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[ Darlene's sleep schedule is that of a typical hacker. She's used to staying up all hours of the night working with FSociety, crashing sometime in the morning hours only to get back up in the afternoon and start the whole process over again -- and not much of that has changed since she's arrived in Svelte, instead of spending hours on FSociety projects, she's trying to figure out what makes this simulation they're in tick.

Maybe if she can understand how this whole place works, she can actually use it to her advantage.

She's spent the evening keeping Ren company at the bar, typing away on her laptop, and ordering the occasional drink. By the time that he's finished cleaning up and doing various side work, Darlene's got all of her things packed away in a book bag on her back. She stretches her arms over her head and hops down off the chair. ]

Lead the way. [ A beat. ] Oh! That dude who kept making you remake his drinks all night, and then didn't tip? [ There's a sly little grin forming on her face as she continues, she's got a pretty good buzz going and she flings an arm around Ren's shoulders with a laugh.] Yeah, he's gonna be pretty pissed when he checks his accounts in the morning. It's always the ones with the most money who tip the worst, isn't it?

(Ren too takes the time to stretch his arms, forward and above his head, before he can rest a hand against her shoulder blades - she's nearly as tall as him, and that says something either about her being tall for Japanese standards or just that he's average in the United States. Either way, it's much more comfortable like this and out the door he leads them.

It's almost routine to have her with him in the evenings, chatting about the Phantom Thieves, FSociety, the cool things Darlene is able to do on that laptop of hers, as well as confirming just how their ideals combine in their entirety.

Her words could definitely hit him wrong, had them been real people, but they were just NPCs at the end of the day and it grants her a well-humored laugh. It's fine. It's not so different from extorting Shadows, which he does more often than not.)

It almost always is. Greedy, hm?

(A gentleman opens the door for the lady!)

Are you okay, though? You haven't smoked in a while.

(And Ren knows it makes smokers grumpy. He definitely has seen Sojiro when he forgot to buy them.)

Someone very smart once said that 'greed is a trickle-down desire that reaches even the bottom of the food chain.' [ She grins. It's her. She's that someone. ] And for what? Wealth? Power?

[ The rest of the monologue plays over in her head, the words still as fresh in her mind as the day that she'd spoken them into the video camera from behind their now infamous Uncle Conrad mask. She flicks her wrist, as though waving away the idea as she slips by Ren to exit the club. ]

The whole system is rigged either way! [ She yells out into the night air, twirling in a circle and letting out another laugh. ]

Now that you mention it. [ In what looks like one fluid movement, Darlene retrieves her cigarettes from her pocket, pops one between her lips, and lights it up. She takes a long, satisfying drag from it and then slowly exhales a cloud of smoke above them. ] I can't believe I couldn't smoke in there. This place has literally killed me, but I can't smoke at the bar?

(Regardless of the fact that Darlene's age surpasses his own, he definitely gets a very strong desire to just pat her head sometimes. Her twirling and revolutionary yelling get him chuckling, a hand hiding the smile as his eyes close and he bends a little to cease the laughter.

You know what? She's definitely right. He even takes her hand to twirl Miss Revolution Whatever Year It Is, still all laughs when he does it before he lets go so she can grab her cigarette. His head nods towards a bench, relaxing a little bit after a long shift would be nice.)

Can you smoke at the Diner?

(Purely curiosity. LeBlanc back home had ashtrays, but Sojiro, his legal guardian, mostly smoked outside anyways. Ren guides them to sit, the smell of cigarettes making him feel right at home.)

What's the fun of it?

[ She follows in step behind Ren, plopping herself down next to him on the bench, both of her legs stretched out and her toes knocking against one another idly. ]

We're not supposed to, but I will if nobody is in there [ A shrug. ] The owner just gets pissed off and yells at me to go outside.

[ Darlene's right in the middle of taking another hit when Ren poses the question -- which earns him a look that says Seriously? -- and she exhales a small puff of smoke with a shake of her head. ]

I mean, I wouldn't really call it fun. There's way more fun shit out there than cigarettes. [ A chuckle. A conversation for another day. ] I'd say... they just pair well with everything: good times, bad times, daytime, nighttime. You've never had a cigarette?

[ What sort of teenager is this? ]

(He imagines the scene with a snigger, an arm resting on the bench behind Darlene as he takes in the town. Svelte sure is different, isn't it? Ren can't figure out the NPCs at all.

The look is received with a shrug, how the hell is he supposed to know?

He's a Japanese teenager, Darlene, a Japanese teenager!! On probation!! Well. Not anymore, that is.)

Not even once. I think it pairs with coffee, but that's an assumption.

(Given... Sojiro, again.)

I've had many days where I lived solely on coffee and cigarettes. [ She laughs softly and nods in agreement, holding her cigarette up and just watching it slowly burn for a few long moments.

Can she even remember the first time she smoked a cigarette? She was a young teenager, she's sure of that much, but the rest of the memory has long since faded away. Probably in some secret hiding spot with Angela and Elliot at her side, two of them keeping watch while the third puffs and coughs.

Returning the cigarette to her lips, she then reaches back into her pocket to pull out her pack again, gently tossing it in Ren's lap. ]

C'mon. [ The lighter follows suit a second later. ] Consider this your first lesson in adulthood.

(Mhm? For a second there, he didn't quite understand what she was trying to do, searching in her pocket -- device? Keys? And like magic, the pack appears in his lap, and she offers him fire to light one up.

He's pondering for a moment, but that soon dies with the realization that there has to be a first time for everything, doesn't it? It feels awkward as he takes a single cigarette, places between plump lips and sets the tip on fire, trying to breathe the smoke only to hold it for way too long. A fit of coughs ensure.)

Is that normal?

(He manages to ask when they cease, voice slightly hoarser than usual.)

[ Ren does just about everything right up until he erupts into a small coughing fit, and Darlene can't help but giggle -- she probably could have given a little bit of an explanation on how to smoke a cigarette first, but isn't half the fun of having the experience the trial and error of it all? ]

It's not a joint, you don't have to hold it in. [ She shakes her head, lightly patting his back to try and help ease the coughing. ] Just inhale a little bit into your lungs, then exhale. Watch me.

[ And she does exactly that: brings the cigarette to her lips, takes a small drag from it, and then exhales a small puff of smoke a second later. ] You hold it for maybe a second, not even that sometimes.

(A joint? Like marijuana?)

Never had that either.

(One, because probation, two, because Japan. It's much stricter when it comes to things as such, after all. He does watch it with a tilted head, tapping the ashes that accumulated on the tip of his own cigarette before he tries again and... It's a success! It tickles his nostrils when the smoke leaves from it, and he chuckles at the sensation.)

What are the plans?

(Going somewhere, staying there, going home?)

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