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[manuscripture]

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[ Somewhere around town-- at the bookstore, the Tomoe-Kaname Bakery, attached to posts and notice boards --you find a small white notecard. On it is printed a little message and some numbers in ornate lettering. If you look closely, it reads the following: ]

Rohan Kishibe, Mangaka & Visual Artist
Owner Pro Tempore of Ebony Threads Tailor Shop
Highly Experienced.
Commissions & Advertising For Hire
Pay Negotiable.
Contact At: 512.66.730.91 for inquiries
Castle Lüvchaque - Directly North of Bavan per appointment ONLY.

(( feel free to use this as an action-based prompt too. any random interactions will MOST LIKELY take place in the form of walk-ins at the tailor shop unless it's pre-planned. just drop a starter in here! ))

Comments

[manuscripture]

[ Rohan left his now empty glass of people juice in the back to maybe be refilled later if he can be assed to do it. There is too much to do, like carefully watch his prospective employee and jot something down in the book as he moves.

Of course he points out the gargoyle over the desk. Of course. ]

Gargoyles are my favorite. [ He tells him with a nod, eyes only flicking up to look at the painting in question. He does love that one. He loves it so much he hid it in the house for like a month until he could move it. ] I know several. All of them have distinct looks about them. Reptilian diversity holds true from monster to monster. They all have a knack for being the kind you want to stay on the good side of. They are also incredibly convenient heat sources.

[ Rohan makes a little gesture at the painting. ] That one in the painting is my roommate.

Lovely, isn't it?

[ The painting. It being the painting. ] It's one of my best works works in Ryslif to-date. [ Oh. ] It isn't for sale either.

[karappo]

[No worries there for he has no money. Probably like...just a handful of silver left for food and that's about all. The money Mahiru gave him out of pity did not go far, and it's hard to panhandle when you've got antennae and claws.

He can't help but be surprised at first by Rohan's admission, but somehow it fits. He could see him being friends with a Gargoyle. Sleek, terrifying grace matched by bulky, powerful regality. Or so Karamatsu's own mind says.]

It is lovely.

[Karamatsu agrees, letting his claws hang at his sides as he starts moving again, letting his gaze pass over the rest of the paintings hanging elsewhere. Between creating the designs and actually making them, Karamatsu still holds a lot of admiration for what Rohan has shown him he can do. Fearful admiration, yes, but admiration nonetheless.]

They are all lovely, actually. I have honestly never seen paintings so vibrant as these.

[Is he sucking up a little? Maybe a little, tiiny bit, but it's also really the truth.]

[manuscripture]

[ The naga's lips draw themselves up into a satisfied little smirk. ]

I am a mangaka by trade at home. Ryslig lacks nearly everything I need to continue that line of work regularly. I took up painting and had to decide on which mediums were going to allow me the highest marks of achievement. I never enjoyed painting until I had nothing but painting.

You have to look at all of the things that have been taken away and put your eyes on the things you have now. I never would have gotten anywhere if I sat on the beach pissed at myself for ending up here, or if I had dealt with sleeping in hotels and getting kicked out because I had no money. [ He pauses and then cocks his head to the right and DOWN instead of pointing. ] When I lost these I needed to figure out how to move again.

Painting ended up being a skill I adapted to faster than learning how to walk without legs. I couldn't complain about not having anything from home because it became unimportant overnight. [ His jaw shifts in on itself. ] The vibrancy in these paintings portrays the lack of it in the eye of the grim, mundane populous.

[ If Karamatsu is looking at the end of that sentence, he will see that Rohan has turned the book around and splayed across the page is the bug-boy himself. Through his own observations, he put the wonder and admiration in his eyes on paper. The expression on the drawn Karamatsu's face is precisely that, but there IS the detection of something rather unnerved. The slightest twinge in the lines around his eyes or a pinch of tension seen in his shoulders. Nonetheless, he is portrayed looking around the room and up at invisible nothings on the 'walls' of the page. ]

It doesn't take long or much to get the point across.

[karappo]

[The last thing Karamatsu should be gleaning from Rohan's words is inspiration, but guess what's happening right now. Maybe it's more like a good, hard dose of reality. Because, really? That sounds like...exactly what he's been doing with Osomatsu. Sulking in the park while trying to make it work with nothing, slowly starving in a world nothing like their own. He's lucky he even has legs still, on top of everything else that's happened to him lately. It's no wonder his expression is full of such admiration, because it's even worse now than it was before.

Before he can get the chance to say anything else, though, he's stopped dead in his tracks- thoughts and all- when Rohan turns the book around. He just...completely goes still, his eyes widening as he catches his own visage on that page. He...had no idea that he was doing anything like that, and when he sees it he is completely stunned.

Never mind the fact that he low key looks like he's super distressed. Rohan was paying enough attention to him that he was able to capture his expression to the letter, even with the strange antennae and pointed ears. It's like looking back into a mirror that's been distorted by the strokes of someone's hand through drawing.

He wanders a few paces closer to Rohan, never taking his eyes off the drawing. He heard what he'd said, but for the moment his mind seems to be somewhere else entirely.]

You...drew me?

[manuscripture]

[ It's nice to see that he still has the ability to McFreakin' Wow somebody when he shows them a sketch. Some things don't atrophy. This one never will. ]

I did. [ One eyebrow rises. ] From the moment you walked through the door, I was watching what you were doing. This entire time that you have been in this shop, I have kept a close eye on your mannerisms, how you carry yourself, and even your speech patterns.

[ that isn't even a naga thing, that's literally just a Rohan Is Fucking Weird thing. ]

You hardly noticed when I circled you twice in the back. [ He says with the pen making a circle in the air. Two circles. ] You tried to fluff yourself up to be hot shit until I called you on it RIGHT when we first started speaking. You hesitated when I asked you the questions about customer specifics... When I tapped your head? When I brought my lunch back there too close to your face?

I read it and put it on this paper. [ Oh one more thing-- ] Watch your step and don't break your ankles tripping over me again. Workman's comp isn't a thing here.

[ INDIGNANT TAIL THUMP........ ]

The point is that this is why I do what I do. So I can make this right here in the book as real as the source I am drawing it from. That is what you will be doing here. You will be taking orders and seeing customers. You will design according to what you see and what they need. You need every subtlety you can grab. It will take practice and that is why I am the owner-- so you can learn and function eventually without anything but my approval for pieces.

[ Marking his signature at the bottom, Rohan carefully pulls the page out and hands it over. ]

Your schedule is effective come the fifteenth of this month and will be solidified weekly as OF the sixteenth. You will show up that day at ten in the morning so I can really see what you can do. I will make sure to have a variety of projects to keep you busy throughout the day.

Think of your time until then as your moment to reflect and figure out what you are going to bring to the table should you want to work here for a significant amount of time, Karamatsu Matsuno.

[ A wiggle of the page-- ]

Any questions?

[karappo]

[Rohan sure McFreakin' Wowed Karamatsu, that's for sure. Honestly, if he'd allowed for more time for him to dwell on it, he might have started getting misty right there. Hell, he probably is, but Rohan keeps talking and there's really no time for him to waste crying, is there?

He is completely still and completely silent the entire time Rohan speaks, staring like a deer in headlights. It's quite honestly all he can manage at the moment, seeing how there's a lump so large in his throat now that he doesn't think he can remember how to swallow. His heart is racing and he's feeling a bit ill, but...

Somehow, for some reason, he's also a little excited, too. Maybe he's truly lost his mind, here in Ryslig. Maybe he's just thrilled to have someone- anyone at all- see potential in him. But to get it from someone like Rohan, someone so overwhelmingly talented, is astronomical to Karamatsu.

His claws tremble as he takes the paper, but it's not through being nervous any longer. He'll no doubt have a million questions when he gets back to the park, but for now he's gone numb.

He...has a job.

His voice trembles a bit, too, when he speaks. But only a bit.]

N...no, I...thank you, Kishibe-san. This truly...is an honor.

I will make everything I do worth your time. You will not be disappointed in me.

[manuscripture]

[ Groveling is nice and everything and he does love people acknowledging how great he is-- because, let's face it, He Is. When the paper is taken, Rohan's fingers curl into his palm and he pulls his hand back in the vain gesture of looking at his nails. His nails... And then Karamatsu proper. ]

I hope not. I do not do well with people who waste my time or squander their potential.

[ Blunt and cold, but honest. The book snaps shut and finds itself tucked under his arm. ]

You may go. Let's hope everything I said and did today stuck, yes? [ The sound of ALL THAT TAIL sliding across the floor signals that the naga is taking his leave in the other direction again. ]

Good day, Karamatsu Matsuno.

[ And off he goes back behind the curtain again. Back and back until the very last stripe on his tail has disappeared. ]