justicereigns | Appointment Post / Voicemail / All That Jazz

[Smoker's eyes narrow in focus, taking a little while to adjust and spot the exact movements. Yay for haki.]

Wind spirits? I'm surprised. It doesn't seem your style. Did Valvalis teach you? [That would also be surprising as she doesn't like men.]

[Lupin laughed, pleased.]

No--but Fujiko mentioned her. I wanted to try something different. It only took a month of meditation, random conversations on magical theory, and a week of bunking with Law for me to figure out how to do anything with Kipinn.

...besides, I heard that he can help enforce silence. Do you know how awesome that can be for sneaking around to gather information?

[Small stare. :| Trafalgar Law. Why. No, he won't ask. He just... doesn't want to know.]

[Still the silence and sneaking around -_-']

Far be it from me to complain about anyone being quieter in this place.

[He's well aware that Smoker and Law are by no means on the same side and that they even hold a degree of dislike for each other, but that kind of conflict was never a detriment for Lupin. Both men were included in his emergency contacts solely because of their stolid natures. Both men were also among those whom Lupin considered to be the sanest people in the village.

Lupin respected them both, and liked to think of them as friends.]

I just wanted something to even the odds, really. Say what you want, I'm tired of having to rely on anyone's help. If people here use magic and I can learn it? Sure, if it helps level the playing field a little. Brawls and fights aren't my forte, but having more tools never hurt.

...besides, I promised Keimi that I would learn from the water spirit with her. This is practice, but I like the benefits.

Edited 2012-09-17 22:21 (UTC)

[He perks up a bit at the last part.] Good. She does better when she's got someone learning along with her. She could do it all on her own, but... [A shrug. Mermaids and daughters man. Women.]

...but it's more fun with company.

[Lupin finished the sentence and began his stretches to warm up. There was something comfortable about getting back into these movements, like they were an almost forgotten pattern from his time hanging around the université--never mind that he only hung around the campus to pick up girls.]

I didn't have anyone to learn from the wind spirit with, so learning with Keimi will be a very nice change. She's sweet--oh, and I placed an order with her. Her professionalism is remarkable!

[A quiet snort.] I'll take your word on it.

[He's not a "company" kind of guy. Even for this, it's more that Lupin's there rather than a preference to have Lupin there. Hard to explain.]

She worked with a very famous clothing design in our world. [Nods.] Hina's a fan of the line. [A shrug.] I don't know clothes well, just that it's famous. It's nice to know that she'll have good reasons to stay busy though. [And maybe someone can encourage her into believing in herself more.]

[Lupn snorted in bitter amusement.]

Anything that helps to keep busy is a good thing in this place. This constricted little paradise of a cage...

[That restlessness that he had been so good about managing even 4 months before was there lingering below the surface. He could ignore it, and had been, but he needed a change.]

...Too dark. I need to get back to training, clearly. You know, even the little that we have done did help me last month.

I kicked that god.

God-- the one that hurt your arm?

That's right. I also tripped him up.

...Everyone but Law lectured me about that. I knew the risks, and I still got lectured for making what was one of the better choices.

[Shrugs.]

Some friends are like that. Hina wouldn't be Hina if she didn't lecture me on every damn little thing I do.

Even when there's no other good choice? Even when you're clearly the one with the most experience in that field and should be the one to make the call?

[STARES AT.]

I thought you supposedly knew women well.

Thief, I didn't get the reputation as White Hunter by tripping over myself. But I also had her bailing me out at the academy for talking back all the time. I always follow my own justice, no matter what. Even my enemies know it. She knows it, just sees fit to lecture me anyway. [Shrug.] Fuck if I know why, it doesn't get her anywhere and it certainly doesn't make her feel better, she just does.

[Yeah because you know, nearly getting court martialed or stealing her private ship for his own business had nothing to do with it. Nope.]

[Justice. That was always what it came down to with Smoker. Justice, though it could be interpreted as following one's own path. Though they worked on opposing sides, they were alike in that respect. Justice. Honor. They amounted to the same thing.]

...that helps, actually. [They were both mavericks in their own way.] But you don't have Hina here, and I don't have Jigen. Instead you have Ikki and Grell, and I have you...and god knows who. The people I call 'partner', I'd hoped.

[That was present tense, though he didn't notice it.]

I'll just get back to working and keep doing my own thing. Coming off of these pills...I'm not sure how long It'll be before it starts to get rough. If the kickboxing becomes too tricky for now, would you help me with the wind spirits?

[Given how Smoker spoke, he was assuming that the Marine had some manner of experience.]

Ikki talks to me when he feels I'm being an idiot. I locked him up in my cuffs once because he was drinking to a point that even I knew wasn't good for him. I'm assuming your "partners" probably felt cornered like that.

[Flicks his ears about the wind spirits and strokes his chin. It's not going to be comfortable for him, but it's definitely going to be something that gets him stronger. It's why he fights with seastone despite being weak to it. So he nods.] I can try. I don't use the spirits myself, but you can try to spar with them if you want.

Even when you made promises that everyone knew that you couldn't keep, and you actually tried to keep them for two months?

[Two months was an eternity for him when there were no government officials to con, gambling rings to break into, and no girls around that were too young to know what life is really like but too old to be pure. But, he understood Smoker's point. However harsh they had come across as, maybe they really had been trying to help.

Maybe.

It didn't fix the fact that they had asked for his faith and threw it away when he finally got the courage to do so.]

...We'll see when that point comes, Cap'. I don't think I'm quite good enough with it yet to do any sparring.

I never make a promise I can't keep Lupin. If worse came to and I had to break my justice or fail a capture I promised myself, I'd learn from it. Either the mistake in making such a promise, or how to fix it next time.

If they're really your friends, they'll find ways to get over their fears, rational or not.

[Just nods about the sparring.] What do you propose then? A way to see the currents?

hmm...[Again, Smoker's words just made sense to Lupin. Everyone in Luceti has done things that they would never have done in their homes; the friendship between him and Smoker was proof enough. The fact that Lupin had tried to play by someone else's rules should have been notable enough.

Lupin imagined that he heard Zenigata laughing once more because of Lupin's failed attempts at 'going straight.']

I hope you're right, because this place is so small that we can't avoid each other forever. Especially since we have a lot of the same friends.

[Except Smoker--and even Law. None of them had tried to get as close to the sly doctor as Lupin had.]

...how, exactly, do you propose to do that?

Just be glad they even care that much for now I guess.

[Huffs and drifts the smoke from his cigars higher into the air.] Now try a breeze.

Guess I should be. This place changes everyone. [Lupin would think on it, and try to understand. He had a lot of it to do, so long as he was able to keep his thoughts straight.

Lupin glanced upward at the drifting smoke, and quirked a small smile when he realized what Smoker was doing. Air currents, and what Smoker ultimately did best. Inwardly he was glad that he had a friend made of such incorporeal stuff.

He tried to focus in on the currents again, letting feel and sight guide him. Though his concentration was compromised, he could feel Kipinn's subtle guidance; he managed a small breeze and watched the smoke drift off course.]

...Interesting.

I can also keep adding thin layers to it, like snowflakes. Kid stuff really.

Huh. Should have figured that you'd be able to do that.

[They were close to the same age, but Smoker never revealed when, exactly, he ate the Devil Fruit. It must have been when he was fairly young, Lupin imagined. To have that much control, he would have needed to work at it for as long as Lupin had maintained his career.

Lupin tried again, and got a stronger gust this time. The smoke swirled, and the thief chuckled.]

It takes a bit of concentration, and that's been hard lately. Guess I've had too little to do.

Well, now you've got something to concentrate on and they can't even get mad at you for it right?

It does help. I've been working at it for a month without success.

...part of that time they wouldn't let me out of the house. I had to open every window in the building to get any proper breeze.

Well we can always go to the beach or mountains if you need to catch more wilderness. To... get in touch with the spirit or whatever.

[You can tell he only has the vaguest inkling of what he's talking about.]

Appointment Post / Voicemail / All That Jazz

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