So, about these time paradoxes...

[forgetbeam]

Characters: Ishimaru [replies from eyebrowsareforever] and You
Setting: Various places in the tower
Format: Your pick!
Summary: It's been ten years for Ishimaru, and he's mellowed out a little. The tower's obviously worn him down, but he keeps on trucking! And with all these new arrivals coming in, he figures he should help them settle in. If only he could find those informational pamphlets he wrote up years ago...
(Feel free to establish some kind of pre-existing TYL relationship!)
Warnings: Depends on who shows up.

[Libraries and Study Room]

[The reference books might be a little less popular than the ones on the third floor, but Ishimaru himself has always preferred them. Even after 'graduating' (or the closest thing he could get to it here), he never really broke the habit of sitting and studying for what could often be hours at a time. That's not what he's after today, though! With all the new arrivals in the Tower, he's going to need to bust out the little booklets he made up long ago just in case people started showing up again. Ha! Good thing he thought ahead.

But the only trouble is... where are they? He could have sworn he'd placed them on a very specific shelf here. Did someone take them out and put them back in the wrong place? Did the Administrators take them away? Did someone decide to use them as kindling on a colder month?

Whatever, he's going to do a thorough search of each and every shelf.

This search continues in the study room a floor down, ending in the other library. The longer he's at it the more visibly frustrated he is, frowning and clenching his teeth and all, but he does not give up until he's looked everywhere. He's very likely to ask anyone in his path if they've seen the books, too.]



[Cafeteria]

[He can't believe he wasted a few hours trying to find something that isn't even there. By this point he's realized that something weird is going on with the Tower again, and doesn't think it's worth it working on new booklets just yet. If there's no change by the end of the month, he'll do it, but for now he'll settle on individual explanations. Of course, most of the other long-term residents have probably taken care of most of it.

Not only is he feeling a little useless after his failed search, he's hungry, so it's off to the cafeteria. It's halfway through the month, and that's always about the time he gets tired of eating the same things all the time, but he knows better than to risk the restaurant. At least it's not those bars again.

But as hungry as he is, it's so hard to force anything down. He doesn't give up, though! Maybe he should try out this hunting business later.]



[Swimming Pool]

[Hunting's going to have to wait until tomorrow, though. It's getting late in the day and he'd love to get some kind of exercise in that doesn't involve hacking monsters to bits. So! It's time for a leisurely swim!

Except "leisurely" means "doing laps as fast and splashily as possible." Some things haven't changed at all in the last decade.]



[Elsewhere]

[So maybe you encounter him on a different day, in another place. He could be anywhere from his dorm/the surrounding hallways, watching movies in the media room (he's become That Guy who tries to memorize and speak along with the entire script), clearing monsters from around the stairways on the more dangerous floors, or... wherever, really.]

Comments

[geometry]

[He really did make it too spicy.]

I apologize if--

[...wait, he likes it? Ishimaru actually likes it? Why was he crying if he... oh. Oh. Okay. He just gets really emotional about curry. That's... a thing, he guesses. Not knowing Ishimaru well enough to make some snarky comment on the matter, Equius simply stands there and watches him eat, trying to ignore the tears that were falling into the dish. Ew.]

Since you seem to find such happiness from good food, I see no reason not to.

[eyebrowsareforever]

[And in an instant, his demeanor switches from wistful nostalgia to determination. The tears are now fueled by MANLY PASSION (and spice).]

Right! I promise I won't let you down!

[Just the prospect of learning something new is enough to awaken his Inner Student a little. Fortunately for Equius, Ishimaru manages to reign it in and pretend to act like a normal human being again.]

Ha ha... My name's Kiyotaka, by the way.

[geometry]

[Equius shows no outward response, but he keeps that promise in his mind for future reference. It's a force of habit he's come to acquire by virtue of knowing one of the slipperiest people in the Tower, so every promise he gets is a valuable thing. He didn't plan to use it against Ishimaru anytime soon, since he seemed like a much more trustworthy individual, but you just never know.]

Well, Kiyotaka. I am Equius Zahhak. A pleasure. [He does not offer to shake, because the human looks far too immersed in his curry-eating to stop for anything like that.]

[eyebrowsareforever]

It's very nice to meet you, Zahhak.

[He's fallen out of the habit of giving his own last name most of the time, but not out of addressing others by theirs. It's a little late to give Equius that same opportunity, now that he thinks about it. Whoops.

Not that he's going to think about it too much. He is definitely too focused on finishing up the curry. When he does, he downs the water. It was pretty spicy, after all.]

Thank you... I mean it.

[geometry]

[...Did Ishimaru just call him by his last name.]

[That’s not to say that he hadn’t ever been called by anything other than “Equius” before — he’d been known by his last name to several people in the Tower, and it had caused him confusion and upset then too. But generally those people had added a suffix to the end for cultural reasons he didn’t quite understand. Maybe the lack of a suffix, to Ishimaru’s culture, was a sign of respect. But Equius had been known solely as ‘Zahhak’ too, and for entirely different reasons.]

[So, really, if his expression goes static and emotionless again, don’t mind that, friend. He’s just quietly papping and leashing the uglier implications of that word and keeping them deep in his mind where they belong.]

You’re welcome.

[eyebrowsareforever]

[And so begins a comedic tragic misunderstanding that is probably going to be a little bit of both...]

...I should probably clean this up.

[geometry]

You should.

[That's going to get very awkward very fast. But in the meantime, Equius takes the glass and walks into the kitchen without another word. Ishimaru may want to clean up, but he's more or less morally obligated to at least help out.]

[eyebrowsareforever]

[He follows after Equius soon after, carrying the tray and dishes he was using. If he were anybody else he might actually sense some change in the air and wonder if he'd offended the troll, but... even a decade can't fix everything.

For now he figures Equius is just that kind of guy.

WHATEVER, time for some unnecessarily intense dish washing.]

[geometry]

[That is really intense dishwashing.]

Are you alright?

[eyebrowsareforever]

...What do you mean?

[Come on Equius you have to be really vigilant about cleaning messes and germs when it comes to dishes and cutlery! Totally normal!]

[geometry]

[Look, man, he can totally get behind the cause of sanitizing to OCD levels, but... not that frantically.]

If you keep going like that you're going to break a dish.

[Jussayin'.]

[eyebrowsareforever]

Nothing's broken for three years.

[THAT WAS ONE TIME...]

[geometry]

Nothing should have broken, period. [ :I ]

[eyebrowsareforever]

[And just like that, his intense enthusiasm for dish washing all but dissipates, and he looks horribly embarrassed while he starts drying instead.]

I know... It was a really stupid mistake back then, too.

Here. It'll finish it gently.

[geometry]

[As he should. Tsk tsk, Ishimaru. You have brought shame upon your entire family.]

Better.

[WATCHING INTENSELY... and then walking back to the door to check on the state of the buffet tables. Sigh. Better get working on more curry. There's a half-full (and totally huge) pot of rice on the stove, so Equius sets to work finding more bowls, having filled all that he took out earlier. The other pot, containing the spices, meat and so on, is now empty. Equius glances into it, and without ceasing to unload the bowls, speaks to Ishimaru.]

Do you want your first lesson now? We're out of stew.

[eyebrowsareforever]

[Nah his Grandpa took care of that shaming thing FOREVER AGO.

While Equius goes out to check on food troughs, Ishimaru washes his hands as well. Just for the sake of being thorough.]

Right, let's get started! What do we need for this?

[geometry]

It's quite simple. All you have to do is measure the ingredients and put them into this pot. [He gestures towards said pot.] You do know how to read ingredients, right?

[eyebrowsareforever]

I know that much! Just- just give me the recipe.

[geometry]

[Heh. A corner of Equius' mouth picks up.]

Let me write it down.

[And so he does, scribbling down the ingredients on a piece of paper (conjured from thin air) and handing the list, once completed, to Ishimaru.]

[eyebrowsareforever]

[Of all the weird magic stuff Ishimaru's seen while he's been here, conjuring paper seems like one of the more useful skills. He might be a little impressed, but that still doesn't make him any less offended from before.]

Thanks.

[He looks it over, frowning.]

Potatoes, carrots, an apple, any available meat... Oil? Flour? Really?

[geometry]

[He shrugs.] It works well enough.

If you think you can make a better list of ingredients, though, be my guest.

[eyebrowsareforever]

N...no, this should be fine. I just wasn't expecting flour to be on the list.

[Flour only counts with baking, obviously. He roots through the pantries and cold storage until he has successfully collected all the ingredients, setting each one on the counter in a neat little row.]

I'll get peeling these!

[He was pretty eager to say that before Equius could tell him to first...]

I'm sorry, big!Equius is kind of a jerk

[geometry]

Hm.

[Gurl, don't even try to out-bake Equius Zahhak. He's even better than that at cooking.]

Right. Well, this rice will get old soon... try to be quick about it.

They should totally meet again post-event

[eyebrowsareforever]

[Yeah, so maybe the years have mellowed Ishimaru out considerably. But that doesn't mean he's finally above getting all worked up when he feels his pride's at stake.

There is absolutely nothing that can go wrong with trying to peel vegetables at a breakneck pace.]

I'm going as fast as--!

[THERE GOES

THE VERY TIP OF HIS FINGER

GENTLY CARESS]

For. Sure.

[geometry]

Oh.

[He sounded remarkably flat for someone who was, internally, asking what kind of a gently caressing moron actually goes so fast that he lobs his own fingertip off.]

...Well, take your finger away from the ingredients, we don't want the blood to mix in. Go stand by the door and wait for me. [And he's going to proceed around the room, turning off all stovetops (only you can prevent Tower fires!) before leading Ishimaru up the stairs. Iiiiit's nurse Equius time.]