Coffee & Bad attitudes - [Haku and Viden] // [Afternoon]

 Only his first day of work so far, and Haku already felt exausted. Aiko really needed some help with the clinic, but she never would admit it. The cages where a mess, the patients internated had not been fed yet and the waiting list for baths and haircuts was delayed.  The amount of scratches and bites he had to endure was, to say the least, memorable. But he didn't mind it, he was happy he could leave the place with his coinpurse a little more filled; and he loved animals anyway.

He managed to wash his hair before leaving in one of the sinks, and his clothes where still clean since he found a pair of overalls who seemed forgotten in the storeroom to use above them. Now he was free, he wanted to celebrate going somewhere new.
 -"But where...?"- He tought for a brief while until his stomach spoke for him, making an visceral groaning. -"Definitely to eat something"-

Haku heard of a popular cyber coffee located in Vista Square, the center of the city. He was starving, but he knew he couldn't afford much more than a good snack if he wanted to do grocery shopping later. After all, he just got paid. -"Once im there i should thank mom for the package and tell her the good news..."- He tought to himself. -"She wanted me to call home more often, so a videochat might surprise her".

On the way to Cypher Cafe he passed in front of a building that looked like a News Studio, a big skyscrapper with a gigantic TV screen, propaganda and and advertisements appeared intermittently trying to catch the eye to whoever that roamed there. And suddenly the screen changed, a red ticker and a reporter speaking in a notorious alarm tone. -"Psyche terrorists...? Huh? What a shitty name for a music band..."- He said, and kept walking...

When he arrived to Cypher Cafe, he found that the place was crowded with people arranged in a single row waiting to give their orders to a busy cashier. -"Might as well find a chair and wait for a waiter, i dont want to remain stood up". He turned his head and found an electronic ticket booth, went over to look at it, and realized that it was used to order shifts on the top floor computers as they were unoccupied. -"Fancy!". He took the ticket, and absentmindedly went to a booth, unaware that it was already occupied by a boy of almost his same age...

Viden was walking through the streets of Endymion, in "Vista Square". Since he wanted to "explore the city" to know more about it, he started walking aimlessly. The first thing he noticed was the absurd quantity of technology in that area: His city wasn't all that big nor completely modernized, so this was the first time he saw things like gigantic buildings with televisions on them.

While he was walking along the road, something caught his attention. He turned around and got closer to it: The building he was looking at was called "Cipher Cafe". Looking inside, he noticed how there were a lot of computers, and also a lot of people inside. Interested by the "Cafe", and also a little bit hungry, he decided to go in it.

The place was very crowded from the beginning. There was a giant big row in front of a cashier.
"Might as well go to another place..." Viden thought. He then noticed a ticket booth, an electronic one. He got near it, to realize that it was used for ordering stuff on the top floor, since it was occupied...Or at least he thought.

He waited, waited and waited, to then get a ticket and went to one of the booths. He used it, somehow, and then proceeded to go on the top floor, but as he turned around he bumped someone by accident: a tall man, with punk-ish clothes. Viden then said, in a curious tone:

"...Didn't you notice that someone was at the booth already?"

-"Uh... sorry, man. But have you seen the state of this place?"- Said Haku, pointing with his thumb to the back of his head -"You can barely walk by in this crowd. Its 'happy hour', or something?"-
He gave a brief glance at the guy in front of him, he had a notorious black skull drawn in his jacket. The expression of the guy was severe, but Haku wasn't in the mood to tell him to scram, something in the guy made him felt identified; plus he was just too hungry to fight.

-"Do you mind if i stay a bit? Just until the crowd disperses...?"

"...Fair enough, I guess. Sorry."

Viden said, in a neutral tone. When he asked if he could stay, Viden just make a shrug. He would have stayed near him anyway, since the place was crowded, it's not like he could have done anything about it.

"Fine, I don't mind."

Viden said, to then notice that the crowd seemigly continued to get bigger.

"That poor cashier. At least he's earning something..."

-"Jajaja, yeah. I almost feel sorry for him."- Haku sighed with relief, he managed to avoid a conflict. He was kind off anxious having to share the booth with a stranger, but tried not to think about it much. He directed his gaze to the next customer in the line, who spoke to the cashier in a condescending manner -"I hope he chokes with his coffee...- He mummbled to himself.

-"Anyways, i feel i should at least introduce myself"- He extended his hand to offer a greeting -"Im Koha..."- He hesitated for a sec -"Ehm... Scratch that, just call me Haku"-

At the man's answer, Viden chuckled lightly, mostly for his answer, but a bit for his laugh. It was strange. Maybe he was a foreigner? A turist foreigner? He didn't seem like one, to Viden's eyes.
When the man, who introduced himself as Haku, extended his hand to him, Viden did the same.

"I'm Viden Voidstar."

He wanted to add "nice to meet you", but he just met Haku and didn't know a lot about him. After shaking his hand in a way of greeting, he would have asked:

"...So, how long have you been in Endymion?"

-"You noticed, eh? Welp, to be honest, today makes it a week since im here..." - Said haku with a grimace, trying to hide the embarrassment a bit.

- "Im from Argentina, im half Japanese though. I came here to start Vet school in the Seven's Academy..." - Haku then turned silent, his face turned gloomy for a sec. - "There's... nothing for me back in home anymore. I'd rather not talk about it much..." -

Haku shook his head and aimed to change the subject... -"So!" - He made a gesture with his hands - "What about you? If you dont mind me asking..."-

Viden let Haku talk: Viden was not really surprised to learn that he was a foreigner, since his laugh just gave it away, but he was slightly surprised to learn he was half Japanese. He wasn't also that surprised when he didn't want to talk much about it. Viden nodded, understanding that he didn't want to talk about it. When he asked Viden about his "background", he complied.

"Well...I lived until the age of twelve in a city VERY far away from Endymion. When the Eternal Divide happened..."

Viden stopped for a few moments. Haku would have noticed that his expression would have turned pale for those few moments, like he was remembering something very terrible, to then switch back to his neutral, but normal, expression.

"...I moved to another city, and spent five years in an Orphanage. Literally, five years without knowing anything about the...Outside world."

Haku would have noticed that the tone of when Viden said "Outside world" changed slightly, like he was using quotation marks. It was rather strange to call the place he lived in a sort-of "prison", and the rest of the world was the "Outside world".

"And so, at the age of Seventeen, the caretakers of the Orphanage decided to send me to Endymion to attend the Seven Stars Academy, since they thought I needed to learn and that Endymion was a better city. Thanks to an acquaintance of the caretakers, I now live in, and manage, a...Sort of mix between a Bookstore and a Library. And that's...Pretty much it, really."

Viden ended, staying in a relaxed pose, thinking about the people important to him, that now are in a better place.

Haku remained silent while after hearing Viden's story, he couldn't help but feeling moved and somewhat embarrassed in front of him, clearly he had gone through worse than him, and yet, Haku was resilent to tell him more about himself. Haku cleared his throat, and aimed to say:

-"Oh, uhm... Jeez, im sorry man. Your story seems to be much more serious than mi...". - He shook for a sec - "Wait, the 'Eternal Divide'? It wasn't that long ago!" - His face turned white for a brief moment, he remembered hearing about that in the news when he was younger.

-"That term came out in the media at about the same time that those morbid accidents began to occur around the globe, did not they? Shit, I remember that for almost two years the international relations between several countries were closed by the wave of inexplicable crimes. Back home that hit us hard..."- He said with astonishment, in a clumsy attempt to change the subject...

When Haku said that he knew the term "Eternal Divide", Viden reacted in a surprised way, opening his eyes a little more. He let him talk, hearing from him that around the world, morbid accidents began to occur, and that even several relations between countries were closed by those accidents and crimes. When he heard that, Viden panicked internally, but he didn't look panicked. Instead, he just looked at the line that was still going with a seemigly bored look on his face.

"Oh...So this incidents happened all over the world...Interesting..."

Viden said in a really low voice, with a depressed and panicked tone. He was remembering things that he didn't want to remember, that he wanted to forget. But those were things that he couldn't and will never forget. Viden took some deep breaths, to then say in a sad tone, and then look at every person, one by one, in the Cafe.

"...I guess we all suffered from this event, huh."

-"Yeah, its not like i remember much about it, just some political big-shots that were fou..."- Haku was about to add something up, until he saw Viden's face -*"Crap, i fucked it up. The dude's panicking... what the heck is wrong with me!?"* He thought to himself - *"This guy really has some unresolved problems, change the subject, estúpido!"* -

He stood up inside the cabin and raised an arm, in the direction of the first clerk he aimed to look at, and said - "Uhm, pardon miss! Could you please take our order?". - The lady was carrying a mop and a bucket, but she still wore the maid's uniform. The girl turned toward the call and held out a finger as if to say, "Wait a minute, I'll be right back with you".

"Well, it looks like she saw me..." - Haku said, and in an attempt to change Viden's expression he asked - "Ehm... Jeje, well tell me, speaking of the media, do you like music?" While coming here I saw an announcement on the news about a band, i suppose the rock type, they called themselves the "Psyche Terrorist". Jajaja!, what a silly name, dont'cha think? - He ended up saying hastily and with a somewhat nervous smile...

While Haku tried to take an order from a lady, Viden took deep, but quiet, breaths. He needed to calm down, after that "surge" of memories and information. After a while, he completely calmed down, and stopped thinking about past events of his life. He wanted to avoid future panick attacks for the day, so he listened to Haku.

"Yes, I do enjoy music...Anything's fine for me, but I prefer old music, like Jazz.

He said, with a slight change of tone, to then continue.

"Well, that's a band I've never heard about. For obvious reasons. They also have a weird name...I wonder if they have a musical album."

Viden said in a curious tone, to then start looking up on the internet what kind of band it was.