Sometimes a break is all we need

We all need a driving force. It can be goals, dreams or just something as simple as acknowledgement. It can be oh so long term as grand to something small and personal. To work up to it though, that can be the hardest part. Energy, effort, time and hope. All used to different degrees for it. It being so bloody rewarding when what you hope happens, mostly when the event and result you hope for are on a deadline and effected by the actions of somebody else.

But when all your heart and energy is put in on for the deadline to come and pass and nothing to happen, it can be devastating. This was exactly the situation that Chernobog found himself in. Having put blood, sweat and tears in while waiting for just a simple promised call. A call that never did come. Perhaps but an accidental slip of the mind of the other, or an active decision to not do it. Regardless, it was soul crushing for him.

That, that was why he was here now, away from his city of residence, away from work, away from everything familiar just for a little while, just a small break before it would be time to return to everything and return to hating yourself.

This is why he was here. On the terras of a small but very cozy looking corner coffee shop that just wafted it’s aroma across the street. Aided by the gentle breeze that blew. a breeze that maybe made it more than a little bit too chilly to sit outside in this, for him, foreign city. But there he was, a young man whom clearly was a mix of species with dark grey and light grey fur with practically glowing blue markings, with short hair stark white that helped aid bringing attention to the remains of broken horns on his head. The hybrid did certainly not look entirely out of place or well, at all. Mostly considering her was dressed very formal-casual, like he had just walked out of work to take a break.

A long drawn out huff escaped his lips as his hands clutched themselves around the cup that held coffee, bringing that bit of warmth to his being. As his golden with white eyes were glued to a map in front of him. Reading and planning out where to go next. Truly the funnest part about not being familiar to a place.

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((Sorry for the somewhat rambly opening but you know what can happen when the mind just wanders.))

((New character. Apologies in advance))

Aria walked down the street. Her grey eyes remaining completely distant as she walked. To others who didn't know her she would almost appear blind, her eyes being almost dead grey and her side stepping people at the last moment as she looked straight ahead, not stopping.

She continued uninterrupted until she reached the corner, the smell of the local coffee shop aroused her senses as she stopped in front of the shop.

"Ooooo, can we get a latte? How about some coffee with that special milk?" 

Aria gave no reaction as seemingly from nowhere another one of her suddenly appeared next to her. The this ones pupils were yellow as well as her clothing however.

"...Maybe..." Aria answered as she kept looking, Giving no emotional or expressive look as she did so.

There was a huff as another one appeared next to her, this one was purple.

"Yellow, pip down. Not only do we have little money right now but we don't have any reason to stop."

"Awww... but it would a nice treat though... hmmmm... it smells so good."

She stood there for a moment as her two coloured versions spoke to each other, bickering a bit before Aria raised her hand, shushing the two.

"...I'm ok with a short break... let's go."

A few moments later Aria sat down alone on the terrace of the coffee shop. Her other two completely gone. She sat and drank her warm latte as she read a book from her bag, Her mind completely absorbed into. A moment later she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. She didn't give much more than a once over. He was different and she was sure he didn't lived here Given how he was looking over a map of the area.

"He seems rather nice... maybe we should help him?"

This time a pink variation of her appeared sitting next too her. She had a rather kind and motherly aura to her.

"It would be nice and we could make a friend."

"But if he's not from here that means he'll just go away eventually..." 

Joining the pink one was a blue one. This one was rather... shy, figity. She kept her gaze away from the hybrid.

"I-It's better not to mess with him..." 

Aria continued to read as the two continued talking. To anyone else they would almost appear to be triplets and siblings. Every so often however one would disappear and be replaced with a different color. All the while Aria seemed to be absolutely use to what was going on. Giving short answers every once in a while as time went on.

A one.
A two.
A one, two, three, and...
   He probably looked ridiculous, bobbing his head to the rhythm that no-one could hear but him. We all do.
Step, step, one, two, one-two!
   But.. but it was still so satisfying. It's one of the little joys in life, to just get lost in the music, just a little bit. Besides, it's not like people couldn't see the big headphones on his head, right? They were black, after all!
...
As was this entire being of a porcupine.
   He was rather tall, which didn't help with 'maybe not being noticed doing this stupid stuff'. But what definitely didn't help was that he was. Entirely. BLACK. From the top of his ears, through a messy, long ponytail made of variously long and wide quills, down his coat and black jeans to protect him from the wind, to big black boots. The only splotches of colour was the yellow insides of his ears and muzzle, though this also decorated with black markings.

Guitar solo!

   He resisted the urge to raise his, obviously also black, umbrella and pretend as if it was a guitar, and finally opened his eyes, revealing that while the scleras were white (at least that), the eyes were also black as night. He looked down at it, a little disappointed - then again, he should've figured that the day he decided to take an umbrella, it wouldn't rain. And if it were to start, he predicted that the wind would pick up enough that the umbrella would do him more bad than good. Still, he shrugged, mentally, as to not look even more like an idiot, and looked around.

   There was a girl with multiple copies of herself flickering in and out of existence.
   He suddenly felt less nervous about humming along to the music in his ears while in public.
   'Bows couldn't help but raise a slight brow at Aria, but he wasn't going to just go and bother some young girl about whatever magics she was using, and instead he also focused on the smell that filled his nostrils.

... Oh, Chaos, he was hungry. Did this cafe sell, like, bagels? He hoped so. The porcupine took off his headphones and rested them on the back of his neck and entered, yeah!

   And to speed things up, he soon left with a plate with bagel and cream cheese on it, and a cup of black coffee, the umbrella hanging from his arm. He glanced over the tables. Given that the seats next to the girl seemed to be... occupied.. he turned to the hybrid instead. This person in turn seemed rather bothered. The broken horns made it seem as if he enjoyed getting into fights, or was a masochist, or had some traumatic accident in the past, but the clothing said 'I'm actually alright'. Then again, out of all people, who was 'Bows to judge the book by its cover? He looked like an adult that never got past their metal teenage phase. Still, the choice was limited, so with the warmest smile, 'Bows spoke:
"Hello! Would you mind?" He spoke with a deep voice, but not the croaky, tired-of-this-world sort, but rather the voice you'd expect of a narrator reading some children's book. The smile grew into a small grin, "It's ok to say 'yes' - I just enjoy a little company!"

The moment that Aria had arrived within earshot, the hybrid's ears shifted and moved, listening in on the conversation she was having with...herself? The multiple similar voices had been enough to draw his gaze away from the map in front of him and towards the source, or rather, sources of the voice. It wasn't like anything noticeable glance wise unless the other had paid close attention before she went ahead to get whatever she desired and have a seat. He wasn't one to exactly make a judgement on an entire person just by what they were doing or the abilities they had but...it seemed this girl could not keep that quiet, now could she?

It drew out a small huff from him, though very much inaudible unless you were pressing yourself right up against him to hear.A tap of his finger on the map for himself as to remind himself 'Yes here, this here is where we are right now. Do not forget unless you wanna lose track and get lost.' 

That was when he honed back into the conversation between all the duplicates and he assumed, the original.Not entirely cause he enjoyed eaves dropping buuut it is hard to ignore when you pretty clearly feel it is about yourself.

And he was well ready to opening his mouth and give a few words when the tall dark shape appeared and his table. Wait when did this person sneak up? Had he really zoned out that badly that he didn't realize somebody had stepped up?

Those CB's gaze drifted up to meet Bow's for a confirmation he had heard the other. And to just take in whom was there."I wouldn't mind at all no." The hybrid replied with a voice that just felt...tired. Tired but smooth and pleasant enough on the ears. "Let me make some space for you." His hands going into motion right as he started that sentence. Pulling the map closer to his own like, half of the table and a bit more folded to safe space. Before moving his own drink away from the edge of the table. All so the fair other half of the table was free for the porcupine to use.

And with all the grace and subtle tactics he spoke. "I know this might be odd but are you some kind of radio dj or some kind of narrator/host? Because you do certainly have the voice of one."

Aria continued to sit and enjoy her time as her many emotions popped in and out to talk and be. She almost didn't notice the porcupine that had walked up and join the hybrid. It wasn't her business. Much less it wasn't something she needed to concern herself with, people had other things to do and places to go. If she could feel properly like she use too then she may have had some thoughts on the situation. But that's what the colours were for.

"S-see? Someone is there now. It really is a good idea to stay out of it."

Blue twiddled her thumbs as she sat. Not particularly making eye contact with the other three colours at the table.

"I'm glad someone went to help him," pink patted blue on the shoulder, "Besides, I'm sure if we had gone over it would have been fine."

"Yeah, stop your whining. It's not ladylike"

The new one was red. She seemed more hot headed and irritable than the others. Even her posture gave off the air that she was more than capable of taking someone on. "We should've just gone over and been done with it." She crossed her arms in a huff as looked over the two. Not letting her upset manner dissipate.

"Who says we can't still go over?" Yellows face showed brightly, "The more the merrier I say."

Before the others could stop her she had already begun to hum a tune as she started to skip over too the table. Her happy attitude not fading a single bit as she came up behind? The two waiting for a good moment to join them.

"There's no stopping her huh?"

"Not like this no. But that's what makes her such a gem."

The porcupine smiled at CB's response,
"Thank you! ...Oh, no- don't worry about it!" He gave a nervous chuckle as CB cleared half of the table, not wanting to trouble the demon so. Still, the porcupine sat down, giving CB a thankful smile, and he set down his plate and cup, munching on the bagel. He glanced over the demon, and the map that he was hiding, "A map? Is there any place in particular you're looking for? Perhaps I can be of assistance! I know this city fairly well~"
He blinked at Chernobog's question, and gave a deep laugh, bending his head back a slightest bit.
"No, no, absolutely not! That is a... very specific idea, though! I'll, uh... take it as a compliment - thank you!" He ended with a grin.
Bright red appearing in the corner of his eye caught his attention - there... was... another girl in the group that sat next to them. And soon, the yellow one of them stood up and made her way over to 'Bows and CB. 'Bows grabbed his cup and took a sip of his black coffee, wondering on how to uh... welcome this... lady? His gaze wandered to the group again. ...Were they holograms? They seemed to talk between each other... It felt like a meeting of clones, except they faded into existence randomly, and always in a different colour. He was 90% sure this was some sort of power, but what in the world was it? No idea. He glanced back at the yellow clone,
"Hello there!" He gave a small smile, despite still being entirely baffled as to what was going on here, "A lovely day we're having, no?"

As the event played out in front of the cafe`, a young, black-furred canine in black pants, dress shoes, and a nice suit with a red tie, stepped into the building to get his drink.
The front door opened with a nice, classic bell ring welcoming them to the building, attracting very few people's attention since it wasn't uncommon for people to enter.
They looked over the room with judgemental eyes, the fur on the back of his neck always on end, his tail stiff down, before sighing, walking forward to the counter, looking the person behind the counter in the eyes and dryly asking for a large coffee - black.
Put a few rings on the counter, wait for the coffee, and then begrudgingly thank them before going back outside to a chair. 
What nice little umbrellas they had set up over each table. It was quite pleasant.
They sat at a table near the people of colorful personality, before slipping some whiskey from his pocket into the coffee, and finally took a sip.

Everything about this person seemed to be intentionally trying to put people on edge - the strange... hatred he had for everyone in the area oozed off his body, radiating from his aura so brightly it could cause cancer. Yet he didn't leave. As if he was waiting for something. Or perhaps even bad company is still company and he's just lonely.

Feeling the yellow copy pass by, hearing her cheery tone, he seemed... appalled. "So bright it burns my eyes...", he mumbled to himself before taking another sip of his alcoholic coffee. His voice was very much similar to a young boy's, maybe just slightly deeper.

While his eyes had, and still were trained on the porcupine, the many colorful copies certainly were not forgotten. Mostly not since they were talking to each other a tad uh...loudly. The hybrid could only imagine how annoying it might be to basically never be alone and always be surrounded just by bright copies of yourself. But as long as that was kept to just their own uh...group it would be fine, right?

With that thought he did fully give his attention to the black furred fellow that had now joined at the table. Nodding slightly at the acknowledgement of the map. "I have generally been looking for things to do, but this map." He said as he prodded the half folded up piece of paper. "Has been far from a good help sadly. So if you know of any entertainment things as well as maybe a library, that would be very appreciated." He said with a soft smile.

The just smile being followed up by a soft snicker at the other's laugh for a reply. CB had wanted to add onto what Bows' had said, maybe just to make his point clearer. But it was stopped in place as the yellow copy approached. Honestly he was happy that the porcupine took the lead in greeting her...it? Yeah no he still wasn't entirely sure what to make of all the dupes. But just staying quiet is awfully rude though. But not having a good idea what to say, he went with the most basic thing. "Good day." Smooth there.

What hadn't escaped his eye though was the other newcomer who ended up settling by themselves. Another really black furred person. It wasn't like CB was staring, the opposite really. It was more a simple glance, only a jerk could see it as staring. The biggest thing that pinged on his radar regarding this individual? Clearly a huge loner type. If he wanted to talk, he was more than welcome at the growing group at the demon's table. But alas, he would have to figure that out for himself.

So back to being the king of subtle himself. He turned to the yellow figure. "They your sisters or so?" He questioned to her with the slightest tilt of the head. And giving a vague thumb in the direction of Aria and the other copies.

((Could this be moved to closed before more peeps hope in? Thank you ahead of time <3))

Yellow greeted them both with a bright smile. Her spider fangs visible as her smile threatened to stretch more than her face would allow.

"Why yes. It is a lovely day. It's nice to meet y'all."

Her overall posture and demeanor was giddy and hyper. She couldn't stand still as she quickly leaned back and forth trying to stay moving. Her bright yellow eyes gave away her childish nature as she stood there.

"I'm Yellow. I was hoping to meet people and here I am," she giggled, spreading her top set of arms wide.

In response to the question about the other's she laughed a little. Motioning to the table.

"Well... they are me... sorta... I'm basically her-" she motioned to the normal looking black figure amongst the group, "~Pure manifestation of Positivity and happiness." She held back back another giggle. "But in reality we are all basically the same person however."

'Bows could not help but arch a slight brow at CB's inquiry. He didn't know what sort of map the goat was using, but if it didn't list the attractions, it couldn't have been a tourist map of the city. ....but then why was the man even using it? 
"... Entertainment... Things." He said with a small squint. This... was a really BROAD category of things - not exactly easy to pinpoint what was expected of him, 'Bows responded with another low chuckle. Perhaps CB himself didn't quite know what he was looking for? "Right!" He clasped his hands together. "I certainly know a library or two, I visit often! As for entertainment, I'm sure I can assist you - well, as long as our definitions of 'entertainment' align! I don't really VISIT a lot of places, but I like exploring on my walks. There's bars, dance clubs and quieter, cosy cafés to rest at a-plenty!"

With that offer, he turned back to the yellow girl! Nearby was seated another grim looking fellow like himself. His ear flicked at their grumbles, but that was it - he didn't like bothering people who didn't want it anyway.
"It's all you! Huh. ...and of course, each colour corresponds with a different state?" Of course her colours got to have a meaning. Why couldn't HIS fur change colour as he pleased?
"I saw you appearing out of thin air earlier... But you seem separate entities. Do you... Share memories? Thoughts?" He tilted his head, "Was your um.. host... Were YOU born like that?" Living with several of yourself sounded like much of a chore, though.

The young man watched the scene before him, a growing intensity of annoyance oozing off of him. He really had no right to jump in and demand them to quit speaking but at the same time...
The black canine caught CB's glance and, yes, he did find it to be staring.

After all, two things:
1. He caught them just as they were looking away! Who knows how long they were staring...?
2. Stopped Clock Illusion - the moment you look at something the longer it seems to last, which is why if you look at a clock every so often impatiently it never seems to change. He saw them staring for longer than they actually did "stare".

In response, Jack, with his stupidly grumpy face, just went bug-eyed at CB for a few moments before taking a gulp of his drink.

Feeling the other copies still around him, too, bothered him, but not to the degree of the yellow one. After a bit, he looked to the yellow one who had just turned to seemingly bring attention to herself and her "pure manifestation of positivity and happiness" and he... he just couldn't help but crack up laughing.

"Yeah? Alright then. Well I don't see anything to be happy about so go poof into oblivion if you will."
He knew he could just leave. Others would tell him that. But what if he wanted to see here? Who had the right to stop him?
Or the power?

He took another swig of his coffee, down low. He'd probably go get himself another cup or two. He didn't want to leave here sober.

The hybrid could easily read that small squint and figuring out what and how regarding the entertainment vagueness. Thus he spoke up. "Sorry about how lose it is but I in part don't have the best idea on what there is and isn't to do here. But libraries are nice, even if just to unwind and read about a little. So if you could show me there then, that will be very appreciated." He said with a small smile whilst leaning back on that, not entirely that comfortable, chair.

That tiny smile remained in place while the yellow copy spoke. Just kinda a case of listening and looking over when the original version was pointed out. He small just a tiny bit dipping as he considered what this could mean. And instead of internalizing the thoughts or anything, CB just spoke and asked. "Isn't it tough though? Walking with basically all your feelings out on display for any and all to see?" His question was equal parts genuine curiosity as well as a smidge of concern woven into it. At least now the whole dupe thing made sense and it annoyed quite a bit less.

But when one annoyance passes, a new one tends to pop up it seems though. Having missed the bug eyed stare, the comment regarding there no reason to be happy did not get missed. "Everybody has different reasons to be happy. So maybe while you don't see anything to be happy about she does." The words were calm and collected, nothing to speak down or even remotely sound angry. More a case of straight to the point if any. 

His eyes drifting back to Yellow before skimming back to the original. "Got a name we can call you besides the prime of colors?"

Aria's face didn't stray from her completely neutral expression. 

"Aria... you can call me Aria."

Her voice was devoid of emotion and expression but oddly enough wasn't rude or soulless. Her other copies were still bickering and talking as Red broke off and approached Jack. Her face was one of annoyance sitting on direct anger.

"You know I don't particularly care for you being rude to Yellow or the others here. If you don't like people then why even comment or talk?" 

She had her top set of hands on the table as she confronted him. Her eye's not faltering as she stared at him.

As that was going on yellow proceeded to go back to the table with the others, happily skipping along as the Pink copy took her place at the table with Bow and the hybrid. Her overall aura was much calmer and less Electric than Yellow.

"Looking for the library yes? There is one near our bookstore if you wish to go there." She gave a kind smile as she pointed to the location on the map. She then gave a sheepish look as she realized she hadn't even introduced herself.

"Oh... uh... sorry. My name is Pink, I'm a manifestation of kindness. Sorry I didn't say so first off."