Nighttime in the Undertown

[Fell]

They called it The Dark City, probably because they really thought of it that way. IT was their loss, though, to just write it off like that... For the city had another nickname: City of 1000 Stars. That was the one anyone who actually knew the city, it's 16 hour night and all, called it. Crime, dirt and danger aside, the city was fundamentally alive in a way few were anymore.  The undertown, a truly cyberpunk cavern under the city with full skyskrapers coming from the ceiling (and never touching the ground) and vice versa, was one of the livelier places even in the City of 1000 Stars. Hovercars and other flying modes of transportation shot high above the heads of pedestrians, criss-crossing the sky with neon as they flew. The undertown was mostly lit up with neon. It suited the style of the place, especially here in the centre of the town. The skyskrapers, the signs, even the sidewalk in some places was inlaid with various colours of neon. Truly, a ravers paradise.

At least, it was in Alcide's opinion.  And as far as the Cheshire Cat was concerned, his was the only opinion that was important.  Well, for now. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate others; quite the contrary! He just didn't know anyone else on the street, rendering him his own most important person for the moment.

Alcide had just come from one of his favourite places - a rave. No, not a specific rave (though this *had* been a good one) but just a rave that he'd found while walking. That was part of the beauty of the undertown. If you knew where to walk at night, you'd almost certainly find a rave. Gods know, Alcide certainly had. It was fairly obvious, too, based off of the myriad of glowing objects - bracelets, necklaces, earrings, even an oral glowstick that lit his mouth up pink - that adorned his lithe, small frame, the faint smell of sweat and alcohol he was giving off and the black light paint that spattered his mostly-grey fur. Not that it would be hard to tell otherwise. He was wearing a pair of raver pants and no shirt, per normal, his ears were pierced up 12 ways to Sunday and he had a small, conical eyebrow stud. So, remnants of a rave or not, it was hard to mistake Alcide for anything but a cyberpunk undertown raver.

Which, to be sure, suited the smallish Cheshire cat just fine. He hummed a fast-paced song as he walked along the street, a little tipsy, arms held straight out to balance as he tried to walk on the neon line burned in front of him. It worked better than might be expected for someone tipsy - after all, he was a cat. Alcide paused for a moment, then smiled up at the neon-streaked sky. It was something especially beautiful when alcohol clouded your vision (even if only a little). Man, I love this town, he thought, continuing his happy search for his next party of the evening. The night was yet young, and Alcide certainly wasn't one to waste the nightlife of the Dark City...

((Note - I'd prefer if no more than a couple people joined... I don't like huge RPs ^^; They get too confusing for me. Also, please try to be somewhat active in your replies and somewhat lengthy about what you say. I'm not always this wordy (gods no! It's a first-post thing) but I can't say I like sentence or two long replies either. I try to put a lot of thought and detail into what I write, and I would appreciate it greatly if you would return the favour. That's all... If you're still interested, please, reply away!))

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~Nyx walked up out of the subway of Undertown. The dragoness had just recently gone to an art supply store. She might have been considered a punk, herself, due to the attire that she wore. She had a black tank top with red flames dancing across the bottom of it, with fishnet sleeves; along with black pants that had been oddly repaired with safety pins, chains dangling from the sides and criss-crossing her buttocks. Above all of this, she wore a tattered trenchcoat with buckles as far as the eye could see. Her "hair" was more or less like iguana spines. They stood up and alert; only few of them were lying in her face, (cyberhawk style on IMVU.) Along with dark purple angular glasses, and her own, black scales.Yet, she resented being classified into a group. (Hehe, that's me!)
 
Her converse sneakers scuffed along the sidewalk as she was heading to her apartment; a bit overloaded with large canvases and bags of paint, brushes, and sketchpads(two to be exact.). She walked briskly as she felt herself slowly but surely, losing her balance. God, let me get my apartment before I go spilling over with my stuff! she thought to herself as she speed walked. Finally, before she could even reach the sidewalk of her own apartment, she went tumbling to the ground... paints skittering everywhere(but not opening thank goodness), brushes puncturing through her plastic bags, and five canvases clacking on the ground; right in front of a grey kitty raver.

As quickly as she had fallen, Nyx shot to her feet and blushed a bit embarassed of her actions, adjusting her glasses as she zipped about, picking up her lost supplies.~*

[Fell]

Alcide had been in the middle of a step when he heard the sounds of falling behind him. Instead of placing his stray foot down, he swung it around in her direction and used its momentum to carry the rest of his body as well. It was a fairly graceful movement... Especially under the circumstances.

He smiled down at her, looking at all the art supplies she'd spilled. "Hello. Why have you put your paintbrushes on the floor?" Alcide asked curiously, reaching down to pick up and examine one. He put it gently to his ear, then shook his head. "Perhaps you should invest in leashes, if you're to do that," the Cheshire suggested, handing her back the paintbrush he'd been listening to.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~Nyx sheepishly grinned and gathered her things up quickly and stuffed the brushes into her already punctured and shredded bags. "Sorry," she said carply, and snatched the paintbursh from his hand. She sat her bags on the ground and brushed the dirt off her clothes while adjusting her spikes and pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her snout. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your walk." She sighed, "I don't make enough money as an artist to invest in leashes anyway." Nyx grinned a toothy smile. She gathered her bags and canvases, and began to walk forward, tottering a bit then sitting the supplies on the ground again. The dragoness mumbled to herself. Why had she been able to carry it up the subway and across the street without falling? Now it seemed impossible.~*

[Fell]

Alcide watched her totter down the street for a moment, then sauntered over, arms still out to each side. He looked up at her a little, smiling. "Would you like some help?" the young Cheshire asked, flicking his eyes towards her now-broken bags as he did. What a shame she can't get leashes... he thought, oddly happily. It must have been the alcohol, colouring everything in a pretty shade of metaphorical pink.

Alcide didn't quite wait for her to answer, reaching for a couple of canvases and a set of paints showrly after he asked. He didn't see why she would be bothered by it. He was just helping, after all.

[Jericho]

(I hope you won't mind one extra person. I like the concept for this roleplay)

A steady clank-clank-clank of metal upon pavement could be heard as a figure comes around the corner on the opposite side of the street as the other two. The darkness had his some of the features, but the sound of metal upon pavement gave it away. It was Jericho, the local mechanic. Or he was at one time, he was now out on the streets looking for work. A dull red glow eminates from his right eye. He had been in.. a few, terrible accidents. Hence being part machine. He wore a pair of camoflauge shorts, baggy, they hung at his hips and covered his legs down to a little below his 'knees'. His knees, however, were non-existant. From his knees down, his legs were machine. His entire left arm from the collarbone down was machine aswell, and the top-right of his head had mechanical parts too. Hence his slightly glowing right eye. He also had on his favorite jean-jacket, the left arm tore off. He didn't bother covering up his false parts, there was no use hiding them. He had both organic and mechanic hands stuffed into his jacket pockets as he rounds the corner and slows his walk as his gaze sets upon the artist and the raver.

From the look of it, Jericho didn't have a shirt on, showing off a chest with unkept fur. It was tan in color, being that he was a hyena. He had brown spots of fur upon his hips and shoulder(s?), the same-colored mane running from his upper back to just above his forhead, spots on random places along the back of his neck. He had a lighter tan belly and chest, under his jaw and along his jugular. His tail was more like a shortened version of a wolf's tail, being covered with the same brown fur, instead of just having a tuft at the end. At the moment, he was looking for something, but he had a lot of time to spare. He stops, giving a slight turn, trying to keep silent so he didn't interrupt. But even the slightest turn caused the pavement to grind against the sole of his clawed metal foot.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~Not used to such acts of kindness, she tried to shoo away the cheshire, insisting "Honestly, I can carry my own things." when she was interrupted by a metallic scra.ping (<--word filter picks it up)sound. She grit her teeth at the sound... Her hearing could be sensitive at times, and this was one of them. The sound came from a metal not agreeing with the concrete by the sound of it.
She traced the sound to a bio-mechanic stranger. He was a canine for sure. She let her powers wander a bit, but not terribly much, for this creature was an object of interest at the moment. She closed one eye as if scrutinizing his apperance and caught a whiff of a name within 'Three syllables... Starting with a J, and ending in O...' She thought, gathering facts from the now identifyable Hyena, she had discovered, whilst scanning his mind. He seemed lost, as if his purpose was not yet established.
Once again, after everything was in check, (her glasses, hair, and attire...) she spoke, "Jericho... Am I correct?" She eyed the stranger again, trying to collect something else from his mind. She gathered her art supplies and sarcastically answered the canine's silence, "It's not a rhetorical question." Then let a crooked half-smile settle on her lips.~*

[Jericho]

Jericho lowers his head a bit, giving a slight nod. He thought the name-recognition was from the crash of his reputation. "Yea" If one would be to get into his head still, a slightly increasing tone can be heard. The hyena takes his paw quickly from his jacket pocket and presses a metal plate upon his head, pressing harder and harder until a dull hiss could be heard. He takes a deep breath and looks to the dragoness after exhaling slowly.  "Have you seen a tool that looks like a screwdriver anywhere? I'd get into specifics, but I don't think many people know the names of every tool." He gives a slight smirk. His breath didn't exactly smell bad, it just smelled different. Like a mix between coffee, a couple mints, and chinese takeout. He had both of his ears, one had a bullet-sized hole near the tip of it. He reaches the paw that was out of his pocket behind his head, stroking his mane a bit. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?" He says, a slight bit of sacrasm within his voice, but none ment to be hurtful.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~Nyx hesitated, her eyes narrowing as if Jericho had just asked an absurd question. She promptly pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her snout (They had slid down a bit, making her look as if she were impersonating a grandma.) and answered, "Name's Nyx." she looked at the cheshire digging for a name, "and I'm not sure, but I think that this is..." She paused for a moment---
                ('Begins with an A, and ends in an E. Very unique, and catchy.')
                                                                      ---To collect on a name. She then continued unsurely, "Alcide?" she said unsurely. "I'm not much of a tool person, but I haven't seen anything resembling a screwdriver around here. Tools are the last thing on my mind." She bent over to pick up her art supplies, and paused mid-way. "I'm more of a visual arts personality."~*

[Jericho]

Jericho gives another nod, "Pleasure." He looks down at his leg when he hears that his tool hadn't been found. "That's unfortunate.. I'd like to be able to open my right leg up and figure out what's loose inside. Sometimes I get a horrible limp on it, or it just stops working for a time." He lifts his legs to turn this time so that the metal soles of his feet wouldn't grind upon the pavement so he could lean upon the wall of a building and see who he was talking to straight-on. "I'll have to find a specialist to work on my brainbox though. Gotta find out what's making all that pressure build up in it"

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~ She stood back up and looked at Jericho, now armed with her army of bags full of Art supplies and her canvases. "Hmmm..." she said, allowing her mind to swim in wonder, "Maybe I should look into mechanics. I do enjoy learning new things. Although, I'm not sure when I'd have time to do so. I'm so absorbed into drawing and learning to paint, I've never really taken the time to consider it. I do however have some tools at my house... I think... A big box of them the previous owner of my apartment left in my closet." She closed her eyes as if trying to make an inventory of all the tools inside the box she spoke of. "I'm not sure if there's anything that can help you in there, but you can take a look if you'd like."~*

[Jericho]

"I'd owe you one" He smiles a bit, stepping forward and holding out his arms "I could start by helping you with those supplies" He stops a second, checking his left arm before nodding a bit. "Gotta be something that could help me get into my leg" He would be in trouble if the limp started again if he was allowed to help with the dragonnesses art supplies, but he trusted his thigh-strength enough to support him to at least her place.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~"I can get it. I was able to walk all the way from the art store, down the subway, onto the train and up the subway with no problem." she grinned, "My place is right up there." She moved her head towards the general direction of her apartment. She was nodding toward a building that looked fairly run down, but it also looked as if the owner tried to keep it nice. There was one window that had a sheet covering it, the sheet was black with one white crescent moon in the middle. "The room with the sheet over the window is mine. You'll have to excuse the mess." She nodded, as if reassuring herself and thanked the cheshire, then began to ascend the stairs. There were three flights.~*

[Jericho]

Following, Jericho goes up on the steps, measuring each placement of his metal footpaw carefully. He'd had a bad experience involving his legs and a staircase. He keeps ahold of the support rail as he goes up, watching Nyx in front of him to make sure she wasn't having any trouble herself. Though, he was lagging behind. He tries to hurry up, skipping a step with each foot-placement. He looks back down to his legs, making sure the tell-tale signs of a give-out weren't showing.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

*~Finally reaching the top, Nyx turned to see that Jericho was still behind her, but lacking by a few steps. When he had reached the top, she walked to the end of an old hallway and stopped at the end in front of a beat up door that looked as if something had tried desparately to claw its way inside. She sat her art supplies down beside her allowing the canvases to rest against her leg. She dug through her pockets until she found a set of keys, oddly decorated with a two keychains. One keychain was a black rubber ducky with a yellow beak, and in yellow, it read '13' with yellow stars. The other looked like a tongue hanging on a chain with a single piecing on the tip, and it was even squishy and somewhat moist like a real tongue. She slid a black key into the lock and turned it until it clicked, granting her access to the secrets it hid from everyone else. She swung the door open and scooped up her art supplies, heading indoors.
When she entered the livingspace, inscense greeted her nostrils, and she sniffed it happily identifying it to Jericho, "Dragon's blood... It's my favorite scent." the carpet was black, and the furnishings were striped vertically black and white, while the walls were white themselves. There were canvases that had already been painted leaning on the walls and furniture, and paintings painted on paper hanging on every inch of the wall, each one about 1 inch from any of the adjacent ones. The colors from the pictures showered and reveberated throughout the room giving it a warm, peaceful look. Nyx shuffled through the living room and behind the bar that indicated a start of a kitchen. The bar was littered in papers, mostly sketches, and books. She slid them over and cleared a spot to sit her art supplies.
There were two other rooms in the apartment. There were no doors, only beads hanging over the entrances. One was an art room used for painting and storing supplies, while the other was Nyx's bedroom. The bedroom's beads were striped black and white, vertically like the furniture, while the art room's beads were a picture of the Mona Lisa. "Wait right here." the dragoness instructed as she disappered into the art room's beads.~*