capitalh | Take me forward, stars are still asleep [OPEN]

Who: Joshua and YOU
What: Joshua’s just arrived in LA
When: First week of July
Where: Various places around the city
Warnings: This kid’s a pretty big snob.

OPTION A

It’s been quite a while now, since Joshua’s actually walked through these city streets. More than two years, as a matter of fact. But even after all the time that’s passed, he hasn’t missed being here in the slightest. And how could he? He’s only just arrived, but a few quick glances have showed that nothing’s really changed. Not that he can say he’s surprised.

Although-

If he’s going to be staying here for an indefinite period of time, it might do him some good to get a little…reacquainted with the area. And what better way to get reacquainted than a little shopping excursion?

Having decided that this is the best course of action, Joshua starts making his way towards the busier districts, stopping at all of the more refined clothing stores that he can spot along the way. He doesn’t have any strict agenda per se, so he takes his time – rifling through the displays, taking an obnoxious amount of clothes back to the dressing rooms and, of course, trying everything on.

OPTION B

It’s a little later in the day when Joshua decides to settle down at a local café. He’s picked a seat in the corner of the shop, trying to avoid the hustle and bustle of the line at the front register. On his table is a cup of the house blend and a small stack of the LA Times – some issues being recent, some dating a while back, but all of them containing events of note. It was about time he got himself caught up on local events.

The first issue that he picks up features an article titled “Plucky Teens Drop The Final Curtain On Musical Plague”. Now this could prove interesting…

OPTION C

Now that he’s been back for more than a few hours, Joshua’s starting to remember why he couldn’t stand this city in the first place. Somehow, he’s already managed to get outrageously bored.

Luckily, at times like this, if all else fails there’s always people watching. If LA’s good for anything, this would be it. He moves off the sidewalk to lean against a building – pulling his phone out to keep busy as he surveys the crowds. He’s not being completely obvious about it, but he’s not going to any great lengths to hide it either.

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Of course Miko isn't in the habit of sticking her nose in other people's business. Of course not. Not when the person in question is some guy at the table next to hers in a cafe who she has never seen before and who doesn't really strike her as being all that noteworthy. However, when she happens to notice that said random guy in a cafe happens to be starting to look at a very familiar news article, suddenly this totally qualifies as her business.

She twists a little in her seat to face him better. "Hey, dude, word of warning if you're gonna read that - it's pretty much bullshit."

Joshua hasn’t made it very far into the article, but it still takes him a moment to realize that someone’s addressing him. There’re always people who’re just determined to interrupt you, no matter what you’re doing. But the subject in question does pique his interest, so he folds the paper down and turns to face the speaker.

“Is that so? You sound awfully sure of yourself.”

"That's because I am." She crosses her arms and leans forward slightly. "Kinda a result of actually being on the scene, and seeing the stuff that they try to deny in there first-hand."

“My, my. You don’t say…”

Naturally, Joshua’s not ready to trust the word of some girl he’s only just met, but he can’t ignore what she’s said either. For one thing, he’s less than thrilled at the idea of possibly wasting his time reading information that might not even be accurate.

“Hmmm…I don’t suppose you could give me the details, then? Seeing you were there and all.” He sets the paper down and also leans forward, but there’s some skepticism to his tone.

Aw yes now she gets to talk about it. Telling people about stuff like this that she was actually there for never gets old.

"Okay so, first off, you remember all that stuff about the crystals people found in that sinkhole? That crap was everywhere. We found the place to begin with cuz Silvertongue did that... thing she does, the fortune-telling thing, but once we actually got there the door was totally blocked shut with all this rocky stuff."

Unfortunately, this is the only way of telling stories that she knows.

Neku is not on hero duty at the moment, but he's still out hitting the streets because... well, what else is an 18 year old boy with no day job supposed to do? He can't stand being cooped up in his apartment, and while mingling with the crowd is obnoxious, he's kind of trying to put more of an effort into managing the influx of emotional noise that comes with it.

He's doing pretty well at it too, just going with the flow of the noise that he's picking up on. He hasn't gotten a headache from it in a while and he hasn't really had to blast music from his headphones to deal with the issue either. He's about a building down the sidewalk from where Joshua is standing when he gets hit by an immense wave of.... well, he's not really sure what it is. It's like a gaping silence that drowns out everyone else, but it somehow feels overwhelmingly complex and noisy at the same time? On top of that, he's got that feeling like there's some sort of long-forgotten memory that's struggling to resurface, nagging at him insistently. He really can't put his finger on what any of it is, but the point is the whole thing is giving him some really severe brain pain. He actually freezes in his tracks to put a hand to his head and grunt, gritting his teeth.

Wherever the hell this is coming from, it's probably bad news. Better be on his guard...

He glances up. Wait.... is it really coming from that douchey looking kid over there with the cell phone?

There’s a small disruption in the flow of foot traffic on the sidewalk nearby – one that catches Joshua’s attention almost immediately. He keeps his eyes fixed on his phone, but through the camera view, Neku’s still visible a few feet away. And from the looks of things, he was having a few…minor difficulties.

A small, almost satisfied smirk tugs at the corners of his lips as he lowers his phone. Joshua turns his head directly towards Neku – giggling when he meets the other’s stare.

“Something catch your eye?”

God dammit of course he'd notice and try to engage him. Great. Just great. If there's any room to misinterpret what Josh said as a pass at him, Neku doesn't notice it. He has way bigger concerns about this guy, such as- oh my god he just giggle at him? Seriously? Neku hates him already. Like, he honestly can't think of any other time that he's had such a bad first impression of someone after such a small amount of interaction in his life. It's almost impressive.

So now what...? the old Neku, the one that wasn't registered as an actual super hero and given actual super hero duties, would probably just keep on walking by without so much as a snarky comeback, but now...? He can't exactly ignore the possibility that this guy might be a threat to the public, as unpleasant as the idea of engaging someone might be. An emotional signature like that, in his experience so far, has never lead to anything good; at the very least, it probably means that this kid has powers not readily visible to the naked eye. Plus, Neku, with his tendency towards mistrusting people, always treats everyone he meets with a healthy amount of suspicion. This just vindicates that tendency.

"Nope," he says brusquely, starting to head past the suspicious kid. If Joshua doesn't try and stop him, his plan is to duck into a back alley and to try to keep an eye on this guy from the rooftops.

Leaving so soon? Don’t count on that working, at least not so easily. If Neku didn’t want to ‘engage’, then he shouldn’t have let himself get caught staring. Too little, too late for that of course.

Joshua watches Neku pass through narrowed eyes – surveying the reaction momentarily before turning to follow him in stride. “You’re not a very convincing liar. You could at least put a little more effort into it.”

Neku bristles and stops dead in his tracks, turning slightly to glare back at joshua from over his cowl. "Oh yeah...? And what makes you so damn sure that I'm lying?"

Milly might not be speaking much to her father anymore, but he's never been so harsh as to cut off her accounts -- he's always provided for her in that regard, and she's always been able to live a comfortable life, even on her own now. And for Milly, a comfortable life means nice clothes -- and no skimping on the good stuff! She's pretty used to high-end clothing and designer labels, so it's no surprise that she ends up in the same store as Joshua. She's rifling through a rack of scarves when she looks up to see him on the opposite side of the rack, combing through the scarves as well with a distantly thoughtful expression on his face. Milly's face brightens and she grins, her gaze settling on the pale gray scarf he seems to be examining. He's a sharp dresser, too.

"You've got great taste," Milly says approvingly, nodding. "That'd look great on you! It'd really bring out your eyes...unless you're looking for someone else?"

Take me forward, stars are still asleep [OPEN]

Option B

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Option C

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A