2023-03-14: Kindred Spirits Across Time

• Cast: Gai Kurenai, May Morseland
• Where: Tsutsujidai - Junk Shop Aya
• Date: U.C. 0097 03 14
• Summary: During Gai Kurenai's break at Junk Shop Aya, May Morseland drops by. Across a gap of millennia and on the subject of a wider world neither of them know much about, two like souls connect.

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<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

In the wake of Tsutsujidai Prom, things have been relatively quiet in the sleepy little ward nestled away in the corner of a PLANT in the process of being towed from Side 2 to Side 4. There hasn't been much for the Rescue Team to do, but Gai Kurenai was one of its members who advocated against disbanding the group - having an association of like-minded individuals willing to help when things go wrong is important even when things aren't going wrong.

Today, the peculiar cowboy man is seated in Aya during a quiet period, polishing off some yakisoba. Setting aside his chopsticks, he looks around, and fishes a strange oversized harmonica out of his coat, lifting it to his lips.

((BGM: Gai's Orbnica ))

The song is wistful, yet serene - a calming melody that he has often used to keep the team's morale up and their will focused when things looked dire.

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

Meanwhile, another free spirit ambles her way inside, quietly swaying along to a silent harmony of her own creation. Even apart from recently reconnecting with Rikka a bit, the Junkshop was a place May always thought had pretty good vibes the few times she got to visit, and with things at school easing up, she figured she had the free time, so why not!

Her thoughts about what to get are pleasantly interrupted by the tune currently gliding through the actual air, quikly perking the guitarist's attention. Eyebrows raised in delighted curiosity, she slowly makes her way to near the other occupant is seated.

This would absolutely be the point where May would gush in delight, especially considering the very soulful melody and performance, but as a musician she knew about respecting the moment more than anyone. So she just quietly takes a seat relatively near him and listens with appreciative nods.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

The song comes to a close, and Gai lowers the Orbnica to the countertop, opening his eyes and looking around.

He was so absorbed in the song he didn't sense May entering so to see her sitting close to him is a surprise - but he smiles warmly. "Good evening, miss."

He turns to face her, leaning on the counter. "Here to see miss Takarada, I assume?" It's a fair enough guess - a school-age human (he's pretty sure she's school age) here to see a classmate. He extends a hand. "Gai Kurenai. I work on the Rescue Team."

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

As the tune comes to a natural conclusion, the dam quietly breaks, and May gives small but very enthusiastic claps as she beams towards him.

"Wow that was super good!" She chirps, shaking back her light brown hair a bit. "Nice pipes!...or, pipe, technically?" She gestures to the instrument, with a shrug and a chuckle to herself.

She lifts a hand up and wiggles it (quite energetically). "Me and Rikka are friends, yeah! Not *specifically* today, just felt like hanging out round here, I don't really do it enough!" She gladly extends the hand back, pleasantly surprised to see that familiar gesture proferred again, her grip warm and surprisingly strong for her slender frame. "May Morseland! I work in...being Rikka's friend! And being a third-year. And being a musician." She giggles. "Nice to meetcha! Y'all do great work!"

It was quite great indeed for her, for a few personal reasons.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Gai chuckles, lifting up the Orbnica so May can get a better look. It's... like a harmonica, but strange and about half the size again. "Thanks. I was taught that song by an old friend."

"This is a good place," he agrees when May espouses the virtues of the Junk Shop. "Feels like a sanctuary sometimes. Oh, you're a musician too? That's cool. You must be just about to graduate, right?"

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

May leans in and peers at the fascinating little instrument *very* intently. The way her hands twitch signal her natural desire to get handson...but she knew the musician code about personal instruments, and she could perceive plenty from here. "Oh yeah, I can definitely tell that one was ah, Personal and stuff. I like to think I can tell when things come From The Heart, at least, y'know?" She smiles warmly, as yet unaware of a potential irony in that phrasing.

"That's usually what homes are I think," 'Usually' and 'I think' are things she realizes, thinks about for an impereptible instant and then elects to not consider deeply right now. "Well, I mean, even apart from this being Rikka and Orie's place, aha. That old saying about where the heart is, and all that."

The other question(s) are a topic that draw an enthusiastic nod and sparkles in her green eyes. "Yup! Mostly guitar, but I'm lucky enough to have dabbled quite a lot! And oh yeah, in the coming month. Transferred from New Zealand for my last year here, bit of a thing there to travel abroad at least a bit, so I figured this'd be a good headstart on that!"

Of course, she is fully aware by now of the looming asterisk about that story, but even May Morseland knew when things shouldn't be broached so casually.

"It's been a pretty good one which...I suppose I have you guys to thank for that in a few indirect ways! Could've easily been worse!" She beams brightly.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Gai grins a little when he sees the spark in May's eyes over his Orbnica, nodding. "It's very special to me," he agrees, tucking the instrument away in his coat again.

May says it could have been worse, and Gai nods thoughtfully. "It could have. Even so, it's my pleasure to help however I can, and if that made your ordinary school life easier I'm happy to have been of service." He cracks another grin.

"So, do you have any plans for after graduation? Going back to Earth? Going on a tour of other Side 4 colonies?"

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

"More than any good instrument is, I can definitely tell." She hums with warm appreciation, there being a clear weight of context in Gai's words.

She responds to the grin with one of her own, casually leaning back a bit propped up by her legs. "You only get something like that once, so I wanna like...savour it, and stuff! Learning, close proximity with lotsa potential friends, chill place to figure out all that growing up stuff...school's pretty alright I guess." She shrugs. While being something she'd be glad to be done with, as the free-spirited type she was...Tsutsujidai High definitely had significance she couldn't have anticipated before. "Kaijus, less so, but that's what guys like you are here for, aha, so cheers for that!"

She's already responding to the question. "Oh yeah, I-" Before something about the rest of it makes her stop and sit back up a bit. 'Back to Earth' huh...it was definitely...bracing, to have the reality of this place's relation to the outside acknowledged so bluntly, she supposed. And 'back' was...

"I. Was definitely thinking something like that yeah!" She does her best to carry on with a natural recovery, shrugging with a smile. "Like I said, bit of a thing to Travel, where I'm from," In theory. "So yeah, for sure! Might even swing back by home at some point, who knows! Kinda looking forward to just seeing where life takes me, to be honest."

Which had already been some interesting places, she had to be honest.

"Obviously, you're with the rescue team and all, but anything in particular brought you here in the first place?" She turns the question back on him with a curious expression, slim eyebrow raised. "Unless you're from around here and I just haven't noticed, but I like to think I have a feel for a lot of people here and that doesn't seem like you."

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Gai listens and observes, carefully. Yeah, that's given him all the information he needed about the girl - and he can't help but smile strangely when she says "kaiju are what guys like you are here for!"

How right she is.

May asks how he came to be here and that enigmatic smile broadens. "I'm just a wanderer who goes where he's needed. I have a dear friend who's invested in making sure this city stays safe, but he works with STORAGE back Earthside, so I'm keeping an eye on the place for him, protecting it from people who want to take advantage of its peace."

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

May is ever the open book, however inscrutable the pages might often be to herself somehow.

"Ooh, mysterious!" She chuckles. "No wonder you're with the rescue crew then, you seem like a bonafide hero type, if you don't mind me saying." There definitely seemed to be a Vibe about him and the tone of this conversation. In a profoundly not bad way.

Gai had proven to be, in May's very serious analytical investigation so far, 'kinda like a cool dude to be honest', a very standard but not meaningless grade.

"Well, as someone's who's kinda sorta from here, thanks a bunch!" She giggles, smiling broadly enough to try and elide the words she chose.

"Is there like, a club or something I can join for the whole 'wandering where needed' thing, or is it a gig worker kinda deal?" She snorts playfully.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Gai smiles a little. "I appreciate you saying so, it's something I work hard at."

May's question, however playful, offers the wanderer an insight into her, and his brow furrows a little in curiosity. "You want to help everyone you can too, huh? Well... The way I fell into this lifestyle is not a way I would recommend to anyone else, honestly."

He thinks for a moment. "What's your best subject?"

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

"Seems like the kinda thing you'd sorta have to, really, but be super worth it!" May notes. She also liked working hard, for people or otherwise.

She bashfully shrugs a bit at his assessment. "I just kinda care a lot about people I guess...people are awesome, so it's always fun but also...fulfilling, I guess, for me to reach out in any way I can. There's a lot to love about others, I've found."

Her eyebrows leap and knit closer a bit as she ponders his question, tapping the side of her chin with a pointer finger.

"Huh...well, I'm sure I don't have to say I did pretty good at English." She giggles. "And music too. And I've...kinda been a straight A+ student in everything since I work so hard at it." She blushes a bit shyly at that. "But probably my favourite out of the non-music stuff would be social studies...sociology stuff in particular. All that stuff I said about people, and everything." She allows herself to lean in with a self-satisfied smirk this once. "And being able to mindmap like an absolute beast, to be honest."

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

"Social studies, huh...? Maybe a career focusing on that might be your speed, if you want to help people?"

Gai Kurenai has no idea what kind of career that would suggest, so he pivots.

"A long time ago, I stayed with a group who were really into folklore and other paranormal phenomena - cryptids, the relationship between kaiju and the biosphere, and the like. They were trying to make their blog about that kind of stuff really popular, and the information they were able to dig up helped save a lot of lives. Maybe something like that?"

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

"Huh, yeah..." May thinks to herself. "Gotta have a side-gig to pay the bills and everything, sadly I haven't evolved to be able to sustain physically on the love of my craft musically, very much a work in progress there." She chuckles glibly.

On a more serious note, she was visibly in thought about it. Like she said, seeing where life took her...

Gai's anecdote draws a fascinated expression, eyes a little wide as she nods along to his story. "Oh yeah, jeez, I can imagine...that's some serious stuff! Not gonna lie, I'm thinking about that kinda thing a lot more recently because uh," She gestures upward, to the sky outside, then around. "The everything around here. World's clearly a lot bigger than I thought!"

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

"... Maybe once you graduate, you could apply for an internship with STORAGE? Maintaining the world's relationship with kaiju, making sure they don't run rampant too often and trying to preserve the environmental balance is their whole deal. If you find other musicians in the course of that, you can always just make a band in your spare time." Gai grins.

"Yeah. It's a wider, weirder world than many people give it credit for. Kind of exciting to have it waiting for you, huh?"

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

"Haha! You know just how to speak my language, buddy!" May laughs delightedly as she leans forward and gives a cute lil fingergun, which swiftly transitions into pointing at her chin and sitting back once more. "It's definitely something worth considering tho, for real...thanks a lot." She gives a small, soft smile towards him.

"And I love it for that!" She cheerfully nods. "And hell yeah it is...especially since..." She trails off, not sure how to finish that thought considering what might potentially slip aloud.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

He shrugs. "There's plenty I need to learn about this world, too, just talking about what I do know." His own peculiar phrasing, but it's accompanied by a warm smile.

He ponders a moment as May trails off. "I think it's good to be excited about the unknown, rather than afraid of it. Discovering new things - about the world, about yourself - can't ever be a bad thing, can it?"

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

May nods, quietly grateful that he fills the silent moment, her smile warm and...also somewhat knowing. "Oh trust me...I definitely know that one for sure. You're super right! Wide, weird, bring it on!"

The conversation is diverted a little as she takes a moment to finally actually order something to eat, after a stomach grumble pipes up shortly after to her bemusement.

"Anyway," She turns back to him afterward. "This was...a really helpful bunch of stuff for me to think about, actually. Thanks a bunch, Gai."

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Gai beams. "Happy to help! The yakisoba's really good here, by the way."

With May focused on her own meal, the sunset wanderer slips off his own stool. "Right. I'm gonna get back out there. Never know when someone might need the rescue team on patrol, and all!"

He picks up his hat off the couch, tipping it to May. "See you around, miss Morseland!"

And like that he's gone, throwing his long duster coat on as he leaves the Junk Shop.

<Pose Tracker> May Morseland has posed.

"Glad I'm gonna see for myself then! Or, taste, rather, you know." May chuckles as she turns to see him off.

"Of course! Stuff definitely do keep on happening tho," She giggles, giving him a fond wave. "You too, Gai! Have a good one! Seeya round!"

As he departs, she gives one last small smile before turning back to greet the eventually oncoming yakisoba.

Yeah, she'd definitely call this one another great day. Of many to come.