[open]

[reformedsinner]

Who: Cho Hakkai (reformedsinner) and you!
What: It's the first day of school and he's made cookies! ... It's also stormy out, although he can't remember why he doesn't like rainy nights.
Where: Hakkai and Elsa's school/Menrva's temple
When: March 14th
Warnings: Math. Possible angst in the rain threads.

First Day of School (Open/Mingle)

[It's gray and rainy outside, although Hakkai's been too busy with his preparations to go out yet. The calendar he checked had said today was White Day, and a bit of work with the search function on his phone had informed him that on White Day men were supposed to give presents to those who had given them gifts for Valentine's Day.

He doesn't remember Valentine's Day of this year. He might even have been alive back then. At the moment, however, the gift-giving onus appears to be on him, and so he's made several plates of neatly white-frosted sugar cookies to sit at the back of the room he's repurposing for his classes. All holidays aside, after all, well-fed students learn more effectively than hungry ones.

The rest of the room is taken up by a few tables, each stacked with all of the basic to moderate math texts he could discover in the temple library. He doubts any of the students here will be at the same level, and Yukine's the only one who had textbooks to bring to the open house last week. Today he'll just find out what they do know. From there, he can start rearranging the tables.

There isn't a speck of dust in the room, but he occupies himself dusting the low bookshelf under the windows anyway. There's a little time left before the class is scheduled to start. It will, of course, be fine, but despite that, he feels inexplicably nervous.

Well, if everything winds up going to Hell, he will still have cookies.]

Late Night (Closed to Elsa)

[He can't sleep. He's tried. The storm outside is buffeting the sturdy stone walls of the temple. Raindrops rattle overhead, and every time Hakkai closes his eyes, the sounds seem to seep into him, leaving him unsettled and alert.

It's after midnight when he gives up the effort at last and pads into the kitchen. The leftover cookie plates are still sitting out on the table, and there are some pots left to soak in the sink from dinner. He welcomes the thought of something to do, and pads to the sink, pulling out a steel wool pad and beginning determinedly to scour.

The pots jostle against one another, and the water runs steadily, without the unsettling unevenness of rain and wind, and Hakkai begins to take a little comfort in the clamor of domestic sounds, in the warmly lit bubble of the kitchen. Too soon, they're sparkling clean. He sets them upside down on a towel to finish drying, and stares at them as the seconds tick by.

Tick.

Tick.

He throws open the nearest cupboard, and, with a singleminded intensity, starts to rearrange it more sensibly.]

Comments

first day

[disciplineking]

Despite his rather strange attitude and almost refusal to actually go to any classes, Hibari did show up for the first day to keep an eye on anyone who showed up. Even if one or two of them disagreed, he was not handing this role to anyone else.

He wasn't expecting the smell of cookies, though, and since Hakkai was looking in the other direction, the Cloud Guardian felt it was safe to inspect the plate. They smelled good and his stomach rumbled from how he had skipped eating today because it was White Day and his god was even more annoying than usual-

Hibari wasn't going to say anything, just keep looking at the cookies while Hakkai had his back turned.

[reformedsinner]

"Please feel free to take one!" Hakkai called from the front of the room, flipping through one of the mathematics books he'd pulled down. This really was going to be a little advanced for most of the students, wasn't it? He couldn't understand half of it himself.

He smiled to himself and put the book neatly down on the stack, reaching for the next.

[disciplineking]

Hakkai telling him he could take one just made him not want to by the spite of it, but his hunger one out. He snatched up a few cookies before gracefully, like a cat, climbing up by a window or a low bookshelf and yawning. It seems like he was content in his role of just sitting here to watch how the proceedings go, waiting for anyone to cause trouble.

He certainly wasn't going to say that the cookies were delicious as he slowly bit into one.

[reformedsinner]

This one was more appropriate for a beginner, Hakkai decided. At least Hibari had listened to him about the cookies, even if he was now sitting in the windowsill to eat them.

"Do you suppose they have ants on the Far Shore?" he commented, and tapped the book against his shoulder, smiling cheerily. "-- Ah, and will you be studying with us? Or just watching?"

[disciplineking]

If that had been an attempt for Hibari to stop eating his cookies on the windowsill, it went completely ignored. Besides, he was generally a very clean and meticulous person anyway.

It almost seemed like the second statement was ignored, but it was after Hibari had finished off the first cookie that he finally deigned to answer. "I don't need to be taught. I'm here to watch."

[reformedsinner]

It had been, but Hakkai was not surprised Hibari'd decided to ignore it. He'd clean the windowsill afterwards in case of dropped crumbs, he supposes, whether or not Hibari actually appeared likely to drop them. He seemed to be a neat eater, but no one was perfect.

"Everyone should keep learning," he said, didactically, and picked up the next book. "How have you and your god been getting along, by the way?"

Hibari did seem to spend a lot of time at their temple. Hakkai wasn't even sure who he worked with yet.

[disciplineking]

At even just the mention of Ren, his face quickly soured, the expression mostly in his eyes. Their first mission together had gone decidedly disasterous and well, he didn't really want to spend time in the temple today of all days.

Hibari shrugged himself out of the jacket he was actually wearing today, revealing that his right arm was almost completely covered in bandages. Whether that was a planned gesture or something just casual, it was almost impossible to tell. Either way, the Cloud Guardian started picking at the next cookie.

"He's useless in a fight. I'm not staying in a god of love's shrine on White Day."

[reformedsinner]

"Your god is a god of love?"

Hakkai's surprise was unflatteringly genuine. He nearly lost his monocle. Of all the things he'd imagined Hibari helping with prayers for, love had never been among them. Protection, war, perhaps something like that...

Decidedly not love.

He cleared his throat.

"Well, you're welcome to stay for dinner if you like."

That arm looked bad, but Hakkai didn't comment on it beyond a brief lift of his eyebrows. Perhaps he should invite Hibari's god along for fighting practice. If he's getting his shinki hurt so badly, he needs to improve.

[disciplineking]

Hibari almost snorted. He could hear the incredulous tone in Hakkai's voice-he honestly barely believed that was his situation either. He also wasn't going to tell the older man it had literally took him til now to finally learn Ren's name and what type of god he is.

"Inanna is typically a goddess of love and warfare. However, this incarnation is useless in both." As for Hakkai's offer, it almost went unspoken that he was staying here in the 'school'. He felt more natural and at home here, even if he started prying the window open and scattering some cookie crumbs along the edge, obviously hoping to attract some birds.

late night

[arealhardnose]

[It's the clanking of the pots and pans that wakes her. Elsa actually loves storms. There's a rush of energy when they're sudden and violent, and when they persist, their sound and splendor inspires in her a quiet awe. People are ultimately so powerless, and for all the advances that have been made in science in technology, they understand and control so very little of the universe.

Pots don't ring and clang all by themselves, though, so it must be Hakkai who's up and in the kitchen, the room that is his domain the way the ballroom is hers. She knows from when she met him that he was a good cook before he died, but does he? Has he wondered yet why he gravitates to that, and how it comes so naturally to him?

Did he dream about it now and go to take out his frustrations on the cookware in the temple?

He's upset, somewhat; she can feel that through their bond. It would be cruel of her to abandon him to his glum feelings when she's aware of them (if she hadn't woken up, then that's different; this, now, is a choice), so she gets up, slips on a silk robe and cloud-soft slippers, and heads to the kitchen.

Sure enough, there he is, rearranging the things the in cupboard -- rather needlessly, too. He keeps things so neat. Maybe she's imagining it, but she swears she feels his emotions more clearly now that he's within eyesight.

She stays by the entrance, a hand on the wall as if to steady herself.] Did the storm wake you?

Re: late night

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai, on tiptoe, drops the bottle in his hands. He barely catches it again a few inches above where it would have smashed on the counter. He is distracted. He hadn't noticed her there at all. He --

Swallowing down the nervous jolt of energy, he sets the bottle down next to the other sauces with exaggerated care, and turns around.]

Ah, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?

[She'd asked something about the storm. He takes a deep breath, bracing his hands against the countertop behind him, and attempts a smile.

The attempt doesn't last long; he can feel how false it is on his face even as it forms.

He doesn't even know why.]

It's hard to sleep when it rains.

[He's really learning so much about himself. He hates every moment of it.]

[arealhardnose]

Oh, I'm so sorry!

[She should have announced her presence somehow. Lucky his reflexes are good and he caught the bottle before it broke. Though if it had broken, she would've cleaned it up. It would've been her fault, after all.

Now, on the one hand, Elsa doesn't want to lie to him; but on the other, she doesn't want to make him feel any worse than he already does, so she shakes her head. What's a white lie now and then, especially on White Day. Okay, that's not how it works, but still.]

The rain on my windows got very loud all of a sudden, that's all.

[It's a relief when he drops the smile, because even blindfolded, she'd know it was fake. She can feel it now, a hollow tightness in her chest that fights against the gentle contentedness she'd been carrying around all day.]

I'm sorry. [Now... how can she help?] I could find you some music to listen to. It could drown out the storm. Or, if you're not feeling tired, we can spar.

[Because it's not as if she can tell him what she knows about him. That would only make all of this worse.]

[reformedsinner]

[He must have woken her. He'd been making a lot of noise, he knows, and things do echo in the temple. Still, it's kind of her to pretend otherwise.

The nervous tension in his shoulders transmutes subtly into a slump as he turns his head to look out the window. His gaze is distant. Music isn't his choice of distraction. And sparring... no. He's learned already that it's a bad idea to fight when raw unease is so close to the surface in him. He makes mistakes.]

Thank you, but no.

[Briefly, he closes his eyes.]

Would you like some tea?

[He unclenches his hands from the counter edge, straightening up and turning to the stove. The kettle is on the back burner already. With his back turned to her, it becomes easier, strangely, to speak, and as he lifts the lid off the kettle to fill it at the sink, he continues in a soft voice.]

I'm just... wondering who I left behind.

[arealhardnose]

Yes, tea would be good, thank you.

[She is silent as he starts to fill the kettle, the only bit of privacy she can give him when they're in the same room. It's strange, to know more about him than he knows. It's wrong, her instincts tell her, but what can she do? She had as little choice in this arrangement as he did, and the last thing she wants is to say something that will end up hurting him, possibly even hurting herself.

The mere act of preparing tea seems to ease at least some of all he's feeling. It can't be easy to live like that, knowing that you've lost so much. When she had been someone's pawn, Elsa had been made to think that's all she'd ever been.

Can she tell him about that? Would it even be helpful to him? She has her memories, while he doesn't. Would that be like rubbing salt in a wound?

She walks into the kitchen but keeps her distance, for his sake, staying where his back is still facing her while she leans against the counter.]

Days like this can be so nostalgic. A lot of people never can figure out why that is. [That is to say, even the living struggle with feelings like this.] I bet that you wondering about them comforts them somehow.

[reformedsinner]

[The kettle ticks as it begins to heat. Hakkai sighs.]

Do you think so? I wouldn't find that comforting.

[Perhaps he's the strange one, here, but it doesn't seem like a real connection when he's not thinking of any person in particular. And anyone who's missing him won't have forgotten who he is. That he's wondering, without remembering... he sighs, and takes down the tea canister and two cups.]

But there's no turning back, is there?

Do you prefer black tea or green? I think I have some chamomile here too.

[He glances up at her, and, after a moment, smiles slightly.]

I do realize it's not your fault.

[arealhardnose]

[She shrugs.] We're supernatural beings now. Who knows how our thoughts ripple out into the regular world? Those links must still exist somewhere, right? 'Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another.'

[For all that the laws of physics seem to be bent here with little care, she takes comfort in the ones she's known to be true and immutable. If shinki are souls, formerly human, then they have merely been changed. She has been changed too, pulled from her world but not destroyed.

Ah, chamomile, please.

[Tucking some hair behind her ear, she watches him work for a few moments. No, there is no turning back, but there is moving forward.

And while it's nice not to be blamed, it doesn't change that she is responsible for him now.]

Still, I can feel how it affects you, all of this, and I want to do what I can to make it easier.

[A brief pause, then--] I-- I want to find out why all of this is happening. Why Bo and Yuya disappeared, why we're all here. Maybe that's the ony way to turn back. Or maybe... maybe knowing will make everything easier.

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai gets out chamomile for Elsa, and black tea for himself: he doubts he'll be sleeping until the storm dies down.]

You can feel it? I'm sorry.

[He pours hot water over the tea, inhaling the floral steam, and hands her cup over.]

... Have you heard anything about the disappearances so far?

First Day

[choseneutrality]

The rain hadn't been something that bother Flynn especially. It was just another day like any other day only it happened to be wet outside.

But even with all of that in mind it didn't keep him from getting a little soaked.

When he finally makes it inside there's water dripping from the edges of his coat and the ends of hair. Flynn does notice the smell of cookie but he doesn't move towards them.

Re: First Day

[reformedsinner]

Hakkai leans out of the door of the temple room he's repurposed as a math classroom for the day, and blinks.

Someone forgot his umbrella. Oh, and he's dripping on the clean marble, too -- Hakkai heads out into the hallway, trying to remember where he last put the clean towels.

"Welcome! Let me get your coat, please."

If he can just put that in the entryway at least most of the problem will be taken care of!

[choseneutrality]

Flynn turns Hakkai's way when he speaks to him. His coat? Oh, right, it was making a puddle on the floor with how much rain water gotten on it.

"It's fine. I can do it myself."

He removes it easily enough, taking the time to remove his gauntlet briefly that had been covering his shinki name as he did so. When his coat was off he put his gauntlet back on.

[reformedsinner]

"Ah, but you're a guest!" Despite the mild reproof, Hakkai doesn't get in Flynn's way as he pulls off the coat and his gauntlet. His gaze tracks curiously down to Flynn's hand. A shinki, then. Kan.

He smiles, and steps back out of Flynn's way once the coat has been safely hung up to drip-dry.

"It's quite a storm out today, isn't it? Are you here for class?"

[choseneutrality]

Without his blue coat there wasn't any color to break up the white of the rest of his outfit. Not counting the steel grey of his gauntlet with small strip of red cloth around it.

Flynn nods his head. Yes, it was rather stormy outside and the nod is also one of affirmation to the second question.

[reformedsinner]

Was he usually this quiet, Hakkai wondered, and turned, gesturing to Flynn to follow. At least he'd be a trouble-free student, if so.

"Then you're just in time! This way. I've set up the room for math, but if you're interested in something else, I'm certain we can find books for it around here."

[choseneutrality]

He wasn't the most chatty person around; usually only speaking when he was spoken to. So no, there wouldn't be any trouble from him in most cases. Flynn follows after Hakkai when the man indicates to him that he wanted him to.

"What books are there?"

[reformedsinner]

"... Quite a few!"

Hakkai laughed, stepping into the classroom. Low shelves around two walls were filled with books, although the ones he'd stacked on tables had mostly come from Elsa's library. There were, he had to admit, many advantages in dwelling in the shrine of a goddess of wisdom.

"I've brought a few in here. The library is down the hall." He cast a curious glance at Flynn. "What sorts of things are you interested in learning?"