Vacant Intoxication [Open]

[Vice Ysal]

It was an uncharacteristic night for a park that boasted some of the most beautiful arrangements in the city. Whereas people would expect it to be teeming with couples, lovers, and the occasional odd pair or two, the serene park had been more or less devoid of those kind of emotions. Instead there seemed to be a different kind of unease in the air that flitted about, devouring whatever sense of comfort and relaxation that the landscape could provide. The alluring aroma of flowers had also been replaced with the putrid stench of acrid smoke, acidic tang of alcohol, and the unclean clothes that had yet to be properly washed for a week or two. The serene and calming quiet of the night that had been accentuated by the continuous flow of the fountain in the centre was broken by the raucous laughter and obscene jokes being thrown about at each other.

Truly the main selling points of the park had been more or less diced apart in order to show quite the undisciplined spectacle. Several motorcycles were lined up along the grass, the rubber destroying the neatly trimmed and well cared foliage due to there not being enough space on the actual parking area that was nearby. Burnt cigarette butts could be found hanging about the brushes around the place, emitting smoke and swiftly deteriorating the health of the present plant life as well. Empty and busted cans of beer littered around the benches where several men and women were seen to be hanging out without so much as a care in the world. The people there had been living in their own world, treating the place as if it was only for their own whims to be used. Explicitives were being thrown about in the most unorthodox manner yet no one seemed to care.

Among the edges of the properly parked vehicles stood a rather distinguished motorcycle. Splashed with a black and charcoal grey paint scheme, the ride had practically sucked out the colour of everything near it. Leaning against it, clad in his signature black biker jacket, stood Vice with his own six now only two pack of beer being placed on top of some other bloke's cheap ass scooter. If he were to be honest, the Biker had really no purpose to be hanging around with this kind of crowd given that they didn't exactly give him any kind of edge over the populace but he reasoned out to himself that they'd have a use one way or another in the future. A few of the guys with him were busy with their own drinks and jokes that despite the silence that Vice showed them, they only took it in stride and had more or less gotten used to their little 'Blacky's' anti-social gimmick.

"Yuuuuoou Bllllaakeeeyy~! Why you so quieeeet all the time, huh?"

The slurred speech of one of the other bikers in the area hollered out as he hanged onto the shoulder of his more sober friend. The red eyed civilian just gave him an exasperated look before gazing towards said sober friend.

"Jack really needs to get his tolerance up---that's what, his fourth bottle and he's already wasted?"

Vice shot as the sober friend just grunted at it. Dragging the wasted Jack towards one of the benches to drop him off, the duo then disappeared to wherever Vice didn't give a damn about. Today was another filler night, where it used to be something to change up the routine back in his University days, now just seemed to be painfully dull as compared to those times he'd go out to explore the outer city. Taking a long swig of the beer in his hands, the youth turned his head to look over the entrance of the park and sorely wished for something--anything to freaking happen tonight. The boorish atmosphere. Ugh.

Hell, he'd take the police coming up to break the little party if it meant something would break out.

[Ringo Shiro]

To be honest, it was supposed to be a simple training day for Ringo Shiro. He would go training in the morning, go to classes during the early afternoon, then go train some more in the late afternoon, and then go grocery shopping at a convince store for the next week or so of meals. Of course, tranquility, as Ringo has come to learn, doesn't last too long here, shadows and the supernatural not withstanding.

"Please my head is not a radish..."

"I se it was a bush!"

"You called my head a radish before though..." Ringo was stuck conversing with a drunk. The drunk, however, had no respect for what Ringo had to say.

"Dun play smar' with me!!"

"Ah jeez..." Ringo looked down and sighed however before he could turn tail and leave, the man lunged at him. Ringo, out of second nature, quickly took out his bokken...and winded up knocking him out in self defense....though it wasn't what it looked like to one of his fellow drunk not too far from him.

"He knocked out clueless Ben!"

"Oh no..."

***

Ringo found himself running toward the park. Just great...who knew it would spiral out of control this badly? Ringo found himself hiding behind the entrance of the park. He waited for them to pass by before sighing. What a night. And to think Ringo promised himself that he would explore the shadow infested areas tomorrow. He looked over to see a boy with black hair and red eyes. A person however was smart enough to come back.

"Hey you with, have you seen a guy with bush like hair?" Ringo quickly lifted a finger to silently request the boy to stay quiet.

[Vice Ysal]

Vice wasn't the type to believe in the whole greater being and beyond gig people have got going on. He was more than willing enough to just say that everything's gonna be the human race's fault one way or another. However, when a radish head appeared along the way, well, Vice had honestly hoped for something more interesting. Shaking his head in distaste and hiding the grimace forming on his lips with another swig of his beer, the young man proceeded to ignore him for the time being. Of course by ignore he meant keep track of where the hell he is without really caring what happens to the kid.

Soon enough, another form had entered the area and seemed to be breathing heavily and with cheeks coloured with a dark red. Probably out of shape from the looks of it. Now, the natural response to being questioned is to give them a verbal answer. The red eyed civilian however just gave the guy a withering glare…which was enough to at least send him off. When the other guy had finally left out of ear shot, Vice decided to just…go along with the flow and humour karma for the time being.

"Old timer's gone, kid."

Another swig.

"The hell you do to get poor ol' Johnson gunning for your ass?"

[Ringo Shiro]

"Old timer's gone, kid." Ringo sighed as he took a peak outside of his hiding place. The man who helped Ringo took another sip of his beer. "The hell you do to get poor ol' Johnson gunning for your ass?" Ringo slowly started to stand up and scratched the back of his head and sighed.

“Well…I kind of attacked his buddy in self defense.” Ringo took the time to finally place the bokken away. “I was hoping not to use my practice equipment in that manner.” Ringo sighed. “In retrospect I should’ve used better self control but I got the feeling physical force would tragically be necessary. He was too intoxicated to listen…” Ringo said, lamenting the fact that he had to hurt another person just to get away. “I should apologize once he gets out of it…” Ringo thought to himself out loud.

“Anyhow, thank you.” Ringo said with a smile toward his savior.

[Vice Ysal]

"You probably didn't swing it that hard, I'm sure. Making Johnson run around like that though, probably did more damage to him than you did swinging that thing at his friend. Old timer's been slacking off too so getting hit probably won't hurt as much."

Vice hummed out before taking another swig from his steadily decreasing supply of alcohol. He had a pretty high tolerance and given that he was drinking beer, it was pretty evident that he wasn't trying to get himself smashed. Hell, he probably won't even fill tipsy by the sixth can if ever.

"…Really?"

The older of the two sounded out as he gave the bushy haired teenager a weird look. Was he really saying that he was going to say sorry for something that he probably didn't do? Vice understood why, sure, and though it didn't struck him as remotely odd, well he probably just wouldn't have been the type to say sorry for something he wasn't at fault for.

"He'll probably not remember that anyway come the morning."

Having only two cans of beer left, the young man decided to grab both and rip them off of the plastic casing that held them. Tossing the kid the last can he had with him before opening up his own, Vice then began to take another swig.

"I don't usually do this but I'm bored the hell out of my mind right now. So in exchange for saving your ass tonight, go drink that can of beer and say something about yourself. You look like a high schooler, almost finished probably, but a student none the less. How's the academy fairing up nowadays?"

[Ringo Shiro]

"You probably didn't swing it that hard, I'm sure. Making Johnson run around like that though, probably did more damage to him than you did swinging that thing at his friend. Old timer's been slacking off too so getting hit probably won't hurt as much." Ringo still felt bad since Ringo kinda just smacked him with barely any second thoughts.
"…Really?" Ringo arched an eyebrow. What was wrong with apologizing for something he did wrong?
"He'll probably not remember that anyway come the morning." That doesn't exactly  make it much better...

"I guess but..." Ringo found himself interrupted when the man tossed him a beer can.

"I don't usually do this but I'm bored the hell out of my mind right now. So in exchange for saving your ass tonight, go drink that can of beer and say something about yourself. You look like a high schooler, almost finished probably, but a student none the less. How's the academy fairing up nowadays?" Ringo blinked as he looked at the man with a touch of nervous suspicion.

"Um...first of all, I'm in college, second of all I still don't think you should give these out unless they're off drinking age." Ringo said observing the beer can with an arched eyebrow. "And college work is doing fine...though there is the whole lock down incident that people are talking about. Really haven't been doing much. Just studying, getting back into kendo...the usual stuff. I'm not exactly the most exciting person around." That and the man would obviously consider Ringo crazy if he told him about his...adventures.

[Vice Ysal]

"Regardless, go drink the beer. Judging from China's educational system you'll b more or less responsible enough in terms of age to drink the beer. Or you can keep it and send me into another boorish rant about people who stick too close to th rules and suh. Besides that? Icould probably reason out that knowing how to drink you alcohol in social interactions would help you out further down the road when dealing with contact that they don't teach you about in college. Trust me, I've been thoug college be the technical skill isn't all that signifavt as compared to connections."

There went Vice, going all machine gun at tr stating of facts as if it was second nature to him and without a thought to it. THE thing was he had said it with a rather straight face and didn't seem to change his tone despite the continuos talking tha should've caused others to gasp for breath. Taking another swig from his can of alcohol and pointing the butt end of his own can to remind the kid that r was supposed to be drinking.

"And I don't think I caught your name. You can call me Black, is basically what they call me around here. On that note, you say you're not much huh? Well, tell me this, have you given though to what's outside? Seems to be the hot topic around teenagers lately."

[Ringo Shiro]

"Regardless, go drink the beer." Ringo arched an eyebrow. "Judging from China's educational system you'll b more or less responsible enough in terms of age to drink the beer. Or you can keep it and send me into another boorish rant about people who stick too close to th rules and suh." His speech was slurring. "Besides that? Icould probably reason out that knowing how to drink you alcohol in social interactions would help you out further down the road when dealing with contact that they don't teach you about in college. Trust me, I've been thoug college be the technical skill isn't all that signifavt as compared to connections."

"Well more I need my focus for something later tomorrow. A hang over would be detrimental. Maybe some other time." Ringo said. "Thank you for your generosity though."

"And I don't think I caught your name. You can call me Black, is basically what they call me around here."

"I'm Ringo nice to meet you." Ringo placed the beer can away.

"On that note, you say you're not much huh? Well, tell me this, have you given though to what's outside? Seems to be the hot topic around teenagers lately." Ringo arched an eyebrow and then looked around to see if anyone is looking or hearing...and even then Ringo was debating if he should be talking about it. He decided to go with the typical answer.

"Heard bits and pieces about but only what the news said. Something about the military and police being involved?" Ringo might as well try playing dumb. He can't tell if someone is knowledgeable about this incident or not.

[Vice Ysal]

"It's just a bottle---unless you've got shit tolerance then fine, keep the bottle then. Next time I see you though, you better be ready to drink it."

Vice said, his voice rather flippant over it as he took another swig from his own container. The beer didn't have a strong enough hit in them, and the alcohol content was rather small so really, there was nothing to gain from drinking it like that. Finishing the container this time, the older of the two exerted a bit of force into his hand as he raised it up into a picture perfect throw. The can flew into the air and followed its intended trajectory with the landing spot squarely inside the trash can.

Despite the action, Vice didn't notice the note of hesitation in Ringo's action at the mentioning of the outer city. That much was enough to get a small spark of curiosity from the civilian's red eyes. Nodding at Ringo's answer, more or less believing that there was more to it than what meets the eye.

"You know, Ringo, if you're gonna answer something truthfully you usually look at people straight without hesitating. So unless you were trying to hide something from ol' Blacky over here then we'll be having a few problems. Of course, this is all just me being the helpful 'older student' type for those younger than me."

A small snort escaped at that part as he crossed his arms again into his customary biker pose.

"So, have you heard of the mess that was caused in the Cemetery? People are investigating it, ya know? Makes one wonder just what the hell happened to cause that kind of damage."

[Ringo Shiro]

"It's just a bottle---unless you've got shit tolerance then fine, keep the bottle then. Next time I see you though, you better be ready to drink it." Ringo is now starting to remember his teacher. Note to self, never say yes to going to eat hotpot with her especially if alcohol is involved. It hardly ends well. "You know, Ringo, if you're gonna answer something truthfully you usually look at people straight without hesitating. So unless you were trying to hide something from ol' Blacky over here then we'll be having a few problems. Of course, this is all just me being the helpful 'older student' type for those younger than me." Lying was not something Ringo made a habit of though...

"I'm not hiding anything." Ringo said with much more assurance. Granted it was still a lie but this time around Ringo steeled himself a bit. He was also assured by the fact that they were not too many around in the case Vice figures him out.

"So, have you heard of the mess that was caused in the Cemetery? People are investigating it, ya know? Makes one wonder just what the hell happened to cause that kind of damage." So the news started investigation of that incident? Typical considering all the chaos that occurred. Ringo himself is still remembering all the damage he took.

"I haven't heard about it." Ringo said. This time with his eyes on Vice and with more of a straight face. "Did they detail the damage?" Ringo might as well ask and see what the news thought of the incident.

[Vice Ysal]

Him being slow at the moment was justifiable. There was nothing to do, nothing making his blood move, and moving just wasn't in the agenda for the night. So it wasn't a surprise that Vice took a bit longer to piece together the face that's been talking to him for the past five minutes or something.

…That and the kid's face was barely rememorable at that. Yes, Vice knows its not a real word but it works…just like revengeance.

"The news didn't say much about it but that's to be expected. It isn't like they really know what could have caused a sudden upheaval in the cemetery area in the span of a night."

Shaking his head at the continuing game of I know you know but I'm not letting you know that I know just yet, Vice just decided to drop the bomb of his findings right there.

"You should know though, the damage the it caused. You were there fighting with the rest of them."

[Ringo Shiro]

"The news didn't say much about it but that's to be expected. It isn't like they really know what could have caused a sudden upheaval in the cemetery area in the span of a night." Black said. Ringo was somewhat relieved at this. The idea of a monster being seen in the cemetery and a bunch of people trying to fight it would've been a huge sign of worry for the general public. The unrest would make it harder for Ringo to sneak outside the city. "You should know though, the damage the it caused. You were there fighting with the rest of them." Ringo's composure shattered at that moment.

"Wha-?!" Ringo took a moment to get another look at him. Come to think of it, they were a lot of unfamiliar faces at that fight, more or less screaming just how many got involved in all of this. He didn't even get the chance to greet or know all of them because they all dispersed after the fight was over. "Wait, are you telling me you were there?" Ringo just wanted to confirm it. "Giant grim reaper looking thing, full moon, had a bad habit of trying to trap people?"

[Vice Ysal]

"Hoooh. So is that what happened to cause the fuck up over at the cemetery? An actual Grim Reaper, a giant one according to you, made an appearance and you were there trying to fight it, probably with that sword of yours? Thanks for confirming it for me, Nest-head."

Yes, Vice was an asshole.

"And yes, I'm telling you I was there. Actually got there before most of you kids arrived. Jesus Christ that thing was a bitch to kill. Thankfully though, we got a few Imaginary Friends to help us out."

Most of the time.

Rolling his shoulders to get some of the kinks out as he tried to periodically release the growing mirth in his voice, Vice leaned back further on his motorcycle and had already began to half sit on it.

"So why were you there? Secret's out ya know? Don't need to lie about the reasons."

[Ringo Shiro]

"Hoooh. So is that what happened to cause the fuck up over at the cemetery? An actual Grim Reaper, a giant one according to you, made an appearance and you were there trying to fight it, probably with that sword of yours? Thanks for confirming it for me, Nest-head." This person wasn't exactly nice. "And yes, I'm telling you I was there. Actually got there before most of you kids arrived. Jesus Christ that thing was a bitch to kill. Thankfully though, we got a few Imaginary Friends to help us out."

"Can't exactly call them imaginary considering they were the reason that thing didn't kill us." That battle further made it clear to Ringo that this is only going to be more and more uphill battles since he doesn't exactly have a persona.

"So why were you there? Secret's out ya know? Don't need to lie about the reasons."

"I just can't exactly ignore something that is endangering everyone now can I?" Ringo said with a smile. "It just wouldn't sit well with me personally even if I still don't have that power yet. Granted...I barely scratched it when ever I attempted to hit it." It was at this point Ringo was beginning to wonder if he is ever going to get a persona at all. Not that it mattered since he is already knee deep in all of this with no way to get out and quitting is out of the question for him.

[Vice Ysal]

"It's an endearing term, Kid. Besides, wouldn't wanna keep calling them Persona in public and actually catch some weird fanatic's interest in Jung's theory with the whole facet of the inner soul thing. And if you think you don't got the strength, you'd probably want to ask some of the Users to help piggyback you to some strength. It'll give you some experience in facing stronger abominations and you can use the foreknowledge for future battles in the case you have to fight those again."

Vice shrugged as he leaned back a bit more before raising his head to look at the skies above them. It was a cloudy night and the stars were barely visible for the time being. There were still a couple of them showing themselves but for the most part, there was n't much hope in seeing anything. Probably much like the situation now: in finding the truth through all the fog that resides outside.

"That, and placing orders over at Laharl's shop. The Smithy knows how to get what you want."