Mass Destruction

[Yugikun]

The sun shone over the Kingman Streets, like it always seemed to be, but it wasn't too bad today. My butts were out, and there was pretty nice wind that happened to be blowing today. While the season was fairly close to ending, it was still winter, and while he thought that the season didn't really affect too much (especially considering that this was Kingman, which he liked to think was the heat capital of the world), it probably did something. By all standards, today was pretty good; it fulfilled all the Goldilocks conditions for temperature. Not too hot, nor freezing. It wasn't raining, either, which was a pretty good bonus. People could probably actually walk the streets without melting to death. By all standards, again, it was a pretty cool day.

Plus, you know.

Air conditioned room.

((Jeremy Frasier, continued from My Friends Are Assholes))

Jeremy browsed the shelves of Larson's Comics and Games, looking for the latter in particular. This wasn't really a place he went to; Gamestop and Steam normally had what he needed (and more!), but Gamestop didn't supply PS2 games anymore, and Atlus had this weird thing against PC gaming which meant they never ported their games to it ever. He was looking for Persona 3; he had bought Q a couple of days ago and some of his internet friends had told him that 3 was fairly mandatory if he wanted to enjoy the game. He had the money, and he wasn't really that into reading an LP as opposed to playing the game, so he came here. Somebody at school told him that they supplied older games here, so it wasn't too out of the question that they'd have some stuff from the PS2 era.

He hadn't had any luck so far, though. He was just searching through the shelves so far, and while they did have some PS2 games, none of them were what Jeremy was looking for. They did have some cool stuff, though. The first God of War wasn't something he had ever seen online, and while he already had the 3DS version Snake Eater seemed pretty cool too. They even had some arcades; nothing too special but House of the Dead could be fun to play with a friend, and he remembered once playing CarnEvil somewhere else and liking it, so that was an option too. Even if he wasn't able to find Persona 3 he could still buy something cool with his money.

He kept browsing through the games section, just seeing what he could find at this point.

[Riki]

Around the world, there were various and diverse ways for people to greet each other. In the west, for example, it has become customary for people to shake their hand. It is said this evolved from a test to see whether your partner held any weapons in their sleeves. Then there were bows, and their little sister, curtsies. It was old-fashioned to use them, but you would find plenty of special people who insisted on using those forms. For whatever reason.

Of course, bows were often associated with cultures in the east asian region. Through thousands of years of recorded history, complicated rules governing the proper use of bows between genders, ages and people of prestige evolved. Because they were so complicated, Fiyori guessed, did Mao decide to just go 'fuck everything' on the Chinese culture.

[[Fiyori Senay, continued from Tank!]

The point is, either way, that Fiyori's prefered form of greeting was... unorthodox. And quite frankly, nobody who knew her for longer than one day should be aware of that.

In this example, Fiyori spotted Jeremy as she looked into the window of Larson's store (because apparently some people still don't use Steam?). She saw him, browsing through the shelves. Looking for some game. Or maybe any game. Anyway, she used the chance. She was careful, because she snuck up on him. Got close enough. Just a few feet between them.

"Jerebear~"

He was about to punch her, wasn't he?

[Yugikun]

Huh, wow. Larson's seemed to have in stock every rare game he could think of except for the one he was looking for. At this point he had stopped looking for Persona 3 and he was now searching the shelves just seeing what he could find. Most of the new stuff he had seen was stuff he already had or had no interest for, but there were still enough gems in there to keep holding his interest. He really needed to get a job at some point, just so that he could come back here and be able to get more stuff from what seemed to be a treasure trove of a store. Maybe he could invite a friend over and go on one of the arcades. They didn't seem to have too many new things, but he could just use steam if they didn't have what he needed.

And then Cadeyn appeared behind him and whispered that nickname he had grown to loathe with a thousand passions ever since he had met her on that fateful day several years ago.

"Jesus Christ!" He jumped, turning around to see how he was going to get out of here and... oh wait no it was Fiyori. Never mind then. He exhaled, releasing much more air than he thought he had breathed in, and raised his hands up to his shirt's collar, folding it back and putting it where it was before he freaked out. After doing that, he looked at Fiyori. She hadn't done a very good job in placing herself in his good books so far, considering the earlier incident with the 3DS and now this, but whatever, she could possibly improve in his eyes. Plus, he didn't really expect someone like her to be at Larson's so he may as well talk to her and ask why she was here, and stuff.

"Don't scare me like that. I actually thought you were Cadeyn for a second." He said, continuing to breathe in and out. He probably just lost a few years of his life off of that scare.

[Riki]

Well, that was something. Fiyori was taken by genuine surprise as Jeremy turned into a cat. Yes, a cat. Because, cats had this weird way of jumping when they were startled? Well, she thought that was an apt description for Jeremy at that moment.

But worse, she probably took one of his nine lives.

"Welp, it's just me - Fiyori Senay, your resident asshole."

She did a curtsie, which as everyone knows was very old-fashioned. And old-fashioned was like, the opposite of sneak greets? Which created some sort of irony and Fiyori kinda forgot where her thoughts went. Jesus, she was scattered. Should've drank more coffee.

"But who knows, perhaps I am Caedyn in disguise!"

...would Caedyn dress up as Fiyori just to bug Jeremy? She wondered, and would find it to be pretty fucked up and also pretty cool.

[Yugikun]

"You take pride in being an asshole?"

Jeremy had calmed down from the sudden surprise, but he was still a little annoyed. Mentioning Cadeyn tended to do that to him. Still, his clothes were straight now, and he could breathe like a normal person, so even though he was probably going to be psychologically scarred down the line he was fine for now. He lowered his hands, made them pull his shirt. It was something he had done out of habit for a couple of years now; his hands needed something to do when they weren't doing anything else, after all. His parents told him not to do it, but fuck them, it wasn't like pulling his shirt down was going to change the world or anything. Well, actually it would, but not in a way that would affect other people or anything.

"Well, I can deal with Bradley, so I can probably deal with you. Yo."

Well, so long as she didn't bring up bad memories again. He chose to willingly not reply to her remark about Cadeyn, as much as it hurt him to not make an equally snippy remark back. Didn't she use to date Danny? That could be used in a jab somewhere, if this turned out to be like the BB situation a few months back. He hoped it didn't, though. If it went that road it would only result in humiliation. Still, he was down for a chat, so long as she wasn't too much of an asshole or anything. He kinda wished that there were chairs here to sit on, though. He preferred talking to people sitting down rather than standing up.

"So why'd you blame me for stealing the 3DS? Just interested, is all."

[Riki]

Why, she wouldn't say she took pride in being an asshole. It was more of a running joke, really. She had particular tastes in humor, and at least she tried to target people who could take it. Or deserved it, but that was getting into uncomfortable terrain. And sure, sometimes it was a miss and she pissed someone off, or made someone sad and then, and only then, Fiyori would feel just a little bit guilty.

Being compared to Bradley though. Fiyori rocked back and forth on her feet, trying to conceal with a overdrawn smile that she'd rather not be compared with him. Bradley was a jerkass for the whole purpose of being a jerkass. He was rude, and he was disruptive. Hell, Fiyori admitted there were similarities but at least she had a kind side.

"Huh? Well, why not?"

Jeremy inquired about why'd she accuse him back when Darius played ace detective. The question shouldn't surprise her, but the tone he used... strange.

"We had fun, no?"

[Yugikun]

"Well, maybe you had fun."

Yeah, chairs would be great here. Just kinda felt weird having this standing up. He hopped slightly, changing his stance so that he was leaning on his right foot rather than his left. It was a little odd, talking to people from school outside of school, especially considering that Fiyori wasn't quite hitting friend levels right now. There was something about accusing someone of a crime that you did yourself that still stopped Jeremy from being totally friendly with her right now. Her reasoning didn't really do her any favours, either. While it was fun to watch a ball of chaos just fuck with things to fun, he wouldn't ever place his faith or make an alliance with them, even if he thought he may be able to keep them under control.

Still, he may have thought this a million times by now but it was still relevant, she had a chance to improve. He was patient, and there wasn't much she could do to screw him over or anything like that here.

"Although being randomly accused of stealing something and then being placed in a kangaroo court isn't really my idea of a good time."

He moved his arms up, folding them for a second. He quickly switched back, though. Position just didn't really feel that comfortable.

"I heard from Darius that you kept Mario Kart after you gave the 3DS back, though? If that's true then maybe I'd forgive you for accusing me."

He snorted, a bit. Something like that, anyway. He didn't know. He just kinda did an action that showed that he wasn't serious about that last part.

[Riki]

"Be honest."

Fiyori tilted her head at Jeremy. He didn't seem to like that prank that much. And maybe Fiyori should say that she wasn't exactly surprised. Hoped it was different, but alas, to no avail. A shame, she was all about spreading love and happiness.

"Did you actually know I stole the DS, or did you just threw another... random accusation at me?"

She winked at him, but actually wasn't interested in an answer. There'd be little point in dwelling on that occassion. And she didn't have to clear up the situation in any way. Jeremy seemed to be fine with Fiyori around one way or the other.

Besides, she had other ways of making him happy.

Hopefully.

"But yeah, you're right. I got the game. Was wondering when Darius realized." She snickered. "I'll give it back once he asks me.

Whenever that would be."

[Yugikun]

Jeremy laughed. Not an actual laugh, mind you. A fake laugh, something you put up for show when you need to emphasise something. Nothing about Fiyori asking him if his accusation had anything to it was funny, he was just laughing for the sake of his response.

"Nope. I had nothing behind that accusation. I figured that I was in a witch trial so I accused someone else randomly to see if it stuck. As you probably know, I was right, but the accusation didn't stick."

Which still fucking sucked by the way. Being in a kangaroo court where nothing you said mattered and everyone was out to get you wasn't really Jeremy's idea of fun. Especially with Cadeyn around. He was able to ignore her then for the most part but she just sucked all the fun out of the surrounding area just by appearing. He could be in fucking Nirvana and yet she'd still be able to ruin it just by showing up. That was the magic of the cassowary.

Fiyori then said that yes, she had decided to keep Mario Kart 8. Jeremy laughed, for real this time. God, Darius had been so pissed when he found out. It was kinda like the beginning of his 3DS witchhunt minus the whole "Cadeyn appears and Jeremy gets accused" part. Fiyori seemed actually fun, even if she was kind of an asshole for blaming him. She wasn't like Bradley where her assholery had an air of mild annoyance that got under his skin enough. Maybe he could actually be friends with her.

Well, so long as she didn't accuse him of any crimes again, at least.

"Aww, it's kind of a shame that you're going to give it back to him. I was kinda hoping that you would have given it to someone else. It would have been fun to see him squirm some more."

Admittedly. Jeremy didn't really think of himself as an asshole or a bad person, but he had to admit it was fun to see a couple people in his school wriggle around a bit. Only like, the bad people though. He used his assholery for the power of good, even though he hadn't had a chance to use it this year yet.

[Riki]

Hm. She couldn't put a finger on it. Mostly because that would be kinda inappropiate with Jeremy. But mainly because he was somewhat of a mystery. Fiyori thought she had a good grasp on people's feelings. Jeremy however, confounded her. He wasn't mad at her, he wasn't happy to see her, but that wasn't to say he was feeling neutral either.

Alright. She could work with that?

"I am not a thief... at least not with stuff like video games. Too bad for Darius he just can't catch me."

They actually shared some classes. Fiyori got reprimanded once for stretching her tongue out at Darius. She thought she was sublte! But anyway, she wanted to see when he'd snap and just throw a chair at her.

"Ah right, I remember, I wanted to give you something! Got extra lunch with me, if you want."

Fiyori smirked at Jeremy. She hoped he liked it hot.

[Yugikun]

Jeremy was... pretty sure that was the definition of a thief. Jeremy wasn't quite sure about the specifics, but he knew that Fiyori took the 3DS somewhere at the party, kept it to herself, and kept Mario Kart when she gave the 3DS back. He wasn't quite sure what he'd find if he searched up thief in a dictionary (and he doubted that he'd see a picture of Fiyori next to it, that phrase/saying/whatever never made sense to him and always seemed kinda dumb), but he was pretty sure it'd be close to "somebody who takes something from someone without asking them." He decided to voice this out, smirking at Fiyori slightly.

"You... kinda took it from Darius without asking, if I remember this correctly. I'm pretty sure that's the definition of a thief."

He took a couple steps backwards, taking care of what was behind him until he was up against a wall. He leaned back on it once he reached it. He was starting to like this. He'd probably want to move somewhere else since he was kinda uncomfortable talking to someone standing up, but he could deal with that. It was more comfortable leaning on the wall, after all.

She then asked him if he wanted something to eat. He was... still a little skeptical about this, but hey, he'd bite, depending on what it was.

"Depends, what is it?"

[Riki]

Not in the mood to argue about the lexical meaning of the word "thief".

Definitely in the mood to share food though. Fiyori did a playful curtsie, and reached after her bag. It didn't take long, and soon enough, Jeremy was presented with two light brown balls of bread sitting atop Fiyori's palm.

"Kitfo!"

More or less. Minced meat, raw to boot, mixed with a seasoning powder including chili pepper, cinnamon, gloves and cardamon seeds, as well as clarified butter seasoned with diverse herbs.

Usually eaten in bowls with bread, Fiyori thought about making them more portable. So she simply wrapped the bread around the meat, creating small balls. Roughly with a diameter of an inch. But ah, Fiyori got a bit careless while preparing them and some were bigger, and some were smaller.

That dish was already on of the more spicier ones, but the seasonings she used for the clarified butters were...

well, she was sure Jeremy would survive.

[Yugikun]

Well, Fiyori didn't even respond to Jeremy's challenge on what a thief was there so he supposed that meant he won there. He pumped his fist silently as she rummaged through her bag, likely looking for something in there. What was she looking for? Jeremy didn't know, and didn't really care to find out. She was likely going to show him what it was, anyway, so there was no real point in trying to guess what it was. Instead, he brought his hands up to his eyes and rubbed them; it was probably afternoon by now, but he still felt kinda sleepy. Not in the way that would actually bring him sleep if he went to a bed, though, more the kind that made him barely able to feel pain. He was pretty sure that if someone cut his arm right now he wouldn't even notice.

So then Fiyori got up with the stuff out of her bag, and they were some sort of... bread ball things? Not something he'd ever seen, and the name that Fiyori provided for him didn't ring any bells. Still, maybe they were good? Depended on what was in it. If the stuff under the bread turned out to be like, lettuce or carrot or something there was no way he was going to eat it. Probably best to ask what was in it, just as a safety precaution. He brought his hands down from his eyes and started pulling down on his shirt again. He probably wasn't going to be able to do anything about his sleepiness right now, so he'd just wait until it suddenly went away.

"What's under the bread? Meat or like, super green stuff?"

Yep, super green stuff. Always the best at wordplay, Jeremy.

[Riki]

"Technically both?"

She chuckled, then forced her to stop.

"That was a joke, by the way."

Just in case.

"Nah, but seriously. It's minced meat. Raw even, so I suggest you eat it in the next 24 hours or so."

She guessed they'd go bad a bit before that, but she already ate like, ten of the twelve she made. Little worries about any possible health risks. Oh yeah, aside from that one thing.

"Still, gotta warn you. It's kinda spicy. Not much, but still a bit."

[Yugikun]

Okay, so it was meat? No cauliflower or anything like that? Well, that was fine for him then. He honestly didn't know how or why people would eat certain vegetables and actually like the tastes of them. Like, he knew that corn was a vegetable and he'd happily eat that but there was no way he could eat carrots or cauliflower without heavy amounts of gravy on the side. Did they somehow taste like a totally different thing to other people? He wasn't sure. Might be worth checking into when he got home, although he doubted that two people could eat the same thing and have it taste different.

But anyway, there was meat in it instead of vegetables, so that was fine with him. Apparently there were spices in it, though. It wasn't really that big of a deal, but it was going to be a problem eating it if it was too spicy. He remembered back in grade six when he went to the university to do some cultural thingy and he had some indian dish and it took him the whole bus ride home to finally eat it all due to how spicy it was. Not really a memory he wanted to revisit. Still, he could deal with it if they were as mild as Fiyori said they were, so he took the smaller breadball from her palm and held it in his. He was almost going to put it in his mouth, but would it be rude if he ate it in front of her? He didn't know. He should probably check.

"Should I eat it here or should I wait a bit?"