[OPEN] The cake is a lie

[chronomancer]

Characters: Jade!Eridan and YOU!
Setting: Cafeteria's kitchen.
Format: Action.
Summary: ...in which Eridan tries his hand at the arcane, mystic majicks of baking for the sake of his matesprit. It goes as well as you'd expect.
Warnings: FLOUR. FLOUR AND BUTTER EVERYWHERE.

[...well. That sure just happened.

Eridan blinks slowly, as the cloud of white slowly descends onto the floor. He'd never known bags of flour were even explosive. Like. Okay. Maybe he'd tugged a little too hard. Maybe. But that's not a good enough reason for it to explode on his face. The recipe he was working off from didn't say anything about exploding bags of flour.

He just stands there for a moment, W E L P all but written all over his face. Somehow, he thinks, this little project might turn out to be a little more complicated than anticipated.]
 

Comments

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko sometimes wandered into the cafeteria for normal food, in order to keep up appearances, but she didn't think she'd see someone else mess up badly while cooking again while she was here.]

Hey, are you okay? Need any help?

[chronomancer]

...I need to know if that was supposed to happen because I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

[tohko_amano]

No, it wasn't. It's not normal for flour to just explode like that.

[Tohko started ripping out a few paper towels, wetting them, and cleaning up the mess on the floor.]

You should probably hop into a tub or a pool. That would help wash it off.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan reaches out to stop her.]

Oh god, please, don't. I'll clean it up myself, don't worry.

[Wow, no. Okay, not letting other people clean up after his crap, that's not okay.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko just smiled as she kept cleaning.]

Oh, don't worry! I've done this before, and it's no trouble at all! Really, don't worry about it. Just go clean up, alright?

[chronomancer]

It's okay, I'll clean up.

[Said Eridan from the doorway, waving at both Tohko and his flour'd self. The Eridans shared a look before the floured one shrugged and quietly left the room, intent on cleaning up. Eridan side stepped him and offered Tohko a small smile.]

It's not fair for you to clean up my mess.

[...welcome to the beautiful world of Weird Time Shit, Tohko.]

[tohko_amano]

[..Dave had introduced her to the wonderful, confusing world of Time Shit, and she hadn't much liked it.

..She wasn't quite sure what to make of this. She looked rather puzzled as she spoke.]

..But I don't mind helping you clean up..and what's going on here? Why are there two of you?

[chronomancer]

...you sure?

[Eridan shrugs at her question, already going to get himself a wet rag to clean the floor.]

There's only one of me, actually. Well, if I do it right, anyway. I just went out to clean myself and then came back. Just. More ways than one. Don't think too hard about it, though. It'll hurt your head.

[It hurts his head, most of the time, but that's 'cause he's just awful at this Time management bullshit.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko sighed as she cleaned, and, when the paper towels could handle no more, threw them away.]

I see..I think I get it. You're a time traveler who has to manage his time very, very carefully..and that's just what happened here.

[chronomancer]

Well, that's the theory of it, at least.

[He chuckles a little wryly.]

Practice is something else entirely, really.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko didn't chuckle back, but she did smile as she ripped out a few more paper towels and wetted them.

How you managed to make a whole bag of flour explode is beyond her, but she won't stop helping.]

I would imagine so! But you probably get the hang of it after awhile. What do you use to time travel?

[chronomancer]

[Technically, the answer was himself, as the power over his aspect was inherently his and for all his incompetence, he'd actually maxed out his echeladder. But for the sake of paranoia, he shrugged. Besides, it was technically true, anyway.]

Film reels.

[He's good at cleaning, at least.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko looked a little puzzled at that. She kept cleaning as she spoke.]

I see..how do you use film reels to time travel?

[chronomancer]

...it's like editing. Rewind, reel back, fit in, make a cut.

[He pauses a moment.]

I'm not making any sense at all, am I.

[tohko_amano]

Oh, no, you're making sense! I'm just wondering how you actually do that in real life. Where are the buttons you press? How do you activate each thing?

[chronomancer]

...buttons?

[Now he's the one confused.]

[tohko_amano]

..Usually, with machines, that's how you edit film..

[She then sighed and scratched her head.]

Then again, since you're comparing them to film reels, I guess the act is more physical than just hitting a button.

[chronomancer]

Oh, it's. It's not a machine. They're just.

[He frowned a little.]

It's just a thing I do. Like how some people can hold their breath a really long time? Or some breathe under water or some fly or something. Just. Time's my shtick.

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko nodded.]

I don't think people can fly just by their own merits..but that does make some sense.

[chronomancer]

Oh, sure they can. Wings entirely optional, too.

[He shrugs.]

But yeah, my thing is like that.

[tohko_amano]

Maybe..I guess that's normal in your universe, huh?

[chronomancer]

...in both of them, kinda yeah. I guess.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko looked a little puzzled at that.]

Both of them?

[chronomancer]

Uh huh. Though probably more than that, all things considered. Ours and the humans'. And then the variations of.

[tohko_amano]

Ah, alright then.

[Tohko nodded.]

So you live in a universe where all sorts of other universes exist, and time traveling..

[She sighed and tried to pat the boy on the head.]

That has to be confusing. But, if you're not human, what are you?