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Who: Drift and YOU!
Where: Wandering around the city.
When: Early April
What: Drift is checking out the city.
Warnings: Probably some bad secondhand embarrassment. Also Robots.

Drift’s been on the earth a while now, but this is the first time he’s properly used his holomatter avatar. It had taken him a while to choose one; eventually settling on the human from his favorite earth movie. He’d felt a sort of affinity for the character, so it seemed like a good match…and if it meant he could carry a sword, it was too good to pass up. Not that the sword actually posed much of a threat.

Right now, he’s just exploring the city – trying to get a better handle on its layout. The streets are cluttered with people, but most of them take a moment to pause and glance over at him. It’s a bit…unsettling. He double checks the avatar’s projection image again and again, but can’t find anything noticeably wrong with it. Weren’t these things supposed to be good for staying under the radar? Sure didn’t seem that way.

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Neku runs across him in on the way to the hardware store to get more paint. He doesn't directly give Drift any shit for his outfit; barging in on other people's business just isn't what he does. Fact remains, he really can't help himself from stopping and staring for a moment. It's the city, sure, people wear weird shit all the time, but this guy... was there a convention in town or something? What the hell.

Ok the staring was starting to get old. Maybe it was about time he tried something else. There’s a boy that’s stopped in front of him and Drift figures he might as well start there. He moves forward and folds his arms; hands disappearing into the long sleeves.

“Pardon me…could I ask you something?”

Oh fucking hell now the weirdo wanted to talk to him? This is why he should keep his damn head down. Shit.

Neku tucks his chin into his cowl, staring Drift's avatar down defensively. "I can't give you directions to the nearest convention center, if that's what you're going to ask."

Well this was off to a great start. This guy sure didn’t seem like he wanted to talk. Maybe there was some weird Earth greeting custom that he didn’t know about? He tries to think back to some of the shows and movies he’d watched while he was in Japan…and gives a slight bow of his head as he moves closer.

“Convention…? I’m not sure what you mean.”

Neku snorts derisively. "Okay, I get it. You're one of those historical re-en-actors or something? I'm not going to indulge the whole act thing, so you can take the show on the road, preferably away from here," he says bluntly.

Alright, what was this guy’s problem? Really? What could Drift have even done to him? He’s starting to get a bit agitated and his avatar fiddles with the hilt of the sword. It’s not meant to be threatening; more of a reflexive gesture than anything.

“Listen, no need to get all hot and bothered about it. All I’m doing is asking for help. Is this what people do when you ask for help around here?”

This whole thing is so definitely not cute, at all, but... this guy also seems alarmingly genuine. He makes a special note of the hand on the sword; he's so ready to throw down if he needs to.

What's REALLY throwing him is that he's not getting an empathic read off this guy. It's like he's not even really there. That alone is reason enough to be nervous. He should probably try to get more info.

Neku sighs loudly before appearing to concede: "Alright, fine... what did you need to ask?"

Like so many others Matilda is well. Pretty taken back by Drift's appearance. He looked like he stepped out of some old samurai movie or one of those japanese cartoons her brother sometimes watched when their parents weren't around. She figured though that he must be heading off to some sort of party and then smiles at him.

"I like your costume!"

Maybe he’s feeling wound up after having half the people on the street give him a sideways glance, but it catches him off guard when one of them actually addresses him. He searches the crowd until he spots the young girl smiling at him.

What had she said? "Costume"? Could she…could she tell that this was a disguise? This could be bad.

“Oh...Well, thanks! But this is...I mean it's how I always look!"

Way to go, Drift.

Now Matilda is wondering if she had just done something incredibly rude by assuming it was a costume. Her cheeks turned a little pink.

"I'm sorry it's just I didn't. I mean you look a little like a samurai and I didn't think those existed anymore." Well just because he was dressed like that didn't mean he actually was one...but he was holding a sword. It wasn't real, was it?

Drift relaxes once he realizes that his cover hasn’t been blown. But the relief is brief as the girl’s words start to sink in. Samurai...don’t...exist anymore? How could that be? Is that why everyone was giving him strange looks? It must be like...like seeing a living legend walking down the street. Yeah...yeah that must be it. That would explain why so many of them seemed afraid to approach him. And the girl looks upset now too.

“No, no need to worry! It was an honest mistake. You’ve really never seen anyone like me before?”

Matilda relaxes when he reassures her though his question raises more. Surely he must know that most people don't dress like him. At least not here in Los Angeles. Perhaps there are some other places in Japan where it was still a thing?

Matilda shook her head.

"I might be wrong, I haven't really read much about them but I think samurais faded away when Japan," she made a vague gesture, "got a modern army?" She really ought to read up more on eastern cultures and histories. Now that she realized how little she knew about samurai, Matilda wanted to learn more.