(no subject)

[privilegecheck]

Who| Kankri Vantas & OPEN
What| Settling in, meeting new people
Where| District 5 apartments at first, then generally exploring around the Tributes' area
When| Just after his arrival, some days after Enjolras' crowning
Warnings/Notes| Warning for Kankri being his annoying self, pretty much. Also, his first chronological threads will be with Claudia and the Initiate, but beyond that timing will pretty much be in the order of tagging.


Really, Kankri found the entire concept of this place absolutely deplorable. He would have no part of it. But until he could find some way to escape his captors, it wouldn't hurt to familiarize himself with the layout of the place. And also to find something to eat, he was quite famished at the moment.

He started in the suite of the district he'd been assigned and herded to like cattle, of course, but soon enough he was meandering all through the building, taking note of its occupants and features with various degrees of disapproval. He wasn't entirely sure of how to approach anyone yet, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt to try for the sake of information.

Comments

[carnagecarnival]

Breathe. Focus. Pray.

He sits with his legs folded, at the far back of the district lounge. His hand are held together and his eyes are closed. He hasn't been seeing to the Messiahs enough, he's never managing to honor them enough here. He wishes for the robes he used to be dressed in before by the stylists in these moments, but for the sake of a stupid image of making him seem his age, dressed in leggings and shorts and the like. Not nearly as well fit for sending the holy praise.

No bone, no candle, no blood, no rite. All he can do is sound off the scripture in his head, thank them for their mercies and their miracles. He hopes it will do and that, perhaps, he won't be punished for it all.

[privilegecheck]

After his unsettling encounter with his- stylist, was it? Kankri is feeling more than a little lost and uncomfortable. Nothing feels right in this awful, pristine place. He already wishes he were back with Porrim, having their debates and trekking for frogs. It had been miserable work, but it was at least far more palatable than this, where no hint of the familiar even tinges the place.

At least, that's what he thinks until he sees the familiar curved horns rising from a wild mass of hair. The troll looks older and rougher, but it's still unmistakably Kurloz, the same face and the same paint, though it's styled a bit differently. Well, he hasn't seen Kurloz in a little while, so maybe that explains that. He and the indigo have never been particularly close or anything, but in their own way they're friends, at least familiar acquaintances, and at least there's someone he knows to share his misery.

"Kurloz!" he calls out, trotting over with a genuine smile of relief on his face. "My goodness, I hadn't expected to see any other trolls here - I mean, that Claw-di human told me there were some, but I hadn't seen anyone, so I didn't quite believe it - let alone someone I knew. Oh, you took your stitches out? I must say I applaud that decision, they were more than a little off-putting. What are you wearing? I thought you had favored rather...different attire than this."

before the the initiate thread hehehe

[stilest]

A human woman, dressed in a semi-transparent blouse and loose white trousers with colorful shapes on them, comes over to greet Kankri with a smile on her face. It doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Hi!" she says. "You must be the new one. Kankri, right? I'm Claudia Kishi and I'll be your stylist!" She lowers her voice, leaning towards him. "Have you talked to Fraysong yet? He's the other troll in this District and he's just about your age. He could use more friends."

[privilegecheck]

"I've mostly been talked at, and certainly had no introductions," Kankri replies stiffly, and then notices her attire. His eyes widen. "Miss - Claudia, was it? Miss Claudia, perhaps humans are more lax about such things, but for me such sheer clothing is...well, it's indecent."

[burnedbrighter]

Lounging in the main area of their living quarters Azula was making herself available to her tributes while watching videos of the last arena.

She was heavily medicated this evening and calm because of it. A smirk played on her lips as she watched the fury with which one of the newer tributes tried to end her life and failed. In the long run his efforts had proven useless.

She glanced at the newcomers arrival over the brim of a cup of tea and studied him carefully. Another troll?

[privilegecheck]

Kankri was pointedly not watching any of the slaughter on display - he couldn't imagine why anyone would. Still, if he was to live with these people, he knew he should venture out and get to know them.

The woman's elegant draping over the upholstery reminded him briefly of Porrim, making his windchute tighten up a little, but then the impression passed. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Good...you know, I'm not entirely certain of what time it is just yet," he says politely. "I've not been here long, and this has been more than a little disorienting. I take it you're another resident of this...'District?'"

ALL ABOARD THE AWKWARD TRAIN TOOT TOOT

[69problems]

The Signless watches Kankri poking around from across the main common area of the Tribute Center and debates what exactly to do about him being there. There's no mistaking him: how could he possibly not recognize someone whose life he lived through dreams for sweeps and sweeps? Whose actions and inadequacies directly informed how he lived his own life to the degree that he looped right back around and exemplified them?

It strikes him suddenly that Kankri doesn't know. He doesn't know about Alternia and he doesn't know about what happened to him in the universe he created and he doesn't know about the clusterfuck he's been brought into. The Signless thinks it almost might be kinder not to tell him (by this point he has extensive experience with knowing things about his future, and he can say with certainty it's never done anything good for him), but there's no way he won't find out eventually.

Fuck it. There's no way this is going to happen that isn't going to be terrible and awkward. He might as well just get it over with. He closes the distance between him and his past self with a purpose, opens his mouth, realizes he has no idea what the hell to say, and sort of just stands there awkwardly for a long moment before settling on:

"Hello."

Re: ALL ABOARD THE AWKWARD TRAIN TOOT TOOT

[privilegecheck]

Kankri looks up as he's addressed, prepared to return the greeting, but the sight of his new companion renders him mute and dumbstruck, for once in his life. This troll is older, his skin more worn, his muscles lean and fit, but there's no mistaking his features, nor the brilliant red irises (though Kankri's have only just begun to fill in).

"I don't understand," he manages at last. "Why- you look just like me."

[pythianjudgment]

She's on her way up to the 5th floor to visit a certain Indigo. There's a red fleece blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape--a touch that she added on her own. Definitely not Stylist-approved.

Exiting the elevator, she almost heads straight to the room that she always does--until she catches a familiar scent. Karkat is the first thought that comes to her mind, just from the stature and the nubby horns. There's not many other trolls who have the same appearance.

Removing her cape from around her neck, she creeps quietly over to the boy, then suddenly throws the blanket over his head. She wraps her arms around his middle to hold the blanket down and restrain him.

"Halt! This is an intervention. By which I mean: What the hall are you doing here? Did you forget to fill your Bad Vantas Ideas quota for today?"

[privilegecheck]

That voice is familiar, one of the voices he's most wanted to hear and most dreaded hearing here. "Latula!" he cries, not even fighting her grip. In fact, he's sagging slightly just in sheer relief to hear a friendly voice. "I'm really not sure why I'm here, or anyone else for that matter, but I can at least assure you that it was not my idea. I- are you all right? They haven't...hurt you, have they?"

He's even shed the supercilious manner at this shock, instead speaking with complete sincerity.

[disciplewhomsignlessloves]

She's on her usual trip from District floor 7 to floor 12 when she sees him. She's covered horn to toe in leather, fur and green fabric, bundled against the cold that still permeates the walls. She almost about to call him Karkat, ask how Signless is doing when she notices that difference in posture, the little details.

"...No I have to many Vantases as it is." She stares at him blankly. No, nor, this isn't a tiny Signless.

"Please tell me they just shrunk you down Signless."

[privilegecheck]

After his encounter with the Initiate, that name is enough to make him tense up and feel defensive.

"That is not my name," he grumbles. "It's Kankri. Is every troll here going to start calling me that? I can't abide titles."

She's old enough that, while she looks familiar and he notices the similarities, he hasn't placed her identity yet.

NOT SORRY AT ALL

[sleeplessinalternia]

Karkat knows who this douchebag is as soon as he sees him, of course. His identity is unmistakable, for he is none other than Karkat's greatest enemy in this or any other world.

"Future Me," he hisses, striding forward to great his foe. "I swear, if you're here to tell me how much of a fuck up I am, you can just shut your word hole and pull your thinkpan out of your anal sphincter. I am not in the mood to deal with your shit today."

He glares at the newcomer and before the other mutant can respond he adds, in a lower voice, "For fuck's sake, at least tell me if I've got anywhere with Terezi."

HOW COULD YOU EVER BE SORRY

[privilegecheck]

After the shock that was Signless, Kankri is a lot less surprised to see yet another of his doppelgangers around. His crude language and strident tone, on the other hand, is quite surprising to him.

"I'm quite sure I've never been so...uncouth in my life," he replies. "Really, some people might find that sort of language hurtful, it's most inconsiderate. And worse, it plays directly into harmful perceptions of lowbloods."

I actually am a little sorry for this

[tis_allgood]

Cuthbert ran into this new troll after he'd been drinking. It wasn't the best idea at 2 in the afternoon, sure, but he had been having a rough time of it, and drinking helped him forget the shadows haunting him. It did not, however, help him distinguish shapes clearly.

That was when spotted what looked to him like Karkat. Sure, he was a little taller, but maybe that meant he finally had his moult and was finally a grown up insect. Which clearly meant he should throw an arm over "Karkat"s shoulder and nuzzle against his ear.

"I hate you so much. Come back to my room with me."

this is already a disaster

[privilegecheck]

Kankri had been lost in thought, minding his own business, when suddenly this strange human simply flung an arm around him and pulled him close. He stiffened immediately, particularly when he smelled the intoxicants on the alien's breath. He tried to tug away, but the alien was nuzzling him. This was really not okay.

"I- Please take your prongs off of me this instant! Perhaps propositioning a stranger is customary in your culture, but to me it is extremely disturbing, and not something I'm ready for even if I were in a relationship with someone, and why on Beforus does no one understand the concept of boundaries in this place!"

He's close to tears. This has been a very bad day.

I'm not at all sorry unlike the previous tagger

[akingalways]

"Hey!"

Ok, so his voice still hadn't gotten back to normal, but that didn't mean he couldn't talk. Unlike in the Arena, where he'd been entirely silent. His voice was back, somewhat.

Though admittedly, he didn't have the back pain in the Arena which he now had. They'd said the scarring and pain would pass, and to be fair, his extremities--no, no, Jack, stop your mind from wandering.

And - considering that the biting troll was snooping in Cal's room, or at least about to - there was no way he couldn't say something. Especially since it was Karkat. What the hell right did he think he had to go just where he pleased like that!

"GET-" Ow. His throat burned, forcing Jack to lower his voice. To emphasize his disapproval, then, he stood up and began striding forward, albeit stiffly at first as his back sang with tingling numbness. "Don't you dare. Get away from that door."

[privilegecheck]

Kankri looked up in some surprise. This young man looked quite incensed. He paused, his fingertips still just barely touching the doorknob.

"Is this your room?" he asks. "If so, I apologize for invading your privacy. I'm simply trying to learn my way around the place."

[acroodawakening]

Guy was currently in the training area at the camouflage station, playing with the paints. While he was practicing things like different animal designs that he knew blended well in different terrain, he was also occasionally branching off to just finger paint little designs on the floor.

A tiger jumping of a cliff and soaring into the clouds. A little boar racing its way in the direction of a sun that spread light in spiral arms over a mountain with twin peaks. A creature that looked like some kind of cuddly black and white badger running through a field of flowers that spread their petals around it in what almost seemed like an embrace.

He happened to look up to see Kankri wandering around. He looked a bit like Signless, except Signless looked older so this was either that other guy with the foul mouth or someone that looked just like him. He looked possibly a little different, though, and Guy was the observant type.

"Hey! Didn't I meet you twice now?" he joked to Kankri.

Not only would Kankri be greeted to the sight of yet another strange human but this one had a different appearance from some of the others he might have seen around. His facial structure had far sharper edges and rather than wearing the more modern clothes of the Capitol, he was wearing a loincloth and leg wraps, bound to his legs with strips of leather. The blue wool poncho on the floor next to him was a little bit at odds with the whole leather-and-animal-skins image but the Capitol was cold and if they were making him forgo pants some of the time, he was going wear whatever he wanted up top. Right now, though he was shirtless and apparently his body was one of the canvases he was using.

His fingers were smeared in all different colors of paint and the rest of his body was covered in different places with different designs. Tiger stripes here, leopard spots there, designs of leaves gathered on a forest floor - apparently he'd been feeling experimental.

[privilegecheck]

The training center made him feel more than a little sick, with its weapons stacked everywhere. A few minutes of looking around was more than enough, he just wanted to be away from here. He wasn't going to have anything to do with this place.

Then Kankri heard someone calling to him. He was startled by the human's appearance, covered in paints of all colors. Still, at least he looked friendly.

"No," he replied after a moment. "There's two others here who look very much like me, but I've only just arrived. And you are?"

[celebrityskinned]

"Hey, new blood!"

Venus is perched in her favorite armchair in the District Five lounge, where she's made a habit of starting every mid-morning with a coffee and a new book she only partially grasps. Today, it's something by Camus. She doesn't know what the point of it is, but maybe she can glean enough from it to sound at least halfway educated.

She's wearing overalls and flip-flops and a t-shirt with some logo that looks like an eagle, and yet she still is managing to look like she's just been styled thanks to her skillful makeup application and her hair. It's an art, she tells herself. Looking presentable even when the only reason you're leaving your bedroom is for coffee is an art.

"You moving into Redglare's old room?"

[privilegecheck]

Kankri is surprised at first - most of the people he's met here had mistaken him for one of his strange double, so having someone recognize that he's new is almost nice, and certainly a change of pace. The human looks so comfortable and self-assured; Kankri doesn't quite understand how anyone can be.

"I'm sorry, who?" he asks, just a little awkwardly. "Claudia simply told me that this was where I was to stay, not that there were other occupants."

[earthborn]

Shepard's involvement with the fellow denizens of District Five was, on the whole, brief. She didn't interfere in their lives, to a point, and they didn't get in her way. To a point. Usually two points, really, represented by the ones sticking out of Kurloz Makara's ugly head, but she'd had far worse by the way of roommates.

And now there's this kid, thrown in with the revolutionaries and killers. But she's in a good mood today, and this is only her third bowl of breakfast cereal.

"Jesus, kid. Let me guess, you're a Vantas," it isn't a question, and isn't likely to become one, not with her lounging around the D5 commons in cotton pants and little enough else but to cover her dignity, when Kankri comes through, "Met Makara yet?"

That's usually good for a laugh.

[privilegecheck]

Wow, way to have no sense of propriety, weird alien lady, he did not ever need to see that much of your rumble spheres!!!

"If you're referring to Kurloz," he says stiffly, "yes, we spoke earlier. And my name is Kankri," he adds. He's really starting to dislike being seen as the third iteration of, well, anything.

He frowns, after a moment. "What is a Jesus?"

[whoseesbynight]

After the Signless and Karkat, Nepeta would have thought that there weren't any more nubby-horned trolls left. After all, there were only the two Alternias. Anything else, well... that was something that was quite entirely out of her understanding of things. Naturally, then, she turns to what she can understand - she's fairly certain this isn't Karkat or the Signless, but she's not at all certain she can entirely approve of that sweater.

She doesn't say anything though. Just sort of watches him with a mild concern, as if trying to decide which stylist thought that was going to be a good idea.

[privilegecheck]

To be fair, the sweater was Claudia's idea, not Kankri's. He hasn't reached the sweater point of his timeline just yet.

Kankri doesn't notice he's being observed right away - he's inspecting a menu, trying to puzzle out what things might be. Too bad there's no grub juice. It's only a few minutes later that he realizes another troll is there.

"Meu- ah, no, you're not. The resemblance is remarkable," he says after a moment. "Are you from this...Alternia place I've been told about?"