The sound of surf.

Waves crashing against a beach, the perfect rhythm, the roar of it, the hiss as it recedes, and that echoing pause just before the roar again. Perfect clockwork. Ian had his hands in his pockets, messy crest of hair under a bandanna as he looked at the sea. "Damn beautiful, that is." He wiped his nose on his sleeve and rolled his shoulders slightly, turning and starting to walk down the sand.

His sister was somewhere here, maybe his brother too. Ian grimaced slightly at the thought before continuing on his walk, taking a few quick steps and swinging his leg, a spray of sand flying up with a huge punt. "At least classes are fun, and at least I got this place... nowhere to stay at the school yet though. Stupid dorm assignment getting lost... or somethin'..." Another kick and spray of sand, sending some of it into the spray of foam rolling onto the shore. He wasn't truly alone out here, he knew that, but he could feel alone, and some times you need that feeling.

"What the hell is that?!" Ian could only stare at the decloaked bungalow, his confusion almost maddening to him. He'd seen some weird stuff, his dad had dealt with some weird stuff and Ian himself had to deal with his brother and sister, but this was completely out of left field! "What the hell is this?!" Ian suddenly turned as though to ask the newcomer, only to then stop and stare at him.

Ian's eyes darted to the guy's jovial expression to his lack of shirt to his mechanical arm, eyes quickly tracing along where the body changed from flesh to steel."Wait, wait... who are you and why is your arm metal? And why the hell are you living in some god-damn Star Trek technology voodoo shack?!" Clearly Ian was exasperated, this was a lot to take in at once but he was containing himself better than he thought he would. "Freaky robo-hand man... what is this mess..." He muttered the last part under his breath, looking around as though someone else was going to pop out and explain this, or possibly not fully able to look at what was before him lest it turned out to be real and became infinitely more bizarre.

"Oh, oh okay. I'm Ian. Ian Wakeman." Ian held out his hand, suddenly seeming disarmed. Orion's open and forward explanation, his friendly and trusting demeanor seemed to completely diffuse the situation. "Wait, Wait... No. No this is still really, really damn weird. I mean, seriously, holy crap... Your house just appeared out of nowhere and its on stilts and looks like it was made from a disassembled factory!" He suddenly withdrew his hand and crossed his arms, staring up at Orion's home, the aesthetics of a salvaged domicile leaving something to be desired in Ian's eyes.

He suddenly felt a rush of indignity! Who the hell was this guy? Living all happy and carefree out here in his invisible sci-fi pad and showing off his robotic gloves? That's absurd! What an asshole! Ian's face curled into a sneer, as though Orion had suddenly slapped him across the face instead of giving him such a friendly introduction and explanation. "So why the hell are you out here all alone then, eh? Why're you living out here in this big lump of steel? The hell is up with that?"

Well now things were starting to come together.... and somehow still not make any sense! Was this guy from space? Why wasn't he green? Ian blinked a few times, looking at the house again, seeing the pragmatism of the design more than the aesthetics. Though it seems this Orion didn't quite pick up on what Ian meant when he said "appeared out of nowhere." He uncrossed his arms and gestured to the house. "Okay, look... What I meant by appear out of nowhere was that, from my perspective, your house materialized before my eyes, it appeared that there was nothing before me then suddenly there was something.. just suddenly right there!"

Ian sighed, slumping slightly. "It was a bit of an unusual experience... A bit of a shock... Yes I would like to see inside your home." The guy was clearly strange, but he could chalk that up to a degree of culture shock more than anything else. Culture shock to the tenth power, really. Ian put his hands back in his pockets and looked up at the huge house, smacking his lips slightly. Weird things made his mouth dry.

So he was looking for roommates too? That's... interesting. Who knows, maybe further contact with humans would help Orion fit in? Maybe his admittedly very upsetting behavior could be corrected. It was, also, only now that Orion won't stop mimicking his movements. "Hey wait- Cut that out dammit! Maybe a sharing this abode with someone will be good for you... find you someone else to copy. Damn parrot." Ian looked up at the house again. Damned if they'd leave THIS one up to him.

"I can take a look if you want, help you get set up for company... I got nothing better to do and it's agonizingly clear you'll need help."

Ian started the climb up after this strange man. It wasn't so bad, at least it wasn't a damn knotted rope in place of the ladder. When he got to the top and pulled himself into the homestead, Ian took some time to sweep his eyes over the inside of the ship, his expression somewhere between impressed yet confused.

"Well, it's... Efficient!"

It was, for the most part, nothing seemed wasted, though much of the old ship remained and seemed as though the room itself still thought it was a ship needing to blast off at a moment's notice. The main living space, though, was remarkably sparse, seeming more like a small production facility with workbenches lining the metal walls and the main floor area left open, a single bed remained at the back... A sudden pang of dread filled Ian at the thoughts of how this individual might plan their sleeping arrangement.

"I'm not sure this arrangement would work for me, but if you want I can try to help you find some others who might be willing to bunk up with you... Though the single bed and... sparse layout might be a bit of a put off to most people." The hell had Ian gotten himself into? A phantasmal limb extended from his back as Up To Me placed his fingers on the wall of the ship, a sudden pulse of sparks and light wove through the hull as Ian Surged into the ship, pulling the shape of a chair out as he fell into it, sitting cross legged and looking around.

The limb vanished as quickly as it appeared as Ian snapped his fingers after some thought and turned to Orion."Alright, pal. Tell you what, we'll head into town, print up some ads and some flyers, maybe even get something in the local papers. We'll find you a Roomie, someone to liven up this pad!" When he had finished the sentence, that specrtal form reappeared, two arms now attached to a strange, mechanical-looking body that seemed to phase into Ian slightly. The form placed its hands on the ship and once again came that flashing surge and a sound like a flat chord on an electric guitar. The entire wall itself opened up as though it was made of reshaping clay. Ian fell through the hole as it sealed back up, returning to normal.

The sand blew away from Ian as Up To Me caught him less than a meter from the ground, placing him back on his feet. "Come on then!" Ian shouted back up to Orion in the stilted ship-shack. "...You strange, strange little bugger..." he said to himself under his breath, punctuating his last remark as he stepped back a bit, waiting for his new 'friend' to join him.