"Half of the things I got are my groceries." She admitted, almost shyly, as she followed his gaze. "So I'll probably have to buy some more. Let's pay and find somewhere to eat, so we can figure out what to get more of."
Yesterday Upon The Stair // oxo, rated M or something// CLOSED
“Okay,” He Agreed, “Do you mean a restaurant? If so I’m good with that.” He rolled back his shoulders, “Do you know any good ones?”
"I meant a place to sit and eat." She said, shaking her head slightly as she started down the aisle. "But that's a good idea. I know a few, mostly fast food, so it depends."
“Fast food sounds good, I don’t think I’ve had fast food here before.” He glanced around for the place to check out.
"There's a McDonald's just a few blocks away, I think. I've heard many a thing about how much better it is here than America." She wrinkled her nose for a split second, before turning towards the counter, where a disgruntled looking man was standing.
Cassidy silently agreed that McDonald’s was a good idea before turning to the man at the counter. He looked him over, trying to decide if he was friendly or not. One could never be too sure, but that man didn’t look too friendly.
"Anata wa darekaga anata no shatsu o bujoku shita yō ni miemasu." Tango said matter of factly to the man, setting the basket on the counter. She was right, her pronunciation of certain words was a bit off, but otherwise, not bad.
"Disupurei zentai ga chōdo hikkurikaetta. Gen'in nashi de." The man grumbled in response, setting the Kara-age aside since she'd already paid for it, before pulling item after item from the basket to price and bag it. He continued to complain about the display that had fallen suddenly, and insisted multiple times that he had made sure the base was strong enough just that morning. What no one but Tango noticed, was the spectral teen boy laughing from where he was sitting on the counter.
Cassidy looked between the man and Tango, only catching bits and pieces of what they were saying, “He’s mad about the display?” He guessed, “Tell him I can help pick it up if he’s really upset about it.” He looked back over to the fallen display to see how bad it really was. He couldn’t help but feel bad for him, conscience store jobs were difficult jobs, right?
Tango raised an eyebrow at Cassidy, shaking her head slightly. As she continued to chat with the man, she stepped away from the counter, making her way the few feet to the mess left by the display. It really did look like it had been built well, and honestly? The first thing one would think was that someone had pushed it. But as Tango knelt down and began cleaning up, Cassidy would probably remember that they had been the only ones inside.
Cassidy knelt down to help her, “Hey…weren’t we the only ones in the store? Who could have knocked this down?” He looked up at her as he gathered the items that had fallen. He pursed his lips in thought, “Do you think it could be…ghosts?” He meant it as a joke of course, not knowing how accurate it could really be.
"Oh, come on. How the hell is a ghost going to knock down this entire stand. Nonexistent things can't knock down existent things." Tango said with a roll of her eyes, pretending as though she hadn't just almost dropped the candy she was holding.
Cassidy smiled, “It was just a joke, per our earlier conversation.” He gathered a handful of the candy bars, beginning to set them back up in the stand, “But seriously, it is weird though, right?”
"Things fall. Happens all the time." Tango said with a shrug, methodically and quickly placing the bars back on the shelves of the stand. "Maybe we bumped it on our way in, putting it off balance enough to fall over."
“I guess.” He shrugged too, putting back the items he gathered before standing back up, “I just don’t remember bumping into it. I’m just saying it’s weird. Anyway…” he jammed his hands into his pockets, “I’m ready to go when you are.”
"Paranoid. Things happen." She shook her head with a snort, standing and accepting the two bags from the cashier. The man smiled, thanking both of them and wishing them a good evening as Tango led the way out of the convenience store.
Cassidy dipped his head to the man as he followed Tango. He let the door swing closed behind him, “I’m not paranoid, I’m just curious. I like the thought of angels and ghosts,” he chuckled lightheartedly, “At least just to imagine.”
"Tell me something." Tango said, raising an eyebrow as she turned to look at him, walking backwards and using Hinata's help to avoid crashing into things. Well, he was semi-helpful. Emmy had appeared once more, and was much more help than the teen, who kept getting distracted and messing with passerby. "If you actually saw, say, and angel, what would your reaction be? You're just minding your business, and suddenly find out that these creatures or beings exist that defy the laws of nature, how are you going to react?"
Cassidy’s mouth curled into a smug grin, “I’ve thought about that actually.” He kicked a stray rock off to the side towards another store, “I’ve tried to think about what to say to them, but I don’t think I would be able to say anything. I would just be dumbfounded and just stare at them with my mouth open like an idiot. Maybe a string of drool coming down from the corner of my lip.” He traced the imaginary drool from the corner of his lip down his chin.
Tango let out a laugh, that was more a huffed breath of air than anything, but still surprising. "Really? No screaming? That's a first. Everyone I've ever asked that says they'd be so open to it, but as soon as they think about it, their opinion changes." Her eyes sparkled with something knowing, an odd touch that made it look like she was hiding something about that. "You would make a great main character in a fantasy novel, then."
Cassidy shook his head, “Nope, no screaming. And I should hope I would do well in a fiction novel..” He touched his cheek thoughtfully, “..Because I write them all the time. Maybe I should write myself into one. What do you think?”
"You're kind of already doing that. That's part of writing, breaking yourself up into bits to make up characters." Tango pointed out, her eyes on a spot just behind Cassidy, where Emmy was floating. "But you could always just directly insert yourself. Who's gonna tell you not to?"
Cassidy shrugged again, “I suppose so, but many of them don’t resemble me at all. I have a favorite character I made that I love to hate. He’s a sociopath who dissects people in his basement for the black market, but he has a soft spot for children and he’ll protect them at all costs. He would never hurt a child,” he chuckled down to the sidewalk.
(I’m gonna be gone for the week on vacation and probably won’t be able to reply, but I’ll be back online by the 17th!)
((Hope you have fun!))
"Layers are what make a good character." Tango said, huffing a small laugh. Even with her generally emotionless expressions, she seemed more inclined to laugh around him now, after spending a bit of time with him. Something caught her eye though, and the more relaxed expression dropped into something calculating as she watched the ghost across the street. Something seemed off about them, though. They kept flickering in and out, like bad TV static, and it took her a moment to remember the last time she'd seen something like that. "Shit." She cut suddenly across the street, not waiting for traffic, though she did grab Cassidy's arm to tug him with.
(Thanks! I did have fun)
Cassidy helped at being pulled into the street. Of course he didn’t see what Tango saw, which only made him all the more ignorantly terrified, “What the hell?” He cried, “What are you doing?!” He ran alongside her after his mind caught up with the idea of changing course so quickly. He huffed with each breath as he followed her, “What’s going on?”
Tango didn't answer, her normally unreadable expression incredibly stormy as her fingers moved rapidly at her side. She met the ghost's eyes head on, speaking to the flickering figure. "Where." Her intent look paused the ghost's-though, this wasn't a ghost, was it?- startled 'you can see me?' halfway through, and Hinata's quick calming words got through to them. Tango released Cassidy's arm as she followed the woman-she was pretty sure the flickering and fading ghost was a woman-not slowing at all.
It wasn't even a block later that she came to a sudden stop, Tango following suit and pausing to listen. She seemed to hear something, and a moment later, the sound of talking and the dull slap of fists against flesh carried to them from an alley way just a little ways away. "Stay here." She instructed Cassidy, not pausing to see if he'd listen, before stepping into the alley.
Fear. That was the first thing Tango felt, and it was an emotion she was used to. She lived most of her life in fear. Fear of the angry ghosts she came across, fear for her father, and fear of people finding out what she could do were a few notable ones. The fear clawed up into her throat, icy tendrils threatening to close it and prevent her from any semblance of functioning. And the sight of two men standing over the broken and boodied form of what might've been a woman just increased that fear. So she used it.
The corners of her lips turned up into a smile, one that was very decidedly not friendly. All sharp edges and teeth-baring, the smile didn't reach her eyes, which belied the storm of emotions and fear in her mind. It was chilling, to say the least. Her eyes stayed on the men as the ghost flickered out of view and back into view over her body, like she was unsure what to do, but wished she could stop it. "Did nobody ever tell you that alleyways are a coward's choice of murder scene?"
Cassidy stayed where he was told, but he couldn’t help but take a couple steps and only peer into the alleyway. Of course he didn’t see the ghosts, but the sight was no less chilling. He brought a hand over his mouth, “O-oh…” he breathed, staying quiet. Tango was talking to someone, but someone he couldn’t see. What the hell was going on?
The men stopped, one of them even taking a hasty step back before the other grabbed his arm with an obviously vice-like grip. The larger man, the one who hadn't attempted to flee, spoke in harsh Japanese to his companion, glaring wickedly at Tango, before speaking in English. He didn't know she spoke Japanese. "Who the fuck are you?" His voice seemed to waver slightly, likely thanks to the chilling smile on her face.
"Not important. You know what is important? Why the fuck you're beating this woman senseless." Tango, realistically, shouldn't have known the limp and almost dead figure on the ground was a woman, and the two men seemed to notice that. Tango's hands stayed at her sides, though she was signing again. After a moment, she pointed carefully at Cassidy, before making a 'phone' with her hands. If you're going to ignore me, then at least call an ambulance. He couldn't hear her thoughts, but she willed them at him anyway, her smile never dropping.
Cassidy pulled out his phone from his pocket with shaky fingers, willing himself to remember the Tokyo ambulance number. He pressed each number gingerly as he silently wished for each individual number to be correct. He lifted the phone to his ear and listened to the painfully slow beeps. Finally, someone answered. Now he just had to remember enough Japanese to get his point across to the person on the other end.
"That doesn't fucking concern you. You shouldn't even be here." The man growled, his hand reaching for one of his pockets, before stopping. Tango knew plenty about body language, and gestures, definitely enough to put together the fact that he had been reaching for a gun. But he had stopped.
The reason for that was the seven year old girl that only three people, one dead, one almost, and one courting death, could see, that had very quickly gone from child to eldritch horror. The alley was swamped with pure fear, a result of Emmy's rage at the man who'd been fully prepared to kill Tango. The blanket of heavy fear had resulted in the men, or more specifically, the man with the gun, being frozen with fear. And yet, Tango didn't seem too affected by it. "You're going to scare the others, Emmy. Dial it back. I'm alright." "Shouldn't, but here I am. You know, you might want to start running." When she was met with a confused and incredulous 'what?', she spoke again, voice steady as always. "I called the cops, you know. Before even stepping foot into this alley."
"You're bluffing." "Are you really willing to take that bet?"
Cassidy managed to speak enough Japanese-mixed-with-English to communicate the location and situation. Now all that was left was to wait for the ambulance–and more than likely the police–to arrive. He stuffed his phone in his pocket, sinking against the side of the building. He blew out a strained sigh through his lips. He was just supposed to take a walk and look around stores with his new friend. Even with his messed up beginnings, he could never imagine this on a first "date" (not quite a date).