Backdated to Saturday 11/17

[celebrity_commentator]

Who: Rise Kujikawa, Yu Narukami, anyone else who'd be hanging around a demonic nightclub with a drag show
Where: Nyx's Nightclub
Summary: Ironically, Yu is bad at keeping his mouth shut. Unironically, Rise spends a lot of money.
Warnings: Demonic nightclub with a drag show
Rise came to a realization after a day or so of retail therapy (and evenings of thankfulness that she didn't have to commute to do it here): the government stipend here didn't amount to much, at least if you were used to smartly-saved idol salary.

Rise was smart, though. She'd left applications most of the places she shopped once she started looking at her receipts, as well as that nice-if-kinda-bland tofu place where she'd had lunch. It paid to keep your options open, or so she had learned. Plus, for some reason, with Kanzeon kicking around at the forefront of her mind all the time now, the idea of trying out for different roles suited her...

That said...a part of her wanted to go back to some kind of performing. This was probably a stupid idea - okay, definitely stupid, when she thought about it, but she was already on her way. If nothing else, she could check out this place and why Senpai seemed stupidly nervous about it. And maybe see if it was suitable to drag her friends here for a party.

Regardless, Rise entered the Taurus district in a set of her more conservative clothes - she was here on business, after all - and made her way to Nyx's, which was fortunately fairly prominent. After a few minutes of hopefully unseen-by-anyone-she-knew hesitation, she headed in, flashed the bouncer her best "I belong here, I'm a celebrity" smile, and made her way into a room full of demon dancers. And demon patrons. And...

Welp.

Steeling herself, she wandered for a bit, looking for the proprietor...and maybe whatever it was Senpai was trying to warn her away from.

Oh. Maybe it was that...

Comments

[greatseal]

Minako isn't someone to shy away from nightclubs. Back home, she'd started visiting Escapade out of part curiosity and part rumor about the foul-mouthed monk (Minako... has very strange taste in rumors) but she'd stayed because she liked the atmosphere. She befriended the bartender so he wouldn't kick her out, did a few stints at waitressing, and chatted up some of the regular customers. It was fun.

Nyx's nightclub was a different matter. She wasn't afraid of it by any means, but the atmosphere was different, sharper.. and well, more demonic. She couldn't really say it appealed to her like Escapade had. Here, she was still always on her guard.

But there is a reason she decided to venture back into the club tonight. It has to do with the Scorpio event, and something she remembers hearing from the proprietor the last time she was here... 'You feel familiar.'

So tonight, Minako is keeping an eye out for Nyx as she sits at the bar, dressed tastefully in a red and black outfit. She's not old enough to drink, but she has something without alcohol on hand for the sake of the image.

Although, when the 'ladies' come on stage her attention is completely riveted on the one with the silver braids...

It seems Yu's luck in preventing her from learning about his job has run out.

[the_usual_stuff]

And while Minako is keeping an eye out for Nyx, the little boy in stripes hanging around the darker edges of the bar, is watching with interest as the throngs of demonic creatures, scattered with knots of humans here and there, parted, merged and swirled in a dim of nighttime activity. The atmosphere of th nightclub suited him, but it didn't appeal to him. Too loud, too many feet stomping and too many voices chattering all at the same time. He was not threatened by this place (what had he to fear?) but...

Oh. There was Minako, seated at the bar with a drink of liquid in her hand. He'd followed her into the Taurus district to begin with, but soon wandered off from her to explore more thoroughly the nooks of delicate grey and dark spaces that filled the places that came alive with the coming of darkness, and it wasn't like any of the demons would be able to prevent him from entering if he wished to do so. But he'd looked around now, so time to return to her side.

Whoever was on the stage at the moment didn't interest him.

Minako will hear a dissonant giggle from her left side. Pharos sits down on a stool next to her, smiling; "You look nice, my dearest."

[greatseal]

Minako does her best not to jump at the sudden creepy giggle and appearing little boy. She mostly succeeds.

"Thank you..." Well, she can't ignore a compliment. But regardless... "This isn't a place for kids though, Pharos. Did you follow me?"

She can't expect Pharos to understand why he shouldn't be in a place like this, but she still feels a responsibility to try and explain it. His intelligence isn't fully that of a child but it's far from an adult as well. More importantly, since he's corporeal here, people will expect him to behave more like a child would, whether he really wants to or not.

[the_usual_stuff]

He doesn't react outwardly to the older girl's startled half-jump at his appearance. But inwardly, he reminds himself to try and... attempt to give her and Minato forewarning before appearing if its keep catching them by surprise.

"Yes, I did," Pharo bobs his head of faded black hair in answer to the question she asked him. Absolutely no shame about that to be found here, but he frowns and tilts his head slightly at the rest of her words. "... Why not?"

Minako did actually have a pretty grasp on his mental level of intelligence; clearly above that of a mere childs' but far below that of an mature adults' as well. At this stage, the ability to recognize the expectation for him to conform at least a little to some social norms is possible, but it's certainly not his first reaction apply it to anything he personally does, very often, really.

[greatseal]

She's not even going to address the stalking issue right now... she doesn't actually mind, most of the time. The problem was that he doesn't have a sense of when it's a good time not to follow. Like tonight.

"These places are meant for... adult interests. They come here to relax. There's nothing around for kids to do, and..." She's not sure if she should try and explain that it might be dangerous. If she did, Pharos might question why she's here. "And it's open at night, so most are asleep anyway."

[the_usual_stuff]

That earns a blank, quizzical stare from Pharos.

"They come here to relax?" the small boy echoed her. He has no issues with it being open at nighttime, he's practically nocturnal anyway but this doesn't seem like a very good environment to lay down and take a nap for awhile. Nothing to do? There are so many things that can be done and are done under the dark veil of night, oh, she was referring to there not being any entertainment meant for children in the nightclub. Perhaps it had something to do with these adult interests she spoke of?

"Don't worry, I came here because I wanted to know why you're here." And because he was eternally curious and curiosity drove him to explore new places like this.

... Yep, he's questioning why she's here. Is it safe for her? Not he has any true doubt she can easily handle herself in any situation, but still.

[greatseal]

"I'm just hoping to talk to someone." She's not sure if she should mention who this person is, considering this is Pharos... But he may also have sensed it or figured it out on his own from the name... "The demon who owns this club."

[the_usual_stuff]

"... Ah," he muttered.

Indeed, he had taken note of the nightclub's name. But while he could sense a demonic energy source that was incredibly similar to Her, it wasn't... the great entity his own existence stemmed from. At least, he didn't think so. But Pharos could understand why his container would wish to speak to the demon that resided within this city.

If Minako had continued on from his departure for several months like she had told him, his completed self with a new face must have contacted her, to tell the group of humans that fought against the Shadows that infested their city, to give warning of the Fall, Nyx, and his own role in it. Even if she had not yet lived through the Fall itself yet (because she was alive and not even she could not have survived it, surely) of course she would want to check with the club's owner. "Her."

[greatseal]

"That's right. I have some questions to ask."

She smiles at Pharos, though. "I'm sorry if I worried you by going out." Even if his worry did come from being a stalker.

[the_usual_stuff]

"Such as?"

After a pause, he hesitantly returns the smile. "... Apology accepted, Minako." Stalking you and your brother makes him very happy, okay.

[greatseal]

"It sort of depends on the answers she has..." That sounds contradictory, but it's true. What she can ask depends on what connection there actually is, if anything.

"You should head on home, okay? I'll be back later."

[the_usual_stuff]

The young boy in black-and-white stripes paused, debating silently with himself for a moment before he concluded to the redheaded girl's quiet, firm request. He slumps inward on himself the slightest bit and gives her a concerned glance. "... Alright. Please, return home safely soon. I'll be waiting."

And then he fades out, first the inside of himself disappearing before the edges of his form vanish entirely as well, and the Wild Card is left sitting alone at the bar with her non-alcoholic drink. Except not quite; Pharos lingered in the darkness of the nightclub unseen and out of view, waiting patiently for her departure before he'll head back to the apartment himself.

[naughtynightclan]

Snooping was very unbecoming of you, Pharos.

It was a few moments later that Nyx appeared, standing on the other side of the bar, her hand running across the polished table before she stopped close to where Minako was sitting, gazing downward.

"Quite a lovely little dress," she purred. "I'm sure he enjoys seeing you in it."

[celebrity_commentator]

...the number of high school girls here to watch the drag show was starting to make Rise a little curious. Not quite as curious as she was about the girl talking to the kid, of course. Then again, he seemed like he was supposed to be there, somehow, and she didn't want to be rude and interrupt a stranger's conversation, no matter how interesting.

Regardless, after the girl and the kid were finished talking, Rise headed over to talk to the other redhead.

"This show's really popular, huh?" she asked, taking a seat at the bar and not ordering anything yet.

[greatseal]

"It does seem that way."

Minako doesn't recognize the other girl, other than she seems to be around her age, but it's not a problem to talk to her. Actually, she'd rather converse with another normal looking human than some of the demons hanging around... "Although he's actually pretty good at his job, so I'm not so surprised."

[celebrity_commentator]

"Yu-senpai is a man of incredible hidden talent," she said, completely serious behind the smile on her face.

[greatseal]

"I'm not so sure he's 'hiding' this one anymore..." The first incident she could write off as necessity, but getting employed to do the same thing showed a certain level of actual interest in the art of crossdressing. Not that there was anything wrong with that...

Anyway. "Are you one of his friends from Inaba, then?"

[celebrity_commentator]

"Yep. That'd make you one of his friends from here, right?" she guessed. Stating the obvious is a class feature of support Persona users. "He was in the class above me when I went to live with my grandmother in Inaba. My name's Rise, by the way."

[greatseal]

"Mm-hm... We arrived in the city at the same time." And then had the whole adventure here in this nightclub.... But that story can wait. "I'm Minako. It's nice to meet you, Rise-san."

[celebrity_commentator]

"I bet he was one of the first ones who showed up and started on the 'save the world' stuff, right?" she asked. Her high opinion of Yu's tendency for heroics was obvious in her tone. "You just can't stop the guy..."

[greatseal]

"Something like that. There was an incident with the Anoli that first day and we all had to take care of it." But knowing what Yu has told her so far, she's not surprised by Rise's tone at all.

[celebrity_commentator]

"Are they as bad as they're supposed to be?" Rise asked. "Attacking people and government buildings and things while we're all stuck together under a dome sounds pretty suicidally dumb."

[greatseal]

"That's pretty much the case.... They attacked several different places at once." She's not too impressed by the Anoli's methods or motives, either.

1/2

[celebrity_commentator]

"What is with people like that, anyway? When you're stuck in a situation like this, people should work together...," she said.

[celebrity_commentator]

"Wow, somehow I ended up talking about politics at a bar," she said after a second, brightening up in an effort to change the subject. "Not really the place to be worrying about that, is it? So! What brought you here tonight, Minako-san? Other than Senpai's killer moves?"