Starring:
Summary: Being broke and eating cheap are no longer concerns for Dajan, but at this point, they may have saved her life!
Date It Happened: December 30, 2001
Saved By ZeerOs
Chinatown
Mariko is a very wary vampire. She takes her time in stalking, gathering information, and considering each and every meal she has. Its saved her a few times, from hunters - and other supernaturals, and merely 'unsuitable' humans. Particularly wary tonight, she's sitting at a bus stop in front of the Silver and Gold, pretending to wait patiently for the bus.
She's keeping a keen eye on those that pass by in each direction, but also glances occasionally towards the Silver and Gold.
Dajan is bopping up the street looking like a living iPod ad. All she needs is some brightly-coloured background to boogie in front of. The hair goes this way, the knees go that way. "High, higher than the sun! You shoot me from a gun! I need you to elevate me here! A corner of your lips! As the orbit of your hips! Eclipse, you elevate my soul!" She pauses, though, nose to the air, like a deer. "Chinese!" she crows. "I CAN AFFORD CHINESE! YES!" She casts her head back as if thanking the sky, then resumes dance-walking toward The Golden Dragon.
Mariko looks at Dajan the way one might look at a 600 pound nudist. Grimacing visibly, she calls out as the other woman passes her. "What in the world are you singing? No amount of rice or noodles are worth that."
Dajan stares at Mariko, the way one might look at someone who has no idea who U2 is. "It's Elevation. It's U2. It's awesome…" She glances back at the restaurant again, smiling dreamily. "Says you. I've been eating off-brand Cheerios for the past month."
Mariko wrinkles her nose. "Hmph. I'm not one for music much, unless its being played in a club. Well I suppose anything's better then Cheerios." She sniffs the air lightly. "Lucky you don't have scurvy."
"I get a lot of sun," Dajan replies with a nod. "And I mooch strawberries and apples off the kids on campus when I can. Nice trade for taking digicorded notes and making them nice and neat." She shrugs. "But all of that is over. Well, close enough to over." And with that, she turns for the restaurant, again. "I wonder if they have Dragon and Phoenix…"
Mariko muses to herself as the other woman walks away. Hmm. College student. Never can tell. Sometimes they'd be missed right away, sometimes they can vanish for months before someone notices. "Which college do you go to?" she asks suddenly. "Let me guess. You a music major?"
Dajan turns and glances over her shoulder. "Graduated in May," she tells the other woman, with a sigh. Be polite and make small talk, or put the 'buds back in and go eat Chinese? Decisions, decisions. "And no." Music major? Affronted, Dajan spins on her heel. Good. Decision made. "Music major. As if I look like a freaking spacey music major. Just because I sing along with my freaking iPod…can't a person be happy without people jumping to conclusions?" Mutter. Grumble.
"I don't really see many 'happy people'" Mariko replies. "I see lots of pretenders. Usually the ones who seem happy are faking, or just…pleased for a moment. You however, were dancing and jumping down the street. Dinner can't be that good."
"I haven't had dinner yet," Dajan points out. See? The restaurant's still in front of her. And this apparently lonely and/or bored woman keeps her conversating, and thus apart from luscious dumplings and hoisin sauce. "And maybe I am just pleased for a moment. Maybe tomorrow something sucky will happen that'll piss me off. But why should I worry about it until it actually happens?"
"Live for the moment?" Mariko asks in disbelief. "Hah! My parents told me crap like that way back when. Its baloney. You need to be thinking how you could have improved on the past, so you can learn from it and prepare for the future. There's no time for 'living in the moment'. Won't get very far with that attitude."
"You can't improve on the past. That's why they call it the past," Dajan says, frowning. "Dwelling is toxic." She brushes her hair out of her face, and resignedly removes the earbuds. "Worrying about the future is toxic. You get lost in 'what if' and 'what about' and all that wondering about the possibilities. I've made it this far taking one day at a time."
Mariko stands up. "Might as well follow you to dinner, since you've apparently gone a month without eating anything but cheerios." she says. "Not hungry myself though. And how far is - this far? Hmm? Has your attitude given you great wealth? Has it solved the problems that face you? Given you many friends?"
"I'm not treating," Dajan warns her new acquaintance. "And this far is far enough to get through school. I've gotten lots of friends. And great wealth is overrated. You can't take it with you." If the weird woman wants to talk to her while she stuffs her face — fine.
Mariko says, "So they say." Mariko replies to the last comment. "And I don't need a treat. You know, if your as poor as you sound, wouldn't you be better off buying and making your own food?"
"What are you, my mother?" Dajan asks, quirking up a brow. "I don't feel like cooking tonight, and I can afford to splurge on a nice meal if I want to. Any other questions, Kojak?"
Mariko laughs. "No. Anyways, you were saying?"
Off-brand Cheerios, but Dajan doesn't bother correcting the woman. "You can maybe provide for your family if you have great wealth. Or you can make one mistake investing it and have nothing. There are more important things than money."
Mariko snorts. "You don't have nothing from one mistake unless your an idiot." Mariko replies. "And who cares about family? Anyone who says money and power can't buy happiness is a liar."
"Spoken like someone whose family is way fuckin' dysfunctional," Dajan retorts. "I had a great family. And money can't buy happiness. It just buys the next best thing. Power? Please. All Power's good for is manipulating other people. How can anybody get fulfillment out of that if they're not twisted is beyond me." This conversation is starting to get on her nerves.
Mariko shrugs. "You've apparently never played a good game of chess then, have you?" she asks. "And you know, even if it is the next best thing, if you have money, you can have it forever. Alot better then that best thing."
"There's no such thing as a good game of chess. It's masturbation for the brain," is Dajan's stated opinion. Though the 'forever' phrasing, given recent events, gives her pause. "That's even more cynical than me. But hey, if that's what keeps you warm at night."
Mariko shrugs. "I am a cynic, I admit it. One of my very few virtues. Anyways, since I did call you names and have been harassing you about your life philosophy, how about I buy? Sounds like you could use the free dinner."
"No thanks," Dajan says flatly. "That's the kinda thing that makes a person feel obligated. And I don't do beholden."
Mariko tilts her head. "Beholden? Eh, if you think so." She pauses a moment, glancing up and down the street. "I just figured, you know, starvation's a bitch, and Cheerios isn't far from it." She pauses for a moment, thinking. "Anyways, I've kept you long enough."
"Far enough to make the difference," Dajan assures Mariko. "I'm not starved, and I have things I need to do in the morning. So yeah, I better get going."
Mariko returns to the bus-stop without another word, and sits back down.