On the Rocks [ Makoto & Akiva]

He had a very busy day today with his Crow persona. It was a productive day for gathering data for the next video for the channel. On top of that he managed to get some decent footage of a hero in action so he could study and learn a bit more from it. If he truly wanted to accomplish his goals, knowledge was the most important thing for him to develop. But all of that - no matter how much he liked it - was tiring and he needed to take a break from time to time and that was why he decided he could hide and dodge his duties for a while with a non-alcoholic drink or something like that in a place where most people are drinking and lowering their guards. It was interesting to know human nature at their most vulnerable, and fueled the right things inside his mind.

He arrived at the Fourth Corner by cab, generously tipped the driver and walked into the bar. He was wearing his casual clothes: a tan peacoat with black buttons, striped black and white tie, a white dress shirt, black dress pants and black thick leather gloves. His general charming look and his clothes showed he probably had enough money that he didn't need to mind how much he was going to spend at the location. As he approached the entrance, he took of his peacoat and hanged carefully before making his way to the balcony.

With a cordial smile, he greeted the bartender. "Good evening." he politely said as he sit on the bench, resting his arms on the balcony. His reddish brown eyes reached for the man in charge of serving them once again. "May I bother you for a small black coffee and a glass of ice water?" he said as he placed the money on the counter, with more than enough to pay for his order and give out a quite generous tip to the server. Once he did that, he grabbed his smartphone and started browsing it while he distractedly waited for his desired drink.

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Fifty four thousand views on the video he had just uploaded at noon, that was quite impressive and showed just how much his channel and his fame was growing. He was swaying public opinion on his life as a vigilante, and with that he knew he would soon gather a legion of blind fans that would follow his every whim. That was a very powerful tool of manipulation. Little by little he could increase the violence in his actions, and even maul or maim some of the scum he would face as some sort of heavenly punishment for the weakness in their morals and actions, and once that was made normal and acceptable to the people, he knew he could push even further and gather more allies and minions, all important tools in his goal to break today's society, essentially destroying its foundations and throwing the world into a state of endless chaos. Chaos is necessary in order to rebuild something, to reshape to the image you idealize. And once that has been done, he would have the world on his hands and his Justice would prevail above all else. It was still far from becoming true, but he was working his way, one step at the time.

Meanwhile, however, this wicked and sociopath mind rested in the sheep skin of a charming young man who was politely ordering a cup of coffee and some ice water. Such a straight arrow who wouldn't even dare to taint his pure mind with something as filth as alcohol. He could smell the coffee beans grinding and the smell was pleasant. They do say the sociopaths do love their coffee, especially black, no added flavours, nothing to take their sense of taste away from the bitterness of the world. And that was precisely how he took his coffee. When the bartender came with all the add-ons, he politely and with a kind, bright smile, waved his hand in refusal. "I appreciate your wonderful service, but I don't need any of those add-ons. I take my coffee black." he said in a very polite and friendly way.

Nonetheless his apparent distraction with the smartphone and the drink in front of him, which he slowly took a sip with quite a lot of class in his mannerism, he notice the slight hesitation with the cash he had given. "I don't need my change. The rest is for you." he said as he placed the phone on the table and looked at the bartender with his reddish-brown and friendly eyes, giggling a bit.

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The quality of the coffee was good. Not impressive, but definitely on the above average tier, he thought as he tasted it with a couple of short sips on it, carefully putting it back on the saucer and drinking a bit of his ice water, to get the cold sensation right after the hot; he loved the duality and that was the main reason he would always ask for a glass of ice water with his black coffee. The server quickly remembered that he had indeed said he wanted just a black coffee, but he didn't think much of it; he had worked on this side of the table before, though not exactly this one, but you can get the picture. Before his ascension as a social medial idol, he was a regular worker who had to struggle all the same. Those types of almost brainless functions can be rather draining, and people grow used not having to think a lot to perform their function. Makoto casually waved his hand and shook his head. "Please don't worry about that. Every thing is perfect." he said with a gentle and understanding smile.

He giggled a bit, though, when the bartender said he was very generous and thanked him for the kind contribution to his barely living wage. "Not for that. It's my pleasure to help out. I used to work in a similar job a while ago, I know the struggle. It's my way to give back some of the success I've achieved." he said as he leaned his chin against his open palm, staring at the man serving him, who promptly asked if he needed anything else, to which Makoto just shook his head. His eyes seemed very attentive, as if he was consciously trying to read in between lines and discover things. "You look a bit fresh, if you don't mind me saying." he giggled a bit at his own statement, finding it rather amusing he could see that details in the man's body language which led him to reach such conclusion.

Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong. But he was usually right about such things. In any case, uncovering the truth of things was also one of his hobbies, so why not try to get to know this random stranger a bit? His day has been quite prosperous thus far, so why not try and entice a stranger?

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he must have done something right as he could sense the tension from the bartender to slowly diminish and that made him giggle a bit more in some odd satisfaction as he took yet another sip of the freshly brewed coffee. That bitter taste poured his whole being with energy and life. He was somehow addicted to the beverage, but that was not something uncommon in the modern world. Maybe it was the words he said about starting humbly and growing into being able to generously tip a possibly minimum wage worker in a bar. Hope was a powerful tool and he knew that all too well from all the days he was powering through the intense pain in his heart, in the hopes of having a little more affection from his distressed and mentally unstable mother. It was something that could either give you life or outright kill you, something the powerful and wise would know how to use; and he liked to think he was learning that well.

The red haired man spoke to Makoto, saying he was only a temporary there and he nodded in acknowledgment. "I see..." verbal reinforcement was also a good way to keep up a conversation and showing he was a good listener, and in fact he was; a careful attention to details was a trait he had in his very core. What better way to gather information on people? And information was a part of knowledge and one of the many pathways to ultimate power. "Depending on how strong your ambition actually is, success is just a matter of fighting your way through an horde of sheep and show the world you are the wolf." he said with a sly smile on his lips. "Only problem in that is most people don't know or don't accept the fact they are actually sheep. They are too comfortable with their wool keeping them warm from the sharp cold of the world. It's a complex matter, but here I am, babbling and digressing! Hahahaha!" he paused, covering his mouth as if he was ashamed, but his eyes had no trace of shame whatsoever.

When the man said he was trying his best, Makoto wasn't too sure. He seemed distracted at first and that's definitely not a trait from someone trying his best. "Are you now? That's good to hear!" he said, leaning his head to the side for a second while keeping the sly smile on his lips. "It can be overwhelming indeed, but then again, what is life without some challenge to spice it up, eh? Hehe." he asked before pausing to take yet another sip of his coffee, followed by the ice water he had also ordered.

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Makoto arched one of his brows when the red-haired bartender told him his analogy of a world of sheep and wolf was an interesting way to phrase it. "Interesting? That's a curious remark, but I will take it anyway." he said, giggling a bit while he took another sip of the black coffee; the mug was still half full. There was something about this man. He was a bit hard to read. He felt distracted, but at the same time that evaluation didn't look quite right. The young man leaned his head to the side in a quite curious expression as the bartender spoke back to him, telling him that some things take time, and how boring it would be if you could be perfect at everything at first try. That made the customer chuckled a bit, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, which was still covered by the leather glove. That was quite a strange thing, not to remove gloves while inside, but the young man with brown hair didn't seem inclined to take them off in the slightest. Unknown to the bartender, he had a perfectly good reason not to do so, as he didn't want to expose the scars of his palms; a taint to his charming appearance.

He leaned a bit forward as he continued to stare at the man in front of him. There was something tease-able about him, as if he was trying to fit into an unfitting persona. "Would it really be boring? I wonder. I can't claim to be perfect at everything, but, perhaps, being able to achieve such a wonderful accomplishment would allow this blessed individual to shift his or her focus away from the mundane. I wonder what such a person could accomplish, without the drag of perfecting and polishing his own skill set. Maybe... Just like you said, he would fall into the dark pit of boredom. Or..." and he widened the sly smirk on his thin lips. "He would conquer the whole world and re-shape it to his will." he added, pausing for a moment, before laughing about it. "Again, I'm digressing and blabbing! I am truly helpless, my friend!" he said, clapping his hands in a muffled noise due to the leather gloves he was wearing. "I'm bothering you and I wasn't even kind enough to introduce myself." he chuckled, shaking his head in disapproval of his own attitude.

"I'm Makoto Fujiwara. A humble social media manager. How should I call you the person keeping this bored guy company this evening?" he asked.

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His smirk widened a bit when the man introduced himself, as his name was just as unique as his looks. "Akiva Xerxes... Am I pronouncing it right?" Makoto cracked a thoughtful expression, touching his own lips with his index finger and giggling. "That's a quite unique name, but I must say it matches your unique looks. One of a kind indeed." he added as he nodded, taking yet another short sip of his coffee and then resting it on the counter once more. The young man leaned against the counter and stared at his companion for this night dead in the eyes. There was curiosity in his gaze and some genuine interest. "I'm glad to hear that hehe..." he paused, closing his eyes and leaning his head to the side a bit. "Because I'm quite enjoying the company as well. And if I may be so bold..." he paused and moved his head to look around the place.

There was some people around, the place wasn't full, but every single one of them were different in their own way. With their own stories. Of course most of them would end up falling within a spectrum of boredom that would place them as cattle, while others would stand out with their own uniqueness. "Have you ever stopped to analyze the pattern of the regular clients here? Have you ever stopped to, on a balance of probabilities, classify them as either sheep or wolf? Or maybe the bittersweet middle ground in between? A shepherd dog, perhaps?" he said, chuckling lightly before staring back at Akiva. "I tend to do that a lot. I like studying people... Sometimes I just daydream of what role they would play in a society that is not so soft as ours..." he shrugged, giggling a bit as his eyes sparkled with something, almost a fiery passion of sorts. "Sorry! I can be a bit odd at times! Maybe it's the honesty that the balcony infects us with! Haha!" he ran his hand through his brown hair.

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