OPEN

[liarboo]

WHO: Usopp Barreto and you
WHERE: Around the city, mostly at night, feel free to name a more specific location, he likes to wander
WHEN: Sunday March 04 - Saturday March 10, specify what works for you, I will follow!
WHAT: Usopp suddenly got a memory of a strange pirate's jolly roger that has inspired him and his waning graffiti inspiration....
WARNINGS: None, will update if necessary


I. The easy piece
[The dead of the night is when he strikes...!

Meaning, that's when Usopp goes out to spray paint a thing or two or three out in the city for the thrill of knowing someone may stumble upon his stencil. Being still relatively newly returned to the city, his work, thus his anonymous reputation, wasn't known. And, granted, he wasn't known in most of the other places he lived at, either, but mostly because he never stayed around long enough. The last town he was gaining some traction, but he had to stop his technically illegal hobby when his father died.

But now it was a new city, a new time, and new inspiration! He had been having a hard time coming up with anything good to tag with, spending almost two months trying to design something good, until he suddenly had something come to him. He envisioned something, almost like it was a memory, but he doesn't know from when or where or what. Something from his childhood maybe? Surely not from some "past life" like he's seen people go on about. He's still not at all convinced about that stuff.

Either way, the design he recalled was interesting: a skull and bones type of thing like you'd see on a cartoon pirate ship but slightly different. A sling shot, a bandana, and a weird long nose? It made him think of a tengu. Tengu pirates? Maybe an anime he had watched once.

Where it came from didn't really matter. Now it was now his first stencil made in Recollé and he's been peppering it around town for a couple weeks now. He tends to do it in slightly out of way places, or tricky to reach places like on roof tops.

For this prompt, he can be found in dark alley ways in the middle of the night, looking entirely suspicious with a camouflage bandana pulled up over his nose, wearing a dark sock hat and bundled up from the cold. Gonna see what this weirdo is up to?]


II. Returning to the scene of the crime
[It's day time, and he's heading out to the range to practice archery as he does almost every day, his bow and gear strapped to his back as he's tromping along.

He spies someone looking at--no, obviously admiring!--one of his pieces up on a wall, at the entrance way of an alley, and he can't help himself. He comes up next to them, folding his arms and looking at his stencil work as if with a critical eye, and he says to the person:]

Pretty good, huh?


III. The tough piece
[For this prompt, he's daring to try to pull off spraying his piece in a more tricky area. Something more potentially dangerous. He doesn't necessarily like putting himself in danger, but he has to hit up some heaven spots if his stuff is gonna be respected.

He's done overpasses before, this isn't a big deal, right? He just has to hang over a huge drop down to black, unforgiving asphalt, taping down the stencil straight, hanging precariously onto a slippery, cold rail with one hand as he leans and leans and leans over, trying to layer on white, yellow, then gree--]

Sh-shit!

[He says in a harsh whisper (why was he whispering so late at night with seemingly no one around, who can say) as he drops his last can of green, and he stupidly, unthinkingly, darts forward to try to catch it, accidentally letting go of the railing--

--goddammit, was he about to fall to his death because of a can of spray paint?! This wasn't how he expected to die...!]

A-ah...!


IV. Wildcard!
[Feel free to write your own starter, it can be grafitti related or not, as long as your character is running into his out in the city during the day or night! If there's anything in particular you want to do and run by me, PM me or hit me up on plurk.]

Comments

iii.

[bitemefightme]

[Orion's having a rough go sleeping today. Personal problems over what goes on inside his head are overrunning his thoughts. So, he's out for a walk. Against his better judgment, he's got his guns tucked under his hoodie, as he usually would. Because it's dark out, damnit. He isn't that stupid.

...He hopes. He still hasn't figured out how to keep Dark at bay. And that bothers him.

He doesn't really seem to mind where he's wandering, and so finds himself under an overpass - not that he's actually paying it any attention. He might have avoided it otherwise. But then...

He sees someone scrambling at the railing, whispering something to himself, and then...

Orion's eyes widen when Usopp lets go of the railing. Without a second thought, he darts forward to grab Usopp by the collar of his shirt, gripping his other hand tightly into the railing to make sure he doesn't go over with him. That would be bad.

Why was there a person over the railing? Was he suicidal? Did Orion just prevent a suicide?]

Jesus Christ...

[Is what he manages to utter. Though he hasn't pulled Usopp in yet, as if he isn't aware that's what he should do next.]

There a reason you're over here?

[He says flatly.]

[liarboo]

[Someone catches him just in time, the leg he had still on the overpass just about to slip off and sending him into thin air. He's so grateful he can't even work up giving a shit that he has been caught by both shirt collar and by the knot of his bandana he has over his face, making the fabric smash up against his mouth and nose.

His only response to the question is a very muffled, "Uhm..." as he tries to think of a lie, but he's interrupted by the spraycan hitting the road below, a loud, sharp "CLANG!" echoing through the cold, night air. The open bag that sits nearby with spraycans peeking out makes it a bit obvious what he was trying to do.]

[bitemefightme]

[Orion glimpses over the side to look for the source of that sound. Then sees the open bag. ...Okay, painting. He looks up at Usopp's work-in-progress before he finally remembers he should probably finish saving the guy.

Orion pulls him back to the bars and makes sure that Usopp's stable before letting go.]

You should probably be more careful... You alright?

[Orion clearly doesn't care that you were doing something illegal, Usopp. You can breathe easy.]

Guess it's lucky I was passing by.

[liarboo]

[Usopp's not falling for that apathy, obviously it could be a tactic some police man uses to lure in unsuspecting 19 year olds who were just expressing their artistic creativity.

All the same, he gasps happily as he's brought back to safety, and he remains on his hands and knees for a spell as he tries to build back up the courage to stand to his feet again.]

Y-yeah, guess so. [He lifts up one hand, flexing it slowly.] I didn't realize how numb my hand had gotten in the cold, I guess. It slipped...

ii

[spirithacker]

It looks dumb.

[Sure, he'd been staring at the graffiti, but eight-year-olds are prone to stare at many things, and if it's because they think they're stupid-looking, they'll say that without hesitation.

Ah, the innocence of youth.]

You've got bad taste.

[liarboo]

[Wow. He's fault for asking a kid, it seems. But he's still taken aback.]

What! No way! You're just too young to get it!

[spirithacker]

I know something that sucks when I see it.

[Usopp definitely made a mistake talking to a kid.]

[liarboo]

Your sense of taste just hasn't developed yet! I bet you even hate onions!

ii

[promisedyou]

It's okay, I guess...

[ Unfortunately, Mio doesn't seem to be impressed in the slightest bit, humming in what seems to be sheer disappointment. ]

[liarboo]

[Not at all the response he's expecting. His face falls, but then he tries to take it back to neutral, keep up that facade, Usopp!]

Just okay? Are you sure...?

[He asks, voice lifting at the end of the sentence as if to hint to her to look at it again and experience how great it actually is.]

[promisedyou]

Yep.

[ She smiles and nods, looking rather confident with her answer. ]

I mean, it's pretty simple, you know? It doesn't make me excited at all.

I

[burningblossoms]

[Yukiko's just walking home, doing nothing in particular, a few blocks away from her apartment. As she passes the mouth of an alley, the scent of paint and the hiss of a can, coupled with the rattle of the sprayer draws her attention and she pauses, looking in.

There's a suspicious person in there, of course, but she recognizes that posture. And the general cast of him, from hair to toe...Or thinks she does.]

What are you up to?

[liarboo]

[He stands up, startled. He hadn't heard her approach at all. Walk a little louder, Yuki, why don't you??

Wait, crap, that really was Yuki. His panic grows a little bit. What if she told her parents and they kicked him out!

He tries to answer in a disguised voice, meaning he talks an octave lower.]

Uhm, just some city business, carry on, miss...!

[burningblossoms]

[Yukiko definitely recognizes that voice, because god that's just so obvious. Stepping into the alley, she walks closer.

Yes, closer. Not away.]

Usopp, what are you doing?

[She sounds more...curious...than angry or anything.]

III

[argone]

[Leaving her office in the evening, taking a bit of a roundabout way home to enjoy the air, Kara Ellis is taking her time. It's honestly a good thing that Usopp dropped that paint because the impact noise of it jerks her attention in that direction. The noise of a falling person, the startled yelp and panicked cry, grabs her even more strongly though.

Moving by reflex, she wills herself forward, intending to use that ring for it's real purpose instead of just fun. Meaning it's not the ground that Usopp impacts with, but a pair of arms. In mid air. She grunts, beginning to drop back to the ground, but there's no mistaking the fact that she's flying and just caught him.]

You okay?

[liarboo]

[As his last limb leaves the overpass, he accidentally twists as he falls, tumbling back first toward the ground. If he hits it back first surely he'll die, right? Was his life going to pass before his eyes?

Instead of seeing himself from a cute little kid on like media has led him to believe would happen, the lines of the receding overpass and its railing took on a different look, of wood, so much wood, curving into the shape of a massive ship, with oars, but in the air--

And suddenly he's smacking into something, but nothing has hard and unforgiving as he expected. But, still, that doesn't make him stop screaming in terror, eyes squeezing shut.

That's the answer to your question, Kara.]

[argone]

[Well. Ugh. That sure is a screaming teenage boy. He's heavier than she expected, and that makes her arms strain somewhat. With a grunt, she hoists him to get a better grip and quickly begins to descend, willing herself to move through the ring. Once they're down, she stoops and sets him gingerly onto a patch of dirt.]

...There you go. You're okay.

II

[steadycourse]

Defacing public property like this is against the law!!

[Ishida has been frowning intensely at the weird drawing, and he turns his slightly irritated look to Usopp upon hearing his praise for it. How is it pretty good?! Ishida doesn't see the value in this at all! Maybe this stranger is just easily impressed or something!

...Somehow, he hasn't connected the dots yet.]

[liarboo]

[Okay, he was prepared to hear someone say something like that about graffiti but not with such . . . passion. He takes a slight step aside in surprise at the ferocity in his tone, sweat starting to form under his baseball hat.]

We-well, sure, but it's pretty harmless...

[steadycourse]

[He narrows his red eyes, disapproval still evident on both his expression and his very posture. When he speaks, Ishida's voice is loud, but that is pretty normal for him.]

Harmless or not, it's still against the law! What sort of example would this be setting?! It just encourages more people to graffiti more walls!

[He folds his arms.] This will need to be cleaned... we have to take care of our city! But I will ask, do you know who's responsible for this?!

II

[hananobooks]

[Robin was on her way back home after getting some work from her office when the drawing caught her eye. She walked over into the back alley to look at it. Well, that's interesting, she doesn't normally see art on these back walls especially pieces this good. Robin looks over at the guy as she nods.]

Yes, it is, I don't believe I've seen a piece like this before. I can't recall the artist. Do you know who did this?

[liarboo]

[Ah! This was the first person he's met that's appreciated his work! He tries not to beam, but he's probably still beaming just a little.]

Ah, I don't! It doesn't look like it's signed!

[He answers too cheerfully. He should probably start tagging his pieces but he hasn't figured out a good name or design yet for himself.]

[hananobooks]

[He is, maybe he's excited to see something good on the walls too.]

Hmm, no it's not signed. I didn't know there was a mysterious artist in the city. The subject of this piece is very interesting. I wonder were they going for the tengu or something else judging the slingshot. What do you think?

II

[burlyheart]

[He wasn't staring! Well, no: the large man just stopped his walk to turn his head at the graffiti, and Peter can't deny that.

He looks Usopp in the eye, answering tersely but sincerely.]

Yes.

Better than most of the defacement you see.

[liarboo]

Yeah, it's--

[Pause.]

--De-defacement?


((OOC: The end of the month got away from me, I'll understand if you want to drop this thread, but I'm game to keep on if you are!))