01 - Let's do Business

[truthkills]

Who: Kiriya (still going by his AU name of Kiran for the moment) and anyone who needs a new phone at very reasonable prices
When: A couple of days after the app starts appearing on everyone's phones.
Where: Lazer's Pawn
What: Clearly, everyone who's been dealing with this Applenet thing needs a new phone, and Kiran is all too happy to exploit the situation while quietly trying to see if he can identify anyone else on the network in real life. Also serves as a general mingle for other pawn shop shenanigans should you so desire.

Lazer's Pawn, which is currently owned and operated by one Mr. Kiran Sparrow, has never been one of the more respectable establishments in Eddam. Far from it. People rarely end up there on purpose; they mostly wind up there on accident after making a series of questionable decisions. Located in Richmond, it's easily spotted by its bright pink neon marquee sign bearing the store name.

There's currently a sign outside the shop that reads "CELL PHONE BLOWOUT SALE AND TRADE-IN-PALOOZA! DETAILS INSIDE." Kiran even sprung for a few shiny gold mylar balloons just to help draw attention to his no-expense-spared handwritten posterboard that looks like it's been taped over a "Wet Floor" sign.

Stepping inside the pawn shop either presents the impression that the owner really loves the late 80s and early 90s...or is too cheap to pull up that hideously outdated vintage carpet or redo anything else in there. At least the cash register seems modern enough, and there are several signs up warning customers that these premises are monitored by security cameras...though there are no cameras in view, and it is entirely possible the signs are a load of crap. (They are, after all, cheaper than actual cameras.)

The proprietor is currently kicked back behind the counter, leaning back in an office chair with his feet propped up by the cash register. He's wearing round sunglasses indoors, so it's impossible to tell whether or not he might be asleep. Between that and the garish Hawaiian shirt and torn jeans he's also wearing, he truly looks like the pinnacle of responsible business owner.

Comments

[probablynoteren]

"Hmm. She doesn't like cartoons, I think." Or at least she turns them down whenever they're suggested, though Haruka and his father are both pretty fond of them (which, actually, is probably his dad's fault in the first place). He pulls out the case anyway once he gets to it, just in case it's something he might want to look into down the road.

After a moment, he glances up and between the cute cheerful case and Natsume's scribbledog, and quirks an eyebrow at the resemblance.

"Is dogs your theme today?" Sometimes the doodle marathons will suddenly gain direction and gallop off into the night, and sometimes Haruka even joins in, depending on the time and materials available.

[foxhands]

She doesn't like cartoons...that's absolutely terrible. Not that he gives any sort of reaction in that vein. More importantly! Natsume blinks when he brings up the dog theme, looking down at the scribbledog, back at Haruka and the dog movie...

"........It is now." He might've started on a scribblecat before answering, but that's easy enough to fix! Just add a speech bubble that says BARK in it. Yes.

[probablynoteren]

Oh, there's a scribblecat now, which could still be some kind of dog (a shiba inu?!) given how scribbly it is. Haruka's mouth quirks up a bit once he spots it, and he reaches out to draw his finger between it, and the ketchup hotdog, and what looks kind of like a scribbled silhouette of the shop owner riding on a shark.

"A dogfish shark?" It kind of looks like they're all facing each other. All it needs is a round table, and maybe... "A dogfish shark knight."

Suddenly it's Arthurian.

[foxhands]

The scribbles probably look something like this, he's a great artist obviously. On the other hand, it would be literally impossible to tell that was the shop owner if it weren't for his great effort in making sure you could tell the little stick sharkrider was wearing a really gaudy shirt. And sunglasses.

He hmmmms a bit, staring at the drawings, trying to interpret where the knight part came from...and then tries drawing a lopsided circle in the middle. "Knights of the dog table."

Perfect.

[probablynoteren]

Haruka's no great shakes at art himself, and as long as something is recognizable he's perfectly happy to roll with it -- he can draw a mean map, and that's about as far as his design sense goes. So the little crowd of pleasant stick figures with their food and surprisingly recognizable scribbly Hawaiian shirts gets his seal of approval as he leans on the counter again to peer at it.

"There's hotdogs at the dog table..." Does this count as cannibalism or not? It's a deep question to ponder, and his stomach helps contemplate by growling a little. He ignores it for a little longer to draw his finger between the table and another scribble in the corner...

Which seems to be another, slightly fatter shark, without a rider. Maybe the knightly quest monster?

[foxhands]

See, Natsume can't do very good maps at all, so Haruka's got him beat there. Still, he appreciates the unspoken approval, looking over the hotdogs and quietly wanting real hotdogs....ahem. Let's focus on what Haru's pointing at. A shark! A shark which he'd deemed a little too large and kind of abandoned off in that corner.

...He draws a funny cup-shaped hat on the shark's head, adding some little shiny lines. It's the holy grail now! The holy...shark grail.

......Tadaaaaahh!

[probablynoteren]

If Haruka had been the type, there would have been clapping here, but what he does do is put the lingering hankering for hotdogs aside to focus on whatever they're doing. It's actually a little hard to parse what's going on with the shark's oddly-shaped hat, since an upside down cup in stick-figure format is a little less intuitive than a dog, but...

"... The Holy Grail." There's a small smile after a couple of minutes of dedicated staring. He's trying really hard! It's really only long experience with Natsume's doodles being his saving grace here. They've spent way too much time doing things like this. "Is there something in between?"

After all, any good Grail quest needs adventures before you get to the drinking and merrymaking and killing each other over dishware. That might have been an entirely different story, though.

[foxhands]

Should he give a hint? Should he say something? Oh, no, Haruka got it. Natsume brightens at that little victory, returning the smile with one of his own. "That's right." He knows pretty well that shark wasn't intuitive at all....gotta judge by context, or something.

But what's in between! There's nothing right now, but...hmmmmm......tapping his pencil against his cheek. "Do you have any suggestions?" Another dog thing? A hamster in distress? He adds a few lines to the grailshark's head, so now it looks like the grail was tied on with a rope.