Day 29: Courtyard
Hiei easily grew sick of the same walls--not to mention the same idiots always within those walls--and while not perfect, the chance to go outside was better than lingering in the boundaries of that damned prison. So when the chance came, the demon was quick to leap on it, heading outside almost quick enough to make a nurse wonder if he was
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After the awkward and strange exchange inside the Arts and Crafts room, the rogue decided that going elsewhere was a good idea. After all, it didn't hurt to take a look around after being holed up in that room for so long. Haseo made his way outside, despite the encounter from that monster the previous night tugging at the back of his mind. With how rediculous this place was there was no telling what would happen next. "Better not let my guard down." He muttered out loud--a lingering habit from the game.
As the rogue reached the entrance to the area he paused. The field, or whaterver it was called, looked reltively normal and sunny. He placed a palm on his side while panning a view over the landscape: People were littered around the area chatting to each other, or just off by themselves. The bustle reminded him a little of Mac Anu or at least regular civilization in general, loosely compared.
With none of the monsters from the previous night among the fields occupants (not that he'd have to worry about them) Haseo made his way out among the people. It was the innitial idea to head for the back and watch everyone like he did in that old root town. On his way, though, he happened to peer over and see what one of the sitting inhabitants was scribbling on paper.
'What the heck is that.' Not that Haseo meant to stare over someone's shoulder, but the picture was weird enough that he had to stop and take a better look.
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It took several minutes for Usopp to realize he was being watched. He hadn't brought the precious caged pastels out, so this drawing was black and white in ink... nonetheless, he was doing his best to give nice highlights on the muscles of the downed black-clad opponent as well as the long and luxuriant hair of the mighty Captain. It was quite focused work.
At last, his brain noted that someone was standing over him, looking down. Usopp glanced up sheepishly, a faint grin on his face as though he'd been caught at something slightly naughty and very well might be scolded but didn't mind too much. Comparing noses, even in the idealized version on his page, there was no question who the conquering hero happened to resemble.
"Hi." It was nobody he'd met before. But anyone who stopped to look at art couldn't be all bad. "You want a closer look?"
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Haseo didn't mean to loom and when the person turned around and asked him if he wanted a closer look at the picture, he raked a hand thrugh his hair embarassed that he had. "... Sure." Not that he was going to refuse a look or anything; it would be pretty bad to stand and watch, and then claim that he didn't want to look at the picture. So he did lean in and take a better look at the guys drawing.
It looked like he was drawing some kind of...pirate using another guy as 'stepping stool'. Though pretty elaborate and comical to begin with, the face from the victorious pirate in the sketch put it a little over the top. "Hey," Haseo snickered, "Don't tell me that's you." A scrawney artist drawing himself as a big and buff guy--a little elaborate indeed.
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Your pictures don't become real like Sai's, though.
Usopp smiled wide at the newcomer's question because the other option was to get offended and he was not in the mood for offended, closing his journal and sitting up straighter. "That's right... I am the mighty Captain Usopp!" He crossed his arms, looking for all the world as though he were posing to show off. "And what's your name?"
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The introduction was strange and funny, just the same as the picture. Guess all artist-types were good at getting their strange personalities to reflect in whatever they drew. "I'm Haseo." He countered Usopp's greeting with one of his own, though he wasn't anything but ordinary about it. Aside from his PKK nickname and guild rank, Haseo didn't have a title to go along with his name unlike this new aquaintane.
"You know," The platinum haired character was quick to move on, since he meant to mention it anyway, "you're really good at that." The rogue motioned with a quick nod of his head in the direction of the artbook. Just to think that a few minutes before in the craft room, he couldn't get himself draw anything.
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Less pompously, and letting his posture drop into something a little more casual, Usopp offered, "Want me to draw something for you?" It felt a little wasteful to offer something like that to a stranger for free, but Haseo's compliment had come at just the right time, and selling his art hadn't worked the last time he tried it. Just drawing for the sake of drawing was a nice change of pace.
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"Really." After just meeting him, offering him something right like that seemed a little to good to be true, especially something that would probably take a while to finish. "Yeah, sure I'd like something." Haseo shifted a majority of his weight onto one foot and continued, "I just don't have anything to pay with, and I'm not about to take something for free like that." He was not about to go and start to owe people around this place favors when he hadn't even figured the place out.
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A pause, then, a little less brightly, "How long have you been here?" How weird to be here only a few days, but feel like a regular veteran...
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Though he wasn't sure what allies were really supposed to do around here.
As for how long he'd been there, Haseo took that question as the opperotunity to finally take a seat in the grass; One leg crooked up to his chest and both arms folded around it. "I couldn't tell you. A couple days maybe, though it sure as hell feels like its been longer than that." He wasn't sure if the days being cooped up in his room made it seem long or if it was just not knowing where he was. "Not long enough to know what allies are supposed to do around here, though everyone keeps talking about getting into groups or something." The rogue shrugged; He felt like kind of like a "noob" amidst all this.
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Luffy was here for two weeks...
"Anyway! What did you want me to draw?" Usopp unfolded his notebook to a blank page again. He hadn't asked anything personal about the new guy, and thus far didn't know anything about him other than his name, but asking could wait until he'd started drawing. And whatever Haseo wanted drawn might be a hint.
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As for what to draw, Haseo had to stop and think for a minute. "How about.." He almost wanted a picture of his room back home to give him something that would make the place a little more comfortable, but telling a stranger what his room looked like was stupid. 'Not to mention creepy as all get out.' The room he had now was so small, blank, and depressing it was no wonder it seemed like he'd been here longer than he had. Hell, even made him feel a tad homesick, hence the thought about his apartment back home.
"I don't suppose you've actually heard of Breg Epona?" Up to now, no one had heard of anything reguarding The World. It seemed like a good way to ask about the game without actually asking.
Anyway, If he could get a picture of a Root Town like that, then it would help him think of the events that happened while he was there, and maybe he could figure this place the hell out. Anyway, Breg Epona was a nice and generic thing to get drawn--nothing specific about a high level root town. It would probably be hard to draw though.
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"Nope, never heard of it!" Usopp answered perhaps too cheerfully. "Or him. Or her. You'll have to describe it if you want me to draw it. Or him. Or her." He remembered that the other taker for a drawing had wanted a picture of his girlfriend, or at least some woman he adored back home. He himself had drawn mostly pictures of people he knew, when he'd drawn for fun. It was understandable, everyone here was homesick, aside from those people who had practically an army of people around them from back home by now.
Aren't you one of those people? So why are you sitting around drawing and trying to get out of going along with them? a small voice in the back of his head asked. Because where they are going is scary and I wouldn't be useful for them anyway, he answered firmly.
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He thought clarifying what Breg Epona was would be best, first of all. "'It'. Breg Epona is a city." But how to describe it? Sighing under his breath, the rogue tried to recall the most prominent part of the city: the market. To get a better mental picture Haseo closed his eyes, then he put a hand to his forhead. "It's set up like a square; There are a lot of little stands where people buy and things on each side, like a bazaar. Every vendor stand has a bunch huge balloons tied to it that sway in the wind."
He was actually kind of...surprised he remembered this many details from an area. Before, he would just breeze through places without taking a minute to stop and see what they looked like.
Stopping and enjoying, maybe?
"Oh. The floor is sort of a stone color. The sky there is always blue, too--probably why they call it the 'Celestial City.'" As he ran through the details, the entire picture of the Celestial City came a little easier.
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"What else do the stands look like? Do they have umbrellas or overhangings? Are they wooden stands or made of something else? What kinds of things are they selling? Fruit? Does the sky have clouds at all?" His idea of what a city bazaar might look like had been widened quite a bit through his travels, and especially after being told late that his subject last time happened to have round ponytail holders and other details, he was keen on getting this as clearly as possible. Burying himself in the work was rather oddly satisfying.
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The rogue explained the best he could in order to assist, "The shops are little stands. They're, you know, like a little kids lemonade stand or something. They have a box for the base and the angled overhang roof is supported by thin beams; it's all made of wood." Though he couldn't remember what the stands were made of in that city, the stands in Mac Anu were wooden so that would work. "The sky there is always bright blue, heck, I don't think it's ever had bad weather." How could it? Breg Epona was inside a game, programming bad weather or weather at all would just take up time and space.
As for what the sold..that was kind of hard to explain. The people in that area of Breg Epona were guild shops and they sold anything and everything from weapons to armor to accessories. Trying to compensate for his sharp dropoff in explanation after the weather, Haseo made a vague gesture. "They sell just about everything. Most people go to the market to buy weapons or recovery items, though. The place is always filled with people."
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At least Haseo's world didn't sound too insanely different. So long as Haseo wasn't leaving out any important details like "Also I come from a universe where dragons rule us all from the skies and everyone's hair is made of fire" it should be all right. Usopp kept sketching, even putting in a few people so the scene didn't seem too much like an abandoned place. He had no idea what Haseo meant by 'recovery items,' so instead he substituted some nice stands selling fish and fresh fruits, along with knick-knacks. The sort of thing that he'd seen particularly at the stands in Alabasta's streets, although the atmosphere was lighter than Alabasta, and the clothes on the few people weren't the desert fashions of that country but more generalized clothes that he hoped wouldn't seem too strange to his 'client.' Finally he turned the picture around, little wooden shops with overhangs and balloons backdropped by taller buildings of an admittedly generic shape and no clouds in the skies, the ground stone and the few people animated in discussions over the objects for sale.
It was rather complicated, in all, nothing like his sketch of Captain Usopp's Mighty Power. But it was also what he'd wanted, a nice change of pace and a serious relief of stress. Usopp looked hopeful as he handed the notebook over. "Is this about right?"
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