When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

[geonomy]

Who: Everyone! EVERYONE!
Broadcast: IF YOU WANNA
Action: Everywhere! EVERYWHERE!
When: Mid-September - Mid-October

[How's your ship doing, pardners? Is it still pretty damaged? Is it glitching out hardcore? Well, there is one place to land to take care of all that, and that's on a dusty old moon in front of a planet that no one wants to go to. On this moon, you'll find a civilization that looks a lot like one's stepped into a wild west movie, hardened cowpolk and mutant horses and all. Will you become a vigilante, hunting bounties and stopping gangs from doing their dirty work? Will you go exploring planetside, with a cowboy hat and a stalk of wheat in your mouth to complete the look? Good luck with that; there is no wheat. This town ain't big enough for all you flooters, but make it so! For the ratings!

In other words, it's a planet mingle! Get 'er done!]

[September Planet info here]

Comments

[huaaaaagh]

[It's his first time off-planet, and Kazuto is somewhat overwhelmed, truth be told. It feels a little bit like Gun Gale Online, with the dusty sand dunes, horses (sort of), and the overall western feel. Since that MMO is so fresh on his mind, he can't help thinking of it as he wanders from the ship to the town.

Having just joined the crew, he doesn't have much in the way of money, so he finds himself somewhat limited in what he can do or contribute to the ship. Instead he opts to wander the area and get a feel for what he's in for. However, it isn't long before he notices that he's getting some unusual looks from some of the people he passes in the street- women looking confused, men leering- wait, men leering!?

It's then that he notices - with a turn of the head - that his hair doesn't look quite right. Familiar, yes, but not the style he's used to. With a gasp he rushes to the nearest window to get a look at his reflection, and that gasp becomes a startled shriek. His appearance has been shifted to his GGO avatar, and he has no idea why or how. He twists, he turns, he flexes, and it feels as real as he actual body. Even the hair texture feels legit. For a while, he's too in shock to do much else but stare.

What the hell...?

----

Eventually, he stops freaking out, ignores the weird looks, and starts pondering ways to take advantage of... whatever the heck has happened to himself. Maybe it's a planet thing? Or something with the augment? God, who knows. Either way, he knows how to use the overly effeminate avatar to his advantage. As he wanders, he attempts to flirt here and there - without explicitly stating his gender - to try and get stuff out of the men who seem to be interested in him. A lot of them are sketchy types, but he can deal with them well enough as long as they don't get physical.

Once he gets a bit of cash together, he wanders over to a few of the saloons for gambling, or whatever else people do for quick cash around here. He's played card games before, so if he can't buy supplies for the ship outright, he can at least earn some funds for others who might know what they'll need better than he does. Maybe his looks will make a few people go easy on him for a round or two before they wise up.

He's definitely going to be keeping his eyes open for a weapon. He seriously (and desperately) wants a sword.]

----

[Feel free to bump into Kirito wherever, whenever! He'll be stuck in that avatar for a while, but to his chagrin.]

[curiositykilledthecats]

[Well, once Miah's armed, she'll find Kirito wandering around, and... well, completely fail to recognize him, for obvious reasons.]

Good evening. Is aught amiss?

[huaaaaagh]

[And Kirito, of course, recognizes her easily enough - the ears and tail are dead giveaways. He jumps in place, stunned for a moment, hands lifted in a placating motion. Oh god. Oh god, what does he say!? He has no idea how to deal with this. Should he say who he is? But then, how can he explain it? Or hide it, and just try to get away?]

Er... ah... no, I mean... it's...

[Crap crap crap crap crap crap]

[curiositykilledthecats]

... Milady, you need not be so nervous.

[Let's make this even better.]

[huaaaaagh]

[Oh god, even his fellow prisoners think he's a girl like this...

There's no way I can tell anyone.]

I-I'm sorry, I just... get lost easily...

[curiositykilledthecats]

Where is your destination?

[huaaaaagh]

I'm... exploring, mostly.

[ABORT ABORT THIS PLAN WAS TERRIBLE]

I-I mean! I guess... one of the bars might be nice...?

[stefanged]

[Stefan was just heading back to the ship after a day of plant gathering - and it shows, by how much he smells like sage and cacti and well, plants. This lady sure looks familiar, though... but he's not sure why. Either way, he doesn't like the look of the men nearby, and he's not sure if she can defend herself from a couple of jerks.

So he approaches her, careful to listen for signs of trouble nearby.] Hey.

[The men don't scatter just yet, so Stefan turns towards them and gives them the vamp face - the actual, veins running down his cheeks face - for maybe a few seconds. It's enough to spook them, especially once he bares his fangs.

Stefan grins, satisfied, once the men've scattered - and of course, when he turns back to lady!Kirito, his face's back to normal.] Hope they weren't giving you too much trouble back there.

[huaaaaagh]

[Oh, thank god. Kirito's not sure what Stefan did to scare the guys off - he looks normal enough, but from their expressions, he must've done something - but it earns him a tired, grateful smile.]

Ahh, thanks. They've been following me for about three blocks now, and I've been trying to figure out how to ditch them without a fight.

[He's not even thinking about his avatar around people he knows at this point; he's honestly tired of it and ready to bail from this whole damn town.]

[stefanged]

It's really nothing.

[The vamp face isn't exactly his favorite weapon, but when he can use it without worry, he'll go for it full force. That said, this lady's addressing him like they know each other - was she also from Mystic Falls?

No, he would've remembered a broadcast like that. (He hopes.)] Hey, uh - do I know you? Sorry, I know you look really familiar, but I'm not sure why.

[huaaaaagh]

[The thought of lying again comes to mind, but after a long moment, Kirito just shrugs. It's not worth the trouble it would cause, and anyway, he's still stuck in this form, and Stefan's part of his crew. This isn't something he can hide if it goes on for much longer than this.

What's really disheartening is that he's familiar-looking in this body. Does he look that much like a girl, usually? Man...]

Yeah, ah. It's Kirito.

[Awkward wave!]

[stefanged]

[Huh.

While there's a dozen questions running around in Stefan's brain, he figures something like this would need time and most importantly, trust. So he sets those aside and gives Kirito another look, taking care to stay focused on the lady (guy's?) face.]

That... would explain it, yeah.

[Tapping his foot thoughtfully...] You're okay, though, right? Because I could easily go back there and punch a few of them.

[huaaaaagh]

[It's a relief that Stefan didn't ask questions, and it makes Kirito smile a little.]

It's okay, they didn't hurt me. I got in a fight at the bar earlier, though, so if I look scuffed up that's why.

[goldenglasses]

[Vash isn't exactly shady with the big smile and bright red coat, but he's still an idiot who likes to flirt with women.] Heyyyyyyy there pretty lady! What are you doing out on a fine day like this all alone!

[huaaaaagh]

[Vash also just immediately was added to Kirito's shit list. Congrats!

He also doesn't immediately recognize him as being part of the fleet - the coat is kind of a similar fashion, but at the same time not - so he plays along for the moment.]

Is it against the rules of town to walk unescorted?

[goldenglasses]

[Vash is great at getting on those lists.]

No, of course not, but ma'am I will be honest with you. This place can be dangerous and full of bandits now and then. You should hire a body guard to be safe! And you're lucky as I just happen to be an ace body guard.

[huaaaaagh]

[Wow, this guy's laying it on especially thick.]

Oh, too bad. I don't really have any money to spare.

[goldenglasses]

That's okay! I'm always happy to help a lady in need! [Vash winks with a sly grin on his face.] Besides, if you think I do a good job I'm sure we can work out some sort of payment later on.

[huaaaaagh]

[Vash, you are not making it easy to dodge your weird offer.]

...You better not be implying what I think you're implying.

[Propositioning a young lady - or anyone - for sexual favours just for protecting them? So sketchy. And he's definitely assuming the worst.]

[recopy]

[Well, there's about to be some literal bumping into, in this case! Which is what happens when you find yourself carrying a lot of odds and ends of metal parts, in various sizes, and aren't quite paying attention to where you're going...most of the parts are in a basket slung across one arm, here, but there's longer bits that still need to be carried by hand, and it's all a bit--distracting--

Megaman swears he was only looking down for a second, to adjust his grip on something, but then he looks up and he's walking right into somebody full speed. Aaand there goes half his scrap collection onto the ground, combining into a kind of noisy crash.]

Oh! Oh, man, I'm sorry--I didn't see you there! Ah... [Looking up, the lady that registers is a complete stranger as far as he's concerned--but he laughs sheepishly anyway, already bending down and starting to retrieve some of his parts.] I'll, uh, I'll be out of your way in just a bit, hold on...

[huaaaaagh]

[Oof, didn't see that coming. Kirito drops right to the ground, a bit stunned, but shakes it off when he hears the voice. Oh, hey, he met this guy before. The AI, yeah?]

Ah- don't worry about it, looks like you had your hands full.

[Quite literally. He pushes himself into a crouch and starts picking up some of the supplies as well. Maybe two people can make it into a more manageable pile.]

[recopy]

Haha...kind of full, yeah! Definitely over half full, probably...

[He picks up the basket where it had overturned on the ground after slipping off his arm, and...oh, the stranger is helping too! He settles into a proper crouch himself, but beams to her gratefully as they start working in tandem to gather the pieces all together.]

Ah, thank you! I'll try not to take up too much of your time...man, I kind of wish there were an easier way to carry all this, though. I have this basket, but-- [He picks up a longer piece of rebar, clearly too big for the basket in question, and sets it aside as the start of its own little stack.] --I haven't been able to find anything big enough to hold everything yet...so, I've just been carrying most things by hand.

[huaaaaagh]

It's fine, I wasn't really doing anything important.

[He'd basically just been exploring, but with the town being kind of violent and him lacking his sword skills, it's hard to feel safe running solo the way he's used to. A familiar face is a relief, even if he doesn't know the guy well.]

Want a hand carrying them somewhere?

[recopy]

[True, traveling is numbers in places like this can always be rather nice! Megaman might not be overtly concerned about defending himself, for his own part, but he's still small and brightly-colored and frequently making these parts-runs by himself so far, which is apparently enough to draw in the occasional shady guy at the best of times anyway. He's actually pretty glad that this person isn't somebody shady herself, come to think of it...

And so, when she asks that question, he visibly perks up a bit.]

You want to help with these, you mean? Well--if it's not too much trouble, that would be really nice, yes! My ship isn't too far away from here now... [He looks around thoughtfully, and then moves to pick up the basket, setting it towards Kirito.] Here, we'll split things...you can put half of these in there, and I'll carry the other half?

[huaaaaagh]

[Kirito grabs the basket and stands up as he lifts it, hefting the weight to make sure it's doable. Yeah, not too heavy for this body to handle. He nods once he's sure.]

Yeah, this is fine. What are all these parts for, anyway?