| Explaining the Modern World | ||
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| Summary: Robin tries to explain the modern world the best way he can think of how... by showing Danny the Mall!  |
Robin would have very much preferred to have gotten here earlier... but for some reason it's been very busy at the Nekohanten lately... and Robin could always use some more money, so he volunteered to stay late! But he still, of course, wants to catch up with his old childhood friend, so as soon as he managed to lose Pomade(which is getting harder and harder to do, unforunately), he transformed into Strimla to fly off! With the sun nearly setting by the time she gets to the woods, Strimla lands and transforms back. "Oh, man... I should have brought a flashlight, it's dark as heck out here..." Still, he's got a pretty good direction sense, and is pretty sure he can find Danny's camp. Danny likely has some form of light outside of the tent just to be safe, that and with how she's closer to Ponytopia now, hopefully some of the light from there and Sakura's place helps in leading the way. In any case, she would poke her head out if Robin made enough noise to be noticed through the 'walls' of the tent. Robin isn't exactly trying to be stealthy... in fact, he's so not trying to be stealthy that he announces his presense! "Danny!" he calls out as soon as he spots the tent. "Are you in?" He smiles as she pokes her head out and waves to her. "Evenin' Danny! How's Neo-Tokyo treating you so far?" "'Allo Rob'," Danny replies, "How's today been? ...oh Neo Tokyo's been alright! No nasty weather rholding up my plans or anything yet." Robin laughs once. "Today... hoo boy... busy day at the Nekohanten..." He glances to the side and scratches at the back of his head. He looks around with a frown, however, before saying, "How... long do you plan on staying out here? I mean... I can probably help you find a better place to stay... I could ask Marion she minds another person in the apartment, but, ehh... it is a bit small... But even between the three of us it'd be more spacious than the tent." Aaaaand he's rambling again already. "Eh, with the way the weather's been, shouldn't be TOO horribly long. Assumin' I don't find some way to be a fool an' kill myself with these plans of mine," Danny replies with a chuckle, "But everything's workin' fine so far. I had enough time and help to do things better and more efficiently than when I first tried." Robin frowns at that and shoves his hands into the front pockets of his hoodie. "...You're... still trying to just... make a farm? With all the possibilities in this city, you're just wanting to farm?" Danny blinks a little at that. "I dunno, it sounded good...is there something better you had in mind?" Robin glances to the side again as he considers. "Well... I mean, it's been two years, so I'm not gonna say I know what you'd like anymore... It's just... you're out here acting like you never left our world. There's just so much more out here, and..." He pauses a moment, then looks back to Danny with a slight grin. "You know, I think I've got it. A good way to show you a whole lot of this world in one go." Danny adds, "Though...I was thinkin' a vegetarian kinda farm....no animals for meat, that'd be a miiiiight bit horrible of me when I've got talkin' ponies helping me out. Only grow plants and help out the local food sellin' places...maybe get some animals that I can tend to without killing, selling, or eggs being involved...milkin' cows....sheerin' sheep..." She blinks a little more at Robin's responce. "Well...I guess it's just the only way I know...'n I don't wanna become some kinda burden on anybody." She peers toward the tent. "Well.........it should be fine to leave the animals, Smink TALKS about eating Ace, but I'm pretty sure it's all just bluffing. Where we goin'? Robin blinks a couple of times, nodding slowly. "Riiiiiight. Is this like an... Aster thing?" he asks, referring to the tiger that raised a halfling in the woods. The same halfling that Robin initially set out to be an adventurer with. Danny looks thoughtful. "Well if that'll keep ya from acting like I'm some nutcase like everyone ELSE does, sure, we'll say it's like that." Robin raises an eyebrow, then says, "Well, you'd not be the only one," he mumbles, glancing off in the general direction of where he thinks there's likely still the remains of a certain mound of dirt... but then he shakes his head to clear that out of his mind. "Anyway! Yeah, sure... If your, uh, animals are fine on their own, I say we go to the mall!" He smirks a bit, then slumps slightly. "....which is kind of like a major marketplace? But not so much with foodstuffs as it is with things like entertainment items and clothes. Primarily clothes, but it's the other stuff that you really should see, I think." Danny smiles and nods. "Well it's not like I can think of anywhere you'd offer I'd not want to go with my old friend," she replies, "...I really missed you! It's great seeing you again!" She ducks into the tent and gets her shoes and some of her extra layering back into place. "Well then, after your lead!" Robin considers for a moment making a comment about it.... but then again, he's been known to go out and about in women's clothing, himself. Sure, he actually is female when he does that... He's going to have to explain that one to Danny sooner rather than later. After a brief frown, he grins again and motions for Danny to follow him, leading them out of the forest and right to the train station. "Okay! So this is how you can get across the entire city relatively quickly! It, uh, takes money though. But don't worry, I can cover you on this tonight." Danny blinks at that bit of information. "...is it a really big carriage with a team of race horses," she wonders, "...this looks like it's for something HUGE..." Robin laughs a bit nervously at that. This... may be a long night. At least he's seen some cities of their own world! "No! Not exactly... See, this is for a train... It can't leave those tracks you see down there, and, if you look up at those wires? It gets its energy from those to move across town at high speeds. You'll see what the train itself is at any moment now..." Gods... was he this bad when he first got here? Probably, but he didn't have anyone to explain it all to him. And soon, the train does indeed arrive, and the doors open to beckon the two inside! Along with the others waiting on the platform. Danny peers at the train in awe. "Oooh, this must be like one of those things you hear about from those really high class, fancy towns back home." She probably needs a minor amount of coaxing to actually go in the train rather than staring it down. Robin waits a bit before just grabbing her hand and pulling her aboard when the announcer declares the doors are about to close! "Okay, you might want to sit down or grab a pole, because it starts moving fast." As for himself, he stays standing, but gets a good grip on one of the poles. Danny peers around for a quick moment before following Robin's example and taking a tight grip on the pole. And the train is off! Robin doesn't make any motion to get off as it comes to the first stop. "We'll be getting off at the boardwalk stop. That's the closest place to the mall." After another pause, he asks, "So... how have things been over the past two years?" Danny obviously starts to let go of the pole at the stop, but grips it again as Robin points out that it's not thier stop. "Oh, same ol' same ol'...nothing's really changed. I think I'm probably the only thing that has aside from a few rare bandit and monster attacks." Robin frowns at that. "Bandits and monsters are getting closer, huh? Damn." He pauses a moment, then smirks. "I'll say you've changed. I honestly didn't recognize you when I first saw you!" Of course, Robin was even MORE different, but apparently he's forgotten the state 'he' was in at the time. Danny chuckles. "No kidding, I definitely had trouble recognizing you at first." "And yeah...I had to help out with sending things packing a few times...and my parents have tried to marry me off to every guy in town...that's about all there is to note." Robin glances away sheepishly. "Oh.... yeah.... that.... well... I'll explain that one later. Not in public, it's kinda... all kinds of awkward and confusing..." He sighs. No, as much as he's making an effort to... he can't really say he's 'embraced' the form as Belldandy suggested he do. "Well... you'd be happy to know that here, unlike back home, people our age are almost never married yet, then. The fact that I've never had a girlfriend here? I don't think anyone really cares here." He then frowns. "Or knows. Or has noticed." Perhaps he's the only one that seems to care about that. "Soooo, did they even try to set you up with Craig?" he asks. "Ugh, yes," Danny replies, "They at least had the decency to try the giant asshat as the last resort..." She seems relieved by what Robin's mentioned though. "...in that case maybe I can relax with the layers..." Robin raises an eyebrow at that. "Layers? I figured you just liked the style of it. What's going on with the layers, then?" the train does arrive at the boardwalk, and Robin motions for them to get off the train. Danny lets go of the pole and follows along after Robin again. "Trying to make myself as boyish and undesirable as possible..." she replies, "But, honestly, aside from how hot and draining all these layers can get, I think I've gotten used to not having to act like a perfect little lady." Hey, she even let out a cuss word earlier. Robin laughs and nods at that. "Yeah, I'd not worry too much about that. Dress however the heck you want here, I say. There are always gonna be some guys who might think they have a chance they don't, though... but to hell with them, right?" Danny nods in agreement. "I mean...I regret that I had to be such a problem to ma' and pa', but...somehow I just...couldn't. I'd have been plenty happy to just keep helping ma' and pa' forever but....I just couldn't see myself being a perfect little wife for anyone at home. It felt like the complete opposite of any of the romantic ideals in my little ol' head." Robin grows a bit silent at that as the approach the MALL. He does speak up as they get close, however. "Adventuring wasn't everything I thought it would be, either," he says quietly. Danny chuckles a little. "Guess we're both kind of into the wrong things. ...then again I don't mind staying back at boring old home. You see how bad my first time ever being so far away from home by myself went... But I can't imagine continuing like that AND living with someone else that's doing the same thing day in and day out...it just sounds so dull." Robin blinks and looks up again. "Huh, what? Oh... yeah, well... Don't worry about anyone setting you up for marraige here. Everyone here expects people to find the right person themselves, you know? So take your time on it, I say." He tilts his head, trying to figure out who would fill Danny's request for someone that doesn't do the same thing every day... then shakes his head with a laugh as he realizes he shouldn't do that. "Anyway, we're HERE! Come on in, I'll show you around... Maybe you can find what kind of style of clothes you want to wear when you've saved up the money!" Danny peers up at the mall. "I swear, even the buildings here are obviously from some place else..." She seems very intrested despite her total lack of knowing what she's in for. Her first adventure just keeps getting bigger and wierder! "Well, whenever we settle for sure on what I'll be doing..." Billy Batson is sitting on the steps of the mall, eating some nachos with a coke and just seems to be people watching. Robin shakes his head. "Nah, this isn't about finding something for you to do. This is to show you the world itself, you know? I really need to show you the electronics store, I think, first... that place really shows everything off." How's this for someone to watch? A guy showing a very androgenous... young adult the mall, where the androgenous person is wearing medeival looking clothing, while the guy is wearing perfectly modern clothing... but the two look like they've known each other their whole lives! Billy Batson hmmms, as he munches. Something familiar about the guy somehow, has he met him? He sips some more soda and licks some cheese from his fingers. Danny tilts her head. "Electronics," she wonders curiously, "This is going to be another big surprise like the train, isn't it?" Granted she's already darting her eyes about the place as she continues following with Robin. So many odd little details....but she doesn't want to be rude or annoying by asking about EVERY LITTLE thing." Robin, of course, shows absolutely no recognition in Billy Batson. Really, Robin probably resembles Strimla more than Billy Batson resembles Shazam! ...And that's saying something. "Yes... How was this explained to me, uhh... It's kind of like... they figured out how lightning works? And use a really really weak version of it to make it do lots of things. It's what even ran the train that got us here! But I'd never have been able to imagine all the things they can make it do here!" And the arrive at the electronics store, complete with its massive TV screens advertized in the window, showing their full 4k hdtv capabilities with amazing aireal views of impressive landscapes. Billy Batson hmmms, getting to his feet, dutyfully tossing the can in recycling, garbage in garbage, he walks into the electronc's store as well. There does seem to be some cool stuff in there! For some reason Danny's intrest seems to spike way up when Robin likens things to lightning. It's even more surprizing once she sees those giant tvs though. "Wha-...how did they do that with lightning?! It's like a painting, but it's moving!" Billy Batson says, "It's pretty amazing what you can do with lightning...." he just can't help himself, just in passing." Robin shakes his head. "I am... not even going to remotely pretend to understand how they did it. I just know that if you mess with the cables the wrong way, it's still dangerous. I've got a table with an electric heater built into it? They told me a whole ton of safety tips... not that I've used the heater yet. I'm kinda looking forward to winter to use it, honestly." Danny peers toward Billy. "Hello," she greets, "Umm...like what?" Lightning? Lighting! What can lightning do? She can control lightning, but she doesn't know anything she can really do with it but make things hurt and scare them away from messing with her town. "....heater? So like a fire without the fire?...and it's part of a table?" Billy Batson says, "Hello! Um...I couldn't help but over-here, but, Lightning is electricty in it's raw form....consider it...like magic that tells these machines what to do and make them run." Robin nods to Danny a few times. "Exactly! It's apparently a typical thing here culturally." He then looks to Billy and nods in thanks for the better explanation than he was able to give. "Right! Like he said." Danny raises a brow. "Machines? ...is that another thing these Electronics are called?" Billy Batson says, "Holey Moley, you're both from out of town, aren't you?" he smiles, "Oh, sorry, call me Billy," he adds. "Electronics are a type of machine; but in one way or another, they all run off electricity." Robin ponders this for a moment. "Kinda? I mean... I think of machines having more... moving parts, really, but you could put it that way?" He then glances at Billy the kid again and deadpans, "And just how many people actually are from this town? Seriously, I don't think I know anyone actually born here." Billy Batson says, "There's a lot of them, really....most of 'em are just normal folks, though, just trying to get by in a suddenly crazy world." "And run means work, right," Danny wonders, "...I'm Danny, I just got here a short few days ago. Nice to meet you. Came from an old farm town where this is all too new and fancy. This is seriously unheard of....we're still taking days to ride horses between towns... At least as far as I've gone before now." Billy Batson says, "Welcome to the City." He smiles, "You'll get used to it." Robin nods to Billy. "And I'm Robin. Same town, but I've not seen Danny in two years... About some, what.... 8 months or so of which were spent here?" Billy Batson says, "It's great you two found each other. I have a couple of friends here from back home...though I really have to connect with them." Danny nods in reply. "I was building a farm, but Robin here wants to teach me more about the area first." Billy Batson says, "That's really great, is imporatant to know the lay of the land, you know?" "I'll deffinetly need to learn more about these electronics...." Danny notes. "I'm not even used to seeing lightning used for much of anything." Billy Batson says, "Lightning has all sorts of uses," he grins, "It's just not so easy to harness." | |
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