maskormenacelogs | We're men among men and manly men

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We're men among men and manly men

WHO: Cu Chulainn and You!
WHERE: Takin' it around town
WHEN: As you please
WHAT: Now that the Red Branch is up and running, Cu Chulainn has a bit of free time on his hands.
WARNINGS: Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

1) On the Pier | Heropa

If anybody plans on taking advantage of the warm weather by going to the beach, they might just come across Cu Chulainn doing the same. In fact you'd be hard pressed to miss him, perched on the pier wall and dressed in a deafening Hawaiian print shirt. At glance he might even seem serene, ocean air tussling his mane of hair as he stares out over the crystal clear blue water.

But if you look closer it's easy to tell he is anything but. A warped cigarette hangs forgotten from his jutting lower lip as he stares deadpan at the water below.

"C'mon c'mon..." Cu grumbles, holding a simple red fishing pole that he gives a little flick every time he speaks. "Oh c'mon... Be a sport and let me catch ya."

An empty basket and a full ashtray next to his roost speaks volumes of his success so far. But there are two unopened cartons of smokes there as well, so he isn't giving up yet.

2) Red Branch | Maurtia Falls

"Well hello beautiful." Cu hummed, looking over his new purchase. While the Red Branch was now a fully functional Pub and Inn, it as still pretty bare bones as far as attractions. Yes there had been some traffic, locals mostly, some tourists. But it was turning out to be a far slower start than he had hoped.

But hopefully now things will take a turn for the better, now that step one of 'Operation: Get Mo' Bidness' was underway. With appreciative gentleness Cu runs his hand along the hardwood edge of his new antique pool table as he makes his way to the rack of balls and the cue sticks, still in their packaging.

"Oye!" Cu calls over his shoulder to the current occupants of his Pub. "Anybody wanna break her in with me?"

3) Around | Whatchya got?

Wanna throw me a curve ball? Cu is a prowler and makes his way through the porter cities on a regular basis looking for some excitement. Bugging Imports is especially fun. Give me a hook and I'll reel it in.

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Winry was trying to figure out her way around town. The fact there was a beach. With an ocean. Amazed her. She had never seen anything like an ocean before, had never really expected to see one. And yet, here one was, right in front of her. She walked out onto the pier to get closer to the water. The beach would have to wait for a while. She wanted to see the waves without taking a risk of getting swamped by a wave.

Walking up to fisherman, Winry leaned her elbows on the wall, peering over it into the water below. The drift of tobacco smoke reminded her of Pinako, her grandmother, but she swallowed down her sorrow at not having Granny around.

"Hi," she said, glancing up toward the fisherman.

"Hm?"

While she didn't exactly sneak up on him, plenty of people had come and gone over the course of several hours. The fact that she is the first to actually speak to him sets him back a step.

In no way was he being intentionally impersonal, but you have to admit he does kind of scream 'more than you bargained for'.

"Well girl." He greets back, curiously peering at her from the corner of his eye. "What bring ya out here?"

Winry has been around some strange characters in the past; giant men (one with the ability to make his shirt disappear as soon as he flexed his muscles, another with the ability to turn into a giant frog-thing), a walking, talking, empty suit of armor, alchemists, homunculi...this guy didn't seem like a threat.

She smiled at him, then nods out at the water, her eyes huge and shining. "The ocean. It's so amazing!"

"Is it now?" Cu looks out over the water. True, the water here was nothing like the oceans back home. The sun gave the water a glitter that was almost painful to look at and it was so clear that with Cu's sight, he could see the bottom for several dozen meters out.

With a half shrug and a curling of his lips that says 'I guess' Cu looks back down at the motionless lure in the water below.

"I s'pose so. If ya like water." A beat. "Probably safe to say you're not from around here, huh?"

"It is!" Winry leaned against the wall, her smile broadening. "I'm from a landlocked country. The nearest ocean is a long way off. I don't know if I'd ever get to see it.

"So this is really great!"

"Oh, well then I'm glad." Cu offers, his mood improving a bit at her infectious enthusiasm. "I come from a small island country so to me the ocean's nothing to get worked up about."

A quick jerk of his neck to either side, followed by a stout pop after each motion, before Cu lowers his pole and leans back and gazes up into the blue sky.

"But can you imagine my surprise when I came here and found out just how little my island, my world, really was." His dreamy smile widens into a grin that he turns on his companion.

"So I getchya. It's a brave new world and if you take every day enjoying all the new things, then life will be long and wonderful.

...Or something like that."

Winry listened to her companion, nodding in agreement as he spoke, a smile brightening her face as he finished. "Yes! There have to be a lot of things to enjoy here." She waved a hand at the ocean, but she meant Heropa, the whole world around them before turning back to him.

"I thought my world was pretty big, but..." Sheepishly, she grins again. "I'm Winry Rockbell, from Amestris."

Unable to contain himself when such an opportunity drops itself in his lap, Cu sets down his pole and springs to his feet in a flash. With a resounding WHUMP he swings the side of his fist against his breast so hard it'd probably send a normal man into cardiac arrest.

In a hearty tenor he exclaims, "I name myself Cu Chulainn, First Knight of the Red Branch of Ulster, Spear of Ireland, Lancer of the Fifth Grail War"

He positively beaming now.

"It is an honor to meet you, Winry Rockbell of Amestris." And he gives her a gentlemanly bow.

Winry leans back slightly, her eyes widening in surprise at his enthusiasm. She blushes slightly when he bows, not sure about an 'honor', but she smiles.

"I'm very happy to meet you, too, Mr. Chulainn!"

"Hee!"

Unfortunately that grand gesture distracted Cu just long enough that he missed the sudden tug of activity on his fishing rod. A tug that took advantage of it's currently discarded state causing it to slide over the railing and down into the waves below.

Cu only just noticed the last moment of scraping coming from behind him as it crested the edge, turning just in time to see it drop.

"...My pole fell in..." He said vacantly, as if trying to process. Then, "OYE" He shouted, bolting to the edge. "YOU BASTARDS WAIT TILL NOW TO GET HUNGRY!?"

Winry couldn't help herself, starting to giggle at Mr. Chulainn's shouting. "I'm sorry! That's my fault."

Didn't stop her from giggling.

Once she gets herself under some semblance of control, she added, "Can I...uh..replace your fishing rod?"

"Bah." Cu huffs down at the sea before turning and resting on the railing. "It was nothing special. 'Sides... I'll probably go get it later anyways."

With sudden purpose Cu snags up his ashtray, snuffing his current cigarette and dumping the ash in a nearby receptacle. Now empty he combines it with his basket before hoisting it up and draping it over the back of his shoulder.

"Well, now I seem to have my hands free." He turns, giving Winry a playful, if not a bit suggestive of a smile. "How about help me forget my woes by letting me treat a pretty girl to ice cream?"

"I'd be honored, Mr. Chulainn!" Winry smiles back, and slips her hand through his arm.

"What were you fishing for?"

"I have no idea." He responds honestly. "Maybe a mechanical shark."

Those are a thing. Really.

"But I don't suppose it matters now, seems I've already quite a fine catch!" He coos, hooking his arm for her hand comfortably.

"A mechanical shark?" Winry's head whips around toward the ocean, her eyes lighting up. "If you catch one, will you let me know? I wanna see one!"

Because. Mechanical engineering and a shark? Even if she doesn't know what a shark is, if it can travel in the ocean, it has to be simply amazing.

She does hear Mr. Chulainn's comment about her being a 'fine catch', but, as usual, it goes over her head. "Thanks."

"You'll be the first to know." Hey, whatever floats your boat, right? "This place seems to have plenty of oddities. I'm sure you'll have your chance."

The local ice cream shop is a short walk down the pier, and luckily has no line.

"So, how long have you been in the city?"

"Thank you! The technology to make a mechanical fish must be amazing!" Winry hopes one shows up that she can take apart.

Studying the listing of flavors of ice cream, Winry is agog at all the flavors. Just like Anna said.

"Oh!" She realized Mr. Chulainn had asked her a question. "Not very long now." It probably showed, but she figured Mr. Chulainn was being polite. "Barely a week!"

They say Satan has many faces, but he doesn't think they meant that so literally; but since his power is shape-shifting, the Devil would certainly make use of it the best way he can. Everyday he walks around Heropa with a new face and skin to see what he hasn't seen yet, to meet those he might need later on, or simply to know whom he can harass (eventually. Not now. it's still too early for that, since Satan just arrived).

This time around he is using the face of "Jun Fudou"; Japanese woman, middle twenties, petite.

As Satan walks on the beach, his eyes fall on the fisherman and he decides to come closer, only to strike a conversation.

"No luck?" he asks with his soft female voice, offering Cu a smile, while he pulls the hair behind his ear.

"Story of my new life." Cu sighs, letting his head droop a bit. While being resurrected as a demigod spirit had it's perks, the handicap the Grail, the object responsible for giving him new life, had placed on him was pretty severe.

With one of the lowest ranking spirits in the the Luck department, activities that relied on it became neigh impossible. But even that wasn't enough to deter this stubborn hero.

"But perserverence is one of my better traits. Actually it's more like bull headedness, if I'm being honest."

Without shame or hesitation the fisherman turns his head just enough to give the woman a quick appraising once over.

"Work hard to achieve your goals, that's what I have many said before." Satan stops close to Cu, eying the water for a moment, and turning the brown eyes towards the fishing rod.

"But I can understand frustration, too." the woman's smile widens. "Isn't it easier to just get fish from the market?"

"Well yeah. It would." He shrugs, his mouth twisting as he imagines that option. "But where's the fun in that? Store bought fish will taste bland next to the slow cooked delight, seasoned with pride in your victory."

As he speaks he continues his bobbing motion on the pole to no real effect.

"Though I'd probably have more luck just spear fishing, but that's not really sporting."

"I don't know. This place is near a city - pollution is normal in those parts." she scratches her nose, in an apologetic gesture "I'm not sure if I'd trust the fish to be healthy."

"But... do you know how to fish like that? Spear fishing..."

"Ya know, you're pretty sharp!" Cu said, turning his whole upper body to regard her entirely. "I've already taken that into consideration. You see, this area has no man-made drainage areas around here, and I--"

But Cu stops himself, realize he was just about to go on a long winded explanation of his meticulous preparations he'd done hours earlier.

"Suffice to say, I can handle myself." He says, giving her a cheeky grin and rubbing his index finger under his nose. "And yeah. I can do just about anything better with a spear. It's kind of my thing."

Jun laughs lightly "Sharp... well, it just makes sense." it seems the woman wouldn't mind listening to him, but when Cu stops, Jun nods "I see."

"So spear is your specialty? It must be nice" with a polite turn, Jun looks back at the ocean "I'm a swimmer, and I used to be a professional. But I know a bit about hand-to-hand combat. Nothing with spears, though."

"Oh ho? It sounds like you're made of the right stuff."

There's nothing hotter than a woman who can dish it out hot.

"Pole weapons are a bit out of style. But their rarity adds an unexpected level of lethality." Talk about killing people, that's a good way to make friends there Cu. "But what led you to being a professional swimmer who also knows fist-to-cuffs?"

"That is true. Since no one would be expecting a spear, the element of surprise and the fact they may not know how to deal with a weapon like that, it can be pretty useful." Yeah, Jun doesn't seem to mind that sort of talk.

"Hm- well, I actually did a lot of sports since I was little. Swimming is my favorite, I guess." the woman smiles back at Cu "But Combat was more of a necessity than a sport. Though I ended up seeing it as both." a cheerful laughed is added.

"Isn't that the truth." Cu hummed. "Fighting's one of the best 'sports' there ever was. Nothing makes you feel quite so alive."

Unfortunately that feeling is generally not shared by his opponents. Or most people for that matter.

"Sounds like you've got quite the story. Where'd you come from, being so fair and lovely, that fighting was a necessity?"

"Oh? have you fought much, in your world?"

Jun smiles and takes a moment to think things through. How to say it and how to explain it. And how much.

"My world was being taken over by demons and angels." okay, so Satan decided to go with a version of events that basically omits anything that would give him or his other "personalities" away "And humans were right in the middle of their battle. They had to learn how to protect themselves and to use new weapons. I'm one of those weapons."

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We're men among men and manly men

1 - on the pier

Re: 1 - on the pier

Re: 1 - on the pier

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First option!

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