startraveler | Inbox

Trust me, I would, but I'm a disaster and a half in the kitchen.

Tell you what? If you meet me at [ insert address of a VERY SHADY shop in Karteria ] I'ma teach you my favorite game. It's super fun, I promise!

Hm, well, I can try to teach you if you want.

[Surely, there has to be something Rinne would be able to make without much issue... right?? (Maybe he's Ei's levels of disaster in the kitchen)

Aether eyes the address. He's probably familiar with that place already, given his curiosity and the nature of a traveler.]

...And what kind of game you want to play with me, I wonder.

[ His ass is not learning how to cook! Maybe it looks like weaponized incompetence. Whatever. Rinne doesn't care. INSTEAD— ]

Sounds like you're stalling, Aeth. Scared I'll kick your ass at mahjong?

I don't even know how to play mahjong, but I wouldn't lose anyway.

[Overconfident??? Maybe a little.]

Fine, fine. Since it's your birthday I can go.

[A pause.]

So what do I get if I win?

[Asking important questions!]

Oho! I like this question. What can ya win? Rinne-kun ain't exactly stinkin' rich, but he's a generous god, you know? I gotta think about this carefully.

[ Hmm. He has a dinner date later, so he can't make it too ridiculous. ]

How 'bout this? If you win, you can ask me for whatever you want♪

[He thinks about it for a moment.]

Is "honesty" on the table?

[Anything to help him understand what is going on through this guy's head.]

I don't know what else I could even want from you.

[Aether doesn't really need much to begin with.]

Mm, you're gonna have to be more specific. Not that you can win, anyway☆

[ Now he's just trying to piss Aether off. ]

That's for us to find out. I'm pretty bad at losing, you know?

[He'll win this no matter what, mark his words.]

Kyaha! Then get your ass over here and fight me!

[ Aaaand he hangs up. Whether Aether actually shows up or not, he... okay, he would care a little. He'll just be playing with three other randos in this mahjong parlor, where the air is thick with the smell of cigarette smoke. ]

[He will show up, because turning a blind eye on a challenge is not his style. And also maybe he wants to wipe the smirk off Rinne's face and finally get a better picture of what the other is about.

As Aether shows up, he first starts coughing thanks to the smoke. Very unheroic, but that won't stop him from standing before Rinne with arms crossed over his chest.]

Like I said, you'll lose.

[...Coughing a few more times. He's not that good with smoke.

Anyway--] So how do you play this game?

Aeth! [ Like he's an old friend he hasn't seen in a long time. Rinne's hard to miss with his red fox ears and bushy fox tail. It sways behind him as he waves Aether down. ] You made it! Sorry 'bout the... uh, everything. Whew, it's nasty. Someone get a fan in here, huh?

[ He claps a hand on Aether's shoulder whether he likes it or not and steers him toward a table. The tiles are all ready. ]

Anywho, mahjong's just poker with tiles. All you gotta do is make a winning hand faster than these dumbasses. [ He gestures to the two locals at the north and west sides. Don't worry, they're used to Rinne's shenanigans. He presses Aether into his seat. ] Relax, relax. They don't bite like I do. [ ??? ] I'll walk ya through it!

[ Whew. Now that Rinne's settled into his own seat... ]

You get 13 tiles at the start of the game. On your turn, draw one and discard one. A winning hand's four tiles of three and a pair. The three tiles gotta be straight or three of a kind.

You following?

[Fox tail and ears fit Rinne perfectly, but they also make Aether kind of want to reach out and pet them. He can't really help himself thinking that. Rinne is acting way too friendly with him anyway, so if it happens one day, he'll only have himself to blame.]

Poker with tiles, got it. [Spoken like he knows how to play poker??? He does not, by the way.

Aether may not exactly like all that pushing that Rinne is doing, but he at least doesn't complain and sits down to listen to the tutorial.

"They don't bite like I do" The traveler's brow raises at that. Seriously, this guy is so much. Aether merely gives a nod.]

Don't worry, I learn fast.

Inbox - Karteria

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I'M SORRY, I LOST THIS TAG. let me know if you want to skip the tutorial. lmfao

no worries and sure, we can skip the tutorial!