[OPEN] Well, look what the cat dragged in.

[canofworms]

Characters: Kariya Matou [AU4] & ALL THE PEOPLE
Setting: Dorms, Various Floors, Choose Your Own Adventure
Format: Any!
Summary: +1 flailing bug magus. Does it count if 'he' is already here?
Warnings: Fate/BUGS


This man, wherever you meet him, may look just the littlest bit familiar. Maybe it's in the hair, or the slightly gloomy look on his face, or even the rumpled turtleneck he's wearing.

Not many will recognize him as the Matou he is, though, unless he has his insect familiars out. His hair and eye (the working one) are a deep purple, and the prana rolling off him in warning waves is no longer a hallmark of the clan.

Now who could this be?



[Dormitory Floor: Room 1-16]

[Hey, folks, you may or may not have an extra body in here. Don't worry, it's wiggling and quite lively.

Click.

If not for the minor commotion of him going through his trunk, you probably wouldn't notice he's here; his clothes and hair are dark enough that he gets lost in the shadows quite easily. The slant of his shoulders is wary. There's a metallic glint in his hands.

Nothing to see here: just a magus loading a handgun.

(Unless that's a nice bulky camera in his hands, but in that case he's just taking a picture of the wall. So productive!)]



[F1: Cafeteria]

[New arrivals season! There are like a million of them here making faces at their oatmeal. You could probably fill an album with the variety. Maybe decorate each floor of the Tower with a different expression of disgust.

This guy would make a pretty boring picture, though, since he's sitting there with absolutely no trace of feeling on his face as he mechanically brings the spoon to his mouth. In fact, his eyes are closed.

Is he sleep-eating or just trying to find a safe space away from the mush??]



[F20: Outside]

[It's fairly chilly out here, but the thin shadow of a man standing about halfway up the ramp, carelessly at the very edge, doesn't seem to notice. He's strangely silhouetted, staring expressionlessly over the edge.

If you come in close enough, you'll realize that those strange irregularities and bumps in his figure are actually countless large, skeletal, demon-eyed insects perched on his shoulders and arms, crawling clumsily in their attempt to keep their foothold in the wind.

Every now and then, he'll raise a hand, and one or two of them will obediently go walking off into the air. They go plummeting downwards until not a trace is left, and leave him looking a little more frustrated each time.

In the meantime, that shadow in the fog behind him may or may not be something sneaking up on him. Or your eyes are just playing tricks on you.]



[F??: Choose Your Own Adventure]

[Any floor, any time, any bug flavor!

There's a rather surly-looking guy pacing up and down the place, muttering angrily to himself and occasionally raising a hand to swat at the two Blade Wing Worms buzzing along behind him whenever they hover in too close.

It's a little hard to tell whether the familiars are actually worried about their master or just trying to get close enough to chomp on his hair.]

If you're not going to make yourselves useful, go chew on each other or something. I don't care.

Comments

[puppy_lancer]

[He runs his fingers along his collar.]

...Not that different from what I was wearing back home.

[It had been his catalyst--the collar of Culann. A special torc (or rather a dog collar) given to him when he had first taken on his role as Culan's hound.]

[canofworms]

[He stares for a moment before shaking his head.]

I admit defeat. Who am I to stand between a Servant and his home?

[The fact that he's willing to push, and almost to tease -- that might still be because of the resemblance. The human faculty of 'sight' is such a funny and fallible thing.]

[puppy_lancer]

[At the same time, Lancer is willing to take a fair amount of teasing from this unfamiliar Kariya. After all, strange as he might be, he's still a version of Lancer's friend.]

Just that my collar didn't have as fancy of a function as keeping souls stabilized or anything.

[canofworms]

It would have been handy in the War, wouldn't it?

[Though. It would also have been just a little problematic for the Master-Servant system -- a Berserker he couldn't chain with prana would be little more than a rampaging beast lasting for maybe one battle.

Just look at what happened with Caster.]

[puppy_lancer]

Maybe. But more boring.

[Seriously--which sounded better. That he was in this world because a pretty lady summoned him, or because someone stuck a random collar on him?]

[canofworms]

You wouldn't have wanted Independent Action?

[Now that is curious, especially for a headstrong Servant like Lancer.]

[puppy_lancer]

That's not a bad skill to have, but I don't know if it's one suited for me. I do better with a Master at my side.

[Headstrong, yes, but also loyal. He's also never been with a horrible Master before, so he doesn't know what it's like to constantly wish to be free of his bondage.]

[canofworms]

[Seeing a relatively happier (and more naive?) Lancer is definitely a curious experience -- he has to wonder if dealing with the Tower will always be like this, this strange mix of bemusement and regret.

He could envy other realities if not for 'himself'.]

Maybe you'll be able to find someone else to work with here in the meantime, then. It would beat just being collared by the administrators, huh?

[puppy_lancer]

...I think I'll just be a free agent for a bit longer.

[Ayaka's memory is so raw that choosing another Master feels like betraying her.]

But having a Master would indeed be better than just being collared by an admin.

[canofworms]

[He just nods: it's the Servant's own business, but hopefully he'll have the same good luck next time he chooses. (Granted, 'Master' isn't usually a choice, so there's an advantage already.)]

Speaking of which, how easy is it to get ahold of the admins? People around here seem pretty familiar with them...

[puppy_lancer]

Usually? They make posts on the network, if only to gloat over the latest experiment. But you have to wait for them to talk. They usually won't answer anything you post.

[canofworms]

They're nothing but voices, huh?

[He can't say he's surprised, but he'd been hoping for a few more bones than that. Maybe it's foolish, wanting to confront these administrators at all, but talking heads have never been Kariya's favorite.

He prefers an enemy he can rip apart with his own hands.]

[puppy_lancer]

Ruana came down to a wedding...once.

[That was before she showed how dangerous she was by eating Dax.]

[canofworms]

There are weddings here?

[He looks distinctly more puzzled by that than anything, but the two facts are probably almost as incomprehensible as each other. That Servants would want to stay, that's one thing. The admins are fickle beasts, that's another.

But a wedding in this kind of place...?]

[puppy_lancer]

It was a miracle, but there was one. Guess it's really true you can find love anywhere.

[canofworms]

[Ah, now he looks a little uncomfortable with the topic. Mostly he just looks away.]

Yes. That is a kind of miracle. [Is that sincere? Even he can't quite tell anymore.] ... So the administrators will come down on a whim.

[puppy_lancer]

I think they got invited. But yeah. If it's a sufficiently big mess or sufficiently interesting to them. And they hold question and answer sessions.

[canofworms]

... I guess if I had an entire Tower of strange people to play with, I wouldn't be able to stay out of it all the time, either.

[Not that he's ever had that much control over anything in his life, but.]

Are the Q&As helpful at all?

[puppy_lancer]

Yeah, I learned a fair bit from the last one. Besides, they let you threaten to punch Jason to his face.

[canofworms]

With or without consequences?

[puppy_lancer]

So far? Without.

[He did volunteer for an experiment, though. Alongside other you.]

[canofworms]

[Two people with E/F Rank Luck volunteering for an experiment this cannot go wrong.

Maybe he should have a Worm watch your back too... You are a Servant, but he's still tempted.]

And how long ago was that?

[puppy_lancer]

A month or so before. But I volunteered for Jason, so any experiments aren't gonna come until next month.

[canofworms]

Volunteered...?

[The Tower-jargon getting a little thick for him there. Even if he's getting a bad feeling.]

[puppy_lancer]

There used to be five administrators. Four now. But the thing is, they all take turns managing the tower for a month. Jason is the worst out of all of them. If you had to give out prizes for biggest asshole, you'd be shoving that blue ribbon up his ass. And his face is the fantasy of every fist in the Tower. His experiments are usually the most disgusting and he doesn't care who he involves in them. So come the last question and answer session, me and some friends decided to volunteer so he could leave the kids off his list, at least. Since he's in charge of April, August, and December, we're off the hook until next month.