vatheon | Housemate Introduction Time!

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Housemate Introduction Time!

Who: Zelda, Zelos, Shizuo ~~Izaya stalking and watching through the windows, that creeper~~
Where: Ordo Residence 3, formerly known as the Zel residence. DON'T BITE ME ZELOS!
When: Backdated to morning, February 16th after All of this
Style: Starting in prose, will follow
Status: Closed

It had been rather late after Shizuo's things were moved into the house (not to mention Zelos's terrible mood), so Zelda had refrained from making introductions that night. First thing in the morning, however, she was down in the kitchen making tea for three, ready to more formally introduce Shizuo and Zelos. True, they had met during the curse, but those were rather strange circumstances and most people had hazy memories of exactly what had happened that week. They didn't need to be the best of friends, but they should at least meet if they were going to be living in the same house. They could all be civil, right? Right?

If Zelos made any cracks about Shizuo being a booty call again, she would kill him.

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Zelos' mood had improved greatly after a good night's sleep and the final decision to completely disavow any knowledge of what had happened during the curse. Totally all a bad dream. One he didn't remember in the slightest. Not one bit. Really.

This morning found him in the kitchen as well cooking up a large pot of oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins, and brown sugar standing at the ready to be dumped in. As it cooks, he's peeling apples to get diced and dropped in. Even oatmeal is a big production when Zelos has too much free time.

"So he moved in last night, right?"

Edited 2012-02-21 07:47 (UTC)

Shizuo had known that Zelda had a roommate prior to asking if he could move in, but due to the fact that his concerns seemed to eclipse everything else, he hadn't really thought about what that meant. Moving from living on his own, as he had for years, to living with two people wouldn't exactly be an easy transition. He was sure living with Zelda wouldn't be bad at all, as he was comfortable with her, but he knew very little about Zelos. Shizuo anticipated that the household would be a little strained, at least initially. He just hoped that he'd be able to contain himself if Zelos pissed him off.

Control. He was working on control.

He awoke early and prepared for the day, but then relaxed for a bit in his room. Not being able to smoke at will was an adjustment, but it was one of the sacrifices that he was willing to make. After hearing the low drone of commotion in the kitchen, Shizuo ventured out to find both Zelos and Zelda.

"Good morning," he said.

And yeah, it was a little strange, waking up to others.

Zelda nodded in response to Zelos's question. "That's right. I'm still not entirely sure what had him so worried other than that murderer being on the loose, but..." she shrugged delicately. Did it matter? He was worried, and if being here made him feel less so, she was happy to accommodate. "Thank you for making breakfast," she added.

As Shizuo headed down the stairs, she turned to smile and wave at him. "Good morning. It's a little chilly out, so I thought I would make you both some tea today. I hope it's alright without milk," she said somewhat sheepishly. Sola not playing delivery boy and still having her bottle put a serious damper on that particular commodity.

"I like mine with cinnamon anyway." Zelos leans back a little to greet their new roommate. "Hey man, I hope you like oatmeal. You'll have to scrounge if you don't."

The Chosen took a quick stock of Shizuo. He'd seen him before, of course, but only in passing when he would come to call on Zelda. From what Zelos could tell, Shizuo is one of those people who can't be unassuming even if they try, sticking out like the only sharpened pencil in a new box. He smelled like cigarettes, even from across the kitchen (though Zelos is fairly sure he can thank his crystal's augmentation for being able to smell that), and his hair was quite obviously dyed, painting a portrait for Zelos of a relatively insecure individual.

Maybe Zelda really was just doing Shizuo a favor by offering him a place here.

It was true; Shizuo just didn't have the kind of disposition that allowed him to be unassuming. It was in large part due to his temper and his rages, but he was also aware of sticking out even among a busy crowd. That had been the point of dyeing his hair to begin with - forging a reputation and giving the city of Ikebukuro something to look for in order to avoid the automatic fighting doll of the city. The more he stuck out, the easier he was to avoid.

Vatheon was different. If he weren't already so accustomed, after all these years, to having blond hair, Shizuo might have considered going back to his natural hair color while in the bubble. There were so many people and creatures that he hardly stood out, now.

"That's fine," Shizuo said to Zelda, definitely not seeking to be an annoying housemate from the get-go. "And I do like oatmeal. Thanks."

For being a man of such strength and ability, Shizuo was often at a loss on what to do about the minute, day-to-day social interactions. Years of mostly fighting and scaring off others had somewhat stunted his social growth, and even though that had changed some since his arrival in Vatheon, that didn't mean he was prepared for the domesticity of sharing a kitchen. He leaned against the farthest counter, to observe without getting in the way.

Zelda observed the brief exchange and relaxed somewhat, focusing on the task at hand. It seemed like neither of them were ruffled from all of this. Zelos's casual offer to share breakfast lifted her mood even further, causing her to hum as she finished preparations. Part of her had expected Zelos to behave as he did with the chocolates, insisting that his food was for hunnies only. The fact that he didn't pleased her.

She set the fresh pot of tea on the kitchen table along with all the other dishes necessary for breakfast. To Zelos, the sheer amount of silverware Zelda considered "necessary" was probably normal, but it was likely to be overwhelming for poor Shizuo. Such are the dangers of living with nobility. Which fork? Which spoon? So many choices.

"Do you need any help serving, Zelos?"

"I've got it, Princess~ You two can go have a seat and let the humble-yet-ever-so-handsome servant bring it to you~" He winks exaggeratedly at Zelda; these jokes are a common thing between them. They may both be nobility, but they're also both quite capable of doing their own chores and the like. Zelos can't resist ruffling Zelda's feathers, though. She just makes the cutest faces about it!

Zelos ladles out the oatmeal into three bowls and takes a few long moments before he brings Zelda and Shizuo's to the table with a small flourish. Each is decorated with a small animal made out in cinnamon and brown sugar with raisins and apple bits for details; Zelda's an owl and Shizuo's a giraffe.

Just how he knows what those animals are when they're not native to his planet is something of a mystery, but not having to sleep more than once a week leaves quite a lot of time for researching other worlds and things. The red-head brings his own bowl over last (with a cat face gracing the center of his bowl, complete with raisin eyes and whiskers) and has a seat at the table.

Shizuo took a seat at the table, feeling a little uncomfortable with the prospect of being served, since he wasn't exactly a guest anymore. He wanted to offer to help Zelda set the table, but it was obvious by the multiple utensils that he'd be more of a hinder than a help.

And he had absolutely no idea which spoons went paired with the tea, or what he should use for the oatmeal. He decided that he probably could use a lesson in dining culture from Zelda at some point.

At least the oatmeal offered a nice diversion. "This looks - great. Thank you." Shizuo said with a little surprise, looking down at his oatmeal giraffe. It made him think of his mother.

"Itadakimasu," he said quietly to show his gratitude for the meal. It had been a while since he had cause to use that phrase. He wasn't sure if either of them had their own traditions for the beginning of a meal, so he held off on lifting (what he hoped was) the oatmeal spoon.

Edited 2012-02-21 17:11 (UTC)

Zelda scowled up at Zelos just as he had planned. It was probably an expression that Shizuo hadn't seen her make before, pouty lips, puffed out cheeks and all. Zelos was exasperating, but she knew that he meant well. Usually.

She served the tea before folding her hands and praying silently, then she picked up the smaller of the spoons to stir in some sugar. The little owl on her oatmeal made her smile. "The owl is cute, Zelos," she commented before picking up another spoon to try it. It just wasn't fair that the Chosen was so good at cooking! She could only comfort herself by remembering that if she didn't have to sleep, she would have time for a lot of hobbies, as well.

As Shizuo said the unfamiliar phrase, she cocked her head curiously. It was easy to forget that they all probably spoke different languages, what with the translation effect Vatheon had. That must have been a word that didn't translate easily. "May I ask what that word means, Shizuo? I'm curious."

Tethe'alla had a custom of sending a prayer to Martel before stuffing one's face, but Zelos had long since abandoned the practice, opting to just eat without ceremony. It would be disingenuous coming from him anyway. "Thanks, I just figured owls suit you."

Zelos also cocked his head slightly at Shizuo's use of the Mizuho dialect. He'd heard it before, Sheena had used it before most meals, and had looked it up long ago when he'd been trying to learn her language, though information on it had been slim; they were a hidden society, after all. Still, Zelos was quite clever at getting what he wanted and he'd learned a good deal of what many of the foreigners here called Japanese. Shizuo must be from the same world as Tsubaki and Fuuka.

"It's 'thanks for the food' or something like that, isn't it?"

Up until then, Shizuo hadn't really had an opportunity to see Zelos and Zelda interact. The curse didn't count - they had all been stuck in strange situations. It was, therefore, interesting to see Zelda get teased and respond in turn.

"Yeah. It's a way of showing thanks for the cook, the food itself - everything, really." Shizuo added sugar to his tea as he spoke, stirred it with one of the spoons (without being sure it was the right one) and took a sip to make sure it was sweet enough to cover for the lack of milk. Then he lifted another spoon and dipped it in his oatmeal to take a bite.

Cinnamon and brown sugar made the oatmeal quite tasty, in Shizuo's opinion. "It's good."

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese, Zelos," she commented. It was obvious to her that Zelos knew a great deal more than he let on, but she didn't push the issue further. She didn't pry in a way that people could observe easily, it was probably why her and Zelos got along.

"It is curious how Vatheon translates most things for is though, isn't it? I do appreciate it since we would all be having a lot of difficulty otherwise, but missing out on the opportunity to learn new languages is somewhat disappointing." Zelda took another bite, musing on the city yet again. If they could just unlock the secrets of this place, so many things could be accomplished!

"I have a great many talents~" The Chosen shrugged and sipped his tea. Nothing like Sebastian's, but good just the same. Besides, they couldn't be expected to be able to get all the same flavors of their own worlds; even the Nostalgia Nook had limits.

"Yeah, no kidding. We'd be pretty lost if it wasn't for that. You can still hear accents in how some people speak, though, and certain words don't get translated so it's still an imperfect system, however it works."

They probably spent less time on that and more time on how to fuck with the residents, anyway. Zelos's jovial demeanor betrayed nothing of his dark thoughts, though.

Shizuo honestly hadn't thought much about it. Of course, he knew that not everyone spoke the same language, being that they all came from different worlds, but he hadn't thought about how the system might be imperfect. "I guess that's true," he said out loud, now that he was considering it. He sipped at his tea again.

"Writing doesn't seem to translate as easily though, at least not anything magical. I was watching Duke do some spell work the other day and I couldn't read a blessed thing." Somehow, it sounded like Zelda found the prospect exciting.

She brightened suddenly and took out her handy-dandy notebook (ding!) and wrote her name down in Hylian carefully, setting it in the middle of the table with her pen. "I would like to see the writing from your worlds, if you don't mind. That's my name right there."

Zelos wondered a bit at how much like Raine Zelda really is. Some people are just attracted to knowledge, so he could see why his housemate had an interest in the brainy-type. It was her tendency to want to take care of the ones that can't do it themselves that boggled him.

He took another bite of his breakfast and scrawled down his name in his native language. It looked much different from Hylian, with more flow between the letters, though it's written left to right just as Hylian is. Zelda's name on paper didn't suit her, Zelos decided as he passed the paper to Shizuo.

Shizuo ate another bite of his oatmeal, swallowing just as the paper was passed to him. He looked over their names, then wrote his own down, in kanji, right-to-left. Then he moved the paper across the table, back to Zelda.

The way Zelos wrote his name wasn't any great surprise to Zelda, as different as it was from her own language. There were a couple languages on Demari, and some of them were a bit more flowery in appearance when written down.

Shizuo's name was another story. No matter how many times she tried to count the letters, it didn't add up - and the way he wrote it was strange, too! She looked delighted as she started to speak.

"How interesting! Is your language more pictorial than phonetic, Shizuo? That's extremely uncommon! The vertical writing is absolutely fascinating as well. Which direction would you usually turn the pages of a book in? Oh! If you read a book from the library here, does the translation alter it for you? Let me get one!"

And in an enthusiastic flurry of learning lust, she was off, hurrying upstairs to her room to grab a book she had checked out from the library.

"Oh you and your braingasms. It's pretty cute, Zelda-hunny!" He calls after her with a laugh and leans back a bit in his chair, turning his attention to Shizuo.

"So, anything we should know about you, Shizuo-kun?" He's pretty much gotten the hang of honorifics since arriving. It's kind of amazing how many people there are from this place called Japan, and he easily recognized Shizuo's writing as that language. Maybe he'd take a page from Zelda's book and learn languages next, since he'd mastered cooking, though it's hard to see how that would be useful in a city that translated everything for them. So maybe not.

Zelos finishes off his tea as he waits for Shizuo to respond, swirling the dregs around in the bottom of his mug.

Edited 2012-02-22 21:36 (UTC)

"It is - " Shizuo tried to respond, ready to explain a little, but Zelda was up almost as soon as she had started talking. He sipped at his tea instead.

It was kind of strange to hear an honorific being used, since these days the only person who used them with Shizuo was Izaya - and well, he used chan, of all things. Shizuo had come to understand that even with their budding relationship, that would never change.

"I don't think so." He really didn't know what Zelos was hoping to hear. It wasn't as though Shizuo was particularly closed off; he just tended to be on the quiet side when not enraged. "But if you want to know something, you can ask me."

Zelda was so focused on her task that she didn't hear Zelos calling after her. When she came back down she plopped a book in front of Shizuo, waiting eagerly for him to read it. There was no stream of words coming out of her mouth this time, she was simply watching.

"Just getting to know you things. I like to actually know who I'm living with. Oh, and Zelda told you not to smoke in the house, righ..." He trailed off as Zelda deposited the book in front of Shizuo with such aplomb and let out a fairly loud guffaw at Zelda's eager expectant face and upturned ears.

"Oh man, give the guy a chance to finish eating before you make him into an experiment!"

"I told her I wouldn't," Shizuo replied as he picked it up. It did present to him as being translated, and he opened it to read it from right-to-left.

He read the first couple of sentences to himself, stumbling a little because he didn't exactly understand the subject matter. Something about time travel - it didn't make any sense to him. And Shizuo wasn't exactly a big reader, so that didn't help, either. When he finally stopped, it was with some relief, but he did look a little frustrated. "I can read it," he said, closing it and sliding it back to Zelda.

Edited 2012-02-22 22:07 (UTC)

Zelda blushed slightly. "I-I'm sorry, I forgot we were eating," she murmured, accepting the book back. The fact that Shizuo read right to left even though the book seemed to be written left to right to her eyes (fascinating!) could be addressed later. She sat back down in her own seat, eating her oatmeal sheepishly.

"You're just too cute when you get all excited, Zelda-hunny♥" The Chosen polished off his oatmeal and sat back, stretching his arms up above his head and resting them back over the top of his chair.

"So~ Shizuo, what did you do on your home world?" Might as well try to make nice if they're going to be living together. It was hard for Zelos to get an accurate read on Shizuo, what with those sunglasses and his stoic exterior. Insecure, yes, obvious, but much else and he was just guessing.

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