Quark (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
averytinyparticle) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-09-15 04:14 pm
averytinyparticle) wrote in towerofanimus2013-09-15 04:14 pm
Entry tags:
03. want to be small
Characters: Quark and absolutely anyone!
Setting: all throughout the day at the workshop, the cafeteria, and then at the circus in the evening!
Format: starting action, will follow.
Summary: Quark tries his hand at designing and finding parts for a hat for one of his new friends before getting hungry and going to get some food. There, he starts stashing nutrition bars in his hat and then begins to flip his lid over root beer floats. Finally, he goes to work in the circus and fails spectacularly, unsurprisingly.
Warnings: probably none, but being a circus performer is dangerous, so potential injury there? We can figure it out as we go!
Floor 15 - morning
[Quark had made it his goal to become more self-sufficient. Sure, he was small and all, but after all the stuff that had happened in August, he had begun to realize that maybe he should try to figure out ways to be more productive on his own. He knew he woudln't really be able to do anything to help the adults, the boy wasn't much of a hero. But he could start with something that was more suited to someone of his stature.
That was why, when Quark woke up that morning, he immediately got to work. As soon as he was dressed he headed down to the workshop, where he quicky found the pencil and paper necessary to start drawing up his ideas. His current goal was to make a hat for Yotsuba, the girl he had met at the meeting not too long ago. She had seemed to really like his, and he thought it would be nice to actually try and mak her one! It would've been super mean to say that he'd help her and then not, after all. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but Quark figured that a good place to start would be to draw some ideas out.
He can be found furiously sketching all morning, rubbing his eyes occasionally as he assesses the patterns he's made, occasionally erasing or scribbling, or even flipping over a paper with a sigh to start over on the back. It was wasteful to crumble it up, but he didn't want to stop until he was thoroughly satisfied that he had designed something he thought a girl would like, and that he might actually be able to make!]
Floor 15 (later) - late morning to early afternoon
[Later, once Quark was satisfied with his work, he'd raise the paper to the sky and laugh happily.]
Perfect!
[And, having made such a conclusion, he'd stand, stretch his legs, and immediately start to bustle around the workshop in an effort to find the materials he needed to construct the hat he had in mind for Yotsuba. He was, naturally, not exactly confident that he'd be able to find everything he needed...and hadn't actually planned out specifically what sort of things he'd use to make what he had in mind, but this didn't deter him. Quark was determined--and he was nothing if not good at scavenging. Even if he couldn't find the best sort of materials to use, he'd just have to find substitutions!
And if he couldn't find them today...well, that was fine. He didn't expect to finish in a day. But he'll do what he can until he feels like he needs a break, though he might continue to be a bit loud as he rummages around, knocking things over here and there in his single-minded adventuring through the contents of the workshop.]
Cafeteria - afternoon
[Once Quark had gotten too hungry to keep working on his project, he had abandoned his efforts for the day to find some dinner in the cafeteria. He intended to just grab an available sandwich and go to town on it, but realized with a certain alarm that he had run out of snacks to sustain him at random intervals. Naturally, the Tower didn't have a very good selection of snacks--at least not ones that kept very well at room temperature for a prolonged period of time.
The boy sticks his hat in the crook of his arm and mozies his way over to the nutrition bars. As stealthily as possible, as if he doesn't want to get caught, he opens the strange, box-like structures and begins to place bars inside of it. Yeah, it would make his head pretty heavy, but at least then he'd be well-stocked for an emergency.
If one were to find him after he had become satisfied with the amount of nutrition bars he had packed into the hollow spaces of his hat, Quark would be munching away happily at a sandwich, legs swinging underneath him from where he sat at one of the many tables.]
Cafeteria Kitchen (later) - late afternoon
[A bit later, once Quark had finished his food, he found himself remembering the delicious pie Romeo had suggested he try at the meeting. He wondered if there was more in the kitchen, so he had wandered in looking for it. He did find pie, but abandoned it when his eyes caught sight of a familiar looking beverage.]
No...n-no way...!
[The root beer float, in all its delicious, carbonated, ice-creamed beverage, couldn't have been real. And yet, when he did more investigating, Quark found plenty of root beer and ice cream to go around. Probably enough for the whole Tower, even! Suddenly, he was having a new opinion of this place. Maybe it wasn't terrible here, after all. No mean, awful, horrible place would provide him with all the things that he could never ever hope to afford back on his own planet, would it?
The dessert beverage could've brought tears to his eyes, if he wasn't such a tough kid. Tears or not, though, you can be sure that he's grabbing one for himself with a suspicious amount of enthusiasm, sucking it through a straw without a single care.
His spirits notably high, Quark'll feel impetuous enough to call out to someone who might be looking for what to eat nearby.]
Hey! Have you ever had one of these before?
Floor 80 - early evening
[Regardless of how exciting the discovery of root beer floats in the Tower had been, Quark still had a job to do! A sort-of official one! He had learned rather quickly that he was a terrible performer in the circus, but he was still trying his hardest, despite his short stature and lack of any particular circus-y skills.
Tonight, he told himself as he reported for duty, he'd show a particular level of improvement.
At least, he told himself that before the plates he was assigned to spin and keep balanced on top of long poles kept crashing down around his feet. Quark groaned. Nuts! He couldn't help but wonder if this job would be more fun if he wasn't constantly looking over his shoulder making sure none of the clowns got too close.]
Setting: all throughout the day at the workshop, the cafeteria, and then at the circus in the evening!
Format: starting action, will follow.
Summary: Quark tries his hand at designing and finding parts for a hat for one of his new friends before getting hungry and going to get some food. There, he starts stashing nutrition bars in his hat and then begins to flip his lid over root beer floats. Finally, he goes to work in the circus and fails spectacularly, unsurprisingly.
Warnings: probably none, but being a circus performer is dangerous, so potential injury there? We can figure it out as we go!
Floor 15 - morning
[Quark had made it his goal to become more self-sufficient. Sure, he was small and all, but after all the stuff that had happened in August, he had begun to realize that maybe he should try to figure out ways to be more productive on his own. He knew he woudln't really be able to do anything to help the adults, the boy wasn't much of a hero. But he could start with something that was more suited to someone of his stature.
That was why, when Quark woke up that morning, he immediately got to work. As soon as he was dressed he headed down to the workshop, where he quicky found the pencil and paper necessary to start drawing up his ideas. His current goal was to make a hat for Yotsuba, the girl he had met at the meeting not too long ago. She had seemed to really like his, and he thought it would be nice to actually try and mak her one! It would've been super mean to say that he'd help her and then not, after all. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but Quark figured that a good place to start would be to draw some ideas out.
He can be found furiously sketching all morning, rubbing his eyes occasionally as he assesses the patterns he's made, occasionally erasing or scribbling, or even flipping over a paper with a sigh to start over on the back. It was wasteful to crumble it up, but he didn't want to stop until he was thoroughly satisfied that he had designed something he thought a girl would like, and that he might actually be able to make!]
Floor 15 (later) - late morning to early afternoon
[Later, once Quark was satisfied with his work, he'd raise the paper to the sky and laugh happily.]
Perfect!
[And, having made such a conclusion, he'd stand, stretch his legs, and immediately start to bustle around the workshop in an effort to find the materials he needed to construct the hat he had in mind for Yotsuba. He was, naturally, not exactly confident that he'd be able to find everything he needed...and hadn't actually planned out specifically what sort of things he'd use to make what he had in mind, but this didn't deter him. Quark was determined--and he was nothing if not good at scavenging. Even if he couldn't find the best sort of materials to use, he'd just have to find substitutions!
And if he couldn't find them today...well, that was fine. He didn't expect to finish in a day. But he'll do what he can until he feels like he needs a break, though he might continue to be a bit loud as he rummages around, knocking things over here and there in his single-minded adventuring through the contents of the workshop.]
Cafeteria - afternoon
[Once Quark had gotten too hungry to keep working on his project, he had abandoned his efforts for the day to find some dinner in the cafeteria. He intended to just grab an available sandwich and go to town on it, but realized with a certain alarm that he had run out of snacks to sustain him at random intervals. Naturally, the Tower didn't have a very good selection of snacks--at least not ones that kept very well at room temperature for a prolonged period of time.
The boy sticks his hat in the crook of his arm and mozies his way over to the nutrition bars. As stealthily as possible, as if he doesn't want to get caught, he opens the strange, box-like structures and begins to place bars inside of it. Yeah, it would make his head pretty heavy, but at least then he'd be well-stocked for an emergency.
If one were to find him after he had become satisfied with the amount of nutrition bars he had packed into the hollow spaces of his hat, Quark would be munching away happily at a sandwich, legs swinging underneath him from where he sat at one of the many tables.]
Cafeteria Kitchen (later) - late afternoon
[A bit later, once Quark had finished his food, he found himself remembering the delicious pie Romeo had suggested he try at the meeting. He wondered if there was more in the kitchen, so he had wandered in looking for it. He did find pie, but abandoned it when his eyes caught sight of a familiar looking beverage.]
No...n-no way...!
[The root beer float, in all its delicious, carbonated, ice-creamed beverage, couldn't have been real. And yet, when he did more investigating, Quark found plenty of root beer and ice cream to go around. Probably enough for the whole Tower, even! Suddenly, he was having a new opinion of this place. Maybe it wasn't terrible here, after all. No mean, awful, horrible place would provide him with all the things that he could never ever hope to afford back on his own planet, would it?
The dessert beverage could've brought tears to his eyes, if he wasn't such a tough kid. Tears or not, though, you can be sure that he's grabbing one for himself with a suspicious amount of enthusiasm, sucking it through a straw without a single care.
His spirits notably high, Quark'll feel impetuous enough to call out to someone who might be looking for what to eat nearby.]
Hey! Have you ever had one of these before?
Floor 80 - early evening
[Regardless of how exciting the discovery of root beer floats in the Tower had been, Quark still had a job to do! A sort-of official one! He had learned rather quickly that he was a terrible performer in the circus, but he was still trying his hardest, despite his short stature and lack of any particular circus-y skills.
Tonight, he told himself as he reported for duty, he'd show a particular level of improvement.
At least, he told himself that before the plates he was assigned to spin and keep balanced on top of long poles kept crashing down around his feet. Quark groaned. Nuts! He couldn't help but wonder if this job would be more fun if he wasn't constantly looking over his shoulder making sure none of the clowns got too close.]
Floor 80
He hears the crash and it is enough to make him lose his balance on the beam he is stood on, luckily it is not too far from the ground yet.
It was a small child, and Capell went over to help pick the plates up. "Are you alright?"
no subject
With a heavy sigh, Quark crouches down, too. He's not really sure if he even needs to be picking up a whole bunch of broken plates, he realizes as he sets down the balance beams, but it felt wrong to just leave them in a messy pile like that. "Sorry, Mister...I guess I kinda messed up your act, too."
no subject
He had tried to reason with them, surely he could do something he was good at, play the flute for example. Surely circus' needed musicians. But no apparently he was to be a tightrope walker.
no subject
"Me neither! I wish I was, though. It would be kinda cool to work here and be really good at it." One without the other was kind of super lame, in comparison, as Quark had begun to discover. "Maybe if we work together we can do better, though!"
Since it's not like they really had a choice in working at the Tower's circus, at least for now, it couldn't have been a bad idea to come up with some way of making the job a bit easier. "What do you think, Mister? My name's Quark, by the way."
no subject
"Nice to meet you Quark, I'm Capell, I'm just new here but I think working together to make this easier is a great idea."
Cafeteria - Afternoon
Ah, are you sure you should be stashing all that food like that?
no subject
But then...maybe it wasn't so bad. I mean, nobody would try to steal his snacks here since they weren't really very tasty. If this had been Earth, they would've definitely gotten grabbed by some nosy jerk!]
I-Is there a rule that we can't?
[He hoped not! Quark hadn't intended to break any rules! He wasn't a bad rule-breaker.]
Are you gonna tell on me, Mister?
no subject
[Did this place even have a rule book?
Poor kid though. What was he doing in a horrible place like this?]
I can't tell on you if you're not doing anything wrong? [A nervous chuckle.]
no subject
Oh, okay.
[He puts his hat back on his head, his hands letting it go slowly as he tests the new weight of it against his skull. Not too bad at all. Yes, he had managed to cram a startling amount of nutrition bars in those containers…but at least they were fairly lightweight.]
I guess that makes sense. Thanks anyway though, Mister!
no subject
no subject
[Quark laughs, unfazed, and clasps his hands behind his head in a relaxed sort of fashion.]
I don't think anyone's really okay wandering around this place, Mister. It can be pretty scary! [He pauses.] But, you know, I'm really good at finding places to hide when things get dangerous, on a count 'a I'm preeeeetty small.
no subject
no subject
Well, I made some friends! But I don’t want to bug them too much, you know?
[They were all super-busy adults, after all. Then a thought hits him, and Quark’s expression turns sour. He crosses his arms.]
There’s also Mister Dio…but he’s always a big jerk to me whenever I try to talk to him, even though he’s the only person I know here from my own world…
no subject
You can always hang with us if you feel lonely?
[Kuwabara would be more than eager.]
no subject
[Quark looks surprised, but in a good way. Like he was just handed a present that he wasn't expecting.]
Yeah! That would be so cool! I like making new friends! Where do you two usually go?
no subject
Depends on what we're doing that day. [So instead of focusing on what they wanted to do, how about what it was Quark wanted to do.] There a floor you wanted to check out?
no subject
[Granted, most all floors in the Tower were excessively dangerous…but there was little to be done about that. As long as the floor wasn’t shrouded in complete darkness or dripping blood from the walls, he wasn’t picky.] But I like the ones that look like we’re outside, a lot.
[Back home, he’d never seen a blue sky—only a red, dead one full of ash and waste. It was nice to sometimes pretend that things were alive and flourishing, still.]
no subject
cafeteria kitchen
What...?
no subject
[He doesn't seem to notice how out of it she looks, but that can probably be blamed on the fact that Quark's extra excited at the moment.]
no subject
No. It sounds sort of funny though, the name..
no subject
Here, try it! You've gotta!
[He offers his glass to her. If she likes it--and of course she should--he fully intends on offering to make her one of her own, or just giving her that one and making another one for himself. It wasn't as if the kitchen didn't have all the right materials, after all. It was important that Urotsuki tried it as soon as possible, though, so that meant using his as a sample.
He'd even suffer through the possibilities of getting cooties if it enlightened her to how great root beer floats were!]
no subject
She looks from the glass at Quark. ]
.. I just.. drink it?
no subject
no subject
Slowly Urotsuki brings it up to her mouth and takes a small sip.
....
............ ]
.. I guess it's okay.. [ But it's hard to make this girl show emotion to begin with, huh. ]
FLOOR 80
The loud crash of plates startles Sealand though, and his attention is immediately torn away from the clowns. Though he didn't speak with him, he does recognise the other boy from the meeting the other day.]
Are you okay?
no subject
[Quark groans in exasperation as he lowers the poles in his hands. It could've been worse, anyway. He could've been assigned to walk the tightrope up high in the sky! Or try to mess with the monsters that were being used as animal substitutes. That seemed way scarier than a few broken plates.]
Who would'a thought working in a circus would be this hard?
[He looks up at Sealand apologetically and, remembering the other boy from the meeting, manages a sheepish smile.]
I'm not really putting on an entertaining show, huh?
no subject
[He hurries over to help clean up some of the broken pieces of the plates. Sealand returns the smile, eyeing the pole in interest.]
It looks sort of fun too though! Can I have a go?
no subject
[Quark can't help but perk right up at Sealand's good attitude about the whole thing. If he's being honest, he's not really sure if he's supposed to let anyone else give it a try, but audience participation is a thing that happens in circuses! At least, to the best of his knowledge.
Once they've gotten the plates out of the way, Quark offers the poles to Sealand. There are more plates, of course; there'd have to be, so breaking them isn't really much of an issue.]
I'm sure you'll do much better than I did!
no subject
[Sealand isn't sure he should be trying either, but he's not too concerned; he's always wanted to try circus tricks! He takes the poles eagerly, and hops over to get a couple of plates. Trying to spin them really isn't easy though, and Sealand isn't as good as he hoped he would be, unable to keep them balanced for more than a few short seconds.]
O-Oh... oops. This really is hard!
Cafeteria (Late Afternoon)
Yotsuba hasn't! What is it?! It looks super yummy!
no subject
[Quark offers his drink to Yotsuba; she's younger and smaller than him, so he doubts she has any cooties yet. He doesn't mind if she uses his straw or anything.]
It's called a Root Beer Float and it's the best drink ever! My Grandpa got me one once!
[Frothy, sweet, creamy deliciousness in a glass, is what it should've been called.]
You can have mine, if you like it! [And who wouldn't like it, honestly?] I can make myself another one; the kitchen has plenty of stuff for 'em!
no subject
You're right!~ This is super yummy! But what's root beer? And a grandpa? And how do you make them?!
cafeteria i'M SO EMBARRASSED BY HOW LATE THIS IS
[Jade had just now entered the kitchen to scrounge something up, so she'd for the most part missed Quark's freak out over the dessert-y beverage.]
Root beer float? [She asked, pointing at it idly and tilting her head to the side.] Too 50s for my area, kid. Might'a had one when I was a lil' chica I guess.
NEVER BE EMBARRASSED
Still, he couldn't hide the way his face fell when she gave her brief assessment over the beverage he held so dear. Maybe if he had come from a different time, it wouldn't have been something he raved about. But, considering that this was by far the nicest tasting thing he had ever had the opportunity to taste on his world, could anyone blame him?
In a way, it was kind of like hearing that all that money and consideration his Grandpa had spent to buy it for Quark, and to make him feel better, had been wasted.]
Too...50s?
[He looks down at the glass in his hands, not really sure what that means, exactly. In the 2050s, Quark was pretty sure that it would've been even more difficult to get a root beer float than it had been in the year he came from.]
Oh...I-I see.
[Yeah. Maybe it wasn't that great. Maybe he was just over reacting. If Jade didn't like them then they couldn't be that great, right?]
i'm super embarrassed because i made quark sad why
Usually she fucked up, but usually she also knew why. What had she said wrong this time?!]
Uh.. yeah... [She continues hesitantly, worrying that she'll just end up sticking her foot in her mouth again without even realizing it. Augh, she hated cross-universal cultures.
A moment of lip-biting and caution, and she chose to do something she rarely ever did: explain herself.]
Y'know... 1950s? Suburbs and poodle skirts? Sock hops and ice cream bars? Creepy super smiley housewives? [Wait no that would probably confuse him more not get a laugh fuck--] They were really popular back then, but they didn't show up around my neighborhood much- too industrial and developed.
EH he'll get over it
Oh! I don't know what some of those things are. [Grandpa said it was good to tell the truth, so Quark didn't want to pretend he'd heard of a sock hop or a poodle skirt before.] But they had entire bars for ice cream way back then?
[There was a bar in his home town, but it mostly only had alcohol in it. And Quark wasn't allowed to go in it without his Grandpa.]
Grandpa never really talked about things that far back in history...so before 2027 I don't really know much...
no subject
[She looks a bit awkward that she can't actually answer that question properly, but thankfully there's something else he says that distracts her-- and she glances at him over the top of her glasses curiously.]
--Wait, 2027? What year are you from, dude?
no subject
[Judging by Jade's expression, Quark has a feeling she might be wanting some more explanation, so he goes right ahead speaking.]
45 years ago, in 2027, is when all these reactors exploded and put the Earth in what Grandpa called...uh...nuclear winter, I think. It's kind of better now, at least a little, but the sky's still red and full of ash and dust and stuff.
[He hesitates. This is all common knowledge where he's from. I mean...how could you not notice that the planet you live on is a recovering wasteland still plagued with disease?]
What...year are you from?
no subject
Fucking time travel-- dude, where I'm from it's only like 2009. Not that that really stopped our own universal brand of apocalypse, but at least we never blew up a nuclear reactor.
Then again we kinda didn't have an Earth to fix anymore anyway, so I guess it's a give and take.
no subject
[And so was the idea that there were millions and billions of different worlds and even different Earths that the residents were coming from but that was somewhat beside the point. Quark grimaces and looks awkwardly at the root beer float in his hands. Somehow, talking about worlds blowing up kind of curbs your appetite.]
I'm sorry that something like that happened to your Earth, too, Miss Jade.
no subject
[She grimaced a bit awkwardly herself, but unfortunately she didn't have a delicious ice cream drink to grimace at, so the corner of the room would have to do.]
Nah, don't be sorry. I guess I miss our old flat but Earth was also kind of lame anyway. I think everyone around here had an apocalypse scenario anyhow.
no subject
But what she said was even more sad, cause that meant everyone was stranded without a home. Quark just shuffles his feet as he looks up at her.]
So, if that's true, then doesn't that mean we're all kind of the same?
[And if that was true...why didn't everyone get along better with each other?]
no subject
I... guess so? [is the conclusion that she finally comes to.] I mean, we're all kinda stuck here, and all our worlds are kinda gone and everyone's dead, so that's super depressing. But yeah, we're basically all stuck up the same river without a paddle
no subject
Then we'll just have to make some new paddles!
[They were all stuck together, so didn't it make sense that they all cooperated in finding a way out? Sure, some of them didn't have happy, thriving worlds to return to even if things were fixed to how they were before being rescued by the Tower, but even though so many routes led to dead, sad ends, there was always a good one somewhere, right?]
That way we don't have to be stuck anymore. [Quark frowns sadly.] Or at least we don't have to be stuck alone.