Case 2: Getting to Know P / Closed-ish to Philip and Shotaro

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro's first night in jail wasn't a good one. Whether he was awake or asleep, all he could think about was the Boss and if only he'd just listened to him. They might still be in prison, or hell, the Boss could be in here with them. But he'd be alive. That would be the most important part of it.

When the announcement woke him up the next morning, he felt like just rolling over again and sleeping in. But his mind went to Philip next door. He didn't know what was going through that kid's head, but he at least wasn't alone.

He pushed himself up out of bed, and took a minute or two to make himself presentable. Appearances were important for a detective on the rise, after all. He still was sore about his missing hat, but he would fix that before too long. And that masquerade thing sounded interesting enough. Or maybe superheroes? The shop would probably have clues for that little mystery. And he had a tip box to check.

He left his cell, and headed next door to Philip's. He leaned against the wall and knocked on his door. "Good morning, Neighbor. Wanna go for a walk with me?"

Comments

[decideformyself]

"How do you think the store will help?" Philip asked in confusion.

[tanteiotaku]

He shrugged. "Just a hunch," he answered. Because where else would the costumes be? And for someone that claims to not know the layout he sure is finding his way around just fine. Details, details.

[decideformyself]

Yeah, that's interesting, Shotaro. In fact...

"Do you know the way to the shop?" Philip inquired.

[tanteiotaku]

He turned and looked to Philip. Oh. Right. "More questions later, I can smell coffee coming from this way." And he headed for the cafeteria.

[decideformyself]

He raised an eyebrow, but turned to follow. This detective was highly intriguing.

Besides, Philip could always use more data points for his research into friendship.

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro would have plenty of those to offer. "Did you want some?" he asked, heading to the line to get what he came here for.

[decideformyself]

Philip pulled his CP card out of his pocket and stared quizzically at it. On the one hand, saving money up was a goal worth trying to meet, but on the other... it was a new experience, and he was supposed to be having those now.

So why not live a little?

"Sure," he replied, following Shotaro.

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro closed his hand around Philip's with the CP card. "This first one's on me." He insisted, and got a pair of coffees.

[decideformyself]

He blinked in surprise. There was no reason he could think of to offer up one's own CP for another person... but all the same, he wasn't going to object. "Very well." He slid his card back into his pocket.

Once coffeeinated, Philip found a table to sit down at. He cautiously took a sip, wincing at the hot liquid. "Should I wait until it has cooled?"

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro leaned back in the chair to enjoy his coffee, legs crossed at the knees. "If you want to." Shotaro started straight into his, because he was more used to it. "You're going black too, huh?"

[decideformyself]

"Black?" Yeah he has no idea that things go in coffee.

[tanteiotaku]

He shrugged. "Some people like to put cream and sugar in it," he told him. Objectively speaking, this is better than what he was used to making for himself. But not by too much. "The hard-boiled detective has n need of it, though."

[decideformyself]

At that, Philip's eyes flew wide open. "Wait here for a second, please."

And then he got up, headed back to the line, and returned with four more cups and varying amounts of cream and sugar. "This warrants further investigation."

[tanteiotaku]

Oh no, what had he set off? He was about to say something, but decided against it, and let him find out for himself. That's how the Boss would have him do it, anyway.

"Take it easy, or you won't be able to sleep tonight," he finally cautioned him.

[decideformyself]

Philip glanced up, sipping from the control cup -- the "black" coffee. "It's still early," he replied simply. "Plus, it's not as though caffeine is the only ingredient. How potent could the stimulant effect be?"

Famous last words.

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro was fairly sure he was going to find out just what kind of effect caffeine was going to have on his new neighbor. He likely didn't have any tolerance for it at all.

He would certainly never have to worry about being bored in prison with Philip around.

[decideformyself]

He nursed his first cup, still unused to the hot temperature, then started in with a bit of sugar and cream in his second. The third had only sugar; the fourth, only cream; and the fifth had ample amounts of both, until the coffee was practically overflowing out of the cup.

"That was incredible," he gushed once he was finished.

[tanteiotaku]

Watching Philip investigate the coffee was a bit surreal. He didn't really want to interrupt him, so he just made his way through his coffee, and slid the cup over for Philip to use for whatever purpose he may devise for it.

"Did you figure out how you like it?"

[decideformyself]

"There needs to be a combination of both cream and sugar," he stated, "but not too much or too little of either. I need to experiment further to find the perfect balance." CP card out of pocket, and he's heading back to the line. Stop him, Shotaro.

[tanteiotaku]

Okay this was going over the line. He scrambled up from his seat. "Wait, wait, wait," he reached out to grab him by the upper arm. "Save phase two for tomorrow morning. You have a budget, remember?"

[decideformyself]

Ah, yes, his budget. Philip frowned. He was practically jittering from all the coffee, and he was eager to try some more. But he should save his money...

"Very well then," he replied, and turned to head out of the cafeteria. He would just have to find something else to research.

[tanteiotaku]

"We have the Warden's mystery, remember?" Sometimes he felt like he was keeping a puppy from sniffing at every tree they passed. "The store..." he brought his arms up, resting an elbow on his other hand and tapping his chin. "I spent most of last night going through that booklet a few more times, including the map. But I think I lost most of that in dreams of beautiful women." Sadly, they hadn't even been in his dreams.

[decideformyself]

"You should look through the manual again, then," Philip suggested simply. "If its contents were so easily driven out of your mind you may want to refresh yourself on them."

Yeah the attempt at hard-boiled BS went right over his head.

[tanteiotaku]

He picked a direction, and headed in it. Fortunately, it was the correct one. "So, we know there's an event coming for the New Year, with masks and costumes included. Obviously a costume party, but what kind?" It was a hypothetical question, but he was curious to see if Philip had any guesses.

[decideformyself]

"A costume party?" Philip rested a hand on his chin. "That sounds interesting in and of itself. Is there more than one kind?"