[text: SakamotoR] Who’s boss? And Mona?

“--haha, yeah. It was totally awkward, standing and trying to look all seductive at the camera like the photographer wasn’t kinda creepy.”

Laughing softly to herself, what slipped free of her lips next as she sat on the couch next to the Chariot-- her Chariot, she giddily thought to herself!--just sort of came out before she could consider the implications of what he might take it to mean. In hindsight, she’d be glad it happened... but without that insight? Even if their past all but screamed that their relationship progressed via misunderstanding, it was bound to be awkward.

❘❖❘

Tis the season for every vendor in the mall you can shop at to be crowded with many people rushing to get anything on sale or scrambling to find the proper gifts for their friends and loved ones...Ruby hated it truthfully, it was far too crowded, and she was bumping into bunches of people. Including all she had come here for was just to get a beanie, seeing as how she had just lost her old one somewhere among waves of people...

Making her way into a nearby hat shop, there was a sigh of relief to spill past the girls lips to know it was not cramped in here, but something did immediately catch her eye...A familiar figure stood not too far from her, yet for some reason...As much as she wanted to approach the teen, she couldn’t...

Instead, she merely looked around the shop, because it had been much too long since they last spoke, and her assumption is that he had forgotten about her...It’s what she went with to keep themselves from making each other rather awkward.

“It’s nothin’ I can’t handle.”

Part of being a junker involved bartering and negotiating with people - it was a large part of the business and a good way to curry favor with possible business partners.  However, there was quite the difference between bartering and someone blatantly trying to scam him.

“Sorry, man.” He shrugged his shoulders, turning his attention back to the increasingly belligerent customer.  “I won’t take any less than 2,000 credits for that.  D’you know how much shit we had t’go through t’get that?”

The item in question was a gemstone - a beautiful gemstone covered in varying shades of teal and aquamarine colors, forming a spiral shape right in the center of it.  This little gem, they’d found deep in a cave on one of Neptune’s moons - probably either Triton or Neso, if he could recall correctly.  There was no way that a gemstone like this wouldn’t fetch a high price.

“2,000 credits, final offer - an’ don’t even think ‘bout tryin’ t’negotiate with my partner there,” He smirked, jerking a thumb in his partner’s direction.  “He’s even more stingy when it comes t’negotiations than I am,” He joked.  “An’ by the time you come back t’me, I’ll have raised the price to 3,000.”

Iwai peeks cautiously at the table where Sakamoto is in the middle of negotiation. The man sitting across him, a 40-something year old with red mohawk and sunken cheeks, is known amongst junkers as 'Pincher'. The reason behind the nickname is now clear, though Sakamoto is doing a remarkable job of holding his ground.

While Sakamoto insists that he doesn't need the help, Iwai still keeps an eye on the transaction from the bar. He'd been doing some smalltalk with the bartender, gleaning information for the current trends on the market. He and Sakamoto usually have this casual arrangement where someone does the bartering and the other person makes conversation.

He is honestly a bit antsy that someone might pull a shifty on them and steal the item in question before they even manage to come to a deal. It is a rare find, and they'd busted their arses to get their hands on this one. The bar is bustling with activity at this time of night, and Iwai keeps an eye on every character that passes by Sakamoto and Pincher's table.

💚 :Brighten my day when I see them

((Oh man there’s a lot of these.

“Yo!” White platform shoes pounded against the high school hallway’s flooring as Leon rushed up towards the blonde, a panicked look taking the place of the artificial ginger’s usual cocky grin. Clearly something had happened that had caused Leon to become frantic and nervous.

(continued from here)

“Th-thanks…” He winces, trying to resist the ever growing urge to remove the wet rag from his face.  Even so, he reluctantly remains seated, his hands folded across his lap, awkwardly fumbling every few minutes.  “W-Why did you help me…? You didn’t have to, you know…” He trailed off, frowning.  “…Not that I don’t appreciate it, I jus’ want t’know,”

Despite sitting on the same class, Leon didn’t know him at a personal level. Though from what he had seen, Ryuji usually stood out form the rest of the class due his rebellious attitude and the occasional occurrences that he led himself into trouble.