![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Nick and Noriko - Backdated
Nick goes to Evolution to try out more cocktails, and he finds his squadmate behind the bar.
Once Nick was actually in the door, he didn't feel like he needed to keep his head down. Or power-walk. Or the urge to sprint.
Still, he was kind of proud of himself. He'd gone into the city, he'd done some brief poking around at a GameStop, found their prices sucked compared to Amazon, and then left. So he was going to reward himself. And be a bit more careful about the whole drunk thing this time. Or so he told himself.
The place had only been open for an hour, maybe an hour and a half, but Nick didn't care; he went up to the bar, but found himself blinking, a bit surprised about who he saw behind it.
"Hey, Nick," Noriko greeted him without showing the slighest surprise, herself. He wasn't exactly the first underage school student she'd served, and as long as they didn't get hammered, house policy said go ahead. She was wearing old-fashioned suspenders over her white button-down, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, to match the old-fashioned feel Damon wanted for the bar. And she wasn't wearing her gauntlets, for very practical reasons. "What can I getcha?"
Nick blinked again. "H-hey, Noriko," he added. "I, uh, didn't know you worked here." He had a little scribbled-down list of drinks he wanted to try, which he'd Googled. He wasn't sure if she knew how to make any of them, and he almost certainly wouldn't get more than one or two. It was weird, seeing his squad-mate in this position, and even weirder when he remembered she'd recently joined LXQ, a destination he had in mind for himself. He slid onto a stool, figuring he might as well chat with her; she didn't seem that busy. He pulled out his list and smoothed it out on the table. "I did some research," he said, sheepishly. "I've only had cosmos so far, and it was what Illyana picked out for me. I wanna try something new though, and I've heard that a Kamikaze is sorta similar?" If the Internet wasn't lying to him, at least.
"Let me check which one that is," Noriko told him, picking up a cocktail book they kept handy. Kamikazes weren't on their cocktail menu, but whatever they had the ingredients for, they could fix. She quickly found the right page, and nodded. "Yeah, it's not too different. No cranberry, pretty much. Want one?"
"S-sure, thanks," Nick managed, tucking his list away for the moment. "S-so I never actually thought to ask, and you probably get this a lot, but is the blue a natural color?" he asked. She probably got asked that a lot. "'Cause either way, it looks really good, I think," he added.
"The bottle says it's electric blue," Noriko told him with a bit of a smirk, as she grabbed a cocktail glass. It amused her, yes. "I wish it was natural. It's hell to keep up." She grabbed a shaker and poured the vodka, triple sec and lime inside, then added some ice cubes.
He chuckled. "Maybe we'll get lucky and a mutant will come along that can change peoples' natural hair colors." The thought was kind of absurd, but still. He was sure it was possible. "So how's the LXQ thing been treating you?" he asked. They were alone enough that he felt okay talking about it with her here.
It would have been awkward to try and answer over the sound of the shaking, so Noriko casually glanced around as she went about it, then focused back on the glass to strain the cocktail into it. "Pretty well," she finally answered, now that she wouldn't have to shout to be heard - and now that she'd made sure no one was close enough to hear. Thankfully, it was early enough that the bar was still very quiet, but she was still going to keep her answers vague if she could help it. "It's interesting, finding your place in an existing team."
"I bet," Nick murmured. "I want to get in too, one day. Someday. I'd wanna do JVX first, though," he admitted, quietly. "I just don't really know if I'll ever be ready for it, y'know? After... Y'know. What I've been through." Still, he'd been hitting the gym on his own, and he'd been thinking about getting Toby, or someone else, to do another Danger Room session with him with a more intense simulation. He needed to work on things, to actually get better. Slowly, but surely.
"You're never really ready for it," Noriko told him honestly, as she set the glass down in front of him. "You're just - ready enough." She shrugged, and grabbed the shaker to rinse it. "You're not doing that bad in squad." She would know; she'd seen Roberto at some pretty terrible times.
"You're really only the second person to say that." Megan told everyone they were doing well, which was just Megan's way. He picked up his glass and sniffed it. Smelled different than the cosmo did, but that was fine with him. He took a sip. Not bad, but not quite what he was expecting. "Kitty told me to come back and talk to her again once I was 'ready,'" Nick explained. "I get it. I'm a hazard and a danger if I'm not... y'know. Stable. I just don't know how to figure out when I'm there, is what I'm trying to say, I guess."
"You're doing alright in squad," Noriko remarked, thoughtful, as she put the shaker away. "You tried potentially triggering sims in the Danger Room?"
"Yeah, it... didn't go so well," Nick admitted. "I kind of... freaked out." He sighed, taking another sip. "It was right around the end of May." It still echoed in his mind. "I've... been trying to push past it, but... I haven't tried again. Toby went with me. She hasn't thought it a good idea to try again since then."
"What does your therapist say?" Noriko asked. Yeah, very personal question, but they were talking about something very personal. If he didn't want to share, he'd simply not answer.
Nick huffed just a bit, though not at the nature of the question, more of the subject. "Sometimes I feel like he says a bunch of nothing," Nick grumbled, taking another drink. "Says that I should... be careful. Facing things too quick might make things worse. Says that if anything, I should... move up slow." He'd kind of jumped in deep with the simulation with Toby, he was thinking.
"They know their shit," Noriko pointed out, bluntly. She should know. "Whatever you're going to do, it's a decision you should make with him."
"Yeah, I know," Nick said, feeling just a bit admonished. "I just wish it didn't take so long, is the thing." He shrugged. "Though that's probably a problem with me, and not him," Nick admitted, taking another drink.
"It's frustrating," Noriko could only guess. "But you just keep your end goal in mind and it'll be worth it."
"It's hard, but I'm trying." Or maybe he wasn't trying hard enough. He'd been so wrapped up with his crush on Claudia, it was hard to think about much of anything else. It was still kind of that bad, but he knew it was unhealthy, so he'd been trying to refocus... He was still wrapped up in Claudia, though. Maybe that was the key. Maybe if he could follow through on what he'd been planning on doing, he could learn a little bit about facing fears. He tapped one of his claws on the quarter-full glass, thinking about it, and then shrugged. "I just wanna help people. People in situations like... like mine was, y'know?"
"There are different ways to do that," Noriko pointed out, because she had to. "You sure this is the way you want?" It wasn't the easiest. Or the most legal. It probably wasn't even the best.
"You better believe it," Nick said gravely, nodding, and taking a drink. "They don't have Laura anymore," Nick pointed out. "I can learn to be as good of a tracker as she was, maybe even better. I've been practicing. I... They could probably teach me to sniff out all kinds of stuff." Stuff he didn't want to really talk about in a bar, like bombs, drugs, or hazardous chemicals. Nick was set on LXQ. He wanted to make that clear. He was serious about it, it was just that he was having trouble, well, getting himself ready.
"That's what we might need," Noriko replied, watching him closely. "What about what you need?"
"I need to make sure that what happened to me never happens again to anyone else," Nick said, able to say it easier, now, than he ever had before, and he had a feeling that wasn't just from the touch of alcohol entering his system. "I need to be able to do the right thing." He shook his head. That wasn't it. Not quite. He took another sip. "If it weren't for them, I would have starved or froze underneath a tree in a park, or been found and shot," Nick explained, slowly, glancing from his drink back up to Noriko. "Nobody, no one, ever deserves that. The way I see it, I have a debt to pay. And that's the way I wanna pay it back. I am... the way I am," he said, gesturing to himself, "for some reason. If it's an accident, or design, or whatever, I don't know. But if I am gonna be this way, I'm gonna make use of it for a cause that I believe in." He took another sip. "And now you got me rambling," he chuckled.
Noriko shrugged, but there was something almost like a smile playing on her lips. "I don't mind you rambling."
"I'm betting you've probably heard worse, at least," Nick chuckled, cracking a grin just a little. "Stick around long enough and you might get to hear my mid-life crisis, though. Providing the bar's still open by the time I'm that old."
"I'm not sure I'd wanna stick around here for that long," Noriko answered with a purse of her lips. She liked the place, and she liked the job. Damon was even a decent boss, so far, which was a surprise in itself. But she wouldn't still want to be here in thirty years.
"I'll just keep a tape recorder handy, then." He shrugged. Maybe he was just bad at being funny. He took another sip of his drink, and then wondered why it had taken him so long to notice in the first place... "Have to say, I understand takin' 'em off for this place, but I always thought the gloves were pretty cool. Very Shadowrun."
"They're not really practical to work with," Noriko answered with a shrug. "What's Shadowrun?"
Well, here he'd gone and flashed his nerdy side and she hadn't recognized the reference. He needed to get better about this, somehow. "It's a tabletop RPG. They made some computer games out of it. It's all about a dystopian future full of magic and technology and stuff. People get like, robot limb replacements and stuff, but there's also gloves you can get that you can use to shock people to stun them. And I'm gonna stop talking about it before I start rambling again. I've been studying the rulebook," Nick confessed.
"You in the gaming club, then?" Noriko asked, making a note to check out the computer games, at least.
"Not... really?" Nick said, weakly. "I keep thinking about joining, and then I get distracted. I've been picking up tabletop books of various games to try to remind myself, but then I just wrapped up reading and stuff." He scratched the side of his head. "Did you know there's a game called Werewolf? Where everyone plays a werewolf? I found it and I wasn't sure if I should be offended or flattered. Seems like a fun game, though."
"I'd stick with amused, then," Noriko advised him with a hint of a smile.
"Fair enough," Nick said, then polishing off his drink. "That's not bad at all," he said, giving the empty glass a nod. "What about you? You in the gaming club?" he asked.
"Don't really have time," Noriko answered with a shake of her head. "It's hard enough making it to soccer and volleyball." And they weren't her priority, much as she enjoyed them.
"Ah. Well, maybe if you find yourself having a free night regularly you could join a game. It's fun! At least, it looks fun. I haven't really had a chance to try it, yet," he admitted.
"Honestly, if I joined that club it would be for the video games," Noriko answered. "I don't think tabletop RPG's my thing. Roleplaying as a whole isn't my thing." There was a reason she'd so quickly ended up on the techie side of things in drama class.
"That's fair. What's more your pleasure, stuff like FPS games, RPGs, fighting games, MMOs, Survival/Crafters, Metroidvanias?" Nick asked, curious.
"FPS, I guess?" Noriko answered with a one-shouldered shrug. "They don't require much commitment." In terms of time and brainpower. She had more than enough things that did.
"Do you play Battlefield?" Nick asked, hopefully. "Or maybe Call of Duty? 'Cause I've been kinda casual, but if you wanted to kill some time on some matches, I'd be down for it. Or heck, even the co-op stuff is fun."
"Sure, either," Noriko agreed with a nod. She'd play anything that let her kick back and relax for half an hour, honestly. "That'd be cool."
"That'd be fun. Just don't zap me too hard if I win, right?" he chuckled, smirking. Nick tapped his glass with a claw, thinking. "I should probably only have one more drink, max. Last time, I wound up in agony the morning after. I still don't remember how I got to my bed. I think Yana only teleported me to the door..." He sighed. "I might try another one on my list, though," he said, pulling it out. "I think I remember seeing a suggestion about trying a mojito? It sounded kind of neat."
"It's a popular one," Noriko agreed, making a mental note not to go too hard on the rum. "Great when it's really hot."
"Guh. And I'm overheated all the freaking time. Stupid fur," Nick grumbled, chuckling. "It'll be nice. Refreshing, maybe. Or maybe I'll hate it. Who knows?"
"Giving it a try, then?" Noriko checked, grabbing his empty glass to put it away and reaching for the appropriate glass for a mojito.
"Yeah, why not?" Nick chuckled. "This'll be my last one. No need to get stupid like I did last time."
"Sure thing," Noriko agreed, and grabbed some lime and mint. "Tip for the future though - the less liquors you mix, the less stupid you risk getting." She added the sugar, then crushed it all inside the glass. "You'll be fine with just two drinks, though."
"I'll keep that in mind." Yet another thing Illyana hadn't educated him about... He noted the mint and the sugar. This looked promising. Certainly liked the smell of the mint, too.
Noriko crushed the ice next, then dropped it into the glass until it nearly reached the top. She added in the rum, then the sparkling water, and finally, a couple drops of angostura. She stuck a couple of straws into the drink and bent one of them before setting it in front of Nick. "Here. Hope you like it."
"Thanks," Nick said, taking the glass and taking a sip through one of the straws. His eyebrows raised, and he took a longer drink. "Mm. That is nice," Nick appraised, blinking. Surprisingly refreshing, actually. "I think I might have a new favorite drink," he chuckled, though he'd still explore some more options in the future, he figured.
"For now, anyway," Noriko confirmed with a small smile. "You can get fruity variants, too, when you have the right ingredients. Strawberry mojitos are great." She'd taken her job here as seriously as she took anything else, and had tried a lot more cocktails over the summer than she had ever thought she would drink.
"Huh. Strawberries are kind of a neat idea," Nick admitted, very fond of them as an idea. "You're really knowledgeable about this kinda thing." Clearly she was taking the job seriously, which Nick had sort of expected. Serious seemed to be Noriko's MO, from what Nick had seen.
"Damon didn't have to hire me," Noriko shrugged. What with only being 18, and not having any experience. "Least I could do was make sure I was as ready as possible."
That sounded so much like how he wanted to be in regards to JVX and LXQ that it almost hurt. Still, it was important to engage in self-care, his therapist had told him. Work had its place, but so did relaxation. He couldn't help but grin a little. "Funny, seems like a pretty nice job, but I doubt I'd get hired when I'm old enough. I don't think anyone wants fur in their drinks."
"Shedding is not encouraged," Noriko wryly agreed, enjoying the joke.
"And I bet you'd be surprised about how much I shed sometimes," Nick said, shaking his head. "I'm surprised Peter tolerates it." He took another sip of his drink. "Makes me feel like I shouldn't go into the science labs, either. Who knows what kind of havoc a stray bit of wolf fur in the air might do to some kid's experiment?"
"That sounds more like a witch's brew than a science experiment," Noriko remarked with a purse of her lips.
Nick chuckled. "You know what they say about any sufficiently advanced technology, though, right?"
"'Werewolf hair' doesn't really sound like advanced technology, no matter which way you cut it," Noriko pointed out with a small smile.
He snorted, and then took another sip of his drink. "I guess so. Maybe some sort of weird fantasy steampunk sort of thing?" It was a weak try, but it was a try.
"Some mix of advanced science and magic, then," Noriko replied, mock-thoughtfully.
"I don't know if I would call steampunk 'advanced science.'" Nick took another sip of his drink. "But something like that, yeah." He grinned. "Who knows, it might feature in a tabletop game, someday."
"It's just science that advanced in a different way than ours did, isn't it?" Noriko asked, although she didn't know steampunk that well (mostly from Pietro rambling about it that one time he went steampunk for one party or another). "Backwards advanced science?"
"Something like that, I guess." Nick honestly hadn't really given it much thought. He took another sip. Good stuff. "Anyway, I should stop rambling at you while you're working. Chances are it's gonna start getting busy in here, soon, and this'll be my last one." He didn't ask what he owed, he just put forty on the table. "Keep the change," Nick said, casually. Mostly for the nice conversation, and mostly because Nick was fairly certain it would cover the drinks and be a healthy tip to boot.
Noriko raised her eyebrows at him as she picked up the notes. "That's a big tip." Seriously big, and she had no idea how much money Nick might or might not have. He'd never come off as one of the rich kids.
He couldn't help but grin. "Good, 'cause you earned it." He wasn't going to tell her about his trust fund and his lawyer doing his investments and such, because frankly, he didn't want her to think that he'd make himself poor with these kinds of habits, because he was fairly certain he wouldn't. Even if he did, though, it wasn't a big deal. Nick planned on making this school and what it was doing his life. He was accepted here, and that was the important thing to him. That, and, well, making a difference.
"If you're sure," Noriko stated, heading over to the cash register to put the notes in, and take the tip out.
"Of course," Nick said, taking another sip of his diminishing mojito. It was nothing he couldn't afford, but he had no idea how to communicate that without sounding haughty. "My trust fund allowance is pretty generous," he said, deciding on that.
"Thanks, then," Noriko told him with a small smile, and dropped his change in the tips jar.
"Thanks for the drinks and company," Nick replied, grinning. He polished off his mojito with relish. "Good stuff. I'll see you around, okay?" Nick planned on making his trips to Evolution a semi-regular thing.
"Definitely," Noriko confirmed with a nod. "Have a good evening, Nick."
Once Nick was actually in the door, he didn't feel like he needed to keep his head down. Or power-walk. Or the urge to sprint.
Still, he was kind of proud of himself. He'd gone into the city, he'd done some brief poking around at a GameStop, found their prices sucked compared to Amazon, and then left. So he was going to reward himself. And be a bit more careful about the whole drunk thing this time. Or so he told himself.
The place had only been open for an hour, maybe an hour and a half, but Nick didn't care; he went up to the bar, but found himself blinking, a bit surprised about who he saw behind it.
"Hey, Nick," Noriko greeted him without showing the slighest surprise, herself. He wasn't exactly the first underage school student she'd served, and as long as they didn't get hammered, house policy said go ahead. She was wearing old-fashioned suspenders over her white button-down, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, to match the old-fashioned feel Damon wanted for the bar. And she wasn't wearing her gauntlets, for very practical reasons. "What can I getcha?"
Nick blinked again. "H-hey, Noriko," he added. "I, uh, didn't know you worked here." He had a little scribbled-down list of drinks he wanted to try, which he'd Googled. He wasn't sure if she knew how to make any of them, and he almost certainly wouldn't get more than one or two. It was weird, seeing his squad-mate in this position, and even weirder when he remembered she'd recently joined LXQ, a destination he had in mind for himself. He slid onto a stool, figuring he might as well chat with her; she didn't seem that busy. He pulled out his list and smoothed it out on the table. "I did some research," he said, sheepishly. "I've only had cosmos so far, and it was what Illyana picked out for me. I wanna try something new though, and I've heard that a Kamikaze is sorta similar?" If the Internet wasn't lying to him, at least.
"Let me check which one that is," Noriko told him, picking up a cocktail book they kept handy. Kamikazes weren't on their cocktail menu, but whatever they had the ingredients for, they could fix. She quickly found the right page, and nodded. "Yeah, it's not too different. No cranberry, pretty much. Want one?"
"S-sure, thanks," Nick managed, tucking his list away for the moment. "S-so I never actually thought to ask, and you probably get this a lot, but is the blue a natural color?" he asked. She probably got asked that a lot. "'Cause either way, it looks really good, I think," he added.
"The bottle says it's electric blue," Noriko told him with a bit of a smirk, as she grabbed a cocktail glass. It amused her, yes. "I wish it was natural. It's hell to keep up." She grabbed a shaker and poured the vodka, triple sec and lime inside, then added some ice cubes.
He chuckled. "Maybe we'll get lucky and a mutant will come along that can change peoples' natural hair colors." The thought was kind of absurd, but still. He was sure it was possible. "So how's the LXQ thing been treating you?" he asked. They were alone enough that he felt okay talking about it with her here.
It would have been awkward to try and answer over the sound of the shaking, so Noriko casually glanced around as she went about it, then focused back on the glass to strain the cocktail into it. "Pretty well," she finally answered, now that she wouldn't have to shout to be heard - and now that she'd made sure no one was close enough to hear. Thankfully, it was early enough that the bar was still very quiet, but she was still going to keep her answers vague if she could help it. "It's interesting, finding your place in an existing team."
"I bet," Nick murmured. "I want to get in too, one day. Someday. I'd wanna do JVX first, though," he admitted, quietly. "I just don't really know if I'll ever be ready for it, y'know? After... Y'know. What I've been through." Still, he'd been hitting the gym on his own, and he'd been thinking about getting Toby, or someone else, to do another Danger Room session with him with a more intense simulation. He needed to work on things, to actually get better. Slowly, but surely.
"You're never really ready for it," Noriko told him honestly, as she set the glass down in front of him. "You're just - ready enough." She shrugged, and grabbed the shaker to rinse it. "You're not doing that bad in squad." She would know; she'd seen Roberto at some pretty terrible times.
"You're really only the second person to say that." Megan told everyone they were doing well, which was just Megan's way. He picked up his glass and sniffed it. Smelled different than the cosmo did, but that was fine with him. He took a sip. Not bad, but not quite what he was expecting. "Kitty told me to come back and talk to her again once I was 'ready,'" Nick explained. "I get it. I'm a hazard and a danger if I'm not... y'know. Stable. I just don't know how to figure out when I'm there, is what I'm trying to say, I guess."
"You're doing alright in squad," Noriko remarked, thoughtful, as she put the shaker away. "You tried potentially triggering sims in the Danger Room?"
"Yeah, it... didn't go so well," Nick admitted. "I kind of... freaked out." He sighed, taking another sip. "It was right around the end of May." It still echoed in his mind. "I've... been trying to push past it, but... I haven't tried again. Toby went with me. She hasn't thought it a good idea to try again since then."
"What does your therapist say?" Noriko asked. Yeah, very personal question, but they were talking about something very personal. If he didn't want to share, he'd simply not answer.
Nick huffed just a bit, though not at the nature of the question, more of the subject. "Sometimes I feel like he says a bunch of nothing," Nick grumbled, taking another drink. "Says that I should... be careful. Facing things too quick might make things worse. Says that if anything, I should... move up slow." He'd kind of jumped in deep with the simulation with Toby, he was thinking.
"They know their shit," Noriko pointed out, bluntly. She should know. "Whatever you're going to do, it's a decision you should make with him."
"Yeah, I know," Nick said, feeling just a bit admonished. "I just wish it didn't take so long, is the thing." He shrugged. "Though that's probably a problem with me, and not him," Nick admitted, taking another drink.
"It's frustrating," Noriko could only guess. "But you just keep your end goal in mind and it'll be worth it."
"It's hard, but I'm trying." Or maybe he wasn't trying hard enough. He'd been so wrapped up with his crush on Claudia, it was hard to think about much of anything else. It was still kind of that bad, but he knew it was unhealthy, so he'd been trying to refocus... He was still wrapped up in Claudia, though. Maybe that was the key. Maybe if he could follow through on what he'd been planning on doing, he could learn a little bit about facing fears. He tapped one of his claws on the quarter-full glass, thinking about it, and then shrugged. "I just wanna help people. People in situations like... like mine was, y'know?"
"There are different ways to do that," Noriko pointed out, because she had to. "You sure this is the way you want?" It wasn't the easiest. Or the most legal. It probably wasn't even the best.
"You better believe it," Nick said gravely, nodding, and taking a drink. "They don't have Laura anymore," Nick pointed out. "I can learn to be as good of a tracker as she was, maybe even better. I've been practicing. I... They could probably teach me to sniff out all kinds of stuff." Stuff he didn't want to really talk about in a bar, like bombs, drugs, or hazardous chemicals. Nick was set on LXQ. He wanted to make that clear. He was serious about it, it was just that he was having trouble, well, getting himself ready.
"That's what we might need," Noriko replied, watching him closely. "What about what you need?"
"I need to make sure that what happened to me never happens again to anyone else," Nick said, able to say it easier, now, than he ever had before, and he had a feeling that wasn't just from the touch of alcohol entering his system. "I need to be able to do the right thing." He shook his head. That wasn't it. Not quite. He took another sip. "If it weren't for them, I would have starved or froze underneath a tree in a park, or been found and shot," Nick explained, slowly, glancing from his drink back up to Noriko. "Nobody, no one, ever deserves that. The way I see it, I have a debt to pay. And that's the way I wanna pay it back. I am... the way I am," he said, gesturing to himself, "for some reason. If it's an accident, or design, or whatever, I don't know. But if I am gonna be this way, I'm gonna make use of it for a cause that I believe in." He took another sip. "And now you got me rambling," he chuckled.
Noriko shrugged, but there was something almost like a smile playing on her lips. "I don't mind you rambling."
"I'm betting you've probably heard worse, at least," Nick chuckled, cracking a grin just a little. "Stick around long enough and you might get to hear my mid-life crisis, though. Providing the bar's still open by the time I'm that old."
"I'm not sure I'd wanna stick around here for that long," Noriko answered with a purse of her lips. She liked the place, and she liked the job. Damon was even a decent boss, so far, which was a surprise in itself. But she wouldn't still want to be here in thirty years.
"I'll just keep a tape recorder handy, then." He shrugged. Maybe he was just bad at being funny. He took another sip of his drink, and then wondered why it had taken him so long to notice in the first place... "Have to say, I understand takin' 'em off for this place, but I always thought the gloves were pretty cool. Very Shadowrun."
"They're not really practical to work with," Noriko answered with a shrug. "What's Shadowrun?"
Well, here he'd gone and flashed his nerdy side and she hadn't recognized the reference. He needed to get better about this, somehow. "It's a tabletop RPG. They made some computer games out of it. It's all about a dystopian future full of magic and technology and stuff. People get like, robot limb replacements and stuff, but there's also gloves you can get that you can use to shock people to stun them. And I'm gonna stop talking about it before I start rambling again. I've been studying the rulebook," Nick confessed.
"You in the gaming club, then?" Noriko asked, making a note to check out the computer games, at least.
"Not... really?" Nick said, weakly. "I keep thinking about joining, and then I get distracted. I've been picking up tabletop books of various games to try to remind myself, but then I just wrapped up reading and stuff." He scratched the side of his head. "Did you know there's a game called Werewolf? Where everyone plays a werewolf? I found it and I wasn't sure if I should be offended or flattered. Seems like a fun game, though."
"I'd stick with amused, then," Noriko advised him with a hint of a smile.
"Fair enough," Nick said, then polishing off his drink. "That's not bad at all," he said, giving the empty glass a nod. "What about you? You in the gaming club?" he asked.
"Don't really have time," Noriko answered with a shake of her head. "It's hard enough making it to soccer and volleyball." And they weren't her priority, much as she enjoyed them.
"Ah. Well, maybe if you find yourself having a free night regularly you could join a game. It's fun! At least, it looks fun. I haven't really had a chance to try it, yet," he admitted.
"Honestly, if I joined that club it would be for the video games," Noriko answered. "I don't think tabletop RPG's my thing. Roleplaying as a whole isn't my thing." There was a reason she'd so quickly ended up on the techie side of things in drama class.
"That's fair. What's more your pleasure, stuff like FPS games, RPGs, fighting games, MMOs, Survival/Crafters, Metroidvanias?" Nick asked, curious.
"FPS, I guess?" Noriko answered with a one-shouldered shrug. "They don't require much commitment." In terms of time and brainpower. She had more than enough things that did.
"Do you play Battlefield?" Nick asked, hopefully. "Or maybe Call of Duty? 'Cause I've been kinda casual, but if you wanted to kill some time on some matches, I'd be down for it. Or heck, even the co-op stuff is fun."
"Sure, either," Noriko agreed with a nod. She'd play anything that let her kick back and relax for half an hour, honestly. "That'd be cool."
"That'd be fun. Just don't zap me too hard if I win, right?" he chuckled, smirking. Nick tapped his glass with a claw, thinking. "I should probably only have one more drink, max. Last time, I wound up in agony the morning after. I still don't remember how I got to my bed. I think Yana only teleported me to the door..." He sighed. "I might try another one on my list, though," he said, pulling it out. "I think I remember seeing a suggestion about trying a mojito? It sounded kind of neat."
"It's a popular one," Noriko agreed, making a mental note not to go too hard on the rum. "Great when it's really hot."
"Guh. And I'm overheated all the freaking time. Stupid fur," Nick grumbled, chuckling. "It'll be nice. Refreshing, maybe. Or maybe I'll hate it. Who knows?"
"Giving it a try, then?" Noriko checked, grabbing his empty glass to put it away and reaching for the appropriate glass for a mojito.
"Yeah, why not?" Nick chuckled. "This'll be my last one. No need to get stupid like I did last time."
"Sure thing," Noriko agreed, and grabbed some lime and mint. "Tip for the future though - the less liquors you mix, the less stupid you risk getting." She added the sugar, then crushed it all inside the glass. "You'll be fine with just two drinks, though."
"I'll keep that in mind." Yet another thing Illyana hadn't educated him about... He noted the mint and the sugar. This looked promising. Certainly liked the smell of the mint, too.
Noriko crushed the ice next, then dropped it into the glass until it nearly reached the top. She added in the rum, then the sparkling water, and finally, a couple drops of angostura. She stuck a couple of straws into the drink and bent one of them before setting it in front of Nick. "Here. Hope you like it."
"Thanks," Nick said, taking the glass and taking a sip through one of the straws. His eyebrows raised, and he took a longer drink. "Mm. That is nice," Nick appraised, blinking. Surprisingly refreshing, actually. "I think I might have a new favorite drink," he chuckled, though he'd still explore some more options in the future, he figured.
"For now, anyway," Noriko confirmed with a small smile. "You can get fruity variants, too, when you have the right ingredients. Strawberry mojitos are great." She'd taken her job here as seriously as she took anything else, and had tried a lot more cocktails over the summer than she had ever thought she would drink.
"Huh. Strawberries are kind of a neat idea," Nick admitted, very fond of them as an idea. "You're really knowledgeable about this kinda thing." Clearly she was taking the job seriously, which Nick had sort of expected. Serious seemed to be Noriko's MO, from what Nick had seen.
"Damon didn't have to hire me," Noriko shrugged. What with only being 18, and not having any experience. "Least I could do was make sure I was as ready as possible."
That sounded so much like how he wanted to be in regards to JVX and LXQ that it almost hurt. Still, it was important to engage in self-care, his therapist had told him. Work had its place, but so did relaxation. He couldn't help but grin a little. "Funny, seems like a pretty nice job, but I doubt I'd get hired when I'm old enough. I don't think anyone wants fur in their drinks."
"Shedding is not encouraged," Noriko wryly agreed, enjoying the joke.
"And I bet you'd be surprised about how much I shed sometimes," Nick said, shaking his head. "I'm surprised Peter tolerates it." He took another sip of his drink. "Makes me feel like I shouldn't go into the science labs, either. Who knows what kind of havoc a stray bit of wolf fur in the air might do to some kid's experiment?"
"That sounds more like a witch's brew than a science experiment," Noriko remarked with a purse of her lips.
Nick chuckled. "You know what they say about any sufficiently advanced technology, though, right?"
"'Werewolf hair' doesn't really sound like advanced technology, no matter which way you cut it," Noriko pointed out with a small smile.
He snorted, and then took another sip of his drink. "I guess so. Maybe some sort of weird fantasy steampunk sort of thing?" It was a weak try, but it was a try.
"Some mix of advanced science and magic, then," Noriko replied, mock-thoughtfully.
"I don't know if I would call steampunk 'advanced science.'" Nick took another sip of his drink. "But something like that, yeah." He grinned. "Who knows, it might feature in a tabletop game, someday."
"It's just science that advanced in a different way than ours did, isn't it?" Noriko asked, although she didn't know steampunk that well (mostly from Pietro rambling about it that one time he went steampunk for one party or another). "Backwards advanced science?"
"Something like that, I guess." Nick honestly hadn't really given it much thought. He took another sip. Good stuff. "Anyway, I should stop rambling at you while you're working. Chances are it's gonna start getting busy in here, soon, and this'll be my last one." He didn't ask what he owed, he just put forty on the table. "Keep the change," Nick said, casually. Mostly for the nice conversation, and mostly because Nick was fairly certain it would cover the drinks and be a healthy tip to boot.
Noriko raised her eyebrows at him as she picked up the notes. "That's a big tip." Seriously big, and she had no idea how much money Nick might or might not have. He'd never come off as one of the rich kids.
He couldn't help but grin. "Good, 'cause you earned it." He wasn't going to tell her about his trust fund and his lawyer doing his investments and such, because frankly, he didn't want her to think that he'd make himself poor with these kinds of habits, because he was fairly certain he wouldn't. Even if he did, though, it wasn't a big deal. Nick planned on making this school and what it was doing his life. He was accepted here, and that was the important thing to him. That, and, well, making a difference.
"If you're sure," Noriko stated, heading over to the cash register to put the notes in, and take the tip out.
"Of course," Nick said, taking another sip of his diminishing mojito. It was nothing he couldn't afford, but he had no idea how to communicate that without sounding haughty. "My trust fund allowance is pretty generous," he said, deciding on that.
"Thanks, then," Noriko told him with a small smile, and dropped his change in the tips jar.
"Thanks for the drinks and company," Nick replied, grinning. He polished off his mojito with relish. "Good stuff. I'll see you around, okay?" Nick planned on making his trips to Evolution a semi-regular thing.
"Definitely," Noriko confirmed with a nod. "Have a good evening, Nick."