[Projects 2 and 3] Open and Closed!

[evowhisperer]

Who: Blaise, Cesar, and you!

Where: Marty's Gourmet Soda shop, Gateway City

When: Soda shop: Within a few days of the 16th, give or take.

What: Cesar and Blaise meet in person for the first time!

Warnings: Talk about Ryu (and all sex-discussion related warnings)

Status: Open! Blaise and Cesar's thread is closed.

 Marty's Gourmet Soda shop is a warm, pleasantly crowded affair. The counters are heavy wood, the stools are the sort that attach to the floor and rotate back and forth. Cheerful big-band music plays over tinny corner-speakers, and a young cashier behind the counter taps away at a cash register that might be older than he is. 'Stu' reads his nametag. He's a handsome young man, and whenever Stu smiles a girl by the door sighs happily.

 

Stu isn't paying attention just now, since he's leaning forward over the counter to squint at the cellphone presented to him.

 

"A, uh... Oh! Sure, sir, one Exprezzy Espresso, coming right up!" He straightens and rattles off a price, scrawling letters on the side of a cup.

 

Cesar takes the phone back and fishes out change, passing it across the counter. Cha-ding! Coins are handed over. Cesar pockets the change and backs out of the way, already reimmersed in his phone.

 

He won't look up until his name is called.

 

"Fizzy coffee! Cesar S!"

-----------------------------------------------

Who: Tony, Cesar, and you!

Where: Cesar's apartment, Gateway City

When: A few days after their text conversation.

What: Cesar and Tony meet for a suspense-ridden intercourse of science.

Warnings: Needles, what is essentially a low-key version of unregulated human testing. Also, underaged drinking and drunk shennanigans.

Status: Closed

It's another door with another number on it. This time the hallway outside has rows of doors on both sides of the walkway, and potted plants stand as greetings by several welcome-mats along the way. Cesar's door has no plant, but it does have a welcome mat. It has no words--just a generic pattern.

It's quiet. A pair of children can be heard playing in the distance, and a tabby cat cleans itself by a door some apartments away. There's no smells or sounds from the apartment, this time.

Comments

[evowhisperer]

Tony doesn't look well, but it's not bad enough for Cesar to comment. He's estranged from his home and family; the kid deserves the ability to look haggard without judgment.

He nods, typing easily. 'My company survived. Their Locke office was only one of their branches. The equipment and data lost was bad, but they had backups. I was back to work as soon as enough had been relocated.'

As simple as that. The text fills the screen, and he waits for Tony to finish reading before trying to continue.

[oncedevil]

Estranged and at war with himself, he thinks he's earned the right to be a little worn out and show it. It's been a fight to keep it down for too long, and even though he's already having regrets about his decision to run off like he did, but pride's still a strong motivator.

"Well that's good, lucky. Too bad about the loss but it sure could've been worse." And was, for a lot of people. But at least Cesar managed to pull through comfortably enough.

Even if his couch looks very sad and lonely. Tony is ready, do continue. Maybe he'll ask Cesar to start teaching him some sign language tonight. How hard can it be?

[evowhisperer]

He nods without comment. Yes, it could have been much worse, and he knows this quite well.

'The work itself has been hard. Apparently trying to implement radical new technology that you only half know the basis of comes with its own set of issues.' A corner of his mouth kicks up, then drops. 'It's made it important for me to take breaks, like now.' Another smile, this one a real one.

The moment passes. A moment of shared appreciation is nice, but Cesar isn't one to dwell on it long enough to make it awkward. 'I've also started hiking. You walk everywhere. Do you walk outside of cities?