† 1st Mystery; Arrival

[alethiological]

Characters: Willard H. Wright, Whoever else makes the mistake of speaking to him
Setting: Room 1-18, Cafeteria, Library
Format: Brackets as starter, but I can switch to whatever.
Summary: The usual new arrival crap, you know how it goes.
Warnings: Old cranky angels are rude as hell

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[Room 1-18]

[The first thing done upon regaining movement is a slow, glance-over of the letters, except they're tossed aside in record speed in favor of freezing in place for a minute or two, eyes closed.

No contact. Great.

Then it's like a switch is hit and all the slow movements are switched to a snapping efficiency, slamming open the trunk and digging through the clothes to land on - something.

A frightening stack of six-hundred plus papers that gets pulled out and flipped through quickly while crouched, then - just as quickly as the energy appears - it goes out. Back to apathy with a sigh and a shut of the trunk.]


[Floor 1]

[Alright whatever, so apparently one of the things you have to do is eat the stupid oatmeal. Whatever. There's worse things in the world to deal with.

So after getting dressed and maybe punching a wall or two, there's a deadpan mountain of a person slowly reading through a pile of papers and tapping against the bowl in a manner that can only be defined as distracted.]


[Floor 3]

[Obligations completed, the next thing on the list would be exploring the tower and taking mental notes.

Except the third floor was a library.

Okay, mental map of the tower can happen later. Now is the time to hide out in the mystery section for hours and hours and hours on end. At least he keeps to himself.]

Comments

Third Floor

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko, as usual, was tending to her library duties, which involved cleaning up messes that the patrons made, organizing books, and other things. As usual, Ivan, her retrieval unit of a stalker, followed her, wearing his name tag and paper hat as he followed her.

As she walked around and cleaned, she couldn't help but notice someone reading a book in the mystery section. Curious, she approached him, smiling, with Ivan keeping a few feet behind them.]

Good morning! What are you reading?

floor 1

[justiceerror]

[...well... something about this man just made battler want to talk to him. there was a certain air about him, from a realm much like his own, perhaps? had battler been told by bernkastel of one like will? who knows.

in any case, battler walks over to will, hands in his pockets as he stares down at the man as he sat, tapping against the bowl.]

Just devour it, not like it'll bite.

floor 3

[blackwitch]

[ ... Oh. This guy again. It's been a long time since she's even seen him, but she sure does remember the last time he was here in the tower, how boring he was being towards her..

So when she sees him standing there looking at the books in the mystery section, but pokes him (and not too gently, this is Evatrice, after all) with her staff. The heights of maturity, ladies and gentleman. ]

[alethiological]

[It says something about how much attention he was paying to the world that he freezes at the voice, gold eyes darting up to stare directly at the source.

But the surprise - no, too faint for it, but something like it - fades after a second and the book gets shut.]

Chesterton. It's still morning?

[Said in the bland tone of someone who frequently loses time due to books. Oh well.]

[alethiological]

[Interruption. Eyes dart up from his notes to stare up at--

oh

you

The tapping immediately stops and the eyes narrow slightly, part realization and part annoyance, but none of the wariness Battler might be used to. But it's a stare that immediately confirms the feeling about that 'certain air'.]

Sorry for multitasking.

[alethiological]

[Oh, what was that, being poked by a staff?

It's a snap of a reaction to grab it with one arm. It's like trying to yank it back from an iron vice. A heartbeat or three later is when he actually turns his head to spot the source.]

Hello Eva. [And no annoyance whatsoever at the prodding. What a saint.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko was a book girl, so it was common for her to just lose her sense of space and time when she was reading and eating a book. However, at the mention of the author, her smile grew, and she nodded.]

It is! Don't worry, the time hasn't gotten away from you..but which volume by him are you reading? The Man Who Was Thursday? The Everlasting Man? The Thing? Or The Napoleon of Notting Hill?

[alethiological]

[That was... new. She earns a blink, more impressed than shocked, but it fades off to a faint smile a second later. The kind that feels like it never comes out often enough.]

The Blue Cross. I never got the chance to read his works, so I'm working chronologically.

[tohko_amano]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! Chesterton really is a great author, so it's good that you're able to read his works now. The Blue Cross really is a great place to start out! It's like a lukewarm peanut soup with lots of nuts and spices! It's delicious!

[alethiological]

[If she expects any kind of response to the oddly-literal simile, then the joke's on her.]

The first of a long line of works would make it like an appetizer, huh.

[tohko_amano]

[She wasn't, but if she had gotten one, she had a story to help explain herself and protect the truth.]

It does..but it's a really delicious appetizer! Don't mark it down just because it's something to start off with! After all, it does make you hunger for more.

[alethiological]

I wasn't trying to insult starter courses.

[Short books of high quality can be worth just as much, if not more, than longer ones. Also you can never go wrong with the Mystery genre.]

Floor 1

[stalemates]

[Guess who's appeared, crouching on the table? That's right, it's everyone's favourite witch~ Lambda rests her hands on her knees, and her chin on her hands, as she watches Will.]

Back already? What're you doing?

[alethiological]

[She gets a flick of a glance that's pretty much a dismissal - for all of one second. Because of everything here, she's the first thing that's familiar and she's close enough to that witch to get an answer.

That glare is probably the only reason her question gets missed.] What happened?

[tohko_amano]

Oh, good. I'm glad to hear that. Some people tend to mock appetizers, but those people always forget that great appetizers can be harder to cook than a main course.

[stalemates]

What do you mean what happened? 'Your world has been destroyed', and all that junk. Hope you weren't too into Heaven.

[alethiological]

[A shrug here.] Some people are idiots.

[Useless jerks wouldn't know a good book if it rebounded off their skull.]

[alethiological]

[Wrong answer. Cue one of the neurotic freak-out moments, rising with his hands slamming on the table, clouded gold eyes already switching to bright, blazing yellow.]

Where's Lion?! [It's a growled snap of a shout, echoing like shattered splinters from the volume, but it gets cut off a second later with a lock-down of expression. The type of blank face that means something trying really hard not to flip out at people at random.

Wait, too late, he just flipped out at someone at random, damn it.

Sitting back down, but the glowing eyes don't fade off just yet.] Forget it. I doubt you'd answer. What did you mean by 'back already'?

[tohko_amano]

That's true..but it's even worse when they're not idiots, but just really unfamiliar with good books!

[stalemates]

Lion?

[It's typical Lambda-exaggeration on her face as she thinks hard on it, but it is true, she can't remember who that is.]

Oooh, that kid who knew Bern? Yeah, he was here for a bit, it was a while ago, when you were here before too. It's been like half a year, maybe longer.

[She drums her fingers against her lips.]

Let's see, it's July now and I think it was...September? Pretty sure it was before Hallowe'en. You both left pretty quick though, so don't look at me.

[alethiological]

[There's a look on his face that is the non-verbal equivalent of snapping that is not what he meant and you know it.

But what if she doesn't.

And with each word she keeps saying, his tense feeling ebbs off back to the state of apathy against the world. Enjoy your long-suffering sigh, Lambda.] I haven't been here before.

[Or he doesn't remember being here before, but sentences are hard. Whatever.]

[alethiological]

Not really. You just need to point them in the right direction.

[If they're not idiots, then they'll know where the good books are. If they say they're not good books, then they were idiots in disguise. Logic.]

[stalemates]

[She sighs, waving a hand.]

Yes you have, it happens all the time. Okay, well, a different world's version of you. If that even works like that with Inquisitors, I don't think it works with witches, but here we are and that's what they say so whatever.

[tohko_amano]

[Or they had different taste buds. That happened with both books and food, and since books were Tohko's food, the comparison was even more accurate.]

Well, that's true! And I've been doing that with anyone I see that doesn't quite know where to start reading.

[alethiological]

That's not how it works.

['But that's what they say so whatever'. That explanation is almost physically painful. But apparently there was a Him with Lion still around at some point previously. And considering getting grievously murdered by cats tends to mean you don't continue living, then it had to have been another Fragment.

Well. At least one of Him succeeded in keeping the brat alive. That's some kind of consolation, if you don't think too hard about it.]

I'll rephrase. I don't remember being here half a year ago. ["Don't expect me to pick up any old friendships."]