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“g-guess i got no choice then! gotta keep my admirers happy and all that!” pucker up, bellamy.

“sh-shit, dude! where the hell didja come from!? it’s not like i was just thinkin’ about you or nothin’!” smooth.

eep. abort mission.

rapunzel…. is completely and utterly lost. she’s never seen anything like the technology here– and the clothing! it’s like she’s in an entirely different world… well, first things first: get information from the locals. and the cafe right across the street seems to be the best bet for now.

to her luck, another person around her age approaches almost immediately as she enters the establishment. she wonders if everyone’s going to be as welcoming as him– if so, she’s going to fit in just fine!

“oh, is it that obvious?” she raises a hand to her mouth as she lets out a brief giggle. what a friendly guy! “yeahhh, i’m sorta new here. do you happen to know where i can find– oh my gosh!” she interrupts herself, bounding over to the front counter, “does that machine just make coffee!? on its own!?”

oh, wow, this girl was super energetic, huh? 

chuckling softly, he follows her over to the counter, giving the barista a sympathetic look as the blonde gets way to into their personal space. 

“yeah! pretty nifty, huh? way more modern than the coffee machines back home.”

lavi leans over the counter as well, propping himself up on one elbow, and smiles warmly at the woman.

trailing a finger along the name scribbled across the side of his cup(jonah, this time), lavi casts his gaze about the cafe.

it was a small, homey place, filled with the quiet murmur of customers conversing. the bookman would make it a habit to come here more often, he decided, slowly sipping from the warm drink.

it was summer- he must’ve looked odd, drinking a plain hot coffee in the corner, leaning back with one of his arms haphazardly strewn across the back of his chair. not that it was any concern to him what impression he left on these strangers, of course.

the bell rings, and he quickly shifts his gaze to the door. 

standing, looking mildly confused but still quite cheery, is a young woman, probably no older than lavi himself. it’s hard not to notice her golden hair, shining brilliantly in the sun, and how long it is!

she has a cute face too- lavi grins to himself as he stands up and wanders over to her, waving cheerfully.

“‘ey, never seen your face around ‘ere before! ya new?”

oh, so this guy’s got a mallet too? birds of a feather flock toge– holy shit! “whoa, for real!? why doesn’t my mallet do that!? that’s unfair as hell!” he produces his own mallet from where rpg characters usually pull their weapons out of (the netherworld or something, probably), and waves it around for bellamy to see.

“alright, buddy, where’d ya get that? lemme guess, it’s a limited edition item or somethin’?” he tries mimicking what the other did to extend his weapon, obviously not resulting in anything. ryuji’s too focused on this whole ordeal to really compliment the ability, but his jealousy is obvious enough. “ah, whatever. at least this means we got somethin’ in common though. we can call ourselves the hammer bros!” he grins. “get it? like in super mario? but obviously way better-lookin’.”

“hahahaha, don’t try too hard, kid!” lavi says, almost doubling over with exaggerated glee.

he returns the hammer to it’s much more manageable size and slips it back into the holster at his thigh. 

“nah, it’s nothin’ special, jus’ my innocence. don’ feel stupid or nothin’, normal people dunno about it, ‘specially in this city, i’m assumin’.”

scratching the side of his head, he considers the situation.

“it’ll be pretty hard to explain, so how ‘bout we sit down and get somethin’ to eat, yeah?” he grabs ryuji by the hand unabashedly and begins to drag him along, looking for the nearest japanese joint.

wait- super mario...? it was rare lavi didn’t understand a reference, and he racked his brain through the numerous history books he had pored over in his lifetime, trying desperately to figure this out.

...yeah, nope, he’s stumped. he stops dragging ryuji along, giving him a quizzical look.

awww, the guy’s blushing… all right! ryuji’s back on track, baby! should he compliment him now? tell him his embarrassed look is cute as shit? wait, when did this even turn into a flirting attempt anyways…?

the blonde’s thoughts are interrupted by calico’s (bellamy’s?) question, “huh? hell yeah it’s him! it’s s’posed to represent my rebellion or somethin’, so i guess that’d make me pretty awesome too, right?” his previous proud grin sports itself on his face once again. 

that’s enough boasting though, he’s running out of material quickly. he crosses his arms as he directs a wink of his own at the redhead, “so~! what ‘bout you? what kinda cool pirate powers do ya got?”

“that’s pretty crazy!”

at the others wink and following question, lavi takes a few glances around. sure, from his last time here, it was safe to talk about his innocence and such without fear of bookman senior, but... old habits die hard.

“check this out.”

the exorcist pulls out a small toy mallet, about the size of his palm, and holds it out to ryuji. he then gives it a quick twirl in his fingers, correcting it’s position, and extends the handle about a yard downwards- he frowns when it doesn’t hit the ground.

damn, definitely not the same as my trusty innocence back home... he thinks to himself, placing his free hand on his chin. upon noticing his attention had been diverted, he looks back up to ryuji. 

“wh– but i thought–!?” ryuji sputters, he could swear that the guy said his name was calico! wait… or did he…? gah, what the eff!?

wait, wait, wait! things are totally going south now. ryuji thought he had everything in the bag, but apparently having nice calves is more common in the city than he thought…. damn.

“h-hold up, i’m way stronger than this too! that’s just a tiny ass lightning bolt compared to what i was able to do before i got here! captain used to be super badass, i swear!” ryuji stops for a moment, “wait, the scientists messed with your innocence…? shit, dude, sorry ya had to hear the birds and the bees talk from a bunch’a kidnappers…”

wait, wait, wait, no, that wasn’t what--

lavi turns his face, slightly tinged a warm tome, away from the other boy, laughing quietly and sheepishly.

“no, not that, i, aha, i, ahahaha--” 

“i can’t really talk about it, it’s private, i’d seriously get my ass kicked if i told ya, y’know?”

clearing his throat and straightening up, lavi quickly decides to change the subject.

ryuji’s cheeks begin to burn at all the compliments being thrown at him (and that wink, hoo boy!) summoning his persona was definitely worth the risk if it meant impressing a totally hot friendly stranger.

bellamy? he doesn’t know what the other guy’s talking about, but he’s assuming it’s not anything important. “i’m not just some kid, calico! i got serious moves. check it,” and with a grin, he commands captain kidd to throw down a bolt of lightning between the two of them– while making sure not to hit anything, of course.

“pretty sweet, right? i was also the star of my old track team, y’know!” he points his thumb to his chest in a triumphant manner, “calves of steel, buddy.”

“ehhh? calico? ‘dunno who you’re talkin’ bout. told ya, my name’s bellamy.”

lavi shoots the other an exaggerated hurt look, crossing his arms behind his head. 

“jeeeeez, an’ here i thought we were friends!” 

the bolt of lightning striking into the ground (damaging the concrete, at that) seems to cheer up the redhead, though.

“not to burst your bubble, but i can do stuff like that too.” a small pause.

Zal gives him a real hard look before kicking him in the shin as hard as she can.

cue the instinctive cringe and stumbling backwards as her foot makes contact with his shin.

“ow, fuck, armrest, no need’a get violent! i’m jus’ tellin’ the truth!”

“Sh-shut up before I give you a second eyepatch…!”

“I am not an old lady! I’m only nineteen!” Someone’s mad.

“damn, for real!?” ryuji beams at the other, happily putting his grubby little hands all over those dang buttons. well… even if they aren’t actually silver, it’s not like ryuji can tell, so he’s gonna enjoy every minute of touching something so expensive. 

so the pirate’s name is calico, huh… seems legit! “i’m ryuji sakamoto. not to brag or nothin’, but i know a thing or two about you…” he trails off, looking for any people nearby who might be listening in, “…buccaneer types, if you get what i’m layin’ down.”

the blond is silent for a few moments. it couldn’t hurt to summon captain kidd for calico, right? maybe if makoto-senpai were here he would’ve thought otherwise buuut… to hell with it! and with that final thought, the roguish persona appears in a flourish of blue flames, ryuji grinning proudly underneath it.

“yeah, sakamoto, you seem pretty knowledgeable. maybe even as smart as me, y’know?”

lavi chuckles quietly to himself, and observes as the other suddenly... burst into flames? lavi would usually chalk it up to the kid being some wielder of innocence, but his last visit to the hive had taught him that strange things like this... just happened without any real cause.

very interesting, nonetheless. lavi lets out a low whistle and claps slowly, grinning up at the massive pirate figure.

@bookmanjr

having a famous pirate as a persona (captain kidd, just in case ya don’t know), ryuji has an appreciation for the aesthetics of marauders. of course, he doesn’t know much about them besides the basics, but he sure as hell knows that they have eyepatches, and this red-haired dude…. yup, he definitely has one. put two and two together and this guy must be a pirate!

“yo, patchy!” he waves his arm to catch the other’s attention, “are you like, for real or is that just a costume?”

patchy? this guy had no tact. most people had the common sense not to point out someone’s eyepatch, y’know? lavi can’t help but chuckle a bit as he turns to fully face the other, flashing a quick grin.

“this, a costume? nah, my coat’s custom-made an’ everythin’! the buttons are even real silver! wanna check ‘em out?” 

he trots closer to ryuji and begins to slide the rather expensive coat off his shoulders- yu would probably kill him for letting a stranger touch this.