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Breakout
Topic Started: Feb 24 2015, 10:03 PM (664 Views)
D.Va
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Nerf This!
"Well, that's interesting."

While the rest of Monica's Airsoft team had come to Japan primarily for a major tournament at Abosisa Survival Game Field, Monica had come more for the chance to see the center of the Gunpla community, G-Muse. They had landed in Japan on a Thursday night, went to Abosisa Friday morning to pay the entrance fee for the tournament, decided to spend a few hours playing a few rounds of Speedball, and left at 6:30 at night. And to Monica's surprise, she had been across the street from G-Muse the whole day.

When the rest of the team told her they were heading back to the hotel, Monica handed them her Airsoft gear and told them she'd meet them back at the hotel and that she'd catch a taxi back. G-Muse might be closing in a few hours, but Monica wanted to see it up close and personal as soon as possible; If she missed out on anything, she'd just make sure she caught it on a second visit later on.

Once inside, Monica was surprised to see just how much Gunpla there was- It had never occured to her back home just how much there could be, even with Gundam's history dating back to the end of the 70's. Still, the young woman quickly found herself gravitating towards the Universal Century kits- Something about the suits caught her attention, especially the late-UC Federation suits like the Jesta and Jegan and Jamesgun. It was less their designs than the more normal-style armaments that drew her attention, although the fairly tactical designs did catch her attention too.

"Hmm... What to get..." Monica muttered to herself, looking over the kits available, when something caught her eye. The HGBF Ez-SR, sitting tucked under a pile of unsold Zakrellos, whatever those ugly things are. Something about the suit called out to her... though she wasn't sure just what. Perhaps the different loadout combinations that seemed possible? At any rate, Monica picked the box up and headed to the register to buy it. She'd heard about there being building stations and even a Gunpla Battle arcade at G-Muse too, so she figured she'd try building the kit and trying it out as soon as possible...

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RottenVanilla
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"That's a good kit." A calm but strong voice came from Monica's side. The voice was clearly american but had a regional accent. Hawaiian maybe? Keo wasn't looking at Monica but was looking at a different kit near by, a clear, limited edition Char Zaku II custom. The... man(?)... was clearly older than Monica. Keo towered over Monica and, despite having a rather punk style to themself, Keo gave off a warm and calm feeling. Keo wore a V neck and had a hooded vest that was unzipped and open. A pair of sunglasses hung from the Vneck. Keo had skinny jeans and leather boots on, their ears full of piercings. "For beginners. Picking up a hobby?" Keo cracked a soft smile at Monica as they finally glanced over at the girl.
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D.Va
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When Monica heard the voice beside her, she turned to see who it was coming from. To her surprise, the calm, strong voice came from a rather handsome, if epicene man, with a rather punk wardrobe, topped off with heavy piercings in their ears. And yet, what stuck with Monica more was the voice, since the man had a sense of warmth and calmness to him...? Actually, Monica wasn't quite sure if it was a feminine man or a masculine woman, but either way, those skinny jeans looked nice on them...

Catching her gaze drift downward before it could linger too long, Monica snapped her attention back to the... Uh, attractive person's face, in time for her to comprehend the question they had just asked. "Ah? Oh, yeah, kind of," Monica started, half chuckling as she spoke. "A friend introduced me to Gunpla Battle recently. I have another kit that we built together, but... Well..." Monica went to grab her Gunpla, a rather beaten up classic GM, from the pouch she usually carried it in, only to remember she was still wearing her Airsoft gear instead; A blue Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hoody over a white Underarmor shirt, and a pair of Dickies cargo pants in digital camo. She had a belt that had a variety of pouches on it too for carrying extra ammo too, but the had her teammates take that back to the hotel with her. Of course, since she was that belt earlier, the belt that had her Gunpla in it would be sitting back in the hotel room.

"Ha, right, right," Monica muttered after a moment of feeling for the pouch on her hip, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone instead, flipping through it for something. "I forgot I came right over here from Abosisa... I think I've got a picture of it here... AH, there it is!" Monica stopped scrolling through her phone and showed the man(?) the picture on the screen. It'd been pretty obvious that the kit had never been repaired before, never mind the clear signs that it was straight-built.

"It's seen better days, but I don't really know how to fix a Gunpla like that without just buying a whole new kit... So, I figured I might as well and try another model out."
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RottenVanilla
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"Oh, cool." Keo came a little closer to Monica but left enough space that Monica wouldn't feel like Keo was invading her personal space. "So you're looking for your second. Is there anything you really want to do with it or do you just want to build it and have it be, you know, built." Keo scratched the back of their head. "If you're looking to get most used to building, the High Grades are great for that." Keo continued to speak in English to Monica.

Keo continued to smile at Monica, being friendly without making Monica feel uncomfortable.
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D.Va
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Monica paused for a moment to think. Honestly, she never thought about doing more with a Gunpla than just building it and competing in Gunpla Battles with it. "Well," Monica started, looking over the box in her hands, "I was hoping to use it in Gunpla Battle. Well, more than just use it, but win with it, and with the shape the GM's in now, that's getting more and more difficult. I mean, there's a difference between a challenge and masochism, and the way the GM is now... Well, trying to use it in a Gunpla Battle at this point is like trying to use a broken airsoft rifle in a Survival Game. You know what I mean?"
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Keo covered their mouth and let out a small chuckle. "Don't get the analogy as much but I think I got your point before then." Keo put both their hands in their pants pockets. "So you want to be a gunpla fighter? I can respect that." They shifted their weight as the two of them stood in place longer. "I'm a builder myself. It was just a hobby until fighters started buying my work. I don't do upkeep but a few of my pieces have been destroyed that way."
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D.Va
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The moment Monica heard the mention of buying works, she perked up like a puppy seeing its owner for the first time in weeks. Not because it meant that she could buy a Gunpla to use for Gunpla Battle; Rather, because she realized she was talking with someone who truly did know their stuff, whether it started as a hobby or not. Because, quite simply, Monica realized she was talking with a literal professional Builder.

"Woah, that's awesome!" Monica exclaimed, before remembering the second half of the statement that came with that. "Uh, that your work is so appreciated, I mean. Shame about the pieces that were destroyed. I bet they at least went down swinging though, right?"

Monica chuckled a bit under her breath before realizing she had never actually introduced herself. "Ack, I can't believe I've been so rude," she said to herself, smacking herself on the side of the head before holding her hand out for a handshake. "I never did introduce myself, did I? Monica, from Savannah."
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RottenVanilla
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Keo grinned and took the girl's hand. Their grip was firm but not too tight, almost feminine. "Keo from Kahului, Hawaii." When Keo said the Hawaiian words, it was fluent, as if English was really Keo's second language. It made Keo's dialect a little more pronounced.

"Though my pieces were never intended for combat." Keo's hand slipped from Monica's. "I painted them, they were bought, and the fighters modified them for combat. I have been toying with combat builds lately. You could say that's my new hobby."
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D.Va
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When Keo shook Monica's hand, the southern belle's last thoughts were about how Keo had shook her hand- rather, she was elated that Keo was a fellow American like her- Sure, they were from totally opposite sides of the country, but they were still both from the Great United States of America! In all honesty, Monica had simply assumed that the way Keo pronounced the Hawaiian words was just a regional accent; Her own pronunciation was pretty clearly Deep Southern in and of itself, and since Monica had never been to Hawaii proper, she hadn't known about Hawaiian the language. "Well, Keo! It's nice to meet you!" Monica replied, with a rather firm grip herself.

When Keo went into more detail about what happened to her pieces that had been ruined in Gunpla Battles, Monica's grip loosened considerably, letting Keo's hand slip away. Monica hadn't really thought about it before, but Gunpla were originally special built to be artistic display pieces, weren't they? Monica supposed that having a piece meant for Gunpla Battle destroyed would hurt a bit less than one meant for display, since the builder knew that would likely happen to the piece eventually...

Before Monica could reflect on it and depress herself too much, though, Keo mentioned that she was toying with building for combat more recently. "Combat builds, huh...?" Monica parroted, perking back up as she thought about that concept for a moment. "I guess Gunpla made for battles are built differently, then?"
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"Not too much so, but yes." Keo said with a nod. "Instead of thought going into how to make it look it's best, or looking most like it does in the shows or manga, thoughts put into how to make it withstand attack, what weapons would work best with it, stuff like that." A soft smile came to Keo's lips. "You really want to start build fighting, don't you?"
Edited by RottenVanilla, Mar 3 2015, 11:57 PM.
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D.Va
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As Keo explained the difference between a combat build and a normal build for Gunpla, Monica listened intently. It made sense now that she heard it that a Gunpla built specifically for Gunpla Battle would be built to be tougher. Of course a Gunpla built for decoration would probably not work as well, it likely had more fragile additions or used more fragile materials to build it in order to get finer details, or perhaps had engravings that weakened the kit's overall strength in a Gunpla Battle, or a number of other things. That was certainly something Monica would have to keep in mind in the future.

When the question about wanting to battle came up, Monica couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Yeah, I suppose I do. I've always loved other kinds of combat sports, and Gunpla Battle has seemed to be the most challenging one I've tried yet- I've probably lost about half as many battles as I've won with my old GM, and that was just local games for fun back home."
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"I see." Keo said with a smile. They were about to say something when there was a sound. Was that, the new type sound effect from the original mobile suit gundam? Keo took their phone out, the small block producing the sound. Keo sighed and silenced the phone, putting it back in their back pocket. "Well, it seems I've been noticed away from where I'm supposed to be. I should get going, but," Keo reached into their pocket, taking their wallet out. Keo didn't use their left hand the entire time and the lack of co-ordination showed. Keo struggled with the wallet a little before getting a business card out. They tossed their wallet into the shopping basket still hanging from their left arm. "Here." Keo handed the card to Monica. "It has my cell number on it. I don't meet a lot of Americans that're into building. If you wanna learn, give me a call or come over to the studio. The address is on the card." Keo's smile was warm and friendly while not being overly so.

Keo turned back to the shelf and took the clear frame Char Zaku II and put it in the basket. "A hui hou." They said as they turned away, headed towards the register. Keo was about half way there when they stopped, noticing a kit to the side. An Astray Red frame. Inspiration hit Keo like a speeding bullet. Without a second thought, Keo picked it up and put it in the basket. Keo turned back to Monica, giving a small wave with the flick of their wrist before turning back towards the register and, finally, getting to it to pay for the kits.
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D.Va
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It was a shame that Monica couldn't talk with Keo a bit longer, but she supposed that there were probably other people waiting on Keo too. That said, she was surprised when Keo pulled the wallet out and produced the business card from it. When Keo handed the card to Monica, the young woman took it and looked it over a moment before speaking up. "Ah, thanks! I'll be sure to call, yeah! I'd love to learn a thing or two!" Monica was smiling wide as she spoke, if still a bit surprised at Keo's preparedness. She was wondering why Keo didn't use their left hand, but she figured she could ask another time.

Once Keo left for the cash register, Monica looked over the card once more. "Keone Hokulani Haukea, huh..." Monica said as she read the name from the card... So Keo was short for Keone, huh? There was a few phone numbers- one for work, one for cell- as well as a business address and some social media handles, too. Monica would have to take a look at some of Keo's social media later when she got back to the hotel. Pocketing the card, Monica made her way to the register herself to check out the Ez8 she picked up earlier.

It wasn't until a while later, after paying for her kit and leaving G-Muse, that something finally registered in Monica's mind: "...Wait, did I just score a number from a cutie?"
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