Location VULTURE Record Store and Vinyl Cafe

This is an in-universe location thread.
“I promise I’ll be fine. I want to check in with Kosuke, I’m sure he’s a mess after everything that happened. Plus, Vanity is probably the best interview subject for my next project, if he’s up for it.” Hazel beamed over her shoulder at Isaiah, her eyes almost glowing with determination. “Besides! I haven’t gotten a record copy of MYTHOMANE yet. The concert was memorable, but I have to keep up with the scene.”

Hazel tugged the door open, and held it for Isaiah. It was polite, she did it before he could get to it, and– and she really wasn’t feeling as confident as she sounded. But Isaiah didn’t need to know that! And Kosuke even less! So she refused to let it show on her face, refused to let her voice waver. She kept her chin up and her smile bright as she passed inside behind her best friend, and didn’t even flinch when she started to hear the sounds that carried around the record store and coffee shop, or the little flashes of security camera footage. Her headphones were set to white noise today; streaming music, even PREMORTEM or the Vanity Project, always felt a little off going in here. No point, when the music of the day was getting downloaded right into her brain anyway.

Normally, she would’ve gone straight up to Kosuke. Especially after not visiting for months, she would’ve gone up to him and started to get all the gossip right off, like nothing happened, like nothing changed. But it looked like he was already busy with a– customer? Sure, it was getting cold, but Hazel was comfortable in her heavy green sweater and purple turtleneck underneath, tights and jeans and boots. A parka felt like a little much.

Of course, that only triggered the questions part of her brain. Who was he? Why did he sound like he walked out of Brooklyn? Why was he asking after Vanity? But she could wait. She stepped into line behind him, one mittened hand on her backpack strap, the other slipping into her pocket. She didn’t stare. Obviously.

But she could watch the interaction with as much pretend detached curiosity as Vanity himself in an interview. And if she didn’t react, she hoped Isaiah wouldn’t, either. It wasn’t their style: she did the talking and reacting, he did the watching. And she hoped he kept a good eye on Parka so that she could focus on her homework, or pretend to.
 
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Hazel couldn't fool him, as much as she liked to pretend she could. She was nervous, with good reason, the last time either of them had seen her friend Kosuke... well it hadn't ended well. They had discussed it of course, and come to the natural conclusion that Kosuke was a meta, though Hazel had brushed it all off as some sort of mistake or misunderstanding. Vanity using his abilities to enhance the concert, and it had gone a little too far.

Isaiah was less confident in that, but was willing to follow her lead for now, which was pretty typical for them. In all preference, Isaiah wanted to go completely unnoticed until he was needed, which was a decent microcosm for his entire life. Unnoticed unless required. But for Hazel he didn't mind so much, she noticed him plenty, so when it was time to fade into the background and watch over her. He was all too happy to oblige.

"Yeah, sure, but maybe be a little delicate around the incident, huh, Haze? Don't want to scare him off," Isaiah said, smiling back at her, he stepped in tune with her just behind, his hood kept up. People tended to stare at his odd appearance, so he preferred to keep it hidden. He decided not to mention that challenging Kosuke on what had happened may lead to a less than friendly response, something about the whole thing spelled a problem to him. He had a nose for such things, and Hazel had a nose for sticking into such things.

When they entered, Isaiah kept just behind Hazel, even without using his powers he had an uncanny ability to fade into the background where most people would just ignore him. He immediately took notice of the guy with the strange accent and the parka, the fact that he was asking after Vanity was of note. Isaiah elected to observe him as well, just in case, always assuming strangers were a potential threat until proved otherwise. He toyed with a switch-blade in his pocket but stood utterly casually.
 



ONE


Another day almost gone, another lunch rush survived, another list of records he needed to restock. It was late now. Not quite time to close, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was, based on how Kosuke was sitting at the counter; chair against the wall, boots up on the surface, twirling a pen around in his hand as he mumbled the lyrics to the song Jordan had decided to play. He did let his employees pick albums sometimes- he wasn't a total monster. Besides, it was empty now. If they wanted to play something he didn't like, then at least there weren't too many people around to subject to it- or, god forbid, think it was his choice. Not that this was a particularly bad song, or anything, it just wasn't his brand, 's all.

That's what he'd tell Jordan, anyway.

Despite his lazy posture, he had been keeping an eye on the customers that came in and out, in case any of them actually wanted to buy something at this hour. There hadn't been many to watch. It was the quietest part of the day; late enough after people got off work, but early enough to avoid the evening rush to the bar. It mean that Jordan had stepped away from the coffee counter to clean, and it meant that the husk of Kosuke's attention would be undivided, given in full to anyone who bothered to bother him.

Someone came in. Red parka; garish, he'd probably call it, if he wasn't constantly dressed like a Hot Topic Halloween costume of his own store's uniform. It had been pretty cold when he started his shift, even though he started it mid-morning; god knows what it was like now. Kosuke ran cold, hence the ever-present turtlenecks. He'd happily take a jacket like that- if it was black and customised with a couple of flourishes.

He returned the man's smile. A New Yorker, hm? VULTURE was no stranger to outsiders, but they tended to come at busier hours; tourists, students, newcomers, people who heard that this was the place to be if they wanted to be in. This guy didn't seem like that sort of type, though- unless that red parka was pointedly ironic.

"Yeah, it would be." Kosuke said, finally taking his feet off the table, "This is my day job. What can I do for ya?"

A couple more people filed in behind him, one of which he recognised as soon as he saw her; Hazel, that music journalist who interviewed him a few times, there with a friend of hers he wasn't familiar with. She was a good kid. A little odd, maybe, but this was fucking Pittsburgh- it was harder to find someone who wasn't, especially in the music scene. Her interviews were good, though. They gave him enough room to talk, to weave as much of Vanity as he wanted to without feeling like he was taking up too much space. Despite the amount he talked, her readers seemed to agree. She was very good at getting people to talk- which was a great fit for him, as someone who was very good at talking.

But- shit, he felt awful about MYTHOMANE.

He acknowledged her with a smile over the customer's shoulder, but didn't extend it to a greeting. It wasn't polite to imply that customers should cut in line, after all; even if they were trusted regulars.
 
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Coldcall wasn't a neurotic, but he kept track of his surroundings. When the man behind the counter's eyes lingered on the newcomers behind him, he shot a glance backward, a single eye scanning the pair of teenagers who had filed in behind him and were waiting in line to talk to the musician behind the counter. They seemed harmless enough, so he returned his attention to the man he was there to see.

"First, I'd just like to say I like your cafe. Never seen anything quite like it."

Coldcall grinned.

"Now, I have a business proposition. I'm more known for my work in New York City. I've had great success there, and I'm looking to do something here. If you're interested, we should talk."

He produced a small business card with a phone number on it and looked to pass it to Vanity. It wasn't anything too complicated, just the number and his name - Coldcall.
 
Isaiah worried, but he was good at worrying. He worried so Hazel could work. She just smiled at him, and then they fell into step. She felt each individual speaker around her while she waited, feeling the layers and overlap between them, filling her whole perception with “Airborne” by Cut Copy. Definitely not Kosuke’s usual taste. Not a lot of customers; had to be an employee pick, and she was sure Kosuke had opinions about it.

As she came back to herself, she took a deep breath. The interior smelled like coffee and baked goods, hard wood and resin. She forgot how much she loved this place, its familiarity, how it fell just shy of pretentious but had too much of an open, warm atmosphere to quite reach that point. Much like its owner, actually, who struck up a conversation with Parka.

When Kosuke smiled at her, Hazel waved back, her own teeth flashing white between soft lips. She caught the eye of the man in front of her, the one who looked at her with one brown eye. Hazel turned her head away from the conversation, her ears still covered by her headphones, but despite her full head she turned her inner eyes upward. There was a camera right behind the counter, obviously. It gave her a full view of the stranger’s face when he turned back to his conversation with Kosuke, and while she couldn’t see the card, she took notes about the behavior.

Maybe if Kosuke didn’t want his business offer, she could convince him to let her take a look at it.
 

Isaiah didn't like the look of the guy, maybe it was because he was so obviously not from around here, maybe it was the way he had looked back at Hazel, maybe it was something about the way he was offering Kosuke a business proposition. Isaiah decided he'd rather be paranoid about it than be wrong about his, so he stared at the stranger as much as he did Kosuke while hovering protectively around Hazel.
 
"Hey, thanks." Kosuke smiled, "I'm surprised there's not somewhere like this in New York..."

The man was smiling back- grinning, even. Another happy customer, then? He hadn't even asked anything. Most of VULTURE's usual customer base were miserable, bitter, or just flat-out clinically depressed.

A business card was slid across the desk, small and inconspicuous; a perfectly innocent attempt to network, were it not for the name written on the front, and the implications brought on by the man's mention of his prior work. Coldcall. It was a name that carried weight, carried blood, carried fear.

It all started to make sense. He brought up Vanity when he first came in; he didn't seem the obscure garage rock band type, so there was only one reason he could've been seeking out that name. He was wearing that garish red parka; he could be seen in that on the news, albeit with a few accessories, so he clearly wanted Kosuke to put two and two together when given the card. And he was asking after a business proposition, explaining that he wanted to do in Pittsburgh what he had already done back home; an innocent offer to prying ears, if they were unable to read the card on the counter.

Kosuke looked at the man, retaining his calm, customer-service smile.

"Not sure about my schedule, man. Sorry." He said, "Holiday season is coming up, which means it's about to get crazy busy in here. You'd think I'd have more time now that PREMORTEM isn't touring, but there's always something to do."

He reached for the card.

"I'll, uh- I'll give you a call if a gap comes up, yeah? You never know; might be a slow one this year."
 
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"Of course. Thanks for your time."

Coldcall nodded, smiled, and turned. When he did, he saw that the boy in the pair was staring at him intently. Now looking at them head-on, he marked how unusual their appearances were. The girl had bright purple hair and looked like she was zoning out. Her clothing was as loud as her hair. She had honey-colored skin.

The boy was an albino. The contrast between he and the girl could not be starker. He had a hood up over his head, and his hands were tucked into his pockets. He was fidgeting with something. Probably keys. Maybe a weapon, but probably not.

Together, they made for an unforgettable duo.

He grinned, nodded his head backward a little in acknowledgement, and went on his way.
 
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Kosuke’s excuses were… odd. Could’ve been the offer of a music gig, maybe. Maybe for the Vanity Project, or maybe for an interview – though he didn’t look like a reporter. And he definitely wasn’t someone she’d seen on the scene before, although being from New York, that didn’t mean much.

Parka left the desk, and Hazel shifted her focus back to her own eyes. She blinked a few times as he walked past, and pretended not to notice his attention on her and Isaiah as she stepped up to the counter. She beamed at Kosuke as she leaned up, pretending not to remember the sound of his voice from the stage, pretended not to be hyperaware of every speaker lining the walls.

“Hey, Kosuke!” Her voice was cheerful, and she focused on his face, Kosuke’s natural face without the layers of Vanity makeup. Sunglasses for his migraines, not the tastefully thick eyeliner. That helped ground her. “How’ve you been?”
 
He left.

Kosuke stifled a sigh, slipping the card into his jacket and leaning forwards against the counter. He stared at his coffee, rather than the customers, as if judging how many swigs he had left and whether or not it would be enough to last him through the questions Hazel no doubt intended to ask- or didn't intend to ask, but ended up asking anyway, as was often the case. He only paid attention once she spoke to him, offering her a smile that seemed a lot more genuine, a lot more familiar than the one for the stranger before.

"Oh, busy." He shrugged, "Wait- do you mean today, or since the last time we..."

He smiled, looking almost wistful.

"Shit, it's been a while, hasn't it? Never mind me, how have you been, Hazel?"
 
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Isaiah watched the Parka guy walked out, seemingly done with whatever the fuck all that was. Isaiah turned back to look at Kosuke as Hazel greeted him, keeping silent, allowing himself to fade into the background but maintaining his stare. He didn't seem to blink
 
Hazel pretended not to notice Kosuke slip the card into his jacket pocket, and restrained herself from asking about it. Later, or indirectly, or both. Both tended to work. For right now, she had to brace herself as he asked an inevitable question, and she had to maintain the same friendly exterior as she leaned against the counter.

“Busy,” she echoed, with a smile and little shrug. “We’re coming up on finals, so I’m wrapping up a couple of my final projects. I figured since I haven’t gotten a good interview with anyone besides Beck since the- concert.”

The pause would’ve been useful, if it’d been intentional. It hadn’t been intentional. She was trying to play it cool, to not worry Kosuke. Or at least, to not draw his attention to what she had noticed. She kept moving, though, because she needed to keep up appearances.

“But I mean– a formal interview with Vanity for my final project, the same year as MYTHOMANE’s release? I know you’ve probably had a billion interview proposals in the last few months, though, so I understand if you’re not interested.”
 
And the man kept just... staring at him. Kosuke, though clearly wary of his presence, avoided eye contact as much as he could, instead focusing his gaze towards Hazel. After all, she was the one talking to him.

And she paused.

That little gap before she brought up the concert said more than her words ever could. His tone shifted, swiftly and subtly; still as friendly and casual as before, but now a little more gentle, a little more cautious. He put down the coffee cup, quietly setting it aside to give her his full attention before continuing- and the guy at the back? The one who kept staring at him like he wanted to stick a broom handle through his head at the slightest provocation? Kosuke appeared to completely ignore him.

"God, I can imagine." He smiled, "Well- hey, if you need- ah, what did you call it? Focus juice? If you need coffee to help you get through them, just let me know."

He laughed; warm and familiar.

"We can call them review samples."

Hazel's request elicited a small sigh. Billionth was a lowball, really; it seemed that every journalist under the sun wanted his stance on the matter, and for good reason. He had published a formal apology, alongside the rest of the band, but was incredibly reticent to talk about it. Something about combining the persona of Vanity with the seriousness of what took place didn't sit right with him, that's what he had told Beck. Of course, being interviewed as Kosuke was also an option, but most interviewers, used to dealing with him at his most cutting, might portray the change in tone as disingenuous- and Kosuke could never be disingenuous.

Still, this was Hazel. She spoke to Kosuke more than she spoke to Vanity, so she saw the latter for what it truly was; a character, perhaps even a shield. She would be the last person to see Kosuke as disingenuous- or, at least, to portray him as such. Besides, though she had already asked before, she had been respectful enough to keep her distance after the first refusal. He always thought that, when he did break his silence on MYTHOMANE, it would be her who published his response.

But an interview with Vanity...?

"Let's, ah... let's talk about this off-record first, yeah?"

He gestured towards the back, at the staff-only door. Then, he looked up at her companion, meeting his stare with a smile behind his sunglasses.

"Do you wanna stay out here? Or..."
 
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Hazel gave him a look he recognized, one that asked him to back off a little and give them space she could handle this. He didn't like it when she did that, and he didn't like leaving her alone with anyone, let alone someone as wack as Kosuke. The vibes about this man were positively rancid, at least to Isaiah. Still, he wasn't going to intrude when Haze asked him not to, at least, he wouldn't visibly intrude.

"I'll leave you two alone for it, I'll be out here browsing, been looking for some new tapes to complete a few sets," Isaiah kept his voice casual and relaxed his posture and expression like he was friendly, hopefully it just came across that he had a resting angry face.

The two of them stepped away into the staff only area, as soon as they did, Isaiah dropped his fake smile and looked around. There weren't any cameras that he could see, but he could guess there was probably at least one. He steadied his breathing and concentrated, a fuzzy cold feeling like he was being tickled by winter air spread across his body. The record store dropped a degree or two, invisibly an electromagnetic field would spread from Isaiah. Electronics stalled for a second, cameras would go fuzzy and lose feed for just a moment. Long enough for Isaiah to fade from view, the second he did he relaxed the proverbial muscle he was clenching, and the static faded away.

Isaiah concentrated on making himself intangible as well as invisible, it was a strange mental process. He had to think of himself as unseeable and untouchable, something his mind tended to not think about if he didn't concentrate on it. Silently, as his feet were not even touching the floor any more, he walked - more drifted - through the wall and into the staff only room where Kosuke and Hazel had gone to. Neither of them could see or hear him, outside of perhaps a slight chill in the air that seemed out of place. But he stood by silently and watched, as he always did, just in case.
 
Kosuke noticed something was off about Hazel’s request to address Vanity. Which she expected. She had her reasons. Actually, she wanted to speak with both the persona and the person – full interviews, one for class, one for Echo Chamber. But the choice was going to be his; she’d never strongarm him into it. The request to talk off the books was a great sign, though.

“The recording booths?” she half-asked, half-suggested. Mostly suggested, without suggesting. They could go to the cash office, or the employee lounge, but the booths were the best place for it, either as an interview or a casual conversation. Soundproof, and some were far enough from the main store that even Hazel could enjoy some peace and quiet.

And then, when Kosuke implied that it was privacy he wanted, she gave Isaiah her best kicked puppy look to ask without asking to stay out here. For him, she didn’t need the extra push, but they had an audience. Besides, the more over-the-top she seemed, the more likely Isaiah was to get the actual message. She didn’t actually want to do this on her own, after all. She liked Kosuke, but – some things just needed time to heal. It wasn’t his fault. She was going to make sure he knew she didn’t think that.

As she followed Kosuke to the back, she felt the flicker in the cameras, and she knew her message had been received. Kosuke would notice later, she was sure; he was only as clueless as she was, most days. Sometimes even less clueless. For right now, though, she just took reassurance from knowing her best friend was nearby in case anything happened.

Which it wouldn’t.

“Like I said, I know you probably got frontloaded with requests,” she said, filling the space between them. “You’re still free to say ‘no’. I really just wanted to check in, and it felt like the best excuse for it. Sorry if it’s made it weird or anything.”
 
"No need- the break room's just fine. I need somewhere comfortable to sit down, man- and don't those mics fuck with your head, anyway?"

He gestured down the hall to the room at the back- soundproof when the door was closed, as all rooms were. The break room was right at the end of the hallway, next to the cash office. There was a couch there. Distance and comfort- they'd both be happy, wouldn't they? Kosuke took another sip of his coffee- cold, despite the ice having melted a long damn time ago. Maybe he had left it in the path of the fan when he set it down on the desk. Either way, he wasn't complaining.

"No, no, I appreciate that, it's just-" He frowned, "I'm more worried about you, y'know? After what... happened, it just- it made me wonder..."

They stepped through the break room, and he closed the door behind them.

"Is that why you haven't been here in a while?"

He shrugged.

"It would make sense, y'know? If- look, Hazel, if that's what you want to talk about, then I'm happy to talk about it, I just- I don't want an interview. I don't want an article. And- to publish one this far after the event, after I've already made my stance clear, and for a class project, of all things- do you know how that would reflect on you?"

A sigh, too heavy for him to carry.

"I don't want your reputation getting dragged through the mud as well. It's bad enough managing my own."
 
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Hazel smiled at Kosuke’s concerns. She matched his pace while they went back to the break room. It was still in range of a couple of his security cameras, but there wasn’t any distracting activity on them.

“The mics only bug me if they're on,” she corrected anyway, “and even then, they're judt a distraction. I'm glad you remembered though! Thanks.”

And she meant it, even if the gratitude and confidence were covering her nerves. She took a seat in a chair, crossed her legs, and then took her headphones off. Her bangs fell in her face until she tucked them aside with one hand, the other rummaging through a pocket for a scrunchie to pull the whole purple mess up into a ponytail. Kosuke had seen the eye tattoos under her ears before. The whole process really just gave her something to do while he talked, because of all people, Hazel knew he could talk.

She only paused a moment when he mentioned what happened. Noticeable only if he was watching her. Then she fiddled with her headphones for a second to mute them, so she stopped hearing him in stereo.

“You can leave it at ‘I’d rather not,’ y'know.” She kept her smile, and added a little shrug. “My reputation, my problem. It’d be for a class I couldn’t fail if I tried at this point. It was one of the major events of the year, though, and we're in Spotify wrapped season. Everyone wants a recap.”

She let that joke hang in the air for a second, then echoed Kosuke’s sigh and brushed her bangs out of her face again.

“Sorry I took so long. The distance helped. I’m alright, really.” She felt the anxiety rising in her chest, and met it with a grin that couldn't quite get it out of her eyes. “Benefit of being there and being me, though. I know something about the situation that Alan and Abby are PMM don’t.”

She shifted in her chair. The smile faded. For some reason, for once, the lack of cameras back here only fed her nerves.

She pressed on anyway.

“I know about your voice, Kosuke.”
 
"Not as forgetful as I look, am I?" He smiled, shaking his head, "I'll keep that in mind, though- about the on thing. I can't imagine the type of headaches you can get with hearing like that..."

His own light sensitivity was more than enough for him, mundane as it was. Kosuke pushed himself away from the closed door and walked towards a couch at the back of the room- well-worn, with peeling black leather and a few gashes down the armrests. He shrugged at her dismissal of her reputation, smiled at the joke, and then- he stopped.

And, for a moment, it seemed like Hazel's nerves were justified.

He was silent. Completely, inhumanly silent- no voice, no motion, no breathing, despite the rise and fall of his chest. And, not content with just himself, his silence filled the room like a veil of smoke, suffocating any sound that might have surfaced in his second's pause. His eyes were the only part of him which moved. They moved towards Hazel, pinning her to the seat over the sunglasses; trembling black dots, like gun-barrels, aimed directly towards her head.

Kosuke blinked.

The silence broke.

"Right."

He nodded to himself- at first standing back upright from his half-seated position, but then cautiously lowering himself back down onto the couch.

"Right, of course you would. That makes... that makes a lot of sense."

The sunglasses had slipped down his face again. Kosuke pushed them back up with a frown.

"Jesus- is that why it took you so long to come back? All- all that, played through all those speakers, all those mics- fuck, Hazel, how are you even able to look me in the eye?"

He ran a hand through his hair.

"I- I hope I don't need to tell you not to publish this." He said, "I'm... y'know, I'm fine with you knowing as a friend, but as a journalist? You don't know anything, do you understand? I'm human, because that's all I can be. I'm human. I am human."

He shook his head, the prior tension remaining until, at last, he let it out with a sigh.

"Sorry."
 
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The silence was compounded by the way all the noise in her head was gone. It was different types of silence, but so completely noticeable that she would’ve preferred to go through the Mythomane concert all over again just to hear something. Her honey-tone skin hid the way she felt the blood drain from her face – probably, maybe. She didn’t go still the way he did. She fidgeted, brushed the bangs off her face again, rubbed the tattoo under her ear. She squirmed. She squirmed until he relaxed, and then she fidgeted some more, slowly fading it out.

When it was safe, Hazel looked offended in a detached, professional capacity. “Kosuke. What do you take me for? That’s not part of the interview. Cool off, jeez.”

She relaxed in the last phrase, and just like that, she was herself again. Or, well, the self she liked to project. He couldn’t have any way to know her heartbeat was rushing in her ears, way too audible without the background noise of technology around them.

“There’s nothing wrong with being metahuman.” She rubbed the tattoo on one wrist with the other hand. A nervous habit, when she didn’t have a pen to fiddle with. She also pulled the word tight together, almost pointedly tight. “And I would’ve gotten over it if it wasn’t for all the screaming, and that wasn’t your fault. I’ve reviewed the footage a few times. Artistically it would’ve been a really nice touch, and a clean way to come out to the public if you really wanted to. But just because you’re the trigger doesn’t mean you have to blame yourself for the problem. The uh – Valkyrie, I think they’re calling her? She’s the one who decided to be destructive.”

Truth be told, Hazel wasn’t sure about that, but she was an optimist by design. She was the one with high hopes and a faith in everyone to want to be their best, a response to being in a business that was inherently cynical and pessimistic.

She knew more than she’d told Kosuke, though. She didn’t want to bring Avery up right now, but she knew that the anger wasn’t Kosuke’s only sound. But being a good journalist was all about keeping the right level of secrets, either for a surprise later or – well, or for blackmail. She hated that she’d freaked out so much when Kosuke clearly needed a second to recover, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that if it happened again, she’d need some way to defend herself, with or without Isaiah nearby.
 
"There is no fucking interview."

The tension had returned, but not quite as strongly as it presented before. Kosuke wasn't angry. He was more... restless. Agitated. Impatient. He drummed his hand against his leg, watching as the nerves set into her face, into her posture. People didn't like it when he got frustrated. They'd get nervous, even when they had no inaudible reason to. Hazel, convincing as her confidence could be, had always been the anxious type. She had a smile she could turn on like a lightbulb, masking the chaos that swirled beneath it; but, sometimes, there was a delay before she flicked the switch. And, sometimes, he'd noticed, the switch went the other way.

"Don't flatter me with that artistic integrity bullshit. The fact that you think I intended to force anyone to feel- to feel like that is just..."

He shook his head, disappointed. The tension diffused.

"Whatever. It's fine, I- I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just thought we could have a normal conversation, y'know? I'm so visible, all the time, to everyone- I suppose I just need my privacy, is all. I need some time away from the act. I need to be Kosuke, just for a bit. Until things are better."

He sighed.

"You just... caught me at a bad time, I guess. Too soon. I'm sorry. Although..."

A pause.

"I've got something for you a bit later- and, this time, you'll be the first one to publish a piece on it, rather than chasing a tragedy months after the fact."

Though he didn't exactly sound happy, his mood had certainly lifted.

"It's all under wraps at the moment, but I'll give you a call when I'm ready to talk. Just need to finish a couple things first, then I should be good to go."

Of course, the pitch for what was obviously a new music project was far less interesting than an interview about a national tragedy, but if Kosuke knew anything about Hazel, then he knew her preferred subject would find its way into the interview anyway.

The context that surrounded it- that's what would make it worth his time.
 
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