OO4 >> your Christmas wish will be for a functioning kotatsu and a way out of this hellhole

[altitonant_emperor]

Characters: Hidetoshi, and all of you crazypants here at towerofanimus .
Setting: Room 03-02, and the lounge on the 38th floor.
Format: Either actionspam or prose is perfectly fine by me, but as always, remember I'll be slower to reply to prose.
Summary: With the heat no longer working or inactive, Hidetoshi tries to deal with the cold, and pass the time productively. News flash; he isn't fond of the cold. At all. Basically, this is a post open to whoever. 
Warnings: Man, it's cold in here... ? Oh, the usual hating on the administration.


[ SCENARIO A || FLOOR THIRTY-EIGHT ]

[ At least the start of the new month was uneventful. He could appreciate that.

Hidetoshi rubbed his arm, trying force some warmth back into his limbs, and make the slight shivering stop. Of all things, why did the heating system have to turn off? Granted, it was better than whatever system that protected them from the monsters outside the Tower getting switched off, or the oxygen-providing system becoming inactive, or the lighting stop working, but it was still tedious. Was there any real need to simulate the harsh, wretchedly low temperature of winter? The answer, to those morons in charge, was apparently yes. The vice president of the student council could not fathom their reasoning. Whose month was this again?

Just wonderful, he thought sourly to himself, but not unexpected from them.


He resented the cold, but like many of the distasteful element of this place, it appeared he would have no choice but simply have to put up with it. He couldn't stay huddled under the blankets of his bed to conserve and relish in the heat that had built up overnight for more than a hour or two, and after that, he'd headed down to one of his favoured floors—the lounge, where there was no immediate threat of maiming via monsters and which had a comfortably sensible layout of couches, sofas, and tables. The view could even be called morbidly impressive, if you found looking over an endless sea of dull grey fog stretching out past the horizon to be interesting.

So, whenever somebody walks into the lounge, they'll either find one of the sofas occupied by a grouchy high school student, seemingly absorbed in reading a book as to distract himself from the chill, or the same high school student pacing idly around the room, attempting to keep warm by remaining in movement. He alternated between the two activities to pass the time. On one of the tables, he had left a couple of nutrient bars snagged from the cafeteria that morning that were bland and tasteless, along with his copy of Battle Royale, a pencil and a neat stack of scribbled notes on various subjects.

Bug him? N/Y ]

Comments

[worldrestored]

[Well no matter how cold it was, there was still a guy walking around without a shirt no matter what. As he walked over to grab a nutrient bar he gave off an annoyed sigh and had one reluctantly. The fairy sitting on his elbow gave a small laugh.]

Looks like we'll be hunting this month, huh?

[She turned over to where Hidetoshi was and gave him a wave.]

Hey! What are you doing with all that paper?!

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Did you really just walk up and eat one of his nutrient bars without asking permission first? Was that really necessary. He has more, but if the... Why isn't the dude wearing a shirt? The heating isn't working and—he's covered in tattoos (on his face, on his chest, and on his arms) and there's a spike coming out of the back of his neck.

And he has a fairy hovering at his elbow.

What. ]

[ At the fairy turning to him and asking a question, Hidetoshi blinks surprised that the creature spoke and the boy remained silent. He shrugged from where he was standing near the window. He'd been pacing. ]

Taking notes?

[worldrestored]

[Woops living in a demonic-filled world kinda throws manners out of the windows at least he didn't sniff you.]

Really?! Notes for what? Why do humans like to do that anyway...

[She sits on Hidetoshi's shoulder and attempts to start playing with his hair before she is grabbed and taken away. No Pixie, you are not going to scare or tease people. He knew what you were going to do, and he shoots her a look (which she pouts and crosses her arms), shooting an apologetic look at the other.]

He never lets me have any fun...

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Since the transgression was minor, Hidetoshi doesn't that much luckily yeah he'll pass on getting sniffed thanks. He rolled his eyes a little. ]

Generally, we like functioning indoor heating and decent food for starters... Its notes on a variety of subjects, ranging from this Tower to more educational topics.

[ He almost jumps in shock when the fairy lands on his shoulder and he feels tiny fingers tugging at his hair before the shirtless boy intervenes and grabs her off of him. well, that was helpful of him. Hidetoshi shots him a quick look of gratitude in return for the apologetic look before remarking to the pouting fairy; ]

Pardon me for possibly being rude in asking, but what exactly are you?

[ She didn't seem to be a Persona, and he doubted she would fitted this tattooed person as one either. ]

[worldrestored]

I'm a fairy silly!

[She points to Naoki.]

And that's Hitoshura! He's the Demi-fiend, half human and demon!

[Naoki just gives him a wave. Hello, how are you, etc etc.]

He doesn't talk much, so I like to do it for him!

[altitonant_emperor]

[ ... Of course. Silly him. This is the damn tower; surely things like fairies and spirits and demons existed in worlds other than his own. ]

I see.

[ How else was he supposed to respond to that, really. His weirdness quota was probably broken by this point anyway. He stiffly nodded in return to the shirtless boy's wave. It explained the entire matter of glowing tattoos and the sing;e sharp horn poking out of the back of his neck at least. For a half-demon, he seemed to be lack in the ghoulish teeth and giant club department. ]

Well, it's a pleasure to meet the two of you.

yes this is a good time for them to meet

[boxingemperor]

[Would be nice to have something warmer to wear. Like a big coat, a blanket...

Or an excessively large animal pelt.

Speaking of furs, at first it might seem like a horrible upright-walking monster has entered the lounge. But upon closer examination, it's a person -- close to if not Hidetoshi's age, even! -- all wrapped up in a big, fluffy, treated black and white animal pelt. Along with the fluff, he's carrying a pair of boxing gloves to repair.

He shudders a little, then sits down on the opposite couch, not wanting to bother whoever's on the other.]

...

[Wait a sec.]

well indeed so it is do

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Hidetoshi doesn't look up from his book for a couple moments even when the sound of approaching footsteps within the lounge reaches his ears. He finishes the paragraph he's on, turns the page, and then looks up. And stares, momentarily confused as to whether or not its a upright furry monster or a person wearing a black-and-white carpet seated on the couch opposite himself. He deems it a person from the shivering.

And then he notices the pair of boxing gloves. His eyes flicker upward towards the face of the person, not much older than himself from appearances. The dots connect rapidly. He stares blankly. ]

...

Sanada?

[ When had the captain of the boxing club shown up? ]

[boxingemperor]

[Akihiko gets a funny feeling in his stomach briefly upon recognizing the other boy across from him. Not embarrassment, but worry and concern. How long had Hidetoshi been in the tower, and were other classmates of his trapped here too? And how much did they know about Arisato, Shinji, and himself as far as their 'gifts'?

Fortunately, it seems that Hidetoshi had no idea he was there, so it only takes a few seconds for the sick stomach to pass. It might be hard to believe this is the same kid who has girls swarming around him at school.]

Odagiri? What are you doing here?

[altitonant_emperor]

[ He manages to bite back a flat comment along the lines of, "Why, I'm reading, Sanada," or "Surviving the utter destruction of my world, you?" His surprise at finding another person from their shared home dimension alive and well overrides any annoyance.

And of course it is hard to believe, because statistics aside, he's wrapped up in a black-and-white carpet; most girls would find that unattractive. Hidetoshi checks the page number, and then shuts the novel, tapping a finger idly on the cover. ]

I imagine I'm currently attempting to not freeze to death in this Tower. What are you doing here?

[boxingemperor]

[Someday, it'll be a coat. He just needs to find someone who can sew. For now, it's just a treated pelt that makes a nice blanket. He seems to be the only one who sees it that way, though.]

You should take up running. I've been asking myself the same question...

[forfeiture]

[ Honestly, Eva has dealt with worse circumstances.. so she's just wrapped her clothes a little tighter around her and is trying to bear the cold that way. So despite the cold, she seems more or less normal. Although the woman can't help but look a little surprised when she notices him pacing around like that. ]

Are you alright..?

[altitonant_emperor]

[ If you want to stay warm, keep moving and you'll warm up eventually. He's dressed sensibly enough himself. The cold isn't debilitating, it's just uncomfortable, annoying, and he resents it. He pauses in his pacing at her question; ]

I'm quite fine. [ Just cold and not enjoying being cold. ]

[forfeiture]

Sorry. [ She chuckles a little. Apparently her spirits are still fairly up despite the cold and all. Then again, she's an optimistic person. ]

You just seemed a little nervous. [ But that's just how she's interpreting the pacing. ]

[altitonant_emperor]

There's no need to apologize, miss. [ He awkwardly smiled a bit. The older woman's concern had been well-meant after all. ]

It's chilly out. I thought exercise would help. [ It was just him attempting to ward off the cold. But guess who had never really looked forward to his PE classes. ]

[forfeiture]

Oh, I see! [ It makes sense, after all, she had been trying to keep warm by walking around a little too, huh? She thought maybe there would be a place where the heating was still working, or maybe some sort of fire or hearth.. ] So you haven't found anything else to help against this cold yet either. I was just looking too.

[idolizer]

[ Sayaka's surely not used to so much cold at once, but she decided that in order to deal with it, she had to move around between floors - the least dangerous ones of course. She's been practically everywhere, and she ends up right in one of the lounges, where she finds this guy pacing around the room. Well, looks like she's not the only one who had the same idea. ]

This cold is quite bothersome, isn't it? [ Maybe trying a conversation with a stranger will distract her. ]

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Before ending up in the tower, Hidetoshi would have rather unimpressed by this lounge. The whole room showed a lack of interior decorating except for the morbid view from the windows. But now, he liked it largely because it made sense, with the tables and sofas and coffee tables, and nothing in it would attempt to kill or injury him severely which was refreshing. ]

[ And when the unknown girl attempts to spark a conversation with him, he slows down majorly in his pacing and nods. ] Yeah, I agree. It's tedious.

[idolizer]

I wonder if the air conditioning broke this time. [ Even though she's got the suspicion that it's all an experiment from these admins she heard many (bad) things about. She's still new to this place, no experiences to speak of. ] I must say their service is pretty inefficient here. First the translator devices, then this.

[altitonant_emperor]

Perhaps it or something else did. Or perhaps it was sabotaged. [ He speculated, acknowledging her observation. Whether it's for an experiment or whether's a legit technical issue occurring somewhere in the Tower by accident, he can't quite tell. ] Ineffective is one way to put it. It's difficult to tell if these systems failures are purposeful on their part or not. [ They're big enough assholes that it's a possibility. ]

[culbutiri]

[So that had been... fun. She hadn't really had any opinions on whether her world had actually ended or not, she was a captive either way. But finding herself back at the temple, surrounded by the dead bodies of everyone she had known, everything dead...

Not that most of them didn't deserve it... But Lotte... and Ral...

It was a very angry Nesir that returned to the tower, the cold; Nesir hated the cold, she had hated the cold before she had lost two of her fingers to it but that had not improved her relationship with winter one little bit, did not help. Nor did the excuse for food.

What was this? She had been faced with some bland stuff at the temple but... So Nesir was generally sulking around the tower being cold; her training clothes really didn't help keep her warm and she hadn't been provided with her boots.

So she was irritable and not in the mood for pretending to be nice, she flopped in one of the sofa's in the lounge and wrapped her arms around herself.] Do you not be having a room you can be cluttering up with your mess?

[altitonant_emperor]

[ That oddly accented voice was that of a stranger to him, coming from the sulky-looking girl sprawled in one of the sofas and glowering at everything around her. Hidetoshi just looked at her, with a mute expression that said 'I actually cannot believe you took the time out of your day to ask something so unfathomably stupid'. It's three tasteless nutrient bars (once four, but Naoki ate one) a pencil, and a neat stack of notes on the table right next to where he's sitting on a sofa. You could hardly call it cluttered, or a mess. He rubbed at his arm again, trying to warm it up. ] When I'm done here, I will taking my 'mess' with me.

[ And if he had remained in his room, the cold would have driven him to huddle under the blankets of his bed for even longer and not get any work or reading done. ]

[culbutiri]

[Because Nesir is irritated and Hidetoshi just happens to be there and breathing, it is enough.] You should be being careful, there do be some weirdos in this tower who do be killing people for making mess. [She is staring at the ceiling, her legs on the back of the sofa. For a girl who had only ever seen such a thing in the rooms of priestesses when she was sent to do chores she had soon learned the art of sprawling lazily.]

[altitonant_emperor]

[ He opened his book back up again, which he had closed when the girl had stalked into the lounge, and resumed flipping through the pages to relocate the paragraph he'd left off on. Dryly, and not completely bitter; ] Of course there are. This lovely Tower of ours takes all types, including murderous weirdos. [ Her aura of irritation slips off of him, unnoticed since Hidetoshi had a fair amount of decisions that had pissed off his peers before, and he had grown used to ignoring that particular brand of annoyance. ]

[culbutiri]

[That earns him a smile from Nesir as she nodded from where she sprawled. Seeing as she probably counted in that count of murderous weirdos and by calling them such he had effectively told Nesir where he stood in her view of the world.] What do you even be doing? [She reached out to grab the top few sheets of notes.]