2018.04.18: Breakfast On The Bald Guy

Breakfast On The Bald Guy
Bacon and ghosts.
Players	Reiko Danasura
Location	Wafflemania
Spheres	Mage

Transcript:

Reiko pushes through the door, setting off the tinkling chime, announcing her arrival. There is a sharp click following each footstep, as she hobbles forward with the aid of her cane. Her right leg is slow to move and difficult to bend. She reaches the safety of a nearby booth, putting a hand onto the table for balance, and places her cane across the back of the couch before taking a seat for herself.

Danasura enters the waffle house, the faint jingling of the store's bell announcing him. He looks distinctly apologetic at the disturbance. He tucks his briefcase into the crook of his arm as he looks for a place to sit, and spies Tarak and Reiko. Tarak seems to be engaged in conversation already, so he chooses to sit across from Reiko instead. "Humble greetings, my friend. How does your day pass?"

Reiko lowers the menu just enough to peer over it at the new arrival. "Huh?" she says, raising an eyebrow. "Who the hell are you? My day?"

Danasura bobs his head at Reiko, smiling apologetically. "I saw you at the bookstore, you see. It is healthier to eat with another than alone. It strengthens the heart and the mind, and all are in need of strength." As the waitress comes over, he bobs his head towards her as well. "I will take the eggs, I think. And..." He pauses, then smiles like a child breaking curfew. "Some bacon, I think. I will pay both tickets, to excuse my trespass." He nods towards Reiko.

Reiko gently lowers her menu to the table as Danasura speaks. "Mm, I never said it was a trespass, but..." she says, her gaze turning to the waitress. "I'll take the same. With, uhh... what do you have to drink?"

"Well, we have coffee-" begins the waitress,

Reiko immediately raises a hand to stop her, "Ahh, thank you, but that's okay. I'll just take a water," she says, looking once again to Danasura. "My day was fine. How was yours?" she begins, making the best of what light conversation she knows.

Danasura bobs his head towards the waitress as she leaves, wearing the mask of forced politeness that comes naturally to all slightly snubbed service workers. He then turns his attention back to Reiko. "It has gone rather well, so far. It is a heavy duty, herding the code wranglers so they don't come to loathe eachother." His smile is weak as he scratches the back of his bald head. "Best friends one hour, bitterest foes the next. Still, I must earn my salary somehow. An early lunch helps me keep tabs on the lunchtime politics for the others."

Reiko steeples her fingers in front of her as Danasutra speaks. The harsh lighting burns away most of the amber darkness of her glasses. A single doe eye stares back. "Code wranglers?" she repeats, "you work with computers? What does your company do?" she asks, trying to sound interested.

Danasura waves the question off, shaking his head genially. "The usual complexities, the usual boring distinctions between this and that and the other thing. I could speak for hours on it without saying a single thing of consequence. It does, however, pay the bills."

The waitress arrives with two identical plates of egg and bacon, and a couple of glasses of water. Danasura looks more excited than one might expect for such a simple meal, and thanks the waitress happily. "What about yourself? If I recall, I caught a snippet of conversation regarding a fish cannery?"

Reiko eyes the food as soon as it's in sight. She watches the waitress lay it in front of her like a hawk. Danasura's words still make their way to the back of her brain. "If you think it's boring," she begins, picking up a fork, tutting, and wiping away a smudge with the hem of her coat, before stabbing it into a piece of bacon, "then why tell me about it?" she says. "The fish cannery? Do you know something about it? And... hm... are you stalking me?"

Danasura shrugs helplessly, the smile still firm on his face. "I tell you of it because I am new in this place, and have nothing much of interest to say just yet. I do not stalk you, but someone who enters a place meant for study of the metaphysical and strange asking about a fish cannery of all things, well..." The smile widens. "It is a little intriguing, yes? I see no sense in hiding my interest just so I can labor under the pointless desire to appear 'normal'. Are you a lawyer pursuing some civil case, perhaps?"

Reiko eyes Danasura the entire time he chews the fat, whilst she chews her bacon. That was bad, I'm sorry. She takes a tiny sip of water, then sets it back down. "I'm no lawyer, I'm afraid. A man died in that building, and his ghost haunts it. I'm trying to find him." she says, plainly. "Anyone would think I'm crazy, but you seem like a bit of a weirdo, so I can be honest with you, no?"

Danasura continues the structured demoltion of his eggs and bacon with ruthless efficiency, carefully chewing as he ponders Reiko's question. "Yes, I am a bit of a weirdo. What nature of ghost has manifested, do you know? I have a vested interest in the salvation of the unhappy dead, and would be willing to lend some aid in this endeavor. My skills are adequate."

The bald man reaches into his suitcase, looking like a typical overworked tech dinosaur grabbing some paperwork, but what he pulls out is far grander in tone. "This is a very rare book, a very old copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the Bardo Thodol." His Tibetan is extremely natural and fluid - he's clearly well accustomed to speaking it. "This is less to assist you in your work than it is to establish my credentials. Feel free to have a look, if you like - only be very careful with the pages."

Reiko narrows her eye a little as Danasura goes on. She lifts a napkin and gently wipes her mouth. "The man is a Jikininki. A ghost that feasts on human flesh." she says. Another bite. She looks down at the book offered to her. Wiping her hands on her napkin, she takes it in her hands carefully. "I'm not acquainted. It's pretty, though." she says, carefully leafing through the pages. "I take it you are a religious man?" she says, gingerly handing it back.

Danasura looks vaguely troubled as he considers this. "Jikininki?" He asks, his voice adopting a faint Cantonese twang as he wrestles with the Asiatic language. "Hm." He takes the book back, eyes quickly looking it over for any signs of wear. Satisfied, he tucks it back into his briefcase. "Religious, yes. I follow the Dharma, the ways of Siddharta Gautama. It is why existences that fall outside the Wheel are so tragic in my eyes - it is a personal mission of mine to see them returned."

He finishes his eggs and bacon, patting his stomach contentedly. "Now then - this Jikininki. What particular traits do these types of spirit have? From whence does their suffering spring?"

Reiko places the fork gently on her nearly empty plate. Half a bacon rasher remains. "Jikininki," she repeats, enunciating her mother tongue perfectly, "It's a Japanese ghost. Not Chinese. Their characteristics? They kill and eat people." she says plainly, taking another sip of water. "I don't care for their suffering. They are vile and cruel abominations. But ghosts talk, and this one knows something that I would like to also know. So a conversation is necessary, before I kill them."

Danasura smiles, and this time it's far more eerie than it is kind. "A very hateful view of tortured spirits. I will accompany you, and see to it that this spirit is sent on to the Wheel properly. I will also ensure that it speaks well before its sending. Is that amenable to you?" Danasura's eyes are bare slits, and the din of the kitchen seems to have grown a hint quieter all of a sudden.

Reiko listens carefully. "Amenable. Sure. You can recite your incantations, and then I'll shoot it in the head. No more kids being eaten, and the ghost is happy. Everyone wins." she says, extending her right hand carefully. As she does so, her elbow drops slightly, and she winces slightly in pain, but keeps her hand outstretched. "Call me Reiko."

Danasura smiles happily, taking Reiko's hand. "When everyone is happy, then so too am I. I am Danasura. Your body is hurt?" It's more of a statement than a question as he notes the flash of pain across her face. "I would offer some assistance, but my abilities in medicine are less than meager. Still, perhaps I could find a reference that can give you a lookover?"

Reiko shakes Danasura's hand firmly, then withdraws it. Her arms recede into the safety of her coat. The entire thing hides her form. "No. I'm fine." she says, and allowing nothing further. "Well, Danasura, it was a pleasure to meet you. It seems I have an ally in my hunt. I'll call you some time, when I have more information." she says, carefully bringing herself to her feet. She balances herself carefully with her left hand on the table, whilst her right retrieves the cane that lays across the back of the couch.

Danasura bobs his head towards Reiko, smiling. "Very good, Miss Reiko. I will attempt to gather some more information about this Jikininki, in general and in the particularities. Perhaps I have a few sources you don't, and can get some additional information. Until then, have a good day." Danasura's lunch break doesn't seem to be over yet, as the bald man takes out the Book of the Dead and begins reading it once more. The ostentatious tome doesn't seem to gether much attention from the other waffle house patrons.

Reiko gives a final nod to Danasura, before making her way to the exit. The sharp click, click, click of her cane follows her all the way out onto the street.

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