Summer 1 - Greetings and Welcome - Action

[kollomods]

[ It's a mild sunny day when the first group of guests make land at Norrhamn. A gentle breeze rustle the birch trees and tangle in the bunting that's hung across the buildings in celebration of this very special occasion. Aina has been busy gathering up guests over the last few hours and now the ferry is approaching the port, waves breaking gently against the bow.

Olivia is waiting on the jetty, clipboard hugged close to her body. She's excited and nervous all at once, anxious to get to meet these people that she's read so much about, the faces behind the pleading letters. This is the first day her new job becomes hands on. Hopefully she'll be good at it.

As the ferry lands and lets the guests off, Olivia raises a hand in a cheerful greeting. ]

Hello! Welcome to Norrhamn!

Comments

ii

[traceofeffort]

[Once she's ensured her precious bass is in good condition, Lisa goes back out to survey a little bit. These cabins look quaint enough, even if the decor inside is just a bit antiquated... eh, that's part of the charm, right? But she's noticing people too, not that there are terribly many. When she hears someone calling out to her, she turns, raising a hand to wave before checking when she sees the cast. Still, she finishes with only a little awkwardness in the motion, coming closer.]

Hi! Yeah, I'm new too. [A brief pause.] Would it be too much to ask what happened? You don't have to tell me! But I'm curious. That's a heavy-duty cast.

[ggs]

[ The fact that this person doesn't immediately recognize her just solidifies that Hana's really a stranger here. She isn't displayed on posters or Nano Cola cans. She doesn't even have to introduce herself as her gamer tag. ]

Oh, it looks worse than it is.

[ Which is her trying to brush it off. From what the doctors said, her heart stopped briefly from the long fall into the ocean. ]

I was part of a military operation and, well, things happen, I guess. [ She shrugs. ] I'm Hana.

[traceofeffort]

Military...? Huh. Well, if you say so. I mean, I'm no expert on injuries bigger than cutting my fingers. [If she's not worried about it, Lisa won't worry either. Not yet.]

I'm Lisa. Nice to meet you! [Her smile is bright - social butterfly mode is go.]

[ggs]

Yeah. Korean military.

[ Albeit a rather specialized branch, specifically meant to deal with threats of the gwishin off the coast. ]

Hey, Lisa. What's brought you here? Needed a vacation too?

[traceofeffort]

You can't be much older than me... you must be pretty good at what you do, huh? Oh, sorry, I'm kind of prying a little. [Her hand comes up to rub the back of her head, as she suppresses the urge to laugh nervously. She's not around her band friends back home, it's fine.] Feel free to stop me if I'm getting too personal.

Yeah, I... needed a break, if not a vacation. I've been pushing myself to the edge with band work and keeping everyone from going crazy. When a friend collapsed from doing too much work, I realized that was in my future, so... it was a good time to hear about this, I guess. It's not anything as grand as what you're doing, I just need to step back from things.

[ggs]

Oh, I'm the best at what I do.

[ Smug? Yes. But with good reason. She was hand-picked to pilot one of the military's mechs because of her amazing hand-eye coordination from being one of the best gamers in the world. Could she tone down her smugness a little? Probably, but she won't. ]

A band, huh? That sounds pretty important. You're entertaining people, right? And it sounds like your friend could use the vacation too.

[traceofeffort]

Well, being elite means you get the hard missions, right? So I guess that explains it.

Roselia is everything to me, yeah. I like to think people enjoy watching us play, and listening to us. We're not big, but it makes me feel like I'm part of something, you know? [There's a certain pride to her voice as she talks about her band; maybe a little less than Hana, but it's still special to her.]

-ah, Tsugumi is... kind of a special case. She's on student council, she's part of Afterglow, she helps at her parents' cafe, but I think she enjoys it all. So she might appreciate it, but I think she'd go stir-crazy with too long of a break.

[ggs]

Yeah. Sure.

[ She really shouldn't get into the finer details of their operations, but the MEKA only have one mission: keep the Gwishin from attacking Korea's coastal cities.

Her lips twitch with a smile, though, at the description of the friend. ]

I might go stir crazy yet. I'm here because my friend thought it'd be good for me. He's a bit of a worrier.

[traceofeffort]

Given the state you're in, I think he's right to be at least a little concerned. You can't help out like that, right? If this place is everything it's supposed to be, you can rest up and get back to your old self without having to worry about something else coming up.

[She shakes her head.]

It's what I'd say. But I'm kind of Roselia's team mom, so I'm probably just as much of a worrier as he is. [Under her breath:] It's not like Yukina and Sayo will take care of themselves.

[ggs]

I could; I mean I was building a new mech and everything, but he insisted I take a break and that since time doesn't move forward here, that I wouldn't miss out on building it back home. Which I still need to test, by the way. I need to take the ferry back to check and see that what these people say is legit.

[ She smiles a little at Lisa's murmured addition. ]

Probably. He likes to scold, but it comes from a good place.

[traceofeffort]

Well... if you can still work on it, I guess that's fine, but it still seems like a little too much to me. Although... yeah, we don't know if that's how the ferry works. I trust Olivia, it'd be too much work to do all this and then lie to us, but that seems fair. Let us know, please?

[The comment makes her blush a little, but she smiles anyway.]

I haven't gotten that far yet. It's still like herding cats sometimes- [a snicker; cat puns, Yukina's favorite-] but the girls are at least mostly responsible in their own ways.

[ggs]

I'll bet people put work into things in order to dupe people. Better safe than sorry.

[ It comes off a bit more cynical than she means, but she knows a life of celebrity and knows that not everyone has good intentions. ]

Boy, I hope Dae-hyun doesn't think of me as a cat.

[ But she's smiling as she says it. ]

[traceofeffort]

I guess that's true at home, too. For now, I'll be careful.

[Getting the answering smile out of Hana makes her grin a bit.]

Better than some of the other options. Would you rather be thought of as a hamster?

[ggs]

[ Hana wrinkles her nose a little. ]

No way! If he ever called me that, I'd shake up his Nano Cola before handing it to him!

[traceofeffort]

[Her mood blossoms into a bright laugh at the change in expression.]

That seems like a specifically-chosen punishment. Does he have a thing for cola or something?

[ggs]

No, we just get them for free at the base because they're one of my sponsors. Easy and convenient to have because they're right there, you know?

[traceofeffort]

Mm, gotcha. When you have a lot of cola, everyone drinks cola, I guess.

[Lisa visibly pauses for a second. Soldiers don't normally have sponsors for their units, right? Something's not adding up...

-but this place is supposed to be for people to relax. It'd be super rude to call her out on that, wouldn't it? So Lisa shakes herself and lets it pass.]

Speaking of, need anything? Getting around with that cast can't be easy. Your cola might be hard to come by here, but I'm sure we can figure something out.

[ggs]

[ Not normally, but when your mech unit is full of e-sports gamers and the army continues to let you stream, well, things aren't as cut and dry. ]

Aww, that's nice of you! I think I'll be okay as long as I can get to the store and community center. And they're both like, right over there.

[ She gestures up the path. ]

I might end up having roommates too, so I can hassle them about stuff. [ She grins. ] Unless you're a new roommate?

[traceofeffort]

They're close enough, but it's still a pain, right? And it's not like there's a whole lot to do right now. I'm trying not to have an excuse to sit in my cabin and practice all day.

[She nods at the roommate thing.] No, this isn't my place - I'm a little further down the path. I haven't met mine yet, come to think.

[ggs]

I guess it's a pain, but I didn't come here expecting people to get things for me.

[ Of course, after she says this she things of Dae-hyun, and how he'd be narrowing his eyes at her if he was here right now. "It's okay to ask for help," he'd say, and she knows that now. ]

Let's just say if it's something you want to do to get out of the cabin, you could get me something. But your choice on what. I'm easy to please. I'm sure there are toiletries and food in here, so nothing's really needed.

[traceofeffort]

If you don't actually need anything now, I'll leave you be, then. Sorry, I didn't mean to push too much. If you need something, though, let me know. Or whoever! I can't be the only person that'd be willing.

Must be tough, huh? Being used to doing everything on your own, then something like that happening.

[ggs]

Yeah. It hasn't been great.

[ Having to slow down and think about her movements has been the hardest part. ]

I wonder if they have video games here. If I can't move around the way I'd like, I should at least be able to do it in a game, right?

[traceofeffort]

That might work! There's power, but I haven't seen anything super modern, so... I don't know? Maybe ask Olivia about it. Or swing by the store. I don't play a lot of games, but I wouldn't mind learning, if you need someone to play with.

[A beat.]

As long as it's not Guitar Hero. That might be a little too on the nose for me.