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(no subject)

Who: Zhas & You!!
Broadcast: None (probably)
Action: Planetside OR Red Fish
When: Forward dated to the 31st, late at night

► PLANET-SIDE

[back home, Zhas had a long-standing tradition of not working on Halloween. he gets totally into it. he puts on his best "normal person" costume and goes out and parties and drinks and talks to the locals like he actually belongs there. it's the one day a year he doesn't obsessively hunt down monsters or worry about his slowly-decaying family.

he may be lightyears away from home, on a planet with no vampires or any proper Halloween festivities, but like hell he's going to let that get in the way of his traditional day off. he can be found hanging around town, dressed in a nondescript black shirt, not covered in weapons, and not wearing any facepaint. he might be kind of hard to recognize--though his eyes are still glowing an unsettling, jack-o-lantern orange under the dim, clouded night sky.

oh, and there's blood on his face. his nose was bleeding, or something. he apparently hasn't noticed. actually, to be completely honest, he's kind of having trouble noticing that he's going to run into things until he nearly stumbles over them. once or twice he has to like, hold his hands out to navigate around a lamp-post. dude's pretty drunk.]

► RED FISH

[...unless you're on the Red Fish. he's cleaned up his face, but he's sort of tipsily putting ingredients together in the kitchen and messing around with the microwave? seriously, he accidentally brushed flour off on his shirt, like, what is he even doing. this is probably how fires start.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She laughs and cuffs him.] When are we gonna see your little friend?

[his attention follows where she's moved, a little slow on the uptake.]

I don't know.

You like Nunnally? You like our ship?

[rubbing the back of his neck again...]

She's nice.

She's a sweetheart! There must be some kind of way to get her more mobile. Some kind of tech here.

[he nods a little in... agreement? he doesn't exactly have any suggestions, though.]

What about you, champ? Are you feeling all right?

[uuuuuugh why is she asking so many hard questionnnssssss...

he just... hunches further and further over the bar while scratching his fingers through his hair with that sort of ungraceful intensity that comes from not being able to feel his own scalp very well.]

[She pats him on the back. You know, she doubts this will work but she doesn't say anything. Maybe he just needs to mull it over a little.

He's probably NOT GOING TO SAY ANYTHING and she'll have to squeeze him a little more, but in the meantime she slurps down more of her drink.]

[surprise, surprise. give him enough time to let it sit, and he can at least come up with a coherent opinion.]

It's different...

[it's hard to tell if he's getting upset; he kind of exists in this perpetual state of anxiety anyway, so if this is bothering him, it doesn't show much more than usual.]

It sure is.

[She's anxious too, of course. She was left covered in burns on top of the wall while her comrades rode off to rescue her student and the hope of humanity...

... she needs to get home for them, and nothing will ever eclipse than in importance. She glances away, thinking about it.]

[he watches her, but who knows how much he notices. he... well, if there was ever a time to have a drunken heart-to-heart with someone, it would be now, while the alcohol is soaking into every cell he has left. they'll probably forget it all anyway, right?]

He... Should have been gone two weeks. Says he's been gone over a year, went somewhere else. Doesn't want to talk about it. He's got scars... on his mouth that weren't there before, and he's taller, and someone cut his hair...

[all those little things that might not be important to a normal person, but they're important to Zhas because he had Coil memorized down to the way that he breathed and how fast he could move before he'd startle.]

This place... it's bad to be here, like this. We should be home.

[Her attention points back towards him quickly. It had only wandered for a moment, back to her own situation, which in large part she deals with by repressing her worries and negative thoughts about.

Ah, this poor dumb guy.]

In the lack of knowing a better way, we watch, wait and learn what we can before we try to strike.

[She said more or less the same thing to Cecil and that belief if nothing else holds true.]

[...that's good. that sounds like something he'd think of himself, eventually.

so, he brings his arm over to shove her shoulder, tilting away until he can lock his elbow. he's close to falling out of his stool.]

You're okay.

[Woah buddy she grabs for his scruff.]

You're going to fall on the floor.

[scruffed! he glances up at her with glowing eyes.]

Where do all of your drinks go. It doesn't make any sense.

[She howls with laughter and lets go! Hope he has his balance...]

Scouts drink quite a lot sometimes! Besides, I'm not sober!

[man he's got core muscle strength like you wouldn't believe and miraculously does not topple over. he even manages to find the stool next to him and push himself back up into a sitting position.]

What kind of scouts.

[O-ho-ho she leeeans after him, grinning... and teeters a little on her own stool before catching her balance.]

My kind!

Why, are you asking for information about what I do?

Uh, yeah.

[whoa there's no need for attitude buster, shut up and drink your drink. --actually, he will. he'll shut up and drink his drink.]

That's a long story! [Was he sassing her? She carries on as if she didn't notice, anyway. Maybe it's that "drunk" thing. Either way she raises her glass in the air before taking a swig of the drink and slamming it back on the counter.] First, you need to understand the situation humanity is in at home. For the past century, humans have lived within the walls. Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. These are the great walls that protect humanity from extinction! Because outside, the world is covered in Titans, giant humanoids that eat humans relentlessly. We have three military branches inside the walls: the military police, who keep the peace amongst humans. [At least in theory.] The stationary guard, who maintain and protect the walls. And the Scouting Legion, who explores the world outside the walls in the interests of reclaiming land for humanity!

[...from the way he's still squinting at her, it's entire probable that he's getting, maybe... 20% of what she's telling him?]

[She pauses, and waves her hand in front of his eyes.]

Helloooo? Hello there, Zhas? Are you following me?

[blink... blink.....]

Kind of... Go back to the giant things that eat people.

Oh... you want to hear more about titans?