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❰ shopping for clothes — or honestly, shopping at all — is still something that jiang yanli is getting used to in this maddening city. at this point in being there, it's essential to blend in and not look so vulnerable and lost while walking around, window shopping. it's a feat she's able to pull off! but that's never stopped a hooligan from trying to get in the way of a woman enjoying her day.

there are a few errands she's out running, though she's stopped at a center café to get something to eat. food here is always an adventure, and going out to eat is a highlight to her day. she's wrapped up in cutting into her second cod cake when her plate is rattled by a hand coming down on her table, fingers spread and palm flush with the surface.

the larger man, clearly not from her own Family — he's quick to brag about being a Featherstone — offers up some cheeky, forward comments as he leans on her café table. she quips back as lightly as she feels would be reasonably appropriate without ruffling any real feathers, but he doesn't get the hint. or, if he does, her certainly doesn't care much as he's now sitting down in the chair opposite her, hands now behind his head and legs crossed comfortably.

caught off guard, she's not sure how far she's allowed to go when dealing with this male harassment. it's nothing that's actually happened before, and so her previous experience is moot. jiang yanli wonders what a scenario would like like where she simply puts some money on the table and leaves...will he follow her? the man laughs loudly, slapping the table roughly; he's obviously mocking how flustered she is.

she forces a tight smile, looking left and right quickly, as if one of these directions will offer her a good answer as to how to escape this situation. ❱

[Shinjiro hasn't done a whole lot of socializing this mission; he's more the sort that hangs back and listens to what information can be found out by blending vaguely into the background. Nobody really pays attention to some street thug lurking around at the edges.

But everyone needs to eat, and between Featherstone missions like bodyguarding and throwing out cheaters at the casinos, Shinjiro stops at a little cafe to grab lunch, which he expects to quietly eat on his own and get back to work.

The best-laid plans. Shinjiro sees the Featherstone man cozying up to the woman, pushing his luck further and further despite her obvious discomfort, and about the time that he starts laughing and slapping the table, Shinjiro has had enough.

He stalks forward, taking advantage of his height to loom just a bit over the other. Despite only being eighteen, Shinjiro has the benefit of cutting an intimidating figure--one that requires actual interaction to be aware is little more than a facade.]

Your ears busted or what? She ain't interested. Piss off.

（ shinji is going to find a little origami crow outside his room at some point.

no telling who it's from, and it's not quite a gift, but. you know. it's there. ）

[Seeing origami on this ship of all places is oddly nostalgic. He is definitely keeping this, wherever it came from tbh.]

[On the night of the 24th, Clara leaves a little package outside his door. Inside is a large bag of caramels she's made, and a little bundle of three miniature pies. They're not the ones he helped her make, but ones she made just for him.

There's also a little handmade journal there, with the word recipes written on the front. inside the first page, there's a handwritten note.

I thought we could take to filling this in together. Figure out things you like and don't like, so you can keep track of all your favorites.

- Clara]

[Oh....

The caramels and mini-pies as gifts were already kind of a lot, for someone who's generally kept himself at the fringes of the crew and expected nothing, but it's the note that really manages to gutpunch him. It's more touching than he anticipated, for this woman he'd just happened to help out because she was there and her arm was injured, to think of that baking session as an activity they could do again in the future.

By the time Clara opens her door on the 26th, she'll find the journal she gave to him, several of the pages indeed filled out with handwritten recipes for a couple of Japanese desserts--mitarashi dango, anpan, purin daifuku, to be translated by earpiece--next to a small unadorned box containing a sample of each. On the inside of the front cover, there's an awkward scrawled note (also in Japanese) that reads: thanks for the sweets. started off your journal thing with some popular stuff from home, maybe you'll like them. -aragaki

Sorry he is so terminally awkward, Clara.]

Edited 2021-12-21 15:12 (UTC)

Shit's going to go down. What're you plans

offered to help protect the schoolhouse
more or less the most i can do
that and cook whatever animals the others kill i guess

[It's basically an open secret by now, no point even trying to keep any kind of appearances there.]

sounds like a plan.

how about you?

gonna hang back. there are plenty of people ready to bring heat to the gang.

not goin after the orb either?

nah. there is such a thing as overkill.

overkill?
how do you mean?

meaning sometimes when too many people descend upon a location or a group, it gets messy and chaotic. hard to navigate. the probability of casualties goes up rather than down, even if you have force of numbers and abilities.

you think there’d be casualties this time?
it just sounds like ford’s a sad old man
hell, he could probably be one of us if we worked it out with the orb

Edited 2022-02-04 07:59 (UTC)

I think things might go south, s'all. Not saying Ford will be responsible for it.

if not ford then who?

[For all Shinjiro’s concerns about having to kill people for the sake of the orbs ... they actually have had a pretty decent track record of not actually murdering orb holders to date. It feels somewhat unlikely this would be the time that changes, under the circumstances.]

As interim sheriff, I heard rumours of a gang close by. I suspect they'll start making a fuss.

so you think they're after the orb too
guess that makes sense with what we know

it is mad popular wherever we go.

when people know about it, anyway
maybe if we're lucky, we'll find ford before the gang does

[Whether or not they tend to be lucky on their missions is up for debate, though. Shinjiro isn't usually given toward optimism, but under the circumstances ... even he prefers not to dwell on the bleaker possibilities.]

You think we'll get lucky?

probably not
but it'd be nice

Guess it would be.

❰ aragaki is a Good Boy in jyl's eyes, and thus she wonders how he's doing once they're back aboard the ship. ❱

Aragaki, do you find yourself well? I know the mission left some people shaken. Not that I'm trying to pry, of course. Just concerned.

[These lies and slander smfh. Good thing Shinji isn't aware of this particular thought process or he'd get all uncomfortable about it.]

eh well
i'm alive, i guess

[Which is not even really stated as a good thing, here. He's recently had to contend with the notion of being alive for eternity against his well and he's honestly kind of horrified about it. But he keeps that to himself for the time being.]

all limbs and shit attached too, for whatever it's worth.

That's good. All as well as it could be, I suppose.

❰ after what happened, especially with some more invested and involved than others...that's about all jiang yanli could hope for. ❱

Are you eating well? Now that food isn't sparse, I hope you've readjusted and are staying full.

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( time is meaningless | braccia town galleria )

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and to all a good night

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( text | un: jaguar )

( text | un: jaguar )

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( text | un: jiang yanli )

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