<> <> (...why why why. ) <> <> <> * Threnody is nice and oblivious, on account of having spent the last God-only-knows how many hours of the trip in a full lotus, meditating without a sound. * Rochelle is peering out the windows very intently. The trip's been spent trying to ignore everyone, painting her nails, and petting Vwoof. Stupid lack of TVNet. (hey Leo.. tell us a little more about your ship.) * Ian is sitting in a corner, just having finished some more writing, and gets up to peer outside. < (Okay, lesse...) * Demetreia has been spending at least half the time in her "creep-out" mode, and the rest playing with Vwoof. But right now she's sitting by a window and looking out. * Katherine has been trying to keep active, which is to say, letting Leo beat up on her exo, and then reparing it when he finally manages to get in a good hit. She has also been making sure Eck didn't get into trouble, and has spent a lot of time on her computer pad, which is what she's doing now. * Vera is smoking. There's an ashtray nearby filled with cigarette butts. There's nothing else to do on this trip, and it looks like it's starting to get to her. ( Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall... You want to DIE?!) [The interior of Leo's ship isn't anything particularly special, except that it's fairly large. The decoration of the interior where people actually stay isn't in any particular taste, just practical. He owes the reason for that to ATC. <.< Anyways, I suppose there would be around three to four rooms aboard, and then the main cargo hold where Ian's skimmer and the suits currently reside. (cont)] * Fitzroy has spent a lot of time spaced out in his TSM machine. [An extensive music collection is available in the cockpit, and the ship actually has a rather nice sound system if you cared to use it. Other than that, I'm not sure if I need to describe much else, other than the ship looks of the old, but very reliable sort.] * Fitzroy has also spent some time watching Leo and Kat.. Maybe he'll pick up a few pointers that way. (Pointer #1; Don't hit big metal things unless you're a huge freak like Leo.) * Leopoldo has spent most of his time trying to beat up Kat's exo, pilioting the ship, and giving basic lessons on Earthese to anyone who cared to listen. He also made a habit of listening to music constantly, even while sleeping. * Ian has been collaborating with Leo on the Earthese, and it's coming back to him now. <> (Leo vs Big Metal should translate well enough to Fitz vs Small Squishy) (Heh.) (The slime has killed Fitzroy!) (Wanna know why I'm so big? I played American Football. ^_^) (blargh! I am slain) (Oh, BTW, Moogle. It's scary. One of the guys I'm working with right now is also named Jay, and looks *exactly* like you. c_c;) (...It's a Moogle cosplayer?) (It is!) (creepy!) * Threnody has been atypically antisocial the whole trip, spending most of it in self-absorbed silence. He is, however, still dressed punk-y and his hair is still violet. (It's not me.. That would be a looong commute. ^_~) * Leopoldo nods and turns off the radio. He speaks in complete Earthese right now, although that might change. "Okay, here's the deal. We're going to be taking Ian's skimmer down to this location. That's where the spaceport and customs are. I've locked the orbit co-ordinates in already, so all we have to do is go down." * Rochelle doesn't divert her attention from looking out the window. Huh, so that's Earth. <> * Leopoldo is dressed much the same way as before, because guess what. Nothing looks good on him. * Vera gets up out of her chair and stretches. "Good, let's get down there." * Rochelle watches the hurricane. Ooh. * Katherine unplugs her computer from her head, and rubs her temples. "Fucking finally." She's in boring clothes because ships don't have parties. * Demetreia looks up at Leo and Vera and stands, glancing one last time out the window at the purty hurricane. * Ian gets up and stretches. "All right!" * Fitzroy nods, "It'll be good to get out in the open." * Threnody opens one eye as the first person to walk by him does so, retrieves his bokken, and slips it in place to walk to the skimmer wordlessly. * Leopoldo looks over. "Oh, a hurricane." He gets out of his chair and stretches. Oh, one more oddity about Leo's ship? No soft surfaces. Not even the typical 'cloth-type-chairs' you find in most cars. Instead they're plastic. Yes, it will. And actually where we haven't terraformed our way to existance. (Are you still speaking in Earthy?) (Technically, yes.) (HAHAokay.) * Katherine stands and stretches as well. <> * Ian cracks his knuckles. (Right.) <> * Katherine taps Roch on the shoulder. "C'mon." She can't help but take a peek out the window, though. * Rochelle glances up at Katherine, then back to the window. "Oh, okay." She pulls herself from it - maybe reluctantly - and goes looking for Vwoof. ( Pffft. Like I care about politics :P ) * Leopoldo wanders over to the skimmer. "Don't have all day." * Demetreia follows Leo to the skimmer. * Ian hops into the skimmer's pilot's seat. <> ( What is it, Vwoof? Did Anders fall into the well? Good boy! ) (Have a treat!) * Threnody hops on the balls of his feet idly a moment, then stops and takes some deep breaths as he takes a seat in the skimmer, pressing his palms together. (How many can the skimmer hold?) * Rochelle sneaks up on Vwoof and pokes him in the side. "Wake up, you." (Enough.) ('kay.) * Katherine just scoops up Eck while she's still asleep. It's a skill. * Leopoldo grabs one of the more spacious seats so he actully has room to fit him and his tail. * Katherine then walks to the skimmer with 'er. <> * Rochelle seems satisfied with that, as she leads him into the skimmer. ( Let's see a roll for that, Kat.) (Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This skimmer is equipped with one left exit and one right exit. In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, you're screwed.) (*snort*) (She'd make it.) * Vera heads off to the skimmer? That's a good idea. * Fitzroy finds a seat/spot in the skimmer. * Ian makes sure everyone is on board, and closes up. "And off we go!" * Ian turns on the navigation system and starts off towards the planet. * Leopoldo gives Ian the co-ordinates for landage. * Ian enters them in. "Okay! This shouldn't take too horribly long." <> (I've gone to massive yellow and red balls before, though.) * Rochelle goes back to staring out the window, one hand absently rubbing Vwoof on the back of his neck. * Katherine is also looking out the window with a faint smile on her face. (Ladies and gentlemen, on your right, you can see Europe...on the left, Asia...and that brown blob at about ten o'clock is Los DunnoAngeles.) <> Christ. If that was all water, where does everyone live? * Rochelle shrugs. "How's so much water get in one place, anyway?" * Threnody says, eyes still closed, "Glacier melt, after an ice age uncounted eons ago." * Leopoldo nods. * Rochelle blinks at that and tries to figure it out. <> * Rochelle gives up on figuring it out and starts staring at the sky instead. Really, the Earth has just always had more water. It's why all life forms are so dependent on it. * Ian nods. "Earth is a much more...geologically active place." * Threnody opens his eyes and looks at the ocean, then the land. "This is my first time coming back from space... I'd forgotten how beautiful Earth can be, from a distance." It really is... It's... blue. Quite beautiful. The books don't give it justice. Yep, it's there alright. * Fitzroy nods. "Much nicer." * Demetreia nods at Vera. "It is indeed." <> All set! * Leopoldo nods. "So... clean." * Ian turns off the skimmer's systems, and opens up the door. * Katherine seems surprised by the lack of crap. It's a whole different style of life. Hard to imagine that things can be so different if you haven't seen it yourself. (Where's all our stuff stored? In the trunk? ^_~) (I'd assume so. :P) (Where *else* would you put it?) (Under your chair or in the overhead compartment?) <> * Ian nods. "This is extremely nice..." * Threnody nods slowly, shielding his eyes from the sun as he walks outside for a moment and letting out a slow breath. "Cleanliness on the outside, but often, something much scarier just underneath." * Threnody narrows his eyes a little, saying quietly, "I guess I really am home." * Rochelle turns her attention from the window to stare at Thren for a moment, then pats Vwoof on the head again before getting to her feet. * Vera hops out of the skimmer and adjusts her hat. Thought you said you lived in Japan. <> * Katherine continues carrying Eck, and mutters, "You're being a pain, Eck." (What's the point of handles? I mean, come on.) (Where's the sensors? >.> <.<) * Leopoldo gets out of the skimmer and goes to get his luggage. * Rochelle heads out, Vwoof hopefully coming with her. (I didn't have autodoors where I grew up. Then again, my parents were freaks. <.<) * Katherine goes back to get her luggage too. She's got two things, which means she taps Eck on the head a few times. "Wake up, girl." So, is there anything about Earth that they don't teach you in school that you should know? They told people 'bout Earth in school? ... Yes? * Demetreia eyes things curiously. Oh. * Ian unloads his luggage, which isn't much, and locks up the skimmer. * Rochelle shrugs. * Vera grabs her things from the back. <> * Leopoldo takes the large suitcase containing his stuff. (Gah! Lag.) * Katherine dumps the hopefully awake Eck on the ground, and grabs a suitcase and a larger rolly thing. "Not everyone goes to school on Mars, Leo." * Threnody looks back at Vera and nods. "I am..." He sighs, then looks around. "Just being cryptic, I guess. Being on Earth makes me feel a little uncomfortable." * Ian hmms. * Rochelle looks out the door blankly. She doesn't seem keen on stepping in. * Katherine walks her way through the door. "In fact, it's a lot like more people don't go to schools than do. I haven't ever looked at the numbers." * Ian heads through the door, as well. * Rochelle remembers she didn't get her bag and goes back to do that. <> * Leopoldo opens the door and walks through, going to the customs counter. * Demetreia carries her satchel and follows everyone else. * Ian heads over to customs, as well. * Rochelle shoulders her duffel bag and starts following, waving for Vwoof to come with. Come on! Good boy! We need you to attack the customs people! * Threnody walks, and perhaps it's just being on Earth, but he walks a little differently than he did on Mars... posture straighter, perhaps. And with hand on the hilt of the bokken across his back, all samurai-style. * Katherine has no choice but to go to customs! However, she does look back at Eck and smirk. "So now you listen." * Fitzroy follows along with the group, being careful not to step on the pets when they're near. ( Walking with your hand awkwardly held behind your back is samurai-style? ) * Vera follows everyone to customs, as is customary. <> "Are any of you Earth citizens?" * Threnody raises a hand at that. <> "Send your luggage through the scanner, and wait over there." <> <> * Threnody has a very small suitcase, since he's not that big and there's not much fabric to his new wardrobe to begin with, so he throws it and the bokken through and walks under the arch without comment. * Rochelle looks around, then doubletakes at the archway. She scratches at the back of her head. (Sadly, all that's been running through my head at Cham's description is "I'm on the brute squad." "You ARE the brute squad." She IS the border.) (*snerk*) <> "Do you have anything to declare, other than these two pets, which will have to be checked over and then have forms filed for?" (She IS the border, indeed.) (That's awesome.) * Rochelle shakes her head. * Threnody says, to the lot of you: %% Welcome to friendly Earth. %% * Katherine speaks up, and says, "Some odd martian art, and two guns." (It's good to be straightforward!) * Leopoldo nods to the woman, speaking in Earthese. "I have nothing to declare." Two guns and a hat. * Ian says in Earthese, "One gun and foodstuffs, no alcohol." * Rochelle somehow doesn't jump at Thren's thought and says, "Oh yeah. Gun." She pats Vwoof on the head. I...what? Declare? "Anyone with nothing to declare can do as the other one did. The rest of you..." <> "Art, food, guns, animals. Make sure to fill them out completely." * Demetreia peeers close at the sheafs of forms, then turns and puts her satchel through the scanner, walking over to wait with Thren. * Vera frowns at the form. Ugh. Paperwork. * Rochelle looks blankly at them for a moment, then picks up her own and starts looking through it. Hopefully there's something to write with, too. ( NO ) (I have to use my blood!) <> * Leopoldo blinks. "Ah, art, right." He takes one of the forms and proceeds to fill it out very quickly. He did keep in mind to bring his own pen. <.< * Katherine frowns at the forms as well, but sets to it. "See, Eck, this is why you usually stay at home." * Ian picks up his forms, reads them over carefully, and then starts filling them out. Ian is the Form Ninja! He is FAST. * Rochelle grabs one of those and starts filling it out. With absolutely painstaking slowness. * Leopoldo is faster. 'cuz he does it more often! <
> (Leo and Ian should roll to see who did it faster.) (Bring it on!) <> (What's the roll, Darth Wombat?) (Vwoof rules.) <> * Fitzroy declares his pistol while the declaring is still going. (Law(Forms) +3) (Body + Law) (Mwaha.) (Eep. ;_;) (Eep is right. ;-;) (Roll it, twits!) 2d6+3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Leopoldo (2d6+3) and gets 9. 2d6+3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ian (2d6+3) and gets 9. (...) (Dead heat!) (HAHAHAHAHAHA) (Well, not bad. Missed by 1.) (I hate you all.) (GWARHARHAR!) <> ( Hmmm... ) * Leopoldo walks outside after sending his stuff through the scanners already. <.< (What is..."outside", Friend Citizen?) * Ian heads outside once everything is done. Yay! * Demetreia picks up her satchel on the other side and walks out ahead of everyone else. No forms for her! * Rochelle heads outside, looking around blankly. <> <> * Vera follows through. With style! * Katherine grabs all her stuff back, and walks out, looking around, and shielding her eyes. "What the fuck?" (and not dust clouds.. water clouds!) * Rochelle covers her eyes. * Vera doesn't cover her eyes. She has a hat! ^_^_v * Leopoldo shields his eyes, too. "Man, weird. Just... weird." Shiny. * Ian walks outside and then stops, looking around. "Man. I've heard about this, but..." * Threnody holds his suitcase in one hand and the bokken in the other. "Closer to the sun, naturally." * Rochelle peeks out from between her fingers and blinks at the grass, since that's down. She tries stepping back off of it, only it's there, too. "Wow." <> * Threnody does not seem, for the record, in any way affected by the marvel that is Earth, probably unsurprisingly. Yeah. You'll get used to it. * Fitzroy squints like crazy as he says that. I hope so. <> * Katherine makes an eghing noise. "Me too. Eyes are not used to this." * Rochelle tries shielding her eyes, and squinting, and taking more in. She starts to go to poke at a bush, but gets distracted by the sky. (Now I know what I should have gotten Leo. Another set of eyelids.) (A nictatating membrane? Good god, why?) (Why not? :P) * Demetreia tilts her head and blinks twice, then straightens it, seeming at ease with t he light, at lesat. (For starters, they're only useful underwater.) * Ian nods. (He's got a ton of other useless powers.) <> ( What happens when you use nightvision goggles in the day? ) (They get VERY bright.) ( Thought so. ) (Actually, you just can't see anything.) * Fitzroy shields his eyes a little more. "Well, it may take a while.." (It's... white.) ( Woo! Only 11900 credits! ) (A good pair will pick up on this and just have it so it blacks out.) * Katherine starts unshielding her eyes, and catches a vision of Luanne, and cracks a grin. "Well, I could think of a lot worse things to see after a long trip." * Rochelle keeps staring at the clouds. She moves a little so she can follow one with her eyes. * Leopoldo chuckles. "Quite. Well, I suppose we should get going." <> * Ian nods. "Looks like they're expecting us." Not very surprising. * Threnody blinks for a moment, then starts slowing his steps until he hits pace with Rochelle and looks over. "Actually, I brought something for you that you might need." * Rochelle tears her attention from the sky to look at Threnody. "Huh? I mean, what?" * Leopoldo walks over to one of the cars and looks inside. "Geeze, I've only heard of these in history books. I didn't know they still existed." Anders has a thing for old stuff, remember? * Demetreia walks over to the cars and looks at them, curious. * Threnody slips the bokken into his belt and, holding his bag with one arm, unzips it and digs inside for a moment before producing a small bottle and handing it to her. "Put some on every day before you go outside." * Ian blinks, and starts looking over the cars. "Wow...I've *written* about these things." * Rochelle takes the bottle and peers at it. * Katherine goes walking over too, and grins at Luanne. "Hey, good looking. Nice cars. How do you people afford this stuff?" What is it? Quite. Well, now I suppose you'll get some first-hand experience. (Suntan lotion. Duh. :P) * Threnody smiles, for the first time in a long while this trip, actually. "Sunscreen. Keeps you from burning." * Rochelle blinks, then gets distracted by her arm. She blinks again. "Holy shit. I'm turning pink." (Thren's thoughtful. ._.) * Leopoldo turns pink. "Wow, I'm already pink!" He smiles for a change. * Ian hmms. "We're going to need some more supplies, aren't we?" Heh,.. Agriculture, Kat. * Rochelle doesn't seem to notice. Some of us aren't used to changing color. * Threnody nods. "Considering your, uh..." He knits his brow. "Anyhow. For someone not used to the bright sun, it can be pretty dangerous. Try to stay in the shade when you can." <> "We pick up things here and there. These things are sweet, aren't they?" ..among other things. <> Oh. Okay. * Rochelle pokes at her arm. "It won't hurt, will it?" * Katherine nods, grin still on her face. "They'd suck for open vacuum, but I guess that ain't a problem here, eh?" * Threnody looks at the sky, and squints a bit, then back down. "Sunburns? They can. And the peeling afterwards is unpleasant." * Leopoldo changes back to his normal skintone. Peeling? Wait, so this stuff stops it? "Yeah. Anders thought you guys'd like it with a little bit of authenticity. You have no idea what these cost nowadays." * Threnody ums distractedly for a moment, then ahems. "Basically, it just protects a bit from UV rays. If you don't, you get sunburned... then the layers of burned skin peel off once the burn's healed a bit and you end up looking like a giant tomato with a skin problem." * Ian smiles. "I do." ... That's gotta get annoying. I mean, putting this stuff on every day. * Leopoldo nods. "So, what are we waiting for?" He opens the door and *gently* sits down on one of the passenger side seats, actually the car that has nobody in it yet. "Actually, I do. It's quite a bit." * Threnody holds out an arm. "Well, if you live here it's not quite so bad. Plus not everywhere is as sunny as the desert." * Rochelle opens the bottle, though, and sniffs at it, before she starts to spread its contents over her face and neck and arms and hands and actually, there's a bit to cover. * Katherine looks at Luanne, and says, "Tell me I get to drive the other one?" * Ian looks downcast. I could drive it if I had any clue how to. <> "Work it out." <> (*eyes winamp* Domus arigatus, Mister Robotus.) Who wanted to drive this car? ( Todd: XD ) I would love to, if I knew how...alas. <> * Rochelle finishes and pockets the rest. "Thanks. I don't wanna peel." * Threnody finally looks at the cars. "Oh! How adorable. I haven't been in one of these for a long while." (*SNORT*) * Katherine says with a grin, "I can do it." * Rochelle looks at the cars for a moment, then goes back to watching the clouds. Much more interesting. (World traveller, baby.) * Threnody runs a hand over the hood. "And never this model. I was in a... someone in Hong Kong had a Range Rover he'd been saving in the family for generations. These are much cuter." ( Not including driver? ) <> * Rochelle hears the birds, almost jumps, and looks around for those. * Leopoldo is basically sitting back and enjoying all the life around him. (Are they one door or two? 'Cause Leo's blockin' the back seat. ^_~) * Ian looks at the birds happily. (I have totally missed who's in what car.) * Demetreia fends off the vicious natural wildlife with her mad ninja skills! Or doesn't. ( No-one's gotten in yet. ) <> (Hop over! Awesome.) ( 'Cept for Luanne of course. ) (I be in the car that's not occupied than anyone else.) ( And Leo. ) (Passenger seat. Because the back is just too small. <.<) * Katherine tosses her junk in the trunk and walks over to the drivers side of the red one, then jumps in. "Whoo. What a machine." * Vera gets into one of the cars. The one with Luanne. "Alright, let's get this show on the road." * Ian hops in the back of the red one. You sure you know how to drive this thing? * Ian makes sure all the luggage is on board, too. * Leopoldo has his luggage on his lap. *shrug* * Threnody gets in the car next to Kat and has a seat, smiling at Leo. "Oh, it's simple. Anyone with a tiny amount of coordination can do it." * Katherine grins. "Sure I'm sure. It's been a few years, but it all comes back to you." Excellent. ^_^ <> * Demetreia clambers into...wait. Right. * Fitzroy hops into an empty seat.. Looks like it'll be the blue car. * Rochelle is, supposedly, eventually pulled into a car. Which is good, because she didn't notice and climb in in a timely fashion. ( Our blue or their blue? ) (Our blue is redder!) You won't mind if I just, you know, watch the scenery as you drive, right? ( He needs to go in our blue. ) ( That way things're evener. ) * Katherine starts the car up, and says, "What else would you do?" (They're both purple! Yay.) True. * Rochelle says, distractedly, "Hey Luanne." Busy looking at the bird she spotted. * Threnody folds his hands in his lap and looks forward. "Perhaps he meant, 'drive slow enough so that the landscape is not a blur'," he offers helpfully. "Heya, Roch!" <> * Rochelle blinks. Oh, there it went. * Threnody watches Luanne peel out. "Not that such a thing will be possible, now, I guess." * Ian hurriedly buckles his seat belt. (Oh good lord, they have to drive stick.) (We're doomed.) * Katherine eyes Luanne, and smirks. "I can't tell if that's a challenge or she's just a lunatic." She shifts and pulls out not quite as fast, but kicks the speed up once she's out on the road. "Just gotta keep from losin' her, eh?" * Vera holds onto her hat. <> * Ian just looks about, in awe. * Threnody sighs as he looks around. "Americans had a really lovely country. It's a shame they destroyed it so... quickly." He pauses, then faces front again. "Not that my ancestors did any better, I suppose." * Rochelle is distracted by the sky again. And the sun. And the clouds, and the grass and things... (And Vwoof has probably since climbed over her and stuck his head out the side.) * Katherine looks to be enjoying the drive, although whoever's behind her is probably glad the braid's pinned between her and the seat. "They destroyed it, and it looks like this?" * Leopoldo is basically enthralled by the scenery, and the sky, and all this stuff. <> Oof. Hey, Vwoof. ( WHAT ) * Rochelle tries pushing Vwoof so he's not *standing* on her. ( This Thai menu has "pho" listed on it! As Thai food! ) ( *destroys Thailand* ) (Gasp!) ( ...c_C; ) (I was at a Thai restaurant in LA that served...almost entirely Chinese food.) (*Really good.* But...yeah.) ( Yeah. ) <> <> * Threnody nods. "Earth wasn't always like this... a hundred or two hundred years ago it was much more industrialized. When most of humanity moved to Mars, though, a major cleanup effort restored a lot of natural areas." * Ian nods. (A lot of Italian restaurants here really aren't. You can tell by the fact that the menu has "prosciutto y melone" and no one notices...) (...) * Leopoldo nods. (... ) * Katherine smirks derisively, "Too bad." * Threnody says "I don't think he was involved," before he can stop himself, and winces. (Or they take "senza formaggio" and tell the kitchen "no queso." c_c;) (c.c;) (Uh...huh.) ( See, I don't care too much who staffs the restaurant as long as the food is at least semi-authentic. But... ) * Threnody rubs his temples. "I never thought I'd hear these words escape my lips, but you think much too loudly." <> "You guys having fun?" * Ian waves. "I think so!" * Rochelle peers out at the station. Definetly. <> * Katherine stops too. "You bet." She then turns back to Thren, with a smirk. "What you see is what you get, kid. It's almost all out there." She then turns back to eye the gas gauge. (Now that's a bald faced lie, you whore.) (Shut up!) (Are we nearly out of gas? c.c;) * Rochelle tries to figure that out. "Uh." She looks around, spots Thren, and tries to wave him over. <> * Threnody blinks at that response, motionless for a moment, then sees Rochelle and makes his way over obligingly. Don't laugh, but... why'd they put lead in fuel? * Katherine shrugs, and hops out to fill'er up too, which involves peeking at what our favorite teleporter is using. * Vera yawns. "We go from travel to more travel." <> (What else?) * Threnody blinks. "I honestly have no idea. Lead in petrol is... a long, long time ago. You'd need a historian of engineering to tell you." (You know, gas would be expensive as all hell by now.) <> ... So if they don't do it anymore, why'd they tell you that they don't? Tradition. * Katherine fills 'er up, and eyes the gauge. "At least I'm not paying." * Rochelle looks at Leo blankly. "Tradition." (Leo - not so much. Supply >>>>>>>> Demand.) * Threnody shrugs. "Well... there wasn't really anything to call unleaded except unleaded, so they just kept doing it. Tradition." * Rochelle scrunches her forehead for a moment, then nods. "Okay." <> "You guys want drinks or snacks, I'm buyin'. It's gonna be a bit before we get to dinner." (Really? The world's fuel supplies would probably be fairly depleted by this point, as by the time ATC1's happening.) (We fossilized Taluun.) (Humanity hadn't completly moved to the stars yet.) (Plus think of the advances in synthetics.) Shall we pick up some more sunscreen? (Ah, true.) (Right, but even by then, fusion was the primary power source.) (It just hadn't been miniaturized to cars yet.) * Rochelle looks down at her arm, which is a much deeper shade of pink, despite Thren's sunscreen. * Katherine stretches. "No thanks, I'm good." * Vera spits out the bug. "Bleh. I'm starting to hate this rock already. * Leopoldo shrugs. The sun doesn't seem to affect him in the least. "I should be fine." <> * Threnody nods at Ian. "You might want to, unless you tan well, of course." He smiles distractedly, and in the light it's noticable that he's very, very faintly freckled. "I tend to burn." (^_~) * Vera sure is, dagnabbit! (Dagnabbit!) * Ian nods, and heads on in to buy stuff. * Rochelle tries putting on more of that sunblock stuff. Coconut Rochelle. * Fitzroy stretches after hopping out of his car and follows Ian in. <> (Even though he's just a gas station guy, he's still richer than YOU.) * Demetreia wanders inside curiously. * Threnody stays outside, and is proceeding to sunblock himself up nicely. As a matter of personal preference, he smells like mango offset to Rochelle's coconut. * Katherine walks over to Eck, and tries to calm her down a bit while everyone's stopped. Lots of shushing. <> ( Aww. But cats are cool and comfortable! ) ( Or...is that sharks? ) (Deme needs a pet shark. Yes.) * Ian buys assorted pairs of sunglasses and a few bottles of sunscreen, plus some of the less horrible-looking snacks. ( YES! ) ("Aww, it's gnawing on my arm again! How cute!) (Yes!) ( Martian creds transfer, of course. Right? ) * Katherine goes with the petting. "Ssh, baby. It's just a fast moving car." * Fitzroy picks out a pair of slick shades for himself. "Good idea." <> ( Thought so. ) * Demetreia plays with assorted random stuff. * Leopoldo takes his luggage and puts it in the trunk, then sits back in the seat. <> * Ian does let Luanne pay. "Thanks!" * Fitzroy also picks out a couple of snacks and a drink. He let's Lu pay and thanks her. * Demetreia hesitantly walks up to the counter with a bottle of water, a shark keychain, and (>.>) (... ) (Shark!) * Leopoldo explores the contents of the glove compartment. There a user's manual in there? ( Shark! But what was I going to *say!* Rrrgh ) ( Oh, right. ) * Demetreia also brings up a small viewfinder. ( The little things where you clikc and you see pictures and things. ) <> (Melted mints!) (You're in the fsking desert!) <<..... in an extreme fit of nostalgia the GM allows Deme to buy a Viewmaster.>> ( XD ) ( *That's* what they're called. Right. ) (Hey, Earth is all about nostalgia.) (m&mints? Melt's in your mouth, not your 200 degree car?) * Leopoldo takes one of them out, eyes it, and puts it back, closing it up. ( Watch it! That's gonna be them! ) * Threnody sits on the edge of the car door like a roller waitress and looks at the scenery. "What... could Anders possibly want all the way out here?" (And, actually, manuals are laminated right now so they don't crumble to dust. ^^;) (...we're going to Area 51.) (...) ( You know it. ) (Leo, it's been a hundred goddamn years, plus manuals were NOT labeled back in 1980s.) (If you'll remember, Thren already predicted that ICly.) * Rochelle half-hangs out of the car, head tilted, and takes in the horizon sideways. * Katherine shrugs, and continues petting Eck. "No damn clue." * Ian distributes sunglasses and sunscreen to those who want them. He then puts on a pair of sunglasses and leans against the car, staring off into the horizon, posing. "... stylin'." <> "I feel fantastic. This is the most fun I've had in ages, and it was totally worth blowing all my vacation time on." <> ( Are Cool Points better than Creepy Points? ) <> (Wah!) * Vera takes a pair of sunglasses from Ian and slips them on. She's cool. <> * Rochelle snatches sunglasses and yet more sunscreen. She stuffs the sunscreen in her bag and opens the glasses, looking them over. (Cham's getting the hang of this.) * Leopoldo takes one of the sunglasses and puts it on. Now he looks even sillier than before. * Threnody sighs and gets back in the car, and also back to being anxious again, quite visibly. * Katherine should probably take sunglasses, as she's driving, and hands Eck to Thren. "Here. Enjoy. Don't hurt him, Eck." <> * Ian hops back into the red car and buckles up. Safety first! * Fitzroy gets back in the bluemobile and looks up at the sky.. then sits back up and braces for takeoff. * Rochelle puts on the sunglasses and looks around, relaxing as things aren't so bright anymore. * Leopoldo buckles up too. * Katherine gets back in the car, and starts it quite a bit less maniacally. * Demetreia climbs back into the car. <> * Threnody takes the cat, presumably, but barely seems to register that he's actually holding one. * Katherine follows with a grin. (I am picturing Thren in a monocle petting a white cat and smiling menacingly.) (She's black, dear.) (Still.) ( ...with the purple hair and everything? ) (...) (Yes, the head of Spectre was the original punk.) <> (WALL DRUG!) (Wall Drug. Awesome. Let's blow it up.) (Please?) (I have no idea what you're talking about.) (Yes!) <> <> * Rochelle has since stopped just staring at the sky and the grass, and is looking at the cars and trucks occasionally, too! But she's being almost completely silent. (Big surprise.) (Has to be said.) ( Thems good EATS ) <> * Threnody has actually appeared to have fallen asleep with Eck in his lap. (Which is?) * Ian spots license plates from different states! He's easily amused. <> * Demetreia seems to have become bored at staring at the surroundings and fiddling with the ViewMaster, and is currently sitting stiffly upright, eyes closed, not seeming to breathe. (Deme is hit by a cow.) * Leopoldo just leans back and relaxes, staring at the sky. ( ....cow? ) (*wobbles* Quickly going to follow my PC's example if something doesn't happen soon. z.z) * Katherine drives! And is much less chatty than Luanne. Doesn't seem to be having a problem with the driving, though. Which is good for those of you in her car. <> (Do we get to splash around in the pool?) <> * Rochelle peers at the board, then snickers. * Leopoldo chuckles. * Ian facepalms. No, really. * Fitzroy , directed mostly at Luanne, "Reunion, huh?" <> "His sense of humor is eclectic." <> * Katherine mutters. "There goes the peace of the last few hours." She parks near wherever Luanne parks, which is no surprise. It's somethin'. At least he has one. * Demetreia blinks awake and looks at the sign. ...family... (Leo, you have the best hearing ever.) (You can hear from Cars away.) (Must...attend...Reunion...) (*ducks*) (... D'oh. ^^;) * Rochelle gets out of the car with her bag, looking around for the bugs that are inevitably being... buggy. (I thought Kat parked wherever she parked. ^^;) (Just barely. ^_^;) * Threnody blinks awake with way more fanfare that is appropriate, probably because he LOOKS as if he was about to be clubbed over the head with something heavy. Presumably the cat complains as her immobile, warm lap is now just warm. * Leopoldo gets out of the car and gets his luggage, ignoring the insects. * Ian gets out of the car and stretches. "Aargh. That was quite a ways..." * Katherine stretches, and gets out, and looks back at the recently awakened Thren. "Oh, good. Worried I'd have make Eck do it." <> * Threnody rubs his eyes, looking adorably sleepy. "What a weird dream..." * Leopoldo stretches. "Yeah, it was. But at least it was enjoyable." * Vera hops of the car and grabs her things; she doesn't have much, just one briefcase. * Ian lugs the luggage into the lobby, with much alliteration. * Demetreia follows everyone, satchel in hand. * Leopoldo walks calmly into the lobby, observing all the retro. * Rochelle follows Luanne more or less obediently, getting a good look around. Hopefully Vwoof follows. She's since taken off her shades, and her skin has turned an unhealthy, extremely dark shade of red, despite two coats of sunblock. <> "Evening, fellows." * Ian waves hello. "What a long, strange trip it's been." Good evening. * Fitzroy takes his stuff in too, taking a good look at the surroundings on the way in. * Rochelle peers at one of her hands and pinches the skin experimentally. "Ow." * Ian looks over at Roch, and blinks. "You okay? That...doesn't look good." <> I'm gonna start peeling soon, aren't I? It takes a while, I think. * Katherine is just standing out by the car for a bit, and rubs her eyes. * Leopoldo looks at Rochelle. "Sunburn. Yeah, you will. They should have something here that can help stop it, though." * Threnody gathers up his things and walks inside, looking troubled. * Rochelle nods. "Okay. Hey Samuel." * Leopoldo looks over at Threnody. "Anything wrong?" * Threnody bites his lip. "I just had a very strange dream on the way here. If I believed in such things I'd call it prophetic." * Ian blinks. "Oh?" * Rochelle looks over to Thren as he says that. * Threnody smiles sheepishly. "It would be difficult to explain why I thought so without... a lot more time than we have. There'll be moments enough later." * Leopoldo nods. * Katherine takes a deep breath, grabs her bags, and also walks inside. <> "You're probably hungry... I'm supposed to tell you the particulars, and then get you guys dinner. Sound good?" * Rochelle shrugs. Certainly. Sure. * Ian nods. "Sure thing." * Threnody nods once. "Let's." Absolutely. * Katherine nods mutely. <> "Let's head outside, I can explain on the way. It's a short walk." Um... what about Vwoof? <> "He can come along. Nobody minds stuff like that much around here. Might want to leave the cat, though." (Did he offer us somewhere to leave our bags and I missed it?) (It's not like Leo minds carrying his stuff, but... Yeah, there a place to drop the bags?) <> <> * Ian puts stuff on, as you say, the cart. * Rochelle eyes the cart and seems to be wondering if she should put her bag on it. * Leopoldo places his luggage on the cart as well. * Katherine hmphs. "Dogs, but no cats? Maybe Roch should stay here." She gets a faint grin, and puts her stuff on the cart. * Leopoldo chuckles. Hey, I'm not really a cat. Just a cat spirit, or something. * Rochelle goes and puts her bag on the cart, though. * Demetreia keeps her bag and waits for everyone else to finish. * Fitzroy carts his stuff and says, "Where about are we anyway? Are we close to any big town?" * Threnody puts his bag on the cart; the bokken he keeps. "We are about in the middle of nowhere as you can get, if you want a hotel to sleep at." <> * Vera puts her bag on the cart. "I better be able to find that later." * Leopoldo takes out a light jacket he kept in his backpack and puts it on, then walks out as well. "They won't steal your stuff." * Rochelle waves for Vwoof to follow and walks out after Samuel. * Demetreia walks out after Roch and Vwoof. * Vera follows after the others, finally taking her sunglasses off. * Threnody walks outside, then pauses and turns to look at the group. "You might want to remember, the desert gets very cold at night." * Ian follows! * Rochelle blinks a couple times, then runs back, grabs her windbreaker, and goes out again. "Okay." I actually checked up on that ahead of time. Thanks for the warning, though. * Katherine doesn't seem to have her guns on her, and she licks her lips as she walks out the door. "I'll live." * Fitzroy checks to make sure he still has his jacket. It's been tied around his waist. * Vera has her usual getup on. It works in all situations. <> "Tomorrow morning, we drive to an old government facility near here. The Concordat bought it off them cheap when the world government took over." * Ian has a multipurpose outfit on, too. * Threnody will apparently live, too, as he's still dressed to impress, if by 'impress' you mean 'audition for Queer as Folk revival'. "Once we're there, we infiltrate, fight if we have to, and get out with the artifact Anders has told us we need. Anything else is a bonus." Sounds easy enough. * Demetreia , like Vera, has an awesome outfit that is always always awesome. * Ian nods. "As long as we don't, you know, get maimed." "It should be. Anders has said so, and I've never known him to be wrong." * Threnody laces his hands behind his back. "Can I ask a strange question?" * Katherine exhales in exasperation. "Sure." * Threnody glances around. "Please don't be offended, everyone, but..." He looks back at Samuel. "You're asking a group of mostly non-combatants to infiltrate a facility which is likely guarded? Why?" * Rochelle shrugs. She doesn't look offended. * Katherine smirks. %% Good question. %% I have no problem. I've been asking that question ever since Anders 'found' us. "Because the rest of us will be taking the front way in, and distractions need two groups." * Threnody blinks. "That makes us sound suspiciously like bait." * Ian raises an eyebrow. "It rather does." * Katherine rubs her temples. "Now I want my suit for sure." "If you were the bait, I wouldn't have told you about us going in there with you." * Threnody tilts his head. "Maybe not." He pauses a moment. "Does it have to be tomorrow? Can't we have some time to plan?" * Leopoldo sighs. "And where do Rochelle, Demetria, or I fit in this. None of us are stealthy, and we're not even combat capable. Sure, I know something about computers, but Fitzroy is much more capable at them." * Rochelle turns to look at Thren for a moment, then goes back to regarding Samuel. ( Psh. Deme's so stealthy, Leo's never even SEEN her be stealthy! ) (Deme's about as stealthy as a bag of lugnuts.) ( wah. ) (Rusty lugnuts.) (She's so stealthy we don't even know it. THAT'S how stealthy she is.) * Fitzroy nods at Leo, thinks for a sec, then says, ".. Roy" "Look, Anders said tomorrow, so that's when we're doing it. As for the three of you who can't fight at all, you've got your uses. You can stay back with the cars if you'd like. We've got a radio you can use to keep in contact." * Rochelle speaks up now. "I've got a question." * Threnody furrows his brow. He doesn't look happy, but he doesn't say anything more. * Leopoldo glances over at Roy. "Sorry, habit of mine." What if he's wrong? (...*snerk*) (Heh.) (Someone had to ask!) (God, Roch, I knew there was a reason I loved you.) (Thanks. ^_^) (Isis: "If it were fate, then giving us time to plan would be irrelevant, now wouldn't it?") "He's never been wrong in four years." So? What if he's wrong now? Well, my full name just bugs me. I never have liked it. (Past performance is not indicitive of future success!) (Hee!) (Sadly, I don't know big words like that.) (But I do!) ( ...what? ) ( Also, isn't that indicative? ) ( <.< ) (Whatever.) "He's convinced me. Whatever he's got, he can use it flawlessly, and he is dead sure about this thing tomorrow." <> "This is dinner. Only restaurant in town." (Another victory for immense breasts.) (Capitalism.) (Same thing.) (Right. Capitalism.) ( 1337 PSYCHIK POWERZ OMGOMG ) ( Er. Capitalism! ) * Rochelle doesn't respond to that. She just looks at Samuel for a while longer before breaking it and heading in. * Threnody clears his throat. "If you have some words of encouragement to share over dinner, Mister Samuel, you'd be well-advised to do so." He then follows Rochelle in. * Demetreia walks in. Dum te dum. * Katherine walks, and starts muttering to herself, then says, "Do we at least have any goddamn intelligence on the place?" (The futile cry of every #besm RP character.) * Vera follows the others in. "Eh..." * Leopoldo walks in, skeptical and uneasy as usual this close to a mission or job or whatever they call it. * Ian follows the group in, thinking. (*blinks* Is someone KNOCKING on our *door*?!) (AFK a sec. And hopefully only thus.) <> * Rochelle goes to have a seat. And pulls Vwoof up next to her, disasterous though that may be. <> * Demetreia looks down at the menu thoughtfully. (Do they have skillets? I want Egg and Meat.) <> * Ian sits down, and considers the menu. <> * Vera takes a seat and glances at the menu. * Leopoldo sits down as well. Not much of a selection, but... Do they have big burgers? (If we're not paying...) ( I'm so hungry! ;-; ) ( *hate* ) (And I'm going to need to go to sleep soon. ^^;) (Weird. Nobody.) <> (And we'll wrap up soon.) (Sometimes if there's snow the cops will knock on doors very late if people are parked on the street.) (But I didn't see anybody.) ( I want burger and chicken and steak and fries and and and ) (...) (I'm hungry too now, dangit Deme. <.<) * Demetreia looks a little lost and ends up ordering a burger, some fried chicken, and a kids' steak. With fries and Texas toast. * Katherine frowns at Samuel, then smirks. "Yo, Captain Wang. Gonna answer the question or not?" ( XD ) ( :D ) * Fitzroy picks out a burger and orders whenever the ordering begins. * Ian ends up ordering the chicken and waffle meal. * Threnody orders a taco salad, and continues to sit in wordless... something. From his expression, a combination of irritation and confusion. * Vera orders a large T-bone steak. * Katherine will hastily order Steak (medium-rare) and eggs overeasy, and then return to staring at Samuel. She actually looks fairly angry for someone who just spent the last while driving. <> "We have adequate recon. It'll be in the room tonight." <> * Leopoldo shrugs and nods at his selection. He orders a large bacon cheddar burger with fries. After doing so, he looks at Samuel, expecting something. (That should have been above Samuel's statement. ^^;) <> * Rochelle ordered something distractedly. She ends up with potato and chicken. * Katherine rubs her temples. * Leopoldo played football, he's under twenty (not like anyone can tell), and he's huge. You think he cares about fat content? * Ian consumes it eagerly. (Oh, wait. He is twenty. Still.) * Rochelle starts picking at her eggs now. "Gotta be tomorrow, huh." (Has the name of the city been told to us yet?) (No.) ( DEAD TOWN. ) * Demetreia digs into her food. Mmmm, food. * Threnody prods at his salad. "...we're in Roswell, aren't we?" * Katherine digs in, and says around a mouthful of eggs, "Looks like it, Roch." (I have the skill level to back that up, before I get complained at. :P) (Creepy.) * Ian blinks, and looks up at Thren. * Rochelle pushes some chicken off her plate for Vwoof and starts eating. "Guess so. I wanted to... I dunno, see stuff, first." * Threnody is looking directly at Samuel after asking that. <> "Astute observation. Yes, we are." * Katherine eyes Roch. "Whoa, whoa. Let's try not to lose it quite yet, eh, kid?" * Leopoldo blinks, thinks a little, then remembers his history lessons. * Threnody frowns a little, then takes a bite of salad, chewing slowly. "I always thought it was just a myth." *Oh,* boy. "Most of it was. It was just an air force test base." * Katherine shovels food before Roch responds. * Rochelle looks up at Kat. She blinks, and whatever emotion was there (which was minimal) is completely gone. "I'm not losing it." * Threnody knits his brow. "'Most'?" * Katherine looks at Roch with a slight frown, and then goes back to eating. (We're gonna wrap up soonish, if you wanna get your last kicks in.) (*snicker* Man, I have mini needs out the ears, now.) I can see what's coming, here, and I don't like it at all. * Vera digs into her food. "At least the food ain't bad." * Ian nods, and continues eating warily. "That's true." * Fitzroy gnaws on his burger and just listens. He doesn't have any input at the moment. "Well, the base does exist. And it did have strange stuff happen. Par for the course at a test base. But the aliens and so on were just a story." * Demetreia finishes fairly quickly. Must've been hungry after that car ride. She gives the leftovers to Vwoof. * Leopoldo devours his burger cleanly. "I hope so." * Rochelle starts munching. She seems to have found some of her appetite. (Last poses.) * Ian finishes his chicken and waffle, and leans back. * Threnody seems lost in thought, stirring his salad mindlessly. "Storybook world, huh..." * Demetreia orders an ice-cream, for the heck of it. * Vera finishes her steak and stands. "Well, since we have some free time, I think I'll go explore the surroundings... even if there ain't much to explore." <>