((Man I love exploring this side of Blade, but I feel really sorry for him too... he's so like... reserved and knotted together it'd take a shoehorn to undo his knots. XD Also I'm fine with that idea ZAFT.

))
Blade - Tags: Otter"Well all right... I understand. I mean if that's her perception of how relationships should go... then yeah maybe... but that's kind of ridiculous too, because I'm sure she could find something else in you... you could show her something else in you... another side... and... whether she accepts you or not is on her." Blade had corrected himself midway through, realizing he shouldn't be settling for just accepting Otter's resigned explanation.
"Otter I uh..." Blade paused here, the words unable to leave the cage that was his mouth whenever he spoke about this topic. "I... uh..." he tried again, but couldn't get the words out. "Ugh... I hate talking about this... not because I hate the topic but because I've built this complex web of... deceit around myself over the years... there's no other way to describe it." he confessed. "The real me and who most people see... aren't... aren't really... lining up I guess. Or maybe the thing I think is the real me is really just a persona I've created for myself and the persona is the real me because I've changed... I'm not sure." he admitted, wondering why this was so hard for him, and realizing how confusing he must've sounded.
Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath, let out a long exhale, and tried again. "OK... so... my parents... don't... get on with me." He began slowly. "I kind of see myself in you with Skila and how I am with them. My father... uh... hated... certain... aspects of me, and I... eventually couldn't stand it, so I left... at a young age... and never really... looked back. Never spoke to them again... and I feel it's a terrible thing to do but... I also felt like... I wanted to pursue my goals and dreams... and they weren't in the rural town where I grew up. For awhile... I thought I had found it. I had found... happiness... ahem... uh... purpose... my life. It lasted... a long time. As long as I could drag it out for. Then something terrible happened that seemed to just vindicate my father and justify every thing he had ever said to me growing up. And it made me question everything I had known about life. I didn't... no couldn't open myself up to that pain again... so I changed... I stopped messing around, got serious, and got a new career. I put the past behind me and moved on... or so I thought. But..."
He closed his eyes again here, experiencing the world through Otter's "eyes" so to speak. "What if... what if I'm just living a lie? Suppressing my real self because I... I couldn't face what happened and accepted my father's version of reality? But what if that's wrong? What if this life I currently live... and believe me I do not regret what I do... what if it's not... what if it's not what I'm meant to be doing? In terms of my personality... who I am... how I act around others... does any of this... make any sense to you, or am I just a rambling fool?" Blade asked, opening his eyes and grinding his teeth. "I know I haven't told you the whole story, but that's not something I tell... well anyone really, so it's not just you." he informed the fighter here.
"Anyway, sorry I bombarded you there... that's more than I've told anyone in a long time so... I guess I've kept it in for too long." he let out a chuckle here, but there wasn't much mirth behind it...
Finn - Tags: Aeris, Streak, Doc"You... you want to guard him?" Finn asked Doc here. "Mr. Hudson I'm not sure that's... a good idea. You aren't out for revenge... are you? He has his own security detail... and I don't want you putting a bullet in the back of his head because of what he did to your friend. Can I trust you to do this?" But even as he asked, Finn looked out to confirm that indeed, Shadow was in a... race right now? With Crophopper?
Sighing, Finn looked directly at Doc. "Fine... but you have to respect his rights. You can't simply kill him or you'll be branded a murderer, do you understand? He's been sentenced, he's had his trial, and it's all within the bounds of the law. He's not subject to personal vendettas by aggrieved cars. If his life is at risk... you must preserve it. That's what guarding him means... can you do that?" Finn inquired again, asking him a serious question.
Oskar - Tags: Rush, Shinn"Headlights' Paradise, eh? Sounds like... quite the place." Oskar chuckled here as Rush began leading them towards Honkers. "Yes... that restaurant name... BOTH restaurant names seem to imply something else. The whole uh... what's the words? Double entendres is it?" Oskar smiled here, noting Rush seemed a bit... uneasy. But he couldn't blame him; that red moon seemed to have a lot of others on edge too.
Good old American country music was drifting out from the bar, but Oskar would've agreed with Rush: it was too much of a clash right now with what was going on. Someone apparently refused to let their jukebox tunes die though. They were insistent on playing them even throughout all this. "Huh... this place seems uh... OK." Oskar commented, gazing inside. "I hope this newbie of yours getting the show of a lifetime didn't change so dramatically that I'd be going through much the same experiences at this place." the Komet managed to lightly crack.
"Table over there." Skipper pointed with a wing and nodded in the direction of an empty one kind of towards the entrance.
Dusty - Tags: ShadowDusty was flying above his stall speed, and maintaining his post-takeoff speed well. He watched as she began to pull ahead, clocking his speed at around 120 mph. This was really slow for him, as even when he'd been testing at "lousy" speeds under Skipper he'd managed around 220 mph. She was zooming along though, and this would feel incredibly fast to her. To him, it was just a lazy flight, but things felt slower up in the air unless you were really moving.
As she challenged him, asking if that was all he had, he smirked, and throttled up, increasing his speed and beginning to go to about 50% power, until he was cruising along at 175 mph, which was still pretty slow for him. "Oh not even close! I'm just out for a lovely flight in the country, thank you very much! Come on! Make me push my engine!" he called down to her, grinning. He loved this, and already was starting to forget about his guilt and his pain... and starting to enjoy life once more.
Sure they were starting to race under the light of the twin moons, but that made it even more thrilling and mysterious. He was slightly ahead of her now after having let her lead, but he knew this certainly wasn't all she had, and was ready for more.
Miles - Tags: No one yet but sort of everyone around"Quite the place... isn't it? Little pleasant country town in I'm guessing America, judging from the roads and how they're aligned and how everyone's driving on the right hand side of the road. So... why take me here?" he inquired.
"You've got info... info we can use. Turns out that one of your attackers... was seemingly in two places at once... and we need you to ID him positively."
"He... was?" Miles blinked, having rolled down the ramp fully now and looking about him, his eyes settling on the group clustered around Finn, namely because of the large dragon there... but also because Lightning McQueen was present... as was Finn McMissile...