Everybody lie down so you won't get hurt when the sun bursts

[wegotlucky]

Characters: Neal, Mr. Gold, and You!
Setting: Floor 32, Cafeteria, Floor 19
Format: Starting prose, but I can do either
Summary: Neal wanders the tower


Floor 32 (closed to Mr. Gold)
Night had fallen in the tower. It was as good of a time as any for Neal to go for a walk and see what there was. He didn't often venture outside at night, but he had been in the forest before. Here, he could hunt. He had a small quiver of arrows strapped to his back. Rather sloppily made, the arrows had a tendency to not shoot straight, and would more than likely break after bouncing off of anything, but he hoped that there would be something to hunt out here. A rabbit, maybe.

Neal liked this month's food, but anything he could do to keep himself sane, to keep himself alert. The forest was dark and still, and he was well aware that there was danger lurking in every corner, just waiting to leap out at him.

Whatever monsters lurked in the forest, he hoped that they would leave him alone long enough to snag him a rabbit and leave without incident. He still had his sword with him, by his side, if it came to that, after all.


Cafeteria
He had only been in the tower a few short months. Already, though, it felt like an eternity. He hadn't been subjected to the sheer amount of torture directly, but he had seen enough of it for him to be feeling a great sadness in his chest. He missed Emma dearly, he missed his son. He wanted to be reunited with Tamara, who had to be alive out there, somewhere.

At least May was shaping up to be a month that didn't involve the complete torture of people who he was beginning to care about. And the chicken was pretty good, too. Between bites of food he sketched out a few idle illustrations. None of them particularly good, but it was a reminder of home to him. A person from Earth would recognize landmarks from London and New York, and an array of vehicles, both modern and old.


Floor 19
Neal had never before entered this library. He had been in the one on the third floor many times before, reading the various books on the shelves. "So empty," he marveled, looking at the large gaps on the shelf curiously. Just what had happened in the tower? He hadn't exactly found out much about the history of it, after all-- no one seemed to know much, and the fact that it appeared that everything had been emptied out was extremely suspicious. Just what did they want to hide?

Still, it seemed as good of an opportunity as any to flip through the books that existed. He pulled a thick tome about magic off of one of the shelves, setting it down on a desk as he started to flip through it. To his surprise, the book was extremely detailed. Certainly not magic he knew about, but it was full of detailed accounts of research into spells that could create vast storms, famine... things that he didn't think that magic could possibly do.

Whatever world this was referring to, he hoped to never see it.

Comments

[tohko_amano]

Tohko, sadly, didn't eat normal food, so she hadn't thought of saving any for the rest of the residents. However, at the question, Tohko thought for a moment before replying.

"That should be..two months from now, I believe."

[wegotlucky]

He frowned. "Seems kinda risky."

Though, the administrators didn't seem to want to consider this place a prison, it was pretty clear that that was exactly what it was.

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko sighed. "There's always a bit of risk involved when you're doing things here, but I think you should be fine, just as long as you remember to removed any food you save up before the third month comes."

[wegotlucky]

Well, it was a risk, but relying on captors to feed them didn't sound like a good idea anyway. At least this month there was actual food. It also occurred to him that they could probably be overhead talking about hiding away food. "Seems like a good idea."ye

[tohko_amano]

Most of the time it wasn't a bad idea..but it could become problematic sometimes. Of course, for Tohko, the library was always supplied with books, so she hadn't been lacking in food so far.

"It is a good idea! If you want, my friend Kazumi does it quite a bit, so if you want to try, you should ask her. Maybe you two can pull together your resources."

[wegotlucky]

Had Neal learned that Tohko didn't need to survive off of standard food, he'd almost be jealous of her. The nutrition bars were disgusting and flavorless and he'd take almost anything over them. "Kazumi, huh? Seems like a good idea. I'll ask around for her."

[tohko_amano]

For better or worse, she wouldn't tell Neal unless she really trusted him with it or had to. She ate books and didn't want people to think that she was a goblin.

"Alright then! I'm glad to hear it! She tends to cook way too much for her to handle alone, so she could probably use the help."

[wegotlucky]

Fortunately for her, if she ever did choose to tell him, he wouldn't be the sort to judge. For now, though, all he could to was be grateful for all of her help and hope that he could return the favor one day. "Thanks for everything. Especially showing me your magic."

[tohko_amano]

Which would make her pretty happy, since she didn't want people to think that she was a goblin or a monster.

"Oh, no problem! I enjoy helping others, and it was no trouble to show you my magic. If you ever need help with something else, let me know, alright? I'm a simple book girl, but I'll try to help you out."

[wegotlucky]

He grinned. "If I ever need help finding a particular topic, I'll be sure to ask you."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko returned the smile and nodded.

"Alright then! I'm glad to hear it. I usually hang out in the library, so I'm not too hard to find. But, if you can't find me there, you can always send me a letter! I love getting mail!"