File 001. Why save a rookie?

[hardknoxlife]

Characters: Ronald and YOU LOT
Setting: Room 3-02 if you wish or the cafeteria!
Format: I'll match you!
Summary: A reaper falls out of bed and rambles about how he's been jipped.
Warnings: Nada! Fairly clean, all things considered but he may try to chat you up should you be a pretty young thing.

[ He's had better wake up calls from his alarm clock back home. Unlike those, however, this one causes his eyes to jerk open. Something wasn't right. Of course, there's the ensuing panic that sets in when he finds himself in the hold of sleep paralysis. Mentally, he's straining to get free, trying to will his limbs to move. This is worse seeing as no one's ever had a hold on a reaper like this before. But before he can even try to summon his death scythe, it's all over. That one burst of energy he called upon to release him renders him crashed out of bed and on the floor.

However, should you be fortunate enough to miss that cry of panic and the ensuing "Bloody hell, that hurt.", you would find him in the cafeteria. Here, he looks to be an absolute mess: poking at his oatmeal occasionally with a spoon while he mulls over the letter, free hand passing through his own hair to brush it out of his face. If you would chance upon him here, he'd be muttering away as he looks the information given over. ]

--World has been destroyed? That's a load of bollocks. You would have thought we'd be given a heads up as to when it's gonna be destroyed. Big number of deaths like that, there wasn't even anything on the To Die list. We've been bloody diddled if I'm supposed to believe th--

[ And a face as he takes a spoonfull of that... slop. ]

What in blazes is this stuff?!

[ Sliding bowl away. No me gusta.
Dare to bother a reaper his first day in? Ask about his ramblings? Make him eat? ]

Comments

[verymuchalive]

[Did someone say make him eat? Because Aradia's getting good at this sitting with people while they eat their first meal gig and besides, angry and muttering to himself has made her curious.

She decides to open with the answer to the question she does know the answer to]

It's called oatmeal. You have to eat it before you eat anything else or you'll be ill. At least, that's what everyone says.

[hardknoxlife]

Well, yeah. I know what it is.
The cafeteria back in Dispatch had better grub though.

[ Absently stirring with his spoon. ]

Ain't there anything better around here? S'not exactly what I'd consider a good enough meal for starters.

[verymuchalive]

Oh.

[Inviting herself to sit at his table, don't mind her.]

Well, there is. And maybe once you've had your oatmeal you can have something else. But they're pretty strict about the oatmeal first part...especially if they're serving it past morning.

[hardknoxlife]

Weird.

[ Ah well, no use denying it if it's what he had to do. Still looking at the bowl with distaste though. Human food was human food. He's taken to picking at it again though while offering his new companion a small smile. ]

So... Would I be right to guess you've been here longer? My first day in, y'see.

If it... wasn't so bloody obvious from the oats and this. [ Holding up the letter. ]

[verymuchalive]

[She smiles at that, amused but without malice]

I'm starting to recognise the signs. The oatmeal is definitely one of them. But yes, I've been here for some time now.

I'm Aradia.

[hardknoxlife]

[ Resting his head back on his hand though. ]

Doubtful a name like that's gonna be hard to forget.

[ Setting the spoon down and have his free hand offered to you. ]

The name's Ronald Knox, Grim Reaper Dispatch Department, London branch. Pleased to meet ya.

[verymuchalive]

[She's still not fully up on her human customs so as he holds his hand out, she does the same, not quite at the point where she's actually shaking his hand but close?]

I didn't understand a lot of that but it's nice to meet you too!

[snowyvalemaiden]

[Xue was nearby finishing her own and looked over as she took the last bits off her spoon with a delighted smirk.]

If it ain't a Legion here, or a swarm der, der be always someting looking ta end yer world no mattah how well ya be stoppin' da previous cataclysmic event mon.

[She chuckled as she placed her clean plate to the side and rested her head on her arm as she looked over.]

Ya know, if ya ain't finishin' dat I don't be mindin' extra helpings when der ain't much else ta eat. But, I be suggestin' ya be eatin' it regardless if ya plan ta explore da towah.

[queenofbass]

_{[Marceline's just floating through for a handful of fruit; this new guy sliding the bowl away has her commiserating, remembering her first day in this whacked-out place. She pauses, tilting her head at the oatmeal.]}

Hey, I know that junk is gross, but ya might want to eat it. From what I've heard, they're pretty serious about that stuff.

[hardknoxlife]

[ There's a bit of a start here but you'll have to pardon him. Reaper he may be but he's more used to dealing with humans. But he's still gonna be polite and not make his surprise too obvious. Instead, have a bit of a smile back best he can. Circumstances and all that. ]

The world's gonna end, yeah, they told us that much. But a big number of deaths like that? The higher ups would've been absolutely crackers not to tell the Dispatch Department! Who reaped the souls of the dead from that disaster?

[ A glance over at the bowl though. ]

...I'm not gonna be able to eat anything until I get this down, am I?

[hardknoxlife]

[ Man, this tower brought in all sorts. He's... staring a moment at the floating though but manages to get over the initial shock. ]

Looks a bit dodgy to me. Don't suppose you had to do this too the first time around?

[hardknoxlife]

Here.

[ And bringing his hand to hold hers in a proper handshake position. ]

Right. There are you are then.

[ A smile back and initiating a short handshake before drawing away. ]

That there's a proper greeting where I come from. S'what you do when you first meet someone.

[ Hands going back to interlace his fingers under his chin. ]

Begging your pardon if I caused a bit of confusion there. It's what I do, you see. That whole bit that came after my name. Guess you can say old habits die hard and all that.

[verymuchalive]

[Aradia watches closely as he demonstrates the handshake, ever the attentive student]

Oh! I get it now. Sorry, we...don't really do that on Alternia. Or maybe the highbloods did, I don't know. Anyway, no-one really explained that to me before so thank you.

[And her gratitude is entirely genuine]

So...what does a grim reaper do?

[hardknoxlife]

Don't mention it. I'd wager we all come from different worlds? I mean, no offense meant but I'm sure I'd be hard pressed to forget someone such as yourself.

[ And a pause, staring at her for the question as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. ]

You mean, you don't have a branch in your world? So... who picks up your souls after you die?

[verymuchalive]

[She giggles]

None taken. I mean, unless you were from Alternia or the world we made, why would you know who we are?

[Give her a moment...oh that last word she knows]

Well...it depends where you die. Normally we don't tend to think about it too much, skull and hypnotic eyes guy aside. Then if you die here, you come back to life...then you get the odd cases where you die but turn into a ghost and then you have to become a sprite-robot until you explode and finally wake up your dream self.

[hardknoxlife]

Alternia. Huh. Now there's a name I've never heard! Don't think that's part of our department's jurisdiction.

[ But hand resting on his own palm though as he listens ever so intently. It causes him to straighten up though when she gets to the end. ]

A sprite... ro.. bot? [ Fumbling with the word. ] What the bloody hell's that? Can't say we ever had anything like that back where I come from.

[verymuchalive]

No, it probably isn't. Especially since it doesn't exist any more.

[And more giggling. She takes way too much joy in confusing people]

Well, it's comlicated, but basically I was a ghost, then I prototyped myself with this sprite we had to use for a game we were playing which was also prototyped with a frog, and then I was given a robot body.

[A beat, just long enough to make it unclear as to whether or not this is intentional]

Ribbit.

[hardknoxlife]

Apparently so, considering everything they've told us so far! [ Conspiratory whisper as he leans in though. ] Just between you and me though, I think whoever's running this place is absolutely barmy if we're supposed to believe that.

[ Drawing back again to sink against his chair. ]

That's ace! It really is! Never heard anything like that in my whole run as a reaper. So it was all part of a game then? And... why a frog?

[verymuchalive]

Oh, I didn't mean that. [She forgets, on occasion, that the world ending's supposed to be standard across worlds here] Alternia was gone long before I got here.

[She nods]

A very long, very complicated game. And I guess...because I could. And because it was about the only thing around other than myself at the time...and I guess because it was what was supposed to happen.

[hardknoxlife]

Oh. My mistake then. I'm sorry to hear that.

[ Because really, what else can you say when you've heard someone's world has ended and not because of this? ]

That's a hard line right there.

[ It's actually quite fascinating to hear about how death is handled in other worlds. He's still a young reaper, all things considered. Plenty to learn. ]

So... how were things as a frog? Took a while getting used to, I'd wager. They'd have a right old fuss if they ever heard your case back home though.

[verymuchalive]

Don't be. It was supposed to happen. Nothing we did could have changed that.

[And welcome to death's #1 fangirl]

Well, I wasn't an actual frog. Mostly I was the same as I was after I'd died, only I kept ribbiting at really random times.

[myblueskies]

You gotta eat it sir, or you get sick. [Romeo was sat across from him and gave him a smile] But you only got to eat it first and then you can eat whatever you like.

...oh hi, Mero. B3a

[hardknoxlife]

I'm starting to think whoever made up this rule was absolutely crackers.

[ Stirring at the oatmeal though. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so bad. ]

Got any idea as to why they make us do this in the first place?

[hardknoxlife]

You seem pretty right set in that line of thinking. Guess there's no convincing you otherwise. I dunno. It's a right mess, this whole "worlds getting destroyed bit".

[ He's surprised at how calmly she's taking this though. ]

You seem to be dealing with this whole dying business fairly better than most do, eh?

[verymuchalive]

Well, when you're in charge of an entire timeline, you have to be sure about that sort of thing.

[A slight shrug there]

I just don't think it's something to get worked up over...then again, I've had a more unusual relationship with it than most so perhaps that's why.