open!

[stardustish]

Who: Sylvia Kawano and you!
When: Juril 1st - 4th, some closed prompts from the 5th on
Where: Various
What: Working at the Cat Cafe and Kitty Quest + some closed prompts in the comments.
Warnings: Mentions of character death later on

purramid cafe.

[ working at the purramid cafe has been an interesting experience, to say the least -- sylvia enjoys her job and has learned a lot about how to be a barista! ...however, she's still a little clumsy with handling dishes sometimes, and while she hasn't broken anything, she's prone to letting things spill a little or overflow from the cups. she's getting better at it, promise...but that doesn't mean she's without unhappy customers. ]

Miss. You filled the cup way too much, and now there's a coffee splatter on my shoe!

Gah-- [ sylvia gasps, but she doesn't really turn around to face the customer because she's in a scramble to make her next order. she gives them a few hurried glances and an apologetic look, but it doesn't seem to placate the woman at all. ] Sorry about that! I'm really sorry, I swear I didn't mean for that to happen!

It doesn't matter if you meant it or not, you got my brand new shoes dirty with a coffee stain!

[ feel free to tell sylvia to be more careful, or tell the customer to take a chill pill. or watch. maybe you're the customer who's next in line, even! ]

blink and miss 'em.

[ sylvia is among the volunteers at pile's petagorium, doing her best to rally all the cats together. she has a bowl of cat food next to her and has attracted a few kittens to her side, but there are still a bunch running amok. she's not very good at this, judging by the frantic expression on her face. she didn't have to work with the cats at the cafe, so she has...absolutely no experience in this department whatsoever, and it shows in how she can't quite get the cats that aren't hungry to settle down.

she reaches for one that sniffs at her feet, but the kitten poofs just before she can touch it. she heaves a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping as she runs a hand through her hair. ]

This was a mistake. Ughhh, this was such a mistake.

[ she tries to say that under her breath, but it comes out a little louder than she'd intended for it to. that being said, a little help would be appreciated! ]

Comments

blink and miss 'em

[galrarm]

[ Kittens--how hard can it be? Shiro's wrangled worse, after all. He could make a joke about the lions--and honestly, maybe he will--but right now, he's more concerned with making sure that the kittens don't get too far out of hand.

Including the one that's poofed away from Sylvia... and right onto his feet.

Shiro sighs and scoops the wriggling kitten up, then looks to Sylvia with a sympathetic smile. ]

They're pretty mischievous, aren't they? Are you doing alright?

[stardustish]

Yeah, they really are. This is actually the worst.

[ she watches as the man scoops the kitten up, but she's so tired that she can't manage a smile back at him. she deflates a little and looks over at the kittens next to her. ]

Some of them like the toys, some of them like the food...but they're really picky about it, you know? Have you found anything that works?

[galrarm]

It could be worse. They could be bigger.

[ But... he gets it. Shiro sighs as the kitten climbs up his shoulders and perches on top of his head... then starts batting at the floof of white hair. ]

Other than letting them use me as a cat tower? Not particularly.

[stardustish]

A cat tower?

[ a kitten poofs and makes itself visible, and she sees it perched up on shiro's shoulder. ]

Okay, yeah, I see what you mean now! That's adorable.

closed to keith - wonderous things

[stardustish]

[ sylvia had signed up to do this solo, and she has no problems with that. granted, she's extra tired because she just got off of a shift at work, but it's worth it for the extra money. she wipes some sweat off of her forehead and grumbles before she moves to tie her hair up in a ponytail.

as she does, she looks up and ahead of her. ah -- there's a familiar face! it gets her to smile, at least, and she calls over to him: ]

Hey, Keith! You doing this, too?

[ when she's done tying her hair up, she walks over towards him, into the field. ]

Don't mind if I join you!

[marmoron]

[ Keith doesn't actually have much experience with crop harvesting, but with so many people reluctant to do the work the compensation is just a little too good to pass up. Especially since he's now got a new wormipede buddy to take care of. Not that he doesn't have his misgivings about the gossip plants, but how bad can it really be?

When he hears his name being called, he pauses and looks back over his shoulder. ]

Oh hey, Sylvia. I don't mind at all.

[ He turns to face her fully, then after a moment of eyeing the hairdo,,. ]

You don't have another hair tie do you?

[stardustish]

As a matter of fact, I do!

[ she always has two hair ties on her for whenever she feels like wearing pigtails. it's your lucky day, keith. she hands him her extra hair tie and shifts a little. her leg brushes against one of the plants, and then there's a sudden whisper in the wind: ]

Sylvia's secretly a perfectionist. Did you see her in the Underground? She worked herself to the bone to impress The Matriarch.

[ at that, she lets out a startled gasp. her cheeks flare up, and she looks at keith like a deer in headlights. ]

You -- you didn't hear that, did you?

closed to jongdae - suspicious activity

[stardustish]

[ a request from the lead investigator of the city guard was one sylvia was a little hesitant to accept. the nature of the quest itself is what makes her nervous -- it reminds her of what she used to do back at home as an agent -- but she accepts because she feels like it's the right thing to do. and if something bad were to come out of letting these people roam freely, she knows she'd feel guilty for not doing something about it.

luckily, she doesn't have to do this alone. with a little of nudging and convincing, she managed to get jongdae on board with the quest, too. she's glad she has a partner in crime for this, because she doesn't know how she'd feel if she had to do this solo.

the two of them are casually walking around in the haven area, and sylvia's trying not to look too suspicious. so far, she hasn't seen any of the cloaked figures, which she isn't sure is a good sign or not. she turns to jongdae and says quietly: ]

Keeping your eyes peeled, right? I haven't seen anything weird yet.

[itsjiaheng]

Oh, yeah. Definitely. That's such a weird expression, isn't it? Why are they peeled? Like that's gross. Like grapes?

[ he keeps looking around, his hands tucked into pockets as he goes. at least if anything moves he's likely to notice with the way his senses are just a bit more attuned to that kind of thing these days.

plus he's very good at being undercover because he really has no idea how to be anything else; it's not like anyone might mistake him for someone with training or anything. ]

Do you know what we're gonna do when we find them..?

[stardustish]

Ew, Jongdae! That's gross!

[ she scrunches her nose up, but she's quick to brush it off. there're more important things to squint at, anyway.

at his question, she nods firmly. ]

I was thinking that we apprehend them and take them to the investigator ourselves. I think our words won't hold as much weight, unless you think you'd be good at convincing them to go home?

[fabrications]

[ Akechi keeps himself out of Sylvia's head, and Sylvia keeps herself out of his. Maybe it's antithetical to what a Bond is supposed to entail, but it suits him (and apparently her) just fine. It also means sudden surges of emotion, particularly unusual ones like rage and fear and guilt, are enough to catch his attention. He actually jumps when the rage first comes through, but it's not until the fear kicks in that he heads out to find her.

And find her he does, looking like an absolute mess where she lays collapsed. He can tell she's still alive, but not for how long she's likely to stay that way. With that thought in mind, he's quick to approach. ]

Sylvia.

[ His tone and emotions are both restrained, nothing so distinct as worry coming through, but there's an undeniable air of tension around him all the same. ]

[stardustish]

[ she'd overexerted herself on the way to the hospital, though it was probably for the best -- shin would've undoubtedly killed her if she hadn't ran away. a part of her feels like a coward for doing so, but a larger part is still horrified. not just of him, but of her actions, her thoughts that clouded her judgment -- how quick she was to act once she'd seen her friend's lifeless body on the floor.

adrenaline surges through her veins. normally it fuels her, propels her forward and serves as motivation for her to do the impossible; tonight, that adrenaline is sinister and cold. her heart's racing in her chest and her body's screaming in pain when akechi finds her.

she turns her head slightly to look up at him, wincing in pain. ]

...Help...please.

[fabrications]

[ Well, that's concerning if anything ever was. If Akechi's learned one thing about Sylvia since meeting her, it's that she seems almost pathologically adverse to being a burden on anyone else.

Which, you know... mood.

But it means that when she asks for help, Akechi knows she means it. He frowns but doesn't hesitate to step closer, kneeling down to bring them a little closer to eye to eye. ]

Your injuries - how bad are they?

purramid cafe.

[coherer]

(no one interrupts his playdates with kittens—even the blue, starry kind, which shocked jonas into baby-talking them on his first visit—especially when a couple of them respond to the shout from one of the other customers by digging their little nails into the shin of his pants. chews back a "yeowch!", gently pries them off with wheezy encouragements, and turns in his seat to check the damage.

some boomer is telling sylvia off for something, which really gets his hackles up. protective of his friends and being a typical gen z, jonas hooks an arm over the back of his chair and eyeballs the disturbance.)

Take the L on the shoes, lady. Jesus, like, you can buy a new pair of those, but you can't buy a new personality. (there's no responding well for that not-so-diplomatic approach to scorning a stranger, shooting an apologetic look to sylvia when she starts up about talking to a manager.) Miiight've made the situation worse kinda' for you... my bad...

[stardustish]

[ she knew jonas was here, and she feels like she should have seen this coming, but she's still pleasantly surprised when jonas sticks up for her. and damn, she has to bite on her lower lip to keep herself from laughing at that burn. can't buy a new personality...

oh, but the woman's demanding for a manager now, and sylvia just wants to scrub at her face. she probably would if she wasn't brewing another cup of coffee. but she looks over at jonas, still distressed but she gives him a little wink. can't let the customer know she's pleased with what he said, right? ]

Ah, ma'am, the manager isn't in right now...

[ the customer huffs dramatically and insists that she'll have to come back again later to complain. she leaves her cup of coffee on the counter in front of sylvia and storms out of the cafe. sylvia takes this opportunity to flash a grin jonas' way -- thanks, bud. ]

I'll come over and say hi in a bit!

[coherer]

(wiggles his fingers at the woman as she leaves, listening to the slam of the café door with a poignant roll of his eyes.)

What a peach. I don't even know what has to happen to you to get like that... jaded, much? Or just rich and pretentious? (yeah, jonas doesn't exactly get along well with the affluent sort, even if he makes exceptions for the chill ones. makes sure sylvia's alright, but she's beaming—as always. he hopes that's an accurate portrayal of her true mood, even if he's asking just in case:)

You alright? Crappy customers can be such a bummer. I'm sure Ozymandias won't care about the exchange; he seemed like the... protective type when we first spoke a billion years ago. Which is good.

closed to steak

[stardustish]

[ it's a little while after her mission with jongdae, and sylvia's getting a few odd looks around town because of how she's walking with her arms crossed protectively over her chest. nobody says anything, though, and some people look sympathetic -- that's because they, too, have their sins out for display just like she does.

she's not paying attention to her surroundings very much, still huffy and upset over what the cloaked woman did to her on her mission. it's because of her inattentiveness that she bumps into someone. she pulls back immediately and her arms open up, hands in front of her as she apologizes. ]

Sorry! I'm so-- [ wait a minute. ] Steak! Super sorry, I, uh--

[battlebound]

[ These markings are a pain, and being one among several doesn't make it easier to walk around with the word Cocky scrawled across his face.

Perhaps it's a good thing that it's just a commentary on his ego and nothing worse, but even so —

Even so! He's not cocky! He just knows he's good. ]

Ah! [ Oh, at least it's someone familiar. ] ... Are you okay? [ Is she out of it? She kind of looks out of it. ]

[stardustish]

[ hers isn't a single word: it's a sentence, in fact. I ran away when people needed me. ouch. she tries her best to keep her eyes on his rather than the word on his face. ]

I'm okay! Just...had a run-in with one of those hooded weirdos. Looks like you did too, huh?

Purramid Cafe

[needsteaplz]

[Saori isn't much of a coffee drinker but she wants to check up on her housemate and maybe the cats. She was next in line when she heard the irate customer ahead of her. The chimera rolls her eyes before she taps the man on the shoulder. While she smiles at him, the air around may feel a bit chilly.]

Your shoes can be cleaned or replaced, but I can't say the same about your ego if you keep this up. You are holding up the line, sir.

[stardustish]

[ that gets the man to turn around. ]

This girl shouldn't be a barista if she can't get an order right! What barista would fill the cup up this much?

[ sylvia just...gives a sheepish laugh behind the counter and tries to place her attention on saori's order instead. though...she does glance at the two of them, intrigued. she looks a little bothered, too. ]

[needsteaplz]

Well, everyone starts off somewhere. Mistakes are just part of the learning process. In the time you've complained, you could've just dealt with the stain and moved on. She's apologized and no physical harm has been done. Now if you excuse me, I would like to get my order in.

[She turns her attention back to Sylvia.]

I'll have an ice coffee with room for milk, please.

purramid cafe

[fulgency]

[For the most part, Ozymandias does not involve himself overly much in the day-to-day behind the counter. He trusts even his most inexperienced staff to be capable of managing most situations that may arise and trusts his most experienced staff to meet his expectations in the most efficient methods possible. But this is a bit of a different sort of circumstance.]

[With the growing popularity of the cafe and the potential for adopting a kitten (albeit a teleporting one), there have been occasionally some unexpected rushes where there once were lulls. And so, since becoming aware of the issue, Ozymandias has made a point of being at the cafe during such times since becoming aware of it for almost exactly this reason until adjustments can be made to the staff. He, of course, has a reputation to protect, but more importantly, he refuses to leave his staff in such positions.]

[Ozymandias doesn't race over immediately, but his eyes lift from his paperwork at the obvious unhappy tone coming from nearby the counter to see how Sylvia chooses to handle it. As can likely be anticipated, her apologies don't go over particularly well. She's too caught up in trying to complete the next order that she can't give the woman her full attention, and that's likely creating more friction. Ozymandias decides then to abandon his paperwork at his table, which could easily be a terrifying thing for Sylvia.]

[But rather than pay any particular mind to Sylvia, Ozymandias comes to a stop with his back slightly to her, standing between Sylvia and her unhappy customer. It seems to have the intended effect as the woman's glare moves from Sylvia to Ozymandias, who remains entirely unfazed by the look she's displaced onto him.]

I couldn't help overhearing that there was an issue with your coffee, but I did not see what happened for myself. Would you mind explaining it to me?

[stardustish]

[ the moment she sees ozymandias rise from his table, she freezes up completely. it's pretty damn terrifying, that's for sure. she actually stops working on the next order completely -- this simple gesture does, indeed, trigger her flee or freeze response.

she's completely frozen when she watches the interaction in front of her unfold: ]

She filled my coffee up far too much. A good barista should have some sort of fill line, don't you think? I couldn't even pick up my mug without some of it sloshing around and getting all over my new shoes!

[ the woman is infuriated, which is what one would expect out of an unhappy customer. she gestures at her shoe -- a light brown -- and there is, indeed, a stain that indicates a droplet of coffee splashed onto her shoe. ]

Why, if you ask me, I say that incompetent barista of yours should pay for a new pair!

[ this is getting out of hand, and while sylvia does, to some degree, register what's going on, she's starting at ozymandias like a deer caught in headlights. (such is the life of a puca, sadly.) ]

[fulgency]

[Ozymandias does the customer the courtesy of looking down at her shoes when indicated. It takes only a look at her shoes to deem this woman's demand to be unreasonable. The coffee barely managed to splash on her shoes never mind that it is difficult to even notice without it being pointed directly out. But even setting aside the results, she clearly takes no accountability for her own part in this. Had she observed the mug to be overflowing, she had the ability to say something then or to pick it up with a little more care. Her behavior and judgment, Ozymandias decides, is unfair.]

[But acting as Pharaoh and judging this as he would a matter brought to his attention as such will serve no purpose in this moment. It will only serve to embitter the customer further and not allow Sylvia to grow.]

I understand your frustration and I apologize for the mistake.

[He opts not to even acknowledge her absurd demand that Sylvia out to replace the shoes, nor does he choose to minimize her anger over it by pointing out how easily her shoes can be remedied. There is no point to either.]

What I can offer to you is that once Sylvia has completed the order she is working on now, I will have her remake your drink. [He gestures to the rest of the cafe.] If you would like to have a seat while you wait, I can bring the drink you personally when it is completed.