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[Once he unlocks the door, she's shimmy on inside, keeping her hands on her knees.]

I promise we'll be able to walk plenty once we get there. We're going to be going a little out of the way to get to the spot...

Alright. You'll have to hold my hand so I don't get lost.

[ He's glad he's got his p3dancing shoes on for the occasion, if there's going to be a lot of walking. His glances get split between the road, his map on his phone in the cup holder, and Angela's face in the rear view mirror as he drives, as he tries to think of what's near Stardust that's still out of the way. Tisse's huge; it's impossible to guess. ]

[A much sharper laugh.]

You'll get your way, don't worry.

[She watches the road as they drive, occasionally glancing over at Minato. The hum of the engine and the road quickly passing underneath them creates something hypnotic and therapeutic. If he could just take her away from all of this in this car...]

...Would you ever get a tattoo, Minato?

Am I driving us to a tattoo parlor...?

[ A glance towards her, then the stores blurring by on the streets, as if one such building will pop right into view the next turn he makes. Minako got tattoos last month as a birthday gift to herself, but he doesn't have anything quite as memorable as she does that he would affix permanently to his skin. There was some joking around with Souji, too, about it, but those were just jokes. ... ]

I guess it's not impossible that I get one. I never really look at my hands or ankle or anything, so I'd probably just forget they're there.

Technically, you're driving us to Stardust.

[A light tap on on his shoulders. "I'm just messing around."]

They're not for everyone, I suppose. I never would have considered it until recently.

[And she leans in towards him a bit, knowing full well he can't give her his full attention.]

Do you think I'd look good with tattoos?

[ Are there any tattoo parlors near Stardust, though? For how many months Minato's lived in the city, choosing to walk and slip on ice instead of driving and veering wildly off into storefronts, his scope of familiarity is still mostly restaurants.

His attention keeps being grabbed every time she taps his shoulder or asks him a question, and this is double why he doesn't drive during the winter. ]

Depends on where, what design. How much of you is covered. I think tattoos are cool. It's like art.

[ Have some objective answers. ]

What's Minato Arisato's idea of a good tattoo?

Pick one for me.

Right now.

When I was really little, I thought Darth Maul was really cool.

[ ... ]

Don't get that one. Give me time to think.

[SNERK]

You dork.

Something that would look good on me, in a place that would look good...

Mm... A clavicle tattoo, maybe. Or the upper cervical spine. Thin black lines. Words, or some sort of design.

I dunno. Something that means something to you, not to me.

Clavicle might be a good place...

[She sinks into the seat a bit, pondering.]

I was just interested in your...aethsetics.

[Taps her knuckle lightly against the car window.]

Stardust is coming up.

My aesthetics is sith lords. Black feathers on shoulder blades like wings. ...I used to spend entire breaks watching movies.

[ aka he doesn't think she should trust his opinions on what makes a good tattoo, because there's a difference in what looks cool, and what one would carry with them forever.

Stardust is super busy as always, so he has to circle around to find parking. Somewhere under a tree, in case it rains, or they get back too late and he needs a landmark to find his car in the dark. ]

Sith Lords, got it.

[A whimsical smile as she opens the door and hops out as soon as the car is set into park, grinning at him as she slams it shut.]

Ready for adventure?

With two light sabers instead of a double blade.

[ Dual wielding swords! So much cooler. He steps out and goes around the other side of the car, arm extended. ]

I'm ready. Where are you taking me?

[Wasn't there a robot character that had four of them? She bets he'd like that one...]

To a place that is very special to me. [And she's off! Angela holds out her left hand behind her as she walks ahead of him, wiggling her fingers. Come get me.]

It's in kind of a crummy neighborhood, so stay close.

[ Yes and he thinks it'd be so cool to have extra arms like that, he could multitask so much. He might also fare better in crummy neighborhoods with four arms because the last time he took shortcuts through shady alleyways, he sort of got sucker-punched in the gut.

Angela will take care of him, he's sure, so he catches her hand before she can get too far, stepping in close enough that they bump shoulders with their steps out of sync. ]

[Angela leads him along, occasionally humming quietly or making smalltalk as the area they're in slowly gets more and more dilapidated. From higher end restaurants and karaoke bars to shuttered windows and empty buildings under construction.

Eventually she stops at a staircase that leads down to a large wooden door covered in that yellow "keep out" tape.]

Here we are, my special place.

[She looks back at Minato and grins.]

Ready to break the law?

Turning me to the dark side, I see.

[ Is he ready for another black mark upon his record? Probably not, but the consolation that Minato takes is that Angela won't leave behind finger prints and he can remain very quiet if need be. ]

Sucks that we have to sneak in, but. Lead the way.

Even if we got caught, no one would care.

We're just two young adults looking for some privacy, nothing wrong with that.

[She pinches the lock of the door with two fingers, looking back at Minato.]

Young love.

[snap]

There we go. [Miraculously, the door now opens!]

I won't mind if you don't feel comfortable trespassing, though.

[ She really is good at breaking things, like she said before. Trespassing is... The building looks run down and unoccupied, and like Angela says, there's a ready excuse that might slide. There's no moral conflict, but Minato still hesitates. ]

This is one of your favorite places? What I meant was, it sucks you can't visit it freely, however much you want.

Not one of my favorite places. A special place. [She enters into the darkness of the abandoned building, waiting for him to follow.]

I thought it might be fun to come here one more time before it gets turned into something else.

[. . .]

With you.

[Being on the lower level and having the windows shuttered means...despite the time of day, it's near pitch dark inside the building, and Angela feels around for a power switch.]

Give me a moment, I'm pretty urge the light was around here...

Is it getting torn down? Hey...

[ Hand holding might've been more important here than on the streets, and Minato reaches blindly towards the sound of Angela's voice while he waits for his vision to adjust. There was that sign up front, and if it's to be abandoned, the electricity would've been shut off, depending on how long it's been since Angela was last here, he thinks. ]

Someone bought it a few months ago so it had to close down, I think they're going to gut it and turn it into something el––

[ . . .

She stops suddenly.]

That's...not my hand, Minato. [an extremely nervous laugh as she guides his hand up to her wrists.]

[ ... ]

Sorry, I'm used to being blind in only one eye, not both.

[ He resettles his hand in hers. ]

What did it used to be?

That's what I'm trying to show you, if I can just...

[switch, switch, switch...she flips at least three of them, but no lights turn on until she flips a fifth, which results in an extremely dim panel in the ceiling light up in the corner of the room. It's enough to see, but barely. The room is large, open, and empty. A quarter of the room is occupied by a stage that only rises up about two inches off the floor. There's a rusty chair in the corner of the stage, with some more folding chairs scattered on the floor. Abandoned. The walls are painted a dark grey, with a faded mural displaying various motivational quotes from famous artists.]

This is the first place I ever played music for a live audience, all on my own.

[She steps up onto the stage, still holding Minato's hand.]

I found myself in this building. The self that I fell in love with. Not the self that my parents, my sister, or my friends wanted me to be.

I sang, and I played guitar, and they listened. Maybe 25, 30 people...
They listened to me, and they smiled. I saw them all smiling at me as I sang. My love for music brought smiles to these people's faces. I felt...whole. Fulfilled. I never wanted to stop singing that night. So I kept singing. I kept that night, that feeling alive in my heart for so long. Every time you saw me smiling, every optimistic thing I ever said, every time I tried to give you advice with my sunny disposition, I was channeling that moment. That feeling.

Song.

[Her grip on Minato's hand tightens a bit, her breath heavy and weighed down by her feelings.]

I thought maybe I would come back here...and find that again.

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