It's one of those memories. You've heard about them, right? A week or two ago I remembered this one woman's whole life story. They just happen. Some people say they're caused by triggers.
[Which seems likely. His tone suggests that he doesn't really give it much thought. They come, he deals with them, that's enough. What good would knowing their origins do him?
Zoro finally enters Scent Hell and picks up arbitrary soaps based on how repulsive he finds the color. The first is a muddy lilac that smells like lavender and frogs. He holds it up for Aizawa to smell.]
Marriage is a weird thing to joke about. Unless you're a comedian, I guess. Maybe a stand-up comedian had the hots for you.
[...He was already suspecting as much at this point, honestly, but there's something about hearing it out loud--and so matter-of-factly, at that. It's simultaneously off-putting and...grounding? A bizarre combination that takes a bit of processing. Aizawa's silent for a moment, wordlessly accepting the soap from Zoro and taking a sniff for himself.
Lavender and frogs is not a super great combo, as it turns out. He grimaces again, but it's only half because of the soap.]
...I've heard, yes. I was hoping to avoid them for at least a fair amount of time. Thought I was doing a decent job of it, too...wasn't expecting a marriage topic to be the end of my streak.
[Dave had warned him it could be set off by literally anything, yes, but even still...well. So much for that, either way. He sets the soap back on the shelf.]
Somebody's entire life story seems excessive. I'm pretty sure I didn't get that much. But for some reason I'm also pretty sure it had nothing to do with "hots". Comedy would suit her, but...no, she was something else. Some kind of--
[Some kind of what? Something familiar. She was an old coworker--teaching? No, not just that, but also...
The word feels like it's right there, but for some reason it just won't solidify in his head. And in the end it never gets a chance to, because it's around this same time that something extremely green and not-soap-shaped catches Aizawa's attention on a lower shelf.]
--Hold on, what's that down there? That's not soap. ...Is that a loofah?
[And then–he sees it. There, shining, a beacon pointing the way towards freedom. Everything Aizawa said that mattered that he probably could have assisted with goes out the window in favor of the disgusting half-Hulk (called, The Bulk in Recolle) green loofah. The Bulk's torso is squishy. Zoro squeezes it.
It squeaks.
His neck practically snaps from how fast he turns to Aizawa.]
Honestly, by comparison, any troubled musings about marriage or unbidden memories or mystery coworkers is just peanuts compared to this; Aizawa can't even be offended by the abrupt shift in topic, because he's just as entirely taken with the loofah as Zoro is right now.
From the angle on that lower shelf he'd half-thought he was just seeing things, but...no. No, that loofah really is that hideous. It squeaks, and Aizawa looks up to Zoro at the exact same time Zoro turns to him, both their thoughts likely synchronizing perfectly in this moment.]
...Absolutely. I'm not sure there's anything out there to actually top it. [...God, look at it--] Is that the Bulk sticking out of it? It looks like a child's toy. Somebody must have picked it up from another part of the store and then left it here with all these soaps...
[Aizawa shakes his head, and shifts to reach for the wallet in his back pocket.]
I'm willing to accept this stroke of luck. Is there a price tag on it somewhere? I suppose we'll split the cost...
[Zoro scours the whole thing, even peeking into its loofah frills for a price tag. Finally he finds one, a bit scratched and falling off of the Bulk's... base.]
Here. On the Bulk's bulk. [Mature.] It says two bucks.
[The look he gives Aizawa is one shared between two brothers in arms.]
[In this moment, two men in an aisle full of 100 different scented bath soaps have probably never had a closer connection of mutual understanding.
But the look Aizawa gives Zoro at that line is still pretty withering, because even brothers in arms need to judge each other sometimes.]
I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that, and you're going to pretend you didn't just take the cheapest shot in the book at a poorly thought-out superhero name.
[The "Bulk", honestly, who gave that name a green light anyway? If you're going to name a hero at all...
...A hero....
The woman he's never met from a memory he's never had still laughs at him from the back of his mind. Used to be a coworker once. They both used to
...
Ridiculous. Aizawa finally fishes a dollar out of his wallet, and dispassionately offers it Zoro's way.]
Anyway, Jim should be thankful. I doubt any of his other gifts are going to be as unique as this one.
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[Which seems likely. His tone suggests that he doesn't really give it much thought. They come, he deals with them, that's enough. What good would knowing their origins do him?
Zoro finally enters Scent Hell and picks up arbitrary soaps based on how repulsive he finds the color. The first is a muddy lilac that smells like lavender and frogs. He holds it up for Aizawa to smell.]
Marriage is a weird thing to joke about. Unless you're a comedian, I guess. Maybe a stand-up comedian had the hots for you.
no subject
Lavender and frogs is not a super great combo, as it turns out. He grimaces again, but it's only half because of the soap.]
...I've heard, yes. I was hoping to avoid them for at least a fair amount of time. Thought I was doing a decent job of it, too...wasn't expecting a marriage topic to be the end of my streak.
[Dave had warned him it could be set off by literally anything, yes, but even still...well. So much for that, either way. He sets the soap back on the shelf.]
Somebody's entire life story seems excessive. I'm pretty sure I didn't get that much. But for some reason I'm also pretty sure it had nothing to do with "hots". Comedy would suit her, but...no, she was something else. Some kind of--
[Some kind of what? Something familiar. She was an old coworker--teaching? No, not just that, but also...
The word feels like it's right there, but for some reason it just won't solidify in his head. And in the end it never gets a chance to, because it's around this same time that something extremely green and not-soap-shaped catches Aizawa's attention on a lower shelf.]
--Hold on, what's that down there? That's not soap. ...Is that a loofah?
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[And then–he sees it. There, shining, a beacon pointing the way towards freedom. Everything Aizawa said that mattered that he probably could have assisted with goes out the window in favor of the disgusting half-Hulk (called, The Bulk in Recolle) green loofah. The Bulk's torso is squishy. Zoro squeezes it.
It squeaks.
His neck practically snaps from how fast he turns to Aizawa.]
This is it.
no subject
Honestly, by comparison, any troubled musings about marriage or unbidden memories or mystery coworkers is just peanuts compared to this; Aizawa can't even be offended by the abrupt shift in topic, because he's just as entirely taken with the loofah as Zoro is right now.
From the angle on that lower shelf he'd half-thought he was just seeing things, but...no. No, that loofah really is that hideous. It squeaks, and Aizawa looks up to Zoro at the exact same time Zoro turns to him, both their thoughts likely synchronizing perfectly in this moment.]
...Absolutely. I'm not sure there's anything out there to actually top it. [...God, look at it--] Is that the Bulk sticking out of it? It looks like a child's toy. Somebody must have picked it up from another part of the store and then left it here with all these soaps...
[Aizawa shakes his head, and shifts to reach for the wallet in his back pocket.]
I'm willing to accept this stroke of luck. Is there a price tag on it somewhere? I suppose we'll split the cost...
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Here. On the Bulk's bulk. [Mature.] It says two bucks.
[The look he gives Aizawa is one shared between two brothers in arms.]
I think we hit the jackpot.
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But the look Aizawa gives Zoro at that line is still pretty withering, because even brothers in arms need to judge each other sometimes.]
I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that, and you're going to pretend you didn't just take the cheapest shot in the book at a poorly thought-out superhero name.
[The "Bulk", honestly, who gave that name a green light anyway? If you're going to name a hero at all...
...A hero....
The woman he's never met from a memory he's never had still laughs at him from the back of his mind. Used to be a coworker once. They both used to
...
Ridiculous. Aizawa finally fishes a dollar out of his wallet, and dispassionately offers it Zoro's way.]
Anyway, Jim should be thankful. I doubt any of his other gifts are going to be as unique as this one.