like a big pizza pie (open)

[tradecraftdude]

who. Marco and you!
what. Delivery boy shenanigans.
where. Zeta District.
when. Right now!
warnings. How questionable can a 13-year-old get? (Don't answer that.)

[ Moving people's food around the district for them beats hauling rubble, though Marco could do without the cheesy delivery boy uniform. However, he approaches this delivery business with all the highly directed tunnel-vision of someone who has played lots of video games and knows how to scoot all over the map in the most efficient manner. Having to fake smiles and suck up for tips wasn't the worst thing, either. ]

(OOC: I have no preference between prose or action spam, so I will reciprocate whatever you start with! Scenario options are presented below, but you're welcome to start a new top-level thread with anything else if you have something in mind.)

Comments

OPTION A

[tradecraftdude]

[ Marco knocks on the door of your apartment, pizza in hand. Did you even order a pizza? Who cares, you're stuck with him at the moment. ]

Half, mushroom, half broccoli?

[testifier]

[Dirk is irritated to be disturbed, but after a glance to ensure is within grabbing distance, he goes to the door. Upon opening it, he merely stares down at the offered pizza with a blank stare for a good few moments. He brow furrows as he looks to the delivery boy, one eyebrow raising above his glasses.]

You have the wrong place.

[tradecraftdude]

[ Marco blinks for a moment at the guy who opens the door. He certainly looks like someone who would order a pizza, in the sense that Marco's internal metric of teenage humans is that they are all likely to order a pizza at any moment.

If he's human. Never know out here. ]

No way, dude. Order comes straight from central dispatch. They take the location from the order geotag unless otherwise specified.

[ He shows Dirk the pizza company-issued pocket-sized viewscreen with the order information: the pizza, the timestamp for the order, and Dirk's unit number, but no person attached to the order. ]

[testifier]

[Dirk has never eaten a pizza in his life, unfortunately. A diet consisting of primarily fish and orange soda has been perfectly sufficient so far. And if he had ordered pizza, it wouldn't have had such lame ass toppings.

Still, he peers at the screen briefly over his shades.]

Don't see a name there.

[anarrowtotheeye]

[It takes awhile for Dun to get to the door, and when he does he doesn't look particular happy to be disturbed.]

What is it boy? I'm busy and I don't have the time to entertain you.

[Marco probably would've heard the sound of a hammer at work on his way towards the house, and while Dun is mostly blocking the doorway, he can't exactly prevent Marco from seeing a teensy bit of the renovation work he's doing at the apartment. He should be able to catch sight of what looks like a bunch of stakes, big enough for one person to stand on with one foot, hammered to the ground.]

[tradecraftdude]

[ Not to be deterred by the grouchiness, Marco keeps a bright smile on his face as he presents the pizza box. It's still warm, and radiating the smell of salt and grease. ]

Just need you to like, sign for this, okay? Eight credits.

[ He gets a glimpse at the 'renovations' in progress, but can't really tell what's going on. It's probably none of his business, but he's a curious and slightly nosy type. Except this guy doesn't look like the type one ought to nose around. ]

[anarrowtotheeye]

[That smile isn't going to win him brownie points. One eyebrow goes up as he eyes the box with a look of absolute disdain.]

What is this? Some sort of poison? It smells disgusting.

[itsnoteasybeing]

[ He ordered a pizza sure, but certainly not one pizza. It was an attempt to appease to the guys Bruce was currently sharing with, tension all over the place.

The door opens and Bruce stands there, slightly on edge out of habit. He wasn't the kind of guy to order pizza, much less do anything, but Steve had offered him the change and he went at it. ]

I ordered three. [ It's evident enough that Marco's only holding one, and he totally didn't want to go through this situation right now, which is the customer complaining, but sometimes Bruce is forced to. ]

[tradecraftdude]

What? Really?

[ Marco frowns and pulls out the little viewscreen with the order information and flips through it. ]

What's your name, dude? I'm pretty sure this is the right place...

[caltech]

[ Bruce hates correcting a teenager, particularly one who actually looks like he's trying, but he shakes his head in the negative. ]

Bruce Banner, [ He says, offering an apologetic smile. ] I mean I'll pay for it, [ And he will, because being a jerk had never quite been in Bruce's guide to survival, despite the disappointment. ] but there's still two more pizzas missing.

[airraid]

[you bet your ass he ordered a pizza - and charged it to one of his roommates' chits. (no one will ever know how that mysterious charge ended up there .. no one.) but when he opens the door for the delivery guy, he definitely isn't expecting the scrawny-looking kid on the other side.

or the fact that his pizza isn't what he'd ordered.

joker leans against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest.] Try kielbasa and pepperoni with extra cheese.

[what are you, new?]

[tradecraftdude]

Y'know, I've never tried that one, but it sounds pretty good.

[ Marco really doesn't want to have to go back with another botched order, so he flashes an innocent smile and jiggles the box a little while pushing a little viewscreen with the order info on it towards Joker. ]

Just need you to sign here, dude.

[airraid]

.. Yeaaaah .. about that. [if you don't want to go back with another fucked up order, maybe you should have gotten it right the first time, kiddo.] Not signing for anything I didn't order, kid.

[pause.] It is pretty damn good, I gotta say. Totally why I ordered it.

MARCO.... he will ask you your name next tag

[soldad]

[ The bachelor jokes can be made all you want - sometimes pizza is just a nice alternative to whatever else is on the station. Also, Arthur is allowed to be lazy sometimes.

So he opens the door after confirming that it's someone with a pizza. Still, it never hurts to be wary - don't think his gun isn't within reach. ]

I guess when I said 'surprise me' I should have specified no vegetables.

[ It honestly takes him a moment of looking at the kid before something strikes. Especially in the way he's standing there looking half shifty and half amused.

Is that Marco? ]

the JGL content of this thread is out of control

[tradecraftdude]

[ Marco interprets that Stare as just a continuation of Arthur's dissatisfaction with the offering. He's had a long day, and this is one of the few doors that hasn't immediately been slammed in his face for some reason or another. Otherwise, he might have picked up that something else was going on. ]

You're just lucky it's edible at all, dude. I had to talk them out of putting motor oil on it, since I'm the one that has to deal with it if you didn't like it.

[ He rolls his eyes because it's clearly entirely Arthur's fault for getting something he didn't want. ]

Eight credits. Sign here.

jglsquared

[soldad]

Yeah, I'm not really a big fan of motor oil in my food, kinda grinds my gears a little.

[ Arthur's not stunned enough to ignore the price, but as he's signing - well, he's thinking.

If this is Marco, it's clearly not the one that he knew on Sacrosanct - he's younger. Do you tell some kid you just met they're the younger version of someone?

He adds a couple extra credits as a tip and then speaks when he's handing over the screen. ]

What's your name?

[techburst]

[she isn't expecting the knock to the door when it comes, and when she opens the door to the apartment she shares with her sister, she can't help but to stare blankly down at the boy standing on the other side.

she calls over her shoulder -] Zo! Did you order a pizza without telling me? [and when no answer comes, she turns her attention back to the kid holding the box and looking at her rather expectantly.] Sorry, I think you have the wrong apartment. Did you try next door?

[tradecraftdude]

[ Marco stares for a second, as he doesn't immediately recognize the woman who answered the door as someone significantly older than him; tiny energetic Asian ladies had that ageless effect going. ]

Uhhhh, I'm pretty sure this is for you. [ He checks the viewscreen again as an excuse to stop staring for a moment. ] Yep, totally your address. You sure nobody wouldn't send you a pizza as a present? Y'know, like a secret admirer or something.

[ The moment that incredibly stupid excuse fell out of his mouth, he regrets it, but oops, too late, gotta go with this, smile cutely and see what happens, Marco. ]

what in the WORLD is that face. boy please.

[techburst]

[she likes to think she looks good for her age, sure - but the thought that marco might not have immediately realized that she was probably a good twelve years older than he was would have just made her laugh. because really.

she watches him as he pulls up the order on his omni-tool, head tilted to the side as she leans against the doorframe.] I don't think I have the kind of friends on Omega that would think about sending me pizza as a present, let alone a secret admirer. Unless it's from you, even though we've never met before.

[okay so she might be teasing him just a little bit, here. but that's what he gets for offering that up as an excuse. lie in the bed you make, kiddo.]

OPTION B

[tradecraftdude]

[ Marco is striding along the street at a brisk clip, despite the fact that his legs aren't properly long enough for a good stride anyway. An insulated square bag is slung over his shoulder, and he's careful to keep it parallel to the ground and not jostled too much as he walks. It would be nice if no bored hungry goon decided to jump him for a free pizza, because it wouldn't be that hard to get one here.

Feel free to either assault Marco, save Marco from am impending assault, or just bump into him! ]

Rescuing from impending assault, I say!

[professorwolf]

One good thing about being a werewolf is the rather extraordinary senses one is gifted with. Perhaps it is a bit annoying, in a crowded and busy space-city with advertisements and street signs and people talking everywhere, but it is also eminently useful, particularly in quieter parts of Omega. Lyall is walking along himself, back from a trip to the merchant's to browse for something other than protein bars and drinks, and he nods to Marco in passing without a second thought for the boy. He even scents the fellow waiting for him in a recessed doorway, but thinks nothing of it.

Until he hears the knife comes out, anyway, behind him and just about when Marco would be passing that half-hidden fellow. He turns sharply and bounds back after the boy with every intention of yanking him back, hopefully in time to avoid some kind of bloodletting.

((poke me if none of that doesn't work! since you got to the open scene before me :B ))

okay!

[tradecraftdude]

Marco passes a lot of people on his runs around the district, and he doesn't think twice about very many of them. Sure, he's been keeping an internal roster of as many people as possible on the off-chance that being able to recall someone is useful later in life, but he doesn't remember every brief encounter on the street. Except when they eye him up and do something different. He returns the nod to Lyall with a neutral expression, but internally, he wonders about the acknowledgement from a stranger; it gives him an unsettling feeling that something is about to happen, but they pass each other without further incident.

That is, until he's feels a sharp tug that grabs him mid-step. The pizza pouch breaks his fall as he trips over his own feet and tumbles backwards. Adrenaline floods his system and he's kicking and throwing punches, as if he was an upended turtle flailing his limbs with a big red insulated bag as his shell.

"Hey, back off, dude, it's like a fucking eight-credit pizza, leave me alone!"

Back home, he's lived in a not so squeaky part of town, and he's seen muggings happening before. He's been lucky to avoid them, but he's suddenly mad that here, of all places, that luck has run out. And he doesn't even see the guy who just popped out of the doorway, knife in hand, pausing in slight confusion at the unexpected commotion.

[professorwolf]

It's only Victorian manners that keeps Lyall greeting people he passes on the street, really. That's not something he's managed to drop so far in his time here, and really, not something he even wants to try to drop.

Rather like he's not interested in letting muggings happen, even if the child believes it's his appetite he ought to worry about.

"Do not be ridiculous. I cannot even eat pizza." Lyall steps swiftly around the flailing boy with an expression of mild distaste-- he's avoided much worse, actually dangerous people before in his time, and poor Marco looks more silly than he does threatening. Instead, he pounces past Marco in an attempt to snatch that knife away before the actual mugger gets over his surprise. "I'll have that, thank you."

[noscope]

[unknown fact: north has been keeping an eye on marco since they'd first met on the kid's arrival. there's just something about someone that young ending up on omega that screams potential danger, and if he tries to deny that he's been going out of his way to make sure nobody messes with him .. well, let's just say that he's never been a good liar.

but, that aside. he pretty much makes his case by happening upon him as he's out for a delivery - ended up as a pizza boy, of all things - and it isn't all that surprising to find that there are people on this station that would take advantage of a skinny kid carrying an insulated bag.

he briefly wonders if this happens to all the pizza delivery guys, or if it's just the fact that marco is clearly new to the area.

he sees the man making a move to intersect his path, and with an unsurprising level of stealth and speed, north is intersecting him by grabbing him by the back of the neck, fingers curling tightly as he hauls him off to the side. the words that come out of his mouth are by no means polite, though he doesn't speak above a whisper:] I wouldn't do that, if I were you.

[and apparently it's enough, because the would-be accoster slinks back into the crowd, and north falls into step beside marco as if nothing had ever happened.] Keeping busy? [he asks, light and flippant as anything.]

[tradecraftdude]

[ Marco's oblivious to the exchange, but not to the danger; thus far, he's credited his survival to pure dumb luck and force of will. By all reasoning, he shouldn't still have all his limbs and organs (as far as he's aware), yet somehow, here he was, strolling down the street with a pizza bag bouncing off his butt. Definitely not mugged for the delicious disc of grease.

He's fully embraced his current pizza boy gig, at least in the sense of not feeling self-conscious about it when North vectors up with him. ]

Yeah, you know, I tried to tell someone about child labor laws and all that, but as it turned out, being cute and innocent doesn't exempt anyone from paying rent around here. I couldn't even get someone to cite me an exchange rate so I'd know if I was getting paid a fair wage.

[ His tone is pretty whiny, but there's a little smirk creeping onto his face that says he's mostly poking fun at his own expense. ]

Tips are lousy, customers are annoying, boss is a douche. I'd rather be on an allowance.