Day Offs and Off Days [Alisa]

[Vice Ysal]

It was still cold, that much I could gather from how my fingers kept twitching from time to time. It wasn't really a premonition but these digits of mine often did this when a particularly bad kind of weather was going to hit the city streets soon. Hopefully I'd either be outside the city or resting at home when that came along. Still, it was probably a ways off which meant that I could, at the very least, try and enjoy this day off. Work was as boring as usual, Gregory and Hector were still at it and the boss was as elusive as ever. Not to mention the lack of customers would eventually shut the place down. Not that it really matters to me given I found a much more effective and enjoyable way of lining my pockets with some cash but the place carried some sentimental value. Just a bit, and though it wasn't enough to really make me all glum about it, it was enough to make me think twice about the whole thing.

That was neither here nor there however, the old man running the shop would most likely find a different way to keep the place running like he always did. Was probably thinking up of one now or going through the restaurant itself for that creepy ass ritual he did from time to time. I shrugged as I nestled into my high collared black coat to stave off the cold that was creeping into my neck. Good thing that my hair had already long past my neck, hell it was reaching in between my shoulder blades now, which kept it warm whenever the weather decided to be an ignoble twit in its annoying as fuck glory. I shook my head and shoved my hands deeper into the pockets of my coat. It was probably hell of a lot colder but I guess that the weird module I had attached to this particular clothing had more or less done the trick.

I walked along the side streets, making sure not to bump into anyone or anything as I looked around for a place to take a break. Maybe some actual coffee this time would help, and something to read to help pass the time. Persona or not, the body I have still does get sore from time to time. It would probably be a whole lot more sore had I not gone through the entire ordeals to snag myself a Persona but that was a time past. My musings had allowed my feet to simply go stray and soon enough I was sure that I found myself sitting on a brown back chair and a rather spacious table for three. A menu was already being written off and I guess I had already placed an order.

Wasn't that just instinctive?

'The lack of attention worries me.'

Don't listen to Arondight. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

[Ayakura Alisa]

I yawned, sitting at a table at this establishment tapping my fingers on it; I had already placed my order for club sandwiches. I wasn't particularly hungry but I did have a bad case of the food munchies, so I figure I would satisfy my cravings for some of that stuff. As I sat around and waited around I noticed a familiar figure idly strolled in, almost distantly, at a table that was meant for three. I coughed and idly stood up from my own table for two and moved over to the table that Vice was seated at. Something about him seemed off. Well, he had a strange feeling around him that I could see. But it wasn't necessarily a negative one. I just hoped that what I felt about him wasn't really the truth. I could see myself wanting to strangle someone if that were the case.

"Mind if I barge in? It was getting a little quiet out in the cold there." I said, addressing Vice. I'm sure the staff responsible for my order could tell I had moved, it's not like I had a very inconspicuous getup. Nobody really has my kind of fashion sense, and I don't mean that in a good way. I just go with what I find comfortable for me.

[Vice Ysal]

Now, I wasn't really the type to be so spaced out but the recent developments, well, it gave me quite a good reason to mull over on things far more than usual. I sighed as the bite of the cool air got into the insides of my sleeves after a particularly bad one. Leaning back on the brown back chair, my eyes just staring numbly in the view offered to me by the restaurant, I had grown quite a bit more relaxed.

Tension leaving my shoulders for a moment and suddenly the appearance of someone else had made me put my guard up in the most nondescript way possible. My shoulders loosened again when the face of a known information broker finally made sense to my slightly addled brain. I raised my head to have my eyes meet Alisa's and I gave a small nod complete with the customary smile.

"Sure. I could use the company."

[Ayakura Alisa]

Yawning, I nodded back in response. Vice seemed tired. Then again, something wasn't ailing him, something was definitely aiding him. "...So what's the cut of your jib this time, eh?" I yawned, stretching. "You seem like you had a little bit of fun with a new toy," I grinned slightly, hopefully confirming or denying my suspicion that he might have attained something that I was desperately, secretly hoping for to use myself. Then again... I wondered, was I really ready for such a power? "Had a long day, eh?" I decided to veil my inquiry with the intent of small chatter. It was a little late, after all.

[Vice Ysal]

Alisa couldn't have been more obvious with her intent than she currently was…except maybe if she just asked me the topic out directly. Had she done that, then maybe I would have answered as truthfully as she would have expected. As it were, I could use the mental exercise.

I leaned further back into my chair and eliminated a yawn before it escaped my throat. My eyes swept the place a bit, trying to eye the waiters to see if anyone was carrying a tray or something of the sort. It wasn't like the place was crowded so anyone tending to the orders would be easy to spot.

"You could say that." I agreed as I slowly looked towards Alisa, the same smile on my face. "Then again I can't consider my Motorcycle as just a mere toy---you understand, right?" Stretching my legs a bit more, curling the toes inside my boots, I continued: "Just some stuff at work, really. Might need to find a new one soon. You? How's the info broker gig going for you?"

[Ayakura Alisa]

Bringing up the motorcycle, huh... He's either deliberately avoiding the topic or he's as dense as a bucket of bricks. I certainly hope it's the former. Work, he says. Might need to find a new job, he says. The job market appears to be on major flux nowadays. What with the current situation with the lockdown and all. Employment was either really easy or really difficult, depending on your skillset. Well, I was kinda... self-employed, I guess? I took freelance jobs and all that crap. Anyway, I guess I should humor him. "My work? Yeah, I suppose you could say it's going swimmingly," I said. Things were going quite well for me on the information front, actually. I was just sorely disappointed in my lack of strength. "I am still bummed about my inherent weakness, though. I guess it comes with the territory when you're lacking in a certain asset." I coughed, looking around and wondering if my club sandwiches were done yet.

[Vice Ysal]

"Assets are everything nowadays, apparently."

I commented, my smile slightly dampening at the thought. Of course I bloody knew what the hell was happening and what she was referring to but by the brink of the nebula, why the hell was my order not still here? Sure I didn't exactly quite know as to what my order was but still.

"Then again, haven't you always gone through the job orders and came out on top despite the lack of them?"

I finished as my eyes wondered off to the waiters again. When some guy finally brought up some kind of tray with food on it, I relaxed a bit and returned my attention to the girl in front of me. The waiter guy better be bringing the food here.

"You're fine as you are, like all of us are."

[Ayakura Alisa]

I eyed the tray that one of the waiters brought over. It had my club sandwiches on it, and what appeared to be some form of pasta I, for the life of me, couldn't recognize. Was it putanesca? It was definitely tomato-based. Well, anyway, the plate of club sandwiches was placed in front of me. Meanwhile, Vice had said some things, I did pay attention to them but I was also ruminating on the significance of such things. "There will be a time will I need to stand on my own in order to go deeper," I sighed. "Lacking the power is only going to be a hindrance in the grand scheme of things. And there's someone I want to protect, too." I looked down at my sandwiches, thinking of Chidori. "...I have a reason to fight, Vice, and the strength of the human body alone isn't enough to combat the imminent threat, so to speak. Even if I may have surpassed the odds and survived to live until today."

[Vice Ysal]

Soon enough, the food had reached the table and idly I wondered what it was that I had ordered. Turned out to be some kind of italian dish whose name slightly escaped me. Still, it looked appetising enough and thus warranted a bite. I listened to what Alisa had to say to me, and the her problems seemed to be what I faced as well. I had an idea of what she was going through, hell I went through the same thing, but the whole protecting thing, something to fight for, no that wasn't me.

I didn't need such things to strengthen my resolve.

Still, it was probably time to drop the game of I know that you know that I know but I won't tell you just yet and just go with it. I took a small bite from my dish and a sip from my drink as I waited for the information broker to finish her spiel about having to protect someone. All that and such, I decided to tell her what happened to me. An abridged version of course, she didn't need to know everything after all.

"I came to realise that I was weak, and I accepted it. Continued still despite knowing this and throve in battle."

I leaned back against my chair.

"I won't recommend you to emulate it but…I died in battle. I shouldn't have survived an attack yet it was in that moment that some kind of clarity…was resolved in me. I grabbed it, and understood, and the world around me shattered."

I gave a small sigh not really expecting that to help the girl in front of me but it was the best that I could offer. Not exactly well experienced in that field anyway.

"This person you're trying to protect. Is it that mute brunette? Chidori I think her name was."

[Ayakura Alisa]

"You know I'm doing the same; despite the fact I was weak I remained steadfast in what I wanted, no, what I needed to do, risking my life for all this nonsense," I sighed, looking away for a moment. "Trauma is the commonality," I continued. "It is what it is. An instinctive will to live, to survive. You have never seemed like the kind of person who clung to sentimentality to me, after all. So, I don't claim to be able to ever understand what would be going on in your head. I am just reminded of what some people have told me - it seems, anyone is capable of awakening to that power." I shrugged. Taking a bite from my sandwich, my eyes narrowed for a moment when I heard him mention Chidori.

"...Yes. I won't sugarcoat it or beat around the bush. I might not share the same power or ability she has, but she's still trying to find her footing in a violent, dangerous world. I managed to find her out there after she had been gravely injured, and visibly terrified, by something. Thinking of my probably dead parents, also normals like myself, I figured... You know, it's not cool, to leave someone hanging like that. When I first met her, out there as well, she made me feel like I needed to be an older sister figure, or something, you know..."

I coughed and drank some water.

"Call me crazy if you like; it comes with my line of work. But sometimes there are things in life you'd really do crazy things for."

[Vice Ysal]

"It isn't trauma."

I disagreed then and there. The connotation of trauma, it was negativity and often enough it creates some kind of blockade for the mind and constraints its possibilities because of the possibility of such an emergence.

No, saying that you need one kind of trauma to keep going forward was contradictory.

"A trauma will cause restraint, you don't need that. You need a drive, fuel to keep you going forward. At least, that's how I see it."

I took another bite of my meal and another sip of my drink. She at least got the sentimental part right, I wasn't one to take part in that. There more important things than superficial bonds.

"I understand--logic can be considered a restraint at times as well."

I leaned forward a bit, wondering just what was gonna happen in the future.

"Consequences can be damned if you've got a plan. Do you have one for our line of work?"

[Ayakura Alisa]

"Trauma only causes restraint if you let it, the same way logic can be considered a restraint... if you let it," I shrugged, letting this go. It wasn't going to go anywhere reasoning with someone who felt like being the lone wolf ranger was hot shit. Motorcycle? Give me a damn break. Nah, I wasn't going to humor that kind of crap. Relationships are what made the world go around. You needed connections to get shit done. Flying solo only gets you so far. Sooner or later, you'll hit an unsurmountable wall that requires the aid of allies, or friends, or colleagues. Even if you're the self-proclaimed strongest person in the world, there's always something, or someone out there, who's stronger. The presences of Shadows on their very own verified this. My parents taught me never to underestimate the capacity of someone, or something, to overpower you if their will let it. Then, they also told me never to overestimate someone, that you would become fearful of them and then decide to avoid them instead of employing strategems to deal with them.

"The best course of action is to keep navigating the deeper, more dangerous areas and to find the root cause of the whole mess. As it is, life is just turning into a video game where dying in the game also means you die in real life," I sighed, finishing one of my sandwiches. "Connections are essential, they let me gather information from multiple different points at the same time. And they let me know what places are safe and what places are relatively dangerous. Being given reports and leads allows me to decide on the next course of action - who should I pursue in search of information? What places are weird which is worth investigating? All that shit."

[Vice Ysal]

Another bite of frost began to seep into the area and by proximity, the two of them as well. I slowly breathed into myhis hands for a moment before rubbing them against the still heating plate of my dish. It had become cold enough that it wouldn't burn my hands, but not so much so that I wouldn't be able to garner any kind of satisfaction from it.

"Right."

I threw the word in as a reply, not meant to be sarcastic but who knew, I just had a talent for pissing people off it seemed.

"If we're talking about information, then I've managed to gather a bit more since the last time we did this. I doubt we've only searched places that both of us had been too so hopefully what I gathered could at least be of use to you."

I offered as I took another sip from my drink before getting another bite from my slowly appetizing dish. The whole 'keep eating it till it tastes good' thing must be the gig for this recipe or something.

"But in that plan of action of yours, just how far have you come along?"


Again, it has been some time since the last event where there was a mass gathering for information and not to mention some of the tension in the air from then. I idly wondered if the girl in front of me had at least managed to repair whatever was broken back then.

[Ayakura Alisa]

I bit on my other sandwich. "Exec building, inconclusive, wasn't able to penetrate higher floors. Hospital, seems to be a breeding ground. Mines, inconclusive, wasn't able to go too far. Car factory, seems to attract some creatures to the area, you can collect old and abused metalwork there. Gotten a little bit more information from some firsthand experience mostly, it appears to me that it'll be a while before most of us can penetrate the darker recesses of the places we've already been searching." I sipped some more water. "You seem hung up over something, though. Did I remind you of something bad? Was it that less than stellar thing I tried to organize before? Yeah, can't count on all things turning out well - one of the people I asked took someone with her who I wasn't on very good terms with... Not to mention people were generally still feeling uneasy being acquainted to total strangers. Maybe it's better off to have individual units, who knows..."

[Vice Ysal]

"Car Factory's taking a while. I've been trying to lure out the Stratum Leader but it's been inconclusive so far. The Mines have been explored thoroughly, too thoroughly if you ask me. I'm willing to bet that the stratum after the initial one should be open already. "

I idly looked at the plate of food I had left, and began to nurse around some of the chunks with my fork. It was as if I was trying to put things together that could fit...even if they weren't meant to be there.

"Not exactly hung up on anything, I've just been spending a lot of time trying to devise probable combinations between the people we know. Like you said, connections are important. It's what gets you through the fight. Forging camaraderie in the heat of battle is good and all but not everyone is built like that. The party you guys went through after we fought the Grim, those...we need more of those."

I leaned back into my chair after taking another bite of my slowly lessening order.

"I'm not saying to force the relationships through some hare-brained scheme. It just seems to be more efficient if we can all, cliche and naive as it is, work together better."