InsaneJournal

Log // Raiden, Open
WHO: Raiden, Open to Anyone
WHERE: Andromeda - an open-air market,
WHEN: March 1st
WHAT: Raiden strolls through town, taking in the sights of the enormous city.
WARNINGS: Possible violence/blood, language
STATUS: Ongoing


He knew that there would be a big difference between the dingy, dog-eared streets of A'dani and the grandeur of Andromeda, but Raiden found himself downright disoriented; the sheer spectacle, the size, the sights and the sounds, all of it was almost overwhelming. He had spent so long in more remote places and dust-covered planets that anything else was an attack on his senses. Somehow, it felt as though the lights were too pure and the architecture too beautiful. There were also plenty of very curious eyes glued upon him as he tried to walk around. After he had first stepped off the shuttle from the outer reaches, it was only ten minutes later that he was already wanting to slink off into some dark corner and hide himself away.

But no, he hadn't traveled this far, tucked in between sliding containers in some cramped little cargo hold, just to give up now. Raiden pressed on with the same steel will as always - it wouldn't take long for him to adjust, he reasoned, and then he could actually start to relax and enjoy himself.

After a bit of walking away from one of the city's many commercial ports, the heavy-grade cyborg came across what appeared to be an intergalactic farmer's market of sorts - creatures, humanoid and otherwise, were standing behind open vendor stands and beneath tents with their assortment of goods on display. Fruits and vegetables Raiden had never seen, native to this edge of the universe and boasting the kind of strange, alien coloration that made him a little nervous to try. The vendors seemed friendly enough, many of them calling out their wares to anyone within earshot. One in particular looked tasty enough: the produce looked almost like watermelons, yet somehow square in shape.

"Hi there. What's good today?" Raiden asked, approaching the stand. At the moment, the seller had been looking down, organizing several handfuls of his product, but his ears perked up at the sound of Raiden's voice.

"Good? Everything! Everything iz good! You taste and it blow your mind!" he proudly announced. When he looked up and found himself staring at this...human? Robot?...he jumped like a match had been lit up under his seat. He stared at Raiden, his expressions curled up into a strange, twisted scowl. "Heyyyy, what iz joke? You don't need foods, do you?"

It was true, he didn't need to eat, but he still could, and the illusion of taste through his sensors was just as good as the real thing. Raiden shrugged his broad shoulders, looking down at the vendor. "C'mon, my money is still perfectly good. How about I take a few off your hands?" he replied calmly, offering a hint of charm in his tone. He reached down, gently grasping one of the melon-squares between his clawed fingers, but before he could actually pick it up, the seller slapped his metal hand,

"No! None for robot-mans! You go, go away soon!" he barked, his glassy black eyes narrowed firmly. Raiden backed away, frowning distastefully.

True enough, Raiden certainly didn't seem like he belonged. He normally went about in a less battle-ready cyborg body, but unfortunately, he didn't have time to grab it before the universe had whisked him through a black hole and into the far reaches of the universe. He was stuck in this frame - bulky, gun-metal black, with sharpened edges protruding everywhere, a powerful metal jawline, and a large, humming sword tucked into a sheath at his back. Raiden stuck out like a sore thumb in this peaceful utopian city. Maybe coming here wasn't the best idea...

"Oh, don't listen to him. He's just grumpy ever since a military droid accidentally smashed his last stand."

A tiny voice piped up behind Raiden, and he swiveled around to find its source. It was another vendor, this one appearing to be an older woman. She smiled kindly, her wrinkled features and tired eyes giving her the unmistakable, universal look of someone's sweet old grandmother. "You come here and try these - I grew them myself!" she said as she took hold of one of Raiden's hands and, despite an enormous difference in size, practically yanked him over towards her own tent. A small group surrounded the two of them shortly, other sellers all extending offers of their own wares and giving admiring comments about the look of his powerful, robotic body.

In between replies, promises to try this fruit or that and giving polite answers, Raiden couldn't help but smile a little. Maybe he could spend a few days here in Andromeda after all - if these people didn't kill him with kindness first.