4007/Roll the Old Chariot Along

Roll the Old Chariot Along
Date of Scene:	13 April 2016
Location:	Hikari Sea Port
Synopsis:	NAKA IS A TERRIBLE INFLUENCE
Cast of Characters:	William Pauwel, 939

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William Pauwel has posed:
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR?

    Who cares? Will doesn't get to drink on a military base that he doesn't really actually belong to. He's not really much of a sailor, either, having spent most of his time out at the drydocks putting his skills as a handyman and juryrigger to good use. It turns out that a lot of things break at sea, and having someone around to put them back together again is actually pretty helpful!

    He's building something new today. A personal project, like his makeshift, vaguely doghouse-y shack-slash-workshop tucked away in one corner of the courtyard. This is a little more put-together. Sparks scatter as he brings a torch of IONIZED PLASMA up against a metal joint and slowly joins a spare torpedo rack to the side of what appears to be a spare PT Boat.

There's also a minigun mounted to its back end, and what appears to be a set of electrical equipment rigged up to its engine for... reasons.

It... Looks like Will is building a boat today? But where does he intend on taking it!?

Graf Zeppelin (939) has posed:
Will wasn't the only one working on a project today!

     Nearby, a makeshift stage was set up, and standing atop it was...NAKA! HIKARI'S RADIANT FLEET IDOL.

     On the stage is also loudspeakers and other audio gear. She looked ready for a concert, but there were no spectators! She didn't seem to mind though. Why? Because she was practicing! Tapping the mic once, twice, three times, the Light Cruiser smiled to herself and nodded. "Okay!" She took the mic off the stand and took a deep breath.

     "And a one, a two, a one two three four!" Then a ridiculously catchy pop tune started up, and she began some kind of dance routine, after a few steps, she started singing. "Every daaaaay I looook at yooooou~"

     Oh boy. Seems like she wasn't minding the boy BUILDING A BOAT over there either!

William Pauwel has posed:
    When you intend to spend the day hammering plates of mysterious black metal to your brand new salvageboat, you don't exactly intend to hear BUBBLY POP MUSIC blaring from literally two doors down. Will is so into his work that he doesn't even notice until the infamous three-chord melody begins to pound through the airwaves. He bolts upright at the sound, smacks his head against the makeshift torpedo tubes, staggers backwards, trips over a wrench, and falls into a stack of tools.

    He gets up again about a minute later, wincing as he rubs at the first of a new bushel of bruises. "What in tarnation is goin' on over there?" Will groans and pulls a set of goggles up out of his eyes.

Well. Whatever it is, he should probably find out! Before his workshop turns into some kind of weird, poppy concert hall!

    Will stumbles out from his little, no-longer-so-quiet-space and stares incredulously at the... the girl dancing on her stage, singing the kind of song that gets in your ear and then squats there like some kind of musical vagrant. "Uh," Will says, "Y'all got a reason yer puttin' on a show all the way out here?"

Graf Zeppelin (939) has posed:
     "I can never forget yooooooou~"

     Naka sung on, twirling, and then sweeping a hand forward...a hand that was cooincidentally right in Will's direction! Once he's arrived and starts speaking, the girl quickly lowers the volume of the backing track and grins sheepishly, sticking a tongue out. "Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't think there was going to be anyone here at this hour. Other than like, Akashi!"

     Naka bowed a few times, and then smiled radiantly. "So, who're you? Whatcha doing here anyway?" A pause, and then she seemed to realize. "Oh! Are you that guy the Admiral detained for dating an Abyssal! I heard about you!" Giggling mischievously now, Naka brought a hand over her mouth as she looked at Will. "Ohhhh! You're in the doghouse now! How long's it been? Five years? Ten days? A century?" Those are some odd numbers there.

William Pauwel has posed:
If she didn't think there was going to be anyone around, then why go through the trouble of setting up a full stage and--

No, Will doesn't know how the performing arts work. He may in fact be some manner of uncultured swine.

    "Akashi? Nah, Pinky went off for dinner a while ago. I'm only pulling the midnight oil 'caughwk--!?" Will chokes, his face taking on many qualities also found in tomatos. He stares at Naka like she'd sprouted an extra head, "D-dating!? Y'all got it wrong! All I did was put her bottom half back onto her top half, and we talked a little after that, is all!"

He glances furtively away, tugging the lip of his hat ever so slightly down over his face, "W-where'd you even hear it that way? A-and--" Will stammers, jabbing a finger up at the grinning idol and her stage, "And where are you gettin' those numbers from!? I've only been here a few weeks!"

Graf Zeppelin (939) has posed:
"AWWWW! THAT'S SO ADORABLE!" Naka claimed, hopping down from the stage and onto the workshop's floor. She held her cheeks with both hands writhing in feigned embarrassment. "You put her back together? Then that means you're basically at second base now! So bold! You tiger!" Okay she was totally messing with him now. But his reactions were too cute to resist really.

     "Oh, I just heard some rumors around the base from the other girls." Must have been some rumors if it somehow morphed into dating an abyssal." And at the exclamation regarding numbers, Naka playfully bopped her head and stuck her tongue out. "Whoopsie! I forget not everyone gets to be that old! Teehee~"

     Sort of doing a spinny hop step over to Will, the idol stopped in front of him, giving the boy a thumbs up. "But don't worry, guy! I'm totally on your side!" She clasped her hands together. "Ahhh, two star crossed lovers, divided by the sea and their races...and yet, they still pine for one another!" There were stars in her eyes now.

     Someone stop her.

William Pauwel has posed:
    "I- I am not adorable!" Will crowed, puffing himself up at the stage and looking every little bit like some kind of small, distressed animal. As an only child and not exactly particularly well-versed in the art of social torment, Will is dreadfully incapable of doing much to defend himself against this... this. "W-w-what are you even talking about!?" He gapes, wearing the scandal like it was red paint all over his face, "No! That ain't at all how it works! I'm not a tiger or anything like that!"

    R-rumors? There are rumors that he's some kind of weirdo who's into pale robot girls? That's a dirty mistruth! He's not into pale robot girls! He's just... Kind of a sucker in general, maybe. That's not a very good place to be around these parts.

    Naka hops down at him! RIGHT UP INTO HIS GRILL! Will recoils, reflexively springing a few inches back. "I'm tellin' you, you got it all wrong! W-we were just talkin'! It inn't right to just... just start d-dating a girl right after you meet her!" Something tells him that his protests are falling on deaf ears, but still he tries. HE TRIES, DARNIT. "It just ain't moral!"

oh will, poor innocent will

Graf Zeppelin (939) has posed:
Naka does not let up. "It's okay! It's totally okay! I get how it is!" She nudged him with an elbow playfully, winking all the while. "Just know that I'm rooting for you, guy! Naka-chan is here for you!" Was that supposed to be reassuring? "So what was her name? Destroyer-Princess?" She brought a finger to her cheek, brows furrowing.

     "Not a very romantic name. But that's okay! We can make it work!" Naka grinned and edged closer to Will as he retreated. "So! I bet you wanna talk to your girlfriend, don't you? Why don't you write her a letter! Sure, you can send an email or call her, but a letter is so much more romantic! Come on! I'll even help you write it myself!"

     Will. Run. Now.

William Pauwel has posed:
WHAT IS THIS PERSON!?

SOME KIND OF WHIRLWIND OF ROMANCE AND MATCHMAKING!?

    Will's mouth moves and he's pretty sure he's making some kind of sound with it, but for the life of him, he can't put together exactly what those sounds are. Naka advances, Will retreats a little bit more. How's he supposed to deal with this!? Does he stay? Does he go!? If he goes there will be trouble but--

BUT IF HE STAYS IT WILL BE DOUBLE.

    So then why hasn't he gone!? Is there some strange force keeping him anchored, turning his boots to lead!? Is it some misplaced desire to not get browbeat by some kind of weird, dancing, singing boat-girl!? IS THIS WHAT THEY CALL A MAN'S PRIDE!?

Will's mouth snaps shut.

His eyes stare straight into Naka's grinning face.

And then he says--

"Okay."

Graf Zeppelin (939) has posed:
Without missing a beat, Naka claps her hands together and hops up and down. "Alright! Then we're going to write Destroyer-Princess a letter!" The fleet idol cheered, lightly clapping her hands together still excitedly. Someone was so ready for unwarranted matchmaking.

     "Then we need to begin immediately!" Pointing off into some random direction dramatically, with one hand on her hip, Naka proclaimed. "Lets write the most amazing letter! So fantastic that it'll charm the fitout right off of Destroyer-Princess! She won't be able to resist after this! Teehee~"

     Are you sure about this!?

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will is not ready. Nothing he has done so far has adequately prepared for what he is about to experience. He is a blind man about to tightrope over a pit of hungry crocodiles and rusty swords that are also on fire, and nobody's told him that there isn't actually a rope.

But, he's a Chaser, after all. And what kind of Chaser balks at danger!? Throwing himself into strange, unfamiliar and possibly lethal situations is part of his job description.

    Will just nods, responding to Naka's boundless enthusiasm with the weighty determination and desperate mania of someone walking towards their own certain doom. "It'll make her turrets blow right off their mountings," he replies.

WILL FACES DANGER HEAD ON. FULL STEAM AHEAD.

Graf Zeppelin (939) has posed:
     At Will's determined response, Naka actually takes a step back, fanning herself with her hands. "Whew! Is it me or did it just suddenly get hot in here?" Naka please. "You're going to do great!" Cheering for Will, the fleet idol grabbed the Chaser by an arm, and dragged him out of the workshops to go sit down somewhere with a pen and paper.

     There was no possible way that this was going to go wrong on any level.

     Like, at all.

     God bless Will's soul.