[He did it! Takumi finally did it!

No, he didn't chill the hell out. Stop asking.

Takumi finally made it to Nova City! At long last, he can finally explore this futuristic city of the future, find the Holodeck and hopefully not make a complete mess of it with his shenanigans.

The younger Hoshidan Prince was awestruck as he looked around himself as he made his way through the city. The lights, the sounds, the flying cars and metal people. One may say he is experiencing culture shock.

However, evebtually something had to go wrong, because why not? One misstep and Takumi bumped into another fellow hard enough to cause enough discomfort to illicite a reaction.]

I-Apologies. I didn't mean to-

Why don't you learn how to walk, Pineapple-Head?

[And that did it. Takumi narrowed his eyes at the man.]

Excuse me? Care to repeat that?

I said your hair looks like a pineapple. Now why don't you get your tooty-fruity cupcake ass out of the way?

I tried to apologize, should I teach you some manners instead?

[Other pedestrians scurry out of the way as the two get ready for a throw down. Who will throw the first punch?! They both seem to be winding up for one. Someone stop them! Preferably Takumi since he still has Fujin Yumi on him.]

action.

( So he's laden with more information, upon waking up, than he really knows what to do with.

Normally, when there's a lot thrown at him, he finds a quiet place to think about it if he can get away with being alone. It's like when he first joined up with his nakama, when Thatch was positively teasing him, relentlessly. He had a lot to think about then, and now it seems like there's even more.

Sure, he has pamphlets and this new phone thing, but it's one thing to read the information and another thing to see it all. Ace is nothing if not practical, hands-on.

But he needs a place to live. He needs a job. He needs answers and direction.

So far, he should check out his new place, he thinks. He keeps moving until he gets where he needs to go, and finds that the groggy feeling is being replaced with something much heavier. Realizations, of sorts; he had died in his brother's arms, lifted from life just like that. He did not hear Luffy's screams and he did not see him grow and change.

It's painful to realize, for a moment. But then a smile comes, soft, because even if he was gone from his home and his brother and his nakama, Luffy will carry on. His comrades will carry on. The room he'll call his new quarters is small, and he doesn't stay there for very long at all. What's to see, really? He wants to keep moving, to see the world outside. It's not out of wanderlust, exactly, but rather just a need for answers, to make sure he knows where he's living now.

He walks for a bit, until he remembers the phone, and thinks about putting a post out there; maybe talking to someone in the flesh will give him better answers than the pamphlet. Ace pauses for a moment to do so. )

network // text.

soo i have a lot of questions and hardly know where to begin .
big one is where can a guy get something to eat?

[ Video ]

[ A good-looking guy, about eighteen, is sitting outside in the grass. He's got his shoes off, and he looks like he ought to be taking a header off the foot of some other clean-cut looking kid, or tossing a frisbee around, and maybe he will be when he's done here, if he can find some. ]

Hey, I'm Eli. New in town. So far this place seems not bad. A little short on mountains and red rocks so far, but there's gotta be somewhere to hike, right? Also, I'm gonna need new music real quick. I'm guessing Kendrick Lamar and DJ Khaled aren't hanging around Genessia City, so what's hot?

[ Action ] - Cake Town, Attleton

A couple hours later, Eli found a cake and coffee shop on the network that looked like the kinda place no one would get shitty if he hung out for awhile, drank coffee, and listened to the music he had with him. Turned out they had pretty great cake, too, which didn't do much for missing Gran's cooking, but made him smile anyway. So did the blonde sitting around like she was waiting for her shift to start. He flashed her a quick smile and a little wave before he settled in with his earbuds and the tunes that'd made the leap with him.

With a network device in front of him and headphones on, he should've been sending out the fuck off, I'm busy vibe, no bullshit. But he wasn't slouched down in his seat all sullen and hoodie like some kinda TV hacker. Half the time he didn't seem to be looking at the screen at all, and he had smiles for people coming and going. Either someone raised the kid right or he was already working on his first Oscar.

When you approached, he looked up straight off, always met your gaze, and said a friendly, "Hey."

Gee, it sure is a shame my family is moping about instead of enjoying the ocean, Pops' home island, and these lovely lovely sunflower seeds the islanders gave me as payment. Guess I'll just take Sabo and Ash to Pops' grave and only let them share my delicious delicious, oh so filling treats. If only I knew of someone who needs kids to play with, or someone else that likes old ladies that finds giant hair or Pops' sons's extra appealing.

Just think, a perfect island for giant zou-style cat people and phoenixes, and yet no one I know will snap out of it to come appreciate the beauty of hunting vermin and playing on the island all to themselves.

Oh well, I'm sure I can find some crow friends willing to chat to them and the sphinxes. Or maybe I'll just let the Revolutionary Army have the island for a base instead. I'm sure that wouldn't endanger it with Teach hunting Sparky's family, and Edward Jr. convinced I have a hidden pile of treasure somewhere around here. What could possibly go wrong?

If only it was family's responsibility to pull together and help each other out of it!

[Darkly muttered:] Swear this is why I need Ace.

( action prompts below the cut! )

RELAX AND REFLECT. ( video )

Whoa— hey... ( there's upside-down camera view of noctis as the device lands hard on the ground. he's holding his palms up, as though he was trying to stop what looked like a small army of people in uniform clapping and caroling in unison. )

That's not, you don't have to...

Happy Birthday to you~! ♪

( jeez, how had they even guessed? couldn't have been that ostentatious piece of cake he ordered for himself... why couldn't he just ruin his appetite in peace?! )