Book Girl and...

[tohko_amano]

Characters: Tohko Amano and you!
Setting: The third floor library and the graveyard on July second.
Format: I'm starting in prose, but I'll match you!
Summary: After getting some name tags and a paper hat from Diarmuid, Tohko decides to put the hat and a name tag on 'Ivan' while waiting for other people to respond to her offer. Later on, wondering about some people she hasn't seen in awhile, Tohko wanders over to the graveyard and finds that quite a few of her friends are gone.
Warnings: None so far!

Tohko had been pretty happy since the event was now, officially, over. While she the library, it was nice to actually sleep in a bed without worrying about being cornered by a monster. Ruana's note of her games never going off the script annoyed her though..it sounded like something Wilhelm would say, but..she knew that there were times and chances where her games wouldn't go exactly as planned. After all, that was what they were working towards.

While that didn't change the fact that Ivan, her retrieval unit of a stalker, was constantly following her, Diarmuid's gift of a box of name tags and a paper hat for the 'library helper' did make her smile. So, while waiting for anyone who would take up her offer, Tohko put Ivan's name tag on his chest and the paper hat on his head before looking him over and chuckling.

"It really suits you, Ivan! You have to promise to work hard, now that you have your hat, alright?" She wasn't expecting an answer back, but it felt nice to talk to him sometimes, even if he wasn't really on her side.

Tohko didn't quite know why, but she had an urge to visit Konoha, Ryuto, and Chia again, even if the gravestones weren't real. The sentiment was still there, and that was all that mattered, as far as she was concerned. It didn't feel quite right to have Ivan accompany her though, so it took awhile for her to even get to the graveyard, since she had to run around and take a few trips on the elevator before she could ditch him.

When she did get inside the graveyard, she had to catch her breath for a few moments before walking down the rows of graves..but instead of pausing at the graves of her family and friends, she saw graves for old friends, ones that she didn't know or wasn't aware of the fact that they had left the Tower. She saw Tear's grave, Waver's, Mihli's and a few others. She didn't cry when she saw them. She just put on her mask of a smile, sighed, and patted the stone like she was patting their heads.

"I promise, I'll do my best to save you guys. Immortality's painful..especially when you're alone in a situation like that. I promise, I'll try."

Comments

Irk...my bad. I thought she was standing for some reason. x.X Embarrassing...

[oathshackledbird]

Diarmuid steps out of the hug after a moment and nods to her, "I hope you will. Be safe, Tohko."

He smiles at her and then turns to begin his own sad search of the graves.

...And she had been. That..should have been 'sitting'..><; Blegh..I'm so sorry!

[tohko_amano]

Tohko would return the smile and wave a little as Diarmuid walked away. "Don't worry, I will be! Take care!"

And..then she turned back to Waver's grave and patted it. "That goes for you too, alright? Don't worry. You'll be fine soon."

And with that, she would be off to conduct her own search for Ryuto's, Chia's, Konoha's, and her aunt's grave before leaving the Diarmuid alone in the graveyard.

[queensgeneral]

"My apologies for misleading you." Ahh what a mess, and he still hasn't figured out how to work that network thing, and it didn't seem very reliable either. Ishtar showed it too him several times, but technology was a hard thing for him to graph. He was good with a sword, not keys. Maybe he'll slip on the matter.

"Right." It wouldn't be hard for him to follow her, Darres kept up just fine.

[tohko_amano]

As she spoke, Tohko kept on walking down the isle, turning left into the next one when she came to the end of it.

"Oh, don't worry about it! I can misconstrue some things sometimes, so it's alright." Tohko, on the other hand, did know how to work the network and would be more than happy to show him to do so..provided that Darres actually asked. She wasn't a telepath, after all.

However, when she saw the familiar blue book, she smiled and pulled it out of the shelf before handing it over to Darres. "Here you are! This is The Phantom Tollbooth."

[queensgeneral]

Darres did lighten up when he was handed the book. The tall male carefully took it and gave it a quick examination. "Thank you. I'm sure he'll enjoy this story."

[tohko_amano]

"Oh, you're welcome! I'm sure he will! It's a delicious, refreshing dish of cold ice water with a fruit salad made from bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and pineapple! It really is invigorating! However..should I grab any of the other titles I mentioned for you?"

[queensgeneral]

He...didn't know what most of that was, possibly things native to her planet, but definitely not his. "If it's not too much to ask." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We kind of go through stories quickly." He's read more in the past couple months than he had through all his years spent back at home. It was really quite astounding to him.

[tohko_amano]

If he asked, she would be more than happy to elaborate, but..since he didn't, Tohko thought that Darres knew what she was talking about. However, at his reaction, she just smiled and nodded. Ivan did nothing, of course.

"Oh, it's alright! I expected that, to be honest. I was just making sure. Now..James and The Giant Peach should be near Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.."

And with that, she would wander down the isle, with Ivan in tow.

Graveyard; took me forever to find this log lmao

[pushedaround]

[ Even though he's been in this tower for almost a year, Tavros never considered the idea of visiting the graveyard. It's nothing personal, but he didn't find any good reason to do such a thing, but today is a different story. The Taurus had his mind on the recent events and the big reveal, and he was wondering if anyone is truly capable of leaving this place. It was such a depressing realization, but he didn't dwell on it.

He caught a slight movement from the corner of his eye, and when he turned to investigate, he spotted a very familiar figure. He didn't rush over, though, mainly giving her some time to grief before approaching her slowly. ]

... Hey, Tohko.

[ He smiled; a bit sadden with having to meet her in such a gloomy place. ]

xD; I'm sorry about that! Didn't mean to cause you any trouble!

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko herself hadn't visited the graveyard in awhile, but..she figured it had been high time to find out who had gone home and at least promise their gravestones that she would do her best to save them. She wasn't grieving, so when she heard Tavros, she turned to him, smiling.]

Oh, good morning, Tavros! How are you? Are you feeling any better?

You didn't cause me any trouble! <33

[pushedaround]

[ Okay, that was far too cheerful for someone in a graveyard. He blinks a few times before smiling awkwardly. ]

Haha- uh, I'm feeling a bit better now. [ He takes a few steps forward, hands in his pockets and back hunched slightly. Body language: Guilt. ]

Actually, I came to apologize for my behavior the other day ...

Ah, alright then! I'm glad to hear that! <333

[tohko_amano]

[It would have been odd for someone who was actually grieving..but since Tohko was not, she just looked a bit puzzled at Tavros's words and his body language.]

It's alright! Don't worry about it. I wasn't really expecting it, and it was odd, but you were feeling terrible, understandably. Not many people were doing well during that event. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better though.

[pushedaround]

Yeah, well- It had little to do with me feeling horrible, to be honest.

[ Having this conversations in a graveyard is not really the most suitable approach, but since she made a statement of how 'odd' it was, Tavros owned her an explanation. One thing for sure, he didn't want his stupid actions to ruin his friendship with Tohko. After all, she meant a lot to him.

He takes in a breath, not really nervous, only cautious. ]

... I like you. And, it's not in terms of 'being friends' for humans. It's a different type of 'like'.

[queensgeneral]

That was what was bothering him the most, Ivan. Darres expressed some level of discomfort, but not for his being.

"Does that...thing always follow you?"

[tohko_amano]

[Well, Tohko wasn't expecting that, and while she was a little annoyed that he had used her as a pillow not because he was sad like she thought, she was more puzzled by that second comment right now to get on him about that.]

Then what sort of like is it? The only other sort of 'like'-human-wise, at least-is romantic love, and I don't think that's what you're referring to.

[pushedaround]

I am, indeed, referring to Romantic Love.

[ Tavros decided that if he tried to make this as simple as possible, the girl would be able to follow up with him. Okay, here goes. ]

See, troll romance is different, and maybe a bit confusing for others to understand! We have four quadrants to fill based on Hate and Pity. Red Romance reflects positive emotions, and Black Romance reflects negative emotions. Good news is, I definitely have all the red feelings for you, mainly in the Pale Quadrant.

[ He leans closer, smiling and exposing his fangs. ]

It's kinda like human romance, without the factor of lust. Sure, a brother won't mind getting some hugs and kisses whenever he gets the chance, but not as far as humans would go in their romance experience. Ya' feel me, sis?

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko knew that trolls mainly based their emotions on pity and hate..but she knew there were more emotions than that, and romance wasn't usually born out of either of those emotions. Sure, there were exceptions, but it usually didn't happen. That..and thinking about kissing Tavros was..well, that was odd..but since it wasn't totally based on lust, she might be able to avoid that most of the time. Hopefully.

This explanation was not really helped by the fact that Tavros reminded Tohko of a certain jerk she had met at the Masquerade who pretended to wear a mask in order to try and get some..private time with her. While she was still smiling, Tohko looked a bit flustered.]

I feel you, and I am glad to hear this..but you know that I don't feel pity towards you right? There are lots of other positive emotions in there..but I wouldn't call pity a positive emotion. But I understand you! I guess your relationships are pretty complicated then, since quadrants can be filled and constantly changed, since emotions towards people do.

[She then sighed and..gave a less flustered smile. Well..why not? If she found this too uncomfortable, she could empty her quadrant, so to speak.]

But I suppose, for the moment, both of our pale quadrants are filled then.

[tohko_amano]

While Ivan was annoying most of the time, Tohko didn't like it being called a 'thing', so she turned around to glare at Darres a bit as she spoke.

"Ivan's not a thing! He may be a retrieval unit, but that doesn't mean it's nice to call him a 'thing'! Plus, I put a nametag on him, so it should make it easier for you to remember his name."

Graveyard - Sorry for the slow x.x

[gradosfinest]

"... I see." Her voice fails her only a second later as her eyes wander across one particular tombstone. Mihli.

General Mihli. That explains why she hasn't been around. For a moment Amelia just stares at it, one hand at her side and the resting on the hilt of her sword, lost in thought. Well that answered one question she had, but simply brought up more.

"... excuse me, I know this is probably hard to talk about... but what happens to the people here? I mean, if people here don't really die... but we're standing at a tombstone." Her eyes don't leave Mihli's grave for even a second while she talks, her tone more serious than it was a moment ago.

It's alright! My tagging speed hasn't been that fast either. ><;

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko just shook her head, still smiling. "It's alright. I don't mind talking about the graves here. The people who vanish here go back to their own universes. Since that's the closest thing to a true death without the Administrators interference in this place, I guess the Administrators decided to make a room full of graves to help us cope. Not that it really helped out when it was first built though. Quite the opposite, really."

The Administrators really needed to get better empathy skills, even if Dax had been the best-adjusted of them.

[gradosfinest]

Wait a minute, back to their worlds...? That got Amelia's attention, her gaze wandering to the girl standing next to her with a confused expression on her face. But their worlds were destroyed, how could that be possible?

"They do...? But wait a minute, weren't our worlds destroyed? Shouldn't they be gone then?"

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko sighed and scratched her head.

"There are many ways something can be destroyed. The first, what you're thinking of, is complete obliteration, where something doesn't even exist anymore. The second is just simple destruction. Think of it like a teacup that's fallen off the shelf and smashed. You can't use the teacup anymore, but it's still there, even if it is broken. That's the sort of world that they go back to."

[gradosfinest]

Oh. Well that was a type of destruction she knew all too well, having been in a war before.

"So like a war then. It's all still there, just... destroyed? So what you're saying is the people who left this tower are stuck in the destroyed remains of their worlds, alone?"

That... sounded horrifying. Unspeakably horrifying, and if Mihli was stuck there? Tohko would probably be able to see the exact moment it clicks, Amelia's eyes widening. "That's horrible...!"

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and nodded again. While she didn't see Amelia's eyes widening, she did know how distressed the girl was and..tried to pat her on the head.

"I know it is. It's terrible to be stuck in a world like that, especially since they're not even able to die once they are there. But..that's why everyone is working so hard to try and find out the truth: how to restore the universes and take down the Administrators."

[pushedaround]

[ If he knew about that 'certain jerk', they would be having another conversation right now.

At first, Tavros didn't know how to react upon hearing her answer since he thought it would take some effort to get her into agreeing, and so- he spent a fair amount of time staring at her before blurting out. ]

... Are you fucking serious?

[ His eyes snapped wide open and he fidgets, waving his hands. ]

Haha, I mean- uh, are you sure you're up for it? I thought I would have to explain myself further, or prepare you a little bit. If you're agreeing to be my pale sister, then you will have to deal with a lot crazy shit! The tower is a very stressful environment, and I've been dying to get my claws on a morial long ago.

[ He tipped his head to the side, smiling at her. ]

I don't want to drag you into something you're not really up for, ya' know? We are pretty difficult creatures to deal with.