isleofavalon | Louis' April Open Log

[ When he arrives to the Magicast office building, he decides to ask some question in the lobby first to ask around and see if he can figure out where he wants to start. After asking a few random individuals, he determines that the first place he wants to go is the executive office. Quiet, private offices are a good place to investigate because he anticipates that it would have less random foot traffic - and therefore, less interference.

He stands outside of the office, and he looks towards whoever had joined him on his way there. ]

Maybe we should have a game plan before we get started?

Edited 2021-04-11 03:08 (UTC)

[ This task sounded difficult, to be honest, and not really ideal. Which is the main reason that Louis approached the cave only when he had noticed that there was at least someone else there. After all, this is the sort of thing that needs extra sets of hands. So, he sizes them up and he takes a few quick steps as he approaches, hands in his pocket. ]

Are you waiting on someone?

[ You know, just in case there are more people about to show up, or if not they can probably get started. ]

Edited 2021-04-11 03:16 (UTC)

[ Louis hops between bars for work. While he spends a lot of time at Ren's Karaoke Bar - Shining Karaoke - he may also be found at a few bars owned by natives. He mostly works towards the front of the house. He hosts, busses, and waits tables and delivers drinks everywhere he works. He spends a lot of time socializing because it's a good way to keep up with what is going on in the city. He's not always the nicest, most social guy - but he can pretend well. He's always been good with that.

So, wherever you find yourself - whether it is to get a drink at the bar or get to a private booth for karaoke, he'll appear at some point and say. ]

I don't think I've seen you here before.

Edited 2021-04-11 02:57 (UTC)

That's because I lurk in the shadows, always waiting to strike in the name of justice and righteousness. But tonight... is different. The shadows...

Are full of patrons, so I'm stuck here at the bar.

[Dust is in a good mood tonight, possibly due to some alcohol already in his system. Good enough to be making a joke like that.]

[ Louis looks amused by the comment. And, given knows the guy well enough, he sets down a full bottle of beer in front of the man. He's working, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy conversation with someone, it just means he won't be drinking, too. ]

Stuck? Never view it as stuck. View it as the prime seat in the bar. From here you can see and hear a lot of things.

I'm not sure I like eavesdropping. Even if I can't help it sometimes.

[Don't ask about what he can see, but Louis ought to understand that humans maybe didn't have the keenest hearing in comparison. Even the location means a lot; atop his head, Dust's ears pick up a lot more than many might think.]

Mostly this is just a new experience for me. I should be making more efforts to get those, right?

[ He gets it because he knows what it's like as a deer. That's the main reason he's so understands it. He's not one to assume someone's capabilities, though. ]

New experiences are good for you, you know. Especially here. Especially with all of the time we're getting.

[ Ah - ]

Make a list of things you want to do.

Edited 2021-04-20 04:47 (UTC)

Everything here has been a new experience. That's one reason I started coming to bars in the first place... So far it hasn't been bad.

[Of course, Dust is mindful of his intake; he has no idea what kind of a drunk he is, but expects nothing good from the experience.]

Right now my list consists of "figure out what I want to do", beyond that. And what I should do that I don't particularly want to.

I like them. People are always more talkative and willing to share here, so there's a lot of chances to learn about other places here if you listen and talk to enough people.

[ Louis is curious, too. Although, he always is with the people here. Some drunks, in his experience, are talkative. Others are sad, others...well, get angry. Luckily there's less of those in his experience. ]

I have hard to believe there's nothing on your must-do list. I feel like a lot of people have something on the back of their mind that they'd like to do.

I led a... very different life. I never had the chance to do anything but fight and solve the problems in Falana, so thinking about other things to do never occurred to me. I don't even know a lot of the possibilities...

[Though the way Dust trails off hints that one thing, at least, is -- well, if not 'something he wants to do', at least worth a second, confused thought.]

What, like hobbies?

[ Louis considers that because well, he doesn't actually have many hobbies of his own. He has goals, he has work, and he has things to help him achieve both. He likes theater, but he doesn't actually spend much time on outside things. ]

I thought hobbies were a normal thing.

Probably. I'm not normal.

[Jin had little opportunity to relax and enjoy himself, as Falana dealt with war. Cassius... well, his hobbies aren't ones Dust wants to pursue. As for Dust himself...]

I'm still working on the concept of free time to do what I want.

I mean, I'd probably be bored if I didn't have something to do.

[ He definitely would be. ]

Do you ever do quests?

All the time, but... that's not really a hobby, is it? [More of a lifestyle. Just because Dust had the overarching goal of stopping an army, back in Falana, didn't mean he couldn't take time to find people's laundry or rescue their wayward sheep.]

It can me. I guess it is to me because I just do it to do it.

I work here to make money, after all.

[ Well, he does make money from quests and he does shady things sometimes. But that's neither here nor there. ]

Could always knit.

[ Now he pulls your leg. ]

[Dust makes a noise that's both amused and skeptical at once.] Right. I'll put that on the list right behind "learning to like staying indoors at night".

There's a lot of value in learning an art like knitting. You could make so many people amazing socks.

[ He is joking, and it's fairly obvious in his tone that he is, too. ]

But going outside at night is the best time.

You sleep during the day then?

[Being outside is best in all circumstances, at least now that he's given up on indoor living thanks to losing the roommate who was also his friend. Indoors feels so stuffy and claustrophobic.]

See, you're already assuming I sleep, which was your first mistake.

[ It's hard to tell if he's joking or not here when he says it. Because it sounds like it could be one. But, it's not. He doesn't sleep much at all, and substituted some of his sleep with caffeine. ]

I didn't think that was an uncommon assumption.

[Dust, not sure whether it's a joke or not, chooses to treat it as not one. After all, not sleeping is weird, but so much else is weird around here as well.]

At the very least, you work inside.

I do. I'm not much of an outdoor deer. I like cities and the indoors. I'm spoiled.

[ Amused huff. ]

And I supplement my sleep with energy drinks. It works, you know.

[ That's not a lie, and it's pretty clear. ]

You mean... coffee, things like that?

[Dust has never heard the term before, so his mind goes to a drink he does know that combats tiredness. The poor, naive fool...]

[It's the weekend, mid-month, because Kadoc had specifically waited until one of the public open karaoke nights to finally check out Shining Karaoke. The Japanese style room has never suited him—after all, it only makes sense if you're actually there to sing. He's decidedly not. Are you kidding? He'd rather die than perform in front of anyone, private room or otherwise.

But sometimes a guy just wants to be around live music, even if that live music is of dubious quality, depending on how lucky they get with their performers that night.

So here he is. It's the kind of thing his coworkers might have dragged him to back home, a real Social Outing for Fun, but this time he's dragged himself there, because even Kadoc gets stir-crazy and needs to unwind from time to time. It's definitely not . . . the worst way to spend an evening. It's a nice place. There's music! Not everyone is terrible at performing it! Having a drink—he's been nursing the same one for a while now, not being much of a drinker—makes it easier!

There's also a deer person talking to him!

Whoa.

This is not his first rodeo when it comes to animal people. But it's his first one in Camelot, and it's been a while at this point, which is weird to think about, but true. So there's that wordless moment there where his eyes widen in recognition as he takes in who's addressing him; then that moment passes, and he absolutely does not mention it. Still. It happened.]

. . . You haven't. I keep out of the rooms. For me, karaoke is a spectator sport.

[ It's not an unfamiliar look. He doesn't say anything because usually after a few moments people get used to the idea of his entire - well, being. And he still is a little baffled by humans from time to time. They're odd creatures. Though, he's okay with everything being a little odd here. He's not certain he'll ever fully adjust. ]

We do have private rooms, you know? You can sing and no one will know.

[ Without skipping a beat. ]

Well, I'll know because I work here. But I won't share if you're terrible.

[That does get a smile out of Kadoc, a thing he still doesn't do all that often, but it's beginning to come a little easier these days. The drink does help. Mostly, it's just dry and honest enough humor to appeal to him.]

Yeah, but the problem is that I actually like music. That means I don't wanna ruin it, not even for an audience of just myself. And one other guy who'll never tell anyone.

[Does he actually suck that much? Honestly, he doesn't even know. He is the last person to have an objective view of any of his skills. But he's sure no amateur karaoke star.]

. . . I dunno. Maybe it'd feel good in that screamo kinda way.

[ Louis raised a single brow at that. He can understand the desire to respect the art and keep a distance. Still, this is a place where someone should have fun and do the things they enjoy. It basically says that on the box. He tilts his head towards the karaoke machines. ]

Lots of people ruin the songs. And they do it for an entire audience.

[ And then, he considers him for a moment. ]

It's not like it can hurt anything. Besides, it can't be fun to only listen to others here. I know we have great drinks, but the entertainment is why people come here.

Honestly, I just like being around the music, even when other people do butcher it. Before this, I can't even tell you how long it'd been since I got to see someone perform live other than on a piano.

[Which is cool and all, a truly talented pianist doing their thing, but it's not Kadoc's own tastes. He looks like a punk emo disaster because he is a punk emo disaster, not because he's into Mozart. He'd missed a good live rock performance a lot the past few years of his life.

Still. The host makes a good point.]

I've gotta hand it to you, though, you're pretty good at selling this place on customers. I guess that is your job. Now I'm thinking about it, and I didn't plan on that.

[ He smiles. It's easy and relaxed, and it probably looks like he means it, though Louis rarely smiles. But he's good at business, and so - he lets out a small, amused sound. ]

I've heard that. I have always been really good at selling things, I guess.

[ Of course, the selling he was doing back home was far different, the idea is the same. In the end, as long as he made his idea seem like the best one, then he'd do well. ]

I am here often, and a friend of mine owns the place. So I suppose it's only natural to want his success.

Jinguji, right? Not that we've ever spoken, but I know he set up that concert for Valentine's Day too.

[That had been the first real Thing Kadoc had done in Camelot that hadn't just been arriving and trying to get his bearings. He'd been here only a few days at the time, and it had felt more than a little insane going and sitting in a venue and listening to J-rock happen live on stage while knowing he was in That Camelot at the same time.

It turns out that feeling hasn't faded much a couple of months on. Being here right now only makes it stronger. He looks around again to revel in it, and then back at Louis, to marvel at how easy it is to know a deer is smiling in the right social context.]

They're really embracing letting us do our own thing here. I'm not over it yet, seriously. You get dragged to an alien world, so you decide to open a karaoke bar there . . . that takes a certain kind of person. That's not an insult to your friend. If anything, I'm a little jealous.

Yes, Ren.

[ This guy is pretty polite with his question, but Louis is not. Of course, he's friends with the guy, so it's only natural. ]

I didn't end up attending the concert, did you have fun?

[ He tends to stay on the outside of big events like this. He doesn't go to concerts - it's not the sort of thing he enjoys. He spent Valentine's Day relaxing and enjoying his own time. ]

No, no insult thought. It really does take someone special to open a business. I wouldn't want to and I run many businesses where I'm from. I know the work that goes into it.

[ No thanks. ]

It was a good time.

[Which is not the same as having fun, but eh, close enough. Fun is hard. Fun had been especially hard that first week or two here. But the concert had definitely been a highlight.]

I mean, it was so normal. That's what made it crazy. I'm out there busting my ass carrying around caravans of elves and then watching quaint historical plays about their culture, and then I'm watching a J-Rock act complete with pyrotechnics. Talk about cultural immersion. This place is just like that.

[At last, with this, he finishes his drink and considers the glass. Hmm. Does he want another? He kinda does. Maybe in a minute; he's curious about his host, too.]

Many businesses, huh? You mentioned selling things. That kind of business?

Normal, huh. A lot of things about this place seem pretty normal, to be honest. Sure, there's magic. But I can go to bars, cafes, buy new clothes, use smart phones. It's all very...modern. Not what I'd expect from sort of fantasy land.

[ Not like he knows what to expect from a fantasy land anyway. Because he doesn't really read or engage with fantasy at home, so it's all a mystery to him. It's just what he's picked up from being here and listening to other people talk. ]

Oh - I don't do sales. I'm the boss of the boss of the boss. That sort of thing.

[ He mostly just doesn't want to explain what his title is, so he'll leave it at this, since it's a fairly easy way to understand. ]

The boss of the boss of the boss, huh.

[That could mean so many things! But the one thing it definitely means is Important. Important enough to be vague about, Kadoc imagines: when you're Pretty Important, you say something like, "I'm not in sales, I'm the CFO." It takes either a lot of importance or just straight-up lying to be vague about your title, the kind of importance one's confident enough in to not need anyone else to be impressed by it.

So he decides, anyway, and while it could be that Louis is lying, it'd be a weird thing to lie about. Kadoc glances down at his empty glass again, then sets it back on the bar a bit away.]

Now I feel all weird about asking you to put in an order for another one of these for me. Who says that to the boss's boss's boss?

[With a little smile. It's interesting here in that way, too. They're all on the same level to start with.]

That was there, this is here.

[ Which is another good reason to not go into it. To be honest, being the CEO and owner of a conglomerate means literally nothing to him while here. Hell, it barely means things to him while not here. It's just something he does and has little to do with how he's lived his life up to now. After all, it was a title handed to him.

He wouldn't say it was something he has because of his own hard work. ]

Here - I'm Louis. I work in bars and do quests. Sometimes, I tell people I was cursed to look like a deer and that I wasn't always one.

You know, the typical fun things.

[The Deer Curse joke takes Kadoc enough by surprise that he lets out a little laugh of real amusement, which he hides in his hand a moment later, though he's still visibly smiling back there.]

Shit. What else do you do being surrounded by humans like this? That's pretty good. Believe it or not, I can relate just a little. I came from somewhere where I was in the opposite situation . . . all animal people, no pure humans left. I'm not from there, but I lived there for a while. I got a lot of "aren't you cold? What happened to all your fur?"

[It's a little more than he might usually say. The magic of being a drink in when he's a lightweight, and the general Bar Mood.]

Louis' April Open Log

⇨ Clue, Do Them In ( open )

⇨ Boxed In ( open )

⇨ Your Local Bar ( open )

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