savetheearth | Soup Mission

Entry tags:

Soup Mission - Closed

Who: Tony and Hajime
What: Tony is on a very important mission to obtain delicious food, and deliver an apology.
When: Backdated to October 12th.
Where: Aikawa's
Warnings: Not really?

Part way to his destination it occurred to Tony that he hadn't actually spoken with Hajime before. It also occurred to him that he probably should have quite a while ago, definitely before deciding to make a trip to his restaurant to pick up snacks for Shou. Hopefully he wasn't upset over the whole... Cathedral... thing. Man, that had been a hell of a mess.

He probably owed the guy an apology at the very least. On the bright side he now knew who the bug man Shou kept talking about was.

After getting dropped off outside the restaurant (he could walk to Shou's no problem) he slunk in through the door as if trying to keep himself hidden. Even though he'd been living with Richard for several months now, that instinct of trying to 'disappear' in places he felt he didn't belong was still strong. Even if he did have money to pay for his food now, even if these were allies, it was still there. After a bit of uncertain shuffling he finally made his way to the counter, craning to try to see if he recognized anyone around.

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The restaurant wasn't too busy. Tony had managed to miss the worst of the lunch rush, and things were winding down. Hajime was manning the front counter, letting the guy who usually did that take a well-earned break. It's his business to keep track of everyone who enters that door, no matter how well they're trying to stay hidden...and his crazy bug senses are very good at picking out other monsters in a crowd. He seems surprised to see Tony. Tony, who he'd tried to attack...eye contact is suddenly hard. "...hey."

Thank goodness for that. Tony never had been comfortable around crowds and it had only gotten worse as his echoes progressed. Especially now that he was missing an eye and already jumpy about people being too close or too loud. Espresso Yourself was fine, he could stand with the safety of a counter between him and no one behind him, not so out in places like this.

Okay, he should have expected that. Moments too late he froze, expression locking down into something guarded and emotionless. Fortunately, out of his bug form Hajime was significantly less intimidating, but simply knowing was enough to have his instincts trying to go haywire. He ducked a little, forcefully averting his gaze. Partly to avoid the glare, and partly to keep himself in check. Just... give him a moment. Normally he didn't get this riled up so easy but... yeah.

"Hey. Uh," He scratched his head awkwardly, shuffling a bit. Suddenly this seemed like a terrible idea. "I... probably owe you an apology. Or twenty."

Hajime seems almost taken aback at the apology. "But I...I started it." He awkwardly shifts his weight a little, fidgeting where he stands. "I was going to apologize to you." He's at least had a lot of experience in shutting his own monster instincts down when he's not in the middle of some crazy sanity-eroding cathedral, and the restaurant is where he feels the most comfortable. There is no danger of attack today. Hajime will make sure of it. He considers something, and then he sort of absently gestures at the menu. "Go on, pick whatever you want, it's on the house."

"Yeah, well," More awkward shifting, though it did make him feel a little better to see Hajime as uncomfortable with this as he was. Less of the intimidating staring, at any rate. "I didn't exactly try to stop it, did I?" No, instead he roared a challenge and tried to make it worse. Because he's an idiot.

"Huh?" He blinks, looking up at the man with uncertainty. "Actually I came by to pick something up for Shou. He said you'd know what he likes?" But you know.. he really wasn't one to turn down an offer of food. "I mean, I don't really know anything about this kind of food. What do you suggest?"

Educate the poor kid, the most he knows about is hamburgers and that's just sad.

"It was still...I know I'm a problem, I should have watched myself better..." Hajime's glad for the change of conversation that is what Shou wants to eat. "Oh, yeah, sure. He likes the udon." And that actually gets a bit of a smile out of Hajime. "The udon with some shrimp tempura's pretty much my favorite too. You want me just to grab you some of that?"

"That makes two of us," Tony grumbled in reply... But yes, he would much rather talk about food than the depressing truths of being a monster. "Udon?" The curiosity in his tone was hopefully enough to indicate that he had no idea what Hajime was talking about. "Sure, that sounds great!" Still didn't know what it was but he was going to trust the experts on this.

"It's noodles, pretty much. Thick, made of wheat flour, we serve 'em in a broth topped with scallions and the shrimp tempura." Hajime nods enthusiastically. "Trust me, it's great." And he put in the order before Tony could do any protesting. Really, if Tony didn't eat it, Hajime sure would.

"Sounds good, sure I'm game," They could have a more serious talk sometime later. For now, noodles was serious business. And Tony being a former homeless kid, well he wasn't going to shoot down an offer of a fresh cooked meal. He will absolutely eat it!

"So I didn't know you owned your own restaurant." Actually they technically hadn't really met before the whole... trying to eat each other thing. Man talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

"I don't actually own it." Hajime awkwardly rubs at the back of his neck. "I'm the manager. It's my parents'. Sort of a family business, you know? Most of the other people who work here are my cousins." There's a shrug. "Means I have to work twice as hard as anyone else so I'm not just the owners' kid."

"Family business? That's still pretty cool. Raw deal about having to work harder though, but I get you. Don't want the others thinking you're getting it easy." That was one way to cause a lot of strife.

"Yeah, pretty much." He grins and lowers his voice. "But I don't need to sleep anymore. That helps."

"You don't?" That was actually kind of cool, though upon second thought it also sounded like kind of a bummer. Sleeping was one of Tony's favorite things next to eating. "What's that like? You're not exhausted all the time?"

"Nah, it's like I just forget that sleep's a thing I need to do, and I don't get all stupid and useless if I forget to sleep." He shrugs. "I can, but at this point, I think I'm just doing it every so often out of force of habit."

"Huh, sounds kinda useful. No zombie days after a long night out, at any rate." Lucky guy, even so Tony enjoys his sleep, so he won't be too envious. "I wonder why you don't need it?"

Hajime looks over his shoulder at the kitchen. The orders are coming along; they should be done soon. He's just got to stay alert so no one overhears anything incriminating. "As far as I've been able to tell, all my other self was meant for was to fight. The best fighting machines don't need sleep." There's sort of a dull tone in his voice at that; this isn't something he likes to contemplate.

Taking note, Tony likewise lowers his voice. Last thing he wants to do is cause trouble for the guy where he works. Very few places were Numbered friendly these days. "Fighting machine?" A frown, slight concern creasing his brow. "Even if that's the case, you'd think recuperation would still come in handy. But, I suppose it's better if you don't need it. Less down time." Of course, being such a creature was bound to be worrying. Just about as worrying as turning into a demon, really.

He offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile, though expressions like that didn't work so well one-eyed and haunted as he was these days. Still, he tried, because he understood. "Hey, don't look so gloomy. There's still a lot we don't know, yeah?"

"I didn't need to sleep after fighting that giant snake that smasehd up the city a while back," Hajime points out. "I just...keep going."

Hajime gives a small shrug. "I guess so. My cousin was turning into something like me a few months ago, and I think we both learned more than we wanted...but he forgot it all." There's a dry, humorless chuckle. "I don't know if I should be jealous of him or not."

"On the bright side, imagine all the things you can catch up with?" You would think with all the terrible things that had been happening Tony would have lost his optimism, and true he'd lost a lot of it, but a little still stubbornly remained. Everything couldn't stay terrible forever, right? Besides, Hajime seemed like a good person, he shouldn't be so hard on himself.

"Did he?" A small frown. "My best friend did, too. It keeps him safer now, I guess, but at the same time..." He trails off thoughtfully, then shakes his head. "I dunno, I don't think I'd like to forget it. For one thing, how would I explain the eye?" Idly he tugs at his eye patch, offering a bit of a goofy grin. Okay, it wasn't a pleasant thing but it was still true.

"Yeah. Maybe I can actually have hobbies again. Tried once, kind of started working too much to take my mind off of...stuff." Numbered stuff. Off of being a gigantic homicidal bug.

Hajime nods sympathetically. "Yeah. I know what you mean. You'd trade one sense of loss for another..."

"Well, now that you've got more time, maybe it'd help you out?" But yeah, he understood. Far too well he understood.

"Besides, I've got a family now. Kinda forgot what that was like, you know?"

"Maybe. I guess it's a thought." Hajime sort of wistfully looks back at the kitchen. Where a good chunk of his family is. "My other self never knew what it was like for the longest time. I think he was learning. And I don't ever want to forget."

"Couldn't hurt," He followed Hajime's gaze, but he really couldn't see much from where he was sitting. Thankfully, as far as he was aware, no one knew this place had a Numbered person working at it. That could cause all kinds of trouble for Hajime's family.

Espresso Yourself got enough hassle, this place didn't need it too.

"Yeah? I guess one good thing is you've got a foot up on that already, huh?"

"Yeah. There's some stuff you don't ever forget." Hajime's very fond of this place, moreso than he cares to admit. It too, is somewhat part of the family.

"Here, let me go check on the food. Should be about ready..." And he'll quickly return with two orders of udon with tempura. One's packaged up to go, but the other isn't. "There. Now you can try some."

"I wouldn't want to. It's all pretty important, even the bad." There was a lot of good, too, and without the bad it'd be easy to lose context. Why the good was so important. Why they needed to protect the important things, their families and homes.

"Sure," Oh ho, a snack for him? That is awfully nice, how did he know Tony is a bottomless pit? He grins brightly at the offer, food really is the quickest way to his heart. Why did most of his friendships begin with someone feeding him? "Really? Thanks! I was getting pretty hungry." Don't lie Tony you're always hungry.

"Yeah. Everything...sort of works together, doesn't it?" Bad, good, it all sort of shaped things...for better or worse.

And Hajime grins at Tony's grin at the snack. "Don't mention it." He passes over a set of chopsticks. "You know how to use these, or do I have to tie them up like I do for the kids?"

"Yeah, it does seem that way." For better or worse indeed. Even so, even with all of the terrible things that had come with being numbered, Tony wouldn't change it. It's given him purpose, a family. Invaluable things in the long run.

Yes! Food, his favorite thing in the world. The chopsticks however... "No," He insisted indignantly as he utterly failed to figure out how to hold them. Look, he's got this, dropping them and nearly twirling them into your own eye is totally how the process works. "...Maybe." S-shut up.

"Give me those..." And Hajime snatches the chopsticks away from Tony before he could embarrass himself even further, and with a few practiced twists of the wrapper and the addition of a rubber band, he rigged them into training chopsticks for Tony. "There. Try that."

Really, Tony, if you can't handle that, then Hajime may not stop laughing.

Tony let out a little squawk at the snatching, putting on his most dramatic pout. Okay, he couldn't chop stick his way out of a paper bag, it was true. He could still pout about it though. He accepted back the contraption, clicking the sticks experimentally then grinned.

"Oh! Hey, that is easier." But still not the right way to do it, at least these ones he could work. He will just have to have Shou train him.

"Never used them before, have you?" Hajime's still pretty amused by all of this. "It kind of shows. A lot."

"Never eaten this kinda food before," Which in turn meant he had definitely never used chopsticks. "I'm not that bad am I?" As he proceeded to utterly fail at picking anything up with them even still. No, he's got this, just give him a minute.

Or eventually he'll just impale it but that doesn't work so well with noodles.

"It works better if you hold them like this." Hajime's demonstrating with another pair. But he's been doing this for as long as he could remember; it stands to reason he'd be much, much better at it than Tony.

He nods towards the bowl, assuming Tony's actually managed to get anything in his mouth. "So how do you like it?"

He's just going to go full on caveman and use the sticks as a scooping tool rather than a picking tool, but he has attempted a few times to mimic Hajime's gesture. With limited success, this is going to take some work. He'll work more on it when he's less hungry.

A side-ways glance at Hajime mid slurp, and an apologetic grin. "It's great, really good. Do you cook too?" Because actually this stuff was amazing and he's impressed.

Hajime is still trying to be polite with Tony's technique, even if it's just sad. "Yeah, I cook, too. Can't grow up around this place without learning how."

"Might ask you to teach me something sometime. I can uh... microwave a can of soup?"

Or make some awesome oven nachos but that's really just throwing a bunch of stuff on chips with cheese and baking it. Not nearly as impressive as this. One day he'll get this chopsticks thing down, one day.

"Microwaving pre-made soup?" Hajime's just going to shake his head. That's all he can do. This conversation is just sad.

"I can also cook it over a garbage can fire but that's kind of depressing and not a skill most people really need me to pass on." Okay so he's trying to joke but it comes out a little more flat than intended. Sometimes he's unwittingly depressing, sorry Hajime. "Still, I'd kinda like to learn someday. Lotta things I'd like to learn."

Yep, that is depressing. "I can show you how to cook, then." Hajime nods. "Over just a regular stovetop, I hope."

Just don't think too hard about it. He tries not to. "That'll be fine," He grins, amused. Yeah no one needs to learn how to cook over a can fire it's fine. He doesn't mind. Now that he's actually consumed enough to not be horribly starving he makes another attempt at actually using chopsticks properly. "Thanks, that'll be fun. I'd like to learn something useful like that."

"I can definitely show you, then." He hopes. They'll have to use forks and spoons, because there's probably no salvaging Tony's chopstick abilities.

"I'm looking forward to it." He really was, learning to cook would be great fun he thinks. Tony's big on food and being able to make his own delicious meals? A +. And then he will feed them to Lazarus because if anyone needs feeding it's him.

And yes, better to stick with forks and spoons for now, but he'll keep trying at the chopsticks anyway. Can't let Hajime down!

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Soup Mission - Closed

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