[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zhtREIm.png[/img]
[color=a2d39c][h3]Claudius Caligula Westerson[/h3][/color]
[i]Zero Degrees Lounge, School District 15[/i]
[@Breo][@liferusher][@Zelosse][@Jacky][/center]
After placing his order, Claudius's eyes flitted about the wretched establishment. The decor, the disgusted looks of the employees, the genuine confidence of the eldritch manager, the girl who had placed the same order as Claudius himself before fleeing, the two who had entered and attempted to order normal pizzas from this profane 'other world'. His gaze stopped for a moment, though, as he saw the aforementioned girl return to the establishment, a boy who looked to be a touch older than her in tow.

His observation sharpened, eyes narrowing slightly. That boisterous glint that had been in his eyes since he entered the pizzeria diminished slightly as he looked behind himself, as though he was trying to dissect each of the siblings' movements. He felt his own expression tighten further, unsaid thoughts running through his mind.

[quote][color=9e9e9e]"Brother, why don't you apply somewhere else? You must know that you will not get accepted there, but I'm sure you could make it into a fantastic engineering program, if you applied."

"Gahaha! Don't worry, Takako, this is all according to the Great Plan of a hero!"[/color][/quote]
Just as quickly as it had appeared, though, that momentary firmness of expression faded. That brash glint reentered his eyes, that self-assured smirk plastered itself back across his face, that gait straightened itself once again. Hopefully the pair of siblings had not noticed his observation. Claudius Caligula Westerson reasserted himself; his sidekicks were no doubt watching, after all. 

...In theory, every existence possesses a "grudge".

A child's grudge to be stronger, a fetus's grudge to be born, a friend's grudge to shoulder the pain of another. In order to be a sapient being without a single grudge, you must be an impossible being. You must be something that has glimpsed what mankind calls "Enlightenment", something that has seen the truth of the world and escaped its laws as a result.

And yet...how did it go?

The name is unfamiliar, the feelings are unfamiliar, but the words, the words can still be felt. Like looking through a pane of misted glass, like a song without a melody, like a declaration for the end of an era.

For after all, a grudge does not have to be hatred, it simply has to be will. It is a part of the soul given form as the tether between the soul and the mind. It is a wish, a prayer that extends outwards to infinity despite knowing that nothing besides its speaker will answer it.

Two existences stood in opposition, two bounded selves in their own conceptual worlds. Between the two beings, possessions changed, one's became another's. A distortion of meaning, a fundamental change in nature. 

Currency to coffee. Coffee to currency.

-And just as quickly as it had begun, it had ended. A cataclysm that lasted for an instant from the outside and an eternity from the inside. The two existences terminated their tether, and one let out a laugh that sealed the very heavens. Head bending backwards in an angle that was obtuse but behaved as though it was acute, he roared for the end of innocence.

[color=a2d39c]"Gahaha! Excellent! Even in a profanity such as this, there may be a salvation found! And the one who locates it, the one who discovers that very path towards an ephemeral dream, can be none other than the hero himself!"[/color]

Screaming nonsensical things, the self-proclaimed protagonist proceeded to down his coffee in a single go, likely scalding his mouth in the process. 

Oh, huh, it actually tasted good.

Go figure.