driftfleet | When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

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]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

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.

[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!]

Edited 2015-09-24 02:56 (UTC)

[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.

[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.

Good. [Sigh of relief!] You and everyone else, it seems - every time I pass by that place, someone's stumbling out of there with an injury.

[It's not judgmental on his part; rather, he worries. He worries more than he has any right to.] You'd think the natives would learn to back off at some point.

[Yeah, he wishes. Although in his defense, he didn't start the fight. He was just more than happy to help finish it.]

Yeah, some people just can't take no for an answer. You gotta beat it out of them before they learn.

Sometimes, not even then.

[He sighs.] Were you planning on going anywhere else? I don't mind scaring off the locals for a few more hours.

...Ah! Actually, I was thinking of hiding in the ship for the rest of my life so the cowboys will stop flirting with me, but hey, an escort might be convenient...

[He may rethink the escape plan, actually. Maybe if the sketchy people around town saw his feminine avatar with a "scary boyfriend" type, he could move around unbothered.]

[Is being a woman that bad?? Stefan may have to re-analyze every interaction he's had with the opposite gender for a while.]

Hey, it's the least I could do. I'm sure the cowboys aren't the worst this place's seen. [beat] Not that you couldn't fight them off.

Strength in numbers and, well, I've got my ways of scaring them off without a word.

[Not entirely, Kirito is just thin-skinned when it comes to this stuff. He discovered the sort of crap girls have to deal with in male-dominated regions (like the GGO game) a few days before arriving in the fleet, and he hasn't forgotten so easily.

And he appreciates the compliment, but he has certain concerns about how many he could fend off if another fight broke out. He'd lost his makeshift sword - the pool cue - and there's not a plethora of blades available that he can replace it with.]

I noticed that, actually. How'd you do that? Or is it a secret?

[He knew this would happen, and yet - his face still loses all color as he rubs the back of his neck. His little trick wasn't something he expected to reveal right away, and well?

Stefan's not so trusting when it comes to his biggest secret. He's grown to fear the worst, so he hesitates.] Not exactly a secret, but uh... I'm not so sure I can teach it to you.

It's kind of a Thing that only happens when you're like me.

[He pauses, glancing around to make sure no one else's in sight - he can't hear anything nearby. From a few blocks away, yeah, but nothing in the nearby vicinity.]

So uh, where you're from. What kinds of creatures exist? You mentioned magic, so witches? Wizards? Or am I completely off-base?

Well... not completely. You could say I live in a couple different worlds.

[He's not sure how to explain it without going into specifics, which would likely derail the conversation. Maybe later.]

Fairies exist, though. And some monsters, probably too many kinds to list.

Kind of like me, then...

[Does it count if he thought his original world had been blown to smithereens?

He can work with fairies and monsters - vampire probably falls under that category. While he'd like to compel this away, he can't exactly hide this from his crew for much longer, so... deep breath.]

What about uh, vampires? Or werewolves? Were they part of your worlds?

Mmm... just in stories and lore, really. Years ago they got really popular in teenage novels for some reason.

[Like there was this whole series about weird romances with--]

[--Wait.]

Eh!? You are...!?

Surprise?

[He has no real idea what to do here, okay - most people need the truth spelled out for them, versus him simply hinting at it. Once again checking to make sure that no one's around, he goes ahead and reveals his true face.

Careful not to bare his fangs, he flinches, waiting for the inevitable. A slap, maybe a recoil, or worse, "wait, how can you be a Medic?"

With a lot of difficulty, he'll admit. A loooot of difficulty.]

[Kirito can't help jumping back a step at that, mostly because it's so startling. He's not going to turn and run or anything - he's faced way worse-looking monsters in SAO - but he's never seen one in such vivid detail. It's pretty different IRL.]

Ah... w-well... that's... not what I expected...

[Shitshitshi- maybe being blunt wasn't the best approach.

Stefan ducks his head, involuntarily shifting back to "normal."] Most people don't - but uh, what exactly were you expecting?

[Honestly, "not that" is the best answer he can come up with, but it's insufficient. He struggles with it for a moment, taking that time to calm his pounding heart, and finally shrugs.]

I guess... well, no offense, but in nearly the stories, monsters are monsters. They kill, hurt, or use people because it's their nature. But you seem like a pretty normal guy, aside from whatever you just did.

[He's kind of a monster, isn't he? Even though he survives on blood pills, there's always gonna be some small part of him that longs for warm blood straight from the vein - and it's hard keeping that guy at bay.]

You're right, though. I'm a pretty normal guy, right up until some blood's shed - and sometimes, I can fight the monster back. Sometimes, though, I can't.

[He'd shrug, but he's kind of holding a one-person pity party.] I can't exactly blame you if you want to forget this happened, or if you want to transfer ships or - figure out some way I won't run into you as often.

Mm...

[If he'd been attacked, it might be a tempting suggestion. After all, if monsters like this were real - and what he'd just witnessed basically verified that they were real here - he's physically ill-equipped to deal with them. Not only because he's missing his maxed out strength stat, but because he has no weapons.

But Stefan hadn't really given him a reason to be afraid. Looking creepy, possessing the capacity for violence... neither of those things are a crime.]

Do the others on the crew know about you?

Not all of them.

[There's a pleading, "don't tell them" in his tone as he dares to look back at Kirito. While he wasn't planning on keeping this a secret from them forever, he's not great at volunteering this kind of information. Especially if it's out of his control.

Considering the guy can turn into a girl (or maybe he was a girl all along, Stefan's not judging), mind compulsion is probably out of the question.]

I'm not sure what worlds they come from, and considering what I'm hiding, I don't think it's right to shatter their worldview like this. [Plus, he's pretty sure James and Max are trying to hide magic and psychic powers from him, and he's gonna pretend he knows zilch.]

[That... okay, he has mixed feelings about that. Because on one hand, he totally respects a person's right to keep secrets. He'd kept plenty of them in his life, even as young as he is, and many of them were kept for kind of selfish reasons.

On the other hand, Stefan just admitted that sometimes he becomes a monster he can't control. And that's pretty crucial information when people are likely to come to him for injuries- potentially bleeding injuries, which is the very thing that could set him off.

It's a tricky situation.]

Why'd you tell me, then? You could've just lied.

You didn't lie to me.

[He shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets.] You could've kept pretending you were some innocent damsel from another part of the Fleet, and I would've bought it, hook, line and sinker. But you didn't, so... I figure, if you're gonna trust me with your secret, I should trust you too.

[Seemed simple enough in his book.] That's... part of working together, especially in something as tiny as our ship.

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