[Open]

[namednothing]

who: Odo & OPEN
what: Checking out his new environment
when: October 13th
where: Some park near the residential area
warnings: None, will update if needed.



For how many years he spent living on Deep Space Nine – or Terok Nor, as it once was – Odo was almost intimately familiar with its corridors, shops, and cargo bays. Criminals always knew the secret ways through vents or hidden deck plates to conduct their business – and therefore so did the constable.

However, here the buildings and roads were a mystery – a mystery that had to be solved if he had any chance of finding out exactly what had happened to him.

Not being familiar with the native fauna, Odo took the form of a Tarkalean hawk to take his impromptu aerial tour. He did his best to make a mental map of the area, but soon it would be too dark to make any more progress.

He looks for a suitable place to land, and finds one on a stone bench on the cusp of a street light. Anyone looking would see the bird turn into a shimmering liquid before growing in size and changing in shape to something much more human in appearance.

Comments

[namednothing]

[Odo eyes the proffered hand skeptically, sizing the other up and making quick judgments about his character from their limited encounter. After a moment he decides that Cisco's behavior was not a mask for any suspicious intentions, and therefore he had no reason not to return the socially appropriate gesture. He takes Cisco's hand.]

Odo.

[His tone is still fairly flat, but his posture relaxes slightly.]

That won't be necessary. I don't drink.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco's smile goes a bit lopsided as Odo looks him up and down, considering if he'll shake his hand or not. This guy is definitely weird - but in a good way, Cisco thinks. He has a good, well. Vibe. As soon as Odo says his name, Cisco blinks in recognition. ]

Odo?

[ Hardly the most common name, and he knows he's heard it somewhere, or maybe read it...? It takes a second for him to recall, and then he snaps, the name snapping into place in his memory and he asks: ]

Do you work for the Riverview Police Department?

[ Cisco's pretty sure he'd seen the name in some paperwork while he was there, but he's not entirely sure. It might have been the firefighter station, but he's almost positive it was the police.

He wonders, but at least has the good sense not to ask, whether Odo doesn't drink alcohol or just... doesn't drink. ]

[namednothing]

[The changeling narrows his eyes slightly. The fact that this man knew his name unsettled him.]

Yes. [He looks to the side, half-grumbling his next words.] ...For the moment, anyway.

[He had accepted the position with the intention of gathering more intelligence. Law enforcement on most worlds had access to information not available to the general public. Still, it was something to do while he searched for a way back to Deep Space Nine.]

How did you know?

[franciscoramon]

[ That was an ominous comment that Cisco is going to definitely file away for later. It's totally reasonable, though, that Odo would be confused and maybe a bit suspicious at a stranger recognizing his name. Wait, is he being creepy? He really doesn't want to be creepy. Cisco explains quickly: ]

I saw it on some paperwork. I design and develop tech for the emergency services - so, like, the perimeter guard sometimes, the firefighters, and the police department. All kinds of stuff, you know - body armor, communications devices, restraints, stun grenades, that sort of thing. So I get a lot of memos about personnel and who needs what and all that good stuff. It wasn't a name I'd ever heard before, so I remembered it.

[ And then - because this guy is a cop, and he seems pretty grumpy about the whole situation, Cisco fishes through his pocket for his wallet, pulls it out, and finds his little identification card. Nowhere near as exciting as a badge, but it does have his job title, his name, and a little picture of his face. Enough to flash at the station if there's any confusion (though at this point, pretty much everyone down there knows him by sight). ]

[namednothing]

[In Odo's experience, people talking with such speed after being asked a direct question either felt guilty about something, or were trying to make excuses. Either option didn't sit well with him.

When the identification card is offered, Odo looks it over. Everything seemed in order, but he gives his usual I'll be watching you hum as he hands it back anyway. It never hurt to keep people on their toes.]

I'll give you that it's not a common name, but I'm not happy to hear it's being passed around so easily. What kind of paperwork was this?

[franciscoramon]

[ Perhaps it is an odd reaction to have, but Cisco merely smiles a little wider at that skeptical noise Odo makes before handing back his ID. Cisco puts it away, thinking that, for all that this guy is a Changeling, whatever that might mean, he reminds him an awful lot of Captain Singh. Not anything he'd said in particular, and not even in gestures or intonation. Just in his attitude: that put-upon air that seems to suggest that Odo has dealt with such a volume of bullshit and tomfoolery in his day that he pretty much just expects it from the world. That kind of generalized misanthropy has never bothered Cisco - it's only when someone has a particular grudge against him that he starts to worry. ]

Hey, man, you're gonna have to take that up with your boss. Technically speaking, I'm just an independent contractor. And untechnically-speaking, I can't remember the last time I wrote anybody a memo.

[ Still, perhaps he can give some hint. Cisco narrows his eyes, tapping at his chin as he tries to remember what it could have been that he was reading. ]

...maybe something about a uniform? I feel like it was uniform-related somehow.

[namednothing]

[...Oh. His posture shifts from accusing to slightly defensive.]

Yes, well, there might have been something of a misunderstanding.

[Odo appeared now as he did on Deep Space Nine - in the uniform of the Bajoran Militia. He never really found a need to appear otherwise on the station. It wasn't as if he needed to get more comfortable while he was off duty.]

I told them I didn't need a uniform, which they took as a refusal to wear one. An easy conclusion to make when one refuses to listen.

[He crosses his arms again, this time looking more speculative.]

Let me guess - the memo was a reminder that uniforms are required attire for all officers?

[franciscoramon]

I... really don't remember, sorry.

[ Cisco is really wishing he'd read it more carefully, now. Or not brought it up at all. ]

I could... go back to my workshop and get it, if you really wanna know? It's just a couple of blocks that way.

[ He'd been on his way home, but it's a small detour to make, and if it'll set the guy's mind at ease, he may as well offer. Cisco doesn't really want to get involved in any of the internal politics over at the police station, but it hadn't been a private message, he remembers that, at least. ]

How d'you expect people to know you're a cop, without a uniform?

[ After all, the reason for standardized clothes wasn't just tradition or to look snappy. There are benefits to be gained from being instantly recognizable as an authority figure. Sure, Odo could carry a badge, but that's not something that someone will see at a glance, or from a distance. If he tried to detain anyone, looking like he does now, chances are they'd think he was just some guy coming at them. ]

[namednothing]

[He considers the offer to accompany Cisco to the workshop, but decides against it. Curious as he was, he wasn't about to follow someone he barely met to an unknown location to see a memo that supposedly had his name on it.]

I can always find out later.

[It stood to reason that if it was indeed a widely released memo, it was something he would have access to soon enough. As for the other question... Odo gives a small hrmph.

It only takes a moment for him to release his form, an amber ripple briefly covering the surface of his beige "uniform" and turning it blue. The style and texture of the new "clothing" is an exact match to what local police officers typically wear.]

Does that answer your question?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco shrugs, just as happy not to take the detour; hopefully he hasn't stirred up any trouble down at the station, when Odo goes around asking about it tomorrow.

When Odo shifts so that his garments appear to match those of the RPD - the ones that Cisco knows by heart - he can't help but grin from ear to ear. That was one way of doing it! ]

Sure does!

[ Wait, does that mean his clothes are a part of him? Does that mean that he's naked? Constantly, non-stop naked?! It's the only logical conclusion to draw, and well... that's just wild. Maybe it's immature of Cisco, to find that as amusing as he does, but even so. ]

Guess it saves time on laundry.

[namednothing]

[He inclines his head slightly as if to say Well, you're not wrong. Laundering clothes was an inconvenience he would rather not deal with again. He had to ask Garak to make another uniform for him while he had his other laundered. At least his time as a solid did not last very long.

Odo shifts his form again, going back to his original appearance. This was who he was, and he wasn't about to submit entirely to this new reality. It was a detour, that's all. Then, as if to explain, he says;]

It doesn't suit me.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco gives a little shrug; the beige ensemble is boring, but he doesn't offer fashion commentary to people he's barely met, and besides, it seems a bit different, considering the outfit is technically a part of the guy's body. Probably not something he needs an opinion on, even if to Cisco's tastes it is a bit subdued.

His mind is also working overtime, wondering what other equipment considerations might be different for someone with Odo's particular skillset. If he can shift himself like that, reform his body in various shapes, did that make him immune to projectiles? Would there be any point to body armor - or would it, in fact, get in the way? Did he have other weaknesses, ones that humans wouldn't have, that Cisco ought to start designing protections for?

But he can't just outright ask 'do you have any weaknesses'. That's the sort of thing that probably is best done during work hours in an official capacity. So Cisco just smiles, and says: ]

Well, nice to meet you, Odo. I'll see you around the station sometime? And- if you ever got any questions about this place or whatever, you know. Feel free to hit me up. I'm ciscodelamancha on the network.

[ The username is a long story, and he doubts the cultural reference will translate, but it's no matter. ]

[namednothing]

[The reference means nothing to him other than that Cisco was the sort to use a "cool" username. Odo gave an annoyed hrmph sound.]

Usernames...so inefficient.

[ Voice print was so much simpler to use and a great deal more secure.]

I'll be sure to remember it.

[ He doesn't offer his own, even it was easy to guess. It's clear Odo was much more of the "I'll call you kind of guy. Slightly forced;]

Have a good evening.