voice test ☀ joker

[jokered]

the hierophant; cafe leblanc

[most days have routine. get up, eat breakfast, hop on subway. school, meeting up with friends afterwards, and then a brief reprieve to do homework before some evening shenanigans.

but of course, some things don't always go as planned.

like the rare occasion where someone comes into the cafe leblanc for some coffee or curry (or perhaps both; they complement each other well here, after all) and the proprietor is nowhere to be seen. like this moment, for instance, when a certain scruffy-haired teen comes down the back stairs, bag slung over his shoulder (is that a cat popping its head out?), and he just pauses.]

Huh?

[he questions quietly, wondering why the place is unattended—he can only guess it was meant to be brief, and with the assumption that nobody would show up. whoops?

either way, it looks like akira is walking himself behind the counter, placing down the bag and picking up an apron like a semi-pro. unless you're one of the phantom thieves, in which case he's not helping your ass unless you ask, like a true pal.]

Can I help you?

[see? totally a pro!]

the magician; mementos

[how you got here may not matter. but it's certainly a strange looking subway station. it's devoid of people, but full of... something else. monsters? well, shadows, but this particular area seems to be devoid of even that.

until there's a rustling sound. one corner. the next. then behind a pole.

...do you feel like you're being watched?

...or maybe like someone is about to ambush you?

well, it doesn't matter, because as soon as joker has discerned that this isn't an aggressive shadow, but someone else, he'll somersault out from where he's hiding, gun in hand. to those who know him, he may seem familiar, even recognizable entirely. to anyone else, this masked trickster is joker of the phantom thieves. his smirk skirts on the dangerous side, knowing he's got someone cornered—though he doesn't seem particularly aggressive before asking the most important questions:]

Who are you? ["and why are you here?" he doesn't lower his gun completely though, instead twirling it in his hand.

show off.]

the chariot; texts

[did you want to make plans to hang out tomorrow? did you think akira would want a text from you?

...well, he probably does! except that he fell asleep, so being woken up to a text that says "do you have a second?" or some variation of it is going to be met with a response.]

1.

[and then, immediately after that, a second text:]

Time's up.

[nobody said it would be a helpful response. please though, continue.]

the fool; wildcard

[idk do whatever, make up some stuff!]

Comments

[jokered]

[a phantom thief should dress like a phantom thief, should he not?]

No. Just asking—it's not a safe place for most people. Not a place most can just get into, either.

[he's not here to kill. he steals hearts, not lives? that's not part of his thief aesthetic, friend.] I can get you out of here.

[proactively]

I'm very special.

[Flips hair! ... Except he doubts he even wants to be here, so that's not such a good thing right now.]

Oh? I'd be much obliged... except it's seriously fishy as hell to just walk off with a guy dressed like you in the middle of a place like this, you know.

[jokered]

...Consider it a random act of kindness by the Phantom Thieves.

[mostly, he just doesn't want anyone innocent to get hurt. mementos can get dicey even for him. he's got an arsenal of personas and weapons to get him through; it's too dangerous to have someone wandering around without it.]

We're not far from the entrance, anyway. [well, not too far. if they were that close, he might have elected to just point in the right direction and watched from a safe distance.]

[proactively]

[Seiya can... kick things??? That's the extent of his combat skills... there's a reason why, in a party consisting of him, a teenage girl, and talking mascots half his size, the command was "Protect the punk"...]

You do realize none of this makes you less suspicious, right?

[jokered]

[that earns a devious smirk and a bit of a chortle from joker. he seems... kind of proud of that, for some reasons.]

Take it as you will. Still won't let you go wandering any deeper into this place, though.

[proactively]

What, is this your turf?

[jokered]

It's dangerous.

[that doesn't answer the question at all, joker!]

Let's get going before they show up.. [stop being vague, one should tell him, but they're inevitably going to have some kind of encounter anyway, because there are always shadows lurking about.]

[proactively]

[yeah uh]

And... who's "they", exactly?

[jokered]

The sh—

[well, he did plan on legitimately explaining as they walked along, but when a shadow pops up from the ground as they round a corner, joker's first instinct is to hold an arm out to the side as a barrier.

and then he stealthily leaps to the nearest wall, hugging that corner and effectively pulling himself out of sight from the creature's very linear vision.]

Them. Stay back.

[he has a plan! though he's not telling what it is.]

[proactively]

What the—!?

[Never let it be said that Seiya doesn't have a decent sense of self-preservation—meaning that when you're in an unfamiliar, potentially dangerous situation and someone more experienced tells you what to do, you might want to listen.

This guy is still suspicious as hell, but you know what? Seiya would rather take his chances with him than whatever just popped up from the ground, and so he does as Joker says.

(It helps that Joker at least seems to know what he's doing, which is a... nice change of pace from Seiya's usual company in bizarre situations.)]

Tell me this is what your gun is for.

[jokered]

...You'll see.

[he's so cocky about it, but it's precisely because of two things: the first is that he does know what he's doing. the second is that he's just kind of a show-off at heart.

phantom thieves should be big on theatrics, shouldn't they?

which is why instead of using his gun, joker launches himself off the wall, right onto the shoulders of the shadow... and rips...

its face off?

no just kidding, it's not a face, it's a mask.]

Show me your true form! [he demands, a warning before the creature does, in fact, change form, looking quite like some kind of soldier on a horse.

he doesn't even take the gun back out, though he's got daggers in hand... though he has a moment to bide his time, looking back to seiya with the same cocky grin.]

I think I can do better than the gun this time.

[he's gonna show off again, totally.]

[proactively]

[what the fuck just happened

what the hell is that thing

... Anyway.

On one hand, it's nice knowing that he's probably not going to die here.

... On the other hand, this pisses Seiya off for no other reason that there's no way for him to look cool here without any real combat experience, and that sucks because Seiya knows that he's the most amazing person in the entire world and then some and nothing can convince him otherwise.

But fine, he supposes he should be nice and let others have their chance to shine once in a while.]

Yeah? Let's see it.

... As long as it's not going to get me in trouble with anyone as your accomplice, I mean.

[jokered]

[well, whatever. it's fine if seiya thinks he's the greatest; joker probably wouldn't even try to argue it.

with his gaze still briefly fixes in that direction, he places his fingers over his lips.]

That secret can stay here. Though we won't be mad if you say the Phantom Thieves helped you out of a tight spot.

[they're working on gaining that reputation, after all. the phantom thieves are just.

something like that.]

—You ready?