Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aphismet locked his regular clothes in the changeroom locker, and appeared in the gym wearing something he hadn't worn since he'd painted his apartment a few years ago: Sweat pants and a tank top. His newly-white hair, which was getting rather long (He kept putting off going to the hairdresser!), was tied back in a short, silly-looking ponytail. He carried a large bottle of water, which he placed on a bench before he stepped out onto the gym floor and, like the other handful of attendees, began stretching.

Self-defense. Aphismet had considered it for a while, and he did have vague recollections of having attended something like this before The Fire... He couldn't remember clearly, though. After the event with Edgar, and the phone call from Chloe, Aphismet made up his mind. Even if he didn't have much time to learn all this, he would try. He had to be able to help his friends and his family when they needed him! When he found out where Chloe was, he'd be able to do something about it!

...At least he hoped.

Curious, his brown eyes scanned the room for anyone he might recognize.

Aphismet blinked at the purple-haired woman. She didn't seem to be part of this class. She was too good. Perhaps she was the teacher?

All that aside, Aphismet thought he recognized her. How he was able to recall someone from that Festival, which had been swarming with new faces, was a mystery. Nevertheless, Aphismet was almost certain it was that one woman named Ebony.

Walking over, still stretching casually, Aphismet lifted a corner of his lips in a half-smile. "Why hello. Ebony, right? You're really wailing on that plastic man. I bet he won't try to mug you again."

Aph flinched back as the woman practically floored him with a kick. Had he said something wrong? As the woman lowered her leg and spoke, Aphi began to think that he MIGHT have.

Aphismet blinked, wondering if he really was this forgettable. Hadn't they spoken at the cooking booth for a while? He frowned in annoyance for a moment before it dawned on him.

He looked nothing like he used to. His hair was a different color, length and style. His eyes had a hard edge they didn't used to wear. His face was set in a solid mask of stoic calm that he'd had to force on, in the wake of all the recent events.

He smirked self-depreciatingly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I look nothing like what you'd recognize. I'm Aphismet, I was running the cook-off booth at the Summer Festival."

Aph threw up his hands and chuckled. At least she didn't seem to mean to hurt him, now that she remembered who he was... But did she normally hurt people who just came to talk to her?

Hm. She was rather pretty. Logically, the men here most likely try to talk to her more than she would wish. This could explain why she nearly cracked his skull.

"N-no, no, I'm fine, really," he said. "People here must bother you lots if this is the welcome you reserve for people." He let his hands down and walked over to the plastic dummy, looking at all the dents and scratches on its surface. "Wow, you're pretty good at this stuff. Must have been practicing for a long time, right? Do you ever use these skills?"

He had to ask it. He wanted to know if he was the only one to whom this kinda stuff happened. Surely not, but he needed to hear someone else say it, so that he didn't feel so alone.

"Something like that, yeah," he answered with a shrug. He could tell when someone didn't want to talk about things, and Ebony didn't want to talk about that. A strange aversion, seeing as she was practicing in public, but that was her choice, and she had a right to it. He couldn't press, seeing as he didn't want to get into details about HIS reasons, either.

"Are you teaching the class?" he asked suddenly. "This is a beginner-level class, and well... You seem very high above beginner." He smirked, watching her re-wrap her hands. She did it with such ease, without even having to think about it. Aph couldn't even follow all the patterns she wove with the bandages, securing them at the wrist.

"How've you been otherwise?" he asked. "I haven't seen you after the Festival, and I'm sorry for having had to leave you at the booth all alone. I didn't want to keep Dr Kyoupiruchi waiting once he arrived." He bowed slightly, respectfully. An apology. It hadn't been gentlemanly of him to walk away.

Aphi had indeed been about to ask Ebony what she did for a living, and so the woman's question came at a good time. Aphi started stretching again, mimicking Ebony's movements, as he answered.

"Oh yes, the Festival went extremely well, in fact. We raise somewhere around a hundred thousand G! Mostly thanks to one person who left a hefty tip at my brother's booth. The Cook-off, on a more personal note, went very well too! There were lots of many delicious, inspiring desserts created for the event. It was much fun."

Aphismet very obviously omitted answering the first part of the question. He didn't feel right about saying "I'm fine", since it would be a blatant lie, but he also didn't feel like going into details about his recent ordeals. Instead he asked a few questions of his own.

"And how about you? Been well? And why didn't you enter the contest?" He smirked, obviously meaning "can you cook?".

A few seconds after Aph had spoken, the class instructor walked in.

Aphismet followed the instructions from the teacher easily, surprisingly easily. He found himself knowing what the next lessons would be, and he blinked. Had he really done this before? Why couldn't he remember? He was still nowhere as good as Ebony, but he was a great deal ahead of all the other beginners. It was a strange revelation.

Questions popped into his head, making him frown. Unfortunately, there was no one left who would be able to answer these questions.

Ebony's sudden voice startled him out of his musings. He glanced over with a half-smile. "Well, it's a matter of practice. And a matter of choice. It's perfectly alright not to cook, but you should at least have a home-cooked meal once in a while."

Suddenly an idea occurred to him. "I have a deal for you: If you consent to teaching me more Martial Arts, seeing as this class is um... Well, seems that it's stuff I already know. If you agree to teach me, I'll make you a home-cooked dinner in exchange every time. Is that acceptable?"

He realized he might sound like he was trying to pick her up, but Aph hoped she would know better. He honestly wanted only to learn, and his inherant chef always offered food as gifts.