[open] i'm wishing on the death star

[shenunigans]

WHO: Dave Strider and OPEN
WHERE: All around Eluvio
WHEN: Various. Present time, mostly.
WHAT: Dave finding his bearings, muddling around and being a nuisance.
WARNINGS: naughty cussing

one: skating.
[Working at a Skateboard store as a clerk has almost little to no perks. People are annoying, nobody knows who Tony Hawk is and he sure as hell didn't sign up for this shit. The one perk Dave has found, is that taking merch from the store is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Why not be a mobile advertisement? What could go wrong?

Of course, Dave doesn't waste time with the snap back caps or the knee pads for toddlers, he just wants the board.

Admittedly, it's been a fucking eon since he legitimately rode one. But it's like riding a bike. Where the break is your foot and your bike is a wooden board that reaches Incredible Speeds. He's rusty enough that he feels self-conscious dicking around in the open. He's found a reasonably secluded part of the ship for practicing and he's picking it all up again pretty fast.

He starts getting cocky, working on tricks. Kick flips, heel flips, grinding, etc. Every so often, he nails it. Every so often, he fucks up spectacularly. God knows at which point someone could possibly happen upon him.]

two: cafeteria.
[The cafeteria is a source of great conflict for Dave. On the one hand, it is a bountiful harvest of delicious food. He's been deprived of decent, palatable food for so long he might as well be at a Lord's banquet every time he steps in there.

On the other hand, a niggling, awkward feeling gets his goat whenever he sees the herds of people in there. It's been so long since he's been around more than five people at a time, it's like he's developed some sort of meteor-deprived agoraphobia. He tries to slink in when there's less people around, but that tends to be difficult.

Dave doesn't realise he's chewing his lip as he looks upon the cafeteria. He has a tray with a large glass of apple juice, three cheeseburgers and an apple pie and a look of determination behind his shades. He scans for an empty table and realises, regretfully, that there isn't one. He'll have to take his chances with sitting at the end of a less occupied table.

He'll slink forward, set his tray on the opposite and furthest side of a table and take a seat. Nope. Not awkward at all.

Fuck man, say something.]

Sup?

three: space view.
[Being in space isn't the strangest part about this ordeal for Dave. He was in space before, assing around on a meteor propelling to some glorious location. The ship is a change, but the thing that bugs him out is the small, near impossible chance that the meteor might actually be in this universe. It's not like he wants to go back. Hell no. He just kind of wishes he could bring some of the contents of that meteor onto the ship.

Now, he's not about to go tug on the captain's sleeve and beg him to keep his eye out for a shitty chunk of rock. Hell, he's not even sure he'll keep the remotest of hopes up. For whatever reason (mostly boredom) he decides to be like the stupid-ass kid who leaves cookies out for santa and starts taping up calling cards.



That ought to do it.]

Comments

[stop_apologizing]

[What's a sup can you eat it--

But even before that, Colette winces upon noting that her presence nearly caused a collision. Whoops, her bad. But she's thankful this new person doesn't seem too upset by the appearance of an audience]

Um, hello! [Speaking brightly, because Colette doesn't possess any other dial.] Sorry, I hope I didn't interrupt you.

[Though she means what she says, her attention is so quickly drawn to that skateboard. Up close, she can see the wheels underneath and seems to delight in how clever an idea it is. She can't recall ever seeing something like this in Sylvarant -- or Tethe'alla for that matter.]

I've never seen anyone ride one of those. You must've practiced a lot.

[shenunigans]

I mean, you kind of did. [It's blunt, but he isn't necessarily trying to sound rude or anything.]

Obviously you've never hung around a mall- or a high school- or a bus station. [That she may not even be from Earth is not a thought that's occurred to him yet.] I guess. For some people it's kind of innate. [He kicks the board up and- to his surprise- catches it. With a slight fumble.]

Probably why they have me working in the skate shop. You wanna try it or something?

[stop_apologizing]

A mall? [Squinting a little, not knowing what the word means, but with obvious interest] Mm, but I used to go to school! We never had one up in the air, though - that sounds amazing! [Dear Martel, how would you even get it up that high? Maybe he means it's in the trees instead...?]

[She lets the thought wander in favor of staring at Dave when he makes the offer. Ooooh dear... Colette swears she can hear no less than four voices in her head, taking on the tones of her closest friends, and every single one of them implores her to please, please don't do the thing. Think of the walls. Think of this person's innocent wooden board]

... I just have to stand on it, right? [Come now, she can manage that much.]

[shenunigans]

Uh, yeah. It's a big place where you go with the intent to waste money or loiter. Like the shopping floor, but less glamorous. [It definitely sounds like she's from the past or something similar. He supposes it isn't beyond Eluvio's capabilities if they've already perfected plucking people out of their universes.

He decides he won't drill her about it until later, mostly because he's started on this new tangent.]

Stand on it, balance on it. You might wanna hold your arms out, like you're walking on a tightrope. A tightrope with wheels. [He's sure it sounds appealing. He drops the board on the ground in front of her.] Then you skid your foot on the ground to make your self move.

[stop_apologizing]

[Yep, still no idea what he's talking about, though she does her best to make for a good audience, nodding along with a curious stare. She can't really ask anymore about it either, because then the boy is instructing her on balancing.

He mentions tightropes. And wheels. Oh Martel, that's... not an encouraging sign.]

Okay! I'll do my best. [But it's too late to back out now. Her face scrunches in determination, and first things first, she needs to take a step forward. Her arms are already held out to her sides by the time she places her foot on the very edge of the skateboard. Immediately, the opposite end points up toward the ceiling.

But that's fine! She hasn't fallen and the skateboard isn't going anywhere yet. Okay, okay. Next she'll put her right foot in the center, shifting her weight forward--

And the moment all four wheels hit the floor is when it goes to hell, the skateboard jerking underneath her as Colette finds herself at the mercy of zero-friction. It flies out from under her feet and she lands straight on her butt. fatality]

I'm sorry...

[shenunigans]

[Dave briefly wonders if this is a good idea. Hell, he's even getting ready to catch her the moment she stands on the board. It flips up, then she manages to salvage it, so his arms relax.

Naturally, that's when everything goes to shit and she's falling on her ass.]

Jesus- [Dave's leap to the rescue is extremely belated, so now it's more like he's offering his hands to help her up.]

Man, you weren't even moving. Did you break anything?

[stop_apologizing]

Ehe... no, I'm okay. [She takes the hand with gratitude, and doesn't seem to be in any pain. If anything, she's laughing at her failure.] This happens a lot! So... I guess I gotta keep working on not falling.

[Maybe she should've mentioned that before stepping on the skateboard, but such is life. She's all set to try again]

I might get it this next time! [Where is that blasted skateboard] Or you could show me how?

[shenunigans]

Cool. Last thing I need is a bunch of people wondering why the fuck I gave you a concussion. You must have a sturdy-ass skull. [Yes, excellent. Compliment a cute girl's skull, go far in life.]

I mean, I can try support you. Put a hand on your back of something. You need to keep your feet in the middle, use one to push the ground and pull it back to you. [He steps toward the board and kicks it back onto the floor in proper position, gesturing with both hands.]

Come on, I have a busy day of nothing to get to over here.

[stop_apologizing]

O-oh! Right, okay. I won't take up your time. [Somebody needs to brush up on their sarcasm-detector later.]

[And no, no, Dave, you need to use small, pointed words: like "stand here", "don't move", and "pray". That last one in particular Colette's good at no matter the occasion.

She makes a valiant attempt at following the other's instructions anyway (all while poking bemusedly at her head, no one has ever called it "sturdy-ass" before), and at the very least manages to stand as directed, one foot on the skateboard and the other on the ground.

Okay, success, she's not that much of a klutzy fool. In fact she notes her progress with such delight, it's like she's already mastered the craft.] Look, I didn't fall!

[shenunigans]

Did you hear me say nothing- you know what, never mind. You're preoccupied. [And super ditzy, but in an appropriately cute way. He's more patient than he pretends to be at least, particularly since its just nice to have company.]

Look at that. You're basically a pro now, what more can I teach you? [He actively takes a moment to consider this.]

I'm gonna start moving you, but I'm gonna stand behind you so if you fall you won't chance cracking that noggin, alright? [He puts his hands on her back, tentatively. He feels all kinds of awkward touching her at all, but this is a safe zone.]

Brace yourself. [He urges, starting to roll her forward at a snail pace.] Now you can start using your foot to steer.

[stop_apologizing]

Noggin... [That... sounds like a dog's name to her. She is also 100% sure she's wrong on that front. Look, she grew up in the boonies where everyone kept monsters and jargon away from her in equal fashion.

It's a moot point, anyway, when she squints her eyes in concentration and slowly, slowly attempts to... not die when Dave pushes her. Rolling seems okay as long as she has a foot skirting along the ground, and for added effect, she straightens her hands out like she's playing airplane.

Don't diss. This raises her chances of success by .05%, and that's no small number in Colette's book.]

Okay, I think it's working--! [Until the unwise moment where she's required to lift her steering foot to keep the momentum going. That's no good. Her working relationship with gravity is shaky at best, and even Dave's hands on her back won't keep her from expecting failure and tensing because of it. Her body's reaction is automatic - pink wings jut out of her back in an instant, and those they're not exactly corporeal, anything that touches Dave will feel almost like a weird, static buzz.]

[shenunigans]

You're doing it, kiddo. [And he's actually impressed. She's gone from falling over from just touching the damn thing to rolling... very, very slowly.

Just when she's lifting her foot, he's thinking of letting her go so she can take over this show independently. Before he has a chance, things go to shit again. He's not even sure what the fuck happened but some weird flashy thing is buzzing all up in his face and, unreliably, he snaps his hand back and sputters.

He wipes at his face as if trying to find whatever weird bug was flying in front of him.]

[stop_apologizing]

[There's probably a great angelic curse word she could use to describe how mortified she feels. Her wings do their job perfectly and keep her hovered a few inches off the ground, but as it turns out, that's not how you skateboard. The board drifts off with no rider until it's stopped by a wall, at which point Colette finally brings her hands down from her mouth.]

Ah... I'm sorry. [Whoops. Thank goodness she didn't land on the board and break it.]

Um, at least I didn't break the noggin?