voidtreckerexpress | these days have opened up my eyes; [Open Post]

Who: Ken and whomever wants to encounter him.
Where: Kitchen, training gym, games car. (And wildcard option.)
When: Between February platform and the healing/time reversal plot.
What: Ken's getting used to train life... and also makes A Mistake.
Warnings: Training prompt has suicidal imagery (thanks Persona 3) and the closed prompt has severe depression warnings.

[Kitchen Duty]

Ken is on red team, despite the orange hoodie he's wearing, and that means apparently one of his chores is to make food for other people. It might not be the prettiest, but he'll do what he can. He doesn't bother much with the avocado though, instead serving up a couple of plates of omurice to set out for whoever drifts past. It takes him a little bit to start working on some of the other things - the pasta is boiling away and he's wandering around trying to familiarize himself with where everything is.

Sometimes he's poking around looking for storage containers or having to climb up onto the counter to reach things, but he's always careful to clean off the counter afterwards.

[Training] (cw: suicidal imagery)

Ken is no slouch when it comes to training, and he's found the climbing ropes. He scales the large structure easily, rolling off of it onto a mat and springing up, miming stabbing a spear into something. He can easily be found doing handstands or practicing rolling or doing all manner of gymnastic-like exercises.

When no one's looking, he takes out his Evoker and presses it to his head, pulling the trigger and letting Nemesis take some shots at a training dummy with lightning. He presses a hand to his chest when she manifests a spear and stabs the dummy herself. It hurts, but it's the only spear he has right now.

[Games]

He can't practice forever. Once he settles down a little bit he heads into the game car on occasion. He's not all that hard to find - occasionally he's on one of the VR games, but more often he's playing solitaire or looking at the Duel Monster cards. He's studied the notes left nearby carefully, so all that remains is to try to build a deck.

... Somehow.

[Wildcard]

While he's found a few cars to frequent, he's still exploring. It's easy to find him in practically any car.

[Field Trip to the Darkness] (closed to Vexen) (cw: severe depression)

Vexen is not a hard person to find. He's very tall and the black cloak makes it easy to pick him out, even from behind. He's about to call out to the man to say hello, but suddenly a dark-colored portal opens up and the man disappears into it. Frowning, Ken runs in after him.

That was a mistake.

It's dark, so dark, everything is dark. He can feel something cold gripping onto him, Nemesis' whirring getting louder and louder, somehow sinister. What is he doing here? What is he trying to prove? There's nothing he can do to make anything right. There's no point in him continuing to pretend like he's innocent at all - he hasn't been for a long time. He can't rely on anyone here.

Better to just be alone, or just be nothing at all.

He suddenly stumbles out into brightness, a black-coated individual in front of him, but he's not really seeing Vexen. He's trembling, suddenly freezing and pale. His knees hit the floor, followed by his arms and head right after.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hey, my puns are the cat's meow he insisted, puffing out his chest. "They're purrfect! And that's okay, make other stuff for later. Fish now." And fish later.

"Then you better grow hands and get it from storage because I can't leave the pasta. If I do then the temperature will get too high by the time I get back, and it's dangerous to leave a hot stovetop anyway."

He gave the kid a startled look for a moment before covering it with a look. "I'm a cat. Just paws your cooking to find the fish."

There was no way this kid knew... right? He would have to watch him.

He just stared the cat down again. This was why he liked dogs better... less sass. "I mean if I do get it you have to be nice and not yell for more food for a bit. Deal?"

"Deal!" he said. You... really should have defined how long a bit was, kid. But you'll learn. Everyone does with enough exposure to him. Well... nearly everyone.

"Fine." He turned off the stovetop and put a cover on the pasta to keep it warm. "Do you want to ride on me or do you want to walk?"

"I'll take the ride. Pick me up, I'll go on ahead while you go on foot. Easier to Death From Above people from up there anyway!" Even if he was short. Better than the floor.

He shook his head and picked the cat up, letting him settle before walking towards stores. "I don't get to do that myself very often... and I definitely can't here until I get a spear again."

He settled on Ken's head and looked down at him. "Do what? Get to ride on people's heads, eat fish, and be awesome?"

"No, I mean 'death from above'. Hitting things from up high."

"You do death from above too?" he asked, bouncing with excitement. "Really?"

"Kind of. I can jump down on enemies with a spear." More and more he really really needed to get one...

"Then everyone is going to think you spearheaded the idea!" he protested, but mostly in jest. "What's the best part for you?"

"... Watching the monsters puff away into smoke in a single hit, if it works out. Otherwise a good fight can be fun, too."

"Nice! For me it is the look on their faces when they hear the battle cry!"

"... A lot of the monsters don't really have faces. They have weird masks."

"Then you're fighting the wrong kinds of monsters," he said simply.

"... I mean, they're the kind of monsters that exist in my world."

"Your world has boring monsters," the cat informed him flatly.

"I don't think they're supposed to be entertaining in general." He opens the door to the storage area and starts looking around for some of the tuna he saw earlier.