ROLEPLAY HQ - birds-of-a-feather

TW: Violence, Sexual Content, Abuse, Drugs,

On a calm clear night in Japan a young man stepped off the train and began his walk back home. He received a few dirty looks and was bumped into every so often as he walked, everyone around him seemed to have unwarranted animosity towards the young man and the American Flag on his shoulder was the reason. Alex Murphy was what the locals referred to as a “Gaijin” and as such he was treated as a dirty foreigner outside the airbase he worked at. Too focused on getting home Alex would just lower his head and keep walking, on the way he would take back routes and alleyways to avoid other pedestrians when he could so he could relax and enjoy the night sky. His life was simple yet monotonous, he woke up, went to work, came home and went to sleep. While Alex liked the simplicity, he craved a little bit of spice in his life and judging by the way his head spun like a top every time he passed the Subaru dealership suggested the Airman thought a new WRX was just what he needed. Little did Alex know the next alley he would scramble into for a peaceful stroll would end up completely changing his life forever.

10:30 AM

@MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

To Lexi, tonight is just another night spent outside. Aside from the fact it's full moon, nothing seems to change. Well at least, not in the streets she usually roams. They're quiet and empty, just like the young girl likes them. Roaming the alleyways after being in the busier streets, she enjoys the sound of her own footsteps and the absence of flirting old men. You'd think that with her tattoos and dark style, they'd back off. But they often come even harder, to her dislike. Looking at her phone with a defeated sigh, she doesn't pay attention to the next alley she takes, not expecting to meet anyone anyway. @Viper392

Alex kept his head turned towards the dealership even as he turned down the alleyway and couldn’t see it. His mind was clouded with daydreams and visions of taking a nice drive home in his very own car distracted him from what was in front of him. Suddenly the daydreaming boy felt something slam into his chest and before he could snap out of it and get a sense of what was happening his feet had already given out from under him and with a gasp and a thump he fell face first onto the figure who’d bumped into him. Alex groaned as he lifted himself off the person under him, his earphones had fallen out during the fall and his hat had slid down over his face and blocked his view, frustrated the boy lifted his cap and looked down to see who had run into him. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

As she walked with her eyes glued to her phone, Lexi let out a sigh before putting her phone away, yet not soon enough that she could've noticed the person walking straight into her. She only had a demi milisecond to react, and she was too distracted to be fast enough. She truly hadn't been watching where she was walking because it was not just a little bump, rather she ended up losing her footing - did not help that she was wearing hardly stable platform shoes. Falling under the weight of the other person, her phone fell to the ground and she eased her fall a bit by putting down her hands, without much difference. The only real difference was that she had spared her phone from taking in her full weight during the fall, but it was still scratched. She let out a yelp of surprise when she fell, and a grumble once she was on the ground. She stayed still, letting the other person get back up before she asked if they were ok. She spoke perfect Japanese, but there was a slight accent and her face certainly did not look asian at all. She had red dyed hair loose on her shoulders and round brown eyes with heavy eye makeup. If her face wasn't enough to set her apart from most people, her outfit added another layer. Dressed in black from head to toe, her dress was short sleeved and shamelessly revealed the tattoos on her arm and leg. @Viper392

“Yeah I’m fine” Alex said, his American Accent extremely obvious as he took his headphones off of Lexi and wrapped them around his neck before he stood up and reached his hand down to help the girl up off the ground, “You ok?” He asked concerned. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

"Thanks, I'm alright." she accepted his hand and after she got up, she dusted her dress and knees, more by reflex than by actual need. She crouched down to pick up her phone, and when she turned the screen towards her face, she let out a soft swearing in her mother tongue "Kurwa, these cheap phones never last long..". Her expression changed and softened when she looked back up at Alex. "You're a foreigner too?" @Viper392

“Yeah, American, how about you?” Alex asked curious as to where the girl was from. Alex was tall and athletic, his blue eyes alongside his white hair made him appear to have an ice cold aura around him. He dressed very casually, simply wearing a jacket over his work uniform along with a black baseball cap on his head, he looked like he was trying to hide from someone. The man opened his wallet and pushed his various IDs and licenses aside before taking out a few thousand Yen to give to Lexi as compensation for making her drop her phone.

@MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

She put her phone in her right hand and with her free one, she checked on her hair, parted in twin tails. "Polish, well, my parents are." she leaned forward after letting go of her hair, trying to get a better look at his face. "I've never met an American in those back streets before, you're new in the neighbourhood?" Politely taking the money, she bowed gratefully and put it away without much fuss. If there was something she had learned from living here, it was that people were almost excessively kind when accidents happened. @Viper392

“Yeah I moved in a couple weeks ago, what about you? You been here long?” *Alex asked curiously as he slipped his wallet back into his pocket. He didn’t bow in return not because he was trying to he rude but because the American Boy was still not used to Japanese culture and traditions, at work he would frequently forget to bow to his Japanese coworkers and receive dirty looks later on. He even still turned his head every time someone said “Hi”. When Alex looked back up the girl was leaning rather close to him making his eyes widen a bit from surprise. Was this another culture thing he was forgetting about? Alex thought to himself. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

With a mischievous grin, she locked eyes with his. "Wanna eat ramen? There's a delicious shop around the corner." It was as if she was playing with him and the fact that he seemed to still be getting accustomed to manners in Japan. But it was playfully done, and she took no offense when he didn't bow back. She started walking in the direction she had mentioned, turning back to face him and answer his previous question. "All my life, my parents came when they were in their 30s." @Viper392

“S-Sure…” Alex replied caught off guard by Lexi’s sudden advance. Being focused on school, work, and his hobbies all his life meant Alex had little to no experience with women, especially now that he was across the world in an unfamiliar country, therefore he had no idea if Lexi was flirting with him or just playing around. The confused airman decided to push the thought aside and just go along with it following the girl to the Ramen shop. “What was it like growing up here?” Alex asked after she made her statement curious as to what it was like growing up in the Japanese Suburbs. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

Turning back to face him as she walked backwards, she looked up at the night sky as she recalled memories of her childhood, especially those linked to growing up in this country. "Mmh... Got treated like a gaijin until I opened my mouth, most of the time. Played in the streets with neighbourhood kids, fought with them too... you know, usual." She added a little laugh at the memories of how she met her bestfriends through fighting with them in the nearby park. "But I'm curious, what brought you here? Work? Lover? Family? Passion?" @Viper392

“Haha yeah just the usual” Alex laughed softly with her as they walked. “I guess you could say work, Boss pulled me into his office one day and asked me if I liked Sushi. When I said yes he told me “You’re going to Japan” and here I am haha.” It was the strangest way anyone had ever described being deployed to an air base overseas but Alex seemed to find it humorous. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

Alex looked a bit concerned and confused as to why Lexi was walking backwards but he didn’t say anything. The boy adjusted his cap and kept walking as he began to smell the faint scent of Ramen. “Why did your parents come here if you don’t mind me asking?”

Turning back to walk the right way, she slowed down to match his pace. "That's... that's one way to send someone here!" she let out a soft laugh after pausing and raising her eyebrows in surprise. That really was a weird way to be sent to a foreign country. "Honestly..." she started, at the same time playing with the edge of her dress. "I don't really know. Probably for sight-seeing. I don't even know how they met." @Viper392

“Yeah my boss is an interesting man haha. I’m kind of glad he did, I’ve always wanted to travel overseas and the food here is good, not to mention the cars here are really cool. I just wish the people were a little nicer but otherwise it’s a nice place.” Alex said walking with his hands in his pockets now. “Never asked them?” Alex asked hoping he wasn’t overstepping, he did in fact just meet the girl and didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

Avoiding his gaze and staring at the floor, she spoke with a very quiet voice. "My father... didn't stay for long. He was only the first of many to come and go in our lives. My mother never settled." The topic, rather that making her uncomfortable, seemed to slowly make her upset, as she started kicking a pebble over and over for a couple of seconds before it rolled away. Suddenly, as if she had snapped out of it, she raised her head again and pointed to a ramen shop not far in front of them. "Let's go there! So you like cars? How so?" @Viper392

Alex felt bad for prying after she’d told her story, he hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable he was just trying to make conversation. He watched her kick a pebble a few times with a frown on her face, fortunately for Alex he would be spared the shame when Lexi pointed to the Ramen Shop in front of them. “Ok!” The man replied, He decided to push the thought from his mind as she changed the subject. “I’ve always been a bit of a gearhead, machinery and speed are just really fascinating to me. Actually I was ogling the new WRX when I bumped into you haha.” Alex said with a chuckle as be gestured back towards the alley they had met in. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

"Oh, I never noticed it!" she sounded genuinely surprised and all traces of anger in her voice had disappeared, it was back to being light and energetic. "Highways here aren't the best to go fast, it's pretty expensive." When they reached the ramen shop, she walked in first, quickly greeted by an infamous "Irasshaimase!" and started taking off her shoes, suddenly losing a couple of centimeters. "Have you tried real ramen since you moved here? Not the convenience store ones, those are low tier." @Viper392

“Yeah the highways are nothing like back home but I’ve heard the Touges are fun to drive at night.” Alex said casually as the two entered the Ramen Shop, he jumped as the worker inside shouted at them and he began quickly kicking off his boots while he replied to Lexi. “Actually I haven’t, I’ve basically been living off of MREs and cup noodles since I got here.” The boy said slightly embarrassed, it wasn’t that he couldn’t afford to try all the unique and delicious foods Japan had to offer, Alex just preferred to live simply for now. Not to mention he wasn’t exactly treated with respect in public so even though he’d wanted to walk into every Ramen and Sushi shop he saw he didn’t think the dirty looks and “accidental” bumps were worth it, that and walking into a restaurant alone sounded kind of depressing and Alex preferred not to think that way. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

Taking a seat, she started looking at the menu, although she already had an idea of what she wanted. Once she was sure of what she wanted, she rested her chin on her hand, elbow on the table, and took a moment to look at Alex. "Weeell, if you want I can show you around more often!" she waved her hand in front of her with a small laugh. "It's not like I have a lot of stuff to do anyway." Her proposition done, she fell back quiet and waited for him to pick his ramen, only ticking after a couple of minutes that he probably didn't know how to read the menu. "Do you need help reading the menu?" @Viper392

“I think that’s a great idea, like my own private tour guide haha.” Alex said with a chuckle, truth be told the boy hadn’t made any friends since he moved here so having someone to hang out with and show him around was like a dream come true. The boy tried for a few minutes to read the menu, he’d learned how to read basic Japanese but he struggled to understand traditional words and phrases that were used in conversation and readings outside the Aircraft Manuals Alex had learned to read. “Sorry, I’m used to reading maintenance manuals and they’re really dumbed down and basic. Do they have anything spicy?” Alex asked slightly embarrassed, he had been slacking on his study of Japanese as of late, he’d was beginning to think he wouldn’t need to know anything outside of the basics as he’d started to give up hope on finding anyone to actually converse with here. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

Seeing his embarrassed face drew a chuckle from the young girl as she gave their order, a smile still drawn on her lips. It didn't take long for their food to arrive, pipping out, per usual. "Itadakimasu!" Lexi let out, joining her hands together. In-between bites, she kept giving out random facts about Japan, ramen, or cultural habits. It seemed obvious that she still quite liked this country, although her "foreign" appearance put her at disadvantages in some aspects. @Viper392

Alex struggled a bit with the chopsticks as he ate the spicy ramen in front of him, it was delicious, completely different from the bland and boring dried noodles from back home. While he ate Alex listened to Lexi talk, hanging on every word. He’d been given a book containing basic information on Japan and her culture but hearing it come out of someone’s mouth with such passion made the information much more interesting and gave it more meaning. @MMS (Martin-Maraiste)

Almost done eating, she started talking about her friends, Benjamin and Alex, both from the same neighbourhood. She shared funny stories, laughing loudly and mixing herself with the local crowd. "Oh!" she clapped her hands together, seemingly having remembered something "Do you have a cellphone? I'll add your number so it's easier to hang out!" @Viper392

((

hey there @MMS (Martin-Maraiste) , your RP partner for this RP has left the server. Would you like to keep it open to find another partner or could we archive it? All archived roleplays are eventually uploaded onto http://rphq.me/ and can be viewed there. If you wish to archive this roleplay, you can request this with the archiverequest command in #channel . If you want to keep this open to find another RP partner please can you respond to this message and ping me within 14 days, otherwise the channel may be archived. ))

👯 Bunny Dancing through Life 👯

((

hey there @MMS (Martin-Maraiste) , your RP partner for this RP has left the server. Would you like to keep it open to find another partner or could we archive it? All archived roleplays are eventually uploaded onto http://rphq.me/ and can be viewed there. If you wish to archive this roleplay, you can request this with the archiverequest command in #channel . If you want to keep this open to find another RP partner please can you respond to this message and ping me within 14 days, otherwise the channel may be archived. ))

((Hey! It's totally ok to archive it! Thank you for your hard work :) ))