[Week 1, Wednesday: Max]

[purrtagonist]

[I hear the angry tiny is at the park now!!]

[it isn't hard for Akira to find him. and when he does, he approaches with a wave and a slightly slouched posture, one hand clutching a cardboard cup of. . . something?? hint: it's coffee]

Soooooo.

How goes our babysitting gig?

Comments

[concertmaster]

One of you went ahead and got eaten, so... Passable.

[i don't know what you expected]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . he also doesn't know what he expected]

Why is there Noise wandering around, even if they're stuck in "baby mode?" They don't seem to be very integral to this Game.

[concertmaster]

So you guys don't waste time discussing whether you should Erase people who weren't ever going to make it in the first place.

[ah.]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . ah. . .]

That's harsh.

I think the people here are all a little to soft to discuss something like that.

[concertmaster]

Yeah, which is why we let the Noise go ahead and take its pick for the advancement of the Game.

[this is merciful??? obviously???]

It shouldn't happen too much.

[purrtagonist]

[yyyyyikes]

[but man as harsh as that sounds, and as anti-murder as Akira still is, his experiences in his last game at least make him more desensitized to Noise death. it happens. it sucks, but. . .]

I hope not.

[in the interim, he's holding out the cup of coffee that he has been carrying this whole time that I didn't edit into the post after they opened the coffee shop to Max]

Here. We found coffee beans sooner than I thought we would.

[concertmaster]

[oh. Max shrugs a he takes it]

Right, Wildkat. You realize I knew you guys were going to have that this week?

[except for where it was locked for a bit but sh]

[purrtagonist]

I figured that out from the moment you said you weren't allowed to give us spoilers.

[that coffee is fucking delicious, by the way. he's tried his best to recreate Sojiro's famous Leblanc house blend. it isn't perfect, but it's damn close]

[sorry Wildkat for using your coffee without permission]

[concertmaster]

[listen, if wildkat didn't want people to ransack it, its owner should've fucking cameo'd in this game.

As it is, he just shrugs again]

Could've been next week. Or further. They're all fucking spoilers.

[he takes a sip ....

huh.]

Huh.

[purrtagonist]

Huh.

[a grin. he leans his hip against a bench]

What do you think?

[concertmaster]

Honestly, I thought you were full of shit, but this isn't bad.

[tiny jingle of affection up for giving the right gift*

*no i don't care that max isn't a lady let me give boys gift atlus you cowards]

[purrtagonist]

[BOYS LIKE GIFTS JUST AS MUCH AS LADIES DO!!]

I live in the attic of a coffee and curry cafe. If there's one thing I don't joke about, it's coffee.

[concertmaster]

Wow, that definitely doesn't sound sad and pathetic at all.

[but he's sipping]

[purrtagonist]

[he hopes he got you addicted to the blend Max :/]

It's cozy. I have my own space heater and everything.

[that doesn't help]

[concertmaster]

The last place I slept in when I was alive was a tent I shared with someone else and I still feel bad for you.

[sips

hopefully he can still drink shitty instant coffee after this but he likes this one ... a whole lot]

[purrtagonist]

[nope, shitty instant coffee ruined forever]

You shouldn't. I like it there.

[the attic is home!!]

But enough of that. Although I am not here for the sole purpose of asking questions, I do have a couple.

Especially now that Conductor-san has made her appearance.

[concertmaster]

Your Conductor showed up, huh. Neat.

[enjoying his first taste of coffee that will ruin him for everything else, Max does not seen to have much to say on that subject]

So, what do you want.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . interesting]

She said that the Composer is short-staffed. What's that mean, exactly?

[concertmaster]

[there's a quirk of an eyebrow but he shrugs]

Exactly what you think it means. Why else would they borrow Reapers? What else did she tell you, since I'm guessing you want to double-check all your info for some godforsaken reason.

[purrtagonist]

Borrow Reapers, and pluck a Conductor right out from the pool of competitors. They're really reaching.

[but why???]

She said the same things that you said-- the Composer is smug and mysterious, and they talked in circles a lot for some reason.

But I guess, what I don't understand, is why they grabbed Maya to head the Reapers. If they're borrowing Reapers, why not borrow a Conductor, too?

[concertmaster]

Borrowing a Conductor's a lot more complicated. You'd have to be real fucking desperate to involve a foreign Conductor in your affairs, since Conductors come in two flavors: power-hungry jackasses just waiting for their chance to snipe a Composer gig, and idiots devoted to the point of obsession with their own Composer.

[purrtagonist]

Maya is definitely neither of those.

[. . .]

Probably.

[concertmaster]

Eh, she'll fall into something when she gets used to the Conductor position.

[purrtagonist]

[eye roll]

Another thing that struck me as kind of strange was the rules.

They said that you don't answer Reaper-related questions. Why is that?

[he's guessing it's because Max is a "neutral third party," but]

[concertmaster]

You've got a Conductor now. The fuck do you need me for?