What will I dream tonight?
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As I get up from my bed, I check the clock.
9:48
I sigh and flop back down onto my bed.
I recount last night's events. I get a couple glances at my revolver as the recap continues on in my mind.
I wait a couple more minutes before forcing myself out of bed.
I look out the window and get a long glance at the skyline. Briefly, a small smile appears on my face as I head to the bathroom.
...
As I ride the elevator, I begin to 'plan' out my day.
I will get a look around Lungmen until nightfall, and then get drunk.
Simple, effective, enjoyable.
As I step out of the elevator, my morning brain finally starts to work.
Given that 2 of my possible backstories in my adult life involved me working with Penguin Logistics, heading over to The Ends of the Earth rather than my usual bar would be a smart idea. If any one of the members is there and recognizes me, then I can narrow it down to those 2 dreams.
...
But that's not happening until the moon shows itself, so let's enjoy the day while it still lasts.
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An hour goes by as I allow my mind to catch up with the current day. I just walk around Lungmen, taking in the scenery, the skylines, the small stores littered throughout.
I'm given a feeling of homecoming, as if I've lived here my entire life.
It's an obscure feeling for me.
The skyline looms over me in a comforting manner, the gray buildings contrasting with the light blue sky.
The streets are painted a dark black while the sidewalk is made up of white and gray modern tiling.
I walk around in a simple outfit consisting of pants, a t-shirt, and an unzipped jacket. I have a pair of black headphones that are pretty much glued to my head, but they work well on my light gray hair, so I don't have to worry about looking extremely bad just because I want to listen to music.
Well I could be looking extremely bad anyways, I know nothing of fashion.
But I think I look good, so I'll go with that.
...
Overall, I'm happy with my look.
As I take a seat on a sturdy wood bench, I let my green eyes fully capture everything Lungmen has to offer.
Everything I can see at least.
I stay for a couple minutes here before spotting what appears to be a small shopping complex.
I get up, pass the street, and walk through the gray-stained doors.
I'm met with exactly what I expected, a futuristic, small mall. The size gives it a cozy feeling.
Continuing my walk through the complex, a group of bystanders no less than 20 feet away from me start clapping loudly.
Very loudly.
My ears feel as if they've been pierced by a needle, as I go to cover them up, my headphones block me.
I resort to jogging far away from them, not even stopping to see what they were clapping at.
I reach the far side of the complex, where the clapping cannot be heard.
I know that I had ear-sensitivity problems back on Earth, but I never thought they would continue to haunt me on Terra!
Is it because during dreams before, I had instinctively covered my ears when I heard a loud noise? Maybe because of that, Azrael's ears had developed the same trait.
I note down the idea in my head before taking off my headphones.
I take a couple glances at them, the stiff extenders, the broken padding, the chipped paint.
I come to a decision.
...
I put my headphones back on while restarting my music, as I begin walking across the complex I find myself on a singular mission.
Find noise-canceling headphones.
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30 minutes pass as I find myself in and out of many, many stores.
I reach the end of the complex, the gray doors inviting me to leave.
I accept their invitation and walk out of the complex, disappointed.
I check the time.
11:21
I stand outside of the complex for a bit, allowing myself to figure out what to do.
As I come to a decision, I take a single step forward on the tiling and make my way down the Lungmen sidewalks.
I'm going to find another complex, get something to eat, and get myself some new headphones.
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As I'm walking with my back to the sun, I keep my head to the sky and continue taking in the Lungmen skyline.
Yesterday, it was always a look of admiration. Today, it's a look of disbelief and acceptance.
Disbelief that I can even take a look at it. I've been seeing this skyline most of my nights on a small screen, considering it to be nothing but fiction. Seeing it right above me, being able to touch it by simply raising my hand above my head just puts me in an indescribable mindset dominated solely by the feeling of disbelief.
And acceptance. Acceptance that I've been thrown into Terra. Acceptance that my life will never be the same. And acceptance that no matter what happens in Terra, no matter what bullshit finds itself to me, I enjoy life here.
However, steps are required before I can relax.
And that first step is buying new headphones.
...
I end my internal monologue with a step into the next complex I can find.
It seems to be a carbon copy of the last one I went into, the only difference found in the stores and the size.
I adjust my jacket as I look around for a place that sells food.
I start walking as I spot a cafe-like establishment in the corner of the room.
...
I join 2 other people as I step into the line and get a look at the menu.
It's exactly what you would expect.
As I wait to order, I get the sense that this is literally just the Terra version of Starbucks.
As the person in front of me uses 20 words to order a single cup of coffee, I confirm that this is just a Starbucks in Terra.
I walk up and ask for 2 toasted bagels. I move myself out of line and take a seat on one of the tables while my bagels are moved into the toaster.
I peer out of the store and look around for a store containing headphones.
My search is cut short by the ding of the toaster.
I get up and walk over to the pick-up area as the barista puts the bagel into a paper bag.
She hands it to me right as the next customer gets in line.
I mouth a "thanks" to her as I walk out back to the center of the complex.
I sit down on a bench and start eating.
While taking in the taste, I resume my search for headphones.
I look at each and every store's windows. Each bite seemingly matches up with each store I look at.
Eventually, I eat both of my bagels with no sight of headphones.
I sigh, get up, and start walking towards the other side of the complex, hoping my luck can change.
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I find myself inside a music store.
Headphones and other music listening devices take up 20% of the store, Vinyls and CDs take up the other 80%.
As I select my headphones, a simple back pair with noise canceling, I make sure to take looks towards the music selection.
As the clock ticks down, I spend more and more time looking through all the music the store has to offer.
After what feels like 30 minutes, I take a look at the clock.
2:00
I take a couple steps back before writing down the store's name in my head.
I'm going to visit this place again later.
...
I end up walking out with a pair of noise-canceling headphones, and 2 bootleg records consisting of random live shows for some bands.
I didn't even buy a record player, just the idea of starting a vinyl collection in another world interested me a bit too much.
As I begin to play some music with my new headphones, I clap right in front of my ear.
Nothing.
I smile for a second before walking out the complex, a problem had arrived and been resolved in under 4 hours.
I continue walking across the tiles of the Lungmen sidewalk, looking either for something to buy, or something to do.
After a couple hours of scouting out stores with nothing to show of it, I begin walking back to my apartment.
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As I lay in my bed reading some books that I found lying around my room, I look over at the clock.
9:36
I bookmark my page, get up, and put my jacket and shoes back on.
I head out of my apartment complex and begin walking again.
Despite personally wanting to drink over at the bar I was at last night, I head towards The Ends of the Earth.
This seems like an easy way to see if my backstory is related to penguin logistics at all.
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10:25
Is the time when I spot the bar's door, though as I get closer I can make out another figure walking heading the bar.
Bison.
We reach the front door at the same time, we both take looks at each other before he breaks the silence with a simple question.
"Is your name Azrael?"
(This chapter is a sort of interlude. I want to include 1 or 2 of these laid-back chapters that just have Azrael enjoying life and doing casual stuff before and after each arc. I'm fairly happy with this chapter, mainly with the length. I want to have the next chapter breach the 2000 word mark, though I doubt it will happen. But as long as the chapter is longer than this one, I'll be happy. And as always, Thanks for Reading :)
Uploaded on March 13, 2022. 1693 Words.