21 [action, Malnosso Land]

[frost_jewel]

[On day one, Mia fights just as hard as any other resident of house sixteen, sure in her heart that they are all being taken for some kind of punishment, for retribution. She doesn't know where that idea comes from, but it lives a life of luxury in the dark corners of her mind. Injured and disoriented upon arrival to the moon, she helps Katara for a while before doing what she can to find and assist her housemates, and her friends. This is the moon. There was a draft here, one she remembers very well and would prefer not to mentally revisit if she can help it. Other people surely feel the same, and maybe she can help them instead.

On day two her only venture out of her villa in the daylight hours is to the pool. The absence of her power is absolutely flooring and awful. That night, though, a friend or two lures her to the casino and its allure of all manner of games of chance. Not a hearty gambler, but familiar with the idea, she'll win a respectable pile of tokens by the end of the evening, and offer to give some to almost anyone who looks like they need them.

Days three and four see her exploring the parks; though her stops in Bubble Land and Junior Land are brief, it gets her out of the villa and away from any tension building around Loki's presence combined with the visible presence of his and Rogue's relationship; on the afternoon of the third day she seeks out Billy and Teddy specifically, to bring them something. And check up on them. Leaving Luceti didn't mean leaving their problems behind. The fourth day takes her to Thrill Land first, for a very significant amount of time. Though she departs that morning by herself, anyone else visiting that park should be able to spot her blue hair waiting in a line somewhere. A timid line, for a thrill ride park. Get her to something bigger and better.

After an encounter with Halloween Land's zombies, though, she keeps closer to "home" for the remainder of their moon vacation - home, and back to the casino. There are all these rumors, and she's off to investigate first; later, on one of the latter two days, she enters the back room to test her luck with something valuable.]

Comments

Day two!

[weathervain]

[Oh there's a faintly familiar face. It's actually the blue hair that stands out to Nami more, but this is the doctor that came out to her cottage.

Don't mind the girl with the long brown hair waving at you from one of the bars at Casino Land there. She swears she's not in disguise.]

Day two!

[frost_jewel]

[Oh, someone's waving. Mia doesn't quite recognize the face; maybe it's someone from another enclosure. She waves back, a little tentative, because relations with anyone outside of Luceti could be strenuous.]

Day two!

[weathervain]

[And thus it was a very short thread!

...bnr. Even though Nami doens't go out of her way to get Mia's attention after that, her path crosses with the woman's some time after when Mia is collecting her tokens from the table.]

That's not a bad haul.

Day two!

[frost_jewel]

Oh-? Thank you. [The sunny smile and calm disposition get her very far in bluffs she isn't actually making.] It was a little difficult to learn at first, but once you start, keeping up is the most important thing.

Day two!

[weathervain]

What, you mean this is your first day? [She blinks.]

Day two!

[frost_jewel]

I played a few games like these at home, once or twice, in larger, warmer cities. Some of the rules here are new to me, though.

[weathervain]

Ah, okay. [That makes more sense. Natural talent, but not a prodigy. Nami sips the glass she's carrying with her.]

We didn't really get a chance to talk properly the other day. But uh...thanks for coming out. [And mindful of the wig, she adds:] I'm Nami. The girl you spoke to at the cottage.

[Briefly. In a handwaved kind of way, probably.]

[ action ]

[alloys]

[ Of all the tables in all the casinos on all the moons, Tony was not expecting Mia to walk up to his. With a fair amount of tokens to boot. But given a second thought, it wasn't too surprising - she's so unassuming.

She must have a killer poker face. ]

I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and say you aren't holding those for someone in the bathroom right now.

[ action ]

[frost_jewel]

[No poker face right now; she's all surprise and happiness and worry at Tony's greeting. They haven't spoken much in a while.]

No, they're mine. Did you need some?

[ action ]

[alloys]

Mia. Please. If I need some of your tokens, I'll win them from you. Rest assured.

[ action ]

[frost_jewel]

Do you do this sort of thing often, at home? I've only encountered gambling in two places in the world.

[ action ]

[alloys]

Not as often as I used to. [ He kind of runs with a different crowd these days. ] Turns out I'm not rusty, fortunately.

[ action ]

[frost_jewel]

I should hope not. Imagine if your armor rusted to stillness.

[As they are still in the fake gambling hall, when a group of kids from another enclosure go by, tokenless, Mia offers them a fair handful of hers to play with.]

What do you intend to buy with yours?

Day 3

[blackteriques]

[Bubble Land ... confuses him. He had expected it to irritate him in some fashion, but no -- all it managed to do was confuse him. Was this what people truly thought living in Luceti was like? How did these people even arrive at that conclusion?

He pinches the bridge of his nose as he stands near the entrance, debating investigating it further. It's as he's debating that he catches sight of Mia.]

There you are.

[...It comes out that way mostly because he hasn't seen her since arriving. Though that really shouldn't have been much of a surprise in itself, with the massive amount of people in the park.]

Day 3

[frost_jewel]

Here I am. [Walter, a welcome piece of normalcy in an otherwise aberrant village scene.] Were you looking for me all this time? I'm sorry.

[blackteriques]

[He shakes his head, feeling a little more relaxed just seeing a friendly face.]

I wasn't looking, but-- it's good to see you. [Wow, that sounded lame.] Are you enjoying yourself?

[frost_jewel]

It's good to see you, too. [It is not and will never be lame. It's true.] Ah...enjoying myself? A little, I guess. Being here on the moon brings back difficult memories.

[blackteriques]

[A pause, and he frowns towards the sky, as if that would allow him to see the lunar environment beyond the park itself.]

...That's right, there was that draft here. I wasn't sent at that time.

[frost_jewel]

You should be glad for it. The threat of- of the sort of death you find here, if the wall breaks or...

[No. This is supposed to be relaxing, isn't it?]

I'm sorry, I shouldn't talk about it.

day three obv

[selfhelp]

[A day of adventuring around the park full of people - many of them strangers - is not Billy's ideal plan of action, but Teddy had requested it, and right now what Teddy says, goes.

Currently they're wandering around the main hub area, holding hands and trying to decide which part of the park to explore next. They don't look like their usual confident and happy selves, but Billy is trying to stay alert and chipper for his boyfriend, if only to give him some semblance of normalcy that they've been seriously lacking the last month. He's still kind of... afraid of everything people, though, so he can't help hunkering down into his big red hoodie and pressing up against Teddy as they peruse one of the guides they'd pilfered from an information booth. The less people notice them, the better.]

day three of course

[halfnhalf]

[Teddy isn't exactly thrilled about being in a park full of people who could look at him and see him either, hence his own green hoodie that's pulled over his head. But half the reason he wanted to be out here was to get Billy outside now that he's back to normal again, because he'd been inside for far too long now.

The fact that he's letting Billy touch him so much, and returning them, says a lot, even if he doesn't look as happy and confident as he did before all of this started. Still, it's a good baby step. Right now, with Billy against him like this, Teddy tilts his shoulder back to let his boyfriend have more access to his side, the gesture feeling so natural to him.]

- both say Halloween Land is out, but Cartoon Land sounds pretty fun...

[frost_jewel]

[Well! She thought they would be a lot harder to find. They don't look like they're up for much activity, but activity is not what she wants from them.]

Teddy! Billy! [She doesn't shout too loudly but she does pick up the pace in their direction. If not for the hoods hiding them both, she wouldn't have called their names.]

I'm so glad I found you.

[selfhelp]

[Oh god, he did not mean to jump as much as he did upon hearing his name being called. It takes Billy a moment to settle again- he's been so horribly paranoid since leaving the hotel, so being recognized has him thoroughly startled.

At least it's Mia, and not... nngh. Someone else.]

M-Mia...

[halfnhalf]

[Teddy doesn't startle as much as Billy when his name was called, though he still tenses just slightly and wraps an arm around Billy's shoulders, keeping him against his side and letting him relax there. He doesn't have as much to be afraid of, even if his own issues left him not even wanting to look at anyone else.

Luckily, Mia probably won't judge him for the way he looks, which is... the same as his usual self, or the fact that he seems to have the jitters, what with him scratching at the back of his neck as he looks at her. Damn this stretched feeling.]

Oh, hey, Mia... Were you looking for us?

[frost_jewel]

Yes I was. [Seeing their reactions slows her down, but does not dim her smile.] I'm sorry for startling you. How are you both?

[She looks at Billy, then.] You look much better.

[The two of them are quite physically close, and she doesn't know what to make of it. Listening to them separately, and hearing how dependent each was on the other's opinion of him, she hopes they've worked it out, out loud.]