“Geez..” Zeke shrugged, making note of the absolute distrust in the boy’s eyes. This kid definitely had the eyes of someone who had been some pretty tough things. His mistrust wasn’t completely misplaced though. It was a pretty normal reaction to prioritize oneself especially when faced with an unknown situation. He couldn’t exactly fault him for that.
When the silver haired boy stepped back, hit shoe connecting with one of the many fliers and newspapers scattered around the room, Zeke shrugged in response to his look of confusion as if to say he didn’t have a clue himself, but he still wasn’t about to make a move when the kid was wielding what he practically considered a fancy light saber. “Yeah, yeah..” He sighed, placing a hand on his hip as he waited patiently for the other to look over whatever it was he was looking at. After a moment of silence, Zeke folded his arms and tapped his foot on the ground. “Well? Don’t keep me in suspense here! What does it say?” Though he could wager a guess considering when he’d gotten up his eyes had briefly taken in the large, bold headlines. Still, if the young jedi over there had stumbled upon any new and interesting clues he wanted to know about them.
Zeke’s words went unanswered and largely ignored as the other finally threw the paper down. It was clear by the expression he wore that he was in disbelief and appeared to be mulling whatever the contents of the paper had revealed to him. Finally it seemed that he’d resolved himself to something as he spoke aloud about it being a game. Zeke guessed that was one way to look at it. Actually, he’d treated much of his work in basically the same matter, but that was basically to just detach himself from the harsh reality of what his jobs usually entailed.
Zeke breathed a sigh of relief as the green light dissipated and all the tenseness in his body dispersed. Well, for now it appeared the kid was willing to accept him. He had no idea how he had come to that conclusion but at least he was less hostile now. “You.. You don’t have very many friends, do you?” The look of pitying that Zeke gave him lasted for all of a minute before he shrugged and brushed past him over to where the stairs were located.
Once he descended downwards, he took a good look at the room. The furniture looked completely dated but still looked more comfortable and luxurious than anything Zeke had been used to. In one corner of the room, something stood out from anything else. “Ah!” Zeke lunged forward, taking the large purple and black hammer that looked like a hodge podge of pieces that had been melded together to form the weapon. “Partner!” The sound that the hammer made as it scrapped across the ground as Zeke picked it up was a testament to just how heavy it was. Unless someone had the ability to pick up a car with ease, they’d have absolutely no strength to pick it up, and yet Zeke held it up like it were a twig, his blue eyes looking over it to make sure it was in good condition.
Well, someone had been kind enough to leave his weapon for him, and it made sense as to why they’d left it down here as opposed to the kid’s whose weapon was just a stick. Due to the weight, it was possible that the loft area would have buckled under it. Strange though.. He wondered if whoever had brought them here had already figured that much out for themselves. He brought the large hammer to rest snugly against his shoulder and turned to the boy.
“Hm, so.. I don’t wanna just go around callin’ you kid or boy, so what’s your name? I’m Zeke! Zeke Pennywort. You belong to one of those clans, right?” He pointed at the staff that he carried to show that he’d observed the brightly colored green aura.. Not that anyone could have missed it. “I think you’ll find though that I’m pretty hard to get rid of just like that, so let’s work together, okay? Speaking of which.. What did that paper say? Other than, y’know, the zombie apocalypse something or other.” The kid was treating it as a game, but wasn’t survival more important? What conclusion had the other drawn that gave him the idea of “exploring a map”?
“I prefer to play solo...if I have to play this shitty game, then I won’t let anyone get in my way.” The concept of having actual friends was also one that Sukuna compared to his beloved video games. Escort missions slowed you down as you adjusted your pace to a new character, friendly party members could betray you...yes, it was easier for him to do things on his own. Even within Jungle, where he had found people he trusted with his life, they mostly did things on their own as well without completely relying on each other. In the two years he had spent with his king Nagare and the Gray King Iwa-san, he hadn’t once actually seen either of them fight. Each of Jungle’s top clansmen had been free souls who liked to move as they pleased. Nagare had just been that kind of laid back king.
Still, to hear some asshole like this talk about his lack of friends with such an expression...it pissed him off a little.
Carrying the heavy black staff with ease, Sukuna descended the stairs a few steps behind. The room below had older furniture, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It kind of reminded him of their old base, with how homely it had been. The one odd thing he saw was...a hammer? No, it looked more like a clump of garbage to him! It seemed sturdy enough, but he found the shape a bit odd. “What is that, garbage?!” he explained, pinching his nose briefly to emphasize his words despite the fact that nothing smelled off.
Well, although Sukuna’s staff was heavy, it clearly wasn’t nearly as heavy as the hammer that the handcuffed man had picked up.
The guy finally introduced himself as Zeke Pennywort...not a familiar name at all, and not one Sukuna had any interest in calling him by. Really, ‘handcuffs’ would serve him just fine for now.
As for himself...he also had no interest in giving up his name. Scepter 4 still had him on their radar for him, Homra had it out for him, and his mother even now seemed to still wish for his return home. His family name would give away his father’s high status in an instant. Maybe he’d tell his name to someone who seemed harmless, but this weird guy was...well, too strange. “Then, handcuffs...you can just call me Five.”
The name had been his username on the Jungle app, stemming from the Go in his surname. It would be alright to use as a name here, too. Since this seemed like some kind of game set up for them. He ignored many of Zeke’s questions, such as if he belonged to a clan (it was obvious, why did he ask?) or the confirmation that they should be a team (Sukuna had already told him he’d work with him for a bit...didn’t he get that?). Besides that, couldn’t he read?! Why did he have to relay the information by him?
“Can’t you read, handcuffs? I guess I’ll tell you so listen carefully. We’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse as of right now. If you’re not careful, you’ll be eaten...not that that’s my problem. If we can make it seven days in this world, then we can return to normal.” Despite seeming vaguely bored as he spoke, he seemed sure of himself. The information in the newspaper had been clear, although the whole ‘seven days’ part had been in smaller print and harder to find. With a cheeky grin, Sukuna glanced at the door that led to outside. “I’ll defeat the most enemies and get the high score,” he declared, practically exuding an overly confident energy.
