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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 0:44:36 GMT -5
(OOC: Kai and Cheveu and Cinca for now)
June 7th, Saturday.
Kai was spending today in the shopping district. He was reading on a recent Newspaper article. It seems his exploits the past few months had finally made actual news. It somewhat pleased him whenever he saw his private efforts were being acknowledged, but at the same time he felt a little disappointed at not being able to keep himself a secret any more. A warrior in red armor calling himself "Proto Man" fighting criminals at night. Same fighter from that tournament a while back, very few eye witnesses had noticed, only now it seems he can't hide as well as he used to any more.
Matter of fact, there was a recording of one of his fights a few nights ago on the news.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Kai muttered to himself.
"Hey. Even I couldn't hide all the stuff I did forever. Someone was always bound to follow me or catch me eventually."
Kai just turned the page as he decided to amuse himself to see what the newspaper, along with other people, had to say about his exploits the past few months. Let's see what critics think of him.
...Come to think of it, he was just a little bit concerned what would happen if the closest people he had to "friends" in this town found out he was in the news recently. He's hoping he can at least avoid that subject with them.
Rhythm was sitting on the bench next to him, looking over the newspaper as well as watching other people walk around in the shopping district.
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 0:48:39 GMT -5
There were in fact people wandering around. Two of them, in fact. One was a woman with light brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a sleeveless red dress over her jumpsuit. Holding the woman's hand was a little girl with the same brown eyes, but with wavy dark brown hair. She was wearing a little yellow dress, and looking around curiously at everything.
The woman was walking around with a shopping bag, holding onto her daughter's hand as she tried to look over at everything. The little girl, however, was eager to explore and look at everything, and she tugged on her mother's hand as she spotted Rhythm.
"Mommy, look! There's a birdie!"
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 1:02:36 GMT -5
Rhythm's head turned towards the direction of the little girl that called out about the birdie. He hoped she was talking about him anyways. He hopped over to the edge of the bench to get a closer look at the girl that pointed him out. He looked up towards the girl's mother and saw...
...
It's been years since this bird saw that face. But it was a very familiar face. One from his earliest years of his creator and creator's wife, before the two were even married. The bird was curious if the woman would even recognize him in his new paint scheme. He gave a very audible tweet to the girl and her mother, his way of saying Hello.
Kai meanwhile kept reading the newspaper. Let Rhythm have a chance to play with some new friends and meet new people, but only interfere if he really needed to.
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 1:07:39 GMT -5
The little girl didn't notice what was surprising Rhythm. Either way, she wanted to play with the bird, or at least pet him a bit, but she knew to ask permission first. So she looked up at her mother, with an expression on her face clearly stating 'Can I pet him if his owner says okay?'
"Mommy, can I pet him?"
The woman, meanwhile, just stared at the bird for a few seconds, then tried to peer at Kai's face from behind the newspaper. She couldn't quite see, and her daughter was asking her that question, so she nodded.
"Ask the man and the bird if it's okay, and if they say yes, you can pet him, alright?"
And talking to Kai would probably give her a chance to see his face a bit, most likely. He looked a little too young to be him, and the physique didn't quite match her sons'... But either way, the little girl had run up to Kai and Rhythm, so her mother followed him.
"Hi birdie! Mister, can I pet your bird?"
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 1:13:30 GMT -5
Kai lowered his newspaper towards the little girl that asked the question. "Sure. Rhythm loves meeting new people."
Rhythm hopped onto the seat of the bench and hopped to get closer to the little girl wanting to pet him. What is it about small animals that kids liked so much, Kai wondered. Sure, Rhythm was a robot one but still, he kinda counted.
But right now Kai also couldn't shake the feeling he was being intently watched for some strange reason.
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 1:17:59 GMT -5
The woman gave a slight start upon hearing that the bird's name was Rhythm, but she remained silent for the most part. The girl, on the other hand, just beamed and climbed onto the bench so that she could pet Rhythm.
"Thanks mister! Hi Rhythm!" She was pretty young, so she put all her focus on Rhythm as she reached down to pet the bird's feathers.
The woman, meanwhile, was just staring at Kai. And his scarf. And his face. To an ordinary onlooker, it could look like she was measuring up a strange man that was near her daughter and to make sure that he wouldn't do anything. But was she doing that? Or was it something else?
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 1:24:50 GMT -5
Rhythm tweeted and allowed the girl to pet her, before he hopped up onto her lap and ruffled his feathers a bit. The bird looked up at the girl's mom and gave a few tweets, as if saying hello again. Or at least something he hoped she'd recognize.
Kai looked back at the lady, who even by his standards, was probably staring at her a little bit too intently. "Uh...Hi. Can I help you?"
Proto slowly peaked his head a little out of Kai's pocket, watching Rhythm and the new girl play. He also peaked out of the pocket to see if Kai was in trouble. When he saw the woman who was staring at Kai, he whispered, "You don't have anything to fear from this woman, Kai."
Kinda an odd thing to say, Kai thought, but he didn't let his thoughts show in his face, or give any visual sign he had heard Proto.
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 1:28:59 GMT -5
The girl giggled a bit as Rhythm tweeted, doting on the bird. She let him hop onto her lap, wiggling a bit since it tickled her legs, but let him sit there, trying to hold him without squeezing him. He wasn't pecking at her, so he seemed much like a very friendly bird. "You're a nice birdie, aren't you?"
The woman, who was about twice Kai's age, kept on staring at Kai, at least, until he seemed to get unnerved by it. She shook her head. "No, you just remind me of someone. And Rhythm... he's got a new coat of paint, hasn't he?"
Hello, information that a normal person wouldn't know. She smiled a little bit.
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 1:34:57 GMT -5
Rhythm tweeted gleefully to Cinca to respond to her.
Kai meanwhile just sorta gave her a long stare. He slowly replied, "Yes...Yes he does. How do you know that?"
Rhythm turned his head quickly towards Cheveu. She did remember him! He hopped up and down a few times, fluttering his wings tweeting happily. When he stopped hopping, he decided to give 5 strong tweets that sounded just like Proto's whistle, the same whistle Kai decided to adopt for himself.
Kai just gave a confused look to Rhythm's response. Normally when people compliment him, he doesn't respond THAT strongly. Proto himself couldn't help but laugh to himself. Kai was feeling very uncomfortable right now, and his unease was slowly beginning to show on his face. "...W-...Who are you?"
She seemed very familiar, but he couldn't quite tell who it was she reminded him of. Voile? Nah it couldn't be.
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 1:42:31 GMT -5
The girl laughed as he tweeted like that. He sounded so happy! She was happy that he was happy with her, because she was happy with him! And it sounded like her mom was going to talk to the man that the bird belonged to, so she could keep on petting him.
"It's been awhile since I saw Rhythm... he had a different color on him last. Oh, that was such a long time ago..." She trailed off, as if remembering some earlier times, but then looked back at Rhythm as he tweeted happily.
"Just an old friend." She seemed a bit amused. "Someone that knew the first owners of that bird."
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 1:50:11 GMT -5
Rhythm of course would continue to let the girl pet him. She was such a nice little girl.
Kai just stared at the woman as she responded to him. An old friend who knew the first owners. But that meant- "...You knew my parents."
He kept staring at her though. He felt so...awkward right now. So vulnerable. But it was someone else that knew his parents that he, as far as he was aware of, had no memory of ever being mentioned. But if Rhythm knew her...it had to be true.
"She was your Mom's maid of honor at her wedding," Proto told him, deciding to slip out of Kai's pocket and just lean against the bench in full view. If the biometal could, he'd give a small wave or a proto whistle, but as he lacked hands and the bird did the whistle earlier, he just sat next to Kai and watched events unfold.
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 1:54:43 GMT -5
Cheveu was just so amused by this. The poor boy seemed freaked out, and- ah, his parents, was it? She thought he'd looked familiar! Yes, now that she knew, she could see traces of the both of them in her face, though he resembled his father more.
"Yes, I did, but it's been awhile since I saw them. You look more like your father, you know? But I can see parts you got from your mom." She put her shopping bags down, and reached out a hand towards Rhythm, who was being lavished on by her daughter. She smiled at Model Pm when he came out.
"I remember you, even if I can't hear you. You're Pm."
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 2:00:58 GMT -5
He looked away for a second, a little embarrassed at having his appearance compared to that of his parents. Rhythm was glad that his old friend was petting him now, as well as her daughter. Proto seemed pleased that she also remembered. Kai was even more baffled. Just...How much did this woman know about his parents, let alone the elements that made up his life?
"That's...Understandable," Kai replied. His tone had taken a melancholy tone to it. "They...were both killed in a Maverick Raid almost 21 years ago."
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Post by Voile Phare & Model RS on Nov 6, 2012 2:05:57 GMT -5
Even the girl went a little quiet as she heard that, and Cheveu went silent as well. Yes, she couldn't forget what had happened to the two of them. They had been such dear friends. And there was no point in telling the boy right now, not when it was no longer true from what she knew.
"...I know. They were very dear friends of mine." And she suddenly sounded much older and tired. "Especially Kristi and I... and Terry too... I thought you died with them, Max."
She had no idea of course that he went by a different name now.
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Post by Proto Man Kai on Nov 6, 2012 2:14:53 GMT -5
Max?
Kai stared at her with the widest set of eyes he had ever given anyone. If anything, shocked.
"W-What did you...just call me?" he asked.
Proto floated a little bit closer to Kai. "Part of your real name."
Kai just blinked at Pm, clearly confused. "My...real...name? ... I knew Kai wasn't always my real name but..."
He shook his head and rubbed his face. "Boy. This will be a good story to tell Aven later," he muttered.
He looked back up to the woman. "...Only Mom really died that day. I saw her get shot in the forehead. Dad...he was shot in the shoulder and fell into a hole. Either an exposed sewer or underground water line of some sort. No one ever found a body. He's...technically still labeled missing but...I've seen no sign of him for years."
He looked a little sad. What kid wouldn't be sad at never really getting a chance to know their real parents?
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