[open] - Track 1

[nyan_moe]

DATE: 8/31
INVOLVED: Ranka and anyone who's at Sazanka Soba.
ACTIVITY: Ranka has neither time nor inclination for a standard Fansuwoth introduction.
RATING: PG? Probably won't go higher anyways.

Comments

[all_for_the_sky]

[ Alto has done a lot of errands in the name of "scouting clients", as he put it. All he was trying to accomplish was getting a better layout of the city, figure out where his escape options are, and maybe find some like-minded people (since with those guards he won't be able to handle them alone). ]

[ But all of those thoughts, like before, grind to a half when he sees an all-too-familiar green-haired girl sitting on the bench across the empty street. ] R-- R-...

Ranka!?

[nyan_moe]

[ Ranka doesn't notice the pilot at first. Kicking her feet, looking up at the sky - a real sky, the sort Alto would love to fly in - and not really thinking about much else. When she catches that familiar voice, she wonders at firs if she's just hearing things after reminiscing.

Then her gaze comes down, and there's Alto. Somehow, Alto, right there right in front of her, just across the street. She shoots to her feet, almost stumbling, and wondering if she's hallucinating or if it's really... ]

A-Alto? Is it really you?

[all_for_the_sky]

Tch. [ What a silly thing to think -- then again, he wondered the same thing about Sheryl, too, with her just holding a concert at the festival like it's no big deal. He talks as he moves toward the build. A storefront? Maybe that's her job, though he isn't focused on that. ]

If there's someone going around impersonating me, I'll have a thing or two to say to them. [ That's right, Alto. Cover up that mild panic and outrage with smooth humor. At least until he gets closer. ] ...I can't believe they got you, too.

[nyan_moe]

[ Ranka's not covering anything up with... anything right now. Which is why Alto has a tiny alien/waitress/singer practically charging him to wrap her arms around him. ]

You're really here... I... I don't know what to...

[ No crying, though it takes pressing her face against his shoulder to quell it. ]

Where are we really? What are we going to do?

[all_for_the_sky]

[ It catches him by surprise, but not off-balance. Of course she would be scared, and of course he'll try to comfort her, but he doesn't know how much he can help when this is all still so strange to him. ] It's... didn't someone explain it to you when you got up? [ That's surprising, if not. ] Isn't that why you were in front of the shop -- to work, I mean? [ Maybe he misjudged. ]

[nyan_moe]

[ Getting her composure back, she pulls away just a little bit - she's still close, but she's not clinging either. ]

I heard all that... and I'm working here... but...

[ Is that it? They're just going to work until everything works out? That must mean that there's no way to fly out of here, at least. ]

You're working here too?

[all_for_the_sky]

Huh? No, not at this place. [ Looking to the noodle shop. ] My house -- the place they're making me stay, anyhow -- is the next part of town over. I don't have an actual menial job. [ Unfortunately. ]

When did you get here, though? Have you seen Sheryl yet?

[nyan_moe]

[ She listens quietly. A job of his own - not menial? Did that mean that he... and he wasn't even in the same part of town...

Then he says that name and she looks at him, blinking in surprise. ]

Sheryl... Sheryl's here too? Wh-where is she? How is she?

[all_for_the_sky]

[ Nodding. ] She's -- wherever "Youfuu" is. I think that's nearby. [ He knows it's in this district, but hasn't yet learned to navigate the ukiyo too well. Being under house-arrest for a few days didn't help. ]

She seems to be okay. We were both trying to find a way out but the guards separated us.

[nyan_moe]

[ Unfortunately, Ranka does not yet know a damned thing about finding her way around this city. ]

I figured you'd try to escape... and now that I'm here...

It'll just be harder, right?

[all_for_the_sky]

[ Alto reaches up to poke her forehead. ] Hey, don't go talking like that. A real pilot doesn't get weighed down that easily, you understand? [ He puts his hands on her shoulders. Even if he's so uncertain, he can't let the others realize he's just about as lost as lost can be. ] We'll get out of here. One way or the other. All of us.

[nyan_moe]

[ Her first instinct at the poke is a pout, and an indignant noise, but given the circumstances it actually makes her smile a little. That, and the reassurance of someone she trusts so much. ]

It definitely won't weigh someone like you down... and we'll all go home together.

[all_for_the_sky]

[ He grins. ] Exactly.

[ Alto takes his hands away, looking at the store again. ] How long ago did you get in? It's been a week, for me.

[nyan_moe]

I've only been here two days... but I didn't notice you or Sheryl missing!

[ But the way she woke up, maybe they were all knocked out even longer than that? ]

[all_for_the_sky]

That's weird. [ And he blinked down at her. ] That's weird. There's no reason you wouldn't have, after that long. Someone would've sent out a search party for sure. [ Or so he'd like to think. SMS pilot gone AWOL? Yeah. There would have been phone calls made, at least. ]

[nyan_moe]

[ ALTO gone AWOL? Ranka would've made damn well sure Ozma was looking into it extra hard. Frontier wasn't a place where people could easily just disappear, at least not without jumping out an airlock.

She looked down, thinking hard. ]

I definitely... remember seeing the two of you very, very shortly before waking up here, but I... might just be remembering wrong.