I worked hard and sacrificed to get what I get (Ladies, it ain't easy bein' independent)

[protects_the_small]

WHO: Keladry and whoever she meets in her exploring
WHERE: De Chima 005 and surrounding neighborhoods
WHEN: Month of March!
WHAT: Many Meetings
WARNINGS: So Many culture shocks

[Getting back from Mexico was Odd. Kel comes back to this building which she is told is now Home, but is completely strange. So she sets out to make it more familiar. Residents of the De Chima houses might see her walking past, memorizing cross streets, and matching who she sees with where they live. Her house mates might find her standing in the kitchen, staring into the fridge in perplexity, or in the back yard practicing hand to hand combat forms. Acclimatizing is hard work, but it’s got to be done]

(OOC: if you wish for a specific starter, do let me know! Either this journal or Kithnkin )

Comments

[bonely]

[ He doesn't have a lot of reason to visit other cities. He's content with Nonah, and people are used to him skulking around by now.

But his knowledge about the world is still very limited. The way others had talked to him and what he'd experienced in the seminar - those were things that had indicated that he didn't know very much at all.

So he's expanding this view by investigating the other imPort cities, and their inhabitants. De Chima is one of those places.

Of course, Keladry knows none of this and since imPorts are scattered in where they live, she probably hasn't even seen him before.

So all in all, the result is that something that looks remarkably like a walking skeleton in a cloak stops to address her. ]

...What are you doing? You're wandering with no clear direction. [ He's seen her in passing enough to remember her going every which way for no apparent reason. ] Are you lost?

[ It does not occur to him that perhaps an adult-sized skeletal robot might be a little alarming. ]

[protects_the_small]

[Its not as if Kel hasn't seen a metal person shaped thing before. But he had been mostly human shaped, and willing to help her with her height panic.

This one is....less human.

Her ears start ringing as soon as she sees him, not even noticing his words as she backs up, hand going to where a sword should be, but isn't. Frantically, she looks around for anything that might slow the monster's progress. Why don't people keep chain nets in their yards when they could have dozens of useful applications?]

[bonely]

[ He looks confused for a split second, and then understanding dawns. He holds his hands up in a gesture clearly meant to show he's not carrying weapons.

It isn't really a comfort because he has several times the strength of an ordinary human as a combat robot, but he's trying.

He seems a bit melancholy, really. It's an understandable reaction and he's used to it, but it's a reminder. ]

...I'm not hostile. It's fine.

...But you can feel however you want to feel.

[protects_the_small]

[In her panic, the raised hands only look like weapons in themselves]

BACK AWAY!

[She uses the voice she was taught for the battle field as an automatic response, but it comes out....different somehow]

[monge]

[Kel won't have to travel far if she's hoping to spot a tiny, flaming dog. ...What...what do you mean that's not what people normally look for? Well, too bad, that's what she gets because there's Komasan, walking up the driveway of a house that's right next to hers. In his tiny paws dangle a bag almost bursting with all kinds of different tubs.

Tubs filled with food.

Soft, creamy, frozen food.

The kind of food one would share with a friend.

Or perhaps...

...a neighbor.]

[protects_the_small]

[Wait a moment, she recognizes those eyebrows! Stopping at the edge of the driveway, Kel waves at the.....dog? Maybe. And well, he is a lot smaller in person, but she's learning not to judge ok]

Hello! [awkward pause] I'm sorry, last time we talked, I forgot to get your name.

[monge]

[Komasan stops, startled when he hears someone call. He, of course, doesn't turn around right away to see where the voice is coming from, and therefore can only come up with one logical conclusion.]

The door is talking to me, zura...

[Now that's a weird thing for a door to do. As he goes to reach for his key in his bag, he by some miracle, manages to catch a glimpse over his shoulder, only to see someone familiar at the end of the drive. Visitors? So soon? How rude of him, he didn't even have time to prepare tea.]

Ah, you're the rock and roll lady, zura.

[Never mind that he still hasn't given his name out yet.]

[protects_the_small]

[It's probably a good thing Kel didn't catch that first sentence, her poker face is good, but maybe not that good. And it's rude to laugh in the face of someone you don't know very well]

Yes it is! I've had my first day there. You gave me some very helpful advice. [It's only an itty bitty lie]

[vorbarra]

[ Gregor lives two houses down from her in number seven, and in the wake of the acting as spy on the Soviets, has been turtling up in said house for several days. He needs time to recharge in a safe place with no one he doesn't expressly invite in allowed inside, apart from the Vorkosigans, who he trusts more than himself most days.

Eventually, near the end of the first week of March, he relents to sitting on the front lawn on a blanket spread out on the grass. It's unseasonably warm-- or so it feels to him-- in Virginia in March, and though he's still in a hoodie (plain, black) it's good enough weather to read outside. He's stretched out on his side reading a library book, propped up on one elbow, occasionally covertly people-watching.

Movement down the street catches his eye, and he glances up, then recognizes her. ]

Lady Knight? [ He's not sure of her form of address, so defaults to that as likely to be safe enough. ]

[protects_the_small]

[Kel is on her way back from her (boring but in some ways informative) guard duty shift, and almost enjoying the heat. It's different from her two weeks in Mexico, and she's beginning to feel herself thaw out from two years in the mountains. She's so focused on the feel of her surroundings, rather than the finer details that Gregor's voice takes a moment to catch her attention. She slows and glances over, and it takes a moment for her to place the face.]

Oh....Sorry, I don't remember your name. You and Miles have the Dendarii?

[vorbarra]

[ He sits up properly to address her, someone who's had far too many years spent in the public eye and in formal settings to lounge about while speaking to a relative stranger. ]

Greg Vorthys, [ he offers, ] and yes. It's been a ride since then, hasn't it? I hope you've come out the other side all right.

[protects_the_small]

Better than some.

[She stares at him, keeping her face neutral. She'd kept up on the network, and she'd seen his words to the rest of them.

She just wasn't sure how she felt about it yet]

[illuminescent]

[She meets Kel just outside of the city; right where the streets begin to wind away and the farmlands begin. It's lush out here, green and verdant, and the hills are rolling up.

Lucy is on horseback, sitting properly sidesaddle because that's what Lucy does; she fully intends on proving she can be both a lady and a warrior and will not compromise either. However, today she has another horse with her; for the Lady Knight. They had agreed to meet here, and Lucy had not said she would bring her a horse, but it's really too far to walk out to the farm and still be comfortable.

Lucy sees her coming and waves, and smiles.]

Kel!

[protects_the_small]

[Kel has not yet decided whether she wants to brave public transportation, and so she has been walking everywhere, and seeing an extra horse lifts her spirits for many reasons. Smiling, she waves back enthusiastically.]

Lucy! I see you've brought another friend!

[illuminescent]

[She smiles and laughs, and comes in a bit closer.]

It is quite a distance to my home. I thought perhaps you might desire a mount.

This is Selene. She's quite a lady.

[She gets off her own horse with an ease of someone who rides often, to introduce them.]

Will you agree?

[protects_the_small]

She is a beauty.

[Kel holds her hand under Selene's nose, waiting for the horse to get to know her scent before reaching up to scratch between her ears. Her heart gives a slight twinge, which she quickly shoves to the side.]

I will do my best to be a rider worthy of her.

[whathawksdo]

As much as I enjoy gazing upon the contents of the fridge myself, you can take something out, if you want.

[ Hawke has always kept a strange schedule, gone more often than not, either at work (along with her trusty massive Dane) or out late, up to Maker knows what. If anything, Kel would have met the dog first and foremost, with how he takes off an awful lot of space and leaves fur everywhere.

But right now, she's around, a bit ruffled from sleeping in but there and existing and everything, and just in time to witness Kelandry's staring contest with the appliances from a spot casually leaning against the side of the kitchen entryway. ]

[protects_the_small]

[Kel jumps at the unexpected voice, shutting the fridge a little guiltily]

Oh! Um...Hello.

[She makes a shallow bow]

It's not....Well, it's more...



...I don't know what most of it is.

[whathawksdo]

[ Oh no, someone who bows... No, no, she's going to adamantly ignore that. ]

The dark cans are beer. You may not want that. [ Just saying. As for what else is in there, Hawke pushes away from the entranceway's side and walks over. ] Go on, open it again. I can tell you what most of it is.

[protagerrant]

[Yuri had absolutely no idea where to buy a sword in this world. Which was, honestly, kind of unnerving. He had his own sword, sure, but if anything ever happened to it... That could be bad news. Not being able to just get a damn sword wherever was by a long shot the biggest culture shock for him.

But hopefully this shopping trip with Kel would turn something out. With the influx of ImPorts, maybe some of the local had started to specialize...?

Anyway. He was also really itching for a good sword fight. It hadn't been but a few days since the Russians had been gone, but Yuri was used to getting a little sword play in nearly every day. And it wasn't like this place was crawling with sword users specifically.

So he's pretty eager to get over to Kel's place, rapping at the door.

He's already adapted to America's style of dressing, so he doesn't stand out there, wearing dark, casual clothes suited to the slightly chill air. But the long hair and the sword he is very unabashedly tapping against his shoulder, combined with being nearly six feet tall... Yuri cuts a noticeable figure.]

[protects_the_small]

[Kel had been busy trying to acclimate herself to this odd thing called 'the internet'. Searching for actual swordsmiths had been hard and frustrating (and there had been things seen that could not be unseen) but with the right search terms, and some help from Lucy's Musketeers she had been able to track down the names of some potentially helpful individuals.

So it was with a cheerful countenance and a hopeful heart that she opened the door at Yuri's knock]

Hello again!

[protagerrant]

Isn't this the first time...?

[He's not counting video, alright.]

[circulets]

[ Mikleo's wondering what she might be staring at in the kitchen that's so interesting, but he makes no effort to try to ask her himself. After all, there's a high chance that she won't see or hear him. ]

I wonder if there's anything particularly interesting about that fridge.

[ He crosses his arms, looking at it in mild confusion and curiosity. ]

[protects_the_small]

[Kel straightens suddenly at the new voice and quickly closes the fridge door.]

Ah....!


....Um, what's in it, mostly. Is. Interesting.

[circulets]

[ Mikleo stops, eyes widening vaguely at her words. ]

Can you see me?