milliways_bar | (no subject)

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When the door opens this time, it's on what looks like a school dormitory, and a teenage boy who's utterly absorbed in the magazine in his hands. The change in scenery doesn't slow his stride at all, nor does he look up until he runs into an obstacle he wasn't expecting.

Unfortunately for Yusuke, that obstacle happens to be running smack into the observation window.

His eyes go wide, and he immediately reaches into his pants pocket, pulling out a decent-for-circa-2016 smartphone. Whatever he was looking for on the screen must not have been there, though, as he frowns and puts it away again. "...ah."

This is clearly not the dorm, but neither is it a cognitive landscape... yeah, he's officially flummoxed.

[tiny tag: Yusuke Kitagawa]

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"Signal's not that good here." So says the rather large cyborg sitting at the Bar, sipping a milkshake of uncertain flavor (it's greenish pink, somehow).

"It wasn't the signal I was checking."

That is an unusual drink, to be sure - and an unusual drinker. Still, Yusuke's pretty sure he's seen weirder things in the last few months.

"You probably shouldn't text and walk too often." Good thing that window is incredibly strong. Hasn't cracked in years.

"I've made that mistake often enough to have stopped, at least." The thing about being constantly surrounded by art projects is that texting and walking greatly raises the odds of ruining someone's work.

"On the other hand, I have yet to figure out why my dorm's common room appears to have been replaced with a bar."

"Because you left your dorm when you went through that door. You're actually in a bar. A weird one at the end of time." You know you've been coming here for a while when things like that make sense.

...You know what, that's not even the strangest thing Yusuke's had to deal with this month. (That would be the sphinx.)

"Ah. That would go some way toward explaining the view."

This guy...is ridiculously cool about it. Sort of like how Cy imagined Raven or Robin's first entrance.

"Yeah. The end of reality, on an infinite magic loop. Kinda pretty, in a creepy way."

Three short months ago, he wouldn't have been nearly this calm. It's amazing what can happen when you end up involved in cognitive-world shenanigans.

Yusuke returns his attention to the window, watching the explosions beyond it with renewed interest. At one point he even finger-frames the window itself. "If the cycle is on an infinite loop, one could catch details on subsequent viewings that were not apparent at first..."

"You a scientist? Or a filmmaker? YouTube star?" Cy is the first to admit that he hasn't kept up on YouTube stars.

"An artist. You were closest with the second one." Youtube requires a bit more technological sophistication than he's capable of.

(Because he spends all his money on art supplies first.)

"I guess that would make a good painting. I never really thought about it." Mainly because thinking about the end of time isn't that much fun.

"There is beauty in nearly everything, if one knows where to look."

"Never really been much for art. Really an engineer at heart." Though he would admit that there are engines that are definitely beautiful.

Yusuke shrugs. "We all have our own interests."

And he has a feeling his companion's draw to engineering is personal as much as anything else.

"I probably should fill you in about the bar. They have some rules here.

"Oh, by the way," he adds, "my name is Cyborg."

That sounds more like a Metaverse code name than a proper name, truth be told, but Yusuke can roll with it.

"Kitagawa Yusuke. Pleased to met you." Between the small bow he offers in lieu of a handshake and the name order, it's not difficult to guess where he's from, at least in broad strokes. "What rules does a bar at the end of time consider necessary?"

Cy's been to Tokyo, and also watches a lot of anime, so he picks up the cues.

"First rule is no violence. You know how in the movies there are a lot of brawls in bars? That's out. And if you get caught, they have a security staff here and even a bunch of holding cells."

"I've never been one to go looking for fights. That should be simple enough to abide by."

Cy doubts Yusuke would do well in any fights, especially here.

"Second rule is, no nudity or indecent behavior in public spaces. There are rooms attached to the Bar, sort of like a hotel, and you want to do, you get a room." Cy can't vouch for the quality of the rooms, though.

He might be surprised, but Yusuke's not going to bring up his other hobby if he doesn't need to.

"...I see." And he half wishes he could say that rule surprised him.

Oh well. He's unlikely to run afoul of that one either, short of extraordinary luck with a modeling agreement. (Even then, after his last such request went... badly, and was more at his former mentor's behest than of Yusuke's own interest, he's unlikely to ask anyone any time soon.)

"People sometimes get carried away," is all he can say.

"Last rule is no outside business. Meaning if your worst enemy walked through the door, this is neutral territory."

"As willful as the human heart tends to be, I can understand the necessity."

But his worst enemy, at least at the moment, isn't going anywhere any time soon. That should be simple enough.

That's a strangely poetic way to put things. Weird translation by the Bar from the Japanese?

"Beyond that, the Bar charges for things, like any other bar. Though if you get stuck here without money, you can run up a tab." Not, so far as he knows, that the tab gets collected.

Nah, he's just that dramatic.

"Ah, budgeting, my eternal nemesis. Though I suppose having a written tally may help matters."

(It probably won't, who is he kidding.)

"It's not that hard. The prices are pretty good here." At least as far as Cy can tell. It's not like he orders the lobster.

"What sort of food do they serve?"

Between this and Akira dragging him to Leblanc if he suspects Yusuke hasn't eaten in the last day, maybe he'll figure out what a regular meal schedule is yet.

Maybe. Possibly.

Edited 2017-08-15 00:43 (UTC)

"Pretty much everything. The Bar is kind of magic." Might as well get that out of the way. Not that Cy thinks Yusuke is likely to be perturbed by that, either.

And indeed, he's not. "Fascinating."

"Most of the time, you can just ask the Bar for anything, and poof, it's there. Though for some reason there's a kitchen and waiters. Rat waiters." That seems important. "Go ahead. Test it."

"...Well, so long as the rats are clean, I suppose." Still not the strangest thing he's had to deal with in the last month.

"Something to eat would be nice. I think I was busy through lunch again."

The way he says it, that's 'Tuesday.'

"Busy with school?" He has a dorm and looks like he's college age. Though when Cy was in college, he always found time to eat. Which is not a surprise.

"It's currently summer vacation, though I have been attending to some homework. I'm... not in the habit of eating regular meals. My friends have been working on it."

But between the patterns of a lifetime and his inability to plan a budget for longer than it takes to get distracted by art supplies, they have their work cut out for them.

"Your friends are right. Three square meals a day." At least. Cy's meal tend to be rather large, and rather frequent.

[ooc: must pause for the night. More tomorrow.]

"I believe I've managed one meal a day every day this week." And if he sounds oddly proud of that, well, it is something of an accomplishment.

In any case, he approaches the Bar, head tipped to one side as he considers what to ask for. "Hmm. Perhaps... tuna onigiri and some edamame?"

There are at least twice as many rice balls on the plate that appears in response than Yusuke was expecting, and the side bowl of beans is nearly overflowing. He smiles, delighted.

Cy is not going to hector the kid. Not his place. But he wonders how anyone can go with one meal.

"Pretty cool, right? Like something out of a scifi film."

Habit, mostly, and a side of the aforementioned complete inability to keep a budget.

"Indeed. This is quite a useful feature."

"Oh, and I think the first drink is free." Something that never appealed to Cy. Alcohol doesn't mix with electronics and artificial blood.

"I'll have to choose my first drink wisely, in that case."

Perhaps something fancier than tap water, for a change.

"They make great shakes." Of course he would say that, given his nearly empty glass.

"I imagine this meal will be quite filling on its own, but I'll certainly keep that recommendation in mind."

"Then I will let you eat.

"Oh, one more thing. You can see the door?" He should have asked that sooner.

"...Of course."

Making that a somewhat baffling question, really.

"Good. Because sometimes people come in and can't see the door and can't leave." Which is, when he thinks about, pretty disturbing.

"Odd. Is there any sort of pattern to those occurrences?"

"Not that I know of. But there are stories about some mysterious landlord who runs the place." Cy's never believed that. But has no idea who or what does control the Bar.

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