(OPEN) All Dressed up and Nowhere to Go

[oyaji]

Characters: Wild Tiger oyaji, Barnaby Brooks Jr. baniichan, and YOU!
Date: 10/26
Location: Around the Wood Sector
Situation: Still dressed in his Hero suit, Wild Tiger acclimates to his new life on the back of a turtle.
Warnings/Rating: Goofiness?

A;
Most of the Kedan are giving Wild Tiger a wide berth as they pass him to go about their day. It's no surprise since he sorely sticks out of place in his white and neon green armor sporting logos for a Japanese cellphone company and a convenience store chain. He's found himself slumped over a richly carved bench that's set underneath the shade of a great tree. It's a pleasant enough place to switch between childish excitement and an existential breakdown right in front of everyone.

B;
There's a really excited forty year old Japanese man in a Hero suit practically running circles around one of the tree houses in the Sector. Apparently it's his and he can't be more thrilled! Obviously, because he's squawking about it to every Joe Blow who mistakenly walks by. Sorry neighbors, you're stuck with this oaf.

C;
Phase One: Find Partner is complete. Phase Two: Figure out what in the flying fuck to do about it. Well, that's seems normal enough, but together they are quite the spectacle. One looks like some seasonal Iron Man and the other is just a green and white nightmare. They are beginning to stop traffic in the Wood Sector as Kedan start to rubberneck in droves around them. Come watch the sideshow act!

((ooc: With C, your character can play with both Barnaby and Kotetsu in one thread. ))

Comments

[baniichan]

Considering how new they were to this place, Barnaby wouldn't have been surprised if his partner accidentally sent him on a wild goose chase. Thankfully, Kotetsu was exactly where he'd promised, which meant less of a headache for Barnaby.

Of course, with all the attention they were drawing to themselves just by standing around, there were plenty of other headache-inducing things about their situation, so he wasn't out of the woods just yet.

...The woods. Ugh, he was so glad he didn't say that one out loud. Kotetsu would have never let him hear the end of it.

"You know," Barnaby said with a barely-contained frown, "now that we've found each other, I'm starting to think we ought to just go inside."

[oyaji]

That familiar blase voice was a godsend as far as Wild Tiger was concerned. After parking himself under the tree, his excitement began to dwindle as the minutes ticked away. Boredom was something that rarely featured in his dreams (unless they were nightmares), which finally squashed the last of his nonchalance. They were actually stuck here. There was no going back, whether that meant physically or mentally. Either way, they were in this world until they found out how to break the illusion or hitched a ride home.

The only anchor he had now was his partner, and that was fine. There was no way Tiger would be able to leave this place by himself, but with Barnaby... Yeah, they had a real chance of figuring this out.

Lifting his head up from where it hung dramatically between his knees, the older Hero smiled warmly before it turned wicked with childish exuberance. "Yeah? We can go inside my new treehouse?"

[baniichan]

"Are you still excited about that?" Folding his arms over his chest, he glanced toward the large wooden structures around them. Barnaby wasn't sure why Kotetsu's childlike wonder irritated him. Maybe it was because he felt like nobody ought to be happy about what basically amounted to the sleeping quarters assigned to them while they were held here against their will.

He has to admit, though, their respective Sectors seemed to fit their personalities well enough. Which made him wonder just how much research these people had done on them beforehand.

"Well...it's not like we have anywhere else to go without leaving the Sector," he added before giving a resigned sigh. "Fine. Do you even remember where it is?"

[oyaji]

"uh, yeah! Once you see it, you'll understand." Tiger was sure of it. The stubborn blond could try his best to remain unimpressed in the face of a house carved out of a grand tree. No one could resist! No one. He'd bet money on it, in fact.

Self-satisfied after his inner pep-talk, the Hero got off the bench and pointed down a paved path leading further into the forest. "Of course! It's right... over in this direction." Alright, so his voice betrayed his bravado, but they would find it again! There were only so many trees! The two of them just had to find the one that wasn't immediately occupied obviously. More confident than he should be, he led Barnaby through the Sector like he kenw exactly what he was doing.

"Okay, uhhh... SO I think we go this way and... then... Hmm..."

[baniichan]

With no other option, he took to following Kotetsu through the Sector as the older man tried to remember where they needed to go.

Barnaby didn't look convinced that his partner knew what he was doing, though, and the last thing he wanted was to keep drawing unwanted attention to themselves by wandering around. It was already uncomfortably obvious that they were foreigners. They didn't need to look lost on top of that if they could help it.

"Don't tell me you forgot the way already," Barnaby sighed. "Do you remember what suite number you're in? Maybe we should ask for directions."

[oyaji]

"We're fine!" he reassured his partner with a confident flick of his wrist as they continued to walk amongst the large grouping of trees that made up the suites of this Sector.

"... Besides, they'd sooner avoid eye contact than actually help us." Yeah, it was said out of bitterness, but whatever! He had been sitting on the bench for a good forty minutes, so he was already an expert on the sociology of the Kedan, and what it told him was that they wouldn't show them the way! Thus it was left up to him to get them home.

"So... There's C and mine should be--Oh! Right where I knew it'd be!" His bragging was quickly followed by a congratulatory laugh as he moved swiftly to the base of the massive tree. "Cool, huh?" Barnaby didn't even need to say anything. Tiger knew it was inarguable fact.

[baniichan]

Barnaby looked up at Kotetsu's new abode. Though he had to admit that it was an...interesting architectural choice, he still wouldn't have chosen such a place for himself. Way too much natural and all the unpredictability that entailed.

"I suppose," he slowly answered. "If you enjoy that sort of thing, anyway..."

Barnaby turned to look at his partner somewhat expectantly. "Are you going to show me inside?"

[oyaji]

"Eh? Oh! Yeah!" He was so caught up in admiring his awesome new quarters he completely forgot about the inside. With a sly smile just for his partner, Tiger held the door open for Barnaby, ushering him in with an outstretched arm like the perfect gentleman he was.

"So, first floor's kinda of a sitting area, I guess," Tiger described behind him once he closed the door. "Second's got the console, and the third's my bedroom! Aw, you should see the headboard I've got!"

[baniichan]

A treehouse with more than one floor, huh. Barnaby made a soft noise in the back of his throat that almost sounded like a laugh. "It suits you."

Apparently Kotetsu thought so too, without how excited he was about all this. Well, if that was going to help him sleep at night, Barnaby guessed there wasn't any reason to rain on his parade more than he already had. This would all catch up to him soon enough.

Of course, for Barnaby, it was hard to distract himself with those sorts of trivialities. Although he was only satisfied with the best amenities available, he honestly didn't require that many things to be comfortable.

"Any place to sit down?" he asked after a moment. "I'm still feeling pretty tired, but I didn't want to let my guard down too much while we were outside."

[oyaji]

"Oh, sure. I think there's a table down here... Only looked around once so far." Sliding past Barnaby with a hand on his shoulder guard, Tiger moved further into the expansive room where a lone window was carved out of the tree to catch the light. Right in front was a raw wooden table for three. Craftsmanship be damned, he just hoped the intricately designed chairs could stand up to two grown men in armor. Guess they'd find out... By letting Barnaby try first.

"Here, take a seat."

[baniichan]

Barnaby was skeptical, and it showed in the dubious look he gave the table. "We have no idea who made this, or what kind of wood it is," he pointed out. "For all I know, it could smash apart the second I sit down."

He sighed, not wanting to have to think harder about anything than he had to right at that moment. "I'll just sit on the floor, I guess." It was all made of wood in the end, so why did they even need three chairs in here?

With that, he moved toward the wall and made himself a seat on top of the wood beneath his feet.

[oyaji]

Well, that was a little uncanny. He thought his partner was going to call him out on his stealth attack, but they both came to the same conclusion. A Hero couldn't afford to make an ass of themselves, whether a camera was around or not. Because, honestly, there was always a camera! Always.

The last thing he wanted to do was break a chair, but a close second was sitting on the hard floor. Not everyone in this room was a spry young man!

Ugh, whatever. Sorry, but he wasn't going to be the first in his own chair! So, grudgingly and whining the entire time, he lowered himself onto the floor in front of Barnaby.

[baniichan]

Honestly, with all the whining Kotetsu did as he settled down, someone might have thought Barnaby had forced the old man to join him. "The sooner we get this armor off, the sooner we can get some real rest," Barnaby admitted. "But I wanted to take a moment to collect my thoughts."

After all, taking off their power suits technically left them more vulnerable in case they were unexpectedly attacked, and it also signaled an acceptance that they were here to stay for at least awhile.

After everything he'd heard and seen, Barnaby realized that the sooner they got over that mental hurdle, the better. But he also knew himself well enough to understand when he was starting to feel overwhelmed, and there was still something to be said for allowing his mind to rest for a few moments before deciding what to do next.

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the wall and allowed himself to just breathe.