Not Dreaming [Complete]

[dangeraddicted]

Character(s): Otogi, Axel.
Content: Otogi arrives in Paixao and meets Axel. Theme songs and general pyromania ensues.
Setting: Muspelheim Gate
Time: Mid-afternoon.
Warnings: Organization XIII time. :o

Comments

[firewheeling]

Being between assignments really sucked sometimes. He must have ridden the train, each way, a couple dozen times, stopped in at all the major landmarks more times than he could easily remember, and wandered the streets looking for entertainment--or at least occupation--for more hours than he'd care to admit. Even coming into the gates had turned into something to do while he was here--he'd been through so many times that he'd amassed quite the stockpile of journals, and was amused to see that the red ones far outnumbered any other color that he'd gotten yet, even the black ones. It was kind of nice to know he seemed that predictable

[dangeraddicted]

Otogi whirled around at the sound of the voice, vivid green eyes quickly finding the lanky, redheaded figure not far from him. Something about the man seemed... dangerous, somehow (and Otogi's own upbringing had made sure he knew a dangerous person when he saw one).

Then again, Otogi could be dangerous himself, although the gambler preferred to keep that darker side of his hidden. So he smiled at the stranger, carelessly flipping his long hair over his shoulder. "Actually, you're right. I have no fucking idea where I am," he replied cheekily. He usually didn't curse, but this odd situation definitely seemed to warrant it - although Ryuuji's expression certainly didn't give any hints of that away.

Part of being a good gambler, after all, was having a decent poker face.

[firewheeling]

Axel chuckled at the reaction; the boy didn't have half-bad reflexes, though he might comment on a slight lack of awareness of his surroundings. But then again, who could blame him? New, disoriented, confused.... At least he had a reason for his slip-up. "Hey, woah, relax--I don't bite. Really." The firebug lifted both hands in a placating gesture. He might burn, but there was really no reason to bite, not when the lumens around here could take care of it. Whether or not Axel was dangerous, he certainly didn't look it at the moment, either--he looked more like a guy who needed to stop bumming around concerts, get a damned job, and surrender to the harsh demands of 'real life'.

"I'd say you're in Paixao, but the guy at the booth probably already mentioned that, huh? So let's just skip that conversation. Right now, you're in the Muspelheim area--that's the name of the gate too, if you were wondering--which is the northeast corner of the city."

[dangeraddicted]

Ryuuji relaxed, not having realized he was standing defensively. He stayed alert, however, a hand slipping into his pocket inconspicuously and fingering his dice, just in case - no point in trusting anyone in such a strange place immediately, after all (although, from the look of most of the people here, the man before him wasn't native to this area). "Sure," he replied lightly, seemingly at ease, and nodded.

Yeah, the guy said that already." And from the bored tone he took when greeting Otogi, he was used to this - which meant there were more (many more) arriving than just him and the stranger.

"And just who are you, anyway?"

[firewheeling]

Ah, good, relaxing.... That was always better to see than a tense stance, even if he hadn't fully dropped his guard. After all, who was gonna threaten the kid, really? He was harmless! For now, anyway. "I figured. That's all they ever tell anybody." Axel flapped his hand dismissively. "Forget them, that's probably a minimum wage job anyway."

Bored was right; there were quite a lot of people coming in here. The more the merrier, right? It kept things interesting, stirring the pot and adding fresh blood every so often. "My name's Aaron. What's yours?" The response came easily, trustingly, without hesitation; Axel pushed himself off the bench, offering Otogi a gloved hand.

[dangeraddicted]

Well, this guy seemed harmless enough, at least for the time being. Otogi finally relaxed, removing his hand from his pocket and shaking the other's. "You sound like you've been here a while," he chuckled, noting the bored-seeming movements of the other.

"Me? My name's Ryuuji Otogi." Ryuuji had to stop himself from using the Eastern order of giving his name, realizing that most people outside of Asia didn't introduce themselves in such a manner - and this definitely wasn't Japan, anyway. "Nice to meet you," he smiled.

[firewheeling]

Just what was in that pocket, anyway? It definitely didn't look like a gun of any sort--that would definitely show. In fact, almost anything that would be big enough to be useful to most people would be big enough to show. But hey, maybe it was some sort of lucky charm or whatever. Who knew? "You don't even want to know, Ryuuji." The comment was accompanied by an eyeroll to drive his point home, but he shook hands amiably enough, nonetheless. "At least being around here this long means I can show people the ropes when they need it. Nice to meet you, too."

He dusted his pants off after the handshake, briefly glancing behind him to see if he'd sat on anything that had stained or stuck--boring, normal, harmless little things that anyone might do. "So, I imagine you'll have questions about this place like everyone else, right? Or have you got anything else more pressing?"

[dangeraddicted]

If Otogi had heard Axel's "lucky charm" assessment, he would have laughed outright; but in a way it was correct - although it had to be said that Otogi very much preferred to make his own luck. He didn't really know why he had instinctively reached for his dice, anyway; in the presence of a true threat, they probably wouldn't be much use (despite Ryuuji's aim and confidence, they were only ordinary dice, after all).

"I believe it," he chuckled in response, withdrawing his hand after the shake and casually slipping his thumb into a belt loop. "So are you the welcome wagon or what?"

He paused at the question and the unfamiliar feeling of being called by his given name instead of his familial for a few moments, eyes half-lidded in thought. "... Yeah. Why am I here?"

Barring any usual smart-alecked comments about the meaning of life, that was his most pressing question at the moment. "And how did I get here?" That was also important, of course.

[firewheeling]

Axel quite approved of that train of thought--or he would have anyway, if he'd heard it. Fortune favors those who make it for themselves, as the case may be. Fortune favored the fool too, but fortunately for Ryuuji, he didn't seem to be one. "Not really." He shrugged absent, glancing back at the gates. "I just felt like hanging out for a while. I mean, you gotta fill your days somehow, right? You don't even need to work in this place, if you don't want to." His smile had changed--just a bit, almost as if he were letting Ryuuji in on a secret with that comment, taking him into his confidence. After all, it wasn't something one would immediately guess, was it? And it was a valuable tip around here, though it was bandied about readily enough by those who had been here for a while. So no harm done in giving it out, either way

[dangeraddicted]

He knew more than what he was letting on, that much Ryuuji was sure of. There were secrets in the way the man smiled, at how his tone changed its inflections, and therefore he was definitely more than what he was appearing to be. Otogi had been a gamer his whole life, and more often than not, he was able to realize when someone else was playing one.

Still, the dark-haired boy reflected, it would be much less risky to just play along for the moment. While Ryuuji liked taking risks, he wasn't about to do so in a completely unfamiliar place that he'd never even heard of before; such a thing would only be downright stupid. Even so, Ryuuji gave Axel a somewhat knowing smile, as if to say I know what you're doing. He didn't, of course, but that's why they were called "bluffs