Make the Clock Reverse (Day 22 Jelly)

[voidtreckermods]

Make the Clock Reverse,
Bring back what once was mine.

On the evening of Day 21, before it goes dark, any Voidtreckers who look out of the windows might see the void is a little more chaotic than usual. There's a little bit of turbulence. Nothing too bad, nowhere near how bad it got during the void storm, but noticeable all the same.

It doesn't last long, and the night continues. Those who are not early to bed may see the odd golden flicker out of the corner of their eyes, darting away and vanishing if pursued.

Strange...

Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fates' design.

"Good Morning passengers. Today is day twenty two of the month of Jelly." The morning announcement wakes everyone up as usual, and they awaken in their own beds.

Though, for some passengers, those beds may seem completely unfamiliar: a strange room full of people they don't recognise. For others the room and people are perfectly normal, just... bigger than they remember them being yesterday.

Or it might be that they feel healed, old scars faded. The changes might be small, sporting their embarrassing teenage hair cut; or drastic, their whole body younger.

Either way, it is clear that something very strange has happened on the train.

(OOC: All the information about this event is Here. All changes will reverse the next night and passengers will wake up normal on day 23.

Update: In early afternoon the dressing carriage cupboards will open and animal onesies will be available in child size.)

Comments

I Strange New Place

[fun_thementalist]

It's always the same - despite whose bed they fall asleep in at night, after talking at all hours or discussing various plans - they always wake up in their own beds in the morning. So, Gen fully expected to run into Senku bright and early - prepared to pick up where they left off in their plot.

He hadn't expected to see a tiny Senku, looking lost but curious, gazing all around the train in his orange shirt.

Gen's eyes were very wide. He crouched down, slowly, wondering if this was a complete transformation - or only a physical one. "Senku-chan?"

[10billionpercent]

Senku was walking along the train and he blinked at the stranger who was crouching down in front of him.

He stared at him a moment, appraising him with wide eyes.

"Yes?" He asked, stopping in his steps a little wary of him.

[fun_thementalist]

Not a single spark of recognition in those wide, red eyes. Well, shit. Gen had to quickly scramble and come up with a plan - he could make several assumptions about Senku, so he knew;

1. he'd be incredibly smart
2. he'd have likely little respect for adults he didn't trust or appreciate, and
3. he'd have little regard for rules he didn't understand or like.

So, in other words - Gen was going to have his work cut out for him, if he was going to look after Senku until he was back to his usual age. Or at least, until his memories returned.

"I know you're feeling pretty lost and confused, my dear - this isn't Byakuya-san's place, is it?" Gen was straightforward, thinking little Senku would have even less patience for small talk. "I promised to look after you until things return back to normal. Were you hungry for breakfast?"

[10billionpercent]

Appealing to his feelings or trying to guess how he felt made Senku frown at him a little bit, and it was even stranger that he knew his guardian's name. That was weird wasn't it?

"...Maybe..." Senku was young and his older self erred on the side of trusting people and believing in them.

"I'll know if you poisoned it!"

[fun_thementalist]

Gen laughed a little, soft and fond. "I'm certain you'd figure out both the method of poison and its antidote rather quickly, Senku-chan."

He stood. "You're clever enough not to need my promise not to poison you. Here, the kitchen is this way. What are you in the mood for breakfast?"

[10billionpercent]

"I want ramen." He knew, very well, that ramen was not a breakfast food, but Gen did ask.

"Usually we have miso though, and rice." He said with a little pout. Ramen was so much better. It was, in his opinion, the best food that existed.

[fun_thementalist]

"Well, there's nobody to stop us from having ramen here," Gen said, giving the kid a conspiratorial glance. "I've got some broth that I've made already, with the help of a couple of friends. Would you be all right waiting while I make some noodles?"

[10billionpercent]

"You can do that?" Senku asked, his eyes widening a little bit as he directed more of his attention at Gen. "Can I see?"

[fun_thementalist]

Gen beamed at him, because when little Senku's eyes lit up - well, he was certainly an adorable child. He wanted to scoop him up and hug him, except he was very certain that wouldn't end well. Best to show his fondness in other ways -

- like kneading the dough of noodles for ramen by end. See, Senku, he hoped he remembered this. He's doing work for him!

"Of course I'll let you watch, my dear," Gen agreed. "I'll even show you a few tips while I do it. Everything gets easier with practice, even though it starts very hard at the beginning."

[10billionpercent]

Senku wouldn't be that surprised, after all he got Gen to work for him all the time, although he hadn't thought he could do that when he was a child.

"Okay, show me!" The easiest way to catch Senku's attention was to teach him something, honestly. He was very easy to manipulate as a child.

[fun_thementalist]

Senku had Gen wrapped around his finger at any age, let's be honest.

"Right this way to the kitchen," Gen said, a little sing-song, but that's because he was in a very good mood. Once they were there, he hummed and said, "Our first step is to find a step-stool that you can stand on. I'd like you to be able to see what I'm doing, after all, and these counters are a little high up."

[10billionpercent]

"I can find a chair." That seemed like the most prudent solution and Senku glanced around. All he would have to do is drag it over to the counter, easy, right?

[fun_thementalist]

"Mm, we should make sure whatever chair you pick isn't one that's tippy," Gen noted, looking thoughtful, grinning. "Probably by experimenting a little with it first."

[10billionpercent]

"I know that!" He informed Gen and went to find one nearby, trying to shake it. It didn't so he started dragging. He was trying to be self-sufficient even though he was so small.

[fun_thementalist]

And Gen kept half an eye on him, but didn't make a move to coddle and help. He had a feeling that Senku's stubborn, independent streak as an adult would be seen here, too.

Instead, he was getting out the supplies so they could make the noodles, and set out the broth to thaw. "All right, my dear. After we wash our hands, I'll show you what the first steps are. It's a bit of work making noodles, but it's worth it, hm? Ramen is pretty great."

[10billionpercent]

Senku seemed to consider what he was saying, standing on the chair and he looked at him a little curiously.

"I never made anything like that." He told Gen. He hadn't cooked before.

[fun_thementalist]

"Then you're going to be learning something new!" Gen told him cheerfully. "The best part about this - the part they don't talk a lot about in cooking shows on TV, anyway - is this is all science."

[10billionpercent]

Senku seemed to brighten up at that. "Really? It's science? How is it science?"

Now he was a lot more interested.

[fun_thementalist]

"Well, it's chemistry, more specifically! See, this flour, my dear, is full of protein."

Gen would be mixing the ingredients as he talked, moving as he recalled as much as he could about what older-Senku and Francois told him about food science off the top of his head.

"Wheat protein, specifically! The word for that is gluten. Gluten is very interesting - first of all, some people can't eat it - but more importantly! It's really good at being worked, to create structure."

He smiled at Senku. "So, when someone makes bread - one of the reason's it's bread-shaped, instead of a ball of dense mushy stuff - is because it has gluten in it."

Or at least as far as Gen understood.

[10billionpercent]

"Really?" Senku peered a little closer at the flour, to see if he could tell what kind of chemical processes were going on. It would be years before he learned to make ramen properly.

"I didn't think food was chemistry." He admitted with a bit of a frown.

"Maybe I should learn to make things."

[fun_thementalist]

"All things are chemistry when you look closely enough," Gen winked at him. "But yes, cooking and baking both involve a lot of chemistry. Most people don't know that - they just remember all the rules of how and never ask why."

Gen then added to Senku in a conspiratorial tone, like he was letting him in on a secret - "But I'm guessing you, like me, are all about wanting to learn about the why of things."

[10billionpercent]

Gen's comment made Senku smiled brightly as he considered the new angle completely to the food he ate. "Whoa..."

He nodded enthusiastically. "I want to know how everything works!"

[fun_thementalist]

Senku was completely adorable. He wanted his friend back to normal, obviously, but he could see what a delight of a kid he had been, once.

Also, a bit of a menace as a kid, with all that smarts and energy. Yet then again, so was Gen at that age, just in different ways.

“I promise to teach you as much as I can,” Gen told him happily, “though I don’t know everything yet either. If you’re wise when you’re terribly old like me, you’ll still be willing to learn new things. So, once I run out of things to teach you about food, I’ll find you some books about it. Deal?”

[10billionpercent]

"I'm not gonna stop learning! That would be dumb." Senku informed him.

"I don't think I know everything yet, I don't even know if a person can." He insisted. "So I'm going to keep learning forever." He paused. "Well until I die." That seemed an important distinction.

"Did you know statistically people live 84 years in Japan? I'm only six, that's 78 more years to study everything!"

[fun_thementalist]

"It would be," Gen agreed with a cheerful grin. "And you're probably right, there's so much in the world to know, it'd take almost an infinite amount of time to learn it all."

Gen hummed a little as he kneaded the dough, getting the gluten strong enough for the noodles. By now, after making ramen so much at home especially, it's muscle-memory. Though he wouldn't admit that, he'd complain if someone else besides little Senku was here about all the hard work.

He smiled. "You could be lucky and beat those odds, too. Especially if you take good care of yourself, my dear. The healthier you are, the longer you have to learn."