- RP Date
- ye 40
- RP Location
- Obsidian City
Since that stupid festival when she’d been called out to talk to Lord Pine the elusive Haisely Goenkof had ventured from her room several times. Mostly to avoid giving David an easy way in again but she’d gotten slightly bored. On this particular occasion her adventure happened to be to a convenience store for some food supplies and then a small cafe for lunch.
Tucked away in the corner booth with a laptop, she’d decided to make use of her ears by listening in on people around her as she tinkered with the doorman.
A Minkan who's head was topped with a shock of slightly unkempt, bright blue hair walked up to collect his coffee and turned around to leave - dark sunglasses to help push away the world that was causing so much pain in his hungover state but at least he had today off so there was no worrying about having to be ready for more bar work tonight.
His similarly blue eyes caught a brief hint of something equally as bright as his own hair in one of the booths and so the Minkan hauled his sore body over to investigate - where he found a cute-looking woman with bright pink hair from which two cybernetic cat ears stuck out the top of.
"Your hair, it's a cool colour," Leon spoke with a a weak smile, god he felt like shit.
Haisely had heard him approaching and had held out hope maybe he'd grab a different booth, no luck. Looking up at him with slightly tired yet still aware eyes, owing to their cybernetic nature most didn't know of, she yawned. "Thanks... Are you a fan? Cause I'm not doing autographs today." The hacker replied with a tired tone, assuming the almost cheesy opener was someone tracking her down for attention.
"Fan?" the lithe-looking Minkan questioned before taking a sip of his coffee, followed by an appreciative groan directed towards the life-giving ambrosia in a double-walled, cardboard cup. "Don't think I've seen you before so no, sorry - whatchu messing with? looks rather complicated," he continued with another question, a little curious about what this bright-haired girl was upto.
Haisely also groaned, although it was inwards at the thought of more people in this place who didn't know her, he hadn't called her cute yet which was a good start. "Its my basic AI called the doorman. You look like shit so I'm guessing our glorious lord didn't send you to find me, what's your business with me?" The girl replied, along with her flat question and the beginning of a scowl as she closed the lid of her device slightly.
"Nah I'm a nobody, no reason for our 'oh-so-glorious-lord-many-titles' to bother with me unless I'm serving the square a drink - so I dunno, you seemed interesting is all," Leon spoke with that weak smile once more before he gestured to the seat across from her. "Mind if I take that seat for a second, I'll bugger off if you want me to but I just need to freshen up a bit, judging by the smell on your clothes you might dabble a little bit in your own... life brighteners," he asked.
The pink haired girl raised an eyebrow, so did he dislike Jack Pine, she didn't hate the guy by any means but the way he instantly gave her a roof and food was suspicious to someone who's lived on the streets for half their life. "You know... I once kicked him in the groin, nearly escaped too but he smashed his stupid gun into my face." Haiselly recounted, remembering when she'd been discovered as a stowaway. "And I dunno what you mean by "life, brighteners" but for now I strangely don't feel like hissing at you."
"Yeah, I'm sure you don't know what I mean," Leon chuckled as he took that as an invitation to sit down across from her, shrugging off a smallbackpack and placing his coffee cup on the table before reaching to root around in the pockets of his jacket. "I don't hate the guy but he's not my kinda crowd either, too... I'd say too much of a white knight or at least he pretends to be - though damn, bet you got him good, huh?" the blue-haired Minkan finished as he found the eye dropper and produced it from his jacket.
"Metal tail at high speed, yeah was pretty good." Haisely replied rather simply, looking down at her device to continue working, while she didn't want to rip his head off yet she was still an antisocial little caterpillar and had decided that her daily quota for social energy had been used now. The pink haired girl tapped away, checking through different areas of her wildly messy coding, the ears poking through her hair retracting slowly, this guy didn't seem like the type to have people out looking for him who might disturb her.
"Metal tail huh? guess it suits the ears - they looked pretty rad if you ask me," Leon spoke as he pushed his sunglasses down his nose a little before applying a few drops to each eye, within a few blinks the blue oculars seemed to almost glow but were quickly re-hidden behind the shades - the blue haired Minkan suddenly seemed a lot more energetic and lively as he sat upright with a ragged inhale as the chemicals overwhelmed his synthetic system.
"Sorry, where are my manners - name's Leon Holzer."
Haisely considered this strange man for a moment, "Haisely... Goenkof." While most people knew she wasn't a fan of giving away information for free especially her own name, his so far laid back nature had convinced her it wasn't a mistake for once. Wordlessly she deployed said tail and swished it slowly above the table to give him a glance.
"Yeah that tail is very nice indeed, whole cat thing suits ya - don't take this the wrong way but uh, you seem quiet and all that," Leon continued before taking another pull from his coffee cup, enjoying the taste rather than the re-energizing qualities as the blue-haired Minkan settled back in his seat. "So you're a techie of some description? or is that more of a hobby for you?"
"Technically I work for them as a tech, though I usually don't go outside my room." Haisly replied, her tail disappearing once more, apparently everyone thought it suited her, like she was one of those weird synthetic robots the star army used except not as pretty or sexy. Despite having come to this place for food she hadn't even ordered yet on account of becoming so engaged in her side project, standing quietly she moved towards the counter, "I'm getting food."
"Oh uh alright, I'll just look after your laptop then~" Leon spoke with a little hint of surprise, she certainly seemed like quite a unique character and certainly had his attention - so the Minkan settled down at the table and began flicking through a few news articles mentally while sipping away at the coffee.
The pink haired girl went up to the counter and stared blankly at the menu board, she had little clue on what half of the items even were let alone what was in them, opting instead to look at the display shelf to find something. Usually she would just go somewhere that did burgers but people kept nagging her to eat better despite being thin as a twig anyway. Pointing to a rather plain meal she chose a ham and cheese sandwich and simply threw a meal card at the cashier, not uttering a word.
Eventually she got her point across to the poor man and returned to her seat with the small item of food, taking a small bite from one corner of her mouth while her eyes scanned her device once more.
"Don't worry I didn't touch it, though I imagine somehow you'd know if I did," the Minkan chuckled lightly as his eyes settled back on her pink mess of hair once more, it hadn't been a lie when he'd said it suited her - despite this girl's apparently quiet personality the loud colour sat well atop her head. "...So just incase you were wondering or hadn't figured it out yet I'm a bartender, just while we're exchanging that kind of information."
"Cool." The girl replied somewhat dismissively, if anyone ever said she had trouble socialising because she didn't try they'd be more than right. "So why does someone in your job have blue hair anyway. I thought bartenders were old guys who's wives left them." Haisely enquired rather bluntly, pausing her work to look up and make unwavering eye contact.
"I have blue hair because I wanted blue hair? but nah I get the stereotype you're referring to - I dunno, I was a good cook and better drinks mixer when I got my three years of SAoY enlistment out of the way so why not make a living at what I'm good at?" the Minkan spoke as he thought back to the blonde hair he'd been born with, too boring - which is why Leon opted for a shade of blue for all his bodily hair when swapping to this new body.
"You can meet some interesting people there, what about you? you seem to be glued to that screen and mentioned having fans earlier so are you some kind of internet celebrity?" Leon spoke back into that intense gaze, peeking over the top of his sunglasses at Haisley.
"Something like that, people make security systems and device security and then people bet on how fast I can crack it. Last I checked I had a couple thousand people betting on each game so that's mostly how I survive." Haisely said thoughtfully, then another thought crossed her mind and her eyes narrowed. "Why don't you look like one of those mint condition super catgirls if you're from the star army?"
Leon raised one blue eyebrow quizzically at that second bout of dialogue, he was more than happy to answer but it wasn't something he'd ever been asked before, "I uh... well because I was naturally conceived and had two Geshrin for parents? then I got this fresh slab of meat when I signed up... sorry but... I thought somebody as plugged in as you seem to be would know something like that was fairly common?"
The girl chewed a nail, of course her ignorance of the news and media would make her look dumb the one time she went outside. "I was always led to believe all star army fighters were those... nevermind." She eventually said under her breath, Guess she really should have expected this would happen soon enough. To avoid doing nothing she looked down and munched slowly on her sandwich, her hair shielding her from view momentarily.
"Ah well no harm done anyway, though as a Minkan I can do everything they can... just not quite as well I suppose, like fly and telepathically communicate and all that crap - hell I can even see in ultraviolet and infrared if I need to," the Minkan quite happily explained, he'd never actually had anybody to explain this kinda stuff to before and he was finding it somewhat fun.
"All that metal... going to say you're a Nepleslian? either that or a Human, it seems the latter is more prevalent in this part of the universe than anywhere else."
"Yes, Nepleslian." Haisely responded, her ears had perked up hearing him list of the various perks of a synthetic body, she'd have a field day if someone could get her a spare body to play with. "Do you, have ports?" It was a long shot.
"All wireless, that's the way us Yammies like it... why? did you want to go rooting around in my head or something?" Leon asked casually between a few pulls from his coffee cup before continuing what he was saying.
"I mean, it's hardly anything new - pretty common where I'm from, so long as both parties are consenting."
The girl was more interested in the body itself than his mind so her features showed slight disappointment upon hearing the news, maybe one day she'd bug someone to bring back any robots they fought for her to play with and reprogram. "Only if you want to have your free will stripped away while I put a different program in control, assuming that's even possible in those bodies." She mused in response.
Leon's expression dropped noticeably, even from behind his polarized shades the blue Minkan's reaction was rather visible before he managed to get out a response, "...maybe not then, apologies but I rather enjoy my free will and what it lets me do - but hey, maybe somebody else will be a little more willing to have that happen?" he finished with a small chuckle.
"I don't really want to work on a living person anyway, I'd rather just have a body to work with that has no mind." Haisely said once more.
"Well anything biological would probably me more expensive than the mechanical equivalent so good luck with that, engineers might have some dinged up bots slated to be scrapped they might let you play around with but I dunno," Leon admitted before briefly looking out the window, his gaze returned shortly with a question to ask.
"So what do you do with your free will anyway? besides tinkering."
"Sleeping, gaming, sometimes not sleeping for a long time while gaming. And digital breaking and entering. You?"
"Eh somewhat the same in a few aspects, sleeping, serving drinks as I mentioned, enjoying a few pickups every now and then," Leon began, lowering his glasses briefly to expose the currently glowing oculars before pushing them back up the bridge of his nose and continuing. "A lot of not sleeping during those aforementioned periods and either being lazy in my boxer shorts or enjoying some good company like I am right now... the good company part that is," the blue-haired Minkan chuckled.
"So all that B and E you seem to enjoy, it lucrative?"
"Depending on the betting and the job, made enough to kit out my room how i like at least." The girl didn't miss the comment about lounging in underwear however and smirked a little. "You earn more from your job or your jokes?"
"That implies any of what I just said was a joke, I'm offended by your insinuation Miss Goenkof," Leon smirked back with faux offense before taking the final sip from his coffee and then tossing the now-empty thing into a nearby trash can before continuing, now with his arms crossed behind the Minkan's brightly coloured head. "I'm surprised I got a smirk out of you, but eh - I'm sitting comfy enough to not complain, if it isn't clear by now then I'll say I'm not exactly a picky person."
Haisely furrowed her brow, “What’s that s’posed to mean.” She asked almost cautiously, it wasn’t a term she was familiar with and the hacker didn’t know if she liked it or not. Nor what it meant.
"...come again? what's what supposed to mean?" Leon asked back in return, having no double meanings in his words the Minkan was a little bit confused as to what had his pink haired companion confused...
“Do you have something against me? Cause it sounds like you’re telling me you’re overlooking some fault for reasons I can only assume lead to an ulterior motive.” Not a picky person, not complaining, what did he have to complain about anyway she was here first! The tips of her metallic claws poked out of her finger tips behind the laptop as she stared daggers at Leon.
He leant back a little in his seat, looking hesitant to answer before a small chuckle left the blue-haired man's lips - she was an odd one for sure but... not necessarily in a bad way, "No, no - I was just saying I don't want to go buy expensive shit, I'm happy with what I'm got - sorry if that somehow offended you? I can safely say it wasn't the intention."
“Hmpf.” Was the only reply from behind the screen, of course he would change topics mid sentence, she still didn’t like it but the excuse was enough for now. There was still half a sandwich to eat after all so she took another small bite and chewed slowly while inspecting her work.
"What? don't believe me or something?"
“Give me a reason to trust a stranger, the real world and all the people in it are nothing but nuisances. Always have been.” Haisely muttered, reaching up to close her device, intending to scamper away back to her room as fast as possible and hide away again. “Just forget about this.”
"Eh that's fair I suppose, I don't suppose you have something in mind to help me gain your trust though hm?" Leon asked as he leant forwards onto the table, an eager look clearly seen even behind the sunglasses.
"Pink hair, cat-themed cybernetics and shut in personality, kinda hard to forget but you've given me no reason to want to forget you."
The girl had to stop herself from wincing, why did everyone always become more interested in her for being antisocial. “Well a good start would be not breaking through my door like the last guy. I dunno I don’t really trust anyone, just don’t piss me off and there won’t be any problems.” The girl said slightly exasperated, postponing her hasty retreat.
"Eesh that sounds intense, no worries though - I don't really go breaking into the homes of strangers let alone people I know," Leon spoke as he settled back into his seat once more, a small sound of appreciation at how comfortable the cushions were before he had something else to say.
"I'll try not to piss you off though, you have my word - got any plans for after this?"
“...Sleeping for 4 days? That's about how long its been since i got any I think.” She said casually as though it was normal.
"That's one way to pass the time I suppose, granted I'm in no position to judge but - well if you ever need somebody to yell at when you've been awake for too long then hit me up yeah?" Leon offered as he mentally sent a friend request across to Haisley's computer.
Haisely pondered the popup on her screen for a moment before hitting the accept button, "Sure... though I don't usually leave my room, and I never let anyone in." The pink haired girl replied, given that most of her waking moments were spent online somewhere she had her doubts as to if she'd ever see this strange blue haired man again anytime soon.
"Well, let me know when you do leave I guess - could be fun, I mean you're hardly a boring person," the blue-haired Minkan mused with a small chuckle, truth be told she was quirky but it wasn't in a way that made him want to bugger off - he guessed time would tell if she'd speak with him again so why not make the most of this moment.
"So hey, you got a ride back to your place arranged already? if not then I've got a second helmet on my bike," he offered.
"I was planning to walk-" She thought for a moment, safety on two wheeled open vehicles was drastically less than in cars or on foot, had he been drinking? He didn't look the best when he walked in but those eye drops and the drink seemed to have affected him a fair bit. "-You're not drunk are you, or planning to kidnap me?"
"Nah, neither of those - I promise," Leon tried to assure her as he took his backpack out from under the table where it had been stowed.
"I suppose, I could go with you then..." The girl admitted under her breath, she didn't like taking help from strangers most of the time and told herself that this time was different because she hadn't gotten to ride on a bike before. "But no funny stuff, I'm not as helpless as you might think."
"Hey I'm just offering you a ride... that came out wrong but don't you worry, A to B and no funny business in between - that works for me," he reassured the small Nepleslian girl, Leon had no doubt she had something up her sleeves but would rather not find out what they were today.
"Just holler when you're good to go and we can do as much."
She nodded to him and went back to her screen for a moment, reading over all her additions to the endless stream of characters before closing up the device and placing it inside a low profile carry bag which was then worn like a backpack. After scanning her area to ensure no items had been left behind she turned back to Leon and nodded once more.
The Minkan hopped up with her and hefted his own bag over one shoulder before moving to open the door for Haisely with a nod of his own.
The smaller girl quickly exited the building, not wanting to give the wrong idea to anyone watching them, before waiting outside for the man. By now the girl was already way out of her comfort zone and nervously looking around her and over her own shoulders quite often. Haisely never felt truly safe unless she was in her room.
Leon moved over to a nearby hover bike and popped the seat open, stowing his backpack and swapping it out for two matte black helmets with yellow-tinted visors as he turned back to see the hacker's nerves seeming to get the best of her - so the blue-haired Minkan sat one helmet on his bike and moved over to hand Haisely the other alongside a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"First time on a bike or is something else eating away at you?"
The metallic blue tail swished around her ankles as her cybernetic eyes focussed on Leon, claws slowly poking through her cold metal hands. "Don't touch me." She almost hissed at him while sidestepping out of the hand. Taking the helmet from him she sauntered over to the bike and waited, "Let's just go."
"Ah uh, sorry~" Leon spoke apologetically with a nervous chuckle as he saw the shiny tips of her claws poke through, assuming that's what she was referring to earlier but also deciding to maybe not bring it up and just replace the sunglasses with his helmet instead. He moved over to the bike and mentally cycled the thing's power as it began to gently hover up off the ground about a foot to idle, kicking out the driver's pedals and then stands for the passenger before that nervous chuckle sounded again.
"Soo... front or back? you gotta sit somewhere and neither of us are exactly titans so either should work," he asked while gesturing to the sleek bike, hand moving from closer to the handles to then near the rear of the seat.
"Back." Haisely replied, swinging one leg over and seating herself at the rear of the seat, hands holding onto the frame below her for support.
"Cool~" Leon spoke before hopping on in front of her, half expecting to feel her hands on his sides as the Minkan powered up the propulsion thrusters with one foot still pressed to the ground. "Hey uh I am sorry though, didn't realize you'd react like that but I'll respect your boundaries going forwards so we're cool yeah?" as he apologised through helmet to helmet comms the bike reversed a bit and then trundled forwards to wait for a break in traffic.
"Whatever... Don't do it again." Haisely said while she looked out to her right at the scenes soon to be passing by, her hands firmly attached to the frame. The nepleslian girl wasn't one for small vehicles like cars and bikes or even public transport like trains and busses, she much prefered walking. And the damned helmet had restricted her peripheral vision and made her feel confined but she didn't jump off and run away just yet.
"No worries, chief," his voice chirped up in the sound system of her helmet once more as Leon drove, he went a tad over the limit in some spots but was a pretty good driver for the most part - but a realization hit him as they were stopped in traffic.
"You uh... haven't actually given me any directions where to go yet, just send 'em through to my helmet unless you wanna drive around aimlessly for a few hours?" the Minkan mused with a warm smile hidden beneath his helmet.
"I wouldn't mind that, actually~"
"Just, go to the big house building..." She tried to explain, not really knowing what or where her apartment tower was. With her right hand she used her claws to grip the frame of the bike and pointed with her left hand toward the building she could see in the distance. "That one."
"Ah gotcha, no worries," Leon spoke just as they got the green light to go, heading towards the specified building as a question popped into his mind. "I'm guessing it'll be a no, but do you have any room mates?"
The girl shook her head forgetting he wouldn't be able to see her and looked around once more, this helmet was really bugging her now, keeping all her hair bunched up and blocking her view. With her left hand again she pulled it up over her head carefully and popped it on her tail, finally freed her hair whipped around as they sped through the streets, a big grin splitting her face as the wind chilled her.
Leon had seen the shake and subsequent doffing of the helmet in one of his mirrors, it made him smile a bit to see the so-far-quiet girl's features divided by happiness even if it wasn't exactly because of his own company. "Don't have too much fun back there or I might not recognize you," the Minkan chuckled back to her.
Haisely was enjoying the sensations too much to care about the little jab, she briefly considered standing up on the seat but decided it wasn't quite stable enough for her, and she still didn't trust this man with her life yet either. She didn't live far from the cafe luckily, her ventures in the outside world usually being quite close to home and so they'd be arriving shortly. The girl made a mental note to buy herself some fans for the room, or go and try one of these things out in her full dive sessions.
With a small shrug Leon just decided to drop it and instead accelerated further as they turned onto the home run towards Haisely's home, causing the hoverbike tail to kick out a little - she seemed like she could use some fun so why not give her that fun, he was happy to do so and even let out a little sigh of sadness as they pulled into the parkin lot outside the Nep's apartment.
"So I guess we're here... I'd offer to fly you up but I know you don't like physical contact so I'll just leave it at that," the blue haired Minkan offered as he sat there on the hovering bike, idly fiddling with the power core's cover before speaking up again. "Though uh hey, if you ever want to go for another ride then let me know, yeah?"
“I will... thanks, that was actually kinda fun.” Haisely said her smile still present for once, moving her tail around to the front she retrieved the helmet and handed it to Leon. “And I won’t need this next time.” Turning back to the building she scampered off back to her den.
"No worries, maybe you can drive next time?" Leon called after the retreating hacker with a small chuckle as he stood up to stow the passenger's helmet back in his seat - that was... unexpected but hell he was keen to do it again.
Tucked away in the corner booth with a laptop, she’d decided to make use of her ears by listening in on people around her as she tinkered with the doorman.
A Minkan who's head was topped with a shock of slightly unkempt, bright blue hair walked up to collect his coffee and turned around to leave - dark sunglasses to help push away the world that was causing so much pain in his hungover state but at least he had today off so there was no worrying about having to be ready for more bar work tonight.
His similarly blue eyes caught a brief hint of something equally as bright as his own hair in one of the booths and so the Minkan hauled his sore body over to investigate - where he found a cute-looking woman with bright pink hair from which two cybernetic cat ears stuck out the top of.
"Your hair, it's a cool colour," Leon spoke with a a weak smile, god he felt like shit.
Haisely had heard him approaching and had held out hope maybe he'd grab a different booth, no luck. Looking up at him with slightly tired yet still aware eyes, owing to their cybernetic nature most didn't know of, she yawned. "Thanks... Are you a fan? Cause I'm not doing autographs today." The hacker replied with a tired tone, assuming the almost cheesy opener was someone tracking her down for attention.
"Fan?" the lithe-looking Minkan questioned before taking a sip of his coffee, followed by an appreciative groan directed towards the life-giving ambrosia in a double-walled, cardboard cup. "Don't think I've seen you before so no, sorry - whatchu messing with? looks rather complicated," he continued with another question, a little curious about what this bright-haired girl was upto.
Haisely also groaned, although it was inwards at the thought of more people in this place who didn't know her, he hadn't called her cute yet which was a good start. "Its my basic AI called the doorman. You look like shit so I'm guessing our glorious lord didn't send you to find me, what's your business with me?" The girl replied, along with her flat question and the beginning of a scowl as she closed the lid of her device slightly.
"Nah I'm a nobody, no reason for our 'oh-so-glorious-lord-many-titles' to bother with me unless I'm serving the square a drink - so I dunno, you seemed interesting is all," Leon spoke with that weak smile once more before he gestured to the seat across from her. "Mind if I take that seat for a second, I'll bugger off if you want me to but I just need to freshen up a bit, judging by the smell on your clothes you might dabble a little bit in your own... life brighteners," he asked.
The pink haired girl raised an eyebrow, so did he dislike Jack Pine, she didn't hate the guy by any means but the way he instantly gave her a roof and food was suspicious to someone who's lived on the streets for half their life. "You know... I once kicked him in the groin, nearly escaped too but he smashed his stupid gun into my face." Haiselly recounted, remembering when she'd been discovered as a stowaway. "And I dunno what you mean by "life, brighteners" but for now I strangely don't feel like hissing at you."
"Yeah, I'm sure you don't know what I mean," Leon chuckled as he took that as an invitation to sit down across from her, shrugging off a smallbackpack and placing his coffee cup on the table before reaching to root around in the pockets of his jacket. "I don't hate the guy but he's not my kinda crowd either, too... I'd say too much of a white knight or at least he pretends to be - though damn, bet you got him good, huh?" the blue-haired Minkan finished as he found the eye dropper and produced it from his jacket.
"Metal tail at high speed, yeah was pretty good." Haisely replied rather simply, looking down at her device to continue working, while she didn't want to rip his head off yet she was still an antisocial little caterpillar and had decided that her daily quota for social energy had been used now. The pink haired girl tapped away, checking through different areas of her wildly messy coding, the ears poking through her hair retracting slowly, this guy didn't seem like the type to have people out looking for him who might disturb her.
"Metal tail huh? guess it suits the ears - they looked pretty rad if you ask me," Leon spoke as he pushed his sunglasses down his nose a little before applying a few drops to each eye, within a few blinks the blue oculars seemed to almost glow but were quickly re-hidden behind the shades - the blue haired Minkan suddenly seemed a lot more energetic and lively as he sat upright with a ragged inhale as the chemicals overwhelmed his synthetic system.
"Sorry, where are my manners - name's Leon Holzer."
Haisely considered this strange man for a moment, "Haisely... Goenkof." While most people knew she wasn't a fan of giving away information for free especially her own name, his so far laid back nature had convinced her it wasn't a mistake for once. Wordlessly she deployed said tail and swished it slowly above the table to give him a glance.
"Yeah that tail is very nice indeed, whole cat thing suits ya - don't take this the wrong way but uh, you seem quiet and all that," Leon continued before taking another pull from his coffee cup, enjoying the taste rather than the re-energizing qualities as the blue-haired Minkan settled back in his seat. "So you're a techie of some description? or is that more of a hobby for you?"
"Technically I work for them as a tech, though I usually don't go outside my room." Haisly replied, her tail disappearing once more, apparently everyone thought it suited her, like she was one of those weird synthetic robots the star army used except not as pretty or sexy. Despite having come to this place for food she hadn't even ordered yet on account of becoming so engaged in her side project, standing quietly she moved towards the counter, "I'm getting food."
"Oh uh alright, I'll just look after your laptop then~" Leon spoke with a little hint of surprise, she certainly seemed like quite a unique character and certainly had his attention - so the Minkan settled down at the table and began flicking through a few news articles mentally while sipping away at the coffee.
The pink haired girl went up to the counter and stared blankly at the menu board, she had little clue on what half of the items even were let alone what was in them, opting instead to look at the display shelf to find something. Usually she would just go somewhere that did burgers but people kept nagging her to eat better despite being thin as a twig anyway. Pointing to a rather plain meal she chose a ham and cheese sandwich and simply threw a meal card at the cashier, not uttering a word.
Eventually she got her point across to the poor man and returned to her seat with the small item of food, taking a small bite from one corner of her mouth while her eyes scanned her device once more.
"Don't worry I didn't touch it, though I imagine somehow you'd know if I did," the Minkan chuckled lightly as his eyes settled back on her pink mess of hair once more, it hadn't been a lie when he'd said it suited her - despite this girl's apparently quiet personality the loud colour sat well atop her head. "...So just incase you were wondering or hadn't figured it out yet I'm a bartender, just while we're exchanging that kind of information."
"Cool." The girl replied somewhat dismissively, if anyone ever said she had trouble socialising because she didn't try they'd be more than right. "So why does someone in your job have blue hair anyway. I thought bartenders were old guys who's wives left them." Haisely enquired rather bluntly, pausing her work to look up and make unwavering eye contact.
"I have blue hair because I wanted blue hair? but nah I get the stereotype you're referring to - I dunno, I was a good cook and better drinks mixer when I got my three years of SAoY enlistment out of the way so why not make a living at what I'm good at?" the Minkan spoke as he thought back to the blonde hair he'd been born with, too boring - which is why Leon opted for a shade of blue for all his bodily hair when swapping to this new body.
"You can meet some interesting people there, what about you? you seem to be glued to that screen and mentioned having fans earlier so are you some kind of internet celebrity?" Leon spoke back into that intense gaze, peeking over the top of his sunglasses at Haisley.
"Something like that, people make security systems and device security and then people bet on how fast I can crack it. Last I checked I had a couple thousand people betting on each game so that's mostly how I survive." Haisely said thoughtfully, then another thought crossed her mind and her eyes narrowed. "Why don't you look like one of those mint condition super catgirls if you're from the star army?"
Leon raised one blue eyebrow quizzically at that second bout of dialogue, he was more than happy to answer but it wasn't something he'd ever been asked before, "I uh... well because I was naturally conceived and had two Geshrin for parents? then I got this fresh slab of meat when I signed up... sorry but... I thought somebody as plugged in as you seem to be would know something like that was fairly common?"
The girl chewed a nail, of course her ignorance of the news and media would make her look dumb the one time she went outside. "I was always led to believe all star army fighters were those... nevermind." She eventually said under her breath, Guess she really should have expected this would happen soon enough. To avoid doing nothing she looked down and munched slowly on her sandwich, her hair shielding her from view momentarily.
"Ah well no harm done anyway, though as a Minkan I can do everything they can... just not quite as well I suppose, like fly and telepathically communicate and all that crap - hell I can even see in ultraviolet and infrared if I need to," the Minkan quite happily explained, he'd never actually had anybody to explain this kinda stuff to before and he was finding it somewhat fun.
"All that metal... going to say you're a Nepleslian? either that or a Human, it seems the latter is more prevalent in this part of the universe than anywhere else."
"Yes, Nepleslian." Haisely responded, her ears had perked up hearing him list of the various perks of a synthetic body, she'd have a field day if someone could get her a spare body to play with. "Do you, have ports?" It was a long shot.
"All wireless, that's the way us Yammies like it... why? did you want to go rooting around in my head or something?" Leon asked casually between a few pulls from his coffee cup before continuing what he was saying.
"I mean, it's hardly anything new - pretty common where I'm from, so long as both parties are consenting."
The girl was more interested in the body itself than his mind so her features showed slight disappointment upon hearing the news, maybe one day she'd bug someone to bring back any robots they fought for her to play with and reprogram. "Only if you want to have your free will stripped away while I put a different program in control, assuming that's even possible in those bodies." She mused in response.
Leon's expression dropped noticeably, even from behind his polarized shades the blue Minkan's reaction was rather visible before he managed to get out a response, "...maybe not then, apologies but I rather enjoy my free will and what it lets me do - but hey, maybe somebody else will be a little more willing to have that happen?" he finished with a small chuckle.
"I don't really want to work on a living person anyway, I'd rather just have a body to work with that has no mind." Haisely said once more.
"Well anything biological would probably me more expensive than the mechanical equivalent so good luck with that, engineers might have some dinged up bots slated to be scrapped they might let you play around with but I dunno," Leon admitted before briefly looking out the window, his gaze returned shortly with a question to ask.
"So what do you do with your free will anyway? besides tinkering."
"Sleeping, gaming, sometimes not sleeping for a long time while gaming. And digital breaking and entering. You?"
"Eh somewhat the same in a few aspects, sleeping, serving drinks as I mentioned, enjoying a few pickups every now and then," Leon began, lowering his glasses briefly to expose the currently glowing oculars before pushing them back up the bridge of his nose and continuing. "A lot of not sleeping during those aforementioned periods and either being lazy in my boxer shorts or enjoying some good company like I am right now... the good company part that is," the blue-haired Minkan chuckled.
"So all that B and E you seem to enjoy, it lucrative?"
"Depending on the betting and the job, made enough to kit out my room how i like at least." The girl didn't miss the comment about lounging in underwear however and smirked a little. "You earn more from your job or your jokes?"
"That implies any of what I just said was a joke, I'm offended by your insinuation Miss Goenkof," Leon smirked back with faux offense before taking the final sip from his coffee and then tossing the now-empty thing into a nearby trash can before continuing, now with his arms crossed behind the Minkan's brightly coloured head. "I'm surprised I got a smirk out of you, but eh - I'm sitting comfy enough to not complain, if it isn't clear by now then I'll say I'm not exactly a picky person."
Haisely furrowed her brow, “What’s that s’posed to mean.” She asked almost cautiously, it wasn’t a term she was familiar with and the hacker didn’t know if she liked it or not. Nor what it meant.
"...come again? what's what supposed to mean?" Leon asked back in return, having no double meanings in his words the Minkan was a little bit confused as to what had his pink haired companion confused...
“Do you have something against me? Cause it sounds like you’re telling me you’re overlooking some fault for reasons I can only assume lead to an ulterior motive.” Not a picky person, not complaining, what did he have to complain about anyway she was here first! The tips of her metallic claws poked out of her finger tips behind the laptop as she stared daggers at Leon.
He leant back a little in his seat, looking hesitant to answer before a small chuckle left the blue-haired man's lips - she was an odd one for sure but... not necessarily in a bad way, "No, no - I was just saying I don't want to go buy expensive shit, I'm happy with what I'm got - sorry if that somehow offended you? I can safely say it wasn't the intention."
“Hmpf.” Was the only reply from behind the screen, of course he would change topics mid sentence, she still didn’t like it but the excuse was enough for now. There was still half a sandwich to eat after all so she took another small bite and chewed slowly while inspecting her work.
"What? don't believe me or something?"
“Give me a reason to trust a stranger, the real world and all the people in it are nothing but nuisances. Always have been.” Haisely muttered, reaching up to close her device, intending to scamper away back to her room as fast as possible and hide away again. “Just forget about this.”
"Eh that's fair I suppose, I don't suppose you have something in mind to help me gain your trust though hm?" Leon asked as he leant forwards onto the table, an eager look clearly seen even behind the sunglasses.
"Pink hair, cat-themed cybernetics and shut in personality, kinda hard to forget but you've given me no reason to want to forget you."
The girl had to stop herself from wincing, why did everyone always become more interested in her for being antisocial. “Well a good start would be not breaking through my door like the last guy. I dunno I don’t really trust anyone, just don’t piss me off and there won’t be any problems.” The girl said slightly exasperated, postponing her hasty retreat.
"Eesh that sounds intense, no worries though - I don't really go breaking into the homes of strangers let alone people I know," Leon spoke as he settled back into his seat once more, a small sound of appreciation at how comfortable the cushions were before he had something else to say.
"I'll try not to piss you off though, you have my word - got any plans for after this?"
“...Sleeping for 4 days? That's about how long its been since i got any I think.” She said casually as though it was normal.
"That's one way to pass the time I suppose, granted I'm in no position to judge but - well if you ever need somebody to yell at when you've been awake for too long then hit me up yeah?" Leon offered as he mentally sent a friend request across to Haisley's computer.
Haisely pondered the popup on her screen for a moment before hitting the accept button, "Sure... though I don't usually leave my room, and I never let anyone in." The pink haired girl replied, given that most of her waking moments were spent online somewhere she had her doubts as to if she'd ever see this strange blue haired man again anytime soon.
"Well, let me know when you do leave I guess - could be fun, I mean you're hardly a boring person," the blue-haired Minkan mused with a small chuckle, truth be told she was quirky but it wasn't in a way that made him want to bugger off - he guessed time would tell if she'd speak with him again so why not make the most of this moment.
"So hey, you got a ride back to your place arranged already? if not then I've got a second helmet on my bike," he offered.
"I was planning to walk-" She thought for a moment, safety on two wheeled open vehicles was drastically less than in cars or on foot, had he been drinking? He didn't look the best when he walked in but those eye drops and the drink seemed to have affected him a fair bit. "-You're not drunk are you, or planning to kidnap me?"
"Nah, neither of those - I promise," Leon tried to assure her as he took his backpack out from under the table where it had been stowed.
"I suppose, I could go with you then..." The girl admitted under her breath, she didn't like taking help from strangers most of the time and told herself that this time was different because she hadn't gotten to ride on a bike before. "But no funny stuff, I'm not as helpless as you might think."
"Hey I'm just offering you a ride... that came out wrong but don't you worry, A to B and no funny business in between - that works for me," he reassured the small Nepleslian girl, Leon had no doubt she had something up her sleeves but would rather not find out what they were today.
"Just holler when you're good to go and we can do as much."
She nodded to him and went back to her screen for a moment, reading over all her additions to the endless stream of characters before closing up the device and placing it inside a low profile carry bag which was then worn like a backpack. After scanning her area to ensure no items had been left behind she turned back to Leon and nodded once more.
The Minkan hopped up with her and hefted his own bag over one shoulder before moving to open the door for Haisely with a nod of his own.
The smaller girl quickly exited the building, not wanting to give the wrong idea to anyone watching them, before waiting outside for the man. By now the girl was already way out of her comfort zone and nervously looking around her and over her own shoulders quite often. Haisely never felt truly safe unless she was in her room.
Leon moved over to a nearby hover bike and popped the seat open, stowing his backpack and swapping it out for two matte black helmets with yellow-tinted visors as he turned back to see the hacker's nerves seeming to get the best of her - so the blue-haired Minkan sat one helmet on his bike and moved over to hand Haisely the other alongside a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"First time on a bike or is something else eating away at you?"
The metallic blue tail swished around her ankles as her cybernetic eyes focussed on Leon, claws slowly poking through her cold metal hands. "Don't touch me." She almost hissed at him while sidestepping out of the hand. Taking the helmet from him she sauntered over to the bike and waited, "Let's just go."
"Ah uh, sorry~" Leon spoke apologetically with a nervous chuckle as he saw the shiny tips of her claws poke through, assuming that's what she was referring to earlier but also deciding to maybe not bring it up and just replace the sunglasses with his helmet instead. He moved over to the bike and mentally cycled the thing's power as it began to gently hover up off the ground about a foot to idle, kicking out the driver's pedals and then stands for the passenger before that nervous chuckle sounded again.
"Soo... front or back? you gotta sit somewhere and neither of us are exactly titans so either should work," he asked while gesturing to the sleek bike, hand moving from closer to the handles to then near the rear of the seat.
"Back." Haisely replied, swinging one leg over and seating herself at the rear of the seat, hands holding onto the frame below her for support.
"Cool~" Leon spoke before hopping on in front of her, half expecting to feel her hands on his sides as the Minkan powered up the propulsion thrusters with one foot still pressed to the ground. "Hey uh I am sorry though, didn't realize you'd react like that but I'll respect your boundaries going forwards so we're cool yeah?" as he apologised through helmet to helmet comms the bike reversed a bit and then trundled forwards to wait for a break in traffic.
"Whatever... Don't do it again." Haisely said while she looked out to her right at the scenes soon to be passing by, her hands firmly attached to the frame. The nepleslian girl wasn't one for small vehicles like cars and bikes or even public transport like trains and busses, she much prefered walking. And the damned helmet had restricted her peripheral vision and made her feel confined but she didn't jump off and run away just yet.
"No worries, chief," his voice chirped up in the sound system of her helmet once more as Leon drove, he went a tad over the limit in some spots but was a pretty good driver for the most part - but a realization hit him as they were stopped in traffic.
"You uh... haven't actually given me any directions where to go yet, just send 'em through to my helmet unless you wanna drive around aimlessly for a few hours?" the Minkan mused with a warm smile hidden beneath his helmet.
"I wouldn't mind that, actually~"
"Just, go to the big house building..." She tried to explain, not really knowing what or where her apartment tower was. With her right hand she used her claws to grip the frame of the bike and pointed with her left hand toward the building she could see in the distance. "That one."
"Ah gotcha, no worries," Leon spoke just as they got the green light to go, heading towards the specified building as a question popped into his mind. "I'm guessing it'll be a no, but do you have any room mates?"
The girl shook her head forgetting he wouldn't be able to see her and looked around once more, this helmet was really bugging her now, keeping all her hair bunched up and blocking her view. With her left hand again she pulled it up over her head carefully and popped it on her tail, finally freed her hair whipped around as they sped through the streets, a big grin splitting her face as the wind chilled her.
Leon had seen the shake and subsequent doffing of the helmet in one of his mirrors, it made him smile a bit to see the so-far-quiet girl's features divided by happiness even if it wasn't exactly because of his own company. "Don't have too much fun back there or I might not recognize you," the Minkan chuckled back to her.
Haisely was enjoying the sensations too much to care about the little jab, she briefly considered standing up on the seat but decided it wasn't quite stable enough for her, and she still didn't trust this man with her life yet either. She didn't live far from the cafe luckily, her ventures in the outside world usually being quite close to home and so they'd be arriving shortly. The girl made a mental note to buy herself some fans for the room, or go and try one of these things out in her full dive sessions.
With a small shrug Leon just decided to drop it and instead accelerated further as they turned onto the home run towards Haisely's home, causing the hoverbike tail to kick out a little - she seemed like she could use some fun so why not give her that fun, he was happy to do so and even let out a little sigh of sadness as they pulled into the parkin lot outside the Nep's apartment.
"So I guess we're here... I'd offer to fly you up but I know you don't like physical contact so I'll just leave it at that," the blue haired Minkan offered as he sat there on the hovering bike, idly fiddling with the power core's cover before speaking up again. "Though uh hey, if you ever want to go for another ride then let me know, yeah?"
“I will... thanks, that was actually kinda fun.” Haisely said her smile still present for once, moving her tail around to the front she retrieved the helmet and handed it to Leon. “And I won’t need this next time.” Turning back to the building she scampered off back to her den.
"No worries, maybe you can drive next time?" Leon called after the retreating hacker with a small chuckle as he stood up to stow the passenger's helmet back in his seat - that was... unexpected but hell he was keen to do it again.
