[Of course this random stranger calling out of the blue about terrible wedding gifts would have one eye and a scar. That's...bizarrely appropriate, since that also about sums up the bizarre-ness of this whole situation. Is he really about to humor a complete stranger by joining in and hate-shopping for a guy he doesn't even know?
...Sure. Why not. It's a slow day, and--looking out the window at a cloud-free gray sky is still jarring, even knowing what's apparently to blame now. Whatever "information" Zoro gets out of this, maybe it'll be a clue? About what's even going on, here...
Either way, there's probably not exactly much to lose here.]
Can't say I stand out nearly as much as that...so I'll just find you first, I suppose. An hour from now, if you're actually serious about this.
[And so he is. An hour passes and there he is, an eyeless, shirtless wonder in the middle of the Towers' main lobby. Literally. In the center. Arms crossed, legs shoulder's width apart and generally a perfect picture of intimidation. Plenty of people give him a wide berth.
Zoro doesn't seem to notice, keeping watch for anyone who looks remotely like that little tiny icon of Aizawa's face.]
[Aizawa is also a man of his word, and after an hour more or less on the dot he's making his way into the Towers' main lobby too. As he'd said himself, he really doesn't stand out terribly much from the crowd, especially compared to Zoro's....everything......going on there. But Aizawa does more or less match the profile icon in Retrospec, in less-tiny form, hair still tied up and everything. Still in teacher's business casual from teaching summer class earlier in the day, too, though it's a bit undermined by the distinctly tired set of his demeanor. "Hasn't had a proper night's sleep in several days"-tired.
Quality first impressions all around, here. Between the flagrant shirtlessness and the crowd of people skirting widely around him, Zoro's hard to miss and Aizawa's drifting over soon enough. Ah, this guy's got a pretty intense aura for someone getting ready to buy some low-effort wedding gifts...]
Zoro, is it? Made any other random calls to random people?
[Aizawa doesn't sound particularly honored or enthused in general, honestly, but mostly he's just kind of always like this, so don't mind that.
Anyway they can be an odd pair in the Towers now, between Aizawa's exhausted teacher-aesthetic self and Zoro's mostly-shirtless half-jacket not-particularly-modest atmosphere. Aizawa grimaces a bit at the question following.]
I have no idea. ...Kitchen utensils are usually pretty uniform and dignified, though. I feel like a lot more things could go wrong with bedding accessories...
[Dinosaurs are absolutely too good for Jim, it's true...
But. Yeah, that sign sure did say second floor, which generally means going up, which Zoro...does not seem to be doing....he starts walking away, but Aizawa remains standing where he is, watching Zoro set off in the complete opposite direction of anything resembling stairs with slightly raised eyebrows.]
You're heading to the exit. I'm not sure if you're aware. [Is this your first time in the Towers or something....Aizawa is just going to be assuming this now, because otherwise that's a pretty terrible sense of direction you've got there and. Surely it couldn't be that bad? They haven't even started yet??
Aizawa's turning and starting towards the escalators himself, anyway, waving lazily at Zoro over his shoulder.]
Come on, we've got an hour time-limit here. Might as well make the most of it.
The sign's misleading. [Uh-huh. But fine. He seems to stay on course following Aizawa. Maybe that's why he asked him here.
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They successfully make it to the escalator where he firmly stays put and doesn't get lost again. Slowly they inch up to the bedding floor where they're greeted with a crowd of white comforters with little variation.
["Misleading", whatever you say man....but yes, whether this was planned or not Aizawa is more or less content with being Zoro's living compass if it means they can get in and out of this wedding shopping business as quickly and efficiently as possible. They manage to reach the bedding floor without further incident, and Aizawa pauses a bit alongisde Zoro to squint slightly at the comforters himself.
Like, there are probably more uncomfortable hells out there? He could sleep away cursed eternity on this depressingly redundant bedding, at least? ........But yeah this is still. Pretty bad.]
Probably? ...Looks like they're made by different companies. Could be some form of competition.
[What an amazing thing capitalism is in this day and age. Aizawa shifts his attention to the sea of bedding materials all around, and decides to strike out towards a random aisle.]
Those are more bland than anything, though. There's plenty of colors worse than white...what do you think we should look for? [What would he not want to find on his bedsheets if he were Jim, hmm...] Stripes? [Yeah those are definitely terrible. ...Wait--] Polka-dots? [There we go, even worse.]
[He's just going to start wading in the sea of comforters, tugging at the white ones just to see if there's anything underneath. There's not. All he's doing is getting dirty looks from the employees for messing up the bedding displays.]
Maybe we could get a white one and dirty it up. Wonder if we can get one with rats in it or something.
[That is definitely not going to be sold here but let him hope.]
[Good lord, right for worst-case pattern scenario with this guy. ...Aizawa can appreciate the unique awfulness of the mental image.]
That sounds right up our friend Jim's alley, though if this place actually carries something that ugly it'd be both impressive and concerning.
[WHO WOULD EVEN BUY THAT....unless they're hate-buying. Maybe hate-buying would be the point? The aisle Aizawa's stepped into is just as boringly white as the area before it, though, so maybe they won't be able to find out how far the Towers can go for its bed patterns after all...
He steps back out with a frown, glancing over to Zoro at the suggestion.] Sure seems like there's nothing but white here. But buying one just to dirty seems like a lot of effort, don't you think? ...This store's policy on rats is probably also too stringent for that...
[Yeah that's super unlikely Zoro--though a conveniently packaged rat or two would certainly make things easier for them, wouldn't it? Ah well. In the meantime there seems to be only white disappointment here...] I'm not sure where the colored bedsheets are actually supposed to be around here. We shouldn't waste too much time looking...what else is on that registry?
[His new "friend" makes good points. This savanna of white is neverending and it's already been ten minutes. Zoro glances back at the registry. An espresso machine–too much money; dishware sets–too useful. Hm.]
There's a lot of bathroom stuff. Do you know what a "toilet caddy" is?
[Asking mostly out of curiosity. Whatever it is sounds more helpful than he would like to get their faceless tormentor.]
Maybe we could get him a bar of soap. It's not on here but it would still count, right?
Toilet caddy? If it's anything like a shower caddy it's probably for holding toilet-related things. Sort of like a set of small portable shelves... [He rubs at one of his eyes absently, looking over in the vague direction of the bathroom department.] Those sorts of things are fairly useful, so we probably don't want to get anything like that. ...A bar of soap sounds sufficiently low-effort and low-value, though. There's plenty of disgusting-smelling soaps out there, too.
[Like, there are peppermint-scented soaps out there?? Truly revolting. Sounds like it counts as far as Aizawa's concerned, anyway; the idea appeals enough that he's starting towards the bathroom department already now, ideally with Zoro following. Unless Zoro has his own ideas about directions again.....
Over his shoulder, as they go:] Wedding shopping's something I had no plans to do anytime soon. We're getting very valuable experience right now, aren't we? [The sarcasm is dry as a desert over here. Honestly though, things he wasn't expecting to do today or ever: ruminate over the values of toilet caddies and bath soaps with a guy he barely knows as gifts for some other guy neither of them even like.]
[Sarcasm meets sarcasm. Zoro lucked out with his random dialing. He lags behind Aizawa but still follows, poking and prodding at the mysterious contraptions that line the way.]
No shaggy Mr. or Mrs. in your future?
[A question cut short by a wrinkled nose. The scented soaps are nearby.]
[This really is going pretty well considering they've known each other for all of about ten minutes so far, isn't it? Shaggy though, wow, no need to be rude Zoro?? Aizawa scoffs a bit from up ahead, pausing to examine a rack of feather dusters(??) and idly pick one up for inspection, turning to answer.]
No, can't say it is. I--
[It just--crops up so naturally, that's maybe the most alarming part of it. He's not even trying particularly hard to think back, or anything, but one thought's leading to another with the topic of conversation at hand and suddenly he's remembering--
"Eraser?! Eraser, is that you?!"
Delighted chatter. A lot of laughing. A beaming woman he's never met before in his life striding up, demanding they get married. And he shoots her down immediately, of course, with the weariness of having done it a dozen times before, because your jokes are as impenetrable as ever--]
[The face Aizawa makes for a second or two is kind of indescribable and I really need to make an icon of it eventually but it's basically this one.
The memory's there and gone with a blink, but there's still a distinct sense of being kind of blindsided. Aizawa fumbles and drops the duster, bends down to retrieve it with a sharp exhale as irritation surges in to replace surprise.] ...Well, damn.
I--what? [Zoro what do hippos have to do with....no, you know what, that's. Not important. He's not on the right mental footing to try making sense of that anyway. Aizawa shakes his head, partially to Zoro and partially to himself but mostly in an attempt to clear out the disorientation that's still kind of there and unsettling. The duster is hung back up brusquely, on the wrong rack.] ...I'm not. Marriage would be a hassle, but that's all. I just...
[He frowns off down the aisle at nothing in particular. (What kind of nickname is "Eraser"?)]
...Remembered something, I guess. [Great. Great. So much for trying not to get any of those. Aizawa resumes moving, stepping past Zoro without much further delay, nonchalant air pulling back into place but still offset by the frown that doesn't leave his features.] Are those the soaps over there?
That must be a pretty terrible marriage to leave you that traumatized.
[Just a bit of. Unwanted commentary there for you, Aizawa. He doesn't help point out the soaps. He just lags behind, figuring the horrible scent of 100 scented candles will lead the way.]
[Wow Zoro he's working so hard to change the subject here?? Why are you calling his facial expressions out like this. Aizawa grimaces, simultaneously not helping his own case but also half-wishing they were still mocking a sea of white bed comforters now. Those were simpler times...why couldn't they have just kept doing that.....]
Who said anything about being traumatized? --There wasn't a marriage. There's never going to be a marriage. [Irritably steps into the soap aisle!! It...really is about as bad as 100 scented candles. This may have been a mistake, but he's already committed himself to this direction, so he's going to just. Start scanning the shelves now, distractedly.] Somebody used to keep asking me, apparently. But it was always a joke. Always trying to get a laugh out of me.
[Well, so much for changing the subject now, either way. Aizawa scowls at a package of lime green soaps, and then looks back over to Zoro with the scowl still in place.]
I don't know why I know this now. I've never met that woman in my life.
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?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Where is the scar?? It'll be pretty obvious when Aizawa meets up with him. It's not like he wears shirts to cover it up.]
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[Of course this random stranger calling out of the blue about terrible wedding gifts would have one eye and a scar. That's...bizarrely appropriate, since that also about sums up the bizarre-ness of this whole situation. Is he really about to humor a complete stranger by joining in and hate-shopping for a guy he doesn't even know?
...Sure. Why not. It's a slow day, and--looking out the window at a cloud-free gray sky is still jarring, even knowing what's apparently to blame now. Whatever "information" Zoro gets out of this, maybe it'll be a clue? About what's even going on, here...
Either way, there's probably not exactly much to lose here.]
Can't say I stand out nearly as much as that...so I'll just find you first, I suppose. An hour from now, if you're actually serious about this.
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[And so he is. An hour passes and there he is, an eyeless, shirtless wonder in the middle of the Towers' main lobby. Literally. In the center. Arms crossed, legs shoulder's width apart and generally a perfect picture of intimidation. Plenty of people give him a wide berth.
Zoro doesn't seem to notice, keeping watch for anyone who looks remotely like that little tiny icon of Aizawa's face.]
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Quality first impressions all around, here. Between the flagrant shirtlessness and the crowd of people skirting widely around him, Zoro's hard to miss and Aizawa's drifting over soon enough. Ah, this guy's got a pretty intense aura for someone getting ready to buy some low-effort wedding gifts...]
Zoro, is it? Made any other random calls to random people?
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He grins.]
You're the only one. Think of it as an honor.
[And also he'd rather not call up anymore random people. He doesn't care enough for that.]
Bedding or kitchen?
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[Aizawa doesn't sound particularly honored or enthused in general, honestly, but mostly he's just kind of always like this, so don't mind that.
Anyway they can be an odd pair in the Towers now, between Aizawa's exhausted teacher-aesthetic self and Zoro's mostly-shirtless half-jacket not-particularly-modest atmosphere. Aizawa grimaces a bit at the question following.]
I have no idea. ...Kitchen utensils are usually pretty uniform and dignified, though. I feel like a lot more things could go wrong with bedding accessories...
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[If it were someone he liked he'd struggle to understand kitchenware. For Jim? Dinosaur bedsheets.
Wait, no. That's too cool. Damn.]
Come on. The sign said it was on the second floor.
[And yet... he's walking in the opposite direction of the escalators.]
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But. Yeah, that sign sure did say second floor, which generally means going up, which Zoro...does not seem to be doing....he starts walking away, but Aizawa remains standing where he is, watching Zoro set off in the complete opposite direction of anything resembling stairs with slightly raised eyebrows.]
Looks like it, yes. ...So where are you going?
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[In actuality, he may have been looking at the "exit" sign, positioned directly next to the escalator directions. He's blameless here. Clearly.]
Why are you still standing there?
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You're heading to the exit. I'm not sure if you're aware. [Is this your first time in the Towers or something....Aizawa is just going to be assuming this now, because otherwise that's a pretty terrible sense of direction you've got there and. Surely it couldn't be that bad? They haven't even started yet??
Aizawa's turning and starting towards the escalators himself, anyway, waving lazily at Zoro over his shoulder.]
Come on, we've got an hour time-limit here. Might as well make the most of it.
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(Is he?)]
The sign's misleading. [Uh-huh. But fine. He seems to stay on course following Aizawa. Maybe that's why he asked him here.
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They successfully make it to the escalator where he firmly stays put and doesn't get lost again. Slowly they inch up to the bedding floor where they're greeted with a crowd of white comforters with little variation.
This is indeed true hell.]
... Are these supposed to be different?
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Like, there are probably more uncomfortable hells out there? He could sleep away cursed eternity on this depressingly redundant bedding, at least? ........But yeah this is still. Pretty bad.]
Probably? ...Looks like they're made by different companies. Could be some form of competition.
[What an amazing thing capitalism is in this day and age. Aizawa shifts his attention to the sea of bedding materials all around, and decides to strike out towards a random aisle.]
Those are more bland than anything, though. There's plenty of colors worse than white...what do you think we should look for? [What would he not want to find on his bedsheets if he were Jim, hmm...] Stripes? [Yeah those are definitely terrible. ...Wait--] Polka-dots? [There we go, even worse.]
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[He's just going to start wading in the sea of comforters, tugging at the white ones just to see if there's anything underneath. There's not. All he's doing is getting dirty looks from the employees for messing up the bedding displays.]
Maybe we could get a white one and dirty it up. Wonder if we can get one with rats in it or something.
[That is definitely not going to be sold here but let him hope.]
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That sounds right up our friend Jim's alley, though if this place actually carries something that ugly it'd be both impressive and concerning.
[WHO WOULD EVEN BUY THAT....unless they're hate-buying. Maybe hate-buying would be the point? The aisle Aizawa's stepped into is just as boringly white as the area before it, though, so maybe they won't be able to find out how far the Towers can go for its bed patterns after all...
He steps back out with a frown, glancing over to Zoro at the suggestion.] Sure seems like there's nothing but white here. But buying one just to dirty seems like a lot of effort, don't you think? ...This store's policy on rats is probably also too stringent for that...
[Yeah that's super unlikely Zoro--though a conveniently packaged rat or two would certainly make things easier for them, wouldn't it? Ah well. In the meantime there seems to be only white disappointment here...] I'm not sure where the colored bedsheets are actually supposed to be around here. We shouldn't waste too much time looking...what else is on that registry?
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There's a lot of bathroom stuff. Do you know what a "toilet caddy" is?
[Asking mostly out of curiosity. Whatever it is sounds more helpful than he would like to get their faceless tormentor.]
Maybe we could get him a bar of soap. It's not on here but it would still count, right?
[It's bathroom-y.]
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Toilet caddy? If it's anything like a shower caddy it's probably for holding toilet-related things. Sort of like a set of small portable shelves... [He rubs at one of his eyes absently, looking over in the vague direction of the bathroom department.] Those sorts of things are fairly useful, so we probably don't want to get anything like that. ...A bar of soap sounds sufficiently low-effort and low-value, though. There's plenty of disgusting-smelling soaps out there, too.
[Like, there are peppermint-scented soaps out there?? Truly revolting. Sounds like it counts as far as Aizawa's concerned, anyway; the idea appeals enough that he's starting towards the bathroom department already now, ideally with Zoro following. Unless Zoro has his own ideas about directions again.....
Over his shoulder, as they go:] Wedding shopping's something I had no plans to do anytime soon. We're getting very valuable experience right now, aren't we? [The sarcasm is dry as a desert over here. Honestly though, things he wasn't expecting to do today or ever: ruminate over the values of toilet caddies and bath soaps with a guy he barely knows as gifts for some other guy neither of them even like.]
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[Sarcasm meets sarcasm. Zoro lucked out with his random dialing. He lags behind Aizawa but still follows, poking and prodding at the mysterious contraptions that line the way.]
No shaggy Mr. or Mrs. in your future?
[A question cut short by a wrinkled nose. The scented soaps are nearby.]
1/2
No, can't say it is. I--
[It just--crops up so naturally, that's maybe the most alarming part of it. He's not even trying particularly hard to think back, or anything, but one thought's leading to another with the topic of conversation at hand and suddenly he's remembering--
"Eraser?! Eraser, is that you?!"
Delighted chatter. A lot of laughing. A beaming woman he's never met before in his life striding up, demanding they get married. And he shoots her down immediately, of course, with the weariness of having done it a dozen times before, because your jokes are as impenetrable as ever--]
2/2 thanks for the quality regain zoro
The memory's there and gone with a blink, but there's still a distinct sense of being kind of blindsided. Aizawa fumbles and drops the duster, bends down to retrieve it with a sharp exhale as irritation surges in to replace surprise.] ...Well, damn.
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You look like you just watched a hippo give birth. Everything alright? Didn't know you were that freaked out by marriage.
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[He frowns off down the aisle at nothing in particular. (What kind of nickname is "Eraser"?)]
...Remembered something, I guess. [Great. Great. So much for trying not to get any of those. Aizawa resumes moving, stepping past Zoro without much further delay, nonchalant air pulling back into place but still offset by the frown that doesn't leave his features.] Are those the soaps over there?
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[Just a bit of. Unwanted commentary there for you, Aizawa. He doesn't help point out the soaps. He just lags behind, figuring the horrible scent of 100 scented candles will lead the way.]
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Who said anything about being traumatized? --There wasn't a marriage. There's never going to be a marriage. [Irritably steps into the soap aisle!! It...really is about as bad as 100 scented candles. This may have been a mistake, but he's already committed himself to this direction, so he's going to just. Start scanning the shelves now, distractedly.] Somebody used to keep asking me, apparently. But it was always a joke. Always trying to get a laugh out of me.
[Well, so much for changing the subject now, either way. Aizawa scowls at a package of lime green soaps, and then looks back over to Zoro with the scowl still in place.]
I don't know why I know this now. I've never met that woman in my life.
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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.
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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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