Factor Industries Charity Event: October 18th, 2016

[ceofactor]

Even for Benjamin Factor, arranging this charity event had been something of a challenge. Just as he held great influence in Gateway City, Thunder Corp's influence in Locke was great as well. But with time and money, all things were indeed possible in this case, and the Memorial Dance Hall was playing host to the night's events. It was a glamorous affair: politicians, captains of business, dignitaries, and celebrities had been invited. For whatever controversy that existed, the world legitimately wanted to heal the wounds left by the invasion, and that meant there were a lot of people who wanted to use events like this to either advance that cause, or to make themselves look good.

But they weren't the only sorts of individuals who had recieved an invitation.

Benjamin Factor had also made it so the Numbered would be invited to his little party. Arrivals through the teleporter would be greeted by drivers at the community center, and the same courtesy was extended to anyone who might live in Locke. The only stipulation? Was that anyone who came make an effort to make themselves presentable. If that was a problem, or anyone arrived without knowing, they had clothes on hand for people to change into.

Indeed, it seemed that the Numbered would be well provided for tonight. That being said, their presence would get people to talk, given the presence of news crews making live coverage. Nevertheless... "getting people to talk" seemed to be exactly what Benjamin Factor wanted to happen.

[Event Links: Event Speakers | NPC Interaction | General Mingle]

Comments

Mamoru Daigo | OTA

[poweriscombined]

Does Mamoru Daigo own a suit? The answer to that is a resounding no. Mercifully of course, Factor Industries had provided him with proper clothing upon arrival. Does he get to keep it? Might that prove useful later on? Who cares, there's food.

This isn't his usual scene. Not in the slightest. However, the offer was there, the food was - again - free and after tussling with giant bird monsters downtown, he's had well more than enough stupid stuff for awhile.

Agumon was left at home, distracted by food Mamoru had to pay for, so in the end it doesn't quite even out. All the same, you'll generally find him over by the buffet and... not much else.

[abundantlove]

How does food keep bringing the two of you together, Mamoru?

Molly is filling up a plate, moving along the table length-ways, before she ends up bumping into Mamoru's shoulder as she goes along. Instantly, she jumps away, and... her eyes widen when she sees who it is.

"Y-you again?!" she exclaims.

[poweriscombined]

Mamoru is busy trying to eat some sort of... chicken? He thanks its chicken. It tastes like chicken, but they say a lot of things do and he's not really well versed enough to know which is which. He's doing this, when she bumps into him and he... immediately starts choking.

He grabs a glass of water and chugs it, clearing his throat before whipping around. He stares, wide eyed, for just a moment before blurting out: "Holy shit, are you stalking me?!"

[abundantlove]

"I'm not stalking you!" Molly exclaimed, eyes wide. And... perhaps, a bit too loudly. Then, before looking to the side nervously to check no one's staring at her, she repeats more quietly.

"I'm not... I didn't even know you'd be here! This keeps happening by accident..."

[poweriscombined]

That's actually loud enough to even make Mamoru recoil a bit. He clears his throat, looking for a moment like he's trying to see if he can just... look like he doesn't know her. Failing that, he lowers his plate and shakes his head.

"That's still a hell of a coincidence," he mutters. "Nothing's going to try and kill us this time, is it?"

[abundantlove]

"Uhm... not unless more food monsters are going to start appearing..."

She laughed nervously, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I guess... we haven't been properly introduced? I'm Molly Anderson..."

[poweriscombined]

Mamoru squints hard at the first thing. He leans in, looking at her as if she's totally serious. Of course, she did also transform into a blonde magical girl in a pink dress... "More food monsters?"

He sighs and shakes his head.

"Um, yeah. Guess not."

In spite of him trying to carry her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"The name's Mamoru. Mamoru Daigo."

[abundantlove]

Molly laughed, sheepishly. "Ah... that's kind of a long story. But... it involved a carrot. I'll say that much!"

She smiled wide now, holding out her hand. "It's wonderful to meet you, officially, Mamoru! I hope we can be friends...! I'm sixteen, and I go to Saint Mary's Private School! How about you?"

[poweriscombined]

He stares blankly at the first part. A... carrot? That... that explains nothing! Still, he gives a small grunt and... reaches out to shake her hand, because why not?

He frowns a bit at the rest, though. She's a polite, nice girl, and... would probably be way of her element for anything he's been dealing with.

"I'm... around." Because that says a lot. "Eh, I mean. I'm from Japan. Originally. Been around in the US for... the last year or so, I guess."

One probably couldn't tell just from hearing them - there's a bit of an accent, but his English is actually pretty spot on.

[abundantlove]

Molly's eyes widened, and she suddenly seemed more interested.

"Ohhh!" she replied. "You're from the same country as Rakka, then! And my grandmother was from Japan too! I... didn't get to meet her before she passed away, though."

She laughed nervously (and a bit sadly) at her rambling, before continuing. "So uhm... did you come to America with your family?" Mamoru looked to not be much older than she was, so it was worth asking.

[twinkletwinklesuperstar]

"Mamoru!"

Isn't that just the sound he was hoping to hear right now? Well, hoping or not here's Kirara marching right up to him at the buffet table as he stuffs his face. She stops a few feet away, planting her hands on her hips as she glowers at him.

"Just what in the world do you think you're doing?"

[poweriscombined]

What is with people yelling at him tonight?!

He jumps a bit as he hears the rather familiar voice travel across the room, and he nearly drops his plate of food. He turns to face her, and... huh. Yeah, that's still Kirara. Seeing her on the Network, or TV, or the movies (holy crap she's been busy) is one thing. Seeing his old friend in the flesh is a whole other.

The glower is pretty familiar, at least.

"...uh. Hey, Kirara." He holds up his plate. "Trying to eat."

Well. She asked.

[twinkletwinklesuperstar]

Mamoru just seems to sort of invite that kind of thing.

It's been awhile since they'd last seen each other. At least since her acting career had started up in earnest and time and circumstances had yanked them both into their own, separate directions. A lot has happened, and a lot has changed in that time and there's probably some kind of reunion in order here.

But, they are who they are and something very dire needs to be addressed before they go any further.

"Not that." She sighs, shaking her head before marching up to him and pointing an accusing finger at his shirt collar. "That! Where'd you learn how to tie a tie?"

It's an absolute mess and one she immediately reaches out to start trying to fix.

... Hi, Mamoru. You slob.

[poweriscombined]

He stares blankly as she marches up, sticking that finger out at him and... wait, seriously? He balks a bit, and sets his plate down before shaking his head. "Hey! I didn't even choose this damned penguin suit, it just got thrown at me, and I didn't even have a mirror when I--"

He stops short as she starts to fiddle with his tie, and grits his teeth.

"Nice to... see you too, I guess."

He doesn't really stop her, though. Maybe he appreciates it. But he's not gonna say that.

[twinkletwinklesuperstar]

Yes, seriously. This is important. Honestly, showing up at a party like this with a tie looking like this. She hmphs a bit at his excuses, since obviously there is no excuse, and focuses on her task of redoing his tie. How she knows how to tie a tie is probably just as much a mystery as it is unsurprising.

"You too. It's been way too long." She answers after a moment, with the tie situation sorted out. She goes the extra mile of making sure his shirt collar is straightened and his top button buttoned before withdrawing her hands and inspecting her handiwork with a satisfied smile. "There, that's better. You actually look pretty good."

Was that a compliment to him or herself??

[poweriscombined]

To Kirara's credit, he lets her continue doing as she will. Either because, again, he appreciates it or he just knows from experience that trying to stop Kirara at anything is like attempting to stop a freight train with tissue paper.

He snorts a bit. "Yeah, I know."

Look. He's going to take it as a compliment, dammit. Still, minor annoyances aside, he finds himself smirking. Things haven't exactly been great on his end for awhile, so seeing a friend after so long... It actually feels kind of good. Even if the circumstances are weird as hell.

"So, how long you been sitting on all this, anyway?"

He means of course, her Numbered status... but even he's not dumb enough to not realize she's keeping that on the down low.

[witnessme]

That makes two of them, that Factor's people had needed to outfit. Nux had even thought that he was dressed very nicely when he arrived, but apparently his sole outfit that might pass muster on a Sunday in a very laid-back church simply doesn't do it for this kind of event. But Nux isn't actually thinking very much about the clothes he's been stuffed into and looks highly out of place in; he's thinking about the echo he got via the teleporter when he took it to Locke City, and the resulting scarification on his lips. The texture's distracting, and he can't seem to quit licking them.

Nux thinks that maybe if he can find something greasy to eat it might help, but he's asking everyone anyway, so when he spots Mamoru he flags him down, looking sheepish. "Hey! Uh... d-do you have any chapstick? Echo messed up my lips."

[poweriscombined]

Mamoru is munching on something that is quite greasy as he's approaches, and he has a multi-staged reaction. He looks at the guy, nodding as if everything is normal. He pats his pockets, coming up empty. Then he blinks, looks again, swallows his food and gives a low whistle.

"Nah, I don't got a thing." He winces. "Bro, that sucks. I do not think chapstick is gonna help you."

[witnessme]

The food in Mamoru's hand looks good, like the kind of thing that Nux could rub on his lips to soften them up. If they were merely chapped, that is, and it's far from the case.

Nux has never been the type to consider himself handsome, but his face was never bad. He never hated it. He'd missed it when he'd been modified into a chameleon humanoid, and he'd been thrilled when he'd gotten it back, albeit without his once terrific head of hair.

"You... you don't?" he rasps hoarsely, clearly dismayed. "D-does it look that bad? It feels rough. Driving me nuts."

[poweriscombined]

Mamoru slowly shakes his head, trying not to stare. Failing. Ah hell, let's stare, you can't really help it if it's right on the dude's face. He frowns and sighs.

"Ah, yeah. Yeah, you look sort of like you got in a fight with a lawnmower and lost, man."

...

Okay, so. He's a little too honest for his own good, sometimes.

Most times.

All the time.

[witnessme]

If Nux considers the staring rude, he at least seems oblivious enough. Either that or he's used to being stared at by now, between looking like a lizard for a good amount of time and then being restored to a somewhat hollow and spooky appearance that still manages to stick out in polite, normal company.

"A lawn mower? That's... that's rough. What can I do?" he asks fretfully, holding a hand over his mouth. "I was supposed to look nice tonight. If I go back through the teleporter, you think that'll reverse it?"

[poweriscombined]

It's rough, yeah. But as far as Mamoru can see, he's looking pretty rough. He gives a shrug, tossing up one hand helplessly.

"I dunno. This stuff doesn't tend to go backwards, does it? I mean, I can't just magically make my super transforming talking dinosaur go away."

Not that he'd actually want to, but you won't hear that from him.

[witnessme]

Nux knows perfectly well that this stuff doesn't go backwards, but he's horrified and desperate for a second opinion. Scars on his chest that ultimately look kind of cool but can be hidden with a shirt are one thing; this is entirely another.

He makes a small, confused sound at the mention of the dinosaur. "Wh...huh? What d-dinosaur?"

[poweriscombined]

Mamoru blinks. Well, at least it kind of changed the subject, but this guy sure seemed to shift gears rather fast. He reaches up and scratches the back of his head.

"Man, people seem to react the same way every time to that."

He then proceeds to shove a piece of chicken in his mouth. Context? What context?

[witnessme]

"T-to what?" Nux asks; though he can change gears quickly, making a smooth transition and keeping up isn't always his forte. "There's no d-dinosaur, not since the thing in Gateway. Is that what you mean? You have one of those? Where?"