genessia | 1st Chapter | Action/Video

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1st Chapter | Action/Video

[Action]

[For a good three hours the new arrival sat frozen, not far from where he woke, too scared to move. This must have been a dream, and maybe if he refused to react to it, he'd finally wake up, back in his own room, where it was safe and the closest thing to reality shifting was the video games he played. That's how it worked, right?

It wasn't working.

After some pathetic sounds that sounded close to sobs, a fit where he outright panicked and shouted for his friends (or anyone) later, Mikoto steeled himself and stood up, gripping onto the folder like it was a lifeline.

He took two steps before he sat back down and retreated within himself again. Yeah, no, he's not going anywhere.

Still... He played with the videophone in his hand a little. At least one thing made some sense in this place. It wasn't too different from his phone back home. After some hesitation, he turned it on, his face barely visible and eyes averted to the ground.]

My name is Mikoto Mikoshiba and I need a job.

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Besides spending today with you?

[He lowers his voice, smiling. If roses could bloom around him, they would be right about now, but he doesn't have that ability so he just settles for his own theatrics.]

...Not really, no.

[ If she was the protag, maybe this would count as a special event, but as an older-sister-type rival character, Augusta remains entirely unaffected by the rose special attack. ]

I can imagine better places for that than the Bay, truthfully.

[ When did this become a weird kind of date anyway. ]

Really?

All right. Before we go, I need the details about these places. What are they, what I can expect them to be like, is there anything there that you found shocking at first, and anything else you can think of. [He folds his arms, completely serious about this.]

Well, if you ask this way, it gets a little complicated because the things I may consider 'shocking' might not be all that shocking to you. Considering we're all dragged here from different places and times, we have different standards, too. I'm from the 1930s so the technology here was a little startling.

[ She shrugs. By now, it's not half as confusing as it was in the beginning at least. But this is probably not the kind of shocking he was referring to at all. ]

Does a café sound shocking to you? There is one I know fairly well because a friend is working there. It can get busy, but it's normally not crowded.

If that sounds acceptable to you, let's go there and talk over what Genessia is like in general before I show you the Employment Center.

You're from the 1930s?

I see. No wonder you have such an elegant appeal.

[His words trail off. He just wishes his mouth would stop sometimes. He barely registers most of what she says, but he picks up on the "cafe", and looks cautiously hopeful.]

Cafés are pretty good. [Secretly, he's grateful she mentions it isn't crowded, whether she picks up on his own hesitancy or doesn't prefer them herself.]

[ She gives a smile at the agreement. That's one step forward at least. ]

It's just a few streets over, so we'll make it there fast.

[ She almost feels compelled to add something encouraging like 'you can do it', but that seems a little out of place for someone your age. Just a little. Instead, she motions for him to follow her out before he can change his mind again. ]

I'm not in a rush! [Yes he is. If only he could get over his nervousness, but he has to look over his shoulder a few times, then back at Augusta, before he starts to follow her, keeping himself at a yard's distance.]

[ She can understand unease about big cities, honestly, although unease does not naturally translate into any kind of anxiety for her. It's lucky that as a noble daughter, making pleasant conversation has been kind of ingrained into her no matter her own preferences. As they go, Augusta makes sure to drop a few helpful comments about shops and other locations they pass.

Honestly, she is relieved by the time they stand in front of Cat's Eye Café though. The kitty-shaped sign seems like a friendly greeting. ]

It's this one.

[Mikoshiba responds at all the right times, seeming to be cheerfully at ease if one doesn't look at him too closely and notice the tense way he carries himself. Regardless of his own anxiety, he's grateful for the conversation. It keeps his mind off of, well, everything.

Oh no. The café is adorable. No one said it would be cute. He stares at the sign, feeling a little better about walking in.]

This place looks really nice!

[Because cute places always are.]

[ It's good to see him brighten up for real. Augusta is honestly relieved that this didn't turn out to be a bad choice after all, with the unpredictability of how this encounter is going. ]

It's my favourite place to go when I'm in the main city rather than the one I live in.

[ .... and it's convenient because her housemate and only person from home works here.

Augusta enters and instantly sets her sights on a table in the corner by the window. ]

[He still has a hard time wrapping his head around traveling to different cities as if it were nothing. It wasn't difficult to back home, but it was probably still more of a hassle, and not something he really did.]

You don't live in this city?

[He follows her to the table. It's nice, safe, and secluded, so it's a good choice.]

No, I live in Attleton. It's a bit more old-fashioned than Genessia, so I find it more comfortable. I'm not so fond of big cities either though.

[ She sits down across from him, still smiling faintly. ]

But considering I work at Genessia Hospital, I still come here every day.

Me neither. I didn't grow up in a very big city so I'm not used to them.

[He seems to catch himself while he sits down.] Not used to not being the center of every girl's attention, that is. There's too much competition in bigger cities. I know, against me, the outcome is certain, but I still feel bad about it.

Wow, that's incredible! What do you do there? [He's impressed. Hospitals are intense.]

[ It is somehow hard to imagine to her that this boy's popularity should rival that of the most popular boys back in her world, but at least the concept of all girls falling for a very selected group of boys is not at all foreign to her. She just thinks he's a bit too much of a lost puppy for it. ]

Ah, I'm not part of the actual medical staff though. I'm just organizing the bureaucracy in the background as a secretary.

It's quite a good position, considering I'm not actually out of school at home.

Still, you're probably exposing yourself to a lot of diseases, and you're helping the nurses and doctors save lives.

What year are you? I'm still in school too. [That's right. He has to get a job, doesn't he? He's dreading it.]

Edited 2015-02-19 01:30 (UTC)

[ Okay, that praise does make her somewhat happy. ]

I'm in my first year of high school. What about you?

And you're doing all that? [She seems more mature than him, but that's not exactly a hard thing to achieve.] I'm in my second year.

Oh, you're actually my upperclassman.

[ She seems surprised... considering all that just happened, not a miracle. ]

Well, I was doing extended secretary work back at school as well. The academy I go to is specifically geared towards educating the political elite of the country and I... happened to pass the examination to become one of their assistants.

[ Didn't want the job particularly much, got good grades and got it anyway, then did it dutifully. ]

That's right! But don't treat me any differently because of that. As your upperclassman, I don't mind.

[He looks pleased but his insides are churning. He has nothing to offer like that. He's just a normal high-schooler, not the smartest, richest, or good-looking.

Okay, maybe the most good-looking with Kashima being a close second.]

So it must not have been as hard for you to learn that. Did you go to a private academy?

Rosenstolz Academy is a boarding school for the country's elite, so something like that.

[ It's worded like it could be bragging, but her voice is entirely flat. She doesn't think this is a majorly big deal - and really, for her, it isn't. It's just what she was raised to do.

A waiter comes by to take their orders and Augusta orders a tea. ]

Oh. Okay.

[His voice comes out a little higher than normal, like he can't quite understand how casual she can be about it. But the waiter is a distraction, and he ends up stumbling over his words before he finally settles on a coffee.]

[ The thing about literally living at an elite school and only occasionally getting out is that you lose all sense of why that should be intimidating. ]

For me, it is largely a matter of birth privilege though.

[ She adds it as an afterthought as the waiter has already left and shrugs with a small sigh. ]

What do you mean?

[If you were born in a wealthy household, generally, you didn't have to worry about certain things. He understands that. Being an upper-middle class, only child, even he's never really had to want for anything on the material spectrum.]

As a member of nobility of legitimate birth, you are basically guaranteed to go to Rosenstolz Academy. It's more of a feat for others.

[ Considering 'the country's elite' is pretty much noblemen in Kuchen's monarchy and all. ]

Ah.

It doesn't really matter how you got there though, does it? Unless you don't want to be there.

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