savetheearth | 23 | [Action, Open]

Who: Hajime Aikawa, Jackson Isaka, and any other unfortunate patrons of this Denny's.
What: Jack's been stuck as a horrible birdmonster for too long and wants to go out to do things. Hajime won't let him go alone. Somehow, they end up at Denny's.
When: The evening of May 10 at some ungodly hour.
Where: A random Denny's in Locke.

[Closed to Jack]
Hajime thought this was a terrible idea. Sure, he could understand Jack's desire to get out and back into the world better than most, but that didn't mean it wasn't a bad idea at heart. And at least when he'd gone through the same thing, he'd gone on a quiet 2 AM run on his own and kept away from people. This was a bit different.

He was in his own bugmonster form now, the better to accompany Jack's birdmonster form. Couldn't drag his human identity into this. Besides, the public at least kind of knew the Lord of the Bugmen. That didn't mean they were expecting the Lord of the Bugmen and some birdman friend to waltz into that Denny's at...well, Hajime wasn't sure of the time, save that it was very late and he could only give quiet thanks that Jack hadn't wanted to go out in the daytime.

Hajime tried to play it as casual as possible. "Greetings, human," he said to the dumbfounded hostess. It couldn't hurt to stay in character as the Lord of the Bugmen, right? "We need a table for two." Nothing at all unusual about this, just a couple of guys out for some Denny's. Surely they'd seen weirder at this Denny's during Locke City's science fiction conventions.

"J-just a moment," the hostess stammered, staring in disbelief at the pair of them. They weren't paying her enough for this. "I...need to see if we've got a table ready."

[Open Action]
So there are two monster men attempting to have a normal meal at Denny's. One is a peacock man, and the other is a bug man. They're probably from the network; one of them is even recognizable from a TV interview following Wise Snake's defeat. Bother them?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hajime's horrible bugmonster combat reflexes kicked in, and he easily snatched that napkin out of midair. "We didn't exactly plan anything. Just happened to be in the neighborhood."

Great, wonderful, he'd been hoping to get out of the restaurant without actually running into anyone he knew. Sure, word of this was going to get out and then he'd catch hell for it then, but now? Just one more thing to worry about.

Jack didn't have any horrible bird-monster reflexes to speak of, but his regular old startled guy reflexes were enough for the situation. He jolted back slightly, and snapped his head first to look at Shou, then back at Hajime.

Now, part of him? Part of him wanted to be angry about this. This wasn't going according to plan. Shou was an unexpected variable in this whole half-assed scheme of his. But the rest of him, the human side of him, the side of him that had been getting surprisingly lonely all cooped up in that apartment? It was kind of pleased to see him. He laughs. "I chose the right night to finally do something, it seems!"

Edited (argh, spelling) 2014-05-11 04:22 (UTC)

"The right night is when he calls first so I can get the right entertainment all lined up," Shou said, flicking a finger at Hajime and grinning. What? Him have a problem being associated with all this? Please. Shou pretty much was 'that crazy guy with the fancy car the Lord Bugman was riding in didn't you hear?' He might not be as famous as Hajime's bugman form, but people knew about him.

Oh well, time for him to reprise his role as that crazy guy. Shou picked up his coffee - the rest of his food already eaten - tossed enough money for the bill plus a huge tip and took a seat near the two monster guys so he wasn't shouting and disturbing the serious college students trying to share a plate of fries, cheese and gravy.

"So, who's your friend, Lord? You didn't tell me there were bird people in the sewers."

Hajime glanced back at Jack. Jack had never been a fan of the "Lord of the Bugmen" persona, and while Hajime thought it was a bit silly as well, what was done was done, and it at least gave him a bit of distance between the weird giant bug and the quiet restaurateur. "The Kingdom of the Bugmen makes its alliances far and wide," he settled on for his answer that would be suitable to be overheard by the public, "not just in the sewers."

And hey, that gave Jack the chance to chime in there with his own explanation for this mess. Not that Hajime really thought Jack was in the right frame of mind to make any reasonable decisions about this.

If Jack had eyebrows right now, he'd be arching one at Hajime's attempt to explain who he was. Also, scowling. He'd be scowling if that could be a thing. As it stood, the eyeball in his chest was kind of turned about and glaring. But there was still a point to Hajime's bad, bad backstory... and hell, he could probably make up much better things.

"The... High King of the Avians has... taken an interest in this place." The city? This Denny's? Could be either. He said it with an enormous amount of hammy self-importance, at any rate. And with an equally ridiculous toss of his head, he started for the booth that they were being lead to.

The High King? Shou was good enough of an actor to keep his eyebrows from bounce and to stop himself from laughing outright. This was just hilarious even though he bet that the poor guy in the bird form was stuck just like Hajime had been stuck months ago. Which meant that he was probably going stir-crazy walking around looking like a weird bird thing with an extra eye in it's chest.

"I bet it was the pink snake. Everyone says that birds and snakes do not get along."

Hajime did a slight double-take at the "High King of the Avians." Really, Jack? Really? And to think Jack had been giving him a hard time about being a Lord. High King...

"Neither of us much cares for snakes, really," Hajime commented dryly. "Alliances have to start somewhere."

Yes. Really. Jack's been starting to feel kind of competitive on the being a horrible monster thing, so... High King. He gives no visible response to the double-take, simply standing there with all the pride that a weird peacock-thing can muster. The eyeball in his chest does roll, though.

"There is a long and terrible history of war between birds and snakes, yes..." He sniffs lightly. "It's a fine time for an alliance."

Shou was tempted to stab a straw at that eye. Seriously to see if it was actually a real eye or just some kind of trick eye that reacts to stuff. He knew it was a bad idea, but he really wanted to try. So instead, he took a big drink of his coffee and shook his head.

"Man, just when you think that things can't get any more crowded with this whole mess, here are more people. So do you got a nickname?"

Hajime resisted the urge to give a nickname for Jack, for his cousin was at the moment volatile enough without any needling interference. "An alliance between the Bugmen and the Avians would strike fear into the hearts of any who would be foolish enough to challenge us." He was actually listening to himself and feeling pretty silly, and he did have to wonder if he'd be able to keep his composure up this entire time.

It is probably for the best not to stab an Undead in his weird chest-eye. That way lies madness and violence. "Hrmph." A nickname, great... what in the hell should he be calling himself that wasn't a big stupid title? He cast a look to Hajime. "I wasn't told that we would need 'nicknames' in this place. What do they call you, then, o Lord of the Bugmen?" Ha. Ball's in your court, cousin.

"I only mention it since some humans like to come up with nicknames unless you don't mind that," Shou said, waving a hand at the rest of the building. Hajime was probably around Shou long enough to recognize the hint of a smile on his face - the kind of hint that meant Shou was about to go diving into his brat mode.

"They just call me the Lord of the Bugmen." Hajime shrugged. "Or Lord for short." Hajime picked up on that look of Shou's, but he couldn't think of anything he could do to try to distract him from that.

Crap.

23 | [Action, Open]

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