kaisou | [INTRO] A totally normal late dinner

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xingqiu

[INTRO] A totally normal late dinner

WHO: It's just you and Joseph, baby. Unless he ticks off some other patrons.
WHERE: A normally peaceful old diner uptown.
WHEN: The middle of the damn night.
WHAT: Joseph JUST got here and he is already in trouble.
WARNINGS: Scuffling and cussing, if a fight breaks out.

[New place. New objectives. New adventures, or something. First order of business? Food.

Joseph intentionally picks the shadiest looking restaurant he can find on short notice and strolls through the front door, seats himself, and waits to be approached by a server. Normal stuff. He takes it slow, asks to be given the most popular appetizer and a Coke for the time being.

Sure enough, this lady comes back and slides him some cole slaw. It's the most wretched slop he's ever seen in his life. The server receives a low chuckle, a handsome smile, and a charming wink; he sends her off with a thank you and proceeds to stick his spoon into the dish with a kind of caution that suggests he thinks it's going to explode or something.]

What the hell. Hahaha.

[His attention suddenly snaps up towards the front counter, where people normally line up to hand their payment to the host or hostess.

There's one of those "take a penny, leave a penny" things on it.

He could definitely land a spoonful of this sludge in there with his unparalleled master aim. A spontaneous test of his precision.

So, naturally, he scoops out a bite's worth, turns the spoon towards himself, bends it backward with a thumb, and catapults the cole slaw from Hell in a brilliantly wide arch halfway across the restaurant. It's going to meet its mark, for sure. Definitely.

Or, it would, were it not for the unfortunate bastard walking in and directly through the path of the flying slaw.

It hits someone. If you're already sitting down, maybe it hits some rando who just walked in. But if your timing is shit, you get a fun little cole slaw surprise in your face. Maybe your hair? Maybe your shirt. The possibilities are endless!]

Oh—shit. Shit shit shit.

[Joseph's eyes blow wide and he instantly turns his head to look out the window as to act like he was not directly responsible for what he just did.]

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[When you're an 18 year old with night owl tendencies and recently discovered you can teleport, what do you do? You use that new power to sneak out of the house for some late night diner food, that's what!

And that's exactly what brought Jun here as he unfortunately walks directly into the path of the ill-fated coleslaw. He's short, so it hits directly into that weirdly green hair]

Nngh! [He makes a little wince from the hit, both the impact and the fact it's cold and wet. He reaches up to see what touched his hair. Fingers pull away some and bring into view the coleslaw]

What the fuck...? [He looks around the diner, trying to figure out who did it. ]

[Why is a student here in the middle of the goddamned night? ... Listen, sometimes you just need some shitty diner food while you study for an upcoming test. And he wanted a bit of a change of scenery. Beats studying in his own room, anyway.

Kakyoin's not the one the coleslaw hit, but he sure is watching as the rando it does hit notices Joseph trying to act innocent and starts storming in that direction.

... While Kakyoin's pretty sure it'd be better to stay out of it, he doesn't really want a fight breaking out to make him find a new diner to study at. That's what prompts him to stand up, stride over, and intercept the person who was unlucky enough to get hit by stray flying coleslaw. With some quick thinking and some gentle persuasion, he's able to send them on their way before anything can get out of hand.

Once that's done, he goes back to his table, collects his books... and slides in across from the stranger in the booth.]

You're welcome.

[No way. This guy with flippy hair walks over and somehow manages to talk someone who was red in the face pissed out of throwing a punch. Joseph was steeling his nerves for a fight.

Those are some smooth negotiation skills. Not that he is going to tell him that.]

Huh! I guess I am. Hey, you want the rest of this shit?

[He pushes the dish of rancid slaw towards him.]

[Oh, god. Oh god oh god. This dude with the brightest hair he's ever seen just gets slaw'd. There are people seated looking at Joseph, which is not good for his sloppy attempt to look like that wasn't totally his bad.

Time to save face.]

Whoa! Who the hell threw that? Man, that's fucked up. Hey, guy, you got some on your ear.

[He dumps the rest of the utensils out of their napkin wrapping onto his table and holds said napkin out with a smile, preparing for the guy to walk over and call bullshit.]

Edited 2022-02-13 22:48 (UTC)

Haha, no, hard pass.

[Without even glancing up, he starts depositing his books on a clear area of the diner table that looks clean enough.]

I don't know why this place tries to push their coleslaw as one of the most popular things when it's one of the things that definitely shouldn't be trusted. [A beat.] Don't bother with the club sandwiches here, either.

[Joseph stares helplessly at the cole slaw. His server hasn't even come back to take his order. He isn't sure if he wants her to.]

Cool. So I guess I'll just be glad that my soda isn't also putrid.

[Ah, well. Not the first time he's been served slop. He regards this flippy haired guy with a brilliant grin, dialing his charm up to ten. You can practically see the shine reflected off his pearly teeth.]

I'm Joseph, by the way. Joseph Joestar. I ain't from here, but I'm glad to know that crappy diners are universal.

The coffee isn't terrible. The desserts are actually pretty good. Honestly, the burgers could be worse.

[Kakyoin responds with a polite smile and a nod.]

Tenmei Kakyoin. Pleased to make your acquaintance. New resident, or just visiting?

New resident, I think.

[Joseph continues to smile, though now it is a touch less charming and a touch more amused. Dude has the reddest hair he's ever seen in his life.]

I can't do coffee. Caffeine ain't good for me, I'm over-energetic to start, you know? Maybe I'll just get a milkshake ..

[He leans over the table, which creaks beneath his weight.]

Alright, I need to know something. How much time do you spend on your hair every morning? Be honest.

[He hums in acknowledgement.]

There's plenty to see and do around here, at least.

[And okay, yeah, the comment about the coffee makes him snort.]

Fair enough. The coffee tends to be a priority for me since, well. [Tapping one of the textbooks.] Student and all. Plenty of late nights. Can't go wrong with the milkshakes here, though.

[And, ah, the question...]

Twenty to forty minutes, depending on how cooperative it wants to be on a given day. [... Hmmm.] I've been told that between the color and the style it tends to look a bit like flames.

[Moment of truth, he supposes. Most folks haven't acknowledged it being red, not even his parents, and the ones who have acknowledged it... Well. Kakyoin will cross that bridge when he gets there.]

Edited 2022-02-14 00:36 (UTC)

[Joseph your attempt to cover up your crime is incredible. Jun doesn't recognize this guy at all, so he's a little cautious as he approaches. Still, he's mostly confused to how coleslaw got thrown at him and more importantly - wants it out of his hair - so he'll accept the napkin]

Thanks.

[He'll start to pull it out of his hair, making a face as he does so. ]

Did you see who threw that?

[Xingqiu has a particular issue with not sleeping very much. Well- it might not be an issue per say but... He only sleeps a handful of hours a night at most. So it's not unusual for him to stay up late and fashion to get some work done on his writing or university projects.

He's sitting there and he's minding his own business when... Splat. That spoonful of- whatever the hell it is- hits him in the shoulder.]

Eha?!

[He sputters and stands up in anger and horror. He curses out in what appears to be Mandarin and looks around for who did that?!]

Excuse me?! Who is throwing food like a neanderthal?!

[Joseph is smirking.]

No, man, sorry. Just heard the wet splat and looked over to see the worst had happened. People are out of their minds at this hour, huh?

[Ah, shit. Wait. The cole slaw is still on his table.]

Oh my god! That guy brought his dog in here!

[PUPPY! Or so he says. He points past Jun and then, if and when Jun turns around, he grabs his entire little dish of cole slaw and slings it out the open window next to him.

If Jun does not turn around, well, Joseph just flung a plate out the window.]

[No way. Ooooh my god oh my god that dude's so mad. Joseph immediately snatches the dish of cole slaw off of his table and like, drops it onto the floor underneath his table. He also immediately starts blabbing as to try and cover up the sound of ceramic bouncing off the tile.]

Whoa, someone's out to start a food fight! Better duck!

Ah, man, I remember stayin' up late, doing homework. Copying notes ..

[He didn't pay much attention in class. To be truthful, he really should see about resuming general education classes in this city, but that's so .. boring.]

Won't lie, my man. Your 'do looks like a rooster's crest if it got done up with a flat iron. Not that I'm calling you a chicken; I'm sure you're a brave guy.

[Joseph's elbow meets the surface of the table, and he rests his head in his hand.]

What're you studying for in this weird old city, anyway? Ghostbusting?

[Joseph... please...

At least Kakyoin is actually chuckling at the comment about his hair.]

No offense taken. Everything I've heard seems to indicate chickens remember they were dinosaurs once and are awaiting the day they're dinosaurs again.

[Kakyoin?!]

Not really, no, but funny you should mention that anyway... would that be why you're here? [He pauses.] And, actually, did a weird app download itself onto your phone when you got to town?

[Kakyoin?

That first part takes Joseph off guard. He's not sure what to say for a second, so he just gives him a funny look with a smile up until he's asked some questions.]

That is why I'm here, thanks much. Also, uh ..

[He produces his phone from his back pocket and checks it.]

.. yeah, looks that way. Weird as hell. I just assumed I downloaded some stupid thing and forgot about it ages ago. Huh!

I can't tell you much about ghosts specifically, but weird stuff has been happening since last month. Including that app downloading itself to several phones in town.

[Kakyoin produces his own phone and opens the Libra app. He lowers his voice a bit more when he speaks again:]

But I imagine you've got other questions as well. I can at least try my best to answer them? But... full warning, I'm pretty new to...

[Vague but emphatic gesture.]

All of this. I thought I was pretty normal until last month.

[Unfortunately for Joseph, Jun is not very gullible. And he's also very very used to these types of distractors from his father. So he only glances ever so briefly, only to turn back to see him throw a plate out the window.

....

Yeah it was definitely this moron wasn't it.]

...Won't you have to pay for that plate?

[There's no way that plate survived that]

Do not start a food fight? This is a humble establishment! Don't make light of their efforts!

[He huffs with annoyance and dabs at the food on his shirt... This is such a mess.]

[Joseph allows himself a hearty chuckle, leaning so far over his table that it creaks underneath his weight.]

Humble establishments can't afford a little mess every now and then? Hey, come here. You're gonna smear that all over, I got napkins.

[Joseph just laughs kind of awkwardly. What in the god damn.]

What, so, like .. [He raises his voice some, clearly put off by what Kakyoin just told him.] is it like some kind of fuckin' malware application or somethin'? Uh .. man, you know .. I didn't actually think about flagging anyone down for information.

[He should. Thoughtful, he puffs his cheeks and then lets out a loud huff.]

Let me just start with my business, yeah? There are ghosts and shit here, right?

[Noooo. Homie definitely saw. Oh, well. Joseph merely flashes him his best award winning smile.]

Yeah, what, like three bucks for that itty bitty thing? My damn coke is probably more expensive. Anyway .. you got a little mayo right here ..

[Joseph kind of vaguely motions up near his temple.]

Is that so...

[...So that's how it is then.

Jun will grab a napkin from the table and wipe the mayo off his temple. ]

Well, if you're not worried about money ... how about you pay for my order, and we'll call this whole thing even?

[you know, the thing you definitely did sir!!]

[Joseph stops smiling and raises an eyebrow at this guy.]

I mean, no worries, man .. unless you ordered fifty bucks worth of food or something absurd like that. But, hey ..

[He can't help it. Once more his shit eating grin returns.]

what if I don't? What're you gonna do. Report me?

Not as far as anyone on it knows. I was seriously worried it was going to brick my phone when it happened, but so far it's just been a bog-standard social media app for the most part. Except for, uh... [Awkwardly clearing his throat as he lowers his voice just a touch more.] Well, normal people can't really see it. Tried to show my parents and they didn't see a thing.

[Kakyoin tucks his phone away. He keeps his voice low as he keeps talking.]

I mean, I can't say anything about specifically ghosts, but gates to the spirit realm are probably relevant to your business, right? They've been opening up left and right around town from the sounds of it.

Haha, no nothing that expensive! I really just wanted a caramel malt.

[A nice little late night dessert, nothing more. And in return, he'll smile back at him.]

Nah, I don't the staff would care much if I did. But it's good to resolve bad karma, you know?

Resolve bad karma?

[That's the first time he's really heard it phrased that way. Joseph continues to grin at this guy, now placing his hand to the surface of the table, drumming his fingers on it.]

So .. does that mean you're gonna throw slop at me or somethin'? Eye for an eye, right? Eh, I think I'm getting mixed up.

[Okay. Very weird. Joseph produces his phone, unlocks it, and spends a good minute or two opening and briefly navigating the app.]

Gates to the spirit realm? God,

[Kakyoin goes out of his way to lower his voice, but Joseph does not. He blurts that pretty loud, making his disbelief abundantly clear.]

what a joke. Sounds like I need to go poking around where I don't belong.

[Kakyoin grimaces at Joseph's volume, but he's going to maintain the low voice.]

Hey, not so loud... [Thank goodness the diner isn't that crowded, they'd be getting looks otherwise, he's sure.] Anyway, the Libra app puts out a notice when gates open up, I think? There was one last month... I don't know if there'll be one this month, but it's probably worth keeping an eye on, anyway.

No, of course not! But...you know how the universe works! What goes around comes around.

[If by universe you mean abusing telekinesis powers to look innocent- sure]

So, what do you say? One malt?

[He huffs again!]

It's still a shame to be disrespectful and spend unnecessarily.

[But he does stomp over and holds out his hand in demand.]

If you would, your extra napkins?

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[INTRO] A totally normal late dinner

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