003. text + action.

[astrobleme]

[network.]

[Shinji isn't mincing words today:]

This is totally outrageous.

I got a ticket from the local police for going 'too fast,' even though it was only - only!!! - by an infinitesimal amount. Literally a couple zeroes after the decimal point right here. I'm not a great pilot, I'll just say that, but there's no way I should be getting ticketed for this freaking crap. [Freaking crap. That's how you know he's really annoyed.]

So the other pilots should be aware that these so-called police are more interested in filling quotas for speeding tickets instead of actually protecting people. Whatever.


[action, aboard various ships in the Fleet.]

[Shinji and his bad mood can be found on the Red Fish, standing outside Asuka's room; on the Vanquish, in search of Kaworu; and on the Heron, his home ship, where he's trying to nurse a bruised ego with the coffee maker in the kitchen.]

Comments

action

[mortalcoil]

[welcome to the rather dungeon-like Red Fish, friend. the hallways are sort of dark, there is an uncommon amount of skulls quietly painted on things, and some of the occupants tend to lurk around rather than act like normal, pleasant human beings.

case in point being the one-eyed boy with a face full of scars who appears at the end of the corridor, just kind of silently watching when he spots Shinji there. and it may be a trick of the light, but it sure seems like his grey eye is dimly glowing. nothing strange about this at all.]

[astrobleme]

[Shinji has visited the Red Fish in the past, including a few nights of staying over with Asuka when drama elsewhere drove him to it. He's seen so much weird shit in his life that he doesn't even bat an eyelash at the décor. Meeting up with Asuka and complaining about his speeding ticket is more so what he's--

Huh.

With a slight tilt of his head, he looks down the corridor at the person who's watching him (?). That's kind of weird, but like he wrote in his post: Whatever. He has more important things to worry about.]

[mortalcoil]

[this is what Coil gets for spending as little time on the ship as possible, whenever he can get away with it, and not caring about the majority of his crew's lives enough to keep track of who they have visiting. if he'd ever been in Shinji's vicinity before, he hadn't noticed or cared.

now he cares, though.

he doesn't say anything, but he answers the head-tilt with a questioning (maybe slightly judgemental) lift of his chin.]

[astrobleme]

[Interpreting body language isn't exactly one of Shinji's strong points. He stares in Coil's direction for a couple more seconds, his mouth a flat line, before looking at Asuka's unremarkable door. Then he looks back down the hall again, since he doesn't want any trouble from the locals.]

Just waiting for my friend, [he says, somehow curt in spite of a soft voice. His eyebrows scrunch inward and downward, just a little, too.]

text.

[paraclete]

I think you are a great pilot. But you can't expect something dim and empty like the law enforcement here to be able to recognize that.

:)

text.

[astrobleme]

[Wow, that's some strong language.]

You don't like them either?

text.

[paraclete]

It isn't a matter of liking or not liking. They're just irrelevant devices. Its existence is for the sake of utility, but it can't even do its job correctly... How unfortunate.

I hope it didn't ruin your day... Were you having fun before that?

text.

[astrobleme]

[Shinji can count on Kaworu to be a white knight, but this is a little much...]

Well, these irrelevant devices want my money to pay for the ticket. It sucks. I don't know if I was having fun or not, I was just trying to go to that Solrius place.

text

[interstices]

How did you get a speeding ticket? I've been speeding this whole time!

text

[astrobleme]

Seriously?

text

[interstices]

Yeah.

Were you doing anything weird?

text

[astrobleme]

Of course not! I did everything I'm supposed to do, but I still got a ticket.

You shouldn't be so reckless.

[ action ]

[axiomed]

[ It's hard not to notice Shinji's mood as Charles comes in for his daily cup of tea. ]

Is everything all right?

[ action ]

[astrobleme]

[Oops. Shinji is being a little loud with opening and closing the cabinets. He finally locates the cup he wants to use, though.]

It's fine.

[Or so he says, while pouting a lot.]

[axiomed]

[ He watches the cabinet door bang against the walls before smiling. ]

But perhaps not as fine as it could be?

[astrobleme]

[In response to Charles' smile, Shinji pouts even more. (It isn't often that he gives himself over to childish doldrums.)]

Perhaps.

[He fidgets with the cup.]

Something really stupid happened. Like, really stupid...

TEXT

[sandhate]

It's only ONE ticket
I wouldn't even worry about it

Now if they got you for speeding and a parking violation while you're getting the speeding ticket, then you might have to start worrying about whether they're after you

TEXT

[astrobleme]

No parking violations yet. But I feel like I'm being watched...

What should I do?

TEXT

[sandhate]

You think the law enforcement here is watching you?

action

[theboogieman]

[unfortunately, one can only spend so much time on the Red Fish before crossing paths with the ship's resident Halloween decoration.

he passes through the hallway like he always does, dressed in all black, boots thudding like heavy weights. his face is definitely painted like a skull. his eyes are absolutely glowing a dim and vaguely unsettling jack-o-lantern orange. surmising an expression is tough past all the makeup, but it's easy to imagine that he's never smiled once in his entire life.

he... slows to a stop a few feet from Shinji, obviously looking the kid over and then glancing over at the door he's standing in front of. unhelpfully, he says nothing.

because everyone on this ship is so good at communicating.]

[astrobleme]

[Shinji glances over at Zhas, then, if only because most people don't stop to appraise him for no apparent reason. The skull makeup is unique, yet not that unique... Even the glowing eyes aren't particularly noteworthy. The only reason Shinji continues to stare--from behind dark sunglasses that hide his own eyes--is because he recognizes that makeup. Or, well, the description of that makeup. Asuka told him about this guy, he's fairly sure, unless there's more than one "ass" hanging out on the Red Fish with a penchant for skull makeup.

The neutral tilt of his lips doesn't last for much longer. Now it's a little more disappointed, adding to his general aura of disappointment after a disappointing day(/week/month/year/life). He hardly reacts to Zhas' presence other than to slip his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, idle and unimpressed all at once. And he has nothing to say on his end.]

[theboogieman]

[he's thick skinned (and thick-skulled, no pun intended). it'll take a lot more than the disappointment of a scrawny-looking teenager to dissuade him from whatever path he's taking.

he continues looking at Shinji for several long seconds; it's hard to tell if he's expecting something out of him or if he just thinks it's okay to stand and watch people. his stance and posture seem very neutral, regardless of how his face looks.]

... You're Shinji.

[yikes, he's got a voice you could sand a table with.]

[text]

[summerschild]

what is it a ticket to?

[He's never heard of this. It sounds a little frightening.]

[text]

[astrobleme]

It's a ticket to the local courthouse.

[summerschild]

They've summoned you to court for driving fast?

[He may not understand much about cars, but... okay, no, actually he doesn't understand court, either.]

Is there a king on this planet?

[Wrong kind of court.]