[Open-ish Log]

[doubleppk]

Who: Fujiko, Gokudera, possibly others who run into Fujiko (sub, Vongola, Roxas, or people with a reason to be there only please)
Where: Sub to Vongola.
What: Fujiko's smoking a cigarette and helping Gokudera who got his hand trapped.
When: After her date with Havoc, before picking up Lupin (Valentine's Night)
Why: She's emotional
Rating: PG-13 for language and Gokudera/Fujiko's respective tempers



Fujiko needed a cigarette break and now. The post was mortifying although she felt she was doing a decent job covering up the embarrassment. On the other hand, Havoc had managed to disarm all of the traps to her room, sneak in that morning and wake her up with a smile on his face. He'd gotten a boxing glove trap to the face for it, but when she realized it was Havoc and not Lupin they talked. She mentioned Lupin showing up at dinner and he hadn't been thrilled, but he wasn't saying much of what he thought of it.

She need a reality check. Her adopted little brother, however much he hated it. And that meant seeking out Gokudera. Where the hell was he anyway?

Comments

[ishikawajusan.livejournal.com]

Yoshi cocked his head and looked helplessly to Goemon for an explanation, but the ronin only shook his head dismissively, leaving it at that. Most of what dribbled out of Lupin’s mouth were errant thoughts with no coherent flow linking one to the next; after a few minutes of suffering to listen patiently to semi-conscious babbling, the ronin considered that it would be wise to tune out. That is, until Jigen’s name was mentioned.

It struck a chord of unease inside him, his chest tightening in spite of himself. He had surmised, from Lupin’s silence on the subject, that ill-fortune had befallen their friend, and that it was not yet appropriate to ask of him, in his condition. His friend now saved him the trouble of asking what he had verged on doing himself, burning with curiosity.

But before he could press the man for details, Lupin was up on his feet and drunkenly tottering after Fujiko. Lunging after him, the ronin was tempted to knock him unconsciousness with a swift, well-aimed blow to the back of the head, not strong enough to do any harm. Instead, however, Goemon looped a strong arm around Lupin - prepared to catch him if he keeled over - and dragged him back to the bed with little effort.

"You will lay still," He warned, unsmiling, "Or I will tie you down myself."

[best-thief.livejournal.com]

Lupin turned his head and stared very intently at Goemon as though the man had something on his face. Eyebrows creased, it seemed his brain was desperately trying to regain control of its own wit, and after a long drawn-out breath, he asked, "You're really here, right? Am I just talking to the walls?"

He leaned against the pillows, his shoulders squared as if intensely uncomfortable. He reached toward the empty corner of the room. "These bandages are itchy... Can I have a cigarette, Jigen?"

[ishikawajusan.livejournal.com]

Knitting his brows at the dazed hallucinations, the troubling loss of touch with reality, Goemon pressed the back of his hand to Lupin’s forehead. His skin, while warm and sticky to the touch, was not feverish. Dropping his hand, the ronin slid it into his keikogi, withdrawing a tenugui a moment later. It was a square of patterned cloth he had once received as a gift, and which had served him numerous occasions as a makeshift gas mask, a handkerchief, and a bandage; he had not made use of it since it had last been washed.

“Yoshi.” Extending the cloth to the dinosaur, addressing him authoritatively and straight-faced, assured that he would understand his instructions. “I will need you to find a sink. Run this under cool water, and come back quickly.” Yoshi, listening with open-mouthed awe, nodded vigorously and took off, wandering the ship.

With nothing left to do but to wait, Goemon’s attention shifted back toward his convalescing friend. “I am here. Jigen is not, however. I was hoping you had some idea of where he may be.”

[theebestthief.livejournal.com]

Lupin watched Yoshi vanish through the doorway, and then turned his half-damaged attention back to his samurai friend. His visage became distraught and filled with confusion and the outstretched hand fell to the bedside as his hallucination lost power. "Jigen's... not here..."

Clicking gears, then the faint dim light of a bulb in his head.

"Seperated... about 9 months ago..." He sagged down deeper into the cushions. "I agreed to help him with a job... Ship got sank... Seperated from him. Looked all over but I couldn't find his hat anywhere." He was about to look under the bed again, but realized he'd already searched there and instead took a gander under his pillows.

[ishikawajuusan.livejournal.com]

As he listened to the broken explanation - reading in between the breathless pauses - Goemon’s gaze sank, his eyes darkening in thought. Despite the cold, hollow feeling in his gut, he refused to allow the implications to unnerve him. Jigen had Lupin’s tenacious grip on life; his absence did not necessarily mean he had been - -

“I am sure he will be fine.” The ronin firmly replied, as much to reassure himself as Lupin. A pensive silence gradually coalesced between them; shutting his eyes, he was relieved that his delivery had been steadier than he felt it would be.

He decided, with a light sigh, that it was best not to torment himself restlessly entertaining different scenarios that could have befallen Jigen, and chasing his tail with 'what ifs'. Of greatest importance now was Lupin's recovery; afterwards, they could best determine what their next course of action would be.

[thebest-thief.livejournal.com]

Lupin stared at the wall for a moment, his eyes half-lidded. The hazy world he'd been wrapped had him trapped awfully good, but he wasn't entirely gone. He lowered his body into a curled position and rested his cheek against the soft bedding. The Jigen resting in the corner was suddenly hurting his heart.

"I'm happy you're here, Goemon."

And his eyelids finally fell shut, the dark corners of his mind keeping him preoccupied.