USERNAME: #B91600 SUBJECT: A Map of Chroma

[heartsteals]

To my fellow refugees:

At long last I have completed a Map of the town and would like to share it with you all. I am far from a cartographer, having only made maps of interiors before this; nonetheless, I hope that it will be of some use.

I must also offer my thanks to Monsieur Bruce and his associates for producing a great many copies of this map. If you would like to have one for yourself, please stop by my home in Ruga - it's the house with red roses blooming in front. Otherwise, I have posted one in the Town Hall building in Ruga for all to view.

That's all that I have to say for today. Be well!

Yours truly,
Lupin

[ just as he says, there's a hand-drawn map of Chroma tacked up in the town hall! If your characters want their own copy, feel free to start an action thread coming to Lupin's house here, too; he'll be sitting in the kitchen with a stack of them to hand out. ]

Comments

[pursestrings]

u may be surprised to learn this mr. ruffles but i am not that great in school
did u fight the government???

[heartsteals]

I am bewildered to learn this, Mr. Socks! You're so attentive when it comes to spelling, after all.

If you want to know, then come to my house; we can talk there.

[pursestrings]

shut up
u gonna make me take a map home?

[heartsteals]

No, but you are free to take one if you'd like. I'd simply rather not discuss details of my personal life in a public forum.

[pursestrings]

u started it
i'll come over to hear about ur life of crime

[Give him like ten minutes, and then he will turn up.]

[heartsteals]

[ it is hard to shake the feeling that he shouldn't talk about it - he's spent pretty much his entire life trying to keep his identity under the radar, after all - but after spending a few months here, it's only becoming more obvious that the stuff he did back home can't really hurt him here. It's not like Okuyasu's a cop in disguise.

Whenever he shows up, he'll find Lupin still sitting there with his laptop, presumably replying to people; he raises his eyes, offering a wave. ]

You actually came? I'm kinda surprised.

[pursestrings]

[Does Lupin have a chair Okuyasu can spin around and sit in backwards? He's going to do that, and get his elbows all over Lupin's table, like he lives there. Hello, fussy friend. He's actually been a cop this WHOLE TIME--]

I gotta hear about your criminal mastermind shit, dude. You really didn't kill anybody, huh?

[heartsteals]

[ as long as he's not rumpling the maps on the table, he can sprawl backwards in chairs as much as he wants... Lupin smiles a bit stiffly when Okuyasu suggests murder again. Clearly, he's not amused. ]

Of course not. Do I seem like the kind of guy who kills people? [ a sigh. ] I told you to call me Lupin - but my full name is Arsène Lupin. Does that ring any bells?

[pursestrings]

[Sensitive... Okuyasu is pointedly not screwing up any maps. See, he's being good. He didn't even bring his devilish blue marker.

There is not even a flicker of recognition on his face, either. Uh.]

Nope. I told you, I don't do great in school.

[heartsteals]

[ he feels a strange mixture of both relief and irritation at not being recognized... on one hand, cool, his secret identity must still be slightly secret!! On the other hand, he's been sort of getting into the idea of being a legendary anti-hero in the future... Sad. ]

Then it can't be helped, I guess. I'm the famous gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin, whom even the finest of Paris's law enforcement could never hope to catch. Jewels, weapons, artwork, airships - I've stolen it all. There's a pretty hefty bounty on my head - something like a million francs?

[ this feels like an anticlimactic way of revealing himself - even so, he offers Okuyasu a little bow from where he's sitting. ]

And now I'm trapped here with a detective as my roommate. Life has a strange sense of humor.

[pursestrings]

[Okuyasu listens to all this and then pauses to look over his shoulder like this detective roommate is about to come out and bust him for something, not unlike being nervous while driving past cop cars despite doing nothing illegal. Cops... in this town... terrifying.]

Yeah, I guess...? Maybe it's 'cause I've never been to Paris. I don't think I'd like the food.

[This is the most important thing. Now then, hold on-] Wait, airships? Like a plane? Sick.

[heartsteals]

[ akechi is a nerd and would come down to tell them a bad joke at worst ]

No, no, an airship! Like... a hot air balloon? A zeppelin? Do you have those?

[ a beat. ]

It was cool, though.

[ just saying, okuyasu is right ]

[pursestrings]

Oh. Sure, I know what those are.

[He's picturing Lupin stealing, like, an advertisement blimp... it's fine.]

Did you crash it?

[heartsteals]

What do you take me for? I brought it back to the house. The next day, we used it to win an illegal airship race.

[ the guys he stole it from were there and they were really mad, but IT ALL WORKED OUT. Lupin is sharing this tidbit purely because he thinks this is also Cool. ]

[pursestrings]

An illegal airship race.

[Hm..... sounds weird, but okay.]

Those things are pretty slow.

[heartsteals]

[ these are like, steampunk airships with propellers and shit on them, but since those are the only kind Lupin knows, he doesn't even think to explain that... ]

Not when they're built for racing, they're not. My friend souped ours up before the race, besides. We were going so fast that we had to crash-land it.

[ also because they got shot at a lot and overclocked the engines to win BUT ]

In any case, now you know how I make my living. A lot of people have heard of me, but I'd still rather not have you go telling everyone in town I'm a thief if you can help it. People might get the wrong impression.

[pursestrings]

[don't say souped up, you're so old, god lupin!!!]

You were just making faces at me like it was too bad I didn't know who you were, but you don't want me telling anybody? What's the point of being great pals if I gotta keep secrets about cool criminal shit?

[UUUGGGH]

[heartsteals]

Unfortunately, not everyone thinks it's cool. [ his tone says "they're wrong, but." ] And I don't want people thinking I'm going to steal their things here.

[pursestrings]

For real? Nobody even has good shit around here. They gotta be crazy to think that.

[There's nothing worth stealing!!]

[heartsteals]

[ excuse you, he could steal some chickens, and some gold-embossed original poetry ]

Maybe, but I'm sure there are still some folks who would think it. I'd rather not assume everyone's ready to get cozy with the thief in their midst. [ a beat. ] Part of it is just that I'm used to keeping my identity under wraps, anyway.

[pursestrings]

[go away loop]

Yeah yeah, I'm special, I get it. I won't tell anybody about your life of crime. You're pretty alright, too.

[heartsteals]

Woah, woah, who said anything about special? Maybe I just think you're boneheaded enough to trust me anyway.

[ the comment is very clearly a joke; he grins. ]

Consider it an honor.

[pursestrings]

[Okuyasu looks at Lupin for... a long moment.]

You're such a nerd.

[heartsteals]

[ he laughs at that. sticks and stones!! ]

So are you.

[pursestrings]

No way! [TAKE IT BACK!!] What'd I do?