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 Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:31 pm
Out of all the outposts he spent his time at, Fritz was finding himself more and more at the Leo outpost, rather than the rest - though he still slept at Virgo's. At first he was mildly bemused by this strange pull towards the elaborately decorated building, its fixtures almost overly extravagant, dripping with gold and crystal. But after a few trips he decided it was just that, being the art nerd that he was, he appreciated the castle for its beauty.
Which was mostly true. The building was extraordinary, in and of itself. Fritz could not grow tired of simply wandering the halls, letting his fingers drift along the intricately carved walls, the smooth, rococo style floor with its patterned marble, the chandeliers that cast twinkling splinters of light around the room, illuminating the ornately designed trimmings, the heavy, velvet curtains and their dusty beauty.
Fritz loved every part of it. And he loved knowing that even for a small moment of time he had gotten to see something so fantastically incredible.
Even if it was in the middle of space after he'd been attacked by a giant man eating whale.
On this particular day, Fritz found himself, not looking for more artistic discoveries for once, but for the zodiac himself. He was not really sure why; it was not as if Leo could give him any more answers than any of the others, but perhaps he could be of some use to Leo. Fritz had felt a growing sense of utter uselessness, especially since he did not really have any strong skills other than acting ridiculous and cracking weird jokes.
Except once he entered the magnificent front hall of Leo's outpost, he realized one very important thing:
He had no idea on earth (or in space) where the heck Leo was.
Which made this task just the slightest bit more difficult.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:02 pm
It was a little difficult to keep his eye on everyone in his Outpost, but Leo was doing a fairly decent job of keeping track of people. Though he was rarely in one place for long, he tried to pop in through the most frequented rooms, offering assistance or words of encouragement where he could, answering questions when they were asked of him. He couldn't provide much more information now than he had in the beginning, but in general, he was doing his best to keep panic down -- the civilians', and his own.
It just felt wrong to have so many people in his ancestral home. He didn't want to doubt them, he just... didn't really know what to do with them, except hover, see if they were all right, and then move on to his next task. The priority was getting them all home.
If only they knew how.
Descending a staircase, gloved hand trailing on the railing, he slowed his walk when he saw a civilian standing in the doorway. Worried that he was lost, Leo inclined his head, boots clicking against the stairs as he resumed his steady pace and joined the young man in the entrance hall.
"Can I help you?" Leo asked, one hand coming to rest on his hip. It wasn't accusatory in the least; an honest question.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:27 pm
"Oh," said Fritz, spinning around in surprise, half staggering as he lost his balance, over corrected, then quickly pulled himself straight with a sheepish expression on his face. He had not exactly expected to find the man in question so suddenly, nor had he particularly thought he would trip over his feet like a dork in the process.
And now that he was standing here, in front of someone that Fritz regarded a little in awe, rather like one saw a famous celebrity, he found he had absolutely no idea what he was going to say.
"Er," he said, after a moment's hesitation. "Hello."
Some part of Fritz's inner man raged at his stupidity.
"Sorry to bother you," he went on, frowning a bit as he tried to put his words into complete sentences. "I, er...well, you see I'm rather bored and I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with myself, and nobody seems to need my help, and I always seem to get in the way, except if I'm not doing something or talking with someone I think I'm going to go stir crazy out here since I need to be doing something, otherwise my brain might explode, and I've always liked this outpost the best, and, well, you seem like you know what you're doing so I'm here to ask if you need any help or if you have any idea what I can do to keep from tearing my hair out because I rather like my hair."
There was a slight pause as Fritz took a breath. Then he smiled brightly. "Yes, that's what I wanted to say," he said unnecessarily, though it was mostly to himself. "
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:02 pm
Leo could definitely sympathize with the civilian; were he in his place, he would feel useless and impotent, and not to mention a little scared. He could remember the last time he'd been trapped somewhere with no idea what was going on, actually... and though he tried to forget Barren Pines, tried not to remember those last days of confusion and fear and complete disconnect from who he was as a person, he could summon the memories of what he had felt like and empathize with him.
Truth be told, Leo didn't really know what to do to occupy all these civilians aside from what he'd already offered. His home was in disrepair and while that was a lot of work, he could see how they would get bored moving and cleaning the artifacts. While each one held a myriad of memories for him, countless untold stories, to all of the civilians... they would just be pretty objects. He could be comforted that at least they seemed to be treating his possessions with respect, even if they didn't understand them.
His voice was kind when he said, "I know how you feel. It's difficult, being stuck here without answers... I wish I had more information to give you." He sighed, sliding one hand away from his hip, gesturing loosely in front of him with it. "For now, all I can offer is cleaning and organizing... There are a lot of artifacts here, and I could always use a hand moving things around and polishing them."
After a moment, he half-laughed. "I know it's not very exciting. I wish my home was in better shape to greet everyone with, but... it's difficult." And there were a lot of memories, some of which he didn't understand. "If you like, I can take some time and we can go through some of the already sorted artifacts and clean them... I can tell you a bit about them, and the place they came from."
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:38 am
To his great relief, the zodiac soldier did not laugh at him, scorn his rambling words, or get irritated by the fact that Fritz had basically just revealed every little detail of his personal feelings at the current moment, excepting a few select ones. Instead, Leo's tone was gentle when he spoke, and Fritz could feel some of the tension that was prickling against his shoulders and back dissipating a little.
"It's...not really the 'no answers' thing that bothers me," he said, then amended himself. "I mean. I definitely care about why I'm here, what I'm doing, what's happening elsewhere, when can I go home, and everything else that everyone else is worrying about. But since I have no control over that, I was trying to focus on spending the time doing what I could. Except, you know, there's nothing really to do and I keep getting in the way..."
Fritz trailed off, feeling mildly stupid. He was not one of these senshi people; he did not have the abilities they did, nor the understanding and knowledge of their surroundings; which automatically meant that he was, in a sense, lower on the food chain and therefore slightly more useless. Which he understood, but understanding did not make it better, nor easier.
"I think I'd like that," he said after a long moment, letting out a relieved sigh. Grateful that Leo was not about to just kick him out, Fritz pulled the cheerful smile back onto his face, holding out his hand to the other.
"I don't know if you remember me from earlier, but my name is Fritz."
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:41 am
Leo felt a little bad for not being able to remember the names of the civilians who were milling about, but frankly, he saw so many of them on a given day that he was just starting to recall them by their appearance and a few personality key words. They'd all be thrust upon him far too quickly for him to make any real attachments, and aside from that, he was constantly running to and fro from his outpost to another, so he didn't really have the time to stay and chat with anyone. He was doing his best, but... they were all stretched thin.
Gesturing toward the stairs that he'd just come from, Leo said, "It's all right. This way, then. I know some others have been working there, so you'll probably be able to find people to talk to as well."
He could understand feeling out of place and a little useless. He'd felt that way often enough in his own life that it was far from unfamiliar. Unfortunately, he couldn't spare too long with any given civilian... but Leo felt it was important to try to make them feel as at-home and at-ease as he could, while he could. It wasn't their fault they were trapped in the Surrounding, after all, any more than it was the Zodiac's fault.
His boots clicked against the stairs as he ascended, and he added, "It's nice to meet you properly, Fritz. How is everything... all things considered?"
He felt like he was asking everyone he saw that. How are you, under the circumstances? or Is there anything I can do to make you feel more at ease? The visiting senshi were wonderful, really, doing more than their fair share, but Leo still felt like he needed to be personally checking up on as many as he could.
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:50 pm
Relieved that Leo was not going to just boot him from the extravagant outpost that he had grown to admire so much, Fritz followed along after the dark haired senshi. He couldn't help but glance surreptitiously at the mask, wondering what lay behind it.
Then he felt quite rude and hastily dropped his gaze, focusing on walking after Leo.
What's your story? The unanswered question lay on Fritz's tongue, nearly ready to burst from his lips, but he tamped down on that particular desire. It felt like neither the time, nor the place to be asking such an intrusive inquiry, but Fritz's naturally curious nature would not settle. He frowned, aggravated with himself, and instead tried to focus on other things - things like the questions Leo had just asked him.
"It's...it's going," said Fritz ruefully, then let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "I mean...I suppose it's going as well as can be expected, right? I'm sure you and the rest of the zodiac...senshi people...weren't exactly expecting to play host to a whole heap of people you didn't even know."
That was part of the discomfort he found he experienced at times - the distinct feeling of I don't belong here. Fritz felt rather like an unwanted guest, although most of the senshi and zodiac he had met so far had been very accomodating, especially under the current circumstances.
"Do you..."
The question died in Fritz's throat. He tried again and kept the tone light; as if he were merely asking about the weather.
"What do you think's going to happen to us, d'you suppose?"
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