of that out on eating his own pizza (aggressively) but again that also makes him wonder what the hell that was. he'd apologise but it!! really is annoying!!
and that's before the swim team shows up. he has a box of pizza that hasn't had anyone's wet speedo-clad hands on it yet and would like to keep it that way. he doesn't ask for much!! just his pizza and his booze. ]
Can you just try not to curse us for five seconds? Can you all not--
[Tamamori slams his hands indignantly on the table (unlike earlier, when he probably slammed them on the table in excitement for all the food, or the Calspi, or just the general festive atmosphere that has soured so rapidly they might be able to turn it into like 30 bunches of grapes) and tries to grumble at Ryouma first of all, the others second -- the talk of rain is putting him on edge, along with the possibility that he'll have to abscond out into said rain growing by the second. It's not the same, but right now everyone's complaining at him and he for one doesn't think he should have to put up with that.
But then the rain comes to them.
Or more accurately speaking, a large amount of very athletic people in speedos who look like they've been swimming through it interrupt him handily. Tamamori yelps a little in the deluge and tries to flatten himself against a wall so that: A. They won't run over him, B. They won't try to go for the two boxes of pizza he's stuffed into his shirt or the third he's just swiped out of spite OR his drink, C. He'll hopefully have a clearer route if he really does need to run into the rain like a maniac to avoid things going weirder than they already are.]
Huh?! Was this actually the red light district and nobody told me??
[ ace gives tamamori a look at that, but quickly ignores him as his bros come barging in. should he have done this? no. but they're family. they should make him feel more comfortable.
but also, this was sage's party... it is on her tab. maybe he shouldn't have done this.
no. no, this is what he wanted. friends, enjoyment, everything. at least the "insult" seemed pretty tame from tamamori. or he didn't really get it. either way. he's handing out some fives at his friend and getting them drinks to up the mood. ]
I'd worry about you guys getting too wet, but it looks like you're dressed for the weather!
Which is to say that Bennett is pretty overwhelmed by the dudes in speedos, especially the ferocity with which they descend upon the pizza. He manages to just barely snatch his own plate out of the way before the box he was eating from is yanked away, and he can barely even hear Ryouma and Tamamori yelling over the clamor for pizza. In fact, he's just gonna shift around here and...
... climb on top of the bar, pizza still in hand. There, now no one should knock him over. From his vantage point. He notes that Ace is the only one that doesn't seem surprised all this, and he asks: ]
[ this guy... is really getting on his nerves??? ryouma has only ever felt like that about one person but he might just make an exception here with the way things are going right now. ]
What do you mean curse you? [ why is he taking this so personally? it's so hard to tell that that frustration doesn't truly belong to him anymore. ] Everything I've ever done is to try and help people! Wouldn't expect you to appreciate that though! All ya do is sit around an' judge people. If all this skin and drinkin' scares ya, you'd hate it where I come from.
[ this unusual surge of anger and frustration keeps messing with his ability to maintain his accent. the well-spoken textbook japanese sounds a lot different than his native tosaben. ]
Maybe if y' quit stickin' yer nose in everybody else's business you'd be able t' get yours together.
[ it's a mean thing to say and it comes out of a place that... isn't real? because it can't be? ryouma doesn't really know this person. but this dream-ryouma or whoever he is here apparently knows something? however long he's had to live with his messy roommate. and speaking of— ]
I caught you diggin' around in my stuff too, remember?
[ stuff he cared about not at all about a half an hour ago. ]
I'm saying at this point your very person is a curse upon me! You're like a terrible youkai that only knows how to spit curses and terrible words, so you'll forgive me if I don't believe you for a minute. Faker. Posturer.
[Nyahaha, he laughs a ridiculous laugh, plastering on a shit-eating grin from behind the wall of muscle and speedos that separates them -- the cause of his bravado, really, but it may not be the whole reason he just sounds like his bratty pompous usual self in a lot of ways. Somehow he's just like this, even with emotions that aren't his swirling around and around.
It's a little familiar, just like playing a role in a drama -- an actor dropped onto stage in media res, without any sort of preparation and forced to improvise. He's never backed down from such a thing, even when he really should, and even when the other two in the background are providing more contextual information.
No, he has a nemesis in this arc now and he'll see it through to the end.]
And the proof is in the accent! And your poor excuses for past-times. Really now: there's nothing worse than a man with no real hobbies; and anyone would think they'd walked into the red light district when suddenly confronted with all the mostly-very-nude bodies in the world at a completely illogical gathering like this.
You're just a petty fellow who likes finding fault with others at the end of the day, and I'm immune to such things!
[ ace doesn't really care about the squabbling between ryouma and tamamori, they can duke it out. sometimes it's best to work things out with a punch or two if it comes to that point.
besides, his attention is drawn to bennett, since he was called out for all his friends. ]
Can't invite one without inviting them all. That's how a team goes.
[ he seems proud of his buddies. but this wasn't really his choice of who to invite, was it? would sage really be upset after this? like, really, really upset. friendship breaking upset? that worries him and he falters a second before stuffing a piece of pizza in his mouth. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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why should he care about his swimming compared to her...? he doesn't know, but it does put him off. ]
Yep! Sage asked me to order all of this.
[ did she though, ace? did she really? but about the booze comment: ]
You think a bottle this size is really going to get me drunk? That's funny.
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[ yes, he's looking at ace, hoarder of rum. ordinarily, he wouldn't care but for some reason right now... he cares? weird. he reaches into one of the boxes of pizza and grabs a slice for himself. he's probably just hungry! ]
... But there's a whole bar out there, right?
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[Tamamori declares this while sipping furiously on a bottle of the soft drink he finally managed to get out of the bar -- why is getting Calspi so difficult here, and why does it feel like he's drinking something entirely different just because the bottle and the packaging and the name are off?
No, it's definitely off. At the least, it's a flavor that's not in the convenience store, but he can feel himself growing restless (maybe it's the thrumming of rain outside, a sound that he reacts to instinctively, something that crawls along his bones nowadays; he stops for a moment to look for a window). Irritable. He's probably definitely hungry.]
Hmm? Is that how you eat that thing? It looks like a neater version of monjayaki... [luckily, right now pizza is here to distract him from everything, leading him away from the point of the CYOA like a dog with a particularly savory stick; Tamamori hoists himself forward and starts trying to gather himself a piece while looking back and forth at the others, turning the crust sideways... folding it up...? WHICH WAY DO YOU EAT THIS] Mmm, I see, I see.
[does he see]
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Are you staying out there all night or are we singing?
[ The bartender looks a little gloomier than before, but he's just polishing some glasses, no big deal... ]
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Well, we'll just have to get more for everyone!
[ at this point, ace is just... crawling over the bar to get to the other side??? uhm.
he goes over to the bartender and tugs at his sleeve. ]
You should come enjoy yourself with us, too! No reason to be gloomy over here.
[ despite the confidence in his actions, he's doubting what he's doing. might as well make up with a lot of bravado instead. fine on the outside, ??? on the inside.
but he's going to also grab a few bottles of rum for the party and sets them down with a THUD in front of bennett and tamamori. hell, even ryouma can have a random bottle of rum. ]
Rum for everyone, then!
[ he's ignoring sage being snippy....... ]
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[ ryouma likes that answer and the pizza seems to be helping (fold it, bruh!!).
also the sake.he has a cup in one hand and a half-eaten slice of pizza in the other and takes his "free" bottle of rum along by tucking it under one arm.it's fine!he's not in any particular rush to sing but he finally wants to meet this sage person. some answers maybe? why is he always trying to do things with less than adequate information? if he has to do a job, wouldn't it make sense to have all the facts?? and as for his stupid rip-off of a job— wait.
why is this happening? he doesn't do this! he's the guy who doesn't spiral! focus!! he has to see to this sage business before anything else... ]
There's no point in having a party without drinks! So you'll thank us later!
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[It should come out peevish, but it comes out good-humored and also incredibly muffled through layers of crust because Tamamori has given up figuring out the complex geometry of pizza consumption and is just stuffing it in his mouth any which way he can. He kind of wants to know what's up with this Sage character, actually, but instead--
Well, for now his eyes are sparkling and his soul is aflame. This stuff? Amazing. Heavenly. Transcendent. Sublime. He doesn't know half those words but it's about the vibes. He nods frenetically at his companions and gestures like he's choking or something but it's just fruitless attempts to convey the fact that pizza is rocking his world without karaoke even being in the picture.
(Off-handedly, he just shrugs and slides the bottle of rum over to Bennett. Courtesy dictates that he not slap the host with his own rum but his bizarre calculus-besotted alter ego dictates that he should not give this bottle to Ryouma. He's a little too busy to be fighting with his alter ego again, really.)
........ the really amazing thing about pizza. The real benefit of pizza, he discovers time and time again, more benefits all the time -- is that he can just grab several slices or an entire box if he wants to run off somewhere. Animated by the pizza gods and his inner angry banker, Tamamori hurries after Ryouma, trying to clear his mouth along the way.]
Mm, I want to do more karaoke too... Now, are you telling me this Sage exists?
[peeeeeeek]
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[ Sage drags herself out of the room and lays eyes on the 20...pizza boxes. Oh, my. ]
What? I paid for the room, asked for two pizzas and – there's a mountain of 'em. What the hell.
[ She sounds pretty pissed, but she ends up just throwing her hands up as she goes over to the bar. She rips off a piece of pizza and seems to have resigned herself to half-heartedly partying it up with everyone else. What a mess. ]
God, whatever, fuck it. Who cares! Bartender, gimme some of whatever he's having.
[ Sage gestures over at the bottle Ryouma's got with him. The bartender lets out an audible sigh. ]
They took the last bottle, sorry. Mind pouring the young lady a glass, sir?
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You can have a slice or two.
[ he, himself, taking a swig from the rum fire bottle directly before double fisting pizza that he's dumped some red pepper flakes all over.
and without fully swallowing, he's starting to talk. ]
Two, twenty, who cares? They gave us plenty of breadsticks to make up for things.
[ NO IT DOESN'T. ]
I think they gave some extra soda, too. So cheer up and have fun with us, Sage.
[ even if feels more unsettled than he had before.
best way to solve it? make it a bigger party. so, he's leaning over the bar awkwardly to grab at his phone and fumbles around uselessly for a few moments before he finds a group chat for the swim team and sends out: ]
karaoke4pizza
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[ ryouma holds the remaining pizza crust in his teeth while he reaches over the bar to grab another couple of shot glasses. he fills them up before sliding one over to sage. switching gears to the rum, he keeps the other for himself. ]
C'mon! It's a party! Live in the moment!
...
Besides, you're the key to everything, right?
[ it's funny! only it's not? there's that feeling again. frustrating. ryouma solves puzzles and fixes things and sets timelines right and this all feels wrong so there must be something needing to be fixed! it's only logical based on his experience! everything wouldn't be converging on this party and sage in the middle of everything if she wasn't important... ]
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[Oh, are they not hitting the karaoke. Damn. He was kind of looking forward to seeing more of that crazy business -- but maybe it's better to get a sense of what Ryouma's calling the key of the... something or other? Why are they looking for a key again when he's already found the key to life--
Wait, that's probably his anti-Ryouma bias speaking again? Anti-Ryouma character bias?? This really would be easier if they had proper character names to go with their confusing character arcs -- he finally swallows his mouthful of pizza, pointing at Sage the whole time.]
So that's Sage. You know, from the pictures. [just in case we were in doubt] So this is a pizza party, not a karaoke party?
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He shakes the thought off, telling himself that isn't fair before he offers a followup to Ryouma's comment. ]
Yeah! You're the one that invited all of us!
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PIZZA
PIZZA???
yo dude i'm there!! been a rough day for some reason
Sick.
[ And so on so forth.
Sage only gives Bennett a glance (sorry, Bennett) and looks over at Ryouma with a confused look in the midst of taking a shot. She sort of almost-slams the glass onto the table. ]
What? "The key to everything?" You feelin' alright?
[ And then to Tamamori, she snarls a bit: ]
Yeah, it was supposed to be karaoke, but you guys decided to hang out here instead. There's a screen up here I guess that we can use, but, then what was the point of me getting a room –
[ She's working herself into a tizzy. The bartender ends up just sitting on a stool behind the counter, a little slumped over. ]
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Yeah. Hah, of course, that's what I meant. You invited all of us!
[ he's not being weird about this at all! ]
Who cares where we are? Isn't it better that we're having a good time? You shouldn't be so picky!
[ ordinarily, ryouma doesn't argue. or fuss. right now? it's hard to keep fighting against that frustrated feeling, so he gets some of it out the only way he can at the moment. ]
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[Tamamori more or less deadpans this with his hands held up in a mock-peacekeeping gesture. He is not keeping the peace. He is almost definitely trying to provoke one or both of the fired up rum people; is this a stupid idea? Of course. Does he have any other sort of idea? Dream-him sure doesn't.
He's also, by this point, surreptitiously gathered at least two boxes of pizza for himself; will he finish it all??? He's a skinny little bastard, but you never know -- this could be his Milan origin story. He could also just be getting ready to dine and dash given the atmosphere in the place, but for now he's still comfortably installed with his hoard.]
And we've got so much food having an extra room couldn't hurt -- like if we had a karaoke pizza concert.
[Is that even a thing, either way he's just here saying words and phrases.]
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[ why did he do this? start the party out here when he knew about the reservation. he shakes his head. to hell with that, he's not the type to care about the location. even if he has some doubts, for some odd reason. ]
It doesn't matter what happened. We're having fun.
[ his voice sounds a little irritated, though. even if he's trying to make peace and get everyone on the same page.
but now that he knows that more guys are coming to devour pizza, he's going to stuff more food in his mouth. he's bringing his own competition, but he wanted it as a distraction from whatever this feeling is. it's the right way to do it... right?
either way, he grabs five (yes, five) pizzas and a couple bags of breadsticks to squirrel behind the bar. since the bartender isn't kicking him out and seems to be in a depressed funk, he might as well become the bartender and use it for squirreling away what he wants. no big. ]
But if you're going to keep complaining about the kind of party it is, go to the room and spend some alone time with Sage doing whatever.
[ this is pointedly directed at tamamori. go away. shoo. ]
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He doesn't like the idea of the group splitting up, though. ]
We may as well stay out here. It's raining so hard I doubt anyone else wants to come.
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[ SPEAKING OF PIZZAS, here comes the swim team. They're all in speedos because it's raining and most of them just burst through the door excitedly. There's a lot of them. Tons of dudes. Ace's friends.
They're making a mad dash for the pizza, and when they get their hands on a box, they're snagging it away from the group.
The bartender doesn't make any attempt to stop this and Sage just looks personally offended. ]
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What's the rain gotta do with it? Watch the power go out anyway because that would figure. [ because he's only been awake in this place a short time but this day already sucks??? ] What is your problem? Are we having fun? Huh? Are we really? Because all he's done is complain the entire time! [ where is the lie, tamamori? ] Shut up and eat your pizza!
[ he takes some of that out on eating his own pizza (aggressively) but again that also makes him wonder what the hell that was. he'd apologise but it!! really is annoying!!
and that's before the swim team shows up. he has a box of pizza that hasn't had anyone's wet speedo-clad hands on it yet and would like to keep it that way. he doesn't ask for much!! just his pizza and his booze. ]
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[Tamamori slams his hands indignantly on the table (unlike earlier, when he probably slammed them on the table in excitement for all the food, or the Calspi, or just the general festive atmosphere that has soured so rapidly they might be able to turn it into like 30 bunches of grapes) and tries to grumble at Ryouma first of all, the others second -- the talk of rain is putting him on edge, along with the possibility that he'll have to abscond out into said rain growing by the second. It's not the same, but right now everyone's complaining at him and he for one doesn't think he should have to put up with that.
But then the rain comes to them.
Or more accurately speaking, a large amount of very athletic people in speedos who look like they've been swimming through it interrupt him handily. Tamamori yelps a little in the deluge and tries to flatten himself against a wall so that: A. They won't run over him, B. They won't try to go for the two boxes of pizza he's stuffed into his shirt or the third he's just swiped out of spite OR his drink, C. He'll hopefully have a clearer route if he really does need to run into the rain like a maniac to avoid things going weirder than they already are.]
Huh?! Was this actually the red light district and nobody told me??
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but also, this was sage's party... it is on her tab. maybe he shouldn't have done this.
no. no, this is what he wanted. friends, enjoyment, everything. at least the "insult" seemed pretty tame from tamamori. or he didn't really get it. either way. he's handing out some fives at his friend and getting them drinks to up the mood. ]
I'd worry about you guys getting too wet, but it looks like you're dressed for the weather!
[ absolutely not. ]
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Which is to say that Bennett is pretty overwhelmed by the dudes in speedos, especially the ferocity with which they descend upon the pizza. He manages to just barely snatch his own plate out of the way before the box he was eating from is yanked away, and he can barely even hear Ryouma and Tamamori yelling over the clamor for pizza. In fact, he's just gonna shift around here and...
... climb on top of the bar, pizza still in hand. There, now no one should knock him over. From his vantage point. He notes that Ace is the only one that doesn't seem surprised all this, and he asks: ]
Did you really invite all of them?
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What do you mean curse you? [ why is he taking this so personally? it's so hard to tell that that frustration doesn't truly belong to him anymore. ] Everything I've ever done is to try and help people! Wouldn't expect you to appreciate that though! All ya do is sit around an' judge people. If all this skin and drinkin' scares ya, you'd hate it where I come from.
[ this unusual surge of anger and frustration keeps messing with his ability to maintain his accent. the well-spoken textbook japanese sounds a lot different than his native tosaben. ]
Maybe if y' quit stickin' yer nose in everybody else's business you'd be able t' get yours together.
[ it's a mean thing to say and it comes out of a place that... isn't real? because it can't be? ryouma doesn't really know this person. but this dream-ryouma or whoever he is here apparently knows something? however long he's had to live with his messy roommate. and speaking of— ]
I caught you diggin' around in my stuff too, remember?
[ stuff he cared about not at all about a half an hour ago. ]
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[Nyahaha, he laughs a ridiculous laugh, plastering on a shit-eating grin from behind the wall of muscle and speedos that separates them -- the cause of his bravado, really, but it may not be the whole reason he just sounds like his bratty pompous usual self in a lot of ways. Somehow he's just like this, even with emotions that aren't his swirling around and around.
It's a little familiar, just like playing a role in a drama -- an actor dropped onto stage in media res, without any sort of preparation and forced to improvise. He's never backed down from such a thing, even when he really should, and even when the other two in the background are providing more contextual information.
No, he has a nemesis in this arc now and he'll see it through to the end.]
And the proof is in the accent! And your poor excuses for past-times. Really now: there's nothing worse than a man with no real hobbies; and anyone would think they'd walked into the red light district when suddenly confronted with all the mostly-very-nude bodies in the world at a completely illogical gathering like this.
You're just a petty fellow who likes finding fault with others at the end of the day, and I'm immune to such things!
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besides, his attention is drawn to bennett, since he was called out for all his friends. ]
Can't invite one without inviting them all. That's how a team goes.
[ he seems proud of his buddies. but this wasn't really his choice of who to invite, was it? would sage really be upset after this? like, really, really upset. friendship breaking upset? that worries him and he falters a second before stuffing a piece of pizza in his mouth. ]