Summer 6 - Newcomer mingle

[kollomods]

[ It's late morning when the ferry comes chugging towards the docks, gentle waves crashing against the shore. Aina expertly lands the ferry and opens the gates for a brand new batch of newcomers - Welcome to Norrhamn. ]

Comments

A

[bzztwronganswer]

[Sophia has spent the entire day uncomfortably hiding her wings beneath a harness. No sense scaring people before they get to know her. Back home, she didn't care - if they had anti-monster prejudice, that was their problem. Here, though, she decided to be a little more careful.

Even if it was really giving her a cramp.

At least she doesn't seem to be alone in hiding her true nature. There's a guy all wrapped up, hiding his face beneath a hood. Shy, or just Phantom-of-the-Opera-ing? Either way, she's determined to go make friends. She walks up to him where he sits, smiling a little.]

'Ello! What'd you think of the ferry ride? I'm not great at boats, to tell the truth...

[bluerocks]

[ Inevitably, some people can't take a hint that one might not be here to make friends. Zel stands up; he's just leaving, really. ]

Fortunately for you, someone else was driving. [ Zel, that's no way to get along with the other guests. ] How would you have preferred to get to an island?

[bzztwronganswer]

[She laughs a little, ignoring the frosty reception.] Being on 'em, I mean. I'm not a big fan of open water. [Since it mats her wings down, and all, and sphinxes aren't great at swimming. Water resistance, and all that.]

If I had my druthers, I'd have wanted to take a little plane. I guess this place is too rustic to have a runway, though. And probably too small to have the space dedicated to it.

[bluerocks]

[ While she muses about the viability of air travel support on this island, Zel considers a variety of possible interpretations of the word 'plane', as it might apply to a form of transportation.

Nope, got nothing. Better cut to the chase. ]

What's a plane?

[bzztwronganswer]

Oh! [So, Mr. Freeze here didn't know much about the Wright Brothers' invention. She's happy to rectify that, though.]

Well, it's big and white with red stripes, curtains in the windows, wheels, and it looks like a biiig Tylenol. [She snickers at her own joke.] Sorry. It's a...never mind that. Forget I said anything.

[Time to actually be serious, Sophia.] Okay, so you've seen a bus, right? Put wings on it. That's basically it.

[bluerocks]

[ Well, most of that is just going right over his head, anyway. Zel's just going to give Sophia a blank look while she goes on about...some....striped...."tile" "nall", whatever that is. ]

I see, it's a sort of flying transport. [ If he admits he's never seen a bus, is she going to describe more things he's never heard of? Probably. ] I suppose that might be more direct than water travel, but it sounds more dangerous. I'd probably rather fly myself.

[bzztwronganswer]

[Sophia nods, utterly unfazed by the blank look he gives her.] It's a lot faster...and statistically, it's the safest way to travel. So it's kind of fun! Also, they give you free soda.

[And she could really go for some soda. Or something. Her stomach rumbles.]

[bluerocks]

Perhaps free soda is only a pacifying device, meant to distract you from the potential danger of being in a flying object with dozens of strangers, hurtling through the sky. [ Wow, that's dark, Zel. But he's trying to imagine a mass passenger version of a clunky little glider, or a hot air balloon, or something. Maybe he'll just have to take this one for granted.

He catches the sound of her stomach rumbling. ]

I guess there wasn't any free soda on the boat, but it seems like all the food here is free. [ He's flipping through the info packet now, pulling out the map while walking away from the docks. ]

[bzztwronganswer]

Maybe, [Sophia says, and smiles. She likes the cut of this guy's jib.] They do way overcharge for snacks.

[She follows him, trying to walk as quickly as she can while taking steps short enough to hide her lion legs under her skirt.] Oh, good, you have yours. Mine's in my backpack, so not super easily-accessible.

[When he mentions free food, though, she grins slowly.] They might regret that. [Sphinxes are big eaters.]

[bluerocks]

Oh? Do you doubt they can provide enough food for all of us? They seem well-prepared for all sorts of guests.

[ His gaze sweeps over the other people leaving the docks; he's well aware that looks can be deceiving for how much food an individual body can scarf down, having traveled with legendary gluttons. Hopefully, the administration here really understands what they're getting into. ]

The community center with the alleged free food seems to be just down that path.

[ If she wasn't going to bother digging out her map, he can at least point her the right way. ]

[bzztwronganswer]

I'm...a pretty big eater. [Being part lion means that you gotta count calories in the opposite direction that people usually do.]

Nice. Wanna come with me? It's kinda lonely to eat without a friend, [she says. This guy's a little taciturn and even brusque, but he's the only person she's met so far, and if he acts like this to everyone, she thinks he may not make friends easily.]

[bluerocks]

I eat without my friends all the time. [ In fact, that's a good way for him to guarantee not losing a finger to someone's careless maniacal chowdowns.

Still, he's not denying the invitation; he does also need food, and he's not going to go out of his way to not get food just to avoid one enthusiastically friendly stranger. It's a small island. Don't make a bad impression right off the boat. ] I suppose it can't hurt to see what they have to offer.

[bzztwronganswer]

[Aha! Trapped. Sorry, you're not getting out of this one. Prepare for aggressive friendship.]

Cool. I'm Sophia, by the way.

[bluerocks]

Zelgadis.

[ If she's so ravenous, he'll let her enter the community center first. He's not interested in just hanging out there forever, though. A cup of coffee and a quick snack should tide him over while he moves on to more important things. ]