Welcome to Gaia! ::

Coming from the showers, Ezekiel was headed back to his room in his oldest pair of jeans and little else. They were washed out, worn through the knees and in patches along the thighs, and the top button had disappeared some years ago. They were not his usual, crisp style, but they were really ******** comfortable, and his other sleep pants were currently in the wash.

On bare feet he was next to silent as he moved, arms up to rub damp hair with the towel that rested on his shoulders. Only the soft bounce of the carved rune pendent announced his presence as he made his way down the hall.

He was fishing a key out of his pocket when the door next to his opened. It was something of a shock, considering he'd thought that room was unoccupied, having never seen or heard his neighbor.

It had him pausing, watching her as she closed the door behind her and started to walk towards him, head down, eyes glued to the phone. He could have cleared his throat, announced himself. Even moved out of her way, but instead he just stood there, curious.

{I do not think she is stopping, boil}

No, it didn't look like it. Zeke actually opened his mouth to say something, but she walked right into him, bouncing off his chest with a stream of apologies and cursing before falling silent as she looked up at him. It was a familiar reaction, one he'd seen on a few faces, and one that always managed to draw lips into a smug grin.

Nothing wrong with a little ego stroking.

At her question he glanced sideways towards his door, then nodded. "Mmhmm. Sorry about," a beat, as he considered his phrasing. "The noise. Didn't know I had a neighbor." There had been no effort made whatsoever to keep quiet from either Ezekiel or Ever any time they'd stayed in his room. And really, he wasn't all that sorry, but for politeness sake he'd uphold pleasantries. For now. No reason to alienate the girl. She could prove useful. Entertaining, at the very least.

"Nice to meet you, Makayla. I'm Ezekiel." Her phone disappeared, and he offered his hand for a shake.

Oh, he was having lots of fun, but Makayla didn't need to know that. She missed quite a bit, even sharing a wall with him. Most nights it was Ever's room they retreated to.

"No, not really." Zeke had just gotten back from training, taken a shower. There wasn't anywhere else he needed to be for a little while yet. "I've got a little time to kill, but if you've somewhere to be, don't let me stop you." It seemed like she might have been in a bit of a hurry.

Mention of the tattoos had him glancing down, and he lifted a hand to trace the curve of one brightly colored leg as it curled over his side. "Thank you." A note of pride. "They're not bad, you know." He didn't think so, at least. Though he'd always had something of a high tolerance for pain, and needles didn't bother him much. He found the application of ink relaxing. Not that unusual, or so he had heard.

"You should get one, if you can muster up the courage. There's a guy on island that'll do them for you." Another blue haired individual was dark skin. Zeke smirked.

Zeke shot her a knowing sort of smirk at that comment, noting the blush, but not commenting.

And she could have touched, he wouldn't have minded. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time someone he didn't really know traced the colorful legs of the octopus over his arm or shoulder. "Sounds like an interesting design, very symbolic. You should get it," he urged, smiling, shoulders rolling in a shrug. "Sometime." Hazel eyes dipped to the bit of exposed skin she flashed him.

"The tattoo guy is Zac. He's in sun. Short guy, blue hair, and some pretty sick tribals on his arms and legs." He was sort of impossible to miss in a crowd, save for the shot stature.

A hand lifted to rub at the back of his neck, eyes rolling briefly to the door at his side before falling back to Makayla. "I haven't gotten any ink from him myself, yet, but I've seen his work. He's really good."

{That ghoul is flirting with you, boil.}

I'm not unaware of that, Laggy. Do you have a point?

{Are you going to do something about it?}

Like?

He knew damn well what she meant, but he did enjoy pulling the valkyrie's chain.

A brow arched at her comment and he chuckled, rubbing his towel over his hair again before just draping it over his shoulders. "Naw, I just wasn't sure what time it was." He'd left his phone in his room, figuring he probably wouldn't need it in the shower. Likely he didn't have any messages, except perhaps from Paige.

Lagertha gave a disgruntled noise at the laugh Makayla's question garnered, but Zeke nodded. "She can be, but I'm pretty well used to her now. She's opinionated and critical." The valkyrie bristled, and the Mist chuckled again. "Pros seem to be out weighing the cons though, so far."

Zeke certainly liked all the benefits that came with having a voice in his head. The shield, the extra strength, the rapid healing. Yeah, it was definitely worth it.

{Do not be forgetting it either, boil.}

Of course not, Laggy.

"Oh?" Zeke's grin widened a touch. "What's she pole at you for?" Because he totally hadn't caught those few Freudian slips, and had no idea what the girl's weapon could possibly be harassing her about.

{You have a mean streak in you, Boil.}

Stating the obvious, Laggy.

As the subject of divisions came up the teasing grin faded. "Mist, with a specific aim towards the science side of things." A beat, and then he'd add, tone dipping slightly with it. "And the infirmary." He wasn't a particular fan of working in the island hospital, but he was good at it, so they insisted on keeping him around, despite his horrendous bed-side manner.

"How about you?"

Well that deserved a twitch of brow, and the man's smirk grew just a touch as he looked down at the girl. "Is that so." Brazen honesty. Zeke couldn't say it was the first time he'd heard something similar, it wouldn't be the last. Certainly, it was always amusing.

It didn't seem as thought she was all the comfortable with the admission, and normally he'd have been more than happy to push, to dig, to see just what sort of a reaction he could get from her, but he also had somewhere to be...soon, probably. He hadn't looked at his phone in a while, but he was fairly certain it was getting late, and he had to report to the infirmary before six.

{Are you entirely sure, boil? She is quite pretty.}

Yes, Lagertha. I'm quite sure.

The valkyrie gave a knowing snort of a laugh before retreating back into the deeper parts of his mind.

A tilt of his head followed her next comment. "You don't know what division you're assigned to?" That seemed like something every new recruit learned within the first hour of being conscious. "What's the picture on the back of your coat?"