Setting is a local diner, modern day | Canon: The Booth at the End

[themaninthebooth]

There is a 24-hour diner. A diner that serves a variety of normal treats from coffee to cream puffs to pastrami sandwiches. The waitresses, the cooks, the owner have all lived normal lives and serve normal people.

Today there is a Man in the diner. A Man that you only heard about in rumors. A Man heard of in joking tones, but with eyes that said they were deadly serious. Some call him a manipulator. Some call him a mentor. Some call him an angel. Some call him a devil.

He is The Man sitting in the booth at the end of the diner.

He appears to spend his time writing down things in a large, black, leather-bound notebook. He orders whatever seems to suit his fancy at any given moment, but his attention remains on the book.

He's waiting for you. Waiting to make a deal to help get you what you want. All you have to do is sit down... and ask for it.

Comments

[nakamura_sensei]

She ambles into the cafe (she's so sure it's a cafe) hands in pockets. My plan failed. Peace-kun is in shambles. The device she came up with to lure Shinonome Nano into her clutches had to be fixed.

It wasn't incidental she was still in her lab coat, dirt, scuffs, scrapes and all. She came here without stopping after the paramedics had declared her safe to go.

"Coffee, straight black. No sugar or cream," she says, unable to stop herself from blushing in chagrin at the last bit. Nakamura looks around. Why no open tables?

She curtly thanks the person at the counter and wanders towards the back, cup in hand. She casts unimpressed glances at the empty seats beside other people. No symmetry. I have no choice. I must ask.

Nakamura tries to sound polite. "Is this seat taken?"

[themaninthebooth]

The Man doesn't even look up when the science teacher enters, despite her unusual appearance. In fact, it's not until she speaks to him that he appears to even notice her. When he finally directs his focus to her, his eyebrows raise slightly in surprise. But he doesn't say anything.

He leans back in his seat. "Go right ahead." He picks up his little bottle of MinuteMaid apple juice and takes a sip, his eyes never leaving the woman.

Congrats Nakamura Kana. You now have his full attention. You and your robot-catching ways.

[nakamura_sensei]

She's in the middle of taking a sip when she notices, making her freeze with the cup to her face. What an intense stare! It's sending chills down my spine!

Wh-Wh-What's his problem?

She finally remembers the cup and sets it down with a plop, some part of her issuing a vague apology. It had the word 'juice box' somewhere in it. "Yes?" she prompts, quavering slightly as she returns his look. "What?"

[themaninthebooth]

He raises an eyebrow at the emotion before setting down his own drink.

"Nothing at all. What brings you to this restaurant?"

Which kind of sounds like something after all, but that's free to interpretation.

[nakamura_sensei]

This question annoys her. It was obvious what! "I wanted the coffee." Unhappy, she frowns at the wall beyond his shoulder.

She takes a moment to rub at her own shoulder, as it still hurts from her mishap. A lot of her still hurts. It isn't yet time to rest, however. Steel enters her expression.

[themaninthebooth]

Okay, that surprises him a little bit. Mostly because he's not used to people sitting down in front of him without knowing who he was.

"There isn't anything else in the world you want?"

[electronic_thumb]

"I heard the pastrami sandwiches are good here."

The latest...client looked friendly enough, but there wasn't something about him that seemed very slightly weird.

Perhaps he was an actor.

[themaninthebooth]

Entirely possible. An actor or two have been clients before.

The Man gives the new figure a quick look-over. "So I hear."

Annnnd that's all he's going to say. If you aren't here for a wish, get out. Ford's got his focus for the moment though.

[electronic_thumb]

Ford sits.

"I want to leave the Earth."

[themaninthebooth]

Well. That's kind of a new one. The Man opens his book, spinning his pen between his fingers until it faces the page.

"Why do you want that?"

[electronic_thumb]

"Because it's BORING here!"

After a moment, he mentally backed up and added on "You're the wish guy, right? This would be awkward if you weren't the wish guy."

[all_onis_are_true]

He's not sure why he's here. Not sure what any of this is going to accomplish. But if the rumors are true, then perhaps this is the only way he's going to find any resolution to his problems. He can't see how things could get any WORSE, anyway.

The man is there, as he heard. Gathering his scarf around himself, he approaches him, feeling like he sticks out like a sore thumb despite the fact nobody else even looks at him as he approaches. He finally gets to the last booth and nods slightly to the man.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Polite. In control. Everything he wants to be, even though he knows he isn't.

[themaninthebooth]

He's flipping through a newspaper, eating a small brownie, when the new client approaches. He glances up, but doesn't set down his newspaper just yet.

"No, it's open." There's a casual air to the tone, yet a distinct edge of business. He is the man in control, at least in certain ways.

[all_onis_are_true]

He nods and sits down, resisting the urge to fidget. Now that he's here, what's he supposed to ask for? To have them come back to life? He doubts this guy would have that sort of power, and anyway they aren't... dead in the fullest sense. To have them turn back to normal, then? But that doesn't resolve the main issue if he thinks about it. But he's not sure if he CAN voice the main issue. On the other hand, he doesn't want to waste this man's time...

He swallows. "...I want to find a way to make up for past failures," he says, finally.

[themaninthebooth]

The Man slowly sets down the newspaper, opening a black book beside it. The pen comes out before resting between fingers.

"What sort of past mistakes?" He takes the opportunity to take another bite of the brownie as he waits for the answer.

[all_onis_are_true]

Hiroshi carefully gauges what to say. Too much and he'd just come across sounding insane. Too little, and he wouldn't be able to explain the situation. He takes a breath. "There was... a place a few friends and I went to. Mostly as an adventure, an act of courage. So we told each other, anyway." He twists the ends of his scarf a bit. "I did not believe the place to be anything other than an old ruin, so I... drastically underestimated the potential dangers inside."

He bites his lip slightly. "By the time I was fully aware of what we were dealing with, I had already lost two friends. And the third I lost due to my own cowardice on facing the situation properly."

He looks down. "...I know. It's probably impossible to do anything to make up for it. Maybe this was a bad idea..."

[beingmegucaissuffering]

Look down for a second, and when you look up, a certain strange creature is sitting on the table, as if it had always been there. Smiling.

"I've been meaning to meet with you for some time."

THANKS FOR THAT MOBILE

[themaninthebooth]

The man should probably be more by the appearance of such a strange creature. But little more than a raised registers as he takes a sip of coffee.

"You've heard of me?"

Perhaps if he knew what this creature was, he'd ask how his own wish granting system worked, being so different from the book this Man followed. But he didn't know. So he didn't ask.

make a contract with me and mobile RP will cooperate

[beingmegucaissuffering]

It smiles, or at least keeps smiling. Its tail flicks idly from side to side.

"Yes, I have. You and I are in the same business, after all - the granting of wishes."

If it'll help get back all those words I thought I typed in the last tag, done and done

[themaninthebooth]

Now that's a point that needs to be corrected, judging by a look of minor distaste on the Man's face.

"I help people find the path to give them their desires. I don't grant anything."

[beingmegucaissuffering]

"Of course. That's the difference between us - still, you're facilitating things in a way that I can't reproduce. It's very interesting."

[mirrorofme]

"Are you going to just stand there?"

"As opposed to what, sitting?"

The bell to the diner door jingles softly, signaling someone's entrance. To be precise, it was two someones, both of them so similar in appearance it was eerie. Their hairstyles matched, and their clothes (strange style, like something out of the 1930s) also matched save for the face that one was a woman and the other a man.

"I fail to see the point in this endeavor." Rosalind stated tensely as she entered behind Robert, showing less tolerance than her brother.

"The point is very simple." Robert replied, the slightest bit of humor in his tone. "We're hungry, we're getting something to eat."

Rosalind glowered at him, but went in to take a seat, ending up near The Man. Robert joined her a moment later. "We could have stayed home."

"Home does not have French fries."

"...A fair point."

Yeah, they're going to babble like this for a while, unless someone speaks up.

[themaninthebooth]

It certainly isn't the Man's place to interrupt anyone's discussion. He makes deals, not a sense of rudeness. He merely takes the moment to continue eating his ham sandwich.

...Yet, as the discussion continues, the Man does keep in mind that he has work to do. Work that can't be interrupted for long. Eventually, he does volunteer some words.

"May I help you?"

[mirrorofme]

They both stop and look at him.

"I suppose you could-"

"If we needed any sort of help." They stated, Robert ending Rosalind's sentence seamlessly. "Though, I do believe we are in need of some assistance."

[themaninthebooth]

He leans back into the diner seat comfortably.

"What do you desire?"