6/26/2006
[If you don't know what Gantz looks like by now... but hey, I'll throw in his desc again too.]
Gantz
You may have seen attitude and confidence before but maybe not like this. The vulpine in question is a bit taller than average, lean, lithe, and toned, not unlike many other young males around the same age. But the usual, clear smirk on his short, elegantly tapered muzzle (at the tip of which is a small, dark brown nose of equal elegance), the thin, black, typically furrowed brows, and the eyelids half lowered in a discerning manner over his sky blue, almond-shaped eyes are all distinctly smug features. Most Mobians don't have the station or the sheer power to develope such consistant condescension towards everyone. Especially not to their face. Gantz clearly doesn't share this limitation.
If one bothers to continue looking longer, the rest of him is of equal interest. Most of Gantz's body is covered in pure black, sleek fur, except for the saffron interior of his large, triangular ears and the fuzzy patch covering the lower half of his face, including the long spike of fur sticking out of each cheek, the triangular patchs over his eyes, and the thin blaze that goes up the bridge of his snout. The fur on the top of his head is very smooth and pulled back into a long, slender ponytail near the nape of his neck. Perched securely on his forehead are a pair of reddish-brown leather goggles, that usually remain resting there when not in use, and somewhere, in the general area of his neck, is a large, thick ruff of fur that starts out black in the center and quickly spreads out into a golden cream color much like that on his face. Beneath this distinctive but unusual mane is a perpetually open, red jacket made of thin material.
Over his big, masculine hands, and the snug sleeves of his jacket, are a pair of almost immaculately white gloves that widen near his elbows. Under all of this is a light grey shirt and a pair of close fitting grey pants that are shoved into a pair of bulky but fitted, knee-high black boots. Around his waist is a reddish-brown belt filled with bullets clips and holstered on each side are a pair of unusual red laser pistols with an elongated star emblazoned on their rectangular, blunt muzzles. Sometimes he can be seen carrying a slightly more normal looking revolver (that is nearly as large as himself and with four barrels) over one shoulder quite casually, as if it belonged there. Should he take notice of you or should his bushy, yet stumpy, black tail begin to wag... it might be time to run.
[ Gantz saw you looking at him. ]
The sun beats down across Station City in a tangible wave. The pavement reflects the heat like a mild oven, sending many for cover inside. The rest are either forced out into the open air by duty or have other methods of cooling down, such as the pool at the Hotel. In Gantz's case, he has opted to buy a vanilla icecream cone from a nearby icecream shop. Somewhere, in Station City, there is a park, full of grass and trees. The black fox was enjoying the semi-natural sights, even musing over some of the flowers planted in decorative little bunches near the sidewalk. But eventually the heat and the exercise wore him down. Of course, if he were wearing lighter or just plain less clothing, one might suggest he would feel cooler. No one who wants to keep their kidneys intact would do this, however.
So, Gantz is resting languidly on a park bench, licking up his single scoop of icecream and contemplating just how damp his fur must be from all the sweat. He's in a good mood overall, though. His little plan with the brown package went flawlessly, as far as he can tell.
*Zwweeeeing! Chugchugchugchug... SPLASH*
A five foot nine each cylinder on a wheel goes careening through the park, belching out black smoke in a continual stream, it then barrels right into the small pond in the middle of the park, disappearing in an odd gurgling sound as black smoke filled bubbles flow up to the surface and a little black oil starts to pollute the pond. The bubbles stop after a few short moments, apparently the coffee table robot has lost its will to live. Sensoo comes walking after it, a small remote single display gizmo held in her hand, though she's watching the pond where the robot disappeared into.
o O ( ... )
She thinks to herself, ugh, it's hot and gross out, she hates the heat so much, but she tolerates it of course, because you tolerate things you can't change. Not that the thought of atmospheric machines hasn't crossed her mind before, she just doubts everyone else would enjoy winter all year round like she would. She comes to a stop at the edge of the pond, a frown coming over her face. She gives an internal sigh, shoving her braid to dangle behind her back.
Sensoo
Here stands a snow leopard at the height of five feet and seven inches with soft white fur adorning her entire body, marked with darker striped patterns along the arms, legs, and tail. Her face however, is left stripe free with a pair of light green eyes to look out upon the world. Flowing down from the top of her head is matching colored white hair, though getting a closer look you find that her bangs have either been dyed blue, or that the natural color is growing back in. Her hair hangs down to the middle of her back in a thick and full wave with one of the front locks done up in a long briad that hangs all the way down to her feet, right close to brushing the floor at times. Two leopard ears poke out of either side of her head, parting the hair where they do; attached to the left is a large golden looped earring. She wears a generally basic outfit, a pair of white sweats that fit loosely on her, though you can still tell she's in a good trim shape due to her blue halfshirt that shows off her mid-riff and ample bosom. Finally, resting upon the snow leopard's feet are a pair of flipflops. http://charis2.servegame.com/muckpics/sensoo.jpg
[ Sensoo saw you looking at her. ]
Of course, the minute Gantz sees the smoke, his ears prick up aggressively. He pauses, pondering, but then decides that the heat has made him lazy. With a mild whimper, he pulls himself up off the bench and wanders closer to where the smoke seems to be coming from.
There is the soft tap-tap-tap of somewhat cushioned boots (meant to be silent, not loud) and before long, a lean, dark figure appears by Sensoo's side. He looks at the icky mess in the water and then at the familiar control in the snow leopard's aggitated hand. Then he looks back at the water and licks his icecream cone before it can start to melt all over his white glove.
"Hrmm... I think there's a law against littering," he comments, having discerned that the situation is tame and thankfully doesn't require some show of exceptional bounty hunter prowess.
Sensoo wonders how she's going to get it out of there. She taps a few buttons on the controller, trying to get it to respond and get itself out, of course, nothing happens.
"I'm sorry," she says to the water, or well, what's now been placed in the water. She turns her head towards Gantz as he comes over, a smile playing over her face despite the current situation.
"Gantz! Hiya," she says cheerfully, then looks back to the pond, and then around the park itself, furrowing her brow, "If the authorities come, just lie with me and we'll tell them it was a roboticized menace that we bravely took down before it could do any permanent damage."
She then looks back to the pond, hunching down on her knees and wrapping her arms around them, staring intently at the ponds unfathomable depths, "...I hope he's not dead."
She looks up towards Gantz, "The coffee I had on him spilled and he went berserk. I'm not sure if he got coffee in his parts, or he went crazy for failing his one job in life."
Gantz sighs a little at the situation. It's not that he isn't pleased to see Sensoo. And her comments certainly do amuse him. One can tell from the little smirk on his face. But he has an ice cream cone that needs tending to and he really hadn't intended to do anything remotely like work today. Well... not that he ever does anything like work anyway. GUN seems to flail a bit in confusion when it comes to telling him what to do. Not that he dislikes that. If nothing else, he's done more useful things for them on his own incentive than from any order they've yet to give him. (Except for that one time... and the month before. The point is, RECENTLY this has been the case.)
"Here," Gantz says as he holds out his ice cream cone to her, with that same smile, "Hold this. I'll dive in and ask him. Then you won't need to guess anymore."
He pauses a moment, while stretching just a little to get himself ready, then adds, with complete seriousness, "But don't eat it."
In another minute, he's pulled his goggles over his eyes (considering all the oil in there now, this is a good idea) and jumped in, without even taking off his jacket or gloves or... anything.
Sensoo takes the ice cream cone from Gantz, oh... ice... flavored. She seriously has her mouth open and tongue out when Gantz tells her not to eat it. Reluctantly, she pulls it away, looking sullen. How cruel. She guesses she deserves it for messing up the nice pond like that, but really... she watches Gantz head on in, a small sweatdrop forming on the back of her head.
"Be careful, he's heavy," she tells him.
She was planning on going in there and getting her fur and clothes all oily and gross, but hey, if Gantz wants to do it... She looks at the ice cream cone, she really shouldn't eat it... She looks away, her tail curling and uncurling as temptation floods over her. If it just weren't so hot outside! Meanwhile, Gantz will find the robot down right in the middle of the depths of the pond, its wheels have tangled in weeds and two of its four limbs have popped out in what was a brief struggle against the underwater vines. Now, it just sits there, leaking fluids. Oh, yes, it also weighs a good seventy pounds.
Gantz does indeed find the heavy thing. Luckily for Gantz, he's used to lugging around huge lumps of metal that are nearly as heavy as himself if not moreso. The only difference is, these are usually guns strapped to his back and he's normally on dry land. Being under water and trying to drag something to the surface is another matter entirely.
Gantz briefly pops up for air. He's a strong swimmer but he's not as accomplished at holding his breath as someone like Suiryu. He doesn't have the robot with him either. The weeds on the bottom are really stuck in the gears of the robot's arms and he isn't finding it easy to pull them free. Plus, the sludge is affecting his vision, even with the goggles on. He spits out some of the polluted water before speaking.
"Do you have a knife... or anything else sharp? It's trapped. I can't exactly shoot it free, I might blast a hole in it."
Sensoo is staring at Gantz's ice cream cone in her hand when Gantz pops up, licking her lips and fanning herself with the gizmo controller, which gives her at least the illusion a breeze is cooling her off. She looks over at Gantz when he surfaces and speaks.
"A knife..." She says, trailing off as she thinks.
She looks down at herself, she's just wearing her sweats and top; it's not like there's anywhere to keep much stuff, but hey, it's comfortable. Well, maybe she should invest in shorts or a skirt if this weather keeps up. She's used to just being inside where the AC can be cranked up really high. "Just my fangs," she says towards Gantz, giving him a fanged smile.
She then remembers Gantz is doing her a favor and she should really try to be more helpful.
"Want me to come in and help?" she offers, then looks to the ice cream cone, some of it melting down onto her fingers. She looks quickly back to Gantz, then back to the ice cream cone, then back to Gantz, starting to get a frantic look on her face.
"My hands getting sticky," she informs him, hoping that he'll suggest she just lick it clean... and it won't be her fault if she accidently licks the whole cone, at least not in her mind.
Gantz grumbles, realizing that Sensoo will be of no help in this situation. He also realizes that his ice cream cone is rapidly dying in Sensoo's hand and realizes there really is no way to save it, as his own hands are now filthy from the sludge in the water. With exceptional regret, he flattens his ears and shakes his head.
"No, don't bother. Just... do something with the ice cream. It might as well not go to waste," he grumbles.
Besides, at least a good look woman would be eating it and... umm, it's almost like kissing with several degrees of seperation? Or something. Either way, he won't kill her for it. It was his own stupid idea to get himself dirty and wet. What WAS he thinking? Oh, that's right... the heat had gone to his brain. That's his excuse.
Shortly after, Gantz submerges again. There is a splash and a large set of ripples that spread across the large pond as he does. Several minutes pass by. A light breeze does graze the top of the water. Suddenly, there is an EXPLOSION! The water shakes as a burst of bright light like a miniature sun being born beneath the tiny waves. The oil that slicks the surface seems to turn reddish but fizzles out a bit once it gets to the top, luckily.
In another burst of water, right at the edge, Gantz drags himself up to the ground with one arm flexing muscles that are a lot stronger than they look. He pants as he scrambles ashore, the small coffee table robot tucked under his other arm. The weeds hang down from the legs, dripping as well, and they look... singed? Is that even possible?
Sensoo gets a really, really big smile on her face.
"Great!" she says to Gantz as he disappears into the oil pond again.
She doesn't waste any time, licking the ice cream cone to a quick and fast demise. She's devoured the entire thing within seconds and is busy licking off her fingers when the pond explodes! She leaps back and holds her hands up to stop the inevitable water splash, but really, how much can you shield against water that suddenly goes exploding out into the air? Well, at least it was in the middle of the pond, she's only splotched with the oily water.
"At least I got the ice cream cone down first," she says to her hand, contemplating licking it anyway, despite some of the oil specks on it. She's accidentally tasted oil a number of times, so she eventually realized it's not worth it and looks back to the pond with a frown, wondering if Gantz got hurt.
o O ( Maybe I was wrong and it can explode...I wasn't thinking too well last night. )
Ah, but there's Gantz coming out of the water! She claps happily and hurries over to Gantz, giving a big smile she stretches her arms out wide, like she's about to give a hug, but instead she grabs around the robot, moving to help and haul it away from the pond. "You poor thing." She says to it, though Gantz can feel free to believe she's saying it to him.
Gantz almost reluctantly gives the robot over to Sensoo's loving arms and feels like sulking a little. Maybe he should charge her or something? After all, he's not getting anything out of this. Ahhh, that gives him an idea actually, considering that his ice cream cone is, understandably, nowhere to be found.
As he spits out some more oily water and tries, unsuccessfully, to wipe some of the oil off his muzzle with his equally oily glove, he asks, "You know, I'd really appreciate it if you got me another ice cream cone. Since I sort of ruined any chance of buying you one."
Wait, wait! That was not the best way to say that... but he was trying to come off less cold than he usually does. So it came out a little weird. He starts wringing out his ponytail and shakes himself a little, which sends little droplets hanging off of his neck fur flying all over the place. Oops. His tail droops a little as he realizes he really should probably go home and clean up instead. Especially after nearly setting the park pond on fire.
Sensoo rolls the robot onto its -side-, the two extended limbs pointing up into the air, having got stuck that way in its death throes. She frowns and reaches over, applying pressure at the top of the cylinder and down near the base of the wheel, causing a panel to pop off the side, revealing inside circuitry and wiring. And a whole lot of oily water. The snow leopard's ears and tail both droop as she leans in closer, eyeing it all over.
"Sigh," she says instead of actually sighing.
More alert this day, when Gantz talks she actually understands what he says instead of just hearing it, she looks up towards him. She scrunches her eyes, working over what he said in her mind, and gets a grin on her face.
"Yes, all right."
As her grin slips over into a smile, she looks back to the robot, yanking some wires out to get further into the depths of the machine. She aaaaghs as Gantz more or less shakes himself off, holding up her hands to shield herself.
"Gantz, un-oiled people down here," she says, though it's in a slightly detatched 'I'm thinking of other things right now' voice she used the other night. She decides to just sit down instead of being all hunched, "How far away is the ice cream shop? We can just prop him on his wheel and roll him there and leave him outside for now, I don't think I can fix him anytime soon anyway."
Gantz would apologize for shaking oily water onto Sensoo but he's not really that nice and he's not in the mood to feel like being nice. He does perk up at her suggestion of them going to the ice cream parlor though. Vanilla... he has no idea why he likes vanilla that much. When it comes to food, he tends to like it spicy overall. Shrugging to himself, he nods to her suggestion.
"It's not far from here," he admits, beginning to feel eager once more, and points in the general direction it is in, "Over there, around the corner and down the street a little ways."
He tries scraping some of the water from his fur and flicking his fingers a bit, though not enough to splash it on Sensoo this time. He starts to rub his arms some too. Even though it's very warm, the wet clothes are clinging to him awkwardly and the slight breeze is beginning to give him a little bit of a chill. Even though he has fur, he was completely immersed for long enough that it managed to affect that too (especially thanks to the oil added in.) Plus the pond itself was cold at the very bottom, where the sun couldn't reach all the way and the dispersed heat mainly stayed at the top. He noticibly feels nothing for the little robot's pain and suffering, too caught up in his own, mild as it is.
Sensoo looks off to where Gantz points towards the ice cream shop, then back towards the robot. Sigh, it'd be so much easier to just leave it here and come back later, maybe when that blazing sun had set or something. But, she can't just leave it here, the poor thing. She gets on her knees and moves over, lugging the machine up onto its wheel slowly after setting the gizmo controller on the ground near her.
"Great, I could eat a few gallons with this horrible weather coming down on us," she grunts, standing up once she's righted the robot, and then tilts it back slightly, preparing to move out alongside of Gantz.
"Whew," she says, then looks over to Gantz once more, a smile spreading over her face, "Your ice cream was very tasty."
She looks over to the gizmo and looks back to Gantz.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble he caused," she says, patting the top of the metal plate, then looking back to the controller, she doesn't really want to ask Gantz for more help, since she prefers to be self-sufficent most of the time, but she doesn't have three arms and her tail isn't prehenstile, sadly. "Could you carry the controller for me, please?" she asks, looking back to him and giving a really, really big pleading smile of hope.
Gantz blinks at Sensoo's comment regarding the ice cream and the trouble but shrugs to both as they cancel each other out. He also blinks at Senoo's request but upon seeing the robot filling her arms, and remembering the weight of the thing, he nods his acceptance and takes the controller. When he does, he looks over the thing again, marveling idly at its form. He does wonder what those little buttons were supposed to do when the thing still worked. After all, this robot only HAS one function! Do some of them send it directions while others tell it when to stretch its legs out?
He begins walking in the direction of the ice cream parlor and only after a few minutes realizes he hadn't even checked if Sensoo was following him or even said anything to her.
"Ah... you know, I never did ask... what were you doing before it killed itself?" he begins, trying to think of something to draw upon for 'idle chit-chat'.
Sensoo nods her head in thanks as Gantz gets the remote.
o O ( Phew, good. ) she thinks to herself. She wasn't sure what she'd do if he wouldn't. Well, she supposes she could drop the robot, stick the gizmo in her waistband, and then try to maneouver around like that, despite how inconveinent that might be.
She stares down at the metal plate atop the robot as she begins to follow Gantz, rolling the thing along in front of her, hands gripped tightly on the sides. What was she doing before now? Her brain tends to scatter itself as events occur, and she has to pick the pieces back up later as she does so now, remaining quiet for a bit as the wheel begins to make little squeak squeak noises everytime it rolls, making her wince at the sound. With all that oil in there you'd think it wouldn't be squeaking, grr.
"I was drinking my coffee," she says, even though that's very obvious, "And dreaming of making some atmosphere robots that control the weather. It'd be rather difficult, but I think it's possible. Wouldn't it be nice, snow all the time?"
She's used to a negative response to this, but hey, once in awhile she gets people who also prefer cold over heat. Maybe Gantz will be one of them.
Gantz has a little bead of sweat in particular over her comment of snow all the time. Oh. Well, she IS a snow leopard, he does know enough about cats to understand this. But even so...
"I suppose but wouldn't having snow all the time get old quickly? Besides, having some rotation between spring and fall would be the best of both worlds, with an occasional foray into summer when you want to go swimming and winter when you want to have a snowball fight," Gantz points out.
Then Gantz clears his throat, "Or if you were truly good at it, maybe just making one area snow all the time and leaving the other areas to follow through nature or be something else. You could have summer right beside winter... let your companion throw a snow ball and then make sure you're closest to summer so you can run right over and laugh when the snow turns into water before hitting you."
His eyes begin to gleam as the ultimate utility of this invention takes hold of his mind. He grins a very toothy grin as he looks at Sensoo, his empty hand clenched into an excited fist.
"And if you really wanted to annoye someone, you'd have ANY type of weather at your finger tips! Sensoo! This would be the most amazing thing, ever, if you created it!" he admits proudly, while his short, dripping tail begins twitching rapidly with obvious interest. It's so small that it won't cause much of a splash effect.
Sensoo listens as Gantz expounds on her idea, raising an eyebrow, clearly impressed by his imagination and creativeness. She nods her head softly at all of his words. o O ( That's a much better response than I thought I'd get. )
She begins eyeing Gantz over and then looking down to the metal plate between her hands. Hmmm. She lets her mind wander, going over just how hard it would truly be to make a weather machine or maybe a weather robot. It'd take a whole lot of spare and broken parts, but maybe with enough...
"I'll start experimenting with it," she says, almost adding that it would be in her spare time, but remembers she doesn't have that much free time, and she's always working on gadgets in her free time anyway.
"Maybe if I can combine parts from destroyed ice spewing and fire spewing robots, modify what they have... Hm..."
Her tail twitches in interest as her mind continues down this tract. She'll be silent for the rest of the trip to the ice cream shop unless Gantz can pull her attention away.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, Gantz is also wrapped up in his own thoughts after she mentions that she intends to give it a shot. He starts to consider other robots that would be just as interesting or more useful than the weather machine/robot. Some are weird. Some are random. Some are funny. Many are based on some of the robots he's seen in the few instances he was somewhere within Robotnik's Empire (which isn't hard to do, given that the New Mobian Empire covers much of the planet.) It isn't until they reach the door of the ice cream parlor, which he opens for Sensoo since her hands are full, that Gantz even remembers Sensoo is there. Of course, he doesn't know that it's a gentlemanly thing to do because no one ever instructed him on how to be a gentleman before. (His father had been more concerned with general manners and getting Gantz to stop shooting everyone he met with his water gun.)
As the door chimes, it has a seemingly Pavlov effect on him. Gantz begins to drool a little, which he tries to wipe off with the back of the hand still carrying the controller. For this effort, he gets a bit of the oil taste in his mouth and sticks out his tongue in disgust. Great! Now he's just confused.
Sensoo was planning on leaving little coffee holder robo here outside to spare the store from having to clean up little watery oil drops on their floor. But, well, she's lost in the world of her mind, where she spends most of her time anyway, and so wheels it right on inside without a second thought as Gantz opens the door for her, barely registering she's entered a shop until the stimulus of the temperature sends happiness flooding through her.
"Ah, coldness!" she says, looking up and around.
She looks down at the robot, glancing back behind her. Well, it'd only look guilty if she wheeled it right back out, and then they'd probably ask her to clean it up as well. So, she'll just play it off as normal and walk right up to the counter with it. *squeaksqueaksqueak* She looks inside at all of the different flavors, not managing to keep her mouth from hanging open, but able to keep from drooling.
"Oh... they all look so cold and so good," she says, possibly to Gantz this time, but it's really just to herself.
Realizing she's sort of snubbing the person who brought her here, she forces her attention away from the ice cream to look towards him. She stares for a bit, trying to think of something nice to say, but nothing comes to mind. Well...
"Vanilla for you?" she decides to ask. There, other person spoken too.
6/27/2006
Gantz crosses his arms over his chest and rubs them (awkwardly, when it comes to the hand still holding the controller) as he lets go of the door. Yes, the AC is... immediately very chilly for soaking wet Gantz. His triangular ears begin to droop a little at this sudden additional discomfort and he sighs a bit, which almost comes out as a visible puff of air. He blinks as he notices this but is quickly distracted by Sensoo near the counter, asking him something. He realizes she said something about vanilla and cocks his head to the side as he nods. Straightening up, he holds his chin high and decides to play off his unfortunate condition.
"Vanilla... would be good," Gantz admits, "Just a scoop. Maybe with some hot fudge this time?"
Normally Gantz would never dare to cover the delicious beauty that is vanilla with anything (except maybe butterscotch) but the idea of at least something a little warm on his ice cream would make him feel a tad bit better right now. Why oh why didn't he just go home and change first? Hell, he could've invited her along! Though... she probably wouldn't have come if he did but oh well.
Sensoo nods at Gantz and looks towards the attendant with a pleased smile, so cold, so cold. So perfect.
"Scoop of vanilla with hot fudge on top and..." she looks down to the ice cream again, her smile growing every so slightly as her left ear twitches, "I want a bowl with a scoop of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, rocky road, raspberry, blueberry, mint, licorice, caramel ripple, and cotton candy. Then dump sprinkls all over it and cover it with chocolate, butterscoth, and strawberry syrup. Great, thanks!"
She turns away from the attendant, who thought it was a joke at first and then actually begins preparing the order. Sensoo's eyes settle down on her broken robot, frowning a bit. o O ( He's so broke. )
She glances at the menu and ahs! "And a scoop of coffee flavor!"
Yes! Hopefully, it has caffeine in it. Caffeine is good; very, very good. Oh yeah, Gantz is still here. She moves over to one of the small tables and sets the robot down on the floor, pulling out a chair and sitting down; pushing out the other with her foot, for Gantz to sit in.
"Thanks for showing me this place," she says after a moment.
Gantz blinks as Sensoo orders hers and thought it was a joke at first too. He simply continues watching her this whole time, not having much else to do, and blinks when he notices her push out the chair for him. He sits down in it gratefully, after which he rests his elbow on the table and uses his hand to prop up his cheek as he regards Sensoo as casually as possible. He's not trying to stare, he just can't think of anything to say until he notices the robot again.
"Oh, think nothing of it. I'm sure you would've found it eventually," Gantz says, waving away her thanks with nonchalant pleasure, before adding, "By the way... I've been wondering. Sorry if this is a little forward but... well, that's how I am. Why do you like robots, if you don't mind my asking?"
Oh, he's kind of putting her on the spot but he doesn't realize it. After all, if someone asked him why he likes guns so much, he wouldn't be quite certain how to answer them.
Sensoo nods her head at Gantz saying to think nothing of it, sure, she can do that. She looks over as they continue preparing her mega bowl of ice cream; it's gonna be so good, why can't they scoop faster? They should get an automatic scooping machine... maybe she should suggest it to them later, but, surely they've though of it? Maybe it'd be too expensive for just a little ice cream shop. Hmm... oh wait, Gantz is still talking. She looks back to him, catching the last part of his question. She frowns slightly, though not from sadness, and looks over to the poor drowned robot on the floor next to her. She reaches out and taps her toes on the metal frame softly, as if patting it in a patronizing manner, or maybe a loving manner, tough call.
"Why..." she says to herself, trailing off as her memory inevitably pulls back to the roboticization factory she used to work, and all those people she vicitimized every few days. Mass production at its best. She frowns more and grabs ahold of her braid with both hands, wringing it through her fingers slowly.
"Oh, just shut up," she says, shaking her head. She's talking to herself of course, but really, Gantz might pick up on it.
Either way, Sensoo turns her attention back to him, forcing a smile onto her face, "Let's make it a guessing game. You guess why I do and everytime you get it wrong, you tell me a secret of yours."
She gets up and moves over to the counter, since their orders are ready.
Gantz's ears prick and his eyebrows arch with interest at this suggestion. Then he chuckles, more to himself than to Sensoo. He did pick up on that softly spoken 'shut up' but assumed it wasn't directed at him. Or if it was... well, he doesn't care. He waits until she returns to answer.
"You're a gambling woman, I see, and you assume I'm a gambling man? Hrmm, interesting proposition. I don't have a lot of secrets, though, so let's see how this game plays out."
Gantz ponders the possible reasons for why Sensoo might take to robots. This can't really be that hard, can it? Unless she starts lying but... that might make it even more interesting.
"You took up robotics because you enjoy science, am I right?" Gantz eventually asks.
Sensoo sets down the pathetically miniscule scoop of ice cream in front of Gantz, and puts her own giant bowl in front of her seat, she then sits down, pulling out a spoon and beginning too eat, closing her eyes.
o O ( Oh, so, so tasty. ) She thinks to herself, her ear cocking as she listens to what Gantz has to say. They are having a conversation, afterall, and though she might not have many, preferring to spend most of her time around machines and robots, she knows it's rather rude to just ignore someone after striking up a conversation in the first place. Still, she takes her time before opening her eyes again, eating a few scoops of ice cream beforehand in fact, and then looking towards Gantz, gesturing at him with her spoon and a fanged smile on her face.
"Yes, I love science; no, that's not why I took up robotics."
She stares at him mutely for a bit, her spoon just dangling in the air and pointing at him, as if she's going to say more, but, after a solid ten seconds of silence she decides to add nothing further, and goes back to eating her ice cream.
Gantz decides to take the time to dig into his own scoop with a spoon. Though it is smaller, the addition of hot fudge (and no request for a cone; not to mention his current dirty and bedraggled state) means it was best served in a cup. Gantz slurps the heated fudge and slippery vanilla down with nearly as much relish as Sensoo is doing, taking care not to get oil in his food. It's warm and cool at the same time, deceptively solid, and sweet but mild. He licks his spoon while he contemplates what her answer means. So, he has to tell a secret, does he? What to say... what to say?
"Hrmm... so I have to talk about myself? That's a bit boring but fine. All right, how's this? It's not exactly a secret but... I try to keep it to myself, when possible, which is usually the case. I get... my stomach gets a little weak on boats. I avoid them, if I can."
Well, not that... nausea is the best thing to discuss right now but it doesn't remove his appetite for the delicate pile of moist sugar in front of him.
"Now... what else? I bet you took to robots because you like them better than you do people."
Sensoo continues her ice cream feast, watching Gantz as he speaks, forcing herself to keep her attention on just one thing rather than a bunch like she does when she's working alone. It's easy to think about what you're going to do later when you're just doing manual labor you could basically do in your sleep, which she tends to do more or less. She gets to the coffee ice cream and winces an eye, deciding coffee should not be an ice cream flavor, but she eats it anyway; hopefully there's caffeine in it.
"Seasickness," she says, contemplating that over as her spoon runs along the edge of the bowl, grabbing a bunch of syrup and licking it off the spoon. When Gantz places his next guess, she stares at him with her spoon hanging in her mouth, her thoughts wandering off again to consider how to answer him.She pulls the spoon out and shakes her head.
"It's true; I like robots better than Mobian company, but that's not why I took to them either," she says, then looks over to the expired coffee table holder at her feet.
"AI's are interesting to talk to also, but most of them lack imagination and creativity. Well, some of them are programmed for imagination and creativity, but it's never perfect, as with everything artificial. It takes a real brain to bridge that gap. Though roboticization often just enslaves the mind and changes it to metal anyway, defeating that. Still, if you could... ah, hello," she says, bringing her attention back to Gantz, giving a faint smile, "Started rambling... I'm done now. Keep guessing."
Gantz blinks as she starts to explain things at length. Well, she is correct. Even he understands this distinction. Though, there's that word again, roboticization. Not that people don't mention it. (After all, that's the word that changed the world of Mobius forever. Nothing will ever be the same again, even if they win the battle against Robotnik.) But it does make him recall the evening at the Outpost a little and... oh, it's really nothing though. He starts to ponder what else to tell her. He promised to give secrets if he got it wrong, right?
"... I'm running out of things to say. Hrmm... okay," Gantz admits with a smirk, while leaning forward against the table in a way that shows off the biceps on his slender but suprisingly strong arms as he adds, if a little quieter, "I almost always go commando."
Yes, that IS what he means. He waits to see Sensoo's reaction to this before putting forth another theory. He's starting to run out of ideas on that front too.
Sensoo is continually consuming her ice cream as they speak; she doesn't have a problem with getting those head cold rushes, no. And if they do come, she welcomes them! Well, sometimes.
At the revelation from Gantz, her spoon falls out of her hand, but her fingers wiggle and twist, knocking the spoon back and forth before it actually hits the table and managing to grip it again just before it does. She's dropped a lot of tools over the years and her reflexes are to not let them drop down into the fusion core you're currently working on. It just so happens it works with spoons too. She tilts her head to the side.
"Well," she says, her mind drawing a blank on just what to say to that. I mean, what do you say? Maybe she should laugh nervously or make some dirty joke, or just ignore it completly? Ah, she likes that third option, but adds a teasing smile at the end of it, there. She then moves onto some of the licorice scoop, combining it with the raspberry. Ice cream, so good.
Gantz just lets out a tiny sigh as Sensoo only reacts vaguely to his comment, by flailing around after her spoon. Oh well. It's better than how some of them have reacted. Er, not to that! Seriously, he doesn't go spreading the word that he doesn't wear underwear. Not that it would matter in the long run but he does have SOME concept of what can be safely brought up in a normal conversation. He crosses his arms on the table and begins licking up the last of the syrupy fudge and frosty vanilla off of his own spoon. Ahh, so good. Though he feels no warmer than he did before. Still, he's getting used to it, even though his bedraggled fur is trying to puff out more than usual, in an effort to keep him warm while it slowly dries.
"Let me see. You didn't take to robots because you liked science or because you prefer robotic company," Gantz murmurs as he thinks aloud, inbetween licks of his little red tongue.
Then he begins to nod as he gets an idea, "I think... that maybe you do it simply because you find it easy. Am I correct?"
Sensoo has devoured about a third of the total ice cream, even as it's begun to slowly melt itself together, but hey, if it melts completly like that, it becomes a milkshake, doesn't it? Well, if she had more milk; they might sell it here... She glances over at the menu as Gantz begins to speak, eyeing it over closely and not turning back to him until she's found the milk up there. Good, she'll keep eating at a normal pace and let it melt if it wants too. o O ( Oh, blast. )
"You win," she says in a slightly bland tone, popping in a spoonful of chocolate ice cream, letting it melt in her mouth awhile before swallowing it down, "It's all just really easy for me, so I started working on them when I was young. Then, everything else, preferring their company, liking science and its principles came after. Plus..."
She looks over to the defunct robot on the floor.
"... Nobody really looks after them the way they should, not really. Somebody has to. Most people would just turn this into scrap it's so damaged, but how cruel is that?" she says, looking back towards Gantz, her eyes actually look on the verge of tears.
She doesn't expect Gantz to understand or anything though. Nobody really understands what she means at times like this. More ice cream will fix all problems however; chomp.
Gantz seems to relax visibly and slouches comfortably in his chair as she tells him that he's correct this time. Now he doesn't have to admit that he still hasn't been on a date with anyone yet. His incredible intelligence has saved his pride once more!
He begins to frown a little as she starts explaining how she feels that robots need to be treated as if they have feelings and needs too. Not because he doesn't understand where she's coming from. He's emotionally attached to every single one of his guns (his babies, though he'd never tell anyone that) and his hovering motorcycle. Hell, he's attached to many of the articles of clothing that he's currently wearing. Most people might say that Mobians are more worthy of such care than any machine but he doesn't hold to that theory either. His many descriptive nicknames as a bounty hunter all point to his seeming 'lust for money' and his lack of concern for killing people. In fact, he tends to choose D.O.A. bounties mostly because if something goes wrong then he'll still get paid. The idea of one person's life being worth more than anyone else's leaves him feeling a bit more cold inside than the AC and the water, still clinging to his body, combined. And yet, the idea that everyone's life is of equal worth unsettles him too. There is no easy answer and he begins to brood now because of it.
"... Sensoo, I have another question for you," Gantz asks, lifting his head and looking her in the eye with a surprisingly cold, serious gaze, "Have you heard of anyone by the name of Janga?"
Sensoo shakes her head at Gantz's question, closing her eyes as she takes another bite of ice cream. She reigns in her emotions for a good half a minute before opening her eyes again, she enjoys long pauses, it gives her time to think, and really, if the other person just thinks she's kind of slow in the head, that just gives her the advantage over them anyway.
"Never," she says, tilting her head to the side, reaching her hand to tuck some stray bangs back where they belong. She glances Gantz up and down briefly, noting his general body posture and how it's changed, not to mention the whole tone.
"Enemy of yours?" she asks, after another bite of ice cream has fallen prey to her desires.
"He murdered my father," is all that Gantz is willing to say, after a minute of silence; eyes now closed as he seems to contemplate the back of his eyelids.
Then he decides to shrug off his bad mood. His arms still crossing over one another on the table, he leans forward and rests his narrow chin on his forearms. His ears are now pricked with interest, though he seems to be watching Sensoo's spoon without really seeing it.
"You're very smart, Sensoo," he comments, almost out of nowhere. It's clear that he is sensible enough to notice subtleties. He realizes, for instance, that Klonoa is perfectly intelligent, just somewhat gullible when it comes to various topics that he knows little about. His impression of Sensoo's slowness is not that she is foolish, but that she is taking her time like a sage that knows the right answers, even if they are instantly apparent, but feels that they should never be rushed.
Sensoo frowns at Gantz's words and looks down into her ice cream bowl. Halfway done with it now, her stomach wasn't as big as it thought it was, but she can't just let this ice cream go to waste. Plus, if she finishes, she'll have no reason to sit in here and will go back out into the heat. Then she won't be able to keep talking to Gantz, who does seem to manage to hold her attention more than most people can (but she's not in her shop, working on machine's right now either, so that's helping at least.)
"I'll keep my ears, eyes, and robots open for any information leading to his whereabouts for you," she intones solemnly, deciding to just eat a gob of strawberry syrup minus the ice cream. o O ( So full; so willing to just keep eating anyway. )
She looks back to Gantz and blinks twice, her head pulling back in awkward suprise. Her left ear twitches and a fang revealing smile comes upon her face.
"You're very perceptive," she says, then gives a soft laugh, wondering if that wasn't a bit too pompous. She supposes it was, but it's not like anyone is going to call her on being pompous, so it doesn't really matter in the end. Hm.
o O ( Maybe that line of thinking -is- what makes you pompous... that would be inconvienent. )
Speaking of pompous, the sometimes-king of pompous is currently sitting across from Sensoo. But he doesn't know that he is. As far as he's concerned, he's just so amazing that anyone who doesn't realize it is beyond absurd. Hrmm... he randomly wonders where Shadow is just now... oh, no matter.
"Thanks. In my line of work, it's the difference between being alive and being a gooey splatter on the ground," Gantz points out with an odd amount of smugness.
And now he falls silent again, contemplating Sensoo's ice cream. He's still kind of hungry, but the chill of the room is still getting to him terribly. And his clothes feel weird. With a sigh, Gantz decides he really should go back to his apartment and change before he leaves himself open to pneumonia or something else like it.
He chuckles briefly, before scooting his chair back and standing up straight and tall. He hates to leave the company of anyone who's actually interesting but even now he's starting to sneeze a little. Aww, poor baby.
Gantz waves his hand to her a little, saying regretfully, "It was a pleasure seeing you again but I should probably go. I appreciate your help, too. Janga with the Poison Claws is... disturbingly hard to find. And it isn't as if I don't have connections. If you ever need a gun for hire, let me know. I'm often at the GUN Outpost, if not just around in general. And thank you again for the ice cream, as well. I suppose I really shouldn't have asked but in a world like this, it's hard getting by without expecting something in return, you know?"
Sensoo nods her head at all of Gantz's words, watching him stand up and prepare to leave. She considers standing up and shaking his hand in farewell or some such thing, but it might turn awkward, so she'll just remain seated. Besides, he's sort of all wet and oily. And while that's okay on machines, on mobians it's not so hot, so the idea of making contact with Gantz's hand right now affirms her decision. She's started twirling her spoon around the ice cream, slowly mixing everything into one big melty glob of goodness, mostly because she's full now and is buying time for her stomach to get a little less so. But now that Gantz is leaving she can just sit here for as long as she wants and take even more time with it, so it's not all bad that he's leaving. Oh, right, she should be saying goodbye here.
"I'll remember. I run a shop out at Metal Harbor. I'm usually there, unless I'm over here doing something for GUN. But, the mocha I had here was better than the one's over there, so it might be worth the ride for random drop by's."
She eats a scoop of congealed ice cream, oh wait, she didn't say goodbye, so much to remember when you're talking to live people.
"Bye then," she says, after a brief pause.
Ah, yes, the oil. Gantz has been ignoring the oil part. Hell, he does some work on his own motorcycle and cleans his guns regularly. But the water, though he has nothing against water, is surprisingly bugging him more. Probably because, with oil in his fur, his fur can't puff out properly to keep him warm and keep the water off of the skin beneath. All the more reason for him to get back to his shower and maybe a soothing bath as soon as possible.
Gantz gives Sensoo a cool, two-fingered wave when she says bye and winks at her because he is the most awesome thing ever of course, saying simply, "Duly noted."
Then he turns his back on her and wanders over to the door. As soon as he pushes it open, it jingles again. The sound makes his ears prick, leaves a tingling feeling at the nape of his hairy neck, and he's glad his back is to Sensoo as he suddenly begins to drool inexplicably. DAMN IT. He must come into this ice cream parlor way too often. It's not good living so close to this darned place. (Though it's better than going to the Twinkle Cafe to get the very same thing. Distance and Twinkle Park being right beside it are two firm reasons against this.) (
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