ORION OPEN LOG 2: NOW WITH DUDE

[thanksoptimus]

Who: Orion Pax and YOU
Where: Around the city.
When: Late March, basically whenever.
What: Having recent discovered that he has a holomatter avatar, Orion is now roaming the city like someone's confused dad.
Warnings: shrrruuuuggot. perhaps gay.

Exploring the city would have been a lot easier had Orion known how to do this earlier, but he supposes there is no point regretting wasted time now. Unlocking his holomatter avatar has given him a pleasant alternative to sitting in a parking lot and boredly zoning out into a haze of stress and confusion, and so he is happy to use this human shaped form to explore all the places he hasn't been able to previously.

While he technically does look like a middle aged man (who is not Charlie Swan), everywhere he goes he is followed by a constant air of curious bafflement, like a parent is when going to places they don't understand purely for the sake following their kid around. There is a lot of squinting and fondling going on in every one of these options.

A) Various book stores:

The most notable feature of this man's bookstore experience is that he appears to mostly be reading entire books whole while standing in front of shelves - very quickly, at that. The subject matter varies wildly, but he doesn't seem to be at risk of getting bored any time soon, nor do his legs ever appear to get tired.

Perhaps he has yet to catch on to the fact that reading whole books in bookstores is generally considered to be bad etiquette.

B) In which he goes AFK:

And here is that same man, standing in the middle of the street doing nothing. It isn't the busiest of streets, but he sure as fuck is just standing there while the world continues to go on around him, ostensibly while he stares into space and ignores the thread of oncoming vehicles.

This is actually happening because something distracting is happening wherever Orion's actual body is. Perhaps a sudden carjacking. Perhaps animals. It is a mystery.

C) In which Team Magma happens:

Team Magma can frequently be found doing something stupid, and in this case the stupid thing is trying to steal a bunch of lorries from a truck stop for unknown reasons. The rush the parking lot in a group of about twelve. Most of them are firebending.

Orion is just kind of standing around in the parking lot when this happens, not fully realizing what's going on until there are like a dozen costumed people throwing fire around aimlessly and yelling things about being TEAM MAGMA. Even after a moment of letting it sink in his expression is still more incredulous than anything.

He can not even believe this.

Comments

[thanksoptimus]

"Oh...of course," he says, and hands her copy while mentally making a note of the page number he'd been on. He looks like he's been caught in the middle of doing something embarrassing. "I will find another."

He doesn't actually know how things are supposed to work in these places.

[rememberyousoon]

She takes the book and thinks briefly about just walking away with it, but the look on his face gives her pause.

"You can have it if you want, I just wanted to know if you were going to take it or if you were just... reading it."

[thanksoptimus]

"I misunderstood," he says, shaking his head a little. "I am unfamiliar with books that have hard copies such as these. I hadn't considered supply and demand."

[rememberyousoon]

Nilin is not entirely sure how to respond to that for a moment. "So you're more of a digital person then," she says awkwardly, at a loss for anything else.

[thanksoptimus]

"Yes. Ah..." He's also uncomfortable, like he's said something that he shouldn't. "Physical books would indeed be the human standard, however. I am an outlier. Probably."

[rememberyousoon]

She smiles because how else are you supposed to deal with this much discomfort? Not by walking away, apparently. She's too curious now.

"I would say so. You've really never owned a physical copy of a book before...?"

[thanksoptimus]

There are a few things he thinks of saying. 'Correct,' for example. Or 'Cybertron does not have paper products.' But he realizes that both these things would be inadequate deceptions, which is irrelevant when lying makes him uncomfortable in the first place.

"One might...say that I..." he trails off, staring at her. He looks away. "...am not familiar with human customs." Fuck. "I mean, this city's customs." Wait. "Books."

[rememberyousoon]

Nilin frowns at him, but still does not walk away. "Are you messing with me?"

[thanksoptimus]

"I am not," he says awkwardly. "I am merely...confused." He turns around to the bookshelf again and tries to pretend that never happened. Wow let's find another book to read, gosh.

[rememberyousoon]

Well, that makes her feel kind of bad. She's still a bit put off and not entirely sure that this isn't just a dumb prank, but she'll give it one last go. He seems genuinely befuddled.

"Well, they generally prefer it when you buy the book before you read the whole thing," she says, trying to sound sympathetic and helpful.

[thanksoptimus]

He looks back to her, eyes widening a little with surprise. And then narrowing with concern. This presents some considerations he hadn't really taken into account, but none that he can do much with.

"Oh. I...seem to have mistook this building's purpose, as well."

He crosses his arms awkwardly and steps away from the shelf. At least she isn't mad about it, apparently. He'd thought, perhaps stupidly, assumed that this was an archive.

[rememberyousoon]

She looks around at the bookstore, confirming that it does in fact look like a bookstore and would be difficult to mistake for anything else.

"Did you think it was a library?" she asks, already pretty sure that that's not the problem.

[thanksoptimus]

That human word checks out definition wise - or at least, close enough. He nods a little. Part of him is wondering where she is going with this line of inquiry.

"Yes," he says stiffly. "Yes, I did think it was a library."

[rememberyousoon]

She's skeptical, but she goes on anyway.

"Well, I think there's one a few blocks away. I can show you, if you like. After I buy this."

[thanksoptimus]

He looks a little bit relieved by that offer, and nods his head enthusiastically.

"I would appreciate that very much, thank you."

[rememberyousoon]

She takes a deep breath. "Great, I'll just buy this then, and we can go."

She turns away toward the cash, not bothering to check and see if her new friend has followed her or not. She feels oddly responsible for him now, which is not a position she thought she would be in today.

[thanksoptimus]

He ambles after her carefully, as if trying not to impose upon her personal space while still keeping track of her. He stands near what appears to be the checkout, and hands out, looking more like someone's confused dad than ever.

[rememberyousoon]

Once she's paid and everything, she turns away from the checkout and nods toward the door to indicate that's where she's going in case he has not figured that out.

"So, I didn't get your name," she says, totally conversational.

[thanksoptimus]

"Orion Pax," he says simply, following her out. He glances over to her, looking her over. "And yours?"

[rememberyousoon]

"Nilin," she replies, choosing not to comment on the name. "And where are you from? It sounded like you were new to the city."

[thanksoptimus]

"Ah..." Oh Primus he can't even remember any other city names right now, caught on the spot like this. "Yes, I am from...another city."

Perfect save.

[rememberyousoon]

She frowns at him again. While they leave the bookstore and head out onto the street she tries her best come up with a tactful way to ask what the hell his deal is, but this is Nilin and tact is not her strong suit.

"You know, if you're an alien or something, you're not doing a very good job covering it up," she says. She keeps her voice down, even though there aren't that many people on this particular sidewalk right now.

[thanksoptimus]

Without a moment's hesitation, he puts his face in his hands out of apparent remorse.

"I know," he says, defeated.

[rememberyousoon]

She's shocked, but really she just feels bad for him. She holds up her hands as if to comfort him, but hesitates and drops them again.

"I didn't mean to upset you... Please don't..."

This is such an odd situation. She's not sure she even expected him to actually be an alien, it was just the first thing that came to mind.

"Are you actually an alien?"

[thanksoptimus]

He glances over to her, frowning. He doesn't seem to be distressed so much as frustrated with himself. Lying is not his forte.

"I am an alien in disguise," he says. "Unfortunately, my ability to play the part is only physical it would seem."