FIIRST GEAR ♊ savior of the waking world

[dubiousdisc]

Characters: Anonlux and YOU.
Setting: Assorted places around the dorms, cafeteria, and media floor.
Format: I'm starting in prose, but I'll match.
Summary: The tower adds one very confused nullblood to its extensive arsenal.
Warnings: Not... many? Possibly language, but that's about it.


[Dorm levels]

As of that moment, Sollux Captor was probably the only person who didn’t know the story – another weird alien kid, waking up in an empty room garnished for four, in a jumpsuit that he definitely hadn’t fallen asleep in. If he had fallen asleep at all… yeah, no he hadn’t. If he could hiss at the light hitting his eyes, he would have; god, where were his glasses? Nowhere on his face, he could be sure. Sollux would have really liked the sleep paralysis to be spent checking out his surroundings, but it passed with his eyes burning instead; so when it finally ended, he all but jumped to his feet. All four wardrobes were empty, as were three of the trunks. In the fourth he found some of his own possessions, and yes – right on top, his glasses. Sollux wasted no time in putting them on.

He took his time getting out of the room. It seemed not everything was in his trunk; a disappointment, to be sure, but he could deal. At the very least, his bracelets were there, as was his sword and a few throwing stars. There was also his tablet there, and almost out of habit, he tried booting it up; Internet was gone. Dead. He dropped it back on top of the spare clothes and turned his attention back to the weaponry. Equipping it all in his distressingly empty sylladex (except for the bracelets, which obviously went around his wrists), Sollux pitched out into the great big unknown, opening some of the doors on the five floors that seemed to make up this dormitory complex. They were all more or less like his, though not all of them were unoccupied.

[Cafeteria]

The expectation was that he would reach the bottom floor, find the front desk, and inquire as to what the actual fuck was going on here. As it turned out, a front desk did not exist. After bugging random people for random reasons, he reached the first dormitory level to find that the staircase? It kept going. It kept going a lot. Not about to run on down the god-knows-how-many floors to the bottom, Sollux hopped onto the nearby elevator, and pressed the only button available – labeled ‘1’. Lobby? Had to be, considering this was obviously a tower.

…It wasn’t a lobby. Not even close.

As usual, he inspected the place for a little while, feeling the walls and looking under tables and wandering all over the place. From the way he was acting, it didn’t take much detective work to figure out that he was the fresh meat. But eventually he did find his way over to the counter, and the suspicions were confirmed as he was immediately handed a bowl of oatmeal and told to eat.

He said he would and took it back to an empty table, prodding at it with a spoon. Instincts told him never to deny free food, but he still had no idea what was going on past those worthless little letters; they mentioned eating down here, but should he? Was it poisoned with something? Wary, he decided to sit in his corner and watch others eat instead. He would be able to survey them better that way; if anyone else was eating the oatmeal and not a writhing mess on the floor, then he would take his chances.

Seemed like no one would touch it, though… odd…

[Media room]

And then no one was surprised.

Sollux was immediately pulled away from his adventure back up the tower. The movies and music were almost completely ignored, in favor of the video game shelf; there was nothing handheld here, but he didn’t complain. Console games were a very rare commodity to someone with no actual home. He noticed the differences in otherwise-recognizable series, but only vaguely; most of them had humans on the cover, so they probably weren’t from his world.

Next thing he knows, it’s god-knows-what PM and he’s still playing this shit. So much for exploring the tower.

Comments

[papshooshing]

[ Karkat is rolling to sit up when he sees it to. droplets of red on his shirt. he mentally curses, head titling a bit behind him to see if the other hand seen. because it could be problematic otherwise, right? he needs to leave. now. it's probably too late because when the others head clears, there will be rage.

he's trying to get up, hand smudging more bright red into the carpet so he can get to his feet.

just go. that's all he has to do. get out the door before the other troll comes to his senses. ]

[dubiousdisc]

[...It's the carpet.]

[The carpet explains it all. There's only red there, lots and lots of red. And he knows for a fact that punch connected. Karkat has to get past him to get to the staircase. Sollux stands up and turns around, marveling at the mess 'he' had created on the pristine cream-colored carpet.]

[And then his eyes move up.]

[Welp.]

[papshooshing]

[ Karkat freezes, like a deer in the headlights. but this isn't because Sollux had caught him. it's because all that Karakat can focus on is the red. bright red. a blood color he should have guessed at, considering the gray symbol. his hands are pulling away from his mouth, also holding that disgusting shade from a busted lip.

he squints, as if he doesn't believe it. asking 'well now what' without any words. ]

[dubiousdisc]

[He... he'd tell you if he knew.]

[The two of them stand in very much the same position for several minutes, just... taking in the sight of it. He should have known -- Karkat Vantas was such a monumental screw-up, in every universe, that he would forget to change his blood color from one species to another. He hadn't been allowed to look surprised when the humans bled; the fact that they spewed such colors on a regular basis was not news to any of them, but when he saw it for the first time in person, there had been other people around. He had to lineface, as usual, only raising his eyebrows.]

[But now? They're alone. A couple of shithead mutants standing alone.]

...Fuck, we need to get rid of this carpet.

[papshooshing]

[ that snaps him out of it. the carpet. tell tale - wait.

Karkat takes a moment to pluck the tooth out of his mouth. then spits the mess on the carpet. ]

Says who? The only beings here that don't bleed red are the other trolls. Who the fuck is going to know that it was a couple of trolls that roughed each other up? Anyone could have been responsible for this shitacular mess.

We will just have to keep our heads low until your nose and my lip heal.

[dubiousdisc]

I still don't want to leave it lying around. [Paranoid? Why, whatever could you mean???]

[papshooshing]

And you don't think stealing the carpet won't look even more suspicious?

[dubiousdisc]

It's the middle of the day. No one's going to see. We roll it up and... chuck it out the window or something.

[Stupid stupid dumb.]

[papshooshing]

People might see us walking in the hallways with it. Access to anything beyond the Tower is prohibited.

We have nothing to burn it with either.

[dubiousdisc]

It's not that hard to break a window.

Besides, wasn't there a kitchen on that bottom floor? Gotta be something flammable in there.

[papshooshing]

...The assholes that pull us out of the Tower are watching, bulgemunch. Do you want to draw their attention too?

[dubiousdisc]

...Shit.

[OH GOD THEY'RE WATCHING THEY'RE WATCHING THEY'RE-- yeah no he's not that paranoid. Instead, Sollux looks back down at the carpet again, and slowly steps away from the mess of stains.]

In that case, let's bounce.

[papshooshing]

First thing's first...

[ Karkat's wandering over to the game shelf... and ripping games and tossing them. next... he goes over and does the same to the movies. scattering them about.

when satisfied by the mess? that's when he's walking towards Sollux again. ]

I've got a kit in my respiteblock.

[ always prepared. ]

[dubiousdisc]

Eheheheh. [Good thinking, on both counts. Onto the staircase they go!]

Which block's yours?

[papshooshing]

Three eight.

[ a pause as Karkat is starting to pretty much sprint. he's adding this as an after thought. ]

Even though you seem to be a douchebag in every iteration, I'm sorry for being a raving asshole.

[dubiousdisc]

...And I guess you're not quite as useless as you were last universe around, so sorry for being such a douchebag.

[He does not turn around.]

[papshooshing]

[ snorts. ]

Do I even want to know what sort of fucked up existence this other Karkat has?

[dubiousdisc]

If it was physically possible to do anything less with your life, I'd eat my throwing stars.

[papshooshing]

At least you actually eat.

[ more than what he can say for the Sollux he knows.


reaching the respiteblock, Karkat dives inside, shedding his shirt and tossing it aside. it will be hand washed later. for now he's digging into his trunk, pulling out the med kit and an extra shirt. ]

[dubiousdisc]

Only barely.

[Room's empty, good. Sollux shuts the door behind them. There are several drops of blood on his own shirt, as well, but he's not about to go back out there for a clean one. Not yet. ...He has a question to ask first.]

So, you got me. How's the Sollux Captor on the legitimate end of the hemospectrum?

[papshooshing]

[ Karkat throws some antiseptic wipes and gauze at Sollux, snorting. ]

Mustard blood with powerful psionic abilities. Raging douchebag with an obsession with duality. Bipolar bulgesucker and my best friend.

[ he rips open a package for himself now, brows furrowing as he dabs his lip. ]

[dubiousdisc]

[He takes them, promptly setting to work.]

Mustardblood, huh? [And then, quieter:] Poor bastard.

[papshooshing]

What? Not jealous?

[ Karkat might have been. then again, he knows of a cerulean version of himself... and Karkat thinks the asshole is a douchebag and should be avoided at all cost. ]

[dubiousdisc]

Jealous, sure.

But considering what happened to my mustardblood, I wouldn't want to be in his place any time soon.

[papshooshing]

You should feel lucky. I haven't taken any interest in the other alternate fuckasses around here.

So. What happened?