myblimpisbigger | Seventeen: In Which Klaus Keeps Up With His Various Acquaintances

Entry tags:

!action,
!phone

Seventeen: In Which Klaus Keeps Up With His Various Acquaintances

A. Action for 729 Anderson
(mostly Hiccup but Lucrezia can tag in and be her usual Lucrezia-ish self too)

[This morning, Klaus made waffles for breakfast like usual. However, unlike usual, he has a motive. These waffles are extra-delicious and made with even more care than usual, and do you know why? Because he has a question to ask his son, and he wants to make sure said son is in a good mood.

You see, today, Klaus plans to be a Parent. And that means being nosy. He sits across from Hiccup and steeples his fingers.]

So.

Who are you taking to Prom?

B. Action for Ples Tibenoch

[All schools go on break this Friday, including the little kindergarten attached to Mayfield Elementary. To top it off, this week the kindergarten has been having short days, so Klaus is done with work much earlier than he usually is. Given that it's around lunchtime and he has nothing better to do, he decides to bother Ples at the bank.

Ples, there is a Baron stopping in to say hi and maybe convince you to take your break and come have lunch with him. Wat do?]

C. Phone for Garviel Loken

I was wondering if you were interested in joining me tonight, perhaps for dinner or merely a drink?

[Not that Garviel can really 'drink', except for the social aspect. But it's the thought that counts, right?]

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Understandable, yes. The secrets of an invention so complex... it is only natural that their creator would want them closely guarded.

[Wait. Did Garviel just offer to let him work on it? Can this be?! Cake and permission to mess with power armor. TODAY IS BEST DAY.]

I would be honored to be allowed to give repairs when needed, however. And I promise not to try... to... improve it.

[... Oh man that took effort.]

[he nods gravely and begins to portion out the cake.]

Do you have any tea? I have... grown to dislike coffee, since it was the favorite of my wife who has now... been permanently droned. [There is a shadow of grief in the warrior's face. He hates the idea of losing people to the town in such a manner. With all his heart.]

[Hilariously, yes. He does have tea -- but only because Ples likes it and keeps trying to get Klaus hooked, too. It may be working. Maybe.]

I do, yes. Is Earl Grey acceptable?

Ah. I experienced something similar with my first wife. She was... a subordinate of mine, you could say. Annoyed me to no end until she was gone and I realized her drone was far worse.

[FEELINGS HOW DO?]

Of course, thank you. [he sips the tea in a delicate and dainty way, completely at odds with his genehanced form, forged for war.]

How unfortunate. It is always difficult to lose comrades.

[Such motor control! Hnnngh that is so cool...]

Being here nine months, I will confess, has made me somewhat used to it. I lost my first wife, I lost my first daughter... That is, she was never placed in this house, but I thought of her as one while she was here.

[There's a moment of silence while he sips his own tea.]

Losing people is something I assume we are both familiar with, far outside the boundaries of our time in Mayfield. As a soldier, I imagine it's practically quotidian for you.

Less so than you might think. Casualties are rare among the Astartes to some degree due to the nature of our superior war-skill, armor, and physical makeup. We have never lost a war, though we have lost contingents of our forces from time to time, based on the exigencies of war, such as the Blood Angels and Emperor's Children on the planet Murder. The forces of the Luna Wolves, my Legion, had to relieve what was left of the initial relief force. At that point we scoured the planet bare with every weapon at our disposal for sixth months. People only ever anger the Astartes once.

[he looks at Klaus with a gentle expression in his rain-gray eyes.] It was not until what I believe was most likely my own death that I lost most of my brothers. My dearest friend among the Mournival, Tarik Torgaddon was slain by Horus Aximand, another Mournival brother, even as I dueled Ezekyle Abaddon. Oldest and and most accomplished of all. While I can never understand the loss of a wife, or of a daughter as you can I.... can understand the loss of family, of those to whom you are closest quite well. This is why I have resolved not to let Mayfield's insidious nature drive people here apart, you see. I will not see another situation such as what happened during the fall of Horus Lupercal erupt here.

[he is quiet for a moment, the silent refrain to this is.... Garviel will not fail again.]

[Wow, Garviel. You and Klaus are actually pretty well-matched in terms of mental fuckery. That's... weirdly reassuring? And also pretty sad.

Also: Planet Murder?]

You may have a job ahead of you in that regard; factions have already formed and while Major General Armstrong seems at least a reasonable woman, I doubt The Major will listen to sense.

[I mean, have you heard his phone calls? War war war blah blah death war, all the time!]

Ideally, all factions, both established and developing, will eventually band together to fight for a common goal -- as happened during the fight with the Milkman not too long ago, by all accounts. Unfortunately such camaraderie seems to only be reserved for situations where the danger is immediate and tangible when in fact, given the nature of this town, we are all constantly in danger.

And forgive me, but did you say your own death?

Yes. I was one of those leading the assault on the Milkman's vat, I am familiar with how we banded together. I was.... surprised to see so many people rally to me when I took up my war-banner and took the field.

[he nods] Regarding THE major, he is undoubtedly a problem. A warmonger and a monster, and.... I have met men such as him before. They are difficult to deal with.

Yes... my own death. I was most likely slain in my final battle.

Terming it your final battle would suggest that, yes. It simply isn't often that I meet others who have died and lived to tell about it. Resurrection is by nature a tricky business, after all. I assume you died in your world and then came here, yes? Their resurrection system seems on the whole much more reliable and well-designed than any in Europa.

[And yeah, okay, his pride is just a mite bit wounded about that. It's not okay that it takes him months to resurrect a dead body properly and Mayfield can do it in a day or less.]

I can't say, honestly. All I remember is the heat of the orbital blast.... and then I woke up here.

[he shrugs.]

I would think it prudent to assume the worst, then.

[A pause.]

I... wonder what that will mean for you when the time comes to leave Mayfield. Will you return to the moment of your death, or even to your own reality at all?

I have assumed to the moment of my death. I have no fear of it, as long as I die, my duty done. Astartes don't know fear.

[he is quiet for a moment.]

We actually find it repulsive, when others show it.

I imagine you find a good many people repulsive, then. Fear is all too common in humans; it's what has kept the majority of them alive.

But then, as a man who rules a country where fear is an integral part of keeping the populace under control, I may be slightly biased. After all, if the people of Europa were not terrified of me, I'd have several assassination attempts per day rather than just the odd one every month or so.

No. It is just a momentary impulse. I understand -why- people feel fear, but it is alien to Astartes.

[he sighs]

I am glad that in my own time such things are not... an issue. Everyone acknowledges the Emperor as their liege-lord, and his governors and proper representatives. But I believe this is partially because the consequences of not doing so are visits from men such as myself.

Ah, yes, well. Your Emperor is a very lucky man indeed. Was his rise to power just as easy as his current rule? If so, I truly do envy him.

[I mean, Klaus has the Jagers, an the Radioheads, and the Dreen, and the Lackya, and his own amazingly well-trained forces... but you can't really compare any of those to the Astartes.]

But we do what we can with what we are given. To be frank, the assassination attempts are the only thing that keep being in power interesting.

The Emperor's last line of defense, the Adeptus Custodes, who are genecrafted in a different way from the Astartes, constantly do what are called blood-games, feigned assassination attempts in order to test the defenses of the Imperial Palace, and the other protectors oft he Emperor. I wonder if they don't amuse him in some way. The Emperor, I mean.

[he shrugs] The Emperor's rise to power was inevitable in a way. He was a force to be reckoned with, created thunder armor, the rudimentary version of what I wear today during his first days walking the land openly, and created an army which brought unity first to Terra, then to the stars. But, it was hard fought, and full compliance even on Terra alone took hundreds of years. Humanity is a stubborn race, and full of greedy people who can't see the greater picture. The fact that if we do not struggle together for survival as a race, we will die individually to those who care not at all for our factionalism.

[Oh, well, that makes Klaus feel better. He's scarcely been in power for twenty years. There's still time.

Not that he's at all interested in whatever the God Emperor has going on.]

I forget that lifespan in the time you come from is so much more negotiable. Of course he would have hundreds of years to make his rule absolute. I could not possibly hope to do that in the time that I have allotted -- and at any rate, I have no interest in anything quite so all-encompassing. My rule over Europa was initially intended only to establish peace and make the country safe in a way that the Heterodyne boys had failed to achieve through simply asking nicely.

Now it is nothing more than an endless cycle of complaints, conquests, civil war, and then bureaucrats with mops to smooth the whole thing over until more complaints start coming. To be frank, I would give the whole thing up if anyone else were actually competent enough to handle it in my place.

Edited 2011-04-18 05:30 (UTC)

I would have you tell me of the Heterodyne boys sometime, friend.

[he is quiet a moment, then looks Klaus directly in the eye.]

And of your son.

[... Oh now that's not fair at all.

Unfortunately, most of his memories of Gilgamesh are distant and awkward, given that for the greater part of the boy's life, who his father was was a carefully kept secret -- especially from him. Why, at the point Klaus was taken from his own world and thrown into Mayfield, he and Gil had barely spent a year in each others company as father and son.

Not to mention that most of that time was spent arguing in between subjecting Gil to various tests to see if he was actually fit to be a ruler, something neither of them particularly enjoyed except in the odd awkward moment when something managed to click.

But how does one explain all that? By being awkwardly silent for far too long, apparently. Jeez, Klaus, say SOMETHING.]

There... is not much to tell. Gilgamesh has grown into a brilliant young man and I am confident in his strength both of body and of character.

Then I envy you that. Astartes have no children, except through the passing on of our gene-seed. We have Progenoid organs implanted in each of us, that when implanted within Aspirants, begin the transformational process which makes a youth into an Astartes. But by that time... the Astartes from whom the organs progenoids are harvested are most likely dead, though the surgery can be done while we still live, battlefield extraction is not uncommon.

[he looks regretful] Given the nature of my probable death, and the traitor status of my Legion, it is very unlikely anyone will ever carry my geneseed.

[RED FIRE GARVIEL WHY ARE YOU THE SADDEST THING TO EVER EXIST EVER]

That is... unfortunate. One of the basest of human desires is to see one's genes passed on. Besides, even in the capacity you describe, I have a feeling you would be a better father than I.

[...Welp, there's that can of worms, all over the floor.]

[He is silent for a long time.] While I hate Mayfield, I am grateful for the chance to watch over and be a father of sorts to the daughters the town has seen fit to assign me.

Thank you for the compliment, but I believe you are doing quite well with Hiccup.

[If only he knew.]

[If only he knew indeed. Cue a wry laugh.]

Ah, well. Off and on, yes. I am amazed that after what happened while I was under Lucrezia's control, he is still able to be around me and feel relatively comfortable.

[Whoops. Did he ever actualy tell Garviel the details of that?]

I suppose that does speak to the strength of the relationship we have developed.

He is a good boy. If he was in my world, I'd have asked your permission to make him into an Astartes like myself. He has sufficient bravery, and if he slew a dragon, sufficient war-skill as well.

If he wished to, I would see no reason to disallow it. He certainly has the proper sense of honor, as far as I can tell.

[To be honest? Klaus isn't sure if Hiccup would go for it. But of course, that would be the boy's decision, not Klaus's. As it should be. Which is kind of an amazing thing to realize, because Klaus is so used to micromanaging his actual son's life to the point where it's kind of ridiculous.]

How are Astartes selected, if I may ask?

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lunawolves10th.livejournal.com - 2011-04-21 05:47 (UTC) - Expand

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