07. like feeble age he reeleth from the day

[keepscalm]

Characters: England and you!
Setting: Various (room 1-20, floors 28, 48, 3, 19)
Format: Starting action, will match!
Summary: A few more centuries have made England even broodier. Gross.
Warnings: England is affected by the event. He believes he has been in the Tower for 300 years. For full tl;dr, go here. Also, nation angst and potentially language.

scenario A♛ room 1-20
[If you're here, it's probably for one of three reasons:

You want to learn survival skills from that grumpy English dude,

You're visiting one of the other residents of 1-20,

or, you've run into some trouble with America and you're consulting his keeper.

(If you're here for the first reason, you probably heard about him through word-of-mouth, since it's not like he advertises his abilities any more.)

Whatever your reason, he's here, poring over books that he's taken from the libraries. They're stacked on the bedside table, on his trunk, and all around the bed. He isn't too worried about returning them. They vanish on their own eventually anyway.]

scenario B♛ floor 28
[He's made himself up a little area in the music room -- mostly because the din of the flashy media room is too much for him and he'd rather listen to other instruments than video games. He's sitting beside an amp with his bass in his lap, plugged in and strumming against the unmatching tunes of the Tower's instruments.

He doesn't play much. Mostly just one bassline, over and over.]

scenario C♛ floor 48
[Whenever he feels the temptation to do something stupid, he visits the graveyard instead. Usually he rests amongst the graves of the other nations.

Today, he sits propped up against the back of the headstone designated for one United States of America (there are three of those, by his count-- but this is the one he knows). There are actually individual flowers set by the graves of each nation, America included, but England acts as though he isn't the one that put them there.

Some of them are the national flowers. But some of those are hard to cultivate in the Tower, so he made do with what he had.

The sentiment is there, at least?]

scenario D♛ dorm floors or either of the libraries
[More than likely, he'll be found arsing around on the terminals, usually with books nearby. He looks so bored that he's obviously not doing anything important, and can be bothered at will.]

Comments

Third Floor

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko, as usual, kept up with her library duties. However, while passing by the terminals, she saw a bored-looking man sitting nearby. Not one to leave a patron in need, Tohko approached him.]

Good morning! Need help finding anything? Or can I recommend you a few books?

[keepscalm]

[Ah, librarians. Chirpy librarians, at that.

England sighs a tad.] You sound as if you actually are having a "good" morning.

[WOW what a douche. At least he turns to look away from the terminal while he's talking to her.] I've read most of the books here by now-- I don't require any assistance, thank you.

Great job deflating the book girl, England.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko sighed at those sentences.]

Well..I admit, it could be a bit better, but for now, it's not too bad.

[She then nodded.]

Alright then..but you must have been here awhile if you read all the books here already. Or were you an avid reader in your own universe?

yeah he's...good at that sob i am so sorry

[keepscalm]

"A while". I suppose-- three hundred years in the grand scheme of things isn't much to write home about. [It's actually a fair chunk of time for him, but he tries to downplay that for the sake of his sanity.]

Bit of both, for what it's worth. But give an aimless man three centuries and a room full of books-- he'll find a new passion for reading, no matter what his former proclivities were.

room 1-20

[redbranch]

Arthur.

[This was what Lancer had taken to calling him after finally figuring out that he wasn't Saber (even though it had taken a few meetings). He still didn't like stuffy, broody "gentleman" too much, but they could have a civil conversation or two. As long as England made no comment on Lancer's true name (Cu Chulainn, the Hound of Culann), or his fashion sense (blue tights).]

Your kid's been shoving people off of the stair again. Just thought I'd like to let you know.

[keepscalm]

[The sigh England heaves at that practically weighs a tonne on its own. And perhaps there's an exasperated whisper of "America," but perhaps it's just the non-existent wind.]

What else is new?

I will reprimand him at the next opportunity. [He looks up at Lancer and raises an eyebrow.] Unless your intentions were to lead me to him immediately?

[redbranch]

He's probably run off by now, so no. You'd think he'd know better by now though, seeing who his example is, anyways.

[But he knows that America's only gotten worse over the years.]

[keepscalm]

Oftentimes, children will do as they please, regardless of their guardian's best efforts.

[His lips press into a thin line.] That one especially has it in him to be particularly incorrigible. [It's been hundreds of years and England still remembers frequently that there's an independent America out there somewhere.] Short of locking him up in one of the jail cells, there's not much I can do.

[And he's not a monster, so he will not be doing that. Sorry, people of the Tower.]

B

[redwhiteandhero]

[Alfred would normally much rather be watching people play video games (video games!!), but he just happens to be passing by. He's heard the tune before, but it's not really familiar. He's still not used to thinking of England as a person separate from his Dad, so seeing him all... angsty punk rocker is a little awkward.]

Oh... hey.

[keepscalm]

[England's strumming loses its rhythm. Typical.

He looks up at Alfred. Though he's no longer adhering to a tune, his fingers still pluck idly while he speaks.] Passing through, or have you found yourself with a sudden new interest in music?

[It's unusual to see the boy on this floor (England certainly comes to this one often enough to know).]

[redwhiteandhero]

I was just passing by... I think know that song though-- it's that muggle band Botan likes.

Are you... [uh] all right?

[keepscalm]

[England might raise an eyebrow if the word "muggle" hadn't stopped being weird to him about two centuries ago.

He lets out a breath that isn't quite spirited enough to be a scoff. It's an attempt.] One of the greatest bands in history-- "that muggle band", he says. [It's unclear as to if this response is directed more to Alfred or more towards himself. As if he wasn't enough of a crazy old man before.]

"All right" is awfully subjective here, lad. And I might ask you the same question.

room 1-20! aka hi england

[beknightedheroine]

Knock knock.

_{[It's said, not a sound, and the person to go along with it doesn't wait for a response before coming in. Sayaka Miki slides in like a ghost of the past, dragging a battered sword with her. It's a practice sword - not one of her magical ones, just a regular sharp pointy object from somewhere or other.]}

Busy with all that kindling?

hey sup

[keepscalm]

[England would recognise that greeting anywhere. He sets his book aside and laces his fingers together over his knee.]

Hardly. I've read most of it already.

[His gaze flickers knowingly down to the sword in her hand.] Is there something else you'd rather have me doing?

[beknightedheroine]

_{[It's hard to describe the expressions Sayaka Miki makes sometimes as smiles, but that's the common enough word for them - and quicker than saying "a muscle contraction that contorts the skin into a certain archetypical pose," even if it definitely lacks that certain spark that changes the motion into the concept.]}

Well - I figure if we're both going to just be killing time, it might as well be symbolically violent, right? _{[She metes out a slow, lazy jab to the air to demonstrate.]}

[keepscalm]

[Likewise, it's difficult to pin the breathy noise England makes as a scoff, but it's just wry enough to make the cut.] How delightfully morbid of you.

[That commentary doesn't stop him from standing and dusting out the creases in his slacks like they're not just going to get wrecked in the name of symbolic violence.

He kneels following that, to retrieve one of a few accumulated practice swords from under the bed. With three centuries and nowhere else convenient to keep them, there's a couple down there. England then emerges with his weapon of choice and straightens, staring his young partner down.]

And what floor shall be your preferred stage for this death today?

Floor 28

[heavenscorpse]

How does the melody to that one go?

[V/V's as perky as ever, and her blue guitar seems to be in good condition.]

[keepscalm]

[He stops playing to look up at her. He glances briefly between the girl and her guitar, wondering if it's worth the effort to teach her.]

The melody matches the bassline for much of the song. [He demonstrates the opening riff again, for her benefit.] It diverges after the chorus.

[heavenscorpse]

[She repeats the melody on her own guitar, more or less accurately.] What's the song called?

28;

[harepiece]

[this isn't the first time he's been in the music room before, but it is the first time that he's actually run into someone else using it at the same time. he pauses at the doorway before deciding to mosey inside anyway.]

That's an interesting tune. Does it have a name? [he doesn't quite know what the instrument itself is or what it's plugged into either, but one question at a time...]

[keepscalm]

[England repeats the riff a few times over before setting his fingers against the strings to quiet them and give a proper answer.]

'Another One Bites the Dust'.

It's usually played with more instruments. [Though at least the bass on its own is still pretty recognisable.] And lyrics-- damn great lyrics, really.

[harepiece]

["what a strange title!" is pretty much his only initial thought to that, and he selects a nearby music bench to plop himself down on, clearly gearing up for story time.]

What kind of instruments are used to play it? Are they like those things? [he gestures to both the bass and the amp] And the lyrics, what are they like?

Floor 48. Because this needed more tragic. Obviously

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki came out here a lot, just to sit at Gyousou's grave as if a marker that had nothing of him about it would somehow make Taiki feel closer to his lost king.

It was better than nothing though. When he stood up to leave he spotted England and walked towards him and waved. He didn't approach completely though, in case England wanted time alone.]

cries a lot

[keepscalm]

[Taiki successfully catches his attention (and it's probably a good thing he does -- England could sit here all day if no one would disturb him), prompting a return wave as a response.

Even though the boy has grown and matured since they first met, it still leaves a bad taste in England's mouth to think that someone so young has reason to come here.]

Guessing you're not just here to keep an old man company.

sob

[notagiraffe]

[At the wave he got a bit closer and sat down near England in the grass.] I'm visiting Lord Gyousou.