thebastion | (no subject)

Who: Colin Starfury, any meddling kids
Open: Open as the plains
When: Day 267, late morning and early afternoon.
Where: The Farmland
What: Doing another survey for more development
Format: Anything, can match
Warnings: Colin IS a warning

As far as plans went, this wasn't how Colin had wanted to spend this week. There were a lot of things that needed doing even before the plight of the Ura reared its head. But Colin was an engineer, and he knew well that the universe had plans of its own and it really didn't care one little bit of the plans of individual people.

The day before this had been spent doing research, and helping Rob build his new cart. That had taken a fair amount of time on its own, but it was work that needed to be done if they wanted to set up a supply line. Now that the transportation was done, it was time to set up the facilities that would give them the supplies down the line.

So here he was, setting out more stakes and flags, taking more measurements, and generally making it apparent that SOMETHING is going to be going up in this area soon. And if the layout of the flags and stakes are any indication, it's going to be something BIG.

Anyone care to bother the engineer at work?

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"Mmmhmm," Colin says, nodding as Otoha explains some of his work. It hadn't been what he'd asked, but it was useful insight. "Did you enjoy it?"

It may have been a rude question to ask, but Colin wanted to know what kind of assassin he was dealing with before he moved along with the questioning.

Well, he did sometimes guard, but... usually not. "... I don't know."

Otoha looks down, and then back up as he tries to think. "Does a sword or a gun like killing? It's what they were made and shaped for."

"The Mrrshan believe that a weapon has to be willing to work with its wielder to accomplish its task. A weapon that doesn't enjoy battle is retired, and a weapon that doesn't enjoy working with a person is often surrendered to its last favored ancestor, or reforged if it doesn't want to retire," Colin says, smirking faintly. "Somehow, I doubt that's what your self-depreciative introspection was asking, however."

"... Huh. But... no. I mean... I'm a weapon. A killing machine. So I can't really enjoy it any more than this stake in the ground can enjoy getting hammered. It's what I am."

At least, that's what he's always been taught. He shrugs, and watches Colin carefully. He's still not sure where he stands with people here, especially after what he said.

"I was raised like a computer," Colin says, smirking. "Doesn't mean I don't enjoy taking the rules of laws of nature and find out exactly where they break and how delicious it is. Hand me that flag over there, would you?"

He gestures over to a pile of stakes with little flags attached to them.

"You gotta take pride in yourself, unless you don't like yourself," he says. "But something tells me nobody ever bothered to tell you that. Shame."

He looks confused for a moment, and then looks over and it clears. He reaches down and picks one up, handing it to Colin.

"There's not much of a 'self' to like. I have a job. Or I did. The city I was bound to guard isn't... there anymore."

"Sounds like your heart and your brain aren't quit syncing," he says, taking the flag from Otoha and beckoning for him to follow. "Grab a few more of those so I don't have to send you back. Anyway... are you a killer, or a protector?"

He gives Otoha a sidelong glance. Unconscious word choice can be quite revealing, and he suspects Otoha hasn't even been telling himself everything.

"Both."

He follows along, trying to figure out what's happening. Building things isn't really what he's got experience with.

"I died. Or I almost did. The will of the city contracted with me to become the city's new protector. I didn't do it that long... my first job was getting rid of the old Karas. He wanted to kill all the humans to try to heal the demons."

He pauses, before going on. "That wouldn't work anyway. ... They survive off of belief. If there was no one to believe, they wouldn't have gotten any better anyway."

"Sounds like a case of losing one's mind," he says, setting the flag in the earth after a little bit of walking. "So where does that leave you now? Nobody to kill, nothing to protect. You got anything in your head now?"

"... I know some herb medicine but I don't know how useful that's gonna be. Other than that... I dunno. Sand and beaches and running."

Most of what he'd enjoyed had involved Reiji, but... well. No chance of that anymore.

"Every talent you can bring to the table in a situation like this helps, don't tell yourself otherwise," he says, smiling. "It probably wouldn't take many shards at all to convert some of the lakebed into a beach for a good run. I jog around the Bastion every morning, too."

"Most of what I know is just fighting. But I treated demons a little bit. I'd have to get a herblore book again but... I should be able to do something with it. And I know how to dress wounds. I don't feel pain, so I get them a lot."

He should probably invest some shards in bandages, considering that he uses a bunch...

"We could probably use a helping hand around the hospital if there's ever a mass casualty incident again," Colin says, nodding as he walks. "And... depending on the languages you speak, we can either find you one, or buy you one with shards."

"Japanese, and... that's it. We had English in school, but I wasn't all that good at it." Unfortunately, his version of Japanese doesn't match up with the version of Japanese elsewhere.

Such is the problem with multiversal interactions. "I have some texts in Japanese," he says. "If you can handle technology, I wouldn't mind giving you a pad to peruse for a little while."

"I can handle it okay. Just don't ask me to fix anything." It's not too hard to just push the 'next page' button, thankfully.

"Nah, fixing stuff's my job," Colin says proudly. "Come find me tonight or tomorrow, I'll see what I have for you."

He holds his hand out to Otoha palm up. Flag pls.

"All right."

Oh. Right. He hands over the flag.