IC INBOX

[spelleton]

Available through calling, texting or network contact.

"Greetings, you've reached Ekkehardt Gehring. If you're listening to this, I'm probably busy. Try again later, or leave a message."

EKKEHARDT GEHRING
UN: HEMLOCK

STATUS: Graduate/TA. School nurse assistant.

ACCOLADES: I graduated from this academy 22 years ago. I've been rather boring otherwise.

BIO: I'm here to help treat whatever injuries you children can't just bounce back from. Try not to get into trouble.

© TESSISAMESS

Comments

[01/31] Hollow Plot

[yokeye]

[When he gets the call from Orihime, he's on his way out of Lumiere. Before he can ask what she's talking about, she hangs up. She sounded out of breath and worried. He runs back down the hallway and pounds on Ekkehardt's door.]

EKKEHARDT!

[spelleton]

[ It probably says something that he's become used to Toki's screaming already, but oh well.

He opens the door. ]

Ah, Mr Rikugou.

What happens to be the emergency today?

[yokeye]

Orihime just called me and said I was in danger and that she was going to 'hold it off'! It's a monster or something and it's probably going to kill her! She hung up right after that and I don't know where she is and she sounded like she was out of breath and maybe running away from whatever it was! Why would she call me!? Why would it be after ME!? WHY WOULD SHE TRY AND FIGHT WHATEVER IT IS!?

[The entire time he's explaining, he's trying to call her back, but it just keeps ringing and going to voicemail.]

[spelleton]

She probably doesn't want to put you in harm's way. And I have to say, with your insistence on giving up immediately in the face of danger, it was probably the wisest course of action.

[ He's about to say something like I really have no idea why anything would be after you, but then...he does remember Peter, a few nights ago. A dead uncle who turned into a monster... ]

I need you to answer this question honestly, Mr Rikugou. It's important.

Do you have any deceased loved ones?

cw: minor gore, PTSD

[yokeye]

[That's exactly what Orihime's doing, trying to protect him, but she's going to get hurt because of it. He's trying her phone again when Ekkehardt asks the question. Yes, he does...

...one dismembered and ripped apart and lying in a pool of blood, reaching out with her severed arm somehow, the creature gnawing at her, sinking its teeth and claws into her, even after she's in pieces, the piercing howls as it devours bits of her flesh, shreds hanging from its fangs...

... he's dropped his phone, and probably hasn't answered Ekkehardt's question before screaming and backing up against the wall in the hallway. He slides down to sit on the floor, still screaming, and unaware of anything but his sister and the werewolf at the shrine.]

[spelleton]

[ Well

That seems like a yes to him.

He'd rather not Toki scream himself unconscious, but trying to shock him into stopping would probably be worse. Coaxing him to do so would probably send him into panicking about something else. So, instead, he steps into his room again and comes out with something.

He picks up the phone, checking it over (no damage, fortunately), and then in a businesslike manner shoves something into Toki's hands for him to hold because please just tune into reality a little bit.

If Toki stops screaming for five seconds he'll find he's holding a stuffed toy cat. What someone like Ekkehardt is doing with a toy cat is a mystery, but it's there now. ]

[yokeye]

[When Ekkehardt approaches, Toki tries to back up further, not seeing him, but something else. There's nowhere to go. He screams louder for a moment before he's given the cat. It's suddenly just there, and soft, and doesn't fit with what he's seeing. It distracts him enough that the hallway's returning. He's stopped screaming, and clutches the cat like if he lets go he'll die. He's crying now and realizing this is the fourth or fifth time he's done this and it's not going to stop. Yuya was right. He needs help. But so does Orihime. He can't look at Ekkehardt, so he focuses on the cat.]

You have to h-elp her, please!

[He doesn't know if Ekkehardt can help at all, but someone should be able to figure out where Orihime is and what's happening, before it's too late.]

[spelleton]

[ It's doing its job, at least, which is about as much as he can ask for.

It's been squeezed, sat on, tossed about, hugged entirely too tightly and otherwise battered around in the manner of a small child's favourite toy, so it's well suited for being held onto and cried on. ]

I will.

Miss Orihime will be safe. I promise.

[ He doesn't say 'stay here' because Toki's in no state to move anyway, and he doubts he'd go chasing after her. So he'll leave him be (and give him his phone back) and move onto the more urgent matter, which is finding out where she went. ]

[yokeye]

[He has no intention of leaving the hallway until Ekkehardt comes back and he knows Orihime's okay. If she gets hurt, or dies trying to protect him from... something, he won't be able to handle it. He can't be responsible for that. For now, he'll continue to cry and hang onto the stuffed cat until his fingers go numb, and try not to scream.]

[02/14]

[yokeye]

[In the morning, there's a medium-sized box waiting for Ekkehardt outside his door. It's covered in red wrapping paper, sans a bow or anything else decorative. There's a small white card attached that simply reads - Thank You -. Inside, he will find a somewhat awkward-looking stuffed animal: a Japanese crested ibis.]

[hattersgonnahat]

[Even some time after Puella received a knife for self defense she still felt uneasy using it. Even after practicing with it, it...felt kind of wrong. It just wasn't a 'her' kind of weapon, you know? Or maybe, it was something else.]

[Hey wait--she's pretty sure she's seen Ekkehardt use knives before! Albeit only the kitchen ones, but with skills like that he probably knew a lot more. Maybe he could give some good pointers...or a bad pun.]

Hey Ekke?

Do you like killing people?

[Or she could waste no time at all]

[spelleton]

[ He stares at his phone, utterly flummoxed by this line of questioning before his common sense kicks in and informs him that there is literally no way she knows about his other job he's never told anyone about.

But also, what kind of question is that. ]

No.

Why do you ask?

[hattersgonnahat]

[It's a very important question!]

I dunno, you just seem like someone who would know a thing or two about it.

[Part of how he dresses is kind of suspicious too!]

...What is it like then?

[spelleton]

It's unpleasant. I wouldn't recommend it.

[ He's had to make some less than clean kills, for various reasons, over the course of his life. It's messy and probably traumatizing for people that aren't him. ]

Why are you so interested in killing people, suddenly? [ This is not an important or vital life skill!! It's like the opposite?? ]

[hattersgonnahat]

Because isn't that why I'm here? To fight stuff?

[Like the daemons that were here awhile ago.]

[spelleton]

Fighting and killing are two different things.

[hattersgonnahat]

But do the daemons know that?

[Or the other creatures that would gladly eat them, or...whatever else they do.]

[04/30]

[yokeye]

[Outside Ekkehardt's door is a small, flat, rectangular brown box, adorned with a glittery ribbon. The attached tag reads Alles Gute zum Geburtstag. Upon opening it, he will find a picture of the most adorable mustachioed octopus, along with a note in Japanese. It reads: "please pick up your gift in the common room". Should Ekkehardt choose to follow these instructions, he will immediately find his present. A six foot tall stuffed octopus with a felt mustache just sitting on the common room couch.]

4/30

[subconmodo]

[The delivery shows up right on time: Ekkehardt's yearly birthday bouquet of mourning lilies.

Only this time there's a card. A simple thing. A generic birthday card, blank on the inside save for Avery's hastily written signature. There's a gift card as well, though it's worth only 5 euros at the nearest big box store.]

[spelleton]

[ Lilies again, because if there's anything Atchison is punctual with it's being a nuisance, but the card is...new.

The monetary value isn't much, but Ekkehardt has never been one to care about amassing funds.

The sentimental value, though, is much higher than that.

He can't help but smile, genuinely, just a little. It's begrudging and faint, but he is touched. ]

[ Later that day, Avery will find a nondescript box on his desk with a perfect replica of a very familiar mask inside.

The only discrepancy is that the copy is made for an adult, rather than a child. If he decides to wear it, it will fit perfectly, and offer the same enchantments Ekkehardt put on the original.

There's a note:

"I was asked for a favour. Don't think too hard about it." ]

4/30

[unpocoloco]

There's a note left on Ekkehardt's desk, in an envelope. It features several small birthday related doodles and reads:

¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, MI AMIGO!
Or whatever this counts as with guys like you and me.
Drinks on me tonight, and whatever else you like. I don't think I ever asked if you taste food at all, but if so, food, drink, and song. I'm bringing a guitar so you bring an idea of what you'd like.
I also found you these. I don't know which kinds you like or if you even like to change things up at all, but I thought, what the heck, if you don't like them you could probably find some use.
And don't worry, the box is safely glitter free.
-Héctor

It should be noted that while the box is glitter free, the envelope this note comes in is not.

The box on the desk contains a few different cravats. One in fancy white lace, one in black, a silk one in red, and something a little more cheeky.

[suddenlybees]

Ekkehardt!!!!!!
Hi!!!!!!
This is real important so get back to me ASAP!!!!!!!
I would like to trade a favor for a favor.
Pleeeeeeeeeeaaassee

[spelleton]

[ that amount of exclamation marks can only be kano, if the username tag wasn't enough. ]

What kind of favor do you need?

[suddenlybees]

I just need you to stand somewhere for five minutes!
You don't even have to do anything!!!
Easy-peasy, right?

[spelleton]

Are you going to tell me what this is for, or am I going to have to figure it out myself when it happens to me

[ He knows Kano well enough by now that seemingly innocuous things are never this simple. ]