yumemigaoka | second flame 🔥 January catch-all

[Olruggio has been spending more time at the DU... Not necessarily by choice. He's one of the few Savers in the headquarters now and with the Dream Sphere freezing over like it has, it's become more apparent than ever that his services are necessary... Is what he says whenever someone asks why he's been in the building more frequently after having a somewhat normal schedule in December.

Truth be told, he's experiencing something of a creator's block. It's doubly frustrating because he had been making headway right before he was cursed... Cursed with the need for perfection. Maybe he was wrong, maybe he shouldn't be teaching kids to get a good sleep schedule but to instead accept that sometimes perfection was simply out of reach...

(impossible)

So now he's here, stretching his legs by pacing the halls of the DU at random hours of the day, muttering to himself]

Maybe changing the shape of it...? But then it'd create unwanted shadows and that just defeats the whole purpose of the damn thing-

[he's only a little stressed out]

[Bruno hasn't left the DU in like, a week at least. It's a new record. Sure, he both lives and works here, but he does still go outside when it's not...some sort of ice apocalypse out there.

At least the cold has given him an excuse for being around outside of his shifts. Everybody knows Bruno can't take the cold! Why shouldn't he hang around for a few more hours before braving the outdoors to go back to wherever he totally lives! Yeah, he figures, that's definitely what they'll think, if anyone notices at all. Probably they won't!

He watches this guy walk past over a cup of hot tea like three times before he actually says anything.]

Hey, uh...you doing okay there?

[He wouldn't ordinarily approach a stranger, but he does remember meeting this guy in the dream. He was nice there!]

[conversely, Olruggio grew up in the cold climes. He's accustomed to the snow and severe cold. Maybe his affinity for flames stems from the need for warmth in his youth... And while he's noted Bruno's presence around the DU, it's never registered as being too odd. It's not as if Olruggio knows Bruno's wearabouts at all times. Honestly, he just figured they run into each other because they both keep odd schedules]

Wha- Ack!

[Usually, he's nice enough to at least greet people he passes in the halls with a nod. If he didn't notice Bruno and his cup of tea then he was way too lost in thought]

Oh. Uh. [he clears his throat as he recovers from his surprise] Yeah. More or less.

[there's a pause as he finishes collecting himself]

It's a problem of my own making. Apologies, I didn't mean to disturb you.

Oh! Uh, no, you're fine! I was just, uh...

[Doing nothing? Seems like the answer is doing nothing actually!]

Ah... Right...

[awkward...]

Hmm... It's probably not a great idea for me to be pacing around like this. [sigh] Seeing someone pacing the halls like this is probably not the most calming thing on your break, huh?

Oh, I'm off the clock. I'm just putting off going out in the cold.

[Judging by his accent, which has progressed from "atrocious" but still isn't great, Bruno's not from a place where it usually gets like this!]

... That's good to hear. I kept spotting you at odd times and starting to wonder if I should be concerned.

[he loosens up a little bit]

Some people enjoy the cold weather! But if you're not used to it, well... There's no helping it. On the plus side, there's no better excuse to have your fill of hot chocolate or mulled wine.

Blegh. Japanese hot chocolate's fake.

[They got mulled wine around here, though...?]

[that gets him to laugh]

Well, what can you expect? Chocolate is a foreign item here in Japan. Frankly, I prefer the sake myself... But I can't admit that when there are minors here, so the next go-to has to be the desserts. Have you seen some of their parfaits?

[unfortunately for Bruno, the wine is stuff that Olruggio makes for himself]

[rip]

Ooooh, yeah! They're kinda pricey, though.

[Bruno actually has money, now, and a good place to stay. He's doing the best he has in a while! Still, you don't just lose those instincts; what if he buys something frivolous, and then it all goes away and he's left with less savings than he might have had?]

So they are, but I have to admit... The balance of freshness to sweetness to creaminess really is something else. [he laughs] Though I have to be careful to not bring it up in any messages sent back home.

I don't know which one is worse... Being lectured about eating too many sweets or getting told off for enjoying them without any way to send some back home!

[he kind of wants to ask about the chocolate comment. Maybe see if he could get a recipe to try out at home! Then again, he should probably not be spending his money on desserts...]

Heh. Yeah...

[God. What would everyone back home say, if they knew he was here? If he could talk to them about what he's been doing? Bruno hasn't talked openly with anyone for years, not without hiding something or other. It's a lonely thing to think about.]

[he stops when he hears Bruno trailing off]

... Ah. Sorry, I didn't realize.

[Olruggio rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. He doesn't know the specifics, but it's easy to see that mentioning family might be a sore topic for the other man. Whether it's estrangement or something worse, it's not Olruggio's business to pry into]

If you don't me asking, where are you from? I would say 'somewhere warm, maybe?' but there are people who love the cold because they're home is always hot so... You never know.

Venezuela.

[A lie, but the one he's kept to this entire time. It's close enough to home, and he knows enough about it, that he can fudge details. It helps that he's never met anyone here who's even been to South America. What would they know?]

So pretty far away.

[there's a pause]

That is pretty far away... And I doubt very many places have chocolates like they do in Venezuela. Imported groceries tend to be massively overpriced.

[the pained complaints of a foodie...]

Ugh, yeah, I don't even look at those.

[complaints of a perpetually-broke guy....]

Whatever, it's fine. Got plenty of good food here too.

Now that part I absolutely agree with! The quality at the prices they charge feels criminal sometimes. Definitely not something you can easily find elsewhere.

[maybe he'll get himself some ramen tonight...]

Eh, yeah, I guess that's true. I'd never even had most of this stuff before I got here! It was, uh, kinda the middle of nowhere, where I used to live. Not a ton of foreign restaurants, or.....restaurants...........

Small town, huh? Bet the city was something of a culture shock. [with a sigh, he adds;] Both the glamourous side and the not-so-glamourous parts.

Heh. Yeah...

[It could've been worse, after the way they grew up, but they still never spent all that much time in cities.]

Well, you know, it's - it's a good place to go, if you wanna start fresh. Lots of, uh, other ex-pats. ["Ex-pats"? Is he one of those now? Bruno shelves that away to think about Never.]

Hmmm... Can't say I ever thought of it like that.

[which is about when it strikes Olly that they've been talking for a while. Not that he disliked it, just that-]

Gah-! So sorry! Look at me chatting your ear off. [please, he doesn't want to face the looming deadlines] I didn't mean to keep you.

Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem, I'll just...

[Go somewhere else so this guy doesn't see him again later, still in the building!]

second flame 🔥 January catch-all

Early to Mid January; At the DU

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