[Social] Gathering A Crew, Episode 2: The Thief and The Captain (Closed)

Baterilla. An island that was simultaneously new and nostalgic for Alexa. On the one hand, it's most prominent city: Beach Hope, was the closest thing she had seen to her own hometown in the few years she had been sailing around. It was the closest thing she had personally found to another bustling city. But, at the same token..it was still very different. Notice was always a very large metropolitan sort of area, and it gave off that vibe. But as Alexa walked through the streets of Beach Hope--temporarily absent one grenade belt for the sake of not freaking out everyone she walked past--she couldn't help but notice how completely different the vibe of Beach Hope was from Notice.

Back home, you always felt like you were just a rat scurrying around in the great big city. But here? It felt almost..homey. Of course, splitting up from her crew probably wasn't the best idea. But she did believe that everyone deserved to still be their own person, even if they all were working under her. Plus, sometimes it was nice just being alone with her thoughts. So with that in mind, she was actually in a pretty alright mood. The familiar hint of salt in the air, the relaxing atmosphere..hell, even the crowd gave off a feeling of ease.

Man, if only she could still have the same life..but she didn't. And as her thoughts drifted away from how nice the place was, a small frown slowly crept onto her face. She didn't have the luxury of a peaceful life. But on the same token..letting that consume her was a bad idea. Hm. Maybe some food would improve her mood. And just like that, her stomach let out an audible growl, causing her to chuckle to herself a bit. At this point, she was scanning through the crowd, looking for a place that was a quick, sit down and order type place. And luckily for her, she found one. An open air, diner looking place, and people were just sitting down, filling up empty seats. So, she took one of the two remaining ones.

"Whadda ya want? We got fish stew, pork chops with rice, Burgers, or Shrimp n' Noodles." Well, that made the choice easy. "I'll take the shrimp and noodles." She said as she dug into her pocket for the wallet that she kept a bit of spare cash in. "Aight, that'll be a hundred berry, and you'll get yer meal in a sec." The man behind the counter said, holding his fat hand out. She gave him the hundred, no questions asked, and waited for her meal to arrive. Though..leaving her wallet on the counter was probably a bad idea, even if it was within her field of vision..

Baterilla. Honestly, the place was pretty. Kaia didn't always enjoy being in big cities. She had found herself preferring wider, opener areas as opposed to buildings upon buildings. Too many faces around. Sure, she could pay attention to her surroundings but there was always that /something/ that open, more rural areas had that she found herself more attracted to lately. Even still, at least this wasn't the sea. She took a trip here thinking she'd be able to score work but nothing ever actually came of it. Not like a lot of people need a guard all of the time. And stealing? Eh. She didn't like stealing from a place some homely.

The short woman had been exiting the inn she was staying in - hands briefly adjusting her  suspenders by looping a thumb under the fabric to stretch it out slightly to  bring it up more on her shoulders before letting it snap back. She was leaving her long gun in her room. She didn't need it with her. Kaia did, however, have her little main sidearm hanging off of her hip on her usual belt. Small enough for people to not really notice if they weren't paying attention but big enough for when people did look at her, they'd see it.

A hand rose up to adjust that big hat, moving to angle it a little to prevent the sun from hitting her eyes as she made her way around the city. Wake up. Walk around. Eat. Waste money. Not get a job. She was honestly considering getting a temp job at the harbor to maybe get ready to jump to a new island.

Thinking this, she'd wander into the restaurant, taking one of the open seats at the counter. She sort of paused, glancing down. Someone just.. Kept their wallet on the counter. A gloved hand would be placed on it and simply /push/ it towards them. "The usual." came her voice as she glanced to the side. Blue hair. Weird. But not entirely out of place typically. Though she sort of lingered in the look. Something about the woman seemed familiar. Gave her pause. Did she know her? Possibly. Either way, she'd fork over a hundo of her own to the same fat man before the gunslinger would start pulling off her gloves. "Quiet day, ey?"

Small talk. She wasn't always the best at it.

When the second woman came and took a seat, and ordered 'the usual', the man tending the little outdoor stand nodded. She was lucky, as he was still writing down the order of the blue haired woman. He ripped the note off of its paper pad and walked in back. Of course, it would be a bit before the two women would get their food, and very few people were actually here. So small talk would probably have been a good idea. Luckily for Alexa, the other woman proceeded to break the ice by not only talking, but also pushing her wallet closer to her. Oh, right. Probably not a good idea to leave that out. So she grabbed hold of it and proceeded to pocket it, giving her a little nod.

However, when she opened up her small talk by commenting on how it was a quiet day today, Alexa couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, yeah it is. But you know, sometimes it's nice to have a quiet day every now and again. It can remind you of why you do what you do. But, here I am, waxing sentimental over nothing." She said, laughing a bit at what she was saying. She meant what she said, but even she could realize how silly she was sounding. Still, she smiled and held a gloved hand out to the dark skinned girl who had taken a seat next to her. "I'm Alexa. What's your name?"

She asked, still giving that small, warm smile. She might have had a lot of her own baggage to deal with..but that wasn't why she was here. She was here to get away from all of that for a day. So why was she still armed and wearing her gloves? It never hurt to be careful, really. Of course, shortly after she asked her question, the person running the stand came out with a bowl in each hand. One bowl had the Shrimp and Noodles that Alexa had asked for, and in the other was a bowl of pork chops and rice. The cheapest item on the menu, really. But hey, if it was good, did it really matter?

There was a short pause as the short woman went to interlock her fingers some, stretching out as she cracked her knuckles.  There was a short pause before Kaia moved to shake her hands free briefly as she went to start removing her gloves. Eating with gloves was a weird feeling. Sure gloves were meant to keep your hands clean but she never really wanted to get food junk on it. Then they get too sticky or food stuff because then it attracts ants and it smells like food the entire day and she'd just get hungry if she ever got a wiff of it.

With her gloves off and set out of the way, she'd remove her hat next - placing it ontop of them on the counter as she'd glance over. There was a shrug of the shoulders in response. "Sure, a quiet day is nice. But this whole place has been pretty quiet the whole time - not gonna lie." the woman lightly complained, a yawn following her words as she glanced down at the hand offered to her. She'd reach out to take it and give it a firm little shake. "I'm Kaia, nice to meet ya Alexa."

Kaia let out a quiet yawn again. Sure was doing that a bit. Probably not a morning person. But with the nice greetings out of the way, and Alexa getting her food -- the gunslinger would continue the conversation some. Or at least attempt to. "So, from here? I'm not. Doing a bit of traveling." she'd explain before the man who just brought her food out wouldn't take much longer with Kaia's own - bringing out a simple basket plate housing a burger. Here hands idly tapped at the counter a little bit as she took the messy hands-on food in hand. Good thing she took off her gloves!

Kaia. That was a name she had never heard before. Of course, she had just been mostly wandering under the guise of being a trader. She didn't have the guts to come out as a pirate yet. Still, it was an interesting name, for sure. Of course, Alexa shrugged a bit at Kaia's follow up comment about the whole place being quiet. "Some places are sleepy towns, some aren't." She said as she stabbed a piece of shrimp with her fork, and twirled some noodles onto it before taking a bite. Of course, she had to hold up a finger when Kaia asked her if she was from around here.

"Ah, that hits the spot. But no, Im not from around here. I haven't been home in years now, if I'm being honest." She said between forkfuls of shrimp and noodles. "Though thinking about it, back home was way busier than it is here. Guess that's the difference between having a heavy government presence and not having it though." She said, trying not to think back about the very reason that had started her on this path.

Of course, she saw the firearm on Kaia's hip. And given the fact that she had a pair of gloves, rather than a single glove, she had gathered that she likely had a bigger one. She hadn't met anyone that used a gun who would wear a pair of gloves for just a pistol. That was what the grip was for. Longer rifles though? Oh yeah, there were people who wore gloves on top of those.

"So, what'd you have to leave behind to keep people from panicking? I left a grenade belt back on my ship." She asked, the question coming out just as casually as any other kind of conversation. Of course, Kaia would be able to catch a small smirk gracing Alexa's lips as she asked her question, so it was obvious that she was just making it rather clear that she was dealing with someone a bit more observant than most.