redjacketthief | Appointments

[Smoker's not sure what to do with the "deathsickle" he'd been carrying around for the last week. Even in another world he'd been hesitant to use it... and here in Luceti he just wanted to throw it away. It wasn't him. Not that Smoker had a problem with violence; hell he was all for beating his enemies to a pulp, but there was a certain pride he'd always taken at using his jitte or own two hands. Then again, as a shinigami... or how he'd once thought it was; he didn't have to fight very often to begin with. Not in a truly testing one's limits way that Smoker sometimes worried he practically lived for. If that was how Grell felt fighting the demon, then it was no wonder she craved more of it. Assuming that part was even real. It was confusing.]

[For now, Smoker decided to just go back to his routine as if everything was normal. With one minor exception that included getting Lupin early. The other man hadn't been around for the week, which wasn't too strange given the Shift, but it also meant that he was probably getting fidgety, and it only took five minutes of knowing Arsene Lupin III to spot that as dangerous. And so it is that Smoker hunts him down -- perhaps just to reaffirm to himself that he was indeed the White Hunter and hadn't gotten rusty -- and stands at Smoker's door with the same no-nonsense attitude he always has.]

Come on, you're coming for lessons today, and I don't care whether how many sessions you've had with Detective Chun-Li or not. [To the point and gruff as always.]

[The week had done many, many things to the renowned thief Arsene Lupin III, but the one thing it hadn't done was leave him a fidgety mess, where he was so energetic that he just couldn't focus. He had that focus, and was himself astounded by it. Of all things...

It would be a lie to say that he hadn't liked the memories. It would be an equal lie to admit that he hadn't enjoyed himself as the slicer known as Red, as the intelligence officer that had recieved the rank of Commander, Arsenn Lupan. It would be a goddamn lie to say that he hadn't enjoyed his time with Goldie--no, Adele-- and that he hadn't wished it would continue forever.

The fact that Smoker was at his door wasn't a surprise, though it did send an odd jolt of tension through his spine. Not now, not now... He knew for a fact that the Marine wouldn't go away though, knew that it was probably for the best if he played along as if nothing had happened.

While he didn't have a Civil War, he did have a status quo that needed to be maintained at all costs.]

..I didn't see the Detective a hell of a lot either last week, Captain. She believed she was a part of Whitebeard's crew, though. Yes, I know it was a shift, but it was wierd.

[No, he hasn't opened the door. He is leaning on it, however. For a door that opens to the inside, even a skinny guy like him can make for a halfway decent barricade for a while.]

That's not even half of the weirdest. Given how she acted about the crew, I'm not even surprised. [He really isn't.]

Come on, let's go. [Gestures a thumb out and turns to get walking. No worries Lupin, he has no interest in what the inside of the apartment looks like.]

How's your leg now? Back to normal?

...You noticed that? Of course you did.

[He peeks around the door at the retreating man before sighing in resignation. Normalcy. Status Quo. Immediately correcting for pace, gait, and expression, he follows.]

What went on with you Capt--Cap'? I was distracted by a lot last week.

Yes. Want to tell me what happened?

Tch... I was with Sutcliff. From her world. [Taps a temple.] Or so I thought. Usual shift bullshit. [Sutcliffe, not Red, not Grell. Hm.]

[More than usual, it seems. Lupin doesn't press it, for now.]

...It was a Shift. I was with Luke Skywalker, and part of that same military. There was a nasty siege about five--six years back...

[He remembered going down, remembered the biological warfare that nearly killed several of their officers, and how the only cure was the one thing that could have helped with a speedy recovery from that incident...and was in short supply.

Lupin shrugs.] That was the result.

Hn. So you're fine now?

[A glance back over his shoulder. Surprisingly, or maybe not given Smoker, he does seem concerned.]

Mostly. I was fine then too--apparently I was given an artificial leg during the shift because of that siege.

[Lupin meets his gaze, unwavering. There was no reason to worry too much--he wasn't hurt. He just wasn't fit to go steal something for a good few weeks.]

What about you? I've never heard you refer to Grell so formally before.

All right.

Tch. We didn't work together before either. [Did it really change anything? The work wasn't generally his idea of justice, but in some ways it went against it a lot less than the marines or his own world government did.] I'll deal with that later. [Supposed years of built up affection and clandestine meetings and if anything he almost felt further from her? Why? Knowing more about her than he expected? So what. It was ridiculous. Just a shift, and women were always a maze, no matter what their genetics said.]

[He does move the sunglasses off for now though, having realized that he was keeping them on as a habit about the rule to never remove them. How annoying.]

[Lupin nods to this, wholly understanding the sentiment. While he normally didn't do avoidance tactice, he needed to acclimate his mind to handle two very different worldviews, even if they are temporary.

A small yet sufficiently loud part of him didn't want to forget any of this.

He sighs at this, a little weary, a little wistful. It was so nice, for a short while...]

Well then, Captain. It looks like we both have our work cut out for us then. I never thought I'd do well in any kind of ordered system. Yet, somehow, I did. Even if it was a lie.

Edited 2012-04-09 03:12 (UTC)

[Snorts.]

You're more than just chaos Lupin. [Smoker himself has his own trouble in ordered systems and hierarchies thanks to sheer loathing of all rules.]

Tsk, Shifts will be shifts. What you do with them after the fact is up to you.

I think I'm starting to get that about the Shifts--it's just gonna be wierd for the next few weeks is all. [He had instincts that weren't his, habits that had no purpose in his daily life. He missed his datapad. Never mind that he should never normally have one, but he missed it.]

...It's still just a surprise that something like that was even possible. I mean yeah, sure, I wasn't any shining paragon of order, but I got deep enough in there to be moderately respected. I had a worthwhile purpose, a way to use my skills freely.

It was interesting.

They've done some bizarre things like that before, though not that specifically. [Being his own worst enemy; literally Straw Hat captured by him except that Smoker was dressed as Straw-Hat and his own cuffs and jitte fought him. Or the time he was singing. That was bad enough.]

And you didn't have respect as a thief? [Smoker is actually curious about this.]

Oh no, I do have respect there too, but this is different, it's...just different.

[He chuckles at this, not knowing a better way to describe what he was talking about.]

...That's not even all of what they did this time, really. I'm not all that mad about it either. I mean, I am, but mostly at their mistakes. Not about this.

So it turns out the other side of the line isn't so bad after all?

[As he briefly thinks of X Drake and how the pirate switched sides from marine to pirate just to see what it was like.]

You could say something like that.

It's just...everything else that's a problem right now. [He had relationships with two different women to repair, needed to prove to Pops that he was sane once more, needed to repair his good reputation in the enclosure...

Needed to deal with Luke, however that would work.]

I'm not even sure that I'm exactly ready for training right yet, but it can't hurt, right? There's a lot of distractions right now.

I find the exercise helps clear things up. [Though his tone suggests "your mileage may vary."]

So if you don't mind my asking, what is the problem then?

[He did mind...but he had a feeling that Smoker was going to pry it out of him or find out in some way regardless. He stalked the Marine, and he was stalked right back. It was their game.

Talking did help.]

...Too much in my head, as expected. Gotta sort through the different memories. There's things up here [he taps the side of his head with a finger.] that shouldn't be there. Feelings. Impulses.

Don't need people to worry, but I need get everything straight first.

Habits? Or something stronger?

[Nods and snorts to himself.] I'm not gonna worry. [Lupin is a pest, but hardly an idiot, and still a grown man. No matter what mischief he's inclined towards.]

...Both.

[It was the simplest explanation. He looks up at Smoker, moderately grateful for the man's no-questions-asked understanding and acceptance.]

It's no biggie, really. I've had my memory screwed with before, but that was erasing recent events. This is different, but I'll adapt.

Thanks. I appreciate that.

[Waves a hand to say it's nothing.]

Well, it's a little like the Valentine's Shift, isn't it? Adding something that may or may not have any other reason for being there.

Eh, maybe. The Comma--Red had a tendency to fall fast and hard for women, even if only rarely, and fell for someone here. It would be easier to forget about if it weren't reciprocated on some level.

[Lupin shook his head, irritated by his near slip of revealing of his other self's rank of Commander. Smoker as he is, though, probably caught that.

At least it was with someone safe.]

...He also left notes, clothes in my closet, mementos of that doomed love affair, and some of his own impulses. I think I'm only calm like this right now because of him, and I don't know how long that will last.

Oh? [A head tilt. Maybe he and Lupin were a little alike in the failing at relationships sense.] And not with the craz-- Fujiko?

[Runs a hand through his hair uncertainly, thinking it through as they finally reach the barracks.]

Well, ideally, if you could pick through magic, what would you like to see happen?

No, not with Fujiko. With the Doctor, you know the one. This...complicates things.

[He stays quiet for a pensive moment, contemplating Smoker's question. If he could pick through magic, what would he like to see. His smile is amused, but a little bitter.]

All of the above isn't an option, is it?

[Arches an eyebrow. So much for finding her too irresponsible even by his own standards. There's a few thoughts Smoker has on that. About whether Lupin thinks he can "fix" the Doctor, or whether it's even less complicated than with Fujiko, or even just whether complicated is Lupin's style since it gives him something to do. However, while it's clearly all the cogs are turning in Smoker's head, none of them get voiced.]

Probably not. Women tend to frown on that sort of thing. I guess you could try it, but they might try to kill you. And from what I understand about your taste and how they're like Grell; they'd find a way.

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