THE RP THREAD!!! *sparkle sparkle*

[Fusion]

Ben flips between two pages on the menu like he's having trouble deciding.

"Ah, what the heck. I'll take the Jumbo BLT Burger, no onion, and a root beer."

Betty Raises an eyebrow looking at his slim build. "Ya think you kin et all that suger?" Ben grins smugly as she rolles her eyes, "Right dumb question."

[Wayfarer]

Despite her best efforts, Lauril is soon overwhelmed once again. She manages a mumbled thank you to Mac for holding the door open, and after a moment's hesitation to process the question, she replies to Ben with her name. She's about to return the question when Sebastis bumps into her, and at her comment pretty much freezes up entirely. As the party begins moving toward the booths and taking seats, Lauril follows and darts into the seat that Sebastis and her husband seem to be heading for. Huddling into the corner to leave plenty of room for the other two, she grabs a menu, opens it, and proceeds to study it intently until Betty asks for her order... probably, she slowly realizes, for the second time.

"Oh! Umm... sorry... I'd like the 'Farm Fresh Super Salad,' please. And... ummm... could I get that with extra nuts?"

"Of course, sweetie. And to drink?" Betty replies, writing down the order as she does.

"Water, please. Just water."

"Okay, then." Betty reaches down and picks up the menu before moving on to take the next person's order. For a moment Lauril is somewhat at a loss. Then, after a quick glance at the others sitting around the table, she settles into a concentrated study of the wood grain on the table-top.
"Hmmm... real wood. Interesting wood," she mutters to herself, not really realizing she's spoken out loud.

[Spacewolfomega]

When Lauril places her order, Omega does a double-take in her direction.

"Whoa!" he says, addressing Sebastis. "Hon, I think we just tried to sit down at an occupied booth!"

He leans forward so he can address the chipmunk sitting shyly and quietly in the corner.

"Hey, I recognize you," he says, smiling. "You arrived at the scene of the accident shortly after the explosion, didn't you? My name's Omega and this is my wife, Sebastis. The others across the table are Ben and Mac. It was Mac's vehicle, unfortunately, that exploded."

He extends his hand to shake hands with Lauril.

[IronFox]

Mac looks over the menu "I'll have a BLT and a side of potato salad." He returns the menu to the waitress and returns his attention to his table-mates.
"Yeah, that was my ride. Lasted all the way out from El Paso too." He sighs wearily. "Some scumbag trucker ran me off the road earlier this morning. the car only lasted another few miles before it caught fire. If I ever find that lousy , no-good..." he takes a deep breath and calms down. "Anyway, I guess I'm stuck here until I can get some wheels."

[Wayfarer]

At the sound of the voices directed to her, Lauril looks up from the table, a little startled.

"Oh, no, it wasn't occupied. I mean, I came over with you folks. I met - Seb- Sebastis?" she tries uncertainly but decently to mimic the pronunciation of the name, "over near the door. Ummm -" she breaks off for a moment, flustered, then notices the hand Omega had offered. "Oh - sorry." She takes his hand and shakes it. "I'm Lauril. I'm sort of on a road trip - going to visit some friends. I was lost when I heard the explosion and decided to go check out what happened and see if anyone needed help. 'Course, there was already plenty of help there." She smiles a little as she says her next words. "Good thing; I don't think I would've been able to do much. I'm sorry to hear about your car, though," she says to Mac. "Ummm... anyway... I'm rambling... ummm... it's good to meet you all. I'm afraid I'll probably forget your names. I'm... sorta bad with names. But... well... thank you for letting me join you." Her voice trails off, but she manages a smile.

[IronFox]

Mac shrugs. "Well, that car was getting old anyway. So where are you from originally Lauril?"

[Wayfarer]

"Oh - from Ohio. Well, originally...? I was born in California, but I was raised in Ohio. And now I'm headed to Virginia to visit some friends for the summer before taking a year or so to work before going to grad school. And there you have it - my life story." She pauses. "And my rambling once again." She laughs a little at herself.

"But anyway - a trucker ran you off the road? Was he just not paying attention or something? How does someone do something like that?"

[Earl McClaw]

Piotir hopped into the driver's seat once McClaw had finished loading his bike in the back. "She is veterin, like my girl here, no?" he said while affectionately tapping the steering wheel of the hummer. "Iss interesting, this place, one can find lot of old military vehicles, especially south. How did you get yours?"

Grinning, McClaw told the fox, "Way up north, where I grew up, Uncle Red has a big surplus and salvage operation. Between my legs and the budget of a sixteen-year-old, that was all I could manage. Considering it's World War Two surplus, it's stood up pretty well, even if I have replaced almost everything but the frame and the engine block over the years."

In short order the two arrived at Pop's garage. "Heer, we are! Pops iss only one that touches pookie other than myself. Please let me help you get motorcycle out of back, I know you are strong enough now, but when you get to be my age, you will appreciate less pain in back."

"Thank you," said McClaw politely.

* * *

“What, What?! Young peeople these days!”

"I'll tell you over that ham steak," the tall tiger told him. "Suddenly that's exactly what I want." He waved goodbye to Sasha as the two head for the diner.

McClaw politely holds the door for Piotir as the mismatched pair enter. "Why don't we take a table?" suggests the tiger. "I might have a little trouble with their benches."

[Fusion]

"Sounds like you got had by Gus." Ben comments.

[IronFox]

Mac shakes his head. " I dunno why he did it. One second I've just finished passing him on a straight, next minute he's riding my bumper and turning me loose. It was all I could do to keep from winding as street pizza on the divider. Anyway...I guess it's a small world. I'm from California myself. Just got out of college, in fact. I just figgured I'd go 'looking for America' before I went into the Air Force, which is more or less why I'm here."

He shrugs and turns to look at Ben. "I don't suppose that this Gus would be an overweight, stupid lookin' hog?"

[Sebastis]

Sebastis looks at Mac and asks "Are you going to go to the local Pharaoh and see if he can send his soldiers to find this scoundrol?" Her head is sleightly tilted as she asks him.

Mac wrote

"I'm not sure I heard you right. What did you say?"

She seems to not want to answer Mac's previous question. To avoid his eyes she turns her attention to Lauril agian.

"Be at peace we are all strangers here but hopefully soon we will know oneanother quite well." Sebastis gives the cute chipmunk a warm smile.

Betty soon returns with everyones order and all dig into the food, but Sebastis seems to puzzle over what has been given her.

"Is this what I ordered?" It looks nothing of what she knows fish to be. She looks at her husband a bit puzzled. "Perhaps they got my order wrong?"

Omega smiles and shakes his head. "No that's it. Just try it you will love it." He winks at her and starts in on his own burger. Sebastis watches him and immitates how he picks up his burger and takes a bite. Her face lights ups with delight as she chews swallows and takes another bite.

[IronFox]

Mac devours the first half of his BLT and begins digging into the potato salad.
"Well, now you know why I'm here. So what brings you two" he nods towards Omega and Seabastis "to...um...Malarky County" He chuckles as he says the name, almost as if he can't believe the that he's in a place known as Malarky County.

[Sharuuk]

The little helicopter soared effortlessly to about 1000ft and just hung there essentially motionless as S'aaruuk hovered for a few moments taking in the majestic view of the area.

"Magnificent"...he thought..."I'd almost forgotten how much I like to fly.....I didn't use my ship, I always thought that would really freak them out, but they seem to be handling the Sphinx and her flight-suited friend pretty well......maybe........!"

Spotting Pop's Auto and the gleaming shape of the "dining car" in the distance he dropped down and came in at a shallow angle and stopped to hover about 100ft above the highway that ran in front of both establisments.

"Damn" he quietly swore happily, "She handles better that I had expected.....very easy to control and the stability is nearly perfect."

Carefully checking in both directions for oncoming traffic and seeing none he reduced both throttle and collective pitch allowing the little whirlybird to decend slowly until it gently touched down on the roadway....the rotorwash kicking up a sizable cloud of dust in the process. Reaching up over his head he grasped a handle and gently but firmly pulled down on it. This engaged the rotor brake bringing the twin rotors to a stop. As they aligned themselves parallel to each other and lining up fore and aft, a slightly harder tug on the brake locked it in place preventing any further rotation whatsoever.

With the blades "stowed" he again engaged the little rubber tires and "taxied" over to a parking space in front of the diner. At engine shut-down the wheels once again pivoted up settling the entire craft on its stationary legs.

All restraints and harnesses auto released, the seat and leg supports pivoted back down allowing his feet to reach the ground and he simply stepped out of and away from his fantastic little creation.

He stood there for a moment staring at it and smiled to himself. Still wearing the helmet he turned and strode toward door. The IR capabilities of his eyes let him see past the darkly tinted glass into the diner......there wasn't a single set of eyes in there that wasn't looking at him and the machine he'd just arrived in.

To himself:

"Post primary public demo flight checklist"

(1) Impression--"yes"

(2) Crater--"no"

(3) Conclusion----"Total success."

Chow time.

With that, he opened the door, ducked slightly for the ears to clear the doorframe and stepped inside out of the bright sunlight.

Pausing briefly to study the assemblage, he walked purposfully over to the booth that was now occupied with Lauril, Sebastis, Omega, Ben and Mac.

Placing both hands on either side of the helmet he pulls it straight up and off and cradles it in the crook of his left arm all in one smooth motion. Keeping his eyes closed momentarily he dons his ever present sunglasses, turns his head slightly to look directly at the actually quite attractive Sphinx and addresses her:

"Tla-ahnk-ess, Ahn-amun-Ra. Toh, Ahnk-mnir Ra tohm-esh-tahn" *

He ended the statement with a slight bow of his head in her direction.

*Rough translation: "I bring greetings to the princess of Ra. May Ra's light and power guide and protect you."

[IronFox]

As the miniature helicopter touches down outside, Mac mutters aloud " what the hell is that?. As the pilot enters the diner, approaches them, and begins to clear his throat (or so it sounds to him), Mac begins to wonder "Just what the hell have I gotten myself into here?"
He quietly munches on the remaining half of his BLT, keeping his eyes on the newcomer.

[Spacewolfomega]

In answer to Mac's question, Omega begins explaining between bites.

"Well," he said. "I originally come from Sirius VII. I grew up in a well-to-do home... so well-to-do I never really had to worry about much. I didn't have any ambitions or anything... I guess I was basically a 'slacker'. My older brother, however... now he was always studying for the exams so he could join the Star Armada... sort of like this Air Force you spoke of, I suppose. He'd always dreamed of being a soldier... and he was good at his studies. The best. Mom and Dad were so proud."

Omega pauses for a moment and looks down at his plate.

"He never made it to the Star Armada, though. On his way back from the final exam, his hovercar was clipped by a transport. The rest of the passengers were killed and he was never able to walk again. He was devastated. For the first time in my life I guess I finally found a goal worth pursuing. I decided to live out his dream for him."

Omega takes a swig of his soda.

"Well, I made it. Even made it so far as the elite Spacewolves Corps. Served with them for years. My brother kept up with everything I did... every small victory of mine was like a victory for him. It was a great time... a great time..."

Omega looks wistful.

"But then the Valedarians attacked. That's when everything changed... and ultimately how I came to Earth. We were ambushed..."

Suddenly his ears perk up and he looks toward the window of the diner. A strange flying contraption lands outside and shortly thereafter an even stranger wolf comes walking in.

The stranger approaches the table and unbeknownst to the rest of the party, Omega's hand moves to his laspistol.

The stranger speaks to Sebastis.

"Tla-ahnk-ess, Ahn-amun-Ra. Toh, Ahnk-mnir Ra tohm-esh-tahn"

Sebastis seems to understand what the stranger says. Omega looks back and forth between her and the stranger. He finally focuses on the stranger, his eyes never leaving him, his muscles tensed and ready... it just seems this strange day just got even stranger.

"Um, hon?" he says over his shoulder to Sebastis, eyes still focused on the stranger. "You want to translate what this guy is saying?"

"He says he brings greetings to the princess of Ra... and that he wishes that light and... wait a minute..."

In an instant Sebastis leaps onto the table, pulling out an extendable bo staff which she extends and aims at the stranger. Omega wastes no time in whipping out his laspistol and aims it at the stranger as well. The local citizens begin scrambling for cover. Plates are knocked off tables, chaos ensues.

"Who are you?" Sebastis demands. "How do you know me? Did my father send you?"

"Easy now," Omega says, to both Sebastis and the stranger. "Let's take this nice and slow..."

[Fusion]

He shrugs and turns to look at Ben. "I don't suppose that this Gus would be an overweight, stupid lookin' hog?"

"...Driving an oversized truck that still can't hope to contain his ego or stupidity. Yep, that's him all right. I'm luck I can outrun him without any trouble on my bike." With that he bites into his burger that looks nearly the size of his head. He listenes to Omega's story, but gets distracted by the strange craft landing outside. He watches as the pilot enters the restrant, I don't think I've seen him before. Suddenly as both Omega and Sebastis jump up arms out he jumps up too claws out and ready for action. It took another two seconds for his brain to catch up and wonder what the heck was happening.

[The JAM]

"Helicopter? Sphynx? Man, I thought I was weird." Then the jaguar looked at the fellow who mentioned he needed a ride...

[Sharuuk]

Although the duo's reaction wasn't quite what he expected, S'aaruuk nonetheless found himself facing two armed and alarmed potential advesaries.

(OOC here for a moment....all further conversation in Egyptian will be auto-translated by these <>)

(IC) Still cradling his helmet in his left arm he raised his right hand slowly, palm toward Sebastis with his thumb, index and 2nd finger straight out from his hand and the last two fingers curled inward.

<"Be not fearful child, I mean you no harm. And I have no knowledge of who your father might be.">

His voice was soft, soothing and relaxed......from the sound of if, even if you didn't understand what he said, one would find it a bit hard to believe he was facing a very lethal looking sidearm and a frightened and fiercly determined legendary beauty who could, no doubt easily kill with her bo-staff.

<"I am not here to harm you in any way.....I am here to beg your assistance.">

"Hmmmmm....the direct, honest approach is usually the best way, but sometimes folks tend to overreact......ah well, at least he didn't shoot and she didn't try to belt me." He quietly thought to himself.

[Tbolt]

“Thank you, comrade!” said Piotir as McClaw allowed him into the diner. “One thing I never grow tired of in this land iss, how you say, deception of appeareances. In the old country it usually meant that the friendly persuaders were ready to take you to the gulag. But here it means that we will have good food for good price!”

The waitress took one look at the silver fox and smiled. “Welcome back, Red, it's good to see you!”

“Iss good to be seen by fine fuzzy babushka like you!”

The waitress smiled and shook her head. “Your regular booth, Red?”

“No, I theenk comrade McClaw heer might need a littl more legroom, perhaps table nearby might be best, no?”

The waitress looked McClaw up and down appreciatively. “Welcome to the best diner in Malarky county!” she smiled as she ushered them to their seats. “Will you be taking the usual, Red?”

“Yes, that will do very nicely, I haff had exciteeng morning!”

The waitress smiled at McClaw again, handing him a menu. “Take your time in deciding, Red's food will be a while in coming, let me get you a drink to start.”

The waitress yelled in warning to the cook, “Get ready for one bottomless fox special!”

Piotir's ears collapsed in embarrassment and he explained to McClaw, “I have, what the doctors say? High metabolism, heer, they just call it eet like horse with hole in neck... So what brings you to this obscure corner of America?”




The food arrived in impressive quantity and the smallish fox began to attack it with ravenous fervor. The only pause was when Sharuuk made his entrance. “Ahh, comrade big Wolf got that crazy thing to work! Pardon me for one moment, McClaw, you must meet him iss really nice fellow!”

The fox stood from his chair and made his way across the diner to greet the large lupine while he made his introduction to the sphinx. Unfortunately he arrived just at the weapons were drawn. His tail poofed out to an impressive two foot diameter as he backed away.

“Comrade Sha* Oh dear, theengs you see when unarmed, I quietly sleenk away hoping nobody notices harmless silver fox...”

[IronFox]

Mac quickly pulls a slingshot out of his jacket, grabs a salt shaker and sets it in the thong of the sling. He doesn't draw it back but keeps it ready.
"Pardon me, but could someone please explain to me just what the heck is going on here? First you two" He indicates Seabastis and Omega "start talking about Pharoes and Space Academies, then you" Indicating the newcomer "land your helicopter outside, say something, and rile thse two up. I'd just like to know what I've walked into here." His tone isn't accusatory or irritated, but long suffering and almost amused.
Behind his poker face, Mac begins thinking If it all blows up, grab the bag, dive out the window, and run.