Once in a Blue Moon (HABIT)

Azul glared at the messages he'd received for what must have been the fifteenth time. The exchange had been so recent, yet..something about it still infuriated him, at it's core. He stood outside of Dell's eyes fixed on his holographs. Part of him had wanted to dox whoever this was-while another part figured that might kill his chances at receiving any answers. Whoever it was knew about his arm...they might be able to find out more. Curiosity was killing the cat here, but a public place at least made him feel a bit better about the situation...as much as he could feel good in a public place, at least. For all he knew, it could be some sniper hiding in the rooftops.

He grimaced, closing his fist and dismissing the holograms. He supposed thinking about it would only make it worse. Meeting people in public places in general was a pain, and for all he knew, it could be the OTHER green guy he knew. Not the goblin. Someone far, far worse...



Fuckin' Grön. Azul'd never liked that guy, and seeing the smug asshole get taken away in handcuffs was satisfying as hell. He was even more smug than Azul was.

And then there was the other issue...

The small, silver locket. It was plain, shaped like a diamond, with a simple, clear, gemstone right in the center of the front half. Unfortunately, Azul had no clue what the contents were. It was sealed by an electronic lock, one he didn't dare try and hack his way into. He was never certain why, but he could never bring himself to. For all he knew, all the answers he could ever want were in there. He took a deep breath.

The Locket was pocketed, and his eyes narrowed as he entered Dale's and took a seat. He wasn't sure what to do, besides wait. How would the guy even know if he was there, anyway?

As Azul entered the dinner, he had intended to go sit and wait for his lunch date like the good, obedient, and GOD fearing child he so clearly was. However, it seemed luck and irony were on his side, as just as he was entering the establishment, someone else was exiting. In his focus Azul would not see the man coming and thus collision was an inevitability. The man stumbled back and nearly lost the mask that was covering his head. The odd rabbit mask spun around as he stumbled back, but with an appropriate amount of cursing and grumble, he was able to spin it back around to face forward.


The odd Rabbit man would chuckle to himself as he sauntered off towards an empty booth and sat down with a dead thud, lounging back and sitting length wise in the booth. He would motion for Azul to sit across from him as he pulled a menu out from behind the napkin dispenser.

Azul nearly swore as he steadied himself. Dammit, couldn't people watch where they were going in this shitty-ass tower? He looked up, and then tilted his head at the odd display the mask wearing man performed. He was just about to curse him out for not looking where he was going, before simply sighing. This was who he was supposed to meeting...? He knew his name at least...despite the boy being fairly certain they had never met before in his life. He'd remember someone so...cartoonishly goofy. Wordlessly, he'd follow HABIT inside. Part of him wanted to have his fingers on the 'Summon' button for his Persona, but he supposed if he didn't start any trouble, there might not be any trouble...hopefully. For all he knew he was about to have a very insightful conversation.

Azul sat opposite HABIT, mulling over what to say. 'This guy...he can't be as oblivious as he seems, can he? He knows who I am..." Maybe it was partially because of the Permanence mission, but...he seemed to know a bit too much. As it had stood, Azul was trying to erase as many mentions of his alias online as he could.

"...So, why did you want to meet in person? And why was it so important I brought the locket?"

WOW FRIEND, YOU ARE TO THE POINT ARENT YOU? HABIT sighed as he looked over the menu with a scrutinous eye. Ya know, for "The Best Restaurant On Junction" this place did not have a wide variety. Ninety percent of the menu was Baseline food... Sure most people out there were baseline but maybe he would like a nice plate of methane patties or something nice and metaphysical with a caprese salad on the side. THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS ORDER A DRINK OR SOMETHING, HERE I THOUGHT WE'D HAVE A NICE MEAL BEFORE WE GOT DOWN TO BUSINESS...TO DEFEAT... THE HUNS.

AFTER ALL, I THOUGHT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WOULD WANT FOR US TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BEFORE WE REALLY GOT INTO THIS. OR WELL, FOR YOU TO GET TO KNOW ME AT THE VERY LEAST. I KNOW ALL I NEED TO ABOUT YOU ALREADY HEH. OH HEY THE SOUP OF THE DAY IS CREAM OF MUSHROOM, THAT SOUNDS GOOD EH? YOU A FAN OF MUSHROOMS AZUL? YOU STRIKE ME AS A ... FUN GUY, HEH HABIT chuckled to himself as their waitress came by with their waters. A nice young blond woman who's hair was up in a bun. She didn't stay to take their orders, simply to drop off two waters and return to her rounds....YA SEE THAT? RUDE.

"I've sold drugs before, yes." Azul stated simply. Never sampled them, though. It seemed like a bad idea in general, and would probably piss Rosada's supplier off. He didn't like thinking about the drug dealing days, though. The gang hit a LONG rough patches when they had to vanish off the internet. "Meal, huh? Well, I'd order something but..." The waitress hadn't even bothered stopping. At least if he interacted with someone else it might make Azul feel more comfortable. He took a breath.

"Fine, let's start more casually then. I'm Azul." He'd play along, at least until he had reason not to. Information was power, and fucking this up would only serve to weaken him. He could handle himself if 'HABIT' suddenly turned violent.

...Hopefully.

"And I've never actually had mushrooms, because I never felt like going on a trip."

...HAHA! RELAX... I WAS TALKING LIKE BABY BELLS OR SHITAKI MAN. THE KIND THAT YOU SAUTE OR STUFF? NOT THE KIND YOU PUT IN YOUR BACK POCKET. THOUGH THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW... I GUESS. HABIT chuckled to himself as he fiddled with this straw, bunching the paper wrapping up at one end before sliding it off onto the table. This kid seems tense... wound up As if he were uncomfortable for some reason. Why on earth would Blue Boy over here need to feel on edge? TELL ME ABOUT IT... THE FOOD HERE IS GREAT BUT THE SERVICE IS TRAAAAASH. DON'T WORRY THOUGH, I'M SURE SHE'LL BE BACK. IT'S HER JOB TO WATCH OUT FOR US AFTER ALL.

HABIT took a sip from his water through his straw, moving quickly to trap a drop in the end of it by sticking his finger of the mouth. He let the drop fall on the coiled up straw paper causing it to expand as it got wetter and absorbed the water.OH I KNOW YOUR NAME TODD. NO NEED TO DO INTRODUCTIONS, THOUGH IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE INTO... HI THERE MY NAME'S HUMANITY'S BAD HABIT, HABIT FOR SHORT. NICE TO MEET YOU EL BLUE, HEH. Before Azul would be able to properly respond to what HABIT had said the waitress would return, notepad in hand. She would quickly and quietly ask if they had settled on an order.

OH, YEAH UH... CAN I GET THE PERFECTLY NORMAL BEAST SANDWICH AND A DIET RC COLA. I KNOW DIET IS ACTUALLY WORSE FOR YOU BUT HEY, I'M ONE OF THEM FREAKS WHO ENJOYS THE WEIRD TASTE OF DIET SODAS. HOW ABOUT YOU BLUE? HABIT's large red eyes would fall on the young man, expecting some sort of response. On what kinda soda he enjoyed, of course.

"Oh. Then I don't know. Never got the chance, I guess, since the guy in charge said anyone who ordered mushrooms on Pizza'd have the life slowly choked out of them. We thought it was a joke, but turns out it was pretty legit." Azul admitted. Normally he hated being so chatty without purpose, but if he wanted to get anywhere... "...with any other wording I'd think you'd mean she has to watch us to take our order, but..." Watch out...that was odd. And something he'd have to keep in mind.

Of course, the Masked Man's next statement almost got him to freeze over the whole place. His eyes narrowed, as he glared at HABIT. "Where'd you get that name from?" HABIT. Humanity's Bad Habits. It seemed pretentious, but with that last statement, Azul wasn't underestimating this guy for shit. He knew way too much-way more than he'd shared with more than one person, and if she was here, one of them'd be dead.

Or they'd be back in the 'on-again' stage. Depended on how the encounter went.

"Just get me a Hot Dog or something." Azul'd ask the waitress. "...Raspberry, I guess. Or Bubblegum, but apparently that isn't easy to find here." Damn, that was good soda. Though he didn't care enough to look for it.

BUBBLEGUM? HEH, IIIIIIIRONY.... HABIT shook his mask and chuckled at it all as he dripped another drop onto the straw wrapper, causing it to unfurl and expand a little more. The waitress nodded and wrote down the order before leaving without a word, her tight hair bun remaining static even with her slightly bouncy walk, leaving HABIT and Azul to their own devices.I PEEPED IT FROM YOUR NAME TAG, WHERE DO YOU THINK I GOT IT FROM?... NO SERIOUSLY I'M INSANELY CURIOUS TO KNOW WERE YOU THINK I GOT IT FROM.

HABIT would wait for Azul to respond before continuing. No doubt Azul would do so in a calm and calculated manner filled with half truths and misdirection to hide information that HABIT already had access to.REGARDLESS OF YOUR PAST, I'M FAR MORE INTERESTED IN YOUR PRESENT... HOW HAVE THINGS BEEN GOING IN THE SEEKER BIZZ? YOU GUYS FIND ANYTHING INTERESTING YET?

"Considerimg there's only one place you COULD have gotten it from, I think we both know." Azul stated, drumming a finger on the table. Perhaps in some token effort to stop himself summoning his Persona and freezing more bystanders. "I'd accuse you of being from Gridd, but nobody there had any clue who I even was, outside a small group. Considering you don't match up with any of them, I think it excludes that. He paused. "Which either means you met up with Rosada, or you're with Long-Nose...so I guess two places." He concluded. Of course, he had no fucking clue, but so far the only one he met-who wasn't on another planet-with access into his mind was the man he'd seen when he first got his powers.

"I wouldn't call it interesting. I guess I helped free some chick on Permanence, but I didn't learn much from it. Oh, I guess I also learned you can have more than one Persona. Still working on that. Maybe you have to be 'a good person' or something." Well. That wasn't everything. After all he was fairly certain he'd seen that black goo somewhere before.

AH YES... PINK IS WHAT YOU REFEREED TO HER AS YES? I'M AFRAID SHE AND I HAVE YET TO BE ACQUAINTED, I'D LIKE TO MEET HER SOME DAY IF YOU DON'T MIND. SHE SEEMS FUN. HABIT nodded to himself as he added another drop to this expanding straw paper. The paper itself began to dissolve in the middle where he had been adding the drops, yet the outer most parts still seemed to be untouched. AS FOR LONG-NOSE, BELIEVE YOU ME I AM THE LAST PERSON HE WOULD WANT TO MAKE NICE WITH HEH. HE AND HIS BOSS ARE NOT THE BIGGEST FANS OF MY WORK, AND FRANKLY I'M NOT THE BIGGEST FAN OF THEIRS. ALL THEIR LITTLE GAME DOES IS KILL PEOPLE.

HABIT shook his mask and reclined slightly as the weitress came back with their drinks. dropping them off wordlessly before returning to her rounds. For HABIT a brown fizzing and popping cola, for Azul a bright, slightly florescent pink one. WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW, BUBBLEGUM... WAIT MULTIPLE PERSONA EH? SO YOU MET THE ERRAND BOY? I JUST GOT OUT OF A MEETING WITH HIM, WHAT ARE THE ODDS. HE AND I GO WAAAAAAY BACK, NOT THAT HE'LL EVER ADMIT TO IT. HIS POWER HAS NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH BEING A GOOD PERSON, HELL, YOU COULD DO IT TO IF YOU TRIED HARD ENOUGH.

"If she's here she'll turn up eventually anyway. Probably with a weapon." Azul mused. "Given everything so far, I guess you'll know if I find her. So we can set up another meeting then if you're that interested." Azul's eyes rested on the table for a moment. If she WAS here, that could be an issue. One he hadn't calculated. Though...getting her on his side could be useful, if annoying. He'd have to consider it for later. For now, he looked back up. "Little game, huh? Then us having Personas, was that all part of the game?" It hadn't seemed like it. After all, Carrot-Nose had mentioned something about 'Avoiding Junction'. Or something along those lines. Hell if he knew, there had been a LOT going on in that moment. "Still, if you don't know her, and you aren't working with him, I have no clue how you could know who I am." As infuriating as it was for him to admit.

Azul stared at the drink for a moment, as his brow climbed. How the hell...? The rational part of him told him not to drink it. It seemed too set up, and only bitches went out to poison. "Errand Boy? I've just been calling him a Boyscout. I don't think I'll be working with him too much if I can help it. Hero Complexes are never good." And as far as Azul was concerned, Lucian had one. People with Hero Complexes didn't do things to help people-they did things they thought made them look good. And Mr. "I'm going to go kill Gaia's core" seemed to fit that nicely. "So you know him, eh?" Azul had to wonder about that, honestly. This guy seemed to know a LOT about him. Maybe it was the same for Lucian. "Try hard enough, huh? Got any hints about what I should try doing?" Though he figured he wouldn't get an answer.

IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A GAME HABIT's relaxed tone took a slightly harsher edge as he lifted his glass and watched as the bubbles floated past the ice and breached the top. Slowly, along the sides of the glass droplets of water formed, clinging to it and growing larger. The droplets followed the glass as HABIT moved it side to side, holding on but inevitably sliding down ether onto his hand, or off the glass all together, falling to the cold table below with a small splash. TRUTH BE TOLD, THE FACT THAT THIS IS ALL ONE BIG GAME IS THE ENTIRE POINT. JUST ONE OVERLY COMPLICATED GAME OF CHESS PLAYED BY A FUCK UP AND HIS MISTAKE. RIGHT NOW YOU SEEKERS ARE ALL OBLIVIOUS TO THE TRUTH OF THE SITUATION AND HOW YOU'RE GOING TO BE USED. IRONIC... IT'S SO FUCKING IRONIC IT HURTS. HABIT turned his attention from the glass and instead looked to Azul. However, the deep crimson red of his plastic eyes seeming to look around the young persona user, as opposed to directly at him. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BECAUSE I'M ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE ON THIS DAMN TOWER THAT PAYS ATTENTION, WHO SEES WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING ON.

HABIT took a quick sip from his drink and sat it down on the table, forming a ring of fallen condensation at it's base. While more droplets formed on the glasses surface, more and more fell along its side.HERO COMPLEX? YEAH SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT. I DON'T BLAME HIM THOUGH, HE DIDN'T GET A CHOICE IN THE MATTER. BUT REALLY THAT'S WHY WERE HERE TODAY AZUL.

Azul didn't push the game question further. Something in the masked Man's tone mad him think it was a horrible idea, and he'd figured by this point even if he asked he wouldn't get a straight answer, or at least one that he couldn't make heads or tails of yet. Which was fine. He'd take what he could get in this place, and if that was vague answers, then that was fine...for now. If this was just a game of chess though, who were the players? A Fuck Up and his Mistake, but who were THEY? It'd be something to think about. Would that make the seeker pawns, or were they pieces of more...importance? Maybe the Mutants were the pawns. "You pay attention, huh?" Was...it really that obvious if someone just looked? that was kind of frightening, in it's own way, something that showed on Azul's face for only a moment. "...I get

"Well, if that's how it is, and you can't trust him, I guess I get it." He sure as hell didn't trust Lucian on his own. He went off on his own with Alice, the mutt, and What's-His-Face  to deal with the problem, and if he kept doing that he'd get himself-and his little team-killed. Without another word, Azul simply set the Locket down on the table, staring into the drink set out for him. '...Why me, though...?' He thought to himself.

i know what you are doing
it won't work
With one fluid motion HABIT reached under the table and tore something free that had been taped to its's underside. He raised the object up next to his head and wiggled it for Azul to see, a simple ball peen hammer. Not waiting for Azul to react, HABIT tossed the tool onto the table with a loud clank that drew the attention of everyone in the bar. DESTROY IT...
EST 56.549 94.248 18.850 69.115 12.566 94.248 62.832 50.265 125.663 100.531 100.531 69.115 6.283 106.81 113.097 56.54 75.398 75.398 119.381 75.398 106.814 106.814 56.549 43.982 75.398 106.814 56.549 12.566 87.964 69.115 69.115 75.398 56.549 106.814 56.549 12.566 13.097 56.549 131.947 125.664 6.283 56.549 62.83 69.115 56.549 50.265 69.115 106.814 56.54 50.265 18.849 113.097 113.097 119.380 69.115 144.513 125.664 106.814 113.097 18.850 56.548 100.531 18.850 94.248 56.549 100.531 69.115 113.097 50.265 18.849 12.566 69.115 113.097 75.398 119.381 106.814 113.097 18.849

Azul stared at the man for a moment, before swallowing hard. Well, that was...something he probably should have seen coming. It was still, nontheless, a hard decision. If he wanted to get any further, he'd probably have to do as HABIT asked. He picked up the hammer, inspecting it for a moment, or at least pretending to, before shifting to his mechanical arm in an attempt to ignore the...weight, it carried. He didn't care if people were staring, he had other things to be concerned about. Although...even if the locket contained anything substantial, what did it matter now, right? He was never going back, any leads it produced were pointless.

If he did this, it'd essentially be the same as giving up on whatever 'past' his family might have had before he was just Azul. But still...it was dead in almost every way but one. The one sitting on the table in front of him.

Still, he found himself hesitating, before finally speaking. "H-hah. I would've expected something more...dramatic...than a hammer for this." False bravado, but still, with steel fingers curling around the hammer, he rose it up, and brought it down right to the locket, though couldn't bring himself to look at it, besides making sure his aim had been right. It was destroyed, alright. At least he could swing a hammer well. Where there'd normally be a picture inside, had simply been a glass screen, which had shattered. Any insight it might have provided was gone. "...Satisfied?