(Untitled)

[oliverplus]

Characters: Oliver Day (oliverplus) and OPEN
Location: Your reality!
Time: After Oliver's fairytale has ended, and during or after yours, as you prefer
Summary: Oliver goes on an involuntary reality-hopping tour of the multiverse~
Warnings: Oliver is a geek, and depending on your reality, he might just show it. Possibly a lot

Comments

[lamb_of_gold]

The next location may have striken Oliver as familiar. The same white marble, the same salty air, and the same hot, white sun. Perhaps not quite the same place exactly, but not far.

Perhaps the only real difference between this place and Saga's reality, was that now? It was silent.

The temple before him was in some state of disrepair. Not so bad as to have been dangerous, but the debris around the threshold of the temple was enough to prompt someone to watch their steps. However, it certainly looked a fair deal cooler in the shade...

[oliverplus]

Oliver did recognise it right away. For a second, he thought he'd been sent back to Saga's reality, but it was quickly apparent that this was different. It was quieter--sadder. Beautiful, but clearly having suffered more wear and less recent care. But whose temple was this? There were a few Saints on the Plane that Oliver knew of.

He started carefully up toward the threshold, debating if he should call out or not. Saga had made it clear that outsiders weren't welcome here, and he had a feeling it would cause real trouble if someone who wasn't on the Plane found him first. So with that in mind, he stayed silent but watchful as he made his way toward the temple.

[lamb_of_gold]

The guardian met him halfway, melting away from the shadows that cloaked the inside of the temple.

Mu, in his plainclothes, seemed somewhat surprised.

"Oliver?"

[oliverplus]

Oliver was also surprised, as he hadn't seen Mu coming, but he broke out in a smile when he did spot his friend. "Mu! So this is your temple, isn't it?"

He gestured around the general area, secretly glad that it belonged to this Saint out of all of them. He'd already visited Saga, and Saga and Mu were the only Saints he knew well. Half the excitement of going somewhere new was sharing it with a friend, after all.

[lamb_of_gold]

Mu couldn't help but respond with a small smile of his own. "Yes, this is Aries, though it wouldn't really matter if you'd appeared elsewhere. At the moment, they're all my temples.

"But judging by your tone, I would assume you've visited Saga already, hm?"

[oliverplus]

"Ah, yeah..." Oliver frowned, glancing again at the clear wear-and-tear of the entryway. He remembered what Mu had told him about the situation in his world. If anything, it made him even more glad that he had arrived here. Mu shouldn't have to be alone.

"Well, this one's really yours, so can I see it?" Excitement slipped easily back into his tone, and he hoped that it would be infectious. Mu looked like he needed it. He was surprised at Mu's observation, though. "Yeah, actually. How'd you know?"

[lamb_of_gold]

"Kiki and Atla are out today, so please, come in." Mu shifted slightly to the side to allow Oliver past him, then fell into step beside, and led around the debris.

"As I said, your tone. You put emphasis on this being my temple, implying you'd visited another already," he replied with a ghost of a smile. It was nice to have the occasional visitor.

[oliverplus]

Oliver wasn't sure whether to be glad they weren't there to ask any awkward questions or sad that he wouldn't be meeting them. But he nodded with a grin, glad Mu was watching to dodge the debris. In his excitement to look around, he almost tripped several times--which he really didn't mind. It was much more fun to look at the scenery than his feet.

"Ohh." He hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, I did! But not on purpose." As much as he would have liked to; he was starting to wish he had that ability. "I guess the Plane is doing an experiment right now--I keep showing up in different places. But I can't go to the Plane or anything, so." He shrugged. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing to do besides enjoy the places he was seeing--which was easy enough when he kept appearing with friends.

[lamb_of_gold]

"You're not the first who's dropped in unexpectedly," Mu said in explanation. "It's becoming quite a trend, I'm finding."

Inside the temple itself was a few degrees cooler and much darker. It looked significantly less labyrinthine than Gemini, with an open main hall and a straight shot out the other side, which seemed to glow from the sunlight outside. Mu remained still awhile, letting his eyes adjust. "It's somewhat dark in here at this time of day. The sun is directly overhead, you see. But come, can I offer you anything?"

[oliverplus]

"What, really?" That was a surprise to hear. He wondered why he hadn't seen anyone yet, but then again, living on the TARDIS meant you didn't necessarily see everyone on it. He hoped no one from the Plane had ever appeared and been lost somewhere inside without anyone to help them, though. "Who else has come?"

Oliver couldn't wait for his eyes to adjust once he'd entered the temple. He started to look around eagerly right away, regardless of the fact that he couldn't see well yet. At Mu's question, he glanced at his friend with a grin. "How about a tour?"

[lamb_of_gold]

"Jade and Morgana come to mind first and foremost," Mu answered, blinking as his eyes adjusted. "A tour I can certainly grant you, but there isn't much to see. The temple may look large, but much of it is for show. The living area is quite small indeed."

Nevertheless, he lead Oliver to the left. Behind the rows of pillars was a small hallway, lit only ambient. There were sconces on the wall for candles, but understandably, they were not lit.

There were a few doors off this hallway, but Mu ignored them, leading Oliver down a half-flight of stairs to the very end of the hall. He opened the door there, which led to what looked to be a large den, with books lining two of the walls, a fireplace, armchair, worktable and a fair deal of open floorspace. There was another door on the far end which remained closed.

"This is my workroom," Mu explained. "Also my study, sitting room and occasionally my bedroom"

[oliverplus]

"So they just...showed up?" he asked, frowning curiously. He thought he would have remembered if Morgana had mentioned something like that. Then again, there had been a lot of other things for him and Morgana to worry about lately. "And then disappeared later? That's what I've been doing, anyway."

When Mu offered a tour, Oliver kept grinning, despite Mu's claim that the temple was small. "That's okay. I mean, it's a temple!" he declared, which he thought summed up his feelings on the matter rather well

[lamb_of_gold]

"Something like that, yes." He watched Oliver's face with some degree of amusement. In some ways, Oliver was like a Trainee being summoned up to Aries for the first time - wide-eyed and awestruck. He hadn't missed the slip earlier, but chose not to comment.

"Very often, actually. As I said, it is my workroom, and I teach them much about the cloths here." He gestured to the table, which hosted some scattered tools, and then to three very heavy-looking stone jars next to the fireplace.

"The door on the far wall there used to be a supply closet, but I've since converted it into a bedroom of sorts. I work late into the night sometimes. You can have a closer look at this room, but be careful with the books. Many of them are very old."

[oliverplus]

Oliver was very much like a Trainee, particularly in the ways Mu was thinking of. He had already started to wander the room, poking at the books and other items in it. It struck him as rather like visiting ancient Greece--a concept which could keep him awestruck for nearly forever. He opened one of the books gently, coughing from the dust. "What are you--" He cut off, coughing again. "--working on?"

[lamb_of_gold]

"Nothing at the moment," Mu said quietly, fanning some of the dust away from his face. It was a half truth - he was writing out some information for Jade, but that was hardly important right now.

"You may linger and look, but there is still much to see and little time in which to see it."

[oliverplus]

"Oh," Oliver replied, rather disappointed. But when Mu pointed out how much else there was to see, he hurriedly closed the book--in a rather impressive shower of dust that had him coughing for a moment--and then hurried to the doorway. "Yeah! What's next?"