2025-08-31: Asked and Answered
- Log: Asked and Answered
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Yanagi Nagisa
- Where: Peacock Silk, Shimokiazawa Ward, Tokyo
- OOC Date: August 31, 2025
- IC Date: Wednesday, July 04, 2012 (Afternoon)
- Summary: Ririka has some extra time to spare and happens to be on Tokyo, so she stops by Peacock Silk to ask some questions about their services. There she meets Yanagi who answers her question (and subtly disses her new Navigator skills.) Plus, Plus, Ririka gets some fun new hair clips.
(|======================= Shimokitazawa - Peacock Silk =======================|)
-================================================ Tokyo/Shimokitazawa Ward ====-
Peacock Silk roosts in a restored three-story Taisho building; the front is clad
with shiny copper in verdant green, interrupted by a slim front of brick,
suggesting the building grew together. A little lacuna brings one past Peacock
Silk's windows and into a suddenly-quiet enclosure - surrounded by traditional
burnt-cedar siding, with a flower bed, stone benches, trash and recycling (a
minor miracle in Tokyo) and a vending machine holding truly eccentric drinks,
served cold.
Peacock Silk proper takes up most of the street level of the building. The
entrance is not on the street, but a bit out of the way -- there is a door, now
barred and false, with a tiny placard (too small to be seen from any distance)
stating 'That Way' with a helpful arrow. The shop's entrance has double doors,
guarded by a wrought-iron gate featuring an Art-Nouveau outline of a peacock
with tail in full spread, standing atop a banner reading PEACOCK and SILK to the
left and right.
The store's interior is starkly modern: light wood flooring and white walls,
interrupted with the shop's goods, artisanal tools mounted behind the counter,
and - where a vast space of white makes an irresistible canvas - large pieces of
black-and-white art, rotating periodically. The register and checkout is on your
right as you come in, along with a small display of old-fashioned scales and
assaying tools, doubtless for show. To the entrance's left is a ramped platform
with stout wooden perches, several of different heights. The store's mascot, a
real live peacock, often perches here, peering in judgment on customers and
surveying his domain. (The bird accepts snacks.)
The back of the shop is ruled by a long counter, loosely split into thirds - one
space for glittering jewelry on busts and in glass cases and on twinkling
stands. Another for leather goods, white and black and brown and red; purses and
belts, chokers and bracelets galore. Towards the back, more complete outfits,
with several mannequins bearing signature pieces or unique offerings, often in
dramatic poses. The staff maneuver them now and then; sometimes when a customer
isn't looking.
Towards the far end of the shop, several changing booths have been formed from
interior dividers, holding the basics -- some room to maneuver, somewhere to
hang up clothes, and several mirrors to check yourself. Stepping right outside
of the changing voice is dazzling -- many of the store's modern track lightings
are skewed just so, producing a spotlight effect, like stepping out on stage.
Alone in the world. The perfect visual baptism to celebrate a new individual.
(|============================================================================|)
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka, as has been stated elsewhere, is a girl with a lot on her plate. Frequent trips to Sumaru to meet her sister, but then trips to Tokyo to practice with the Philharmionic for an upcoming concert, not to mention everything she has going on in Iwatodai and Tatsumi...
But rehearsals had been called off today, and Ririka had found herself in Tokyo with some extra time on her hands. And the topic of clothing had been on her mind, so... she'd decided to swing by Peacock Silk to try and get some more information.
She's dressed fairly casually, dark purple skirt, a white blouse with a plain black vest over it, a leather bracelet on her wrist, and a pair of calf-high boots. She is, however, still really tall for a girl her age. (Or for most women in Japan, period.) She doesn't slouch, per se, but... she does try, very slightly, not to call attention to her height sometimes.
She steps inside the store, backpack hanging off of one shoulder as she looks around. Three was a lot going on last time, a lot of people, so she's hoping to take it in a bit more this time, if it's not as busy.
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Compared to before, Peacock Silk is absolutely dead. It is not, however, empty. When Ririka enters the Shimokita shop, she'll hear music playing and someone humming along. It won't be hard to find out who, because there's only one person on the floor today, and it's Yanagi Nagisa, the young woman with the cane.
Today she's seated at her jewelry-crafting station, her long, ashen hair falling in waves down her back and clipped on each side of her head with pewter treble clef pins. Her ruffled sleeveless white blouse is tied at the throat with a cameo brooch, white on pink on silver. It matches her high-waisted wraparound skirt, which is peach pink and draped in silver beads. Her dark eyes are protected by goggles as she works on carving several pieces of sodalite with delicate tools, blue dust falling into a dish beneath her gloved hands (thick white leather--protective, yet also fashionable!). Nearby, a koala-shaped tie pin awaits setting; there are indentations on it for its eyes, nose, and ears.
She doesn't look up at Ririka as she enters. Instead, she's humming along with a peppy, hopeful song playing on a nearby radio:
"Looking through my eyes
"If perhaps you feel I woke up with you, just smile
"Don't you want it, baby?
"Keep it real, let's keep it real~"
While the song enters its chorus, though, Yanagi says, still not looking up, "Welcome back! Are you looking for anything in particular? If you are, you'll have to wait! I'm working on an order right now."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka, predictably, immediately latches her attention onto the music, bobbing her head along with the beat for a moment before the fingers on her hand, hanging by her side, start twitching in time with the melody long.
Oh, that's catchy. Nice chord progression, oh and that voicing gives it a nice color...
Her own hair is brown-black, straight, and down to midback, with a gunmetal gray hairclip in the front to help keep it tidy. And her red eyes stopped scanning the store when she got absorbed in that song.
It takes her a moment to react to Yanagi's voice. "Hmm? Oh! Hi, yes." She regards Yanagi for a moment, and of course she notices... "I love those hair clips!" Of course she zeroed in on the treble clef shape.
"Oh, well, not really? I was more just kind of hoping to learn more? Things were r-really busy last time, so... Mostly I just had questions."
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
"Thank you!" Yanagi chirps, now finally looking up from her project to beam at Ririka and her compliment. Her make-up is lightly applied and peach-pink at the lips, cheeks and eyelids, matching her ensemble. "They're simple compared to my other work, but I am working right now, after all. I have some similar ones made if you want to buy one for yourself!" Ririka has a hairclip in front, so she might well want an upgrade if she likes Yanagi's so much.
But if she doesn't have any specific business, then Yanagi returns to her work. It isn't anything too complicated--she's just cutting the pieces right now and will add in the detail work later to make sure they fit precisely--so she can do that and talk at the same time.
"They were," she replies amiably. "Ask what you like, then!"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's hairclip is rather plain, by comparison, but... she likes the gunmetal gray color because it's a bit different than the standard. Even so... "Th-they're a beautiful shape, though!" she says when Yanagi calls them simple. But at that offer... "Sure! I guess I might end up buying something today after all."
She's still fingertapping along with the music, however. "So... Okay," She closes the distance a little to make talking more comfortable, though she's not getting close enough to disturb Yanagi's work. "So... if I remember right, you guys take... 'cognitive materials'?" she asks in a questioning tone to make sure she got the term right. "And... make new things out of them, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Nothing wrong with gunmetal gray. Pewter is the same color, so while Ririka's hairclip might be a plainer shape, they're matched in terms of hue (or lack thereof).
"You really like music!" Yanagi observes. "I do too. Pernelle is always making up little songs, and I like to hum along with the music I'm listening to." Her work pauses as she gives Ririka a thoughtful look. "Come to think, your offer to him was two original songs, wasn't it?"
The questions start in return, though, and Yanagi looks back down at her work. That's one sodalite chip done... she starts working on carving out the next. "That's right," she confirms. "Any kind of materials you find in, on, or around Shadows will do, unless for some reason they don't."
You never know.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Does Ririka like music? Oh, definitely. "Wellll, I am a musician," she tires to say modestly, "So I'd hope so!" she finishes with a small laugh. And then she nods. "Yep. I love a good excuse to write music, and... well, I've never written one for a Peacock before. I thought it'd be interesting."
Last week she even got to be on Sumaru TV!
She's patient, at least, not minding if Yanagi is a little slow to respond. She knows what it's like to be absorbed in one's creative work. "So... does it matter what you find? Like, if you take something from an ice shadow does the thing you make have to be related to ice in some way? And... I mean, what kinds of things can you make in general? I'm still, uh..."
'I'm still new to this' is what she was about to say, but she course corrects at the last moment.
"... I still haven't used a service like this before."
She's still tapping along with the song, though trying not to draw attention to it. But she's looking at Yanagi curiously as she works.
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
"I think your offer was a very strong contender. Unfortunately, that other girl's offer was even better," Yanagi says, matter-of-fact.
...A broken bracelet of loose beads was better than two original songs from a musician who appeared on TV? There's no accounting for the taste of peacocks, one supposes.
"It doesn't necessarily have to, I suppose. But it is likely. For example, some material you got from a Jack Frost could possibly give you a boost to your luck thanks to his Lucky Punch, but something like that would be rarer compared to a material that gave you a boost to ice magic or helped defend you against it. I personally make accessories like the hair clips I'm wearing, but they can be rings, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, brooches... Things like that. I prefer to work with jewels; you can find some very nice ones in the Tower of Ruin. I think SEES called it Tartarus?"
Yanagi pauses to let Ririka confirm or deny that one. Then she continues, "Meanwhile, Saika does leatherworking, so you could get boots or purses or things like that from her, and Tsumugi sews clothes, so they'll give you fashionable armor. Pernelle encourages the rest of us; the purse from the other day was his creative debut."
The course correction gets a faint giggle. "I should think not. You're new to this, after all," Yanagi says mildly. (Busted.) "Though I suppose it isn't just you. Our store has only been open for about a year or so. Persona Users haven't been nearly so active as they have been recently. I wonder why?" she muses, mostly to herself.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Heh, yeah... I kind of thought I was gonna win, but... Takeba-san won out..." Ririka is reflective, for a moment. The reasoning why it won that Pernelle gave, though... that's kind of sad, isn't it?
Ririka's had some time to reflect on it, and, well... something wtih a strong emotional resonance... those make for powerful songs, too, don't they?
She nods along as Yanagi explains. "That makes sense, I think... Jewels, got it." But she tenses up as Yanagi names SEES--then remembers: Reiya traded info with Yanagi, including SEES' existence. So she relaxes a moment later. "Right."
"I thought the purse was really interesting," Ririka comments. "Though I do like some leather..." she muses quietly. She's got a leather bracelet on her wrist right this very moment, in fact. "If you prefer gems, do the others prefer specific types of materials?"
She winces just a little as she's busted. "It's not that obvious, is it?" she asks in a hushed voice (even though there's nobody else here to hear, seemingly.) But an uptick in Persona USer activity... "Really? Huh." She's got less clue about that than even Yanagi might.
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
They surely do. If Ririka wanted to make a different deal with Pernelle, that's surely possible--but she'll need to come at a time when he's in his bed, or at least strutting around the place. (Where is he now, if those here? Ask not the foul vagrancies of fowl.)
Yanagi pays no mind to Ririka's momentary tensing up. If Reiya hadn't passed on the information trade, that's not really her concern, beyond the fact that it probably means he won't come back to trade more. That's a pity, but not a surprising one; he seemed very serious, and if he were told to keep it a secret... But Ririka doesn't seem more than passingly upset, so that's probably not the case.
"Oh, I'm glad! Pernelle will be happy to hear that too. You should come back and tell him so," Yanagi tells her with a smile. "Saika prefers leather, and Tsumugi likes silk... is what I'd like to say. That would be really on the nose, wouldn't it?" She giggles. "Tsumugi is very flexible, and so are the rest of us, you'll find. Just because we have preferences doesn't mean we can't escape the boundaries of those preferences."
It's not that obvious... is it? Yanagi looks up from her work to give Ririka a smile that might accompany a statement such as 'you sweet summer child.' "It is," she tells her, matter-of-fact.
The music has changed to a new song by now, something soft and sweet with delicate vocals set to beautifully emotional strings. Very pretty, but not so easy to tap one's fingers along to. Still, it's nice for both of them.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Reiya did, in fact, tell the group about the information trade... and there are intentions among SEES and with Hazuki to try and trade with Peacock Silkk for more info, but... Ririka's not here for that, so she won't broach that subject.
"Sure!" she says of coming back later. "This is a really cool store, and I come to Tokyo often enough... hopefully I can catch him around sometime." Ririka laughs a little at the 'on the nose' remark. "Probably, but, I think I get it though. You'd have an easier time asking me to play something on piano or guitr, instead of on something like a flute, but I like more kinds of music than just piano or guitar."
She glances aside a little. "W-well..." Well Yanagi's not wrong, is she?
Ririka can still tap an accent to the song, even if it has to be slower, and she can follow the strings as they switch from one note to the next.
"Hey, this might sound a little out there, but..." Ririka tries to figure out how to say this in a way that sounds coherent. "I think I noticed you noticing me the other day, if that makes sense? I wasn't sure, with everything going on before, but now that we've been talking for a bit..."
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Which is fine. Ririka probably doesn't know very much anyway, nor is she likely to be authorized to share all that much. Yanagi is content to wait to hear back from Reiya or someone else higher up in SEES--especially if Hazuki will be there too. It's exciting to see how she and the others who've just awakened will develop as Persona Users!
"An offering would help," Yanagi adds of Pernelle. "He likes fried potatoes best, particularly tater tots, but he's not a picky eater. Anything will do, as long as you put enough heart into it."
...that's a metaphor, right...?
Yanagi too starts humming along to the next song when Ririka continues to tap along with it--though she cuts herself off with a "Hm?" as Ririka speaks up. "Oh, yes, it does. They call us Navigators; I'm one, and you are too." She says this with absolute certainty. "In exchange for combat ability, we have particularly strong extrasensory abilities attached to our Personas. You won't always be able to sense everything, but you'll be able to sense more and at greater range than other Persona Users. This is especially useful in supernatural places like the Dark Hour--you'll sense Shadows and Demons far before anyone else can begin to notice them."
She smiles. "But you ought to know that already."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"An offering, huh...?" Ririka considers that. "Fried potatoes, got it. I wonder if he'll find a certain kind of material he likes working with..."
She'll hope that's a metaphor.
Ririka does listen, though, as Yanagi answers. She does know most of this... from first-hand experience, even. (She even took her skateboard out in the Dark Hour one night to do a secret rendezvous!) "... Right," she says with a nod, as Yanagi finishes explaining. "I do, I do," she adds hastily. She's new, but she's not so new she doesn't know how her own powers work.
Getting used to them, on the other hand...
"So... you're a Navigator too, huh? Sorry if that's too personal I was just... curious. I haven't met a lot so far, so... it's nice to meet another one."
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Yanagi giggles at Ririka's hasty reassurance. "I'm glad to hear it! The other girl who awoke that night in Tartarus," Fuuka, she means, "seems much more comfortable with her abilities than you." 'Seems,' because it's just her limited impression. It's not like she's seen Fuuka since then. On which note: "How is she doing, by the way? Well, I hope?"
However she answers, Yanagi shakes her head at the apology. "It isn't. If it were, I wouldn't have told you," Yanagi tells her. Her smile turns bittersweet when Ririka says it's nice to meet another one... but perhaps exercising what she just said, she doesn't remark on it.
"So do you have any other questions, or is your curiosity satisfied for now?" she asks instead. "If you want to make a purchase, do let me know. I'll ring you up, Ririka."
That sure is Yanagi jumping straight into yobisute, an incredibly familiar manner of address! (This is normal for her, though. (Wait, but when did Ririka introduce herself? (She didn't. However, Ririka was addressed by name several times that day.)))
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
That question and statement has a lot of information packed into it that takes Ririka a moment to sift through that. "... Were you there that night?" That was not a good night for her, but Ririka doesn't want to dwell on that.
There's a small frown as she contemplates how to respond to that comment. "... is that so?" But about Fuuka. "She took some time to recover, she's doing a lot better now."
She nods as Yanagi says it isn't too personal... and then refuses to respond to that comment. So there's the line, it seems.
"I think I'll have more questions when I've collected some of these cognitive materials, but... I would like to buy one of those treble cleff hair clips, when you have a moment. Oh!" Ririka lights up. "You didn't happen to do a bass clef one too, did you?"
She pauses. She caught that name. She's used to being recognized, she was here, her sister addressed her, and she was on Sumaru TV last week... Not to mention she's been recognized as a musician for a while. "I guess I haven't introduced myself. I'm Ririka Kawase."
That's her trying to be polite, and to oh-so-subtly hint at the proper form of address, if Yanagi doesn't know it.
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Was she there that night?
"Didn't you see me?" Yanagi replies playfully, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. Given that Ririka hadn't awakened yet at that point and was also in the foyer of Tartarus while a pair of Major Arcana Shadows were rampaging, it would be amazing if she saw much of anything past her own feet.
But Fuuka's all recovered now. (At least, that's how Yanagi interprets that reply.) "How wonderful! She awoke magnificently," she replies. Of a bass clef pin: "I do! Do you want one of each?" However Ririka responds, Yanagi will set down her tools and the block of sodalite she's been working on, doff her goggles, pick up the walking stick hanging at the side of her station, and limp from there to the jewelry display case a short ways away. There's a variety of jewelry there, including both treble and bass clef hair pins. Yanagi will wrap up whatever Ririka picks out and bring it to the register another short distance away.
Ririka introduces herself along the way. "I know," Yanagi replies. "Your companions called you Ririka and your sister called herself Ichika Kawase."
For perhaps similar reasons, she doesn't (re-)introduce herself back.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka was also busy having her senses overwhelmed by said Major Arcana Shadows. She glances aside a little. "... Must not've noticed with everything going on," she half-mutters under her breath.
"Yes, please," she says of the bass clef pin. So that'll be one treble and one bass clef in total, then. She looks at the other things on display, but... later. Save those for later.
And Yanagi does, in fact, know her name. "Oh, okay." Well she'll just have to live with being called yobisute. Sigh.
But she tries not to let that derail her too much as she gets her wallet out and from that gets out enough money to pay for the two hair pins.