ceiling_cat: casual smile, eyes closed (content enough)
[personal profile] ceiling_cat
...Well, now, that's funny.

I could've sworn I was back in Shibuya for a couple seconds there. Guess my mind was playin' tricks on me. That lovely lakeshore sure isn't anything I'd expect in Tokyo.

Sure isn't anything I'd expect in my apartment, either, and I recognize this little note they left me.

Hey there, Discedo.

Lemme guess - it's been a while?

I'd appreciate somebody fillin' me in while I make my way back to less soggy ground. Just how long has it been? Seems a bit colder than the last time I was here.

By the way, if anyone listenin' to this thing has a hand on the controls of whatever you use to drag us here, leave me a bit longer next time, won't ya? I could've grabbed a bag of beans.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 10:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
.............

[That's what Neku had thought, yet he still hadn't no idea how to respond. If it came to Josh and Shibuya... okay, no, he hadn't been able to put Shibuya before Josh. But that was only because--and shouldn't--ugh. That was the worst part of Mr. H's statement: he couldn't argue with it. Someone had to look out for Shibuya's interests. Someone besides Joshua, whose whims seemed pretty volatile at the best of times. But... still. Yeah. Still.]

[Neku stayed silent, just staring.]

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 10:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
[Hanekoma watched the emotion flicker on Neku's face for a long moment. Then he smiled.]

Sound too cold for you?

[Neku hadn't been able to fire, after all, despite all of Joshua's provocation. And it didn't look like he knew how to come to terms with the idea that Hanekoma'd pulled a metaphorical trigger.]

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 10:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
[Neku swallowed, looking away. ...Yeah. Yeah, it was. And it was stupid, but he couldn't have done it. Not even to save Shibuya. After all, he couldn't shoot Joshua (who was an asshole at the best of times) to save Shibuya. It seemed... wrong, somehow, but did Neku regret it? ...He didn't even know. It was probably stupid, yeah, but in the end it didn't matter. He couldn't pull the trigger. He probably couldn't now, either. Hell if he knew why. Maybe it didn't matter.]

...I don't think what you did was wrong. [He paused. Swallowed again. Still didn't meet Mr. H's eye.] ...But I don't know if it was right, either. Josh... doesn't seem to mind. [And he didn't understand that, but whatever.] I think I do. More than he does.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 10:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
Oh, it wasn't right. I broke a few important rules.

[Not what Neku had meant, of course. He kept watching the boy. A bit of prodding might reignite that anger he'd felt earlier; or it might just put him lower.]

There a reason why you mind so much, Phones?

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 10:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
Yeah, probably. Hell if I know what it is.

[He dropped his voice to a mutter, realizing Mr. H probably didn't have a clue what had happened while he'd been gone. Hell, it had been weeks, and it was still pretty damn surreal to Neku.]

You missed a lot, okay?

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 10:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
Oh?

[Eyebrows soared. "A lot," huh. Maybe it hadn't been just the bits about Angels and Taboo Noise that Joshua had been telling the kid. A moment of very thoughtful silence indeed, and the corners of his mouth curled up with amusement.]

Isn't that interestin'.

[He uncrossed his ankles, getting more comfortable. He wasn't going to be getting anything useful out of Joshua, which meant he'd have to tread lightly here. A little honesty couldn't hurt.]

...You know, Neku, arranging for the best Composer comes with my job. I've never done it that way before, but I've also never known a Composer strong and stubborn enough to take the whole district with him when he stagnated in the position.

Setting Minamimoto up to go after Joshua.... It was a long shot, but I thought it was the only chance for Shibuya to stay in one piece.

Not my best call.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
["Not my best call." Why'd he do it, then if he thought that? Still...] ...I guess there was nothing else you could do. Joshua changing his mind probably wasn't something you predicted, huh?

[Not that that made any more sense to Neku than it had a few weeks ago. He was trying to wrap his mind around it, when he wasn't avoiding thinking about it altogether.]

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
[Hanekoma ran a hand ruefully through his hair, ruffling it even more towards the vertical.]

It wasn't. That's where I screwed up, Phones; I didn't expect Josh to change.

[He waved a hand at the other end of the couch.] Quit lurkin' over there, you're going to give me a cramp in the neck.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
[Neku pushed off the wall and sat at the other end, straightening his headphones absently.] ...Did he change?
Edited Date: 2009-12-29 11:19 am (UTC)

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
[Well, of course Josh wouldn't have talked to the kid about that.]

If he hadn't changed, you wouldn't be sitting there.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
.........

Guess not.

[He leaned back, crossing his arms, and considered asking what had really been bothering him for a while.]

...Do you think it's going to happen again?

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
[Hanekoma glanced away, face going thoughtfully blank. Good question, that. One he'd been trying to address.]

[If he were putting money down on it, though, he'd know which side to bet on. Especially given whatever it was that had been going on in the last three months. Looking back at Neku, he smiled.]

Ya know, Neku, the district reflects the Composer. Shibuya was goin' downhill a month ago back home - stagnating, bad enough that Josh thought destroying it would be better than letting it fall apart.

After the Game, it was the best possible Shibuya that could be.

Can't say if it'll happen again. But the odds are pretty low.

[And he would be alert to it if things threatened to deteriorate again.]

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
............

[Muttering.] If you say so. [It was still hard to believe that Joshua could have changed that much. Especially because of...]

Josh didn't seem as confident. It came up a while back. He didn't seem convinced that anything had changed.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
Might be harder to spot it from the inside.

[Joshua had said that? The trade secrets were sounding less and less important by comparison. Who would've thought?]

[Well, he'd had a hunch, but he hadn't had faith in it.]

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
...I guess.

[If it happened again, would he know? Could he stop it? Probably not, and that was the scary part. And if Mr. H had to stop it, Joshua would probably end up dead.]

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
Long as things keep going the way they are, it won't happen again, Neku.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
[It better not. He might not shoot Joshua, but he could punch him. In the face. Repeatedly, if necessary.]

...You have a place to stay?

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
I hear somebody took my old place, but I can always find an empty room. Shouldn't be a problem.

[He glanced thoughtfully at the door.] Anyplace empty on this hall? Not that I mind walkin', but it'd be convenient.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 11:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
No idea. Uh, I think 412 is empty...

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 12:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
I'll give that a look. Thanks, Phones.

[He paused, glancing over at the boy again. Neku looked calmer; but....]

Anythin' else you wanted to ask me?

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 12:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
[Like this day hadn't been weird enough already.] Not right now.

[Neku got up off the couch and slid his headphones down around his neck.] ...I saved some of your stuff. If you want it. Pi-Face took the paints before I could head back down there, though. [Since the whole Joshua thing chose that moment to happen. Great timing there, Josh.]
Edited Date: 2009-12-29 12:06 pm (UTC)

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 12:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
That so? Then I definitely owe ya one - don't worry about the paints, I wasn't expectin' em to last till now. What'd you get?

[He heaved himself to his feet, then paused. One more thing to say before he let the subject go.]

Don't talk about the Angel thing over the communicators, Neku. That information is strictly limited to Composer rank and above.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 12:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com
I know. He told me. ...Sorry.

[Neku moved over toward his room.] I got whatever paintings I could find. I think Joshua just stole your food.

[commentlog]

Date: 2009-12-29 12:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com
Keep it in mind. Spreading it around could get you both in trouble.

[He shrugged away the serious moment, grinning again.]

If it's just paintings, keep 'em, Phones. I can't do much with those with no supplies.

[commentlog]

From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com - Date: 2009-12-29 12:24 pm (UTC) - Expand

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From: [identity profile] greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com - Date: 2009-12-29 12:28 pm (UTC) - Expand

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