What a time to be alive [Open]

[Takahashi Matsu]

Matsu's body shuddered to life as he gasped. His fingers spasmed and his back arched as he threw himself to his wooden floor. Nice, aged oaks of the finest reds. Slowly, carefully his body stops flailing and he breathes in only to hack and cough up sand. Yet another lovely day down below in the bowels of the earth. Gently, his hands lift to grip his skull and he spits once more as blood filters onto the sands. His lips curl partially into a snarl and he flips his body over, palms pressed against the wood. Such finery and no reason to care. Such were mornings that Matsu remembered though for some reason he couldn't remember anything from the past couple months. Had he slipped into that inky black? His mind was like an old tilt-a-whirl. It never seemed to stop, but for some reason it had. He went about getting his belongings together. Various pieces of equipment were strapped to and throughout his body as he began to cover up almost every inch of his being except for his eyes. Wrapping cloth around his face, he gently placed his hat upon his head and made sure it was nice and secure.

Stepping out into the world, Matsu turned and locked his door. Countless locks and seals adorned it, standing out from all of his neighbors. A ring of keys slid back into his person and he began to walk down the street. Unlike many, he tended to kick his heels and place his heels first before the fronts of his feet when leisurely walking. His body shook and his face turned towards a restaurant as an aroma wafted out. Oh wonderful, a community style place to consume food. Far different than many, they'd sit you with anyone or have you sit with anyone to make sure they could be packed wall to wall. Entering, he'd find a table in the back and order some drinks and some food. His body was aching for lack of...something. How long had he been without?

 

[Junan]

Re: What a time to be alive [Free RP]

It was one of those days.

He needed to be quieter, he could hear the words coming from the organization, telling him that he needed to lay low, telling him he had to stop his actions before he was caught and before he brought about attention on himself and then the organization as a whole. They really were very careful, they controlled how much attention they would receive at any given moment, they made sure that they acted in intense bursts, gaining enough work to justify performing it, only to go into hiding again. Or at least that was the case with his branch. The poison branch operated continuously, as did the gambling and extortion group. Junan pondered on how the last two got put together, but then assumed that it was for a reason.

Still, to make people feel relaxed around him he had to at least pretend to be one of them.

People got suspicious of someone they never see eating... and thus it was that Junan entered this particular eatery at this particular moment.

Of course, if one knew his whole reason for being there was to lose attention on himself, they would probably question his sanity as he entered wearing heeled shoes, no shirt and a bright pink feathered jacket over his shoulders. Not to mention the unusually flashy glasses.

Despite this he was ushered through and to a table. He wasn't used to this. Looking at the person who was effectively pushing him along he had small outbursts of The fuck? and Stop that! which seemed to fall on deaf ears as the smaller waiter or whatever the fuck this guy was continued to speak in very quiet tones, extremely quickly, as he hurried the much taller (aided by the heeled shoes) Junan "this way, thank you for your custom, please enjoy your stay. This way, thank you..." repeat repeat repeat, and Junan was seated, and the little fellow was gone.

Junan's head was turned looking towards where he'd run off to, shock evident from the side of his face, his eyes wide. What the hell had just happened? It had all happened so bloody quickly.

 

[Takahashi Matsu]

"Common practice. " His bloodshot, ruby eyes lazily moved their gaze across the table. Tattoos could be discerned even on the edges of his eyes and where eyebrows would be were he not wearing his slightly feathered cap. This oddly dressed individual could very well be from the country. Many dressed in eclectic fashions for any number of reasons. Matsu kept himself dressed in functional clothing, but it didn't stop him from being an oddity. Having ordered, his drinks arrived as did a simple meat dish that was plated with rice and noodles. In his left hand he grabbed chopsticks and with his right he lowered his mask to reveal even more markings that only those versed in Runic Terran would understand if they could puzzle out where phrases began and ended. After lowering his mask, he'd reach into his many pockets and remove some oddly colored stones or what appeared to be stones. Carefully, his hand enclosed fully around them until they powered upon the forms of one another. The sands rolled from his hand into his drink, changing their nearly translucent appearance to that of a reddish-brown almost like dark clay. With that dusty hand, he gripped the glass and slammed back the awful drink before stuffing noodles into his face and tearing through them with his somewhat serrated teeth. They were far from perfect, snaggled and gnarled in various ways, but they fit together nicely in his own mouth even though they were simply...off.

With a relatively thick Terran accent and between bites of food, he would continue to speak "What brings you here?" It was a loaded question. Simply, however the person answered would give him information he wished to know. He would continue to stuff his face and drink the second glass he had been given. This second glass, however, was consumed at a slower rate. He'd already filled his other need. Now it was time to enjoy himself. "Plus, you get to meet weirdos. Rarely do you sit with the same people." Matsu would laugh and take another swig, having maybe half of his plates contents to remain.

 

[Junan]

Junan was in a state of shock. They didn't have anything like this in Cloud, or if they did he'd never been. Though then again he only ever ate out at the one location where the previous resident of this body had gone every Tuesday evening. The man opposite him spoke. Turning his attention to the other he'd missed what had been said, but didn't care enough to ask what it was. The man however didn't seem to really care whether Junan had been listening or not either, a couple of stones being pulled from his pocket, Junan watched, they turned to a powder and then were poured into the drink turning it a muddy brown colour.

He wasn't sure what that was either.

The man began to eat and drink and Junan pointed at a plate of whatever his finger ended up pointing at before turning his attention back to the other man as he had begun to speak again, now asking Junan a question.

Chance. Junan replied, his smile not finding his face for the moment, he was still quite disconcerted with the treatment he'd received upon his arrival.

He watched as the man continued to eat.

You seem to enjoy the place? He said asking, mainly to gauge how it was that he was supposed to take the food. Should he complain about it, should he enjoy it, he had no idea what the standard reaction should be for a first timer. His eyes watched others as they ate, while waiting for the other mans reply, hidden behind his glasses.

 

[Takahashi Matsu]

"I am quite impartial." The truth was that he didn't care. It simply was closest, had booze and food, and would turn a blind eye to his habits. As long as he paid and didn't cause trouble he did well. If he aided in the removal of trouble, then even better. That was a favor owed. The best kinds of currency. His eyes cast across the table and up into the crowd. He barely cared to pay attention to the other at the table. With time, another random body would be added and would order their food perhaps give an indication if they enjoyed or disliked the food. It was simply mediocre enough that either opinion would be acceptable. Perhaps even just a blandness would be considered by the patrons. Matsu once more lifted his glass and filled his mouth with the liquid which had become more of a sludge than anything of tangible value. Viscous and disappointing to others, it was carmot. Exceptionally rare and expensive and Matsu simply consumed it like a protein drink.

"Chance. Good reason. I didn't realize. I'm not one for chance. Always prefer to say good skill over good luck. Luck is vastly irrelevant in the grand scheme of life. No one is pulling strings but us." He may be saying too much, but he didn't really care. He would need a lot more booze and lot more carmot to get to the desired state after that atrocity of waking up he'd been through no more than an hour before. "Business being?"

 

[Junan]

He looked around him, now he was waiting for the food. The man on the other side of the table didn't look overly interested in him, though Junan was still wondering what he was drinking. It kinda looked like mud, but it was the first time he'd seen someone drinking mud. Should he be drinking mud to fit in more in here? No-one else was drinking mud, so he would avoid it for now. If he noticed it being more of a trend he would do so.

Though the man was making idle talk. It was probably to remove any awkward silence that might otherwise have been at the table. Which made sense when the room was filled with chatter.

Junan chuckled at the comment made about no-one pulling strings.

Indeed. If only the other man knew just how many strings Junan had to pull at continuously simply to mimic human movement.

The man asked what his business was. So Junan figured he'd answer.

The usual. Murder. Kidnapping. Extortion. He smiled at the other Standard shinobi stuff. He didn't care if people in a shinobi village knew he was a shinobi. Chances were there were several in this room.

How about you? He asked, wondering what it was the man on the other side of the table would answer. Junan didn't know what he did, had no hint he was a shinobi or not, but he had answered the mans question as honestly as he felt he could. To answer more honestly would require far more murder than he was willing to perform in such a busy location. People might get away. That couldn't be allowed.

 

[Takahashi Matsu]

"Oh. That does seem dreadful. I don't do anything like that really. I hunt people who do, so I suppose you really shouldn't do that around here. I'm really not in a mood to be...fighting anything at the moment. I'm far too tired after hunting Carnasaurs."<i></i> That last bit was a fact. He had just spent his time down below hunting them for their carmot creation. What nasty creatures. Vile temperament and couldn't even hold a conversation. He sighed and removed his hat, exposing the fact that his skull was in fact bare and littered with these potentially incomprehensible markings.

He sighed and lifted his glass, shaking it once before finishing off any liquid that had remained. He would also have finished his food by this point in time. He had eaten quickly, but he simply tapped the table. A waiter would take notice as Matsu made the local motion for more of the same and the man would scurry off likely to get more. Matsu planned to get obliterated in this early morning so that his body might find some reason to exist beyond just...aching and not knowing exactly what happened to it.

"Awful things, but worth every bit. Turns out, however, you should keep such thoughts a bit more quiet. I appreciate the honesty or perhaps...red herring? I believe that is what other countries might say though I know not what herring is. We don't tend to like it too much around here. Not my problem if I don't see it. Others, however, tend to care a lot, lot more than I do."<i></i>

Matsu rolled his eyes up from the empty plate and sure enough there was more coming his way. Another two glasses and some more food. He would not produce stones this time, but instead lifted one of the glasses to the air as if to cheers then began to consume half the liquid. A brief cough and covering his mouth and he laughed. It was going to be one of those mornings. Least he had company with whomever this was and the randoms that came and went from the table. Oh well.

 

[Junan]

You don't? He asked. The way he'd answered told Junan that the other must have been a shinobi, only shinobi could hunt shinobi after all.

So you've never been on a mission to assassinate someone then? He asked again as his food arrived. The steam warned him it would be hot... but he didn't have taste buds, nor did he remember the effect of eating food that was too hot, so he lifted the bowl and instantly began to drink some of the broth.

Placing it down he picked up his chopsticks and continued speaking How interesting. The shinobi village I comes from has missions like that as standard. Indeed some of us are sent out to search for children who are chakra capable, or more capable than most. They are then either taken by force or purchased. It's a regular thing back home. He said as he began to lift a few of the noodles towards his mouth.

That's not why I'm here though. You know... I'm not here to steal your kids. Or assassinate anyone. No. He flashed a quick smile before he raised the noodles high above his mouth and lowered them in.

Chewing them a bit before swallowing he looked at the other.

So you hunt people and whatever Carnasaurs are huh? ANBU? He asked inquisitively. A Carnasaur could have been a type of shinobi in Sand for all he knew, they certainly didn't have dinosaurs in Cloud at all, so he wasn't familiar with the creatures.

 

[Takahashi Matsu]

"I have killed more than I should. you misunderstood. It was a matter of doing that here. Which since you say you aren't here to do is interesting. It would be the only reason I visited another village. I don't care much for foreign threats."<i></i> Matsu continued to eat and drink. It wasn't really something he was planning to do, but now this gentleman had his interest piqued. Would he become quarry or would he offer something better. His face gave no indication of emotion as he ate. He took another swig and snorted, pulling in the burning liquid. Carmot was most definitely addictive and an important part of his religious practices.

"I do hunt. I was Anbu, but have been relegated to teaching. But, no one stops me from hunting so I hunt. People, things, dangers. Whatever. It is something many here lack the drive to do. Unfortunate really, but that's how it goes. Our village, like many, has a habit of harnessing monsters to do the more unsavory jobs that become apparent in life."<i></i> Matsu somewhat frowned as he spoke. It was like he was recounting something or perhaps he simply did not agree with the particular methods. The truth was not something that would be necessarily apparent, but it would give some indication that Matsu was not particularly happy with the way things currently were.

"My cousin is misguided, as it were."<i></i> This phrase would also have two different approaches. Either cousin was simply used to indicate countryman or it truly meant cousin. For now, it would remain quiet as to the true meaning. "Leisurely vacation then, given that you've no purpose stealing or killing here. Yet."<i></i>

 

[Junan]

He had already got the measure of how far he could take things with this man, or at least he felt he knew. The assumption that Junan was there to harm locals was based on his own reason for visiting other villages would be to do so. It was a fair assumption to make, and though it wasn't Junan's intention... there was a trail of the dead which lay in his wake despite that.

Perhaps his real intentions were worse. They would have a lasting effect on the village, whether the village initially felt it or not Junan's passing would last. He was after all attempting to set up someone else to be performing the role of human trafficker for the organization. It would of course mean lots of money for the individual as payments for these kind of things seemed to be substantial, but the payments were so because of the danger associated with them. Doubly so when the targets were young shinobi.

Junan nodded as the other spoke however, eating his food as he did so.

Junan had been confused about the mention of the cousin, so chose to skim past it.

That does seem to be a common trait among the villages. Sometimes the monsters are the ones who have the stomach to perform the duties that are required to put down other monsters. The stomach which others often lack.

His bowl was finished so he continued.

And yes, just a vacation. I have been able to meet so many interesting people here already, though I believe that my trip will be coming to an end here soon enough. I will need to continue with my travels, otherwise the village will begin to be concerned with my absence. I have my record to maintain. He smiled at the last. It was a double edged statement for Junan.

He maintained a great record in Cloud. Performing missions on such a regular basis that it put most shinobi to shame, however, he did this as a fallacy, to keep the eyes off of him, allowing him to perform missions like this one where he is out of the village for extended periods of time. Due to his record he could be trusted to do so. Of course they also trusted he was in Lightning country through it all.

Standing up he bowed his head to the other.

Anyway, it is time for me to get back to seeing the sights and sounds of the village. This has been fun though. He said, nodding to the other as he went to leave.

[topic left if not stopped]

 

[Takahashi Matsu]

[I won't be stopping you. Feel free to free this up. I will have a post for myself soon enough]