( open ) Arrival

[khiluz]

Who| Fíli and anyone!
What| Fíli arrives, and he is still quite lost despite whatever information has been given to him.
Where| Anywhere around the Training Center (also District 6 Suites), let me know in the subject line!
When| Now & during the next couple of days (ICly)
Warnings/Notes| None that I can think of.


FOR KÍLI;

Things happen entirely outside of him, beyond himself. Fíli feels as though he is nowhere at all, words spoken that he does not hear, things placed on his hands that he cannot touch. He demands then he asks, he all but begs, where his brother is, where Lake-town is, but the people around him only seem to answer questions that he is not making. Vague mentions of some games and a battle to the death hover at the back of his mind, but by the time he thinks to ask about those, he finds himself being taken to someplace else.

He does not stay for one second once he is left at the apartment, and makes off to find a way back, or at least someone he knows. He walks and runs, for however long he does not know, screaming and shouting for Kíli, for Bofur or Óin, but there is no one, he recognizes no one or nothing in this place.

It is a fear that coils at the pit of his stomach, settling heavier with each step he takes. How did he find himself here, and why? How is he to return? Panic surrounds him until it is too great for him to keep going and he all but collapses against a wall, sliding down until he is sitting on the ground, legs folded, head resting against his knees.

He can't breathe, and he realizes now that he is also lost.


FOR ANYONE;

All of this may be explained a thousand times over, still Fíli remains just as lost. He has found his brother, but that is as much familiarity as this place brings. He walks the halls and the rooms, everything strange and entirely foreign, and therefore all too intimidating to him, but he does not show it. He makes his best effort to keep his step sure as he peeks into each corner, watches each person that passes him attentively, and opens every door that he does not find locked - including doors to other people's rooms, but it is not as if he knows that.

Comments

[onlyimmune]

When she saw a figure opening the linen closet of her district suite, she thought she recognized it immediately. After all, Kili was the only dwarf in the tower, and she'd come to recognize his silhouette almost instantly. She'd been feeling low enough about the arena coming up that it was a welcome sight, and a smile was already coming to her lips as she put up a hand.

"Hey, Kili! What the hell are you--" She stopped short as she suddenly realised that she was definitely not talking to Kili. "What the- Who the fuck are you?"

[khiluz]

Fíli stopped his current endeavor with the strange closet when he heard the voice behind him, mentioning his brother's name of all things. He turned around and looked the girl up and down (mostly up) quietly. She knew his brother, that much was clear, though she regarded him with a fair amount of uncertainty.

"Fíli," he did not spare more than a slight tilt of his head at her. "Kíli's brother. At your service."

[onlyimmune]

She blinked at him. "His brother?" She asked. "But you're blonde--" She would have cut herself off, as that was rather rude, but it was too late. It was already out of her mouth.

"I mean, uh, sorry. I didn't realise -- I didn't know that you were here."

[khiluz]

He didn't really take offense in her comment, as it was normal that brothers would share hair color after all.

"Our father was blond, much unlike our mother. We simply take after different parents," he clarified for her, as he closed the closet and turned to face her again. "I arrived here yesterday."

that first night c:

[emptytrousers]

Kili comes dragging his feet down the hallway not too long after Fili’s settled against the wall, his head spinning with alcohol. The night air does little to clear the heavy fog that has settled in his senses and that’s fine enough for him; he doesn’t want to think about the arena, about what he should do, about whether he should fight next time. Or if he should hesitate, if he should let the steel bite into his chest again because he couldn’t bring himself to strike a girl much younger than him. But those memories get dulled by the fog, the steel less sharp in his mind. Though, he does silently wish it were easier to walk, and less like he moved through ankle-deep mud.

He almost doesn’t see Fili at first, though he does recognize the golden head and the braids that trace down from the side of the figure’s face. After all, he’s plaited them hundreds of times with nimble fingers and laughter, beaded off the ends more times than he can count. His stumbling gait comes to a stop as he stares at that blonde head and the way it rests against the clearly dwarven knees. Those are dwarven shoulders attached to those knees, his mind provides through his haze, though he’s not sure what to make of that.

Until it hits him.

It hits him like a landslide, nearly propelling him off his feet, but he instead uses the force to take the extra ten or so steps to Fili’s side, his morbid curiosity realizing far too late that it is him. His brother. His big brother had been brought to this cruelty just the same as him, to starve and bleed. Horror takes hold just as his fingers drift across those dwarven shoulders before he tugs them back. Fili. Fili. His brother.

No. His mind tells him as he staggers back up and away from his brother. No, he’s not supposed to be here, he’s not supposed to be here.

“No,” he barely breathes out as he looks down at Fili’s hunched form and backs away. “No, no, no, no.”

fastens seatbelt on the feelings ride

[khiluz]

The thoughts on Fíli's head are too loud and all consuming that he doesn't hear anyone approaching. The thought that he'd never see his brother again nearly chokes him, looming closer until there is no light that he can see, and he is pretty sure it is a thought strong enough to stop him from even moving altogether, too insurmountable even if he should starve and thirst sitting there. He would not care.

But the voice pierces through, just as the touch on his shoulders, and his head snaps up at the same time as his heart jumps up his chest and beats at the back of his throat.

"Kíli," it's almost instinctive how he says his brother's name, and he does not need to command his own body to stand. He is scrambling up to his feet before he even thinks it, and for each step that Kíli takes back, Fíli moves closer twice the distance.

Many a question assault him at once - How are you dressed like that? Is your hair braided? Why are you saying 'no'? - but when he is close enough to put a hand to Kíli's shoulder, and Fíli feels like he has finally found air again, all that comes out of his mouth is, "Your leg..."

please keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times

[emptytrousers]

The sound of his name from his brother's lips is all it takes to make Kili's world crumble around the edges. No. No, this wasn't supposed to happen, Fili wasn't supposed to ever show up here. Had all the wishing he had done while curled up in dinosaur bones done this? Had every stray thought of his brother while he bled out in the lobby brought Fili here to suffer and die like him? No. No, this must be a dream, a nightmare. He's simply had too much to drink, that's all. It's that strange white liquor messing with him, that's all. Fili's not here, he's not here, he's not here.

"You're not real," he grunts out before Fili's hand touches his shoulder. Kili goes rigid under the touch and tries to pull out of it.

No, no, no. Why can't he think straight? Why can't he just blink Fili out of this dream? Aren't dreams supposed to fall apart when you realize they're just dreams? Fili can't be here, he simply can't.

"This is a dream," his voice takes on a fevered touch.

[khiluz]

The rejection in both Kíli's words and his actions slides down his throat like poison, it makes him nearly sick. Fíli can hear his own breath falter when the shoulder slips away from his grasp, and for a second that parting is so unexpected, the distance that Kíli seems to seek between them so foreign that to him it feels as if he has lost the grip on the last solid thing in the middle of a thick mist.

"Why..." he starts but words escape him, they wither the second he thinks of uttering them. Perhaps it is nothing but the feverish state caused by his wound, Fíli thinks quickly. It is the only reason that he can think of for his brother to call this a dream. He nurses that thought for a very brief moment, naively so, but somehow, deep down, he knows it is more than that. Kíli cannot hide anything from him, and that includes the fear that falls splattered all across his face right at this moment.

"Why do you say that? Kíli," he continues and bites back whatever ache he feels, taking steps to close the distance between them again, this time putting both his hands on Kíli's arms. He wishes only that the touch, along with a small smile, will be enough to drive away whatever seems to be scaring his brother so. "It's just me. Fíli."

[tis_allgood]

Cuthbert watches, quiet, as Fili wanders into various rooms. He doesn't mind if this visitor goes into his own room, he doesn't have anything to hide there. But when he gets close enough to where Bert is sitting in the eating area.

"Seen all there is to see, o tiny one?"

[khiluz]

The kitchen and dining area is as much of a mystery to Fíli as everything else in the apartment, perhaps even more so. At least the beds he can still recognize as beds, but he has never seen anything even remotely close to a fridge or a stove before, and to him they just look like metal boxes that he does not know if he can touch.

He rounds the table just as the man talks to him, and his eyes move from the counters of the kitchen to him, a slight arch to his eyebrows. Tiny one, really. But he will not say anything to that, not just yet at least. "I feel as if I will never see all there is to see, no matter how many doors I open."

[tis_allgood]

"Ah, so you are new here, then. That feeling may not ever wear off, but you may learn not to open so many doors. There's a good deal here you may not wish to see."

Bert gets up from the table and comes closer. If Fili isn't going to rise to the bait of being called short there isn't much more Bert can do about it. He will just have to introduce himself and try to be a gentleman instead.

"Welcome to District 3, or our little piece of it. I'm Cuthbert Allgood, son of Robert." He offers a hand to shake.

[khiluz]

Fíli spares a brief look down at the hand before he reaches over to take it, though he wraps his hand around his forearm rather than the hand itself.

"I am Fíli," there is a slight pause as he considers how Cuthbert has introduced himself, and he adds. "Sister-son of Thorin Oakenshield. What is it that you think I may not wish to see?"

[hanssome]

Long walks are one of the few things Hans truly takes pleasure in lately. Maybe it's dangerous giving himself so much time alone, but it certainly helps him think things through.

It's on one of these walks that he rounds a corner to see Fili from a distance. Admittedly, he's only known one dwarf, but he's quick to jump to the assumption that it is Kili. The stylists have a tendency to fiddle with the poor fellow's hair. Hans is lucky his sideburns have remained safe.

"My goodness, Kili. They've certainly gone for something different this time." And yet he sounds delighted as he approaches, only for his face to fall as he realises it isn't quite who he thinks it is. "Oh! My apologies, sir. I don't believe we've met after all." Is it rude to assume he'd know Kili? Hans has no idea.

[khiluz]

It is not the first time someone has mistaken him for his brother. Fíli is not so surprised that he would be popular amongst other people here, for Kíli had always been good at making friends wherever he went. Still, he turns at the mention of his brother's name, smiling and shaking his head in dismissal of the other's apology.

"You are not the first," he answers simply. He can only guess that they might be the only Dwarves in this place, if this frequent confusion is anything to go by. He tilts his head in greeting as he introduces himself. "My name is Fíli, I am Kíli's brother. At your service."

[hanssome]

When Hans notes the lack of annoyance in Fili’s expression and reaction, he eases up and allows himself to let out a soft laugh, shaking his own head as if still a little embarrassed from the encounter.

“Well if you’re brothers I can’t feel too badly, can I?” He gives him a sly smile. “The people here have a particular fascination with changing his hair, I’m sure you’ll discover that first hand in time.” He won’t dwell too long on the grave matter of stylists, bowing his head in return and crossing a hand over his chest as he does. “Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, and likewise. If there’s anything I can do to assist you, I’d be glad to hear it.”

[khiluz]

The smile actually widens across Fíli's lips when Hans explains himself, his eyebrows arching as he replies with clear amusement in his voice. "Do believe me, Kíli does not look good as a blond."

Still, the thought of people tending to his brother's hair sits a little uncomfortably in his throat, but he says nothing about it. He had noticed braids on Kíli's hair and had wondered, wonders still, but Kíli has been making a spectacular effort not to explain anything concrete about this place to him, and he knows all to well he's hiding something. "At the moment I am only trying to get acquainted with this place. I... spent a good amount of time trying to leave, but I had little hope. I can't imagine neither my brother nor anyone else would have stayed if such a thing was possible."

hello have a grey horned bug alien who doesn't know what dwarves are

[sleeplessinalternia]

One of the doors he opens is to Karkat's block in the D1 suites. Karkat, at the moment, is lying on the floor, drawing a chart on a piece of paper in the troll script. "Can't you fucking knock?" he asks irritably, raising his head to see who just barged in.

He blinks. "Shit," he says. "I didn't know they made grown humans smaller than Kili."

LMFAO laughing from here to the sun

[khiluz]

Fíli is almost ready to apologize for the intrusion. He does not yet know which of the doors lead to private quarters, but it is made clear to him the second that he opens the door that he has just stepped into someone else's room.

Then his eyes fall upon the strange creature that looks up at him, and he forgets that apology for a moment. Well... at least it's not ugly enough to be an orc, of that much he is sure.

"I am not a human," he says it almost as if he is stating the obvious, then continues in the same vein. "And neither are you."

goody

[sleeplessinalternia]

"Well duh, I'm not," the strange creature replies. He points to the nubby orange horns poking out of his mess of black hair. "I'm a troll. We're way better. If you're not a human, what the hell are you, because you totally look like a really short, rectangular human with extra face hair."

Karkat feels like this is a good point. Most of the non-humans in the Tribute Tower looked like they weren't. Even that new guy in Signless' district had weird face shit to distinguish him.

[khiluz]

Confusion is clear on Fíli's face as he glances up at the horns, all the more so as he looks the creature up and down. "You look nothing like a troll."

He would know. He had run into quite a foul group at the beginning of their quest to Erebor.

"I am a Dwarf." His eyebrows knit together, and when he asks it is with honest curiosity. "You have never heard of Dwarves?"

[nunpunching]

Back in the District Six suite, Punchy's taken over the television's soundsystem and is busy blasting some terrible 2000's crunk music. His feet are propped up on the coffee table and he's arm deep in a bag of chips, a laptop perched on his knee as he types inputs with one hand onto some intimidating black and white screen. He's actually chewing in time to the music, which is likely quite a feat but one he's actually unaware of.

He's facing the door, so he sees when Fili comes back, and immediately raises his greasy chips-covered hand to wave at his new roommate. He's heard they're getting a new guy in the Suites, but Punchy hasn't met him yet.

"'Ey, homie, welcome to the crib!" Punchy sets the laptop aside but doesn't turn down the rap music. "Damn, you short."

[khiluz]

There is a moment after Fíli opens the door when he simply stands there, barely managing not to jump on the spot at the slight scare. The sounds are loud and frankly they are nothing like music to his ears, instead just a lot of unnecessary noise. He steps into the scene very cautiously, looking from where said noise is coming from to whatever strange object the young man is putting down on the seat next to him.

"It has been pointed out to me before." More times in this place than ever before in his entire life. "Yet I assure you I am long past the age of needing a crib."

[nunpunching]

"This whole place the crib, not like you some baby or shit." Punchy shoves the computer aside and gets up, wiping his hand on the couch, and swaggers on over to give the little guy a shake. He doesn't seem to approach with any indication at all that he's trying to be gentle with Fili's cautious state. "What's your name, dawg?"

[alonelikeme]

It's one of those rare moments alone, and even rarer that Cosette spends it away from the training room or something else that she would deem to be a proper use of her time. Still... She's taken to reading just outside the training center and when she sees him, as she's seen him once before just now, she offers him a bright smile.

There's something about the way that he's opening the doors at random that makes her believe that he's new around here, a thought that breaks her heart. Of course they're still bringing new arrivals, why would they think to stop? However, she doesn't want to assume anything, and so she'll keep her mouth closed. For now.

[khiluz]

He had walked past her before but paid her very little mind, but now that he does so again, he notices the smile she offers him, and he returns it, though perhaps not as brightly as hers. He hesitates in approaching, or saying anything at all for that matter, as she is still holding a book and he is not so keen on bothering other people as his brother is.

Perhaps his poking around had disturbed her, so he opts to take that route, as he takes one last look around him to be really sure she had taken notice of him before, and not someone else. "Apologies if I interrupted your reading, my lady."