towerofanimus | Wave 1 (OPEN)

Entry tags:

Wave 1 (OPEN)

Characters: Tahno and anyone! (Open~)
Setting: Dormitory Hallway, Floor 10
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you!
Summary: This stupid collar is really stressing poor Tahno out. Luckily, all of the bendable water in the aquarium is pretty relaxing.
Warnings: None to start, but he might be a bit of a jerk to you (or hit on you), depending on who you are and what you do. Possible swearing, too.

(Dorm Hallway)

This stupid collar on his neck was driving him crazy. He’d barely been awake for twenty minutes, and he already hated this place. What kind of place put collars on their residents? He had every intention of going to the bathroom to get a better look at it, but he only got halfway there before he felt the liquid flowing through the collar.

Well, he could walk all the way to the bathroom just to stare at it, or he could just stop here and bend the thing off.

At least, that was the plan. The liquid inside was bendable alright, but it didn’t help him. He’d spent the last few minutes trying to yank the liquid hard enough to burst through the collar, but it just wouldn’t.

Now, he was leaning back against the wall, both hands hovering inches in front of his neck as he tried desperately to damage the collar from within. His face was red, and his hands were practically white from the strain.

Man, he must’ve looked like an idiot to any passersby.

(Floor 10)

After all of that effort on a stupid collar got him absolutely nowhere, he was feeling a bit frustrated. Maybe even a bit inadequate, seeing as his bending couldn’t break such a simple little thing. He had set off exploring just to take his mind off it. He had taken the elevator down to the first floor, and then gone up. Most of the floors didn’t really appeal to him.

That was, until he found the tenth floor.

All that water was beautiful.

…The fish were nice too, but he really didn’t care about those.

It had only taken him ten seconds to discover that, despite being held in place by some weird mystical force, the water could still be bent. He’d just have to put it back in the weird no-glass tanks when he was done.

A few minutes later, and he was dancing with the water like he did at home. He could hear the roar of the crowd, feel the lights that covered the stadium, taste the enemy attacks flying by him, and oh it felt good.

The only problem was that he was showing a blatant disregard for the poor fish in the water. And maybe even himself, should anything dangerous find its way into his flying river or water balls.

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He frowned. Losing his fame and fortune was always a harsh subject for him. He loved his life, and seeing it gone was... a lot harder on him than most people.

"Yeah, well... stories are just stories. Fiction," he sighed. "I'm not some villain meant to repent at the end of a fairy-tale."

"Stories aren't just stories! Inside their covers, you can find huge pieces of truth, or a small nugget of hope you never knew was there, or a new outlook on life you never knew existed! Stories aren't just stories. They give you a greater perspective, and help you understand others, even though you have never felt their pain and joys, their triumphs and defeats!"

Tohko huffed as she gushed about stories and their potential. This guy really needed to read more.

"And the heroes of tragedies are not always villains. Take Oedipus Rex, for example. The main character has a lot going for him-a wonderful kingdom, a loving wife, some good kids, and subjects that respect him. He's not a bad king either. However, due to fate and misinterpretations, he loses everything-his kingdom, his wife, his kids, and eventually stabs out his eyes and becomes a blind beggar. That is what a good fall from glory looks like. You think you have it one minute, and the next, you're lamenting your own birth."

He rolled his eyes as the girl began to go on about books. He hadn't really read any recently. Or ever, for that matter. Growing up in a swamp would do that to you, and fame kept him from enjoying them later in life.

"That all sounds dandy, but, it's not like there's some king out there who actually went through all that crap."

He couldn't understand why someone would care so much about events that never happened.

"Why do you like them so much? Going out and living is more exciting than being wrapped up in a fantasy."

Tohko huffed at this guy. How could someone be so uncaring towards stories? How could he miss their potential?

"Perhaps there isn't a king who hasn't faced the exact scenario Oedipus did, but there are probably plenty of kings who have fallen from grace but could have stayed on the throne if they had just payed attention and thought a little bit more.

'If I had done this, than that wouldn't have happened..'..I'm sure there are quite a few kings who thought something like that before they fell, and normal people face those thoughts every day too, so even we can understand the plight that Oedipus faces! We can learn from his mistakes!"

Tohko paused for a moment to collect her thoughts on the next point.

"Fantasy?! Pi, a fantasy? The Aviator, a fantasy? Even when their struggles are more human, real, gripping, and thought-provoking than almost anything you'll face in your life?! Fantasy indeed!

Tell me, by going out an living, do you understand the pain of immortality? Or how taming and friendships work? Or what's truly important? Or the perks and disadvantages of youth?

The answerer is that you cannot, unless you experience those things yourself, and many of them you cannot! It is only in stories that you can understand these things! And even if you never understand, never manage to taste the subtle flavors of a tale, you can at least appreciate the delicious stories that lie within books!"

Tohko gave the guy one more hmph for good measure.

He wasn't sure why the hell he was sticking around listening to this lunatic anymore. He had just wanted to get this stupid collar off, and now he was getting his ear talked off.

"Look, a fantasy can't be more 'human' or 'real' than real life. That doesn't make any sense," he growled, still missing her entire point.

"I haven't read a book in years and I still know you're spewing bullshit. Your life has to be a boring place to find a bunch of fake tales so interesting. Why the hell would I want to understand some other fictional idiot's troubles and struggles when I've got my own to deal with?"

"That's because stories aren't mere fantasies. To the writer and reader, bits and pieces of reality are mixed in with it, and sometimes, it's the other way around! Fantasy gets mixed in with reality. So, in that way, stories are more than mere fantasies!"

This guy deserved a good slap or five. If Chia was here, she'd be crying alone after a meeting like this. However, Tohko hadn't flung off the handle just yet. She was about to..but she hadn't gotten there quite yet.

"My life is anything but boring. It's dangerous, interesting, puzzling, weird, and a little scary, but it's not boring at all. And stories help enhance my life quite a bit. Maybe if you read a bit more, you'd find your life enhanced too!

And understanding what happens to people in stories helps you understand the people around you and even yourself! After all, if people didn't understand the characters in stories, why would so many people get sucked into Oba Yozo's plight or feel sorry for what Gatsby has to go through? The answer is that they wouldn't. So, reading stories helps you understand people, the world around you, and even yourself! It's amazing in that way!"

Well, now she just sounded like she was repeating herself. He tuned out after the first few sentences.

"Okay, kid, if that's your thing," he interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. "Go have fun with your books and find someone who cares."

It only sounded that way because Tohko didn't think the guy had understood her first message. Enraged at having been insulted, having her friend be indirectly insulted, and now interrupted and ignored, Tohko just lost it.

Without another word, she stomped up to the guy and tried to slap him as hard as she could across his arrogant, smug face.

He hadn't expected to be slapped in the face anytime soon, much less by a whiny little girl. He made no move to dodge, and simply sat there for a few seconds, looking stunned.

He reached up and touched the stinging part of his face, finally registering what had happened. He turned his head to glare at the girl, feeling quite angry.

"What makes you think you have the right to touch my beautiful face?!"

Tohko did not care how much pain he was in right now or how annoyed he was. She might care later, but right now, she was just enraged, and gave him a glare that would have made Woland nervous.

"When you insult me, when you indirectly insult my friend, and when you insult books-which is a huge, almost unforgivable crime-then I have every right to slap you! Hopefully you'll read a few books while you're here and realize that while your face may look beautiful to some, your mind is truly disgusting and bland!"

And with that, she turned away and started to stomp off. The nerve of some people..the utter foolishness of some nitwits! Even Ivan the Homeless wasn't that stupid!

"Yeah, and hopefully you'll get your head out of your stupid story-filled ass long enough to see the glorious path ahead of you, you little shit!" he yelled after her. It wasn't the most eloquent sentence, but he was still in shock and wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Besides that, how does insulting you insult your friend? If that's how that works, by slapping me, you've 'indirectly' slapped all my fans!"

Oh..she really shouldn't..but she couldn't just hear that and walk away from that. She turned around and yelled back at the guy.

"My feet are firmly planted on the ground, for your information. And, if you had paid attention, you would have heard that stories help you see the path in front of you, or help you understand the different paths other people walk!"

Even when she was mad, Tohko still defended stories and gushed a little bit about them. However, the glare did not disappear from her face. If anything, it grew more intense.

"Insulting me doesn't insult my friend, you moron. If you had been listening, you indirectly insulted her separately from me. You didn't call her a moron or anything, but what you said would have hurt her, and so, you have indirectly insulted her!"

..And Tohko knew this insult would be childish, but..she couldn't pass it up. It was sitting right there, waiting to be used. How could she ignore it? Especially when this guy deserved it?

"Your fans? You mean a story-hating fool like you has fans? They must be only concerned with how the cover look and not with what words are printed on the inside."

Edited 2012-12-05 17:00 (UTC)

He rolled her eyes at her book talk. He almost wanted to read one just so he could laugh in her face about how stupid it was. Maybe he'd do that sometime.

For now, though...

"I hardly think you can insult someone who isn't here. If a tree falls and nobody's around to hear it, nobody gives a flying fuck about the sound it makes."

"Oh, trust me, my fans appreciate the cover. A picture's worth a thousand words, isn't that the saying? I'm sure you can get enough of a story out of a thousand words. A quick read is easier to digest."

It seems that he may have missed the point of that last part, but... He tried.

"However, if a tree falls and a person who likes it is around to hear it, it will make that person sad and want to punch whoever was stupid enough to cut the tree down in the first place."

Tohko huffed.

"A picture can lie though. There are plenty of covers that hide what's actually inside. Some covers, like the one for Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World are more truthful, but there are plenty of bad horror titles with good covers. In the end, only words don't deceive, and your words are quite foolish, ignorant, and crude. You could use quite a bit of editing."

"Buncha' tree huggers," he muttered, too lazy to come up with more clever analogies.

"If you don't give a shit about the inside of a book, the cover can lie all it wants as long as it looks nice," he responded, completely ignoring the second half of her comment. Maybe he didn't really want anyone reading the words inside his book. He had enough trouble making the cover decent-looking.

"I'll remind you that you are the one who started the tree comparison. However, we could switch it to hearing the splash a fish makes in a pond or a book falling off a pile. But, even if we switch it, the reactions will still be the same!"

Tohko sighed and continued to glare at the boy as she spoke.

"Then why even bother looking at a book if you're not interested in the words? People like good words along with a good image, and when they find out that the words are terrible and foul, they'll put the book down and forget about it forever, moving on to better titles. Only fools would just look at the cover and never open up the book to see what lies inside!"

"Why don't you let your damn friend come here and defend herself instead of fighting her battles?" he snapped.

At this point he was barely rational. He had just woken up in a weird place and now he had this obnoxious little girl screaming at him over a bunch of pointless things.

"Why the fuck do you shove books down everyone's throats when they don't give a shit about them?! I don't care what the inside looks like and I don't really care about the cover, either!"

And, upon hearing those words, Tohko looked terribly sad. She wasn't crying or anything, but she was thinking about smacking the guy again. However, it wasn't because she was angry. If she struck out, it would be because she was hurt and sad. And maybe a bit angry.

"..Because my friend is not here right now. And even if she was, she wouldn't be able to. Doing so would force her to crack a well-developed mask she's been wearing. I'm just happy she's not here right now..she wouldn't be able to die, but..if people saw through the cracks and chips in her mask, she'd just be devastated to the point where she would attempt suicide again.."

Tohko sighed and shook her head, trying to clear it.

"I don't shove books down everyone's throats. I talk about them and I get mad when people insult them, but that is because I am a book girl. Don't you dare forget that. And if you don't care about what lies beyond the cover, or what's on the cover to begin with, then you really are an idiot. You're going to be an easy target if people want to pick you off, or an easy pawn if people want to use you."

Oh... Well, that was a mood-killer. He figured the girl was just being an over-protective friend, but this was different. Masks. He was used to that. Suicide? Well, that was just... pretty terrible.

"Yeah, well... Sounds like your friend has a lying cover on her book thing, too."

The second part of her speech pissed him off a little more again. He had managed to calm down a lot in light of this new information, but...

"People don't use me. I'm a star. People can't hurt me, either. Champions won't be taken down like scum."

He didn't sound very convincing anymore.

"..She does have a dust jacket on top of her true cover. However, it's not like she enjoys wearing that jacket. It's shameful to her, more than you or I will probably ever know."

Tohko sighed. Even though she had read No Longer Human, even though she was a bit odd herself, she wasn't an actual Oba Yozo. Chia was. However, even though her mood had got downed, the boy's less-than-convincing statement made her smile a little bit.

"Really? You should watch what you say. Stars and champions can be taken down and manipulated quite easily. Fame is a fickle friend, especially when you have people here who can read the future and run on orange and blue morality."

He could help but roll his eyes at that. Dust jackets or whatever. That was just stupid. Wasn't a simple cover enough? This layers stuff was weird.

"Maybe the stars where you're from are a bit different, because there's no way in hell I'd let anyone make me their bitch," he almost growls. "Fame's only fickle when you don't treat it right."

He wasn't sure what that last part meant. Orange was an ugly color, and that was the only thing he had to say about that.

Tohko sighed.

"To be honest, I never cared about most celebrities and famous people back home. I payed attention to quite a few authors, but that was because I liked their stuff. However..in this place, if you're not careful, you will find yourself a mere pawn in a chess game if you're not careful. A minor character in a much longer story."

He shrugged.

"Some people aren't sports fans, I guess."

Of course, there were people back home who didn't like him. But their hate was always drowned out by the loving screams of his fans.

"Minor character? Yeah, like I'd let anyone outshine me. Thanks for your concern, but really, I'll be just fine."

He says it in a rude tone, obviously mocking her advice.

Tohko sighed.

"I do call myself a book girl for a reason, you know. However, I'm not worried about your well-being. You'll probably be fine..I'm just telling you that your fame has run out here. There are much more important characters in the Tower, and if you're not careful with how you act with the plot, you'll get forgotten as an irritating side character while the main ones and the authors steal the show."

Tohko then realized that she was starting to sound like Wilhelm and chuckled to herself.

"I'm sorry. That probably sounds pretty cryptic..but you do get what I'm saying, right?"

He couldn't help but crinkle his nose at that. He knew his damn fame had run out, but... did she think he was worthless because of that?

"Yeah, I get your point, but fame doesn't just fall in everyone's lap," he told her. "I climbed the ladder once, I can damn well do it again. I'll steal the show just like I did at home."

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