2023-03-22: Her Biggest Fan
- Log: 2023-03-22 Her Biggest Fan
- Cast: Mic Sounders the 13th, Sheryl Nome
- Where: Folmo Mall, Macross Frontier
- OOC - IC Date: March 22, 2023 (UC 0098)
- Summary: While shopping with her bodyguard in tow, Sheryl encounters a big fan--one of her biggest, in fact.
<Pose Tracker> Mic Sounders the 13th has posed.
Months ago, under the influence of Triple Zero, Mic Sounders led a destructive 'concert' that did a number on the Folmo Mall. Repairs are still in progress, and now he's back here, in his chunky, rainbow-colored Cosmo Robo form instead of his combat form. And instead of belting out dangerous soundwave attacks, he's helping to repaint a wall of the galleria area alongside a couple of rather baffled Zentraedi workers and a curious audience.
"La la la, fixing, fixing, painting painting," he hums to himself, his chunky hands gripping a huge paintbrush. He dances a little back and forth, having been informed to please be careful with his steps. "Working working, painting beige...o/"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl Nome is a busy woman, and her rare time off is precious to her. With her home and general base of operations now in Frontier since it seems Galaxy won't be found again anytime soon, and also with her attending Mihoshi Academy, more often than not she finds herself spending her time off in Frontier.
Such is the case today. Dragging her bodyguard Brera along to Folmo Mall with her (because what's the fun in shopping by herself?), Sheryl strides through the Zentraedi mall in a cute pink babydoll dress with tights, heels, purse, sunhat, and shades, while Brera... carries her bags. He's very stoic about it.
"Next is--that store right over there! They've got back-to-school looks up in the windows!" she says cheerfully, pointing across the way on one of the upper levels. "I want to get some ideas for..." She trails off as she looks to one side, where Mic is rebuilding and painting a wall to the staring of a crowd. She lowers her shades to peer at him directly. "Huh. You don't usually see those kinds of giant robots around here!" She gestures to Brera to follow her as she already starts heading over to Mic. "Let's go check it out!"
If there is even a mote of resigned frustration anywhere in Brera's soul, he doesn't show it. He simply follows after her, his own dark shades hiding any possible expression from view.
Soon enough, Sheryl is peering down at Mic from the second story. Or maybe peering directly at him, depending on heights. "Hi~," she lilts, smiling over at him as she takes off her shades. (Brera lurks in the background.) "What's a big guy like you doing here?"
<Pose Tracker> Mic Sounders the 13th has posed.
As a Sound Robot, Mic is very attuned to noise and audial input. So a human voice calling down from him on the balcony is easy to pick up on. His screen display changes to a pair of question marks, then exclamation points as he turns around to look at Sheryl. He has to turn all the way around, as his head isn't built for much swiveling in Cosmo Robo mode. And, truth be told, he has no neck.
"Hello!" He waves with one of his big hands before he really gets a look at Sheryl, zooming in briefly with his internal camera. He's seen her before. Yes, and heard her before. Lots of times. That, that's...
"Eh? Ehh!? It's Sheryl! Sheryl!" His display immediately turns to big hearts and sparkles. "I have all your albums downloaded! Mic paid for them and everything! Mic is your biggest fan!"
Well, since he's a little smaller than the average Macronized Zentraedi, probably not. But still.
"I, uh, I'm Mic! Mic Sounders the 13th! Can I can I can I can I get an autograph? Oh, but I have nothing to sign..."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Truth also be told, Sheryl wasn't expecting to get immediately recognized, and she blinks in surprise as this miniature giant robot immediately starts gushing at her. With hearts and sparkles, even! The crowd around him swivels their attention to her, and in an instant, Brera's at her side to fend off the crowd.
As Brera's busy with everyone trying to rush over to see the Sheryl Nome, Sheryl gives Mic a wry smile. "Sorry! I'm off the clock right now--and if I gave you an autograph, I'd have to give," here she sweeps a hand at the crowd, which includes macronized Zentraedi (Brera is going to be EXTREMELY busy for the rest of this scene), "all of them autographs too." She turns that hand sweep into a wave to the crowd and continues, "Or else it's not fair, is it?" Her smile sweetens. "But thank you, Mic! I'm glad to meet such a big fan."
Literally!!
"I don't usually see guys like you around here," she continues. Granted, it's not like she's constantly hitting up the Folmo Mall, but still. "What're you painting this wall for?"
<Pose Tracker> Mic Sounders the 13th has posed.
Mic doesn't seem to realize that he drew the crowd's attention to Sheryl, or even that she was in disguise at all. But he takes her response to his question in stride, nodding. "Oh! Of course! No problem!" He claps his hands together, inadvertently getting paint on his palms. Oops. Again, he doesn't seme to notice, and there's already a few splatters on his frame anyway. GGG Maintenance will have to touch that up later.
"Mic is, uh, last year I messed this place up," he adds in a lower voice and a guilty blush-mark underneath his digital-screen eyes. "Because of Triple Zero. Actually, someone singing one of your songs helped stop me! I wanted to find her and thank her but I haven't seen her since."
Sheryl might have heard in the news about an attack by an orange, glowing robot, though one who looked very different-much more humanoid, and playing a guitar. And there's notably no orange glow around this chunky, relatively little guy.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
He's a messy little guy, isn't he? Well, 'little' isn't the word, but somehow he gives off 'little' vibes anyway. Maybe it's the way he's so bubbly and almost childlike, the way he claps his hands and gets that paint all over. It's cute--and Sheryl has a bit of a weakness for cute things.
"Oh yeah?" she prompts. She does remember hearing on the news about an attack on Folmo Mall, though she hadn't heard all the details. She doesn't know a ton about Triple Zero either, though she's at least heard of it thanks to their association with Akane Shinjo and Tsutsujidai. Attacks on the Frontier (that aren't Vajra-based, anyway) are pretty uncommon, so it does stand out in her memory. She sets a painted finger on her lip. "Oh, that was you?"
She looks over at the half-painted well. It's been reconstructed well, though the paint leaves something to be desired so far. Then again, he's still in the middle of the job. She smiles back at him. "One of my songs, hmm? You really are a big fan of mine! It's a shame you haven't been able to connect with that girl."
For a moment, she does wonder if it was Ranka. It wouldn't be the first time she's moved hearts to one of her songs in this mall. But that would be such a big coincidence, right? And it's not Sheryl's business to track down one of her many, many, MANY fans. So instead, she says, "I hope you find her."
Then an idea occurs to her, and she leans over on the railing, smile growing. "Say--I'm going to be doing a live concert here on the Frontier soon! That girl might well end up attending it. If you want to find her, maybe you ought to attend, too! You certainly stick out, so I'm sure she'd be able to find you easy."
<Pose Tracker> Mic Sounders the 13th has posed.
Mic fidgets again. "That was me," he nods. "Mic is very very sorry about it! So to prove how sorry Mic is he is going to help fix this place! It's such a nice mall and some of the people here are big so I don't need to worry about stepping on them. But I like small people too...! Because they can ride on my shoulders or in the Baribarien." His paint job is a little messy, and admittedly someone else will probably have to touch it up, but there's something to be said for having an autonomous mech do the broader strokes.
But when Sheryl mentions her concert, his eyes (literally) light up again with stars and musical notes. "A concert!? I've always wanted to go to a Sheryl concert! Mic will sit in the back so other people can see. People can sit on Mic if they want! And maybe that girl will be there! She was singing um, um..."
His singing voice is, perhaps unsurprisingly, quite good. "Baby tell me what to do, foot on the pedal, I'm waiting on STANDBY..." He taps his foot in rhythm as he sings the first couple bars of 'Wha Bout My Star.'
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"Hehhh... You're a good kid, aren't you?" Sheryl comments, leaning her cheek on one hand as she sets her elbow on the railing. "Not everyone who feels sorry about bad things they did are sorry enough to make them right." Not to mention his mindfulness about the size of the people around him. A very cute robot indeed, for all that he is in fact big enough to step on someone.
But more importantly: her upcoming concert! She grins as he literally sparkles. "Well then, now's your chance~! It's going to be an outdoor venue, so you won't need to worry about fitting, either!"
And that girl was singing What 'Bout My Star, huh... Just like Ranka. Sheryl purses her lips as she considers this. She'd brush it off as another coincidence, but... "By any chance, was this girl very cute, with short green hair and big orange eyes?"
It really would be a huge coincidence. But it's already coincidence enough that a girl might sing the exact same song at the exact same place--and it's Ranka, someone who might just rival her one day. Why not push it a little more?
<Pose Tracker> Mic Sounders the 13th has posed.
Sheryl thinks Mic is a good kid!! The other uncorrupted Brave Corps are not going to hear the end of this later. Mic beams, his eyes in happy half-circles.
"She was very cute! And I didn't see her eyes but...yes! Yes, green hair! It went floppy-flop!" He mimics a 'hair wiggle' with his hands on the sides of his head. "Does this mean you know her? I can't believe I met Sheryl Nome's friend!" Because of course if Sheryl knows Ranka, this person must be her friend, right?
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
At least he's happy! Sheryl giggles as Mic beams, transmitting little happy eyes. Being a fan of Sharon Apple when she was active, for the short time that was, it doesn't bother her at all how advanced his A.I. is, let alone the idea that maybe it's a Super A.I.; he's a good kid, so what's there to worry about?
"That's her, all right!" Sheryl declares, standing up straight. "I do know her. Her name's Ranka--Ranka Lee. She's a close friend of mine!"
Which surely does nothing at all to dissuade Mic's logic. But since his assumption was right, it's fine.
"Knowing her, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you're doing better now--especially if her singing my song touched your heart," Sheryl continues, smiling. "Now you have to come! It'll be on April 4th, and the venue is Mihoshi Academy over on Island-1. Don't you dare miss it!"
<Pose Tracker> Mic Sounders the 13th has posed.
"Ranka Lee! Okay, Mic will remember!" He gives Sheryl a thumbs-up. Very Neo-American, somehow. "And I have to come! Uh, unless GGG needs me for a mission or they have to run maintenance or something. But after that definitely! Absolutely! Completely!"
He clasps his hands together. Sheryl invited him to her concert! He makes note of it in his internal schedule with lots of heart emojis and sparkles. Except...
"Aww. Nuts! Mic has to patrol that day! Missions are important and I can't ditch them for fun." He says it in a rehearsed way that suggests he's repeating a lecture he's heard many times.
"But Mic will watch the broadcast of it!" And it so won't distract him from patrol or anything. Speaking of distractions...
"Oh! I had better get back to work! They'll get mad if I spend too much time talking!" He's already stopped several times to talk to anyone who says hello to him or even asks what kind of advertising robot he is. This may be why his part of the job isn't getting done very quickly or efficiently.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"GGG...?" Sheryl echoes, tilting her head slightly. Isn't that the group that Alouette said she was a part of? What a coincidence! Though, when Mic admits that he's scheduled for patrol that day and thus can't make it, Sheryl only gives a little bit of a rueful sigh and shrugs a bit. She'd just essentially demanded he attend, but now that he's saying no, she lets it go. Why?
Because he's being a professional, and Sheryl respects that.
"You're diligent, too! I like that in a person. A professional can't just skip out on their job because they feel like it." She claps her hands together. "All right! Since you're being a good boy and doing your job properly, I'll let you off the hook just this once. I'll let Ranka know you were looking for her, too, and hopefully she'll have time to come visit--she might not, since she's got her own job she's working on right now. 'Til then, enjoy the broadcast, and good luck with your work~!"
She raises a hand to wave goodbye, leaving him to his current work as she strides off to rejoin Brera. It'll be an adventure and a half for the two of them to get away from the crowd he's just barely keeping at bay, but that's a story for another time.