Adapting Is Key

[splattershot]

"Well, shit."

That was all Tidal had to say when she awoke in the grassy field that was very much not her apartment. She'd fallen asleep in her jacket and pants after an exhausting - but highly satisfying - day of turf wars, excited to have more fun the next day. Well, now the next day was here, and this was not the Inkling's idea of fun.

As she rolled onto her back and sat up, she took in the area. It seemed like there was a city nearby, from the smoke rising up beyond the hills. Where the hell was she, and how had she gotten here? This wasn't good; she didn't even have her Splattershot.

Damn. She didn't even have her hat.

But she wasn't going to find anything out by sitting around, so she pushed herself up to a stance, tied her 'hair' up into a topknot, and began to walk towards the rising smoke. At least she'd be near some kind of civilization, then.

Comments

[morganknight]

"Maybe," he said, flicking an amused smile her way. "I wasn't doing anything important, and it seems to me there's a lot to do and learn out here. Experience makes us grow. Also," he added, lifting a finger which he then pointed at her. "Cute girl, remember? That's always worth points."

[splattershot]

"Eh, I guess I wasn't up to much, either," Tidal admitted with a shrug. "Although I'm not sure about all this growth crap..." She laughed it off, though. It didn't hurt that he called her cute. "You bet it is."

[morganknight]

"Well, that's getting into my philosophy, which would probably bore you," he said with a genial self-deprecating shrug. "Still, we either bemoan this or we enjoy it, right?"

[splattershot]

"Oh, I'm sure it would," Tidal agreed. Discussion of philosophy seemed awfully dull and pointless to her. "But I'm sure we'll have some here, yeah."

[morganknight]

"It's already an adventure. Here's hoping it's a good one!"

But on that note... Morgan brought his left arm back so he could stick his right arm into it, a slight frown on his face as he checked the equipment he had easy access to in there. "By any chance, do you know how to fight?"

[splattershot]

"Hell yeah! I'm dangerous." It didn't occur to Tidal that being a got shot with what was, essentially, a paintball gun was probably not what Morgan meant. What did occur to, however, still proved a problem: "My Splattershot's not here, though... Hmm."

[morganknight]

"What's it close to? Never heard of it, but I've got a few weapons in here that might come close to something..." Sounded like a SuperSoaker more than anything, but Morgan wasn't gonna say that out loud.

[splattershot]

"Close to?" Tidal repeated. "Fuck, uh, it's close to... You know, like..."

She proceeded to mime shooting off her signature weapon, which, yes, probably did look like she was wielding a SuperSoaker in thin air.

"...You know? You guys had 'em, too, but they were different. Look, I didn't pay attention in history class."

[morganknight]

"Uh, hmm. That's getting up into really heavy weapon territory." Morgan paused, arm elbow-deep in his coat as he considered. "Don't suppose you have a knack for melee weapons at all?"

[splattershot]

Tidal considered the question for a moment, then smiled up at Morgan. "I won't know until I try, but I might. You got something with you we can use to find out?" she added, noting him rummage about.

[morganknight]

That he could do. With a flourish, he drew a bo staff out of the coat, in a shameless violation of physics, then offered it to her. "Doubles as a walking stick, excellent for bashing."

[splattershot]

"Bashing, huh?" She might look a little too excited about that, but at least her eager excitement overrides the vague feeling that she should be insulted by the idea that she could ever need a walking stick. Being very much an urban dweller, she's not at all used to longer walks, so she thinks of walking sticks as being just for the elderly.

Regardless, she took the bo staff and swung it from side to side, experimentally. "Hey, this could be fun!"

[morganknight]

She was missing the point anyway! Doubles as a walking stick... for anyone who might otherwise question why she had it. As for Morgan, he was satisfied with just the sword on his back, and whatever was in his coat.

"I think it will be." Good company and an optimistic attitude could go pretty far. With a bemused grin, he offered Tidal an arm. Shall they?

[splattershot]

She looped her arm through Morgan's, no hesitation, smiling at him in a manner so coy and slick that it was almost more of a smirk.

"You know, you're pretty charming in a doofus way."

[morganknight]

"Life's too short to take myself seriously, that's a lesson I already took too long to learn. And dignity is overrated." Or really, dignity came from what you made of it. A person in a Speedo who owned it had more dignity than a person in the fanciest formalwear who felt no confidence in themselves, after all. "Willing to tell me a little about yourself while we walk?"

[splattershot]

"I guess," Tidal mumbled, unsure if she could ever imagine not taking herself seriously. Sure, her cultural idea of dignity might seem laughable to those not from her world, but it was still very important to her. She had a lot of pride.

"About me, huh?" That was an easier topic of conversation. "I'm twenty years old; live with two roommates outside the center of Inkopolis Square... That's like the central hub of my home. I spend a lot of time in Turf Wars, which is the norm where I'm from, really. I'm pretty damn savage with my Tentatek Splattershot. It's really too bad it's not here with me."

She shrugged. "One of my roommates is a radio DJ, so I'm pretty into music. Me, I'm paid to collect Salmonoid eggs."

Her world was very weird.

[morganknight]

"Turf Wars?" There was a lot to process in her cheerful little mini-bio, so picking just one to focus on was difficult. But that one definitely seemed to stand out. It sounded like a gang thing, but that was -- well, it seemed unlikely?

[splattershot]

"Oh right, you wouldn't have those... Human and all that."

Where did she even start? There was a skip in her step as she walked on and tried to explain, "Okay, so you get eight Inklings - two teams of four. Each time is assigned a color by the judges, so you load up your gear with that color ink and cover as much turf as you can."

She glanced up at the sky with a smile, something nostalgic to it. "After three minutes, the two judges see who covered the most ground. Within your team you get assigned points for stuff like splatting members of the other team." A pause. Tidal was finally realizing how poorly some of this must translate. "You know, like, knocking them out of commission for a few seconds."

[morganknight]

Okay, okay. Context clues. 'Inkling' was either her species or a title which referred to participants of these 'wars'. This sounded basically like the local sport, except that it wasn't paid? So amateur?

"So the gun you've been missing is an ink gun?"

[splattershot]

"Of course it is. What else would..."

She trailed off, having the rare courtesy to look quite sheepish as the misunderstanding became clear. "...Oh."

Well, that was embarrassing. She usually could pretend she didn't care what others thought, but Morgan was so genuine that she felt weird about putting on an act. Self-aware.

[morganknight]

Morgan slapped a hand to his mouth that didn't at all hide his furious giggling. "Oh my God, I did not -- welp I am probably not going to pass over the Uzi, then!"

[splattershot]

Yeah, if she could pretend she didn't care - that she wasn't embarrassed - this moment would be a lot easier. As it was, though, Tidal coped with a flash of anger.

"Hey, it's not funny! How was I supposed to know you didn't know what I meant?"

[morganknight]

"You weren't, so don't worry about it," Morgan said, holding up his hands to forestall her anger, but still grinning. "That was entirely my fault for assuming."

And he could laugh at himself very easily.

"Trust me, me making a dumb mistake is definitely funny."

[splattershot]

"Oh," was all Tidal said at first, as she considered this. He seemed genuine in what he was saying, so... "Okay, then. I guess it's okay to laugh at that."

[morganknight]

"Well, it happens so often, you'd really be missing out on a lot of humor if you didn't." He folded his hands behind his head, not at all bothered by dragging himself a little.