Old World Misery [Takeda, Awakening]

[Seiji Dalton]

The junker parked as near the gap as it could without being conspicuous. Looking at his brother in the passenger seat for just a moment, Seiji got out of the car and tied his sheathed weapon in place. They were going to go exploring tonight, together. They hadn't gone out together since the drill incident. Takeda walked away from that handsomely paid with his jacket and Seiji learned some tricks about how to better use his Persona. All things considered, what he was given was far better than armor. For now, he stood outside of the entrance to the terminal. They hadn't gone this way together before. There was a first time for everything. Stopping in the gap for a quick bite to eat, Seiji stood before the tunnel entrance with a blank expression on his face.

Before them, the terminal stretched long into the darkness. Shadows probably lurked just beyond sight, only held in place by fear of something. If Seiji were a betting man, he'd put money on the shadows being afraid of the strange blonde lady. Even when giving her junk and getting money for it, she always put Seiji on edge and hardly anything that wasn't a shadow put him on edge. He was excited, excited to see his brother in action, and excited at the thought of getting to push his limits. "Not too late to back out if you don't feel you're ready for the big leagues." He was just being playful, he wanted Takeda there. They both needed one another. Takeda had the heals and Seiji had the feels.

[Takeda]

After ruining countless pairs of shoes, permeating their clothes with the stench of raw sewage, and the general unpleasantness that comes with being ankle deep in shit at any given time during their outings, it seemed only prudent to give the sewers a break. On the way to the nearest area where they could hop into a subway station and make their merry way to the gap, Takeda had been deep in thought since the moment that they had even cranked the old beast up. Cold air pressed against the trash bag on Seiji's side whilst they drove on, whilst Takeda contemplated as to whether or not the shadows would simply flee from them. This wasn't one of those bullshit moments of confidence, it was actually a legitimate question that had been rolling around in his mind for a while. Lesser shadows seemed to just avoid the persona users that had earned their stripes, but as evidenced by the shit in the catacombs, they tended to draw in all sorts of crazier shadows. Like tanks. Fucking. Tanks. Now nothing really important was said along the way to the gap other than the occasional pondering as to why other people had suggested they take this route. To the half-brothers, it seemed much more prudent to go through the sewer labyrinth to reach their destinations, as the sewer system went through the entirety of West Mosaic, rather than just leading them to the gap to buy some pretty new polo shirts.

Didn't take long at all for the two to start eating, as per usual, whilst they started talking. For dear old Takeda? It was a chance to maybe, just maybe, hit on the junk lady a little bit. Then, Seiji said it, a playful little push to get the older half brother riled up. "Not too late for you to have to walk home when we get back too, smartass." Typically the two had indulged themselves in many a tasty burger, but the gap's idea of cuisine was a bit different than theirs, with the red haired man chomping down mouthfuls of meat that had been impaled on a metal rod. When he asked one of the vendors where the hell it came from, he was met with the reply that maybe it was best not to ask. Meanwhile, Takeda had noticed there were absolutely no squirrels left in Mosaic. Huh. Whilst silently saying  prayer in his head to not be infected with dysentery from the relatively unsanitary conditions under which the food was cooked, he looked over at Seiji, finishing off a bit of his food whilst speaking to him in a bored tone. "So, when I ask you this shit, you always just go quiet on me. Junk Lady over in her little shop over there...should I give that a shot?" The lady had managed to procure another jacket for him. This time, one made of real leather. While she was cute, the two brothers shared an opinion without realizing it. Something was off about the strange blonde haired woman that set up shop in the gap, something that was just more than a bit unnerving. Shadows would crawl into the subway tunnels, into the sewers, but they'd bypass the gap entirely. You'd never hear of the gap being breached. "I mean hell, Seiji. Who knows? We could live out here with all the scrap metal, people that sell crap, we'd have it made."

[Seiji Dalton]

Oh boy, it seemed like his brother was macking on the junk lady again. What a silly thing to do. "If you're going to get her to make a stop down in front of your pants, get some answers first." He was far more serious about that than Takeda expected him to be. "Isn't it weird that some unearthly lady shows up out of nowhere right as excrement starts hitting the fan to offer services to Persona users in their hours of need?" That wasn't what they'd came here to do. They were going to see how far outside the city they could get before the shadows overwhelmed them. A sort of...test drive, if one would use the term, for their expedition to see the barrier that supposedly was on the outskirts of the city. Just the thought of finally doing something productive made him giddy. After the full moon, someone had asked about their 'projects'. His answer had amounted up to 'I kill every shadow I see' and that hardly helped in the long term.

When they eventually finished their meals, Seiji wasted no time in rolling out with his brother, bastard sword at his side. The darkness of the terminal stretched on but it wouldn't hold either of the brothers back. Using the light they had left that wasn't that weird green light that filled dark shadow places, Seiji checked his electric sword. Its battery was starting to die down and he was thinking of selling it to someone and hoping for the best weapon-wise, the sword had proved useful many times over. With nothing else to do except press on, Seiji started walking forward, Takeda at his side. He'd been through the terminal a few times and he wondered if Takeda ever had. Strong hand firmly gripping his sword, Seiji stood at the ready in case any mayas popped out of the darkness. As luck would have it, one did but it scurried just out of reach of his sword. The tiny shadow was sweating furiously and attempting to run from them as fast as it could. The little thing was scared to death. Whatever part of the southern US was flowing through Seiji's blood reared its head as he looked to Takeda. "Bet you can't hit it with your peashooter." The challenge was issued. But would Takeda accept it?