introductory mingle: CARNIVALE

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: overflow post for the Carnivale celebration
when: July 1st - July 9th
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

This is not the Carnivale post. This is just a tribute.

Optional overflow post, since the Carnivale log has hit Captcha. If you don't mind Captcha, feel free to continue using the previous one, or put up a top-level on this one with links to your previous threads and continue here, free of being put to the robot test with every tag.

Comments

Aoba

[chumpelstiltskin]

[Continued from here.]

[Dave's response is a shrug, which implies that he thinks Aoba should do what Aoba wants. He's relieved to be removed from his position of influence and shifts back into being perpetually confused by everything around him.]

Nah, my browsing skills have been sloppy. I have a lot of memes and shit to catch up on.

[But he leans in to watch the advertisement anyway. His brow quirks slowly, and he almost feels more confused now that he knows what Aoba is talking about.]

Sounds like he's selling some Snake-Oil flavoured placebos. [He shrugs.] I don't buy it, but I don't need to be genetically enhanced. I got enough shit to deal with without taking some shitty drugs that make me breath fire or grow toenails at breakneck speeds.

[bottombitch]

Meme, aah! You know about those! I'm relieved... [ He doesn't appear very familiar with the term. ]

[ Aoba twists the ear pieces of his headphones back into place, letting it rest in his lap, presses a button to darken the screen of his comm device. His expression is irritable, but his brow crinkles as he tries to wipe the ugly expression away. ]

Mm, that's what I think too. Whoever this creep is, they're really set on tricking people into being a guinea pig for their experimental drug.

I guess it makes sense, when I think about it. The portal brings people who feel out of place in their world, right? I guess in some way that means we're all misfits in a way... and to varying degrees, right?

...Aoba. Nice to meet you~ ☆

[ He reluctantly puts out his hand to greet him, not because he's particularly shy, but he's just realizing he got carried away and forgot the most basic of courtesies - the introduction. ]

[chumpelstiltskin]

Oh, yeah. I used to be kind of an expert but then I left Earth for a while and the internet kept moving without me. [He shrugs.] I mean, you try to make your own memes, but it's not the same.

Dave. [He takes Aoba's hand and shakes it, but it's kind of obvious he's not used to this sort of thing.]

Luckily I'm not in the market for any super juice, but I guess we'll start to notice if people go apeshit gremlins style.

[bottombitch]

[ Aoba grasps his hand and shakes it, two polite pumps up and down before he releases it. ] Nice to meet you.

[ And then he's hugging his knees again, his heels against the edge of the sofa he sits on, which is... impolite if it wasn't in a club, where one expects a lot of wear and tear. He pulls the headset back around his neck and over his blue hair, careful not to snag it against any of the strands. ]

I think we're like-minded, but I'm kinda shocked how many people seemed willing to be this weirdo's guinea pig. Maybe I'm just used to being in the kind of reality where this is the norm.

...Anyway, all creepers aside -- Are you native to this moon or are you quarantined like most of us?

[chumpelstiltskin]

People like to be different, and everyone here is different so now everyone needs to be more different.

Plus, y'know, they're gullible fucks with time and freedom on their hands.

[Speaking of which.] Definitely not native. I'm from Earth, but I haven't been there for like, eight years now. America specifically, by the way, if that means anything. You look human but you have the whole blue hair thing going on so who knows.

[bottombitch]

There's different and then there's creepy.

[ There's a difference, and one Aoba underscores with strong disapproval. But his tone changes to something more easy when the topic switches to Earth. ]

That's where I'm from too. I've spent practically all my life in Midorijima, Japan.

[ Aoba puts a hand toward his hair, but doesn't touch it. Just rests his fingers on his collarbone just shy of reaching it. He's heard his hair described as weird only because he cuts it himself, but the hue? ]

Eh? Is it weird?

You're the first person to say so...

[chumpelstiltskin]

America, if it wasn't obvious.

[He's not sure if he carries some sort of obnoxious aura, but it's been a long time since he had to identify himself as coming from a particular part of Earth.]

It's different. I'm not exactly cultured though, so don't take my word for it. The only guy I knew who had zany hair colours turned out to be a colossal douche canoe.

[He pauses.] Not to say that you are. I mean. Anyway. So it's like, natural or something? Does everyone in Japan have cool hair?

[bottombitch]

[ Aoba laughs, not teasingly, but out of genuine amusement. ]

So you've said. [ And that puts him a little at ease, too - the fact someone can get caught in a social loop like he can when he's feeling out of his element and nervous - which is... pretty constant lately. ]

Well, I'll leave it to you to make that call if I'm a 'douche canoe'.

...Do you really think my hair is cool? ☆

[ He cuts it himself, so this is a rare compliment. It seems to have gone over super well at least! ]

[chumpelstiltskin]

Yes. Yes I did. [Dave resists the urge to bury his face in his hands. The illusion of being cool and together is gradually shattering right before them.

Probably for the best.]

I guess I'll have to hang around you more before I determine whether you're a genocidal maniac or not. [Dave shrugs.] Sure. It's different, it's.. spiky in places and stuff. Better than the ol' bob at the front, mess at the back look. [He gestures vaguely at his head.]

dave is so relatable (also you saw nothing)

[bottombitch]

[ Aoba's brow lifts as he looks at his hair. It's... not bad, actually? But he's also very much not one to talk. ]

If only Koujaku were here, you could hear it from a real expert.

[ Ah, yes. His childhood friend and bestie for as long as he can remember. He misses him a lot, but not half as much as teasing him for his womanizing ways. And the smell of his tobacco, or the sound of his voice, or the way their Allmates used to play together. ]

Then again... most of his clients are pretty women, if you catch my drift.

...So here's a question. We're all here because we felt out of place back home, right? Do you ever miss it?

i saw nothing, i did not delete a random tag from my inbox ;)

[chumpelstiltskin]

I'm not catching your drift. I'm waving at it from the riverbank as it floats past me.

[Of course he actually waves to illustrate his point.]

Home? I dunno. Not really, but I've only been here like two days. [He shrugs.] I don't think I'm gonna miss it, but I haven't had a proper home in a long ass time anyway.