Jobs and Promises

[bashfulshifter]

Characters: This nervous blonde man and YOU! Featuring threads addressed specifically for Amelia Jones and Sertoria, plus any others that come up in the near future.
Setting: On August 30th – first floor dorms, the workshop (floor fifteen), the laboratory (floor twenty-seven), and the gym (floor thirty-nine), respectively. Might add more prompts as stuff happens.
Format: Starting action-spam, can match as always!
Summary: Rick got his collar checkup yesterday and is finally awake enough to do all the things he's promised people/jobs/other! Activities include making clothes, doing collar science things, and getting the snot punched out of him by a robot. Also his abilities are fully-functioning, so there is obligatory morning cat patrol.
Warnings: Maybe some violence or minor injury in the gym prompt (I hope not). EDIT: dinosaur vs. shark in the thread with Yotsuba!

First Floor Dorms – Morning Cat Patrol – OPEN



[Finally, after nearly a month of confusion, anguish, and mental silence, Rick awoke feeling refreshed and more or less back to normal. His collar was once again its usual bright blue, his mind was abuzz with the happy voices of the creatures that he'd missed so much--]

[--most prominent of which was Rusty the cat, who was exceptionally anxious about his territory and the fact that it hasn't been scented and patrolled for an insufferable amount of time. This absolutely must be rectified before anything else can be done, and as Rick understands, attempting to placate Rusty when he's on a mission only results in a very persistent distraction, which will keep him from getting anything accomplished regardless. He caves in without argument to the cat's demands.]

[Residents and visitors of the first floor dorms will most likely see the large orange feline roaming the floor and rubbing himself against many surfaces, including the walls, terminals, open doors, legs, and the like.]

Workshop – Shirts with holes in the back – PARTIALLY OPEN (initial meeting with Amelia, after meeting is open)

[Now it was time to catch up on work. First and foremost, Rick needed to keep his promise to Amelia, to take measurements and start making some clothes for her. The idea of her possibly not being human kept cropping up in his thoughts, simultaneously piquing his curiosity and unnerving him to the task at hand. Sure, he'd made simple clothes before, but...how was he supposed to modify those patterns for someone of a different species? Hopefully it would just be a matter of extending and contracting the preexisting template, and not having to scrap it entirely.]

[He arrives early in the afternoon, and will work with Amelia through the afternoon itself. Of course, she was only really needed for measurements; after she leaves, Rick will stick around the workshop to start actually making the clothes requested of him for at least another hour, quietly and diligently working near one of the back tables with a pair of scissors, some makeshift patterns, and a pile of fabric candidates.]

Laboratory (Floor 27) – SCIENCE – OPEN

[Rick was already running a bit later than he wanted to be, so he skipped cleaning the morgue (which he'd already done several times this week) in favor of checking in on the lab and the ongoing research of clear collar fluid. Not that he could even begin to guess what was going on right now—all the equipment and various blurbs of scattered technical writing went completely over his head.]

[He did, however, notice a sink of used beakers, and quite a few pages of notes lying haphazardly throughout the work area. Making sure his hands were thoroughly wrapped in heavyweight cloth, Rick set to work giving the lab a thorough cleaning, transcribing and sorting papers when he came across them. It was a dull but rewarding task which Rick invested himself in fully—so much that he might miss if anyone else were to visit, or if anyone was working around him to begin with.]

Gym (Floor 39) – Training – CLOSED to Sertoria

[And now for the activity that Rick was simultaneously looking forward to the most and also dreading: training with Sertoria.]

[They'd agreed, as a (sort of) apology, that Rick could use some physical and mental conditioning to better deal with the Tower's lovely surprises, and naturally Sertoria had offered this service for him. Given his generally terrible state of being since then, though, Rick was in no position to start this training until today. He made sure to mention this to her whenever he found her during his Tower circuit, and now that the rest of his menial tasks were done, he could invest himself fully without having to worry about exhaustion (or more likely, crippling injury).]

[Rick walks into the gym with a smile, but the hesitation in his gait no doubt lets on that he is very weary of being tested. The pudgy man has never been especially active, and knowing (or in his case, anticipating and greatly overestimating) Sertoria's abilities, being faced with her in some sort of staged combat makes him reasonably apprehensive. Hopefully this will be worth it, for the sake of his well-being and for the time he'll get to spend with his friend.]

[Hopefully.]

Comments

floor 27

[fionnuisce]

[Working? Not quite. What was a short distance away was the result of extreme overworking and ignoring a rather insistent nagging Servant. Waver was sitting at a table in front of quite a lot of hastily written notes, head leaning on folded arms.]

[And he was asleep. For probably the first time in a few days.]

[This is the picture of professionalism.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick hadn't paid Waver much mind until he got around to organizing his notes, and had assumed that he was thinking very, very hard on some amazing revelation or other. Based on how abstract his writings looked, Rick was only reassured of this. How's he supposed to rewrite and interpret these? Maybe Edgeworth will have better luck.]

[He starts gathering them up into what he hopes are semi-ordered piles when he realizes that Waver has not reacted to his presence whatsoever. Is he...?]

[Hesitantly, Rick stands a good distance away and waves his hand in front of Waver's face. The gesture (and its repetitions) probably will not be enough to wake the scientist from his slumber, so he'll follow it up with a quiet summons: ]

...W-Waver?

[fionnuisce]

[spoiler: he just has terribly rushed handwriting]

[Waver stirred slightly when Rick said his name, muttering something along the lines of 'I wasn't sleeping, don't argue with me' as though he expected just that. The lecturer straightened up, adjusted the position of the sunglasses on his head, and looked around--hi Rick.]

Oh...sorry about that.

[bashfulshifter]

[...Terribly rushed handwriting of a subject that Rick has little to no knowledge of. It doesn't take much to leave him puzzling.]

[In any case, Rick is less concerned about the notes and more concerned about the one that wrote them. He backs off the table when Waver awakens and thoroughly scratches the back of his head.]

--N-No, I'm-- [Rick's face flushes pink.] --s-s-sorry. I, um--I d-don't w-want to b-b-bother you.

Floor 27 (After Waver's Thread?)

[oathshackledbird]

[It isn't that he doesn't trust Waver to keep his promise to go get some food and rest; it's that he doesn't trust Waver to remember to keep his promise to go get some food and rest. Not when he is caught up in trying to puzzle out something so important.

He's come to know his friend and Master pretty well by now.

That is what brings Diarmuid back to floor 27 only a few hours after leaving it. He's made a promise to himself that if Waver hasn't remembered to take care of himself, he is going to carry the man off the floor-kicking and screaming if necessary--to get that long overdue care. If Waver wants to yell at him for it, fine. As long as he does it while eating or getting ready to sleep.

As Diarmuid nears the floor, whatever glitch in the glamour systems that has been messing with his and Waver's bond today passes, and he can tell that a miracle has occurred. Waver has left the floor finally! However, Diarmuid can still hear someone working on the floor, so he takes a moment to peek in and make sure whoever it is doesn't need any help.]

Hello, Rick! How are things going?

[bashfulshifter]

[The man being addressed is currently cleaning off the table where Waver had been dozing. Honestly, did he even leave his seat today? It's like the scientist made himself a little nest over here. Are those food crumbs on top of these notes...?]

[Diarmuid's greeting pulls Rick rather abruptly from his cleaning-induced trance, but he's not adverse to it once he recognizes who it is. The blonde fellow replies with a pleasant smile and a small wave with a rag-draped hand.]

...B-Better, thanks. You?

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid taps at his collar, drawing Rick's eyes to how faded the fluid in it is.]

I will be better tomorrow once my collar check up fixes this. I am thankful nothing has gone wrong so far, since I can't count on my powers to be at full right now. Waver's collar change came a while ago, so if things had gone really badly his command spells still would have worked, but...

[He pauses and then laughs.]

Sorry. I'm rambling. Since I'm suppose to be guarding, how to deal with things should they go wrong while I am weakened has been on my mind. I will be glad when there is no more need to worry because I will be at full strength again. My brother will be as well.

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick nods and absently continues clearing space on the table, although his attention never once wavers from Diarmuid's musings.]

...I u-u-understand. I've, a-ah...b-been f-falling b-b-behind l-lately, too. I j-just had my c-collar ch--checked y-yesterday, s-s-so I can k-keep up a-again.

[He pauses, face flushing a nervous red.]

Um...s-sorry for n-not b-b-being a-around much.

Cat patrol!~

[sunflowerfairy]

[Yotsuba had to go through the first floor dorms every day to get through the Tower, but all thoughts of exploring and running around the Tower flew out of her head when she saw a kitty roaming around and rubbing itself on the wall. Curious and really happy to see a kitty here, Yotsuba ran up to it. Hopefully Rusty wouldn't be scared by the surprised five-year-old.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rusty himself is startled stiff when he sees the small human child stomping towards him, but Rick knows who she is, and is quite confident that she doesn't mean any harm. After an initial puff of the fur, Rick manages to convince the cat to calm down and let her approach. His tail hesitantly goes vertical and he braces himself.]

[sunflowerfairy]

[It probably didn't help that Yotsuba's default mode of transportation was running. However, when the kitty puffed up, Yotsuba stopped, puzzled, before walking a bit closer to the kitty and kneeling next to it.]

It's okay, Orange! Yotsuba isn't a bad person! I'm not going to hurt you!

[And, with that, Yotsuba would try to gently pat the kitty on the head.]

[bashfulshifter]

[The cat noticeably relaxes when Yotsuba comes down to his level, waving his tail in the air and giving her a single, inquisitive meow, which she seems to answer by trying to pet his face. He arcs his head away from her hand--sniffs it, just to be sure she is who Rick says she is--and with that affirmed, presses his forehead into her fingers and invites himself to more pets.]

1st Floor Dorms - Cat Patrol [Waiting for the Lift]

[neverbeamemory]

[Between studying, experimenting, working out and hunting monsters the hours sure have been filling up quickly since the inception of the Violet liquid team (however loosely he insists on coining the term). Finally. No more idle hands wasting time. Every day, or every other day they'd scrape a little closer to his goal.

Certain orange-feline is carefully watched as it comes ambling down the hallway towards Sephiroth. Seriously, people needed to keep more of an eye on their fake!pets. He doesn't have a particular distaste for animals, indeed most seem to have a problem with him. Must be something about his scent that sets them off.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Said orange feline seems to have little to no problem with Sephiroth himself, save a quick freeze when he notices that he's being watched, and a weird sense of recognition from the human part of his mind. He's definitely met this man before, some time ago...and seen him around, obviously. This is Sephiroth, isn't it? Not the little one--although now that he's met the pint-sized version, the resemblance is uncanny. And then he remembers various descriptions (warnings, morelike) of what this individual has done...]

[...but he can't be that bad, can he? After all, the man was leading a collar team! Clearly there was some investment there, some motivation to help the Tower population figure out just what was going on...and in that regard, Rick felt he could be trusted. It was never his place to judge others based on rumors and impulsive first impressions. He would get to know Sephiroth for exactly who he was.]

[Rusty took this to heart and decided to get to know the man in his own way--by approaching him with a vertical tail, followed by dainty sniffs of his ankles.]

[neverbeamemory]

[Sure, there is investment but it's purely for his own selfish reasons. Sephiroth will do anything necessary to unlock the secrets of the collar fluid, and therefore unlock the suppressed potential of his soul; before anyone else does. The advantage to be taken here is all too vital to ignore.

But none of them need to know that. So he will play the begrudged scientist and perform the tests, swallowing his hatred for the skills and where he acquired them. Feedback for the reports as needed and even involve himself with others to more of an extent than he has had any need to so far in his stay here. It is all a means to his end.

-And now someones pet was stalking his way. It's tail raised confidently and it's sniffs at his booted feet entirely too friendly. The urge was to instantly raise one of those feet quickly and kick the cat away from him, but Sephiroth instead turns his head down at the orange ball of fluff and curiously watches it. Surely it will get the message shortly, that he's not exactly the safest to be sniffing around, and dart off away from him.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rusty gets the hint, but Rick is too stupid optimistic to automatically assume that Sephiroth's intense gaze means ill-will, so he decides to remain. Maybe he's just never seen a cat before and doesn't know what to do with him? Or maybe he's noticed that the cat is wearing a collar and is expecting something more drastic to happen? Those seemed reasonable.]

[The cat walks underneath Sephiroth's hand and stares back at him with very wide, equally curious eyes, accompanied by an inquisitive meow.]

Workshop (After Amelia)

[averytinyparticle]

[By now, Quark was feeling far less shaken from the events of the month. Still, he found himself much more solemn and prone to tinkering around and thinking in solitude.

At first, he didn't realize there was anyone else in there, distracted enough with a raggedy piece of cloth he had found almost immediately after he arrived and started scrounging around and using it to polish his hat (which he had stuck under the crook of one arm) to hardly so much as even look up. Eventually, though, he had to. And naturally his eyes drifted immediately to the blonde over in the corner.

If this had been closer to when Quark had woken up from his death, he probably would've ran. As it is, his face does go pale, but he isn't running.]

Uh...

[Quark clutches his hat in his arms like it's a parachute, begins looking around frantically, as if searching for some sort of means of defense, or at least a good place to hide in, assuming the man who had been so mean to him in weeks past tried to pull the same sort of conversation.

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick looks up with a surprised blink. He hadn't noticed anyone else around...were they trying to get his attention? Do they need to borrow the scissors or something? He sweeps his eyes around the room, already looking apologetic.]

Oh--

[His gaze settles on Quark--and the child's startled expression is instantly mirrored as he freezes, blood draining from his face. This time he doesn't have the guise of an animal to hide in--this is him, standing here, and that's the child, looking back with absolute terror in his eyes--fear of the monster that he saw before him.]

[And it hurt. Rick's heart locks and he winces, trapping the apology he'd methodically prepared weeks earlier in his throat. It is, as always, not enough.]

[After a moment of staring, opening his mouth to say something but not actually saying anything, and the hesitant beginnings of hand gestures, Rick admits defeat and drops his head into his chest.]

this thread is going to hurt I can tell

[averytinyparticle]

[The moment that the two met eyes was the fastest that Quark ever felt himself look away from another person. He normally tried to be friendly. He normally tried to be polite. But things were different here. Wasn't he justified? The blonde man wasn't someone he ever wanted to talk to ever again--what was to stop him from saying terrible, horrible things?

Especially when they had all been true.

But Quark didn't want to think about how true those words of hate and disappointment and false pity had been. So, Quark starts to shuffle backwards, to turn away. He can do this somewhere else. He doesn't have to stay.

Sometimes he wishes he wasn't as thoroughly oblivious as other kids his age. And despite how much just being in the same room with Rick makes his knees shake and his eyes water, he finds himself unable to leave. Unable to ignore the blatant hurt that had spread across the other man's face.

The real problem here, Quark finds as he forces himself to face his fears, is that he doesn't know what to say.]

You... [He finally manages that much, though his voice is small and not as enthusiastic as it normally would have been. He stares at his feet and worries his lip.] ...y-you're kinda different. Like a whole 'nother person.

[This wasn't a bad thing, but that didn't mean Quark really knew what kind of thing it was, exactly. Other than weird.]

Morning Cat Patrol

[sacrament_of_blood]

[Merciless had been doing a great deal of fighting and running lately, as part of her work for the indigo collar team. It is probably a mercy that today she is not covered with monster blood as she returns from her tasks.

It is then that she sees the cat marking its territory. First that dog and now a cat. Merciless stands quietly watching the cat rubbing against the walls, doors, and her leg. It still feels odd to have something seeking out physical contact with her.

A thought finally strikes her. She had only seen collars on people, not on animals. None of the wildlife on the floors had them. And there is the matter of that tantalizingly odd scent. And from what she had been seeing and hearing, it seems collars are a hallmark of prisoners like her. As well as the retrieval units, but they have clear collars which is not the case with this cat. So she speaks.]

Greetings, are you perhaps someone?

[She does not know whether she can expect a response.]

[bashfulshifter]

[At first Rick doesn't recognize the legs that he's rubbing his face on, since Rusty's circuits of the floor tend to put both of them on auto-pilot based on scent alone. This quickly changes when he's directly addressed.]

[The cat looks up with very wide eyes and meows, curious if she perhaps meant someone else. No...no, that phrasing was too odd, and she's looking at him, isn't she? And isn't this the same woman that gave him that cooked bit of meat when he was a dog a couple of weeks ago? She must have made the connection somehow--probably through his collar. Obviously the jig is up and there is nothing he can do about it.]

[He couldn't do this to anyone that noticed when he was a dog, since his powers had been rather fickle coming out of the shadow event. Now that everything's in working order, though, Rick sees no harm in revealing himself. After convincing Rusty that he'll give him time to continue marking after he sorts this out, the cat backs away a respectable distance and, with no fanfare, is replaced by a stocky blonde man.]

[Said man is apparently too embarrassed to say anything on the outset.]

[sacrament_of_blood]

[The transformation comes as a very clear surprise to Merciless; she stares quite visibly. But then regaining her composure, she speaks again, with a mostly buried note of astonishment in her voice.]

You are a shifter of forms?

[Such beings were only legends and fables in her world. She might have seen many unbelievable things in this tower, but this one she did not really expect.]

Workshop

[ladyliberty]

[Amelia shows up a little bit later than they'd agreed on-- there's just so many stairs-- but Rick will be happy to note that she is indeed quite human, with the exception of the large, feathery wings folded against her back. They look like they would make shirts pretty tricky. At the moment she's wearing a t-shirt that she found, crudely chopped up and repurposed into a halter top.

When she spots the man sitting at the back of the workshop, she smiles and waves.]

Hi! I'm Amelia.

[bashfulshifter]

[Thanks to some shenanigans in the aquarium, Rick was already in the area and had arrived in the workshop much earlier than intended--which meant that he'd found a way to busy himself and did not notice that Amelia was running late. At the time he was sifting through scrap wood and cutting sponges for a suitable "cleaning pole" to scrub out the morgue cold chambers. The last one broke in a door when it tried to close on him, but he needed a new one anyways, so that was...fine.]

[In any case, he's fairly preoccupied when Amelia comes in, and doesn't notice that she's there until he's addressed.]

...Oh!

[Rick straightens abruptly and turns to face her, looking, as usual, extremely embarrassed for being caught unawares. The fact that she's human doesn't hit him quite as strongly as he might have expected; Amelia's almost normal enough that the idea of her being anything else seems too ridiculous to even consider. There's still the wings, of course, but he was expecting those. One thing at a time.]

[First thing being, he needs to properly introduce himself.]

...Ah...yes. S-Sorry. [Stammering and apologizing, par for the course.] I-I'm Rick. It's...n-nice to m-meet you.

[ladyliberty]

[He's a little different than she expected. No wonder he seemed to want her to take her own measurements.]

It's okay, I don't bite, I promise.