10th Turn [Voice/Action]

[redjacketthief]

[July 9: Voice]

Hey, Luceti.

[The thief speaks clearly over the public audio feeds very suddenly that night, with a level of calm that is surprising for some residents he spoke with over his most recent transmission. There's no laughter in his tone, nor any bitterness. He speaks as if he were holding a casual conversation.]

I just wanted to let you know, for those of you who knew him, that Detective Inspector Zenigata Koichi has returned home. Don't worry--he's just gone back to doing what he does best, even if he hasn't yet succeeded. Never let there be a doubt, he is the best damn officer that the ICPO has to offer. 

We're down another lawdog, guys, but we'll manage. Let's make the old bastard proud!

Also...he wasn't here for very long, so I don't know how many people he knew, but Jigen Daisuke has also returned home. Don't worry for him either, because its better for him to be out of here. He's quiet, but places like this never got on well with him.

If you want to honor them in some way, have a few drinks and a few smokes. If that's not your thing, then have a bowl of Miso Ramen for Pops. It's his favorite dish.

[Filtered to Smoker: Unhackable]

Captain? Pops left you something if you want to come get it.

[Considering recent weeks and the whirlwind of events, Lupin appeared to be taking the loss of two of his best friends rather well. Residents of Community House 5 would have noticed the sheer delay he took in actually investigating Zenigata's apartment on the third level. Whether out of physical necessity or his own misplaced lonliness, Lupin spends the night there.]

[July 10: Action]

[Residents of the village will be able to catch Lupin between several places the next day, largely in the area around Community House 5, the Barracks, and the Battle Dome. Although he's physically not fully adjusted to the current conditions left on him by the Malnosso, Lupin treks his way over to the Dome to make use of one of the simulation rooms for target practice. His aim went with his balance, and he intended to rectify that as soon as possible. Acquaintances could call him out on his poor coping skills once more, but that won't stop him from trying.

It's late afternoon by the time he's satisfied enough to leave, although he doesn't quite make it back to his room. Wandering villagers will find him napping anywhere around the Barracks or Community House 5, although a preference for sleeping under or in trees is noticeable. Just...don't ask him if he needs a hand.

If his refusal for aid is unaccepted, he will not be directing people to his apartment in the community building, but to House 46 on the other side of town.

His friends insisted on the change, and he was in no position to argue.]

Comments

[redjacketthief]

I'm not that heroic...

[The elbow is accepted, though. The medication that Law prescribed is starting to work, but it didn't help the original balance issue. It's not a date, but he wants to have some manner of independence too.]

Don't you go accusing me of going straight either--it'll ruin my rep around here! [It's said in jest, though he has a feeling that his 'rep' is all ready ruined.]

[justicereigns]

[Another quick laugh.] Around here I'm not sure it matters much. Between Trafalgar Law and Straw-Hat, "villains" have to take a backseat here.

[Takes his time leading Lupin out so he can get a better grip on balance and adjusting to it.]

[redjacketthief]

[Balance, adjustment...there were so many things that he just didn't need to think about before. His posture and foot placement used to flow so naturally, but recent days left him bracing a hand against walls as he moved or just giving up and lounging all day. Even having a friend as a guide felt better than that.]

What difference does it make anyway, when we all share an enemy that we haven't found a good way to touch yet? It's just easier to call a truce and deal with it.

Pops and I did that on a number of occasions...and it tended to work.

[justicereigns]

Exactly.

Though I'm sure my truces are a lot more tentative than yours. Maybe it's the number of years.

[redjacketthief]

Maybe. Who knows? Luffy does genuinely like you, so maybe he'll find a way for you two to team up some day. Kid like that...he's got determination.

[justicereigns]

I'd rather he didn't all told. Since that would mean he found a reason to make me risk my entire life's work and go against the brass even more than I already cross the line.

[Not to mention Luceti already gives too much for Smoker to thing about when it comes to moral ambiguities, the only consolation prize is that back home he won't remember it.]

[redjacketthief]

Understood, Cap'. [He offers a playful salute.] I still think it might be good for you eventually. Even if it is only here.

[justicereigns]

[Snorts.] It's fine the way it is for now.

[Mind you, the minute he canon updates this will all have come to pass, but hell if he knows that. Luffy might when he returns though....]

I'm still trying to work out peace with his brother, and that's easier since I know I don't have to deal with him back in our world ever again, and yet it's still harder than it should be. [Because of his own stubbornness? Meh. Too much thinking it over.]

[redjacketthief]

...Just don't think about it so much. [Kettle paging Pot: you're black.] The only baggage here is the baggage that we bring ourselves. We have no rules and no laws except for basic morality here. Things should get easier between you and Ace if you just let go of the thoughts that are holding you back.

[justicereigns]

[Eyebrows raise. Yes, both of them.] And just what thoughts do you think those are?

[He has a lot, but whether they're holding him back or it's just trying to figure them out that even pushes him forward, he's really not so sure about.]

[redjacketthief]

I would think that they're the same as Pops'; a stubborn refusal to work with thieves until the chips are down, even when you have a common enemy.

[He shrugs, just verbalizing his intuition. Zenigata and Smoker were frightfully similar in many ways, so it was an easy enough stretch to guess that Smoker had a similar mentality.]

[justicereigns]

The Malnosso aren't enough to unite us.

Portgas.... [What? Deserves to be in Luceti? A sort of half-prison, half-freedom where he can be with his family and friends again, but not engage in piracy? A half-life better than none.]

In your world you're free and there isn't the World Government. There's the sort of international ICPO Zenigata works for, but from what I can understand about the politics of your world, the countries hold each other at bay from going too extreme. The World Government doesn't have that. You and Zenigata can team up to fight worse enemies, but the best I can do with Straw Hat right now is simply choose to hold off arresting him so I can get proof and he can help his friends. And that was very temporary.

It's not that we have a common enemy here. Portgas should probably thank the Malnosso for letting him be alive, and I just don't care about them. [Where Straw Hat goes, he'll hold him in check. To catch him, or whatever's necessary.] It's that the things which would make us enemies do not matter here. The World Government can't put a bounty on a dead man, and I wouldn't bother even if they did. In our world he was still a threat. [Half of the reasons for Ace's execution don't sit well with him. It's not a crime to be born, it should never be for anyone. But Ace was still a Whitebeard Commander, the Captain of the Spade pirates and had actual crimes to his name as well. Just as Whitebeard and the other pirates do.] In our world I can't let Straw Hat find One Piece because it's very likely to break the world, and certainly turn it into upheaval along the way. There is no One Piece here. No reason to catch Straw Hat or stop him from protecting Luceti. So no reason to stop A-- Portgas from protecting Straw Hat.

That's why it's complicated. Simply lacking reasons to be enemies other than history is hardly enough to make us friends either. [Well, it's stranger with Ace because he has reasons to be friends with him, it's just that the reasons they should not be are in the middle, so by removing them it still seems like moving backwards, or betraying something.]

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin listens intently, keeping a bracing hand on Smoker's arm as they travel and soaking in all of the information. Smoker was right--while the two situations were very similar, there was enough of a difference between their worlds that there was almost no way to adequately compare the two. Lupin was starting to piece together who was whom in Smoker's world just by their conversations, and was even beginning to figure out who was allied with whom within the confines of Luceti. What he saw gave him enough of an impression that he himself would do fantastically well in that world, but the differences were stark, and enough to make him have doubts.

There was no real way to halt the corrupt nature of Smoker's government that he could see, but maybe there was a possibility for interactions within their closed up little dome.]

...maybe just keeping an open mind would be for the best then. [He picks his words carefully, knowing full well that not all of the people from that world within Luceti even liked each other. The brief tension he noted in Law back when he returned and mentioned his training for the last six months came to mind; the barriers were likely too great.] As you said, the conditions in your world aren't present here. Your reasons are valid, but this is also a completely different world.

[justicereigns]

[Grunts.]

I don't like changing courses. Neither does Portgas. But we both can if the situation calls for it.

Honestly I think he's the only one I'm as willing to try with. [Because... he is dead. As horrible as that is, it's easier too. He doesn't have to worry about dealing with his bosses bitching or that the minute they're back in his world he'll have to arrest him and everything will be forgotten. With Ace all that matters is what they do with it in Luceti. Nothing more.] But he never wanted to be my foe. I was the one who forced his hand on that.

[The others weren't raised by Garp for a grandfather, don't generally go out of their way to rescue marines. Except Nami, who had Bellemere.... you know what? God damn pirates. Turning his life and mental states upside down. /Tsuns at them forever.]

Still doesn't mean I know what to do with it. [How does he do friendship? Like. No really.]

[redjacketthief]

[He laughs.]

You're thinking too much again, Captain! [His tone was gentle, teasing, as he continued.] Friendship isn't something you try at--it just happens. All of my friends from home and I have tried to shoot each other, and Goemon and I even lit each other on fire. Our association just sort of happened--it wasn't planned or anything.

...At least you're willing to try with Ace, Cap'. That's a good start.

[justicereigns]

[Thinks that over more.]

[That is sort of like him and Hina. But with Hina, at least she was a marine making sure he didn't get kicked out of the marines. He doesn't even know what to do with himself around the pirates unless one of them is shift-affected :| Still just letting it happen or something seems like the only way to go about it.]

Hm. We'll see if that does anything.