A Stroll Through Tarbel Town (Taori/Alpinia)

Neither Taori nor Alpinia had really ever learned much about the universe outside of Plant. They knew of some of the larger planets, like Earth, Arcose and Namek, but not all that much about their specifics. Namek had those green, slug creatures, Earth had those Earthlings that looked similar to Saiyans but lacked their tails, and Arcose was home to the fiercely powerful race of lizard tyrants. Every other planet in the galaxy, though? They were toss ups. Herans probably came from Hera. Konatsians from Konats, Brenchians from... Brench? Probably. The details on all those places were a whole lot fuzzier.

So to hear the Shinjin talk so casually and openly about 'their' part of the galaxy and all that went on in it was unusual indeed. And it was admittedly very funny to Taori that, of all the mortals in the galaxy the stranger had met, Yangcong topped the list as the most problematic. Taori was slightly uneasy about the idea of needing to ask for Rosemary's help if he ever needed to contact the Shinjin. He didn't... Dislike the Queen, though he wasn't all too comfortable in her presence. And, she'd no doubt need to ask why he needed his help and likely involve herself in the conversation.

"I'll, uh, figure something out," he replied, uncertainty on his face. Surely there were others who might be able to reach out and find the stranger. And the stranger's name was Ward, apparently. "Ward, huh?" Taori replied, "Good to meet you then, Ward." "Certainly," Alpinia chimed in with a smile. While his initial deceptions had been odd, Ward seemed like a trustworthy enough fellow. Admittedly, though, both the Saiyans were still going to exercise some slight caution - the last 'trustworthy enough' person they had both met was Yangcong, and that... Well, that hadn't exactly planned out well, had it?

And as for his offer of gifts... Well, both the Saiyans were more than slightly surprised. And confused. Why was Ward so keen on offering gifts like these? And could they really trust clothes that had been made out of... Well, apparently made out of nothing? "Er, I actually rather like my armor," Alpinia said after they'd looked at the selection for a few moments. She supposed it may have been strange to Ward that even someone like her, who never actually fought in battle, still wore armor, but it was just kind of the fashion on Plant these days.

She did have one idea, though. "Oh, but how about some other clothes, like, uh, some of that stuff the Earthlings wear!" she asked, and Taori looked over at her with furrowed brows. "Huh?" he asked, and she quickly replied, "Well, after all this fighting is over, I want to go on vacation! Or, at least see some other planets, and we'd stick out like sore thumbs wearing our battle armor. Might as well have some backup clothes!" Taori blinked at her, then looked back over at Ward, and mumbled, "Uh, I guess, sure. If you can do that."

Level headed Saiyans, huh? Taori supposed he and Alpinia were a bit more lax than most of their peers, though you could find plenty of less barbaric Saiyans if you looked around for them. He'd only really encountered a lot of the stereotypical 'meathead' Saiyans while he was in the military. And, while they certainly earned their reputations, they weren't the only Saiyans on the planet. "You should talk to more civilians and reserve duty folks," Taori suggested. "Frontline military guys are always jacked up on testosterone and adrenaline. Find a few non combatants and you'll see we're not the only sane ones here."

Alpinia nodded. "Yeah, a lot of my friends around here don't even like fighting much. Or they used to, but they're retired and passive now. Although, one thing you will find in every Saiyan is a huge appetite!" It was true - Neither Taori nor Alpinia had ever seen someone turn down seconds, nor had they done so themselves. The Saiyan digestive system ran like an oiled machine, and it had no off switch. As they finished speaking, Ward began to produce clothes that were... Quite unlike any clothing that Taori had seen.

"...This is what Earthlings wear?" he asked, befuddled, as he stepped forward and bent down to take a look at the strange garments being presented to him. Though Taori was confused, Alpinia seemed quite a bit more excited, and stepped forward to examine Ward's wares as well. "Ooh, these are pretty!" she exclaimed. "These are... Flimsy," Taori mumbled as he held up a shirt. It was made of such thin, light material. It was doubtful such clothes would even survive a single blast, let alone a whole fight. And Earthlings wore these every day? Everywhere?

"I have undergarments more sturdy than this," he added, and Alpinia rolled her eyes at his reluctance. "Oh, stop it," she said, "The Earthlings simply tend to favor fashion over form. They don't get into fights nearly as often as we do." Taori had never met an Earthling, but they sure sounded like wimps. As Alpinia began to compare her body size to various clothing items, Taori glanced over at Ward. "Uh, you're a culture savvy guy, right?" he asked, "What should I, uh, wear?" He had a feeling if he picked something out himself, it might look a bit... Ridiculous.

Female fashion? Taori supposed he did notice some slight similarities between the current Earthling clothes being presented to him and his wife and the armor most Saiyan women wore. More skirts, smaller waists, that sort of thing. He supposed after taking a closer look that most of these would be fairly difficult for him to actually fit into. They weren't the same elastic, highly stretchable material Saiyans crafted their armor out of. It was just... Wool? Cloth? Those sorts of non-elastic materials. They looked restrictive and uncomfortable, yet, somehow, Earthlings wore them every day with no complaints. They were strange, indeed.

"Hm, I guess they don't exactly get into direct combat all that often, then," Taori commented as Ward echoed Alpinia's sentiments. Saiyans practically lived to fight, so... Different cultures. He briefly pondered that it must have been nice to live life the easy way, without having to fight for your life and get hurt so often - but, then he thought about how absolutely boring he'd find a life completely devoid of fighting, and dismissed the thought. He just wasn't wired for complacency. And then, a flick of the wrist and a wave of the arm later, Ward had conjured up more racks of clothes, these meant for Earthling males.

"...Hmm." Taori mumbled as he stepped forward and examined them. He couldn't really imagine having to pick out new clothes to wear every single day, as Ward explained the Earthlings do. He had a few sets of armor he rotated between when the others were being washed, but they all were of the same design. How did they decide what they wanted to wear on each day? Was it just random? Were there certain rules? As he looked over the clothes, Taori found no rhyme or reason as to what apparel would work better in one environment over any other.

He was perplexed, at best. Alpinia, on the other hand, returned with a few sets of clothes. "Okay, I think I like these!" she declared, and then she glanced at Taori. "Having trouble picking stuff out?" she asked, and Taori shrugged. "Er, I don't really-" "That's fine," Alpinia interrupted as she handed him her pile of clothes. "I can pick for you! Let's see..." She then rushed ahead and started scanning the racks, and occasionally held up an article and examined it more closely. Taori loved Alpinia, but... Sometimes he wasn't too sure he could follow along with her as well as he may have liked to.

"Uh, so," he asked Ward as they waited for Alpinia to finish her browsing. There was something Ward had mentioned before that was... Of interest to Taori. "You mentioned you were from a place called Otherworld," he said, "And that's... Where people go when they die? But you're not dead, and you can travel back and forth between that place, so... Can other people who aren't dead do that, too?" 

Yes and no? Taori furrowed his brows as he listened to Ward explain exactly how all that... 'Otherworld' stuff worked. It sounded like it was more yes than no to Taori, though he was sure there were probably some caveats that he was unaware of. Spiritual, mystical stuff like all that didn't make a whole lot of sense to Taori. He understood ki and its basic principles, but magic? That all went over his head, and he had a feeling he'd never fully get it. That was fine, though - he was perfectly content just using ki to fight.

The main thing Taori was getting out of the information dump Ward was giving him was that, though difficult, it was possible for a mortal to travel to that other realm without needing to die. If Ward could do it, why couldn't Taori? Granted, Ward was considerably stronger than Taori, so Taori probably needed to improve himself on that front before he went and got any ideas, but... It was possible. "I see... Though, I doubt there's any way to bring someone dead back with you, even if you did manage to get yourself up there, somehow."

Taori wasn't going to go getting delusional about bringing back the dead. He knew that dead was dead. What he was interested in, though, was communicating with the dead. Seeking advice from mouths that had not spoken since their departures. Taori really felt like he could use some of that advice. Some perspective. 

"Okay!" Alpinia suddenly called out as she returned with another handful of clothes, all varying colors and shades, and all around Taori's size. "We'll try these on later, I think." 

"Uh, sure," Taori replied, his dark eyes uneasily glancing down at the pile of cloth Alpinia was holding. He couldn't say he was super looking forward to trying on a whole bunch of clothes, but he supposed it made sense to get used to the sensation of different material if he and Alpinia really were going to head down to Earth at some point. It'd be suspicious if the two of them came marching around in full combat gear, even if they had no intention of causing problems for its denizens.

Taori looked up at Ward and gave him a smile. "I think, uh, it might be best if Alpinia and I get on our way now," he said, much as he did want to ask a little bit more about travel to the Otherworld. He just didn't want to be seen holding these clothes by any of their neighbors, and they longer they were out, the more likely that was. "I have a feeling we'll bump into each other again, though."

Alpinia gave Ward a smile of her own. "Yeah, thanks for the clothes! And we'll give you a call if we need any spiritual help!" She didn't fully understand what exactly Ward's full capabilities were, nor did Taori, but they at least figured he'd be a good ally to have in a time of need. The problem would just be reaching him - though they'd figure something out, probably.

The two offered him one last wave, and then, provided he didn't stop them for some reason, they turned to head back to their home. Alpinia was already deciding which outfits to wear, while Taori simply glanced down at the clothes they were holding and sighed. It might be a bit of a long afternoon for him.