preybeforemeals | IC Contact/Voicemail

I was gonna say, you guys have a really flirty "hang on, we're putting you on hold" message.

Anyway, sorry about that. Here I thought I was getting lunch and I ended up wrecking your day, instead.

[That just gets another laugh out of him, actually.]

Not at all! If anything, it's been a bit on the dull side; consider it a welcome distraction.

Oh, really? So much the better; I'll make it up to you with my charming and wildly engaging knack for conversation and we'll call it even.

[...Schuldig...]

What's your name, amore? I like to know who I'm entertaining.

You...

[...Well, to his credit, he doesn't let it throw him too hard.]

My name is Tsukiyama Shuu. And the charming gentleman I'm talking to...?

Given the name I'm guessing that's Eastern order, right? Tsukiyama-san, then.

I'm Dietrich Jaeger.

It's easier to introduce myself that way nowadays - people who don't know how such things work will default to calling me 'Tsukiyama' anyway that way, assuming they can pronounce it.

And then there are those like you, Monsieur Jaeger. Consider the pleasure mine.

Haha, I always had that problem when I was in Japan. I'd give out my name and you could just see the moment of panic in the poor bastard's eyes as he tried to figure out how the hell he was going to get those vowels to come out of his mouth the way they're supposed to.

German, isn't it? I admit I don't know much myself; it's not one I've studied, though I do like the sound of it.

Actually, I'm Canadian.

[He leaves that for a beat, and then laughs.]

Nah, you're right, it's about as German as it gets. You like languages, huh? I think that's three or four different ones you've tossed out by now.

[God, it likely says something when this is the best conversation he's had all week, but.]

I picked up some English here and there due to my family's work; Italian was the first one I pursued entirely on my own. French followed from there.

[No one has yet asked him what his hair tastes like; it's progress.]

Seems like a lot of people pick up English for work reasons — but I guess that's not surprising considering Americans.

[It takes him a second, but when next he speaks, it's with a definite American accent, probably regionally somewhere around New England.]

What the hell's wrong with you? Speak American already!

[It's fortunate that he wasn't drinking anything; he certainly wasn't expecting that, to put it lightly.]

Given that an acquaintance of mine seems to have thought I talked like an American when he first met me, I really wonder if I should have been more offended than I was when he told me.

No, the ones I've met have been fairly charming, actually. Granted, there haven't been many.

I take it you meet them through work? Family business or something?

Something like that; I'm not pursuing the same profession my family became known for, but fortunately there are enough who are to make up for my absence.

[Some more useful than others, granted.]

Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was being nosy. I just like talking to people; sometimes I forget it's weird when a complete stranger's throwing questions at you like that.

And what if I were to tell you that the anonymity of it makes it interesting for me?

...Then I'd have to admit that makes me think you're a pretty interesting person, Tsukiyama-san.

All right, then. You mentioned a family business?

They run a large import/export business, actually. Things like that...they're interesting in their own right, but not anything I've ever been suited for.

Let me guess — it's all too technical and structural for you; there's not enough art in it for your soul, right?

[That seems to amuse him, really.]

I probably would have argued that very thing when I was still in high school.

And now that you're not in high school anymore?

[Because that seems to be the implication.]

I'm four years into my current degree and hate the idea of having wasted that much time for nothing.

Four years must put you pretty close to graduating, right?

It does indeed! So there's that to take into consideration as well - there's no sense in stopping now.

Might as well push through to the end and get yourself something to show for it. Nobody bothers to remember the guy who didn't cross the finish line, right?

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