Scene #8756: PNL: Standing on Ceremony ft. Stan and Ishirou

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	The bottom floor of Stan and Charlotte's place is a retail region of Matsudo, with shops and cafes and stuff. Not the trendiest of places, to be frank, but it was enough for the locals and it worked out well for Padgett and Newman. Blue Sky Salon has some of the best baked goods for several blocks though, and that's where Stan is waiting for Ishirou today. What bumps and bruises he'd gotten from the fight with Mr. B. are gone and past now, thanks to Kukuru and others. You can't quite fix the ache, though. You know the one. The one you get from expending yourself a little too much. Something Stan has been working on... not doing so much. A TV in the corner babbles with daytime television. Some celebs ooohing and ahhhhing over some chef's masterful designs. The workers are watching the drizzle outside, which is driving down traffic today. At least Stan is here and he's paying.
Ishirou	Ishirou arrives, closing his umbrella and stepping inside. Shaking the umbrella mostly dry he walks over to Stanley, takes a seat at his table, and looks a little at the TV for a moment. Nothing important seems to be on, but he focuses on Stanley himself again. "So... how can I help you, Stanley? Is this about last night or...?" He also picks up a small menu and orders himself something modest. A cup of black tea with a small pastry.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley smiles up at Ishirou as he makes his way in, and waves down his order as well. Jasmine tea, crumb cake. Both are brought out soon enough, just enough time for Stanley to get settled in, and flip his phone over on its face, silencing it for now. "A little of both, maybe. I'm not sure. But you have been around for a lot of what's gone on here. Even before Lilian's involvement. I think you've got some... uh. Insight..." He blows a breath through his teeth. "I'm scared for Charlotte. And I'm scared for us. This isn't about... NovaTech. This isn't about what we need to do to stop all of this." He pokes his phone, and murmurs. "Lampport is in trouble. It's all... coming undone. And I just... care enough to stop my Dad. Finish this... contract, and never look back." "And I'm not sure if that makes me a bad person or not. And I'm not sure if I should care if I care." He screws up his face a little bit, and blows on his tea, before taking a sip. Mmmm. Caffine and flowers.
Ishirou	Why in the hell did Stanley come to Ishirou about all of this...? He takes a breath, listening to Stanley and letting the words come as they may. It's... understandable thought. A lot has happened, and a lot will probably still happen, not just with Stanley but with Charlotte as well. Is he selfish for thinking about wanting to end this? "No, I don't think that's selfish. It's been a lot for you to deal with. Hearing the truth about Novatech, about this city, and your place in it. You should want to look forward to the future... but you also need to make sure what future you want." "As for caring... it takes a lot to care. It's obvious to me that you /do/ care... or else you wouldn't be asking yourself if it's a bad thing to not. You seem to feel overwhelmed right now, and that's understandable. Just..." He pauses again, "Don't let that feeling guide your judgment going forward. It's not wrong to feel that way, but acting on it? Well... if it hurts someone else then you have still wronged and hurt them. That's up to you if you care enough for that person or not. We can't make everyone happy, we have to choose who we love, and dedicate ourselves to those people."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley lets out a breath at the words. Not that he turned to Ishirou specifically for that, but maybe he just needed to hear someone else say them to him. Vallidation? Confirmation? A sense of closure? Maybe. Something like relief washes through Stan, and he looks... less anxious for a few moments, as he takes a bite of his crumb cake, and finishes his thoughts on this. "Mr. B. has a lot to answer for. I'm not sure if the Paladins can help with that? I'm not sure he's actually done anything we can prove that's illegal in Lampport. So I guess that's on us to handle now too. At least his wish got broken." A look to Ishirou. "The Old Story reasserted itself. Mr. B. is just a business owner. Not the president of the Chamber of Commerce. But Issac Jr, our friend? Still has his Persona. We checked." A look into his tea. "I guess that would have happened either way? Maybe? Maybe him having a Persona is enough to get around Wishes? I don't know. I wish we could talk to Igor without Delilah being there." "Speaking of her, I know you got a really good look at her. What did your robo-eyes see?" Stan works on his tea, while he waits for an answer.
Ishirou	"Maybe... but it's hard to say he has done anything particularly wrong. All of the evidence would be in Novatech's data... and even then there might not be a way to bring it out into the real world. Shattering the wishes may just restore things... so protecting Mr. B until the world can be restored seems to be the winning play..." "Besides, he stopped in the end. That... has to count for something. Maybe he can provide us information to help us trap the last man standing..." "There are chains, blindfolds, metaphysical locks and censor bars... narrative and more... it's like she's a person but missing key elements to her. How she can still /function/ as a person is beyond me... but somehow she has. I think that has something to do with the wish your dad made... I'm sorry." "Maybe we could talk to him without her being there, it'd require someone being able to lure her out, while you go to talk to Igor... but that'd require Charlotte, and the connection between them is very strong."
Stanley Padgett	Stan wipes some crumbs from his mouth... and looks at Ishirou. "Charlotte wasn't supposed to meet me. She wasn't supposed to be anything but a doll in that house. But she went to school, she found me. Tracked me down, even." He nudges his phone, which makes the Reversal notification noise... "Delilah wasn't ever able to give us information we didn't already have. She wasn't able to really... help us. At all. And that doesn't seem to track for... what I would want in an assistant, if I was Igor. But..." Stanley looks at his tea, which is already lukewarm. "Igor didn't ever seem to be mad about Delilah being there. And he didn't seem like he was... upset she wasn't helping us. He had to have known if Delilah was wished into uselessness, or to work for NovaTech." "Maybe he doesn't care?" Stan sips his tea.
Ishirou	"Maybe... maybe it's something else? There is honestly only one way to find out and that's asking him," Ishirou puts forward. He doesn't know Igor well... well, at all really, but... if this man was trying to play the game too, that seems like the way he'd do things until the right moment. Or at least, that's how he thought he'd play it. Ishirou takes another sip of tea and looks at Stanley. "It sucks that you're in this situation, I know. I'm sorry it could be better... and after all of this, you should think about how it can and will be better, alright? Think for the future, not the present and it's circumstances."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley deflates a little again. "Then we wait for Charlotte to be ready to talk to Igor too. I am not going without her." A moment. Ishirou talks about the future, and Stanley straightens up again. "We've been trying to find days to go looking for houses, but keep getting sidelined by Stuff. But we're staying together, even when this is done. Assuming we both survive."
Ishirou	"No assuming you're going to die. Plan for the future, because then it'll make sure you have something to pull you through what might face you down... and so far this stuff is scary," Ishirou suggests, and finishes his tea. "So find that house Stanley. Anyway! Thanks for the tea, it was very good!" he says with a bright smile and waves goodbye for now.
Stanley Padgett	"...Thanks, Ishirou." He looks at the back of the android and, and takes a last bite of his crumb cake. "...one of us is going to have a future. Why shouldn't it be me?"