[ 001 ]

[bytheirhand]

Characters: Czeslaw Meyer and YOU.
Setting: Room 3-08 and floors 1, 5, 14 & 22
Format: Starting with action, but I'll follow your lead!
Summary: Czes wakes up, is overjoyed to learn that his world has been destroyed and proceeds to explore the tower!
Warnings: Being Czeslaw is suffering. There's a bit of blood and gore in the first cut and more will likely be present in the comments. I'll update this as needed.


Room 3-08

[The last thing Czes remembered was being dragged along the train tracks and getting his limbs shaved off one at a time. He lost consciousness a little bit after he'd been secured to the underside of the train. So when he woke up it wasn't the sleep paralysis that got his attention -- he didn't expect to be able to move, after all. What he noticed was that he was in one piece again and, more importantly, he wasn't on the train anymore.

Correction. He wasn't under the train anymore.

So where was he?

As soon as he's able to move he pulls himself off the bed. Not content in staying in such strange clothing his first priority was to find proper attire. Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to find and minutes later he's dressed and far more comfortable.

Next on the list was the note on the nightstand that caught his eye. He climbs back on the bed, reaching over to grab the paper and carefully unfolding it.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

His world was... gone?]

Wha... what?


Floor One

[Eat the oatmeal, they said. It'll be good for you, they said. You need to eat it if you want to be able to eat anything else.

A half hour later and he was no closer to finishing it. He sits at the table, arms folded over his chest, lip sticking out in a furious pout. There had to be a way around eating this god awful concoction.]


Floor Five

[He must have looked ten times by now. His world. Dead. Destroyed. Gone. He couldn't believe it at first, it seemed so unreal. But... there it was.

Everyone was dead.

Everyone was dead. Everyone who could hurt him was gone. He was safe. He was safe.

He steps away from the viewing station, hiccuping as tears stream down his face. They were all dead.]


Floor Fourteen

[He's been to a movie theater before, but these screens were just... so small in comparison! There was just so much here that he'd never seen before! He wanders around the room with a childlike curiosity -- pressing buttons to see what they do, picking up controllers and remotes and fiddling with them, rifling through the selection of DVDs and video games with a small sense of awe.

There's a good chance he might accidentally shut of the TV, or stop the movie you were so close to the end of, or reset the game you were playing for hours just before you had a chance to save.

Whoops.]


Floor Twenty-Two

[Czes finds himself spending a good deal of time on this floor. There's a surprising amount of artwork that he recognizes lining the walls. It was almost strange to see a little piece of home here.

It's possible to find him simply admiring the artwork. Or you might find him running down the hall screaming in terror. Apparently he ran into some... less tasteful pieces.]

Comments

[bytheirhand]

[He squirms in his seat, still pouting before he looks up and --

oh. that was. a lot of red. A lot of red.

He feels his stomach twist. He'll never be able to disassociate red hair from... from him. The Rail Tracer. The monster that put him through hell. ]

... It's gross.

[prayed]

[She rolls her eyes, props her elbow on the table and leans into her palm.]

It's food, isn't it?

[bytheirhand]

Are you sure? It doesn't look like it or taste like it.

[poking at it pathetically with his spoon]

[prayed]

It tastes fine.

[Though everything tastes fine to her, really.]

Besides, you only gotta eat it once, so why not just hurry up and get it over with? You're just making it worse on yourself by putting it off, y'know.

[bytheirhand]

But... but it's really gross.

[prayed]

Quit being such a baby about it, will you? Or I'll take that one kid's suggestion and make you eat those God awful nutrition bars for the rest of your stay here.

[bytheirhand]

[HE IS FROWNING SO HARD RIGHT NOW. REALLY, REALLY DOESN'T WANT TO EAT THIS CRAP. LIKE... REALLY. Sure it's better than starving, BUT IS HE REALLY THAT DESPERATE YET?

...

Kyoko... if you were anyone else he might have continued to be stubborn, but with that glare and... and your hair (which is really just making things worse and he feels incredibly pathetic that it bothers him as much as it does)...

He sighs, resigned to his fate.]

Ok, ok!

I'll eat the oatmeal.

[prayed]

[Kyoko leans back into her chair, tilting it back, taking a couple more bites out of her waffle. She's pleased that he's relenting, but maybe maybe she is being a bit too hard on him...]

Look. I'll share what I got with you when you're done, 'kay? To make up for you having to eat the welcome oatmeal.

[bytheirhand]

[This is the grossest thing ever and now it's COLD and UUUUUGH.

He eats the oatmeal obediently, but his nose is still scrunched up in disgust.]

Mm...

[Of course this is assuming he doesn't throw this crap up bleh.]

[prayed]

[Oh, she knows that look. That's the "I didn't eat the food I was supposed to and now it's cold and tastes even worse"-look. She shakes her head.]

Honestly. It would've been warm if you hadn't waited so long, y'know.

[She sure is scolding a kid she just met.]

[bytheirhand]

[He grumbles, his face stuck in what seems like a permanent pout. ]

I know, I know...

[just a couple more spoonfuls and he'll be done. BRACE YOURSELF, CZES.

One.
Two.
Three.

UGH DONE.

Turning his head away he pushes the now empty bowl across the table. NO MORE. NO OATMEAL EVER AGAIN. ]

[prayed]

[Sorry Czes, she's just chuckling now. It's kind of cute, how childish he is--though at his age, that's probably to be expected.]

See? That wasn't so bad, was it? Here, have a waffle. It'll wash the taste out.

[She pushes her plate forward, enough that he can grab a couple if he so chooses.]

[bytheirhand]

[The look on his face says that, yes that was the hardest thing ever why would you make me eat that stuff!!!!! But he mumbles a quiet little "I guess not" under his breath.

He is eyeing those waffles though....]

You don't mind?

[prayed]

Sure. Call it a reward for finishing the oatmeal.

[She pulls the top few waffles off of the stack before just pushing the entire plate towards him.]

I made them myself, so they should at least taste better than the guys in back make. Those guys don't have any sense of taste, y'know.

[bytheirhand]

[he grins, taking the plate ]

Ah, thank you, miss! I guess you're not as mean as I thought!

[prayed]

[this face forever.]

Mean...?

[bytheirhand]

[JUST THE BRIGHTEST SMILE. ]

Mhmm! You're not! I thought you were because you were being mean about eating the oatmeal, but a mean person wouldn't have given me waffles after I ate it. So you're not a mean person at all!

[prayed]

[you are lucky you're ten. She's sulking a bit about him thinking of her as mean for that.]

O-of course I'm not! It'd just be bad if you were going around throwing up every time you you tried to eat something, y'know.

[bytheirhand]

Mm, you're right. That wouldn't have been very fun...

[prayed]

By the way, you're new here, right? Anybody give you the run down of this place yet?

[bytheirhand]

[he nods, his smile fading a bit]

I know a little...

[there's a beat of silence and he pokes at his waffle before looking up once more. ]

Is it true? That our worlds are... [his brow furrows, like he's still trying to grasp the severity of the situation. ] ...gone?

[prayed]

Seems that way. Supposedly it's a virus picking them off, but who knows?

[she shrugs.]

You're the only one from your world, but you might run into people from similar worlds though. As for me, I've seen a lot of people I know. even run into "myself" before.

[bytheirhand]

I... I don't think I understand.

[prayed]

The short version is that you might run into people you know from home, but they might remember things differently. They might be from before they met you or they could've known you for twenty years before coming here.

You might even meet a person with your name and face that's got a completely different story. For example, my double lived a longer longer than I did.

[bytheirhand]

[oh. Oh Czes doesn't like that. No, he doesn't like that at all. This tower does not need two of him. He doesn't want there to be two of him. He doesn't want anyone else showing up either! Different memories or not he... He can't take that chance. ]

She... lived longer? Does that mean you're supposed to be dead?

[TACT. He has it in spades. ]