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A few days later, and Zeke seemed to be taking everything in stride. It didn't hurt that things around the island had thus far proven similar to how his life had operated in college; routine, research, exercise, rules. He was used to it, in fact, he thrived on it. What was strange, what he still wasn't exactly used to, was the voice of the overbearing, bossy valkyrie that hung like a charged cloud at the back of his mind. For the moment he was doing his best to ignore her, a task that was proving challenging, but Zeke was no stranger to blocking out the chatter of annoying women.

Of course usually he had an end game in mind.

{Boil, you are not taking this seriously enough.}

Zeke snorted in response, smirking as let himself into the dorms, and started down the hall. He got the sense Lagertha was scowling, which only made his smile broaden. He should have been trying to strengthen his bond with the Valkyrie, as he'd been instructed, but it was just so fun pulling her metaphysical leg.

Soon. Soon he he would extend that mental olive branch, but not today.

A serious of profanities drew the new Mist out of his own thoughts and into the present. Hazel eyes drifted up to land on a white haired man standing at a door with look of utter annoyance crossing his features as he dug in his pockets. In his hand, a bottle of vodka. "Lock yourself out?" It came in a lazy drawl, his assumption reasonable.

An auburn brow rose, intrigued, at that less than subtle inflection attached to the word girlfriend. "Ah haha. I see." A dip of his chin, the twitch of his lips, and just a touch of amusement coloring his words. He did see, or thought he did, in any case. There was a chance he was reading into visual and verbal cures completely incorrectly, but he didn't think so. "I'm Ezekiel, Mist trainee. Just stepped out of the pod a few days ago. And you are?" Very interesting. White wasn't a color you ran into often with hair, at least not naturally.

He'd slowed to a stop across from the slightly taller man, and drew a hand from his back pocket to offer it out for a shake. Though hazel eyes did twitch briefly down to the bottle of vodka before lifting once again to meet darkest brown. "So if it's her lose, who stands to gain?" The implication being it should be him.

{Spirits dull the mind, boil.}

You have full access to my mind, does it look dull to you?

"A few days," he reiterated, chuckling. "And no, I don't have any orange juice, nor do I know where to find any." It came with an apologetic tone that said if he had any he'd certainly share it. Who didn't like screw drivers?

The blonde grabbed his hand, shaking, but instead of releasing Zeke found himself being tugged along down the hall. "I am new. They don't come much newer than me." He glanced down at the...--A quick glance down took in the tree on the other man's coat-- Life hunter's hand still gripping his own, but he didn't try to pull it back. It seemed to him that he'd be getting, at the very least, a free drink if he tagged along. And at most...

"So what'd you say your name was?" He hand't. Not that names had to be all that important, but considering everyone on this island was now a colleague of some sort, it was probably wise to at least establish a first name basis.

"Ever." A considering look was leveled on the other man as did, indeed, fall into step beside him rather than trailing in his wake. "Would that be the name is find if I checked your birth certificate?" Zeke couldn't resist a little mild ribbing. He liked to push buttons, testing limits in a bid to pick apart the various aspects a person, just to see how they ticked. Cold, maybe, but that was just how the Mist operated. Knowledge was power.

"Congratulations are in order then." The lazy smirk was back. After Finn's bristly introduction to the horrors of hunterdom, Ever's apparent shameless pride held a certain charm. No more or less interesting, but different. Ezekiel hadn't meet more than a tiny handful of other hunters, so his pool of collected data to reach from was very limited, but based on what he was seeing thus far it appeared that situations varied from hunter to hunter. Finn had seemed genuinely haunted by the things he had encountered. Ever appeared unphased.

But who was Zeke to say for certain? He'd only been there for a few short days.

"Missions, no." His shoulders lifted in a small shrug. "And so far nothing in the way of divisional training. As I understand it, Mist are the jack of all trades?" It was a mostly rhetorical question. He knew what he division did. "I'm sure they'll get along to it soon enough, but until then I have been getting acquainted with my weapon." Lagertha snorted. "And doing personal research so when I do get sent on a mission I hopefully won't be going in blind." Finn had scoffed at his efforts, but he still stopped into the library at least once a day.

He wasn't sure, yet, what a minipet was, but if there was a duty assigned to it eventually he would find out. "Don't know, but when I find out I can tell you."

They stopped, Ever crouched low to root around in what appeared to be a little known hidey hole. Zeke made a mental note of the location, but didn't comment. The blonde was clearly looking for something, and it wasn't as if the Mist could really lend a hand in finding it.

Zeke responded to the threat with a twitch of brow and roll of hazel eyes. "Then it wouldn't make much sense for me to do it, would it?" It would have been brainless to assume one could get away with clearing out a cache after having just been shown it's location, and one thing eke was not, was brainless.

Lagertha gave a bark of a laugh in his head, to which he merely smiled.

Broad shoulders rose in a 'fair enough' gesture as she sunk his hands back into his pockets.

Ever started back down the hall they'd come from, and after a tick, Zeke followed, pace quickening to bring him up at the other man's side again. "Off my rocker, maybe. I did sign up to come here." There had been a lot of mixed revues regarding life as a hunter. Everything from all out regret, to anger, to content acceptance. Zeke wasn't sure where on the spectrum he'd find himself a few months down the road.