tushanshu | [ console; video ]

[He had spent the better portion of the day wandering around the city. Ducking and diving between crowds of people, and doing his best to stay out of the spotlight - which was far harder than he'd like to admit being a 'foreigner' decked out in futuristic space armor.

Needless to say, after having spent a good few hours gathering intel and having a constant stream of people talking to him about what to expect while he was stuck here (among other things), being able to sit down was a small blessing in and of itself. Something that those watching the camera's feed might be able to pick up on, as the ODST carefully leaned back in his chair, and stared up at the cafe's ceiling with a lengthy sigh.]

"Can't say I'm pleased to be here, but it's an upgrade from magical books." [Then again, giant turtles aren't really swinging in the opposite direction. Something he knows, but he'll hold his tongue on that.]

"Would say I'm impressed by how you guys have this whole welcoming stuff down to a science, but I'm still trying to comprehend most of it. Even then, there's usually a lot more going on than what's on the complimentary pamphlet."

[It's then that his visor lowers towards the screen, and a tick of silence passes by, before he's shifting forwards to properly address those behind it.]

"So, straight to the point; is there anything around here that I should be wary of? Threats, dangers, etcetera."

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[Ma'am. Hm. Those certainly are manners he has.]

Miss Sorrows will do.

[She tilts her head.]

I'm hardly worried. You look as though you can take whatever's thrown at you.

Tell me, what lies in your interests?

[All of the manners. It's his thing.]

Alright, Miss. Sorrows. [His helmet moves in a way that might reflect amusement, but subtle armor expressions can be hard to pick up at times.] Think you're giving me too much credit, though. I've ran into enough stuff to know that's not always the case.

But aside from knowing any obvious threats, not much. At least, nothing that I couldn't figure out just by wandering the city on foot.

[Frankly, she feels it's cheating for him to hide his body language and expressions that blatantly. It's almost enough to make her want to deprive him of the same visual cues on her part; but really, that would just be awkward at this point.]

No? I suppose the development of such impressive armor must have been precipitated by a need, after all.

[This said a bit airily.]

Related or unrelated to those magical books?

Well, I wouldn't have lasted as long without it, so you're not wrong. [Idly, he'll adjust one of the straps on his gloves as he spoke. Mostly for reasons of giving his hands something to do, as attention focused away from the screen.] But there's others with far more impressive toys back where I'm from.

[The mention of books, however, is enough to draw his gaze back up again. Huh, this one was clever.]

Depends on whether there's any magical books to be found. So far, haven't had any luck - which is odd, considering how persistent they usually are about following their owners.

Goodness. [She sounds... politely impressed.] How much more impressive? Do tell.

[Aaand she's not even trying to be subtle about digging for information at this point.]

There aren't as many magical books here, no. Certainly I haven't found any which follow their owners. It's a pity; I do so love collecting books.

Mm. Enough to suit the ones that wear them. They're called Spartans for a reason, after all.

[He's not... particularly interested in rambling about his world's technology, however. That would involve a far longer conversation than he was willing to commit to, and even then his knowledge on the more scientific stuff was limited. He was just happy that he could maintain his own armor systems.]

That's too bad. [Disappointing, really, but not completely unexpected.] Though are you usually interested in magical things? Or just books in general?

Surely not their origins in southern Greece.

[She's being deliberately obtuse in the hopes of leading for more information, and sounding very earnest about it.]

A little of both. I had an unparalleled library of rare and magical books, in my own world. Unique magical artifacts... well, they have their own draw, I'm sure you'd agree.

[In truth she's an acquisitive and possessive woman. At least she admits it to herself.]

Well then, if I happen to come across anything magical, I'll be sure to hand if off to you, Miss. Sorrows.

[Something he's being fairly genuine about, given past experiences. Any option to stay as far away from magic as possible was something he actively made a point to do, given he barely understood it to begin with.]

And no. It's just a title. Far as I know, anyway, but I guess it sounds better than super soldier.

I'd certainly appreciate it. How kind of you, my dear.

[Read: just as planned. China's smiling pleasantly.]

It's less of a mouthful, at the very least. 'Super' is such a relative term, anyway.

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