[open commentlog]

[ceiling_cat]

[after this...]

[Between the freezing wind and the group of zombies he'd had to flee from, Hanekoma arrived at the Latimir apartments in an even fouler mood than he'd been in when Minamimoto had hit him with the exploding penguin. He couldn't feel his toes. He could, unfortunately, feel his face.]

[He took a deep breath and let himself into the building. No point in brooding. It had been a good shot. And as revenge for putting Sho's clothing up for sale, well, it was about as subtle as he could have expected. Less annoying than the broken leg he'd had a few months back....]

[Trying to convince himself that the irritation wasn't worth the effort, he stalked up the stairs. Of course, it wasn't worth it. It was just that he hadn't seen it coming. And he was not used to that. Least of all from an ex-Reaper with an exploding penguin.]

[Well. No helping it. If he was lucky, he'd get back to his apartment to clean up and assess the damage without running into anyone on the way....]

Comments

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

[Neku stepped out the door of 407 and glanced up from his MP3 player at the same moment as Mr. Hanekoma reached the top of the stairs. At first, he had to wonder if he was looking at some kind of new, Mr. H-shaped monster.]

M-Mr. H?! What... what happened?

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

[So much for that hope. Hanekoma sighed, running a hand through his hair. The back of his hair, at least, where it was the same length it had been an hour ago.]

Hey, Phones.

...Long story. Lemme just go wash my face.

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

[Having heard Neku's exclamation and pinged by curiosity, Joshua's head poked out the door, eyebrows raised. Sure, he was still a little leery of getting a lecture, but upon seeing the Producer's appearance...]

[This was so, so worth it. Never in the past forty years had he seen the man without the stubble. How... hilariously foreign.]

I want to hear the story.

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

..........................

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

[Wonderful. Just. Wonderful.]

Washin' up first, J. Good to see your smiling face again.

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

[Smiling? Really? Mr. H should have seen the hysterics Joshua was in on the inside.]

How you hold us in suspense~

[Hanekoma being so obviously pissed off just made it more hilarious.]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

.................

[Sigh.]

[Maybe this whole getting them to talk again thing wasn't the best idea.]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

[Hanekoma didn't bother to answer. Door open, into the apartment, straight for the sink. He didn't bother to shut the door behind him, either; if Joshua wanted to harass him, well, at least someone was enjoying the situation.]

[He stripped the remains of his vest off, wincing as he surveyed the damage. It'd had a good run. One of the more obviously almost-falling-off pieces came free with a tug, and he dampened it, wincing as he scrubbed at his chin. With no light in the room, it wasn't that easy to see what he was doing, but navigating by feel was very effective. Painful. But effective.]

[He raised his voice to make sure they could hear him from the hallway.]

What've you been up to?

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

[Joshua looked to Neku, eyebrows still raised, though this time expectantly. He was just here to listen, not converse, after all~]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

[Neku sighed. Again. And raised his own voice slightly before replying.]

He's been hiding. I've been trying to find the nonexistent can-opener. Nothing important.

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

[...Joshua crossed his arms, giving Tattle-kun a Look.]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

[Neku just shrugged, also crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

[Face scrubbed - or as scrubbed as it was going to get, since he was certain he'd reopened at least one cut and did not feel like opening any more - Hanekoma stuck his head back out into the hall and raised eyebrows at the bookend set of teenager and apparent teenager leaning on the wall.]

Havin' fun out here?

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

[Neku turned, eyes flickering over Mr. H's face. The lack of stubble was almost as striking as the lack of eyebrows, really. Not to mention the scrapes.]

...More fun than it looks like you're having. What happened?

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

Ya know those blue penguins with the pouches? I've spotted a few in the street....

[Yeah, less embarrassing to skip over just a few of the details here.]

They explode.

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

[Joshua's voice was strained with the effort of withholding his immense amusement. It was also immensely failing at the task.]

...They explode.

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

And Minamimoto chucked one at me.

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

[It only took part of a second before the mental images began kicking in, and Joshua, so entertained at the thought of Minamimoto chucking exploding penguins at Sanae's face, could do little to keep himself from dying again from laughter right on the spot.]

[Little, that is, aside from disappearing back into the apartment and slamming the door so he could laugh himself sick in peace without Neku staring at him like he was more insane than he already was.]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

.......................

[Turning back to Mr. H.] So, yeah, anyway... why'd he do that?

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

[The stifled noises of hysterical laughter were contagious. Hanekoma's smile slid over into genuine as he shrugged at Neku. So, yeah. All right. It was funny.]

Had somethin' ta do with selling his clothes under my brand name.

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

...Oh. How did he know about that?

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

Got here without 'em.

[He grinned. It was a shame he hadn't been here for that; it might've been worth the explosion.]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

................

[Neku stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged.] I guess you're Pi-Face's idea of even now, then.

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

So he said. [Hanekoma glanced towards the closed door of Joshua's apartment, grin twisting.] Seems like Josh got a laugh out of it, in any case.

[He started to scratch his chin and thought better of it almost in time.]

...You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a coat, would ya?

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

Uh... no idea. I guess you could ask around on the network.