[He doesn't actually mind the food.

He doesn't actually mind the food?

It's not the worst thing that he's eaten in his entire life, passable, but growing boys are hungry as hell, and he raises an eyebrow as he stuffs his face with another forkful of indiscernible food goo. His mouth is pretty much full when he asks-]

You gonna finish that?

[On most days in Stuxta, Ryuji can be found in a mechanic shop not far from the racing venue. He's found full time work doing mostly small things at first- moving boxes around, separating lug nuts from bolts, but occasionally the shop owner will take pity on him and teach him how to do some simple repairs. This... is a really weird sort of opportunity for Ryuji, because up until now, he's pretty much believed that school and learning and studying was all a crock of shit, but using his hands? Physically touching parts to learn how to repair them, and getting himself all greasy and mucked up; this is the sort of thing that he could never learn behind a desk. And he's living for it. He spends more than just 8 hour shifts here, and the android behind the operation has taken to a keen liking of the kid. He has enthusiasm for days and works almost as hard as someone who's programmed to do so.

He's gotten enough trust from the owner to man the shop, too, while the more important details can be taken care of. Ryuji's grown fond of the guy, too, so he's doing his best to be both a merchant and a mechanic, standing behind the front counter, tinkering away at what looks like a muffler that needs some welding done on it. He hasn't leveled up that well in this particular area of Fixing Shit Up, but he's at least trying to get things together so that when the owner comes back later he can show him.

With a warm smile, honest-to-god happy that he's here, he greets you as you enter the shop with a short wave. If you're delivering parts, he'll take the invoice. If you're shopping for something to fix your bike up, he'll be there to suggest some parts from the back room. Or if you're just wandering in and want to talk to a newly bonafide grease monkey, Ryuji's there for you too.]

Hey. Welcome to Heavy Metal, what's up?

[He's worked for a few weeks with the small hope that the androids will give him a bike to get his hands on and give racing a try. Ever since he set his eyes on the races, that's where his heart has been, and finally, finally, he's looking at what appears to be his pride and glory. The equivalent of a 1957 Chevy, busted, in the midst of hyper futuristic amazing bikes. There's probably no way that he can win with this thing, but maybe he can scrap together some parts to make it a little better.

First, though, this thing seriously needs a new paint job. He decides to give his powers a little test drive, touches the chrome of the bike and watches it turn an obscenely bright yellow. He's so pleased with himself, he's practically grinning ear to ear. It was his own piece of shit, and the pride that comes along with having an entry level bike to get in on these thrill junkie circuits is practically pulsing through his veins.]

Eh, not bad. [He turns, looking you over, and crosses his arms.] Wanna go for a test drive, dude?

[Ryuji's shopping exploits have proven to be incredibly... fucking useless, to be honest. He's found a bunch of shops that sell things he's never seen before, but hell, if it isn't a throwback to the diminishing number of junker shops in Akihabara, he doesn't know what is. He's spent some time looking around, but for the most part, Ryuji had led a decently ascetic life back home. Money was always tight with a single income household, so he learned to curb his appetite for nicer things and took care of the stuff he already had extremely well. That isn't to say that he didn't love the prospect of hanging out with his friends after a good heist, taking in the extravagance of UTTER MEAT DOMINATION at a buffet, but mostly he just enjoyed... the experience of it.

He comes across a peculiar shop, then, and picks up what has to be a rubik's cube of sorts. The owner had supplied him with some minimal information about it, explaining that it was meant to be a battery pack and somehow wound up as a speaker, and hey, if you ask questions from it, it'll totally give logically great answers. All for the low, low, price of get it out of my shop and I'll give it to you for free.

Free. Now that's what he's talking about. And he brings it with him pretty much everywhere he goes, since it's kind of cool. Any conversation started with him after this point will begin with the following offer, and hell, he's outgoing enough to probably just walk up to you and ask:]

Yo, ask this thing a question. It's great!

[if you have anything you want to do, throw it at me, or reach me at centerfold]