Dilemma After Dusk [SL, Night](Gabe)

*whap whap whap whap*

Several smacks echoed off the walls of forlorn buildings as a lone, shady figure struck her pack of cigarettes against her palm. For being so early in the evening the streets weren't very crowded. Relatively early, in any case. It was around eight o'clock at night, for someone who drank all night and slept all day it may have well been just after noon. Yet the roads were fairly barren and the sidewalks even more so. Ritsuko figured that most people were in bed by now or headed up northward toward Susie Q or where the bars were. A place she'd just come from, unfortunately. After taking money from Kano she found it best to not stick around Little Tokyo for some time lest he go looking for her. She was paranoid like that, but it kept her alive and out of trouble even in the face of her poor decision-making skills. A slight chill licked at the air, going unnoticed by the delinquent as she stood bathed in the soft luminescence of the Gas-N-Go! After a handful of drinks she was feeling the buzz already, maybe a little slow on the reflexes, but she kept aware of her surroundings. Never know who might show up and try something stupid.

*fwick... fwick fwick TSSSSSS...*

The lonely guitarist brought her coffin nail to her lips to light it. It was a nasty habit of hers, chain-smoking when drinking, but it scratched a sort of itch. Nicotine filled a want and it was pretty damn effective at it. Food, warmth, companionship, basic human needs with no equivalent could be put at bay for ten minutes with just a little cancer stick and some free time. Besides, it was something to do. Nicotine was Ritsuko's entire reason for being in the Backlight District at night. When the anti-smoking ads showed up on TV, they truly couldn't convey just how addictive it was. Everything had to stop because of the monkey on your back. But at the same time... it was worth it. Smoking was calming, smoking as grounding. It gave her a routine, some semblance of structure in her otherwise shattered life. In any case, she couldn't grab cigarettes from anywhere in Little Tokyo without coming close the strip where she could get recognized. Maybe in a few hours, but not now, she had no idea what Kano would do. He wasn't the type to call the cops yet neither was he the type to take theft lying down. Backlight District it was.

The soothing smoke calmed her nerves, spinning down her anxious brain into something more productive. It was easy to get caught up in the paranoia, especially being tiny and kinda drunk and alone at night in the bad side of town, buuuuuuuut... it'd be fine. Ritz was tougher than she looked and always had a plan. It was hard not to when contingency planning was drilled into your fragile young brain for over a decade. It was fatiguing to always keep her guard up like she did, every little bit helped. The paranoid young woman edged her back up against the Gas-N-Go! as she puffed from her fag. Just one less direction she could get jumped from. Though the shade from the building hid her in black the bright red cherry on the end of her cigarette gave her away, but it wasn't as if she was trying to hide her presence. Just... going where people were less likely to approach. Force of habit. Ritz sagged her guitar case from her shoulder and brought Aoide out with her. She had some time to kill before she'd head back. Besides, the loneliness of the ghostly gas station was a sort of respite from being bothered all day. It'd be nice to take some time to reflect in the solitude for a bit. Her calloused fingers hovered over the strings with a familiar, calming hum as she began to strum light, even chords.

This Road to Ruin I Walk:

......

...something troubles you?

Yeah... I just... I'm not sure if that was something I should have done. Kano... he's nice. I didn't wanna steal from him. I guess I'm just a fuck up.

Dost thou regret what hast transpired?

*sigh* ...I'm not sure. I needed the money, I just wish it didn't have to come from where I took it. I'm not... I'm not a good person, but I'm not a thief. The only people I want to suffer deserve it, but everyone around me suffers anyway. I don't... *sigh* ...I just don't know if this is how I should be acting.

Your reasons belong to you. It was a choice for you to make alone, between your welfare and the peace you hold with others. I do not judge you on your decision.

I still don't feel good about it. I didn't want that to happen.

And that is why you are beautiful, my child. You have conflicts that test your soul, internal struggles that shape you. Those of my kind have no such things. We are who we are and nothing more. These personal demons may only rule you if you yet allow them.

That doesn't change what I did, or change how horrible I was to Kano.

"Good" and "Bad" are mortal concepts. We see things as "Are". These are actions and only those, happenings in this long journey we call existence. Right or wrong are for you to decipher and choose.

O-okay... Then... then I was wrong. That was wrong of me.

But it doesn't have to stay that way forever.
Yet it need not be that way forever.

Oh ho ho~! I see our ideals coincide!

They do. I'll make it up to him. I... I can't give this money back, I need it for tomorrow, but I can... I can take it as a loan. I can pay him back tomorrow.

Splendid! Absolutely magnificent! This discourse reminds me of a play I once gifted to your kind, a musical. Oh how melodious it was, filled with drama, conflict, raw human emotion! A lowly working man, his family on the brink of starvation, hath decided to thief a loaf of bread. In an act of desperation, he took a brick from the road and...

Ritsuko's eyes were glazed over, peering inattentively ahead as she discussed human morality with her patron, protector, and personal curse. Once, for the first time that day, she could relax as she plucked echoing notes to reverberate through the empty lot of the gas station. It was desolate and empty, somewhat foreboding, but she could be content there. Free of cares and responsibilities, the shackles of her past faded away under the music... leaving only now.

Time, time became the most allotted luxury that man could ever hope to grasp. Not just any man or woman, but people who were aware of the supernatural events that occur once the clock strikes noon. Traveling around these parts with no sort of defense against those that will prey on your mind will be a total pain for those who want to move forward with their lives. It only mad Gabe feel a little sorry for them, which made him wonder about what his friend said about her dream from before, was she right? “Hm, who really knows? I can’t go around and pretend that I’m right all the time. Maybe every idea is right and wrong for reasons of their own?” That was one way to be openminded, and at least Gabe wasn’t ragging on the dream anymore. Speaking of dreams, it seemed as if the dream of a future performer was sharpening their skills. “I wonder if that’s red?” Following the sound of the music, he wondered if she finally got over her shyness and decided to play in an open field.

However, he didn’t see Red. He saw a much older girl, or maybe a more mature looking one. Someone of the punk rock scene perhaps? Either way, Gabe took out a coin and tossed it on top of the guitar case after flipping it upwards, showing off a small trick and his skilled hand. “Great! I like the song. Did you write it?”

No, I remember. Heh, it was always one of my favorites.

How elated I am to hear thou concur! 'Twas one of my prouder gifts of inspiration, should memory serve it was envisioned as an edifice to the vindication of my dearest sister, hmm hmm... ever the braggart were she.

I enjoy it no matter where it comes from, it's a very thought-provoking play. Honestly... I feel as if I could be living it by how things have gone in my life.

Musical, my child, not a play. This gift of mine were one of radiant passion, not intellectual conclusions. Dearest Calliope groweth green with envy by the thought of it, no shame of mine.

Soooo... if he can be forgiven in the end, so can I...?

Such discourse lies between you and Kano, my child. It will take thine actions and his own open heart to forgive you in the- ...oh?

....?

Wondrous! So it seems we hast drawn yet another partaker of the melodies our journey doth make! Shouldst we-

No. I'll handle this.

A distracted Ritsuko had not seen the young man approach, the conversation in her head taking precedence over her surroundings. She crinkled her nose in a scowl. It was a chump mistake. She'd been careful up until the point where she started playing her guitar and it got worse from there. Might as well have been wearing a giant Mug Me Please! sandwich board, too. It wasn't like her to be that inattentive, especially in the bad part of town at night, but liquor made everything seem like a good idea if you were bored enough to want it. Regardless, she rarely made the same mistake twice. At least when her own safety was involved.

As the dark-haired man made his approach the musician would stiffen and palm her strings to quiet them. Silence was her friend here, it was easier to be heard screaming for help should something happen. He didn't seem to be outwardly threatening, the warning alarms weren't firing in her brain just quite yet but that could be the alcohol. He was much, much taller than the tiny little delinquent and she didn't feel like taking any chances. It was dark and lonely and she wasn't 100% there. An easy target. She knew what one was and that she fit the picture. The gears in her head began to tick and spin, sifting through everything she knew concerning the topic like a grain elevator, scooping up the bits of knowledge out of her sea of consciousness. Ritz knew about how likely this would turn out badly, which way she needed to run if she did or fight if she must. The paranoid young lady was also suspicious of his friendly attitude. Social engineering, but he was doing it wrong. People were more trusting of others who had asked them for a favor, some sort of moral complexity in the brain triggering a "kinship" sort of thing. Maybe that was why he was so concerning? Or maybe he wanted her to stoop down to pick up the coin, dropping her guard...

The smaller delinquent wouldn't fall for it either way. Even if she hadn't had any feelings of mistrust she didn't want his money. It wasn't what her music was about. That wasn't the only coin toss at play, not by a long shot. He couldn't be trusted for certain, but how dangerous he could be was yet to be seen. Either the man was another stranger come to bother her about her music or someone without her best intentions in mind. Ritz always banked on the latter, it was the safer bet. She would ignore the coin, there were few things that could get her to take her hands off Aoide when backed into a corner. Ritsuko's face lit up from the darkness as she took a deep churn from her coffin nail, heady smoke filing out her nose as she handled her cigarette with only her lips. The small flicker of ember revealed scornful eyes to the unwary gentleman, certainly not a friendly expression.
"What do you want?" Ritz more-or-less demanded in a strong voice. The first rule of not being a victim is don't look like one, second one was travel in groups... but she'd already failed a lot of those already, so she'd rely on one she could actually meet. Don't act like one. Timid little wallflowers didn't ever fight back, so the short young lady would sound like the type that would hurt you if you fucked with her. Coincidentally she already happened to be that type, but that was besides the point.

What a way to make this awkward, she sure as hell wasn’t wasting her time with the amount of dislike she had towards Gabriel. “Oh, was it my approach? I apologize…” Gabe would say as he pushed his glasses up. “I’m actually a performer of some sort myself, though it’s more of a recreational hobby nowadays. So when I heard you play, it was nothing more th- “ Gabe was slightly interrupted by the lingering smoke from the cigarette, coughing for a few beats. He disliked smoking, he wasn’t too fond of the cancer stick. When it comes to a drink, a nice glass of bourbon was all he needed.


“Nothing more than admiration for your talent. So, I don’t want anything. I just a random patron that thinks peoples talents should be appreciated.” That’s all it really was, she didn’t necessarily have to give Gabe the death stare or anything.

The taller man's sudden coughing fit set Ritsuko on edge, leading her to attempt to take a backstep only to find her there wasn't anything but wall directly behind. The feisty young woman winced as her heart beat picked up in rhythm. Sudden jerking movements didn't really settle her nerves any, and she hadn't found the way he referred to himself as a performer very endearing. If Ritz had to subtly hint that she was a serial killer that'd be the way she'd do it. Though... it didn't look like he had it in him. Maybe it was the specs or the hacking and wheezing, but he seemed like sort of a wimp. That being said she still wouldn't be one to drop her guard so easily. Someone unimposing was normally smart enough to resort to nasty tricks. She was one of those herself. Lord knew if he had a gun or a taser on him. The creep factor he gave off was real enough. Admiration of your talents... the words sent shivers down her spine. But that was okay. Fear just meant she had to be prepared, as long as she could keep a cool head things would turn out okay.

The smaller woman felt that the best thing in her arsenal at this point was deterrence, problem being that she didn't have a lot of that available. People were deterred by risk factors, things like size, intimidation, numbers, visibility, and location. Well... Ritz was tiny, not incredibly scary (at least not to a man over a head taller than she was), and she was alone at a dark gas station at night. She could feel the panic sweet begin to bead on her forehead and sink into her knit cap. There were still options, always was. She had a weapon drawn already: her guitar. Getting bashed in the kneecap by a six-string wasn't a pleasant experience and it'd buy her time to run away. She could make up an excuse to be somewhere or go back in the gas station to "use the restroom" and have the clerk call the police... yet those could escalate the situation. Those were action plans, her chances of getting hurt would skyrocket as soon as she tried one of them.

Play it safe, just be cool, this doesn't need to be a problem if you don't let it be. Just be smart, be safe... Admiration, huh?

"Tff, are you coming on to me?" spoke the uneasy musician, attempting to hide the unnerve in her voice, "When my boyfriend gets done using the bathroom he might wanna beat your face in if he hears you saying things like that." Her own quick thinking brought her a small sense of calm, bringing control of the situation slowly back into her fingertips. Of course there was no boyfriend, she was the only there other than the skeezy clerk at the counter. But there would be no way he could know that. The bathroom was inside. As long as this worked she'd be fine, she might have to get desperate if it didn't. Ritsuko imagined it would sell, especially for someone like her. With her punk look and multiple piercings most people would assume her "boyfriend" would be some short-tempered biker or crazed drug addict or something, it's been assumed before so why not now? Even if he didn't buy it she'd gain just a little more insight and stall for time. Someone else had to show up eventually, it was a matter of when than if. And then she'd make her exit.

"Ok, how about a trick? It's only fair that if you are willing to play in such an open area to display your talents, i should do something in kind. "Gabe would say as he took out his "Deck of cards" and flashed it at her. " However, if you were to leave, that is also an acceptable outcome. I don't know what i did to upset you, but i am truly sorry for leaving you uncomfortable in such a strange place. " She could leave, and the Gabe would leave in turn. There was nothing wrong with that, Gabe had other important things to attend to if the woman didn't wish to be bothered. Will this affect their next encounter when she decides to be more talkative? Who knew?

The vibes Ritsuko was getting from the guy weren't the best in the world, even if he tried to be friendly enough. Friendly people were normally con men or religious nut jobs. The fact that he hadn't left said enough by itself. Persistent. Persistence usually came with something, a want or a goal. She didn't think her little lie was going to work, he either got wise or just plain didn't give a shit. THAT was frightening. Humans were dangerous because they were unpredictable. A dog would bark and growl and then rip your face off, a human could lie and plot and scheme. And they could take more from you than your life if they wanted to. The punk's concern wrote clean across her face as she bit down hard on the filter between her teeth. There was slim chance that he was an honest fool and not one that she'd take. Longshots never worked and there was a lot at stake here to believe that the World wasn't as shitty as she knew it to be.

Ritz's frown contracted into a snarl for a split-second and she nearly walloped him upside the head when she heard the word "trick". THAT'd explain a lot. The talk about "performing", the sickeningly sweet and polite attitude, a little offering of money to start things off, mentions of "talent". She was caught off-guard by the realization, it was unclear to even herself whether she was more angry or surprised or embarrassed or maybe even a little flattered. The musician's face burned a deep shade of scarlet, widening her eyes as the cigarette fell from her mouth.
"Th-tha-! I-! U-uh-!" she sputtered in attempt to sift through all the emotional information along with the mental shock racing through her mind. A smile turned to her lips, but not a friendly one as she ground her teeth together. Her eyes bespoke of murderous rage as she twitched like a ticking time bomb. Ritsuko slapped a clenched hand to her face and ran it down, her nails leaving temporary red marks across her rosy skin.
"I am not. A goddamn. Hooker!" growled the tiny little woman.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do I look like some- oh don't you dare fuckin' answer that!" she began to rant and fume, gesturing wildly. "I play on the street because I want to, not because I need money and I'm sure as fuckin' shit not hurting bad enough for money to be offering rides to fuckin' lowlifes! Jesus fuckin' Christ! What did you even give m- is that a fucking quarter!? I am worth waaaaaaaay more than a goddamn- ...I don't even know why I'm involving myself with this anymore! Ha! Ha ha!" The agitated young lady's smile had returned at the end of her chastising with no less maliciousness apparent in it. Even though she began to laugh Ritsuko was absolutely livid that anyone would assume all of that! It was the perfect storm! Under some circumstances it might've been genuinely funny, like a comedy of errors, that is if she didn't want to strangle something.
"Aheh, ahaha, ooooooooooh I am so angry at you right now!" she sang in an unfittingly cheerful tone of voice, running both her hands through her hair and allowing her guitar to dangle by its strap. Her skin felt scorching to the touch even through the chill of the night. Ritsuko's lopsided vicious smile remained as her amber eyes bored with an intensity through his lenses. They'd already found the thing she wanted to strangle.

I have no idea what the hell is going on. “ Gabe would say in a concerned tone for the woman. “ Is this come kind of new seizure or medical condition? I’m not trying to be disrespectful miss, but I have no idea how you could be so livid in such a short time span. “It was more like Gabe to react in that manner, the manner of not really seeing the source of where this woman’s negative emotions were coming from. A hooker? Was there such a place where you could buy a hooker for 25 cents? If there was such a place, it would be curious for Gabe to know of the amount of spiraling diseases and sex offenders that come by there.

If anything, Gabe would probably tend to someone that was a bit more high maintenance, a charlatan of her class. ”Oh, was that the problem? If someone was to be generous and give you something in appreciation of hearing your music, you expect more money out of a simple and harmless gesture?

Medical condition. Those were some words. Fairly innocent, but when placed against each other like that they brought some connotations. Mostly it was a note of concern or a word of caution, sometimes tragic. But those words carried weight. To Ritsuko they were abhorrent. She was one with a medical condition as the psychiatrists liked to call it... which was their roundabout way of saying that she was batshit crazy. It drove her up the wall to hear it. It had caused her a lot of grief throughout her life, just by the sheer labels and the stigma those granted. Affected. Delusional. Psychotic. All things used to describe her after the Eternal Divide in foster care, where no one would believe her "tall tales" about a clandestine facility that kept her under lock and key for over a decade or that her guitar had special attributes. She could never work a normal job or get an official ID card because of it, she needed to stay off the books. People used it to look down on her, to put herself beneath them, to become a thing of pity. A thing of pity. Not even a thinking, living, feeling human being! A detestable disease-ridden thing. Ritsuko was beyond livid. Because they were right. She was psychotic, but not in the ways they thought she was. Ritz didn't hear voices or see images, she wasn't insane. She had severe problems keeping her emotions in line. Especially paranoia, anxiety... and intense bouts of anger.

Weakness:

The feisty musician's jaw went slack, lit cherry falling from her mouth to burst against the ground with stray embers. Her mind needed a moment to process things. It didn't take long at all. If before thought impossible, Ritsuko's face filled with even more blood, shining as bright a red as a traffic light in the darkness quite nearly as her teeth grit and countenance contorted into an impressive scowl of fury.
"That's not the-! I'm not fu- rrrrrRRRRRRRRRGH!" growled the tiny little woman, reaching both her shaking hands out as if to catch him by the throat. Any sense of caution she once had boiled away in the steam coming out of her ears. The accusations were too many and too serious for her to keep her cool under. He was disrespectful, acting like a pervy freak and he didn't even listen! Seriously! The one human interaction that didn't take any effort, standing where the fuck you were at and processing words into meaning! Jesus! Ritsuko bit at her lower lip until she was almost certain she would pierce it before curling her trembling claws back into her forehead, breathing heavily.
"I'm not gonna hit'im, I'm not gonna do it! I'm not gonna punch his stupid looking lights out and bounce his teeth off the ground, no I'm not...!" she wheezed to herself with no attempt to hide any of her inner struggles of violence from her "conversation partner". To an extent, anyway. The depraved subconscious of her mind would do far, far worse. They'd need a hazmat unit to clean the blood off the gas station windows.

The guitarist vibrated in turbulent tremors where she stood, quaking in loathing, doing all she could manage not to throw a cheap right. It was all she could stand not to break something. The urge to send her guitar through the shop window was a powerful one. The smoldering, burning anger fed into itself in a twisted loop, spawning thoughts full of hate and vitriol that only served to stir themselves into stronger and more violent thoughts of anger and destruction and outrage. Like a runaway truck speeding down a hill, gaining more and more unstoppable steam until it careened off a guardrail. Her mind filled itself with haunting visions of broken necks and bloody pavement before suddenly it all came to a head. The troubled wretch had had enough. She rotated one of her wrists with an audible crack a number of times before quickly stooping low to snatch up her empty guitar case. Glaring daggers straight through the taller man Ritz would throw her arm out to shove him as she attempted to move past him. For as small as she was the shove was surprisingly strong, as if coming from a woman a good half foot taller than her with a little more mass.
"Get fucked, perv! Have a good fuckin' night!" she would insult, swiftly walking across the lot with her loose guitar case bouncing across her shoulder. Of course she made sure to extend her thumb and middle finger at him as she stormed off. Just as she did that morning, Ritsuko made the "adult" decision, that it was better to walk away than to waste her time and peace of mind.

OOC: