Persona: Realms of Desire

Daniel stood outside the booth, his phone in his hand. He took a deep breath, then another, then dialed Naomi's number.

Naomi

Her phone rang. she tried to ignore it because she was busy but it rang again. "U-uh, hello?" Naomi sounded strained - as if she had been doing some heavy lifting. "Oh, it's Daniel, isn't it? What can I do for you~?" she said.

"PHONES? PHONES." a shout came from Naomi's end of the line.

"Quiet down, Grandpa!" the girl screamed to quiet her boisterous elder.

Daniel closed his eyes. "Uh hey, Naomi. I was just wondering if, uh... Youwantedtomaybegetcoffeewithmelater?"

He immediately recoils from the phone like he expects it to explode.

"What did you just say?" Naomi narrowed her eyes while listening to Daniel on the phone. Really, she had no idea what he just said. Did he just ask her out? It seemed like that. "Ah, sure, we can go get... oh, coffee? I prefer tea. Chamomile, to be exact."

"THAT'S NOT HOW I RAISED YOU, NAOMI! YOU DRINK IT BLACK—"

"SHUT UP, GRANDPA!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME, GIRL?" another shout from the other end of the telephone.

"I SAID SHUT UPPPP~" it was clear that the shouting match that was happening on the other end of the phone was all in good fun. "But sure, I'll go with you. Where do you want to meet?"

Well she hasn't hung up yet, that's a good sign.

"Uh, there's this great place I know, it's got this great blend that actually stains your tongue black and... Well, you can get tea there, too... I'll text you the address after the call. After classes sound good?"

Something told Max Hindenburg that this is going to be a great day.

Cycling through the town he wasn't even that mad about waking up later than usual. He would still make his way to art classes on time, hopefully. He just needed to put some more oomph into pedaling.

Yuval sighed, as he stared upwards at the dim, almost invisible sun, he knew already this day was going to be terrible. "I have to go there today." He lowered his head and closed the eyes, scratched his hair and continued walking on foot, "What should I say? Apologize? Ignore that whole conversation?" He mumbled the options to himself as he continued his way to the art classes. Even as he opened his eyes again to look at the path, they were still lowered, fearing what's to come.

edited 12th May '14 10:14:12 AM by LiorVal

What came was one peculiar cyclist in a white longcoat, about to crash into Yuval. Thankfully, the brakes were strong with this one bike as he narrowly avoided crashing right into his classmate.

"Whoa there." He mused, looking at the red-hair. "Apologizes, Mr. Goldenberg, should keep more vigilant in the future." Yuval, if he was observant enough, would notice that usually far more reserved Max seemed... a bit more cheerful.

Yuval continued padding, his face laying low, a vacant stare directed at the ground, left hand in his pocket, his right-hand thumb moved in what seemed akin to trembling.

"Huh?" He asked in a flat voice, turned his face upwards at the man who almost crushed him just now. Yuval's eyes showed dark circles under them.

"Oh, it's just you. It's okay." Yuval said in a worn, indifferent tone. His face turned forward, and he slowly walked towards campus again.

"You don't look too well. Something troubling you, Mr. Goldenberg?" Max asked, his smile turning right around into a frown. "Also, need a ride? Not sure if you're going to make it on time on foot."

Yuval touched his neck and right shoulder, the left one loosened, he decided to ignore Max's first question and squinted his eyes. "Sure, why not?" The sturdy man jumped and sat on the backseat lazily.

Max should've noticed by now that even Yuval, who barely shows to care for any of the other classmates. Has never seemed this depressed or apathetic to his surroundings.

edited 15th May '14 7:34:40 AM by LiorVal

"Oh, oh?" Naomi listened intently to what Daniel was saying. "Alright, let's go then."

"BUT YOU—"

"QUIET GRANDPA!" the young girl shouted back to which her elder responded to with silence. "Then I'll meet you in five. That should be alright, shouldn't it?"

"Oh, oh definitely! Sounds great! I'll see you then!" Daniel hanged up and went into the recording booth.

"Well, U of PDR, it's time for me to say goodbye for today. But before I go, I have a message to one "Laura H.", who sent me a remarkably nice piece of fan-mail. Laura, just wanna say... I got your letter. Thanks a lot."

With that, Daniel put on his last song of the day and headed out, nodding to the Afternoon guy as he left.

Max was definitely observant enough to notice this, but what could he do? He and Yuval knew each other from class, but never really talked much or had any specified form of acquaintance.

A thought crossed his mind that perhaps he needs to just pry hard enough, but he quickly deemed that option an inappropriate one. Then again, did he have any other?

"So, why the long face, Mr. Goldenberg?" He asked his passenger as they cycled towards the university.

Yuval's vacant stare at the ground continued, until the silence was broken.

He looked at Max, his eyes still barely open, while his face was still low. With hand on the forehead, he shook his head, breathed and turned his sight left and downwards. He's gonna keep nagging me until I tell him isn't he? Might as well tell him now so he won't bother me. "I... Have a problem, with a friend of mine, she asked me something personal. I answered her vaguely before saying I don't want to speak about it, and from that moment we haven't seen or spoken to each other once. Today I have to meet her."

"I'm worried about it that's all, don't get worried yourself, this is my problem, not yours."

edited 18th May '14 8:14:36 AM by LiorVal

"Well, a worry of any kind is never merely "that's all", from what I know." Max shook his head, slowing down a little to safely pass between a woman with her child and two men discussing something. He liked slaloming between people when cycling. There was something magical about the experience proper.

"So basically you think that she's mad or disappointed about yesterday." Hindenburg concluded. They were closing to the uni, he could see it already. "Keep a smile on your face. It's not easy, but beating yourself over it won't help either you or her."

He sighed, scratched his head, looked to the side, and spoke in a quiet and frustrated voice.

"Don't, help me." Yuval nearly clenched his fist as he continued to speak. "I want to deal with the problems I've caused, on my own. Is that such grand, highly demanding request that you can't accept it?"

edited 26th May '14 6:39:14 AM by LiorVal

Naomi

Daniel had texted her the address after the call had finished just as he said he would. Naomi arrived and had already made an order while sitting down to wait for the poor boy. "Hmmmm, is he coming at all?" she said, leaning forward on the table.

"I don't help you. Whether you make use of my advice is of your choice." Max shook his head briefly. They were finally in their destined location. "But aheltering yourself from any help hardly helped anyone in the past." Getting off his bike and waiting for Yuval to do the same he smiled briefly once again. "Guess I'll see you in class then. Enjoy the day."

Daniel runs into the coffee shop and quickly found Naomi.

"Uh, hi, sorry, I kinda had to do some stuff... Seriously, I'm sorry."

He sits down across from her.

"So uh... hey..."