This is Sport? [Open]

[Kori Ander]

As per implication, Kori tactfully didn't delve into the manner of grammar. Considering her own skill level in its use, that was probably for the best. She instead chose to focus her entire attention upon Henry and his story, staring raptly at him. It even appeared that she forgot to blink, so wrapped up in the tale was she. She did respond at all the right times, giggling at humorous parts, gasping at others, all while effortlessly weaving around people and keeping up with Henry. clearly the girl had experience with walking and talking at the same time.

"Your pets sound most splendid! We had many animals when I lived back on Tamaran, but most of them liked to bite the head and gnaw the foot," Kori frowned speculatively, "they were not good pets. When I lived with the Titans, we had Beast Boy, who turned into many of the green animals, so we did not need to have as many pets. I did have one though! His name is Silkie, and he is quite the adorable little bunglegorff," Kori sighed and smiled. "We got him from one of our many foes, who was raising the monster moths to take over the city. Silkie is not a moth though; he is the small, bug thing. And he is adorable."

This last sentence was said with such ferocity that arguing it would likely result in blows. Kori stopped walking then, looking around at the various stores. "Do you think we should approach and ask someone if they know where what we are looking for is located?" She turned to Henry and tilted her head slightly.

[Henry Charmant]

Kori had been an excellent listener, which made Henry feel a lot better about changing the subject. Was this how to dodge every mood swing? But then, it might not work with all people--Kori definitely seemed different from a lot of people.

His eyes widened in surprise at her own descriptions of pets. They certainly didn't match anything he had ever heard of. "As long as he doesn't bite heads or gnaw feet, I'm sure he's a great pet," he said of Silkie. It was the best compliment he could really think of for a small bug thing that was definitely adorable in a way that must be defended. "Probably a perfect pet for you." Which was only a compliment if you looked at it in the right direction.

"Uh." Henry looked around the mall. "You're free to. I asked earlier and someone said it was in this building. I don't know..." He spun in a circle, glancing around. "Maybe it would be a good idea to check again? Who should we ask? I'm not even sure the suit people know what I was talking about, or why would they have sent me here in the first place?"

[Kori Ander]

Kori nodded most emphatically as Henry praised Silkie. Her smile beamed, threatening to overtake her face with white teeth. Next came the clapping of the hands, and had the conversation continued to praising the little caterpillar thing, Kori would have likely continued on to the joyous hugging and squeezing of her new friend. For this was precisely what she did.

Fortunately, the conversation did continue, drawing the two young people's attention toward the various staff members hovering about the edges. Kori looked at them with an actual expression of serious consideration, which seemed almost completely at odds with her usual, joyous look. Her eyes even had a slightly different, almost aggressive glow about them. She glanced to Henry, considering for a few moments.

"Perhaps they did not realize that you were looking for the real target range? We should ask the various people in the uniforms," she pointed toward the closest one, obviously security for the entertainment area. "Perhaps he can direct us toward an actual practice range. I shall ask him!"

With that, Kori bounded toward the guy, her feet seeming almost unnaturally light, as though she might take off flying at any moment.

[Henry Charmant]

Henry missed Kori's intense gaze as she looked at the people around them. He was too busy trying to assess his own position, going on the defensive. He disliked having to ask for directions, and he hated even more having to ask directions from people as unresponsive as the workers here often seemed to be. Still, better than wandering around...?

He'd just about settled on an innocent-looking clerk when Kori bounded off in the other direction. "Kori!" he hissed, spinning to watch her bounce away, a slow frown crossing his face. "That one doesn't look overly...friendly," he said as he followed her toward the man. She was two leaps ahead of him, though, and he couldn't convince himself to go any faster than a slightly rushed stately walk. He reached forward to grab her arm anyway.

"It's okay, we don't have to worry about it. He probably doesn't even know anyway." Henry glanced up at the man. He was wearing a strange uniform, but the expression on his face matched that of the soldiers back home when they were on guard duty. Specifically, when they were looking at someone they suspected of being a criminal. Henry gave the man a small smile. "Don't mind us. We're just looking for something. We'll be moving now." He tugged on Kori's arm.

[Kori Ander]

Kori heard Henry's hissing, but she shrugged it off, almost literally. She did turn and offer him a reassuring smile. "Do not worry, friend Henry! The people of the police are quite helpful!" at least, they always were back home. Admittedly, most of those people were aware of Kori's position as a Teen Titan, and they usually were dealing with a flying, beam shooting, super-strong alien, not a perky redhead who had a tendency to skip a little too often.

So it was probably a good thing that Henry snagged Kori's arm. True, he did pull her to a sudden stop, nearly swinging her around. That was one unfortunate side effect of Kori's "lightness" ability. She weighed far less than she should whenever that happened, making it easy for, say, a healthy young man to move her body around as though she were a balloon. Still, it didn't hurt, and Kori still flashed a smile at Henry. "Are you certain it is okay?" she asked, glancing at the man. Henry seemed rather confident that the man wouldn't help, and Kori was used to listening to interesting boys who were confident. Not that she didn't think for herself, mind, but there was something in her that was most definitely willing to listen to someone who sounded like he had his feet on the ground.

Henry was talking to the guard and essentially shuffling them off in another direction. Kori had twisted to look at the man, her face crinkling in puzzlement. That bemused expression remained as she looked back to Henry. "It seems as though the people of the uniform here are not friendly or helpful. The men in the suits helped; they gave me the money and the clothes..."

The confusion turned into a frown as Kori worked her way through things. "You do not think that they are up to no good, do you? That would be most unfortunate..."

[Henry Charmant]

"Police?" Henry said, confused for a moment. Then he realized that was the name for the not-soldiers standing around. "He doesn't look helpful to me." He momentary turn gave him just enough to catch up and grab hold of her arm. He hadn't thought he was pulling hard, but she came to a dead stop. After her super-hug earlier, he'd expected a lot more resistance. Was this girl extremely strong or extremely weak?

"Yes, of course it's okay," he said, already starting to back away. He was hugely grateful that she was willing to listen to him, but wasn't bothering to question it much. "Really, I'm sure that we'll be perfectly fine on our own. Besides, it will be an adventure. I've been missing having a real adventure, you know."

Once they were far enough away, Henry sighed. "You're right. They're not very helpful here." He missed her look of confusion and thought, already looking around for their next step. Talk to one of the other workers? Just leave? To be honest, he wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, but he was definitely still in the mood to shoot a few targets.

"I don't know if they're...er...up to no good. I know they haven't been really helpful when I've asked questions. There seem to be a lot of rules that we haven't actually learned. And I'm not sure I want to know what happens when we break one of their rules." He shot a glance at Kori. "Why would it be so unfortunate?"

[Kori Ander]

They seemed to be more or less in agreement about avoiding the police, which suited Kori fine enough. She was certainly willing to follow Henry's lead, and she continued to beam at him, though there seemed to be a hint of expectation in that smile now, as though she expected great things from him. The smile broadened at the hint of adventure, and Kori let out a little squeal: "Adventure! I do love the adventuring! I have done quite a bit, and I am quite certain that I will be a most agreeable adventuring companion."

Another enthusiastic nod, another clap of the hands, and Kori started moving now. She still wasn't wholly convinced that Henry had a plan; he seemed to be making this up as he went along. Still, Kori supposed she really couldn't fault him for that. This was a strange world for everybody, but it seemed a lot closer to Kori's old world than Henry's. He didn't even realize the horrific possibilities.

"Well, they could be an evil conspiracy," offered Kori, tilting her head slightly to the side and touching her lips with an index finger. "That would be most unfortunate. Or they could be trying to gather us all in one place for the washing of our brains. Or they could be attempting to experiment upon us. I believe that we would make most appealing guinea chickens for the mad scientist," she paused, tilting her head the other direction, "and it is also most unfortunate because we are quite lost, and having help would be appreciated."

Kori lowered her hand and turned to look throughout the mall. "Maybe we should find someone who works here but is not a person of the suits? They could tell us without trying to trick us, yes?"

[Henry Charmant]

"That's good. A good companion is always the most important part of a trip. Well, that and packing enough food." He grinned at Kori. "But I think we'll be okay for today." The last thing they needed was to go on a sudden excursion for food. He was having trouble enough just finding one place in this complex location. Finding the kitchen would be its own nightmare.

"A conspiracy?" he said, remembering some of the historical conspiracies he'd read about. They'd mostly been about overthrowing regimes. He absentmindedly rubbed his neck, briefly remembering that most conspiracies ended with someone being beheaded. But then Kori was rattling off a list of other possibilities, and she seemed to be completely under the assumption that they were lost. Which might have been correct but certainly wasn't something Henry was willing to admit.

"I've never heard of someone washing brains, and I have no idea what a guinea chicken is," he said, looking around again. "But if they were planning on doing something bad to us, why are they waiting instead of doing it immediately? And what is the purpose? What is the conspiracy for or against? Are they trying to take over the kingdom or have revenge? None of it makes any sense."

Finally, though, he gave up on trying to distract Kori from their current situation. He sighed and his shoulders drooped slightly. "I suppose that could be a good idea," he said, trying to smile. "I don't see any reason why they would try to trick us, anyway." He glanced around again. "Who do you suggest? I'll just, er, let you do the talking. I've never been particularly good at asking for directions."

[Kori Ander]

And lo, there was much nodding of the emphatic type, which was pretty much how Kori nodded all the time. But she seemed particularly pleased this time around. For one thing, she was now quite convinced that she and Henry would make quite excellent companions, which suited her just well. For another, he seemed to at least be partially interested in what Kori had to say; he even offered his own knowledge to it. Soon enough, Kori was joining in the looking of the around.

"The washing of the brain is quite serious," she offered, trying to remember what exactly they were looking for. "It involves the replacing of your thoughts with the thoughts another wants you to be thinking. But I do not know what their plan is, and I am not sure they would let me do the talking if I did. I am not usually the one to do the uncovering of the secret plans," this last was at least partly a confession. Kori might have been a superhero, but she'd never been much of a detective. That had been Robin's area of expertise. As had been the gathering of the information, since Kori never seemed to be all that... great at getting her point across.

Which is why she was quite surprised when Henry did the suggesting of her. She even turned to look at him, blinking several times, the shock freezing her faces into an expression of shock, because that is what shock does to a person. "Well, I..." she trailed off, suddenly feeling a little more bashful. A lot more, in consideration to how buoyant she'd been up to now. "Perhaps someone our own age?" she looked around, trying to locate someone at least close to that description...

[Henry Charmant]

"Er...right." Henry was having some difficulty following much of what Kori was saying. Not only did some of the sentences seem to be disconnected, but the poor grammar was starting to mess with his understanding. But he tried to be polite. "Well, it sounds pretty serious. I uh, I'm not very good with secrets, either. Do you know anyone you would talk to about that?" Henry couldn't think of any particularly sneaky people that he had met here. He wouldn't even know where to look.

Apparently Kori wasn't particularly interested in talking to people, either, which Henry wouldn't have suspected. He was overall a more outgoing person, but Kori's exuberant welcome of him had put even his charm to shame. He just didn't like having to ask for directions--it always made him feel less competent, somehow inferior. "Right, that'll be fine. I'm sure there's a clerk or something around. And you are so good at talking to people and making friends, I'm sure it'll be fine."

He spied someone standing behind a counter with a big sign saying "movies" over it. "What about that person? The one in the red vest?"

[Kori Ander]

Kori did, in fact, know someone she wanted to talk to about that; she even suspected he was about. However, that very person was the very person that Kori didn't want to think about all that much. Things were... complicated, and were likely to remain complicated for some time. Better to stay in the moment, which Kori excelled at. Even when that moment was confusing, though it seemed that Henry was willing enough to roll with it. He even managed to point someone out, with Kori following his direction.

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed, the red vest triggering a memory. "The people of the red vests are most informative! I shall go and converse with him and uncover the location of the shooting!"

And Kori needed no further encouragement than that. They had a plan, and Kori was most definitely determined that said plan be carried out to the highest degree. She nearly skipped her way over to the red vest wearing guy, who got a slightly goofy, slightly worried look as Kori approached. She was a pretty girl, after all, if a little... exuberant. She was soon within talking range, quite animatedly discussing and questioning the man. There was much nodding, much excitement, and Kori ended up giving the guy a quick hug. She left him with that slightly goofy smile, nearly skipping to Henry.

"The informative man in the red vest said that they have the shooting that way," she pointed deeper into the "movie" area, nodding confidently. Now, Kori certainly knew about movies; her friends had watched some with her. However, it just wasn't connecting for the poor alien girl. Instead, she was grabbing Henry's hand and dragging him to the theater, which, to the outside observer, bore a strong resemblance to a usual activity that two teenagers engaged in.

[Henry Charmant]

Kori didn't answer Henry's question about knowing someone secretive, leading him to believe that she didn't know anyone. Fair enough, he didn't either. And she seemed like such a happy girl, it was hard to see how she would end up being close to someone incredibly secretive and stealthy.

She seemed perfectly happy to talk to the store worker, which left Henry trying not to look completely awkward as he tried to both watch their conversation and not look like a stalker. There being a complete lack of convenient pillars to lean against, he settled for standing with his arms crossed against his chest, turning in a very slow circle as he observed the area, nodding every once in a while as if in approval. Thankfully, Kori finished her interrogation quickly, making Henry give a small sigh of relief.

"I'm glad he was so informative," Henry said with a smile. Then he gave a small "oof" as Kori tugged him toward the doors. Following behind her, he said, "So they put the shooting range back here? Why is it so out of the way?"

Watching her run forward in front of him, he finally decided to ask, "Have you always been this, er, bouncy?" And strong, but that one somehow seemed like a stranger question to ask, so he decided not to bother with it for the time being.

[Kori Ander]

The smile further fueled Kori's own smile, not that she needed much in the way of aid for that. Still, it certainly helped, keeping her light on her feet and fueled with enough energy and excitement to easily drag Henry through the lobby. Kori had to pause after entering a few steps, looking around with a mixture of wonder and recognition. This definitely seemed familiar... sort of like the situations that Control Freak had but them in. Could the shooting the nice man in the red vest mentioned have something to do with the watching of the television? It made sense... sort of.

"They must have put it away so that the stray shots did not harm the people," suggested Kori, looking back to Henry, who had, of course, been dragged behind her the whole way. She nodded at him, trying to look sagely and knowledgeable. It was not a look that worked well for Kori. While she looked, Henry asked his next question, and Kori's expression turned slightly thoughtful. "Not always, no. My people were not very... nice. We did not even have a word for that. The closest word to the 'nice' in Tamaranean is the 'weak.'" Another paused, and Kori nodded. "It was not pleasant. But I am away from them now! Come, I believe we must pay for admission into the place of shooting!"

Which led to Kori bounding toward what was clearly a ticket office, readily providing coins from the monies provided to them by the nice people in suits. after all, they wanted them to be happy and stay, which meant giving the younger group a steady allowance. Kori soon had tickets, and she thrust one to Henry before looking down. "I believe it lists the time and the place to which we are to go..."

[Henry Charmant]

Henry wasn't exactly dragging his feet as they went deeper into the building, but he still felt as though he was being pulled along. "I suppose," he said to Kori as he made a half-skip sort of trot trying to catch up with her. What was this girl, and how was she--was she floating?! No, her feet were touching the ground...sometimes. Just before freaking out, he remembered that there were all sorts of magic around, and at least Kori was very good and kind. Nothing to worry about.

As far as he could tell, though, Kori also had a pretty unhappy life before she had managed to move away and join her friends. The more she talked about being in an unhappy place, the more his visions of being a heroic champion rescuing distressed ladies rose in his mind. He'd always read about such adventures; maybe he would be in one? But probably not with Kori. She seemed to have just about everything figured out on her own. Still, he could at least be her friend here and help her to feel like she was back at her home. The good home, of course.

Henry let out a small "ack!" as Kori made a huge leap toward one of the counters. He followed his arm (and, by extension, her) and watched her pay for a couple tickets. He accepted the one she thrust in his hand and glanced down at the information on it. "Well that's strange," he said. "I don't know why they don't just let us in." He glanced at both sides of the paper. "Is this the time we are supposed to be there? What time is it now?" He glanced around, looking for a window so that he could try to find the bell tower. He hadn't heard any ringing recently, but surely there was a bell tower around. How else would people tell time?

"What is this name?" he asked, looking at the ticket again. "Is that the name of the range we are going to? It seems a little strange..."

[Kori Ander]

"Perhaps they have to limit how many people can be in the range of shooting at a time?" guessed Kori. She turned her ticket this way and that. It looked decidedly familiar to her, and not quite like an admission to some place where there would be the shooting of the targets. Kori couldn't quite place it though, and she was all too aware of the fact that this place was at least somewhat different from her home; different enough to make her feel decidedly alone and alien all over again. Which was probably why she kept overcompensating by being extraordinarily friendly, not that Kori was the type to stop and mull over details. No, she was the kind to seize a boy's hand and continue to drag him toward a theater.

"We shall head to the place indicated on the ticket!" she cried. She kept going, most likely continuing to drag Henry. It was likely a little debatable how much of the dragging was physical and how much was just Kori sweeping Henry up in her own personal whirlwind of enthusiasm. The results were more or less the same: the two heading for the theater indicated on their tickets.

"There!" she said, pointing up at a marquee. "It says that we are looking for... The Last Target. We had better hurry, the time is close!" she pointed at the ticket then at a clock. There likely would have been someone standing nearby to take their tickets had this not been a matinee, and not a very crowded one at that. Soon the redhead was again dragging the reluctant prince into the dark area. There, Kori finally paused, looking around with confusion.

"This is a most unusual shooting range..." she murmured, peering into the dark. She didn't even see a target anywhere...