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Marique was stuck. He had created three games so far, though only one of them had made an even miniscule splash in popularity. He needed something groundbreaking. Something revolutionary. But all he could think of was typical things that occurred in eroges. Was it his art? His dialogue? The menu keys? General theme? Storyline? What was making it so boring?

He sighed, head falling onto his keyboard. His headphones slipped off a little bit, letting in the noise of the cafe that he was currently sat in. He shouldn't be working on an eroge game in public. But he really thought a change of environment would help. So far, however, it wasn't.
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This----Was this who he thought it was?!?!

Promise stared hard at the bright screen that wasn't his. The game system in his hand might have had the same blinding light coming off of it. It wasn't the flash of light that caught his attention. Rather, the art. He knew that art. He knew it well.

That was his favorite developer. His role model. In front of him. The hybrid moved his mouth to make a sound but nothing came out. He knew he shouldn't be here, he knew he shouldn't be looking over someone's shoulder. But how could he not look?! This guy was amazing!

His arm lifted up awkwardly, trembling fingers brushing against the male's shoulder. "Ah...mm." His lips pressed tight together, the blue eyes that were once wide as can be squeezed shut before squinting out at him. Why did he have to be so embarrassing? He probably thought of him as a creep. "Can I have your autograph?" he took in a large breath, watching the other from the corner of his eye. "I--I've always been a great fan." A great one? The best. "I have all of your games, I've played all the endings," he rushed out, taking another gulp for air. "I----are you working on something new?" he peered over his shoulder again. Was he being rude? Promise bit his lip. But...he needed to know. It didn't look like a sequel...
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Something touched his shoulder and Marique jumped, back stiffening and half turning to stare at the stranger who decided to speak to him. "Geez louise, you gave me a start," he muttered, scowling at the other. His eyes followed the other's line of sight, his expression darkening. A fan? Yeah right. Who would be a fan.

"Oh really?" he asked dryly, hand moving to close the laptop. He hoped his work was saved. "Bees feast too much and turn around to make it into honey," he muttered, quoting one of many proverbs his Granny had. One of thousands, perhaps. Marique used to hate them and barely even realized that he soaked those sayings up and used them himself.

Now that the potential content thief was hindered from soaking up more of his game, he decided maybe he could be a bit friendly. Just in case, in the slim chance, that the man actually was a fan of his games. "Own them all? There's only three," he said with a weak smile. He considered the other. Well, his Granny would have a fit if he continued to be rude. "Would you care to join me?"
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The hand that touched the male's shoulder quickly jumped back and laid flat by Promises side, eyes wide. He didn't expect---didn't want---. To scare? Yeah.

Words were hard. "I'm sorry!" He rushed out, giving a slight bow. Was that rude to bow? His eyes peeked out towards Marique.

And immediately regretted it.

Blue eyes winced as he muttered, as if in literal pain. He didn't believe him. Of course he wouldn't. He was someone so famous. So note worthy. He must have been thinking that he was there for some ulterior motive. But he wasn't! He didn't have nearly as much skill as the hybrid did. All he knew was simple code.

Fortunately, the man didn't seem to be too mad. Promise let out a loud relieved sigh. And jumped. Only three?! Well..sure, there was a less of a handful of games that the man put out. He was only starting. It made sense. But....he gave a shy smile in return. " I count the one that got you into the company on top of those three." His hair rose, nervous. "I--I know you didn't officially publish it--it was only an example play test and it shouldn't have been leaked but--but I was curious." The grin on his lips became more relaxed, pleasant. "It was really good. Are you going to continue it?"

He wanted him to join him?! "Me?!" He loooked behind him to see if there was anyone else. No one.
This had to be a dream. There was no other way. It was too good to be true. Promise's face lit up and nodded vigorously. Even if it was too good to be true, he wasn't going to just miss this opportunity. "Sure!

There was something that was bugging him though, an itch that he couldn't scratch.
What did he mean by saying "Bees feast too much". Promise's lips parted curiously. "I---don't understand. Don't all bees make honey?"* He wracked his brain for a character who said that and in what context and came up with nothing. How---how unusual. Was a hint to the next game?
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One of his examples? How in the world did he get ahold of that?? Marique's cheeks reddened, remembering the bad quality of the game. Oh gods, he said it was in the top three? "How did you get it?" he nearly squeaked before shaking his head. It doesn't matter.

His eyes nearly rolled upwards at the speculation on what he said. Well, it wasn't like he intended to say it out loud. His Granny's sayings just had a way of popping out of him fairly regularly.

"I'm Marique," he decided to say. His pin name was Riter but he was certain that the fan probably already knew that. His pin name was mainly to prevent Granny from finding out. If she knew what sort of games he designed... well, she may bring him back to tend animals for the rest of his life. "You are...?" he asked, bringing his cup of coffee to sip at, grimacing at how cold it had gotten.
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Oh s**t. He shouldn't have said that.

Promise stiffened. "I--Well. I knew a guy." One of the interviewers that had gone over his demo. The one who introduced him to Riter. He couldn't throw him under the bus though! Not when--Not when he still gets sneak peeks from him. "It's a long boring story." he laughed uneasily, eyes drifting to the side.

Marique.. His gaze went back to the lips that uttered the name. "I--." he blushed. "It's a nice name." God, he was so awkward.

And he had completely forgotten to introduce himself!

Promise jumped and pointed towards himself again. "O-Oh, I'm Promise." he laughed again, his hand moving to brush against the back of his neck. "It's a weird name, yeah. My parents were a bit weird." he stared at Marique. Where were they going to go from here?

"Was I--Was I interrupting anything?"
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Knew a guy? What guy? Marique was itching to find out the details, to know who was leaking his content, without his permission. But... it was neither the time nor place. He was sure going to do a little investigation later, however.

"It's a girl's name," he responded bluntly to his name being called nice. Brushing it off, he took another sip of his cold coffee. He should really order another one. But he really wasn't swimming in cash, either.

"Promise is a weird name," he agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. "But it's a nice name, as long as you don't have a habit of breaking your promises," he added on after a moment.

His eyes moved back to the closed laptop, considering, before sighing and leaning back in his chair. "No. I was just trying to work on a new game concept. It has been... quite a rough time," he said decidedly.
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Promise scratched the side of his face. "It is?" It didn't sound like it. But apparently Marique wasn't too happy about his name. Perhaps that's why he went by Riter instead. "W-Would you rather be called Riter?" What was he saying? He probably wouldn't be able to see this man again. The thought made him frown. His inspiration was right in front of him. He couldn't just let him go. Right?

Promise laughed. "It really is. My parents--well--they were 'eccentric'. " Enough to promise that their marriage would prosper on he and his brother's stones. Needless to say, that failed. "I try not to break my promises," if he did, it usually haunted him for the rest of the week. People had a habit of referring to his name and what he didn't uphold. He hoped he wouldn't disappoint Marique.

A rough time? His pink eyes softened with concern. That couldn't be good. "C-Can I sit?" he gestured over towards the seat beside Marique. It was starting to get awkward just standing there. "What's been rough about it?" From the glimpse he had, it looked great. He knew that looks could always be deceiving though.
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"No, call me Marique," he sighed, gesturing for Promise to go ahead and take a seat. So. This guy wasn't interested in stealing his awful ideas, it seemed. Just a fan. A small smile came to his face and he leaned forward, elbow on the table, chin in his hand. It was nice, to have someone who actually enjoyed the crap he created.

"Not so eccentric. I don't think Promise is a bad name. Just odd," he mused, watching the grimm. With some other hybrid blood in him, judging by his eyes. Marique considered it momentarily, staring at the other, before shrugging.

"I'm trying to catch bees with slop," he sighed, shaking his head. In other words, he wasn't appealing to the audience. "So I was trying to come up with something new... but I'm drawing blanks with the story." He leaned back in his chair, staring hard at his laptop before running a hand through his hair. "Perhaps I'll take a breather. Clear waters makes for good sailing," he chimed.
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Promise smiled and took a seat in front of the hybrid, hands eagerly clasping underneath the table. He still couldn't believe he was talking to Riter. His idol. This better not be a dream. "Marique it is then." Normal. Act normal.

So he didn't think his name was weird. Promise laughed, relieved. "Yeah, my parents were weird." Are weird? It was hard to say. They were hardly in their lives anymore. He cleared his throat and glanced at him from the corner of his eye. It was still so hard for the hybrid to look head on.

What did bees with slop mean? His brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to make sense of what he said. Something new....So he wasn't getting enough fans with his current games? How could he help? "I---." His hands tightened. What was there to say? Promise knew he couldn't deny it. The fan base was small. Small enough for he to be the leader of his fan group. Should he let him know? Marique would probably think of him as silly. He couldn't possibly. "D-Do you want to go to the amusement park?" his fingers twitched nervously underneath the table, his face growing red. "Not as a date or anything!" he rushed out and breathed slowly. "My brother got sick so I have an extra ticket. The fresh air might give you an idea or two." He winced. Was that too forward?
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Marique stared. To an amusement park? His eyes flittered to his laptop, considering. He didn't know Promise. All he knew was he was a fan who had somehow gotten access to a game that wasn't released to the public. And that he had a brother. And weird parents. Though, were the parents in the picture? 'Were' weird? It was too forward to ask.

He still hesitated. A breather was what he wanted. And he hadn't been to an amusement park since... well, since Granny had taken him once, when he was a freshling. And he had been too short then to ride many of the coasters. Would it be alright to go with Promise?

Perhaps... this could be used as material for his game?

"Alright," he finally said with a grin. "But as a date, I think. It'll be great research," he mused before standing. "I need to take my laptop home...? We could meet up, if you want?"
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