chalicejoker: (Just Woke Up)
Hajime Aikawa ([personal profile] chalicejoker) wrote in [community profile] eswareinmal2018-10-12 09:51 pm

Invasion of the Bugmen

Characters: Hajime, Ryo, Tachibana, and whomever the heck else.
Open? Yep!
Where: The Castle
When: Right after Hajime arrives
What: One very confused new hero and one very excited sidekick.


Well, then. This was not Hajime's bedroom in the restaurant. Not by a long shot. And he certainly hadn't gone to sleep in any sort of heavy black plate armor. It was pretty ornate, with some kind of stylized heart motif and dull accents in red, green, and gold throughout. There was a matching helmet with a heart motif sitting on the bedside table, which Hajime was pointedly trying to ignore. There was even a stylized belt worked into the design, one that mimicked the Undead belt Hajime was prone to summoning whenever he felt threatened. Like now. He was kind of surprised he hadn't managed it now, because he was waking up in a strange bed in some kind of strange castle...Traveling gave a guy a bit more experience with waking up in weird surroundings.

"Ah! Lord of the Bugmen! You're awake!" One of the people surrounding the bed, the one that Hajime thought was dressed in the most overdone of the overdone courtly medieval fashions rushed forward, while the others all got excited among themselves.

"...aaa! Strange people!" Next to him, Ryo woke up as well, wearing a little ruffled collar and a small hat with a very fancy feather sticking out of it. "Nice hat though!"

"The Steward of the Bugmen awakens as well!"

"Hello!" Ryo had no idea what was going on, but that was no reason to be rude.

"My lord, we are so very glad you have chosen to journey here all the way from the fabled Kingdom of the Bugmen in order to aid us in our time of need." The courtier went on talking to Hajime as though this was all perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

Indeed, all that conviction and all the weirdness going on here as he was ushered out of the bedroom was starting to make his head spin. "...what." It wasn't a question. It was about as much a statement as he could manage right now. Ryo was clinging to his shoulder, looking quite interested at everything.

As the little group made its way into the hallway, another courtier came rushing up. "M'lord, they're ready to present you at court now."

"What?" That time, the word actually was a question, even as Hajime found himself ushered out into the hall and towards a flight of stairs, and these people were not taking no for an answer. Someone passed him the helmet he'd tried to leave behind in the bedroom, and he took it because he didn't know what else he was supposed to do with it.

But at least he was getting some answers. Kind of. "They're going to present you to the King, of course! The King and his most trusted advisors!"

"Presented at Court! It's a great honor!"

"But an appropriate one for the mighty Lord of the Bugmen! And Steward!"

It was at this point that Hajime began having even more regrets over the way that Lord of the Bugmen joke had kind of gotten away from him. He glanced over at a mirror they were passing in the hall. No, still human. He was retaining his lordship even in humanity while wondering what was even going on. He was still thoroughly confused by the whole thing, even as everyone else around him seemed thrilled by his presence. There was a whole lot of bowing and curtsying going on, which made it all the weirder. The strange little procession soon led to a pair of ornate gold doors, which were pushed open ahead of Hajime's entrance into the room.

"Now presenting the Cursed Knight, the Wild Card of New Jersey, the Scourge of the Battlefield, Rider of the Kamen of Chalice, Viscount of the Suit of Cups, the noble and mighty Lord of the Bugmen! And on his shoulder, the bearer of the Questing Spirit and Accomplished Shapeshifter, Steward of the Bugmen!" Cue trumpets, cue everyone turning to look at Hajime and Ryo as they were supposed to walk all the way down that carpet to the King to be presented. (Hajime walked, Ryo rode on his shoulder and waved at people.)

Hajime still had his helmet tucked under one arm, but he was seriously considering putting it back on if only to try to hide. There was certainly an irritated twitch when he heard the herald call out "wild card" as part of his ridiculous announcement, and for a moment, he strongly considered clubbing the guy with that fancy helmet. But he didn't do anything, because the spectacle of it all was just a little bit overwhelming, and he'd never liked having everyone's attention on him like this.
scarsolderthanyou: (nope)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-10-16 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
The doors open again later to a grumpy-looking old man who has pointedly resisted anyone changing his clothes and so is still in the faded gray tunic and trousers with only a single gold bracelet for decoration. When the herald starts in on his titles--

"Now presenting the Dragon Sage, Consort of Queen Azure, Line-Grandfather of the Indigo Cloud Court, and--"

--he stalks right out and grabs the herald by the throat before he can say more.

"Shut up," he growls, and one can probably guess why they're calling him "dragon sage", because that sure did sound dragony.

(A few people in here will probably know better why he's the "dragon sage", not that he will recognize them.)

The trumpets for him are a bit lackluster, probably because the trumpeter doesn't want to get nearly strangled, too.
scarsolderthanyou: (skeptical)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-10-22 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Stone is used to being found familiar by now, at least, so he just shoots the little insectoid a glare. It's a mild glare that has more annoyance with the situation than the person exacerbating it, at least. "You're going to have to remind me who you are. You remember me, but I don't remember you."
scarsolderthanyou: (kids)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-10-25 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, I don't remember Hajime." This is going to get old. And annoying. At least this one isn't crying about it, though. "He sounds like fun, though. Maybe you should reintroduce me."
scarsolderthanyou: (curious)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-10-29 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Stone follows along behind Ryo at a more sedate pace, though it's easy enough to keep track of him. Nothing else in this room smells like Ryo, not even Hajime himself. He nods at Hajime, resigned now to the recognition. "So you know me, too. Hajime, is it?" Since that's what the insect fellow called him, and all.
scarsolderthanyou: (skeptical)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-11-02 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"Just so we're on the same page, I don't actually know you," Stone says, just to be up front about things. It's easier that way. "But you're the fourth person I've met since being dumped here who knows me so I'm just winging it."
scarsolderthanyou: (thinking)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-11-08 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Exciting is one way to put it." Stone sounds a bit dry, there. But he does relax a little. At least these two aren't making a big deal about it. "So what exactly are we supposed to do here, anyway? This kid earlier said something about fighting something, but I haven't found anything or anyone that really needs fighting." Except, apparently, people trying to call him consort of Azure.
scarsolderthanyou: (surprised)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-11-09 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"Thorns. We're supposed to be fighting bushes?" Stone says, skeptical and unsure about that. "I mean, I can go shift and tear them apart, I guess. Will that help?"
scarsolderthanyou: (thinking)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-11-13 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Stone looks unsurprised. He's known a lot of warriors in his time. And queens. Queens get pretty fighty, too. "So more likely we're supposed to find out what's causing them and fight that. I'm going to guess we don't have any idea what's causing them, though? Has anyone flown past them, landed on the other side?"
scarsolderthanyou: (kids)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-11-19 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm not dropping anybody," Stone says with a snort. "With my luck, you'd break something. But getting over there is doable. You don't fly too, do you?" Just to check, since the little kid from when he first showed up shapeshifted into a flying creature, too.
scarsolderthanyou: (surprised)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-11-21 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
That gets Stone's attention. "Messing with your powers? What's it doing?" Because he hasn't noticed anything different, but he's not "magical" exactly beyond the shapeshift. And maybe his age.
scarsolderthanyou: (curious)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-07 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
"You shapeshift armor?" That sounds very complicated. "What does it look like when you do it, now?"
scarsolderthanyou: (surprised)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2018-12-14 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh." Stone has to admit, he hadn't expected the "shapeshifted armor" to be actually in place right now, at this fancy... thing. "It does look pretty awkward. Can you even move right in all that?"