01 ✯ Open

[jellyfishbrain]

Characters: Gourry and you!
Setting: 2-06, then wandering about the tower.
Format: I'll gladly match you!
Summary: Gourry's arrival here at the lovely five-star Tower of Animus~
Warnings: None!


[ 2-06 ]

[At first, it doesn't register with Gourry that something is terribly wrong -- this place is unfamiliar, but his head feels a bit fuzzy, and it takes a moment for him to realize that he's never seen these four walls before. Huh. He could have sworn he'd been sharing a room with Zelgadis, too, one with two beds instead of four. Frowning, he slowly sits up, propping himself up with his weight on his hands, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. The action itself causes something foreign to rub against the collar of his shirt, and he reaches up to feel for whatever it is that's snugly around his neck.

Well. That was new.]

What the...?

[He catches a glimpse of the letters that have been left waiting for him, and fumbles clumsily to open them, almost ripping one in the process. He has to read the contents several times over before he starts to grasp what's written there -- and even then, it's iffy. Their world had been destroyed? But he thought -- hadn't they stopped all that? Or did Lina's Giga Slave go out of control and do what Hellmaster was hoping it would?]

But I was there! I don't remember any of that!

[Not that that ever meant much, in his case.]



[ Elsewhere in the Tower ]

[After giving the letters another read-through and rummaging through the trunk at the end of his bed, Gourry decides to go exploring. His sense of self-preservation has never been great, and as long as he's going to be stuck here, he might as well check the place out. He certainly won't accomplish anything by sitting in his room. He was glad to find his clothes tucked away in the chest, but confused when he saw that only the blade of his sword had been there, with the hilt and handle missing. Looking rather dejected, he wanders aimlessly through the tower, with the naked blade hanging at his side, looking quite pitiful in its own right.]

Comments

[dragonspooker]

Eventually, Gourry will find himself in a stairwell with Lina. On one hand, she looks different than when he saw her last - plainer shoulderpads, no talismans, and that inexplicable yellow halter thing she wears over her robes has a weird shoulder strap. On the other hand, Gourry being Gourry might not even notice...

She stops in her tracks, and stares for several seconds, not quite sure if she believes her eyes or not. She reaches up and pinches her arm, then promptly winces and hisses at the bit of pain, then looks at him again.

"...that you, Gourry, or is this place playing tricks on my mind?"

[jellyfishbrain]

Rather than acting surprised to see her -- they never were apart for very long, after all -- Gourry craned his neck to look back over each of his shoulders in turn before facing her and offering a bright, ear-to-ear grin. Well, if Lina was here, too, then the situation couldn't be nearly as bad as he'd first thought.

"Yep, it's me!" He chuckled lightly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Who else would it be, Lina?"

Never mind the fact that he'd had to check to make sure nobody was standing behind him before he answered.

[dragonspooker]

For a moment, there was peace. Almost like Lina was actually glad to see Gourry.

It was very short-lived, though, and her expression fell into anger very quickly. "YOU IDIOT! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN STUCK HERE?! YOU CALL YOURSELF A GUARDIAN, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN HIDE NOR HAIR OF YOU IN MONTHS!"

At least she wasn't hitting him. Yet.

[jellyfishbrain]

He shrank back, expecting her fists to accompany all of that yelling, though he relaxed slightly when he realized he hadn't been hit quite yet. Phew. Safe for now, at least.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" he countered defensively. If he took anything seriously, it was his decision to act as Lina's guardian. Well, that and being on time for dinner. "I didn't know you were here! Anyway, what are you talkin' about, Lina?! I just saw you last night!"

[dragonspooker]

Well, that reaction wasn't too surprising, considering what she'd went through with Naga and the others when they were here. Her fists remain clenched, but she does appear to calm down a little. "...what's the last big thing that happened to us that you remember, Gourry?"

[jellyfishbrain]

"Well, uh..."

He straightened up a bit, rubbing his chin as he considered that. What was the last big thing he remembered?

Oh! Got it.

"We had this pretty great pot roast for dinner last night! You remember that, dontcha?"

[dragonspooker]

For several moments, Lina stares at Gourry. It's been so long, that she's not as used to just how dumb he can be. She sighs, then shakes her head while pinching the bridge of her nose. "No, Gourry - bigger than that. Were we in the middle of an adventure or did we just finish one?"

8D

[jellyfishbrain]

Bigger than dinner? Hmm. He tapped his index finger against his chin as he thought back, straining to remember.

"Oh yeah! We finished one. We'd just beaten that Forbeezro guy!" he told her brightly, grinning broadly. It seemed like there was a little more to that, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and while he couldn't remember it precisely, something about it made him blush.

"Uh-- that's all I remember."

[dragonspooker]

Lina just stares at Gourry, as if he'd just told her that decided to give up swordsmanship for a life of poverty and fasting.

"...'forbeezro'...Do you mean Phibrizzo? Hellmaster Phibrizzo?" Surely he didn't. This was Gourry, he had to be mixing things up.

The blushing thing was weird, but wondering about that could wait. She needed to clear up this little name issue first.

[calculatedfire]

Ryuho was still knew to this place, so he was busy exploring in his own right. He paused to look when he say a person approaching that he did not recognize.

"Hello."

[jellyfishbrain]

Gourry offered the stranger a smile in reply, raising his left hand in a half-hearted wave. Though he had been feeling discouraged since reading the letters that had been left for him, the sight of another person was enough to brighten his mood, if only for a minute or two.

"Hey there! Glad to see there's other people here, too."

[calculatedfire]

"Quite a few it seems, although I'm rather new here myself." Ryuho admitted, stopping to address the taller man politely.

[jellyfishbrain]

He nods briefly, pausing to glance around at their surroundings again. This place is gloomy. He's seen worse, though, barring the circumstances.

"So... we're really all stuck here, huh?"

[calculatedfire]

"So I've gathered. I have not found a way out on my own time." He looks over his shoulder at the wall.

"I take it that you just got here?"

[jellyfishbrain]

Gourry nodded again. "You got it. Just woke up a little while ago. Had to read those letters a couple of times. What's the deal with these collars?"

He pointed to the yellow collar around his neck, just to be sure this guy knew exactly what he was talking about. You know, in case it wasn't obvious -- despite the fact that he was wearing one, too.

"I mean, there was somethin' about them in the letters, but why do we have to wear 'em? Kind of uncomfortable, if you ask me."

[calculatedfire]

"I don't know. It seems that the color correlates with a number of tests and maintenance, but I do not know the reason for them."

He touches the blue color around his neck for a moment.

[jellyfishbrain]

"They fit kinda tight," Gourry lamented, poking at his own collar experimentally. "Tests, huh... I'm not so good at those."

[alephbet]

[Aleph has learned to recognize the sight of somebody new with no direction.]

Need a hand?

[jellyfishbrain]

[Gourry looks vaguely startled by the offer of help, but nods in reply, giving the stranger an awkward smile.]

Just tryin' to find my way around. Hey, what's goin' on in this place, anyway?

[alephbet]

We're trapped in a tower full of monsters.

[jellyfishbrain]

[He rubs at the back of his neck, nodding slowly.]

Kinda got that much. Who the heck brought us here, anyway?

[alephbet]

The administrators. There are four of them and you can blame most of your problems on them.

[jellyfishbrain]

Huh... so anything that goes wrong is their fault.

[Perhaps too broad an interpretation, but...]

Got it. So this is all because of those Admanny Straights guys! Why hasn't anyone been able to beat 'em, yet?

[Because obviously, they must be bad guys, right? He sees no gray areas.]

[alephbet]

Well, they don't show up in person often, for one.

[jellyfishbrain]

Huh? Well, what kind of villains are they, then? They could at least show up for a fair fight!