(no subject)

[harepiece]

Characters: Oz Vessalius and you!
Setting: Floors 22, 25 and 3
Format: Starting action, but I'll match!
Summary: Oz gets his Indiana Jones hat on and... wanders aimlessly
Warnings: N/A

floor 22/25;
[Several days in this place plus multiple explanations concerning how elevators work and Oz still finds himself having a bit of trouble with them, but soon enough he's heading off to poke around a little more in his daily attempt to get some answers. ...Slowly. Even though familiarizing himself with the surroundings and gathering information are his top goals, forty floors is a lot to cover! After finding out just how long traversing even one floor could take on his first day, he had mentally broken the rest down into bite-sized Adventure Chunks, and today it's time to head to the 21st floor. Possibly not the best place to start; in the end, it and the few floors directly above don't yield anything particularly interesting at first glance, and the only ones he actually stops at are 22 and 25.

Anyone in floor 22 can find him staring at what appears to be a sprawling Victorian-era urban landscape with some measure of quiet contemplation. On the other hand, those moseying through 25 will find him gaping from the stairs like this is the best thing he's ever seen.]

Oh, that's really lovely! [...Really suspicious, actually. After just a few of the things he's seen, he's not foolish enough to step off of the staircase yet. Instead, he flags down the nearest person, be they on the staircase or the floor itself.] Excuse me, is it safe to spend time on this floor?

floor 3;
[After his shenanigans on the higher floors come to an end, he takes the elevator to the bottom level and works his way up to the third. He's already passed through this library a few times and took the time out once to look for anything potentially useful, even if that search had turned out to be fruitless. This time, he's come to look around for different reasons— something to keep his mind occupied being chief among them. He had expected to walk out with a few interesting reads to whittle away some hours with. What he hadn't expected to find was the entire Holy Knight series just sitting there in the center of a shelf, begging to be checked out.

SO fine library patrons, you can catch Oz making an impromptu juggling act of himself in the fiction section, trying to balance a good eight or so volumes and still seemingly determined to pick up more. Beware all ye who wander too close, lest the potential book avalanche become a reality...]

Comments

[tohko_amano]

[When Tohko wandered by and saw a young boy struggling with quite a few books, she chuckled to herself and approached him, happy to see another book lover in the library.]

Pardon..but if you need help carrying books, I'd be glad to help you out!

[harepiece]

[He starts a little at the sudden voice and one of the books at the very top of his pile slides off, but he manages to catch it with his free hand.]

Ah— It's fine, I've got it! [Waving the book around!! But he'd like at least one free hand, so he reaches to stick it back on top of the stack while he talks.] It would be terrible of me to force unnecessary work on a cute girl like you.

[tohko_amano]

[While flattery would get him nowhere, Tohko chuckled at it a little nonetheless.]

Oh, you wouldn't be forcing work on me! I like helping people, especially with books! It would be terrible if you picked up one too many and couldn't carry the rest.

[harepiece]

Ah, that would be pretty terrible, wouldn't it? Luckily for you, I have excellent balance! I could carry at least ten more books! [No that would be a terrible idea...

But between her helpfulness and apparent enthusiasm for books, he's a little curious:] Do you work here?

[tohko_amano]

Are you sure? That might be a little dangerous, for both you and the books!

[Tohko then smiled and nodded.]

Yup! I'm one of the librarians here..but I come here a lot even when I'm not working.

[harepiece]

[Seems like he won't be shaking her so easily, huh? He'll stop reaching for more books at the very least, assuming it'll ease her concerns.]

I can carry this much! I'll come back for the others when I'm done. [By which he means when she's not looking y e p. But her answer piques his curiosity, and he glances toward the desks near the front of the floor.]

You must have been here for a while if you already have a job!

[tohko_amano]

Actually, I can help you carry the rest, if you'll tell me what books you want!

[Tohko then chuckled and nodded, scratching her head.]

I have been here for a little while..about three months. But I got the job about a few days after I came here. Not that I mind-I love books!

[harepiece]

Oh, ah— [Definitely stubborn! He puffs his cheeks out momentarily before sighing, gesturing with his free hand to a few of the remaining Holy Knight volumes.] I was just planning to borrow these. Now that I think of it though, it would be kind of rude to take them all at once!

[He looks surprised at that, though. Three months is a decent amount of time...] Wow! You must really know your way around this floor by now, I bet.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko chuckled to herself as she picked up the rest of the books that the boy pointed to.]

Don't worry! I don't think anyone will mind..but these books look interesting! I've never read them before, so let me take a look when you're done, alright?

[Tohko then smiled and nodded her head.]

Oh, I do! I know where most of the books are..even if some odd volumes I've never seen do pop up from time to time. But I do know my way around the library!

[lighthousediving]

[Wandering through towers. It was something he was used to now, though this place was nothing like any place he had been back home. For one, none of his friends were here to his knowledge, and he was pretty sure this place wasn't made with Psynergy in mind.

So Felix is not only surprised to see a doorway that opens to a beautiful meadow, but is also surprised to see the enthusiastic boy staring at it. He's just a bit taken aback by the question, but does respond after a second.]

I'm not sure, I've only been here for a few days.

[Staring at the meadow, though. Worse came to worst, it looked like his powers would work well here.]

It might be worth checking it out.

[harepiece]

What are we waiting for, then?! [Apparently 1) the uncertain words of a stranger are the only things needed to assuage any (doubtfully existent) fears he had about the meadow in the first place and 2) Felix is now a part of that "we".

BUT with little more than that he makes the leap from where he's standing on the stairs into the flowers and soft, tall grasses of the floor. ...Well, there don't seem to be any giant venus flytraps swooping out of the ground to devour him or anything similar. Safe enough!]

It's even more lovely up close! These flowers smell so fresh, too, and look at that one— [Already picking them, yep. He's got his priorities set.]

[lighthousediving]

[Yes, he's noticed that, as odd as it seems. But he doesn't want the kid to get hurt, plus he's curious himself about why there's a random meadow in the middle of the tower.

Felix follows Oz in, though unlike him he walks carefully and examines the area. Was this some kind of puzzle? He had no idea what sort it was, nor how he was supposed to go about solving it. But this kid seemed fine so far, despite his overly enthusiastic response.]

I wonder how a place like this was built here...

[harepiece]

If you think this place is something, you should visit the floor with that glass-free aquarium! [He was really enamored by that level for a while and wasted a little too much time following the fish around and dipping his fingers into the water...

Actually, wasting time doing inane things seems to be a pattern of his, if his immediate wandering and flower-picking says anything.]

[lighthousediving]

[This obviously catches his attention, as he stares at Oz in mild surprise for a moment. Okay wow, how had he not found that floor yet?]

There's a glass-free aquarium? With what in it?

[Not...that there's any animal in particular he'd wanna see, nope...]

Are you familiar with the kinds of flowers in here? [He's hoping that's why he's picking them instead of risking getting poisoned or something.]

[harepiece]

Fish, mostly! Sea stars and crabs, too, and I think I might have seen a lobster, but there are a lot of fish. Some are absolutely huge! [WHICH IS SUPER EXCITING he really liked watching them jump around in between patches of water, even if the bigger ones were a little disconcerting when they passed directly overhead.

And unfortunately for any hopes of common sense here, Oz looks at the flowers in his hand somewhat blankly before shrugging.] Nope! But they're quite pretty, aren't they? [He's got a handful of black-eyed susans and musk mallows, so at least he's not in danger of being poisoned.]

[lighthousediving]

Really? [Huge fish... Yes, Felix definitely needs to find this floor. Even though he's still not hoping to see anything in particular, nope.] That does sound like it's worth visiting...

[...Well Felix hopes not, he's sure there are stranger traps out there. They're very nice, yeah. It still doesn't explain what they're doing here, though.

[harepiece]

[If Felix managed to find some dolphins, Oz would be there in a heartbeat...]

It is! It's one of the best floors I've seen so far, really. I mean, I haven't gone through a huge number yet, but that one stands out. This one, too! [It's even better than the forest! Especially considering the forest is home to like every animal that was in any Disney movie gone awry.]

The flowers, you mean, or the entire floor?

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki's favourite place was the meadow and he was walking hand in hand with Sanshi when he heard the voice, he walked closer to the staircase seeing the man there.]

Oh... yes... sorry... This floor is safe... and warmer than everywhere else...

[harepiece]

[His gaze darts, quickly and for just a moment, toward Sanshi. He's seen some bizarre things in the tower so far, but this more than anything else reminds him of a Chain.

But he's quick to catch his bearings, waving a hand energetically.] What are you apologizing for? That's fantastic news! [Stepping off the staircase now, arms stretched out.] It's a shame that all of the floors can't be like this.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki blinked at him] Yes... sorry... the other floors are scary... a lot of them anyways...

[harepiece]

[The secondary apology is ignored for the moment.]

Are they? Which would you say are the scariest?

[notagiraffe]

[He apologises a lot, they are best ignored.] Oh... um... the one with screaming... and blood... But there are a lot that are scary... some have monsters so you have to be wary... sorry...

[harepiece]

Those do sound pretty scary! I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for them. [And then, because he can't just keep mum about it forever (or for even a minute, apparently):]

You apologize an awful lot, don't you?

[notagiraffe]

They are... [And he looks down at the question] Sorry... I mean... um... yes...

[harepiece]

Why is that? [Genuine curiosity! He's always interested to know the reasoning behind quirks and tics.]