OPEN ♦ a cat about town

[verflair]

who: X'rhun Tia and YOU
what: An open mingle while X'rhun acclimates himself to the city. X'rhun will not be suffering from amnesia himself, but characters who are can certainly come bother him.
when: Mid-August, shortly after his arrival in the Quarantine.
where: Various places, including communal housing floor 10 and outside the perimeter fence.
warnings: None at the moment!

A | COMMUNAL HOUSING, floor 10

[ He has been informed that this is where he lives, now. He’s not unused to sharing space with others, so he’s not to bothered. His fellow Duelists occupied the same space as the resistance fighters of his homeland, and there was certainly not enough space there to go around. This place, however, is roomier and more well-furnished than even some of the inns he’s stayed in on his travels.

The red mage doesn’t have anything he cares to leave in the trunk at the end of his bed, preferring to keep his rapier and the accompanying crystal secure at his hips, so he gives the sleeping area only a cursory inspection before heading for the kitchen area.

Alright, stove, sink, cabinets. All standard, if a bit strangely designed. It’s the fridge that catches his attention, and he opens it to get a blast of cold air in the face. It’s not hard to discern its purpose after peering inside. ]

That is ingenious.


B | AROUND TOWN

[ X’rhun has learned that the sound of every approaching vehicle is not an attacking enemy in magitek armor, but now and again he still tenses at it. Decades of habit are difficult to break.

Aside from that, however, the city itself is fascinating. Instead of open-air markets, the shops are sectioned off into neat little rooms all their own. It’s strangely quiet to his ears without people shouting and bartering and trying to hock their wares, until he catches the sounds of a cheering crowd. He follows the noise to an electronics shop. The array of televisions set up in the front window are showing some sort of sporting event, but it just looks like chaos to X’rhun.

More than anything, he’s captivated by the clarity of the picture. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was watching through a window, rather than some sort of video broadcast, like he’s seen on the network. His tail twitches as he watches, clearly absorbed until he catches the reflection of a passerby in the window. ]

Dare I ask if you know the rules of this game?


C | PERIMETER FENCE

[ Okay, so the forests are crawling with monsters, but frankly it’s the closest thing to home he’s come across here. It’s quieter, away from the central areas of the city, even if the fence is a massive technological beast in and of itself. Being on the Guard gives X’rhun a reason to step outside the city when he likes, though he doesn’t dare go too far until he has a better grasp of his surroundings.

His self-imposed boundaries still give him leave to wander through the woods a decent distance, eyes and ears alert, one hand on the hilt of his blade should he need it. ]


D | ANYTHING ELSE

[ Want a different starter or have an idea of your own? Feel free to let me know or begin your own thread. If you want to plan something, I can be reached at exposition or with a PM to X’rhun’s journal! ]

Comments

[verflair]

[ Tia... san? X'rhun knows very little of the Hingan language, only picking up snippets from refugees he's met in his travel, but that does sound somewhat familiar. He's not going to assume that he and the girl are from the same place, but perhaps they share some similar languages. ]

Please, call me X'rhun.

[ "Tia" isn't exactly a family name, and it seems awkward to be called by it. ]

We have nothing like this, no. We must resort to other means for keeping food fresh.

[infact]

[ The awkward part for Arisu is calling someone by first name basis, especially when they've known each other for a short amount of time. While Arisu puts on a serious face most times, there's a lot that of things that can easily break her composure. One of those things being how she addresses others. ]

First name? [ She says his name slowly: ] X'rhun... san... is that really okay?

[ To her, it feels impolite and immature... ]

[verflair]

[ Oh. He can see that she’s not altogether comfortable with that. There may be a line he’s crossed in terms of etiquette, so he does his very best to look reassuring. ]

Ah, where I come from, “Tia” is not a family name. It is a name that denotes one’s place in the tribal hierarchy, technically more of a rank than anything. I would much prefer to go by my given name, if that’s all right with you.

[infact]

I... I see. That's... fine by me. It would make no sense for me to call you by rank... X'rhun-san.

[ Even if she still seems mildly unsure of herself, she'll quickly get used to it. It's usually only Arisu that gets taken aback upon saying a person's given name so soon. ]

A-anyway. [ She stammers briefly, trying to ease back into her usual calm image. ] The technology here is quite similar to what I have at home. If you require the assistance, I can help you.

[verflair]

[ Apparently, that’s going to take some getting used to on her end, but at least she doesn’t seem outright offended. That’s all he can ask for given the strange mixing of customs. ]

If you're offering, I could do with a tutorial on most everything in here, I think. For instance, what is that small box?

[ He points, indicating the microwave. ]

[infact]

That is called a microwave.

[ Her voice steadies, now that they're focusing on something else. She will be his tiny teacher for modern technology today. She used to teach her fellow peers in study groups. ]

It's used to heat, re-heat, and cook food. You can manually set the heating time or use one of the presets.

[ Like so. She approaches the microwave and punches in the time for one minute. Beep, beep, beep. Amazing. ]

Are you hungry? Perhaps this tutorial will be more beneficial if you had a more hands-on experience.

[verflair]

[ In his mind, X’rhun sees the microwave as a tiny oven. While novel, he’s not sure why it’s necessary. ]

Ah… famished, actually. It’s been a rather long day.

[ Portals and orientations and trying to figure out the what half the stuff he was encountering on the city streets even was. He’s might sleep like the dead, or he might never sleep again while trying to make sense of it all. It’s hard to tell. ]

But you needn’t worry yourself on my account. I can find a meal of my own, and you can show me how this contraption works at some other juncture.

[infact]

That's fine. Feel free to let me know if you do need anything.

[ Without her idol jobs, she has far too much free time on her hands outside of classes now. But he seems like a reliable enough adult to prepare his own meals. ]

May I ask what kind of place you came from? How is it like? I'm curious.

[ A cosplayer from her world might have initially crossed her mind, but that doesn't seem to be the case... ]

[verflair]

[ Such a serious child! He’s known more than a few of those in his day, and he spares a moment to chuckle quietly to himself at her mannerisms. ]

I’m from a place called Eorzea. It’s… very different from the Quarantine. For instance, we don’t have anything resembling the vehicles I’ve seen on the streets outside.

[infact]

[ His chuckle doesn't go unnoticed. She wonders if her questions are amusing. She dislikes being seen as childish and tends to keep up a serious expression, so much that she seems stiff... ]

Then what form of transportation does Eorzea have?

[verflair]

[ What X’rhun sees is a child determined not to act like one. He won’t belittle her for it, because that’s far from his style, so for now it just remains an observation. ]

Mounts, mostly. Horses, for some, but by and large we rely on chocobos. They’re large birds, very swift and intelligent.

[infact]

Large birds? That sounds... kind of terrifying...

[ She's wary of even small birds like owls. She started to think it was cute after staring at an owl for awhile though. There are large birds like ostriches where she came from. But riding them around like horses? That's unheard of. ]