01. these are uneasy times

[averytinyparticle]

Characters: Quark and you!
Setting: Dorm 4-14, the cafeteria, floor fifteen, and floor eighty-eight.
Format: starting with prose, but will follow your lead!
Summary: Quark wakes up and is…more confused than upset. Looks like it’s time to explore!
Warnings: None at the moment other than lots of exclamation marks from an excitable child.



DORM 4-14

Quark was stuck and it wasn’t a nice feeling, especially when one considered the fact that he had been running as fast as his little legs could take him a second ago. When did he fall asleep? This was bad. Very bad. He had something really important he needed to go tell Grandpa and the others! Of course, the second he was allowed access to his motor functions, all the thoughts of immediate urgency and so called “important information” escaped him.

Where was he?

Quark looked around at the white room, and the white thing he was wearing, and his face twisted in confusion. He looked down at his wrist, surprised to find the watch that they could “never ever remove unless they were dead or had won the Nonary Game” gone. But then, he was wearing a collar now. Was this a new level, or something? Gosh, that Zero…what was he planning? That rabbit was really bad at explaining rules.

Not much later, Quark had looked over the two letters on the nightstand next to him, as well as rifled through the trunk at the foot of his bed to change back into his own clothes (and hat—boy had he ever felt silly and naked without it, though he couldn’t help but be disappointed that the snacks he had had inside of it seemed to be gone forever…and he was saving something really really yummy in there, too!). The other items in there were small—things he had picked up during the Games—and fit them easily into his pockets. He wasn’t really sure why he was taking the watch along, though. Especially because it looked broken, now. But…well…it couldn’t hurt.

And honestly, the boy still wasn’t convinced that Zero wasn’t behind all of this. After all, going about his business just to be knocked out and then wake up in a strange room? It kind of fit the pattern. So did the vague details about his home world having been destroyed (a fact that he took with hardly any trouble or argument). One thing did worry him, though—where was everyone? Sigma, Phi, Clover, Alice, K, Luna, even Dio…but Grandpa. Where was his Grandpa?

Well, the only way he’d find any of them was to get up and start moving. So that’s just what he does.

CAFETERIA

And after a long, boring, elevator ride, Quark found himself in the Cafeteria. He had to admit he was kinda hungry, so decided to grab—a bowl of oatmeal? He didn’t remember picking that up at all but oh well. It was better than nothing. The boy found a seat, a bit disappointed that none of the foods were things he could easily store inside of his hat for later, and began to spoon the mush into his mouth.

He made a face. It wasn’t tasty. It wasn’t really so bad he could justify complaining or ‘nothin, but…man was it ever bland. Even Grandpa cooked better than this. It didn’t matter, anyway. He’d eat it, and then be super energized to continue searching! It wasn’t easy to be a sleuth on an empty stomach.

FLOOR FIFTEEN

And once Quark did continue on his merry way again, the first floor that caught enough of his attention to stop and look around was the fifteenth.

“Whoa!” he breathes, excitedly, as he begins to look around at all the tools and other thingamajigs. He doesn’t know what the names of all of them are, but back home they’d be super useful! They were the kind of items that he’d been trained to look for when he was out and about…man, Grandpa would be so excited. It was like finding a treasure chest. Too bad he can’t keep them.

In any case, that’s hardly going to stop the impetuous little bugger from examining a buzz saw. Someone might want to stop him from putting his fingers so close to it before he loses them, though Quark would never concede that he’s being reckless.

FLOOR EIGHTY-EIGHT

But when he finally works his way up to it, it’s this floor that really gets Quark excited. The second he recognizes it’s a bar, he all but throws himself into it—only to be disappointed when a quick look around reveals to him that his grumpy old Grandpa is nowhere to be seen through the smoke and haze.

Forlornly, he leans against the side of the pool table in the center of the room and stares down at the green felt. It’s finally starting to hit him that maybe nobody else made it here. Maybe…this isn’t part of the game he was playing before he woke up. Maybe Zero isn’t behind this—and maybe he’s all alone.

It really isn’t a very nice thought.

Comments

I CALL 15!

[queensgeneral]

Darres was still rather new himself, and had met some interesting people along the way. When he came by he happened to notice a small child playing with not so childreny objects. The knight kept his composure as he approached the other. The sharp metal blade of the foreign object was all he needed to know that this kid should be nowhere near it. "What do you think your doing?" BUSTED!

[averytinyparticle]

Fortunately, when Quark was startled by the authoritative voice he jumped away from the blade as opposed to accidentally slicing his fingers against it. Still, he curled his fingers close to his chest as he looked bashfully up at the tall man who had come toward him. "Nothing!" He responded automatically, then smiled awkwardly and laughed. "Don't worry, Mister...I wasn't going to turn it on, I promise!"

[queensgeneral]

Nothing was never nothing when it came to children, and Ishtar. Granted his fatherhood had only just begun, he's long since acted in an authoritative manner with the very queen he was now married too. He knew how to go about things with children. "Why are you in here?" He must have been a victim too. "Do you know if your family is here?"

[averytinyparticle]

"Well, I'm looking for my Grandpa," Quark admitted, doing his best to look casual and not betray his very slowly but steadily growing anxiety that maybe he wouldn't find who he was looking for. "This room seems like a place he'd like so I thought I'd check it...but I can't find him."

[queensgeneral]

[His grandfather might not even be here, and Darres didn't really want to be the bad guy to tell him that. It couldn't hurt to look though.]

Why don't we try looking for him together? [That way Darres could at least keep track of the kid while he figures out how he wants to approach the subject.]

Floor 15, before the buzzsaw

[warriorscribe]

There's a tall, blond man sitting in the workshop, working with some red fabric. At hearing Quark's exclamation, he looks up and smiles as the child goes to looking around at the various tools and materials.

Over a year ago, back home, he might have let the child be, provided he didn't put himself in any immediate danger. But this tower was dangerous, and children often unattended. He had grown more accustomed to opening up again, even with the consequences it had in the past... (it helped that he never had been very good at closing himself off in the first place.)

"A craftsman, are you?"

[averytinyparticle]

Quark hadn't even noticed the stranger--and he probably wouldn't have for another good couple of minutes if he hadn't spoken up. It luckily draws Quark away from some of the more intimidating-looking tools as he jogs over to see what the man's up to.

"Yeah!" He exclaims with exceptional exuberance, before laughing. "Well...I'm really better at finding things to turn into other things, but someday I really want to be able to build amazing things!" He pauses, pulls at the straps at the side of his hat. "I made this, though. Pretty neat, huh?" Okay, so he had a little bit of help...but he still liked to think of his custom-made hat as a personal accomplishment. And for a ten-year-old, it was kind of impressive.

"What are you making, Mister?"

[warriorscribe]

"It's...charming," Enoch says, when Quark pulls at his hat. "I've never seen a hat like it before.

When he's asked about what he's making, he smiles a little more humorously and holds it up. He's actually stitching two different stretches of red fabric together to sew something larger than either piece alone. "Nothing so big. This will eventually be a loincloth. Everyone needs even the smallest of garments sometimes."

[averytinyparticle]

"Thanks!" Quark smiles, positively content with the compliment, and listens to the rest of what the man has to say with polite attention and interest. His expression does fall a little when it's revealed to him what the fabric is going to be--but more out of confusion than anything else. He'd heard of loincloths before...but to say they were outdated and out of fashion where he's from would be a bit of an under exaggeration. "A loincloth? Like...what samurais wore?"

Did that mean that this guy was a samurai? Just the notion of it gets Quark excited all over again.

floor fifteen

[suppress]

[The first thing that comes out of Presea's mouth upon seeing the boy isn't a word, but a sound. She breaths a small "ah," surprised by the sight ofa nother person in the workshop. In one hand she carries her axe; in the other, a piece of wood that resembles a clump more than a block. The edges have been shaved away and it's starting to take a shape that vaguely resembles the silhouette of a bear, but the edges are rugged. It's a work in progress.

She sets her project down on a nearby table before offering something that is perhaps slightly more helpful.]

Do you know how to use that?

Preseeaaaa *U*

[averytinyparticle]

Of course I do!

[Quark answers before he actually turns to look at the girl who had addressed him, but then grins sheepishly.]

At least, I've seen it used before. I've never actually...done anything with it myself.

[He'd elaborate, with or without prompt...but all at once his eyes fall on the very...very large axe the pigtailed girl is carrying. The boy's eyes go wide, amazed.]

Isn't that heavy?

she is my favorite symphonia character. ; u;

[suppress]

This...?

[She blinks, initially unsure of how to take his question. Slowly, her eyes follow his down to her axe and her lips twitch in the start of a melancholy smile as she nods. It's not an uncommon question, but she regrets the reason for it.]

Yes, it is heavy. I'm only able to carry it because of my profession.

[That's not quite it, but it's as close as she can come to accuracy without delving into the matter of exspheres, which will only to serve to confuse those from worlds without them.]

[averytinyparticle]

[Probably due to his own excitement, Quark is all but blind to the touches of quiet sadness that dot her young features.]

What profession gives you super strength? [All at once it hits him, and he reacts with an according loudness] You're a super hero!

[Quark wished he had super strength. He'd never get bullied again.]

floor eighty-eight

[funnystory]

[Ellen walks up to the pool table, standing at the opposite side. She cocks her head to one side, her face blank as always as she studies the young boy.]

Are you okay?

[averytinyparticle]

[Quark looks up just enough to see the girl on the other side of the table from him, and shakes his head.]

I'm fine...but...have you seen a really grumpy old man anywhere around here? I'm looking for my Grandpa and I can't find him...

[He sees the collar around her neck, and feels somewhat comforted. Like when he woke up in the elevator back on his world and found out Dio had a watch just like his own.]

Did you wake up in this place, too?

[funnystory]

Mm. [A nod.] They said my word was destroyed.

[She appears to be completely neutral about everything, including the destruction of her entire world. His previous question is far more curious. She tilts her head slightly as she gives it a moment's consideratoin, her hands coming to rest on the edges of the pool table.]

...I haven't seen many adults. None of them are old men.

[Her eyes flick down to the table for just a second.]

My father isn't here.

[She's alone, just like him.]

[averytinyparticle]

Oh...

[The already somber mood surrounding him seems to deflate even further. Both from what was said about the lack of a potential-Grandpa as well as what was said about her own family. Quark had never had a father, himself, but his Grandpa was enough like a father that he could certainly relate.]

I'm sorry.

[He tries his best to smile and be encouraging. After all...if Grandpa knew he'd given up hope and been sad the entire time he was in this strange place, he'd be disappointed. Besides, he wasn't really alone, right? Not when there was someone else talking to him.]

Maybe...maybe we could stick together? It would beat being by ourselves, right? [He pauses briefly.] My name is Quark. What's yours?

floor 15

[chainsawn]

[ Hey, Urotsuki is fond of chainsaws herself. She isn't exactly going to stop another kid from being curious in them, even if he does look a little younger than she does.. but not by too far. She speaks up though all the same when he's looking at it, although it's not out of concern. Especially judging by how blank her tone is. ]

Isn't it interesting?

[averytinyparticle]

Yeah! [Quark answers before he even turns around, and even when he does, doesn't appear at all bothered by the deadpan expression the girl offers him. In any case, the boy is definitely cheerful enough for the both of them.]

Or, well, I mean... [He hums slightly.] I bet it's a really useful tool that can cut through a lot of super solid materials.

[chainsawn]

Uh-huh. That's what saws are like. [ She could know, really. ] I've used one a lot of times before, since it's super useful. It can really cut through anything.

.. It's why I carry my own with me. [ Urotsuki holds her hands out in front of her, and in the blink of an eye there's suddenly a chainsaw appearing in them out of nowhere. ]

[averytinyparticle]

[A lot? She must have been some kind of builder! That was awesome! Quark would have gladly bombarded her with questions about what kind of things she actually does with the chainsaw she uses...if it wasn't for what she said next.]

But you're not-- [He can't finish the statement before she suddenly is carrying a chainsaw. He jumps, but is far more amazed than frightened by the ability. Openly, Quark stares.] --how did you do that?

Cafeteria

[bytheirhand]

[Czes approaches the other boy with a bit of a smile on his face. He takes a seat across from him.]]

Don't worry, you'll be able to eat other stuff after you finish that bowl of oatmeal.

[averytinyparticle]

[Quark returned the smile in full, swirling the spoon inside of the soggy mush as he listens.]

Well that's good! This stuff isn't very tasty. What's up with it, anyway? [He looks down at the bowl and twists his face in contemplation. It was so weird how it just sort of...demanded to be eaten.] Why is it so important? Is it full of special vitamins?

[He pauses, realizing how rude he was in having not introduced himself, and laughs a little.] Oh, I'm Quark by the way. What's your name?

[bytheirhand]

I'm not sure, but I know you'll throw up everything else until you eat it.

I'm Benjamin. It's nice to meet you. [Congratulations, Quark. You've passed the immortal test.]

[averytinyparticle]

[Okay, throwing up didn't sound even a little bit fun. Quark was suddenly very glad that he decided to just eat the oatmeal once it had been given to him. And now he'd be sure to eat every last bite of it!

Almost immediately, he starts to eat the mush with renewed vigor.]

It's nice to meet you, too, Benjamin! Boy, am I sure glad to see other kids here.

[Not that there was anything wrong with adults, and he still wanted to find his Grandpa...but he had had more than his fill of Dio back in the Nonary Game. He was sure that Benjamin wouldn't be so mean to him. He already seemed nice, anyway!]