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2020-06-26 - It Will Out

2020-07-12T04:08:55Z

DariRyusei: Oh God So Many Formatting Mistakes

{{Logsummary|
Title = It Will Out
|Summary = Shiro's got some severe PTSD that he's been keeping bottled up. With the frustration of keeping how he (still) feels about Adam secret, and Adam starting the 'we should part ways' discussion, it flares a bit. Result? He loses the filters on his behavior and his language. '''''WARNING:''' Sexual innuendo, strong language, m/m PG-13 makeout stuff, and people being stupid about their feelings. And '''''HANDHOLDING'''''!
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = June 26, 2020
|Where = [[Integra's Arms Apartments]] - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

Shiro's been doing what he can to get Adam more adjusted to things. This is mostly to help him come along from his injuries, but it's not like it's FULLY without ulterior motive. It's not like Shiro wants Adam out of the apartment, no. If anything Shiro wants to get Adam to STAY in the apartment, and he gets the very clear feeling that Adam feels like a burden and wants to leave as soon as he feels secure enough to.

So, Shiro's been sneaking in little dates with Adam as a sort of two birds with one stone approach to helping Adam out with things. He's been doing a lot of little things like managing to work out ways to get Adam's old favorite things (or at least things close to them) and taking Adam to do things he remembers Adam liking to do.

Unfortunately, Shiro's getting the sinking feeling all his attempts might just be adding up to nothing, however. He can't shake the feeling that Adam just isn't getting the hint... Due to this he's currently stewing over the paper on the sofa.

Fortunately for Shiro, 'as soon as he feels secure enough to leave' also entails making sure Shiro's got stable employment and can make the most of his skills here. Unfortunately, since there doesn't seem to be any need for a standing army or spacecraft pilots -- or ANY kind of pilots, really -- it's been difficult for Shiro to find something to do. Though Adam's been patient with that, and hasn't minded being the 'sole breadwinner'... so to speak.

That said... it's not that Adam hasn't gotten the hint. He's been trying not to pick it up. Through all those things that Shiro's been doing for him, Adam's been remembering their relationship from when they were younger. Well, from when Shiro was younger. It hasn't really been that long, chronologically at least, for Adam. Though, Adam has been trying to return the favor a little, at least. He hasn't gone out of his way to do grand things, but he's made an effort to cook well for them and keep the apartment clean.

Yes, he does believe he's been a burden on Shiro, and he doesn't want to continue that trend. Which, ironically, is one of the reasons he does want to eventually move out -- he wants Shiro to be able to move on, and he's not sure Shiro can do that while essentially living with his ex. He hasn't '''missed''' the hint... he's just been leaving it alone, forcing himself to logic his way around it. It's not easy -- he's not a machine, after all. He does have feelings, and is just as susceptible to them as other people. But he's convinced himself it's for the best.

Even so, Adam has been in not that great of a mood of late. He's been able to keep it from leaking out and making him be rude to Shiro, but mainly that's because he's been doing that thing he always does when he's upset about something... obsessively cleaning things. That and because he tends to just go quiet when he's not feeling well, and it's hard to yell at someone when you don't say anything (which is usually why he does that).

At the moment Adam's silently but rather intensely cleaning the dining room table -- again, doing that thing where he obsessively cleans things. The expression on his face can only be described as 'aggressively casual' as he tries not to look too bothered by the fact that he's been turning this situation over and over in his head and been unable to find a way to fix the problem. Presenting him with an unfixable problem is a surefire way to bug the hell out of him, after all...

Shiro has tried putting in for a teaching job, but he hasn't heard back so far. As such it's still mostly him just doing small odd jobs here and there when he's not fretting over Adam just because he wants to. However, at current it seems the both of them are in a not so great mood. Adam hovering over the table while Shiro does his best impression of the irritable, disappointed father news paper read on the couch...it's like there should be some misbehaved kid in the room or something.

Shiro hesitantly lets his gaze drift toward Adam as he looks up from the paper for a moment. This only causes him to look a little less irritable in the place of seeming a bit befuddled. He tries not to act on it for the moment but....jeeze. Is Adam even considering what he's doing right now? ...though seeing his face earlier and how long he's been at that table, probably not.

Adam is unaware he's being stared at. But, eventually, he '''is''' going to get tired. And as much as he wants to keep cleaning things, he does need to rest. So he straightens from the table, sighs, and goes to sit down. He gives a quiet grunt as his back comes in contact with the back of the chair -- he needs to get his back to relax.

He stays quiet though, leaning his head back. Though he's of course aware of Shiro being there. It's just a combination of not wanting to bother him, with not knowing what to say, and also not wanting to chance and possibly snap at him. And the rather juvenile urge to not be caught looking at him.

Shiro sighs a little as he closes the paper and sets it on the coffee table. "...Finally get exhausted from trying to change the color of the table," he wonders. Despite his bad seeming mood with the paper, the question and the tone it's asked in seem to be well meaning and friendly enough. As much as the choice of words sounds kind of stabby, it honestly feels more like a friendly jab than something asked in irritation.

Adam looks up suddenly, as if he didn't expect Shiro to speak just then. He didn't, but it was more, he was thinking. "Huh?" A pause and the words register then. He looks up at the clock, realizing that yes, he had been at that for about a half-hour. And then he gives a sound that might be somewhere between a huff and a chuckle -- he recognizes the teasing tone. And he thusly responds, in that same teasing tone, "It's too dark, I was seeing if I could lighten it a shade or two."

Though after a moment he sighs. "Sorry about that," he offers quietly. "I get weird when I start overthinking." Which Shiro probably remembers, yeah...

Shiro nods in agreement. "Yeah, I've noticed that over the years," he says with a slight grin, "...Anything you want to talk about?" He turns so his knees are on the couch instead of his behind, with his only elbow on the back of the couch as he turns his attention fully on Adam now rather than just side eyeing him.

Talk about it? Surely not. It's one of those situations that are so easy to explain, but Shiro would be the last person he'd want to know about it. There's already way too much on Shiro's plate as it is, and Adam's not going to be the selfish asshole that puts '''more''' on it.

So Adam shakes his head. "No, but thank you," he replies quietly. "I'm just a bit..." He trails off, makes a vague circular gesture with his hand. "...Out of sorts, I guess. I'm having to accept the situation in stages, and this must just be the 'down' stage." There's more to it than that, but he'll leave it at that for now.

Shiro frowns a little and nods. "That makes sense," he replies, "...anything you want to do that might get your mind off of it?" He tilts his head slightly and holds his robotic hand off to the side as if invisibly holding some item up on the palm of it's hand.

Once more, Adam shakes his head. "Thank you, but... it's not something that I can really avoid for too long," he notes. Prophetic, that; he's going to have to face their situation sooner or later. Maybe sooner would be better, so they didn't have to deal with the awkwardness that parting would create. Not that it wasn't already awkward between them.

Adam draws a breath here, releasing it in a steadying breath. "...Besides, you've done a lot for me already to try to help me be better at ease in this place anyway. I appreciate it, I really do. It's shown me that being here isn't so bad." So he '''has''' noticed it. Just he doesn't seem to understand the purpose of it.

Shiro gives a small sigh, though it's hard to say if it's from relief or something else. "Well yeah...I don't want you to think you have to leave," Shiro states, "I'd rather you stuck around..." He just kind of lets that hang there, but doesn't really expect much of a response from it.

Tilting his head, Adam admits, "...It would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean... we're both the only real familiarity in this place that the other one has." Familiarity? A pause, and then Adam ventures, "...I don't want it to be all either of us have, though. Even if there's not much outside it, this is a pretty big city, and there's a lot to experience." Hopefully he'd understand that. And just in case he didn't? "I mean... I significanly hindered your early experience here; if you hadn't had to take care of me, you probably would have a stable life here by now."

Shiro smiles as Adam's saying the first part. "Yes, that's what I mean," he slips in during Adam's pause. Then the rest of it comes though. Even he's starting to have trouble hiding his frustration as Adam continues. "I'm not worried about that," he insists, "...What do I really need right now?"

Adam blinks a little, picking up a little of the frustration in Shiro's tone. But he does consider the question. "What you need?" he echoes. "I think you need to be able to move on and really embrace what might be a very long future here. But I also think it would be hard to do that with me around. You have to know that's what I've been working towards. But I'm not going to just leave you to twist in the wind, not even with these apartments providing for you."

"..." Shiro seems to find it difficult to think of how to respond to that, "You aren't making that hard at all...honestly. Why would you be making that hard? What's making it hard is my own way of things..."

"Well, I mean... it can't really be denied that there was some..." Adam trails off. When he begins to speak again, his voice is calm and level, the tone he uses when he's about to explain something he figures the other person's going to find unpleasant. Almost soothing, but with a slightly detached air that indicates he's trying to sort of... distance himself from what he's saying.

"...I'd feel arrogant calling it 'trauma'," Adam begins. "But there had to have been some... guilt when you came back to Earth and they told you I was dead. I don't want you to let that get to you. I don't want you to hamstring yourself here, in any attempt to make up for something. I've noticed you're doing a lot for me, especially lately, with the activities."

He pauses, shifting forward in his chair again, ignoring the twinge of his back, and turns to look at Shiro properly as well. "I just want you to know this -- what happened wasn't your fault, and you don't owe me anything."

Shiro crosses his arms and tilts his head some. "I can't say that's completely untrue," he admits, "But that's not why I was meaning to do it... I just want to make you happy again."

Adam offers a small smile here. But it's got a kind of... sad quality to it. He moves to lean on the table a little, folding his hands in front of him, looking at the surface as if he doesn't know what to say. And he doesn't speak for a while. It's '''that''' pose again, maybe a familiar one. Finally he speaks up again, quietly. "That's what I mean," he says quietly, still looking at the table. "You don't have to do that anymore. Keeping me entertained isn't your responsibility."

"And I didn't assume it was," Shiro states, "But I '''want''' to..." He gives a frown and furrows his brows some. "...is it wrong of me to want to?"

Adam shakes his head, but doesn't speak up immediately. ''(You shouldn't '''want''' to!')'' he wanted to say. ''(You should want to get on with your life!')'' But he didn't say that. He didn't really know what to say, actually. He closes his eyes then, to get his thoughts together, silent a moment. Finally he speaks up again. "You have to know how... inappropriate spending too much time on that should be. We're not together anymore, Takashi."

''('Even if I want to be...')''

...All right, he'd admit it, at least to himself. He did want to get back together. But that's precisely the reason he couldn't -- because that would be selfish. Shiro's had time to put Adam's 'death' in the past. He couldn't help that they'd both arrived here, and he couldn't help that he'd been so injured. And he didn't know what he would have done if Shiro hadn't been here. But he'd taken up too much of Shiro's attention as it was.

"...I guess we aren't," Shiro murmurs, "...Doesn't really make it inappropriate unless you don't want it." He turns back to sitting normally on the couch at this point, seeming to just leave it at that for now. He's not sure what else to say for now really. He's got to think on it more so he doesn't say something wrong entirely.

That's... about where Adam is now too, honestly. He already feels like he spoke out of turn. But it's true -- they're not together, so Shiro shouldn't really be treating him as if they are. He's always been pretty bad at this sort of thing. But... well, the weaning process has to begin sometime, right?

...Ugh, this whole thing just feels horrible.

Adam can ignore a lot of things. But the one thing he can't really stand is embarrassment. And he's '''incredibly''' embarrassed right now, and just generally feels like a massive, giant heel on top of it. So he shifts, to push the chair back from the table, and stands. He doesn't turn to look at Shiro. He just moves to the hook on the wall next to the door to grab his keys. "...I need to go get some air. I'll be back in a little while," he promises. His voice is flat and carefully controlled.

But he pauses before he opens the door. Why? He bows his head noticeably, and says quietly, "...I'm sorry, Takashi."

Shiro furrows his brows a bit, watching after him for a moment before suddenly rushing to hold the door closed. "....You think I don't know you that well," he asks, suddenly seeming uncharacteristically cold as he leans toward Adam. "You don't get to just walk out of the situation..."

Adam blinks as the door is pushed closed, and then looks in Shiro's direction. But that expression... something about it is off. Adam frowns slightly, taking a step back. Of course, there's nothing back there but the door, which is currently being held closed. Probably by Shiro's robot arm too, so the chance of him overpowering the grip is slim. "...Takashi?" He doesn't seem afraid, though. Just... confused.

Even if the way his eyes are narrowed like that does seem a little... angry. Shiro's never hurt him before though, and Adam can't think that he'd ever do it. So he asks, "...W-what do you mean?"

"You were going to just use this as an excuse to leave, right," Shiro ask before bringing a hand up to attempt to grab at Adam's shoulder. "Just leave and not come back?" He's leaning in even closer now, giving Adam a very uncharacteristic glare. "Just going to disappear on me? For 'my own good'?"

"What? No," Adam replies immediately.

It's not '''technically''' a lie. He was going to stay out most of the day until Shiro went to bed and '''then''' start the process. It would be easy to just go down to the lobby, arrange a different apartment for himself on another floor, and just wait until night to move. It's not like either one of them has a lot of stuff anyway; most of it would fit into a bag and he could have left silently.

But, he's not going to leave it at that. "...You have to admit, I've handled this very badly," he states. "I should be the last person you want to see right now."

"Damn...you're such a moron about wanting to be right," Shiro mutters, "Get your head out of your ass, or I'll force it out for you..."

Adam's frown deepens, becoming one of concern. This isn't right... '''nothing''' about this feels right. Shiro just isn't this hostile, even in this kind of situation. Maybe '''especially''' in this situation. Now he's more concerned than angry. Shiro mentioned some very characteristic PTSD behaviors -- irrational anger was often a symptom of a PTSD episode.

"...Takashi, what's gotten into you?" His voice isn't angry or demanding. It's quiet, concerned. "This isn't like you..."

Bonus? OH LOOK, A DISTRACTION! Keeps him from having to address the actual problem. Hopefully. He's avoiding it for now, but if Shiro doesn't 'wake up', he might not be able to.

"It's more about what '''hasn't''' gotten into me," Shiro mutters, "It's been a long damn time...and your little inability to be wrong is just stringing me along and teasing me..."

The joke, if there was one, flies right over Adam's head. Normally he'd have caught it, but he's a bit concerned now... and getting a little irritated, honestly. "What are you even talking about?" he inquires, the irritation beginning to show in his voice now. But still he doesn't raise his voice. He almost never does. "I'm not worried about being right in this. I'm worried about you. This place may not be home, but it's where we have to live, however long that is. And I don't want you being in your ex's pocket your whole time here."

Shiro facepalms with his free hand. "I'd say you've got to be fucking kidding me, but there's no fucking about it..." he mutters. "What says you have to be my ex, huh?"

...Yeah that was pretty blatant. Adam's startled out of his irritation by this, and his face goes a little red. "Wh-what?" he sputters. He seems at a loss for words for the moment, blinking and red-faced, not sure he heard any of that right.

"Oh come on...you aren't stupid," Shiro growls, "Should I stop spelling it out for you and just show you already?"

''('Get a hold of yourself!')'' Adam insists mentally. ''('This is '''not normal'''!')'' He shakes his head, as if clearing it, and then faces Shiro with more force in his presence. He frowns. "Am I going to have to hit you to get you to snap out of it?" he asks.

...Come to think of it, maybe that would get some of this tension out, if they just found a way to punch each other a bit. Adam hasn't been unaffected, honestly, but he's not the one suffering from PTSD. Shiro is. It might be able to calm him down some.

Notably, though, he didn't answer the question. He's not going to answer any questions with Shiro like this -- he's not speaking to Takashi, and he knows it.

"Oooh, I didn't think you were into that, but if that's what you want," Shiro says with a smirk, "We can do that...but do you '''really''' think you want to try that with me? Do you know how many people I've killed '''without''' being pissed off at them?"

That does frighten Adam a little -- Shiro told him he was made to kill in an arena, but he never went into specifics. But this is important. He can't back down now. Whatever darkness has come out here, it needs to be shown he's not going to cower. Besides, either he's right and Shiro won't actually hurt him...

...Or it suddenly won't be Adam's problem anymore.

"I didn't say I wanted to," Adam replies firmly. "But if I have to, I will."

"Ah...well that's not as fun..." Shiro says with a pout, "Damn, you're being good at moving your mouth, but it really isn't in the good way..." He sighs and shakes his head. "I guess I really '''do''' have to pull your head out of your ass '''for''' you..."

Adam blushes, and gives a quiet sound of embarrassment. But he stands firm still. "I'm not going to discuss this subject with you while you're like this," he says, tone brooking no argument. "You're emotional right now and this is a conversation that needs rational thought. We '''will''' have the conversation," he promises. "But not with you like this. When you calm down..."

Shiro gives another sigh before leaning in even closer. Without waiting for any sign of permission or anything else of the like, he presses his lips to Adam's. Granted, as much as it seems he has no intent on backing out of this, he's still barely doing anything to keep Adam where he is. His flesh hand is holding one of his shoulders, other wise he isn't constraining Adam at all.

"When you calm down," Adam is mid-sentence, "we'll dis--"

Then suddenly he can't continue, because Shiro is kissing him.

And Adam intantly freezes, tensing. That's the last thing he expected. Honestly he expected Shiro to take a swing at him, and have to tussle with him a bit to get him to calm down. But better have to fight with him than have him go out into the city like this. But this? He's not quite sure what to do.

...Actually yeah, he is sure what to do -- at least some part of him is pretty sure. In the few moments before the logical part of his brain kicks in he relaxes, closing his eyes and tilting his head a little. This is familiar, and he's missed it. And it's really nice, too.

And theeeeeen his brain catches up with things. He can almost hear an audible record-scratch in his head as his mental voice suddenly does a very good impression of a popular cartoon rabbit that's predisposed to mischief against hunters.

''('...'''WHAT AM I DOING?'''')''

The movement isn't abrupt, but Adam pulls away from Shiro, ducking around him -- notably, '''into''' the apartment, not out the door. He's blushing again, and looks both embarrassed and flustered! "...That was... very inappropriate," he begins. His voice is still ever so slightly throaty, airy, as he seems to be catching his breath.

Shiro smirks a little. "Well I don't see anyone else here and I don't hear you complaining, so who's it inappropriate for," he wonders, "...'sides it's not like '''''I''''' give two craps about being appropriate...you're talking to the wrong 'Gane about that...."

'The wrong 'Gane?' Adam frowns, not understanding. Shiro didn't have a brother or something, did he? An evil twin, something like that? Then he remembered the conversation in which Shiro told him about the time in the Galra's arenas. He said he'd had to become a different person, someone he didn't like.

Someone that was the opposite of everything Adam knew to be true of Shiro.

If this was those instincts waking up, then it wasn't Shiro. It was someone Adam didn't know. And Adam realized he might be in more danger than he first thought. Was this just Shiro without filters... or was his someone who '''liked''' killing?

He'd said his crew called him 'Shiro'. And Keith used to call him that too. But if this wasn't Shiro -- more importantly that he '''said''' he wasn't Shiro -- then Adam shouldn't call him that. Then what should he call this one? 'Shiro' was the Japanese word for 'white'. And if this was the opposite of Shiro...

"...Kuro," Adam utters simply, quietly. Of course he does put forth the effort to make the proper 'ro' sound, rather than just Westernize the 'r'.

Shiro pauses and blinks at that. "Kuro?" he asks, seeming totally lost as to why that word is being brought up. Notably he's not moved to '''hurt''' Adam other than that very forward kiss earlier and keeping him from leaving. He certainly seems very '''vocally''' threatening though.

"It's come back, hasn't it?" Adam realizes. "That person you had to be in the Galra's arena... you convinced yourself so completely that it was a different person... that that's what it became -- that's what '''he''' became... A different person. If you don't want to be 'Shiro', you can be 'Kuro'."

This is just as much for his own benefit as for Shiro's, now. If this person has another name to call himself, he might 'warn' Adam he's coming out next time. Or maybe Shiro will.

'Kuro' blinks some more. "Huh," he murmurs, "....I guess it's like that, yeah...I'm part of me, but I'm usually just buried in the back of my own mind until the emotions just bottle up too much..."

Adam nods. Good, the disassociation isn't a complete one -- even like this, Shiro still has knowledge of himself as... well, himself. Just this is a part of him that he's buried. "We have to work on getting these emotions properly integrated, so you won't have to do that." Pause. "Yes, 'we'," he continues, his voice gentling. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you to twist in the breeze, and I intend to keep that promise. If you need me, I'll be here."

'Kuro' sighs a little. Even though things seem to be calming, even his general posture and basic mannerisms feel out of character for Shiro. "...Fine just... let's talk about all this like adults instead of running the hell away from each other... before I give in to the urge to fill up some rather neglected holes..."

Adam knows what Shiro's talking about now, and blushes a little. He clears his throat, ducking his head a little and rather needlessly adjusting his glasses. "Yes. Let's talk." He walks back into the living room and sits down on the couch, waiting for Shiro to join him. Or would that be 'Kuro' when he's like this? He's not sure right now.

Shiro shakes his head a little and clears his throat. "....er...sorry..." he murmurs as he sits down next to Adam, "I guess we should start all this back from the top again... I hope that wasn't TOO bad..."

"Is it... passing now?" Adam inquires. He's not quite sure how to ask the question. He doesn't want to ask 'are you back to normal now', since that would imply that he's upset at Shiro for the slip. He isn't. Adam understands what happened -- a panic response went off in Shiro's head, and 'Kuro' answered.

Shiro nods in reply. "Yes, I'm getting my grip back again... sorry... I was hoping no one would have to see that. He seems a lot less volatile than usual though..."

Adam relaxes then, and nods. "That's good. Though, um..." He pauses, wondering if he should say this or not. He decides on, "...He seemed less interested in killing me and more interested in... er... a 'smaller' death." Yeah, he's still blushing.

Shiro blushes and clears his throat again. "Yeah...he can be like that sometimes," he states, seeming to have no real interest into going into why. "I'm glad he didn't do anything worse..."

The conversation of why can happen later. Right now? Adam sighs. "All right, so... what happened?" he inquires. "I get the general idea. Bottled up emotions, and they broke free. The genie came out of the bottle, essentially. But what '''were''' those emotions you were bottling up? And why did they break free now?"

"I was just getting frustrated," Shiro admits, "And I guess part of me panicked too. I don't want to---" He pauses and shakes his head. "Not... I can't even really say that because it'd require something that isn't the case in the first place. ...I didn't want to lose the '''illusion''' of having you again."

Adam takes a breath. "I have noticed it... the little things you've been doing," he replies. "I'm very appreciative of all those things. But... I'm no different than I was back then -- for you. Almost no time has passed for me. You've grown up. I haven't." His voice takes on a bit of a self-deprecating note as he continues, "...As you can see, I guess..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "For you what I did is a lot more recent..." he states, "And even though I meant well, it was still a thing of betrayal that I shouldn't have done to you... I was trying to protect you and not give in to some sort of imagined defeat at the same time...but I wasn't thinking enough about your feelings in the process."

Adam shakes his head. "No, I understand why you did it," he replies. "You weren't going to get another chance, one way or the other. I was selfish for expecting you to just... lay down and give up to stay with me." His hands, resting on his knees, suddenly seem like the most fascinating thing in the apartment. "...I just... didn't want to see you work yourself to death," he admits. His voice is quiet, his words slow, as he's trying to put them together in his head before speaking them. "And it was likely you would have died on that mission before you got back... I didn't think I could handle that. And I knew there wasn't any way I could go with you -- I would have, if I'd been able to..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "I didn't want to keep ruining things for you with all the stress I must have caused you," he states, "But... well I'm better now, and smarter now. It probably feels like I'm just clinging to you because you're familiar, but that isn't it."

"That's what I thought, yes," Adam admits. "And in a world like this, where everything's so crazy, familiarity might be the only thing that keeps you sane. But eventually you have to let go of the anchor. If that's all it was... I wanted to make sure I wasn't the anchor bringing you down."

Shiro shakes his head and chuckles slightly. "If anyone's doing that to me, it'd be myself..." he states, "You'd always been there to help me keep moving...figuratively and non."

Adam smiles, though he still doesn't look up. It's good to know that he helped Shiro, even a little. But he's not going to ask Shiro to go into how -- that seems self-aggrandizing. Instead he asks, "...So. What is this, then? What do you -- I mean... If it's not just clinging to familiarity -- and I'm not saying you were the only one doing that -- then, what is it?"

"For now roommates," Shiro states, "But we could restart as something more than that...if you'd have me."

Adam doesn't reply for a moment, he has a thoughtful look on his face. "We wouldn't really be able to just... pick up where we left off," he points out. "Too much time has passed for you." For Adam, it's only been a year at most. For Shiro, several years have passed.

And that makes Adam realize something that he thought he'd accepted already. Shiro is not the same person he was then. He'd known it intellectually... but after seeing 'Kuro', now it's just sinking in and he actually '''knows''' it now.

He remembers his train of thought then. "But even so... even if we can't just pick up where we left off, we also can't act like there's never been anything between us," he continues, finally looking up at Shiro. "There '''has''' been, and to ignore it would be foolish. I'm not sure how we would deal with that."

Notably, however... he hasn't said that he doesn't want to...

Shiro frowns thoughtfully. "Well obviously we can't ignore it..." he states, "I'm not sure there's exactly a way to approach it aside from keeping it in mind..."

Adam gives a small smile here. "Keep it in mind as a cautionary tale for us both not to be stupid?" he notes, sounding amused. A pause here, and he looks back at his hands. Yeah, he does that a lot. He does it when he's trying to rationalize something. "...I guess it's all right to admit it now... but I never really 'got over' you. That might not mean as much from me, since so little time passed for me between then and now, but..."

Shiro chuckles a little and then tilts his head at Adam's look of trying to rationalize something. "There's nothing wrong with that...I never got over you either, as much as some things Kuro might say might make it feel otherwise..."

"I get the feeling he wouldn't have been so... verbally abusive if he didn't care," Adam surmises. "Besides, that part of you wouldn't have come out if you weren't worried that I was going to leave. I'd say that means you care. People don't get angry about things they don't care about."

He pauses again, one of his hands curling into a fist where it rests on his knee. The hand lifts, seems to hesitate... and then Adam reaches over to place that hand over one of Shiro's. It's been a long time since he's done that just for the purpose of holding his hand. He doesn't say anything, just lets the touch be the thing that does the communicating. It's a hesitant touch, one that's clearly waiting for some kind of consent before becoming more involved.

Shiro smiles and...for lack of having another hand that's good for this sort of thing, he pats at Adam's hand with his robotic one. "That's true..." he replies, "He is probably terrible because he cares...he exists because it was too hard for me not to care..."

Adam doesn't seem to care about the robotic hand being the one to pat his hand. His smile widens a little. And he gets an idea. He turns his hand, and makes to try to link his fingers with those of the robotic hand. A gesture of acceptance, if any was needed -- he's not said anything negative about the arm in the time they've been here. But still, acceptance nonetheless. And trust, too; that hand is a lot stronger than a normal hand would be, and he doesn't seem to be worried that Shiro will hurt him.

Shiro smiles and '''gently''' squeezes at Adam's hand in turn. "Thank you..." he states, "You don't know how much I needed something like this when my arm was galran tech..."

Adam considers the robotic limb. "The one they gave you in the arena?" he asks. He knows this one isn't the same one; Shiro's told him this floaty one is made from mostly Altean technology. "The one that was being used to control the clone?" Yeah, he got to that part, too.

Shiro nods in reply. "I felt so much like I wasn't even human anymore with that arm in place..." he states, "Even though this arm's even less like a human one, it makes me feel less like a monster..."

"Given what it was used to do, I'm sure you couldn't help but see it as a bad thing," Adam replies quietly. "I'm glad you're free of it. This one... I'll admit I find the design a bit strange, but it's not upsetting to me at all. And if this was built for you, I can only imagine what's been done with prosthetics in general, with this kind of technology available."

Shiro nods in reply. "My crew has more than it's share of genius in it," he states, "This one was mainly something Allura was to be thanked for...."

The mention off Allura draws Adam's smile to fall a bit. "I'm sorry about what happened to her," he replies. "I imagine it was pretty difficult for you, given you were so close to her." He doesn't say this to mean 'close' in a romantic light, of course. She was a friend, and it's always hard to lose a friend.

Shiro nods and squeezes at Adam's hand again. "And I'm getting another gift from her sacrifice even now..." he murmurs thoughtfully, looking toward the window as if he expects he'll some how see her outside.

"How so?" Adam inquires, looking up at Shiro's face again. He'd been concentrating on looking at their linked fingers. Mainly because he was trying not to look like a teenager holding hands with a high school crush and had been fighting a really silly blush until just then.

"Well, now I'm here with you again, talking about this," Shiro replies with a little smile. That might make it even harder not to blush over this.

Sure enough Adam does indeed blush at this. Though he's still smiling. "I don't think she sent you here," he points out. "Or do you mean pulling your spirit from the Lion? I'm fairly certain she couldn't have left you in there anyway. You were needed -- the rest of the pilots needed you. Not just as a leader, but as a friend."

"I mean the fact that our reality still even existed thanks to her...so right now that means I'm alive to see you again..." Shiro points out.

"Technically everyone in your reality has her to thank for their continued existence," Adam replies. He doesn't call it his own reality, because, well... he stopped being a part of it when he died. "It's just unfair that she had to do that to save everyone..."

Shiro nods in reply. "It really is..." he agrees, "...maybe she's out there somewhere like you were, but with what she did, I'm not so sure that's possible."

"I can only hope she at least got to go somewhere good," Adam replies. "I don't know what their theology was, but whatever the Altean's version of heaven was, I hope she got to go there." He pauses and leans a bit so that he's leaning on Shiro a little, to try to cheer him up a little. He's never been very demonstrative of his affection, but the little things are there for those who choose to look.

Shiro smiles softly again. Being some what more affectionate than Adam, he kisses at the side of Adam's head here. "Thank you...I've really needed the little things like this..."

Adam blushes again, slightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't feel like it was really appropriate, given the... situation," he says quietly. And since he hasn't actually '''officially''' said he wants that situation to change, he notes, "I think it should be all right now though, since... since we're... I'm..." Why is he stumbling over it '''now'''?! He sighs, and clears his throat. "I would... like to try again," he finally gets the words together.

"Yeah, I'd love to try again," Shiro agrees, "...thank you for giving me another chance Adam. I'll definitely do better by you this time."

"That's a promise we both have to make," Adam points out. "We both screwed up, and we didn't have a chance to fix it back then. I don't know why I didn't realize it before now... We didn't have that chance the first time, and I was letting it pass us both by. And I didn't realize that you... well, that you needed the closeness." Pause. "...And, yes. I needed it too, I'm starting to realize that too." He chuckles.

More seriously, he tilts his head back a bit more, so he can see Shiro clearly from where he's leaning. "I promise, I'll do better this time," he offers quietly, with a small, subdued smile that is no less genuine for being subded.

"We'll have to work together on it, but that's the point, isn't it," Shiro replies with a little grin. He peers curiously toward Adam and offers another smile. "And that's alright...you can't help that I'm greedy for attention."

"Kind of ironic," Adam notes, sounding amused, "given the stereotypes surrounding our respective nationalities. You being the sort to... show affection in physical ways in public, and me being the kind to be more subdued about it." That wouldn't be the only stereotype the two of them were breaking, but that's the one that can be talked about here without being '''completely''' insensitive!

Shiro nods in agreement. "Not that I'd be '''too''' affectionate in public," he states, "...maybe in public places when no one's around though..."

Adam chuckles. "No, you never have before," he notes. Though that said... that other... well, not quite personality... Shiro just sort of loses his filter a little. Okay, he loses his filter '''a lot'''. He's not sure Shiro wouldn't be that inappropriate in public in that state.

Which... makes him think of something. "Actually, I do have one more question," he begins. "Are we... how quickly is this going? It isn't as though we '''haven't''' been to that point before, but... are we setting goals?" A breath. "More to the point... are we sharing a bed? I've noticed you have trouble sleeping... and that one time I tried to wake you up and you pulled me into the bed with you and fell asleep again..."

Shiro blushes on this note. "Well, I certainly wouldn't complain about having something to keep my mind at ease," he states. "We don't have to go fast about it though. Just because we were ready before doesn't mean we're ready now..."

"And sharing a bed doesn't necessarily mean... being intimate in it," Adam adds. That is also definitely an Adam thing to do -- go out of his way to find a 'polite' way of referring to certain non-polite things! "I'm concerned, since you don't seem to be sleeping well. If you're going to find a job, you'll definitely need to get proper sleep. And if my being there will help..."

Shiro nods in agreement. "Exactly," he states, "There's no need to rush any of this. We can just do what's comfortable at the time." That said, there is something about Shiro that feels restrained... Something that feels like he's pulling another of those scream on the inside sort of stunts.

''('Well, at least some things about him haven't changed,')'' Adam notes mentally. He's about to leave it be, to just agree... and then. He pauses. What happened earlier happened because of Shiro bottling things up. So he thinks about how to ask.

And thinks.

And thinks.

...And thinks.

He thinks so long, in fact, that it might seem that he was upset about something. But then '''finally''', Adam inquires hesitantly, "...Is... I mean... what's wrong?" He'd been about to ask 'if' something was wrong... but he knows there is. So instead, he asks 'what'. Less options to wiggle out of things!

Shiro blinks a little at that. "Hmm," he wonders, "Nothing outside of the ordinary really..." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Worrying maybe, as much as I wanted this, I might just be saddling you with a different set of burdens again..."

"Burdens are always easier when they're shared," Adam replies. "So don't worry about it. Whatever it is that's worrying you, I'll figure out a way to help you with it. You just need to tell me what I need to do, and I'll do the best I can. Besides, if I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't still be here. And I certainly wouldn't have agreed to get back together with you."

"Okay but ...you have to do it too," Shiro states, "I mean...how much of our old relationship was times of you pulling my impaired self out of the fire?"

Adam looks a bit sheepish. "Well... true. But I didn't do it because I had to," he points out. "I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to help you then, and I want to help you now. Besides, I'd say you paid it back, given how much you helped me while I was recovering. If you hadn't been there, I might have had to stay in a hospital. You didn't have to do that, but you did." He smiles. "Thank you."

"Thank you too," Shiro replies, "Should we do something small to celebrate?"

Adam nods. "It... feels like something that should be celebrated, yes," he decides. No lie there. A bit of an understatement though -- he feels the same floaty way he did when they officially started dating the first time! "What do you think would be an appropriate way to celebrate it?"

"Maybe we should get something out so you don't have to cook," Shiro states, "Other than that...let's see...some desert and just taking a rest?"

"I think I remember where there's a sushi place, if you felt like braving the outside," Adam replies. He's not offering just because Shiro's Japanese either, he likes the stuff too. "Getting pizza and a few sweets delivered here sounds good too though, if you preferred the idea of staying in."

"Hmm, sushi sounds great, but pizza sounds more personal," Shiro says thoughtfully, "Well, since it's technically our first night, I guess we should do the sushi this time."

Adam nods. "It looks like an informal place, more of a sushi bar than a fancy sit-down place," he notes. "So you won't have to dress up really fancy." If the two of them even '''have''' any fancy clothes aside from what Adam wears to work. Of course, that might or might not have favored into his suggestion.

"That's good yeah," Shiro states, "I've only got casual stuff with me...I should really fix that eventually."

Adam chuckles. "Give it time. We haven't been here '''too''' long, and most of what we've been concerned about up to this point has been making do," he notes. And also apparently avoiding how they felt about each other, not to forget that! But. Yes. "We get to hopefully play the long game now."

Shiro nods in agreement. "Hopefully the clothes didn't keep me from getting any of the jobs I interviewed for..." he murmurs, "But I'd think the people here would understand the situation the inhabitants are going through, so it should be fine."

"Probably not," Adam replies. And to make Shiro feel better, he notes, "Maybe they just didn't want such a threat to their present romantic relationships working there. They'd have to look at you every day and try to hold back asking you out." He's... not '''great''' at this sort of thing, but he's trying at least!

Shiro chuckles a little at Adam's way of thinking. "I guess that '''could''' be true," he states, "You do have a good enough sense of taste that others might have it too..."

Adam smiles. "Who knows?" He pauses, to offer a hand to Shiro. "Are you ready to go? Or do you want to do something before we go?" he inquires. He's presentable enough for a sushi bar, but if Shiro wants to fix his hair or whatever, he's okay with that.

Shiro smiles and takes the offered hand. "I'm ready to go, sure," he answers, "Let's have some sushi!"

And it's here that Adam pauses, considering these clasped hands with a thoughtful look. Did either of them ever think that they'd ever do that again? Adam because he thought that Shiro would die on the mission, and Shiro because Adam actually '''did''' die in his timeline. Even then Adam never thought they'd be together again, not after having broken up. But here they were. So much had happened to Shiro, he'd grown and matured since they broke up. ''('I'm going to have to learn to grow up too,')'' Adam decides.

He seems to 'wake up' then, and the smile returns. "Good idea," he agrees. He's never been one for PDAs in public, but there's going to be some hand-holding on the way to the place!

|}}

2020-06-26 - It Will Out

2020-07-10T05:28:05Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = It Will Out
|Summary = Shiro's got some severe PTSD that he's been keeping bottled up. With the frustration of keeping how he (still) feels about Adam secret, and Adam starting the 'we should part ways' discussion, it flares a bit. Result? He loses the filters on his behavior and his language. '''''WARNING:''' Sexual innuendo, strong language, m/m PG-13 makeout stuff, and people being stupid about their feelings. And '''''HANDHOLDING'''''!
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = June 26, 2020
|Where = [[Integra's Arms Apartments]] - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

Shiro's been doing what he can to get Adam more adjusted to things. This is mostly to help him come along from his injuries, but it's not like it's FULLY without ulterior motive. It's not like Shiro wants Adam out of the apartment, no. If anything Shiro wants to get Adam to STAY in the apartment, and he gets the very clear feeling that Adam feels like a burden and wants to leave as soon as he feels secure enough to.

So, Shiro's been sneaking in little dates with Adam as a sort of two birds with one stone approach to helping Adam out with things. He's been doing a lot of little things like managing to work out ways to get Adam's old favorite things (or at least things close to them) and taking Adam to do things he remembers Adam liking to do.

Unfortunately, Shiro's getting the sinking feeling all his attempts might just be adding up to nothing, however. He can't shake the feeling that Adam just isn't getting the hint... Due to this he's currently stewing over the paper on the sofa.

Fortunately for Shiro, 'as soon as he feels secure enough to leave' also entails making sure Shiro's got stable employment and can make the most of his skills here. Unfortunately, since there doesn't seem to be any need for a standing army or spacecraft pilots -- or ANY kind of pilots, really -- it's been difficult for Shiro to find something to do. Though Adam's been patient with that, and hasn't minded being the 'sole breadwinner'... so to speak.

That said... it's not that Adam hasn't gotten the hint. He's been trying not to pick it up. Through all those things that Shiro's been doing for him, Adam's been remembering their relationship from when they were younger. Well, from when Shiro was younger. It hasn't really been that long, chronologically at least, for Adam. Though, Adam has been trying to return the favor a little, at least. He hasn't gone out of his way to do grand things, but he's made an effort to cook well for them and keep the apartment clean.

Yes, he does believe he's been a burden on Shiro, and he doesn't want to continue that trend. Which, ironically, is one of the reasons he does want to eventually move out -- he wants Shiro to be able to move on, and he's not sure Shiro can do that while essentially living with his ex. He hasn't '''missed''' the hint... he's just been leaving it alone, forcing himself to logic his way around it. It's not easy -- he's not a machine, after all. He does have feelings, and is just as susceptible to them as other people. But he's convinced himself it's for the best.

Even so, Adam has been in not that great of a mood of late. He's been able to keep it from leaking out and making him be rude to Shiro, but mainly that's because he's been doing that thing he always does when he's upset about something... obsessively cleaning things. That and because he tends to just go quiet when he's not feeling well, and it's hard to yell at someone when you don't say anything (which is usually why he does that).

At the moment Adam's silently but rather intensely cleaning the dining room table -- again, doing that thing where he obsessively cleans things. The expression on his face can only be described as 'aggressively casual' as he tries not to look too bothered by the fact that he's been turning this situation over and over in his head and been unable to find a way to fix the problem. Presenting him with an unfixable problem is a surefire way to bug the hell out of him, after all...

Shiro has tried putting in for a teaching job, but he hasn't heard back so far. As such it's still mostly him just doing small odd jobs here and there when he's not fretting over Adam just because he wants to. However, at current it seems the both of them are in a not so great mood. Adam hovering over the table while Shiro does his best impression of the irritable, disappointed father news paper read on the couch...it's like there should be some misbehaved kid in the room or something.

Shiro hesitantly lets his gaze drift toward Adam as he looks up from the paper for a moment. This only causes him to look a little less irritable in the place of seeming a bit befuddled. He tries not to act on it for the moment but....jeeze. Is Adam even considering what he's doing right now? ...though seeing his face earlier and how long he's been at that table, probably not.

Adam is unaware he's being stared at. But, eventually, he '''is''' going to get tired. And as much as he wants to keep cleaning things, he does need to rest. So he straightens from the table, sighs, and goes to sit down. He gives a quiet grunt as his back comes in contact with the back of the chair -- he needs to get his back to relax.

He stays quiet though, leaning his head back. Though he's of course aware of Shiro being there. It's just a combination of not wanting to bother him, with not knowing what to say, and also not wanting to chance and possibly snap at him. And the rather juvenile urge to not be caught looking at him.

Shiro sighs a little as he closes the paper and sets it on the coffee table. "...Finally get exhausted from trying to change the color of the table," he wonders. Despite his bad seeming mood with the paper, the question and the tone it's asked in seem to be well meaning and friendly enough. As much as the choice of words sounds kind of stabby, it honestly feels more like a friendly jab than something asked in irritation.

Adam looks up suddenly, as if he didn't expect Shiro to speak just then. He didn't, but it was more, he was thinking. "Huh?" A pause and the words register then. He looks up at the clock, realizing that yes, he had been at that for about a half-hour. And then he gives a sound that might be somewhere between a huff and a chuckle -- he recognizes the teasing tone. And he thusly responds, in that same teasing tone, "It's too dark, I was seeing if I could lighten it a shade or two."

Though after a moment he sighs. "Sorry about that," he offers quietly. "I get weird when I start overthinking." Which Shiro probably remembers, yeah...

Shiro nods in agreement. "Yeah, I've noticed that over the years," he says with a slight grin, "...Anything you want to talk about?" He turns so his knees are on the couch instead of his behind, with his only elbow on the back of the couch as he turns his attention fully on Adam now rather than just side eyeing him.

Talk about it? Surely not. It's one of those situations that are so easy to explain, but Shiro would be the last person he'd want to know about it. There's already way too much on Shiro's plate as it is, and Adam's not going to be the selfish asshole that puts '''more''' on it.

So Adam shakes his head. "No, but thank you," he replies quietly. "I'm just a bit..." He trails off, makes a vague circular gesture with his hand. "...Out of sorts, I guess. I'm having to accept the situation in stages, and this must just be the 'down' stage." There's more to it than that, but he'll leave it at that for now.

Shiro frowns a little and nods. "That makes sense," he replies, "...anything you want to do that might get your mind off of it?" He tilts his head slightly and holds his robotic hand off to the side as if invisibly holding some item up on the palm of it's hand.

Once more, Adam shakes his head. "Thank you, but... it's not something that I can really avoid for too long," he notes. Prophetic, that; he's going to have to face their situation sooner or later. Maybe sooner would be better, so they didn't have to deal with the awkwardness that parting would create. Not that it wasn't already awkward between them.

Adam draws a breath here, releasing it in a steadying breath. "...Besides, you've done a lot for me already to try to help me be better at ease in this place anyway. I appreciate it, I really do. It's shown me that being here isn't so bad." So he '''has''' noticed it. Just he doesn't seem to understand the purpose of it.

Shiro gives a small sigh, though it's hard to say if it's from relief or something else. "Well yeah...I don't want you to think you have to leave," Shiro states, "I'd rather you stuck around..." He just kind of lets that hang there, but doesn't really expect much of a response from it.

Tilting his head, Adam admits, "...It would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean... we're both the only real familiarity in this place that the other one has." Familiarity? A pause, and then Adam ventures, "...I don't want it to be all either of us have, though. Even if there's not much outside it, this is a pretty big city, and there's a lot to experience." Hopefully he'd understand that. And just in case he didn't? "I mean... I significanly hindered your early experience here; if you hadn't had to take care of me, you probably would have a stable life here by now."

Shiro smiles as Adam's saying the first part. "Yes, that's what I mean," he slips in during Adam's pause. Then the rest of it comes though. Even he's starting to have trouble hiding his frustration as Adam continues. "I'm not worried about that," he insists, "...What do I really need right now?"

Adam blinks a little, picking up a little of the frustration in Shiro's tone. But he does consider the question. "What you need?" he echoes. "I think you need to be able to move on and really embrace what might be a very long future here. But I also think it would be hard to do that with me around. You have to know that's what I've been working towards. But I'm not going to just leave you to twist in the wind, not even with these apartments providing for you."

"..." Shiro seems to find it difficult to think of how to respond to that, "You aren't making that hard at all...honestly. Why would you be making that hard? What's making it hard is my own way of things..."

"Well, I mean... it can't really be denied that there was some..." Adam trails off. When he begins to speak again, his voice is calm and level, the tone he uses when he's about to explain something he figures the other person's going to find unpleasant. Almost soothing, but with a slightly detached air that indicates he's trying to sort of... distance himself from what he's saying.

"...I'd feel arrogant calling it 'trauma'," Adam begins. "But there had to have been some... guilt when you came back to Earth and they told you I was dead. I don't want you to let that get to you. I don't want you to hamstring yourself here, in any attempt to make up for something. I've noticed you're doing a lot for me, especially lately, with the activities."

He pauses, shifting forward in his chair again, ignoring the twinge of his back, and turns to look at Shiro properly as well. "I just want you to know this -- what happened wasn't your fault, and you don't owe me anything."

Shiro crosses his arms and tilts his head some. "I can't say that's completely untrue," he admits, "But that's not why I was meaning to do it... I just want to make you happy again."

Adam offers a small smile here. But it's got a kind of... sad quality to it. He moves to lean on the table a little, folding his hands in front of him, looking at the surface as if he doesn't know what to say. And he doesn't speak for a while. It's '''that''' pose again, maybe a familiar one. Finally he speaks up again, quietly. "That's what I mean," he says quietly, still looking at the table. "You don't have to do that anymore. Keeping me entertained isn't your responsibility."

"And I didn't assume it was," Shiro states, "But I '''want''' to..." He gives a frown and furrows his brows some. "...is it wrong of me to want to?"

Adam shakes his head, but doesn't speak up immediately. ''(You shouldn't '''want''' to!')'' he wanted to say. ''(You should want to get on with your life!')'' But he didn't say that. He didn't really know what to say, actually. He closes his eyes then, to get his thoughts together, silent a moment. Finally he speaks up again. "You have to know how... inappropriate spending too much time on that should be. We're not together anymore, Takashi."

''('Even if I want to be...')''

...All right, he'd admit it, at least to himself. He did want to get back together. But that's precisely the reason he couldn't -- because that would be selfish. Shiro's had time to put Adam's 'death' in the past. He couldn't help that they'd both arrived here, and he couldn't help that he'd been so injured. And he didn't know what he would have done if Shiro hadn't been here. But he'd taken up too much of Shiro's attention as it was.

"...I guess we aren't," Shiro murmurs, "...Doesn't really make it inappropriate unless you don't want it." He turns back to sitting normally on the couch at this point, seeming to just leave it at that for now. He's not sure what else to say for now really. He's got to think on it more so he doesn't say something wrong entirely.

That's... about where Adam is now too, honestly. He already feels like he spoke out of turn. But it's true -- they're not together, so Shiro shouldn't really be treating him as if they are. He's always been pretty bad at this sort of thing. But... well, the weaning process has to begin sometime, right?

...Ugh, this whole thing just feels horrible.

Adam can ignore a lot of things. But the one thing he can't really stand is embarrassment. And he's '''incredibly''' embarrassed right now, and just generally feels like a massive, giant heel on top of it. So he shifts, to push the chair back from the table, and stands. He doesn't turn to look at Shiro. He just moves to the hook on the wall next to the door to grab his keys. "...I need to go get some air. I'll be back in a little while," he promises. His voice is flat and carefully controlled.

But he pauses before he opens the door. Why? He bows his head noticeably, and says quietly, "...I'm sorry, Takashi."

Shiro furrows his brows a bit, watching after him for a moment before suddenly rushing to hold the door closed. "....You think I don't know you that well," he asks, suddenly seeming uncharacteristically cold as he leans toward Adam. "You don't get to just walk out of the situation..."

Adam blinks as the door is pushed closed, and then looks in Shiro's direction. But that expression... something about it is off. Adam frowns slightly, taking a step back. Of course, there's nothing back there but the door, which is currently being held closed. Probably by Shiro's robot arm too, so the chance of him overpowering the grip is slim. "...Takashi?" He doesn't seem afraid, though. Just... confused.

Even if the way his eyes are narrowed like that does seem a little... angry. Shiro's never hurt him before though, and Adam can't think that he'd ever do it. So he asks, "...W-what do you mean?"

"You were going to just use this as an excuse to leave, right," Shiro ask before bringing a hand up to attempt to grab at Adam's shoulder. "Just leave and not come back?" He's leaning in even closer now, giving Adam a very uncharacteristic glare. "Just going to disappear on me? For 'my own good'?"

"What? No," Adam replies immediately.

It's not '''technically''' a lie. He was going to stay out most of the day until Shiro went to bed and **then** start the process. It would be easy to just go down to the lobby, arrange a different apartment for himself on another floor, and just wait until night to move. It's not like either one of them has a lot of stuff anyway; most of it would fit into a bag and he could have left silently.

But, he's not going to leave it at that. "...You have to admit, I've handled this very badly," he states. "I should be the last person you want to see right now."

"Damn...you're such a moron about wanting to be right," Shiro mutters, "Get your head out of your ass, or I'll force it out for you..."

Adam's frown deepens, becoming one of concern. This isn't right... '''nothing'' about this feels right. Shiro just isn't this hostile, even in this kind of situation. Maybe '''especially''' in this situation. Now he's more concerned than angry. Shiro mentioned some very characteristic PTSD behaviors -- irrational anger was often a symptom of a PTSD episode.

"...Takashi, what's gotten into you?" His voice isn't angry or demanding. It's quiet, concerned. "This isn't like you..."

Bonus? OH LOOK, A DISTRACTION! Keeps him from having to address the actual problem. Hopefully. He's avoiding it for now, but if Shiro doesn't 'wake up', he might not be able to.

"It's more about what '''hasn't''' gotten into me," Shiro mutters, "It's been a long damn time...and your little inability to be wrong is just stringing me along and teasing me..."

The joke, if there was one, flies right over Adam's head. Normally he'd have caught it, but he's a bit concerned now... and getting a little irritated, honestly. "What are you even talking about?" he inquires, the irritation beginning to show in his voice now. But still he doesn't raise his voice. He almost never does. "I'm not worried about being right in this. I'm worried about you. This place may not be home, but it's where we have to live, however long that is. And I don't want you being in your ex's pocket your whole time here."

Shiro facepalms with his free hand. "I'd say you've got to be fucking kidding me, but there's no fucking about it..." he mutters. "What says you have to be my ex, huh?"

...Yeah that was pretty blatant. Adam's startled out of his irritation by this, and his face goes a little red. "Wh-what?" he sputters. He seems at a loss for words for the moment, blinking and red-faced, not sure he heard any of that right.

"Oh come on...you aren't stupid," Shiro growls, "Should I stop spelling it out for you and just show you already?"

''('Get a hold of yourself!')'' Adam insists mentally. ''('This is '''not normal'''!')'' He shakes his head, as if clearing it, and then faces Shiro with more force in his presence. He frowns. "Am I going to have to hit you to get you to snap out of it?" he asks.

...Come to think of it, maybe that would get some of this tension out, if they just found a way to punch each other a bit. Adam hasn't been unaffected, honestly, but he's not the one suffering from PTSD. Shiro is. It might be able to calm him down some.

Notably, though, he didn't answer the question. He's not going to answer any questions with Shiro like this -- he's not speaking to Takashi, and he knows it.

"Oooh, I didn't think you were into that, but if that's what you want," Shiro says with a smirk, "We can do that...but do you REALLY think you want to try that with me? Do you know how many people I've killed WITHOUT being pissed off at them?"

That does frighten Adam a little -- Shiro told him he was made to kill in an arena, but he never went into specifics. But this is important. He can't back down now. Whatever darkness has come out here, it needs to be shown he's not going to cower. Besides, either he's right and Shiro won't actually hurt him...

...Or it suddenly won't be Adam's problem anymore.

"I didn't say I wanted to," Adam replies firmly. "But if I have to, I will."

"Ah...well that's not as fun..." Shiro says with a pout, "Damn, you're being good at moving your mouth, but it really isn't in the good way..." He sighs and shakes his head. "I guess I really '''do''' have to pull your head out of your ass '''for''' you..."

Adam blushes, and gives a quiet sound of embarrassment. But he stands firm still. "I'm not going to discuss this subject with you while you're like this," he says, tone brooking no argument. "You're emotional right now and this is a conversation that needs rational thought. We '''will''' have the conversation," he promises. "But not with you like this. When you calm down..."

Shiro gives another sigh before leaning in even closer. Without waiting for any sign of permission or anything else of the like, he presses his lips to Adam's. Granted, as much as it seems he has no intent on backing out of this, he's still barely doing anything to keep Adam where he is. His flesh hand is holding one of his shoulders, other wise he isn't constraining Adam at all.

"When you calm down," Adam is mid-sentence, "we'll dis--"

Then suddenly he can't continue, because Shiro is kissing him.

And Adam intantly freezes, tensing. That's the last thing he expected. Honestly he expected Shiro to take a swing at him, and have to tussle with him a bit to get him to calm down. But better have to fight with him than have him go out into the city like this. But this? He's not quite sure what to do.

...Actually yeah, he is sure what to do -- at least some part of him is pretty sure. In the few moments before the logical part of his brain kicks in he relaxes, closing his eyes and tilting his head a little. This is familiar, and he's missed it. And it's really nice, too.

And theeeeeen his brain catches up with things. He can almost hear an audible record-scratch in his head as his mental voice suddenly does a very good impression of a popular cartoon rabbit that's predisposed to mischief against hunters.

''('...'''WHAT AM I __DOING__?'''')''

The movement isn't abrupt, but Adam pulls away from Shiro, ducking around him -- notably, **into** the apartment, not out the door. He's blushing again, and looks both embarrassed and flustered! "...That was... very inappropriate," he begins. His voice is still ever so slightly throaty, airy, as he seems to be catching his breath.

Shiro smirks a little. "Well I don't see anyone else here and I don't hear you complaining, so who's it inappropriate for," he wonders, "...'sides it's not like '''''I''''' give two craps about being appropriate...you're talking to the wrong 'Gane about that...."

'The wrong 'Gane?' Adam frowns, not understanding. Shiro didn't have a brother or something, did he? An evil twin, something like that? Then he remembered the conversation in which Shiro told him about the time in the Galra's arenas. He said he'd had to become a different person, someone he didn't like.

Someone that was the opposite of everything Adam knew to be true of Shiro.

If this was those instincts waking up, then it wasn't Shiro. It was someone Adam didn't know. And Adam realized he might be in more danger than he first thought. Was this just Shiro without filters... or was his someone who '''liked''' killing?

He'd said his crew called him 'Shiro'. And Keith used to call him that too. But if this wasn't Shiro -- more importantly that he **said** he wasn't Shiro -- then Adam shouldn't call him that. Then what should he call this one? 'Shiro' was the Japanese word for 'white'. And if this was the opposite of Shiro...

"...Kuro," Adam utters simply, quietly. Of course he does put forth the effort to make the proper 'ro' sound, rather than just Westernize the 'r'.

Shiro pauses and blinks at that. "Kuro?" he asks, seeming totally lost as to why that word is being brought up. Notably he's not moved to '''hurt''' Adam other than that very forward kiss earlier and keeping him from leaving. He certainly seems very '''vocally''' threatening though.

"It's come back, hasn't it?" Adam realizes. "That person you had to be in the Galra's arena... you convinced yourself so completely that it was a different person... that that's what it became -- that's what '''he''' became... A different person. If you don't want to be 'Shiro', you can be 'Kuro'."

This is just as much for his own benefit as for Shiro's, now. If this person has another name to call himself, he might 'warn' Adam he's coming out next time. Or maybe Shiro will.

'Kuro' blinks some more. "Huh," he murmurs, "....I guess it's like that, yeah...I'm part of me, but I'm usually just buried in the back of my own mind until the emotions just bottle up too much..."

Adam nods. Good, the disassociation isn't a complete one -- even like this, Shiro still has knowledge of himself as... well, himself. Just this is a part of him that he's buried. "We have to work on getting these emotions properly integrated, so you won't have to do that." Pause. "Yes, 'we'," he continues, his voice gentling. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you to twist in the breeze, and I intend to keep that promise. If you need me, I'll be here."

'Kuro' sighs a little. Even though things seem to be calming, even his general posture and basic mannerisms feel out of character for Shiro. "...Fine just...let's talk about all this like adults instead of running the hell away from each other...before I give in to the urge to fill up some rather neglected holes..."

Adam knows what Shiro's talking about now, and blushes a little. He clears his throat, ducking his head a little and rather needlessly adjusting his glasses. "Yes. Let's talk." He walks back into the living room and sits down on the couch, waiting for Shiro to join him. Or would that be 'Kuro' when he's like this? He's not sure right now.

Shiro shakes his head a little and clears his throat. "....er...sorry..." he murmurs as he sits down next to Adam, "I guess we should start all this back from the top again... I hope that wasn't TOO bad..."

"Is it... passing now?" Adam inquires. He's not quite sure how to ask the question. He doesn't want to ask 'are you back to normal now', since that would imply that he's upset at Shiro for the slip. He isn't. Adam understands what happened -- a panic response went off in Shiro's head, and 'Kuro' answered.

Shiro nods in reply. "Yes, I'm getting my grip back again...sorry...I was hoping no one would have to see that. He seems a lot less volatile than usual though..."

Adam relaxes then, and nods. "That's good. Though, um..." He pauses, wondering if he should say this or not. He decides on, "...He seemed less interested in killing me and more interested in... er... a 'smaller' death." Yeah, he's still blushing.

Shiro blushes and clears his throat again. "Yeah...he can be like that sometimes," he states, seeming to have no real interest into going into why. "I'm glad he didn't do anything worse..."

The conversation of why can happen later. Right now? Adam sighs. "All right, so... what happened?" he inquires. "I get the general idea. Bottled up emotions, and they broke free. The genie came out of the bottle, essentially. But what '''were''' those emotions you were bottling up? And why did they break free now?"

"I was just getting frustrated," Shiro admits, "And I guess part of me panicked too. I don't want to---" He pauses and shakes his head. "Not... I can't even really say that because it'd require something that isn't the case in the first place. ...I didn't want to lose the '''illusion''' of having you again."

Adam takes a breath. "I have noticed it... the little things you've been doing," he replies. "I'm very appreciative of all those things. But... I'm no different than I was back then -- for you. Almost no time has passed for me. You've grown up. I haven't." His voice takes on a bit of a self-deprecating note as he continues, "...As you can see, I guess..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "For you what I did is a lot more recent..." he states, "And even though I meant well, it was still a thing of betrayal that I shouldn't have done to you... I was trying to protect you and not give in to some sort of imagined defeat at the same time...but I wasn't thinking enough about your feelings in the process."

Adam shakes his head. "No, I understand why you did it," he replies. "You weren't going to get another chance, one way or the other. I was selfish for expecting you to just... lay down and give up to stay with me." His hands, resting on his knees, suddenly seem like the most fascinating thing in the apartment. "...I just... didn't want to see you work yourself to death," he admits. His voice is quiet, his words slow, as he's trying to put them together in his head before speaking them. "And it was likely you would have died on that mission before you got back... I didn't think I could handle that. And I knew there wasn't any way I could go with you -- I would have, if I'd been able to..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "I didn't want to keep ruining things for you with all the stress I must have caused you," he states, "But... well I'm better now, and smarter now. It probably feels like I'm just clinging to you because you're familiar, but that isn't it."

"That's what I thought, yes," Adam admits. "And in a world like this, where everything's so crazy, familiarity might be the only thing that keeps you sane. But eventually you have to let go of the anchor. If that's all it was... I wanted to make sure I wasn't the anchor bringing you down."

Shiro shakes his head and chuckles slightly. "If anyone's doing that to me, it'd be myself..." he states, "You'd always been there to help me keep moving...figuratively and non."

Adam smiles, though he still doesn't look up. It's good to know that he helped Shiro, even a little. But he's not going to ask Shiro to go into how -- that seems self-aggrandizing. Instead he asks, "...So. What is this, then? What do you -- I mean... If it's not just clinging to familiarity -- and I'm not saying you were the only one doing that -- then, what is it?"

"For now roommates," Shiro states, "But we could restart as something more than that...if you'd have me."

Adam doesn't reply for a moment, he has a thoughtful look on his face. "We wouldn't really be able to just... pick up where we left off," he points out. "Too much time has passed for you." For Adam, it's only been a year at most. For Shiro, several years have passed.

And that makes Adam realize something that he thought he'd accepted already. Shiro is not the same person he was then. He'd known it intellectually... but after seeing 'Kuro', now it's just sinking in and he actually **knows** it now.

He remembers his train of thought then. "But even so... even if we can't just pick up where we left off, we also can't act like there's never been anything between us," he continues, finally looking up at Shiro. "There **has** been, and to ignore it would be foolish. I'm not sure how we would deal with that."

Notably, however... he hasn't said that he doesn't want to...

Shiro frowns thoughtfully. "Well obviously we can't ignore it..." he states, "I'm not sure there's exactly a way to approach it aside from keeping it in mind..."

Adam gives a small smile here. "Keep it in mind as a cautionary tale for us both not to be stupid?" he notes, sounding amused. A pause here, and he looks back at his hands. Yeah, he does that a lot. He does it when he's trying to rationalize something. "...I guess it's all right to admit it now... but I never really 'got over' you. That might not mean as much from me, since so little time passed for me between then and now, but..."

Shiro chuckles a little and then tilts his head at Adam's look of trying to rationalize something. "There's nothing wrong with that...I never got over you either, as much as some things Kuro might say might make it feel otherwise..."

"I get the feeling he wouldn't have been so... verbally abusive if he didn't care," Adam surmises. "Besides, that part of you wouldn't have come out if you weren't worried that I was going to leave. I'd say that means you care. People don't get angry about things they don't care about."

He pauses again, one of his hands curling into a fist where it rests on his knee. The hand lifts, seems to hesitate... and then Adam reaches over to place that hand over one of Shiro's. It's been a long time since he's done that just for the purpose of holding his hand. He doesn't say anything, just lets the touch be the thing that does the communicating. It's a hesitant touch, one that's clearly waiting for some kind of consent before becoming more involved.

Shiro smiles and...for lack of having another hand that's good for this sort of thing, he pats at Adam's hand with his robotic one. "That's true..." he replies, "He is probably terrible because he cares...he exists because it was too hard for me not to care..."

Adam doesn't seem to care about the robotic hand being the one to pat his hand. His smile widens a little. And he gets an idea. He turns his hand, and makes to try to link his fingers with those of the robotic hand. A gesture of acceptance, if any was needed -- he's not said anything negative about the arm in the time they've been here. But still, acceptance nonetheless. And trust, too; that hand is a lot stronger than a normal hand would be, and he doesn't seem to be worried that Shiro will hurt him.

Shiro smiles and '''gently''' squeezes at Adam's hand in turn. "Thank you..." he states, "You don't know how much I needed something like this when my arm was galran tech..."

Adam considers the robotic limb. "The one they gave you in the arena?" he asks. He knows this one isn't the same one; Shiro's told him this floaty one is made from mostly Altean technology. "The one that was being used to control the clone?" Yeah, he got to that part, too.

Shiro nods in reply. "I felt so much like I wasn't even human anymore with that arm in place..." he states, "Even though this arm's even less like a human one, it makes me feel less like a monster..."

"Given what it was used to do, I'm sure you couldn't help but see it as a bad thing," Adam replies quietly. "I'm glad you're free of it. This one... I'll admit I find the design a bit strange, but it's not upsetting to me at all. And if this was built for you, I can only imagine what's been done with prosthetics in general, with this kind of technology available."

Shiro nods in reply. "My crew has more than it's share of genius in it," he states, "This one was mainly something Allura was to be thanked for...."

The mention off Allura draws Adam's smile to fall a bit. "I'm sorry about what happened to her," he replies. "I imagine it was pretty difficult for you, given you were so close to her." He doesn't say this to mean 'close' in a romantic light, of course. She was a friend, and it's always hard to lose a friend.

Shiro nods and squeezes at Adam's hand again. "And I'm getting another gift from her sacrifice even now..." he murmurs thoughtfully, looking toward the window as if he expects he'll some how see her outside.

"How so?" Adam inquires, looking up at Shiro's face again. He'd been concentrating on looking at their linked fingers. Mainly because he was trying not to look like a teenager holding hands with a high school crush and had been fighting a really silly blush until just then.

"Well, now I'm here with you again, talking about this," Shiro replies with a little smile. That might make it even harder not to blush over this.

Sure enough Adam does indeed blush at this. Though he's still smiling. "I don't think she sent you here," he points out. "Or do you mean pulling your spirit from the Lion? I'm fairly certain she couldn't have left you in there anyway. You were needed -- the rest of the pilots needed you. Not just as a leader, but as a friend."

"I mean the fact that our reality still even existed thanks to her...so right now that means I'm alive to see you again..." Shiro points out.

"Technically everyone in your reality has her to thank for their continued existence," Adam replies. He doesn't call it his own reality, because, well... he stopped being a part of it when he died. "It's just unfair that she had to do that to save everyone..."

Shiro nods in reply. "It really is..." he agrees, "...maybe she's out there somewhere like you were, but with what she did, I'm not so sure that's possible."

"I can only hope she at least got to go somewhere good," Adam replies. "I don't know what their theology was, but whatever the Altean's version of heaven was, I hope she got to go there." He pauses and leans a bit so that he's leaning on Shiro a little, to try to cheer him up a little. He's never been very demonstrative of his affection, but the little things are there for those who choose to look.

Shiro smiles softly again. Being some what more affectionate than Adam, he kisses at the side of Adam's head here. "Thank you...I've really needed the little things like this..."

Adam blushes again, slightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't feel like it was really appropriate, given the... situation," he says quietly. And since he hasn't actually '''officially''' said he wants that situation to change, he notes, "I think it should be all right now though, since... since we're... I'm..." Why is he stumbling over it '''now'''?! He sighs, and clears his throat. "I would... like to try again," he finally gets the words together.

"Yeah, I'd love to try again," Shiro agrees, "...thank you for giving me another chance Adam. I'll definitely do better by you this time."

"That's a promise we both have to make," Adam points out. "We both screwed up, and we didn't have a chance to fix it back then. I don't know why I didn't realize it before now... We didn't have that chance the first time, and I was letting it pass us both by. And I didn't realize that you... well, that you needed the closeness." Pause. "...And, yes. I needed it too, I'm starting to realize that too." He chuckles.

More seriously, he tilts his head back a bit more, so he can see Shiro clearly from where he's leaning. "I promise, I'll do better this time," he offers quietly, with a small, subdued smile that is no less genuine for being subded.

"We'll have to work together on it, but that's the point, isn't it," Shiro replies with a little grin. He peers curiously toward Adam and offers another smile. "And that's alright...you can't help that I'm greedy for attention."

"Kind of ironic," Adam notes, sounding amused, "given the stereotypes surrounding our respective nationalities. You being the sort to... show affection in physical ways in public, and me being the kind to be more subdued about it." That wouldn't be the only stereotype the two of them were breaking, but that's the one that can be talked about here without being '''completely''' insensitive!

Shiro nods in agreement. "Not that I'd be '''too''' affectionate in public," he states, "...maybe in public places when no one's around though..."

Adam chuckles. "No, you never have before," he notes. Though that said... that other... well, not quite personality... Shiro just sort of loses his filter a little. Okay, he loses his filter '''a lot'''. He's not sure Shiro wouldn't be that inappropriate in public in that state.

Which... makes him think of something. "Actually, I do have one more question," he begins. "Are we... how quickly is this going? It isn't as though we '''haven't''' been to that point before, but... are we setting goals?" A breath. "More to the point... are we sharing a bed? I've noticed you have trouble sleeping... and that one time I tried to wake you up and you pulled me into the bed with you and fell asleep again..."

Shiro blushes on this note. "Well, I certainly wouldn't complain about having something to keep my mind at ease," he states. "We don't have to go fast about it though. Just because we were ready before doesn't mean we're ready now..."

"And sharing a bed doesn't necessarily mean... being intimate in it," Adam adds. That is also definitely an Adam thing to do -- go out of his way to find a 'polite' way of referring to certain non-polite things! "I'm concerned, since you don't seem to be sleeping well. If you're going to find a job, you'll definitely need to get proper sleep. And if my being there will help..."

Shiro nods in agreement. "Exactly," he states, "There's no need to rush any of this. We can just do what's comfortable at the time." That said, there is something about Shiro that feels restrained... Something that feels like he's pulling another of those scream on the inside sort of stunts.

''('Well, at least some things about him haven't changed,')'' Adam notes mentally. He's about to leave it be, to just agree... and then. He pauses. What happened earlier happened because of Shiro bottling things up. So he thinks about how to ask.

And thinks.

And thinks.

...And thinks.

He thinks so long, in fact, that it might seem that he was upset about something. But then '''finally''', Adam inquires hesitantly, "...Is... I mean... what's wrong?" He'd been about to ask 'if' something was wrong... but he knows there is. So instead, he asks 'what'. Less options to wiggle out of things!

Shiro blinks a little at that. "Hmm," he wonders, "Nothing outside of the ordinary really..." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Worrying maybe, as much as I wanted this, I might just be saddling you with a different set of burdens again..."

"Burdens are always easier when they're shared," Adam replies. "So don't worry about it. Whatever it is that's worrying you, I'll figure out a way to help you with it. You just need to tell me what I need to do, and I'll do the best I can. Besides, if I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't still be here. And I certainly wouldn't have agreed to get back together with you."

"Okay but ...you have to do it too," Shiro states, "I mean...how much of our old relationship was times of you pulling my impaired self out of the fire?"

Adam looks a bit sheepish. "Well... true. But I didn't do it because I had to," he points out. "I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to help you then, and I want to help you now. Besides, I'd say you paid it back, given how much you helped me while I was recovering. If you hadn't been there, I might have had to stay in a hospital. You didn't have to do that, but you did." He smiles. "Thank you."

"Thank you too," Shiro replies, "Should we do something small to celebrate?"

Adam nods. "It... feels like something that should be celebrated, yes," he decides. No lie there. A bit of an understatement though -- he feels the same floaty way he did when they officially started dating the first time! "What do you think would be an appropriate way to celebrate it?"

"Maybe we should get something out so you don't have to cook," Shiro states, "Other than that...let's see...some desert and just taking a rest?"

"I think I remember where there's a sushi place, if you felt like braving the outside," Adam replies. He's not offering just because Shiro's Japanese either, he likes the stuff too. "Getting pizza and a few sweets delivered here sounds good too though, if you preferred the idea of staying in."

"Hmm, sushi sounds great, but pizza sounds more personal," Shiro says thoughtfully, "Well, since it's technically our first night, I guess we should do the sushi this time."

Adam nods. "It looks like an informal place, more of a sushi bar than a fancy sit-down place," he notes. "So you won't have to dress up really fancy." If the two of them even '''have''' any fancy clothes aside from what Adam wears to work. Of course, that might or might not have favored into his suggestion.

"That's good yeah," Shiro states, "I've only got casual stuff with me...I should really fix that eventually."

Adam chuckles. "Give it time. We haven't been here '''too''' long, and most of what we've been concerned about up to this point has been making do," he notes. And also apparently avoiding how they felt about each other, not to forget that! But. Yes. "We get to hopefully play the long game now."

Shiro nods in agreement. "Hopefully the clothes didn't keep me from getting any of the jobs I interviewed for..." he murmurs, "But I'd think the people here would understand the situation the inhabitants are going through, so it should be fine."

"Probably not," Adam replies. And to make Shiro feel better, he notes, "Maybe they just didn't want such a threat to their present romantic relationships working there. They'd have to look at you every day and try to hold back asking you out." He's... not '''great''' at this sort of thing, but he's trying at least!

Shiro chuckles a little at Adam's way of thinking. "I guess that **could** be true," he states, "You do have a good enough sense of taste that others might have it too..."

Adam smiles. "Who knows?" He pauses, to offer a hand to Shiro. "Are you ready to go? Or do you want to do something before we go?" he inquires. He's presentable enough for a sushi bar, but if Shiro wants to fix his hair or whatever, he's okay with that.

Shiro smiles and takes the offered hand. "I'm ready to go, sure," he answers, "Let's have some sushi!"

And it's here that Adam pauses, considering these clasped hands with a thoughtful look. Did either of them ever think that they'd ever do that again? Adam because he thought that Shiro would die on the mission, and Shiro because Adam actually **did** die in his timeline. Even then Adam never thought they'd be together again, not after having broken up. But here they were. So much had happened to Shiro, he'd grown and matured since they broke up. *('I'm going to have to learn to grow up too,')* Adam decides.

He seems to 'wake up' then, and the smile returns. "Good idea," he agrees. He's never been one for PDAs in public, but there's going to be some hand-holding on the way to the place!

|}}

2020-06-26 - It Will Out

2020-07-10T05:27:28Z

DariRyusei: Spicy log! Language, innuendo, handholding, people being stupid about feelings.

{{Logsummary|
Title = It Will Out
|Summary = Shiro's got some severe PTSD that he's been keeping bottled up. With the frustration of keeping how he (still) feels about Adam secret, and Adam starting the 'we should part ways' discussion, it flares a bit. Result? He loses the filters on his behavior and his language. '''''WARNING:''' Sexual innuendo, strong language, m/m PG-13 makeout stuff, and people being stupid about their feelings. And '''''HANDHOLDING'''''!
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = June 26, 2020
|Where = [[Integra's Arms Apartments]] - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

Shiro's been doing what he can to get Adam more adjusted to things. This is mostly to help him come along from his injuries, but it's not like it's FULLY without ulterior motive. It's not like Shiro wants Adam out of the apartment, no. If anything Shiro wants to get Adam to STAY in the apartment, and he gets the very clear feeling that Adam feels like a burden and wants to leave as soon as he feels secure enough to.

So, Shiro's been sneaking in little dates with Adam as a sort of two birds with one stone approach to helping Adam out with things. He's been doing a lot of little things like managing to work out ways to get Adam's old favorite things (or at least things close to them) and taking Adam to do things he remembers Adam liking to do.

Unfortunately, Shiro's getting the sinking feeling all his attempts might just be adding up to nothing, however. He can't shake the feeling that Adam just isn't getting the hint... Due to this he's currently stewing over the paper on the sofa.

Fortunately for Shiro, 'as soon as he feels secure enough to leave' also entails making sure Shiro's got stable employment and can make the most of his skills here. Unfortunately, since there doesn't seem to be any need for a standing army or spacecraft pilots -- or ANY kind of pilots, really -- it's been difficult for Shiro to find something to do. Though Adam's been patient with that, and hasn't minded being the 'sole breadwinner'... so to speak.

That said... it's not that Adam hasn't gotten the hint. He's been trying not to pick it up. Through all those things that Shiro's been doing for him, Adam's been remembering their relationship from when they were younger. Well, from when Shiro was younger. It hasn't really been that long, chronologically at least, for Adam. Though, Adam has been trying to return the favor a little, at least. He hasn't gone out of his way to do grand things, but he's made an effort to cook well for them and keep the apartment clean.

Yes, he does believe he's been a burden on Shiro, and he doesn't want to continue that trend. Which, ironically, is one of the reasons he does want to eventually move out -- he wants Shiro to be able to move on, and he's not sure Shiro can do that while essentially living with his ex. He hasn't '''missed''' the hint... he's just been leaving it alone, forcing himself to logic his way around it. It's not easy -- he's not a machine, after all. He does have feelings, and is just as susceptible to them as other people. But he's convinced himself it's for the best.

Even so, Adam has been in not that great of a mood of late. He's been able to keep it from leaking out and making him be rude to Shiro, but mainly that's because he's been doing that thing he always does when he's upset about something... obsessively cleaning things. That and because he tends to just go quiet when he's not feeling well, and it's hard to yell at someone when you don't say anything (which is usually why he does that).

At the moment Adam's silently but rather intensely cleaning the dining room table -- again, doing that thing where he obsessively cleans things. The expression on his face can only be described as 'aggressively casual' as he tries not to look too bothered by the fact that he's been turning this situation over and over in his head and been unable to find a way to fix the problem. Presenting him with an unfixable problem is a surefire way to bug the hell out of him, after all...

Shiro has tried putting in for a teaching job, but he hasn't heard back so far. As such it's still mostly him just doing small odd jobs here and there when he's not fretting over Adam just because he wants to. However, at current it seems the both of them are in a not so great mood. Adam hovering over the table while Shiro does his best impression of the irritable, disappointed father news paper read on the couch...it's like there should be some misbehaved kid in the room or something.

Shiro hesitantly lets his gaze drift toward Adam as he looks up from the paper for a moment. This only causes him to look a little less irritable in the place of seeming a bit befuddled. He tries not to act on it for the moment but....jeeze. Is Adam even considering what he's doing right now? ...though seeing his face earlier and how long he's been at that table, probably not.

Adam is unaware he's being stared at. But, eventually, he '''is''' going to get tired. And as much as he wants to keep cleaning things, he does need to rest. So he straightens from the table, sighs, and goes to sit down. He gives a quiet grunt as his back comes in contact with the back of the chair -- he needs to get his back to relax.

He stays quiet though, leaning his head back. Though he's of course aware of Shiro being there. It's just a combination of not wanting to bother him, with not knowing what to say, and also not wanting to chance and possibly snap at him. And the rather juvenile urge to not be caught looking at him.

Shiro sighs a little as he closes the paper and sets it on the coffee table. "...Finally get exhausted from trying to change the color of the table," he wonders. Despite his bad seeming mood with the paper, the question and the tone it's asked in seem to be well meaning and friendly enough. As much as the choice of words sounds kind of stabby, it honestly feels more like a friendly jab than something asked in irritation.

Adam looks up suddenly, as if he didn't expect Shiro to speak just then. He didn't, but it was more, he was thinking. "Huh?" A pause and the words register then. He looks up at the clock, realizing that yes, he had been at that for about a half-hour. And then he gives a sound that might be somewhere between a huff and a chuckle -- he recognizes the teasing tone. And he thusly responds, in that same teasing tone, "It's too dark, I was seeing if I could lighten it a shade or two."

Though after a moment he sighs. "Sorry about that," he offers quietly. "I get weird when I start overthinking." Which Shiro probably remembers, yeah...

Shiro nods in agreement. "Yeah, I've noticed that over the years," he says with a slight grin, "...Anything you want to talk about?" He turns so his knees are on the couch instead of his behind, with his only elbow on the back of the couch as he turns his attention fully on Adam now rather than just side eyeing him.

Talk about it? Surely not. It's one of those situations that are so easy to explain, but Shiro would be the last person he'd want to know about it. There's already way too much on Shiro's plate as it is, and Adam's not going to be the selfish asshole that puts '''more''' on it.

So Adam shakes his head. "No, but thank you," he replies quietly. "I'm just a bit..." He trails off, makes a vague circular gesture with his hand. "...Out of sorts, I guess. I'm having to accept the situation in stages, and this must just be the 'down' stage." There's more to it than that, but he'll leave it at that for now.

Shiro frowns a little and nods. "That makes sense," he replies, "...anything you want to do that might get your mind off of it?" He tilts his head slightly and holds his robotic hand off to the side as if invisibly holding some item up on the palm of it's hand.

Once more, Adam shakes his head. "Thank you, but... it's not something that I can really avoid for too long," he notes. Prophetic, that; he's going to have to face their situation sooner or later. Maybe sooner would be better, so they didn't have to deal with the awkwardness that parting would create. Not that it wasn't already awkward between them.

Adam draws a breath here, releasing it in a steadying breath. "...Besides, you've done a lot for me already to try to help me be better at ease in this place anyway. I appreciate it, I really do. It's shown me that being here isn't so bad." So he '''has''' noticed it. Just he doesn't seem to understand the purpose of it.

Shiro gives a small sigh, though it's hard to say if it's from relief or something else. "Well yeah...I don't want you to think you have to leave," Shiro states, "I'd rather you stuck around..." He just kind of lets that hang there, but doesn't really expect much of a response from it.

Tilting his head, Adam admits, "...It would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean... we're both the only real familiarity in this place that the other one has." Familiarity? A pause, and then Adam ventures, "...I don't want it to be all either of us have, though. Even if there's not much outside it, this is a pretty big city, and there's a lot to experience." Hopefully he'd understand that. And just in case he didn't? "I mean... I significanly hindered your early experience here; if you hadn't had to take care of me, you probably would have a stable life here by now."

Shiro smiles as Adam's saying the first part. "Yes, that's what I mean," he slips in during Adam's pause. Then the rest of it comes though. Even he's starting to have trouble hiding his frustration as Adam continues. "I'm not worried about that," he insists, "...What do I really need right now?"

Adam blinks a little, picking up a little of the frustration in Shiro's tone. But he does consider the question. "What you need?" he echoes. "I think you need to be able to move on and really embrace what might be a very long future here. But I also think it would be hard to do that with me around. You have to know that's what I've been working towards. But I'm not going to just leave you to twist in the wind, not even with these apartments providing for you."

"..." Shiro seems to find it difficult to think of how to respond to that, "You aren't making that hard at all...honestly. Why would you be making that hard? What's making it hard is my own way of things..."

"Well, I mean... it can't really be denied that there was some..." Adam trails off. When he begins to speak again, his voice is calm and level, the tone he uses when he's about to explain something he figures the other person's going to find unpleasant. Almost soothing, but with a slightly detached air that indicates he's trying to sort of... distance himself from what he's saying.

"...I'd feel arrogant calling it 'trauma'," Adam begins. "But there had to have been some... guilt when you came back to Earth and they told you I was dead. I don't want you to let that get to you. I don't want you to hamstring yourself here, in any attempt to make up for something. I've noticed you're doing a lot for me, especially lately, with the activities."

He pauses, shifting forward in his chair again, ignoring the twinge of his back, and turns to look at Shiro properly as well. "I just want you to know this -- what happened wasn't your fault, and you don't owe me anything."

Shiro crosses his arms and tilts his head some. "I can't say that's completely untrue," he admits, "But that's not why I was meaning to do it... I just want to make you happy again."

Adam offers a small smile here. But it's got a kind of... sad quality to it. He moves to lean on the table a little, folding his hands in front of him, looking at the surface as if he doesn't know what to say. And he doesn't speak for a while. It's '''that''' pose again, maybe a familiar one. Finally he speaks up again, quietly. "That's what I mean," he says quietly, still looking at the table. "You don't have to do that anymore. Keeping me entertained isn't your responsibility."

"And I didn't assume it was," Shiro states, "But I '''want''' to..." He gives a frown and furrows his brows some. "...is it wrong of me to want to?"

Adam shakes his head, but doesn't speak up immediately. ''(You shouldn't '''want''' to!')'' he wanted to say. ''(You should want to get on with your life!')'' But he didn't say that. He didn't really know what to say, actually. He closes his eyes then, to get his thoughts together, silent a moment. Finally he speaks up again. "You have to know how... inappropriate spending too much time on that should be. We're not together anymore, Takashi."

''('Even if I want to be...')''

...All right, he'd admit it, at least to himself. He did want to get back together. But that's precisely the reason he couldn't -- because that would be selfish. Shiro's had time to put Adam's 'death' in the past. He couldn't help that they'd both arrived here, and he couldn't help that he'd been so injured. And he didn't know what he would have done if Shiro hadn't been here. But he'd taken up too much of Shiro's attention as it was.

"...I guess we aren't," Shiro murmurs, "...Doesn't really make it inappropriate unless you don't want it." He turns back to sitting normally on the couch at this point, seeming to just leave it at that for now. He's not sure what else to say for now really. He's got to think on it more so he doesn't say something wrong entirely.

That's... about where Adam is now too, honestly. He already feels like he spoke out of turn. But it's true -- they're not together, so Shiro shouldn't really be treating him as if they are. He's always been pretty bad at this sort of thing. But... well, the weaning process has to begin sometime, right?

...Ugh, this whole thing just feels horrible.

Adam can ignore a lot of things. But the one thing he can't really stand is embarrassment. And he's '''incredibly''' embarrassed right now, and just generally feels like a massive, giant heel on top of it. So he shifts, to push the chair back from the table, and stands. He doesn't turn to look at Shiro. He just moves to the hook on the wall next to the door to grab his keys. "...I need to go get some air. I'll be back in a little while," he promises. His voice is flat and carefully controlled.

But he pauses before he opens the door. Why? He bows his head noticeably, and says quietly, "...I'm sorry, Takashi."

Shiro furrows his brows a bit, watching after him for a moment before suddenly rushing to hold the door closed. "....You think I don't know you that well," he asks, suddenly seeming uncharacteristically cold as he leans toward Adam. "You don't get to just walk out of the situation..."

Adam blinks as the door is pushed closed, and then looks in Shiro's direction. But that expression... something about it is off. Adam frowns slightly, taking a step back. Of course, there's nothing back there but the door, which is currently being held closed. Probably by Shiro's robot arm too, so the chance of him overpowering the grip is slim. "...Takashi?" He doesn't seem afraid, though. Just... confused.

Even if the way his eyes are narrowed like that does seem a little... angry. Shiro's never hurt him before though, and Adam can't think that he'd ever do it. So he asks, "...W-what do you mean?"

"You were going to just use this as an excuse to leave, right," Shiro ask before bringing a hand up to attempt to grab at Adam's shoulder. "Just leave and not come back?" He's leaning in even closer now, giving Adam a very uncharacteristic glare. "Just going to disappear on me? For 'my own good'?"

"What? No," Adam replies immediately.

It's not '''technically''' a lie. He was going to stay out most of the day until Shiro went to bed and **then** start the process. It would be easy to just go down to the lobby, arrange a different apartment for himself on another floor, and just wait until night to move. It's not like either one of them has a lot of stuff anyway; most of it would fit into a bag and he could have left silently.

But, he's not going to leave it at that. "...You have to admit, I've handled this very badly," he states. "I should be the last person you want to see right now."

"Damn...you're such a moron about wanting to be right," Shiro mutters, "Get your head out of your ass, or I'll force it out for you..."

Adam's frown deepens, becoming one of concern. This isn't right... '''nothing'' about this feels right. Shiro just isn't this hostile, even in this kind of situation. Maybe '''especially''' in this situation. Now he's more concerned than angry. Shiro mentioned some very characteristic PTSD behaviors -- irrational anger was often a symptom of a PTSD episode.

"...Takashi, what's gotten into you?" His voice isn't angry or demanding. It's quiet, concerned. "This isn't like you..."

Bonus? OH LOOK, A DISTRACTION! Keeps him from having to address the actual problem. Hopefully. He's avoiding it for now, but if Shiro doesn't 'wake up', he might not be able to.

"It's more about what '''hasn't''' gotten into me," Shiro mutters, "It's been a long damn time...and your little inability to be wrong is just stringing me along and teasing me..."

The joke, if there was one, flies right over Adam's head. Normally he'd have caught it, but he's a bit concerned now... and getting a little irritated, honestly. "What are you even talking about?" he inquires, the irritation beginning to show in his voice now. But still he doesn't raise his voice. He almost never does. "I'm not worried about being right in this. I'm worried about you. This place may not be home, but it's where we have to live, however long that is. And I don't want you being in your ex's pocket your whole time here."

Shiro facepalms with his free hand. "I'd say you've got to be fucking kidding me, but there's no fucking about it..." he mutters. "What says you have to be my ex, huh?"

...Yeah that was pretty blatant. Adam's startled out of his irritation by this, and his face goes a little red. "Wh-what?" he sputters. He seems at a loss for words for the moment, blinking and red-faced, not sure he heard any of that right.

"Oh come on...you aren't stupid," Shiro growls, "Should I stop spelling it out for you and just show you already?"

''('Get a hold of yourself!')'' Adam insists mentally. ''('This is '''not normal'''!')'' He shakes his head, as if clearing it, and then faces Shiro with more force in his presence. He frowns. "Am I going to have to hit you to get you to snap out of it?" he asks.

...Come to think of it, maybe that would get some of this tension out, if they just found a way to punch each other a bit. Adam hasn't been unaffected, honestly, but he's not the one suffering from PTSD. Shiro is. It might be able to calm him down some.

Notably, though, he didn't answer the question. He's not going to answer any questions with Shiro like this -- he's not speaking to Takashi, and he knows it.

"Oooh, I didn't think you were into that, but if that's what you want," Shiro says with a smirk, "We can do that...but do you REALLY think you want to try that with me? Do you know how many people I've killed WITHOUT being pissed off at them?"

That does frighten Adam a little -- Shiro told him he was made to kill in an arena, but he never went into specifics. But this is important. He can't back down now. Whatever darkness has come out here, it needs to be shown he's not going to cower. Besides, either he's right and Shiro won't actually hurt him...

...Or it suddenly won't be Adam's problem anymore.

"I didn't say I wanted to," Adam replies firmly. "But if I have to, I will."

"Ah...well that's not as fun..." Shiro says with a pout, "Damn, you're being good at moving your mouth, but it really isn't in the good way..." He sighs and shakes his head. "I guess I really '''do''' have to pull your head out of your ass '''for''' you..."

Adam blushes, and gives a quiet sound of embarrassment. But he stands firm still. "I'm not going to discuss this subject with you while you're like this," he says, tone brooking no argument. "You're emotional right now and this is a conversation that needs rational thought. We '''will''' have the conversation," he promises. "But not with you like this. When you calm down..."

Shiro gives another sigh before leaning in even closer. Without waiting for any sign of permission or anything else of the like, he presses his lips to Adam's. Granted, as much as it seems he has no intent on backing out of this, he's still barely doing anything to keep Adam where he is. His flesh hand is holding one of his shoulders, other wise he isn't constraining Adam at all.

"When you calm down," Adam is mid-sentence, "we'll dis--"

Then suddenly he can't continue, because Shiro is kissing him.

And Adam intantly freezes, tensing. That's the last thing he expected. Honestly he expected Shiro to take a swing at him, and have to tussle with him a bit to get him to calm down. But better have to fight with him than have him go out into the city like this. But this? He's not quite sure what to do.

...Actually yeah, he is sure what to do -- at least some part of him is pretty sure. In the few moments before the logical part of his brain kicks in he relaxes, closing his eyes and tilting his head a little. This is familiar, and he's missed it. And it's really nice, too.

And theeeeeen his brain catches up with things. He can almost hear an audible record-scratch in his head as his mental voice suddenly does a very good impression of a popular cartoon rabbit that's predisposed to mischief against hunters.

''('...'''WHAT AM I __DOING__?'''')''

The movement isn't abrupt, but Adam pulls away from Shiro, ducking around him -- notably, **into** the apartment, not out the door. He's blushing again, and looks both embarrassed and flustered! "...That was... very inappropriate," he begins. His voice is still ever so slightly throaty, airy, as he seems to be catching his breath.

Shiro smirks a little. "Well I don't see anyone else here and I don't hear you complaining, so who's it inappropriate for," he wonders, "...'sides it's not like '''''I''''' give two craps about being appropriate...you're talking to the wrong 'Gane about that...."

'The wrong 'Gane?' Adam frowns, not understanding. Shiro didn't have a brother or something, did he? An evil twin, something like that? Then he remembered the conversation in which Shiro told him about the time in the Galra's arenas. He said he'd had to become a different person, someone he didn't like.

Someone that was the opposite of everything Adam knew to be true of Shiro.

If this was those instincts waking up, then it wasn't Shiro. It was someone Adam didn't know. And Adam realized he might be in more danger than he first thought. Was this just Shiro without filters... or was his someone who '''liked''' killing?

He'd said his crew called him 'Shiro'. And Keith used to call him that too. But if this wasn't Shiro -- more importantly that he **said** he wasn't Shiro -- then Adam shouldn't call him that. Then what should he call this one? 'Shiro' was the Japanese word for 'white'. And if this was the opposite of Shiro...

"...Kuro," Adam utters simply, quietly. Of course he does put forth the effort to make the proper 'ro' sound, rather than just Westernize the 'r'.

Shiro pauses and blinks at that. "Kuro?" he asks, seeming totally lost as to why that word is being brought up. Notably he's not moved to '''hurt''' Adam other than that very forward kiss earlier and keeping him from leaving. He certainly seems very '''vocally''' threatening though.

"It's come back, hasn't it?" Adam realizes. "That person you had to be in the Galra's arena... you convinced yourself so completely that it was a different person... that that's what it became -- that's what '''he''' became... A different person. If you don't want to be 'Shiro', you can be 'Kuro'."

This is just as much for his own benefit as for Shiro's, now. If this person has another name to call himself, he might 'warn' Adam he's coming out next time. Or maybe Shiro will.

'Kuro' blinks some more. "Huh," he murmurs, "....I guess it's like that, yeah...I'm part of me, but I'm usually just buried in the back of my own mind until the emotions just bottle up too much..."

Adam nods. Good, the disassociation isn't a complete one -- even like this, Shiro still has knowledge of himself as... well, himself. Just this is a part of him that he's buried. "We have to work on getting these emotions properly integrated, so you won't have to do that." Pause. "Yes, 'we'," he continues, his voice gentling. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you to twist in the breeze, and I intend to keep that promise. If you need me, I'll be here."

'Kuro' sighs a little. Even though things seem to be calming, even his general posture and basic mannerisms feel out of character for Shiro. "...Fine just...let's talk about all this like adults instead of running the hell away from each other...before I give in to the urge to fill up some rather neglected holes..."

Adam knows what Shiro's talking about now, and blushes a little. He clears his throat, ducking his head a little and rather needlessly adjusting his glasses. "Yes. Let's talk." He walks back into the living room and sits down on the couch, waiting for Shiro to join him. Or would that be 'Kuro' when he's like this? He's not sure right now.

Shiro shakes his head a little and clears his throat. "....er...sorry..." he murmurs as he sits down next to Adam, "I guess we should start all this back from the top again... I hope that wasn't TOO bad..."

"Is it... passing now?" Adam inquires. He's not quite sure how to ask the question. He doesn't want to ask 'are you back to normal now', since that would imply that he's upset at Shiro for the slip. He isn't. Adam understands what happened -- a panic response went off in Shiro's head, and 'Kuro' answered.

Shiro nods in reply. "Yes, I'm getting my grip back again...sorry...I was hoping no one would have to see that. He seems a lot less volatile than usual though..."

Adam relaxes then, and nods. "That's good. Though, um..." He pauses, wondering if he should say this or not. He decides on, "...He seemed less interested in killing me and more interested in... er... a 'smaller' death." Yeah, he's still blushing.

Shiro blushes and clears his throat again. "Yeah...he can be like that sometimes," he states, seeming to have no real interest into going into why. "I'm glad he didn't do anything worse..."

The conversation of why can happen later. Right now? Adam sighs. "All right, so... what happened?" he inquires. "I get the general idea. Bottled up emotions, and they broke free. The genie came out of the bottle, essentially. But what '''were''' those emotions you were bottling up? And why did they break free now?"

"I was just getting frustrated," Shiro admits, "And I guess part of me panicked too. I don't want to---" He pauses and shakes his head. "Not... I can't even really say that because it'd require something that isn't the case in the first place. ...I didn't want to lose the '''illusion''' of having you again."

Adam takes a breath. "I have noticed it... the little things you've been doing," he replies. "I'm very appreciative of all those things. But... I'm no different than I was back then -- for you. Almost no time has passed for me. You've grown up. I haven't." His voice takes on a bit of a self-deprecating note as he continues, "...As you can see, I guess..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "For you what I did is a lot more recent..." he states, "And even though I meant well, it was still a thing of betrayal that I shouldn't have done to you... I was trying to protect you and not give in to some sort of imagined defeat at the same time...but I wasn't thinking enough about your feelings in the process."

Adam shakes his head. "No, I understand why you did it," he replies. "You weren't going to get another chance, one way or the other. I was selfish for expecting you to just... lay down and give up to stay with me." His hands, resting on his knees, suddenly seem like the most fascinating thing in the apartment. "...I just... didn't want to see you work yourself to death," he admits. His voice is quiet, his words slow, as he's trying to put them together in his head before speaking them. "And it was likely you would have died on that mission before you got back... I didn't think I could handle that. And I knew there wasn't any way I could go with you -- I would have, if I'd been able to..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "I didn't want to keep ruining things for you with all the stress I must have caused you," he states, "But... well I'm better now, and smarter now. It probably feels like I'm just clinging to you because you're familiar, but that isn't it."

"That's what I thought, yes," Adam admits. "And in a world like this, where everything's so crazy, familiarity might be the only thing that keeps you sane. But eventually you have to let go of the anchor. If that's all it was... I wanted to make sure I wasn't the anchor bringing you down."

Shiro shakes his head and chuckles slightly. "If anyone's doing that to me, it'd be myself..." he states, "You'd always been there to help me keep moving...figuratively and non."

Adam smiles, though he still doesn't look up. It's good to know that he helped Shiro, even a little. But he's not going to ask Shiro to go into how -- that seems self-aggrandizing. Instead he asks, "...So. What is this, then? What do you -- I mean... If it's not just clinging to familiarity -- and I'm not saying you were the only one doing that -- then, what is it?"

"For now roommates," Shiro states, "But we could restart as something more than that...if you'd have me."

Adam doesn't reply for a moment, he has a thoughtful look on his face. "We wouldn't really be able to just... pick up where we left off," he points out. "Too much time has passed for you." For Adam, it's only been a year at most. For Shiro, several years have passed.

And that makes Adam realize something that he thought he'd accepted already. Shiro is not the same person he was then. He'd known it intellectually... but after seeing 'Kuro', now it's just sinking in and he actually **knows** it now.

He remembers his train of thought then. "But even so... even if we can't just pick up where we left off, we also can't act like there's never been anything between us," he continues, finally looking up at Shiro. "There **has** been, and to ignore it would be foolish. I'm not sure how we would deal with that."

Notably, however... he hasn't said that he doesn't want to...

Shiro frowns thoughtfully. "Well obviously we can't ignore it..." he states, "I'm not sure there's exactly a way to approach it aside from keeping it in mind..."

Adam gives a small smile here. "Keep it in mind as a cautionary tale for us both not to be stupid?" he notes, sounding amused. A pause here, and he looks back at his hands. Yeah, he does that a lot. He does it when he's trying to rationalize something. "...I guess it's all right to admit it now... but I never really 'got over' you. That might not mean as much from me, since so little time passed for me between then and now, but..."

Shiro chuckles a little and then tilts his head at Adam's look of trying to rationalize something. "There's nothing wrong with that...I never got over you either, as much as some things Kuro might say might make it feel otherwise..."

"I get the feeling he wouldn't have been so... verbally abusive if he didn't care," Adam surmises. "Besides, that part of you wouldn't have come out if you weren't worried that I was going to leave. I'd say that means you care. People don't get angry about things they don't care about."

He pauses again, one of his hands curling into a fist where it rests on his knee. The hand lifts, seems to hesitate... and then Adam reaches over to place that hand over one of Shiro's. It's been a long time since he's done that just for the purpose of holding his hand. He doesn't say anything, just lets the touch be the thing that does the communicating. It's a hesitant touch, one that's clearly waiting for some kind of consent before becoming more involved.

Shiro smiles and...for lack of having another hand that's good for this sort of thing, he pats at Adam's hand with his robotic one. "That's true..." he replies, "He is probably terrible because he cares...he exists because it was too hard for me not to care..."

Adam doesn't seem to care about the robotic hand being the one to pat his hand. His smile widens a little. And he gets an idea. He turns his hand, and makes to try to link his fingers with those of the robotic hand. A gesture of acceptance, if any was needed -- he's not said anything negative about the arm in the time they've been here. But still, acceptance nonetheless. And trust, too; that hand is a lot stronger than a normal hand would be, and he doesn't seem to be worried that Shiro will hurt him.

Shiro smiles and '''gently''' squeezes at Adam's hand in turn. "Thank you..." he states, "You don't know how much I needed something like this when my arm was galran tech..."

Adam considers the robotic limb. "The one they gave you in the arena?" he asks. He knows this one isn't the same one; Shiro's told him this floaty one is made from mostly Altean technology. "The one that was being used to control the clone?" Yeah, he got to that part, too.

Shiro nods in reply. "I felt so much like I wasn't even human anymore with that arm in place..." he states, "Even though this arm's even less like a human one, it makes me feel less like a monster..."

"Given what it was used to do, I'm sure you couldn't help but see it as a bad thing," Adam replies quietly. "I'm glad you're free of it. This one... I'll admit I find the design a bit strange, but it's not upsetting to me at all. And if this was built for you, I can only imagine what's been done with prosthetics in general, with this kind of technology available."

Shiro nods in reply. "My crew has more than it's share of genius in it," he states, "This one was mainly something Allura was to be thanked for...."

The mention off Allura draws Adam's smile to fall a bit. "I'm sorry about what happened to her," he replies. "I imagine it was pretty difficult for you, given you were so close to her." He doesn't say this to mean 'close' in a romantic light, of course. She was a friend, and it's always hard to lose a friend.

Shiro nods and squeezes at Adam's hand again. "And I'm getting another gift from her sacrifice even now..." he murmurs thoughtfully, looking toward the window as if he expects he'll some how see her outside.

"How so?" Adam inquires, looking up at Shiro's face again. He'd been concentrating on looking at their linked fingers. Mainly because he was trying not to look like a teenager holding hands with a high school crush and had been fighting a really silly blush until just then.

"Well, now I'm here with you again, talking about this," Shiro replies with a little smile. That might make it even harder not to blush over this.

Sure enough Adam does indeed blush at this. Though he's still smiling. "I don't think she sent you here," he points out. "Or do you mean pulling your spirit from the Lion? I'm fairly certain she couldn't have left you in there anyway. You were needed -- the rest of the pilots needed you. Not just as a leader, but as a friend."

"I mean the fact that our reality still even existed thanks to her...so right now that means I'm alive to see you again..." Shiro points out.

"Technically everyone in your reality has her to thank for their continued existence," Adam replies. He doesn't call it his own reality, because, well... he stopped being a part of it when he died. "It's just unfair that she had to do that to save everyone..."

Shiro nods in reply. "It really is..." he agrees, "...maybe she's out there somewhere like you were, but with what she did, I'm not so sure that's possible."

"I can only hope she at least got to go somewhere good," Adam replies. "I don't know what their theology was, but whatever the Altean's version of heaven was, I hope she got to go there." He pauses and leans a bit so that he's leaning on Shiro a little, to try to cheer him up a little. He's never been very demonstrative of his affection, but the little things are there for those who choose to look.

Shiro smiles softly again. Being some what more affectionate than Adam, he kisses at the side of Adam's head here. "Thank you...I've really needed the little things like this..."

Adam blushes again, slightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't feel like it was really appropriate, given the... situation," he says quietly. And since he hasn't actually '''officially''' said he wants that situation to change, he notes, "I think it should be all right now though, since... since we're... I'm..." Why is he stumbling over it '''now'''?! He sighs, and clears his throat. "I would... like to try again," he finally gets the words together.

"Yeah, I'd love to try again," Shiro agrees, "...thank you for giving me another chance Adam. I'll definitely do better by you this time."

"That's a promise we both have to make," Adam points out. "We both screwed up, and we didn't have a chance to fix it back then. I don't know why I didn't realize it before now... We didn't have that chance the first time, and I was letting it pass us both by. And I didn't realize that you... well, that you needed the closeness." Pause. "...And, yes. I needed it too, I'm starting to realize that too." He chuckles.

More seriously, he tilts his head back a bit more, so he can see Shiro clearly from where he's leaning. "I promise, I'll do better this time," he offers quietly, with a small, subdued smile that is no less genuine for being subded.

"We'll have to work together on it, but that's the point, isn't it," Shiro replies with a little grin. He peers curiously toward Adam and offers another smile. "And that's alright...you can't help that I'm greedy for attention."

"Kind of ironic," Adam notes, sounding amused, "given the stereotypes surrounding our respective nationalities. You being the sort to... show affection in physical ways in public, and me being the kind to be more subdued about it." That wouldn't be the only stereotype the two of them were breaking, but that's the one that can be talked about here without being '''completely''' insensitive!

Shiro nods in agreement. "Not that I'd be '''too''' affectionate in public," he states, "...maybe in public places when no one's around though..."

Adam chuckles. "No, you never have before," he notes. Though that said... that other... well, not quite personality... Shiro just sort of loses his filter a little. Okay, he loses his filter '''a lot'''. He's not sure Shiro wouldn't be that inappropriate in public in that state.

Which... makes him think of something. "Actually, I do have one more question," he begins. "Are we... how quickly is this going? It isn't as though we '''haven't''' been to that point before, but... are we setting goals?" A breath. "More to the point... are we sharing a bed? I've noticed you have trouble sleeping... and that one time I tried to wake you up and you pulled me into the bed with you and fell asleep again..."

Shiro blushes on this note. "Well, I certainly wouldn't complain about having something to keep my mind at ease," he states. "We don't have to go fast about it though. Just because we were ready before doesn't mean we're ready now..."

"And sharing a bed doesn't necessarily mean... being intimate in it," Adam adds. That is also definitely an Adam thing to do -- go out of his way to find a 'polite' way of referring to certain non-polite things! "I'm concerned, since you don't seem to be sleeping well. If you're going to find a job, you'll definitely need to get proper sleep. And if my being there will help..."

Shiro nods in agreement. "Exactly," he states, "There's no need to rush any of this. We can just do what's comfortable at the time." That said, there is something about Shiro that feels restrained... Something that feels like he's pulling another of those scream on the inside sort of stunts.

''('Well, at least some things about him haven't changed,')'' Adam notes mentally. He's about to leave it be, to just agree... and then. He pauses. What happened earlier happened because of Shiro bottling things up. So he thinks about how to ask.

And thinks.

And thinks.

...And thinks.

He thinks so long, in fact, that it might seem that he was upset about something. But then '''finally''', Adam inquires hesitantly, "...Is... I mean... what's wrong?" He'd been about to ask 'if' something was wrong... but he knows there is. So instead, he asks 'what'. Less options to wiggle out of things!

Shiro blinks a little at that. "Hmm," he wonders, "Nothing outside of the ordinary really..." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Worrying maybe, as much as I wanted this, I might just be saddling you with a different set of burdens again..."

"Burdens are always easier when they're shared," Adam replies. "So don't worry about it. Whatever it is that's worrying you, I'll figure out a way to help you with it. You just need to tell me what I need to do, and I'll do the best I can. Besides, if I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't still be here. And I certainly wouldn't have agreed to get back together with you."

"Okay but ...you have to do it too," Shiro states, "I mean...how much of our old relationship was times of you pulling my impaired self out of the fire?"

Adam looks a bit sheepish. "Well... true. But I didn't do it because I had to," he points out. "I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to help you then, and I want to help you now. Besides, I'd say you paid it back, given how much you helped me while I was recovering. If you hadn't been there, I might have had to stay in a hospital. You didn't have to do that, but you did." He smiles. "Thank you."

"Thank you too," Shiro replies, "Should we do something small to celebrate?"

Adam nods. "It... feels like something that should be celebrated, yes," he decides. No lie there. A bit of an understatement though -- he feels the same floaty way he did when they officially started dating the first time! "What do you think would be an appropriate way to celebrate it?"

"Maybe we should get something out so you don't have to cook," Shiro states, "Other than that...let's see...some desert and just taking a rest?"

"I think I remember where there's a sushi place, if you felt like braving the outside," Adam replies. He's not offering just because Shiro's Japanese either, he likes the stuff too. "Getting pizza and a few sweets delivered here sounds good too though, if you preferred the idea of staying in."

"Hmm, sushi sounds great, but pizza sounds more personal," Shiro says thoughtfully, "Well, since it's technically our first night, I guess we should do the sushi this time."

Adam nods. "It looks like an informal place, more of a sushi bar than a fancy sit-down place," he notes. "So you won't have to dress up really fancy." If the two of them even '''have''' any fancy clothes aside from what Adam wears to work. Of course, that might or might not have favored into his suggestion.

"That's good yeah," Shiro states, "I've only got casual stuff with me...I should really fix that eventually."

Adam chuckles. "Give it time. We haven't been here '''too''' long, and most of what we've been concerned about up to this point has been making do," he notes. And also apparently avoiding how they felt about each other, not to forget that! But. Yes. "We get to hopefully play the long game now."

Shiro nods in agreement. "Hopefully the clothes didn't keep me from getting any of the jobs I interviewed for..." he murmurs, "But I'd think the people here would understand the situation the inhabitants are going through, so it should be fine."

"Probably not," Adam replies. And to make Shiro feel better, he notes, "Maybe they just didn't want such a threat to their present romantic relationships working there. They'd have to look at you every day and try to hold back asking you out." He's... not '''great''' at this sort of thing, but he's trying at least!

Shiro chuckles a little at Adam's way of thinking. "I guess that **could** be true," he states, "You do have a good enough sense of taste that others might have it too..."

Adam smiles. "Who knows?" He pauses, to offer a hand to Shiro. "Are you ready to go? Or do you want to do something before we go?" he inquires. He's presentable enough for a sushi bar, but if Shiro wants to fix his hair or whatever, he's okay with that.

Shiro smiles and takes the offered hand. "I'm ready to go, sure," he answers, "Let's have some sushi!"

And it's here that Adam pauses, considering these clasped hands with a thoughtful look. Did either of them ever think that they'd ever do that again? Adam because he thought that Shiro would die on the mission, and Shiro because Adam actually **did** die in his timeline. Even then Adam never thought they'd be together again, not after having broken up. But here they were. So much had happened to Shiro, he'd grown and matured since they broke up. *('I'm going to have to learn to grow up too,')* Adam decides.

He seems to 'wake up' then, and the smile returns. "Good idea," he agrees. He's never been one for PDAs in public, but there's going to be some hand-holding on the way to the place!

|}}

Kazuki

2020-06-10T19:08:18Z

DariRyusei: Adding a song to playlist

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Kazuki.jpg
|Name=Kazuki Wakahisa
|Pronunciation=(kaz-oo-key wa-ka-hi-sa)
|Alias=Kazuki
|Occupation=Aidoru ♥♥♥
|Series=Macross
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Thin but tall, rather effeminate man.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Kazuki Wakahisa has been on quite the journey -- struggling singer, Sound Force member, part-time Anti-UN terrorist, and now it's come full circle back to civilian. That journey taught him just how unpleasant life could be, and gave him what he would call a "healthy paranoia" of trusting others with his heart. Though scarred by the betrayal that ended his time with the AUN, he managed to keep himself reasonably sane along the way. Now he's just trying to get by as well as he can, bubble of youthful energy and vigor thoroughly burst by a tragedy of errors that would read like a bad soap opera plot if he were to tell the story.
<h3>Trivia</h3>
* Kazuki has Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where there's an extra X chromosome in some percentage of the body's cells, resulting in an XXY arrangement. Severity tends to differ based on the percentage of cells that have this XXY arrangement. Kazuki's percentage is low. He is physically male, but some of his body's systems act as they would in a female body. This causes a number of issues, but none severe enough to impact his life in an appreciable way.
* Due to the former, his voice never actually deepened when he went through puberty. The baritone voice that he speaks with is him pitching his voice down.
|Age=26
|Birthdate=March 3
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=149lb
|Desc=        Pale, slim, and delicate of features. It might even be hard to tell at first what gender this person is at a single glance. But a second look at the face will reveal a squareness that one doesn't often see in a woman, and thinner lips than a woman's. Still, though...it's a safe bet he gets a lot of teasing over it.

       He has auburn hair that's been cut short in the back, but he's kept his bangs long around his face. These "tails" of hair reach to about his chest.

       His face is delicate and feminine-looking, but there's enough masculinity there to at least tell he's male with not too much trouble unless one isn't paying attention. His eyes are a lavender color, and seem somewhat narrowed. In fact, his features in general seem slim and angular, his fingers slightly too long, and slightly too thin. But perhaps good for fine detail work.

       He's wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt that fits him loosely, a pair of dark blue pants, and a pair of heavy black boots. Pretty simple attire, but its darkness makes him seem even paler. Under normal circumstances he walks in a slouch, his back bent and his hands in his pockets. There will, of course, be situatons where that is not possible. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Kazuki's light build makes him vulnerable to strong attacks. Thus he relies on just not being where an enemy's attack lands. Mobility-arresting measures are thus pretty devastating during battle.</li><li>The story of what he's been through in his home world really does read like a bad soap opera plot. However, it's also responsible for a lot of his emotional problems at current. Besides that, it's often said that the creative mind is already plagued with ills. Whether natural or from what he's been through, Kazuki's anxiety and depression remains untreated.</ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Kazuki was a regular kid in a world with space travel. At least, he thought he was normal. As it turned out, he had Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where a male is born with an extra X chromosome. Treatments wre costly, and it wasn't a life-threatening disease, so his parents opted not to have it dealt with when he hit his teens.         That was fine, since Kazuki had another plan for his life -- he was going to go into space aboard the colony ship ''Horizon'' -- they would need civilians and entertainers too, particularly as favorably as the military saw singers. Kazuki himself had a decent singing voice. And one bit of splurging that he allowed himself was a voice coach, so that, as he grew into his teen years, he could at least '''pretend''' to be a normal male. Once he'd hit his adult years, he had both a good understanding of how to change his voice -- both up AND down -- and the opportunity to apply for citizenship on the Horizon. And he made it! It was the chance of his dreams...!         One that turned into a nightmare...         It didn't take long before Sound Force picked him up, since he was determined to be in possession of the talent for manipulating Spiritia, a unique spiritual energy that's attached to both music and the soul. Now, this Sound Force had learned from the mistakes of the former, and put everyone in it through basic training. Unfortunately, the rest of the force wasn't aware of this. Even more unfortunate, Kazuki was the only member of Sound Force that had no family in the military. So, while Kazuki was taking verbal abuse from the UN Spacy '''outside''' Sound Force for, well... being in Sound Force, he was also taking verbal abuse from '''inside''' Sound Force because he had no military connections.         Soon this did enough damage to his mental state that the UN Spacy forcibly retired him. With no benefits, of course. So he went back to singing for his supper. And for a while that was working out. But then an Anti-UN attack on the Horizon colony ship that saw the ship being temporarily taken over by the AUN had him retreating into a network of large pipes. Two weeks later, he was discovered by Anti-UN member Zhorein Raynes, on a mission to deal with a rogue Sound Force member hiding on the ship. He was too weak to fight back, and was only saved by the timely interference of Ayame Bright, the then-leader of the UN.         Rather than kill him, she decided to make the recruitment pitch. Feeling that he had no choice, Kazuki agreed to join them. But something surprising happened... he started to make friends with the AUN forces. Soon he was a dedicated member of the AUN himself, learning how to fly a Valkyrie and using his unque vocal talents for their cause. It was the happiest he had ever been -- he wasn't expected to be anything he wasn't capable of, only to do what he could. They respected his need to learn slowly, under their tutelage and care, he blossomed into a confident and happy individual.         But this is where the bad soap opera plot starts. A battle with the UN turned into a high-ranking member of General Galaxy killing most of the AUN members and threatening to destroy an entire planet. The AUN had no choice but to join forces with the UN to defeat General Galaxy and end the bomb threat, and then then remnants of the AUN fled before they could be captured. However, one of the surviving AUN members -- someone that Kazuki had romantic feelings for (they were of course, unrequited; this fellow was straight) -- told them that Ayame Bright had been captured and needed to be rescued. They set up the jailbreak, made the plans, and set off to rescue their leader.         Unfortunately, it turned out that this AUN member that Kazuki loved so much... was really a double-agent for the UN. And so, when the group was too far into the facility to easily escape, he turned them all over to the UN. Kazuki spent a little time in jail -- not much, between the AUN's assistance with the planet bomb threat and the fact that the double-agent led them into the commission of the crime of breaking and entering a government facility (entrapment, which is illegal), plea bargains and negotiations happened.         Kazuki came out of jail bitter and jaded, and a change in his music reflected that. He turned to darker genres -- like metal and screamo -- leaving behind the happy, upbeat songs of his youth. And his Spiritia abilities moved fully from healing to damaging the psyche of others. For five years after he was let out of jail, he just lingered, withdrawing more and more from the public eye. Then one day, he just... disappeared, without a trace.         He didn't kill himself, no. He'd been pulled into Twisted! At first he didn't care, and only did what he needed to in order to survive, only because he couldn't '''not''' do that. They say time heals all wounds, and gradually Kazuki started to come out of his shell. He's never going to be the man he was before that bad soap opera story of a past happened, but he's at least gotten through it enough to get by. Currently he lives as well as he can in Twisted, doing the occasional concert and/or album for an influx of cash.
<h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Almost nothing of Kazuki's personality before his life fell apart with the destruction of the AUN remains. He's bitter, jaded, cynical, and broken, with very little good to say about anything. Though to be fair, he doesn't have much bad to say about much either. He's lax and flippant most of the time, and if he has a single f**k to give about propriety, he has hidden it very well. However, it is worth pointing out that his time in Twisted has allowed him to heal a little from the fallout of it all. He's still not the same man he was, but he's not the utterly broken and despairing man he was immediately after the incident.         It's also worth noting that his moping doesn't ever really get out of hand -- for better or worse, he's learned how deeply true is the old adage that when you cry, you cry alone. Though of course that also means that he doesn't talk to people when he has a problem; his time in Sound Force and the betrayal of someone he loved so much taught him to know better than to share his pain with others. If people can see the tender parts of his psyche, they can stab at them, either literally or with words. And he's about done with having people hurt him.         His ability to create a "mask" of sorts over his true face is about the only thing that survives of his original personality. More often than not, he's covering up his real face with one of these "masks" for the crowd, or just for the general populus. He can '''pretend''' to be the same happy, chipper, silly fellow that he was before it all happened of course. That's easy -- easier than letting on that he's not like that at all.         Another thing that remains is the fear that a look at the real Kazuki -- the Kazuki underneath all the pretending and flair, the deeply broken and cobbled-together man underneath it all -- would send people running. He once thrived by covering up his true self, and it was only when he let someone in that he was hurt. So he's not about to stop covering up anytime soon.         But overall, his time away from all the reminders of his failures has done him well. He no longer blames himself for being "not good enough" for anyone back home; a goldfish can hardly be blamed if it can't climb up a tree with all the other monkeys, can it? Freeing himself of this guilt has done wonders in gluing together the broken pieces of who he was. Like a broken porcelain doll, no amount of glue is going to hide the cracks, but at least he can hold himself together reasonably well now, and that's all that really matters. Now he just wants to make music and make a few people happy.

|Skills=<ul><li>'''Spiritia Manipulation:''' Spiritia is an energy force generated by living things (yes, just like the Force). In his world, manipulation of this energy source is the closest thing to magic that exists. Manipulation of others' spiritia is done via musical talent, either singing or playing an instrument. A musician needs to "play with soul" in order to do this. By doing this, he can sway the emotions of a crowd of people, evoking emotions in those who chose to give themselves over to it. He can "aim" this for a stronger effect on unwilling targets, however.</li><li>'''Anima Spiritia Generation:''' Beyond the normal spiritia produced by living things, some people produce the so-termed "Anima Spiritia", an even purer form of this energy. By generating and directing it similar to a magic spell (in the way as normal spiritia, by singing or playing music), he can accomplish a variety of effects within other living beings. Plants and nonsapient life will react based on the emotions he's singing with. Sapient life will either find their abilities and/or morale improving or deteriorating, again depending on the emotion in his music. Most devastating of all, he can act on an opponent's morale, in Kazuki's case ATTACK it, wearing down his or her will to continue to fight. Opponents defeated in this way physically suffer no damage, but appear emotionally spent. They will recover easily enough, however.</li><li>'''Agile:''' Given his light physique, and the fact that he's used the muscle mass he does have to become a dancer, it's no wonder that Kazuki's agility is pretty high. Dodging is generally how he keeps himself alive when things go pear-shaped around him, he's quite good at escaping from bindings and small spaces, and can fold himself up into extremely small hiding places.</li><li>'''Driving:''' Kazuki's good at driving land vehicles. If it has two or more tires, he's likely to be able to figure it out. Large vehicles don't seem to intimidate him like they do some people, and he maintains an awareness of where all parts of the vehicle are at all times.</li><li>'''Various Bits of Military Training:''' Throughout his journey, Kazuki was in both the UN Spacy and the Anti-UN, both military-class forces, though on opposite sides of a conflict. While he hasn't been meticulously trained like the rest, he can use a gun with some competence, and he knows a decent amount of barehanded fighting techniques. He really shines with a single dagger, though -- his slender frame is perfect for the quick movements that are needed to attack quickly with a dagger.</li><li>'''Performer:''' Kazuki is a skilled performer, having been singing, dancing, and playing the keyboard for most of his life. In his early days he went to a voice coach that taught him to sing, as well as to pitch his voice how he needed it. His keyboard skills are mostly self-taught, and he had to learn stage presence through experience.</li><li>'''Disguise:''' He didn't just learn to manipulate his voice. Learning how to carry himself, both onstage and in real life, has taught him to change himself totally to fit a given situation. He creates a persona, crafts a personality, decides on mannerisms, etc. This isn't limited to gender, as he's been able to successfully pass himself off as a female on more than one occasion. Which naturally leads to...</li><li>'''"Nadine":''' "Nadine" is Kazuki's female persona, and he's really good at playing this character. He effectively ceases to be "Kazuki Wakahisa" in this guise and is, effectively "Nadine". It isn't quite a second personality, but it's close. Enough to fool all but the closest observers. The biggest thing that gives him away? His height. He's still 6'2", even as Nadine. Surrounded by female Zentradi (Meltrans), who could be over six feet easily, it wasn't a big deal. But in Twisted, that could trip him -- or rather, "her" -- up.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery></gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5gQ_ze3sY Boys Don't Cry] - cillia ft. Gakupo V3 (original by fatmanP ft. Luka Megurine) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwBT7l2hVd0 Suicide Parade] - ShiKai ft. Gakupo V5 (original by YurryCannon ft. GUMI) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfEnWvVJEzc Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)] - Jethro Tull
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=♥Kazuki♥
|}}
[[Category:Active]]

2020-06-07 - Welcome to Bucketheadland

2020-06-08T15:25:17Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Welcome to Bucketheadland
|Summary = Russell realizes that the strangely Kazuki-esque person he saw on the cover of that magazine a while back really '''was''' Kazuki, when the former runs into the latter in the mall's food court. ''(Note: Theories expressed in this log are purely those of the players and/or their characters, and do not reflect any established IC canon or idea.)''
|Who = [[Kazuki]], [[Russell Anders]]
|Date = June 8, 2020
|Where = [[New Market Food Court]]
|Log=

'''''New Market Food Court''''' ''TEMP DESC: Even if it's not the center of the mall, the Food Court always feels like it is. On both the first and second floors are a plethora of foods from all across the multiverse. A Taco Bomb sits next to a Freckle Bitch's. A Big Belly Burgers is beside a Coffee Bean. If you can't find something to eat here, you never will. Also, watch out for the Chinese woman screaming that you take a free sample. She doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no' in any language.''

<hr>

Everyone's gotta eat, particularly in a mall. A lot of walking around means a lot of people using energy and getting hungry. And conveniently enough, there is a food court in this mall, as tends to be the case with malls!

Kazuki is not really important enough in Twisted that he can't just walk around in public without it being a pain. A few people recognize him, but it's nowhere near dangerous or even mildly annoying. This being the case, Kazuki has been walking around in this mall for a while. So he's headed for a counter at a rather provocatively-named restaurant counter.

He places the order without even looking at the menu -- seems to be a regular! Music is also enjoyed -- he's got some of those wireless ear buds. And he's just sort of blending into the scenery here, just a regular patron. Maybe a slightly darker patron than usual since he's wearing all black.

Russell, on the otherhand, is basically unknown. Aside from the flight suit he's still wearing, he'd probably melt into the crowd of misplaced and varied people completely. Despite his circumstances, his stomach does require some contents on occassion though, so here he is.

He sets the small bag of cloathing he managed to scrounge money for on a table, surveying the court with a cautious but hungry eye. He spots Kazuki's outfit, but doesn't see his face given he's up at the counter. The pilot falls into a line at the next shop over, staring at the menu rather unhelpfully. "Hmmm"

Kazuki's food gets delivered to him, and he turns to head to a table... and happens to turn in Russell's direction. It's a double-take -- yes, an actual double-take, in the wild; Kazuki looks up, looks away, and then looks back in Russell's direction. "...Couldn't be," he mutters. But... it looks so much like him!

And because Kazuki can't just walk up to someone and greet them like a normal person, he actually approaches the person he thinks might be Russell from outside this poor fella's field of vision. Once he's close enough he pipes up, "Their 'Big Boy' meal is pretty good. Just be aware they're basically gonna bring you a meatloaf between asscheeks, like you could just unhinge your jaw to eat it."

....Real smooth, Kazuki.

But, that said, if Russell remembers Kazuki? That's his voice. And if he turns to look -- hopefully without throwing a punch -- that's definitely him in that outfit, with that hair and girly face.

Russell laughs, and says without so much as a smirk, fires back, "I'm hungry enough that I could just about do that." He looks back up at the menu, and then does a double take of his own.

"Waaaaiiiit... Kazuki? From Dawnb- nah, can't be, you do look '''just''' like him, though, damn." He just shakes his head rapidly as he tries to dismiss what his eyes are telling him.

Kazuki gives a smirk of his own at the response, and then nods as Russell seems to not quite believe that the thinner man is who he looks to be. "Yeah, it's me," he confirms. "Universal sink trap got you too, huh?" he observes.

Though the smirk gentles after a moment, and he notes, his voice a bit softer, "...Still. Much as I hate you got pulled away from everything, I'm glad to see you reasonably safe. And I'd be lying if I said it was anything but great to see you again."

"Well I'll be Damned." The pilot says, putting his hands on his hips in genuine disbelief. "I'm glad I survived - did end up in a damn bramble bush for a landing though. Can't say that was exactly a pleasant experiance, to understate it greatly. This explains what happened to you, though. Anyone else from our little bubble in the multiverse? Or is it just us?"

He looks up at the menu again, and mutters, "I still haven't quite gotten myself settled in yet." He motions his head toward his small bag of clothes, "At least I've got some damn socks now, thought... Aside from ending up here, hopefully it's treated you better then our world did."

Kazuki snickers a bit at the mention of ending up in a bramble bush. "Definitely heard of better landings," he agrees. As for if anyone else made it there? Kazuki shakes his head. "Nah, seems like it's just us. Maybe every so often someone else'll show up from our world, who knows? It seems pretty random."

The mention of Russell having clothes gets a tilt of his head. "Do you have a place yet? The Integra Arms are there for displaced people to stay in until they get on their feet," Kazuki recalls. As for being pulled away from everything else? Kazuki waves a hand dismissively. "There wasn't anything left there for me anyway. Not after Alexander died. I have a reasonably stable existence here -- nice, boring life, I'm making enough to survive, and not having to interact with people that tear my heart out over and over, like Prometheus's eagle."

Pause. "I mean, I know that was his liver, but you get the idea."

"That seems to be what folks have been saying: It's entirely random, and nobody knows what physical or supernatural process determines where, when, and who gets pulled in, it's bizarre."

His head nods a bit, "Yeah, that's where I've been crashing since another soldier here pointed me in that direction. He's a teacher I guess, so this place has existed long enough for people to grow up here, not just random kids getting pulled in." He makes a face, and then says, "Glad to hear that you fared pretty well, all things considered. That helps a lot, this place can't be all bad then." Russ rubs his chin, and adds, "That was definately you I saw on that magazine cover when I first got here. Figured I was just suffering a concussion."

Kazuki nods. "I've been running this theory that this place is kinda like a drain or a sink trap -- when overflow happens, it catches the stuff that gets washed out," he notes. "Maybe when someone's 'Fate' gets too heavy -- or too light, maybe both -- they get washed away and come here. I know that sounds weird, but it's the only way I can make things make sense in my head as they happened."

A nod to the mention of the school. "It's an academy, so they probably have adult students too. Thought about taking some courses there myself." He smirks. "Maybe I can get a trade I can actually ply when I'm too old to look pretty."

A magazine? That gets a surprised look. "Huh. Must have been an older one, yeah," he agrees. "When I first got here, I threw myself into performing, since it was all I had. And it was a damn sight healthier than drinking the contents of a medicine cabinet. Eventually had to slow down, but by that time I'd worked out whatever ridiculous crap I had in my head that I needed to be someone 'important'."

Yeah, that's what always got him in trouble... trying to be 'important'. Trying to prove... something, to someone. He seems to have shed that in the intervening years. And he does look just a bit older, like he'd been here a while.

".... Huh. That's an interesting observation." Russell says as he moves up in line, "Everyone I've talked to was either at their crippling lows or orbital highs when they ended up here, it seems." He then adds, "And then people just get over what brought them here and try to put the pieces back together and getting on with their life as best they can."

"So, stepped back from the stage into an easy retirement I take it? Well, it couldn't have gone to someone more deserving of a break, at least. Or if nothing else, just do the odd gig on the side." Russ hrms, "I'm still in that acclimation phase, myself."

"I can't really speak for anyone but myself," Kazuki notes. "But I think ending up here was... pretty much exactly what I needed. Sure, no one was here who knew me or cared what happened to me, but there was also nobody here who knew about the things that happened. I could interact with people who didn't automatically pity or hate me. So..." He shrugs, figuring the point's made.

Kazuki tilts his head. "Not exactly retirement, but yeah, I only do the occasional gig, when I feel particularly motivated to do one. As much as I ran myself ragged when I first came here, it also meant that I could relax later -- well, 'later' being 'now', actually, but yeah."

"Well, Hey, That's gotta be good for your mental health, if nothing else!" Russ notes, pausing as he's finally at the front of the line. He orders a cheap burger and some fries for himself. While he waits, he turns back to Kazuki and gives the man a pat on the shoulder.

"At least there's a fresh start, and that's got to be worth something. You get the chance to put it all behind you and just move forward." He considers there, and adds, "If there are concerts and the like going on, then at least that means people are able to relax a little, which is a very good sign indeed."

He obtains his food, and sets it at the table with his bag on it, "I can't see that as a bad thing. At least the other guy from your universe is one you got along with, eh?"

Kazuki nods, though he waits until Russell's order is being filled before he answers. A grateful smile at the pat on the shoulder, and then he agrees, "Yeah, that turned out to be what I needed to get my shit together. I guess there wasn't any way to escape it back there. I barely even remember coming here -- I was jelly-legs level drunk, passed out, and woke up here. If that was going to be the rest of my life, it was gonna end up being a short one."

Once more he nods, at the mention of a fresh start being worth something. "It's worth a lot," he replies. "I guess that Death Card finally managed to get flipped right-side-up." He refers, of course, to the nose art of his Valkyrie while with Dawnbreaker -- the Death card, number 13 of the Major Arcana in a deck of tarot cards, pictured upside down. 'Death' being a card of forced change, when flipped upside down, indicates that this change is needed but will not come.

He heads to the same table as Russell once the food is gotten, and offers a smirk at that last observation. "Yeah. If it'd been Oisin, I'm not sure how I'd have reacted. Or, more to the point, how HE would have. Zhorein was a double-agent; those two probably made up and became besties once everything was over. I '''willingly''' joined the AUN. I can't see Oisin ever being able to forgive me for it. Not that, you know, I really give a shit. I'm done caring about people who only see me for what I can do for them."

"I've been over people like that for years." Russell says, shaking his head and adding, "Don't think I'd be too happy to see Zore or Ois around. They got on my nerves after awhile - I'll miss Fifi, though" He then offers a shrug, taking a bite of his burger.

"I bet that most folks here give you the benefit of the doubt at the very least. And everyone I've dealt with so far has been rather helpful. I wager that having random people appear from all over the damn place has something to do with that." He hrms, "So other then that, what goes on around here, anyway? Just people taking care of the newly immigrated? Or are there actual industries or something?"

Kazuki gives an affirmative noise, also setting into his food. He lets the mention of Zhorein and Oisin go past for a moment (and also chewing his food). It's not until Russell mentions Fifi that Kazuki speaks up. "Yeah. From what you told me she was a pretty cool sort. Ironic that the mercenaries were better people than the ones paid to be ostensibly good people, ain't it?"

A pause here, and then (since talk of romantic partners was made) he admits, "...Honestly, I never got totally over Zhorein. I dealt with it, put it behind me, but I never really got over it. Stupid, I know. But I've always been an emotionally-motivated sort."

He nods at the mention of generally getting the benefit of the doubt. "Yeah. Having random people show up here is kind of a Thing, so for the most part people here have learned not to assume anything, really. There's everything from humans, to anthro canines, to snake-people. And probably a lot more that I'm leaving out, or that aren't noticeably different but are."

As for what goes on around here? "Well, there's plenty of stores in here," he notes. "There's small quick-stop type shops, medical places -- other things you'd expect in a normal city. There are establishments that are concentrated on seeing to newly-arrived people, but aside from that most people are just trying to survive." Pause. "Oh yeah. There's a red-light district. Fun, but watch your footing. Literally, since the street's a little... broken out that way."

"The mercs were good people, overall. And I honestly don't blame you over Zhore, it's only natural to have some lasting pain from that." Russ notes, taking another bite, "...At least all of the Mercs I ever got to deal with where good people... SMS moved out of the area right before I ended up here, though." He rubs his head again.

"I've heard there's a whole rainbow of folks here. I've only seen human-lookin people so far, though." He then nods and seems to take mental note of the places the singer was listing off. "I did notice we have a mall, at the very least." Then the mention of a Red Light District, "-Yeah, I'm going to take a hard pass on that. I'm not keen on my little Valkyrie to suffer through an otherworldly STD, if I can possibly avoid it." He munches upon a fry, "I can imagine the burning now."

"That's a shame," Kazuki replies. "Too bad you couldn't have gone with them. But I doubt NUNS would have let you go, and you'd have had to go AWOL to go with her. But then, given you came here right after, it might have been difficult for Fifi too."

As for the people? "There are plenty of people who aren't human, and a lot of people who look human, aren't," he notes. A snicker then, at the mention of Russ's 'little Valkyrie'. "Yeah, you don't want your... '''disk''' to pop off." Of course he had to make the joke. "That said, there's actually a little more than just whorehouses down there. Couple of mercenary places, bars that are a little seedier than you'd expect, and I've heard there's a black market down thataway."

"Yeah, that would have been really painful for her." Russ says, making a face, "Not what I would want in that case. And I doubt it was something I could have reached out and pulled her into - which in of itself would have been extremely unfair."

"I... See. not being human and looking human sounds mostly like Micronized Zentradi, but I'm sure there's even more strangeness to be had."

"uhhhhh, wait, If this place is as strange as it is... I cannot imagine what the hell would even consitute a black market. 'Observe our Eldrich Horror in a Jar! Just three easy payments of Five human souls!'" Russ saying the last part in the most stereotypical announcer voice he possibly can.

Kazuki nods, offering an affirmative sound. "She probably wouldn't have been pleased to be here," he notes. "Though if she didn't come with you, it's probably that her life is going good. And one day, maybe, if her 'Fate' becomes too much or too little, she'll find her way here too. It's... oddly hopeful in a way, even if it never happens. And hell, if '''I''' can see anything as hopeful, '''anything''' is possible." He chuckles.

He pauses, thinking. "I don't think I've met any Zentradi here, actually. It's really weird," he observes. "But then I'm not really one to grill people about what they got goin' on under the hood, you know?"

A snicker, then, as Russell mimics an announcer. "I don't know -- I generally stay away from it," he admits. "Probably drugs, mostly. Stuff people aren't supposed to have. Though I don't think weapons are actually forbidden, since monsters do show up on occasion. Gotta have a way to defend yourself when you don't have super-powers, right?"

Russell chomps down on his lunch and gives the other man a look of agreement. "That's a good way to look at it, yeah. It'd be a bit selfish to want folks I knew from over there to have the same thing happen to them."

"Yeah, I'm usually good at spotting them out from human folk, but haven't seen any either. I'm mostly worried about being startled and being unintentionally offensive because of it. I've heard there's someone here who's, like, a living collection of building blocks and there is no way I'm not seeing how high I can jump when that image enters my visual cortex."

"Yeah, probably a good idea unless you're after something '''VERY''' unusual. They probably have the Cthulhu Jars right next to the boxed Honest Lawyers and '''actual''' lucky game dice." He snickers, before Kaz points out the fact there are monsters and he's a mere human, "As soon as I get the money together, I aught to go find what passes for a gun shop round these parts. If those creatures attack, I'd best be able to hold my own until Law enforcement or the sherrif or just some superhero shows up to take over."

Kazuki nods at that first bit. "Exactly," he replies. "Though... I guess in my case it'd have been better for Alexander, since... well, he died. But that's different than your situation." As for spotting the non-human folk? "I've noticed that it doesn't really matter -- people are people, no matter whether they're human or not. So I guess it's not really important. And it's probably better to ask than assume, even if asking seems weird or... obtuse for some reason."

He snickers at the mention of weird commodities, though he nods. "I heard that a gun shop recently opened... or is going to open soon, I forget which," he admits. "I might go too -- I lost my distaste for shooting things a while back. That said, the People Who Can usually Do when it Needs To Be Done." Capital letters are heard.

"... Yeah. Being, well, alive is going to be better then any alternatives. But Fifi was doing alright, so it wouldn't have been so good for her." Russ says, going back to his lunch before it gets too cold. After chomping down on his food for awhile, "I'm more interested in their character over anything else. You can be a good or bad person regardless of what you look like, I say."

"I'll have to figure out where that shop is and have a good look around. The odd jobs I do don't pay all that much, so it'll take a while to save for a decent weapon." He chuckles at Kazuki's comment, "Yeah, you do what you gotta do when it comes down to it. Might regret it after, but hey."

"Most alternatives," Kazuki reflexively offers. More evenly, he adds, "...But yeah. I do hope she's still doing well, and I hope you get to see her again someday." As for being a good or bad person? Kazuki nods. "Yeah, that'll steer you in the right direction. I've learned that beauty isn't the be-all and end-all."

As for that shop? "Yeah. I should do that, too. I'll take a look around, and when I find it..." Pause. "Wait, do you have a cell phone?" he inquires. They have providers in Twisted, though the coverage doesn't extend to the Wastelands (in all likelihood).

"And it's not like everyone stays pretty forever anyway, it's the quality of one's character that sticks around." Russ adds, finishing off his fries, "God damn I needed that. It's like my stomach burns calories at an accellerated rate to keep me sane while shopping. I hate shopping so much."

"I did before I came here. Tended not to take it on the Valkyrie - which sadly didn't come with, my survival gear would have been nice." Russ then gives a shrug to that notion, and adds, "I'm sure there's probably a cellphone company, too."

Kazuki grins at the mention of not staying pretty forever. "You're right. Even me, despite what my last name actually means; I'm going to get ugly one day. And I'm Japanese, so I know how it's gonna happen. I'm gonna be fine up until I hit about 60 and then one day, bam -- I'm gonna be three feet tall, bald, and wrinkled as a prune."

As for shopping? "...Y'know, I never really did like shopping that much either," he agrees. "Even if it was shopping for 'Nadine'. I'm pretty tall, and they just don't make clothes for women that tall. There might actually be that sort of, uh... 'specialty' shop in the red light district, but I honestly haven't checked."

He can't say much about Russ's survival gear, but he does frown a little -- sadness! But he does confirm, "Yeah, there's providers here. At least one. Want me to put you on my plan? You can pay me back when you get on your feet, and then you can either have it switched over to your own, or just pay your line. It's usually cheaper to add a line than to start a new account."

"Look on the upside, man, you'll look like Mr. Miagi!" Russ jokes, downing a sip of his drink and waving his hand about expressively. "You'll be able to say just about '''anything''' and it'll look like complete sage advice. That is a rare and beautiful power."

"Same, it's so damn boring. And it just feels odd to stare at a bunch of stuff until I decide one of that stuff is good enough to take home or something." He laughs, "I'm sure there is a speciality shop in the hooha district, but I don't think a Gimp Suit is appropriate interview attire."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage. Don't have anyone to actually '''call''' - this place doesn't seem big enough to warrant a phone company at first glance, but I'm sure there are whole sections of town I'm completely unaware of."

Kazuki snickers at the mention of a lookalike. "Nah, I'll look like some anime girl's perverted grandfather, more than likely. And my 'rare and beautiful power' will be to make girls shriek for the cops whenever I so much as look in their direction." Not that he's interested in girls. Nope, still gay.

A snort here, at the mention of 'specialty gear'. "I mean for Nadine," he notes. "You know, drag queen shop? I do still do the female impersonator bit on occasion. Though if you were interested in going the Lou Reed route, I can give you some pointers." He's kidding, he knows Russ isn't going there!

As for the city itself? "Actually yeah, it's about the size of a good-sized city," Kazuki notes. "I'll have to take you on a tour sometime. I've been here long enough that I know my way around pretty well."

"Well, that's not too bad, it could be worse for you - could be guys shrieking!" Russ points out helpfully. "With me I just gotta open my mouth."

Russ might have expected the jest, but a spittake still happens, "Oh God, Please no." His head shakes '''RAPIDLY''' "Nononono.... Though I do have to get more actual streetclothes. No sense looking like I'm going off to war every single day. That'll get really old, really fast, let me tell you."

"Honestly it didn't seem all THAT big - but I'm used to a Macross-class city. Everything being crammed in so tight fucks up your sense of scale. Like something fierce. It's JUST the city then? Like what happens if you just get in a car and drive out of town, do you dematerialize or something?"

Kazuki gives a muffled snort at the mention of guys shrieking. "I dunno. With how just about everybody who was male back home acting like The Gay was contagious, I might enjoy that for a little bit, before I got tired of it." He smirks.

And he outright laughs at the 'nonononono' response. "I'm kidding. Though I do know of some clothes stores here, I can show you where they are," he offers.

And he tilts his head at the explanation. "Yeah, that's true... though Mabase is more on the level of a human city in the 21st century. And I guess I've just been here so long that it seems normal to me." The mention of driving the car out of town gets a blink. "...Actually, I don't know," he admits. "I know you'd end up in the Wasteland, but I'm not sure if the car would still work. The Wastelands acts funky on stuff from the city."

Russ cackles, hard. "Ain't that the truth. You'd think they wouldn't have been too bothered by it, because I would surely have contracted the gay with all the time we spent together back in the day. But, well, Nope, still like the ladies."

"I'll have to take you up on that when I've got more coin. I was able to get socks at least. I knew those would be the first to go if I had to use my only outfit. Can't go wrong with basic jeans and a leather jacket."

"I... See." His chin is rubbed throughtfully, "The... Wasteland. That sounds positively inviting." There are drips of sarcasam in his voice, then.

Kazuki snickers again. "Yeah. And I wasn't the only one, either. But then again, the little alien on the leash was a woman, so it's perfectly okay for her to literally kidnap one of the UN's female mechanics." He wrinkles his nose a bit.

As for the mention of having more coin? "Like I said, I can spot you 'till you get back on your feet," he offers. "Worst comes to worst I hire you as security for one of my gigs, so you don't feel like I'm just '''giving''' you money. That sound a little more palatable?"

A smirk then. "Yyyyeah. Never been there myself. Contrary to my attitude before I came here, I've gotten to like staying alive."

"..." Russ is silent, and then lifts his head to look the singer in the eyes, "Man, for a moment my brain had conveniently unloaded her memory from RAM."

The proposal for being muscle is offered, and he seems to mull it over for a minute, finishing off his soda and staring at the paper cup it had come in. "... Aye, I could do that. Would at least give you something in return for the expenditure."

"Well, I've no intention to go wandering out there without VERY good cause, but I imagine everyone here has gotten a bit stir crazy seeing the same town over and over and over again-unless there's a handy holodeck just... lying around somewhere, hah."

Kazuki grins. "Yeah, I don't even remember her name," he agrees. "I'm trying not to, honestly." The wryness of the tone is quite palpable. He's quick to move on, though -- "Besides that, do you know anything about sound equipment? Could help setting that up too."

As for not going into the Wastelands? "Yeah, it's usually very much recommended to not go there unless you have to," he agrees. "Some people do go out there and hunt monsters, but I don't suggest doing it solo or lightly-armed."

"Honestly, I shall not sully the air by uttering it." Russ mutters, before chuckling, "Only the consumer-grade stuff, but I imagine I could figure out the larger speakers if I had a little sweet one on one time with a user manual."

"What, do the come into town and start trouble, or are they just valuble because of leather and munchies?" The man asks, looking very curious. "I'd imagine the work at least pays well."

Kazuki nods. "They're not too complicated," he notes. "These speakers are pretty simple, just the industrial ones are huge. And you'd have help with them, so it's not like you'd be doing it alone."

As for the monsters? "They're monsters, they cause trouble. Dens can set up too close to the city and need cleaning out, et cetera. Sometimes they'll find their way in, and sometimes they're really smart and sneak in, and we don't find out for a while that they're here. There might be people who use them for parts, but I don't. Other than that, I'm not really sure."

"Should be able to figure that out easily enough, then." Russell replies, "I just know instruments themselves tend to use bananna plugs some of the time, wasn't sure if that extended to speakers or Amplifiers." He looks around the mall thoughtfully, and says, "So are there, like... Concert halls and whatnot? or is it mostly busking at bars?"

"I see, so mostly highly dangerous pests, then. Might be something to do after I get myself established and/or get another mech." He hrms and looks down at his wrist, before realizing he forgot to even set it to local time, "I suppose I should be going at some point here. I'm glad to see someone I actually KNOW. And I'm especially glad that through it all, things have treated you well."

Kazuki nods to the mention of Russ figuring out the speakers. "You're a smart guy; it wouldn't be too difficult either way," he notes evenly. As for concert venues? "There's a couple of auditoriums I've played at a couple of times, and yeah -- the bars. That's what I do nowadays. It's just easier for belting out a song or five than setting up a whole auditorium for it."

Something Russ says makes Kazuki think. "I've honestly not seen a mech since I got here... I don't know if they even make them. Everything here is city sized, and... I don't really think there '''is''' a 'space'." Pause. "It's easier not to try to understand, trust me."

He nods as Russell starts to make his farewells. "Since I don't have a phone number for you, if you need me, come and see me." He gives the address of where he's staying. "You know me, I'm up at all hours of the night, so coming by late ain't a problem." Kazuki smiles then, and notes in response, "Thanks... It's good to see you too. As much as I'm sad you had to leave so much behind, I'm glad you're here, and that you're reasonably safe."

"Helps that your audience is drunk out it's ass, too, if you have an off night and sing a bit off-key, nobody will throw shit at you." Russ notes with a laugh.

"We destroyed '''so''' many buildings - so I wouldn't be suprised if Mecha exist, but are completely banned - and I'd probably want to go check the library to find out if the sky isn't actually a glass dome like the Truman show or something before I went and tried to go orbital."

"Will do, you take care of yourself, Kazuki. I'll be in touch as soon as I stop regularly getting lost on the way to places."

|}}

2020-06-07 - Welcome to Bucketheadland

2020-06-08T15:24:16Z

DariRyusei: Russell realizes Kazuki's actually here!

{{Logsummary|
Title = Welcome to Bucketheadland
|Summary = Russell realizes that the strangely Kazuki-esque person he saw on the cover of that magazine a while back really '''was''' Kazuki, when the former runs into the latter in the mall's food court. ''(Note: Theories expressed in this log are purely those of the players and/or their characters, and do not reflect any established IC canon or idea.)''
|Who = [[Kazuki]], [[Russell Anders]]
|Date = June 8, 2020
|Where = [[New Market Food Court]]
|Log=

'''''New Market Food Court''''' ''TEMP DESC: Even if it's not the center of the mall, the Food Court always feels like it is. On both the first and second floors are a plethora of foods from all across the multiverse. A Taco Bomb sits next to a Freckle Bitch's. A Big Belly Burgers is beside a Coffee Bean. If you can't find something to eat here, you never will. Also, watch out for the Chinese woman screaming that you take a free sample. She doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no' in any language.''

<hr>

Everyone's gotta eat, particularly in a mall. A lot of walking around means a lot of people using energy and getting hungry. And conveniently enough, there is a food court in this mall, as tends to be the case with malls!

Kazuki is not really important enough in Twisted that he can't just walk around in public without it being a pain. A few people recognize him, but it's nowhere near dangerous or even mildly annoying. This being the case, Kazuki has been walking around in this mall for a while. So he's headed for a counter at a rather provocatively-named restaurant counter.

He places the order without even looking at the menu -- seems to be a regular! Music is also enjoyed -- he's got some of those wireless ear buds. And he's just sort of blending into the scenery here, just a regular patron. Maybe a slightly darker patron than usual since he's wearing all black.

Russell, on the otherhand, is basically unknown. Aside from the flight suit he's still wearing, he'd probably melt into the crowd of misplaced and varied people completely. Despite his circumstances, his stomach does require some contents on occassion though, so here he is.

He sets the small bag of cloathing he managed to scrounge money for on a table, surveying the court with a cautious but hungry eye. He spots Kazuki's outfit, but doesn't see his face given he's up at the counter. The pilot falls into a line at the next shop over, staring at the menu rather unhelpfully. "Hmmm"

Kazuki's food gets delivered to him, and he turns to head to a table... and happens to turn in Russell's direction. It's a double-take -- yes, an actual double-take, in the wild; Kazuki looks up, looks away, and then looks back in Russell's direction. "...Couldn't be," he mutters. But... it looks so much like him!

And because Kazuki can't just walk up to someone and greet them like a normal person, he actually approaches the person he thinks might be Russell from outside this poor fella's field of vision. Once he's close enough he pipes up, "Their 'Big Boy' meal is pretty good. Just be aware they're basically gonna bring you a meatloaf between asscheeks, like you could just unhinge your jaw to eat it."

....Real smooth, Kazuki.

But, that said, if Russell remembers Kazuki? That's his voice. And if he turns to look -- hopefully without throwing a punch -- that's definitely him in that outfit, with that hair and girly face.

Russell laughs, and says without so much as a smirk, fires back, "I'm hungry enough that I could just about do that." He looks back up at the menu, and then does a double take of his own.

"Waaaaiiiit... Kazuki? From Dawnb- nah, can't be, you do look '''just''' like him, though, damn." He just shakes his head rapidly as he tries to dismiss what his eyes are telling him.

Kazuki gives a smirk of his own at the response, and then nods as Russell seems to not quite believe that the thinner man is who he looks to be. "Yeah, it's me," he confirms. "Universal sink trap got you too, huh?" he observes.

Though the smirk gentles after a moment, and he notes, his voice a bit softer, "...Still. Much as I hate you got pulled away from everything, I'm glad to see you reasonably safe. And I'd be lying if I said it was anything but great to see you again."

"Well I'll be Damned." The pilot says, putting his hands on his hips in genuine disbelief. "I'm glad I survived - did end up in a damn bramble bush for a landing though. Can't say that was exactly a pleasant experiance, to understate it greatly. This explains what happened to you, though. Anyone else from our little bubble in the multiverse? Or is it just us?"

He looks up at the menu again, and mutters, "I still haven't quite gotten myself settled in yet." He motions his head toward his small bag of clothes, "At least I've got some damn socks now, thought... Aside from ending up here, hopefully it's treated you better then our world did."

Kazuki snickers a bit at the mention of ending up in a bramble bush. "Definitely heard of better landings," he agrees. As for if anyone else made it there? Kazuki shakes his head. "Nah, seems like it's just us. Maybe every so often someone else'll show up from our world, who knows? It seems pretty random."

The mention of Russell having clothes gets a tilt of his head. "Do you have a place yet? The Integra Arms are there for displaced people to stay in until they get on their feet," Kazuki recalls. As for being pulled away from everything else? Kazuki waves a hand dismissively. "There wasn't anything left there for me anyway. Not after Alexander died. I have a reasonably stable existence here -- nice, boring life, I'm making enough to survive, and not having to interact with people that tear my heart out over and over, like Prometheus's eagle."

Pause. "I mean, I know that was his liver, but you get the idea."

"That seems to be what folks have been saying: It's entirely random, and nobody knows what physical or supernatural process determines where, when, and who gets pulled in, it's bizarre."

His head nods a bit, "Yeah, that's where I've been crashing since another soldier here pointed me in that direction. He's a teacher I guess, so this place has existed long enough for people to grow up here, not just random kids getting pulled in." He makes a face, and then says, "Glad to hear that you fared pretty well, all things considered. That helps a lot, this place can't be all bad then." Russ rubs his chin, and adds, "That was definately you I saw on that magazine cover when I first got here. Figured I was just suffering a concussion."

Kazuki nods. "I've been running this theory that this place is kinda like a drain or a sink trap -- when overflow happens, it catches the stuff that gets washed out," he notes. "Maybe when someone's 'Fate' gets too heavy -- or too light, maybe both -- they get washed away and come here. I know that sounds weird, but it's the only way I can make things make sense in my head as they happened."

A nod to the mention of the school. "It's an academy, so they probably have adult students too. Thought about taking some courses there myself." He smirks. "Maybe I can get a trade I can actually ply when I'm too old to look pretty."

A magazine? That gets a surprised look. "Huh. Must have been an older one, yeah," he agrees. "When I first got here, I threw myself into performing, since it was all I had. And it was a damn sight healthier than drinking the contents of a medicine cabinet. Eventually had to slow down, but by that time I'd worked out whatever ridiculous crap I had in my head that I needed to be someone 'important'."

Yeah, that's what always got him in trouble... trying to be 'important'. Trying to prove... something, to someone. He seems to have shed that in the intervening years. And he does look just a bit older, like he'd been here a while.

".... Huh. That's an interesting observation." Russell says as he moves up in line, "Everyone I've talked to was either at their crippling lows or orbital highs when they ended up here, it seems." He then adds, "And then people just get over what brought them here and try to put the pieces back together and getting on with their life as best they can."

"So, stepped back from the stage into an easy retirement I take it? Well, it couldn't have gone to someone more deserving of a break, at least. Or if nothing else, just do the odd gig on the side." Russ hrms, "I'm still in that acclimation phase, myself."

"I can't really speak for anyone but myself," Kazuki notes. "But I think ending up here was... pretty much exactly what I needed. Sure, no one was here who knew me or cared what happened to me, but there was also nobody here who knew about the things that happened. I could interact with people who didn't automatically pity or hate me. So..." He shrugs, figuring the point's made.

Kazuki tilts his head. "Not exactly retirement, but yeah, I only do the occasional gig, when I feel particularly motivated to do one. As much as I ran myself ragged when I first came here, it also meant that I could relax later -- well, 'later' being 'now', actually, but yeah."

"Well, Hey, That's gotta be good for your mental health, if nothing else!" Russ notes, pausing as he's finally at the front of the line. He orders a cheap burger and some fries for himself. While he waits, he turns back to Kazuki and gives the man a pat on the shoulder.

"At least there's a fresh start, and that's got to be worth something. You get the chance to put it all behind you and just move forward." He considers there, and adds, "If there are concerts and the like going on, then at least that means people are able to relax a little, which is a very good sign indeed."

He obtains his food, and sets it at the table with his bag on it, "I can't see that as a bad thing. At least the other guy from your universe is one you got along with, eh?"

Kazuki nods, though he waits until Russell's order is being filled before he answers. A grateful smile at the pat on the shoulder, and then he agrees, "Yeah, that turned out to be what I needed to get my shit together. I guess there wasn't any way to escape it back there. I barely even remember coming here -- I was jelly-legs level drunk, passed out, and woke up here. If that was going to be the rest of my life, it was gonna end up being a short one."

Once more he nods, at the mention of a fresh start being worth something. "It's worth a lot," he replies. "I guess that Death Card finally managed to get flipped right-side-up." He refers, of course, to the nose art of his Valkyrie while with Dawnbreaker -- the Death card, number 13 of the Major Arcana in a deck of tarot cards, pictured upside down. 'Death' being a card of forced change, when flipped upside down, indicates that this change is needed but will not come.

He heads to the same table as Russell once the food is gotten, and offers a smirk at that last observation. "Yeah. If it'd been Oisin, I'm not sure how I'd have reacted. Or, more to the point, how HE would have. Zhorein was a double-agent; those two probably made up and became besties once everything was over. I '''willingly''' joined the AUN. I can't see Oisin ever being able to forgive me for it. Not that, you know, I really give a shit. I'm done caring about people who only see me for what I can do for them."

"I've been over people like that for years." Russell says, shaking his head and adding, "Don't think I'd be too happy to see Zore or Ois around. They got on my nerves after awhile - I'll miss Fifi, though" He then offers a shrug, taking a bite of his burger.

"I bet that most folks here give you the benefit of the doubt at the very least. And everyone I've dealt with so far has been rather helpful. I wager that having random people appear from all over the damn place has something to do with that." He hrms, "So other then that, what goes on around here, anyway? Just people taking care of the newly immigrated? Or are there actual industries or something?"

Kazuki gives an affirmative noise, also setting into his food. He lets the mention of Zhorein and Oisin go past for a moment (and also chewing his food). It's not until Russell mentions Fifi that Kazuki speaks up. "Yeah. From what you told me she was a pretty cool sort. Ironic that the mercenaries were better people than the ones paid to be ostensibly good people, ain't it?"

A pause here, and then (since talk of romantic partners was made) he admits, "...Honestly, I never got totally over Zhorein. I dealt with it, put it behind me, but I never really got over it. Stupid, I know. But I've always been an emotionally-motivated sort."

He nods at the mention of generally getting the benefit of the doubt. "Yeah. Having random people show up here is kind of a Thing, so for the most part people here have learned not to assume anything, really. There's everything from humans, to anthro canines, to snake-people. And probably a lot more that I'm leaving out, or that aren't noticeably different but are."

As for what goes on around here? "Well, there's plenty of stores in here," he notes. "There's small quick-stop type shops, medical places -- other things you'd expect in a normal city. There are establishments that are concentrated on seeing to newly-arrived people, but aside from that most people are just trying to survive." Pause. "Oh yeah. There's a red-light district. Fun, but watch your footing. Literally, since the street's a little... broken out that way."

"The mercs were good people, overall. And I honestly don't blame you over Zhore, it's only natural to have some lasting pain from that." Russ notes, taking another bite, "...At least all of the Mercs I ever got to deal with where good people... SMS moved out of the area right before I ended up here, though." He rubs his head again.

"I've heard there's a whole rainbow of folks here. I've only seen human-lookin people so far, though." He then nods and seems to take mental note of the places the singer was listing off. "I did notice we have a mall, at the very least." Then the mention of a Red Light District, "-Yeah, I'm going to take a hard pass on that. I'm not keen on my little Valkyrie to suffer through an otherworldly STD, if I can possibly avoid it." He munches upon a fry, "I can imagine the burning now."

"That's a shame," Kazuki replies. "Too bad you couldn't have gone with them. But I doubt NUNS would have let you go, and you'd have had to go AWOL to go with her. But then, given you came here right after, it might have been difficult for Fifi too."

As for the people? "There are plenty of people who aren't human, and a lot of people who look human, aren't," he notes. A snicker then, at the mention of Russ's 'little Valkyrie'. "Yeah, you don't want your... '''disk''' to pop off." Of course he had to make the joke. "That said, there's actually a little more than just whorehouses down there. Couple of mercenary places, bars that are a little seedier than you'd expect, and I've heard there's a black market down thataway."

"Yeah, that would have been really painful for her." Russ says, making a face, "Not what I would want in that case. And I doubt it was something I could have reached out and pulled her into - which in of itself would have been extremely unfair."

"I... See. not being human and looking human sounds mostly like Micronized Zentradi, but I'm sure there's even more strangeness to be had."

"uhhhhh, wait, If this place is as strange as it is... I cannot imagine what the hell would even consitute a black market. 'Observe our Eldrich Horror in a Jar! Just three easy payments of Five human souls!'" Russ saying the last part in the most stereotypical announcer voice he possibly can.

Kazuki nods, offering an affirmative sound. "She probably wouldn't have been pleased to be here," he notes. "Though if she didn't come with you, it's probably that her life is going good. And one day, maybe, if her 'Fate' becomes too much or too little, she'll find her way here too. It's... oddly hopeful in a way, even if it never happens. And hell, if '''I''' can see anything as hopeful, '''anything''' is possible." He chuckles.

He pauses, thinking. "I don't think I've met any Zentradi here, actually. It's really weird," he observes. "But then I'm not really one to grill people about what they got goin' on under the hood, you know?"

A snicker, then, as Russell mimics an announcer. "I don't know -- I generally stay away from it," he admits. "Probably drugs, mostly. Stuff people aren't supposed to have. Though I don't think weapons are actually forbidden, since monsters do show up on occasion. Gotta have a way to defend yourself when you don't have super-powers, right?"

Russell chomps down on his lunch and gives the other man a look of agreement. "That's a good way to look at it, yeah. It'd be a bit selfish to want folks I knew from over there to have the same thing happen to them."

"Yeah, I'm usually good at spotting them out from human folk, but haven't seen any either. I'm mostly worried about being startled and being unintentionally offensive because of it. I've heard there's someone here who's, like, a living collection of building blocks and there is no way I'm not seeing how high I can jump when that image enters my visual cortex."

"Yeah, probably a good idea unless you're after something '''VERY''' unusual. They probably have the Cthulhu Jars right next to the boxed Honest Lawyers and '''actual''' lucky game dice." He snickers, before Kaz points out the fact there are monsters and he's a mere human, "As soon as I get the money together, I aught to go find what passes for a gun shop round these parts. If those creatures attack, I'd best be able to hold my own until Law enforcement or the sherrif or just some superhero shows up to take over."

Kazuki nods at that first bit. "Exactly," he replies. "Though... I guess in my case it'd have been better for Alexander, since... well, he died. But that's different than your situation." As for spotting the non-human folk? "I've noticed that it doesn't really matter -- people are people, no matter whether they're human or not. So I guess it's not really important. And it's probably better to ask than assume, even if asking seems weird or... obtuse for some reason."

He snickers at the mention of weird commodities, though he nods. "I heard that a gun shop recently opened... or is going to open soon, I forget which," he admits. "I might go too -- I lost my distaste for shooting things a while back. That said, the People Who Can usually Do when it Needs To Be Done." Capital letters are heard.

"... Yeah. Being, well, alive is going to be better then any alternatives. But Fifi was doing alright, so it wouldn't have been so good for her." Russ says, going back to his lunch before it gets too cold. After chomping down on his food for awhile, "I'm more interested in their character over anything else. You can be a good or bad person regardless of what you look like, I say."

"I'll have to figure out where that shop is and have a good look around. The odd jobs I do don't pay all that much, so it'll take a while to save for a decent weapon." He chuckles at Kazuki's comment, "Yeah, you do what you gotta do when it comes down to it. Might regret it after, but hey."

"Most alternatives," Kazuki reflexively offers. More evenly, he adds, "...But yeah. I do hope she's still doing well, and I hope you get to see her again someday." As for being a good or bad person? Kazuki nods. "Yeah, that'll steer you in the right direction. I've learned that beauty isn't the be-all and end-all."

As for that shop? "Yeah. I should do that, too. I'll take a look around, and when I find it..." Pause. "Wait, do you have a cell phone?" he inquires. They have providers in Twisted, though the coverage doesn't extend to the Wastelands (in all likelihood).

"And it's not like everyone stays pretty forever anyway, it's the quality of one's character that sticks around." Russ adds, finishing off his fries, "God damn I needed that. It's like my stomach burns calories at an accellerated rate to keep me sane while shopping. I hate shopping so much."

"I did before I came here. Tended not to take it on the Valkyrie - which sadly didn't come with, my survival gear would have been nice." Russ then gives a shrug to that notion, and adds, "I'm sure there's probably a cellphone company, too."

Kazuki grins at the mention of not staying pretty forever. "You're right. Even me, despite what my last name actually means; I'm going to get ugly one day. And I'm Japanese, so I know how it's gonna happen. I'm gonna be fine up until I hit about 60 and then one day, bam -- I'm gonna be three feet tall, bald, and wrinkled as a prune."

As for shopping? "...Y'know, I never really did like shopping that much either," he agrees. "Even if it was shopping for 'Nadine'. I'm pretty tall, and they just don't make clothes for women that tall. There might actually be that sort of, uh... 'specialty' shop in the red light district, but I honestly haven't checked."

He can't say much about Russ's survival gear, but he does frown a little -- sadness! But he does confirm, "Yeah, there's providers here. At least one. Want me to put you on my plan? You can pay me back when you get on your feet, and then you can either have it switched over to your own, or just pay your line. It's usually cheaper to add a line than to start a new account."

"Look on the upside, man, you'll look like Mr. Miagi!" Russ jokes, downing a sip of his drink and waving his hand about expressively. "You'll be able to say just about '''anything''' and it'll look like complete sage advice. That is a rare and beautiful power."

"Same, it's so damn boring. And it just feels odd to stare at a bunch of stuff until I decide one of that stuff is good enough to take home or something." He laughs, "I'm sure there is a speciality shop in the hooha district, but I don't think a Gimp Suit is appropriate interview attire."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage. Don't have anyone to actually '''call''' - this place doesn't seem big enough to warrant a phone company at first glance, but I'm sure there are whole sections of town I'm completely unaware of."

Kazuki snickers at the mention of a lookalike. "Nah, I'll look like some anime girl's perverted grandfather, more than likely. And my 'rare and beautiful power' will be to make girls shriek for the cops whenever I so much as look in their direction." Not that he's interested in girls. Nope, still gay.

A snort here, at the mention of 'specialty gear'. "I mean for Nadine," he notes. "You know, drag queen shop? I do still do the female impersonator bit on occasion. Though if you were interested in going the Lou Reed route, I can give you some pointers." He's kidding, he knows Russ isn't going there!

As for the city itself? "Actually yeah, it's about the size of a good-sized city," Kazuki notes. "I'll have to take you on a tour sometime. I've been here long enough that I know my way around pretty well."

"Well, that's not too bad, it could be worse for you - could be guys shrieking!" Russ points out helpfully. "With me I just gotta open my mouth."

Russ might have expected the jest, but a spittake still happens, "Oh God, Please no." His head shakes '''RAPIDLY''' "Nononono.... Though I do have to get more actual streetclothes. No sense looking like I'm going off to war every single day. That'll get really old, really fast, let me tell you."

"Honestly it didn't seem all THAT big - but I'm used to a Macross-class city. Everything being crammed in so tight fucks up your sense of scale. Like something fierce. It's JUST the city then? Like what happens if you just get in a car and drive out of town, do you dematerialize or something?"

Kazuki gives a muffled snort at the mention of guys shrieking. "I dunno. With how just about everybody who was male back home acting like The Gay was contagious, I might enjoy that for a little bit, before I got tired of it." He smirks.

And he outright laughs at the 'nonononono' response. "I'm kidding. Though I do know of some clothes stores here, I can show you where they are," he offers.

And he tilts his head at the explanation. "Yeah, that's true... though Mabase is more on the level of a human city in the 21st century. And I guess I've just been here so long that it seems normal to me." The mention of driving the car out of town gets a blink. "...Actually, I don't know," he admits. "I know you'd end up in the Wasteland, but I'm not sure if the car would still work. The Wastelands acts funky on stuff from the city."

Russ cackles, hard. "Ain't that the truth. You'd think they wouldn't have been too bothered by it, because I would surely have contracted the gay with all the time we spent together back in the day. But, well, Nope, still like the ladies."

"I'll have to take you up on that when I've got more coin. I was able to get socks at least. I knew those would be the first to go if I had to use my only outfit. Can't go wrong with basic jeans and a leather jacket."

"I... See." His chin is rubbed throughtfully, "The... Wasteland. That sounds positively inviting." There are drips of sarcasam in his voice, then.

Kazuki snickers again. "Yeah. And I wasn't the only one, either. But then again, the little alien on the leash was a woman, so it's perfectly okay for her to literally kidnap one of the UN's female mechanics." He wrinkles his nose a bit.

As for the mention of having more coin? "Like I said, I can spot you 'till you get back on your feet," he offers. "Worst comes to worst I hire you as security for one of my gigs, so you don't feel like I'm just '''giving''' you money. That sound a little more palatable?"

A smirk then. "Yyyyeah. Never been there myself. Contrary to my attitude before I came here, I've gotten to like staying alive."

"..." Russ is silent, and then lifts his head to look the singer in the eyes, "Man, for a moment my brain had conveniently unloaded her memory from RAM."

The proposal for being muscle is offered, and he seems to mull it over for a minute, finishing off his soda and staring at the paper cup it had come in. "... Aye, I could do that. Would at least give you something in return for the expenditure."

"Well, I've no intention to go wandering out there without VERY good cause, but I imagine everyone here has gotten a bit stir crazy seeing the same town over and over and over again-unless there's a handy holodeck just... lying around somewhere, hah."

Kazuki grins. "Yeah, I don't even remember her name," he agrees. "I'm trying not to, honestly." The wryness of the tone is quite palpable. He's quick to move on, though -- "Besides that, do you know anything about sound equipment? Could help setting that up too."

As for not going into the Wastelands? "Yeah, it's usually very much recommended to not go there unless you have to," he agrees. "Some people do go out there and hunt monsters, but I don't suggest doing it solo or lightly-armed."

"Honestly, I shall not sully the air by uttering it." Russ mutters, before chuckling, "Only the consumer-grade stuff, but I imagine I could figure out the larger speakers if I had a little sweet one on one time with a user manual."

"What, do the come into town and start trouble, or are they just valuble because of leather and munchies?" The man asks, looking very curious. "I'd imagine the work at least pays well."

Kazuki nods. "They're not too complicated," he notes. "These speakers are pretty simple, just the industrial ones are huge. And you'd have help with them, so it's not like you'd be doing it alone."

As for the monsters? "They're monsters, they cause trouble. Dens can set up too close to the city and need cleaning out, et cetera. Sometimes they'll find their way in, and sometimes they're really smart and sneak in, and we don't find out for a while that they're here. There might be people who use them for parts, but I don't. Other than that, I'm not really sure."

"Should be able to figure that out easily enough, then." Russell replies, "I just know instruments themselves tend to use bananna plugs some of the time, wasn't sure if that extended to speakers or Amplifiers." He looks around the mall thoughtfully, and says, "So are there, like... Concert halls and whatnot? or is it mostly busking at bars?"

"I see, so mostly highly dangerous pests, then. Might be something to do after I get myself established and/or get another mech." He hrms and looks down at his wrist, before realizing he forgot to even set it to local time, "I suppose I should be going at some point here. I'm glad to see someone I actually KNOW. And I'm especially glad that through it all, things have treated you well."

Kazuki nods to the mention of Russ figuring out the speakers. "You're a smart guy; it wouldn't be too difficult either way," he notes evenly. As for concert venues? "There's a couple of auditoriums I've played at a couple of times, and yeah -- the bars. That's what I do nowadays. It's just easier for belting out a song or five than setting up a whole auditorium for it."

Something Russ says makes Kazuki think. "I've honestly not seen a mech since I got here... I don't know if they even make them. Everything here is city sized, and... I don't really think there '''is''' a 'space'." Pause. "It's easier not to try to understand, trust me."

He nods as Russell starts to make his farewells. "Since I don't have a phone number for you, if you need me, come and see me." He gives the address of where he's staying. "You know me, I'm up at all hours of the night, so coming by late ain't a problem." Kazuki smiles then, and notes in response, "Thanks... It's good to see you too. As much as I'm sad you had to leave so much behind, I'm glad you're here, and that you're reasonably safe."

"Helps that your audience is drunk out it's ass, too, if you have an off night and sing a bit off-key, nobody will throw shit at you." Russ notes with a laugh.

"We destroyed SO many buildings-so I wouldn't be suprised if Mecha exist, but are completely banned - and I'd probably want to go check the library to find out if the sky isn't actually a glass dome like the Truman show or something before I went and tried to go orbital."

"Will do, you take care of yourself, Kazuki. I'll be in touch as soon as I stop regularly getting lost on the way to places."

|}}

Kazuki

2020-06-08T00:05:27Z

DariRyusei: Wrong desc, oops.

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Kazuki.jpg
|Name=Kazuki Wakahisa
|Pronunciation=(kaz-oo-key wa-ka-hi-sa)
|Alias=Kazuki
|Occupation=Aidoru ♥♥♥
|Series=Macross
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Thin but tall, rather effeminate man.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Kazuki Wakahisa has been on quite the journey -- struggling singer, Sound Force member, part-time Anti-UN terrorist, and now it's come full circle back to civilian. That journey taught him just how unpleasant life could be, and gave him what he would call a "healthy paranoia" of trusting others with his heart. Though scarred by the betrayal that ended his time with the AUN, he managed to keep himself reasonably sane along the way. Now he's just trying to get by as well as he can, bubble of youthful energy and vigor thoroughly burst by a tragedy of errors that would read like a bad soap opera plot if he were to tell the story.
<h3>Trivia</h3>
* Kazuki has Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where there's an extra X chromosome in some percentage of the body's cells, resulting in an XXY arrangement. Severity tends to differ based on the percentage of cells that have this XXY arrangement. Kazuki's percentage is low. He is physically male, but some of his body's systems act as they would in a female body. This causes a number of issues, but none severe enough to impact his life in an appreciable way.
* Due to the former, his voice never actually deepened when he went through puberty. The baritone voice that he speaks with is him pitching his voice down.
|Age=26
|Birthdate=March 3
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=149lb
|Desc=        Pale, slim, and delicate of features. It might even be hard to tell at first what gender this person is at a single glance. But a second look at the face will reveal a squareness that one doesn't often see in a woman, and thinner lips than a woman's. Still, though...it's a safe bet he gets a lot of teasing over it.

       He has auburn hair that's been cut short in the back, but he's kept his bangs long around his face. These "tails" of hair reach to about his chest.

       His face is delicate and feminine-looking, but there's enough masculinity there to at least tell he's male with not too much trouble unless one isn't paying attention. His eyes are a lavender color, and seem somewhat narrowed. In fact, his features in general seem slim and angular, his fingers slightly too long, and slightly too thin. But perhaps good for fine detail work.

       He's wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt that fits him loosely, a pair of dark blue pants, and a pair of heavy black boots. Pretty simple attire, but its darkness makes him seem even paler. Under normal circumstances he walks in a slouch, his back bent and his hands in his pockets. There will, of course, be situatons where that is not possible. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Kazuki's light build makes him vulnerable to strong attacks. Thus he relies on just not being where an enemy's attack lands. Mobility-arresting measures are thus pretty devastating during battle.</li><li>The story of what he's been through in his home world really does read like a bad soap opera plot. However, it's also responsible for a lot of his emotional problems at current. Besides that, it's often said that the creative mind is already plagued with ills. Whether natural or from what he's been through, Kazuki's anxiety and depression remains untreated.</ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Kazuki was a regular kid in a world with space travel. At least, he thought he was normal. As it turned out, he had Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where a male is born with an extra X chromosome. Treatments wre costly, and it wasn't a life-threatening disease, so his parents opted not to have it dealt with when he hit his teens.         That was fine, since Kazuki had another plan for his life -- he was going to go into space aboard the colony ship ''Horizon'' -- they would need civilians and entertainers too, particularly as favorably as the military saw singers. Kazuki himself had a decent singing voice. And one bit of splurging that he allowed himself was a voice coach, so that, as he grew into his teen years, he could at least '''pretend''' to be a normal male. Once he'd hit his adult years, he had both a good understanding of how to change his voice -- both up AND down -- and the opportunity to apply for citizenship on the Horizon. And he made it! It was the chance of his dreams...!         One that turned into a nightmare...         It didn't take long before Sound Force picked him up, since he was determined to be in possession of the talent for manipulating Spiritia, a unique spiritual energy that's attached to both music and the soul. Now, this Sound Force had learned from the mistakes of the former, and put everyone in it through basic training. Unfortunately, the rest of the force wasn't aware of this. Even more unfortunate, Kazuki was the only member of Sound Force that had no family in the military. So, while Kazuki was taking verbal abuse from the UN Spacy '''outside''' Sound Force for, well... being in Sound Force, he was also taking verbal abuse from '''inside''' Sound Force because he had no military connections.         Soon this did enough damage to his mental state that the UN Spacy forcibly retired him. With no benefits, of course. So he went back to singing for his supper. And for a while that was working out. But then an Anti-UN attack on the Horizon colony ship that saw the ship being temporarily taken over by the AUN had him retreating into a network of large pipes. Two weeks later, he was discovered by Anti-UN member Zhorein Raynes, on a mission to deal with a rogue Sound Force member hiding on the ship. He was too weak to fight back, and was only saved by the timely interference of Ayame Bright, the then-leader of the UN.         Rather than kill him, she decided to make the recruitment pitch. Feeling that he had no choice, Kazuki agreed to join them. But something surprising happened... he started to make friends with the AUN forces. Soon he was a dedicated member of the AUN himself, learning how to fly a Valkyrie and using his unque vocal talents for their cause. It was the happiest he had ever been -- he wasn't expected to be anything he wasn't capable of, only to do what he could. They respected his need to learn slowly, under their tutelage and care, he blossomed into a confident and happy individual.         But this is where the bad soap opera plot starts. A battle with the UN turned into a high-ranking member of General Galaxy killing most of the AUN members and threatening to destroy an entire planet. The AUN had no choice but to join forces with the UN to defeat General Galaxy and end the bomb threat, and then then remnants of the AUN fled before they could be captured. However, one of the surviving AUN members -- someone that Kazuki had romantic feelings for (they were of course, unrequited; this fellow was straight) -- told them that Ayame Bright had been captured and needed to be rescued. They set up the jailbreak, made the plans, and set off to rescue their leader.         Unfortunately, it turned out that this AUN member that Kazuki loved so much... was really a double-agent for the UN. And so, when the group was too far into the facility to easily escape, he turned them all over to the UN. Kazuki spent a little time in jail -- not much, between the AUN's assistance with the planet bomb threat and the fact that the double-agent led them into the commission of the crime of breaking and entering a government facility (entrapment, which is illegal), plea bargains and negotiations happened.         Kazuki came out of jail bitter and jaded, and a change in his music reflected that. He turned to darker genres -- like metal and screamo -- leaving behind the happy, upbeat songs of his youth. And his Spiritia abilities moved fully from healing to damaging the psyche of others. For five years after he was let out of jail, he just lingered, withdrawing more and more from the public eye. Then one day, he just... disappeared, without a trace.         He didn't kill himself, no. He'd been pulled into Twisted! At first he didn't care, and only did what he needed to in order to survive, only because he couldn't '''not''' do that. They say time heals all wounds, and gradually Kazuki started to come out of his shell. He's never going to be the man he was before that bad soap opera story of a past happened, but he's at least gotten through it enough to get by. Currently he lives as well as he can in Twisted, doing the occasional concert and/or album for an influx of cash.
<h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Almost nothing of Kazuki's personality before his life fell apart with the destruction of the AUN remains. He's bitter, jaded, cynical, and broken, with very little good to say about anything. Though to be fair, he doesn't have much bad to say about much either. He's lax and flippant most of the time, and if he has a single f**k to give about propriety, he has hidden it very well. However, it is worth pointing out that his time in Twisted has allowed him to heal a little from the fallout of it all. He's still not the same man he was, but he's not the utterly broken and despairing man he was immediately after the incident.         It's also worth noting that his moping doesn't ever really get out of hand -- for better or worse, he's learned how deeply true is the old adage that when you cry, you cry alone. Though of course that also means that he doesn't talk to people when he has a problem; his time in Sound Force and the betrayal of someone he loved so much taught him to know better than to share his pain with others. If people can see the tender parts of his psyche, they can stab at them, either literally or with words. And he's about done with having people hurt him.         His ability to create a "mask" of sorts over his true face is about the only thing that survives of his original personality. More often than not, he's covering up his real face with one of these "masks" for the crowd, or just for the general populus. He can '''pretend''' to be the same happy, chipper, silly fellow that he was before it all happened of course. That's easy -- easier than letting on that he's not like that at all.         Another thing that remains is the fear that a look at the real Kazuki -- the Kazuki underneath all the pretending and flair, the deeply broken and cobbled-together man underneath it all -- would send people running. He once thrived by covering up his true self, and it was only when he let someone in that he was hurt. So he's not about to stop covering up anytime soon.         But overall, his time away from all the reminders of his failures has done him well. He no longer blames himself for being "not good enough" for anyone back home; a goldfish can hardly be blamed if it can't climb up a tree with all the other monkeys, can it? Freeing himself of this guilt has done wonders in gluing together the broken pieces of who he was. Like a broken porcelain doll, no amount of glue is going to hide the cracks, but at least he can hold himself together reasonably well now, and that's all that really matters. Now he just wants to make music and make a few people happy.

|Skills=<ul><li>'''Spiritia Manipulation:''' Spiritia is an energy force generated by living things (yes, just like the Force). In his world, manipulation of this energy source is the closest thing to magic that exists. Manipulation of others' spiritia is done via musical talent, either singing or playing an instrument. A musician needs to "play with soul" in order to do this. By doing this, he can sway the emotions of a crowd of people, evoking emotions in those who chose to give themselves over to it. He can "aim" this for a stronger effect on unwilling targets, however.</li><li>'''Anima Spiritia Generation:''' Beyond the normal spiritia produced by living things, some people produce the so-termed "Anima Spiritia", an even purer form of this energy. By generating and directing it similar to a magic spell (in the way as normal spiritia, by singing or playing music), he can accomplish a variety of effects within other living beings. Plants and nonsapient life will react based on the emotions he's singing with. Sapient life will either find their abilities and/or morale improving or deteriorating, again depending on the emotion in his music. Most devastating of all, he can act on an opponent's morale, in Kazuki's case ATTACK it, wearing down his or her will to continue to fight. Opponents defeated in this way physically suffer no damage, but appear emotionally spent. They will recover easily enough, however.</li><li>'''Agile:''' Given his light physique, and the fact that he's used the muscle mass he does have to become a dancer, it's no wonder that Kazuki's agility is pretty high. Dodging is generally how he keeps himself alive when things go pear-shaped around him, he's quite good at escaping from bindings and small spaces, and can fold himself up into extremely small hiding places.</li><li>'''Driving:''' Kazuki's good at driving land vehicles. If it has two or more tires, he's likely to be able to figure it out. Large vehicles don't seem to intimidate him like they do some people, and he maintains an awareness of where all parts of the vehicle are at all times.</li><li>'''Various Bits of Military Training:''' Throughout his journey, Kazuki was in both the UN Spacy and the Anti-UN, both military-class forces, though on opposite sides of a conflict. While he hasn't been meticulously trained like the rest, he can use a gun with some competence, and he knows a decent amount of barehanded fighting techniques. He really shines with a single dagger, though -- his slender frame is perfect for the quick movements that are needed to attack quickly with a dagger.</li><li>'''Performer:''' Kazuki is a skilled performer, having been singing, dancing, and playing the keyboard for most of his life. In his early days he went to a voice coach that taught him to sing, as well as to pitch his voice how he needed it. His keyboard skills are mostly self-taught, and he had to learn stage presence through experience.</li><li>'''Disguise:''' He didn't just learn to manipulate his voice. Learning how to carry himself, both onstage and in real life, has taught him to change himself totally to fit a given situation. He creates a persona, crafts a personality, decides on mannerisms, etc. This isn't limited to gender, as he's been able to successfully pass himself off as a female on more than one occasion. Which naturally leads to...</li><li>'''"Nadine":''' "Nadine" is Kazuki's female persona, and he's really good at playing this character. He effectively ceases to be "Kazuki Wakahisa" in this guise and is, effectively "Nadine". It isn't quite a second personality, but it's close. Enough to fool all but the closest observers. The biggest thing that gives him away? His height. He's still 6'2", even as Nadine. Surrounded by female Zentradi (Meltrans), who could be over six feet easily, it wasn't a big deal. But in Twisted, that could trip him -- or rather, "her" -- up.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery></gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5gQ_ze3sY Boys Don't Cry] - cillia ft. Gakupo V3 (original by fatmanP ft. Luka Megurine) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwBT7l2hVd0 Suicide Parade] - ShiKai ft. Gakupo V5 (original by YurryCannon ft. GUMI)
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=♥Kazuki♥
|}}
[[Category:Active]]

Kazuki

2020-05-02T18:09:23Z

DariRyusei: Minor spelling error.

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Kazuki.jpg
|Name=Kazuki Wakahisa
|Pronunciation=(kaz-oo-key wa-ka-hi-sa)
|Alias=Kazuki
|Occupation=Aidoru ♥♥♥
|Series=Macross
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Thin but tall, rather effeminate man.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Kazuki Wakahisa has been on quite the journey -- struggling singer, Sound Force member, part-time Anti-UN terrorist, and now it's come full circle back to civilian. That journey taught him just how unpleasant life could be, and gave him what he would call a "healthy paranoia" of trusting others with his heart. Though scarred by the betrayal that ended his time with the AUN, he managed to keep himself reasonably sane along the way. Now he's just trying to get by as well as he can, bubble of youthful energy and vigor thoroughly burst by a tragedy of errors that would read like a bad soap opera plot if he were to tell the story.
<h3>Trivia</h3>
* Kazuki has Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where there's an extra X chromosome in some percentage of the body's cells, resulting in an XXY arrangement. Severity tends to differ based on the percentage of cells that have this XXY arrangement. Kazuki's percentage is low. He is physically male, but some of his body's systems act as they would in a female body. This causes a number of issues, but none severe enough to impact his life in an appreciable way.
* Due to the former, his voice never actually deepened when he went through puberty. The baritone voice that he speaks with is him pitching his voice down.
|Age=26
|Birthdate=March 3
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=149lb
|Desc=        Pale, slim, and delicate of features. It might even be hard to tell at first what gender this person is at a single glance. But a second look at the face will reveal a squareness that one doesn't often see in a woman, and thinner lips than a woman's. Still, though...it's a safe bet he gets a lot of teasing over it.

       He has platinum blond hair that's left down, and reaches about to mid-back. He's kept his bangs long; if he didn't have them tucked behind his ear on one side, they would hide his face. As it is, the tucked-back hair reveals a face that's delicate and feminine-looking. But there's enough masculinity there to at least tell he's male with not too much trouble unless one isn't paying attention.

       His eyes are a light lavender color, and seem somewhat narrowed. In fact, his features in general seem slim and angular, his fingers slightly too long, and slightly too thin. But perhaps good for fine detail work.

       He's wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt that fits him loosely, a pair of dark blue pants, and a pair of heavy black boots. Pretty simple attire, but its darkness makes him seem even paler. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Kazuki's light build makes him vulnerable to strong attacks. Thus he relies on just not being where an enemy's attack lands. Mobility-arresting measures are thus pretty devastating during battle.</li><li>The story of what he's been through in his home world really does read like a bad soap opera plot. However, it's also responsible for a lot of his emotional problems at current. Besides that, it's often said that the creative mind is already plagued with ills. Whether natural or from what he's been through, Kazuki's anxiety and depression remains untreated.</ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Kazuki was a regular kid in a world with space travel. At least, he thought he was normal. As it turned out, he had Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where a male is born with an extra X chromosome. Treatments wre costly, and it wasn't a life-threatening disease, so his parents opted not to have it dealt with when he hit his teens.         That was fine, since Kazuki had another plan for his life -- he was going to go into space aboard the colony ship ''Horizon'' -- they would need civilians and entertainers too, particularly as favorably as the military saw singers. Kazuki himself had a decent singing voice. And one bit of splurging that he allowed himself was a voice coach, so that, as he grew into his teen years, he could at least '''pretend''' to be a normal male. Once he'd hit his adult years, he had both a good understanding of how to change his voice -- both up AND down -- and the opportunity to apply for citizenship on the Horizon. And he made it! It was the chance of his dreams...!         One that turned into a nightmare...         It didn't take long before Sound Force picked him up, since he was determined to be in possession of the talent for manipulating Spiritia, a unique spiritual energy that's attached to both music and the soul. Now, this Sound Force had learned from the mistakes of the former, and put everyone in it through basic training. Unfortunately, the rest of the force wasn't aware of this. Even more unfortunate, Kazuki was the only member of Sound Force that had no family in the military. So, while Kazuki was taking verbal abuse from the UN Spacy '''outside''' Sound Force for, well... being in Sound Force, he was also taking verbal abuse from '''inside''' Sound Force because he had no military connections.         Soon this did enough damage to his mental state that the UN Spacy forcibly retired him. With no benefits, of course. So he went back to singing for his supper. And for a while that was working out. But then an Anti-UN attack on the Horizon colony ship that saw the ship being temporarily taken over by the AUN had him retreating into a network of large pipes. Two weeks later, he was discovered by Anti-UN member Zhorein Raynes, on a mission to deal with a rogue Sound Force member hiding on the ship. He was too weak to fight back, and was only saved by the timely interference of Ayame Bright, the then-leader of the UN.         Rather than kill him, she decided to make the recruitment pitch. Feeling that he had no choice, Kazuki agreed to join them. But something surprising happened... he started to make friends with the AUN forces. Soon he was a dedicated member of the AUN himself, learning how to fly a Valkyrie and using his unque vocal talents for their cause. It was the happiest he had ever been -- he wasn't expected to be anything he wasn't capable of, only to do what he could. They respected his need to learn slowly, under their tutelage and care, he blossomed into a confident and happy individual.         But this is where the bad soap opera plot starts. A battle with the UN turned into a high-ranking member of General Galaxy killing most of the AUN members and threatening to destroy an entire planet. The AUN had no choice but to join forces with the UN to defeat General Galaxy and end the bomb threat, and then then remnants of the AUN fled before they could be captured. However, one of the surviving AUN members -- someone that Kazuki had romantic feelings for (they were of course, unrequited; this fellow was straight) -- told them that Ayame Bright had been captured and needed to be rescued. They set up the jailbreak, made the plans, and set off to rescue their leader.         Unfortunately, it turned out that this AUN member that Kazuki loved so much... was really a double-agent for the UN. And so, when the group was too far into the facility to easily escape, he turned them all over to the UN. Kazuki spent a little time in jail -- not much, between the AUN's assistance with the planet bomb threat and the fact that the double-agent led them into the commission of the crime of breaking and entering a government facility (entrapment, which is illegal), plea bargains and negotiations happened.         Kazuki came out of jail bitter and jaded, and a change in his music reflected that. He turned to darker genres -- like metal and screamo -- leaving behind the happy, upbeat songs of his youth. And his Spiritia abilities moved fully from healing to damaging the psyche of others. For five years after he was let out of jail, he just lingered, withdrawing more and more from the public eye. Then one day, he just... disappeared, without a trace.         He didn't kill himself, no. He'd been pulled into Twisted! At first he didn't care, and only did what he needed to in order to survive, only because he couldn't '''not''' do that. They say time heals all wounds, and gradually Kazuki started to come out of his shell. He's never going to be the man he was before that bad soap opera story of a past happened, but he's at least gotten through it enough to get by. Currently he lives as well as he can in Twisted, doing the occasional concert and/or album for an influx of cash.
<h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Almost nothing of Kazuki's personality before his life fell apart with the destruction of the AUN remains. He's bitter, jaded, cynical, and broken, with very little good to say about anything. Though to be fair, he doesn't have much bad to say about much either. He's lax and flippant most of the time, and if he has a single f**k to give about propriety, he has hidden it very well. However, it is worth pointing out that his time in Twisted has allowed him to heal a little from the fallout of it all. He's still not the same man he was, but he's not the utterly broken and despairing man he was immediately after the incident.         It's also worth noting that his moping doesn't ever really get out of hand -- for better or worse, he's learned how deeply true is the old adage that when you cry, you cry alone. Though of course that also means that he doesn't talk to people when he has a problem; his time in Sound Force and the betrayal of someone he loved so much taught him to know better than to share his pain with others. If people can see the tender parts of his psyche, they can stab at them, either literally or with words. And he's about done with having people hurt him.         His ability to create a "mask" of sorts over his true face is about the only thing that survives of his original personality. More often than not, he's covering up his real face with one of these "masks" for the crowd, or just for the general populus. He can '''pretend''' to be the same happy, chipper, silly fellow that he was before it all happened of course. That's easy -- easier than letting on that he's not like that at all.         Another thing that remains is the fear that a look at the real Kazuki -- the Kazuki underneath all the pretending and flair, the deeply broken and cobbled-together man underneath it all -- would send people running. He once thrived by covering up his true self, and it was only when he let someone in that he was hurt. So he's not about to stop covering up anytime soon.         But overall, his time away from all the reminders of his failures has done him well. He no longer blames himself for being "not good enough" for anyone back home; a goldfish can hardly be blamed if it can't climb up a tree with all the other monkeys, can it? Freeing himself of this guilt has done wonders in gluing together the broken pieces of who he was. Like a broken porcelain doll, no amount of glue is going to hide the cracks, but at least he can hold himself together reasonably well now, and that's all that really matters. Now he just wants to make music and make a few people happy.

|Skills=<ul><li>'''Spiritia Manipulation:''' Spiritia is an energy force generated by living things (yes, just like the Force). In his world, manipulation of this energy source is the closest thing to magic that exists. Manipulation of others' spiritia is done via musical talent, either singing or playing an instrument. A musician needs to "play with soul" in order to do this. By doing this, he can sway the emotions of a crowd of people, evoking emotions in those who chose to give themselves over to it. He can "aim" this for a stronger effect on unwilling targets, however.</li><li>'''Anima Spiritia Generation:''' Beyond the normal spiritia produced by living things, some people produce the so-termed "Anima Spiritia", an even purer form of this energy. By generating and directing it similar to a magic spell (in the way as normal spiritia, by singing or playing music), he can accomplish a variety of effects within other living beings. Plants and nonsapient life will react based on the emotions he's singing with. Sapient life will either find their abilities and/or morale improving or deteriorating, again depending on the emotion in his music. Most devastating of all, he can act on an opponent's morale, in Kazuki's case ATTACK it, wearing down his or her will to continue to fight. Opponents defeated in this way physically suffer no damage, but appear emotionally spent. They will recover easily enough, however.</li><li>'''Agile:''' Given his light physique, and the fact that he's used the muscle mass he does have to become a dancer, it's no wonder that Kazuki's agility is pretty high. Dodging is generally how he keeps himself alive when things go pear-shaped around him, he's quite good at escaping from bindings and small spaces, and can fold himself up into extremely small hiding places.</li><li>'''Driving:''' Kazuki's good at driving land vehicles. If it has two or more tires, he's likely to be able to figure it out. Large vehicles don't seem to intimidate him like they do some people, and he maintains an awareness of where all parts of the vehicle are at all times.</li><li>'''Various Bits of Military Training:''' Throughout his journey, Kazuki was in both the UN Spacy and the Anti-UN, both military-class forces, though on opposite sides of a conflict. While he hasn't been meticulously trained like the rest, he can use a gun with some competence, and he knows a decent amount of barehanded fighting techniques. He really shines with a single dagger, though -- his slender frame is perfect for the quick movements that are needed to attack quickly with a dagger.</li><li>'''Performer:''' Kazuki is a skilled performer, having been singing, dancing, and playing the keyboard for most of his life. In his early days he went to a voice coach that taught him to sing, as well as to pitch his voice how he needed it. His keyboard skills are mostly self-taught, and he had to learn stage presence through experience.</li><li>'''Disguise:''' He didn't just learn to manipulate his voice. Learning how to carry himself, both onstage and in real life, has taught him to change himself totally to fit a given situation. He creates a persona, crafts a personality, decides on mannerisms, etc. This isn't limited to gender, as he's been able to successfully pass himself off as a female on more than one occasion. Which naturally leads to...</li><li>'''"Nadine":''' "Nadine" is Kazuki's female persona, and he's really good at playing this character. He effectively ceases to be "Kazuki Wakahisa" in this guise and is, effectively "Nadine". It isn't quite a second personality, but it's close. Enough to fool all but the closest observers. The biggest thing that gives him away? His height. He's still 6'2", even as Nadine. Surrounded by female Zentradi (Meltrans), who could be over six feet easily, it wasn't a big deal. But in Twisted, that could trip him -- or rather, "her" -- up.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery></gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5gQ_ze3sY Boys Don't Cry] - cillia ft. Gakupo V3 (original by fatmanP ft. Luka Megurine) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwBT7l2hVd0 Suicide Parade] - ShiKai ft. Gakupo V5 (original by YurryCannon ft. GUMI)
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=♥Kazuki♥
|}}
[[Category:Active]]

@♥Kazuki♥

2020-04-30T13:29:18Z

DariRyusei:

<noinclude>

Welcome to your new Warker Page!

Please read the text on this page carefully and follow the instructions. Failure to do so will result in your page not working correctly.

This page exists so that other players don't have to edit your profile page to respond to your Warks. As an added bonus this page also allows for you to have your own custom icon for your Warks. Just like for the log icon, please click on the red link below and then upload an icon to the filename that loads AFTER FOLLOWING ALL DIRECTIONS ON THIS PAGE.

[[File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif]]

Please note that you may get a 'duplicate file' error if you upload another copy of your log icon. This is fine. Simply click the 'ignore warning and save anyways' button.

If you wish to change your icon in the future, click on it and select "Upload a new version of this file" from the bottom of the page.

In order for this page to function correctly, change the 'include' tags at the top and bottom of this page to 'noinclude' and then press the SAVE PAGE button at the bottom. You may delete or edit this text if you wish, but failing to use the 'noinclude' tags around your icon above will break things. When you want to post a Wark, edit this page and add it using the formatting described in the [[:Category:Warker Service]] to the very bottom of this page. Always put new posts underneath the older ones and don't add any extra line breaks.

You can easily return to this page by clicking the link in your WarkerName on your character's profile page once you have it set up correctly.

</noinclude>
{{wark2|@♥Kazuki♥|I suppose if I want some exposure on the Internet, I better actually show myself, huh? So, well. Here I am, world. I guess?}}

File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif

2020-04-30T13:19:07Z

DariRyusei: DariRyusei uploaded a new version of File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif

@♥Kazuki♥

2020-04-30T12:47:26Z

DariRyusei:

File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif

2020-04-30T12:46:36Z

DariRyusei: DariRyusei uploaded a new version of File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif

File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif

2020-04-30T12:43:04Z

DariRyusei:

@♥Kazuki♥

2020-04-30T12:40:57Z

DariRyusei:

<noinclude>

Welcome to your new Warker Page!

Please read the text on this page carefully and follow the instructions. Failure to do so will result in your page not working correctly.

This page exists so that other players don't have to edit your profile page to respond to your Warks. As an added bonus this page also allows for you to have your own custom icon for your Warks. Just like for the log icon, please click on the red link below and then upload an icon to the filename that loads AFTER FOLLOWING ALL DIRECTIONS ON THIS PAGE.

[[File:@♥Kazuki♥-icon.gif]]

Please note that you may get a 'duplicate file' error if you upload another copy of your log icon. This is fine. Simply click the 'ignore warning and save anyways' button.

If you wish to change your icon in the future, click on it and select "Upload a new version of this file" from the bottom of the page.

In order for this page to function correctly, change the 'include' tags at the top and bottom of this page to 'noinclude' and then press the SAVE PAGE button at the bottom. You may delete or edit this text if you wish, but failing to use the 'noinclude' tags around your icon above will break things. When you want to post a Wark, edit this page and add it using the formatting described in the [[:Category:Warker Service]] to the very bottom of this page. Always put new posts underneath the older ones and don't add any extra line breaks.

You can easily return to this page by clicking the link in your WarkerName on your character's profile page once you have it set up correctly.

</noinclude>

{{wark2|@♥Kazuki♥|I guess if I want exposure, I might wanna try actually showing myself, wouldn't I? So, here I am, world. I guess?}}

@♥Kazuki♥

2020-04-30T12:39:55Z

DariRyusei:

<noinclude>

Welcome to your new Warker Page!

Please read the text on this page carefully and follow the instructions. Failure to do so will result in your page not working correctly.

This page exists so that other players don't have to edit your profile page to respond to your Warks. As an added bonus this page also allows for you to have your own custom icon for your Warks. Just like for the log icon, please click on the red link below and then upload an icon to the filename that loads AFTER FOLLOWING ALL DIRECTIONS ON THIS PAGE.

[[File:Kazuki-icon.gif]]

Please note that you may get a 'duplicate file' error if you upload another copy of your log icon. This is fine. Simply click the 'ignore warning and save anyways' button.

If you wish to change your icon in the future, click on it and select "Upload a new version of this file" from the bottom of the page.

In order for this page to function correctly, change the 'include' tags at the top and bottom of this page to 'noinclude' and then press the SAVE PAGE button at the bottom. You may delete or edit this text if you wish, but failing to use the 'noinclude' tags around your icon above will break things. When you want to post a Wark, edit this page and add it using the formatting described in the [[:Category:Warker Service]] to the very bottom of this page. Always put new posts underneath the older ones and don't add any extra line breaks.

You can easily return to this page by clicking the link in your WarkerName on your character's profile page once you have it set up correctly.

</noinclude>

{{wark2|@♥Kazuki♥|I guess if I want exposure, I might wanna try actually showing myself, wouldn't I? So, here I am, world. I guess?}}

@♥Kazuki♥

2020-04-30T12:32:42Z

DariRyusei: Hoping I'm doing this right...

<noinclude>

Welcome to your new Warker Page!

Please read the text on this page carefully and follow the instructions. Failure to do so will result in your page not working correctly.

This page exists so that other players don't have to edit your profile page to respond to your Warks. As an added bonus this page also allows for you to have your own custom icon for your Warks. Just like for the log icon, please click on the red link below and then upload an icon to the filename that loads AFTER FOLLOWING ALL DIRECTIONS ON THIS PAGE.

[[File:Kazuki-icon.gif]]

Please note that you may get a 'duplicate file' error if you upload another copy of your log icon. This is fine. Simply click the 'ignore warning and save anyways' button.

If you wish to change your icon in the future, click on it and select "Upload a new version of this file" from the bottom of the page.

In order for this page to function correctly, change the 'include' tags at the top and bottom of this page to 'noinclude' and then press the SAVE PAGE button at the bottom. You may delete or edit this text if you wish, but failing to use the 'noinclude' tags around your icon above will break things. When you want to post a Wark, edit this page and add it using the formatting described in the [[:Category:Warker Service]] to the very bottom of this page. Always put new posts underneath the older ones and don't add any extra line breaks.

You can easily return to this page by clicking the link in your WarkerName on your character's profile page once you have it set up correctly.

</noinclude>

Kazuki

2020-04-30T12:11:38Z

DariRyusei: Updating to current template

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Kazuki.jpg
|Name=Kazuki Wakahisa
|Pronunciation=(kaz-oo-key wa-ka-hi-sa)
|Alias=Kazuki
|Occupation=Aidoru ♥♥♥
|Series=Macross
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Thin but tall, rather effeminate man.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Kazuki Wakahisa has been on quite the journey -- struggling singer, Sound Force member, part-time Anti-UN terrorist, and now it's come full circle back to civilian. That journey taught him just how unpleasant life could be, and gave him what he would call a "healthy paranoia" of trusting others with his heart. Though scarred by the betrayal that ended his time with the AUN, he managed to keep himself reasonably sane along the way. Now he's just trying to get by as well as he can, bubble of youthful energy and vigor thoroughly burst by a tragedy of errors that would read like a bad soap opera plot if he were to tell the story.
<h3>Trivia</h3>
* Kazuki has Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where there's an extra X chromosome in some percentage of the body's cells, resulting in an XXY arrangement. Severity tends to differ based on the percentage of cells that have this XXY arrangement. Kazuki's percentage is low. He is physically male, but some of his body's systems act as they would in a female body. This causes a number of issues, but none severe enough to impact his life in an appreciable way.
* Due to the former, his voice never actually deepened when he went through puberty. The baritone voice that he speaks with is him pitching his voice down.
|Age=26
|Birthdate=March 3
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=149lb
|Desc=        Pale, slim, and delicate of features. It might even be hard to tell at first what gender this person is at a single glance. But a second look at the face will reveal a squareness that one doesn't often see in a woman, and thinner lips than a woman's. Still, though...it's a safe bet he gets a lot of teasing over it.

       He has platinum blond hair that's left down, and reaches about to mid-back. He's kept his bangs long; if he didn't have them tucked behind his ear on one side, they would hide his face. As it is, the tucked-back hair reveals a face that's delicate and feminine-looking. But there's enough masculinity there to at least tell he's male with not too much trouble unless one isn't paying attention.

       His eyes are a light lavender color, and seem somewhat narrowed. In fact, his features in general seem slim and angular, his fingers slightly too long, and slightly too thin. But perhaps good for fine detail work.

       He's wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt that fits him loosely, a pair of dark blue pants, and a pair of heavy black boots. Pretty simple attire, but its darkness makes him seem even paler. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Kazuki's light build makes him vulnerable to strong attacks. Thus he relies on just not being where an enemy's attack lands. Mobility-arresting measures are thus pretty devastating during battle.</li><li>The story of what he's been through in his home world really does read like a bad soap opera plot. However, it's also responsible for a lot of his emotional problems at current. Besides that, it's often said that the creative mind is already plagued with ills. Whether natural or from what he's been through, Kazuki's anxiety and depression remains intreated.</ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Kazuki was a regular kid in a world with space travel. At least, he thought he was normal. As it turned out, he had Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where a male is born with an extra X chromosome. Treatments wre costly, and it wasn't a life-threatening disease, so his parents opted not to have it dealt with when he hit his teens.         That was fine, since Kazuki had another plan for his life -- he was going to go into space aboard the colony ship ''Horizon'' -- they would need civilians and entertainers too, particularly as favorably as the military saw singers. Kazuki himself had a decent singing voice. And one bit of splurging that he allowed himself was a voice coach, so that, as he grew into his teen years, he could at least '''pretend''' to be a normal male. Once he'd hit his adult years, he had both a good understanding of how to change his voice -- both up AND down -- and the opportunity to apply for citizenship on the Horizon. And he made it! It was the chance of his dreams...!         One that turned into a nightmare...         It didn't take long before Sound Force picked him up, since he was determined to be in possession of the talent for manipulating Spiritia, a unique spiritual energy that's attached to both music and the soul. Now, this Sound Force had learned from the mistakes of the former, and put everyone in it through basic training. Unfortunately, the rest of the force wasn't aware of this. Even more unfortunate, Kazuki was the only member of Sound Force that had no family in the military. So, while Kazuki was taking verbal abuse from the UN Spacy '''outside''' Sound Force for, well... being in Sound Force, he was also taking verbal abuse from '''inside''' Sound Force because he had no military connections.         Soon this did enough damage to his mental state that the UN Spacy forcibly retired him. With no benefits, of course. So he went back to singing for his supper. And for a while that was working out. But then an Anti-UN attack on the Horizon colony ship that saw the ship being temporarily taken over by the AUN had him retreating into a network of large pipes. Two weeks later, he was discovered by Anti-UN member Zhorein Raynes, on a mission to deal with a rogue Sound Force member hiding on the ship. He was too weak to fight back, and was only saved by the timely interference of Ayame Bright, the then-leader of the UN.         Rather than kill him, she decided to make the recruitment pitch. Feeling that he had no choice, Kazuki agreed to join them. But something surprising happened... he started to make friends with the AUN forces. Soon he was a dedicated member of the AUN himself, learning how to fly a Valkyrie and using his unque vocal talents for their cause. It was the happiest he had ever been -- he wasn't expected to be anything he wasn't capable of, only to do what he could. They respected his need to learn slowly, under their tutelage and care, he blossomed into a confident and happy individual.         But this is where the bad soap opera plot starts. A battle with the UN turned into a high-ranking member of General Galaxy killing most of the AUN members and threatening to destroy an entire planet. The AUN had no choice but to join forces with the UN to defeat General Galaxy and end the bomb threat, and then then remnants of the AUN fled before they could be captured. However, one of the surviving AUN members -- someone that Kazuki had romantic feelings for (they were of course, unrequited; this fellow was straight) -- told them that Ayame Bright had been captured and needed to be rescued. They set up the jailbreak, made the plans, and set off to rescue their leader.         Unfortunately, it turned out that this AUN member that Kazuki loved so much... was really a double-agent for the UN. And so, when the group was too far into the facility to easily escape, he turned them all over to the UN. Kazuki spent a little time in jail -- not much, between the AUN's assistance with the planet bomb threat and the fact that the double-agent led them into the commission of the crime of breaking and entering a government facility (entrapment, which is illegal), plea bargains and negotiations happened.         Kazuki came out of jail bitter and jaded, and a change in his music reflected that. He turned to darker genres -- like metal and screamo -- leaving behind the happy, upbeat songs of his youth. And his Spiritia abilities moved fully from healing to damaging the psyche of others. For five years after he was let out of jail, he just lingered, withdrawing more and more from the public eye. Then one day, he just... disappeared, without a trace.         He didn't kill himself, no. He'd been pulled into Twisted! At first he didn't care, and only did what he needed to in order to survive, only because he couldn't '''not''' do that. They say time heals all wounds, and gradually Kazuki started to come out of his shell. He's never going to be the man he was before that bad soap opera story of a past happened, but he's at least gotten through it enough to get by. Currently he lives as well as he can in Twisted, doing the occasional concert and/or album for an influx of cash.
<h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Almost nothing of Kazuki's personality before his life fell apart with the destruction of the AUN remains. He's bitter, jaded, cynical, and broken, with very little good to say about anything. Though to be fair, he doesn't have much bad to say about much either. He's lax and flippant most of the time, and if he has a single f**k to give about propriety, he has hidden it very well. However, it is worth pointing out that his time in Twisted has allowed him to heal a little from the fallout of it all. He's still not the same man he was, but he's not the utterly broken and despairing man he was immediately after the incident.         It's also worth noting that his moping doesn't ever really get out of hand -- for better or worse, he's learned how deeply true is the old adage that when you cry, you cry alone. Though of course that also means that he doesn't talk to people when he has a problem; his time in Sound Force and the betrayal of someone he loved so much taught him to know better than to share his pain with others. If people can see the tender parts of his psyche, they can stab at them, either literally or with words. And he's about done with having people hurt him.         His ability to create a "mask" of sorts over his true face is about the only thing that survives of his original personality. More often than not, he's covering up his real face with one of these "masks" for the crowd, or just for the general populus. He can '''pretend''' to be the same happy, chipper, silly fellow that he was before it all happened of course. That's easy -- easier than letting on that he's not like that at all.         Another thing that remains is the fear that a look at the real Kazuki -- the Kazuki underneath all the pretending and flair, the deeply broken and cobbled-together man underneath it all -- would send people running. He once thrived by covering up his true self, and it was only when he let someone in that he was hurt. So he's not about to stop covering up anytime soon.         But overall, his time away from all the reminders of his failures has done him well. He no longer blames himself for being "not good enough" for anyone back home; a goldfish can hardly be blamed if it can't climb up a tree with all the other monkeys, can it? Freeing himself of this guilt has done wonders in gluing together the broken pieces of who he was. Like a broken porcelain doll, no amount of glue is going to hide the cracks, but at least he can hold himself together reasonably well now, and that's all that really matters. Now he just wants to make music and make a few people happy.

|Skills=<ul><li>'''Spiritia Manipulation:''' Spiritia is an energy force generated by living things (yes, just like the Force). In his world, manipulation of this energy source is the closest thing to magic that exists. Manipulation of others' spiritia is done via musical talent, either singing or playing an instrument. A musician needs to "play with soul" in order to do this. By doing this, he can sway the emotions of a crowd of people, evoking emotions in those who chose to give themselves over to it. He can "aim" this for a stronger effect on unwilling targets, however.</li><li>'''Anima Spiritia Generation:''' Beyond the normal spiritia produced by living things, some people produce the so-termed "Anima Spiritia", an even purer form of this energy. By generating and directing it similar to a magic spell (in the way as normal spiritia, by singing or playing music), he can accomplish a variety of effects within other living beings. Plants and nonsapient life will react based on the emotions he's singing with. Sapient life will either find their abilities and/or morale improving or deteriorating, again depending on the emotion in his music. Most devastating of all, he can act on an opponent's morale, in Kazuki's case ATTACK it, wearing down his or her will to continue to fight. Opponents defeated in this way physically suffer no damage, but appear emotionally spent. They will recover easily enough, however.</li><li>'''Agile:''' Given his light physique, and the fact that he's used the muscle mass he does have to become a dancer, it's no wonder that Kazuki's agility is pretty high. Dodging is generally how he keeps himself alive when things go pear-shaped around him, he's quite good at escaping from bindings and small spaces, and can fold himself up into extremely small hiding places.</li><li>'''Driving:''' Kazuki's good at driving land vehicles. If it has two or more tires, he's likely to be able to figure it out. Large vehicles don't seem to intimidate him like they do some people, and he maintains an awareness of where all parts of the vehicle are at all times.</li><li>'''Various Bits of Military Training:''' Throughout his journey, Kazuki was in both the UN Spacy and the Anti-UN, both military-class forces, though on opposite sides of a conflict. While he hasn't been meticulously trained like the rest, he can use a gun with some competence, and he knows a decent amount of barehanded fighting techniques. He really shines with a single dagger, though -- his slender frame is perfect for the quick movements that are needed to attack quickly with a dagger.</li><li>'''Performer:''' Kazuki is a skilled performer, having been singing, dancing, and playing the keyboard for most of his life. In his early days he went to a voice coach that taught him to sing, as well as to pitch his voice how he needed it. His keyboard skills are mostly self-taught, and he had to learn stage presence through experience.</li><li>'''Disguise:''' He didn't just learn to manipulate his voice. Learning how to carry himself, both onstage and in real life, has taught him to change himself totally to fit a given situation. He creates a persona, crafts a personality, decides on mannerisms, etc. This isn't limited to gender, as he's been able to successfully pass himself off as a female on more than one occasion. Which naturally leads to...</li><li>'''"Nadine":''' "Nadine" is Kazuki's female persona, and he's really good at playing this character. He effectively ceases to be "Kazuki Wakahisa" in this guise and is, effectively "Nadine". It isn't quite a second personality, but it's close. Enough to fool all but the closest observers. The biggest thing that gives him away? His height. He's still 6'2", even as Nadine. Surrounded by female Zentradi (Meltrans), who could be over six feet easily, it wasn't a big deal. But in Twisted, that could trip him -- or rather, "her" -- up.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery></gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5gQ_ze3sY Boys Don't Cry] - cillia ft. Gakupo V3 (original by fatmanP ft. Luka Megurine) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwBT7l2hVd0 Suicide Parade] - ShiKai ft. Gakupo V5 (original by YurryCannon ft. GUMI)
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=♥Kazuki♥
|}}
[[Category:Active]]

Adam Weissman

2020-04-30T08:50:50Z

DariRyusei:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Adam.jpg
|Name=Adam Weissman
|Pronunciation=(AD-əm VIES-mən)
|Alias=Adam
|Occupation=Ace Pilot
|Series=Voltron: Legendary Defender
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Lawful Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Sandy brown hair, brown skin, heterochromia, and burnmarks
|Extra1='''Misc:''' When a hostile alien species called the Galra attacked (his) Earth, Adam Weissman's superior, Admiral Sanda, did not initially meet the attack with the full brunt of the new fighters that had been built out of Earth technology fused with Altean (a peaceful race that had been almost eradicated by the Galra). Instead she sent a normal squad of fighters, with Adam, ace pilot and officer of the Galaxy Garrison, leading them. Though they were massacred, Adam survived against the superior Galra craft the longest. But at the last second, something plucked him from the seat of his exploding craft and dropped him here in Twisted -- injured, but alive.
|Age=23
|Birthdate=''Unknown''
|Height=5'9"
|Weight=150-ish
|Desc=        About average height and average build for a human male in his 20s. His hair is short and a light, sandy brown color; his skin is a warm, earthy brown. His eyes are also brown... at least, one eye is. The other is a bleached sort of beige color.

        Of course, the reason for the strange eye color is located directly below the beige eye -- a scarred burnmark across the bridge of his nose that becomes wider as it moves to the left. If one looks, one can see the rest of the burnmark on the left side of his neck.

        He's generally wearing something that covers at least the left side of his body well. If it's a short-sleeved shirt, there will be a tightly-fitting, longer "sleeve" underneath... perhaps something reminiscent of a pressure garment?

        It's generally the same below the waist too, except he doesn't tend towards shorter pants lengths. When he does, again, there's a longer, more tightly fitting thing underneath. Again, much like a pressure garment.

        At least his shoes are normal -- generally a pair of hiking boots with good ankle support. On dressy occasions he'll go with loafers, and if he's trying to be more casual... well, the hiking boots. He seems to need the ankle support, since they're laced quite tightly. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Adam is very pragmatic and logical, to the point of seeming cold or aloof to those that don't know him. He can also nag or come off as passive aggressive when he is arguing for a point he deeply believes to be true.</li><li>Due to the trauma inflicted during the destruction of his craft, the vision in his left eye is often temperamental. He's not completely blind in that eye, but he finds it difficult to distinguish colors with his left eye. The vision continues to deteriorate, despite surgery. Eventually he will need to either face blindness in that eye or find a replacement.</li><li>Between having essentially "fallen at the first charge" against the Galra in his world, and now being a completely normal human being in a world of super-powered people, Adam is beginning to develop an inferiority complex. It can lead him to be reckless on rare occasions -- or, more likely, fail to act when he could have done something to help, because "there are more effective people".</li></ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Little is known about Adam's childhood (he's a background character that's seen twice). His actual last name has never even been given. But it is known that Adam and Takashi Shirogane -- who would later pilot the Black Lion of Voltron -- were cadets in the Garrison, and grew close. By the time they were junior officers, the pair had engaged to marry.

        However, Shiro's muscular disease would rear its ugly head, both in Shiro's life and in their conversations. Adam wanted Shiro to take it easy so he wouldn't strain his condition; Shiro felt that if he didn't get into space NOW, his condition would make it impossible later on. Adam pointed out that he had stood by Shiro for every one of these missions where Shiro pushed himself, worrying each time that it would be the mission that killed Shiro. But there, in their last official conversation, Adam made a decision -- "I can't keep doing this", he said. And he punctated it by offering the following parting words as he left the room: "If you go, don't expect me to be here when you get back".

        His words would be morbidly prophetic, as it turned out.

        Shiro went on the mission, was captured by the Galra, and declared dead... due to "pilot error". Adam did not believe this, but couldn't risk anyone else digging; if the Garrison was closing the case this early, something was fishy. He did search for what information he could, but alone there wasn't much to go on. He and Keith Kogane, the young teen that Shiro took in after his mother disappeared and his father died, grew apart due to Keith's resentment towards him.

        Some time later, Sendak, the commander of the Galran military, attacked Earth. Admiral Sanda refused to immediately deploy their brand new hybrid Earth/alien fighters (they had been built with Altean technology, the tech of Princess Allura's home), but instead deployed Adam's squad in normal Earth fighter planes.

        They were almost instantly slaughtered, to the man. They simply could not stand against the Galran's much superior fighters. Adam, to his credit, was the last of his squad to be shot down. He realized with horror that he was the last one alive. A moment later, light filled his vision, and his plane exploded.

        But that wasn't the end for Adam. Maybe it was the reaction of the Galra fighter's ion beams with the engines of his own plane. But as the craft exploded, he was pulled away from his world and dropped -- quite literally -- into Twisted. He was injured, bleeding, burnt, and confused... but he was alive, which is more than he would have expected. The only question now was... would he survive his injuries...? <h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Adam was the grounded logic to Shiro's impulsive drive, reminding him of the reality of a situation before Shiro could jump feet-first into trouble. This gave the appearance of Adam being "team mom", in a way, since he did that to his whole squad. But those who knew him, knew he only did it because he cared. He could also fall into nagging if allowed, and could definitely be a Debbie Downer, even to himself at times. Conversely, Shiro taught him to be a bit spontaneous and to enjoy himself a little.

        He was pragmatic and clever, and often read between the lines of conversation, paying attention to what was ACTUALLY being said, and extrapolating (generally correctly) that which was NOT said. He didn't like to act or make decisions until he had all the facts, and this made him seem indecisive to those who were more willing and/or able to make snap decisions based on "gut feeling". To say nothing of seeming cold and passive-aggressive due to refusing to let his emotions get the better of him.

        Despite how different the two of them were, he and Shiro are alike in at least one way -- they are both unwilling to show it when they're experiencing negative feelings. Adam is unfailingly calm and collected, and the thing that would make him lose his precious cool, at least visibly, would be a serious thing indeed. Like Shiro, Adam tends to do his screaming on the inside.

|Skills=<ul><li>Graduated from a military school, and at the time of his "death" was a commander in the Galaxy Garrison, as such he's more than competent in a variety of weapon and close-quarter combat techniques.</li><li>Despite his poor vision (he wears corrective glasses), Adam is also apparently a good enough pilot that the garrison was willing to allow him to do so. It's worth noting that he survives against the Galra's first wave of attack the longest.</li><li>Another defiance of his poor (unaided) vision, Adam is a crack shot and one of the best snipers in the Garrison.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
File:Adam2.png
File:Adam3.png
File:Adam4.png
File:Adam5.png
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=
|}}
[[Category:Active]][[Category:Kohoku_Staff]]

Adam Weissman

2020-04-30T06:02:45Z

DariRyusei:

2020-04-28 - Kyun, Kyun! My New Friend Is a Pilot!

2020-04-29T12:40:18Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Kyun, Kyun! My New Friend Is a Pilot!
|Summary = Recognizing a familiar military bearing, Russell approaches Adam for a bit of explanation about where he is. Adam goes with him to the welcome center to learn more.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Russell Anders]]
|Date = April 28, 2020
|Where = [[Twisted_St._and_Park_Ave.|Twisted St. And Park Ave.]], [[Welcome Center]]
|Log=

'''''Twisted St. and Park Ave.''''' 
     ''Connecting to the Twisted Street just at the base of the East side of the bridge that crosses Lake Emepherea is the entrance to Park Avenue, a wide road with trees on either side of it. Unceremoniously the avenue transitions to a tiny almost trail that winds down over the hill to the South leading down to Zeku-Kari Beach.''

<hr>

Shopping! It's not fun. Well, to be fair, Adam's not doing 'the big shopping trip'. That's something that both he and Shiro will be doing later. Right now he's just picking up a few things he needs for something in particular -- an culinary idea he wants to try. He's just exiting the shop now, with a small bag of groceries.

He's in casual clothes right now -- yellow polo shirt, jeans, and hiking boots -- but that doesn't detract from that military air. It's something that gets drilled into you from pretty much the minute you arrive in basic. By the time you've got any time under your belt (and Adam made lieutenant before ending up here, so he has SOME time under his belt), it's pretty much something you'll never get out of yourself.

Besides that, he's actually got a few features worth looking at other than his military air -- his left arm is covered, under the sleeve of his polo shirt, with a black compression garment. And there's a burn scar on the left side of his face, over his nose too. It's clear that something pretty bad happened to him; even his left eye is almost devoid of color.

Russ is still new to this place-still painfully confused and permanently lost. The pilot has seen things in his time, but nothing really prepares you for this place. However, he sees someone with a soldier's bearing: it's universal, and Russ knows how he himself stands, walks, and and carries himself.

As he takes a moment to size up the man, he gives a nod of respect, as all males must do. He puts his hands behind his back in an 'at ease' sort of pose before looking around and sighing with mild annoyance.

"Sorry to trouble you, but do you have '''any''' idea where I am? This is one of the most confusing towns I've ever seen...."

Adam pauses as the man he doesn't know approaches and speaks up. He blinks. And yes, he takes a moment to size Russell up. It's not an assessing look -- well, inasmuch as 'that' sort of assessing. But he recognizes that military bearing too. Russell can see it, the straightening back in response to the question. And the only reason he doesn't salute is because he's got a bag of groceries in his hands!

"It IS pretty confusing," Adam agrees. "Though it helps if you don't think about it too hard." He gives kind of a lopsided smile at that. "But, that said, I can give you a little information. I'm still learning myself, since I came here not too long ago." He pauses then. "...Actually I've been here since January, now that I think about it..."

"I think I've been here a bit over... two months? tops. I still get hopelessly turned around." Russ says, before saying."Lieutenant Russell Anders, UN Spacy." He then blinks, before adding, "Though it seems my entire military branch simply.... '''doesn't exist''' here. I'm not sure what to make of that either."

After another few moments of consideration, he adds, "Now that I think about it, your advice seems sound, I'm just going to end up with another headache at this rate."

Adam hasn't heard of a 'UN Spacy', but he doesn't note that. It never feels good to hear that the thing you're familiar with doesn't exist. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Anders," Adam replies instead, offering in return, "Lieutenant Adam Weissman, Galaxy Garrison." Yup. Military. "Though the Garrison doesn't seem to exist here either. I don't know if there IS a 'space' here, honestly."

The mention that Russell still gets lost gets a tilt of Adam's head. "Have you been to the welcome center? It won't alleviate the confusion, but it'll at least give you some information to work with. I don't think we're in 'conventional space' as you or I would know it. I get the feeling that this place is kind of a 'sink trap', sort of, for people that get caught in dimensional eddies. That said, I have no actual proof of that theory."

"The feeling is mutual, Lieutenant." Russ says, offering a hand to shake on reflex before looking at the groceries, then his hand, then the groceries again and simply laughing. "Force of habit is a helluva thing.... And I imagine space exists - or, well, maybe I just hope it does. Not sure how I'm going to take more of basic physics going out the window."

"I think I've been directed that way before, but I was only there once, and hell if I can remember exactly where it was - I recall it being part of a multi-level building, though?" The last part is asked as a question more then a statment of fact.

Adam nods. The groceries are shifted, to free a hand -- it's only one bag, and a small one at that -- so he can return the handshake. If there is a 'military' handshake, that's it. At the mention of possibly not being able to take the violation of physics, Adam offers, "That's why I say don't think too hard about it. From all accounts, I'm supposed to be dead. And I really try not to think about that."

For a number of reasons, actually. None of which he's going into here...

As for the welcome center being in a multi-level building? Adam nods. "That's the courthouse, though it's got a police department and a hospital in there, for some reason," he notes. "I spent a lot of time there when I first came here. I wasn't in great shape."

"Ah, right, I stand corrected." Russ says, "I've been to the medical center right after I got here... ended up in the bushes." His head shook, "I'm sure you can imagine how convinced I was I'd had a concussion."

"Would you mind pointing me in the general direction of the welcome center then? Hopefully they've got maps available for us Newcomers." Russ offers with a short laugh. "It could be a lot worse, I guess."

"Definitely understandable, yes," Adam agrees. "I didn't know what to think, personally. I'm still really not sure. But my... er... someone I know is also here, so that helps. No one's here that you know, is there?"

As for the welcome center? "Oh, of course, I can show you where it is. The layout of the city is a bit weird, and it's not where you'd think it would be," he notes.

"Not that I know of." Russ says to if there was anyone he knew. "The nice gent that helped me to the hospital doesn't count, because I'd never met him before." He looks up at the sky, "I half expect it to be the in the middle of a shopping mall."

Adam chuckles. "No, not quite. It's in the same courthouse as the medical center, I believe," he replies. "They have pamphlets there that give a little bit of background information and tell a bit about this place as it is. If might not answer why you're here, but it might be able to answer some questions about Twisted itself. I can take you there -- it's not far from here, and I'm heading basically that way anyway."

"So I walked right by it. Probably twice." Russ says with a roll of his eyes, "Naturally... Lead the way good sir.... Hopefully I don't stumble into another portal or whatever the hell happened. I'd hate to end up in a world with, like... talking horses or something, that'd be pretty awful."

As he follows the other man, Russ then asks, "So, who's the authority around these parts? I take it, given the, erm, unusual nature of this place, that it's... fairly complicated. Doesn't seem like it's total anarchy, though."

Adam smiles sympathetically. "It's all right. I'm still learning my way around this place, and there's only... I think four streets in the city? But... stumbling into another portal is unlikely, given what I've learned. This seems to be a... well, the 'sink trap' analogy seems apt."

As he speaks, he starts heading west. And he offers as they walk, "That said, I also started on the back foot -- my plane was exploding, shot down by an alien invader, when I came here. A second later and I would have been dead. So I'm still learning about the place, since the first month or so, moving around hurt."

Plane? He's wearing a pair of glasses, he couldn't have been flying it. Pilots have to have perfect vision, don't they? That and his left eye is 'bleached'... and it sits over a clear scar. That said, it might have been made coming here, so it's anybody's guess.

As for who's in charge? "...I haven't figured that out yet, honestly," Adam admits. "There's a police force, and a lot of people with strange powers -- have you seen those ridiculous movies they make based on Miracle Comics? It feels a bit like that. So I'm not sure who's in charge, but they haven't really shown themselves. At least, not to me."

Russ didn't know that particular publisher, but the bizarre nature of comic book movies transcends any demensional gap. "I don't know that publisher, but I do know what you're talking about." He makes a face and then laughs, "This town is going to be... an interesting experiance.... You'd think that they'd have elections, or barring that, the people running the show being more open about doing so. Since if you and I are clearly 'not from around here' as it seems to be, then assuming everyone's going to come from a place where the idea of a 'city' and 'laws' is just going to be foriegn to them... would make sense for the head hanchos to lay down the rules more openly then."

"It's also putting a bigger target on them, if most everyone in this place has weird powers," Adam counter-points out. "One thing those comics got right was that there are all kinds of people, and some kinds of people want to do bad things to other people around them."

Adam tilts his head a bit then. "But, that said... it might be obvious somewhere, and I might just not know," he admits. "I don't know much about the place -- first there was the injuries, and then there was the frantic searching for a job. So I haven't really spent much time looking into the nature of the place."

Russ widens his eyes when Adam points out that he had to look for a job as well. "Shit, hadn't even thought about employment - makes sense that you haven't had a chance to figure out who the professional backside-kissers are yet then. Hopefully the search hasn't given you too much trouble?" His hands cross behind him almost casually. "it seems like there's at least a market of some form, which does make finding work a possibility."

Adam nods. "Luckily there's a school, and I was a teacher in my world too, so that was lucky," he notes. At the end of this western street -- looks like Twisted Street and Fukuoka Street -- the turns north and starts walking towards a fountain to the north. Ironically, they'll need to pass a school on the left as they move up that street. In fact he'll note, "There it is, actually." It doesn't call itself a high school, but an 'academy'.

Rusell takes in the sight as they walk by, and says, "Secondary school or a collage, by the looks of it?" He turns his attention back to the man, "So what do you teach if you don't mind me asking?" He then adds, "Having an education system is good for any young folks unfortunate enough to end up here-, though I suspect a few end up here without their families, which has to be pretty traumatic." He makes a soft 'hmm' at this though.

"It's a bit of everything," Adam replies. "There are kids of most ages that end up here -- young kids, older kids, college-age people, a little bit of every age group." The question of what he teaches gets the reply of, "I'm teaching health and P.E. Though it hasn't been long since I got the job, just a few days ago."

Ah, but then there's another concern. "That's true... there are quite a few without their families. It's pretty common. You'd think this was an anime or something." He chuckles, shaking his head. "I've offered to be there for students that want to talk. There's not much else I can do for them."

"Congratulations are in order then." Russ says, stretching out his arms for a moment, "Ah, I see - yeah, You do have the 'gym teacher' vibe down pat." He thinks back, and adds, "That's strange, my health teacher was also PE teacher as well. Whodathunk?"

The explanation that this is a common problem. "I was hoping to hear that it was rare. That is unfortunate to put it lightly." Russ runs his hand through his hair for a moment as he considers it. "Not much else you can do, you're right. I'd imagine they still manage to settle in as much as can be expected given the circumstance."

Adam looks a little confused at the mention of a 'gym teacher vibe'. "I do?" He seems a little confused about that. Though he chuckles at the mention of health and P.E. sharing teachers. "That tends to be common, too. I thought they'd think I wasn't healthy enough to manage it, given the... well. The face, among other things." He lifts his left arm a bit -- oh right, the compression sleeve on his arm.

As for the kids? Adam sighs a bit. "Fortunately the kids seem to be managing well enough," he offers. "Which I'm thankful for. It's a bit early to start having them come to me with problems, I think, but maybe they'll come to trust me after a while. I don't know how long I'm going to be here, after all."

"Eh, holding an injury against someone like that is dumb, so I'm not suprised they didn't care-" Russ notes, before adding, "Not that I haven't had schools that act just like that."

"That is indeed good news. I'm sure some of them will come around eventually. kids tend to form a connection with one particular instructor or another if they form them at all." He shrugs a bit, and adds, "I'd imagine that this town's been around long enough that there are adults who where brought here as kids, if not born here."

Adam tilts his head. "I'm not sure how long the place has been around, but I'm sure there are adults here who came here as children," he notes. "Being here does seem to be permanent, from what I've seen so far." A pause, and he winces. "Sorry, that's... probably not easy to hear."

Oh hey, here's the fountain! It's a very pretty fountain! But it's covered in weird runes, and makes people want to say 'Truce Fountain' outloud for some reason. This may or may not be why Adam's not looking at it. Instead he's looking at the courthouse, a four-story building with a set of stairs leading up to a pair of wide double doors.

"The welcome center is in here," Adam replies, heading for that four-story building. "I believe it's on the first floor -- that seems like the best place to put it."

Russ can only sigh at the first part of his comment. "I was worried I'd hear that from someone - not that I have any way to leave even if that's possible, my Valkyrie didn't make it here with me it seems, just fixed 'er, too, damnit."

"What the hell is with that fountain, and why the hell must I call it a Truce fountain?" Though the mention of the welcome center gets an approving nod to the man, "That's helpful, thank you very much. I would '''not''' have found it on my own. I wager it was all set up fairly hastily."

"Valkyrie... your plane?" Adam inquires. Russell had mentioned a military rank before this, so maybe he was a pilot too? "That's a shame. I lost mine coming here too. Though I doubt she was in any shape to be salvaged after what happened." Siiiigh....

Though the mention of the fountain gets a blink. "That I'm not sure about. It's just one of the weird things about this place. I'm fairly sure there's magic involved in some capacity. And magic tends to operate on 'I don't have to explain myself to you' principles..."

<hr>

'''''Mabase City Courthouse Welcome Center''''' 
     ''As you step into this room from the hallway, you're met with a brightly, warmly lit room. To your right is what appears very much to be a waiting area, complete with a couch and a few easy chairs that are facing a large screen TV, a few couches facing each other, and a table with chairs. And we can't forget the vending machines! Somehow, they seem to be able to take just about any kind of money... Sometimes, it's best not to ask how. Directly across from the door, however, is the reception desk, where there is hopefully someone waiting to assist any who might arrive! And if there's no one there, at least the receptionist has a good view of the TV. While there is a sizable empty space between the door and the reception desk, directly to the left are pair of doors that lead to small rooms that closely resemble offices: these are the heart of the Welcome Center! Where people are hopefully assisted in acclimating themselves to this new(to them, at least) realm!''

<hr>

"Yeah." Russ says after some moments, "Wrecked mine once, and spent several months piecing her back together despite parts being in, well... very short supply - Magic... Really? There's straight-up '''Magic''' here?"

Adam gives a sympathetic look. "I'm sory to hear that. I'm sure she was a wonderful plane, for you to want to spend so much time putting her back together." A pause then, as Russel asks about actual magic. He nods. "I saw a dinosaur made of those toy building blocks. It moved. And spoke. It seemed sapient. And then there's the rainbow-haired woman with the medieval armor and futuristic gun. And I'm sure there's something unusual about that man who runs around the city barefoot." Because THAT takes bravery!

He will, however, admit, "That said, I haven't been out and about much, since I've been recovering. Now that I'm better, I expect to run into more people that defy my definition of 'normal'. There's a reason this place is called 'Twisted', after all."

"Older, but a good bird." The comment about there indeed being actual magic makes the man slowly shake his head. Until the description of the Lego Dinosaur enters his ears for his brain to chew upon.

"Twisted does seem like a fitting name." Russ says, rubbing his head and adding, "I half expect someone to have a wand and do actual magic shows now - though given this apperently being normal, I'm not sure there'd be much of an audience..."

Adam chuckles. "There's a blond boy that does contact juggling shows every now and then," he notes. "He's enrolled in the school -- I've seen him in class before, though he's a pretty recent enrollee. I think he busks. It's a dangerous job, but I'm not sure where he could find employment at his age."

And then he smirks. "Yes. It's very much appropriate," he agrees. "I'm still getting used to it. It's a little easier for me, since there's someone here that I know. We're sort of working together to try to get ourselves settled here." He pauses, with a smile that's... almost fond. "I'm glad he's here. Things would be a lot more difficult if either of us were here alone."

"It's nice to know there are other vets around, indeed. Pilots to boot - don't think there happens to be an airport around, eh?"

"Having a freind here does have to make it easier. You've got someone you know in a sea of people you just met. I was done with the 'new kid at school' feeling by the fourth grade, thank you, so I know where you're coming from."

At this, Adam nods. "We're both pilots, yes. That said, he's been through a lot worse than I have. All I really did was 'die' at a technological disadvantage to an alien race I'd never seen before. He was the one who actually met all the aliens out there," he notes. "Apparently he saved his whole universe, though not alone, and he lost some of the people that were instrumental in getting it done. I suppose saving the universe can't come cheap..."

"If it's bad enough that saving the universe becomes necessary, you're '''going''' to loose good people in the process of doing so. It's not like the movies, but you already know that. I've lost a few good friends over the years - hope the ones I left behind get on okay." Russ says after Adam finishes. "I wouldn't say I saved the world - but I was lucky enough to be around to see some folks who did... lost my EM warfare dish quite a few times while 'being around' but I can say I've been fortunate enough to have come out '''mostly''' unscathed." The pilot then takes a pamphlet and begins flipping through, "I want to bet these things translate themselves to match whatever language you speak."

Adam nods. "There's a very good chance of it, yes," he agrees. "I'm still not sure exactly what happened -- he told me, but admittedly a lot of it was beyond my understanding. I just know he's been through hell."

As for the pamphlets? Adam blinks. "They... might? I'm not sure. I haven't had trouble reading anything here so far. But I speak English. I'm told that a lot of the people who end up here come from Earth, even if it's not the '''same''' Earth. So it makes sense that they'd print things in Earth languages, with that kind of statistics."

"Hopefully he won't have to go through hell more then once. Not the sort of situation anyone goes '''asking for''', anyway." Russ says, before looking at the pamphlet and seeming to have an idea... "That would make sense - in my Earth, many decades before I was born, there was a show about these kids that made a machine to go into different versions of Earth, and randomly jumped from one to another - it was cheesy, but now that I think of it, this place is kinda like that, too."

At Russell's mention of Shiro not going through hell again... Adam gets a determined look. He seems about to say something... but then thinks better of it, and his expression returns to normal. "That's unlikely. I've heard of the odd bit of serious trouble here and there, but for the most part, things seem peaceful enough here. This is almost a... 'retirement' for him, I suppose you could call it."

And then the talk of the cheesy show? "That could be," Adam replies, with a nod. "Except I don't know if there are any ways to leave here. There's a lot I haven't learned about this place." He does seem to be the type that wants to learn about his environment. And yes, he'll take a couple of those pamphlets too, and tuck them into the grocery bag for later reading.

"Good. I can't fault anyone a nice retirement by the lake, where the only battle is with the fish that get away." Russ quips, adding, "I would imagine there is, unless we're all dead and this is God's purgatory for the clinically insane - which I don't get that sense." He gives a shrug then. and adds, "But to know how to do that, you have to know how you got here in the first place, which almost certainly requires that you have some way to get back outside. Meaning you have to be able to leave to learn how to leave."

Adam gives a quiet chuckle at the mention of a retirement by the lake. "That sounds fun. Too bad I can't fish," he notes. He doesn't want to address his own situation, since he's supposed to be dead but Shiro isn't... so far as he knows. There's always the possibility that Shiro's hiding something. But... not likely here. Shiro admitted some pretty bad stuff...

"That... does make sense," Adam notes, in response to the latter concern, of knowing how to leave. "You have to find the door before you can figure out how to open it. Maybe no one's found the door yet. Or maybe they have but haven't figured out how to open it."

"Indeed. And if the door's a bank vault sort, it might not even be practical to open it-even with the knowledge how to do so." Russ adds, "There's a whole lot of unknowns there. And the whole issue with unknowns is, well, the not knowing part. Though I'd also wager this place is still an improvement for some."

At this, Adam nods. "Well... speaking personally, it's definitely an improvement over my situation. According to Takashi, I was supposed to be dead." Oh. THAT kind of shot down. The kind where you don't ever get up again. It's also worthy to note that he pronounces that name as if he has some knowledge of the Japanese language.

"Oh '''shit'''. I've had to take the short ride in the hot-seat before, but... yikes. Glad you're still with us, even if a bit worse for wear." Russ knows better then to dwell upon it though, "This definately is a sort of purgatory then, just perhaps not of the stereotypical kind."

Adam nods slowly -- commonly known on Earth as a 'sagenod'. "Very unpleasant. I'm glad to still be alive. Takashi is from a few years after it. We're from the same... well, 'where', but not the same 'when', if that makes sense. Though we ended up here around the same time -- sometime in January." He tilts his head. "There are theories that time isn't a constant, unbroken stream, but can be flexible. Maybe we were brought from different times in our world, to the same time here."

"General relativity would indicate that time is definately flexible." Russ rubs his chin, "In fact, if people '''can''' come here from different times of the same universe, then that narrows down how this works to a tiny extent." He seems to go quiet for a while, pondering deeply. "I don't know for sure, though. Maybe time just isn't a concept that matters here."

"That's true," Adam agrees. During Russell's quiet moment, he notes, "You're right, there are lots of unknowns, and I think we might just be better off shrugging and accepting it. Otherwise we might end up with massive headaches." He smirks here. "In all seriousness though, I think you're... relatively safe here. Physically, if not mentally, from all the strangeness."

"Definately not safe mentally, my brain is currently the consistancy of pudding" Russ quips. "But it does seem fairly safe besides that." He looks at his pamphlets again, and then says, "Thanks for all of the information. Should see about finding myself some stable lodging...."

Adam nods, offering a polite smile. "Anytime. The Integra's Arms is probably your best bet for semi-stable lodging -- Takashi and I are there. If you need anything else, let me know -- just ask Debbie at the desk, she'll call us. I'd say 'good luck', but I hope you don't need it."

"Will do, thanks again, Adam." Russ laughs and then adds, "Same to you! Take care."

|}}

2020-04-28 - Kyun, Kyun! My New Friend Is a Pilot!

2020-04-29T12:38:18Z

DariRyusei:

2020-04-28 - Kyun, Kyun! My New Friend Is a Pilot!

2020-04-29T12:37:57Z

DariRyusei: Russell approaches Adam for a bit of explanation about where he is.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Kyun, Kyun! My New Friend Is a Pilot!
|Summary = Recognizing a familiar military bearing, Russell approaches Adam for a bit of explanation about where he is. Adam goes with him to the welcome center to learn more.
|Who = [[Adam_Weissman]], [[Russell_Anders]]
|Date = April 28, 2020
|Where = [[Twisted_St._and_Park_Ave.|Twisted St. And Park Ave.]], [[Welcome Center]]
|Log=

'''''Twisted St. and Park Ave.''''' 
     ''Connecting to the Twisted Street just at the base of the East side of the bridge that crosses Lake Emepherea is the entrance to Park Avenue, a wide road with trees on either side of it. Unceremoniously the avenue transitions to a tiny almost trail that winds down over the hill to the South leading down to Zeku-Kari Beach.''

<hr>

Shopping! It's not fun. Well, to be fair, Adam's not doing 'the big shopping trip'. That's something that both he and Shiro will be doing later. Right now he's just picking up a few things he needs for something in particular -- an culinary idea he wants to try. He's just exiting the shop now, with a small bag of groceries.

He's in casual clothes right now -- yellow polo shirt, jeans, and hiking boots -- but that doesn't detract from that military air. It's something that gets drilled into you from pretty much the minute you arrive in basic. By the time you've got any time under your belt (and Adam made lieutenant before ending up here, so he has SOME time under his belt), it's pretty much something you'll never get out of yourself.

Besides that, he's actually got a few features worth looking at other than his military air -- his left arm is covered, under the sleeve of his polo shirt, with a black compression garment. And there's a burn scar on the left side of his face, over his nose too. It's clear that something pretty bad happened to him; even his left eye is almost devoid of color.

Russ is still new to this place-still painfully confused and permanently lost. The pilot has seen things in his time, but nothing really prepares you for this place. However, he sees someone with a soldier's bearing: it's universal, and Russ knows how he himself stands, walks, and and carries himself.

As he takes a moment to size up the man, he gives a nod of respect, as all males must do. He puts his hands behind his back in an 'at ease' sort of pose before looking around and sighing with mild annoyance.

"Sorry to trouble you, but do you have '''any''' idea where I am? This is one of the most confusing towns I've ever seen...."

Adam pauses as the man he doesn't know approaches and speaks up. He blinks. And yes, he takes a moment to size Russell up. It's not an assessing look -- well, inasmuch as 'that' sort of assessing. But he recognizes that military bearing too. Russell can see it, the straightening back in response to the question. And the only reason he doesn't salute is because he's got a bag of groceries in his hands!

"It IS pretty confusing," Adam agrees. "Though it helps if you don't think about it too hard." He gives kind of a lopsided smile at that. "But, that said, I can give you a little information. I'm still learning myself, since I came here not too long ago." He pauses then. "...Actually I've been here since January, now that I think about it..."

"I think I've been here a bit over... two months? tops. I still get hopelessly turned around." Russ says, before saying."Lieutenant Russell Anders, UN Spacy." He then blinks, before adding, "Though it seems my entire military branch simply.... '''doesn't exist''' here. I'm not sure what to make of that either."

After another few moments of consideration, he adds, "Now that I think about it, your advice seems sound, I'm just going to end up with another headache at this rate."

Adam hasn't heard of a 'UN Spacy', but he doesn't note that. It never feels good to hear that the thing you're familiar with doesn't exist. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Anders," Adam replies instead, offering in return, "Lieutenant Adam Weissman, Galaxy Garrison." Yup. Military. "Though the Garrison doesn't seem to exist here either. I don't know if there IS a 'space' here, honestly."

The mention that Russell still gets lost gets a tilt of Adam's head. "Have you been to the welcome center? It won't alleviate the confusion, but it'll at least give you some information to work with. I don't think we're in 'conventional space' as you or I would know it. I get the feeling that this place is kind of a 'sink trap', sort of, for people that get caught in dimensional eddies. That said, I have no actual proof of that theory."

"The feeling is mutual, Lieutenant." Russ says, offering a hand to shake on reflex before looking at the groceries, then his hand, then the groceries again and simply laughing. "Force of habit is a helluva thing.... And I imagine space exists - or, well, maybe I just hope it does. Not sure how I'm going to take more of basic physics going out the window."

"I think I've been directed that way before, but I was only there once, and hell if I can remember exactly where it was - I recall it being part of a multi-level building, though?" The last part is asked as a question more then a statment of fact.

Adam nods. The groceries are shifted, to free a hand -- it's only one bag, and a small one at that -- so he can return the handshake. If there is a 'military' handshake, that's it. At the mention of possibly not being able to take the violation of physics, Adam offers, "That's why I say don't think too hard about it. From all accounts, I'm supposed to be dead. And I really try not to think about that."

For a number of reasons, actually. None of which he's going into here...

As for the welcome center being in a multi-level building? Adam nods. "That's the courthouse, though it's got a police department and a hospital in there, for some reason," he notes. "I spent a lot of time there when I first came here. I wasn't in great shape."

"Ah, right, I stand corrected." Russ says, "I've been to the medical center right after I got here... ended up in the bushes." His head shook, "I'm sure you can imagine how convinced I was I'd had a concussion."

"Would you mind pointing me in the general direction of the welcome center then? Hopefully they've got maps available for us Newcomers." Russ offers with a short laugh. "It could be a lot worse, I guess."

"Definitely understandable, yes," Adam agrees. "I didn't know what to think, personally. I'm still really not sure. But my... er... someone I know is also here, so that helps. No one's here that you know, is there?"

As for the welcome center? "Oh, of course, I can show you where it is. The layout of the city is a bit weird, and it's not where you'd think it would be," he notes.

"Not that I know of." Russ says to if there was anyone he knew. "The nice gent that helped me to the hospital doesn't count, because I'd never met him before." He looks up at the sky, "I half expect it to be the in the middle of a shopping mall."

Adam chuckles. "No, not quite. It's in the same courthouse as the medical center, I believe," he replies. "They have pamphlets there that give a little bit of background information and tell a bit about this place as it is. If might not answer why you're here, but it might be able to answer some questions about Twisted itself. I can take you there -- it's not far from here, and I'm heading basically that way anyway."

"So I walked right by it. Probably twice." Russ says with a roll of his eyes, "Naturally... Lead the way good sir.... Hopefully I don't stumble into another portal or whatever the hell happened. I'd hate to end up in a world with, like... talking horses or something, that'd be pretty awful."

As he follows the other man, Russ then asks, "So, who's the authority around these parts? I take it, given the, erm, unusual nature of this place, that it's... fairly complicated. Doesn't seem like it's total anarchy, though."

Adam smiles sympathetically. "It's all right. I'm still learning my way around this place, and there's only... I think four streets in the city? But... stumbling into another portal is unlikely, given what I've learned. This seems to be a... well, the 'sink trap' analogy seems apt."

As he speaks, he starts heading west. And he offers as they walk, "That said, I also started on the back foot -- my plane was exploding, shot down by an alien invader, when I came here. A second later and I would have been dead. So I'm still learning about the place, since the first month or so, moving around hurt."

Plane? He's wearing a pair of glasses, he couldn't have been flying it. Pilots have to have perfect vision, don't they? That and his left eye is 'bleached'... and it sits over a clear scar. That said, it might have been made coming here, so it's anybody's guess.

As for who's in charge? "...I haven't figured that out yet, honestly," Adam admits. "There's a police force, and a lot of people with strange powers -- have you seen those ridiculous movies they make based on Miracle Comics? It feels a bit like that. So I'm not sure who's in charge, but they haven't really shown themselves. At least, not to me."

Russ didn't know that particular publisher, but the bizarre nature of comic book movies transcends any demensional gap. "I don't know that publisher, but I do know what you're talking about." He makes a face and then laughs, "This town is going to be... an interesting experiance.... You'd think that they'd have elections, or barring that, the people running the show being more open about doing so. Since if you and I are clearly 'not from around here' as it seems to be, then assuming everyone's going to come from a place where the idea of a 'city' and 'laws' is just going to be foriegn to them... would make sense for the head hanchos to lay down the rules more openly then."

"It's also putting a bigger target on them, if most everyone in this place has weird powers," Adam counter-points out. "One thing those comics got right was that there are all kinds of people, and some kinds of people want to do bad things to other people around them."

Adam tilts his head a bit then. "But, that said... it might be obvious somewhere, and I might just not know," he admits. "I don't know much about the place -- first there was the injuries, and then there was the frantic searching for a job. So I haven't really spent much time looking into the nature of the place."

Russ widens his eyes when Adam points out that he had to look for a job as well. "Shit, hadn't even thought about employment - makes sense that you haven't had a chance to figure out who the professional backside-kissers are yet then. Hopefully the search hasn't given you too much trouble?" His hands cross behind him almost casually. "it seems like there's at least a market of some form, which does make finding work a possibility."

Adam nods. "Luckily there's a school, and I was a teacher in my world too, so that was lucky," he notes. At the end of this western street -- looks like Twisted Street and Fukuoka Street -- the turns north and starts walking towards a fountain to the north. Ironically, they'll need to pass a school on the left as they move up that street. In fact he'll note, "There it is, actually." It doesn't call itself a high school, but an 'academy'.

Rusell takes in the sight as they walk by, and says, "Secondary school or a collage, by the looks of it?" He turns his attention back to the man, "So what do you teach if you don't mind me asking?" He then adds, "Having an education system is good for any young folks unfortunate enough to end up here-, though I suspect a few end up here without their families, which has to be pretty traumatic." He makes a soft 'hmm' at this though.

"It's a bit of everything," Adam replies. "There are kids of most ages that end up here -- young kids, older kids, college-age people, a little bit of every age group." The question of what he teaches gets the reply of, "I'm teaching health and P.E. Though it hasn't been long since I got the job, just a few days ago."

Ah, but then there's another concern. "That's true... there are quite a few without their families. It's pretty common. You'd think this was an anime or something." He chuckles, shaking his head. "I've offered to be there for students that want to talk. There's not much else I can do for them."

"Congratulations are in order then." Russ says, stretching out his arms for a moment, "Ah, I see - yeah, You do have the 'gym teacher' vibe down pat." He thinks back, and adds, "That's strange, my health teacher was also PE teacher as well. Whodathunk?"

The explanation that this is a common problem. "I was hoping to hear that it was rare. That is unfortunate to put it lightly." Russ runs his hand through his hair for a moment as he considers it. "Not much else you can do, you're right. I'd imagine they still manage to settle in as much as can be expected given the circumstance."

Adam looks a little confused at the mention of a 'gym teacher vibe'. "I do?" He seems a little confused about that. Though he chuckles at the mention of health and P.E. sharing teachers. "That tends to be common, too. I thought they'd think I wasn't healthy enough to manage it, given the... well. The face, among other things." He lifts his left arm a bit -- oh right, the compression sleeve on his arm.

As for the kids? Adam sighs a bit. "Fortunately the kids seem to be managing well enough," he offers. "Which I'm thankful for. It's a bit early to start having them come to me with problems, I think, but maybe they'll come to trust me after a while. I don't know how long I'm going to be here, after all."

"Eh, holding an injury against someone like that is dumb, so I'm not suprised they didn't care-" Russ notes, before adding, "Not that I haven't had schools that act just like that."

"That is indeed good news. I'm sure some of them will come around eventually. kids tend to form a connection with one particular instructor or another if they form them at all." He shrugs a bit, and adds, "I'd imagine that this town's been around long enough that there are adults who where brought here as kids, if not born here."

Adam tilts his head. "I'm not sure how long the place has been around, but I'm sure there are adults here who came here as children," he notes. "Being here does seem to be permanent, from what I've seen so far." A pause, and he winces. "Sorry, that's... probably not easy to hear."

Oh hey, here's the fountain! It's a very pretty fountain! But it's covered in weird runes, and makes people want to say 'Truce Fountain' outloud for some reason. This may or may not be why Adam's not looking at it. Instead he's looking at the courthouse, a four-story building with a set of stairs leading up to a pair of wide double doors.

"The welcome center is in here," Adam replies, heading for that four-story building. "I believe it's on the first floor -- that seems like the best place to put it."

Russ can only sigh at the first part of his comment. "I was worried I'd hear that from someone - not that I have any way to leave even if that's possible, my Valkyrie didn't make it here with me it seems, just fixed 'er, too, damnit."

"What the hell is with that fountain, and why the hell must I call it a Truce fountain?" Though the mention of the welcome center gets an approving nod to the man, "That's helpful, thank you very much. I would '''not''' have found it on my own. I wager it was all set up fairly hastily."

"Valkyrie... your plane?" Adam inquires. Russell had mentioned a military rank before this, so maybe he was a pilot too? "That's a shame. I lost mine coming here too. Though I doubt she was in any shape to be salvaged after what happened." Siiiigh....

Though the mention of the fountain gets a blink. "That I'm not sure about. It's just one of the weird things about this place. I'm fairly sure there's magic involved in some capacity. And magic tends to operate on 'I don't have to explain myself to you' principles..."

<hr>

'''''Mabase City Courthouse Welcome Center''''' 
     ''As you step into this room from the hallway, you're met with a brightly, warmly lit room. To your right is what appears very much to be a waiting area, complete with a couch and a few easy chairs that are facing a large screen TV, a few couches facing each other, and a table with chairs. And we can't forget the vending machines! Somehow, they seem to be able to take just about any kind of money... Sometimes, it's best not to ask how. Directly across from the door, however, is the reception desk, where there is hopefully someone waiting to assist any who might arrive! And if there's no one there, at least the receptionist has a good view of the TV. While there is a sizable empty space between the door and the reception desk, directly to the left are pair of doors that lead to small rooms that closely resemble offices: these are the heart of the Welcome Center! Where people are hopefully assisted in acclimating themselves to this new(to them, at least) realm!''

<hr>

"Yeah." Russ says after some moments, "Wrecked mine once, and spent several months piecing her back together despite parts being in, well... very short supply - Magic... Really? There's straight-up '''Magic''' here?"

Adam gives a sympathetic look. "I'm sory to hear that. I'm sure she was a wonderful plane, for you to want to spend so much time putting her back together." A pause then, as Russel asks about actual magic. He nods. "I saw a dinosaur made of those toy building blocks. It moved. And spoke. It seemed sapient. And then there's the rainbow-haired woman with the medieval armor and futuristic gun. And I'm sure there's something unusual about that man who runs around the city barefoot." Because THAT takes bravery!

He will, however, admit, "That said, I haven't been out and about much, since I've been recovering. Now that I'm better, I expect to run into more people that defy my definition of 'normal'. There's a reason this place is called 'Twisted', after all."

"Older, but a good bird." The comment about there indeed being actual magic makes the man slowly shake his head. Until the description of the Lego Dinosaur enters his ears for his brain to chew upon.

"Twisted does seem like a fitting name." Russ says, rubbing his head and adding, "I half expect someone to have a wand and do actual magic shows now - though given this apperently being normal, I'm not sure there'd be much of an audience..."

Adam chuckles. "There's a blond boy that does contact juggling shows every now and then," he notes. "He's enrolled in the school -- I've seen him in class before, though he's a pretty recent enrollee. I think he busks. It's a dangerous job, but I'm not sure where he could find employment at his age."

And then he smirks. "Yes. It's very much appropriate," he agrees. "I'm still getting used to it. It's a little easier for me, since there's someone here that I know. We're sort of working together to try to get ourselves settled here." He pauses, with a smile that's... almost fond. "I'm glad he's here. Things would be a lot more difficult if either of us were here alone."

"It's nice to know there are other vets around, indeed. Pilots to boot - don't think there happens to be an airport around, eh?"

"Having a freind here does have to make it easier. You've got someone you know in a sea of people you just met. I was done with the 'new kid at school' feeling by the fourth grade, thank you, so I know where you're coming from."

At this, Adam nods. "We're both pilots, yes. That said, he's been through a lot worse than I have. All I really did was 'die' at a technological disadvantage to an alien race I'd never seen before. He was the one who actually met all the aliens out there," he notes. "Apparently he saved his whole universe, though not alone, and he lost some of the people that were instrumental in getting it done. I suppose saving the universe can't come cheap..."

"If it's bad enough that saving the universe becomes necessary, you're '''going''' to loose good people in the process of doing so. It's not like the movies, but you already know that. I've lost a few good friends over the years - hope the ones I left behind get on okay." Russ says after Adam finishes. "I wouldn't say I saved the world - but I was lucky enough to be around to see some folks who did... lost my EM warfare dish quite a few times while 'being around' but I can say I've been fortunate enough to have come out '''mostly''' unscathed." The pilot then takes a pamphlet and begins flipping through, "I want to bet these things translate themselves to match whatever language you speak."

Adam nods. "There's a very good chance of it, yes," he agrees. "I'm still not sure exactly what happened -- he told me, but admittedly a lot of it was beyond my understanding. I just know he's been through hell."

As for the pamphlets? Adam blinks. "They... might? I'm not sure. I haven't had trouble reading anything here so far. But I speak English. I'm told that a lot of the people who end up here come from Earth, even if it's not the '''same''' Earth. So it makes sense that they'd print things in Earth languages, with that kind of statistics."

"Hopefully he won't have to go through hell more then once. Not the sort of situation anyone goes '''asking for''', anyway." Russ says, before looking at the pamphlet and seeming to have an idea... "That would make sense - in my Earth, many decades before I was born, there was a show about these kids that made a machine to go into different versions of Earth, and randomly jumped from one to another - it was cheesy, but now that I think of it, this place is kinda like that, too."

At Russell's mention of Shiro not going through hell again... Adam gets a determined look. He seems about to say something... but then thinks better of it, and his expression returns to normal. "That's unlikely. I've heard of the odd bit of serious trouble here and there, but for the most part, things seem peaceful enough here. This is almost a... 'retirement' for him, I suppose you could call it."

And then the talk of the cheesy show? "That could be," Adam replies, with a nod. "Except I don't know if there are any ways to leave here. There's a lot I haven't learned about this place." He does seem to be the type that wants to learn about his environment. And yes, he'll take a couple of those pamphlets too, and tuck them into the grocery bag for later reading.

"Good. I can't fault anyone a nice retirement by the lake, where the only battle is with the fish that get away." Russ quips, adding, "I would imagine there is, unless we're all dead and this is God's purgatory for the clinically insane - which I don't get that sense." He gives a shrug then. and adds, "But to know how to do that, you have to know how you got here in the first place, which almost certainly requires that you have some way to get back outside. Meaning you have to be able to leave to learn how to leave."

Adam gives a quiet chuckle at the mention of a retirement by the lake. "That sounds fun. Too bad I can't fish," he notes. He doesn't want to address his own situation, since he's supposed to be dead but Shiro isn't... so far as he knows. There's always the possibility that Shiro's hiding something. But... not likely here. Shiro admitted some pretty bad stuff...

"That... does make sense," Adam notes, in response to the latter concern, of knowing how to leave. "You have to find the door before you can figure out how to open it. Maybe no one's found the door yet. Or maybe they have but haven't figured out how to open it."

"Indeed. And if the door's a bank vault sort, it might not even be practical to open it-even with the knowledge how to do so." Russ adds, "There's a whole lot of unknowns there. And the whole issue with unknowns is, well, the not knowing part. Though I'd also wager this place is still an improvement for some."

At this, Adam nods. "Well... speaking personally, it's definitely an improvement over my situation. According to Takashi, I was supposed to be dead." Oh. THAT kind of shot down. The kind where you don't ever get up again. It's also worthy to note that he pronounces that name as if he has some knowledge of the Japanese language.

"Oh '''shit'''. I've had to take the short ride in the hot-seat before, but... yikes. Glad you're still with us, even if a bit worse for wear." Russ knows better then to dwell upon it though, "This definately is a sort of purgatory then, just perhaps not of the stereotypical kind."

Adam nods slowly -- commonly known on Earth as a 'sagenod'. "Very unpleasant. I'm glad to still be alive. Takashi is from a few years after it. We're from the same... well, 'where', but not the same 'when', if that makes sense. Though we ended up here around the same time -- sometime in January." He tilts his head. "There are theories that time isn't a constant, unbroken stream, but can be flexible. Maybe we were brought from different times in our world, to the same time here."

"General relativity would indicate that time is definately flexible." Russ rubs his chin, "In fact, if people '''can''' come here from different times of the same universe, then that narrows down how this works to a tiny extent." He seems to go quiet for a while, pondering deeply. "I don't know for sure, though. Maybe time just isn't a concept that matters here."

"That's true," Adam agrees. During Russell's quiet moment, he notes, "You're right, there are lots of unknowns, and I think we might just be better off shrugging and accepting it. Otherwise we might end up with massive headaches." He smirks here. "In all seriousness though, I think you're... relatively safe here. Physically, if not mentally, from all the strangeness."

"Definately not safe mentally, my brain is currently the consistancy of pudding" Russ quips. "But it does seem fairly safe besides that." He looks at his pamphlets again, and then says, "Thanks for all of the information. Should see about finding myself some stable lodging...."

Adam nods, offering a polite smile. "Anytime. The Integra's Arms is probably your best bet for semi-stable lodging -- Takashi and I are there. If you need anything else, let me know -- just ask Debbie at the desk, she'll call us. I'd say 'good luck', but I hope you don't need it."

|}}

2020-04-20 - Celebrate Good Times

2020-04-21T21:13:17Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Celebrate Good Times
|Summary = Shiro decides to celebrate Adam's new job by finding some things from Earth that he liked. They have a nice picnic with pie and ginger beer! It is not a date. Really. ... ...No, really. It's not.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = April 20, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside
|Log=

''[[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside''

        ''Through the thicket of brush, you've made your way to the lake. Clear, picturesque water ripples softly in a faint breeze, and the sand on the beach is soft and pale-peach. Small ducks swim happily at the shoreline, picking at random things floating here and there. In the distance, across the expansive lake, is what looks like a massive... iron? What is that?''

        ''Connecting via a small island near the center of the lake are two long bridges that allow you to cross to the other side of the lake. No one is sure when the bridges where built but the 'MM' design worked into the side panels is a sure giveaway as to whom was responsible.''

<hr>

It's just after lunch time on the day Shiro had told Adam to meet him at the park. It's nice out and he's managed to spread a comfy blanket out over the ground, along with a basket placed on top. ....why ever would he be doing a picnic AFTER lunch though? And what in the world would Shiro have in the basket, given the failures that are his attempts at cooking?

Adam's just soon arriving once the blanket's been spread out on the ground. Like Shiro suggested, he's in casual clothes -- polo shirt, jeans, and his ever-present hiking boots. Also present is the compression sleeve on his left arm, worn under the polo shirt.

And he seems to have a similar thought. He blinks at seeing the basket. "A picnic AFTER lunch?" he inquires. Though he's not being judgy about it. Maybe there's something else in there. Shiro did say it was a surprise.

Shiro pulls a bottle out of the basket, taking out some glasses as well. He'd pour some for both of them, and even though he's being secretive about it, Adam might catch on to what it is. What it IS being one of Adam's favorite drinks. With that pulled out he reaches in and pulls out an obviously store bought thing that came from a bakery or something.

That favorite drink? Maybe surprisingly? Not alchoholic, at least by legal standards. Ginger beer! Just a drink made of ginger, water, and sugar, fermented with yeast and sometimes carbonated. It doesn't smell or taste like ginger ale at all -- it's a spicy and strong drink. And Adam knows instantly what it is, by the spicy smell. "Takashi, is that ginger beer?" he asks. A pause, to look at the bakery thing. He expected store-bought, so that's not a big surprise. But he's a little confused as to what's going on. Even if he's got a smile on his face, because... well. Ginger beer. It's been a while.

Shiro grins and nods in reply. "Yeah, I managed to find some," he states "I was worried about if I could find it or not, but I did. It's why I was being so avoidant about telling you what I wanted to find yesterday." He'd open the bakery box, revealing another favorite of Adam's...possibly? It looks to be topped with crushed graham cracker...

Adam blinks. Sniffs again. Smells like... "Chocolate? And graham crackers?" He starts to chuckle. "Is this because I was whiny earlier?" he asks, half teasingly. "I may have to do that more often, if this is how you respond." He's kidding of course.

Shiro laughs a little in turn. "No, this is the celebration of you getting your job," he replies, "If I was going to give you something for whining it'd be different than this..." He'd slice up the desert and give some over to Adam on a paper plate.

Still chuckling, Adam inquires, "Oh really? What would it be, a punch in the face? I hope it wouldn't be the metal one." He's obviously teasing, to note. He accepts the offered plate with a nod and, "Thank you."

Shiro chuckles as well. "No, that wouldn't be aiming for your face," he replies with a smirk, "Either hand..."

Adam tilts his head at this, clearly a bit confused. But he doesn't ask -- that smirk gives him the idea that... maybe he shouldn't. Instead he just takes a bite of the pie. And smiles. Once he no longer has food in his mouth, he notes, "This is pretty much the lazy pudding thing I used to make. This is definitely a suitable celebration, I think."

Shiro smiles at what sounds like approval. "Yeah, that's the idea," he states, "And I've got something else in here for you too..."

"Oh?" Adam tilts his head up, looking at the basket. He doesn't make an effort to look inside it, but from the way he eyes the basket he really looks like he wants to! But, well. He does trust Shiro, so he doesn't. YET. For now he just eats his pie and drinks his ginger beer.

Shiro reaches in and offers out a flat package in turn. It's a small, flat package. Inside of it is a disc of what Shiro remembers being Adam's favorite movie for relaxing to.

This actually surprises Adam! And no, it's not a ridiculous romantic comedy or other thing like that -- one might think so, with how soft he is most of the time. No, Adam's favorite movie to relax to? A science fiction with quite a bit of action! Shiro might even like it too! Which... admittedly is probably why he and Shiro got along so well back then, their likes were rather similar.

Adam blinks. "...Oh, wow. Where did you find this?" he inquires, looking the disc over. Now he understands why Shiro was looking for familiar things, though -- for this!

"I had to look over the net pretty hard to find one...but I managed. Not without almost spoiling it for how much you were offering to help me though." He chuckles a bit and offers a smile. "I was honestly worried you'd have me giving up the surprise just in trying to explain why I wasn't asking for help."

Adam chuckles. "I figured you were feeling a bit homesick, so you wanted to find something that you make you feel a little better," he replies. "I know I've been feeling out of place. For obvious reasons." And also for some NOT so obvious reasons! "So I thought you might be feeling that way too." He smiles broadly. "Thank you. This will go a long way to helping out." At least, for the obvious reasons he feels out of place...

"I figured we could watch this after we get back home," Shiro explains, "Though, I suppose maybe I should look for some stuff to make me more comfortable too in time, now that you've mentioned it...this was all about you today though!"

"That's a good idea," Adam agrees. "A chocolate pie, ginger beer, and a movie I haven't seen in a while. That sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon," he decides. It also sounds like a good date -- no no, bad Adam. They're not dating.

"Of course I can't really do anything about any real food aside from paying at a resturaunt, so this seemed like the best way to handle it," Shiro states, "A resturaunt didn't feel like the thing to do for this."

Adam nods. "That makes sense -- it's not like we can just pop down to a restaurant I liked, or anything like that." It wouldn't have served to make either of them feel closer to the world they're currently in. "This helped out a lot, thank you."

"You're welcome," Shiro answers with a smile, "Now let's just have a nice day together and think plenty of good thoughts."

With a chuckle, Adam agrees, "Sounds like a good idea." There will be plenty of bad thoughts later. For now he can just enjoy time with a friend. It's a nice day outside, no rain so far, not too cold or too hot, and there are a lot of his favorite things here!

|}}

2020-04-20 - Celebrate Good Times

2020-04-21T21:12:59Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Celebrate Good Times
|Summary = Shiro decides to celebrate Adam's new job by finding some things from Earth that he liked. They have a nice picnic with pie and ginger beer! It is not a date. Really. ... ...No, really. It's not.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = April 20, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside
|Log=

''[[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside''

        ''Through the thicket of brush, you've made your way to the lake. Clear, picturesque water ripples softly in a faint breeze, and the sand on the beach is soft and pale-peach. Small ducks swim happily at the shoreline, picking at random things floating here and there. In the distance, across the expansive lake, is what looks like a massive... iron? What is that?'''

        ''Connecting via a small island near the center of the lake are two long bridges that allow you to cross to the other side of the lake. No one is sure when the bridges where built but the 'MM' design worked into the side panels is a sure giveaway as to whom was responsible.''

<hr>

It's just after lunch time on the day Shiro had told Adam to meet him at the park. It's nice out and he's managed to spread a comfy blanket out over the ground, along with a basket placed on top. ....why ever would he be doing a picnic AFTER lunch though? And what in the world would Shiro have in the basket, given the failures that are his attempts at cooking?

Adam's just soon arriving once the blanket's been spread out on the ground. Like Shiro suggested, he's in casual clothes -- polo shirt, jeans, and his ever-present hiking boots. Also present is the compression sleeve on his left arm, worn under the polo shirt.

And he seems to have a similar thought. He blinks at seeing the basket. "A picnic AFTER lunch?" he inquires. Though he's not being judgy about it. Maybe there's something else in there. Shiro did say it was a surprise.

Shiro pulls a bottle out of the basket, taking out some glasses as well. He'd pour some for both of them, and even though he's being secretive about it, Adam might catch on to what it is. What it IS being one of Adam's favorite drinks. With that pulled out he reaches in and pulls out an obviously store bought thing that came from a bakery or something.

That favorite drink? Maybe surprisingly? Not alchoholic, at least by legal standards. Ginger beer! Just a drink made of ginger, water, and sugar, fermented with yeast and sometimes carbonated. It doesn't smell or taste like ginger ale at all -- it's a spicy and strong drink. And Adam knows instantly what it is, by the spicy smell. "Takashi, is that ginger beer?" he asks. A pause, to look at the bakery thing. He expected store-bought, so that's not a big surprise. But he's a little confused as to what's going on. Even if he's got a smile on his face, because... well. Ginger beer. It's been a while.

Shiro grins and nods in reply. "Yeah, I managed to find some," he states "I was worried about if I could find it or not, but I did. It's why I was being so avoidant about telling you what I wanted to find yesterday." He'd open the bakery box, revealing another favorite of Adam's...possibly? It looks to be topped with crushed graham cracker...

Adam blinks. Sniffs again. Smells like... "Chocolate? And graham crackers?" He starts to chuckle. "Is this because I was whiny earlier?" he asks, half teasingly. "I may have to do that more often, if this is how you respond." He's kidding of course.

Shiro laughs a little in turn. "No, this is the celebration of you getting your job," he replies, "If I was going to give you something for whining it'd be different than this..." He'd slice up the desert and give some over to Adam on a paper plate.

Still chuckling, Adam inquires, "Oh really? What would it be, a punch in the face? I hope it wouldn't be the metal one." He's obviously teasing, to note. He accepts the offered plate with a nod and, "Thank you."

Shiro chuckles as well. "No, that wouldn't be aiming for your face," he replies with a smirk, "Either hand..."

Adam tilts his head at this, clearly a bit confused. But he doesn't ask -- that smirk gives him the idea that... maybe he shouldn't. Instead he just takes a bite of the pie. And smiles. Once he no longer has food in his mouth, he notes, "This is pretty much the lazy pudding thing I used to make. This is definitely a suitable celebration, I think."

Shiro smiles at what sounds like approval. "Yeah, that's the idea," he states, "And I've got something else in here for you too..."

"Oh?" Adam tilts his head up, looking at the basket. He doesn't make an effort to look inside it, but from the way he eyes the basket he really looks like he wants to! But, well. He does trust Shiro, so he doesn't. YET. For now he just eats his pie and drinks his ginger beer.

Shiro reaches in and offers out a flat package in turn. It's a small, flat package. Inside of it is a disc of what Shiro remembers being Adam's favorite movie for relaxing to.

This actually surprises Adam! And no, it's not a ridiculous romantic comedy or other thing like that -- one might think so, with how soft he is most of the time. No, Adam's favorite movie to relax to? A science fiction with quite a bit of action! Shiro might even like it too! Which... admittedly is probably why he and Shiro got along so well back then, their likes were rather similar.

Adam blinks. "...Oh, wow. Where did you find this?" he inquires, looking the disc over. Now he understands why Shiro was looking for familiar things, though -- for this!

"I had to look over the net pretty hard to find one...but I managed. Not without almost spoiling it for how much you were offering to help me though." He chuckles a bit and offers a smile. "I was honestly worried you'd have me giving up the surprise just in trying to explain why I wasn't asking for help."

Adam chuckles. "I figured you were feeling a bit homesick, so you wanted to find something that you make you feel a little better," he replies. "I know I've been feeling out of place. For obvious reasons." And also for some NOT so obvious reasons! "So I thought you might be feeling that way too." He smiles broadly. "Thank you. This will go a long way to helping out." At least, for the obvious reasons he feels out of place...

"I figured we could watch this after we get back home," Shiro explains, "Though, I suppose maybe I should look for some stuff to make me more comfortable too in time, now that you've mentioned it...this was all about you today though!"

"That's a good idea," Adam agrees. "A chocolate pie, ginger beer, and a movie I haven't seen in a while. That sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon," he decides. It also sounds like a good date -- no no, bad Adam. They're not dating.

"Of course I can't really do anything about any real food aside from paying at a resturaunt, so this seemed like the best way to handle it," Shiro states, "A resturaunt didn't feel like the thing to do for this."

Adam nods. "That makes sense -- it's not like we can just pop down to a restaurant I liked, or anything like that." It wouldn't have served to make either of them feel closer to the world they're currently in. "This helped out a lot, thank you."

"You're welcome," Shiro answers with a smile, "Now let's just have a nice day together and think plenty of good thoughts."

With a chuckle, Adam agrees, "Sounds like a good idea." There will be plenty of bad thoughts later. For now he can just enjoy time with a friend. It's a nice day outside, no rain so far, not too cold or too hot, and there are a lot of his favorite things here!

|}}

2020-04-20 - Celebrate Good Times

2020-04-21T21:12:32Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Celebrate Good Times
|Summary = Shiro decides to celebrate Adam's new job by finding some things from Earth that he liked. They have a nice picnic with pie and ginger beer! It is not a date. Really. ... ...No, really. It's not.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = April 20, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside
|Log=

''[[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside''

''Through the thicket of brush, you've made your way to the lake. Clear, picturesque water ripples softly in a faint breeze, and the sand on the beach is soft and pale-peach. Small ducks swim happily at the shoreline, picking at random things floating here and there. In the distance, across the expansive lake, is what looks like a massive... iron? What is that?'''

''Connecting via a small island near the center of the lake are two long bridges that allow you to cross to the other side of the lake. No one is sure when the bridges where built but the 'MM' design worked into the side panels is a sure giveaway as to whom was responsible.''

<hr>

It's just after lunch time on the day Shiro had told Adam to meet him at the park. It's nice out and he's managed to spread a comfy blanket out over the ground, along with a basket placed on top. ....why ever would he be doing a picnic AFTER lunch though? And what in the world would Shiro have in the basket, given the failures that are his attempts at cooking?

Adam's just soon arriving once the blanket's been spread out on the ground. Like Shiro suggested, he's in casual clothes -- polo shirt, jeans, and his ever-present hiking boots. Also present is the compression sleeve on his left arm, worn under the polo shirt.

And he seems to have a similar thought. He blinks at seeing the basket. "A picnic AFTER lunch?" he inquires. Though he's not being judgy about it. Maybe there's something else in there. Shiro did say it was a surprise.

Shiro pulls a bottle out of the basket, taking out some glasses as well. He'd pour some for both of them, and even though he's being secretive about it, Adam might catch on to what it is. What it IS being one of Adam's favorite drinks. With that pulled out he reaches in and pulls out an obviously store bought thing that came from a bakery or something.

That favorite drink? Maybe surprisingly? Not alchoholic, at least by legal standards. Ginger beer! Just a drink made of ginger, water, and sugar, fermented with yeast and sometimes carbonated. It doesn't smell or taste like ginger ale at all -- it's a spicy and strong drink. And Adam knows instantly what it is, by the spicy smell. "Takashi, is that ginger beer?" he asks. A pause, to look at the bakery thing. He expected store-bought, so that's not a big surprise. But he's a little confused as to what's going on. Even if he's got a smile on his face, because... well. Ginger beer. It's been a while.

Shiro grins and nods in reply. "Yeah, I managed to find some," he states "I was worried about if I could find it or not, but I did. It's why I was being so avoidant about telling you what I wanted to find yesterday." He'd open the bakery box, revealing another favorite of Adam's...possibly? It looks to be topped with crushed graham cracker...

Adam blinks. Sniffs again. Smells like... "Chocolate? And graham crackers?" He starts to chuckle. "Is this because I was whiny earlier?" he asks, half teasingly. "I may have to do that more often, if this is how you respond." He's kidding of course.

Shiro laughs a little in turn. "No, this is the celebration of you getting your job," he replies, "If I was going to give you something for whining it'd be different than this..." He'd slice up the desert and give some over to Adam on a paper plate.

Still chuckling, Adam inquires, "Oh really? What would it be, a punch in the face? I hope it wouldn't be the metal one." He's obviously teasing, to note. He accepts the offered plate with a nod and, "Thank you."

Shiro chuckles as well. "No, that wouldn't be aiming for your face," he replies with a smirk, "Either hand..."

Adam tilts his head at this, clearly a bit confused. But he doesn't ask -- that smirk gives him the idea that... maybe he shouldn't. Instead he just takes a bite of the pie. And smiles. Once he no longer has food in his mouth, he notes, "This is pretty much the lazy pudding thing I used to make. This is definitely a suitable celebration, I think."

Shiro smiles at what sounds like approval. "Yeah, that's the idea," he states, "And I've got something else in here for you too..."

"Oh?" Adam tilts his head up, looking at the basket. He doesn't make an effort to look inside it, but from the way he eyes the basket he really looks like he wants to! But, well. He does trust Shiro, so he doesn't. YET. For now he just eats his pie and drinks his ginger beer.

Shiro reaches in and offers out a flat package in turn. It's a small, flat package. Inside of it is a disc of what Shiro remembers being Adam's favorite movie for relaxing to.

This actually surprises Adam! And no, it's not a ridiculous romantic comedy or other thing like that -- one might think so, with how soft he is most of the time. No, Adam's favorite movie to relax to? A science fiction with quite a bit of action! Shiro might even like it too! Which... admittedly is probably why he and Shiro got along so well back then, their likes were rather similar.

Adam blinks. "...Oh, wow. Where did you find this?" he inquires, looking the disc over. Now he understands why Shiro was looking for familiar things, though -- for this!

"I had to look over the net pretty hard to find one...but I managed. Not without almost spoiling it for how much you were offering to help me though." He chuckles a bit and offers a smile. "I was honestly worried you'd have me giving up the surprise just in trying to explain why I wasn't asking for help."

Adam chuckles. "I figured you were feeling a bit homesick, so you wanted to find something that you make you feel a little better," he replies. "I know I've been feeling out of place. For obvious reasons." And also for some NOT so obvious reasons! "So I thought you might be feeling that way too." He smiles broadly. "Thank you. This will go a long way to helping out." At least, for the obvious reasons he feels out of place...

"I figured we could watch this after we get back home," Shiro explains, "Though, I suppose maybe I should look for some stuff to make me more comfortable too in time, now that you've mentioned it...this was all about you today though!"

"That's a good idea," Adam agrees. "A chocolate pie, ginger beer, and a movie I haven't seen in a while. That sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon," he decides. It also sounds like a good date -- no no, bad Adam. They're not dating.

"Of course I can't really do anything about any real food aside from paying at a resturaunt, so this seemed like the best way to handle it," Shiro states, "A resturaunt didn't feel like the thing to do for this."

Adam nods. "That makes sense -- it's not like we can just pop down to a restaurant I liked, or anything like that." It wouldn't have served to make either of them feel closer to the world they're currently in. "This helped out a lot, thank you."

"You're welcome," Shiro answers with a smile, "Now let's just have a nice day together and think plenty of good thoughts."

With a chuckle, Adam agrees, "Sounds like a good idea." There will be plenty of bad thoughts later. For now he can just enjoy time with a friend. It's a nice day outside, no rain so far, not too cold or too hot, and there are a lot of his favorite things here!

|}}

2020-04-20 - Celebrate Good Times

2020-04-21T21:11:46Z

DariRyusei: A nice picnic that is totally not a date. ... ...No, really.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Celebrate Good Times
|Summary = Shiro decides to celebrate Adam's new job by finding some things from Earth that he liked. They have a nice picnic with pie and ginger beer! It is not a date. Really. ... ...No, really. It's not.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = April 20, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]] - Lakeside
|Log=

Summary: [] It's not a date. Really. ... ...No really, it's not.

Nowhereto Park - Lakeside

Through the thicket of brush, you've made your way to the lake. Clear, picturesque water ripples softly in a faint breeze, and the sand on the beach is soft and pale-peach. Small ducks swim happily at the shoreline, picking at random things floating here and there. In the distance, across the expansive lake, is what looks like a massive... iron? What is that?

Connecting via a small island near the center of the lake are two long bridges that allow you to cross to the other side of the lake. No one is sure when the bridges where built but the 'MM' design worked into the side panels is a sure giveaway as to whom was responsible.

It's just after lunch time on the day Shiro had told Adam to meet him at the park. It's nice out and he's managed to spread a comfy blanket out over the ground, along with a basket placed on top. ....why ever would he be doing a picnic AFTER lunch though? And what in the world would Shiro have in the basket, given the failures that are his attempts at cooking?

Adam's just soon arriving once the blanket's been spread out on the ground. Like Shiro suggested, he's in casual clothes -- polo shirt, jeans, and his ever-present hiking boots. Also present is the compression sleeve on his left arm, worn under the polo shirt.

And he seems to have a similar thought. He blinks at seeing the basket. "A picnic AFTER lunch?" he inquires. Though he's not being judgy about it. Maybe there's something else in there. Shiro did say it was a surprise.

Shiro pulls a bottle out of the basket, taking out some glasses as well. He'd pour some for both of them, and even though he's being secretive about it, Adam might catch on to what it is. What it IS being one of Adam's favorite drinks. With that pulled out he reaches in and pulls out an obviously store bought thing that came from a bakery or something.

That favorite drink? Maybe surprisingly? Not alchoholic, at least by legal standards. Ginger beer! Just a drink made of ginger, water, and sugar, fermented with yeast and sometimes carbonated. It doesn't smell or taste like ginger ale at all -- it's a spicy and strong drink. And Adam knows instantly what it is, by the spicy smell. "Takashi, is that ginger beer?" he asks. A pause, to look at the bakery thing. He expected store-bought, so that's not a big surprise. But he's a little confused as to what's going on. Even if he's got a smile on his face, because... well. Ginger beer. It's been a while.

Shiro grins and nods in reply. "Yeah, I managed to find some," he states "I was worried about if I could find it or not, but I did. It's why I was being so avoidant about telling you what I wanted to find yesterday." He'd open the bakery box, revealing another favorite of Adam's...possibly? It looks to be topped with crushed graham cracker...

Adam blinks. Sniffs again. Smells like... "Chocolate? And graham crackers?" He starts to chuckle. "Is this because I was whiny earlier?" he asks, half teasingly. "I may have to do that more often, if this is how you respond." He's kidding of course.

Shiro laughs a little in turn. "No, this is the celebration of you getting your job," he replies, "If I was going to give you something for whining it'd be different than this..." He'd slice up the desert and give some over to Adam on a paper plate.

Still chuckling, Adam inquires, "Oh really? What would it be, a punch in the face? I hope it wouldn't be the metal one." He's obviously teasing, to note. He accepts the offered plate with a nod and, "Thank you."

Shiro chuckles as well. "No, that wouldn't be aiming for your face," he replies with a smirk, "Either hand..."

Adam tilts his head at this, clearly a bit confused. But he doesn't ask -- that smirk gives him the idea that... maybe he shouldn't. Instead he just takes a bite of the pie. And smiles. Once he no longer has food in his mouth, he notes, "This is pretty much the lazy pudding thing I used to make. This is definitely a suitable celebration, I think."

Shiro smiles at what sounds like approval. "Yeah, that's the idea," he states, "And I've got something else in here for you too..."

"Oh?" Adam tilts his head up, looking at the basket. He doesn't make an effort to look inside it, but from the way he eyes the basket he really looks like he wants to! But, well. He does trust Shiro, so he doesn't. YET. For now he just eats his pie and drinks his ginger beer.

Shiro reaches in and offers out a flat package in turn. It's a small, flat package. Inside of it is a disc of what Shiro remembers being Adam's favorite movie for relaxing to.

This actually surprises Adam! And no, it's not a ridiculous romantic comedy or other thing like that -- one might think so, with how soft he is most of the time. No, Adam's favorite movie to relax to? A science fiction with quite a bit of action! Shiro might even like it too! Which... admittedly is probably why he and Shiro got along so well back then, their likes were rather similar.

Adam blinks. "...Oh, wow. Where did you find this?" he inquires, looking the disc over. Now he understands why Shiro was looking for familiar things, though -- for this!

"I had to look over the net pretty hard to find one...but I managed. Not without almost spoiling it for how much you were offering to help me though." He chuckles a bit and offers a smile. "I was honestly worried you'd have me giving up the surprise just in trying to explain why I wasn't asking for help."

Adam chuckles. "I figured you were feeling a bit homesick, so you wanted to find something that you make you feel a little better," he replies. "I know I've been feeling out of place. For obvious reasons." And also for some NOT so obvious reasons! "So I thought you might be feeling that way too." He smiles broadly. "Thank you. This will go a long way to helping out." At least, for the obvious reasons he feels out of place...

"I figured we could watch this after we get back home," Shiro explains, "Though, I suppose maybe I should look for some stuff to make me more comfortable too in time, now that you've mentioned it...this was all about you today though!"

"That's a good idea," Adam agrees. "A chocolate pie, ginger beer, and a movie I haven't seen in a while. That sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon," he decides. It also sounds like a good date -- no no, bad Adam. They're not dating.

"Of course I can't really do anything about any real food aside from paying at a resturaunt, so this seemed like the best way to handle it," Shiro states, "A resturaunt didn't feel like the thing to do for this."

Adam nods. "That makes sense -- it's not like we can just pop down to a restaurant I liked, or anything like that." It wouldn't have served to make either of them feel closer to the world they're currently in. "This helped out a lot, thank you."

"You're welcome," Shiro answers with a smile, "Now let's just have a nice day together and think plenty of good thoughts."

With a chuckle, Adam agrees, "Sounds like a good idea." There will be plenty of bad thoughts later. For now he can just enjoy time with a friend. It's a nice day outside, no rain so far, not too cold or too hot, and there are a lot of his favorite things here!

|}}

2020-04-19 - Get: Job! Also Get: Sadness!

2020-04-21T02:41:49Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Get: Job! Also Get: Sadness!
|Summary = Adam now has a job! He and Shiro talk about it, and a subject comes up that Adam hasn't been able to put to rest -- how utterly useless he feels. Warning: mundane slice-of-life stuff contained within!
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = April 19, 2020
|Where = [[Integra's Arms Apartments|Integra's Arms]] - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

It's an hour or so after noon, and Adam's returning from an outing. He's dressed up quite nicely, too -- business casual, a navy blue blazer and slacks, a white dress shirt, a dark steel-gray tie, and loafers that match the tie. He's got a manilla folder tucked under an arm.

He's also wearing a broad smile! In fact, it's probably been a while since Shiro's seen Adam this happy. Though as ever he doesn't whoop or cheer. He smiles broadly, contentedly. "Takashi, are you in?" he calls quietly as he closes the door behind him and locks it. He doesn't want to blurt out his happy news to an empty apartment, after all.

"Yeah," Shiro answers as he peeks over from where he's resting at the moment, "...oooh looking sharp." He grins and winks as he notices how Adam's dressed. "Hopefully you were on a job interview dressed like that and looking so happy with yourself..."

Adam can't help feeling absurdly pleased with the compliment. Fortunately he has something else to concentrate on so he doesn't get embarrassed with himself. He nods. "I was, and I got the job," he announces. "The school signed me on as a health teacher, and I'm also going to be picking up some of the P.E. classes."

"Ah , that's great news," Shiro replies, "...I'm still not really having any luck looking for anything stable." It's not that he's not trying, but that his possibilities are so open now he doesn't know where to aim himself. "...they didn't have any specific teaching spots open, did they?"

Adam sits down on the couch, leaving room for Shiro, of course -- if he was already sitting there, Adam sits on the other side. "They have a lot of teachers doubling up, from what I've seen," he notes. "And there's a lot of subjects that you might not expect. But that's not just a high school. It's an academy where just about anyone who's looking for education goes. So there are college-level classes too. That and, with the variety of... well, things here, there are classes you wouldn't expect there. I remember walking past an astrophysics classroom."

Pause. "Were you wanting to get a job there, too?" he asks. "With all the subjects there, you might just be able to find something you could teach." Here he smiles. "Maybe teach the next generation of astronauts? I admit I haven't seen anything resembling a space program, but you know how it works up there. Nothing wrong with teaching the theory."

"I'll have to check," Shiro says with a little smile, "Maybe I can teach astrology or something else that's more about looking at the stars than crashing into them. ...But congrats on your job, that's great to hear. I should do something to celebrate." He pauses and looks thoughtful since the first obvious thought is cooking something but....Shiro and cooking things don't mix.

Apparently that's the first thing Adam thinks, too. "Let's leave the kitchen out of it, though..." he suggests. "I remember the last time you wanted to make something to celebrate, when I made lieutenant. They had to move us to a different unit until they dealt with the fire damage." Though he sounds amused, rather than scolding or insulting.

Shiro rubs at the back of his neck. "Who knew something as innocent as a grilled cheese sandwich could cause so much damage..." he murmurs, "But yeah, no kitchen...something else."

"It always starts small," Adam replies, covering his mouth to preclude a snicker. Oh yeah, he remembers that. He sighs, though, letting the laughter fade. "Did you have something in mind?" he inquires. And then he has a moment of silently warring with himself... a voice telling him to quit hoping, and then a voice telling THAT voice to shut up because they're NOT DATING, so why shoudl he even have to tell himself not to hope?

''('...Ugh, just shut up, up there.')''

"No, but I'll think of something," Shiro replies before offering a little smirk. He'd be lying if he said he hasn't gotten comfortable with this situation. Granted, soon they'll have jobs and he's pretty sure Adam will try to move out, so he should probably do what he can before Adam gets too settled in to his job.

Adam nods, giving a smile. "We could wait until you get a job too, if you're going to try for a teaching job," he suggests. "That way we'll have twice as much to celebrate."

Despite the smile, he feels strangely... empty. Yeah, he's realized that too -- that once they've gotten jobs and can each support themselves, that there will be no reason for them to stay in the same apartment. He's gotten comfortable with it too... but that's just the need for familiarity talking...

...Isn't it...?

"I guess so...but then it wouldn't be me doing something for you," Shiro states, "But it'll mean we can do something for each other?"

Adam nods. "That sounds fair," he agrees. "Though to be honest, aside from cooking something fancy, I don't really know what I can do, either. Maybe just 'be happy for each other' is about all we'll be able to do in this case." He smiles. "I mean, I'm fine with that."

"Nah...I can do more than that..." Shiro states, "It'll just have to be a surprise."

And at that, Adam gives Shiro a look. "Just give me fair warning... I still don't like surprises," he notes. Yeah, that's definitely the Adam that Shiro might remember. Not that he doesn't trust Shiro, not at all. But he doesn't like not being prepared for something. He wants to make sure he looks good for something special, that he can properly prepare for it, that he can reciprocate -- all that.

"Yeah, I'll try to make it an unsurprising surprise," Shiro says with a small chuckle, "Party pooper."

Adam can't help but chuckle. And he does something that... may be surprising, actually. He grins and makes finger guns at Shiro. "You know it~," he replies, with a teasing note. Possibly Lance-like behavior, but not really. He's kind of being a Millenial, countering the pointing out of an ostensibly negative thing about him with a teasing response.

Shiro responds to this by crossing his arms and raspberrying at him in an even less mature form of response. "...But I think I have an idea. You won't need to dress up for it. You'll want to be more comfortable instead."

At the raspberry, Adam laughs. "I'm sorry, I had to." Yes, for some reason, Adam feels the need to apologize for that. But then Shiro notes he has an idea... "Oh?" Adam raises a brow. He's about to start asking, but then decides against it. "Just let me know when you're about to spring the surprise, so I can be ready." Notably he doesn't say Shiro should tell him WHAT the surprise is...

"Just meet me at the park some time after lunch tomorrow," Shiro replies, "We'll go from there."

Adam nods. "Some time in the park sounds good -- I've been so busy looking for a job that I haven't take much time to relax." Which... yeah. Classic Adam. "I don't start for a few more days yet." He smiles. "I'm looking forward to it."

Shiro smiles and nods. "Hopefully I'll be able to do what I have in mind in a place like this," Shiro murmurs, "...Multiversal supply and demand..."

This makes Adam raise a brow. "I'd ask what you mean, but that would probably spoil the surprise," he notes. "Though if you do need help with it, let me know. I know I'm not supposed to ask or offer, but..." He trails off.

Shiro shakes his head. "Nah, it's up to me to figure this out," he states, "If there's anything you should do...." He looks thoughtful for a moment as he trails off. "...nah, I can't think of anything to suggest."

Once more, Adam nods. "All right. Offer's still open, though." He sighs, and then stretches. "Right... I'm going to go change clothes. I might be able to get another wear out of this before I have to have it pressed." He stands. "Be right back." And he heads into his room/area to change.

Shiro'd wait till Adam's out of the room to do a few moments of almost panicked searching of information. However, the moment he hears Adam coming back, he tries to be all casual about things again.

Fortunately there's an internet here! Adam won't take too much time to get changed... but he's also going to be hanging up the suit, and he doesn't wear clip-on ties. So there's a little extra time while Adam's fiddling around with folding and hanging his suit and untying the knot in the tie. Adam will come back out into the living room wearing a polo shirt and jeans. No shoes though; he actually forgot to take his shoes off earlier because he was so interested in telling Shiro about the job!

However, he pauses, looking at Shiro as if he suspects something. There's a moment of consideration... but then he seems to be over it. "Oh, I realize it's after lunch -- did you eat yet?" he inquires. "If not, I can make something. I'm a little hungry myself."

"I didn't yet, no," Shiro replies, "I was too curious about what you'd come back like..." A smile is offered from Shiro before he adds, "Well I mean, I knew you were out doing something, but I wasn't sure what. I '''expected''' it was job hunting though."

Adam shakes his head, and goes into the kitchen to start some lunch. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything," he notes honestly. "I was going to, but when I went out, you were asleep. I made the rounds of the city, and I went out pretty early. I was knocking on doors and asking pretty much everywhere if they needed people."

"I don't know if that's better or worse than what I've been doing," Shiro admits, "...but I've been doing odd jobs and trying to branch out from there..."

"Well, we've both been doing our best," Adam replies. "There just isn't much for retired military pilots to do here. And we didn't serve HERE, so there's no one going ot give us pension or anything for our service. We devoted our lives to something that just isn't needed here." As he talks, he's pulling out a box of noodles and putting a pan of water on to boil.

"Yeah, that's true," Shiro replies, "It's not like we don't have skills, it's just been hard deciding a good way to aim them properly for this place. I don't really see myself as typical teaching material, but with how varied the course choice is, maybe I can find something I'll be good at."

"That's likely," Adam agrees. "The amount of things they teach there is incredible. But given it seems to be less a school for a specific age group and more just a place where everyone who wants to goes to learn things, that makes sense." He also gets two glasses from a cabinet and pours some of whatever it is in the refrigerator that Shiro likes into one glass. The other gets iced tea with a little lemon and just enough sugar to take the edge off the bitterness.

Shiro'll have tea too. Nothing special to his, just some iced tea. "If not about something out in space, maybe I can find something else..." he states, "But I'm sure there are several class types about space."

Adam nods, taking a sip of his tea. Then, "Most likely, yes. There's a lot of people, from a lot of different worlds, and I'd be willing to be that for most of them, space is different. At least, the arrangement of the stars are, for them."

"True," Shiro realizes, "I might be teaching them about an entirely different solar system..."

"Or you might be learning about an entirely different one yourself," Adam counters.

Shiro nods in reply. "I'm fine with that as long as I'm not killing people to do it..." he states with a little smile. It seems genuine at first, but seems to be forced after a short time before he moves on. "I can't imagine they need pilot training."

Adam notices the forced quality, and realizes it -- yeah, he did have to do that whole 'gladiator' thing to learn about space out there. He moves forward, and then pauses... realizing he was about to go in for a hug! Instead he reaches to pat at Shiro's shoulder comfortingly. "I doubt that will be a problem. But no, I haven't seen any planes or space craft here, so I don't think they need pilots. That's the biggest problem."

"At worst I can teach something like a class on my favorite show or motorcylces," Shiro says jokingly. He blinks as Adam pauses, but smiles at the pat before patting at Adam's hand in turn. "I think we'll be fine here."

"Actually that might not be a difficult sell," Adam points out. "Do you remember the 'film as literature' class in college? You might talk about special effects, filming tricks, the history of the effects -- how they went from stirring glitter around in a flask of water to complicated CGI..."

"...True," Shiro states, "Maybe they'll need a mechanics class too... We'll see what they've got available."

"Well, auto mechanics is a common college course," Adam replies. "Do you still remember how to work on a motorcycle? I can assume it's probably been a while for you since you've been able to really even ride one."

Shiro nods in reply. "Yeah, I remember...I might be a little rusty now that you mention it, but I can shake that off."

Adam nods as well. "I've seen plenty of motorcycles here, so it's definitely something that people could use knowledge of," he confirms. "If not knowledge of, you could probably get certified to work on them yourself." Water's boiling, so he empties the box of noodles into the water and begins to stir them.

Shiro nods in reply. "Yeah, we can most likely work something out on that front," he agrees, "...I probably should have been looking at the school the whole time."

"Not necessarily." Stir stir stir. "I had a teaching job before coming here. You were always more of a front-liner, and always wanted to be out there where things were happening," Adam points out. "So it makes sense that teaching wouldn't be your first thought. Honestly, it wasn't mine. I didn't know if I wanted to get right back into it."

"You're a teacher-ly sort, honestly," Shiro replies with a grin, "That's one of the nice things about you...as much as it isn't always easy to be on the opposite side of that no nonsense glare sometimes."

Adam sighs. "It's tough work being the straight man. Particularly when you're gay." He keeps a straight face (figuratively speaking) for about a second before he starts to laugh quietly. "I'm sorry. That was bad."

Shiro lets out a laugh at that. "...You were around the old me for too long," he states, "What do you mean it was '''bad'''?"

"Exactly that. It was '''bad'''," Adam declares. Though he's still laughing about it, too. "I suppose it's to be expected that, with all the time we spent together back then, that some of your habits were going rub off on me. Or, the bad humor, at least."

"My humor wasn't that bad," Shiro states with a smirk, "It was just that dad..."

Adam facepalms, and then groans, the sound trailing into a chuckle. Then he shakes his head. "'''Where''' did you learn dad jokes at your age?" he inquires. "If I didn't know better I'd ask if you settled down and had kids out there in space."

Shiro chuckles. "Eh, I blame all my time around doctors growing up," he states, "I probably got a lot of my humor from them and a lot of them were probably dads..."

"Particularly when you were younger," Adam replies. "I could guess that a lot of them would be telling you jokes and being silly to make you feel better during some of those procedures when you were little." A pause. "Takashi, can you put the colander in the sink for me?" he inquires, picking up potholders.

Shiro nods and does like asked without any sort of complaint to the matter. This is the LEAST he can do when Adam is good enough to take care of his helpless behind. "Yeah," he replies, "That's part of why the only thing I really complain about in my hospital time is being stuck in bed. I wasn't treated badly or anything like that."

"Thank you," Adam offers, as he shuts the stove off and then takes the pot over to the sink and pours the contents into the colander. "I can imagine," he replies. "Basically having to sit on your butt and do nothing, when there's things to do." Which Shiro probably remembers Adam hates too.

Shiro nods. "And as a kid no less...that's where most my childhood went...stuck in a bed with mostly a TV and books to entertain me," he states, "But the doctors were nice...and even though my parents eventually gave up on me, I'm sure they did what they thought was best for all of us."

Adam sighs. "Still... even if they couldn't have afforded your care, I can imagine how it felt." He returns the noodles to the pot, puts it back on the stove, and -- yup! There's cheese being taken out of the refrigerator! Noodles plus cheese -- macaroni and cheese!

Shiro smiles as he realizes this. "Ooh, mac and cheese," he murmurs, "...yeah, I mean, it wasn't exactly happy, but I'm not upset or bitter about it. They could have done the wrong thing and drug me down or killed me because they couldn't afford it but insisted on keeping me."

"That's true. They at least recognized that someone else could help you more," Adam replies. Now, Adam's making the cheese stuff in a different pot. Butter's put to melting in a pot, and he starts to dice the cheese into cubes. There's a couple different kinds of cheese, since cheddar doesn't melt that great on its own.

Shiro sits somewhere nearby and watches in interest. It's amusing how he's so horrible at cooking despite being so attentive at times like this. It's like he's awed at the fact food happens from this...yet he can't do it himself.

To be fair, scratch-made mac and cheese... it's not HARD exactly, but it IS kind of complicated. You don't make the cheese sauce in the same pot with the noodles, you have to start with melting butter and SOME of the cheese, don't put the milk in until you can stir it directly into the butter and cheese otherwise the milk curdles on the heat -- and that ruins the whole job. Then add the cheese and milk alternately, in small handfuls, until you have enough sauce to cover the noodles.

Adam's figured out how to do this by now, though occasionally uses too much butter (which makes the resulting mac and cheese greasy). This time he hasn't done that, so the cheese sticks well to the noodles when he pours the sauce into the pot with the noodles. "Takashi, would you clean up that other pot?" he asks, speaking of the pot he used to make the cheese sauce in, now that he's poured it into the noodles and is stirring them together.

Shiro sets to cleaning it as asked. "Yeah, no problem," he answers before he gets to work, "Anything else need cleaning or should I get on getting out bowls and the like?"

"Thank you... I didn't want the cheese to set in it," Adam replies. "For now, no -- the macaroni and cheese can stay in the pot for now. But I'd appreciate you setting out the bowls." Almost never an actual order, just 'can you?'.

And never a complaint from Shiro on this. He'd probably starve or be living on convenience store meals and fast food if it weren't for help from Adam. He'd set out the bowls as asked, and some silverware to go with it. "I don't remember the last time I had this..."

Adam nods. "That's what I figured," he confirms, with a smile. "Which is why I thought it would be a good idea." Bowls are filled with the stuff, and he brings them both to the table. "Hopefully the milk didn't curdle. That's always unpleasant. The butter ratio looks good this time, at least."

"You're not that bad at this," Shiro replies, "I believe in you..." That said, since he's in such a private group for eating he brings his hands together in front of himself and lets out an 'itadakimasu' over the bowl that Adam filled for him.

Adam also waits to start eating until Shiro's done his 'itadakimasu'. It's not a custom he tends to share, but he does respect Shiro's doing that. And he does respond to the praise. "Thank you, that means a lot." And it does. Way more than Adam really thinks it ought to!

"Your cooking has never been bad before," Shiro says with a smile, "And it's not as if I can cook for you, so it's only fair I remind you how good you are at this, right?"

Adam chuckles. "I'll get too proud if you're not careful, though." He tastes the mac and cheese. "Good, the milk didn't curdle. Could use a bit more salt, I think, but it's pretty good." Yeah, he can't ever not find something wrong with his work. He always said it 'kept him humble'.

"If I don't give you a reason to be proud, who will," Shiro wonders with a smirk, "It'll be fine...you can use some time for that."

Adam tilts his head. "...I suppose so," he muses quietly. There's something bothering him, it seems. Whatever it is, though, he doesn't seem keen on talking about it.

The problem? He's aware that their interactions are far too 'couple-like'. But he... doesn't really know any other way to be around Shiro. The two of them get along fine, apart from that one issue way back, with the Kerebos mission. Sure, he was needed to save the universe, and that probably means he was being called out there some way...

...But if Adam goes back on this, doesn't that mean his word can't be trusted? Doesn't it make him wishy-washy? That he just decides on what's 'true' based on what's most convenient for him at the time?

Shiro's digging into his food happily. It's not that he lacks notice of Adam's being bothered. Internally he's basically running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to find reason as to why Adam's bothered at this point. For lack of figuring anything out, he puts his bowl down and peers toward Adam, tapping his utensil slowly and gently against the inside of the bowl. "...You look bothered even though things are going well....what's eating you?"

Adam seems surprised at suddenly being called out, and his eyes go wide a moment, before he looks away. He's never been the type to lie, but he's not about to talk about that with Shiro! "It's not... really something I can talk about, I don't think." But he does assure Shiro, "It's nothing serious. Nothing's wrong -- I'm not sick or hurting, or anything like that."

Shiro nods in reply and peers over Adam a little. "Well, if it's about work, I'm sure you'll be great at it," he says, "You really do seem to have been made for teaching."

"It's not that, either," Adam admits. He offers a smile. "But thank you. I'm hoping I will be. The environment is a lot different than I'm used to. One of my students is liable to stand up in class and fling an energy blast at me if they don't like my lessons." He chuckles. He's making light of it, but that IS a valid concern!

"If that happens, I'm sure that person'll be booted so hard they can't remember what year it is," Shiro says with a smirk, "But...whatever it is, hopefully we can work it out."

Adam nods. "I'll figure something out," he agrees. Notably he said 'he' would, not 'we' would. Whatever's bothering him, it's something he's not willing to share. But he does note, "And besides that, I'm sure I'll have other students with abilities that can fix the problem." A sigh. "I hate having to rely on them like that, but I don't really have a choice." Get him in a plane and he will blow your mind! But on foot? Yeah, he's Just Some Dude.

"Ah, don't worry too much about it...there's probably an endless line of people who can kick that person's butt," Shiro states, "And somewhere in there will be someone you can defeat. Winning isn't always about who can punch harder."

"True..." Adam replies. "There are a lot more things to be nervous about than that. Particularly here. I doubt anyone would have any reason to attack me, unless they're just that type of person. And I'm sure they'll have run afoul of someone stronger than them before they got to a school."

Shiro nods in agreement. "You should be fine on that front," he states, looking thoughtful. He's not sure how to try and get what's bothering Adam out of him, and it's looking like he might have to make a strategic cease fire in regards to it. It'd be bad to pry too hard and drive Adam inward even farther.

There's actually a lot bothering Adam! But it's nothing he's going to bother Shiro with. Besides, there isn't anything he can do about any of it. His policy is to fix the things he can, and not worry about the things he can't. Or... TRY not to worry about the things he can't fix. Usually he ends up just worrying about those things when he's trying to sleep...

Anyway. Adam nods. "I'm sure there's some kind of security in place," he notes. "It makes sense that if there's this kind of people, that there wouldn't be some protections in place for normal people to teach them. Particularly young people with abilities, since they're more prone to emotional outbursts."

Shiro nods in reply. "Definitely more emotional," he agrees, "We both know how things went with Keith....thankfully he got better after Krolia showed up."

"That's good..." Adam replies. A pause, and he asks, "Was he still calling me 'Laundryman'? Or did he not talk about me much? Since... well. I was dead, so..." Keith was the emotional sort, but not someone to speak ill of the dead.

"He didn't really mention you, actually," Shiro states, "...He might have felt a little bad about things. I mean, even without respecting the dead, I doubt he'd want to upset me by talking bad about you while I was in mourning."

Adam nods. "That makes sense. I'm glad he didn't upset you with it," he says quietly. He smiles a little. "I'm glad he seemed to have been doing all right when you got pulled away... that he seemed to be getting better since I knew him."

"Finally meeting Krolia helped him a lot," Shiro states, "Gave him time to calm down and realize that life wasn't trying to take everything from him, I guess..."

"Good," Adam replies, his smile widening a bit. "He needs a break. He's had a hard life up to... well, up until things got better for him. I can imagine having to go through most of what you went through -- he was with you for most of it, right? -- I imagine that didn't help, having to do all that. So... I'm glad things seemed to be getting better. He's had it hard enough."

"He was basically leading the Blades into becoming an aid group, while Krolia and the old leader were becoming ambassadors for the Galra," Shiro explains, "It's interesting really...a group like that becoming like a humanitarian task force."

Adam smiles. "Then that's definitely good," he decides. "He's learning responsibility, learning that things couldn't just always be his way, things can't just get done right now. Learning how to deal with people, even if he doesn't like having to."

Shiro nods in reply. "He had to lead Voltron some, so it's important he learned those things," he says with a grin, "It's part of why I feel comfortable that they can handle things with me gone."

This makes Adam chuckle a little. "You'd have been frantic otherwise," he guesses. "I can't blame you. Though I guess I didn't really have a lot to miss from our world, and all my loose ends got tied up... in a manner of speaking..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "Really, you shouldn't beat yourself up about that though," he states, "It's not your fault, and you couldn't help it that SOMEONE made the wrong choice on a mass scale."

Adam's smile grows a little hollow. "I know. But that kind of makes it worse," he replies quietly. His words are slow here, as if he's trying to reason through it as he speaks. "It wasn't my fault... because I didn't matter enough in the grand scheme of things. I was just... a piece of jetsam floating along and just happened to get smashed."

Notably he uses 'jetsam' -- the distinction being flotsam is debris from a wrecked ship. Jetsam is specifically discarded cargo... something that was intentionally thrown overboard.

"That's... going to take some getting used to," Adam continues. "Not that I had to die... but that it was so meaningless, so pointless, that it mattered so little. The garrison might as well have filled a cannon with feathers and fired it at the Galra."

Shiro sighs a little. "You didn't matter that little," he states, "The garrison wasn't prepared enough, and while she did make horrible choices, you were sent out because she trusted you to champion her cause... She believed you could even thought it wasn't something she had any good reason to, given she was facing the suggestions of someone who'd dealt with the enemy when she hadn't."

"That's what I keep trying to tell myself," Adam replies. "And then I remember how badly we failed. We didn't make a dent. Not even a scratch. So either we let the Admiral down, or she threw us away. I don't like either idea..." At least he's speaking in plural terms now, meaning his whole squad.

"You let the Admiral down...when she'd made a complete mistake by over estimating her own weaponry in spite of being told the odds," Shiro states, "So she was holding you all to standards far higher than anyone should have been held." He frowns and sets his emptied bowl aside from the moment. "...Maybe we just shouldn't talk about it..."

"That's... probably best." Adam gives a strained smile. "Sorry. I know you were trying to get something positive out of it... but I don't think there is any good that can be gotten out of it." He stands then, and picks up Shiro's bowl with his own and takes them to the sink. Yeah, he's going to wash them both, mainly for something to distract himself.

Shiro frowns some. "Well...you know where I am and that I'll always support you," he states, "There is something I need to see if I can find out there though so...maybe I should just take a defeat for now..."

OH LOOK! A DISTRACTION!

More seriously, it's probably best to just push all that unpleasantness away as quickly as possible. And there really isn't anything Adam can say to make this any better. He'd just be digging the hole deeper. So Adam instead turns his attention to the other thing that Shiro said. He turns a little, to look at Shiro with an inqusitive look. "Oh? What do you need to find out?" he asks.

"Just need to look for if some of the stuff I used to eat from home is around ...or at least a good stand in for it..." Shiro states.

"There should be," Adam assures. "There are a lot of people here, from a lot of different worlds, from what I understand. So it stands to reason that they'd want to get hold of food that they ate back in their former worlds."

"Yeah, you know how it is when you're living in a different place though....there's always that something that's just not there," Shiro states, "Like a brand of candy, flavor pancake, consistency of rice..."

Adam nods, putting the washed dishes in the drainboard for now. He'll go about putting up any leftover mac and cheese then. "That's true. Though most places don't generally have the benefit of having a population that's almost wholly made up of transplants from other places. Particularly not other realities," he points out.

Shiro nods in reply. "That's true...though it isn't a very huge place either..." he points out, "But whatever they've got, I'll need to do some shopping soon..."

"I'm sure there are enough people from Earthlike worlds that there should at least be a decent alternative," Adam assures. "So don't worry about it too much. We'll make something work, if you're looking for something specific."

Shiro nods in reply. "Hopefully I can manage yeah..." he states. That being because he's trying to find it for Adam, not himself. He can't ask for Adam's help in getting Adam's gift after all.

"If not, let me know -- we can go together, and see what we can find for shopping places," Adam offers. "I don't think the city's all that large, so it shouldn't take the both of us long to search."

Shiro nods again. "It shouldn't take long, nah," he agrees, "Anything you need while I'm out?"

"I can't think of anything, no," Adam replies. "Be careful out there. I've heard that the place isn't always as peaceful as I've seen it being." The thought crosses his mind how natural it would be to hug Shiro or something... but he thinks better of it. That's... probably not appropriate.

No matter how much he wants to.

Shiro nods and smiles. "I'll see you later," he replies, "I shouldn't be out long..."

"All right," Adam agrees. "Let me know if you have trouble finding something, and I'll see if I can help." He's got everything put up and the dishes cleaned up. So he'll have some free time while Shiro's out!

|}}

2020-04-19 - Get: Job! Also Get: Sadness!

2020-04-21T02:37:18Z

DariRyusei: Created page with "{{Logsummary| Title = Get: Job! Also Get: Sadness! |Summary = Adam now has a job! He and Shiro talk about it, and a subject comes up that Adam hasn't been able to put to..."

{{Logsummary|
Title = Get: Job! Also Get: Sadness!
|Summary = Adam now has a job! He and Shiro talk about it, and a subject comes up that Adam hasn't been able to put to rest -- how utterly useless he feels. Warning: mundane slice-of-life stuff contained within!
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = April 19, 2020
|Where = [[Integra's Arms]] - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

It's an hour or so after noon, and Adam's returning from an outing. He's dressed up quite nicely, too -- business casual, a navy blue blazer and slacks, a white dress shirt, a dark steel-gray tie, and loafers that match the tie. He's got a manilla folder tucked under an arm.

He's also wearing a broad smile! In fact, it's probably been a while since Shiro's seen Adam this happy. Though as ever he doesn't whoop or cheer. He smiles broadly, contentedly. "Takashi, are you in?" he calls quietly as he closes the door behind him and locks it. He doesn't want to blurt out his happy news to an empty apartment, after all.

"Yeah," Shiro answers as he peeks over from where he's resting at the moment, "...oooh looking sharp." He grins and winks as he notices how Adam's dressed. "Hopefully you were on a job interview dressed like that and looking so happy with yourself..."

Adam can't help feeling absurdly pleased with the compliment. Fortunately he has something else to concentrate on so he doesn't get embarrassed with himself. He nods. "I was, and I got the job," he announces. "The school signed me on as a health teacher, and I'm also going to be picking up some of the P.E. classes."

"Ah , that's great news," Shiro replies, "...I'm still not really having any luck looking for anything stable." It's not that he's not trying, but that his possibilities are so open now he doesn't know where to aim himself. "...they didn't have any specific teaching spots open, did they?"

Adam sits down on the couch, leaving room for Shiro, of course -- if he was already sitting there, Adam sits on the other side. "They have a lot of teachers doubling up, from what I've seen," he notes. "And there's a lot of subjects that you might not expect. But that's not just a high school. It's an academy where just about anyone who's looking for education goes. So there are college-level classes too. That and, with the variety of... well, things here, there are classes you wouldn't expect there. I remember walking past an astrophysics classroom."

Pause. "Were you wanting to get a job there, too?" he asks. "With all the subjects there, you might just be able to find something you could teach." Here he smiles. "Maybe teach the next generation of astronauts? I admit I haven't seen anything resembling a space program, but you know how it works up there. Nothing wrong with teaching the theory."

"I'll have to check," Shiro says with a little smile, "Maybe I can teach astrology or something else that's more about looking at the stars than crashing into them. ...But congrats on your job, that's great to hear. I should do something to celebrate." He pauses and looks thoughtful since the first obvious thought is cooking something but....Shiro and cooking things don't mix.

Apparently that's the first thing Adam thinks, too. "Let's leave the kitchen out of it, though..." he suggests. "I remember the last time you wanted to make something to celebrate, when I made lieutenant. They had to move us to a different unit until they dealt with the fire damage." Though he sounds amused, rather than scolding or insulting.

Shiro rubs at the back of his neck. "Who knew something as innocent as a grilled cheese sandwich could cause so much damage..." he murmurs, "But yeah, no kitchen...something else."

"It always starts small," Adam replies, covering his mouth to preclude a snicker. Oh yeah, he remembers that. He sighs, though, letting the laughter fade. "Did you have something in mind?" he inquires. And then he has a moment of silently warring with himself... a voice telling him to quit hoping, and then a voice telling THAT voice to shut up because they're NOT DATING, so why shoudl he even have to tell himself not to hope?

''('...Ugh, just shut up, up there.')''

"No, but I'll think of something," Shiro replies before offering a little smirk. He'd be lying if he said he hasn't gotten comfortable with this situation. Granted, soon they'll have jobs and he's pretty sure Adam will try to move out, so he should probably do what he can before Adam gets too settled in to his job.

Adam nods, giving a smile. "We could wait until you get a job too, if you're going to try for a teaching job," he suggests. "That way we'll have twice as much to celebrate."

Despite the smile, he feels strangely... empty. Yeah, he's realized that too -- that once they've gotten jobs and can each support themselves, that there will be no reason for them to stay in the same apartment. He's gotten comfortable with it too... but that's just the need for familiarity talking...

...Isn't it...?

"I guess so...but then it wouldn't be me doing something for you," Shiro states, "But it'll mean we can do something for each other?"

Adam nods. "That sounds fair," he agrees. "Though to be honest, aside from cooking something fancy, I don't really know what I can do, either. Maybe just 'be happy for each other' is about all we'll be able to do in this case." He smiles. "I mean, I'm fine with that."

"Nah...I can do more than that..." Shiro states, "It'll just have to be a surprise."

And at that, Adam gives Shiro a look. "Just give me fair warning... I still don't like surprises," he notes. Yeah, that's definitely the Adam that Shiro might remember. Not that he doesn't trust Shiro, not at all. But he doesn't like not being prepared for something. He wants to make sure he looks good for something special, that he can properly prepare for it, that he can reciprocate -- all that.

"Yeah, I'll try to make it an unsurprising surprise," Shiro says with a small chuckle, "Party pooper."

Adam can't help but chuckle. And he does something that... may be surprising, actually. He grins and makes finger guns at Shiro. "You know it~," he replies, with a teasing note. Possibly Lance-like behavior, but not really. He's kind of being a Millenial, countering the pointing out of an ostensibly negative thing about him with a teasing response.

Shiro responds to this by crossing his arms and raspberrying at him in an even less mature form of response. "...But I think I have an idea. You won't need to dress up for it. You'll want to be more comfortable instead."

At the raspberry, Adam laughs. "I'm sorry, I had to." Yes, for some reason, Adam feels the need to apologize for that. But then Shiro notes he has an idea... "Oh?" Adam raises a brow. He's about to start asking, but then decides against it. "Just let me know when you're about to spring the surprise, so I can be ready." Notably he doesn't say Shiro should tell him WHAT the surprise is...

"Just meet me at the park some time after lunch tomorrow," Shiro replies, "We'll go from there."

Adam nods. "Some time in the park sounds good -- I've been so busy looking for a job that I haven't take much time to relax." Which... yeah. Classic Adam. "I don't start for a few more days yet." He smiles. "I'm looking forward to it."

Shiro smiles and nods. "Hopefully I'll be able to do what I have in mind in a place like this," Shiro murmurs, "...Multiversal supply and demand..."

This makes Adam raise a brow. "I'd ask what you mean, but that would probably spoil the surprise," he notes. "Though if you do need help with it, let me know. I know I'm not supposed to ask or offer, but..." He trails off.

Shiro shakes his head. "Nah, it's up to me to figure this out," he states, "If there's anything you should do...." He looks thoughtful for a moment as he trails off. "...nah, I can't think of anything to suggest."

Once more, Adam nods. "All right. Offer's still open, though." He sighs, and then stretches. "Right... I'm going to go change clothes. I might be able to get another wear out of this before I have to have it pressed." He stands. "Be right back." And he heads into his room/area to change.

Shiro'd wait till Adam's out of the room to do a few moments of almost panicked searching of information. However, the moment he hears Adam coming back, he tries to be all casual about things again.

Fortunately there's an internet here! Adam won't take too much time to get changed... but he's also going to be hanging up the suit, and he doesn't wear clip-on ties. So there's a little extra time while Adam's fiddling around with folding and hanging his suit and untying the knot in the tie. Adam will come back out into the living room wearing a polo shirt and jeans. No shoes though; he actually forgot to take his shoes off earlier because he was so interested in telling Shiro about the job!

However, he pauses, looking at Shiro as if he suspects something. There's a moment of consideration... but then he seems to be over it. "Oh, I realize it's after lunch -- did you eat yet?" he inquires. "If not, I can make something. I'm a little hungry myself."

"I didn't yet, no," Shiro replies, "I was too curious about what you'd come back like..." A smile is offered from Shiro before he adds, "Well I mean, I knew you were out doing something, but I wasn't sure what. I '''expected''' it was job hunting though."

Adam shakes his head, and goes into the kitchen to start some lunch. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything," he notes honestly. "I was going to, but when I went out, you were asleep. I made the rounds of the city, and I went out pretty early. I was knocking on doors and asking pretty much everywhere if they needed people."

"I don't know if that's better or worse than what I've been doing," Shiro admits, "...but I've been doing odd jobs and trying to branch out from there..."

"Well, we've both been doing our best," Adam replies. "There just isn't much for retired military pilots to do here. And we didn't serve HERE, so there's no one going ot give us pension or anything for our service. We devoted our lives to something that just isn't needed here." As he talks, he's pulling out a box of noodles and putting a pan of water on to boil.

"Yeah, that's true," Shiro replies, "It's not like we don't have skills, it's just been hard deciding a good way to aim them properly for this place. I don't really see myself as typical teaching material, but with how varied the course choice is, maybe I can find something I'll be good at."

"That's likely," Adam agrees. "The amount of things they teach there is incredible. But given it seems to be less a school for a specific age group and more just a place where everyone who wants to goes to learn things, that makes sense." He also gets two glasses from a cabinet and pours some of whatever it is in the refrigerator that Shiro likes into one glass. The other gets iced tea with a little lemon and just enough sugar to take the edge off the bitterness.

Shiro'll have tea too. Nothing special to his, just some iced tea. "If not about something out in space, maybe I can find something else..." he states, "But I'm sure there are several class types about space."

Adam nods, taking a sip of his tea. Then, "Most likely, yes. There's a lot of people, from a lot of different worlds, and I'd be willing to be that for most of them, space is different. At least, the arrangement of the stars are, for them."

"True," Shiro realizes, "I might be teaching them about an entirely different solar system..."

"Or you might be learning about an entirely different one yourself," Adam counters.

Shiro nods in reply. "I'm fine with that as long as I'm not killing people to do it..." he states with a little smile. It seems genuine at first, but seems to be forced after a short time before he moves on. "I can't imagine they need pilot training."

Adam notices the forced quality, and realizes it -- yeah, he did have to do that whole 'gladiator' thing to learn about space out there. He moves forward, and then pauses... realizing he was about to go in for a hug! Instead he reaches to pat at Shiro's shoulder comfortingly. "I doubt that will be a problem. But no, I haven't seen any planes or space craft here, so I don't think they need pilots. That's the biggest problem."

"At worst I can teach something like a class on my favorite show or motorcylces," Shiro says jokingly. He blinks as Adam pauses, but smiles at the pat before patting at Adam's hand in turn. "I think we'll be fine here."

"Actually that might not be a difficult sell," Adam points out. "Do you remember the 'film as literature' class in college? You might talk about special effects, filming tricks, the history of the effects -- how they went from stirring glitter around in a flask of water to complicated CGI..."

"...True," Shiro states, "Maybe they'll need a mechanics class too... We'll see what they've got available."

"Well, auto mechanics is a common college course," Adam replies. "Do you still remember how to work on a motorcycle? I can assume it's probably been a while for you since you've been able to really even ride one."

Shiro nods in reply. "Yeah, I remember...I might be a little rusty now that you mention it, but I can shake that off."

Adam nods as well. "I've seen plenty of motorcycles here, so it's definitely something that people could use knowledge of," he confirms. "If not knowledge of, you could probably get certified to work on them yourself." Water's boiling, so he empties the box of noodles into the water and begins to stir them.

Shiro nods in reply. "Yeah, we can most likely work something out on that front," he agrees, "...I probably should have been looking at the school the whole time."

"Not necessarily." Stir stir stir. "I had a teaching job before coming here. You were always more of a front-liner, and always wanted to be out there where things were happening," Adam points out. "So it makes sense that teaching wouldn't be your first thought. Honestly, it wasn't mine. I didn't know if I wanted to get right back into it."

"You're a teacher-ly sort, honestly," Shiro replies with a grin, "That's one of the nice things about you...as much as it isn't always easy to be on the opposite side of that no nonsense glare sometimes."

Adam sighs. "It's tough work being the straight man. Particularly when you're gay." He keeps a straight face (figuratively speaking) for about a second before he starts to laugh quietly. "I'm sorry. That was bad."

Shiro lets out a laugh at that. "...You were around the old me for too long," he states, "What do you mean it was '''bad'''?"

"Exactly that. It was '''bad'''," Adam declares. Though he's still laughing about it, too. "I suppose it's to be expected that, with all the time we spent together back then, that some of your habits were going rub off on me. Or, the bad humor, at least."

"My humor wasn't that bad," Shiro states with a smirk, "It was just that dad..."

Adam facepalms, and then groans, the sound trailing into a chuckle. Then he shakes his head. "'''Where''' did you learn dad jokes at your age?" he inquires. "If I didn't know better I'd ask if you settled down and had kids out there in space."

Shiro chuckles. "Eh, I blame all my time around doctors growing up," he states, "I probably got a lot of my humor from them and a lot of them were probably dads..."

"Particularly when you were younger," Adam replies. "I could guess that a lot of them would be telling you jokes and being silly to make you feel better during some of those procedures when you were little." A pause. "Takashi, can you put the colander in the sink for me?" he inquires, picking up potholders.

Shiro nods and does like asked without any sort of complaint to the matter. This is the LEAST he can do when Adam is good enough to take care of his helpless behind. "Yeah," he replies, "That's part of why the only thing I really complain about in my hospital time is being stuck in bed. I wasn't treated badly or anything like that."

"Thank you," Adam offers, as he shuts the stove off and then takes the pot over to the sink and pours the contents into the colander. "I can imagine," he replies. "Basically having to sit on your butt and do nothing, when there's things to do." Which Shiro probably remembers Adam hates too.

Shiro nods. "And as a kid no less...that's where most my childhood went...stuck in a bed with mostly a TV and books to entertain me," he states, "But the doctors were nice...and even though my parents eventually gave up on me, I'm sure they did what they thought was best for all of us."

Adam sighs. "Still... even if they couldn't have afforded your care, I can imagine how it felt." He returns the noodles to the pot, puts it back on the stove, and -- yup! There's cheese being taken out of the refrigerator! Noodles plus cheese -- macaroni and cheese!

Shiro smiles as he realizes this. "Ooh, mac and cheese," he murmurs, "...yeah, I mean, it wasn't exactly happy, but I'm not upset or bitter about it. They could have done the wrong thing and drug me down or killed me because they couldn't afford it but insisted on keeping me."

"That's true. They at least recognized that someone else could help you more," Adam replies. Now, Adam's making the cheese stuff in a different pot. Butter's put to melting in a pot, and he starts to dice the cheese into cubes. There's a couple different kinds of cheese, since cheddar doesn't melt that great on its own.

Shiro sits somewhere nearby and watches in interest. It's amusing how he's so horrible at cooking despite being so attentive at times like this. It's like he's awed at the fact food happens from this...yet he can't do it himself.

To be fair, scratch-made mac and cheese... it's not HARD exactly, but it IS kind of complicated. You don't make the cheese sauce in the same pot with the noodles, you have to start with melting butter and SOME of the cheese, don't put the milk in until you can stir it directly into the butter and cheese otherwise the milk curdles on the heat -- and that ruins the whole job. Then add the cheese and milk alternately, in small handfuls, until you have enough sauce to cover the noodles.

Adam's figured out how to do this by now, though occasionally uses too much butter (which makes the resulting mac and cheese greasy). This time he hasn't done that, so the cheese sticks well to the noodles when he pours the sauce into the pot with the noodles. "Takashi, would you clean up that other pot?" he asks, speaking of the pot he used to make the cheese sauce in, now that he's poured it into the noodles and is stirring them together.

Shiro sets to cleaning it as asked. "Yeah, no problem," he answers before he gets to work, "Anything else need cleaning or should I get on getting out bowls and the like?"

"Thank you... I didn't want the cheese to set in it," Adam replies. "For now, no -- the macaroni and cheese can stay in the pot for now. But I'd appreciate you setting out the bowls." Almost never an actual order, just 'can you?'.

And never a complaint from Shiro on this. He'd probably starve or be living on convenience store meals and fast food if it weren't for help from Adam. He'd set out the bowls as asked, and some silverware to go with it. "I don't remember the last time I had this..."

Adam nods. "That's what I figured," he confirms, with a smile. "Which is why I thought it would be a good idea." Bowls are filled with the stuff, and he brings them both to the table. "Hopefully the milk didn't curdle. That's always unpleasant. The butter ratio looks good this time, at least."

"You're not that bad at this," Shiro replies, "I believe in you..." That said, since he's in such a private group for eating he brings his hands together in front of himself and lets out an 'itadakimasu' over the bowl that Adam filled for him.

Adam also waits to start eating until Shiro's done his 'itadakimasu'. It's not a custom he tends to share, but he does respect Shiro's doing that. And he does respond to the praise. "Thank you, that means a lot." And it does. Way more than Adam really thinks it ought to!

"Your cooking has never been bad before," Shiro says with a smile, "And it's not as if I can cook for you, so it's only fair I remind you how good you are at this, right?"

Adam chuckles. "I'll get too proud if you're not careful, though." He tastes the mac and cheese. "Good, the milk didn't curdle. Could use a bit more salt, I think, but it's pretty good." Yeah, he can't ever not find something wrong with his work. He always said it 'kept him humble'.

"If I don't give you a reason to be proud, who will," Shiro wonders with a smirk, "It'll be fine...you can use some time for that."

Adam tilts his head. "...I suppose so," he muses quietly. There's something bothering him, it seems. Whatever it is, though, he doesn't seem keen on talking about it.

The problem? He's aware that their interactions are far too 'couple-like'. But he... doesn't really know any other way to be around Shiro. The two of them get along fine, apart from that one issue way back, with the Kerebos mission. Sure, he was needed to save the universe, and that probably means he was being called out there some way...

...But if Adam goes back on this, doesn't that mean his word can't be trusted? Doesn't it make him wishy-washy? That he just decides on what's 'true' based on what's most convenient for him at the time?

Shiro's digging into his food happily. It's not that he lacks notice of Adam's being bothered. Internally he's basically running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to find reason as to why Adam's bothered at this point. For lack of figuring anything out, he puts his bowl down and peers toward Adam, tapping his utensil slowly and gently against the inside of the bowl. "...You look bothered even though things are going well....what's eating you?"

Adam seems surprised at suddenly being called out, and his eyes go wide a moment, before he looks away. He's never been the type to lie, but he's not about to talk about that with Shiro! "It's not... really something I can talk about, I don't think." But he does assure Shiro, "It's nothing serious. Nothing's wrong -- I'm not sick or hurting, or anything like that."

Shiro nods in reply and peers over Adam a little. "Well, if it's about work, I'm sure you'll be great at it," he says, "You really do seem to have been made for teaching."

"It's not that, either," Adam admits. He offers a smile. "But thank you. I'm hoping I will be. The environment is a lot different than I'm used to. One of my students is liable to stand up in class and fling an energy blast at me if they don't like my lessons." He chuckles. He's making light of it, but that IS a valid concern!

"If that happens, I'm sure that person'll be booted so hard they can't remember what year it is," Shiro says with a smirk, "But...whatever it is, hopefully we can work it out."

Adam nods. "I'll figure something out," he agrees. Notably he said 'he' would, not 'we' would. Whatever's bothering him, it's something he's not willing to share. But he does note, "And besides that, I'm sure I'll have other students with abilities that can fix the problem." A sigh. "I hate having to rely on them like that, but I don't really have a choice." Get him in a plane and he will blow your mind! But on foot? Yeah, he's Just Some Dude.

"Ah, don't worry too much about it...there's probably an endless line of people who can kick that person's butt," Shiro states, "And somewhere in there will be someone you can defeat. Winning isn't always about who can punch harder."

"True..." Adam replies. "There are a lot more things to be nervous about than that. Particularly here. I doubt anyone would have any reason to attack me, unless they're just that type of person. And I'm sure they'll have run afoul of someone stronger than them before they got to a school."

Shiro nods in agreement. "You should be fine on that front," he states, looking thoughtful. He's not sure how to try and get what's bothering Adam out of him, and it's looking like he might have to make a strategic cease fire in regards to it. It'd be bad to pry too hard and drive Adam inward even farther.

There's actually a lot bothering Adam! But it's nothing he's going to bother Shiro with. Besides, there isn't anything he can do about any of it. His policy is to fix the things he can, and not worry about the things he can't. Or... TRY not to worry about the things he can't fix. Usually he ends up just worrying about those things when he's trying to sleep...

Anyway. Adam nods. "I'm sure there's some kind of security in place," he notes. "It makes sense that if there's this kind of people, that there wouldn't be some protections in place for normal people to teach them. Particularly young people with abilities, since they're more prone to emotional outbursts."

Shiro nods in reply. "Definitely more emotional," he agrees, "We both know how things went with Keith....thankfully he got better after Krolia showed up."

"That's good..." Adam replies. A pause, and he asks, "Was he still calling me 'Laundryman'? Or did he not talk about me much? Since... well. I was dead, so..." Keith was the emotional sort, but not someone to speak ill of the dead.

"He didn't really mention you, actually," Shiro states, "...He might have felt a little bad about things. I mean, even without respecting the dead, I doubt he'd want to upset me by talking bad about you while I was in mourning."

Adam nods. "That makes sense. I'm glad he didn't upset you with it," he says quietly. He smiles a little. "I'm glad he seemed to have been doing all right when you got pulled away... that he seemed to be getting better since I knew him."

"Finally meeting Krolia helped him a lot," Shiro states, "Gave him time to calm down and realize that life wasn't trying to take everything from him, I guess..."

"Good," Adam replies, his smile widening a bit. "He needs a break. He's had a hard life up to... well, up until things got better for him. I can imagine having to go through most of what you went through -- he was with you for most of it, right? -- I imagine that didn't help, having to do all that. So... I'm glad things seemed to be getting better. He's had it hard enough."

"He was basically leading the Blades into becoming an aid group, while Krolia and the old leader were becoming ambassadors for the Galra," Shiro explains, "It's interesting really...a group like that becoming like a humanitarian task force."

Adam smiles. "Then that's definitely good," he decides. "He's learning responsibility, learning that things couldn't just always be his way, things can't just get done right now. Learning how to deal with people, even if he doesn't like having to."

Shiro nods in reply. "He had to lead Voltron some, so it's important he learned those things," he says with a grin, "It's part of why I feel comfortable that they can handle things with me gone."

This makes Adam chuckle a little. "You'd have been frantic otherwise," he guesses. "I can't blame you. Though I guess I didn't really have a lot to miss from our world, and all my loose ends got tied up... in a manner of speaking..."

Shiro frowns and nods. "Really, you shouldn't beat yourself up about that though," he states, "It's not your fault, and you couldn't help it that SOMEONE made the wrong choice on a mass scale."

Adam's smile grows a little hollow. "I know. But that kind of makes it worse," he replies quietly. His words are slow here, as if he's trying to reason through it as he speaks. "It wasn't my fault... because I didn't matter enough in the grand scheme of things. I was just... a piece of jetsam floating along and just happened to get smashed."

Notably he uses 'jetsam' -- the distinction being flotsam is debris from a wrecked ship. Jetsam is specifically discarded cargo... something that was intentionally thrown overboard.

"That's... going to take some getting used to," Adam continues. "Not that I had to die... but that it was so meaningless, so pointless, that it mattered so little. The garrison might as well have filled a cannon with feathers and fired it at the Galra."

Shiro sighs a little. "You didn't matter that little," he states, "The garrison wasn't prepared enough, and while she did make horrible choices, you were sent out because she trusted you to champion her cause... She believed you could even thought it wasn't something she had any good reason to, given she was facing the suggestions of someone who'd dealt with the enemy when she hadn't."

"That's what I keep trying to tell myself," Adam replies. "And then I remember how badly we failed. We didn't make a dent. Not even a scratch. So either we let the Admiral down, or she threw us away. I don't like either idea..." At least he's speaking in plural terms now, meaning his whole squad.

"You let the Admiral down...when she'd made a complete mistake by over estimating her own weaponry in spite of being told the odds," Shiro states, "So she was holding you all to standards far higher than anyone should have been held." He frowns and sets his emptied bowl aside from the moment. "...Maybe we just shouldn't talk about it..."

"That's... probably best." Adam gives a strained smile. "Sorry. I know you were trying to get something positive out of it... but I don't think there is any good that can be gotten out of it." He stands then, and picks up Shiro's bowl with his own and takes them to the sink. Yeah, he's going to wash them both, mainly for something to distract himself.

Shiro frowns some. "Well...you know where I am and that I'll always support you," he states, "There is something I need to see if I can find out there though so...maybe I should just take a defeat for now..."

OH LOOK! A DISTRACTION!

More seriously, it's probably best to just push all that unpleasantness away as quickly as possible. And there really isn't anything Adam can say to make this any better. He'd just be digging the hole deeper. So Adam instead turns his attention to the other thing that Shiro said. He turns a little, to look at Shiro with an inqusitive look. "Oh? What do you need to find out?" he asks.

"Just need to look for if some of the stuff I used to eat from home is around ...or at least a good stand in for it..." Shiro states.

"There should be," Adam assures. "There are a lot of people here, from a lot of different worlds, from what I understand. So it stands to reason that they'd want to get hold of food that they ate back in their former worlds."

"Yeah, you know how it is when you're living in a different place though....there's always that something that's just not there," Shiro states, "Like a brand of candy, flavor pancake, consistency of rice..."

Adam nods, putting the washed dishes in the drainboard for now. He'll go about putting up any leftover mac and cheese then. "That's true. Though most places don't generally have the benefit of having a population that's almost wholly made up of transplants from other places. Particularly not other realities," he points out.

Shiro nods in reply. "That's true...though it isn't a very huge place either..." he points out, "But whatever they've got, I'll need to do some shopping soon..."

"I'm sure there are enough people from Earthlike worlds that there should at least be a decent alternative," Adam assures. "So don't worry about it too much. We'll make something work, if you're looking for something specific."

Shiro nods in reply. "Hopefully I can manage yeah..." he states. That being because he's trying to find it for Adam, not himself. He can't ask for Adam's help in getting Adam's gift after all.

"If not, let me know -- we can go together, and see what we can find for shopping places," Adam offers. "I don't think the city's all that large, so it shouldn't take the both of us long to search."

Shiro nods again. "It shouldn't take long, nah," he agrees, "Anything you need while I'm out?"

"I can't think of anything, no," Adam replies. "Be careful out there. I've heard that the place isn't always as peaceful as I've seen it being." The thought crosses his mind how natural it would be to hug Shiro or something... but he thinks better of it. That's... probably not appropriate.

No matter how much he wants to.

Shiro nods and smiles. "I'll see you later," he replies, "I shouldn't be out long..."

"All right," Adam agrees. "Let me know if you have trouble finding something, and I'll see if I can help." He's got everything put up and the dishes cleaned up. So he'll have some free time while Shiro's out!

|}}

Adam Weissman

2020-04-20T19:13:41Z

DariRyusei: New flaw!

2020-04-19 - Raining Skags.

2020-04-19T20:03:04Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Raining Skags
|Summary = An unfortunate convergence brings people at odds with odd creatures from Pandora
|Who = [[Urus]], [[Rayne]], [[Rocket Raccoon]], [[SilverSight]], [[Theo]]
|Date = April 19, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]]
|Log=

SilverSight finds himself chilling in the park, not having found this location before. He's nomming from a bag of popcorn while reading a book.

Urus is at the fountain, sitting on its edge and wiggling a finger in the water. The air is fresh from all the trees as the sun shines warmly on all those on this plane. a slight breeze blows through, rustling leaves and ruffling the hyena's fur, the scent of the freshly bloomed flowers of spring fill the noses of the more sensitive smellers. Other than the wind the park almost seems slient and peaceful.

Hey, there are trees here, right? There's a blond-haired human teen in one of them! He's leaning against the trunk of the tree, with one leg stretched out along a branch and the other dangling from same branch. And! Let's just address this -- most of the people here can see them anyway -- there's a handful of golden metal spiders located at various points along the tree. Some are wandering about, and some seem to be playing together! Theo himself, stretched out on the branch, seems to be sleeping.

Nearer to the lake, however, sits Rayne on a park bench. Her art supplies are on the bench next to her, and... look untouched. No, she doesn't seem inspired today. In fact, at the moment, she's just staring out at the lake. Possibly at the giant clothes iron of a building across it... but the slightly vacant look on her face suggests that she's barely aware of her surroundings. Perhaps she should have just been at home, taking a long rest today instead?

One figure that does not seem to be immediately present at the park is Rocket Raccoon. Out of the public eye not too far away from mind-throbbing calm and serenity of the center of the park, veiled only by the darkness of a taped-up cardboard box, sits the small mammal atop a huge chunk of metal with a screwdriver held sideways in his mouth. His fingers work on digging through the guts of some piecemeal electronic machine in order to twist wire ends together. There are a few sparks, but the result is communications chatter. Tuning a dial, the communicae changes voices similar to a radio, yet it's not. Is he spying on personal or private calls? Possible. He's extremely bored. The light of his eyes, so to speak, has dulled. Don't make Rocket bored. You wouldn't like him when he's bored.

SilverSight fiddles with his Pipbuck a little and it makes some noises. Some static.. speaking.. geiger counter.. no, that one. Some soft music being played will do. It was too quiet for his liking while he turns the page of his book. Monchmonch good popcorn. Needs butter.

Urus sighs a bit, he's been a bit bored too. though that boredom won't last for long as a large purple orb of swirling energy seems to form out of nowhere. The energy ball a few feet in the air and holding several similar creatures for 3 seconds before it dissapates. What is left is a pack of these quadrapedal creatures. numbering about 10, 3 of them are small, coming up to about calf high 4 more are a bit more than waist high for the average person, their horrid smell and red eyes not making them seem all that good to be around. two more are a bit larger still, very thick, seeming to be somewhere between muscular and plain fat. and then there's the one standing over them all, 6' at the shoulder the creature drips with green acidic goop from its verticall mouth and oozes out of the pores, the drips landing on the grass as said grass shrivels and dies within a second. the giant acidic badass belts out a low toned deafening call that seems between a roar and a howl as the head itself almost seems to be one giant mouth, seperating into a lower jaw and the two halves of the head. a long tongue wiggling from it as the pale inside can be seen of the caustic creature. Urus hyena pulls his gun and cocks it firing at one of the two fat ones only for a round to ping off the bony armor, the three smaller pups soon leaping upon him and snapping at the hyena as he's forced to the ground and protects his face with his arms.

The spiders see the creatures before Theo, and they all stop and stare. And then suddenly, as one, they all shrill, "MuRIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" and race back up the tree to Theo. Who wakes with a start! "What the...?!" He looks down to the creatures... and climbs further up the tree. Nope! That is a lot of nope down there!

Rayne seems completely oblivious to the goings on. Not a response at all to the energy ball, not response to the creatures emergence... Though, to be fair, she wasn't looking in that direction at all. The sound of the roar seems to be what snaps her out of her state of unawareness, though she more blinks and glances around in the general direction she was already facing. It's the sounds of the gunshots that finally get her attention properly, and she looks blearily over in the proper direction this time. She fumbles for her communicator before saying into it, "Hostile convergence in the park. Appears to be unintelligent beasts." She'll have to figure out what kind of bounty she should set for these things... but that would be determined by their danger level and - Is that Urus pinned down?! Okay, danger level is high. She finally stands up properly and draws both swords, sweeping them around and together to click together at their pommels, forming them into their bow form. She grabs an arrow from her quiver and nocks it to pull back and quickly fire at one of the smaller ones. Apparently she didn't notice bullets bouncing off of these things...

Another twist of the dial reveals some rather lewd noises. Breavy breathing accented by feminine moaning, Rocket's interest is suddenly piqued. He tries to clear up the gritty signal by adjusting another knob. Nothing happens. Pulling the screwdriver from his mouth, he pries the knob off and tightens the bolt beneath it, replaces the knob, turns it once more...and the speaker begins to pop as the volume kicks into full. Fumbling into a mad scramble to turn the volume down, the knob...doesn't work! "...va flark!" The sounds continue, only now they are punctuated by the knocking sound of the box-hidden raccoon beating the receiver with the back end of the tool in hand as a mighty roar from nearby blends in with raunchy noise.

While the entire debacle only lasts seconds, it sure feels like an eternity to the raccoon. Silence once again meets his ears; gunshots ring out immediately after things go quiet. "Wait a minute..." mutters the coon and fiddles with the broken dial to see if he can hear more. "Hostiles? Park? But va's..." A little flap in the cardboard on the side opens up and eyeballs peek through to see if anything can be noted in his field of view.

SilverSight's music is quickly interrupted by more static and screechy noises when a random portal opens up. He frowns and pokes his pipbuck a few times before he notices the creatures appearing and pouncing on a shootyeena. Well he's lunch. A notice of the color the biggest one gives off and how the ground sizzles under it. Acid. Probably not good to attack with it then. His magical energy pistol is drawn and he pops out the general disintigration talisman and replaces it with a fire-based one. That should do. He activates his pipbuck's S.A.T.S. and targets the three pups, firing a shot at each one.

The Hyena yells in pain as the three smaller ones start biting at him. one goes for a good chomp before silversight's energy pistol lets loose the beam finding the soft open maw and the heat soon turning the one to ash rather quickly. the second bites down on the hyena's leg the hybrid trying to shake it off as an arrow flys out and smacks it square in the neck it letting go and crying out in pain. its not dead but its definately not looking good, the third latched onto the hyena's arm as he tries in vain to tear it off, his claws not working on the bony back plates. the combat though gets the attention of the others, some going for civilians as an adult charges rayne and one of the larger chubbies runs after silversight, being slower but bigger and probably stronger. the acid dripping badass roars out orders to its pack as the raccoon sees a person running their way only to get hit with the basketball sized globule of acid from the skag, that acid quickly eating away at the skin and flesh as they scream out in utter agony.

There's not a whole lot Theo can do either way -- he's treed and has no weapons. Besides, any weapon big enough to hurt these things is probably too big for him to handle. He's a pretty typical teenage boy. Maybe a little taller than average, but that's about it.

On the other hand, he has ways to at least TRY help the others. Now that he's awake again, the spiders are under his control, so they don't show fear -- that's his privilege! That also means he can send the tiny, quarter-sized spiders down into the fray! That said... what can they really do, being the size of a quarter?

I'm glad you asked!

See, individually they may be small, but they are many. From his place in the tree, Theo sends out ALL of them. ALL FIFTY OF THEM. Hopefully no one here is arachnophobic. His mouth opens, and the little golden things start climbing out quickly to join their brethren.

They make for the smaller creatures first -- Theo's seen that one sci-fi movie where the little one-man fighters defeat the big four-legged transport enemy mechs by tying up their legs! And that's what the spiders are going to try to do -- tangle up the legs of one of the smaller creatures with their golden, wire-like threads.

There is a chance, in fact, that these things may not even be able to SEE the spiders, even. Only people capable of things their species deems 'paranormal' are generally able to see them, and a lack of sapience usually means a lack of awareness! Theo's counting on that, at least, since he has no direct means of attacking.

Soon a civilian gets hit with acid! So Theo sends about ten of the spiders to start heading in the direction of the person who's hurt. It'll be a few moments -- these things are tiny and don't move super-fast, but they'll get there. So far everyone seems reasonably healthy -- aside from the hyena-man, and he's at least still alive -- so this person who is dying is a priority.

Rayne grimaces as the arrow only makes the beast cry out rather than taking it out. A shot in the neck and it doesn't look taken down? She nocks another arrow and... Oh crap, bigger one coming her way! She looses the arrow in its direction before grabbing both handles of her bow/swords properly again and pulling them apart. She fully takes on a defensive stance as it charges her, aiming less to make a traditional strike so much as using its own momentum to impale the thing. Yeah, the swords are more designed for slashing than stabbing, but they do still have points. "Not good, not good," she mumbles with a grimace.

The cardboard castle suddenly accelerates upward and twin thrusters can be seen at its base responsible for the sudden flying. The receiver is left behind on the ground, but there is no trace of the box's inhabitant or the metal he was perched upon. That is, until the reveal. The carboard is lifted away to expose the fuzzy creature wielding a junkyard masterpiece rifle twice as long as he is tall and about as thick as a barstool is wide. Stupid in size compared to the one holding it, this weapon is brought up to bear during the parabolic arc just before the apex. The thrusters built into the raccoon's metal boots cut off and, for the moment, the grinning furball aims for the largest target he can during this 'slow motion hang time' that doubles as an introduction.

                     Rocket Raccoon ----->
<----- Blam! Murdered Ya!

The trigger on the Photon-Assisted MASER is squeezed in order to release a destructive stream of intensely amplified microwaves -- all with the addition of collimated light so that the wavy stream is visual -- while the force of the blast alone is enough to visually slow the descent of the airborne attacker. Does it even hit, though?

SilverSight gets at least one of the little buggers at least, and the hyena seems to be getting better if he can get that last little dog thing off him. But now the pony has troubles of his own as he gets one of the bigger ones after him. He'll start running from the thing, taking shots back at the creature as he goes. Then he hears a large BLAM! nearby. That sounded familiar. He'll head towards the flying raccoon with the oversized gun, because the safest place to be around that one is behind him. Sometimes, "Hi Rocket! Haven't seen you in a while!"

Urus digs in his claws into the pups mouth and pries it open at the cost of those teeth tearing into his skin as he finally dislodges the pup throwing it to the side. as it lands and gets up preparing to attack again though the wounded one is back at Urus' ankle as he sands . "sonova..." he grits finding his gun once more and putting a bullet where Rayne put the arrow, allowing it to go through and the red blood seeping into the grass. Speaking of, Rayne's blades in defense are right where they need to be. The adult leaps and opens its maw. one of the blades finds their way straight down the creature's throat, the other slicing into the chest as the drool from its maw slathers raynes right arm and a bit of blood on her left. the creature however stops moving as it hist the ground. it seems their internals are nowhere near as protected as the outside. the tiny golden spiders make their way over and as the final pup is about to spring foward it faceplants its front legs seemingly tangled up by the spin doctors. meanwhile the others are able to layer their protective strings over the wounds, slowly stopping the bleeding and sealing the injury. they're going to need more medical care later this should keep that one alive. one of the adults though looks up at Theodore, and lets loose its own vomit, not the same level of corosion as the biggest one but the flying debris of screws, bolts and even a wrench are nothing to scoff at he finds himself with half a second to dodge. Rocket's badass entrance is met however with reality as his jetpack stutters for half a second causing his aim to be off the mark by a signifcant margin. the Super powered weapon beam finding the fountain itself shaving off the top portion entirely as water sprays everywhere. unfortunately for him the badass has taken notice and charges towards the flying raccoon. the pony himself is able to keep distance. Rocket's appearance distracting him enough that his shot goes entirely wide as well his impacting the brand new jet of water as hot steam fogs the battlefeild.

Urus made a mistake, when youre logging please read the ooc and change it....

Rayne pulls her blades out and flicks them free of viscera before connecting the blades together again. She then proceeds to shudder before quickly casting her cleaning spell on herself and said blades. Nooooope nope nope nope. These things are beyond disgusting and she does NOT want their entrails on her when she continues to fight. Seriously, they're almost as bad as the xenomorphs! Actually, she thinks the big one might /be/ that bad. Does she attack just yet? No. "Need backup in the park immediately!" she calls into the communicator. No, it's not that she doesn't have confidence in the others here... it's that she's already seen some civilians get caught in the crossfire. And the fountain. That got a wince out of her.

Half a second? That's not really enough time for Theo to get out of the way, except to jump out of the tree. Which he does, since he's got no choice. Fortunately he does know a little about tucking and rolling, so it'll be with slightly less than bone-breaking force. Unfortunately he's now down on the ground, which puts him at even MORE of a disadvantage! Particularly since half a second is not enough for a human being to get their whole body out of the way. So as he tries to stand up... his leg goes out from under him.

The right leg of his pants is missing from about the knee down, the skin there is starting to sizzle, and there's an imprint of something that slammed into the back of his leg. He's gonna have a time of it now -- on the ground, mobility cut by whatever slammed into his leg...

So of course Theo starts spinning himself some armor! The spiders that aren't dealing with the injured return to him, crawling up his body to start spinning a thick covering of the golden threads over his body as fast as they can. He stands up so they can get to wher they need to.

Rocket Skates fire one last time to make the raccoon's landing less jarring. The ludicrous weapon is hoisted high, swung around, and brought to level with the beast so much larger than he is charging him down. Tracking with no need to lead with a weapon that fires EM radiation, the small fellow plays the game of chicken awaiting the perfect shot. However, the image of Theo on the ground directly in his line of fire beyond the badass corrosive skag sparks a sudden variation in tactic. The plan is to wait until the last possible moment to act: a hand reaches to his belt and removes a handful of items that he tosses onto the ground before his boots fire and he side-flips forward in an attempt to grab one the beast's armored spines for a rough ride. Caltrops? Well, these 'caltrops' have little blinking red lights and tend to explode when stepped on.

SilverSight does not like the look of blinky red lights. Those usually means bad things. He veers away from the crazy stripetail and will see about finding himself a tree to get some cover behind, continuing to shoot at the tubby thing chasing him, "Oh just fry already! I'm not THAT tasty-looking, am I?"

Urus chuckles at the little pup that seems to be down, raising his foot up high and stepping down hard on the creature's head as it squirms for a second before it stops moving. The phoenix is however able to clean herself up, seeing another chubby out there working on chasing down a defenseless catgirl! "Closest unit is still 3 minutes out. hold tight." dispatch tells the cheif. well, reinforcements are coming though it might be a bit too late for most of this. speaking of, the chicken manuver Rocket tries seems to work as he narrowly avoids being eaten alive, though the creature does step on one or two of the caltrops, which not only hurt, but explode. quite violently at that, tearing the front left leg off in a fine mist. blood pours from the leg but the creature while it roars in pain still looks pissed and more than ready to fight. The creature rears back as the raccoon gets on, though just below those spines is oozing the highly caustic liquid, he'll need to be highly careful not to touch it otherwise he could have an issue. The pony has had even more luck as the creature closes the targeting is exact, putting a beam right into the head. it too rears back though that exposes the underbelly which allows the pony to hit it and burn a hole straight through it to the armor, evaporating internal organs in the process as it falls to the ground dead. Silver would notice the final two adults together sprinting toward Urus, the hyena unaware. The spinner is ok, its mostly the junk that causes the damage, the acid itself unlike its bigger counterpart stings a little but is as dangerous as vomit normaly is, the rank smell is the biggest issue. nausiating at the least. Theo is able to protect himself with his weave as the skag looks ready to pounce, armor or not, it wants what's inside.

Not to worry, Rocket -- Theo's going to be getting out of the way as quick as he can, whether he realizes he's in the line of fire or not. He needs some cover, and being in the middle of the fighting isn't conducive to that. So he's going to limp to the treeline, now covered by an 'armor' of woven golden strings.

He doesn't get far, though, before one of the skaggs pounces on him -- limping isn't exactly the best way to get away fast! The armor is incredibly tough, but also pliable. So punctures from the teeth will be protected from. Bite force, howver... that's a whole other kettle of fish!

These things are way too strong for him to just kick off him. But now that he's covered in armor, Spin Doctors can work on other things. Like wrapping up the skagg that's trying to eat his face! So sure, it looks pretty bad for him to be curling up on the ground, but there are golden spiders furiously spinning a coccoon around the skagg's head!

Rayne yells back into her comm, "Seriously? No one is closer than three minutes to the park?!" But that's all she has time for now. She takes a deep breath, then immediately regrets it because dad skaag right there. After she coughs, she nocks another arrow and picks a target. Okay, raccoon with overpowered gun is dealing with the big one. Two on Urus, one on the... guy with spiderweave armor? She picks fast, and decides to help the one unaware of the threat. One, then two arrows, one aimed at each. "Behind!" she calls out after the first arrow is loosed. She really hopes she didn't choose poorly... the guy in spiderweave armor doesn't seem to be doing so well.

The Badass Skag may not be a tree, but Rocket has many exhaustive years of learning how to grasp onto and move about larger creatures. The armored spines on the beast only make it easier! "Come on, you krutacking pile of Faesirf Bodyfilf," he taunts. Tossing the rifle aside onto the ground, quarters far too close to use it effectively, he instead opts to remove his electrified knife and switch it on before stabbing. Not just anywhere does he aim; no, the small scrapper aims for the neck. Stab, stab, stab, for as much as he can amidst the rodeo. He may not be able sever the spinal cord, if it even has one, but maybe he can -- flark it! -- use the dagger as a handle to steer the beast into a more advantageous direction? Crazy.

SilverSight has racked up another kill for his pipbuck to keep track of. How the hell it knows what a 'Skag' is or their different development levels are is still something he hasn't figured out. Let's see, what's next.. Rayne is helping Urus, Rocket is having fun with his new mount.. and someone's being wrapped up in.. spiders? Okay that's weird. But he doesn't seem to have any offensive capability, so the pony will shoot red hot magic lasers at the one assaulting him.

Urus ducks as two arrows fly straight at him, though that means they fly true to their targets each of the skags getting an arrow in them both reeling in pain from the arrow in their chest, not a killshot but a still good marksmanship that leaves them wounded and vunerable. the hyena nods to rayne before unleashing his own firepower. the bullets of his smg finding the joint of one of them to finish what Rayne started. and make mincemeat of the organs inside. the bites were never meant for crushing though it does flex its mouth around the spider armored combatant, attempting to swallow him whole! though thats not going to work as it paws at its head and backs away as the tiny spiders mess with its eyes and is keeping its maw from opening all the way in fact theyre almost tying it shut as it backs off seeming scared almost now. as it paws and paws before it collapses, skags dont have nasal passages, you tie its mouth shut, it suffocates. a kill for the unarmed web spinner. that gives silver the chance to help the civilian fleeing. his shot hits burning and melting part of the back armor, not doing as much damage as he would have hoped but it stops and turns to defend itself, allowing the catgirl to sprint away on all fours. which then leaves rocket who's target roars at the stabs and turns at his command another stab causing the badass to unconciously launch a glob of its caustic spit at the remaining adult, the bone armor melting quickly as the creature cries out in pain for half a second before it falls down in a half melted mess. just leaving the one chubby.

Theo is suddenly free of an attacker, so he chances a peek up, as the skagg that had been trying to swallow him falls down. He looks at the scene, taking mental stock of the others. Most seem like they're more or less still healthy, so Theo heads over to the civilian that his spiders had been working on. Now that he can concentrate specifically on that civilian, he moves the spiders to begin replacing the tissue more properly, calling spiders from the field to start helping. It might be of disturbing, watching the tiny golden spiders crawl around, over, and INSIDE the wounds of the injured civilian. But the melted tissue appears to be being replaced, so there's that. Hopefully the acid cauterized the wounds it made, because blood loss isn't something he can fix...

If Rayne hadn't already met Theo, she'd be really, really worried about that civilian right now. But you tend not to forget about the guy that summons healing spiders from his mouth. That means just one threat left. She has a moment to collect herself. Finally of a mindset where she can properly concentrate on the battle at hand, she draws back the bow with another nocked arrow and holds it for a moment. The arrowhead starts to glow red-hot before she lets the arrow fly. She's charged the arrow with a firebolt spell! It'll make the arrow shatter into a small explosion when it hits... hopefully it'll hit the creature. Hopefully the arrow will pierce enough that the explosion will be internal.

The raccoon has no idea how he's driving the thing, only that he somehow is. Wiggling the knife like a joystick, he tries to get the three-legged charging hulk to rampage in a circle to bring it by another pass at where those mini-mines were, marked by a bit of cratering. This should put him around where he ditched his rifle so he can recover it. Knuckles aching from the one-handed control as he clings in the most awkward way possible to avoid the corrosive leakage, he picks his course and leans back to bring his metal boot down hard onto the end of the knifehandle (perhaps it works like cruise control?) before flipping off the skag while flipping off the skag. Rocket Raccoon -- making every fight a space bar fight in the most classy way possible. Hoisting the deceptively heavy piece of machinery, Rocket tries for baked skag pie, take two. "If you'uh so krutacking 'ungry, eat some a'vis!"

SilverSight has the last chubby in his sights with it's back armor partially destroyed. No eating catgirls in this neighborhood! You wanna go down to the red light district for that sort of thing. His pistol goes pew pew a few more times at the now defensive creature to see about putting it down.

The chubby roars a bit taking a beam to the mouth before rayne's arrow finds the weakend armor and blows it clear in half. leaving the injured bleeding badass whom is lead around but collapses just before the spikes, the raccoon able to aim but has a second to realize the beast is no longer resisting, breathing heavily, acid still dripping and blood flowing its almost as if its been... tamed? the hyena nods to everyone. "thank you for the help." he says. "I probably wouldnt have made it without you." he says holding onto his bleeding arm with a wince. the civilian is slowly healed as they seem greatful despite the spiders weirdness. and of course... thats when Rayne's backup arives with four officers darting onto the scene.

And finally backup arrives -- hey, better late than never, right? Urus's words get a wave of Theo's hand. "I'm better at after-catastrophe cleanup... I'm just sorry I couldn't help more." Theo's sitting beside the civilian, though he's probably mostly got what he can fix, fixed. So he asks the rest of the group, "Is everyone okay? I can stitch you up if not." The spiders are still there, after all!

Rayne lets out a sigh of relief as everything seems to have calmed down. She then shoots a glare to the four officers arriving... at the same time. "Really?! What, did you meet up together before coming in?" she snaps at them. She then closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in, then out. She opens her eyes again then tiredly says to Urus, "Glad you're okay."

Rocket's murderous desires falter for a moment, but he doesn't put his gun down. No, he keeps aim at the last monster. Just in case. If somebody wants to keep it, they're going to need to patch it up and get a prosthetic leg. Oh, Rocket wants his knife back, too. Sniffing at the air, "So, anybody calling dibs on Greenie ovuh 'ere? Beh'uh do somefing quick, if so." It's nice that everybody can be put at ease so quickly after a fight. Not Rocket. He lives for this kind of thing. Give him a reason -- any justifiable reason -- to pull the trigger. Open offer. "Good fing you made it, mate. Fought I was going t'av t'carry you to a doctuh." That's a funny image, isn't it?

SilverSight does have to go around to check each of these.. 'skags' to make sure they're actually dead before he can calm down more. No idea what to do with the one Rocket has managed to befriend though. Put it out of it's misery or.. maybe the city could keep it for study or something. He'll be sure to make sure local civilians are okay too.

Urus nods to rayne though seems to stay away from any and everyone while he breathes. not wanting to bleed on anyone. "Hey rocket." Urus calls, "You got a new freind, why don't you keep him." the hyena chuckles. the rest of the civilians managed to get away safely so other than the catgirl needing help straightening a bit of her fur its just urus and theo who took any significant hits. "no mam, happy coincidence." one of the officers tells Rayne. "We'll get statements and help people out." he says. Urus smiles at the spinner. "hey, you did great. at least youre alive better than some in your situation."

"True," Theo admits to Urus's questioning. He'll send some spiders Urus's way and they'll try to start healing his wounds, if he's okay with that. It feels a bit itchy -- they'll be spinning threads -- from their mouths, actually -- and then sticking the threads to the edges of the wounds. Once the thread touches the wound, it'll be trying to take on the properties of the skin it's stuck to, trying to replace the skin. So they're literally spinning new skin and muscle in place of the old. Though the fact that they're spiders and have to crawl around the wound might be a little upsetting. If Urus shakes them off, it'll be understandable.

Rayne sighs and facepalms. No, not out exasperation, for once. It's instead to try to keep herself calmed down when dealing with her officers. "We don't need statements. It was a beast attack, it's clear what happened. The collateral damage was regrettable, but frankly, I've seen worse and Medical Machinima will have it fixed in less than an hour, more than likely. Don't traumatize the civilians worse by making them describe it again." All that is said through gritted teeth.
This was supposed to be her day off.

Exhaling deeply in an exasperated sigh, Rocket lowers his weapon. "Fine. Fine! Somebody call a xenobiological ve'erinarian. I can at least make it a leg if it doesn't bleed out first, but vis fing melts /stuff/. I 'ave nowhere a'keep," pause, "him." He then proceeds to mutter a string of galactic expletives under his breath as he casually hefts the rifle over a shoulder and begins walking toward the hyena. Good going, Rocket. Help blow up some monsters and wind up with an extra mouth to feed that'll eat anything. Just wait until he finds out the mouth is also the butt!

"Least any a'you could do is buy me a drink. 'Cept you, Urus. I'll buy YOU a drink, because I made vat offer already. And it'll 'elp wif va pain. ...bloody 'ell, vey got you good. Rough lookin', innit." Rocky pulls out a small spray bottle and doesn't seem all that bothered about the hybrid's bleeding. "'old still and let me put some o'vis on you. Strong saline'll dissolve it latuh, but it'll glue your wounds shut for now. Might sting a bit, but-" And then spiders interfere with his trying to make up for a bad parting days ago. "Flark! What now?!"

SilverSight goes to discover that his bag of popcorn was a victim of the skag attack. Noooo! One of the bastards ate it all when nobody was looking! He's tempted to shoot one or two of them some more, but will refrain. No need to take vengence on the dead.

Urus allows the spiders to do their work. "You may want to disinfect your micro machines before you put them anywhere near you. just in case. you wouldnt want to end up like me." he warns. He takes rockets head in a headlock and gives him a quick noogie. "that is what I needed more." he says defiantly to the smaller merc. "well if you were not enough of a badass before, riding that into battle would be a massive improvement to your intimidation." he says.

"Ah, sorry," Theo offers sheepishly as Rocket comes forward with a spray bottle. "They're mine. Not trying to butt in, sorry." Though the spiders rather comically flail their front legs at Rocket, with DX expressions and a squeaky little 'MuRIIIIIIIII!' Theo lets the armor he'd been covering himself with fizzle -- and it does exactly that, giving a soft electric-sounding crackle before it disappears from around him -- and steps forward, toward Urus. "Stop being rude," he scolds the spiders.

And he nods to Urus's words. "Thank you for the warning, sir," he returns. "I'll do that. Particularly since I have to put them away in my mouth." Spiders... in his MOUTH? That may or may not be weird for others to hear (aside from Rayne, who already knows).

Rayne sighs and walks away from the too little, too late backup. "I think I need a drink myself." Yes, she overheard that Urus found he was contagious. Right now, however, she just doesn't know how to deal with that. So she's instead playing like she didn't hear it. She can only deal with so much at a time, and lately that amount hasn't been very high. "Glad everyone's okay," she says to the group, then looks down at the still living acidic creature. "...It's still breathing."

Rocket looks a bit disturbed in how anybody could be comfortable allowing spider things to just...do that kind of stuff. He's not afraid of spiders. If you ask him, he's a super cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything! This earns Urus a wrinkle-muzzled look at first, next taking the time to make a face back at the spiders all 'grr' and a little bit of 'pbthhhh', but then his obscenely heavy rifle falls to the ground when he gets attacked by a headlock noogie. And it's HARD to keep a raccoon in a headlock. "Ack, hey, what va-" He looks quite shocked at this at first. "Watch va -- va d'ast fur!" He's being loud for the sake of being loud now. If he planned on biting, it likely would have happened nigh-instantly. "And I'll fink abou' it, but it's going a'need 'ealing soon, if so. And a...collar? Harness? Somefing?!"

"...and I'll 'ave you know I'm already very intimida'in' on me own..."

SilverSight eventually joins the group and inspects one of the spiders curiously. He gives it a few pokes with a hoof before glancing up to the be-noogied Rocket, "When you carry weapons that size around, it definitely helps. How do you even carry something that large?"

Urus nods though does give theo a mild sideways look, well, twisted is just plain weird, so are the denizens. "yeah, Rocket seems to have tamed it, I aint taking it, need a police dog... or whatever the fuck it is?" he asks. if rocket doesnt want it than someone else can take it right? Urus chuckles. "alright everyone, I think we need a congratulatory drink To the usual, Rocket gets the drinks and I'll get the snacks. We'll make it a party." he says.

One of the spiders flails a bit more at Rocket, with his 'pbthhhh' look, but skitters away nonetheless. The 'grrrr' probably scared it. And then SilverSight is poking at another with a hoof, earning him a happy-sounding, 'MuRIIIII!' and a poke back. It's like a fistbump! Except neither one of them has a fist!

The mention of Rocket 'taming' the critter? "Oh, uh... no, I don't really think I can use a... whatever it is," he declines. "But if someone else wants to keep it, I can stitch it up. Otherwise... well, maybe putting it out of its misery would be a good idea."

Urus's mention of food gets a nod. "That sounds like a good idea," he agrees. "I can pitch in a little -- I have a bit of cash." He busks, so he does have a little bit of money to his name.

Rayne scoffs. "I am /not/ using that thing as a police dog. I think it would /eat/ suspects! It's even more feral than that Xenomorph Kotal tried to tame." Clearly she didn't like that idea. The idea of a party, however, seems to get more traction with her, judging from her slightly tilted head and upward glance.

"Because I'm a krutacking beast. I'm Rocket and va's enough reason. I am a Guardian aftuh all." At least, that title seems to mean more now even though it carries far less weight. "Besides, I built it meself, like most a'me fings." While the MASER Rifle may not be as heavy as the Ion Cannon Rocket has boasted about to Urus before, it's still a good ~200 pounds / ~90 kilograms or so. It's a very heavy thing. The raccoon points at Silver Sight. "Oi, Urus, ask HIM about me Ion Cannon. He's seen it before." He's talking about that crazy weapon he had that was cutting through a building trying to save that kidnapped guy from that lizard robot and army. The fight wound up so bloody and violent that Fluttershy didn't leave her house for weeks.

"I'd love a party, mate, but I 'ave t'collect me fings from ovuh yonduh and see what to do about..." A broad gesture to the skag, "Vat fing. Seriously, it needs 'ealing. Bet it might melt your spider fings, vough, eh mate?" A deft squirm can easily pop himself free from any grip still held on Rocky. He looks at his can of foaming glue and then to the skag, sighs, and begins walking toward it. "Flark me... If I get ate, it's your fault." Wouldn't be the first time he's had to fight out of something that ate him, truth be told. "And 'ow many times I gotta tell you, Urus, vey don't charge at va Usual, but vey ain't as good as some uhvuh places. Still, waitin' a meet vis Rayne you mentioned before when we's talking about people t'date. Does she like short guys?"

SilverSight seems quite pleased with the spiders and will allow them to go about their business. He does have to facehoof when he's reminded of that Ion Cannon, "Please tell me you didn't bring THAT monstrosity here from Neo Tokyo. There's no point in saving the city if you destroy it in the process.."

Urus smiles at rayne. "hey, its probably trainable, unlike the xeno." he says. as to rocket's mention. "hey, I've been away for a while alright. thats new." he says. "They charged me before." he says. he might have been drunk and broke somthing too but... thats not the point. the creature seems to wince a bit as rocket heals it a little but its large dripping tonuge comes out, an almost radiation green. Urus rolls his eyes at rocket. "Well why don't you ask her." he says motioning to the rainbow haired cheif of police. "I think though the awnser is no." he says "do I have that right? no time for dating?" he asks rayne.

Theo tilts his head. "Well, if you do want me to heal it, I can," he offers. "I think it'll be all right. Stands don't seem to be affected by a lot of normal stuff, from what I've seen." He'll send a few spiders over to the thing, standing by for now. But they're going to be ready to spin some threads around its mouth.

Not to close it completely -- he remembers the one that suffocated -- just to make sure it can't open its mouth wide enough to eat Rocket! Though he doesn't do it NOW, he just has them standing by in case the thing tries anything.

Though then Rocket starts talking about Rayne, if she likes 'short guys'... and he starts to snicker. Uhoh. Hopefully he won't have to heal Rocket here in a moment or two...

Rayne sideglances at Urus. "No, Rayne's not so much into short guys. Or furry ones, for that matter. Or so I hear." She then shakes her head. "And you'd be correct on that. No time, among all the other difficulties." She's not taking this nearly as poorly as Theo apparently thinks she would have. She's just not into those completely covered in hair. Or short guys.

"I like big guns and I cannot lie," replies Rocket. There you go. "But, no, it got left be'ind when I wound up 'ere. Were damaged in vat fight and nevuh got it working fully since." As for spiderific help, Rocket shrugs, "Go for it. I'm quicker van it. Can you, like, reconstruct vat entire leg wot got blowed off or am I still going a 'ave t'make a new one?" Then, suddenly, a distraction. "Oh, va's Rayne!" Rocket turns his back to the skag and tries to put on his charming face, you know, amidst the carnage and post-chaos. Yep, that's Rocket in a nutshell. "Allo, love! You 'ave a very chroma'ic taste in self-expression. Sorry t'ear you don't much care for me type, but let me emphasize, wif extra emphasis on va 'size' part o'va word, vat it ain't a nega'ive quali'y. More so a mah'uh o' differing perspective; you see, small fings come wif-" For flark's sake, somebody interrupt him!

SilverSight also lacks another dating option himself it seems. Oh well. Maybe next time. The pony's horn glows and Rocket's tail picks up and stuffs itself into the rodentia's mouth helpfully, "Okay, that's enough of that out in public. Save it for the bar at least when you've had a couple dozen drinks in you."

Urus chuckles and nods at rayne though frowns a little at the no fur bit. darn, that was gonna be his next attempt, well two down, many to go. Urus stands in front of rocket. "just stop, she said no. She's being nice because she's cheif and has standards, I don't. Do not push it." he says knowing the Pheonix can stand up for herself but... he does care about Rayne in a capacity that is not unlike a good freindship. the spinners seem to do good work as the bleeding has stopped and is even being put back together, the drooling creature seeming ready for the next thing to do after a little.

Theo nods to Rocket's question of being able to reconstruct the beast's blown-off leg. "I think so, yeah," he replies. He'll send a handful of spiders to make a try of it. And if there are any pieces of the leg still around, the spiders will start pulling them towards where they're working on replacing the leg. It'll take a little while, since this is a big beastie, and most of the leg is probably completely gone except for small bits and chunks.

He snickers a bit at SilverSight's solution to stopping Rocket from saying dirty things to Rayne. "Careful. I've heard girls don't like it when you lay it on too thick," he cautions the raccoon. "Oh right... my name's Theodore Rabanne. 'Theo' if you'd prefer." This he offers to the group at large.

Rayne deadpans, "It's my natural hair color." She then facepalms as Rocket starts going into trying to convince Rayne in a lewd manner. "I've got no problems with negative, for the record." Why is it the only people that have ever expressed anything remotely resembling interest in her are either completely not her type or have a literal soulmate? "I appreciate the party invite, but I think I probably should... go home and collapse on my couch for a while." No, she is not in the mood to deal with a drunk Rocket right now. She's warily looking at the recovering skag. There is no way that will end well.

Tail to mouth, what madness is this? And then everybody ganging up on him? Rocket shrugs, arm held out to each side. "Okay, okay. No worries. Can't blame a bloke for trying. I 'ope you all 'ave a good time and all. We'll get drinks latuh, but, like I said, gotta get me effects and see what I can do wif Arsebreaf 'ere." As he already stated, he has things to do and can't go drinking right now. Not now. "Besides, I'm sure va Chief o' Police would appreciate an upstanding and honorable denizen and protectuh such as meself escorting vis big crittuh outta public space. When I can. Some'ow." He'll have to think fast, but can't do that if he's busy boozing it up.
|}}

2020-04-19 - Raining Skags.

2020-04-19T20:02:17Z

DariRyusei: Tweaking some things.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Raining Skags
|Summary = An unfortunate convergence brings people at odds with odd creatures from Pandora
|Who = [[Urus]], [[Rayne]], [[Rocket]], [[SilverSight]], [[Theo]]
|Date = April 19, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]]
|Log=

SilverSight finds himself chilling in the park, not having found this location before. He's nomming from a bag of popcorn while reading a book.

Urus is at the fountain, sitting on its edge and wiggling a finger in the water. The air is fresh from all the trees as the sun shines warmly on all those on this plane. a slight breeze blows through, rustling leaves and ruffling the hyena's fur, the scent of the freshly bloomed flowers of spring fill the noses of the more sensitive smellers. Other than the wind the park almost seems slient and peaceful.

Hey, there are trees here, right? There's a blond-haired human teen in one of them! He's leaning against the trunk of the tree, with one leg stretched out along a branch and the other dangling from same branch. And! Let's just address this -- most of the people here can see them anyway -- there's a handful of golden metal spiders located at various points along the tree. Some are wandering about, and some seem to be playing together! Theo himself, stretched out on the branch, seems to be sleeping.

Nearer to the lake, however, sits Rayne on a park bench. Her art supplies are on the bench next to her, and... look untouched. No, she doesn't seem inspired today. In fact, at the moment, she's just staring out at the lake. Possibly at the giant clothes iron of a building across it... but the slightly vacant look on her face suggests that she's barely aware of her surroundings. Perhaps she should have just been at home, taking a long rest today instead?

One figure that does not seem to be immediately present at the park is Rocket Raccoon. Out of the public eye not too far away from mind-throbbing calm and serenity of the center of the park, veiled only by the darkness of a taped-up cardboard box, sits the small mammal atop a huge chunk of metal with a screwdriver held sideways in his mouth. His fingers work on digging through the guts of some piecemeal electronic machine in order to twist wire ends together. There are a few sparks, but the result is communications chatter. Tuning a dial, the communicae changes voices similar to a radio, yet it's not. Is he spying on personal or private calls? Possible. He's extremely bored. The light of his eyes, so to speak, has dulled. Don't make Rocket bored. You wouldn't like him when he's bored.

SilverSight fiddles with his Pipbuck a little and it makes some noises. Some static.. speaking.. geiger counter.. no, that one. Some soft music being played will do. It was too quiet for his liking while he turns the page of his book. Monchmonch good popcorn. Needs butter.

Urus sighs a bit, he's been a bit bored too. though that boredom won't last for long as a large purple orb of swirling energy seems to form out of nowhere. The energy ball a few feet in the air and holding several similar creatures for 3 seconds before it dissapates. What is left is a pack of these quadrapedal creatures. numbering about 10, 3 of them are small, coming up to about calf high 4 more are a bit more than waist high for the average person, their horrid smell and red eyes not making them seem all that good to be around. two more are a bit larger still, very thick, seeming to be somewhere between muscular and plain fat. and then there's the one standing over them all, 6' at the shoulder the creature drips with green acidic goop from its verticall mouth and oozes out of the pores, the drips landing on the grass as said grass shrivels and dies within a second. the giant acidic badass belts out a low toned deafening call that seems between a roar and a howl as the head itself almost seems to be one giant mouth, seperating into a lower jaw and the two halves of the head. a long tongue wiggling from it as the pale inside can be seen of the caustic creature. Urus hyena pulls his gun and cocks it firing at one of the two fat ones only for a round to ping off the bony armor, the three smaller pups soon leaping upon him and snapping at the hyena as he's forced to the ground and protects his face with his arms.

The spiders see the creatures before Theo, and they all stop and stare. And then suddenly, as one, they all shrill, "MuRIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" and race back up the tree to Theo. Who wakes with a start! "What the...?!" He looks down to the creatures... and climbs further up the tree. Nope! That is a lot of nope down there!

Rayne seems completely oblivious to the goings on. Not a response at all to the energy ball, not response to the creatures emergence... Though, to be fair, she wasn't looking in that direction at all. The sound of the roar seems to be what snaps her out of her state of unawareness, though she more blinks and glances around in the general direction she was already facing. It's the sounds of the gunshots that finally get her attention properly, and she looks blearily over in the proper direction this time. She fumbles for her communicator before saying into it, "Hostile convergence in the park. Appears to be unintelligent beasts." She'll have to figure out what kind of bounty she should set for these things... but that would be determined by their danger level and - Is that Urus pinned down?! Okay, danger level is high. She finally stands up properly and draws both swords, sweeping them around and together to click together at their pommels, forming them into their bow form. She grabs an arrow from her quiver and nocks it to pull back and quickly fire at one of the smaller ones. Apparently she didn't notice bullets bouncing off of these things...

Another twist of the dial reveals some rather lewd noises. Breavy breathing accented by feminine moaning, Rocket's interest is suddenly piqued. He tries to clear up the gritty signal by adjusting another knob. Nothing happens. Pulling the screwdriver from his mouth, he pries the knob off and tightens the bolt beneath it, replaces the knob, turns it once more...and the speaker begins to pop as the volume kicks into full. Fumbling into a mad scramble to turn the volume down, the knob...doesn't work! "...va flark!" The sounds continue, only now they are punctuated by the knocking sound of the box-hidden raccoon beating the receiver with the back end of the tool in hand as a mighty roar from nearby blends in with raunchy noise.

While the entire debacle only lasts seconds, it sure feels like an eternity to the raccoon. Silence once again meets his ears; gunshots ring out immediately after things go quiet. "Wait a minute..." mutters the coon and fiddles with the broken dial to see if he can hear more. "Hostiles? Park? But va's..." A little flap in the cardboard on the side opens up and eyeballs peek through to see if anything can be noted in his field of view.

SilverSight's music is quickly interrupted by more static and screechy noises when a random portal opens up. He frowns and pokes his pipbuck a few times before he notices the creatures appearing and pouncing on a shootyeena. Well he's lunch. A notice of the color the biggest one gives off and how the ground sizzles under it. Acid. Probably not good to attack with it then. His magical energy pistol is drawn and he pops out the general disintigration talisman and replaces it with a fire-based one. That should do. He activates his pipbuck's S.A.T.S. and targets the three pups, firing a shot at each one.

The Hyena yells in pain as the three smaller ones start biting at him. one goes for a good chomp before silversight's energy pistol lets loose the beam finding the soft open maw and the heat soon turning the one to ash rather quickly. the second bites down on the hyena's leg the hybrid trying to shake it off as an arrow flys out and smacks it square in the neck it letting go and crying out in pain. its not dead but its definately not looking good, the third latched onto the hyena's arm as he tries in vain to tear it off, his claws not working on the bony back plates. the combat though gets the attention of the others, some going for civilians as an adult charges rayne and one of the larger chubbies runs after silversight, being slower but bigger and probably stronger. the acid dripping badass roars out orders to its pack as the raccoon sees a person running their way only to get hit with the basketball sized globule of acid from the skag, that acid quickly eating away at the skin and flesh as they scream out in utter agony.

There's not a whole lot Theo can do either way -- he's treed and has no weapons. Besides, any weapon big enough to hurt these things is probably too big for him to handle. He's a pretty typical teenage boy. Maybe a little taller than average, but that's about it.

On the other hand, he has ways to at least TRY help the others. Now that he's awake again, the spiders are under his control, so they don't show fear -- that's his privilege! That also means he can send the tiny, quarter-sized spiders down into the fray! That said... what can they really do, being the size of a quarter?

I'm glad you asked!

See, individually they may be small, but they are many. From his place in the tree, Theo sends out ALL of them. ALL FIFTY OF THEM. Hopefully no one here is arachnophobic. His mouth opens, and the little golden things start climbing out quickly to join their brethren.

They make for the smaller creatures first -- Theo's seen that one sci-fi movie where the little one-man fighters defeat the big four-legged transport enemy mechs by tying up their legs! And that's what the spiders are going to try to do -- tangle up the legs of one of the smaller creatures with their golden, wire-like threads.

There is a chance, in fact, that these things may not even be able to SEE the spiders, even. Only people capable of things their species deems 'paranormal' are generally able to see them, and a lack of sapience usually means a lack of awareness! Theo's counting on that, at least, since he has no direct means of attacking.

Soon a civilian gets hit with acid! So Theo sends about ten of the spiders to start heading in the direction of the person who's hurt. It'll be a few moments -- these things are tiny and don't move super-fast, but they'll get there. So far everyone seems reasonably healthy -- aside from the hyena-man, and he's at least still alive -- so this person who is dying is a priority.

Rayne grimaces as the arrow only makes the beast cry out rather than taking it out. A shot in the neck and it doesn't look taken down? She nocks another arrow and... Oh crap, bigger one coming her way! She looses the arrow in its direction before grabbing both handles of her bow/swords properly again and pulling them apart. She fully takes on a defensive stance as it charges her, aiming less to make a traditional strike so much as using its own momentum to impale the thing. Yeah, the swords are more designed for slashing than stabbing, but they do still have points. "Not good, not good," she mumbles with a grimace.

The cardboard castle suddenly accelerates upward and twin thrusters can be seen at its base responsible for the sudden flying. The receiver is left behind on the ground, but there is no trace of the box's inhabitant or the metal he was perched upon. That is, until the reveal. The carboard is lifted away to expose the fuzzy creature wielding a junkyard masterpiece rifle twice as long as he is tall and about as thick as a barstool is wide. Stupid in size compared to the one holding it, this weapon is brought up to bear during the parabolic arc just before the apex. The thrusters built into the raccoon's metal boots cut off and, for the moment, the grinning furball aims for the largest target he can during this 'slow motion hang time' that doubles as an introduction.

                     Rocket Raccoon ----->
<----- Blam! Murdered Ya!

The trigger on the Photon-Assisted MASER is squeezed in order to release a destructive stream of intensely amplified microwaves -- all with the addition of collimated light so that the wavy stream is visual -- while the force of the blast alone is enough to visually slow the descent of the airborne attacker. Does it even hit, though?

SilverSight gets at least one of the little buggers at least, and the hyena seems to be getting better if he can get that last little dog thing off him. But now the pony has troubles of his own as he gets one of the bigger ones after him. He'll start running from the thing, taking shots back at the creature as he goes. Then he hears a large BLAM! nearby. That sounded familiar. He'll head towards the flying raccoon with the oversized gun, because the safest place to be around that one is behind him. Sometimes, "Hi Rocket! Haven't seen you in a while!"

Urus digs in his claws into the pups mouth and pries it open at the cost of those teeth tearing into his skin as he finally dislodges the pup throwing it to the side. as it lands and gets up preparing to attack again though the wounded one is back at Urus' ankle as he sands . "sonova..." he grits finding his gun once more and putting a bullet where Rayne put the arrow, allowing it to go through and the red blood seeping into the grass. Speaking of, Rayne's blades in defense are right where they need to be. The adult leaps and opens its maw. one of the blades finds their way straight down the creature's throat, the other slicing into the chest as the drool from its maw slathers raynes right arm and a bit of blood on her left. the creature however stops moving as it hist the ground. it seems their internals are nowhere near as protected as the outside. the tiny golden spiders make their way over and as the final pup is about to spring foward it faceplants its front legs seemingly tangled up by the spin doctors. meanwhile the others are able to layer their protective strings over the wounds, slowly stopping the bleeding and sealing the injury. they're going to need more medical care later this should keep that one alive. one of the adults though looks up at Theodore, and lets loose its own vomit, not the same level of corosion as the biggest one but the flying debris of screws, bolts and even a wrench are nothing to scoff at he finds himself with half a second to dodge. Rocket's badass entrance is met however with reality as his jetpack stutters for half a second causing his aim to be off the mark by a signifcant margin. the Super powered weapon beam finding the fountain itself shaving off the top portion entirely as water sprays everywhere. unfortunately for him the badass has taken notice and charges towards the flying raccoon. the pony himself is able to keep distance. Rocket's appearance distracting him enough that his shot goes entirely wide as well his impacting the brand new jet of water as hot steam fogs the battlefeild.

Urus made a mistake, when youre logging please read the ooc and change it....

Rayne pulls her blades out and flicks them free of viscera before connecting the blades together again. She then proceeds to shudder before quickly casting her cleaning spell on herself and said blades. Nooooope nope nope nope. These things are beyond disgusting and she does NOT want their entrails on her when she continues to fight. Seriously, they're almost as bad as the xenomorphs! Actually, she thinks the big one might /be/ that bad. Does she attack just yet? No. "Need backup in the park immediately!" she calls into the communicator. No, it's not that she doesn't have confidence in the others here... it's that she's already seen some civilians get caught in the crossfire. And the fountain. That got a wince out of her.

Half a second? That's not really enough time for Theo to get out of the way, except to jump out of the tree. Which he does, since he's got no choice. Fortunately he does know a little about tucking and rolling, so it'll be with slightly less than bone-breaking force. Unfortunately he's now down on the ground, which puts him at even MORE of a disadvantage! Particularly since half a second is not enough for a human being to get their whole body out of the way. So as he tries to stand up... his leg goes out from under him.

The right leg of his pants is missing from about the knee down, the skin there is starting to sizzle, and there's an imprint of something that slammed into the back of his leg. He's gonna have a time of it now -- on the ground, mobility cut by whatever slammed into his leg...

So of course Theo starts spinning himself some armor! The spiders that aren't dealing with the injured return to him, crawling up his body to start spinning a thick covering of the golden threads over his body as fast as they can. He stands up so they can get to wher they need to.

Rocket Skates fire one last time to make the raccoon's landing less jarring. The ludicrous weapon is hoisted high, swung around, and brought to level with the beast so much larger than he is charging him down. Tracking with no need to lead with a weapon that fires EM radiation, the small fellow plays the game of chicken awaiting the perfect shot. However, the image of Theo on the ground directly in his line of fire beyond the badass corrosive skag sparks a sudden variation in tactic. The plan is to wait until the last possible moment to act: a hand reaches to his belt and removes a handful of items that he tosses onto the ground before his boots fire and he side-flips forward in an attempt to grab one the beast's armored spines for a rough ride. Caltrops? Well, these 'caltrops' have little blinking red lights and tend to explode when stepped on.

SilverSight does not like the look of blinky red lights. Those usually means bad things. He veers away from the crazy stripetail and will see about finding himself a tree to get some cover behind, continuing to shoot at the tubby thing chasing him, "Oh just fry already! I'm not THAT tasty-looking, am I?"

Urus chuckles at the little pup that seems to be down, raising his foot up high and stepping down hard on the creature's head as it squirms for a second before it stops moving. The phoenix is however able to clean herself up, seeing another chubby out there working on chasing down a defenseless catgirl! "Closest unit is still 3 minutes out. hold tight." dispatch tells the cheif. well, reinforcements are coming though it might be a bit too late for most of this. speaking of, the chicken manuver Rocket tries seems to work as he narrowly avoids being eaten alive, though the creature does step on one or two of the caltrops, which not only hurt, but explode. quite violently at that, tearing the front left leg off in a fine mist. blood pours from the leg but the creature while it roars in pain still looks pissed and more than ready to fight. The creature rears back as the raccoon gets on, though just below those spines is oozing the highly caustic liquid, he'll need to be highly careful not to touch it otherwise he could have an issue. The pony has had even more luck as the creature closes the targeting is exact, putting a beam right into the head. it too rears back though that exposes the underbelly which allows the pony to hit it and burn a hole straight through it to the armor, evaporating internal organs in the process as it falls to the ground dead. Silver would notice the final two adults together sprinting toward Urus, the hyena unaware. The spinner is ok, its mostly the junk that causes the damage, the acid itself unlike its bigger counterpart stings a little but is as dangerous as vomit normaly is, the rank smell is the biggest issue. nausiating at the least. Theo is able to protect himself with his weave as the skag looks ready to pounce, armor or not, it wants what's inside.

Not to worry, Rocket -- Theo's going to be getting out of the way as quick as he can, whether he realizes he's in the line of fire or not. He needs some cover, and being in the middle of the fighting isn't conducive to that. So he's going to limp to the treeline, now covered by an 'armor' of woven golden strings.

He doesn't get far, though, before one of the skaggs pounces on him -- limping isn't exactly the best way to get away fast! The armor is incredibly tough, but also pliable. So punctures from the teeth will be protected from. Bite force, howver... that's a whole other kettle of fish!

These things are way too strong for him to just kick off him. But now that he's covered in armor, Spin Doctors can work on other things. Like wrapping up the skagg that's trying to eat his face! So sure, it looks pretty bad for him to be curling up on the ground, but there are golden spiders furiously spinning a coccoon around the skagg's head!

Rayne yells back into her comm, "Seriously? No one is closer than three minutes to the park?!" But that's all she has time for now. She takes a deep breath, then immediately regrets it because dad skaag right there. After she coughs, she nocks another arrow and picks a target. Okay, raccoon with overpowered gun is dealing with the big one. Two on Urus, one on the... guy with spiderweave armor? She picks fast, and decides to help the one unaware of the threat. One, then two arrows, one aimed at each. "Behind!" she calls out after the first arrow is loosed. She really hopes she didn't choose poorly... the guy in spiderweave armor doesn't seem to be doing so well.

The Badass Skag may not be a tree, but Rocket has many exhaustive years of learning how to grasp onto and move about larger creatures. The armored spines on the beast only make it easier! "Come on, you krutacking pile of Faesirf Bodyfilf," he taunts. Tossing the rifle aside onto the ground, quarters far too close to use it effectively, he instead opts to remove his electrified knife and switch it on before stabbing. Not just anywhere does he aim; no, the small scrapper aims for the neck. Stab, stab, stab, for as much as he can amidst the rodeo. He may not be able sever the spinal cord, if it even has one, but maybe he can -- flark it! -- use the dagger as a handle to steer the beast into a more advantageous direction? Crazy.

SilverSight has racked up another kill for his pipbuck to keep track of. How the hell it knows what a 'Skag' is or their different development levels are is still something he hasn't figured out. Let's see, what's next.. Rayne is helping Urus, Rocket is having fun with his new mount.. and someone's being wrapped up in.. spiders? Okay that's weird. But he doesn't seem to have any offensive capability, so the pony will shoot red hot magic lasers at the one assaulting him.

Urus ducks as two arrows fly straight at him, though that means they fly true to their targets each of the skags getting an arrow in them both reeling in pain from the arrow in their chest, not a killshot but a still good marksmanship that leaves them wounded and vunerable. the hyena nods to rayne before unleashing his own firepower. the bullets of his smg finding the joint of one of them to finish what Rayne started. and make mincemeat of the organs inside. the bites were never meant for crushing though it does flex its mouth around the spider armored combatant, attempting to swallow him whole! though thats not going to work as it paws at its head and backs away as the tiny spiders mess with its eyes and is keeping its maw from opening all the way in fact theyre almost tying it shut as it backs off seeming scared almost now. as it paws and paws before it collapses, skags dont have nasal passages, you tie its mouth shut, it suffocates. a kill for the unarmed web spinner. that gives silver the chance to help the civilian fleeing. his shot hits burning and melting part of the back armor, not doing as much damage as he would have hoped but it stops and turns to defend itself, allowing the catgirl to sprint away on all fours. which then leaves rocket who's target roars at the stabs and turns at his command another stab causing the badass to unconciously launch a glob of its caustic spit at the remaining adult, the bone armor melting quickly as the creature cries out in pain for half a second before it falls down in a half melted mess. just leaving the one chubby.

Theo is suddenly free of an attacker, so he chances a peek up, as the skagg that had been trying to swallow him falls down. He looks at the scene, taking mental stock of the others. Most seem like they're more or less still healthy, so Theo heads over to the civilian that his spiders had been working on. Now that he can concentrate specifically on that civilian, he moves the spiders to begin replacing the tissue more properly, calling spiders from the field to start helping. It might be of disturbing, watching the tiny golden spiders crawl around, over, and INSIDE the wounds of the injured civilian. But the melted tissue appears to be being replaced, so there's that. Hopefully the acid cauterized the wounds it made, because blood loss isn't something he can fix...

If Rayne hadn't already met Theo, she'd be really, really worried about that civilian right now. But you tend not to forget about the guy that summons healing spiders from his mouth. That means just one threat left. She has a moment to collect herself. Finally of a mindset where she can properly concentrate on the battle at hand, she draws back the bow with another nocked arrow and holds it for a moment. The arrowhead starts to glow red-hot before she lets the arrow fly. She's charged the arrow with a firebolt spell! It'll make the arrow shatter into a small explosion when it hits... hopefully it'll hit the creature. Hopefully the arrow will pierce enough that the explosion will be internal.

The raccoon has no idea how he's driving the thing, only that he somehow is. Wiggling the knife like a joystick, he tries to get the three-legged charging hulk to rampage in a circle to bring it by another pass at where those mini-mines were, marked by a bit of cratering. This should put him around where he ditched his rifle so he can recover it. Knuckles aching from the one-handed control as he clings in the most awkward way possible to avoid the corrosive leakage, he picks his course and leans back to bring his metal boot down hard onto the end of the knifehandle (perhaps it works like cruise control?) before flipping off the skag while flipping off the skag. Rocket Raccoon -- making every fight a space bar fight in the most classy way possible. Hoisting the deceptively heavy piece of machinery, Rocket tries for baked skag pie, take two. "If you'uh so krutacking 'ungry, eat some a'vis!"

SilverSight has the last chubby in his sights with it's back armor partially destroyed. No eating catgirls in this neighborhood! You wanna go down to the red light district for that sort of thing. His pistol goes pew pew a few more times at the now defensive creature to see about putting it down.

The chubby roars a bit taking a beam to the mouth before rayne's arrow finds the weakend armor and blows it clear in half. leaving the injured bleeding badass whom is lead around but collapses just before the spikes, the raccoon able to aim but has a second to realize the beast is no longer resisting, breathing heavily, acid still dripping and blood flowing its almost as if its been... tamed? the hyena nods to everyone. "thank you for the help." he says. "I probably wouldnt have made it without you." he says holding onto his bleeding arm with a wince. the civilian is slowly healed as they seem greatful despite the spiders weirdness. and of course... thats when Rayne's backup arives with four officers darting onto the scene.

And finally backup arrives -- hey, better late than never, right? Urus's words get a wave of Theo's hand. "I'm better at after-catastrophe cleanup... I'm just sorry I couldn't help more." Theo's sitting beside the civilian, though he's probably mostly got what he can fix, fixed. So he asks the rest of the group, "Is everyone okay? I can stitch you up if not." The spiders are still there, after all!

Rayne lets out a sigh of relief as everything seems to have calmed down. She then shoots a glare to the four officers arriving... at the same time. "Really?! What, did you meet up together before coming in?" she snaps at them. She then closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in, then out. She opens her eyes again then tiredly says to Urus, "Glad you're okay."

Rocket's murderous desires falter for a moment, but he doesn't put his gun down. No, he keeps aim at the last monster. Just in case. If somebody wants to keep it, they're going to need to patch it up and get a prosthetic leg. Oh, Rocket wants his knife back, too. Sniffing at the air, "So, anybody calling dibs on Greenie ovuh 'ere? Beh'uh do somefing quick, if so." It's nice that everybody can be put at ease so quickly after a fight. Not Rocket. He lives for this kind of thing. Give him a reason -- any justifiable reason -- to pull the trigger. Open offer. "Good fing you made it, mate. Fought I was going t'av t'carry you to a doctuh." That's a funny image, isn't it?

SilverSight does have to go around to check each of these.. 'skags' to make sure they're actually dead before he can calm down more. No idea what to do with the one Rocket has managed to befriend though. Put it out of it's misery or.. maybe the city could keep it for study or something. He'll be sure to make sure local civilians are okay too.

Urus nods to rayne though seems to stay away from any and everyone while he breathes. not wanting to bleed on anyone. "Hey rocket." Urus calls, "You got a new freind, why don't you keep him." the hyena chuckles. the rest of the civilians managed to get away safely so other than the catgirl needing help straightening a bit of her fur its just urus and theo who took any significant hits. "no mam, happy coincidence." one of the officers tells Rayne. "We'll get statements and help people out." he says. Urus smiles at the spinner. "hey, you did great. at least youre alive better than some in your situation."

"True," Theo admits to Urus's questioning. He'll send some spiders Urus's way and they'll try to start healing his wounds, if he's okay with that. It feels a bit itchy -- they'll be spinning threads -- from their mouths, actually -- and then sticking the threads to the edges of the wounds. Once the thread touches the wound, it'll be trying to take on the properties of the skin it's stuck to, trying to replace the skin. So they're literally spinning new skin and muscle in place of the old. Though the fact that they're spiders and have to crawl around the wound might be a little upsetting. If Urus shakes them off, it'll be understandable.

Rayne sighs and facepalms. No, not out exasperation, for once. It's instead to try to keep herself calmed down when dealing with her officers. "We don't need statements. It was a beast attack, it's clear what happened. The collateral damage was regrettable, but frankly, I've seen worse and Medical Machinima will have it fixed in less than an hour, more than likely. Don't traumatize the civilians worse by making them describe it again." All that is said through gritted teeth.
This was supposed to be her day off.

Exhaling deeply in an exasperated sigh, Rocket lowers his weapon. "Fine. Fine! Somebody call a xenobiological ve'erinarian. I can at least make it a leg if it doesn't bleed out first, but vis fing melts /stuff/. I 'ave nowhere a'keep," pause, "him." He then proceeds to mutter a string of galactic expletives under his breath as he casually hefts the rifle over a shoulder and begins walking toward the hyena. Good going, Rocket. Help blow up some monsters and wind up with an extra mouth to feed that'll eat anything. Just wait until he finds out the mouth is also the butt!

"Least any a'you could do is buy me a drink. 'Cept you, Urus. I'll buy YOU a drink, because I made vat offer already. And it'll 'elp wif va pain. ...bloody 'ell, vey got you good. Rough lookin', innit." Rocky pulls out a small spray bottle and doesn't seem all that bothered about the hybrid's bleeding. "'old still and let me put some o'vis on you. Strong saline'll dissolve it latuh, but it'll glue your wounds shut for now. Might sting a bit, but-" And then spiders interfere with his trying to make up for a bad parting days ago. "Flark! What now?!"

SilverSight goes to discover that his bag of popcorn was a victim of the skag attack. Noooo! One of the bastards ate it all when nobody was looking! He's tempted to shoot one or two of them some more, but will refrain. No need to take vengence on the dead.

Urus allows the spiders to do their work. "You may want to disinfect your micro machines before you put them anywhere near you. just in case. you wouldnt want to end up like me." he warns. He takes rockets head in a headlock and gives him a quick noogie. "that is what I needed more." he says defiantly to the smaller merc. "well if you were not enough of a badass before, riding that into battle would be a massive improvement to your intimidation." he says.

"Ah, sorry," Theo offers sheepishly as Rocket comes forward with a spray bottle. "They're mine. Not trying to butt in, sorry." Though the spiders rather comically flail their front legs at Rocket, with DX expressions and a squeaky little 'MuRIIIIIIIII!' Theo lets the armor he'd been covering himself with fizzle -- and it does exactly that, giving a soft electric-sounding crackle before it disappears from around him -- and steps forward, toward Urus. "Stop being rude," he scolds the spiders.

And he nods to Urus's words. "Thank you for the warning, sir," he returns. "I'll do that. Particularly since I have to put them away in my mouth." Spiders... in his MOUTH? That may or may not be weird for others to hear (aside from Rayne, who already knows).

Rayne sighs and walks away from the too little, too late backup. "I think I need a drink myself." Yes, she overheard that Urus found he was contagious. Right now, however, she just doesn't know how to deal with that. So she's instead playing like she didn't hear it. She can only deal with so much at a time, and lately that amount hasn't been very high. "Glad everyone's okay," she says to the group, then looks down at the still living acidic creature. "...It's still breathing."

Rocket looks a bit disturbed in how anybody could be comfortable allowing spider things to just...do that kind of stuff. He's not afraid of spiders. If you ask him, he's a super cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything! This earns Urus a wrinkle-muzzled look at first, next taking the time to make a face back at the spiders all 'grr' and a little bit of 'pbthhhh', but then his obscenely heavy rifle falls to the ground when he gets attacked by a headlock noogie. And it's HARD to keep a raccoon in a headlock. "Ack, hey, what va-" He looks quite shocked at this at first. "Watch va -- va d'ast fur!" He's being loud for the sake of being loud now. If he planned on biting, it likely would have happened nigh-instantly. "And I'll fink abou' it, but it's going a'need 'ealing soon, if so. And a...collar? Harness? Somefing?!"

"...and I'll 'ave you know I'm already very intimida'in' on me own..."

SilverSight eventually joins the group and inspects one of the spiders curiously. He gives it a few pokes with a hoof before glancing up to the be-noogied Rocket, "When you carry weapons that size around, it definitely helps. How do you even carry something that large?"

Urus nods though does give theo a mild sideways look, well, twisted is just plain weird, so are the denizens. "yeah, Rocket seems to have tamed it, I aint taking it, need a police dog... or whatever the fuck it is?" he asks. if rocket doesnt want it than someone else can take it right? Urus chuckles. "alright everyone, I think we need a congratulatory drink To the usual, Rocket gets the drinks and I'll get the snacks. We'll make it a party." he says.

One of the spiders flails a bit more at Rocket, with his 'pbthhhh' look, but skitters away nonetheless. The 'grrrr' probably scared it. And then SilverSight is poking at another with a hoof, earning him a happy-sounding, 'MuRIIIII!' and a poke back. It's like a fistbump! Except neither one of them has a fist!

The mention of Rocket 'taming' the critter? "Oh, uh... no, I don't really think I can use a... whatever it is," he declines. "But if someone else wants to keep it, I can stitch it up. Otherwise... well, maybe putting it out of its misery would be a good idea."

Urus's mention of food gets a nod. "That sounds like a good idea," he agrees. "I can pitch in a little -- I have a bit of cash." He busks, so he does have a little bit of money to his name.

Rayne scoffs. "I am /not/ using that thing as a police dog. I think it would /eat/ suspects! It's even more feral than that Xenomorph Kotal tried to tame." Clearly she didn't like that idea. The idea of a party, however, seems to get more traction with her, judging from her slightly tilted head and upward glance.

"Because I'm a krutacking beast. I'm Rocket and va's enough reason. I am a Guardian aftuh all." At least, that title seems to mean more now even though it carries far less weight. "Besides, I built it meself, like most a'me fings." While the MASER Rifle may not be as heavy as the Ion Cannon Rocket has boasted about to Urus before, it's still a good ~200 pounds / ~90 kilograms or so. It's a very heavy thing. The raccoon points at Silver Sight. "Oi, Urus, ask HIM about me Ion Cannon. He's seen it before." He's talking about that crazy weapon he had that was cutting through a building trying to save that kidnapped guy from that lizard robot and army. The fight wound up so bloody and violent that Fluttershy didn't leave her house for weeks.

"I'd love a party, mate, but I 'ave t'collect me fings from ovuh yonduh and see what to do about..." A broad gesture to the skag, "Vat fing. Seriously, it needs 'ealing. Bet it might melt your spider fings, vough, eh mate?" A deft squirm can easily pop himself free from any grip still held on Rocky. He looks at his can of foaming glue and then to the skag, sighs, and begins walking toward it. "Flark me... If I get ate, it's your fault." Wouldn't be the first time he's had to fight out of something that ate him, truth be told. "And 'ow many times I gotta tell you, Urus, vey don't charge at va Usual, but vey ain't as good as some uhvuh places. Still, waitin' a meet vis Rayne you mentioned before when we's talking about people t'date. Does she like short guys?"

SilverSight seems quite pleased with the spiders and will allow them to go about their business. He does have to facehoof when he's reminded of that Ion Cannon, "Please tell me you didn't bring THAT monstrosity here from Neo Tokyo. There's no point in saving the city if you destroy it in the process.."

Urus smiles at rayne. "hey, its probably trainable, unlike the xeno." he says. as to rocket's mention. "hey, I've been away for a while alright. thats new." he says. "They charged me before." he says. he might have been drunk and broke somthing too but... thats not the point. the creature seems to wince a bit as rocket heals it a little but its large dripping tonuge comes out, an almost radiation green. Urus rolls his eyes at rocket. "Well why don't you ask her." he says motioning to the rainbow haired cheif of police. "I think though the awnser is no." he says "do I have that right? no time for dating?" he asks rayne.

Theo tilts his head. "Well, if you do want me to heal it, I can," he offers. "I think it'll be all right. Stands don't seem to be affected by a lot of normal stuff, from what I've seen." He'll send a few spiders over to the thing, standing by for now. But they're going to be ready to spin some threads around its mouth.

Not to close it completely -- he remembers the one that suffocated -- just to make sure it can't open its mouth wide enough to eat Rocket! Though he doesn't do it NOW, he just has them standing by in case the thing tries anything.

Though then Rocket starts talking about Rayne, if she likes 'short guys'... and he starts to snicker. Uhoh. Hopefully he won't have to heal Rocket here in a moment or two...

Rayne sideglances at Urus. "No, Rayne's not so much into short guys. Or furry ones, for that matter. Or so I hear." She then shakes her head. "And you'd be correct on that. No time, among all the other difficulties." She's not taking this nearly as poorly as Theo apparently thinks she would have. She's just not into those completely covered in hair. Or short guys.

"I like big guns and I cannot lie," replies Rocket. There you go. "But, no, it got left be'ind when I wound up 'ere. Were damaged in vat fight and nevuh got it working fully since." As for spiderific help, Rocket shrugs, "Go for it. I'm quicker van it. Can you, like, reconstruct vat entire leg wot got blowed off or am I still going a 'ave t'make a new one?" Then, suddenly, a distraction. "Oh, va's Rayne!" Rocket turns his back to the skag and tries to put on his charming face, you know, amidst the carnage and post-chaos. Yep, that's Rocket in a nutshell. "Allo, love! You 'ave a very chroma'ic taste in self-expression. Sorry t'ear you don't much care for me type, but let me emphasize, wif extra emphasis on va 'size' part o'va word, vat it ain't a nega'ive quali'y. More so a mah'uh o' differing perspective; you see, small fings come wif-" For flark's sake, somebody interrupt him!

SilverSight also lacks another dating option himself it seems. Oh well. Maybe next time. The pony's horn glows and Rocket's tail picks up and stuffs itself into the rodentia's mouth helpfully, "Okay, that's enough of that out in public. Save it for the bar at least when you've had a couple dozen drinks in you."

Urus chuckles and nods at rayne though frowns a little at the no fur bit. darn, that was gonna be his next attempt, well two down, many to go. Urus stands in front of rocket. "just stop, she said no. She's being nice because she's cheif and has standards, I don't. Do not push it." he says knowing the Pheonix can stand up for herself but... he does care about Rayne in a capacity that is not unlike a good freindship. the spinners seem to do good work as the bleeding has stopped and is even being put back together, the drooling creature seeming ready for the next thing to do after a little.

Theo nods to Rocket's question of being able to reconstruct the beast's blown-off leg. "I think so, yeah," he replies. He'll send a handful of spiders to make a try of it. And if there are any pieces of the leg still around, the spiders will start pulling them towards where they're working on replacing the leg. It'll take a little while, since this is a big beastie, and most of the leg is probably completely gone except for small bits and chunks.

He snickers a bit at SilverSight's solution to stopping Rocket from saying dirty things to Rayne. "Careful. I've heard girls don't like it when you lay it on too thick," he cautions the raccoon. "Oh right... my name's Theodore Rabanne. 'Theo' if you'd prefer." This he offers to the group at large.

Rayne deadpans, "It's my natural hair color." She then facepalms as Rocket starts going into trying to convince Rayne in a lewd manner. "I've got no problems with negative, for the record." Why is it the only people that have ever expressed anything remotely resembling interest in her are either completely not her type or have a literal soulmate? "I appreciate the party invite, but I think I probably should... go home and collapse on my couch for a while." No, she is not in the mood to deal with a drunk Rocket right now. She's warily looking at the recovering skag. There is no way that will end well.

Tail to mouth, what madness is this? And then everybody ganging up on him? Rocket shrugs, arm held out to each side. "Okay, okay. No worries. Can't blame a bloke for trying. I 'ope you all 'ave a good time and all. We'll get drinks latuh, but, like I said, gotta get me effects and see what I can do wif Arsebreaf 'ere." As he already stated, he has things to do and can't go drinking right now. Not now. "Besides, I'm sure va Chief o' Police would appreciate an upstanding and honorable denizen and protectuh such as meself escorting vis big crittuh outta public space. When I can. Some'ow." He'll have to think fast, but can't do that if he's busy boozing it up.
|}}

Theo

2020-03-25T16:50:48Z

DariRyusei: Staff-sponsored revision

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Missing.jpg
|Name=Theodore Rabanne
|Pronunciation=(THEE-ə-dawr rah-BAHN)
|Alias=Theo
|Occupation=Busker
|Series=JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Neutral Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Lanky blond teenage guy
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Theodore Rabanne -- "Theo" to his friends -- might look like an average kid. And to all outward appearances, he is. But Theo is a Stand-user -- he is able to manifest a part of his psyche as a swarm of golden metal spiders that spin golden threads. He refers to them collectively as "Spin Doctors". Though he is part of the legacy of the insidious vampire DIO, who both himself and his minions have made repeated attempts to take over his world, to install DIO as its true god. But here in Twisted, that's not important, because he's away from all that... Or is he...?
|Age=17
|Birthdate=Unknown
|Height=6'
|Weight=~150lbs
|Desc=        A slim fellow who seems to be all legs! He is of a light complexion, and his hair is blond and straight, worn just long enough to pull into a short, punky ponytail at the nape of his neck. The bangs fall over large-set amber eyes, obscuring them at times. His upper body has some muscle tone, particularly in the shoulders, but is still rather slim, particularly his legs. Those legs, though, are quite long. But there's strength in them, usually visible unless his attire is particularly loose. 
        He wears a threadbare green shirt with a denim vest over it, faded blue jeans, and battered hiking boots. The shirt is a short-sleeved t-shirt, with a heart made of black pixel-like squares on the front. His vest and jeans actually do not match, the vest being a darker color of denim than his jeans. On each lapel of the vest is a silver pin; the right side is a skull with an open mouth that sports fangs and seems to be threatening the viewer, while on the left is a heart with a lightning bolt shaped groove cut in the middle that gives the suggestion of a broken heart. 
        The jeans are faded but still look to be in relatively good condition. He wears a belt made of braided-together leather strings; most of the strings are black, but there are a few bright crimson ones woven into the overall design. The belt is far too long, so it's been tucked into two belt loops on the other side. Yet it still reaches to mid-thigh. The hiking boots are ankle-length, a brown dark brown padded section around his ankle atop a lighter, dirt-brown rest of the shoe. The soles are thick, probably adding an inch or so to his height, and are a light, sandy brown.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>"Spin Doctors" has no direct way to harm an opponent. They rely on Theo applying the strings in clever ways to be effective. In addition, Theo himself has no combat training, and is himself fairly weak when engaged in direct combat.</li><li>Theo's unable to use his Stand if his mouth is covered or he is somehow prevented from opening his mouth to release it.</li><li>Theo uses his life energy to create the strings that "Spin Doctors" creates. If he uses too much energy, he could injure or kill himself.</li><li>When his Stand is attacked, Theo takes damage relative to the percentage of spiders that are destroyed. Additionally, the spiders individually are not difficult to destroy; a normal person can stomp hard enough to destroy one.</li><li>"Spin Doctors" is a manifestation of his psyche, which means it's basically a reflection of his inner self. Because of this, it may manifest in response to suppressing his emotions. It may manifest to emote in various ways at someone that evokes an emotion within him, or to grab small items Theo wants but is denying himself for whatever reason, to accomplish small tasks that Theo wants to do but doesn't -- or shouldn't -- for whatever reason.</li></ul> 
|Background='''Background:'''         In 1986, Theodore Rabanne's mother Olympia, on vacation in Aswan, Egypt, was merely one of the many women that caught the fancy of a vampire by the name of Dio. Though she didn't know it at the time, Olympia was lucky to escape with her life -- many such women caught by Dio's charms ended up as his next meal. Olympia escaped with more than her life, though; she found out later she was with child. When he was born she named him Theodore (ironic for a number of reasons). He decided as he grew older that he wanted "Theo" as a nickname, since "Teddy" was too childish for his tastes, and he thought "Ted" made him sound like an accountant.
        Olympia raised the child as best a single mother could. It was a typical childhood for the most part. Until Theo witnessed a car accident shortly after turning 17. It was a typical hit-and-run; a pedestrian was crossing and a car ran a stop sign, hitting the pedestrian and didn't stop. Theo tried to render aid, but his Stand manifested. Which was a little freaky for him, since "Spin Doctors" comes out of his mouth. Imagine if you will, a seventeen year old boy freaking out over someone getting possibly killed right in front of him, only to suddenly have golden spiders start coming out of his mouth. He did fix the person's injuries. And then he ran. Not back home -- he couldn't tell his mother that spiders just came out of his mouth and fixed a person's injuries. She'd never believe him -- not only because it was IMPOSSIBLE, but because he was about the right age for "eighth-grader syndrome" anyway. He just ran away. 
        He stayed gone for about six months, before the Speedwagon Foundation located him. They had quite a chase trying to catch him, since he thought they were police, and had to employ a Stand-user of their own to track him down. But once he'd been "caught", things were explained to him. On the bright side, they said, the golden spiders were called a "Stand", and he wasn't the only one that had them. SPW had a plethora of information about Stands, since they'd been cataloguing weird things for so long. 
        On the down side, they had to break the news about his father -- Dio, an insidious vampire that had attempted twice to take over the world. They weren't automatically placing him on lockdown, but they'd be keeping an eye on him. Not only because they didn't want Theo to follow suit with his father's treachery, but because the minions of Dio were everywhere, and might just try to kidnap him for his connection with Dio. So he'd need to go into protective custody. 
        A week later, exactly that happened. One of those minions did indeed kidnap Theo. Though he didn't need much in the way of rescuing. However, in the ensuing chaos, something exploded, and through some means, Theo found himself dropping into Twisted. 

'''Personality:''' 
        Theo is very much not what one migh expect from the son of a powerful vampire. First off, he's completely human, not a half-vampire (none of Dio's many children are; this is probably because Dio was using someone else's body, which he had hijacked by attaching his own head to). He is quite the opposite of his father in personality -- Dio was a controlling and domineering man who would suffer the company of almost none save those who agreed to serve him, and had designs on taking over the world. Theo wants nothing to do with this "leadership" garbage. He doesn't tend to do well in command, as it makes him nervous. In a crisis, he would rather have someone to look to for leadership and orders. Though if he doesn't have to lead/command others in a crisis, he does tend to keep his head if he knows what to do. Otherwise he kind of loses it and panics. 
        Overall, though, there are some similarities between himself and Dio. Theo is generally unfailingly polite when approached non-aggressively, but tends to appear detached and a little aloof under normal circumstances. Though unlike Dio, it's not because Theo places himself above others. It's because he knows he isn't like them, thanks to his Stand. He doesn't make friends lightly, but Twisted may be the place where he can. Here, where a teenage boy with a mouth full of metal spiders that spin healing strings isn't the weirdest thing out there, is probably going to do WONDERS for fixing this problem of being a little distant.
|Skills=        Theo is in possession of a "Stand", a manifestation of his psyche made from psychokinetic energy. His takes the form of a swarm of small, quarter-sized golden spiders that look as though they're made from twisted-together cutlery. They have no power and are not venomous; their 'bites' do little more damage than a strong pinch. However, Theo can see through their eyes, they can travel several city blocks before they lose the ability to manifest. They move in ways that spiders can -- up walls, across ceilings, etc. -- they are small and flat enough to squeeze into small spaces easily, and can accomplish small utilitarian tasks (flipping light switches, turning on small appliances, etc.) easily. They are collectively called "Spin Doctors" (and if anybody cares, it's probably categorized as a long-range swarm/colony support Stand). 
        However, their true usefulness comes from the golden strings that they produce from their mouths. These strings are made of an organic compound that can fuse with living tissue when so directed. This means that they are able to "stitch up" wounds and injuries, replace lost tissue, and even reattach severed limbs (provided the limb does not die completely first). They can do little for illness or blood loss, however. Other uses for these strings: they can be spun across a person or object to reinforce it or act as armor; they can be spun over an area of floor or walls to detect when someone has stepped on or touched it; they can act as a communication medium when placed in the mouth and around the ear. 
        A Stand is usually invisible to people without some sort of ability that makes them open to psychic phenomena -- though this means magic users, other psychics, and any sort of ability that counts as "paranormal" can qualify for this. However, even people who can't see them can generally "perceive" them. Psychokinetic energy, which makes up Stands, is very much like electromagnetic energy. Thus it can give people nearby feelings of being nervous, or being "watched". People near to a Stand's activation or manifestation may smell a slight scent of ozone, like the electric scent of a thunderstorm. People with particularly sensitive senses of touch may even be able to feel the air currents in an area disturbed by a Stand's presence.         While himself not a great combatant, Theo is flexible and agile, and also has fairly good stamina for a human being. This is, of course, well within human capabilities, but noted here because it's significantly above human "average". He's also a talented dancer, and has a fairly decent singing voice.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
File:SpinDoctors1.jpg
File:SpinDoctors2.jpg
File:SpinDoctorsParameters.png
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=
|Warker=

{{wark|Sample post #1}}
{{wark|Sample post #2}}
{{wark|Sample post #3}}
|}}
[[Category:Active]]

2020-03-19 - If We're Honest

2020-03-21T04:34:04Z

DariRyusei: Shiro finally talks about what happened to him after the Kerberos mission. Adam's honest about a few things too.

{{Logsummary|
Title = If We're Honest
|Summary = Now that Adam's recovered, it's time for Shiro to tell him the full truth of what happened to him after the Kerberos mission. Adam follows suit, with a little honesty of his own.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = March 19, 2020
|Where = [[Integra's Arms Apartments]] - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

So finally, Shiro had decided to tell Adam the truth -- the FULL truth -- of what he'd had to do in space. What he'd gone through while out there. Adam had been looking forward to this... and also dreading it. Because he knew that, after he heard the full measure of what Shiro had gone through out there, what had happened to him in his time in space -- in his time trying to save the universe -- that he (Adam, that is) was going to feel like a massive heel for having ended their relationship.

The feeling was already there, honestly... considering he had apparently died at the first charge, so to speak, and had contributed very little to the overall effort except another unit to the body count. But truth be told, maybe it was for the best, given that. Maybe Shiro had time to forget about him, so maybe... just maybe... them not being together had made the pain less?

Anyway, that was neither here nor there. For now, Adam had chosen to make this as comfortable as possible for Shiro. He'd found some of a tea that he remembered Shiro liking, and made something small for them both to snack on while they talked -- chocolate-filled ''obanyaki'', small fried pancake things with chocolate custard inside them. He put these things on the coffee table in front of the couch -- the dining room chairs weren't as comfortable as the couch. If this is going to be an important conversation, he wants to make certain that both of them are comfortable.

Shiro sighs a little. "Alright, well..." he murmurs, "You've already heard most of things, but I'll leave out none of the details now." He takes a breath and tries to prep his lungs, mouth, and throat for this. "When Sam, Matt, and I went to Keroberos we got there successfully. We were taking ice samples when we were suddenly captured by some Galra." He sets into the tea and snacks. "They decided that Sam wasn't fit enough for their entertainment values, so they automatically sent him to be a scientist. They sent me and Matt to be in their arena. Then I attacked Matt so he'd be too injured to fight and they sent him off to a different place, but they kept me there and put me into a lot of fights to the death," he states. At this point he'd go far more in detail about his time in the arena and what was done to him there by his Galran captors and how badly he had to pretend to be someone else to keep his own sanity from having to kill people so much.

Adam listens here, taking small bites of the snacks and small sips of his tea, and keeping his expression carefully neutral. He feels that the best thing for Shiro right now is for him to be non-judgemental about everything that's coming out of his mouth right now. It's hard though. It's hard to hear this. But Adam has never shied away from the truth, no matter how horrible it was, and he's not going to start now.

And more than that? Yeah, he feels like an incredible heel. He ended his relationship with Shiro over the Kerberos mission, and it was that mission that put Shiro through all this... but it also led him to literally saving the universe. If he hadn't gone, what would have happened? Earth would certainly have fallen. And now that Adam '''does''' have the luxury of considering how he himself failed...

...What? What could he really say, even to himself, that would fix what happened? Not a damn thing.

Besides, this isn't about salving Adam's ego. This is about Shiro, and a lot of things that made him uncomfortable enough not to want to tell Adam. Things that he probably wouldn't tell anyone else. Things that he probably needed to get out, to finally tell '''someone'''.

Once Shiro's done with it all, there is a noticeable tension in Adam's back. He's trying really hard not to just hug Shiro. Instead, he takes a breath to steady his voice. And then he says -- quietly, so the tremor in his voice won't be heard, "...I'm sorry you had to go through all of that..."

He's trying so hard to stay calm, to offer a calm, non-judgemental front for Shiro. One quality they most definitely both share... that wanting to do their screaming on the inside...

"It's nothing you could have helped," Shiro insists, "After all of that, a Galran from the Blade of Marmora helped me escape and I went back to Earth to help the blades find something called the Blue Lion, but I got a case of amnesia from the crash...Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge 'saved' me from quarentine and Keith lead us to the Lion...where we had to take off because we were being chased, and the Lion piloted us to the castle of princess Allura...and after that we all became her paladins in the fight to save the universe from Zarkon."

He would continue on, explaining the rest of the war in detail from that moment up until the end when Allura and Haggar sacrified themselves. Shiro is staying calm as well, as much as he didn't want to dump this on Adam...but he had to know eventually.

It's a lot to take in. Adam's kind of abandoned the snacks and tea at this point -- his stomach is in knots, trying to eat right now isn't happening. Shiro had spoken a little bit about these events, but... not to this degree of detail. He hadn't talked about the torture, both physical and psychological, at the hands of the Galra -- at the hands of Sendak -- while he was a slave in the arena, when they were trying to break him. He hadn't gone into detail about the degree of suffering everyone went through. So many people lost so much in getting where they ended up...

The part of the epic galaxy-spanning story of salvation that is rarely glamorized, after all, is the suffering of the people inside the story... the things they lost, the trauma inflicted on them, the way their lives were changed, and would never be the same. Salvation is never free.

It almost seems unfair that the rest of their world gets to enjoy the fruits of the Paladins' labor while they themselves suffered so much. But then again, that's kin of why they gave up what they did... so others could live without fear and pain.

Adam's got his hands folded in his lap now, partly to keep himself from clenching those hands into fists, and partly holding him back from hugging Shiro. It's not like it would do any good now. Besides, he's been trying to rein in such displays. They're not a couple now, and he doesn't want things to get awkward. He '''hates''' awkwardness.

Though, all things considered, it might actually make things less awkward -- Adam's kind of sitting there on the couch with his back ramrod straight, trying not to look like he's holding tremors back, and not knowing what the hell to even say. So... well, he says that. "I feel like I should say something... but I'm not sure what I should say," he admits. And then something finally does occur to him. "Takashi. This... none of this makes me think any less of you. None of it. You were doing what you had to do."

"...Thank you," Shiro replies, "It means a lot...it was some time I spent feeling less than human. I still don't know if it was my mind or Sendak himself, saying those things when he was in the cryopod... so it's nice to be reminded that I'm not something else..."

Logic, Adam. Logic! His voice still quiet, Adam offers, "I don't think it was him, if he was inside a cryopod. But after everything he did, it's no wonder you'd think those things. That's what he wanted you to believe about yourself, and there wasn't time for you to come to grips with what had happened, to stop blaming yourself for it..."

Though logic isn't going to keep Adam restrained forever. Given he still has his feelings for Shiro, and knowing that he just dredged up all this pain? Yeah, no... his resolve is eventually going to fail him. ''('What harm could it possibly do?')'' a voice inside him asks. ''('He's already been hurt '''far''' beyond your ability to affect by this point.')'' Besides, friends hug each other, right? Maybe not so much male friends, but... there are exceptions to evey rule. So...

"...I'm sorry." It's about the only warning Shiro gets before Adam's leaning in quickly, for a hug. Here, then, is where Shiro can tell Adam's been trying to hold back his shaking. He might not realize it's from anger at what had been done to Shiro, and frustration that he couldn't stop it -- that there was no way for '''anyone''' to stop it -- but he can definitely tell Adam's shaking.

Shiro blinks and hugs at Adam in turn. "Sorry for what," he wonders, obviously not minding the hug, "Are you alright," he asks curiously, "You seem cold..."

Adam sighs, seeming to relax now, for some reason. Well, that was certainly an illogical reaction. However, he does note, "It's not that." And he doesn't let go of Shiro yet. "I'm upset you had to go through all that. Not just you. Everyone involved. You all lost so much. It just seems so unfair..." He trails off here. Adam already knows that whining about the unfairness of life isn't going to get anybody anywhere!

Takashi Shirogane shakes his head slightly. "Most of us went through that by choice," he notes, "It was not pleasant and we lost things, but most of it was not forced..." Granted he would be part of the things NOT covered in that 'most'.

Adam is far too rooted in logic to really talk about why all that bothers him so much. Besides, this isn't about letting him get that upset out. It's about letting Shiro get all this off his chest. He takes a breath...

...Dammit. Adam never really did forget Shiro's scent, did he? It's different now, in ways he can't explain, yet it's similar enough that he still recognizes it. So he lets himself concentrate on that for a moment. It helps him calm down.

Once more he sighs, and then after a final pat at Shiro's back, lets go. "I'm sorry," he says again, and offers by way of explanation, "You're the one who needs the emotional suport right now. I let my emotions get the better of me."

Takashi Shirogane says, "It's fine," Shiro states, "I've had plenty of time, you have not..." It's not that he's 'over' it of course. He's already given Adam proof of that with his nightmares, but Shiro will be Shiro, and Adam needs time to adjust and recover too."

"Well... I don't know if they have psychiatrists here," Adam notes. "And I know you don't like to talk about the things that upset you. But if you do need to, or just want to talk about something, let me know. That's the least I can do, after not having been there for you when it would have mattered."

This is not only to salve his conscience for not being there, but an attempt to salve his ego for having been among the first to die, and to have really contributed so little to the efforts to save his world.

Shiro nods in reply. "I'm sorry I didn't manage to save you the first time," he murmurs, "Hopefully we don't get to a point where I'm causing you trouble again...you already did so much for me before, Adam. You hardly owe me anything for doing what needed to be done... but what did I do for you in the end?" No, this isn't meant as some sarcastic guilt trip, he's meaning this seriously.

"You picked up the ball where I dropped it," Adam replies seriously. "You successfully protected something I couldn't. If you hadn't been there, Earth would still be occupied by the Galra. And things would probably have gotten worse -- for everyone -- from what you've said. Even if it needed to be done, you did it, where I couldn't."

Takashi Shirogane shakes his head. "But what did I do for you," he insists, "It's not as if either of us knew what was coming...you didn't see the Galra coming from years away and decide that you'd do what you did...you were forced into that situation because of your orders."

Adam can't argue that. He did think it was strange that Sanda hadn't sent out their new fighters. He'd thought she was merely gauging the aliens' power -- a not unsound battle tactic -- and it got away from her. But once a few of their fighters had been shot down, she should have sounded the retreat and recalled the rest. Now knowing what he did, from the story that Shiro told, the late Admiral Sanda was just being an idiot at best, and at worst was actively working to ensure Sendak's conquest of Earth.

On the other hand! "You didn't do anything to hurt me either," he points out. "I don't pretend to understand anything metaphysical. But after what you've told me, I'm starting to wonder if you even had control over your need to go into space. It sounds like you might have been... well, being 'called' by something. If you hadn't gone, no one would have ever made it back from there to let anyone know that there was danger in the first place."

Takashi Shirogane rubs at his own neck a little. "Yes but...the fact that the best thing I could really do for you was '''leave''' you...it doesn't say so good for how I was to you, does it?"

"If it makes you feel better, I was the one that left you," Adam points out. He had been the one to officially end their relationship, after that last incident with the higherups trying to get Shiro removed from the mission entirely. Here he pauses, and seems to think about something. "...I wonder if I would have made it any better had I tried to come with you. I had all the requisite training, and I could have been a backup pilot."

Takashi Shirogane shivers at that thought. "Thankfully, you didn't have to go through that though..." he murmurs, "I don't know how well the two of us could have protected you from the Galra...or the other fighters..."

"I got cornered with superior technology in a craft that didn't have a hope of facing what it was put against," Adam replies. "If I'd been on the ground, I might have had a decent chance. I almost never miss what I'm shooting at." Which probably doesn't help with that thought Shiro just had. How deadly would the Galra have been if they'd had a sniper of Adam's caliber (no pun intended) as a slave?

"You would have been pitted against your own kind if you were around for that," Shiro states, "Maybe set up in a game against me for some extra fun..."

"And I don't think there's a font big enough to capture the amount of sarcasm I can hear in the word 'fun'," Adam points out. It's a horrible thought, really, having to fight to the death against Shiro. He's not sure which way would be kinder. Besides that, he's not the combatant that Shiro is. He doesn't lag too far behind, true... but that wouldn't have been the ideal way to figure out which one of them would have won...

"Yeah...well it wouldn't have been sarcastic for them," Shiro states, "...don't get me wrong, it's not all the Galra, but those specific ones...they were especially interested in little else but the suffering of anything they considered less than themselves..."

Adam nods. He'd been trying to lighten the mood just a little, since Shiro seemed to need it. But doing that with jokes was... well, that kind of humor was hardly his forte. However, he does get an idea for something that might help. "Well... I don't know how it happened, but... we're here now. I guess that means we have another chance."

He pauses at that, realizing what it sounded like. "I mean... I have another chance to live, and you finally have the chance to relax," he clarifies. Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't freaking blush...

"Yeah," Shiro replies, seeming to cheer back up some. He'd start snacking again and drinking his tea. "...but me...relaxing...heh...it seems like the first thing suggested to me where ever I turn is more fighting based tasks.... I'm really going to have to work on something from the ground up to get a new job, I think."

Adam relaxes here, having seemed to have cheered Shiro up. And better yet, his wording slip seems to have gone unnoticed! The mention of having to start over gets s tilt of his head. "That's possible," he acknowledges. "I think Monday I'm going to see if the school needs another teacher. With any luck, they'll have an opening, and I won't look too freakish for them to hire me."

"You don't look freakish at all," Shiro replies, "You look like what you are...someone who risked your wellbeing for the sake of others'." Reacting to the rest of Adam's words about going to the school Monday, he smiles and nods. "Good luck teach'," he says with a grin, "but I think you'll make it just fine."

It almost does feel like it did back then. But Adam has a keen awareness that it '''isn't''' like that. Shiro's older and (hopefully) wiser, and Adam is... a little older, he supposes? But nonetheless, he chuckles at 'teach'. "I hope so. If there's enough kids for a school, they might need teachers, since people are just pulled here from wherever they were."

And another idea! "I also need to visit that welcome center," he notes. "A much-belated visit, maybe, but if they have information down there, we could probably stand to learn about this place a little bit."

Shiro nods in reply. "We could go there together sometime, yeah," he agrees with a grin, "It's a date." Is he teasing or not? It's hard to tell sometimes.

Adam suddenly tries really hard not to blush. "W-well..." he begins, stuttering a bit. "I don't know if I'd go '''that''' far..." He would. He totally would. In a heartbeat. And that's why he shouldn't. It would be too easy to just... go back to the way things were. And that's why he can't. Because Adam is confused, lost, and upset... over a lot of things. Now is not the time to try to latch onto old connections as a way to hold onto familiarity. That wouldn't be fair to Shiro.

"Well yeah," Shiro replies just as good naturedly as before, "But we '''should''' both check it out. It might not teach us much, but it should teach us more than we know."

Adam gives a small sigh -- partly in relief and partly in irritation. Though not at Shiro. Why is this so big of a deal to him? Shiro has clearly gotten over it, if he's able to joke about it. So why's it still such a big deal to Adam? This makes him kind of annoyed at himself. But he keeps that to himself. Instead he nods. "That's what I'm counting on. Everything I've learned so far leads me to believe there isn't a way back to the world we came from... but personally I'm not too upset about that, considering I'm supposed to be dead there anyway."

"And I feel like they can go without me by now," Shiro states, "It's like an involuntary vacation."

Adam gives a sheepish look. "Honestly, I don't know that I'd call it that, either," he notes. "You've been basically taking care of me the whole time." Thankfully Adam's mostly recovered, so he doesn't have to. "I do appreciate it, but I'm glad you don't have to do that now."

"It's not exactly problematic after what I '''have''' been doing," Shiro states, "And it's in good company."

"Well... true..." Adam agrees. Though it's been a little awkward for Adam, since... well. He couldn't reach his back during baths! Thankfully he can now -- combination of actually having a back-scrubber now, and his ribs not being so problematic. "Definitely far more mundane than everything you've been through thus far."

"That and you're a breeze compared to four kids," Shiro says with a chuckle, "Especially four kids in a spaceship."

Adam chuckles. "Particularly Keith. He must have been a handful without trouble to get into that didn't mean he could steal something," he notes. Maybe a bit uncharitable, but his last experience with the kid was a big argument and Keith running away. And he does feel more than a little guilty that he couldn't take care of Keith.

...Which was something else that Adam hasn't told Shiro... how that went. Then again, Keith might have. Or maybe not, since Keith was kind of an ass about the whole thing...

"Yeah, he got better, but not before things like leaving Voltron in the leadership of my clone while he went to help the Blades," Shiro notes. Despite it being mentioned like a misbehavior, it doesn't seem like he actually holds it against Keith.

Adam sighs. "At least it ended up all right in the end," he notes. A pause. "Well... since you told me the truth... it feels only fair that I tell you more about what happened with Keith while you were gone..." he offers. He sounds like he dreads it. "...After the Kerebos mission was declared failed due to pilot error -- no, I didn't believe that, by the way -- I did try to find some more information about why they closed it so quickly. But every time I found a little bit, whenever I tried to look for more, it was always behind a 'classified' barrier.

"I realized that, if they'd gone to this much trouble to hush everything up, that it had to be something fishy. But also that, since they '''did''' go to this much trouble, that if I found something, that I would probably get in trouble. I didn't want Keith involved in it, so I pretended to accept it. He... didn't take it too well. A couple of days before he disappeared entirely -- probably when you all went into space -- he and I had a pretty heated argument over dinner. I sent him to his room, and he was gone in the morning," he explains.

Shiro sighs and shakes his head. "I can't say I'm surprised," he replies, "Sorry that things got rough with him...if I had ANY idea things were going to go the way they had, I'd have definitely left you with some better assistance in dealing with Keith and his temper."

"I'm not sure what you could have done," Adam replies. "Keith is the way he is. Though I'm glad he seems to have gotten better about all that. I just wish I could have apologized before... well, before I died."

"It's not as if it's your fault any of it happened," Shiro points out, "There's not much you should have to apologize for. You were trying to protect him."

Adam tilts his head, first one way and then the other, in a gesture indicating 'maybe'. "That's true. But then I guess there's no real point in dwelling on it, since it's all in the past now," he notes quietly. He leans back on the couch, now less tense.

"That's true," Shiro agrees, "I'm not worried about things and you shouldn't be either. I wouldn't be helping you out this much if you were a bother to me. You're one of the most important people, so...this is fine."

Adam... actually blushes at that, though he tries not to show it. He looks away, at the coffee table. "I don't know if I'm 'one of the most important people', but... I do appreciate the help," He pauses, and then admits, "...And the company."

"If you aren't, then who is," Shiro wonders with a blink. Obviously Keith, but obviously not in the same way... "We were engaged and everything."

Adam's still blushing, though it's rather light. "Yes, but... we aren't now," he points out. "We're... friends, right?" He doesn't want to assume. And then he also notes, "We're both going to get homesick to some degree, like as not, and latching onto each other romantically again because it's familiar... that wouldn't be fair to either one of us. That would be using each other, and I don't want to do that to you."

Shiro nods. "Friends sounds right," he states, "Neither of us want to mess things up for each other again, but it's not as if we parted '''so''' messily that we hate each other now either."

"Yeah," Adam agrees. It's one thing he's been grateful for, even before he 'died' back home. Though if Shiro were a less understanding man, he might have developed a dislike for Adam due to the circumstances of their breakup. And Keith's little nickname for him... He chuckles. "...That reminds me. Keith used to call me 'Laundryman'. Because he used to say I hung you out to dry when we broke up."

"Ooof...yeah, I don't feel like that's the case," Shiro states, "We seem to be at a disagreement about who left who even." He chuckles a little. "I mean, it's no question who ended the situation, but which actually left..."

Adam nods. "I guess it doesn't really matter," he replies. "We both did what we felt was right at the time, and I don't think there's any blame to be had in that. As for Keith... he was angry; I was convenient and close to the situation. I understand it."

Shiro nods hesitantly. "I don't want to say it was justified, but in his situation it did make sense..." Shiro sighs, "Unfortunately, it'd be a bit late to scold him for it even if he was here."

"I don't blame him for it," Adam replies. "I never did. I was trying to protect him, but it must have seemed like I had just... well, that I really '''had''' just left you to twist in the wind. He wouldn't have known any different. So I can't expect him to act any different."

"True, with how he is about peopling," Shiro replies, "With things like finally meeting his mother, he got a LITTLE better."

Adam nods. "I'm glad. Not just for you, but for him too. That was holding him a back a lot, that he didn't know how to deal with people in general. If he's improved, that should improve things for his life in general."

"It really has," Shiro answers, "It doesn't hurt any that his mom is kind of cool too. I'm sure the Galra are in good hands with her and Kolivian as the ambassadors."

"That's right... you mentioned that it was found out that he was half-Galra," Adam recalls. He sighs. "So much happened that I didn't get to experience. So much that could have been done better, if we'd only known..."

"Unfortunately, the past can't be changed," Shiro states, "And even if it could...well....that might be a bad idea...besides, for the most part things came out better in the end."

Adam nods once more. "That's very true. I suppose we can always wish things were different, but there's not really much point in dwelling on it. So..." He straightens a little, sitting on the couch properly. "Let me get started on a proper dinner, what do you say?"

"Sure, thank you," Shiro states, "I wouldn't be able to eat well without you..." He gives a little chuckle after admitting as much. Honestly he can't sleep well either, but he's not mentioning that one.

Unfortunately, that's something Adam can't really help Shiro with. Well, he could, but it would be super awkward for him.

Adam stands, then, and starts to head into the kitchen. "I hope the ''obanyaki'' didn't spoil your appetite too much," he observes. Though at least he doesn't feel bad enough that he can't eat, so that's always a plus!

"Not at all," Shiro says teasingly, "Just don't let the kids know I had my candy before food."

Adam gives a quiet laugh at that. "Our secret," he agrees, smiling mischievously before heading into the kitchen proper.

|}}

2020-03-18 - WHY ARE THERE SPIDERS?!

2020-03-18T16:30:21Z

DariRyusei: Zenitsu seems to be lost in Twisted. And there are spiders. Because of course it had to be spiders...

{{Logsummary|
Title = WHY ARE THERE SPIDERS?!
|Summary = Zenitsu seems to be lost in Twisted. And one of the first things he sees? Spiders. Because of course it had to be spiders...
|Who = [[Zenitsu Agatsuma]], [[Theo]]
|Date = March 18, 2020
|Where = [[The Twisted Street]], [[Truce Fountain]]
|Log=

"My life is so unfair..." A young blonde boy mumbles from his prone position, face-down on the sidewalk near the Usual. "You shouldn't be cursed for killing a demon, right? You shouldn't be..." He's lamenting his luck which is, by his own accounts, terrible.

Only moments earlier, the wall of a nearby building had morphed into a Japanese-style Shoji door, complete with translucent panels. Zenitsu had walked through it from the mansion he was staying at, and exited into Twisted... about ten feet off the ground. Unsurprisingly, he fell face first, and has decided it would be better if he just didn't move from where he is. That way he doesn't have to see that he's in the crazy place again. He hates the crazy place.

Of course, the door faded away after it closed behind him. So no evidence. And no way back. Again.

Of course, it just so happened that Theo was walking down the street about then. And not just him, either. He's surrounded by a small horde of the tiny, golden spiders -- there are about ten on the ground around his feet, and two or three on his person somewhere. And one on the top of his head, riding around up there like it's the king of the world.

So, while Zenitsu hears a concerned young man's voice ask, "Oh! Are you all right?" If he tilts his head up, the first thing he'll see?

Metal spiders. Tiny, dopey looking things. But metal spiders nonetheless.

As he hears a voice, Zenitsu slowly turns his head without moving from his place on the ground, looking towards it. He looks absolutely crestfallen. "..." His voice, too, sounds utterly defeated. "...Of course it's spiders..." He slowly turns his head back to grind his face into the ground rather than look, not moving.

"..."

"..."

"...It's spiders!?" Suddenly, the blonde boy leaps up and away from the tiny spiders as if they (or he) were on fire. He goes from prone and not moving to on his feet and thirty feet away comically fast, and is hiding behind an alleyway corner just as fast. "No, I'm not alright! I hate it here! Why are there spiders?!?" It looks like his fear is more powerful than his depression, after all.

And as he leaps up, the spiders actually jump too, shrieking in their tiny voices, ''"Mu-'''RIIIIIIIIII'''!"'' The ones on the ground start running around in circles, their dopey faces taking on what look like frightened looks. A few even run into each other and fall over.

However, Theo frowns at all this. "Stop that, all of you," he says firmly. It's not aimed at the fallen boy. He leans down and shoos the metal spiders away. They mostly run behind him, as if hiding from Zenitsu.

Looking at Zenitsu then, Theo notes, "I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to be able to see them. Most people can't. They're mine. And they're harmless. They don't bite, they're not venomous -- nothing like that."

From his place hiding in the corner, Zenitsu furrows his brows and looks at the young man talking to him. They're his spiders? But he doesn't LOOK like a demon. Zenitsu tries to focus his hearing on Theo, to see if the man's body sounds human or something else. "...Are you sure they don't inject you with poison that fills your lungs, makes all your hair fall out, and then goes up to your brain and you DIE?"

... That's oddly specific.

Theo blinks at this. "Uh... no. They don't bite," he assures. "They spin golden threads, but those threads are more for healing than for hurting. I call them 'Spin Doctors'. They're my Stand." As he explains this, a few of the spiders move to his hand, and spin a cat's cradle sort of arrangement of golden threads between his fingers.

From the sounds of it, this blond fellow sounds human. He doesn't sense as a demon, either, if Zenitsu can sense these things. Though, if he's able to sense it, Theo does sense as a psychic might.

"Spin doctors..." Zenitsu cautiously steps out of the alleyway, looking Theo over a bit more. Theo sounds human internally, so there's that. He dresses strange, but then, Zenitsu thinks everyone here dresses strange. Which is a bit of an unfair judgement coming from someone wearing an orange and white patterned haori.

"I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma." He doesn't offer his hand or anything, but gives a quick and short bow, not letting the spiders out of his vision. It seems clear the term sailed completely over his head. And most things probably do - he's quite short. "It's uhm." He swallows, still looking nervous. "It's a pleasure." Not everyone here with weird powers is a demon. He remembers that. He's probably not going to die.

Probably.

The young man he's speaking to seems to be in his late teens. Blond hair, amber-colored eyes. His hair's in a short ponytail, and he seems to have an almost aristocratic air about him. He's kind of tall, but lanky, though his shoulders have a noticeable bit of definition to them. As for the way he dresses? Yeah, it's pretty strange, comparatively -- it's a t-shirt, a denim vest, blue jeans (a different color blue than his vest), and sneakers.

The really weird bit? The pins on his lapel. On the right lapel is a skull with an open mouth that sports fangs; on the left is a heart with a lightning bolt shaped groove cut in the middle that gives the suggestion of a 'broken' heart.

When Zenitsu bows, Theo does as well, with a bit of a flourish. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Theodore Rabanne -- 'Theo' if you'd prefer."

"Theo..." Zenitsu repeats the name with a slow nod, and swallows again as he cautiously takes a few more steps out of the alleyway. Theo is the first person that ever returned his bow. Maybe he'll be more helpful? "...Do you know where this place is? I keep finding myself here, and noone seems to think it's strange that I don't know how I got here."

The short blonde kid crosses his arms, looking uncomfortable. "That's weird, isn't it? It's really weird..." He glances around, trying to see if he recognizes this part of the place. He's been around a few times now.

"'Here' as in, 'this world'?" Theo inquires. "Or just, 'here' as in 'this street'? If you mean the world itself... I'm still learning about that myself. But from what I understand, when people get lost when they're traveling through the dimensions, sometimes they'll end up here...?" He doesn't really sound like he's completely sure. "There is a welcome center, if you'd like to try to understand it. But I don't think there's a way to leave, so you might keep finding yourself here because you're trying to leave and can't."

"Both?" Zenitsu asks hopefully when Theo asks for clarification. The following information doesn't fully help him, though, he just looks concerned. "A place between dimensions? Like the space between train cars?" He looks like he's trying to understand, but it's not exactly something he's ready to wrap his brain around.

"So I'm stuck here?" He lets his head sink, and sighs. "...Of course I am." He looks back to Theo after a moment, and his shoulders slump. "How am I going to marry Nezuko-chan now?" He was never going to.

Oh good. The kid at least knows what a train car is. So that means he's not from a world without technology. Which makes explaining things a little easier. "Sort of," he agrees. "The space between train cars if the doors to both cars were locked and you were stuck outside. Does that make a little more sense?" It doesn't to Theo.

The mention of missing a beloved gets a frown. "I'm sorry. It's not exactly wonderful news, to be stuck here. But the place is reasonably safe, if a little unusual, so long as you stay out of the wastelands."

"I guess it makes sense." Zenitsu concedes, furrowing his brow. "There was a demon that made his own dimensions he kept victims and treasure in - it must be a place like that." ... That's weirdly close, actually.

"The wastelands?" Zenitsu tenses up a bit and looks around. With his luck, the next time he appears here, it will be there. Wherever there is. "Is there a way to avoid those?" Yeah. Don't go there.

"It might be something like that," Theo replies. "Though, I get the feeling it's less we were brought here to be prisoners and more we were brought here to save us from being thrown down the corridors of space and time."

As for a way to avoid the wastelands? Theo blinks a bit. "Just avoid any place where the landscape seems to be falling apart. Things seem to sort of... collapse as you move further away from the center of things."

"That sounds awful." Zenitsu says, shifting his feet a bit as he bites his lip. That's definitely the kind of place he'd die. Definitely don't go there for any reason. "But easy to spot." Was he afraid the wastelands were just going to sneak up on him?

"...So, where is this welcome center?" Oh hey, he was listening!

Theo nods, and points to the west. "Things get a little unstable over there, though I can't really explain how," he offers. "There's still civilization over there, though." As for the welcome center? "That's in the courthouse, I believe," he notes. "I've only been inside it once, when I first came here. Which... admittedly wasn't too terribly long ago, only a few months. There's information there that explains things a little better than I likely could."

In the courthouse. Zenitsu nods, processing the information, and shifts a little bit. "Well, that doesn't sound too dangerous. Do they uhm... do they allow swords in the courthouse?" He is wearing one, but he hasn't been clutching it for dear life or anything. "...I don't know anything about the police here." Except that they walk through walls and don't have time for him.

Theo tilts his head. "I don't think it's a big problem," he notes. "There are a lot of people who come here with weapons. I can't say for certain, but I would think their greatest concern is keeping newcomers from harming others. So as long as you leave it sheathed when you enter, you should be all right. Though I won't give guarantees about that."

"Well, that's not a problem. Demon slayers don't kill people." Zenitsu says, relaxing visibly. He takes a slow, deep breath, then offers a small, weak smile. "...So uhm. I'm not lost! Or anything. But if we were pretending I was lost, and didn't know where the courthouse was..."

The blonde kid trails off, looking hopeful. He's cautiously optimistic this might not be as scary as the last two times. Talking bats, plastic monsters, and now metal spiders. This place is really, really weird.

"It's all right if you don't know the way," Theo notes. "I haven't learned the layout of the place in the few months I've been here. At least, not the smaller details of the place. I believe the courthouse is in the direction of the fountain in Truce Courtyard?" He also doesn't sound very sure about that. "Let's go in that direction and see, shall we?"

With a nod, Zenitsu keeps looking around. "Right. I think I remember a fountain." He doesn't know which way that is, but he knows it exists. Progress! "It was..." He turns and looks around for a full circle, before shrugging. "...Somewhere!" Keep that positive attitude, Zeni!

He'll just follow Theo. That seems best.

Theo actually turns a bit as well, as if he's also not sure where he's at. "Hm..." He starts to head east... and then shakes his head. "No, that's not right," he decides, and heads the other way. "Oh wait, that's right." He pulls out a phone, and opens an app. "Aha, there we are," he notes. "I know where we are now, I know the way." So he heads west.

While Zenitsu doesn't seem to think it's weird to double back, since he doesn't know where they are in the first place, Theo does get an odd look when he pulls out a phone. The short swordsman tilts his head to one side as they walk. "...What's that? Why is it buzzing?" It's not. ...Is it?

"It's a phone," Theo replies. A pause, then, at the question. "Buzzing?" Then he realizes it! "Oh, the energy? It's electronic. Most electronic devices have that sort of 'sound'. Is that what it is? A sort of... whine?" Though he'll head north, too, since the map says that-a-way.

"That's a phone?!" Zenitsu asks, shocked. "...I've never seen one, but I'd heard they had..." He pantomimes something, running his hands up and down through the air. "...You know... wires." He's never seen a phone? Oy. "...Also I don't know what electronic means. It sounds like... yeah... like the walls in places with those electric lights." Sure, it's normal to be able to hear the electric current running through walls. Nothing odd, there.

Theo nods. "Those are older phones, yes," he confirms. "I'm from a world that has what are called 'cellular' phones. They're phones that you can take with you. There's an infrastructure there that supports this. It works similarly to a radio, broadcasting the signals to a cellular phone that's enabled to receive and send the signals. I'm not sure I've found one here yet, but the phone still works. I added some pictures to help me get around, since the layout is a little strange."

As for the electric lights? "Ha... I thought I was the only one who could hear that," he notes. "I've gotten accustomed to it, but I do definitely still hear it. And when there's a lot of electronics in a room, it's very difficult to ignore."

"Ah." Zenitsu nods his head as he listens to Theo explain, and then keeps nodding after the explanation is done for a moment, before blinking a bit. "I knew some of those words." Right, well, time travel. Or whatever this is.

"So it's a handheld radio phone. And it buzzes. And ... has pictures?" Yeah, he's sort of getting it. "...Like a photograph?" He's not even paying attention to where they're going now, good thing Theo is.

"It can take photographs as well," Theo confirms. He pauses a moment, opening another app. He turns to face Zenitsu then, raises the phone, and presses the screen. There's a 'click!' sound, and, assuming this doesn't eat Zenitsu's soul or something -- if it does, it's not the phone! -- he'll turn the screen towards Zenitsu. There should be a picture there. "You see?"

"Huh." Zenitsu says upon hearing the click. "But you didn't press a button or lever or anything." He knows how technology works! There are buttons and levers! Everywhere! He takes a look at the phone. "...And that's what my hair looks like?" He sounds a bit depressed again. It's not SO bad. Just a yellow ... ... mop.

Theo swipes the picture off the screen and it returns to the camera view. Then he points at the little white dot on the bottom of the screen in this mode. "That right there. That's the 'shutter'. He chuckles at the mention of Zeitsu's hair. "Ah, it isn't that bad," he reassures. "I have definitely seen worse hair." Theo closes the phone app, and then opens the map again. Northward-bound again!

"That's... really interesting!" Zenitsu says, almost walking into a post as he looks at the images on Theo's phone. He doesn't get how it works, but it's obvious the screen can tell where it's being touched. "I can see why you'd want to keep one with you. It must be quite a treasure." Yeah, it's not unusual, man. Not at all.

Theo notes this, "They're fairly common where I come from. Though possibly I should say 'when' I come from. Many people, from many different worlds -- and many different times -- end up here. So there's liable to be a lot of out-of-place technology."

But, as they're in the courtyard, Theo offers, "The police department is there. Inside it, there is a courthouse. And inside the courthouse, there is the Welcome Center. There are signs pointing to things, and you shouldn't get lost. I would go in with you, but Mother Nature is calling, and I do need to answer, rather urgently."

...But his phone didn't ring...

"Mother... Nature..." Zenitsu isn't familiar with the phrase. It must be someone Theo knows. Well, it's not like Zenitsu knows how those phones work anyway. He doesn't even see a receiver. Maybe they can just hear you? "...Ok! I'll head in then. Thank you, Theo!" He gives a quick head bow, and then turns to look towards the MCPD before running in. "Don't die!" ...Is he talking to Theo, or himself, there?

"Take care," Theo offers in return, bowing in return as well. He blinks a little at the 'don't die'. "That's the plan!" he calls out, waving a bit.
|}}

2020-03-16 - Pants On Fire

2020-03-17T13:33:28Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Pants On Fire
|Summary = Nathan hears a disturbance -- a snake slinging fire in a bar. Turns out Deis was feeling disrespected! Hinoken joins later, when a patron comes out with their pants on fire.
|Who = [[Deis]], [[Nathan Xeos]], [[Hinoken]]
|Date = March 16, 2020
|Where = [[Rotation Room]]
|Log=

FWOOSH!

"'''YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!'''"

It's an evil-sounding hiss, very much unlike the beautiful blue-haired woman that was there just a moment ago. In her place is now... well, she's still a beautiful blue-haired woman from the waist up. But from the waist down, she's a serpent.

More to the point? She's also hurling fireballs. Inside a bar. Full of very flammable alcohol. Now ordinarily, Deis would be more careful than to just throw fireballs around a bar full of alcohol... but she's actually kinda drunk, and she's mad because her butt got grabbed...

Nathan Xeos meanwhile, is elsewhere in the district. Now, the commotion from one of the many bars in the area is rather noticable since well, the flames give it away... And while he isn't the police, he '''is''' however the best that's on hand at the moment. He comes through the door, sword drawn, "Alright, what's all this then?" he barely stops to block a fireball with his sword.

Deis doesn't seem to notice that she's thrown a fireball his direction -- it was instinctive, he was a new appearance. But when she pauses long enough to understand who's shown up, she stops throwing the fireballs. He's not attacking her, so he's not a threat to her.

No, instead she '''points''' at a bar patron who's cowering behind an overturned table... that is partially on fire. "'''THAT''' guy! Right there! That little no-good sack of rakda manure! '''HE GRABBED MY ASS'''!"

"I didn't know you was a witch, lady!" comes a frightened voice from behind the table. And then a yelp as Deis casts a bolt of lightning at the table.

"'''THAT SHOULDN'T MATTER!'''" Deis hisses. "You should know better than to just walk up behind people and '''GRAB''' them!"

Nathan Xeos has no idea what a rakda is, but very aware what manure is (Don't ask.). He flicks his sword, putting out the flames on it before quickly sheathing it. "Right. I'm thinking he learned his lesson." As a fellow master of elementalism, he casts an ice spell on the table to put out the fire to at least keep it from spreading. "Even though I would have thought it would be common sense by now." He keeps this up, and he's ether going to get a letter of hiring for the MCPD or a cease and desist.

It's less Nathan's words that actually have an affect on Deis's temper... and more the fact that he's using elemental magic that she can actually sense. He isn't just a pyrokinetic or a cryokinetic. It's '''actual magic'''. Which, as varied as the people are in Twisted, has been something she hasn't actually felt very much at all since she got here.

In fact it's so immediate an effect that the anger disappears from her face, and she looks to Nathan in surprise. "Oh hey... you use magic!" Yeah, she's drunk, excuse the cameo of Captain Obvious here...

Nathan Xeos is a veritable well of anima in fact, thanks to the Bees. "Yeah? I wouldn't think magic use would be '''that''' rare." He says slightly confused. "Not with the amount of strangeness this whole city exudes on a daily basis."

"Well, no..." Deis notes. "But you're right... I've found it surprising that I don't sense more people with magic. Because yeah, this place is pretty weird." She leans against a convenient piece of furniture -- thankfully she hasn't wrecked '''too''' much stuff in here, just that table that dude was hiding behind -- and leans a little closer to him, as if trying to see him closer.

Aaaaand while she's distracted with that? Mr. Assgrabber gets up and runs out the door. He's not taking the chance she'll get undistracted and start throwing fireballs at him again! Deis does, in fact see him, and pitches a small fireball out the door after him. The yelp indicates she might have hit her target, but she doesn't see where. Which is kind of a pity, because there's a guy with his butt on fire, running down the street now.

As that man goes running down the street with his ass on fire, another man with a fiery disposition is walking by, and just happens to take notice. Yes, it's Hinoken, and he's soon sauntering into the bar with FireMan behind him, just in case. "Hey now, burning stuff down is supposed to be '''our''' job." he remarks, glancing at both Nathan and Deis. Oh, that's a face he remembers alright. "Heh. You really are a girl after my own heart, aren't you? Didn't take you for an arsonist though."

"Well, I can't say he doesn't deserve it, but it probably wasn't necessary." Nathan's moved a little closer to the center of the room, to get out of the way of Mr Pantsonfire and to not be blocking the door. "I wasn't burning anything down." Not at the moment anyway.

It's probably also a tail Hinoken remembers, since Deis is in her half-serpent/lamia form at the moment! Deis waves at Hinoken! "Hi!" she greets, far too brightly. Yeah, she's drunk. The flushed cheeks are pretty clear on that. "Oh, that guy? He decided he was going to grab my butt, so I decided to set his on fire! I figured it was a fair trade~."

To Nathan she nods. "Admittedly, if I wasn't several sheets t' the wind right now, I prob'ly woulda just turned around 'n socked him one." Which would have done its own damage, but probably less than she did as things stand. Fortunately the place isn't too messed up. Should be easily replaceable.

Hinoken definitely remembers the tail, yes. And he can tell she's had too much to drink, even if she wasn't flinging fireballs everywhere. "Well, guess he got what he deserved." he says with a shrug, then waves an arm towards the destruction. "I don't think the rest of the bar deserved to burn for it, though." He also nods to Nathan. Oh, he understands.

Nathan Xeos was just the one who arrived first after the fireballs started flying. He's also a mage, which apparently help distract the snake lady. "I doubt the owner's going to lose sleep over some cheap tables and chairs. Anyhow, I take it you two know each other?"

Deis pouts at the mention of the rest of the bar. "It's not that bad," she protests. Though in all seriousness, it really isn't that bad. A couple tables got burnt, one was scorched by lightning. It shouldn't be that difficult to fix. And all in all, for a literal drunken goddess's rampage, it's incredibly minor.

Nathan's question gets an affirmative, "Mhm! Though we only just met once, and only a little while ago. He was surfing, and I was swimming and sunning."

Hinoken shrugs at Nathan's words. "It ain't the Usual, but I'll take your word for it. Either way, I'm not paying for damages." he says, then smiles and nods as Deis answers Nathan's question. "Yep, just acquaintances. Talked a little bit on the beach, is all."

Nathan Xeos nods. "Well, that clears that up. Could be worse, fire could have spread." Not like anyone here's going to be on the hook, not with Sir Flamingarse out there. "Not the best way to meet up for a second time."

Meanwhile, Deis is actually starting to help clean up the mess. She'll need to do something to offset the cost -- maybe she can try to bless the booze for a while or something. That'll come later, though. For now, just picking up the trashed bits should be enough. "Not to worry... Hinoken, was it?" She's only met him once before. "I'll take care of it. It's my fault, so the least I can do is pick it up."

Fortunately, the guy's probably gotten it put out by now. Likely in the cartoony fashion of jumping in a lake or something. Possibly the ocean if he made it all the way down to the beach with his butt on fire! "Hey, I've had worse meetings -- first time '''and''' last meetings," she says to Nathan. "Ever entertained guests completely naked? In my human form, now. Directly after waking up from a five-century sealing-away."

Hinoken shrugs, moving to help clean up as well... and put out any fires that may still be smoldering. "Nah, I'm here already, may as well." he responds, righting a chair that had been knocked over. FireMan, in the meantime, just awkwardly stands around, staring at the flamethrowers he has in place of hands. Why, oh why...

"Well, that's... Slightly different." Nathan's helping with the cleanup as well. He's most certainly not actually using magic to undo some damage. "I try to keep clothing within arms reach usually, even from the grave."

Deis offers a positively beaming smile to Hinoken. "Aaah, thank you so much~," she chirps happily. And no, she's not going to put her share of the work on someone else. She's lazy, not a deadbeat! Now, she hadn't really noticed FireMan up to this point... thanks to being drunk. But since he seems to be looking as though he's confused as to how to help? "Hold still there, you can carry stuff, right?" Deis inquires. And she'll make to place the charred debris over his arms. "There, now you can help!"

Nathan's words of keeping clothes in arms' reach gets a chuckle. "Usually I try to, yeah. But when your sister's four chosen warriors decide you're an evil demon and that they need to seal you away to keep your 'evil' contained, they generally don't give you time to put on your best clothes," she notes, amused.

Should FireMan have allowed her to pile up stuff on his arms, she'll head over and pick it up from his arms (if not she'll have been making a neat pile of it) once things are mostly cleaned up. "I need to find a dumpster for this." Pause. "Oh, right." She'll also give her contact address to the bartender, just so he doesn't think she's running out on the bill. "That's probably it for me as far as drinking tonight. There's only so drunk I allow myself to get. But... yeah. Gotta throw this stuff away. Take care, if I don't see you guys again tonight~."

Hinoken laughs a little at the explanation of Deis's history with her siblings. "Wow, sounds like some crazy family issues. And here I thought '''my''' folks were bad." FireMan, in the meantime, seems to actually be quite happy to have found a way to help, even if it's as a glorified shelf for stacking broken things on. Once Deis goes to leave though, Hinoken nods and waves her off. "Seeya later!"

FireMan finally speaks up at this point. "Maybe I could have burned the trash?"

Nathan Xeos may have accidentally caused a paradox and made one of the chairs rapidly decay into rotten wood, but thankfully it was one of the ones already getting thrown out, so no further damage done. "And that is why you don't drink and cast..." He waves Deis off. "I'd ask, but from the sounds of it the answer would only be more confusing." He shakes his head. "We just avoided a fire, plus I'd rather not test the ventilation here. I suspect the building codes were more vague suggestions."

Hinoken grins at FireMan, patting the Navi on one of his oversized boxy shoulders. "'Ey, there there. You'll get a chance to burn something sooner or later, pal." he says, then recalls FireMan back into the device at his side with a flash of red light. Turning to Nathan, he chuckles and nods. "I think he meant outside, not in the bar."

"I'd hope so. The fewer places burning down the better." Nathan nods. He's seen a couple cult hideouts burn down. Mostly his fault from overheating, but the cult never really gave him much time to cool off. "Ever consider taking up wood burning?"

Hinoken raises an eyebrow, curious. "Wood burning? You mean for things other than campfires or smoking steaks?" he asks, stroking his oh-so-pointy beard.

Nathan Xeos nods. "You know, carpentry wood burning. I've seen some people take a plank and burn art into it. Not easy, since you don't want to set it on fire entirely, but it can get super detailed if you know what you're doing."

Hinoken nods as well. "Ooh, I see. I think I've seen things like that. Sounds like something I could get into as a hobby, sure. Maybe even sell some on the side for some extra dough."

"Exactly. Lumber's not hard to get, and heat shouldn't be an issue." Nathan catches a clock out of the corner of his eye. Well, this has been a rather long detour. Well, I guess spellcasting snakes do that. "Gah, is that the time?"

Hinoken chuckles and looks up at the clock as well. "Yeah, seems that way. Guess we should get going. I'm Hinoken, by the way, pleasure to meet you." he says and offers a hand for Nathan to shake.

Nathan Xeos gives a good hearty shake. "Nathan Xeos. A pleasure as well. Serial bounty hunter nowadays. Thankfully I've kept out of the papers so far." He heads to the door, "Speaking of which, I should make sure to stop by the bounty office."

Hinoken grins at the hearty handshake, heading for the door as well. "Nothing so exciting for me. I'm just the chef at the Usual. Anyway, see you later, Mr. Xeos!"
|}}

2020-03-16 - Pants On Fire

2020-03-17T13:32:36Z

DariRyusei: Deis gets upset and responds with fire! Nathan comes to see what the trouble is, and Hinoken sees fire and wants to defend his territory.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Pants On Fire
|Summary = Nathan hears a disturbance -- a snake slinging fire in a bar. Turns out Deis was feeling disrespected! Hinoken joins later, when a patron comes out with their pants on fire.
|Who = [[Deis]], [[Nathan Xeos]], [[Hinoken]]
|Date = March 16, 2020
|Where = [[Rotation Room]]
|Log=

FWOOSH!

"'''YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!'''"

It's an evil-sounding hiss, very much unlike the beautiful blue-haired woman that was there just a moment ago. In her place is now... well, she's still a beautiful blue-haired woman from the waist up. But from the waist down, she's a serpent.

More to the point? She's also hurling fireballs. Inside a bar. Full of very flammable alcohol. Now ordinarily, Deis would be more careful than to just throw fireballs around a bar full of alcohol... but she's actually kinda drunk, and she's mad because her butt got grabbed...

Nathan Xeos meanwhile, is elsewhere in the district. Now, the commotion from one of the many bars in the area is rather noticable since well, the flames give it away... And while he isn't the police, he IS however the best that's on hand at the moment. He comes through the door, sword drawn, "Alright, what's all this then?" he barely stops to block a fireball with his sword.

Deis doesn't seem to notice that she's thrown a fireball his direction -- it was instinctive, he was a new appearance. But when she pauses long enough to understand who's shown up, she stops throwing the fireballs. He's not attacking her, so he's not a threat to her.

No, instead she POINTS at a bar patron who's cowering behind an overturned table... that is partially on fire. "'''THAT''' guy! Right there! That little no-good sack of rakda manure! '''HE GRABBED MY ASS'''!"

"I didn't know you was a witch, lady!" comes a frightened voice from behind the table. And then a yelp as Deis casts a bolt of lightning at the table.

"'''THAT SHOULDN'T MATTER!'''" Deis hisses. "You should know better than to just walk up behind people and '''GRAB''' them!"

Nathan Xeos has no idea what a rakda is, but very aware what manure is (Don't ask.). He flicks his sword, putting out the flames on it before quickly sheathing it. "Right. I'm thinking he learned his lesson." As a fellow master of elementalism, he casts an ice spell on the table to put out the fire to at least keep it from spreading. "Even though I would have thought it would be common sense by now." He keeps this up, and he's ether going to get a letter of hiring for the MCPD or a cease and desist.

It's less Nathan's words that actually have an affect on Deis's temper... and more the fact that he's using elemental magic that she can actually sense. He isn't just a pyrokinetic or a cryokinetic. It's '''actual magic'''. Which, as varied as the people are in Twisted, has been something she hasn't actually felt very much at all since she got here.

In fact it's so immediate an effect that the anger disappears from her face, and she looks to Nathan in surprise. "Oh hey... you use magic!" Yeah, she's drunk, excuse the cameo of Captain Obvious here...

Nathan Xeos is a veritable well of anima in fact, thanks to the Bees. "Yeah? I wouldn't think magic use would be '''that''' rare." He says slightly confused. "Not with the amount of strangeness this whole city exudes on a daily basis."

"Well, no..." Deis notes. "But you're right... I've found it surprising that I don't sense more people with magic. Because yeah, this place is pretty weird." She leans against a convenient piece of furniture -- thankfully she hasn't wrecked '''too''' much stuff in here, just that table that dude was hiding behind -- and leans a little closer to him, as if trying to see him closer.

Aaaaand while she's distracted with that? Mr. Assgrabber gets up and runs out the door. He's not taking the chance she'll get undistracted and start throwing fireballs at him again! Deis does, in fact see him, and pitches a small fireball out the door after him. The yelp indicates she might have hit her target, but she doesn't see where. Which is kind of a pity, because there's a guy with his butt on fire, running down the street now.

As that man goes running down the street with his ass on fire, another man with a fiery disposition is walking by, and just happens to take notice. Yes, it's Hinoken, and he's soon sauntering into the bar with FireMan behind him, just in case. "Hey now, burning stuff down is supposed to be '''our''' job." he remarks, glancing at both Nathan and Deis. Oh, that's a face he remembers alright. "Heh. You really are a girl after my own heart, aren't you? Didn't take you for an arsonist though."

"Well, I can't say he doesn't deserve it, but it probably wasn't necessary." Nathan's moved a little closer to the center of the room, to get out of the way of Mr Pantsonfire and to not be blocking the door. "I wasn't burning anything down." Not at the moment anyway.

It's probably also a tail Hinoken remembers, since Deis is in her half-serpent/lamia form at the moment! Deis waves at Hinoken! "Hi!" she greets, far too brightly. Yeah, she's drunk. The flushed cheeks are pretty clear on that. "Oh, that guy? He decided he was going to grab my butt, so I decided to set his on fire! I figured it was a fair trade~."

To Nathan she nods. "Admittedly, if I wasn't several sheets t' the wind right now, I prob'ly woulda just turned around 'n socked him one." Which would have done its own damage, but probably less than she did as things stand. Fortunately the place isn't too messed up. Should be easily replaceable.

Hinoken definitely remembers the tail, yes. And he can tell she's had too much to drink, even if she wasn't flinging fireballs everywhere. "Well, guess he got what he deserved." he says with a shrug, then waves an arm towards the destruction. "I don't think the rest of the bar deserved to burn for it, though." He also nods to Nathan. Oh, he understands.

Nathan Xeos was just the one who arrived first after the fireballs started flying. He's also a mage, which apparently help distract the snake lady. "I doubt the owner's going to lose sleep over some cheap tables and chairs. Anyhow, I take it you two know each other?"

Deis pouts at the mention of the rest of the bar. "It's not that bad," she protests. Though in all seriousness, it really isn't that bad. A couple tables got burnt, one was scorched by lightning. It shouldn't be that difficult to fix. And all in all, for a literal drunken goddess's rampage, it's incredibly minor.

Nathan's question gets an affirmative, "Mhm! Though we only just met once, and only a little while ago. He was surfing, and I was swimming and sunning."

Hinoken shrugs at Nathan's words. "It ain't the Usual, but I'll take your word for it. Either way, I'm not paying for damages." he says, then smiles and nods as Deis answers Nathan's question. "Yep, just acquaintances. Talked a little bit on the beach, is all."

Nathan Xeos nods. "Well, that clears that up. Could be worse, fire could have spread." Not like anyone here's going to be on the hook, not with Sir Flamingarse out there. "Not the best way to meet up for a second time."

Meanwhile, Deis is actually starting to help clean up the mess. She'll need to do something to offset the cost -- maybe she can try to bless the booze for a while or something. That'll come later, though. For now, just picking up the trashed bits should be enough. "Not to worry... Hinoken, was it?" She's only met him once before. "I'll take care of it. It's my fault, so the least I can do is pick it up."

Fortunately, the guy's probably gotten it put out by now. Likely in the cartoony fashion of jumping in a lake or something. Possibly the ocean if he made it all the way down to the beach with his butt on fire! "Hey, I've had worse meetings -- first time '''and''' last meetings," she says to Nathan. "Ever entertained guests completely naked? In my human form, now. Directly after waking up from a five-century sealing-away."

Hinoken shrugs, moving to help clean up as well... and put out any fires that may still be smoldering. "Nah, I'm here already, may as well." he responds, righting a chair that had been knocked over. FireMan, in the meantime, just awkwardly stands around, staring at the flamethrowers he has in place of hands. Why, oh why...

"Well, that's... Slightly different." Nathan's helping with the cleanup as well. He's most certainly not actually using magic to undo some damage. "I try to keep clothing within arms reach usually, even from the grave."

Deis offers a positively beaming smile to Hinoken. "Aaah, thank you so much~," she chirps happily. And no, she's not going to put her share of the work on someone else. She's lazy, not a deadbeat! Now, she hadn't really noticed FireMan up to this point... thanks to being drunk. But since he seems to be looking as though he's confused as to how to help? "Hold still there, you can carry stuff, right?" Deis inquires. And she'll make to place the charred debris over his arms. "There, now you can help!"

Nathan's words of keeping clothes in arms' reach gets a chuckle. "Usually I try to, yeah. But when your sister's four chosen warriors decide you're an evil demon and that they need to seal you away to keep your 'evil' contained, they generally don't give you time to put on your best clothes," she notes, amused.

Should FireMan have allowed her to pile up stuff on his arms, she'll head over and pick it up from his arms (if not she'll have been making a neat pile of it) once things are mostly cleaned up. "I need to find a dumpster for this." Pause. "Oh, right." She'll also give her contact address to the bartender, just so he doesn't think she's running out on the bill. "That's probably it for me as far as drinking tonight. There's only so drunk I allow myself to get. But... yeah. Gotta throw this stuff away. Take care, if I don't see you guys again tonight~."

Hinoken laughs a little at the explanation of Deis's history with her siblings. "Wow, sounds like some crazy family issues. And here I thought '''my''' folks were bad." FireMan, in the meantime, seems to actually be quite happy to have found a way to help, even if it's as a glorified shelf for stacking broken things on. Once Deis goes to leave though, Hinoken nods and waves her off. "Seeya later!"

FireMan finally speaks up at this point. "Maybe I could have burned the trash?"

Nathan Xeos may have accidentally caused a paradox and made one of the chairs rapidly decay into rotten wood, but thankfully it was one of the ones already getting thrown out, so no further damage done. "And that is why you don't drink and cast..." He waves Deis off. "I'd ask, but from the sounds of it the answer would only be more confusing." He shakes his head. "We just avoided a fire, plus I'd rather not test the ventilation here. I suspect the building codes were more vague suggestions."

Hinoken grins at FireMan, patting the Navi on one of his oversized boxy shoulders. "'Ey, there there. You'll get a chance to burn something sooner or later, pal." he says, then recalls FireMan back into the device at his side with a flash of red light. Turning to Nathan, he chuckles and nods. "I think he meant outside, not in the bar."

"I'd hope so. The fewer places burning down the better." Nathan nods. He's seen a couple cult hideouts burn down. Mostly his fault from overheating, but the cult never really gave him much time to cool off. "Ever consider taking up wood burning?"

Hinoken raises an eyebrow, curious. "Wood burning? You mean for things other than campfires or smoking steaks?" he asks, stroking his oh-so-pointy beard.

Nathan Xeos nods. "You know, carpentry wood burning. I've seen some people take a plank and burn art into it. Not easy, since you don't want to set it on fire entirely, but it can get super detailed if you know what you're doing."

Hinoken nods as well. "Ooh, I see. I think I've seen things like that. Sounds like something I could get into as a hobby, sure. Maybe even sell some on the side for some extra dough."

"Exactly. Lumber's not hard to get, and heat shouldn't be an issue." Nathan catches a clock out of the corner of his eye. Well, this has been a rather long detour. Well, I guess spellcasting snakes do that. "Gah, is that the time?"

Hinoken chuckles and looks up at the clock as well. "Yeah, seems that way. Guess we should get going. I'm Hinoken, by the way, pleasure to meet you." he says and offers a hand for Nathan to shake.

Nathan Xeos gives a good hearty shake. "Nathan Xeos. A pleasure as well. Serial bounty hunter nowadays. Thankfully I've kept out of the papers so far." He heads to the door, "Speaking of which, I should make sure to stop by the bounty office."

Hinoken grins at the hearty handshake, heading for the door as well. "Nothing so exciting for me. I'm just the chef at the Usual. Anyway, see you later, Mr. Xeos!"
|}}

2020-03-14 - Snakes, Surfers, Spellslingers, and Space-Men

2020-03-15T09:03:04Z

DariRyusei: An odd assortment of people seem attracted to the beach.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Snakes, Surfers, Spellslingers, and Space-Men
|Summary = An odd assortment of people seem attracted to the beach.
|Who = [[Deis]], [[Takashi Shirogane]], [[Constantine]], [[Hinoken]]
|Date = March 14, 2020
|Where = [[Zeku-Kari Beach]]
|Log=

Splash, splash!

That is, of course, someone swimming around in the water. It's a blue-haired woman with purple eyes, wearing the top of a purple-colored simsuit. Any lingering chill in the air doesn't seem to bother her as she's swimming. She swims kind of oddly, like something's propelling her through the water besides her own arms or legs. But in general, she's just sort of lazily paddling through the shallower waters.

Shiro wanders onto the beach as he continues trying to get more of a feel for the place. Hearing the splashing draws his attention, causing him to peer over at the woman swimming. The way she's moving does strike him as being odd somehow, but he can't really put his finger on what's wrong. He watches curiously for a moment before starting to look over the beach itself again.

At first it doesn't look like he's been noticed, but after a moment or two, the woman turns in his direction, probably accidentally. She offers a wave from the water, and whistles in greeting. She's not super-close to him, but he should be able to hear her.

Of course then Shiro gets a good idea of what's wrong... because she starts to exit the water. And as the level of the ocean drops... Yeah, that'll explain why it looked so wrong. And since she's not wearing that garment that normally overs her join, Shiro can see where the humanlike flesh and the reptilian scales gersmerge just under her waist.

"Hi there," the snake-woman offers. "Didn't expect anybody else out here. It's not warm enough for most people." She doesn't sound upset that he's there, just surprised.

Shiro tilts his head some at the whistling and waves back toward her. Her emergance from the water certainly does explain what felt wrong about the situation. "I hope I wasn't interrupting," Shiro replies, "I'm just exploring the area, so it's not that I came for a swim."

"Nah, you weren't interrupting," she replies. "Beach is big enough for everybody." She grins, and then offers a hand for a handshake. "Name's Deis. Pleased t'meet'cha!" she offers brightly. If Shiro does shake her hand? Okay wow that is a strong handshake! It wouldn't be enough to hurt his human hand, but it would definitely be enough to feel the strength behind it.

And Shiro certainly not only shakes her hand, but shakes with the human hand. "Ah, strong grip," he notes with a grin, "I'm Takashi Shirogane...I've been trying to learn about this place and decide on what I should do here." While Deis' apperance is a new one for him, it's not horribly strange, so he's at least polite enough not to stare awkwardly or anything else like that. "I'm happy to meet you too."

Fortunately Deis doesn't seem to be bothered by people who stare. The mention of the grip, though, gets a bit of a worried look. "I didn't hurt your hand, did I?" she inquires. "Sometimes I forget my own strength. Particularly here in this place -- there's so many people here that are more than a match for me that I forget that there's the odd human here and there." Ignoring that there are in fact humans EVERYWHERE. Maybe just not in the places she hangs out in. Or maybe they don't generally interact with her directly. "That's always easy to do when you sleep for a century or so."

"No," Shiro replies. "I'm fine....and you slept for a century? ...I seem to be getting a habit of meeting people who've been in very long sleeps."

Deis raises a brow. "Oh? I didn't realize there were others here that were as lazy as me." She grins, seeming to be proud of it. "But yeah... a century isn't a long nap for me. You get used to sleeping for hundreds of years at a time when you're acting as a little-called-upon goddess and your sibling handles most of it. Not that she didn't screw it up majorly, but..." A shrug.

"Dealing with a goddess is something new to me," Shiro admits with a raised brow, "I've delt with plenty of aliens, but not that sort of thing...also, I don't know that any of those people are here, but I met some aliens that were in cryosleep for a very long time."

Deis tilts her head, first one way and then the other. "It's a little more complicated than 'I'm a goddess'. But that's close enough for now." Which explains her phrasing, that she'd been 'acting' as a goddess. She nods here, and notes, "Likely they aren't here, if you haven't seen them. The place isn't that big, probably not big enough for them to get lost. Unless they're lost in the wastelands, and then there isn't anything you can really do about that."

Takashi Shirogane nods in agreement. "You seem to be taking things here alright," he states, "Have you been here long? Do you have any advice if you have? I've not been around very long and I am trying to help a friend who's recovering from some heavy injuries recover and settle in."

Deis nods. "I've been here a while, yeah. I hope your friend recovers soon, though. But, well... the best advice I've got is to not be surprised about anything. Because there's a lot of incredibly weird stuff here -- well, stuff that a newcomer here might find weird. Pretend it's a dream at first, and when you start accepting the weird, start to convince yourself it isn't a dream. That way you'll be able to adjust to it slowly, but still have a coping mechanism to fall back on if you haven't fully gotten used to it."

Shiro nods in understanding. "That seems sound," he agrees, "For my own part, I had a bit of a...unique job that I can't really think of how to apply here, so I'm trying to decide on some other job I could perform."

"Oh yeah? What did you do before you came here?" Deis inquires. "If you were martially-inclined, there's bounty hunting. It's dangerous, but it's paying work. I think there's a place in the Red Light District that's aimed at that stuff. Could be a cop, there's a police force. Maybe someone's personal bodyguard?" She gives a teasing grin here. She miiiiiight be teasing...

Takashi Shirogane says, "I was an astronaut. Bounty hunting...I don't think I could do it. Well, I could in the physical sense, but I am not looking to have a violent occupation like that for other reasons. ....bodyguard sounds the most promising out of all those choices..."

A trenchcoat comes sauntering down the beach, wrapped around a guy with a shock of blonde hair and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. His hands are casually thrust into his pockets.

There's a sudden burst of surf guitar, albeit entirely imaginary and in the head of exactly one person. As a big wave comes to crash on the shore, a tanned, redheaded man with a distinctive pointy beard comes along with it, riding on a flame-patterned board in similarly patterned swim trunks. It doesn't take long before he reaches the shore, hopping off his board and kicking it up to deftly snatch it under one arm. "Hey, didn't notice other people were on the beach! It's getting just warm enough, I guess!" greets the man known mostly as Hinoken.

Deis is there on the beach, in her half-snake form, but wearing a little less than usual -- a purple bikini top. She doesn't need much else, because she has about five feet of snake attached to her butt at the moment. But her join is exposed -- for anybody who cares, it's not a very sharply-demarcated join; the peach-colored human flesh blends into the pale green of the top of her tail.

She's talking to Shiro! Speaking of talking to Shiro, she admits, "Well, to be perfectly frank, I couldn't pay you. And I'm not sure of the threats you'd have to face as someone's bodyguard, or if people here care enough to want someone dead. This place is sort of... well, a lot of people have left their pasts behind."

And she notices the blond shock of hair, and the person it's attached to! Deis grins. "Hi!" she offers, waving at the trench coated man. "Good to see you again~!" And suddenly SURFBOARDER! "Whoa!" She backs up a bit, not that he's in any danger of hitting her. Mostly she's just a little startled. "Hi there," she offers the red-haired man. "Pretty nice moves there!"

John Constantine grins a bit, starting to wave back, then slowing a bit as the surfboarder lands ashore, just enough to ensure that he doesn't get soaked by the splash. It seems remarkably measured. "Hey," he calls to Deis.

Takashi Shirogane blinks a little as the other two arrive. "Huh, looks like we accidently brought on some company," he says with a chuckle, "Hello...and yes, I'd honestly rather go with something more mundane than that too, but I'm not entirely sure what I'd be good at...it's a little awkward, and probably something I'll have to figure out on my own with time."

Hinoken glances around at everyone gathered there. Several familiar faces, though mostly from working at the Usual. "Alright, well, for anyone who hasn't met me yet, I'm Hino Kenichi, or just Hinoken to most folks. I'm the chef at the Usual, so you can thank me for your favorite meals there... or blame Jim for bad ones!" This is followed up by a hearty laugh.

John Constantine ahs. "You make a dang good fish and chips for somebody who ain't British, unless you are?" Not that many Japanese Brits, but there *are* a few of them around.

"How've you been?" Deis asks to Constantine. Looking to Shiro, Deis nods. "Sometimes it takes people a while to find their niche here. I still haven't found mine," she admits. "It's not as big a problem. But you do have the benefit of the Integra Arms. They should keep you sheltered until you can find something. Maybe your friend can help where that's concerned." And Hinoken gets a grin. "Hey there. Name's Deis!" She also offers a handshake to him. He might want to be careful, though. Deis has quite a grip. But she's careful enough not to hurt him if he does accept the handshake.

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply about the situation with the Integra arms. "Hmm...the Usual? I've heard of it, but I haven't really tried it much yet... I've more been living off premade stuff from shops in the area." When Adam isn't cooking for him, and possibly scolding him for his eating habits.

Hinoken laughs some more at John's compliments. "Hahaha, thanks! I'm not from Britain, no. Doesn't even exist in my world, though we have a similar area called Netopia. Used to be Amerope, until the government decided to officially rename it after the rise of the internet. I'll never understand bigwigs." He shakes his head, then shakes Deis's hand, surprised at her strength! His smile never falters though, instead growing into a huge grin. "Hahaha, this gal's got some grip! I like you already, Deis!"

John Constantine ahs. "Then you learned how to do it well, although if you're from any place like Japan, I'd warrant you grew up knowing exactly what to do with fish." Which usually, from what John knows, means NOT cooking it, but still. "John Constantine," he offered. "The guy who drank half your supply of Daniels more than once."

Deis offers for Shiro's benefit, "It's also a place where a lot of people gather. You might hear something about jobs you can do there." Hinoken gets a grin in return. "Your fingers okay? I can sometimes forget to check my strength."

"I'm Takashi Shirogane," Shiro greets with a slight bow, "Yeah she seems pretty strong...and um...about Japanese people and knowning what to do with fish...be careful who you trust with that..."

Hinoken wiggles his fingers after shaking hands with Deis, then curls them into a fist with some rather noticeable popping sounds. "Nah. It'll be fine. These hands have survived worse than a little friendly handshake." he claims with a broad grin, though his teeth seem to be a bit clenched there. He also nods to John and says, "I'm from Electopia, which used to be called Nihon before... well, same thing I said earlier. From what I've heard of Japan, the differences are pretty much non-existent. I do have some ancestry from the Netopian highlands, though, which I hear are pretty similar to uh... Scotland?" Then, finally, to Shirogane, he claps the guy's back and proudly declares, "You ain't never had anything better! All that prepackaged stuff is no match for a real meal cooked by a real man! You should come try it sometime!"

John Constantine nods. "Nihon is another name for Japan, a better one to be honest. As for Scotland, I ain't from there, but it's a good place." Prepackaged food? Eww.

"Oh, definitely," Deis agrees with Shiro. "Careful of the puffer fish. It's delicious, but you will have SUCH a bad time if you get hold of the wrong piece. For however many minutes you have left, anyway~." A bit of teasing with her morbidity! However, she seems satisfied that Hinoken's hand is fine, after the demonstration. Deis shifts then, relaxing, to coil herself up and rest her human half on those coils. Kind of half-way sunning, while there's still daylight.

Shiro nods at that. "I'll see about trying it sometime," he offers with a little smile. He doesn't seem bothered by the back clapping in the slightest as his robot arm floats up to ruffle through his own white hair.

"I believe it's considered a sign of trust in your host to be willing to eat that stuff." Constantine looks at the snake woman for a moment, then turns back to Hinoken. Maybe she knows.

"It's the sort of thing you usually have to sign a waiver to eat at most places," Shiro notes toward John's statement, "So definetly something you'd only do with a lot of trust."

Hinoken eyes that robot arm, but doesn't say anything about it. As Deis coils herself up for some sunning and probably napping, he finds himself left with the guys to talk about her subject of pufferfish. "Yeesh, not something I'd ever try to make. With my record, I'd probably get arrested if anything went wrong under suspicion of premeditated murder."

"Anyone who's had my cooking before would think I was doing the same thing if I attempted making puffer fish," Shiro states.

John Constantine laughs a bit. "Are you implying that they might suspect that regardless of what you made? If so, join the club."

"You're no good at cooking either," Shiro wonders toward John, "...I seem cursed when it comes to trying anything in a kitchen. Everything I've tried to make is inedible..."

Hinoken stares at the two for a few moments. "...Yeah, I'm not gonna recommend either of you to the kitchen staff then." he remarks with a light chuckle.

Takashi Shirogane chuckles and nods. "I've been trying to decide on what I should do with myself, but trying to serve people charcoal isn't on the list."

John Constantine laughs. "You'd think," he says ruefully, "That a ritualist would be able to cook. Ritual, recipe..." He's got a point there. "But...nope."

Hinoken chuckles a bit as well, then starts to head back toward the waves. "Alright, well, I'm gonna get some more surfing in before the sun's down. You guys have fun."

Shiro nods and offers a wave of his organic hand. "Nice to meet you three...I should probably get back to exploring around..."

|}}

2020-03-07 - Basking Babes!

2020-03-07T10:22:51Z

DariRyusei: Ahh, sunny rocks are so much fun to nap on!

{{Logsummary|
Title = Basking Babes!
|Summary = Ahh, sunny rocks are so much fun to nap on! Deis and Calamity talk about things.
|Who = [[Calamity]], [[Deis]]
|Date = March 07, 2020
|Where = [[Zeku-Kari Beach]]
|Log=

It's a bright and sunny day at the beach, warming up with the onset of spring but not yet blisteringly hot from the summer sun. The sand is pleasantly cool to the touch, and the waves a bit on the chilly side despite their sparkle. There aren't many beachgoers this time of year, but it's still a fine place to relax.

One person who has decided to spend their day here does not appear to be relaxing, though. A tall, anthropomorphic basilisk lizard, light blue of skin and wearing a set of gauzy green drapes over her shoulders and hips, is standing at the edge of the waves with what looks to be a tuning fork with hooked tips in hand. Rapping her knuckle on one of the prongs produces a resonating, crystal clear tone that can be heard across the beach, and a moment later, the lanky lizard's surprisingly mezzo voice sings along to it.

"Cryyyyyyyyyyy, I made you cryyyyyyyyy..."

Holding the fork aloft, ocean water begins to swirl and spiral into a ball above where the prongs meet, growing to roughly the size of a basketball before stopping. This is soon followed by a series of dance-like motions, swooping the fork through the air as the sphere of water follows, moving in fluid arcs while she leaps and spins, webbed flipper-like feet splashing in the surf.

One might wonder what the purpose of all this is.

There's a nice, flat rock not too far from the shore -- far enough that one would have to swim out there, though -- and this is a perfect place for a snake to sun. And it just so happens that there is a snake sunning on the rock. Well... half of a snake. The other half is human-like.

To be more specific there's what would be called a 'lamia' loosely coiled upon the rock, human half laid out upon those coils. There's a lot of blue and green on the beach today, and miss lamia here isn't derailing it much -- her snake half is green, lighter where it joins her body and darkening as it travels down to the end of her tail. The hair on her human half is blue, and bound up in a ponytail. Her clothes are purple though, so there is a little derailment of the blue/green theme.

As Calamity starts to sing, and the water starts to churn, she snorts, startled awake. She stretches, yawning, and rubs an eye. "Wha?" She pauses as she watches what's going on, the water answering the call of the singer, and grins broadly.

Oh, and because THE GODDESS HAS AWAKENED!, her power might be sensed more clearly now. Deis was worshipped as a goddess of magic and secrets. Maybe not something one would expect to be out in the daytime, since those tend to be night-time/moon aligned, but here she is nonetheless.

Calamity is caught up in her dancing and singing, though her voice isn't being put to words now, rather simply humming along with the tone of her tuning fork, which upon closer inspection appears to have some sort of green glow about it as it directs the water. After a time, the lizard woman finishes with another arcing flourish over her head, the ball disintegrating into sparkling mist as it spreads above her, leaving a beautiful but sadly short-lived rainbow behind.

Panting slightly from the workout, she then turns her head in Deis's direction, the red eye not covered by her frill regarding the goddess curiously. Another strike on the fork's prongs, and the waves suddenly coalesce underneath Calamity, carrying her forward until she alights on the rocks next to her audience in a cross-legged sitting position.

"Howdy." she waves, her long prehensile tail grabbing her fork and holding it behind her, leaving her hands free. She cracks a smile and asks, "Enjoyed the performance, eh?"

Deis shifts her coils to make room for Calamity on the rock, half coiling herself up. "Hi there," she greets with a smile. The question gets a nod. "Not something you see every day, that's for sure. Which is kind of sad, that was pretty great. And you seem to have a natural talent for it. Like it's part of you." Which she could be picking up, or something she just noticed. Here she offers a handshake. "Name's Deis, pleased to meet'cha," she offers by way of introduction. No title or even a last name.

Calamity takes Deis's hand and shakes it heartily, no holding back on this girl. "I guess it ain't too common where I'm from either, least not as lively. I gotta keep in practice though, eh. Keeps me fit too, so double the benefits." she explains, then props her hands on her knees, elbows bent outward as she looks Deis up and down. "Chalchiutlicue, most folks call me Calamity, yadda yadda. Feels like I'm givin' that whole spiel a lot more lately. So, you a spirit or somethin'? Don't look human, at least, half of you don't."

Deis is tough enough to stand the hearty handshake. In fact she seems to like this, as her smile widens just a touch. Her handshake is pretty strong too, so that's probably not surprising. "Good to meet'cha Calamity," she replies. Yeah, that other name is a bit long and complicated for her. Deis likes things simple, ironically. As for having to give the spiel a lot more? "This is a weird place. No doubt things aren't like they were where you're originally from. You might not have much in the way of fame here. But that can change, I'm sure." She smiles. The mention of her not looking human gets a nod. "I'm not. It's a little complicated to explain, so I just say I'm a goddess."

Though speaking of, Deis also notes, "You don't exactly look human yourself. Basic shape, but a bit scalier than I've known them to be thus far." And a chuckle here.

Calamity chuckles a bit at the mention of 'fame'. "Oh, I wouldn't say I'm famous where I'm from either. More like... infamous, least in the town where I grew up. I was one o' them 'problem childs' who didn't like followin' rules set down by hoity toity eggheads." She does nod at the goddess explanation though, just taking it in stride as if it's the most natural explanation in the world. At the last comment, she speaks up again with a small grin. "Oh, yeah, I'm human, just got a skin condition, eh. Nasty stuff, might be contagious." A moment later, she waves off her own joke and continues, "Nah, I'm a spirit. Raised by humans with my brother Ichabod, but not much else in common. Supposed to protect and guide 'em so they don't off themselves, and all that stuff. Hard to do when the ones with guns don't even think spirits are real."

Deis chuckles at the mention of Calamity's infamy and being a 'problem child'. "Oh, I can understand that," she notes. "My sister made some stupid decisions and her people decided she was right and I was wrong, so I became something of a devil to them." A wave of her hand. "Humans are fickle, you know." Though she gives a mock gasp at the mention of a 'contagious skin disease'. "Oh no, I might catch '''scales'''? What '''ever''' will I do?" She is clearly teasing. After all, she HAS scales.

And she laughs heartily at the mention of humans not believing in spirits. "They tend not to, when they have their own technology. I think that's partly what my sister was afraid of. But then again, the reverse isn't much better -- when they believe they're not capable of surviving on their own, but instead of trying, they bicker like particularly idiotic children to be 'mommy's favorite'."

Calamity grins along with Deis's own stories of childhood naughtiness and playing along with the joke. "Oh, yeah, humans can be real dumb. Got these two towns I live close to- or did, before I came here anyway- called Hatfield and McCoy, they're always fighting and tryin' to mess with each other. Seem to think if they stop, the other one'll wipe 'em out, so tryin' to make peace is a nightmare. My friend Huey lives closer to Hatfield, and they're always asking him for blessings and stuff. It's just silly."

Deis nods. "I suppose they have to be that way to survive... but boy it sure does get in the way of their own survival sometimes," she notes. "I get wanting to take the easy way out, I really do. But the desert isn't the place for 'mommy liked your drawing better, I'm gonna punch you now'. That place is a wasteland now because they were stupid. And they had every advantage -- oh, did your world have technology, perchance? Because that makes it even dumber. They have the tools to survive on their own, but they fight instead."

Calamity shrugs. "I dunno what started the whole mess, but it gets real tirin' dealing with 'em." she remarks, leaning back to lay with her arms folded behind her head. "They live in the plains though, so I guess they can get away with it more than most folk. Lots o' herd animals and room for crops, plus an easy road to Hollow- that's where I grew up, by the way. Big city... sorta." She takes a deep breath and heaves a sigh. "Hollow's where all the eggheads live. Comin' up with dumb inventions like glass bulbs that light up without fire and balloons that carry people in baskets. Just seem like disasters waitin' to happen."

"Aha!" Deis proclaims. That does put the technology level at a place she can trace it, though. "Imagine how easy a city would have it if they had mechanical servants to do all their work, could push a button and get food, make everything they need with a few presses of buttons, and have farms the size of whole cities planted, watered, and harvested with minimal effort," she describes. Caer Xhan had been an almost completely mechanized city before its fall.

"'''That's''' what I mean by 'they had every advantage'," she continues. "I guess that's part of the problem, though -- more free time, more time to be stupid. One of them was trying to bring the dead back to life. Noble, maybe... but he did horrible things to try to achieve it, and failed anyway."

Calamity listens with some measure of disbelief, but then again, given how this 'Twisted' place is, maybe she could see it. "I dunno, sounds like they'd get pretty bored. Maybe that's why they did stupid stuff? Just got bored, up and decided they'd wipe themselves out. Guess not much changes with humans."

The bit about bringing the dead back to life gets her attention, though. "You don't say? Huey made this big puppet out of chupacabra skeletons once, and it came to life all of a sudden and attacked us. Icky said a little patchwork girl came and took it away after it caught him. Maybe she figured out the secret, eh?"

Deis nods to the mention of getting bored. "Maybe. Though I have a feeling it was less 'bored' and more 'spoiled'. My sister gave everything to those people. When humans don't have to work for things, they don't understand the value of the thing they're getting. So they wanted more and more, better than their neighbors had. They were just spoiled children, and Sis didn't apply the stick as often as she needed to."

As for that skeleton puppet? That gets a blink. "...There are lots of better things to use to make puppets than bones. That just '''invites''' disaster," she replies, nonetheless sounding amused. "I don't know details, I just know the idiot used sap from the Tree of Life, and ended up making several mutants in the process. Bad stuff, y'know?"

"Well it wasn't just bones. Had some scarecrows in the mix too, you know. Borrowed 'em from Kitty, she's this fox spirit who lives north o' Hatfield. She's nice, little stuck up though, kinda reminds me o' Mom. Anyway, we used a pumpkin for the head too, carved a face in it and stuffed these glowy caterpillars inside to make it all spoooooky." She waggles her fingers on the last word, then tilts her head toward Deis. "Mutants? The guys at the Institute talked about those once. What, like people with six fingers on their hand or whatever?"

"Oh, that makes a little more sense," Deis notes, to the mention of the other ingredients that went into the construction of the puppet. She wrinkles her nose a bit at the mention of someone being stuck up, but doesn't comment on it beyond that. And she snickers at the 'spooooooky' wiggle fingers. "That sounds like it could have done real well for a decoration on that holiday where everyone dresses up as something scary," she notes. "Aside from the whole 'trying to kill everyone' thing. That's a bit much."

The question of mutants gets a shake of her head. "Nothing nearly so beign, unfortunately. These were plant monsters that were dangerous to basically anything living around it. Though one ended up befriending the kid who took Sis down, so they're not all bad. Just mostly."

"What, Day of the Dead? Nah, it ain't supposed to be scary. Well, usually. Just lots of honoring those that've passed on and all that. Some folks like to have festivals too, to celebrate with the spirits of their ancestors. Paula- big bear girl, hangs out with Kitty a lot- does it every year, lots of dancing and things." Calamity further elaborates, then chuckles as she realizes something. "Heheh. Real appropriate a puppet made with bones would come to life on that day, eh? Never thought about it until now. Heck, maybe he was just really vigorous about celebrating."

The further elaboration from Deis as well gets Calamity biting her lip at some unpleasant memories. "Yeesh. Sounds kinda like this stuff we dealt with when we were kids. Spread like wildfire, only not so bright or warm. Lots o' viney tendrils though, like some kind of overgrowth. We called it the Black Ick."

"I've seen a different one besides 'Day of the Dead'," Deis notes. "It's less somber reflection and tribute, and more... 'spooky scary skeletons, send shivers down your spine'." She does not sing this, no. But she's heard it before. "Eating lots of candy, and scaring each other." A nod to the mention of that puppet coming to life then. "Could be an ancestor spirit decided to have a little fun. Or maybe a disgruntled one wanted to make their displeasure known."

The description of the 'Black Ick' gets a frown, and a disgusted look. "Ew. No, these things weren't nearly that bad. It was just a monster or two... tough, but not apocalyptic. The one that wasn't a homicidal plant monster was actually kinda cute. It was this giant onion-thing, with feet, and it made this high-pitched 'pukyuu!' noise a lot."

Calamity raises an eyebrow at the mention of this... mysterious other holiday. "Really? You got me curious now. If it takes place in October though, well... it's still a long way off, eh." she says, tail curling inward to hold the tuning fork up in front of her face. "At least it sounds like your mutant monster plants had some redeeming qualities. I wouldn't call anything to do with the Black Ick 'cute'. Everything it touched was sent into a deep sleep, unwakeable even by the best shamans we had. It sucked the life right out of the land itself... and it took some pretty hefty sacrifices to seal it away, I'm told. I don't remember that part, since I was one of its victims."

Deis nods to the mention of the timing of this holiday. "There are enough humans here that they'll probably have some kind of festival for it," she notes. "So if you're still here by then, you should be able to check it out. And hey, we both already have costumes!" she adds, with a chuckle. Humans never expect lizard-people or snake-people! Then again most of the regular denizens here are used to the weirdness, so they may have to work a little more...

She listens to this mention of the Black Ick's powers, and shakes her head. "Yeah, that's... I don't even think there's ever really been anything that bad in my world. There are demons and all there, but most aren't really what you'd call 'organized'. It's ironic and kinda funny, but the biggest threat to the humans of my world has really been themselves."

Calamity is suddenly enveloped in light, her tail disappearing and her body taking on the form of a dark-skinned young adult woman, though her hair keeps the yellow-to-blue gradient of her frill in lizard form. Her eyes still have yellow sclera and red irises as well, and she appears to be bald save for the line of hair that flops over one eyes. "Eh, I can just go as a human. Keeps to the spirit, still no effort. More fun than the usual reason I use this form, anyway."

As she transforms back, she nods along to Deis's words. "Heh, demons, eh? Never seen 'em in my world, but there's always legends and such. Guess the Black Ick could be seen as something like a demon, 'specially the beasties it started spawning. One of 'em attacked me and Icky while we were trying to escape Hollow, and I gave it a good kick right in its stupid face to keep it off my brother. But see, you remember how I said 'everything it touched' yeah? Yeah. That's when it took me."

Deis tilts her head as Calamity becomes human. And she grins, and claps. "Ah, wonderful! I can appear completely human, too, but my top half looks the same, so it's not really a disguise. Though... this is where we run into the dilemma -- humans look like that normally, so they dress up like not-human things. So, would a not-human person be fine in going as a human? Or does the human disguise need to be further disguised?"

Though she winces at the story. "Ouch. I guess that's when you came here?" she inquires. A moment of thought. "Hmm... I guess I had it relatively easy, in my world -- I did get sealed away for five or so centuries, but that was by my sister's warriors. And I did get to hit one of them several times after I woke up, so I guess it wasn't so bad. Definitely not anything like what you talked about."

Calamity grins as well, making no secret of her pride in the adulation her transformation has garnered. "Eh, I still look different enough from most folk I've seen, it'll probably be seen as a costume anyway. Humans don't usually have multi-colored hair." she says with a shrug, then gets back to the other subject with a shake of her head. "Nah, that was years ago. I must've been about... eh, I forget. Four? Five? I was a little girl back then, not so little now. Icky said that Kitty was able to wake me up for a few minutes with her song, but I don't remember it."

A moment later, she snorts. "Heh. Sleeping for a few days doesn't sound near as bad as a few centuries though. I like my naps, but damn."

"Oh, that's true," Deis notes, to the mention of multi-colored hair. "Though that reminds me. There's a lady around here, she looks human, but she's got this very pretty rainbow-colored hair. Her name's Rayne." The clarification of the incident gets an upward tilt of Deis's head. "Ah, I see! It was a while back, then. That 'Ick' sounded particularly nasty, I'm glad you survived your encounter with it."

As for the centuries-long nap? "I've been known to sleep a few centuries when belief or magic gets particularly low in the world," she notes, "but... yeah, that was pretty long of a nap, even for me. Better? On my back, on a stone floor, under a pyramid of light, in my human form, naked. For five hundred years."

Calamity sits up again, peering curiously at Deis. "Really? You think it's dye, or is she a spirit or goddess or whatever too? It'll be a lot more fun with more of us around." Then, with another small grumble, she acknowledges the Ick again. "Ugh, yeah. I remember everything '''before''' falling asleep as clear as day. Sort of. They said I fought it for hours before it claimed me, but after touching the stuff, everything kinda became like a bad fever dream. I hope I never have to deal with anything like it again."

The explanation of Deis's 'nap' gets a laugh out of her though. "Hahahah! I bet that wasn't too comfortable, eh? They couldn't even give you a real bed or anything, huh? Think you had any gawkers, or were they too scared of what you'd do when you woke up?"

"I'm not sure," Deis admits, regarding Rayne's hair. "I've never asked her. Seemed like it'd be rude, y'know? If it IS dye, I'd still say she was a goddess, though -- the amount of time and precision it'd take to get it '''exactly''' like that, and to make sure it '''stayed''' exactly the same, day in and day out, would have to be legendary." And of the Ick, she notes, "Well, from what I've seen, the only place it might show up would be out in the wastes. And something that dangerous is likely to trip every safety measure this place has. So you're probably safe here from it. If not, none of us are."

And she grins at the laughter. "Nope! Not even a bed. But at least I know nobody was gawking at me. The place was where my sister's warriors laid to rest the bones of the dragons they murdered in her name. The place was guarded pretty well, because they didn't want people wandering in and disturbing the spirits of the 'evil' dragons."

Calamity chuckles lightly at that. "Dunno how humans deal with it. All that hair seems like a lot of trouble if you ask me. Much easier when it's a fin, that way you can just dip your head in the water and wipe it clean, easy as pie." Preferring to leave the subject of the Ick for now, she simply nods and says, "Yeah, I hope so."

The rest of Deis's tale of the Nap of Centuries gets some further laughter from her too. "Heheh, least you had company, eh? Bunch o' dead dragons are better than nothing, I suppose. Never seen any back home though, only heard of 'em in stories. Guess they only live in faraway countries or something." This is soon followed by a yawn, as the sun's warmth takes its toll on the lizard woman. Laying back down on the smooth, sun-heated rock, she sheathes her tuning fork in the broad, tightly wrapped cloth belt that holds her 'skirt' in place and says, "Anyway, speaking of naps, I think... I'm gonna go ahead and take one now..."

And there she goes, snoring away without a care in the world.

Deis raises her hands and fluffs at her blue hair a little. "It can be a pain if it's not taken care of," she agrees. "But yeah, all that complicated styling, that's not for me. I'm way too lazy." She grins. Hey, at least she owns it. When Calamity settles down to nap, Deis agrees, "Yeah, it's lazy-time." A chuckle, and she coils back up. Yup, she's going to sleep right there, next to Calamity. Reptiles can share heating rocks!

|}}

2020-03-05 - Gonta Gokuhara is... The Bug Whisperer

2020-03-06T11:22:14Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Gonta Gokuhara is... The Bug Whisperer
|Summary = Theo and Gonta come up with a possible way to make some money. And wonder of wonders it's actually '''LEGAL'''!
|Who = [[Theo]], [[Gonta Gokuhara]]
|Date = March 5, 2020
|Where = [[Nowhereto Park]]
|Log=

Okay, so it's not exactly the most dignified of trades. But it makes a little bit of money. And it looks kinda cool, anyway. What's this trade in question? PLAYING WITH BALLS IN THE PARK! Oh don't look at me like that, it's perfectly legal!

In all seriousness, that's what Theo's doing -- he's sitting on a bench in the park, small 'tip jar' next to him, while he manipulates a clear acrylic ball in his hands. He's making it appear to float, and move over his hands (and occasionally his arms) in ways that seem impossible. They're not, it just takes a lot of manual dexterity and practice to pull off. This is definitely no 'watch this fifteen-minute DVD and you're a master' sort of thing.

Theo subscribes to the Michael Moschen theory, that such things should be vaguely hypnotic to look at. To aid that, he's got some vaguely trance-like music playing from the small MP3 player in his pocket, and a tranquil-looking expression on his face.

Gonta, meanwhile, had been unaware of his roomie's production nearby. He'd climbed a tree and was over seeing a family of bugs living therein. Eventually, however, his strangely onesided seeming conversation ends and he pauses. His eyes scan over the park, hearing the odd sounding music. This causes him to go into a parkour like jump with a rolling land off of the tree and onto the ground below. "Ah, Theo, hello," he calls loudly, not quite understanding what Theo's up to. He'd dust off and approach curiously, tilting his head as he studies what Theo's doing more closely.

The song ends as Gonta's parkouring over, and Theo stands up to bow as the small handful of people watching him deposit a bit of change into the tip jar next to him. "Thank you, ladies and gentleme--" It's about then that Gonta calls out, and he jumps a little.

This causes him to fumble the acrylic ball, and he juggles a bit to keep it from calling on the ground. "...Whew," he sighs as the danger passes. He looks up at Gonta approaches. "Hello," he greets, with a smile. "I didn't realize you'd be in the park as well," he notes.

The large boy tilts his head and then nods. "Gonta didn't realize you were here either," he states, "Gonta was distracted speaking with the bugs, but when the bugs left, Gonta heard the music. ...sorry, did Gonta interupt you from something, Theo?"

Theo shakes his head. "Not really. I just didn't know you were there, that's all." He smiles, and picks up the 'tip jar', displaying it to Gonta with a broad smile. "Take a look -- I've been moderately successful today." It's not a huge amount, but the moderately-sized jar is about halfway full with small change. "It's not much, but it's definitely better than nothing."

"Oooh, that's much better than Gonta," Gonta replies, "Gonta's never had a job before... Hopefully he isn't a problem. ...Gonta's wondering if there's any thing he can do with his strength since he hasn't found much to do with his other abilities here."

Theo immediately has an idea. "Pest control," he suggests. "If you can talk to bugs, that's something valuable right there. You see, people usually call someone in with chemical sprays and things that kill the bugs or drive them off with chemicals. If you came in, you could bring them here to the park, at the very least. It's safe for the bugs AND for the people, since nobody will need to spray any chemicals in anybody's house."

Gonta looks very interested, and then very horrified...and then relieved as Theo finishes off. "Gonta DOES think that sounds good," he states, "How does Gonta let people know that he is doing this?"

"Advertise," Theo replies. "You've seen those things on TV where they're trying to get you to buy some product or another? That's an advertisement. We could put an ad in the local paper, to start with. Just a small ad in the classified section. If you want to go into business full-time, though, there are licenses you'll have to get. That's to protect people from dishonest merchants and service providers. Though I will admit, I have no idea what sort of licenses you'll need, aside from a business license."

Gonta Gokuhara gives a hesitant nod. "Gonta should probably get someone else to write the ad for it, since Gonta is not so good with his wording... So, Gonta has to say things about why it would be good to ask Gonta to do this?"

"I can write it for you," Theo offers. As for saying things as to why his services should be contracted? That gets a nod. "The biggest thing you have to learn about other people, Gonta, is that they will generally not do anything that doesn't directly benefit them," he explains. "Otherwise they will stick to what's familiar to them -- the chemical sprayers. You have to give them a reason to change their routine. I would suggest having your main selling point being that it's safer for children and pets, and that you're probably not going to be charging the exhorbitant amounts that traditional pest control companies do."

"Ahhh," Gonta replies, "Gonta thinks he can do that. Gonta doesn't need much, right? Gonta should help you for helping Gonta out, and that's really most of what Gonta needs since Gonta is used to living outside."

Theo nods. As for how much to charge? Theo rubs his chin in thought. "That, I'm not absolutely sure of. The price, I mean. It does need to be competitive. But if it's too much lower, it's undercutting any other pest control companies, who are really just trying to make a living, under most circumstances. It might be unpleasant work, but they do need to make a living. Besides, most people don't understand how to speak to insects, so they don't understand that they're killing things that can think beyond a miniscule brain firing survival instincts through its tiny synapses. Even '''I''' thought that's all it was until meeting you."

"...Oooh, maybe that's why Gonta has so much trouble with people hurting bugs..." Gonta says in realization, "People don't know that bugs even think?"

"Most of us don't," Theo confirms. "Scientifically and biologically, there just isn't enough 'brain' there to make them capable of higher thought on their own. If you get things beyond 'food', 'fear', 'mate' -- possibly with shades of color or something -- then there's more going on than just 'the bugs talk, listen and you'll know'. Even my spiders can't talk to them. And most people can't see them anyway. So maybe it's something you're making possible?"

"Maybe," Gonta says hesitantly, "That thought bothers Gonta...Gonta doesn't want the bugs to seem unthinking to people...the bugs are Gonta's friends, but people don't belive Gonta's friends can even think..."

"On the bright side," Theo points out, "if that '''is''' the case -- if something you're doing is giving them the capacity for higher thought -- that means you're giving your bug friends a great gift when they're with you... probably one of the greatest gifts ever." There's a silver lining to all this!

Gonta tilts his head at that and smiles. "But the bugs are great without Gonta...it just makes Gonta happy that he can help them though..." he states, "Gonta will do like you suggested, it sounds like the best job for Gonta...how does Gonta find out the price range though?"

"We'll have to do some research," Theo offers. "Call about prices, see what services other pest control companies offer, look up advertisements -- that sort of thing. Once we get an idea of what other companies are charging, you'll know where to put the price. Then we can ask about business licenses -- actually we should probably do that beforehand -- and then put the ad in the paper. I'll be working on the wording." A pause here, as something occurs to Theo. "You might want to make a company name once you get a business license."

"Gonta doesn't like the title of pest control...but Gonta can also speak with other things besides bugs..." the large boy murmurs, "Maybe...animal relocation?"

Theo nods, chuckling quietly. "That's actually not a bad idea," he agrees. Though he does ask, "You say you can talk to other things besides bugs? What else? Wild animals? Domestic? Or is it unclear as of yet?"

"Gonta's been able to talk with every animal he's met so far..." Gonta replies, "There are many animals Gonta hasn't met yet, so he is not sure if he can talk to them or not...but everything he has met he's talked to..."

Theo gives a thoughtful look at this statement. "You know, that could be a selling point. Maybe a slogan -- 'I've never met an animal I couldn't reason with'?." Though a moment later, he shakes his head. "Maybe not -- in this place you're just liable to meet an animal you can't reason with. Speaking in absolutes rarely works out."

Gonta nods enthusiastically. "Gonta doesn't want to lie on accident like that either, that would be ungentlemanly," he states, "Maybe saying Gonta is an entemologist with a deep understanding for bugs who can send the bugs and other animals away without anything harmful toward people's homes?"

"Ah! That's a good idea, too," Theo confirms. "People love when you can bring science into it. And I know you're a certified entomologist, I've seen the certification." It's on the wall on Gonta's side of their apartment, in fact! "So with that, and leaning on 'no harmful chemicals in your home', I think that's a good, solid strategy right there."

Gonta smiles widely and gives a little clap of his hands. "Gonta will try his best to earn his place in the apartment." Sure, they don't have to pay there, but it still wouldn't be right to just free load about it.

"Ah, don't worry about it too much," Theo notes. "Integra Arms doesn't seem to charge rent. About the only thing we need to worry about is food and necessities. And I believe there are ways to acquire food without too much hassle. So, clothing, cleaning supplies for both the house and ourselves -- that seems to be the biggest problem. And if this works as intended, you'll be making better money that I am, out here just..." He pauses, to manipulate the little acrylic ball he'd been entertaining with. "I'll likely be able to help with bookkeeping, appointments, and the like -- the clerical side of things."

"Gonta isn't very used to spending money, so Gonta will be happy to share, especailly since Theo is helping Gonta so much. Isn't it almost like Theo will be working a second job to help Gonta work his job," Gonta wonders.

"Well, if this becomes lucrative, I won't need to busk," Theo notes. "That's what I was doing -- it'd called busking. And it's generally what you do when you '''don't''' have a job. You entertain people and hope they'll be nice enough to drop some pocket change in your jar." Rattle, rattle goes the jar when Theo shakes it. "Some people aren't nice. Though to be fair, no one here has thrown anything at me yet, or spit on me."

Gonta looks positively lost over this. "What good is it to throw things or spit on you? That's horrible and ungentlemanly...."

"Some people are horrible," Theo notes easily. "People aren't like animals -- animals just want to eat you, or keep you from eating them, or to protect their young or territory. They're honest. People can be the scariest predators ever, because they can pretend to be your friend first. And some people just like hurting other people. There's no rhyme or reason... they just do."

Gonta frowns at that. "Theo's not been hurt, has he," he wonders, "Gonta doesn't like that people have done these things to you before...."

Theo smirks. "Trust me, I don't like them either," he notes. "Mostly it was just spitting and foodstuffs in various degrees of freshness. Though I did once get a whole, fresh apple thrown at me, which I caught and then ate." He snickers deviously. "People like that just want attention. It's always best to just ignore an attention-seeker. They give up and go elsewhere, without getting what they want."

Though Theo's quick to assure, "Nothing like that has happened '''here''', to note. Overall people here seem a bit less likely to do stupid and mean things like that."

"Ah, that's good...it makes Gonta sad that people have done that to Theo, but it sounds like it's better here for Theo..." Gonta states, cheering up visibly from that little reassurance alone.

Theo chuckles at this. "Oh, trust me, I don't think it's out of any moral superiority here as opposed to where I came from," he reasons. "But it's more for the '''very''' good possibility that I could turn into something much larger, and much meaner, and return the meanness tenfold. Self-preservation is a very powerful motivator for social niceties."

"Gonta thinks he can understand that," the large boy states, "...still it feels sad..."

Theo agrees, "It is. But, some people are like that. Just like not being able to speak to the bugs makes them not care about them, because some people can't feel the pain their actions cause to others, they think it's fine to be like that." He shrugs a little. "There's not much one can really do about it, except protect oneself from it as best one can. Similar to the snow in the winter. It's cold, but asking the sky politely to stop snowing isn't going to help."

Gonta looks all watery eyed and wobbley lipped, like he's trying not to cry. "Nature is tough..."

Theo blinks a little, not having expected to make Gonta that upset. "It's all right though. Humans, I think, are as far away from being 'part of nature' as one could possibly get." He chuckles a bit and steps forward, to pat Gonta on the shoulder comfortingly.

Gonta cheers up some as he's patted on the shoulder. "...hn, Gonta should try to cheer up, he has a way to help people AND protect the bugs now..."

Theo smiles at this. "Exactly," he agrees. "I don't profess to be wise. Besides, there are just as many good people as bad people. And maybe the good people are even better because there are bad people too. Besides, we have things to look into -- a business license, competitive pricing... We have to come up with something colloquial to call you -- we could be utterly predictable and refer to you as 'The Bug Whisperer'. It isn't really '''bad''', and it's actually true in an almost literal fashion..."

Gonta tilts his head. "Bug whisperer," he wonders, "...Gonta thinks this sounds nice...but, Theo's right...what should Gonta do to help at this point?"

"You can help me look through things," Theo suggests. "I'm not sure where all this information's going to be, and there may be a significant amount of legwork involved in finding it all. The library might be a good place to start."

"Ooh, Gonta can carry lots of books," he states, "Gonta can keep hold of all the books we need to gather and carry them until we are ready to sit down and read."

Theo nods. "That's also useful," he agrees. "Though first, I think we should swing back by the apartment so I can drop this off." He indicates the change jar he's carrying. "It's not super heavy, but it might get stolen if I'm just carrying it around."

Gonta Gokuhara nods in agreement. "And I can keep people from trying to take it from you," he points out.

"That's why I wanted to drop it off at the apartment," Theo notes with a chuckle. "Well, let's get started. Hopefully it'll be worth the work we're about to put in. Though either way it should still be fun." He grins, unable to keep it from looking just slightly mischievous.

<hr>

[[image:TheBugWhisperer.png|400px|center]]

|}}

File:TheBugWhisperer.png

2020-03-06T11:20:36Z

DariRyusei: Made online with far far too many online tools to mention, and far too many resources. None of it's mine, I just put it together.

Made online with far far too many online tools to mention, and far too many resources. None of it's mine, I just put it together.

2020-03-05 - Gonta Gokuhara is... The Bug Whisperer

2020-03-06T11:18:41Z

DariRyusei: Theo and Gonta come up with a possible way to make some money. And wonder of wonders it's actually LEGAL!

2020-03-05 - The Toy Goes Winding Down

2020-03-06T03:47:59Z

DariRyusei: Adam finds out toys can be people too!

{{Logsummary|
Title = The Toy Goes Winding Down
|Summary = Adam discovers that toys can be people too!
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Alden]]
|Date = March 5, 2020
|Where = [[The Twisted Street]]
|Log=

Finally, Adam can get out and about without the cane. He's still limping a bit, and his ribs aren't quite healed, but his leg is more or less fine. But he's still going to be careful with it for a while. No sense in rushing things, and then having to have surgery to correct it.

So, Adam's taking the opportunity to get a little shopping done. Shiro's odd jobs aren't paying super well, but there's a little bit left. He's already done the shopping, it seems, and so he's carrying a small grocery bag -- just minor things, it looks like.

He pauses near the intersection of the Twisted Street and Park, to sit down on a bench and rest. He's been walking around for a while, and he doesn't want to push himself yet. Besides, his ribs ache a little.

He's not too terribly memorable as far as his looks go, really -- bronze-skinned guy, sandy brown hair, polo shirt, slacks, sneakers. Though there are a handful of things that might be notable about him -- the burnmark on the left side of his neck, the scar across his face that it makes, the patch over his left eye, and the tight black sleeve he's wearing on his left arm UNDER his shirt. These might all be ways to pick him out of a crowd.

In the meantime, the street is basically the same as usual, denizens walking around, checking the stores and windows, moving in and out of the Usual, even moving in the direction to the beach and Lake. There is even a collection of plastic blocks assembled into a dinosaur lurking in front of one of the windows, it almost looks like a display of some sort, being still, staring into the toy store, only it's tail swiveling behind it.

Adam takes a moment to look around, to notice the people, the stores, the area... and the small block dino. This last thing gets a look of confusion. Adam tilts his head a little, with a blink. It's bigger than just a regular Lego toy would be. Slowly Adam stands, heading over to the block dinosaur, intending to observe it a bit. Maybe it's one of those 'encourage kids to stare in and beg their parents for toys' kinds of displays? So yeah... he's just kinda staring at the dinosaur made out of blocks, not quite sure what to make of it.

The oversized thing is looking at some lego style toys for just a bit longer, before it seems to snap back to reality, blinking a few times and streetching, moving with surprising fluidity for something made of what looks like massive blocks, letting out a cute yawn as well. He spots someone staring at him and waves.

Adam notices this -- of course he does, he's staring right at the blocky dinosaur -- and starts a bit. He looks around, for whoever might be controlling it. Though, spotting no one who looks like they would be directly responsible, he hesitantly waves to the Lego dino instead. "Uh... hello," he offers hesitantly. Maybe it's controlled remotely? Cameras or something? Like a drone, but on the ground?

There is no obvious control or sign of motors in the toy, which tilts its head, the eyes look like... stickers, but they blink a few times as it wags faster, "Hi!, Im'n Alden." the toy ventures, slowly moving closer to the human.

Again Adam looks around, and still finds no sign of a controller. He doesn't seem to know quite what to do. But manners dictate that he has to greet the toy dinosaur! "Hello, Alden," he offers. "I'm Adam." Though he still seems confused. "Are you -- I mean..." He trails off, not wanting to seem rude. Having remained inside for recovery purposes, he isn't terribly familiar with the sort of weirdness that goes on here. "Are you... a toy?" he asks instead of whatever else he was going to say.

Alden nods and takes a few steps closer, offerin one arm and 'hand' to shake, "Nice to meet you!" he adds, his tail wagging once again moving a bitfaster. "I'm a ToyAgumon!" he says soft, "I mean... I am a Digimon, I'm not from around here."

Well, Adam is polite enough to accept the handshake, though he's careful, because he doesn't know how well the ToyAgumon is put together. But it does make a little more sense. The welcome center's brochures mentioned that there were plenty of non-human denizens here. So he relaxes a little. "You're, ah... not just a toy, then? I apologize if that's offensive." He just has the overall air of someone who's not sure what he's dealing with.

Alden does not seem offended, he just shakes his head, "No, I'm not a toy." he clarifies, shaking that arm vigorously enough that the limbs falls of by the time Adam lets go, and simply reaches to pick it up. "It's not offensive, don't worry." he offers, he does sound quite cheerful and friendly.

Adam's a bit concerned when limbs start falling off of Alden. "Oh, here..." he offers, and moves to assist in helping the ToyAgumon get himself back together. "Everything all right now?" he inquires.

The toy does not seem affected by th elost arm, simply grabbing it, placing it back into place nad carefully testing it again, "Sorry, that happens sometimes." he chuckles loudly.

"It's good that everything goes back together so easily," Adam replies as he stands up again. There's a bit of a wince at the protesting of his sides to the movement, but he doesn't comment on it. "I don't think I've ever met a... what was that? Digital-mon?" he asks. Close, but not quite. He's literally never heard the word before, though, so it's probably not too strange that he got it wrong the first time.

Alden tilts his head a bit as he notices the discomfort, "You are hurt!" he exclaims, carefully nodding at the comment, "Yeah it's one advantage I have." he says, "I am pretty durable." he says. He wags that much faster and helps Adam stand properly, "Seems there aren't many of my kind around, so not very surprised!"

Adam shakes his head waving a bit dismissively at the mention of being hurt. "It's fine. I was injured coming here. I'm recovering well, it's just a tricky sort of injury to deal with." Oh, but he's helping Adam stand up too! "Thank you," Adam offers. As for there not being many around? "I admit, I haven't seen many," he confesses. "Though I haven't been here long either. And most of the time I've been here has been recovering from injures, so I haven't been out a lot."

The Digimon nods a few times, "This place is weird... it is different than home but also similar." he muses, "Still getting used to the city, but seems nice otherwise." he adds, trying to sound cheerful, "Mayber i'll run into another digimon sooner or later."

"I hope so," Adam agrees. "I can't imagine how difficult it would be, to be in this place alone, everything being so unfamiliar." Pause. "Assuming it's as unfamiliar for you as it is for me." Thankfully he's not completely alone here. Speaking of which! He shifts the bag of groceries. "Not to pop your arm off and run, but I should get these back to the apartment." There's some cold things in there that won't be cold for too long. "If I do see any more of your people, I'll let them know you're here as well," he promises.

|}}

File:Calamity-icon.gif

2020-03-03T04:16:45Z

DariRyusei: DariRyusei uploaded a new version of File:Calamity-icon.gif

2020-02-29 - Leap Year Baby!

2020-03-02T10:14:15Z

DariRyusei: Adam makes a cake for Shiro's birthday, since there's a 2/29 this year.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Leap Year Baby!
|Summary = As it turns out, Shiro is a Leap Year baby! So since there actually IS a February 29th this year, Adam's going to celebrate it with some cake-building. He's definitely no chef, but it turns out passable. Tastes pretty good too! Also some stuff is talked about.
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Takashi Shirogane]]
|Date = February 29, 2020
|Where = Integra's Arms - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

Admittedly this is kind of an ambitious project. It's a lot of work, and Adam's ribs are aching. And he's nervous it isn't going to work. Mainly because he's never actually worked with marzipan on a cake before. It seems simple enough -- cake, apricot jam, marzipan, black-colored sugar paste icing, and then some powdered colors sprinkled over it to make a 'space' theme. But things are rarely as simple as they seem.

Yes, it's a lot of work. But, well. It's Shiro's birthday -- his ACTUAL birthday, since he was born on Leap Day -- and Adam's not about to let this opportunity pass. So he's been working on a cake for Shiro. It's about all he can do at the moment, so he's doing it up big. He is a little sore, yes, but he doesn't know how long Shiro's going to be out job-hunting, and he'd rather not have him come back while he's trying to get things put together. So it's work, work, work, until he gets it finished. It won't look professional, because it's NOT, but hey, he tried.

Finally though, he's got it done. He sets it on the kitchen table with a sigh of relief. It's a bit lopsided, the marzipan and the icing is creased a little in one or two places, but it doesn't look that bad. It's a chocolate cake, with black sugar paste icing, powdered blue, purple, and green sprinkled across it to indicate nebula-like clouds, and white frosting that he watered down a bit so it would drop/splatter for stars.

And, for the cherry on top, a smiling white cat-face dominates the top of the cake. It's a simple design, but it's cute. So, with everything done, Adam inverts a large enough opaque bowl over the cake on the table to hide it... and then sits down. The kitchen is still a little messy, but Adam just plain /hurts/ right now. Lots of bending and tilting his upper body this way and that.

''('Ridiculous... that making a cake should completely exhaust me like this,')'' Adam grouses to himself silently. ''('I'll be so glad when these ribs have stopped complaining.')''

On the bright side, it isn't as if Shiro's not doing work at all. He tends to be doing little odd jobs here and there in the midst of his job search...which is far less an issue of lack of jobs and more an issue of really just NOT knowing what he even wants to do. He worked toward the one goal for so long and only just finished the outcome of that not long before arriving here. What to do?

It is an interesting deviation from the normal today for Shiro, however. Granted, he only realized last night, but it IS his birthday today. Only his 7th one in his entire life. ...horray being a leap year baby. He makes his way back into the apartment upon having finished for the day, and then flops his way onto the sofa just that touch more casually than usual. "Hn? Hi Adam," he greets, "...you look kind of wiped out, are you going to be alright?"

Adam sits up straighter as Shiro comes back in, but winces a bit. Yeah, that didn't feel good. But nonetheless, he nods to the question. "Yeah... I'm fine. Just worked on something that was a bit labor intensive." Which is probably the thing on the table in the kitchen/dining room, underneath the big bowl. "I still need to clean up, though... it was a bit messy. But I was a little sore, and I didn't want to strain my ribs too much."

Sigh. Well, half of one. There's a hitch in the sigh, and then he exhales the rest of it as a grunt. "Ow. ...Yeah. Suppose that means I'm not ready to get up and clean up in there," he reasons. With an obvious frown, because he HATES leaving a mess. So instead he asks Shiro, "How did it go out there? Any luck?"

"I managed to find some things I could help out with, but still haven't managed to settle on a job," Shiro replies, "...I could clean for you, because you seem to have already done a lot of work on it. You should really be more careful and rest some."

"Things will be a lot easier when I can help you out there," Adam observes. And he resists the urge to apologize... AGAIN. As for Shiro cleaning up in there? "That would be nice, thank you. Just as long as you don't look under the bowl on the dining room table. It's a surprise for you, for your birthday." He seems fine with Shiro knowing there IS a surprise, but not knowing exactly what the surprise /is/. Here he smiles. "Happy Birthday, by the way."

Shiro grins at this and blushes slightly. "Ah, thank you," he replies, "I didn't even know it was one of these years until last night." He'd set to cleaning up as offered and tilts his head. "Well...to be honest, it's not as if I'm having trouble finding work itself, I just really don't know what to do."

Adam chuckles. "I noticed you looking at the calendar, yes," he replies. "So I had to do something special, since the actual /day/ of your birthday only happens every four years." As for finding work? Adam shifts to sit somewhere he can more easily look in Shiro's direction without turning. Then he notes, "That's true. I don't know what sort of things you were doing back home. That said, it sounds like things had just settled down from a major space war. I don't think there's going to be any space wars going on here."

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply. "Not just that, but as far as I've noticed there's not exactly a space program in general..." he states, "Since I was after this as long as I could remember, I haven't really thought of much else to do for work." He smiles at Adam's saying that he noticed it as well though. "Thanks, it means a lot..." Sure, Adam likely would have remembered, due to the time they were together, but with them having had that argument like they did, it wasn't expected of him to put in so much effort.

"I have to wonder if there even /is/ a 'space' here," Adam replies. "I half feel like this place is just some dream world that I'm going to either wake up from or..." Bad Adam! No negative thoughts! "...Or, well. Just wake up from and only half-remember it." And he blushes a little at Shiro's mention of how much the gesture meant, feeling absurdly pleased. "You're welcome. It's not professional quality, but I'm not sure of the prices around here yet, and I wasn't sure I could have afforded to just buy something."

And he doesn't say it... but he wouldn't have just bought something anyway. Because it meant more if he could make it himself. He wanted it to mean something.

...And there he goes blushing again. ''('Ugh... stop that, you're not a teenager anymore!')''

Takashi Shirogane rubs at the back of his neck a little. "Yeah, I still haven't grasped what kind of place this really is..." he admits, "Or how I even got here...but well...more important immediates." He finishes up the cleaning and peers at the bowl curiously. Shiro's a good boy though, and doesn't look under it.

Adam agrees, "That's been bothering me too. I've been trying not to think too hard about it, but..." He trails off, but Shiro probably know how that ends. Adam trying not to overthink something, especially something like 'where the hell am I?', is a lost cause!

And he notes Shiro looking at the bowl. "Don't even think about it, Takashi," Adam says firmly, but with a hint of amusement nonetheless. Still, though, he's not completely unsympathetic to Shiro's curiosity. So he makes to stand up. It's less painful, enough that he doesn't do more than frown a little.

"All right, I'll have mercy on your poor curious mind," Adam teases. He heads to the table, takes hold of the sides of the bowl, and finally lifts it to display the cake underneath. "Happy Birthday," he offers, with a smile.

Shiro grins in reply...so much so that he looks like he's holding back an urge to react a lot harder. "Ohh, that's so cute," Shiro replies, "You did a great job on this, Adam..."

"Thank you," Adam returns, also grinning. And also trying not to blush. Then he just has to criticize his own work, a little. "The marzipan went a little sideways for some reason and got stuck, and it creased a little on the sides. I'm glad it didn't seem to effect the rest of it too much."

This causes Shiro to chuckle about it. "Don't worry about things like that," he says, "That just proves it's home made. ...when do we get to eat it? ...actually I shouldn't be in a rush...it seems a shame to cut into that face..."

Adam chuckles. "I was a little afraid of that," he confesses. "That you might not want to cut into it, I mean. It's all right, it's just marzipan and icing, it's not a real cat." And no, Adam's not the mean-spirited type, so he wouldn't mimic a meow when the cake's cut into. That's not his style.

"Yeah, I know, it's just cute," Shiro replies with another grin, "That said though...back to the question of when we want to eat it."

"Do you want some of it now?" Adam inquires. "You're a bit too old for me to scold for eating sweets before dinner," he notes. "It won't make you develop bad habits. So if you want a piece of cake now, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Maybe if we both have a little sliver just to try it," Shiro says, "A full slice can wait..."

Adam nods. "Sounds fair," he agrees, and goes to get a knife, a couple of small plates, and a couple of forks -- all the cake-eating equipment they'll need! "Do you want to cut it or do you want me to?" he asks. It's Shiro's cake, after all.

"I can cut it," Shiro answers with a smile, "Besides, you've already worked a lot harder than expected of someone in your state." That said, he'd cut them both small pieces to taste so as to not spoil eating actual food later. "Thanks again."

Adam chuckles. "You're welcome. I thought that it might at least make being stuck here a little better if you had a little something for a birthday celebration. There's not much I can do yet, but that was actually pretty fun to make. Would have been more fun if I wasn't aching so much, but since I'm eating something..." He stands slowly. "I'll be right back, I'm going to get an aspirin." Not the heavy-duty stuff. He doesn't want to fall asleep facedown in his cake.

"It's cheered me up," Shiro notes. Though, to be fair, if him disappearing from home is ALL that happened, he can accept his current situation easily. They can do the rest without him. They've proven themselves.... Still, it did cheer him up more than he knew he needed.

Adam returns soon after, having taken the aspirin already. Pills at the dinner table... he hates having to do that, so he tries not to. He nods to Shiro's mention of being cheered up. "I'm glad. I also felt like I was actually doing something useful for once instead of laying around like a dead weight." Yeah, he doesn't like this whole 'taking it easy' thing. He's doing it, but he doesn't like it.

"I know, it's a pain in that sense too when you are recovering," Shiro agrees, "Hopefully you don't have to get used to it. We'd both hate you to be unwell too often." He'd wait up on Adam before eating into his small slice. "It's good too."

Adam nods. "That, at least, is a good thing. Once this thing with my ribs clears up, that should be the last of it for a while. The eye surgery shouldn't keep me out for too long, and it'll at least be some time before my vision deteriorates enough that something else needs to be done."

"That's good, yeah," Shiro replies, "Have you seen any places that interested you while you were out and about? In general I mean...like anywhere you might want to go and look at more in depth some time?"

"I haven't been able to look at too much," Adam replies. "Just, I do know there's a place I /don't/ want to go. Reality just... breaks down there, and further in it looks even worse. Whole chunks of the street missing, and literal cracks in the fabric of whatever this place is. Though, I'm going to check out the school once I recover, see if they need a teacher."

"I wonder if I should try non-militant teaching," Shiro states, "But I don't know if that'd be so good an idea for...reasons... Maybe something with animals?"

Not being privy to what happened to Shiro, at least not in specific terms, Adam tilts his head. But he's not going to ask now -- he knows Shiro doesn't want to tell him much while he's still injured. "That's possible. Though I haven't seen too many animals here. Given how people come here, and -- from what I've read -- there isn't much else here but the city and a little surrounding land, I'm not sure whatever brings people here is going to bother with bringing animals. I've heard there's a bounty office, but I'm not sure if it's hunting people, or hunting animals."

Takashi Shirogane shakes his head. "I'm not sure I like the sound of bounties either," he states, "...maybe racing? ...and this is why I'm having no luck with my job hunt..."

"Do they have any racing venues out here?" Adam inquires. "I haven't seen any, but again, I haven't been able to walk too far, so I didn't get to look at a whole lot of the place. Though noticed an arena too, but that's a little too dangerous, I think..."

Takashi Shirogane shudders a little at that note, staring at nothing for the shortest of moments before pulling himself back together as expected. "Yeaaah, no arenas," he mutters, "I've had more than enough of that particular thing..."

"That's fine," Shiro replies, "You haven't known about it long...or in any kind of detail..."

"True..." Adam agrees. "Just... I know you've been wanting to wait until I was recovered to tell me the nitty gritty. But if you do need to talk about it, don't let that stop you. I'm almost recovered anyway; it won't be much longer." More quietly, he reiterates, "So... if you do need to talk, I'm here."

"Let's not today," Shiro replies, "You were putting me in such a good mood...but I can tell you soon. Thank you...I'll try not to burden you over much when I open up about it."

Adam nods. "Yeah, I can understand that. It's your birthday, I want to try to give you a good one." But he does also note, "No, I said I'd help you, that you could talk to me about anything you wanted. That means /anything/. And if you don't want to talk about it yet, I'm not going to make you. When you're ready, I'll be here."

Takashi Shirogane clasps his hands together as he peers thoughtfully at his empty plate. He looks as if he has to shake away some thought before he gives another nod. "It'll be soon," he states simply.

Adam tilts his head slightly, also noting that strange hesitation, the odd kind of... blankness? "Takashi?" Then Shiro's back, and Adam blinks. Though, since both plates are now empty -- yes, Adam ate his own piece of cake too -- force of habit rears its ugly head, and Adam stands up. Slowly, since he's used to doing that now. He makes to pick up Shiro's plate and take both to the sink. Now that he's more or less off the crutches and the cane, he has both his hands free for this. Though as he does this, he asks, "Are you all right? Did I say something else that made something unpleasant come up?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shiro states, "It was...er...just a random, passing thought that I needed to get rid of."

Adam nods, no idea what it might have been. But he's not going to press. Birthday! Happy things! And... well, he doesn't feel comfortable hugging Shiro -- or maybe he feels /too/ comfortable with the idea and that's why he can't, it's hard to tell -- so as he moves away from the sink, he places a hand on Shiro's shoulder. Bro squeeze! "Happy Birthday, Takashi," he offers, with a smile.

Shiro smiles and pats at Adam's hand before squeezing it a little in turn. "Thanks...you're still the best Adam," he says in reply.

|}}

2020-02-28 - The Eyes Have It

2020-03-01T05:51:56Z

DariRyusei: Adam tells Shiro what he's facing in dealing with his eye.

{{Logsummary|
Title = The Eyes Have It
|Summary = Adam tells Shiro what he's facing in dealing with his eye. Also they both acknowledge that their situation is weird, and awkward for both of them... but it works for now.
|Who = [[Takashi Shirogane]], [[Adam Weissman]]
|Date = February 28, 2020
|Where = Integra's Arms - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

Adam didn't want to break the news to Shiro over dinner. He didn't want to spoil anyone's appetite. And he really didn't know how bad Shiro would take the news. For his part, Adam made pleasant enough conversation -- though he still insisted on sitting to either side of Shiro and not opposite him. Sitting opposite each other was too intimate for him.

That said, Adam is finding that it's not as difficult to converse with Shiro as Adam thought it would be after their breakup. They were still friends, and that was the important thing. Of course that didn't mean he wasn't still at least a little awkward about it most of the time.

However, Shiro would probably have been able to tell that something was off this evening. Well, more 'off' than Adam's usual awkwardness. Something's bothering him, that much is clear. But during dinner, he isn't going to talk about it. "I'll tell you later," he promises. "It needs to be said anyway, I just don't want to talk about it now."

Shiro would nod, however once he's finished eating and they finish up the dishes, he'd tilt his head some. "Well, just let me know when you're ready..." he states as he takes a seat in the living area.

Adam replies, "Thank you. I appreciate it." He's... kind of grim. Just a little. Anyway, once Adam's got the kitchen cleaned up -- he's never going to leave a mess in the kitchen, even if the mess was the direct result of cleaning up -- he goes out into the living room and takes a seat as well.

He's kind of weird with his abritrary 'restrictions' on where he sits. If Shiro's sitting in the middle of the couch, he sits in a chair. If Shiro's sitting on one end of the couch, Adam will sit at the opposite end. If Shiro is in a chair, Adam usually makes for the end of the couch furthest away from the chair Shiro's sitting in.

Hey, I said it was weird, didn't I?

Anyway, wherever he ends up sitting, he takes a moment to retrieve the paperwork that the doctor gave him... and the eyepatch, still shrinkwrapped. He hasn't opened it yet; he's going to start the eye drops the next day.

Adam is silent for a moment, and sighs. "I guess this is a pretty big indicator of what I'm going to say," he observes, picking up the eyepatch and looking at it. Though he's quick to assure, "It's not... all just as bad as it could be. But it's not really 'good'."

He pauses a moment, before continuing, "Doctor Rebane said that there isn't a lot of time left before the vision in my left eye starts to deteriorate. He gave it about a month before the deterioration is too much, I think. That said, /without/ surgery, I'm definitely going to lose the vision in that eye. Possibly the entire eye itself. But the surgery isn't going to completely restore the sight in that eye, and my vision is still going to eventually start to deteriorate after it. At best the surgery is just delaying the inevitable -- though I think having corrective surgery to stave off the deterioration will give me the best chance of keeping /some/ vision in that eye, even if it's much less than it is now."

He stops there... because that's a lot to take in. Even for him.

Shiro frowns and nods. "I'm sorry you're having to go through this," he states, "Is there anything I can do to help you through the process?"

"That's why I wanted to talk to you about it," Adam replies. "I do have a handful of options. The surgery seems like the best for right now. The doctor also gave me the option of just having it removed entirely, but I don't think I want to do that just yet."

And there's another pause, and Adam seems to be fighting a bit of a disgusted look. "He also, rather reluctantly, offered me the option of having a transplant. I don't think I need to go into why I don't want to do that..." Corpse parts or someone would have to give up an eye for him. Neither is palatable!

"But, he also mentioned that I might eventually be a candidate for a prosthetic eye," Adam offers. First bit of good news so far! "I think they're still ironing things out with them, but he did bring it up."

Takashi Shirogane continues to frown at that. "...hrmm, yeah, nothing sounds very pleasant for you," Shiro states, "But I'll stand by which ever option you decide you're more comfortable taking."

Adam seems to relax at this. "Thank you." It might have been silly to think, given SHIRO DOESN'T ABANDON PEOPLE, but Adam had indeed been afraid that this all would have been too much for Shiro. He takes a breath then, and notes, "For now, I think the surgery is the better idea. Doctor Rebane also mentioned correcting the vision in my right eye, so that I won't have a nearsighted eye doing all the work."

He picks up the eyepatch again. "And since I'll have to be wearing this on a fairly regular basis," he adds, "I'd rather not have to wear this /and/ a pair of glasses."

"That sounds like a good idea, yes," Shiro agrees, "I don't wear glasses much, but it seems like trying to do glasses and an eyepatch would get uncomfortable and difficult." He peers over at Adam and tilts his head slightly. "Though, I have to admit, for all the bad the situation's caused, I kind of like this new look," he states, "If you're looking for opinions there, and you want to get anything that looks like normal in time, I think you'd be ok to stick to this look or your old one."

Adam nods. "It's not a vanity concern," he assures. "Eyepatches and glasses just don't work together mechanically." Though he chuckles at Shiro's opinion of his 'new look', feeling... well, absurdly pleased that Shiro actually seems to like it. Of course, then he has to mentally chastise himself, ''('Don't get so... so wound up about it, stupid. You're not his anymore, and he's not yours.')''

Still though, he can't help but reach up and touch the burnmark on his face, under his eye, a little sheepishly. "Well... I wasn't going to bother with anything cosmetic," he admits. "When all's said and done, this isn't hurting anything -- the helmet kept the burns on my face from being too serious. I'm more concerned with my arms and legs healing." And his ribs too, but those didn't get burned, so...

"Having different colored eyes is always such an interesting trait as well," Shiro adds, "I'm not certain why that is...but the scarring, it looks kind of cool." He grins a little, but looks as if he feels what he just said might be a little awkward. "Really though, if you need anything as part of the process, let me know."

Adam smirks at the mention of the scarring being 'cool'. "I don't know, it definitely didn't feel 'cool' when the scars were being made," he points out. "On either of our parts, I would assume." Referring, of course, to Shiro's own scar.

That said though, he also notes, more seriously, "Thank you. I don't expect things will go too badly, but I'm going to have to compensate for at least temporarily losing my depth perception. I might bump into things or knock things over." He bottle of eye drops is displayed in his hand then. "Doctor Rebane wants me to put these in my left eye three times a day, and would ideally like me to wear the patch for a while after putting them in. And he wants me to wear it when I notice my eyes getting tired. So I won't have to wear the thing full time, just for a little while, to rest my eye."

"Yeah, I'm sure it didn't feel cool," Shiro replies as he rubs at the back of his own neck, "And no...getting mine wasn't cool for me at all, as much as a lot of other people probably thought it was." He then brings his hand back down and fidgets a little with it over his own lap, using his floating robo hand the same as a normal hand as they fidget together. "I could help with the drops if you need, and well, reorienting if your trajectory is off by too much."

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply. "And you're sure you don't need any help with your up keep that you aren't telling me about either, right," he asks, "Like how you had trouble with your hair before?" It's like pot calling kettle black, but he knows all about hiding stuff from somebody.

Adam shakes his head. "No, I promise," he offers honestly. "It's just my arm and leg that need the lotion, and that's just after I get done bathing. And if it hurts to bend to get my ankle, I can just bend my knee and get to it that way." A bit of a blush appears then, as he adds, "Besides, we've, uh... already discussed why that step is one I need to do myself."

The subject had come up shortly after Adam discovered he'd need to have this ongoing care, that he'd need to continually use lotion on his burned arm and leg to avoid the skin scarring into a crusted mass and making mobility impossible. But the contact required for Shiro to help with this step? That would be far too much for Adam's sense of propriety.

Shiro makes a face and nods in reply again. His expression seems to be saying 'seriously' in exasperation, but he's blushing slightly in spite of it. "A robot hand probably wouldn't be good for that anyway..." he agrees after a thoughtful moment.

"That too," Adam agrees. "Having to touch the skin there at all still just feels very unpleasant, and getting the lotion onto where it's burned is still pretty painful. And as much as your arm really doesn't bother me -- I think it's pretty interesting, in fact -- the metal would probably hurt worse." The burned skin is still a little too sensitive to handle that.

Though he does have to struggle not to comment on the exasperated expression. He's not sure where that's coming from -- they're not together anymore, it's inappropriate for them to share the same kind of closeness they did back then. So he does frown a bit, but keeps quiet.

It's not as if Shiro has forgotten about their separated status. However, it's not something that bothers him in the thought of taking care of Adam's wellbeing. In that sense, to him it's all something he's seen before. Though, thinking harder it might not be as simple for him as he's assuming immediately. "True..." Shiro murmurs, relaxing somewhat about Adam's need to keep his modesty. "Sorry, it's not exactly a situation we're used to."

The frown eases from Adam's face, and he sighs a bit. "You're right..." A pause, and then a surprisingly honest remark -- though Adam finds his own hands utterly fascinating as he speaks. "I know it has to seem almost silly, for me to want to... I guess... push you away in some respects. Particularly since, when the shoe was on the other foot, you didn't. I'm not really used to being the one needing help. But that's not it. I just... I can't explain why I'm doing it." Well, that's a lie. He '''can''', he just '''won't'''. "But... it's something that I have to do."

Shiro nods in reply. "It's a lot different when you aren't used to being naked and poked and prodded at by strangers on a common basis as just the most base line part of all this," he notes, "It took me a moment to realize that and well, maybe I shouldn't be so baffled by the possibility of lack of trust either, given what happened."

"It's... partly that," Adam agrees. "The pendulum really has swung back the other way, and I admit... I'm having trouble adjusting to that. The rest is my own problem. But aside from my eye, the prognosis is good for everything else. My leg is fine -- though I'm not going to strain it for a while yet -- and my ribs are looking good. It looks like everything is progressing along fine -- pretty soon I'll be recovered, and we won't have to worry about it anymore." He offers a subdued smile here. It's not abnormally subdued, that's just the way he is.

"Yeah, you'd probably rather get out there on your own than having to deal with some bizarro version of the old days," Shiro states, "Just...don't rush out prematurely with some sort of misconception that you're a bother, ok?"

Adam winces a bit at this. It's not a wince of physical pain, but an 'ouch, right on the button' sort of wince. A 'be rightly guessed' wince. "That's... a lot of it, yeah," he admits. "I'm partially worried about you, too. Not just helping me -- which I do appreciate -- but having to deal with me being around. It isn't fair to you. All I can really hope is that it was a long enough time between the Kerebos mission and when you were brought here for you to have... dealt with things." He isn't mentioning that it's difficult for him too. That's not what this is about.

"It's fine," Shiro insists, "I'd rather not be left to my own thoughts longer than I have to be... Not in a sense like I expect you to stay around for my sake...just, it's honestly not bothering me."

Adam nods. "There's that too," he agrees. "I know you, you'd drive yourself crazy wondering how everyone back home was doing, how you might be able to get back, how you could have prevented getting brought here in the first place... And... I probably would too, if I'm being honest." That and feeling lousy that he just ended up dying after such a useless flailing against a superior force that then went on to destroy his home planet...

Shiro sighs and...sort of crosses his arms. "Yeah, as awkward as it is, we're good for what we need right now..."

Once more, Adam nods. "It seems so..." It's kind of a lame response, but... what else can he say? He sighs quietly. He's silent for a while. Then, "...Well, I should probably put some of these drops in my eye before I go to bed. I want to see if they hurt to put in. If they do, I might need help."

"Ok, well...you know how to reach me," Shiro says with a slight nod. He'd peer at the calendar unrelatedly to the situation at hand and honestly look surprised by something.

Adam notes the look at the calendar as he walks out of the living room. And he gives a little smile, unseen by Shiro, since his back is turned. ''('Oh, don't you worry, Takashi. I have you covered on exactly that,')'' Then he heads into the bathroom -- it'll probably be less messy to do this in the bathroom, at least until he gets used to using these drops.

|}}

2020-02-28 - Sanity Check Failed, Lose 10 SAN

2020-02-29T02:20:56Z

DariRyusei:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Sanity Check Failed, Lose 10 SAN
|Summary = Russell Anders has just arrived in a Valkyrie crash! Minus his Valkyrie. Fortunately Theo's there to take him somewhere he can get his concussion seen to... right after he tries to deal with failing a sanity check...
|Who = [[Russell Anders]], [[Theo]]
|Date = February 28, 2020
|Where = [[Cemetery Gates]], [[Mabase Medical Clinic]]
|Log=

'''Cemetery Gates'''

''Tall, blackened steel gates draw a line here, barring entrance unless unlocked. Which they usually are. Ivy vines decorate the old, cold metal with dismal color. The gates will swing open without fuss and, oddly, without that typical, horrid scraping noise, if only you push. Are you ready to face the massive graveyard?''

<hr>

Why is Theo at a cemetary? Well, he does need to check out ALL of the facilities here, if he's supposed to be living here. Probably permanently, from the sounds of everything he's heard since he got here. And, well. He's human, so he's going to die one day. So he needs to know what facilities are available to house him.

Eh, maybe he's just feeling particularly gloomy. Realizing that he doesn't have any way home, there's no one here that knows him, and can't go back.

To be fair, though, Theo's not actually '''in''' the cemetary at the moment. He's just outside it, looking at the statue outside it. Blond kid, kinda lanky, looks like he might be in his late teens. Amber-colored eyes, aristocratic features, worn clothes.

There's a man walking down the path. Russell looks disoriented, to put it lightly. He's dressed in a flight suit, G-harness, and bomber jacket. He's holding a helmet, of the high-tech variety. He rubs his head, and notices the other man.

"Excuse me, sir... would you happen to know where I '''AM''' exactly? I was flying my Valkyrie and then BAM, I'm here-I'm not sure what happened." He rubs at his temple, clearly trying to make sense of it all.

Theo jumps a bit, startled by the voice. It's the one time he didn't have his spiders out, so he hadn't been made aware of the presence of another person here. An oversight on his part that he needs to rectify! But not yet. He doesn't know if this guy can see his Stand or not. It's '''unlikely''', but not '''impossible''', and he doesn't want to freak the poor guy out if he can.

Intead he turns fully to face the newcomer. "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he replies. Clearly, since he jumped! "But, er... well, this place isn't somewhere people 'just wander' into. Well, that's not necessarily true either... but wandering '''out''' is a bit of a tall order."

Here Theo pauses and takes a breath. Pause. He takes in the look of this newcomer. High technology. Some kind of pilot -- and he did say something about 'flying a Valkyrie'; some kind of super-sophisticated plane, no doubt. So he can use 'big words' with this one without fear of him not understanding or becoming overwhelmed. Well... not '''too''' overwhelmed, anyway.

In the meantime, while Theo's in thought... well, it might look to Russell that he's being checked out! And he is, but not in a romantic way. The blond kid just seems to be trying to decide what to make of Russell. But soon the blond kid finally answers, "Well, '''this''' place in particular is a cemetary. The city you're in now, it's referred to as 'Twisted'. And that's not at all an inappropriate name. It seems to be some sort of... joining of several different dimensions. If I had to compare? Something like a... dimensional sink trap. So you might have just come here completely by accident."

"..." Rusell remains silent, seeming to chew on the offered explination, and the image of the man that had offered it. "I.... See.... " He rubs the side of his head, before finally admitting. "I suspect I hit my head harder then I thought..." He looks down at the helmet thoughtfully, as if judging it. "I was in a crash, woke up in a bush, and in a lot of pain.... No wreckage or anything." He seems to shake his head, "I... Have no idea what any of this means. Demensional sink trap? I didn't have any fold quartz on my fighter nor was anywhere near a ship going into fold-... I... Am I '''dead'''?"

"Ah, that would explain it," Theo replies with a nod, as Russell mentions having been in a crash. But the first thing he asks is, "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down and rest? I could help you to the clinic if you wanted. It's not what one would call very intuitively placed, unfortunately." He takes a few steps towards Russell, but leaves enough personal space so as not to make it uncomfortable.

As for Russell being dead? Theo blinks. "I... don't believe so. That would mean I am also dead, and I don't remember anything happening to me that would warrant having been made dead. Ah, but I do seem to have injured my manners." He bows politely. "Theodore Rabanne. 'Theo', if you prefer."

"Getting checked out would probably be a good idea-concussion and all that. Helmet only makes sure your skull stays in one piece." Russ notes, looking around and adding, "How'd I even manage to wander into the '''Cemetary''' of all places?"

"Ensign Russell Anders, UN Spacy" He offers with a shake, "A pleasure to meet you, Theo."

Theo nods at the mention of Russell getting looked at, and takes a few steps closer. "Are you hurt anywhere besides just that? Any broken bones? Bleeding? Or is it just a goose egg?" he inquires. He sounds a little bit like he's assessing Russell for damage. And indeed, he steps back to look Russell over again. "Though you seem to be standing and walking around well enough, so that's good..."

And he also offers with a smile, "A pleasure to meet you as well. I have to admit, I've never heard of a 'UN Spacey'. I've heard of the UN, but there was nothing 'spacey' about it. Well, not about the organization. The national representatives from it might have been, I'm not sure. I've never met them."

As for being in a cemetary? "That's a mystery. Where one ends up when coming here tends to be rather random, from what I've seen. That said, I haven't been here long myself," he admits.

"Not that I know of." Russ notes, looking over himself again as if just to check as well. He seems entirely satisfied with his once-over until Theo offhandedly remarks that there is no 'spacy' branch of the UN. and the pilot blinks, "Wait... What? Spacy? Space Navy?..." There's clear confusion in his voice, before he removes his bomber jacket and points to the emblem on his shoulder, "This."

Theo blinks, looking to the insignia blankly. Unless the kid's a better actor that he's letting on, he really doesn't seem to recognize it. There's no spark of anything like recognition in his expression. And as if to confirm it? "I'm sorry, I've never seen that emblem before," he admits. "But it's a very stylish one, I must say."

Though... he's also thinking. And after a moment, he reasons slowly, "Well... it's very likely that I am not from your world. You see, where I come from, people from Earth can't even get into low orbit without about a thirty to sixty percent chance -- depending on the weather -- of the whole thing exploding into a fireball on the way up... Because they're essentially strapping about five hundred thousand gallons of liquid fuel so volatile that someone breaking very mild wind in roughly the same post code of it had a good chance of making the whole thing ignite before it even left the launching pad."

So this kid is from an Earth that hasn't discovered space travel yet? Doesn't know about the Zentradi? Not even about aliens '''at all'''?!

"... So... mid-20th century version of Earth presumably, where we at least speak the same langage, and the UN hasn't replaced national governments..." His hand on his face, letting out a sigh. "I've either been rendered completely unconsious, died and this is a peculiar form of purgatory, or somehow violated the space-time continuum.... I'd say this is 'just another Tuesday', but it was Wednesday from where I came from."

Theo suddenly snorts a small laugh, but raises a hand to his mouth to stifle it. "Do forgive me," he offers in apology. "Was not aimed at you, Ensign. But there is a welcome center very near the clinic. They have information there, and there's usually someone there manning the counter. Though if you find weird things disturbing, you may wish to prepare yourself. When I visited there, the counter was manned by a human-sized talking starfish wearing pants and a shirt. The latter unbuttoned of course, as his eye was on his chest." Theo doesn't sound like he's kidding. "That said, aside from... well, 'being a human-sized talking starfish', he was mundane enough. I have a way to figure that out."

"I?-What?" Russell says when confronted by what Theo would describe as 'normal'. "... walking, talking starfish...." His head shakes in defeat, giving up trying to make sense of the stranger bits of what Theo is discribing. "I'll.. take your word for it, Theo.... If you wouldn't mind leading me to the medical center, that'd be greaaaat" He adds, "If that's the sort of thing I have to get used to-then I'm in for a world of hurt....."

<hr>

'''Mabase Medical Clinic'''

''A large medical clinic that takes up an entire side of the 3rd floor. There are two doors here byond the one that leads to the main hallway. One leads to a surgery room and the other to a recovery room. Next to the surgery room is a red light that is lit when the room is being occupied. Here in the main room is a medical table next to a cart covered with various instruments used in examinations. At the rear of the room is a large desk where the resident doctor does his paperwork and addresses potential patients as they come in. Normally there would be a reception area here but the desk is on backorder so no one has bothered to partition the room yet.''

<hr>

Theo chuckles. "It's not as bad as it sounds," he assures Russell. "It helps if you don't try to overthink, and try to take Lewis Carroll's advice -- learn how to believe impossible things." It might be worthy to note that Theo's still maintaining the respectful polite physical distance. So not to worry, he's not going to suddenly slap Russell on the back like he was some long-lost friend or something. Perhaps Theo understands that Russell needs his space and that some strange teenager slapping him on the back like they were best buddies wouldn't be the best thing for Russell right now.

Anyway, he does lead Russell to the medical center, which is, indeed, rather counterintuitively placed -- there's a very large courthouse that's kind of like a multi-level mall, and the clinic is on the third floor of it.

"This is the sort of location I'd expect to see a dentists' office, not the main clinic for the whole town...." Russell says, seeming amused at least for the moment. "As long as I've avoided permanant brain damage, I'll be good. Though I'll admit that I'll be suprised if I '''don't''' considering our conversation."

"There's another clinic, but this is the one that's closer to the welcome center," Theo replies. "We passed it on the first floor of the courthouse, on the way up. I'll take you over there if you want, if you're up to it once you're either cleared to be walking around or admitted." There's a few places to recover in here, not to worry. Though it did seem to indicate that he intends to stick around. Which he realizes is a little weird, perhaps, and ventures meekly, "Er, that is... if you're all right with some extra help? I haven't been here long either, and I'm still rather lost and confused. So I feel like I may know a little of what you're feeling."

Though maybe not quite as keenly. He's pretty sure Russell didn't start spewing metal spiders from his mouth one day, and then panic and run away from home. Though that does make him wonder... does Russell have weird abilities too? He almost wants to find out... but no. Not here and now, when Russell is already feeling confused and likely more than a little upset...

"Well, it would seem you've gotten past the 'questioning your own sanity' part of it at least." Russell quips, saying, "I'm still disoriented and confused about what's going on.... I think I'll be okay after I get checked out. That bush was kind enough to... Mostly... break my fall."

Theo nods. "I'm sure being told something so strange doesn't help on top of the headache and general disorientation," he reasons. "They probably will keep you overnight for observation -- I understand that's the typical procedure for a concussion. And if you're feeling disoriented -- well, before I started talking about dimensional sink traps and human-sized starfish."

He'll lead Russel to the waiting area and then indicate a seat. "Here you go. Sit down carefully -- the bloodflow change might make you dizzy. Or you might have just been running on adrenaline the whole time."

Though something that might go unnoticed by Theo... but maybe not by Russell -- there's a very old magazine on one of the nearby tables. Seems to be some kind of local entertainment magazine. And on the cover is an androgynous-looking fellow with light lavender eyes and dark brown hair that has a very slight reddish tint to it. He's dressed in a dark-colored outfit that doesn't look too terribly feminine... but that can't really be helped, with his build. And of '''course''' he's wearing makeup, he always did. His eyes are done up to look smoky.

But there are a few things that date this picture to an approximate time of this person's life -- his hair in the back is long. After THE INCIDENT, he never wore his hair long in the back, only the tails in front of his ears. And that smile -- it's a glamor shot, obviously, but that's an actual smile.

Russell does in fact sit down. He rubs his head some more, because clearly that's going to help the ear-splitting headache or existential dread he's currently experiancing. The face on the magazine makes the man pause. Russell goes pale-white as a ghost in fact. No words exit his mouth as he picks up the magazine and stares into it as if his eyes could stare into the soul of the man on the cover.

"There is one bit of consistancy. I knew this guy. Personally, in fact... but... like... He's clearly younger in this shot-What the fuck is this place?"

Seeing Russell suddenly go pale, Theo grows visibly worried, amber eyes widening in concern. "Oh geez, you got really pale all of a sudden -- are you okay?!" Suddenly his formal, polite tone becomes more conversational -- more like a '''normal''' teenager.

He looks at the magazine Russell's picked up, blinking. "I don't know him either. But that's also very old magazine... he might not be here anymore. I understand there was some kind of upheaval that threw things around--"

Unfortunately, further explanation is going to have to wait. Since they're '''in''' the medical area, Russell appears to be going pale, and Theo was pretty successful at drawing attention to Russell's sudden pallor, a couple of people are probably going to come and see to the injured pilot. So he'll get in sooner than later!

|}}

2020-02-28 - Sanity Check Failed, Lose 10 SAN

2020-02-29T01:38:22Z

DariRyusei: Created page with "{{Logsummary| Title = Sanity Check Failed, Lose 10 SAN |Summary = Russell Anders has just arrived in a Valkyrie crash! Minus his Valkyrie. Fortunately Theo's there to tak..."

{{Logsummary|
Title = Sanity Check Failed, Lose 10 SAN
|Summary = Russell Anders has just arrived in a Valkyrie crash! Minus his Valkyrie. Fortunately Theo's there to take him somewhere he can get his concussion seen to... right after he tries to deal with failing a sanity check...
|Who = [[Russell Anders]], [[Theo]]
|Date = February 28, 2020
|Where = [[Cemetery Gates]], [[Mabase Medical Clinic]]
|Log=

'''Cemetery Gates'''

''Tall, blackened steel gates draw a line here, barring entrance unless unlocked. Which they usually are. Ivy vines decorate the old, cold metal with dismal color. The gates will swing open without fuss and, oddly, without that typical, horrid scraping noise, if only you push. Are you ready to face the massive graveyard?''

<hr>

Why is Theo at a cemetary? Well, he does need to check out ALL of the facilities here, if he's supposed to be living here. Probably permanently, from the sounds of everything he's heard since he got here. And, well. He's human, so he's going to die one day. So he needs to know what facilities are available to house him.

Eh, maybe he's just feeling particularly gloomy. Realizing that he doesn't have any way home, there's no one here that knows him, and can't go back.

To be fair, though, Theo's not actually '''in''' the cemetary at the moment. He's just outside it, looking at the statue outside it. Blond kid, kinda lanky, looks like he might be in his late teens. Amber-colored eyes, aristocratic features, worn clothes.

There's a man walking down the path. Russell looks disoriented, to put it lightly. He's dressed in a flight suit, G-harness, and bomber jacket. He's holding a helmet, of the high-tech variety. He rubs his head, and notices the other man.

"Excuse me, sir... would you happen to know where I '''AM''' exactly? I was flying my Valkyrie and then BAM, I'm here-I'm not sure what happened." He rubs at his temple, clearly trying to make sense of it all.

Theo jumps a bit, startled by the voice. It's the one time he didn't have his spiders out, so he hadn't been made aware of the presence of another person here. An oversight on his part that he needs to rectify! But not yet. He doesn't know if this guy can see his Stand or not. It's '''unlikely''', but not '''impossible''', and he doesn't want to freak the poor guy out if he can.

Intead he turns fully to face the newcomer. "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he replies. Clearly, since he jumped! "But, er... well, this place isn't somewhere people 'just wander' into. Well, that's not necessarily true either... but wandering '''out''' is a bit of a tall order."

Here Theo pauses and takes a breath. Pause. He takes in the look of this newcomer. High technology. Some kind of pilot -- and he did way something about 'flying a Valkyrie'; some kind of super-sophisticated plane, no doubt. So he can use 'big words' with this one without fear of him not understanding or becoming overwhelmed. Well... not '''too''' overwhelmed, anyway.

In the meantime, while Theo's in thought... well, it might look to Russell that he's being checked out! And he is, but not in a romantic way. The blond kid just seems to be trying to decide what to make of Russell. But soon the blond kid finally answers, "Well, '''this''' place in particular is a cemetary. The city you're in now, it's referred to as 'Twisted'. And that's not at all an inappropriate name. It seems to be some sort of... joining of several different dimensions. If I had to compare? Something like a... dimensional sink trap. So you might have just come here completely by accident."

"..." Rusell remains silent, seeming to chew on the offered explination, and the image of the man that had offered it. "I.... See.... " He rubs the side of his head, before finally admitting. "I suspect I hit my head harder then I thought..." He looks down at the helmet thoughtfully, as if judging it. "I was in a crash, woke up in a bush, and in a lot of pain.... No wreckage or anything." He seems to shake his head, "I... Have no idea what any of this means. Demensional sink trap? I didn't have any fold quartz on my fighter nor was anywhere near a ship going into fold-... I... Am I '''dead'''?"

"Ah, that would explain it," Theo replies with a nod, as Russell mentions having been in a crash. But the first thing he asks is, "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down and rest? I could help you to the clinic if you wanted. It's not what one would call very intuitively placed, unfortunately." He takes a few steps towards Russell, but leaves enough personal space so as not to make it uncomfortable.

As for Russell being dead? Theo blinks. "I... don't believe so. That would mean I am also dead, and I don't remember anything happening to me that would warrant having been made dead. Ah, but I do seem to have injured my manners." He bows politely. "Theodore Rabanne. 'Theo', if you prefer."

"Getting checked out would probably be a good idea-concussion and all that. Helmet only makes sure your skull stays in one piece." Russ notes, looking around and adding, "How'd I even manage to wander into the '''Cemetary''' of all places?"

"Ensign Russell Anders, UN Spacy" He offers with a shake, "A pleasure to meet you, Theo."

Theo nods at the mention of Russell getting looked at, and takes a few steps closer. "Are you hurt anywhere besides just that? Any broken bones? Bleeding? Or is it just a goose egg?" he inquires. He sounds a little bit like he's assessing Russell for damage. And indeed, he steps back to look Russell over again. "Though you seem to be standing and walking around well enough, so that's good..."

And he also offers with a smile, "A pleasure to meet you as well. I have to admit, I've never heard of a 'UN Spacey'. I've heard of the UN, but there was nothing 'spacey' about it. Well, not about the organization. The national representatives from it might have been, I'm not sure. I've never met them."

As for being in a cemetary? "That's a mystery. Where one ends up when coming here tends to be rather random, from what I've seen. That said, I haven't been here long myself," he admits.

"Not that I know of." Russ notes, looking over himself again as if just to check as well. He seems entirely satisfied with his once-over until Theo offhandedly remarks that there is no 'spacy' branch of the UN. and the pilot blinks, "Wait... What? Spacy? Space Navy?..." There's clear confusion in his voice, before he removes his bomber jacket and points to the emblem on his shoulder, "This."

Theo blinks, looking to the insignia blankly. Unless the kid's a better actor that he's letting on, he really doesn't seem to recognize it. There's no spark of anything like recognition in his expression. And as if to confirm it? "I'm sorry, I've never seen that emblem before," he admits. "But it's a very stylish one, I must say."

Though... he's also thinking. And after a moment, he reasons slowly, "Well... it's very likely that I am not from your world. You see, where I come from, people from Earth can't even get into low orbit without about a thirty to sixty percent chance -- depending on the weather -- of the whole thing exploding into a fireball on the way up... Because they're essentially strapping about five hundred thousand gallons of liquid fuel so volatile that someone breaking very mild wind in roughly the same post code of it had a good chance of making the whole thing ignite before it even left the launching pad."

So this kid is from an Earth that hasn't discovered space travel yet? Doesn't know about the Zentradi? Not even about aliens '''at all'''?!

"... So... mid-20th century version of Earth presumably, where we at least speak the same langage, and the UN hasn't replaced national governments..." His hand on his face, letting out a sigh. "I've either been rendered completely unconsious, died and this is a peculiar form of purgatory, or somehow violated the space-time continuum.... I'd say this is 'just another Tuesday', but it was Wednesday from where I came from."

Theo suddenly snorts a small laugh, but raises a hand to his mouth to stifle it. "Do forgive me," he offers in apology. "Was not aimed at you, Ensign. But there is a welcome center very near the clinic. They have information there, and there's usually someone there manning the counter. Though if you find weird things disturbing, you may wish to prepare yourself. When I visited there, the counter was manned by a human-sized talking starfish wearing pants and a shirt. The latter unbuttoned of course, as his eye was on his chest." Theo doesn't sound like he's kidding. "That said, aside from... well, 'being a human-sized talking starfish', he was mundane enough. I have a way to figure that out."

"I?-What?" Russell says when confronted by what Theo would describe as 'normal'. "... walking, talking starfish...." His head shakes in defeat, giving up trying to make sense of the stranger bits of what Theo is discribing. "I'll.. take your word for it, Theo.... If you wouldn't mind leading me to the medical center, that'd be greaaaat" He adds, "If that's the sort of thing I have to get used to-then I'm in for a world of hurt....."

<hr>

'''Mabase Medical Clinic'''

''A large medical clinic that takes up an entire side of the 3rd floor. There are two doors here byond the one that leads to the main hallway. One leads to a surgery room and the other to a recovery room. Next to the surgery room is a red light that is lit when the room is being occupied. Here in the main room is a medical table next to a cart covered with various instruments used in examinations. At the rear of the room is a large desk where the resident doctor does his paperwork and addresses potential patients as they come in. Normally there would be a reception area here but the desk is on backorder so no one has bothered to partition the room yet.''

<hr>

Theo chuckles. "It's not as bad as it sounds," he assures Russell. "It helps if you don't try to overthink, and try to take Lewis Carroll's advice -- learn how to believe impossible things." It might be worthy to note that Theo's still maintaining the respectful polite physical distance. So not to worry, he's not going to suddenly slap Russell on the back like he was some long-lost friend or something. Perhaps Theo understands that Russell needs his space and that some strange teenager slapping him on the back like they were best buddies wouldn't be the best thing for Russell right now.

Anyway, he does lead Russell to the medical center, which is, indeed, rather counterintuitively placed -- there's a very large courthouse that's kind of like a multi-level mall, and the clinic is on the third floor of it.

"This is the sort of location I'd expect to see a dentists' office, not the main clinic for the whole town...." Russell says, seeming amused at least for the moment. "As long as I've avoided permanant brain damage, I'll be good. Though I'll admit that I'll be suprised if I '''don't''' considering our conversation."

"There's another clinic, but this is the one that's closer to the welcome center," Theo replies. "We passed it on the first floor of the courthouse, on the way up. I'll take you over there if you want, if you're up to it once you're either cleared to be walking around or admitted." There's a few places to recover in here, not to worry. Though it did seem to indicate that he intends to stick around. Which he realizes is a little weird, perhaps, and ventures meekly, "Er, that is... if you're all right with some extra help? I haven't been here long either, and I'm still rather lost and confused. So I feel like I may know a little of what you're feeling."

Though maybe not quite as keenly. He's pretty sure Russell didn't start spewing metal spiders from his mouth one day, and then panic and run away from home. Though that does make him wonder... does Russell have weird abilities too? He almost wants to find out... but no. Not here and now, when Russell is already feeling confused and likely more than a little upset...

"Well, it would seem you've gotten past the 'questioning your own sanity' part of it at least." Russell quips, saying, "I'm still disoriented and confused about what's going on.... I think I'll be okay after I get checked out. That bush was kind enough to... Mostly... break my fall."

Theo nods. "I'm sure being told something so strange doesn't help on top of the headache and general disorientation," he reasons. "They probably will keep you overnight for observation -- I understand that's the typical procedure for a concussion. And if you're feeling disoriented -- well, before I started talking about dimensional sink traps and human-sized starfish."

He'll lead Russel to the waiting area and then indicate a seat. "Here you go. Sit down carefully -- the bloodflow change might make you dizzy. Or you might have just been running on adrenaline the whole time."

Though something that might go unnoticed by Theo... but maybe not by Russell -- there's a very old magazine on one of the nearby tables. Seems to be some kind of local entertainment magazine. And on the cover is an androgynous-looking fellow with light lavender eyes and dark brown hair that has a very slight reddish tint to it. He's dressed in a dark-colored outfit that doesn't look too terribly feminine... but that can't really be helped, with his build. And of '''course''' he's wearing makeup, he always did. His eyes are done up to look smoky.

But there are a few things that date this picture to an approximate time of this person's life -- his hair in the back is long. After THE INCIDENT, he never wore his hair long in the back, only the tails in front of his ears. And that smile -- it's a glamor shot, obviously, but that's an actual smile.

Russell does in fact sit down. He rubs his head some more, because clearly that's going to help the ear-splitting headache or existential dread he's currently experiancing. The face on the magazine makes the man pause. Russell goes pale-white as a ghost in fact. No words exit his mouth as he picks up the magazine and stares into it as if his eyes could stare into the soul of the man on the cover.

"There is one bit of consistancy. I knew this guy. Personally, in fact... but... like... He's clearly younger in this shot-What the fuck is this place?"

Seeing Russell suddenly go pale, Theo grows visibly worried, amber eyes widening in concern. "Oh geez, you got really pale all of a sudden -- are you okay?!" Suddenly his formal, polite tone becomes more conversational -- more like a '''normal''' teenager.

He looks at the magazine Russell's picked up, blinking. "I don't know him either. But that's also very old magazine... he might not be here anymore. I understand there was some kind of upheaval that threw things around--"

Unfortunately, further explanation is going to have to wait. Since they're '''in''' the medical area, Russell appears to be going pale, and Theo was pretty successful at drawing attention to Russell's sudden pallor, a couple of people are probably going to come and see to the injured pilot. So he'll get in sooner than later!

|}}

2020-02-28 - Doctor My Eyes

2020-02-28T09:59:26Z

DariRyusei: Adam sees Dr. Rebane about his left eye. The news isn't good.

{{Logsummary|
Title = Doctor My Eyes
|Summary = Adam's coming in to see Doctor Alexander Rebane about his left eye, damaged in the crash that nearly took his life. The news isn't good, but there's a couple options...
|Who = [[Adam Weissman]], [[Alexander Rebane]]
|Date = February 28, 2020
|Where = [[Mabase Medical Clinic]]
|Log=

'''''Mabase Medical Clinic'''''

''A large medical clinic that takes up an entire side of the 3rd floor. There are two doors here byond the one that leads to the main hallway. One leads to a surgery room and the other to a recovery room. Next to the surgery room is a red light that is lit when the room is being occupied. Here in the main room is a medical table next to a cart covered with various instruments used in examinations. At the rear of the room is a large desk where the resident doctor does his paperwork and addresses potential patients as they come in. Normally there would be a reception area here but the desk is on backorder so no one has bothered to partition the room yet.''

<hr>

It's early in the morning, and Adam has gotten up before Shiro. Why? So he can come in for his checkup! Living with Takashi has been awkward as all hell thanks to their previous relationship and Adam's injuries. Bad enough they were once engaged and they're living together again, but he also has to help Adam '''bathe''' these days. Awkward! And Adam '''hated''' awkwardness. So he's coming in a little early today, so Shiro can sleep. Not to worry, he's left a note in case he's not back before Shiro wakes up.

The crutches have been traded out for a cane, which is a good thing, because those crutches were killing his torso. Crutches and broken ribs do not mix well, considering crutches force the upper body to do the work of half the lower body as well. Also if they're not used right they can actually '''cause''' broken or bruised ribs. Give Adam's were already broken? Yeah, not a good time with those crutches. The leg pain has mostly subsided, but he's still being careful, since he doesn't know if the bruised bone is healed enough to walk around or not.

Currently he's sitting in the waiting room with a book, leg slightly stretched out to rest it, waiting for his appointment. He came in pretty early, but he's prepared to wait until the proper time.

The receptionist at the front counter idly flips through a magazine of some form, glancing every so often at the injured man sitting not to far from her. Her blue skin strikes a very stark contrast with her snow white hair, with two antennae randomly flicking back and forth. Eventually she does set down the magazine, and touches the screen in front of her. Her eyes scan across the information that pops up, only to nod to herself.

As she speaks, her voice is rather curt as if there were really better things to do with her time, but who is she to disregard orders. "Doctor Rebane will see you now, Pink Skin." At least, when it comes to the doctor, she's willing to provide him some respect. Unlike the rest of these Pink Skins, running around, acting like they own the place.

"Room Three. Well, go on Pink Skin. Just because you decided to show up early doesn't mean he'll have extra time to spend on you."

Adam pauses, looking up as the woman speaks to him. He winces a bit, first at her tone, then at his protesting leg and ribs as he stands. "Thank you. And I apologize for the inconvenience," he offers quickly, but earnestly. He hadn't meant to upset anyone with his early arrival. But he's not going to waste any time with a lengthy explanation. He just gets his cane under him, and heads into room three.

Once Adam enters the room, he'll find that it appears to be a rather normal examination room like one would find in a neighborhood medical clinic. There's nothing really that stands out as odd or out of place, which in itself is rather uncommon in a place like Mabase. All of the cultures and timelines smashing together to create an intergalactic melting pot of tech should mean that there is some of the best treatments available.

Apparently, whenever Doctor Rebane is on duty, he prefers to keep it simple.

There's a faint knock on the door, the Doctor himself stepping into the room. He wears a blue duty uniform, with a solid gold braid around his wrist, with a broken gold braid just above it. He's followed closely by a younger man in blue as well, with no bands upon his sleeves.

A cursory glance is given towards Adam, with Doctor Rebane nodding approvingly. "It's good to see you up and moving, Mister Weissman." The doctor doesn't waste any time, moving now to kneel down before Adam, retrieving the smaller silver capsule he used to scan the younger man after providing his last bit of medical treatment. "Bruising is minimal Doctor with no signs of splintering," the young man in blue states as he looks at a large tablet like device. It too gets an approving nod from the Doctor, who then sits down on a stool, staring at Adam. "All right Mister Weissman. How have you been handling yourself?"

Adam sits down on the examination table as he enters the room, having a bit of trouble getting up there. Though not too much, which Adam views as a sign of improvement. He waits until the doctor arrives, and then nods in greeting. "Hello." He pauses, quieting for the scan... though thinking of just how excited Takashi woudl be to see this -- it's almost exactly like the little medical scanning device they use on that science fiction show he used to like!

He gives a sigh of relief -- a small one -- at the news. Good, he won't need surgery, more than likely. The question draws a response! "About as well as I could. Glad to be off those crutches, they were hurting my ribs," he replies. "Bathing is still a problem, since raising my arms hurts. I wouldn't, but I kind of need to. I've been trying to be careful, though."

"Well, I'd still suggest keeping them handy for a while longer. The priority right now is your leg. Broken ribs are dangerous, yes, however I don't forsee them giving you much more trouble." Doctor Rebane moves the small device over the ribs, as the young man in blue speaks once more.

"Fractures on ten and eleven are knitting correctly. Prognosis is good, Doctor."

Doctor Rebane places the device back into his pocket, retreiving a small pen light. "Glasses off please. This will only take a few moments."

It does take only a few moments, while the Doctor passes the glasses off to the younger blue shirt to check out. "Mister Weissman, now that the danger of a concussion has passed, I'm going to check your vision out to make sure your prescription is up to date."

Adam sits still for the scanning of his ribs, and then removes his glasses when asked, offering them to Doctor Rebane. There's a bit of a squint there as he does, but that's probably not surprising.

It's also worth noting that the vision in his left eye, the one that apparently had enough trauma to it to change its color, has worse vision than before. And he does note that, too. "I feel like the left lens isn't helping as much lately. Though that doesn't really surprise me, considering..."

"Hmm." Doctor Rebane pulls the small device out once more, and starts to run it across Adam's left eye. It's pretty obvious to the doctor that there is most likely something going on there, and the young blue shirt confirms it. "Significant corneal scarring, Doctor with a partially detached retina."

This causes the doctor to finally frown. He rolls back slightly, staring at Adam for a few moments. He leans forward once again, this time running the device over the right eye. "Partial occular degeneration. Within acceptable range for minor corrective lenses."

The small device is laid down next to Adam as the doctor seems to mull this information over. He moves over to look at the tablet himself, reading over the information before sliding back in front of the exploding space pilot. "Well Mister Weissman. Your right eye should be fine with corrective lenses.. Your left eye however.... It will require surgery to repair the damage. I hope your friend doesn't mind pirates, because you'll be wearing an eyepatch for quite some time after this."

Adam at least knows what that means, when the younger fellow relates the damage done to his left eye. He knows it's bad. It '''sounds''' bad. And he frowns too, though he's quiet. Nobody likes being given bad news, particularly about their eyes.

The mention of a patch gets a bit of a chuckle, actually. "I doubt he'd mind. Do you think a contact lens for the right eye would be advisable? The damage there isn't bad enough that it should hurt anything, would it?" he inquires. He's not vain, but a full pair of glasses plus an eyepatch? He doesn't like that idea.

The frown upon the Doctor's face finally cements itself as he leans closer again to Adam, this time placing both hands upon the younger man's face to keep it in place. He stares directly at the heavily damaged eye, almost as if he were trying to decide on just what the odds of success would really be. Eventually, he releases Adam and turns to his assistant.

"...I need you to go run a few simulations for me." Rolling back towards the nearly empty counter behind him, he opens a drawer and removes a simple pen and a pad of paper. He hastily fills the first page on the pad and then hands it to the blue-shirted assistant. "They shouldn't take long. Return with the print outs once they finish." Once the pad is in the young assistant's hands, they rush out of the room, nearly bumping into people audibly in the hallway, which causes the doctor to grimace slightly.

Turning his attention back to Adam, Doctor Rebane once more shines a light into the left eye, carefully watching how the retina retracts. A soft hiss escapes his lips as he slowly starts to speak once again.

"Adam. I'm going to be extremely honest here. Your eye is hanging on solely by a thread, and the thread is already frayed to the point of snapping. Surgery is the first option, however there may be damage that my tricorder might have missed, which means that it could be in vain. However, before I even present the list of options I need to impress upon you that no matter which option we persue... You will never have one hundred percent vision in that eye again. Some of the damage is going to be beyond repair, even for someone of my talents."

Doctor Rebane getting so close and holding onto Adam's face like that would be weird if it wasn't a doctor. Adam holds still for this. Though as this simulation business is mentioned, Adam frowns a little. Medical simulations usually aren't needed unless there's something serious. He figured there would need to be some fixing up, but... this sounds really bad.

He keeps this quiet, though, and holds still as Doctor Rebane shines that light into his left eye. Though he does visibly wince. The light being shined in that eye doesn't 'feel' right somehow... And it seems to be true, his eye is pretty badly damaged. It's disheartening to hear, but...

"...I kind of expected something like that," he admits. "It's been giving me trouble -- some pain, nothing serious yet, blurriness in the morning..." As for his eye never getting better? "Having even half the vision in that eye is better than having no vision in that eye," he reasons. "And if something's not done, I have a feeling I'm going to lose it completely -- is that about what's going on?"

"Even with the surgery.. the best possible scenerio I'd give is around seventy percent, but the eye is going to continue to degrade with time again. There will be no avoiding that. So eventually, your vision with it will diminish. Ocular injuries are extremely delicate and hard to fully diagnose. They're easy to misdiagnose because while it could be one thing, there's plenty of others that could be hiding just behind it." The penlight is set down on the doctors lap as he carefully chooses his next words.

"The second and third options I'm going to give you as well to think about. The second would be full amputation, as your right eye is in good enough shape to repair without corrective lenses ever being required. There is always a chance something could go wrong and your eye will be left worse. The third... Is one I'm hesitant to even give, but I would be doing my profession a disservice by not mentioning it."

"The third... is tricky enough, but it could be possible to replace the eye with a donor entirely. Which, I'm fairly certain I don't need to tell you just what it would imply."

Adam listens carefully to all this. He has his serious face on for this (which he usually does, but that's neither here nor there). And yes, he does wince a little at the third option -- that's not something he wants to consider, either someone else having to give up an eye or having to get one from a corpse. And then probably anti-rejection medicine, immune response suppressing, possibly making him more susceptible to serious illnesses...

Yeah... that, especially, is not a route he wants to go.

He takes a breath, pauses. "Is there time for me to weigh my options before making a decision?" he inquires. "I know it's incredibly important I decide quickly, but I don't want to rush to make a decision like this." All things considered, he seems fairly calm about it all, thankfully.

"No matter which option you chose, it would still take me time to schedule any surgeries, as well as ensure that I have a solid medical workup for you to rely on. Medicine throughout history has always had it's practitioners who fly fast and hard, however I am not one of those. I was trained by some of the greatest minds in the Sciences, and the more you know and prepare, the better an outcome will be."

Doctor Rebane stands up and moves to open the door at the exact moment the Assistant stands outside it, getting ready to knock. The papers in the blue-shirted young man's hands are quickly taken and then the door shut in his face.

Five minutes of silence pass as Alexander Rebane carefully reads through the papers, nodding his head slightly. A slight look of surprise is given as he reaches the end of the stack, but then he holds the papers out towards Adam. "Right now, the timeline we're looking at would be a month. That would give me enough time to prepare anything I would need no matter which option you chose, even if its the last one in those print outs. I hadn't thought that one would be a viability, but it seems that you would eventually be a canididate for it. It's an option, but.. My professional opinion is this. We should go with option one, and then gauge how your situation progresses from there."

Adam takes the offered papers, beginning to read through them. Surgery would help in the short-term but would probably ultimately fail in the long run. But it would be at least a few more years with some degree of vision in that eye. Removal would instantly remove the vision and he could start gettng accustomed to not having the vision in that eye -- but he doesn't know that his eye will eventually '''completely''' fail with surgery. Transplant... yeah no, that gets skipped pretty quickly.

But then the last option... he pauses at this, blinks. And yes, he has been listening to the doctor's words. He looks up. "A month is all the time the eye has? Or that's the quickest things can be gotten ready?" he inquires. One is... sliiiiightly more urgent than the other, after all!

Looking back down to the papers, turned to the fourth option, he notes, "I'm... not altogether adversed to this option. That said, I do agree with you, surgery does seem to be the best option for right now, particularly if my vision's going to deteriorate anyway. I might be able to get some extra time out of that eye. But I do want to talk it over with the fellow that came in with me when I first arrived, since he'll also be affected by whatever choice is made."

Adam continues, though, "But, as you said, this may eventually be an option. Particularly, again, if my vision's going to deteriorate even with the surgery. I'm not what one would call vain, I don't really care terribly much what things look like."

"It is of course, your eye. So it's understandable about any scenerio that may see it removed from you altogether being one you may want to avoid. I myself would most likely make the same choice. As for how long your eye has until surgery is no longer an option? I would give it at least a month before it starts to degrade further. So long as you maintain a relaxed life and avoid anything that could cause strain to it. For a surgery like that... it's possible I could do it as early as next week if you wanted. So while there is a rush, it isn't as immediate as you may have thought at first."

The doctor finally rises once again and moves to the empty counter, and opens a drawer to remove a prescription pad. He carefully writes on it in the hypnotic mess that most doctors across the centuries have seem to mastered. "There are three prescriptions here, which if you take it to the front desk, they'll be able to fill for you in a few minutes. The first is for a new pair of glasses. The second, is an eye drop I want you to use on your left eye three times a day. It'll help keep the retina relaxed and assist in preventing strain. The third, is another anti-inflammatory agent that should help with the discomfort on your ribs. Once you've decided on a course of action, let the front desk know. I'll know to clear my schedule then and set a date for you."

Adam nods, and reorganizes the stack of papers properly, putting them in their proper order, and making sure they're in a neat stack. Then he places the prescription on the top of the stack neatly. "Thank you, Doctor Rebane," he replies gratefully. Though he does have one question. "After the surgery, how long will it take for the eye to recover so that I can see out of it?" He's not asking this in a worried tone, though -- just being thorough with questions of a doctor. Also, the more questions are got out of the way '''now''', the less he'll have to answer later.

"Well, it could take between five to ten days for the eye to fully recover. However it will be usable after twenty four hours. You'll most likely notice some spotting and blurring that will clear up over time. It will need ample time to rest, which is why you'll have an eye patch to cover it when you notice it starting to tire. It's imperative that you keep the eye patch on you at all times."

The doctor opens a cupboard and roots around it for a few moments, before closing it and moving on to another. Eventually he retreives a shrinkwrapped package with a black eye patch which he then holds out towards Adam. "I'd suggest you wear this for two to three hours a day until the surgery while using the eye drops. It will help prevent further damage until I'm able to repair whatever I can."

Adam accepts the information, as well as the shrinkwrapped eye patch, with another nod. "Is there a particular time of day when it needs to be worn? During hours I'm reading or actively using them, or more during rest?" He can see it being either one. Adam does have a lot of questions, but he's wanting to make sure he's doing everything right. Better to ask now than to damage something due to not knowing something.

"I'd suggest after applying the eye drops for a half an hour to an hour. So as you'll be using the drops three times a day, that's when I'd suggest. Also whenever you do notice the eye starting to hurt, or tire out would also help. As for reading and things that require additional eye activity... For the time being there isn't much more I could suggest except for what I've already stated." The doctor doesn't seem to mind these questions, as it does at least show to him that Adam is taking this as seriously as one truly can. The hard part will be seeing just how dedicated Adam will be to it when he's on his own.

Fortunately for them both, Adam has had direct contact with someone who continually disobeyed doctors' orders (goddammit, Takashi), so in all likelihood, he's going to be taking care of this as well as he's able to. There's a pause then, and Adam seems to be thinking. Probably going over all the information, all the answers, and seeing if he has any questions that he needs answered, off the top of his head. Rebane can't tell him how it's all going to shake out, only time will tell that.

There doesn't seem to be anything he can think of off the top of his head. He'll try to call or visit if he has anything else. "Thank you again, Doctor Rebane. Particularly for putting up with the questions. But I think I have the information to go into this with a clear picture." Pause, and he smirks. "Figuratively speaking, of course."

|}}

2020-02-20 - Dusty Old Nerds

2020-02-24T05:07:08Z

DariRyusei: SilverSight and Lucy clean up the library, while talking about the value of books. (Posted by request)

{{Logsummary|
Title = Dusty Old Nerds
|Summary = SilverSight and Lucy clean up the library, while talking about the value of books.
|Who = [[SilverSight]], [[Lucy Lacemaker]]
|Date = February 20, 2020
|Where = [[Twisted Public Library]]
|Log=

SilverSight has spent a lot of time living in the library, keeping it well protected and trying to clean up. Dusty dusty dusty.

"Wotcher doin' vere, horsie?" comes the high-pitched voice of Lucy Lacemaker from behind Silver Sight, the weird cat thing having either snuck up on him or used weird slasher movie teleportation. Probably just snuck up though. With her /very/ toothy grin on full display, she continues, "Of course I know what you're doing, but it's a conversation starter, innit? Teehee!"

SilverSight looks up slightly grumpy at being called a 'horsie'. That always annoys him. He turns to tell off whoever it was.. but he does suddenly seem less so when he sees.. whatever it is speaking to him. Well that's new. He tilts his head curiously, "I'm um.. cleaning the library of course." He motions out to the place, "The poor thing has been disused and left alone for far too long."

Lucy Lacemaker glances around at the library, tail swaying behind her. "Terrible shame, vat. So many books, so much information, all going to waste wif nobody learning it. Terrible shame." She swipes her tail over a book left laying on the floor, eyeing the dust bunnies that go flying. "Absolutely bloody dreadful, it is."

SilverSight keeps an eye on the creature, but seems to be relaxing a little now that conversation is happening, "Very much so. That's why I've been recently hired to help maintain the location. Makes for a decent place to live too."

Lucy Lacemaker flashes another grin at Silver, wiggling her claws. "Knowledge is power, they say. My kind knew that very well, heheh." A few more swishes of her tail and the book is dust-free, then she picks it up and places it neatly on the shelf. "Vere we go. We can sort you out proper later, but at least you're off va floor." Finally, addressing Silver again, she says, "Sounds like a downright fuckin' noble position, it does. 'Ope the job comes wif a title, not as official wifout va title. Keeper of Tomes or somefin' like vat."

SilverSight gives a soft chuckle to that one, shaking his head, "Not even sure if there's a real title to be given. At best I'm technically just maintenance at this point until the place is fully operational once more." He's still moving about, dusting where he can with a pan and brush held in his magic, "My name is Silver Sight though, if that helps any."

Lucy Lacemaker continues to help out where she can, making quick work of all that dust with her tail... which seems to have sprouted feathers for additional ease of dusting! "Well you should petition for a title, ven. We 'ad titles for everyfing back in va Kivouack, y'know. I was Voice of va Court, for instance. Very 'igh honor, vat." she goes on, then as introductions are given out, she flamboyantly waves her clawed hand and says, "Lucy Lacemaker, dearie. A pleasure, I'm sure~"

SilverSight now seems more curious than before, even setting down the tools to look closer at the critter, noting the change in adding feathers, "It's nice to meet you, Lucy. I'm afraid I've never heard of the.. what was it.. Kiv-wack? I apologize if I'm incorrect."

Lucy Lacemaker places a few more books on the shelves, mentally noting their titles, authors, and locations. As Silver expresses interest in her home, however, she tilts her head toward him, ears flapping with the motion, and laughs again before answering, eyes momentarily drifting apart before snapping back into focus on the pony. "Hahahaha! The Kivouack, dear! My home, what existed before va universe as it now is... or at least, va universe which I come from. A place more beautiful and terrible van anyfing what's existed since, where light ran like rivers and cities were built in spheres. Physics were very different ven, see. Before it went *boom* and created va universe as it now exists from its ever-expanding ruins."

SilverSight's head goes tilt as he attempts to parse some of that explanation, as well as the accent. It takes him a moment to run it all through, "I see.. Sounds like it was a hell of a place then. Mine had mostly clear physics going on, barring certain events, but we ponies also cheated through the use of magic a lot."

Lucy Lacemaker tilts her head along with Silver's. "Your physics are only clear to you because you've lived wif 'em your 'ole life. Va Kivouack's physics made perfect sense to us; it was va new universe's physics vat were confusing. Took fuckin' millennia to get used to it." She then peers at Silver's horn, her red eye widening while the white eye narrows. "Magic? Ovvers 'ave talked about it, but I 'aven't seen it yet. Is vat what you're using to 'old va broom and pan?"

SilverSight nods to that and majicks up the broom again, making it swish about on the floor, "A very minor spell that virtually every unicorn learns, but I do have other magic at my disposal. Every pony has their own special talent that makes them slightly unique, something that they can naturally do slightly better than anyone else. Most unicorns often learn a specific spell tied to this talent."

Lucy Lacemaker watches intently as the broom moves about, noting the glow from Silver's horn and the matching glow on the broom. "I see, I see... Not just somefin' anyone can learn, I'd wager? I could fink of a few uses for vat..."

SilverSight gives a small shrug, "It's possible to teach the spells. So long as a unicorn is patient and dedicated to learn that is. It's often though that a number of spells used to be personal ones that were just too useful to keep, so they were retaught over and over along the years until they became common. But we were also learning a lot of new ones as well, making up the magic as we go!"

Lucy Lacemaker leans against a stack of books. "I meant ovver species. Fings what aren't unicorns. Magic doesn't exist where I'm from, 'cept for sleight of 'and and suchlike. So I was just wonderin' if such fings could be taught to people what aren't born in it."

SilverSight oooh and huh.. pondering that one, "Never thought of that before. I suppose it's not *impossible* to teach our brand of magic to someone else.. but I've never heard of such thing occuring before." A soft laugh, "Not that I even knew there were creatures other than those of my world until about a year ago."

Lucy Lacemaker taps the tips of her claws together thoughtfully. "Really now? Interesting, we'll have to try it sometime. Magic could be very useful in so many ways, heheh..." That gleam in her eye looks downright /evil/, but then again, given her appearance, anything would look evil if she did it. A moment later though, she goes back to her cleaning. "But vat can wait. Vis library is in sorry shape, so let's get to it!"

SilverSight gets back to his dusting, occasionally lifting books to put in their proper place as well, "It's certainly nice to meet another library lover! With the way this place ended up, I was wondering if anyone else had bothered coming in here for years."

Lucy Lacemaker does a bit more organizing as she goes, reshelving books that were left in the wrong spots. "Kivouachians respect intelligence as much as strength, and libraries are a symbol of intelligence. A collection of knowledge gavvered over va course of 'istory, waiting for new generations to learn from it and use vat information to whatever ends vey see fit. Fuckin' poetic, if you ask me."

SilverSight laughs softly and nods, "Oh I fully agree with everything you just said there. I've been interested in books and learning the history of my world ever since I learned to read. Read everything my Stable had to offer a dozen times over before I finally got out to explore my world and find more books to indulge myself in."

Lucy Lacemaker chuckles a bit as well. "I /experienced/ 'istory, so books were more of a pastime for me back home. Somefin' to pass va time, but occasionally somefin' came along vat I missed. And now, I've got fings from worlds I never knew existed to look forward to reading about, so much more knowledge to be gained." She gives Silver another curious look. "For starters, 'ow about you give me some stories from your world while we work? It'll help pass va time faster."

SilverSight shall proceed to tell Lucy some of the tales he knows of from his world. Minor background history of how Equestria came to be, some of the ancient heroes, the rise of Twilight, leading towards the war with the zebras...

|}}

2020-02-22 - Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

2020-02-23T11:06:03Z

DariRyusei: Everybody's having nightmares!

{{Logsummary|
Title = Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
|Summary = Everybody's having nightmares! Shiro and Adam talk a bit, Shiro tells Adam a little about what happened to him out there in space, and Adam has to confront the fact that he still has feelings. Not that he's telling Shiro that, mind...
|Who = [[Takashi Shirogane]], [[Adam Weissman]]
|Date = February 22, 2020
|Where = Integra's Arms - Takashi Shirogane's Apartment
|Log=

It's been a few days now and Shiro's feeling a little releived about how Adam's coming along in his healing. However, all of this thinking about how he's coming along is making him realize that he has to think of HOW to tell Adam what all happened... That, in turn, is making bad thoughts roll around in his head, and that's making it hell on him getting any good sleep. He's got his light out and is trying to sleep as he starts squirming about in his bed uncomfortably.

As it turns out, Adam's actually up and about too. His nightmares aren't nearly as bad as Shiro's -- he got woken up by a dream of getting his plane shot out from under him; unpleasant but not anywhere near what Shiros' dealing with. The problem is, this made him gasp, andthe deep breath made his ribs hurt mightily. So, with his ribs aching, he gets up to find a painkiller. It's always better to deal with pain when it's at a lower level, after all. That way it doesn't take so much product to control. These would knock him out too, so he'd get more sleep.

However, as he passes by Shiro's door to head to the bathroom, he hears the shifting around. And it doesn't sound like '''THAT''' kind of shifting around, no... it sounds like there's something wrong. Adam pauses, looking at the door. He pauses a moment, wondering how to handle it. The painkiller can wait; he's worried.

He takes a step nearer to the closed door to Shiro's room and hesitates. Should he just open the door? No, of course not, that would be rude. So instead he raps on the door with a knuckle, quietly but firmly. "Takashi? Are you all right?" he calls through the door, just loud enough to be heard.

Takashi Shirogane doesn't respond but eventually offers what sounds like a moan and a little thrashing as well. "Ghh....s-stop..." he murmurs into his blankets.

The murmur is probably too muffled to hear behind the door, but he heard the sound. And it didn't sound good. He frowns, hesitating again, propriety warring with concern. Eventually the concern wins out, after another of those pained sounds, and Adam's brows draw down. He's going to look at this like Shiro helping him bathe -- it's not like he hasn't seen it before. So he reaches to open the door and peeks in cautiously. "...Takashi?"

Shiro's laying in bed, looking fine as far as things like his illness or any injuries go. However, his hands are gripping near his throat as if he's trying to get something invisible off of it.

Adam frowns again, and quietly enters the room to check for something there at Shiro's throat. He'll sit down on the side of the bed nearest Shiro, and place a hand on Shiro's shoulder, with a gentle shake. "Takashi." He says it more firmly this time, hopefully loud enough that it'll break through whatever it is that's got hold of him, figuratively speaking.

There's nothing there, not even an invisible something. However, the shaking does seem to cause him to stir some, as his hands seem to relax while his eyes start to work open.

Adam speaks up again, "Takashi? Are you all right?" He leans a little closer, less upset that he might get hit by Shiro flailing around. So that might be the first thing Shiro sees when he opens his eyes. Adam's missing his glasses, so through the frown of concern, there's a nearsighted squint. Though the burns, nicely healing into scars on his face and neck, and the altered color of his left eye might be a bit shocking if his conscious mind takes a bit to catch up with his unconscious mind.

Takashi Shirogane blinks a little, taking a moment to become more concious before shaking out the cobwebs a bit. "Nhh....Adam," he wonders as he sits up, "...do you have anything for those burns? They look like they must be uncomfortable to deal with...."

Adam sits back as Shiro sits up, suppressing a wince. The burns are mentioned, and Adam notes, "They're fine. The skin is mostly healed, I just need to keep putting that ointment that I have on them. More importantly... are '''you''' all right? Were you having a nightmare?"

"That's good," Shiro answers as he tries to finish waking up, "Yeah I'm fine...sorry....yeah. I don't have episodes anymore but well, there's this..."

Adam nods. "If you've been through as much as you've said, it's little wonder it comes back at night." He draws in a breath to sigh... and then winces. "...Ah." A pained sound. But he forges on nonetheless, "I know you don't want to drop it all on me while I'm still injured, but if you do want to talk, I'm here." Sure he's not with Shiro romantically anymore... but if Shiro's hurting, Adam's not going to just LET him hurt...

"That's actually what brought this on tonight," Shiro admits as he rubs the back of his own neck, "I've been trying to think of how to tell you about everything..." he states, "I...when we were on Kerberos, we were captured and Sam was sent to do science as a prisoner, while me and Matt were sent to the arena. I saved him from having to fight in the arena by attacking him, injuring him so he couldn't fight, and making out like I was too blood thirsty to wait my turn...after that I spent...I'm not sure how long, having to play that role while fighting people to the death in the arena."

"If you don't want to talk about everything, just what you feel comfortable with," Adam offers. "I won't push." For once! Though he pauses to listen as Shiro admits this part. The drawn look is one that's half concerned and half disgust. "Why would someone put you through that?" It's rhetorical, he doesn't expect an answer. "Thank you for saving Matt from it, though. I didn't get the details -- I didn't have the clearance."

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply. "He got sent somewhere else and we found him later...but I was an arena slave until I managed to escape...but the crash the escape caused gave me a bit of amnesia and it took me a while to remember how or why I escaped... Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Katie all 'saved' me from the quarantine and then we ended up caught in the space war between the Galra and Alteans..."

"That's where you spent all the time in space?" Adam inquires. "Before the Galra came to Earth?" He's starting to put the pieces together and get an overall timeline of what happened. Minus all those... really bad bits, mind. He still has no reason to suspect that Shiro's nightmares are any more than his pretending to be evil and bloodthirsty for so long doubling back and trying to 'kill' him in his sleep.

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply. "And...um...well I still don't feel right giving full detail yet...but stuff happened where I got replaced by a clone for a while, but we managed to fix it and got me into it's body. That's why I'm sure I'm not sick anymore....also why I've got the white hair."

There's something there. Something horrible. And it's right there in those details that Shiro's leaving out. It's staring him in the face and Adam knows it. But at the same time, he promised that he wasn't going to push, that he would just listen. So he does that. "I guess that would explain that. What about your arm? I've never seen anything like it before." Which makes sense, since it's Altean technology. And of course Adam just has to poke at it, though he's cautious. He doesn't know if that will ruin it.

"I originally lost it in the arena and got a galran robotic arm," Shiro explains, "but in the situation with the clone, the robotic arm was lost too and I got a new arm that was made by Hunk and Princess Allura when we got back to Earth...before that though, we defeated the emperor of the Galra and his son, but that just left a power vaccum that his right hand tried to take advantage of. HE is the one that attacked earth, and after ending up in a time dilation, we learned of it all too late to stop it. We stopped it from getting any worse by taking Sendak out though...and then we went on to finally take out the queen of the galra as well because she attempted to attack Earth right after and almost took out all of reality as well..."

Adam is listening, just trying to take it all in. "So you... literally saved all of reality?" He's just... trying to let that sink in -- that they literally stopped someone from destroying all of existence. And in the end, all he can say is, "...Now I'm glad you '''did''' go on that mission." He's not falling over himself to apologize for what he did or said before Shiro left, or for breaking up with Shiro, mind. Because he does still stand by it -- it was killing him to watch Shiro push himself until he was half dead all the time.

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply. "I know it sounds crazy, and that isn't even all the details...but sadly that's what happened...the galran queen and Princess Allura both were sacrificed in order to undo the damage the galran queen had done...but now all the universe (and realities) are saved..."

"That's unfortunate, that it took death to undo," Adam replies quietly. "That said, I'm sure they would do it again if they had to..." He trails off then. There's so much loss and sacrifice in this story, and it feels like an ongoing theme. How much had to be sacrificed, overall, to reach the end goal, for everyone to just... be safe...?

Takashi Shirogane frowns and nods again. "That's most the story...with some details left out cause they're a bit too odd or worrying..." he states, "But well...now you know most of the big bullet points..."

Adam nods. "Seems like it. I missed so much." He sighs -- lightly this time, so he doesn't hurt his already-aching ribs. "I'm just sorry I couldn't have been more help, to you or the Earth. We were all just... shot down effortlessly. I suppose someone has to be the first to fall in any charge, but... that doesn't make it easier..."

"It's not anything you could help, don't worry that much about it," Shiro insists, "You did all you could and you don't have ESP..." He frowns a bit and tilts his head slightly. "I didn't say anything worrying in my sleep did I?"

Adam shakes his head. "No. You just were telling someone to 'stop', and since you were reaching for your throat, I can assume you felt like someone was strangling you," he replies. He'll leave the issue of his feelings of inadequacy for another time. This is about trying to help Shiro.

Shiro nods. "That's not so bad...ok...I can deal with that..." he replies, "Thank you for waking me up..."

"I just got up to get one of those painkillers," Adam explains. "Ironically, I had a nightmare too. Nothing like what you were having. I was seeing the one-sided dogfight again, remembering getting shot down. I suppose I moved wrong and strained a little too much, because I woke up with my sides aching."

Takashi Shirogane frowns a little more. "I wish I had some way to help...and sorry I worried you," he replies, "I imagine you thought I was having an episode...and after I just told you I got over it...I probably sounded like a complete liar."

"I wouldn't say a liar," Adam replies. "Maybe... understator? Even if you hadn't honestly thought you were free of them, you probably wouldn't have wanted anyone to worry about you. But I know you weren't doing it out of malice or intent to lie." And truth be told... that was actually part of why Adam agreed to staying here. Just in case Shiro's NOT over his condition, Adam will be close by. That said, if he's literally in a cloned body, it's likely that the cloned body didn't have that condition.

Takashi Shirogane says, "Well, yeah...that too..." He chuckles a little, "That's still a bad habit, but I was being honest about it... Nothing left of that."

Adam nods. "I believe you. I haven't seen you take any medicine since you've been here, and you remember how bad it got when you didn't take it," he points out. "If you did still have it, you probably would have had at least one episode. Since there's been nothing, I can conclude whatever happened to you at least got rid of that."

...Not that he's not still going to keep an eye on Shiro...

Takashi Shirogane says, "...but I guess I should let you try to get back to sleep," Shiro states, "...that'll take a while for me to do."

Adam opens his mouth, rather automatically, intending to offer to stay in there with him, like he would have done in the past... and then freezes. No. No no no no no. That is so very not appropriate now. And suddenly he looks sheepish. "I don't mind, er... staying up with you a bit, until you feel like sleeping again," he offers. He's blushing a little though.

"If you're sure..." Shiro replies, "Keeping my mind distracted would probably help a lot..."

Adam nods. "I'm sure," he confirms. "I was just going for those painkillers because I thought they'd get me back to sleep without issue. We have others I can take. Do you want to go out into the living room for a bit?" he asks. "Or..." he trails off again, because... there's really no way he can ask 'or do you want to just hang out in your bedroom' without it sounding awkward!

"If you don't mind sitting up in bed while I stay layed down, we can just stay here," Shiro states, "If that's too awkward I can get up..."

Adam blushes slightly, but nods. "That's fine," he agrees. "Let me go take an aspirin or something first. My ribs still ache a bit, and I don't want them to get worse." He stands -- slowly, and with a quiet grunt -- and heads to get an aspirin. And also a bit of a snack, too, since he returns with a plate of grapes. "I didn't think it was fair for me to eat and not bring you some too," he notes. "But I needed to eat something so the aspirin wouldn't be on an empty stomach."

Takashi Shirogane smiles a little. "Thank you for being thoughtful like always," he replies, "I'm not hungry, but I really do appreciate it... and thank you for staying up with me..."

Adam smiles, placing the plate between them, and sitting down on the edge of the bed again. "It's almost like those times when I'd stay with you in the hospital after you had an episode. You remember? I'd stay until visiting hours were over and then they'd kick me out?"

Takashi Shirogane chuckles at that. "Yeah...you never think that memories of hospital visits would be fond and nostalgic, especailly after being stuck in them for so long, but here we are."

Adam also chuckles. "Yeah. Though I guess after it all that's all there really was," he notes. "You got really sick, and started having them more often, so we started spending more and more time there."

"That's true...sorry about that..." Shiro murmurs, "That's part of why I felt like I had to leave, the whole thing didn't feel fair to you. You had to keep constantly stressing out about me. I can worry about you now."

"Maybe... but I can't help thinking it was more than that," Adam replies. "You were driven then... moreso than I'd ever seen you before. I thought it was because you knew you didn't have much time left, but... Now I wonder if that mission, out there in space, wasn't... 'calling' you." He sighs. "Besides, I still worried about you, even if we weren't together."

It's a moment more before he finally acknowledges, "...I do appreciate the help. I just hate that I need it so much." Not only with his ribs, but he's lately been starting to walk into doors and miss things he's grabbing for...

Takashi Shirogane furrows his brows a little. "Yeah, it seems a little worrying how things are going," he states, "You HAVE been resting like you're supposed to and not sneaking something in , right?"

"How so?" Adam inquires, to the mention of things being worrying. As for whether he's resting? "Usually. I've only snuck out at night a couple of times." At least he has the grace to admit it, so there's that. "And I usually don't go too far."

Shiro gives that sort of face that looks like something a father would make in disaproval. "Don't think I haven't noticed you running into things," he points out, "Though that makes me more worried about your eye than the part you were on rest for... And come to think, I don't even know if this place has taxis or anything else that would have made getting around any easier on you."

This is a switch! Shiro's the one making the disappointed face, and Adam's the one scrunching his neck into his shoulders and chafing under the look. "I always come back when I start to hurt," he reassures. "If I just sat around in here, I'd go stir-crazy." Adam's always had a tendency to overthink, and there's just too many variables that he wants to think about that... really would be pointless to start planning out now.

AS for his eye? "Yeah, that's... got me worried, I admit," he agrees. "The doctor did say something about that before I got out. That there was a possibility that the vision in that eye would start to go. I'm going to go see him soon and get his take on it. See if he can prevent it, or whether I should just resign myself to losing the sight in that eye." He doesn't sound too worried about it, but there's a frown floating around his features that says quite the opposite...

Takashi Shirogane frowns and nods again. "I guess you're right too...I can't just expect you to stay cooped up for that long, especailly when we don't really have much to keep your mind off of things..."

"Part of it, yeah," Adam agrees. "I can't really exercise while I'm healing, and even I can only read for so long. I think I've gained ten pounds as it is." The latter sounds like a joke, but he still reaches to pinch at his waist. He's full of it, he still can't pinch more than an inch. He hasn't been sitting around for THAT long. "Besides, I'm supposed to be resting my leg... but if I don't make it do '''some''' work, it'll stop working entirely. I don't want the muscle to get weak."

"Pffft...you're still a stick," Shiro states, "You could use 10 pounds. Unlike some parts of me."

Adam starts to laugh here, and moves a hand to hold his sides so they don't shift too much. He's figured out how to do that. "Oh good Lord, are you still on about that?" he asks, amused. He does remember Shiro had a hangup about his own rear, deciding it was too big. In the past, a considerable amount of Shiro's dismay was aimed towards not being able to lose as much weight there as he would have liked. He doesn't reassure Shiro there's nothing wrong with his rear, though. It's... not really his place to do that anymore, is it? Aaaaaand yeah, he blushes a little bit, because he wants to reassure him!

"It hasn't gone anywhere...even in a different body..." Shiro says with a slight pout. This is followed by a small yawn and a chuckle. "Looks like you're already helping..."

After a moment, Adam squirms a bit, and finally manages to allow himself to offer, "...The opinion I have on... that particular issue has not changed." He's not going to look at Shiro when he says it though. And it's only partly because he wants to hide the blush. "I mean... I don't... really mean anything... inappropriate by it, you know? I just meant that... it's... in proportion, and I don't think it's bad..."

He shuts up, before he can stick his foot FURTHER into his mouth. ''('Stupid! Now you look ridiculous!')'' That said, how many 'appropriate' ways are there for a man to tell another man that he was a fantastic ass '''without''' it being meant in an 'inappropriate' way?

The yawn almost gets a sigh of relief. Good! Something to distract from the awkward! "A-are you getting tired?" he wonders. "I don't want to keep you up." His mind finishes, ''('With my complete idiocy!')''

Shiro blushes at the commentary and gives another chuckle. "Hn...yeah...but you aren't keeping me up, you're helping me get back to sleep..."

Still, a distraction! "True enough, I suppose." Adam pauses. "You said things settled down, right? Did you have an opportunity to settle down a little before you came here?" he inquires. "To at least enjoy the peace you brought about, a little?"

"Hmmm...I suppose," Shiro states thoughtfully, "I mean I spent most the time after over seeing what I was allowed to in helping with recovery efforts. ...they kinda didn't want me doing much after all I'd already done."

Adam nods. "If you did all that, even with help, I can understand why," he agrees. "I'd like you to be able to rest too. I'm sorry I'm having to rely on you so much. Hopefully I'll be able to return the favor once I'm recovered. And hopefully that won't be too much longer."

"Well I'm kind of forced to rest some now, so it's not so big a deal," Shiro states, "I don't have an actual job yet, so at most I'm doing little favors I find someone needs doing while I do my looking for work for us."

Once more Adam nods. "I'm not sure what there is to do here yet," he admits. "I don't really think there's much call for pilots here, but I did see a school while I was wandering around. So once I recover, I might be able to do something with that. Seems like it's a high school and an elementary school, so all kinds of students would be there."

Takashi Shirogane nods in reply. "I'm really not sure what I should do now," he states with a chuckle, "I've been at the whole fighting a war in space thing and recovering from that war in space enough that it's hard to think of just...normal jobs anymore."

"And really, what could top that?" Adam remarks, with a chuckle of his own. "Though... maybe that's why you were brought here. Maybe something -- maybe some'''ONE''' -- wanted you to just... take a break, and took the drastic step of bringing you here?"

"Maybe...but if that's the case they must have brought you here to glare at me when I'm over doing it," Shiro says with a grin.

Adam smirks. "I doubt it." He waves a hand dismissively. "I figure I only ended up here because of some weird wormhole effect that those alien crafts' weapons had in interacting with my plane's engines," he reasons. He didn't save not only the whole universe, but '''every possible reality''' of it.

"Eh, it's about as likely as someone having done it for me," Shiro points out, "But well it's hard to know what not to belive might exist after all that."

"Admittedly I didn't see everything, so I couldn't say," Adam admits. "But if there was some intelligence behind it, it does seem more likely with you than with me. You did save literally every permutation of our universe that exists. If there '''are''' 'gods', or anything like them, I'm sure that got their attention." He smirks a little. "Good job, by the way."

Shiro grins at that. "Thank you, but I still feel like I was more along for the ride than performing the deed by the end of it..." he admits, "Being a base style leader was NOT a comfortable feeling while it lasted, but at least I ended up getting back in the fight by the end."

Adam gives a quiet sound of agreement. "You never were the type to sit back and let others take care of things," he observes. There's a bit of a fond tone there, but he's looking forward, at the wall there. He looks like he's... thinking about something. But there's a small smile on his face. A moment later, though, he realizes his mind is wandering, and he shifts a bit. "Sorry, I'm just sort of... daydreaming. At night."

Shiro chuckles at that. "That's a good thing, don't worry," he states, "I'd think it means we're both relaxing more..." He cuddles into his pillow a little deeper, but smiles up at Adam as well.

"That's true," Adam agrees. "It's just... I don't know. Everything just feels so... surreal. If I wasn't injured and wasn't feeling actual pain I'd swear I was dreaming. Or that I'm actually dead and this is some kind of afterlife. I'm starting to wonder what's real now..."

Shiro tilts his head. "If you're dead then I must have died some how," he states, "It would explain my not even remembering how I got here, but I certainly don't feel dead."

"Not necessarily," Adam counters. "Though the alternative would be this is a hallucination and you aren't real. And of course you wouldn't KNOW you aren't real, or even if you did, you wouldn't tell me." He doesn't sound particularly upset about this possibility, though. Which may seem a little odd, given Adam.

"And I definetly don't feel fake," Shiro says with a laugh, "But like you said, what kind of proof is me saying that?"

Adam nods. "Though I don't think it's a bad thing," he decides. "Particularly since, what would the alternative to being here be?" He's not going say it, no. But between being here and being dead, he'd much rather be here.

"I'd certainly prefer you not being dead," Shiro states, "...if I'm dead I'm only really concerned about what killed me and what it might mean for the others."

"Besides, you've already been dead," Adam points out. "Well, quote-unquote 'dead', and then later 'really most sincerely dead', if I understood correctly. I think you've passed your allotment for dead-ness," he comments with a wry tone.

Shiro looks a little startled. "So I was too obvious about dancing around that," he wonders. Well, it's not like there are that many ways you'd 'have something happen' that causes you to be put into a diferent body.

"A bit, yes," Adam replies. There's a small smile. "When have you ever really been able to hide something bad from me for very long?" He is, after all, quite good at reading between the lines. So if Shiro doesn't want him to eventually figure out the '''really''' bad things? He'll have to be very careful...

Shiro nods and sighs. "I should have known you'd get it before I could tell you," he states, "Yeah...I '''kind of''' died. I was still alive but I was being held inside a robotic ship that had chosen me as it's pilot while my body ceased to exist."

Adam pauses, trying to process this. It's not so hard now, after being here for a little while. And seeing people with rainbow hair and people who could leap off of buildings barefoot like they just stepped down from one stair onto the next. "...That's... I'm not sure I know what to say about that," he admits. "Just that I'm glad it protected you from whatever made your body disappear."

"It was in the fight with the Galran's king...I fought him on the astral plane and ...never really got back to my own body after...I'm not sure what happened to it, but it was gone and I was stuck in the lion until the princess managed to take me out and put me into the clone's body," Shiro explains.

"So if not 'dead', definitely an extreme out-of-body experience," Adam reasons. "But... I'm sorry I never had a chance to thank her." Or to help out, but he's already said that, and it would be pretty damn pointless to repeat it. Suddenly he looks thoughtful again... Could it be possible that the princess could come here too? Adam himself came here when he died... so maybe she could too...?"

"Yeah, I got to see everything through the Black Lion for a while," Shiro says with a slight grin, "It was really weird...but...well here I am now...and it's why my hair's all white."

Adam is trying not to seem too interested, so he looks at the wall in front of him as he notes casually, "I don't... really think it looks bad on you." Yeah, that's casual... '''so dang casual'''. So casual it might have hurt him to say! Not really.

Takashi Shirogane blushes slightly. "Huh, really," he wonders, "...I was worried about the fact I'm white before my year..."

"I do wonder why it happened... but there's not really any point in worrying about it now," Adam points out. "You could start dyeing it if it really bothered you. But I don't think it looks bad." Pause. Should he say it? He doesn't want to seem like he's trying to... well, get back together. It was years for Shiro -- he doesn't even know how long it was! But on the other hand... that white hair really bothers Shiro, doesn't it? So... Adam take a chance. "...I think it makes you look distinguished. And I don't mean that as a nice way of saying 'old'."

Shiro blushes some more at that. "Well thanks...it is honestly good to know I don't look like an old man before I've even reached 30," he states, "...As much as I am worried by your appearance, I can't say it's because you look bad. You look kind of cool like that..."

''('Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't blush.')'' He's blushing, and he can feel it. ''('...Dammit.')''

But that's also why he's looking at the wall. Because he can't really blush too well on the left side of his face, so it won't embarass him so much! "Thank you. It... did kind of bother me. I'd thought about trying to get it taken care of, but... well, the skin will have to heal before I can think about that. In the meantime..." Pause. "...It's good that it isn't... really that bad, aesthetically..."

"You look like you...came from...some kind of...movie..." Shiro murmurs into his pillow, obviously starting to flag more to his tiredness, "Thank you...for being here."

Adam allows himself a small smile here, and honest smile. "I didn't really have a choice but to come here," he points out, amused. A pause here, and he decides to let himself admit, his voice quiet, "Though... that said, if I'd known I was coming here instead, I wouldn't have been so scared. And thank '''you''' for being here. I appreciate everything you've done." More practically, if Shiro hadn't been here, Adam's not sure how things would have turned out with his injuries.

And yeah, he knows Shiro's going back to sleep. So Adam stays quiet. Except for... well. Humming a quiet tune. It's probably a tune that Shiro remembers, mainly because that's why he started humming it anyway. That's the whole point after all... to comfort Shiro.

And with that humming Shiro doesn't take much longer to be dead to the world. Having Adam around really did help with him getting back to sleep, as much as he fought it a little to talk with Adam some.

Adam sighs a little, finally relaxing. He doesn't mind talking with Shiro, honestly. It's not something he ever expected to do again, even if he didn't expect to die. When Shiro went on the Kerberos mission, Adam was sure Shiro would die in space, before ever coming back. So it was less that he didn't expect he himself wouldn't be there... but he didn't expect Shiro to ever come back. The whole thing just got so turned on its head.

But... on the other hand? This. This... is fine. And now that Shiro's asleep, he can watch him a little while. Creepy? A little. But cut him some slack, he didn't think he'd ever see Takashi again.

''('...What am I even doing?')''

Confusion starts to set in, and Adam frowns. He doesn't '''like''' being confused. Particularly when the logical solution is staring him in the face. He needs Shiro's help, at least until the ribs heal. Maybe longer, if there are more issues with his recovery. After that, he can just get his own apartment at this place, since it seems to be a fairly accommodating place, at least temporarily. Then he sees about trying to get a job at the school to make money, and with that, he's stable, out of Shiro's hair... and away from confusing feelings.

Adam turns his gaze over to the sleeping Shiro again... and can't help but smile. And at the same time, ''('Ugh. Dammit, Takashi. Stop being '''cute'''!')'' And then a quiet, wry chuckle. Sighing slightly, Adam picks up the plate that he'd left there on the bed between them (in case Shiro wanted any grapes), and heads into the kitchen just to wash it and put it away. Yes, he's going to wash '''''one dish'''''. Then he heads to bed himself. Hopefully he'll be able to sleep better now.

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