Let's try that again...

[evillurks]

Now that he's growing accustomed to having her as a true agent again, Myra's recovery in her own world puts The Shadow slightly short-handed. He finds his own wheezing a severe liability whenever stealth is needed, forcing him to rely on other agents for quiet investigations. The alternate solution, and one he struggles to uphold, is to be supremely diligent in taking care of himself except when he truly needs to take to the streets firsthand. The restriction grates on his nerves, and coordinating agents to do some of the footwork takes up more time.
He is careful, following the unexpected incident in ancient Japan, and he is also busy. The drug market has gone fairly quiet, but there is a definite gradual increase in violent crime. Arresting the individuals involved seems to have no impact on this slow crescendo. The network is spread wide and thin, scratching the ground for clues. After a matter of days, The Shadow has done all he can do about the matter. Once again he must wait, sift the city through his agents, and hope some vital puzzle piece comes to light. On this break from work he recalls a social obligation. A morning outing has him arriving at the Rettigue apartment with sake and scotch. The place has been abandoned the past few days, but that means there's no paperwork to tidy. The grand spaces and spartan furnishings should make it a comfortable place for a blind man to visit.

When the sake is warm and the cups set out, he sends off an invitation, and then laughs quietly at his own unfamiliar attempt at hospitality.

Comments

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

The blood showing faintly through Ichi's bandage is fairly recent, as he saw the doctor earlier in the day, and the wound had been cleaned, and bled slightly. Even for all his senses, he wouldn't be able to tell anything beyond the bandages were visible. He works at the coverings on his legs that have yet to get much dust on them at all.

"That luck was very helpful last time we met up." The clothing is set to the side neatly, next to his sandals. Ichi settles back into a crossed-leg position and picks up the cup again. "I don't think I properly thanked you before you disappeared."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

From long experience and the skill of his own senses, The Shadow is quick to gauge how old the bloodstains are and whether or not it may still be bleeding. He can make a guess at what was put on the wound from the scent as well, although he's more familiar with Chinese herbs and ointments.

"It comes in handy. I have luck to thank for my still being here. There's been more than one deathtrap I escaped only by sheer chance." His casual tone hints at just how many deathtraps he's been in. "Your gratitude was apparent." A trace of amusement enters his voice. "I'm just sorry my luck didn't extend to helping you dodge them altogether."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

The faint smell from the uncovered bandage brings to mind something usually meant to treat minor infections. It's more of a home remedy, appropriate for Ichi's time period.

"I got out alive in the end." Ichi frowned and took a larger sip of the scotch. He was getting used to the burn. "That's enough for me." Better than he could say for the men they cut down. "But I still owe you."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow frowns mildly, thoughts loosened by the drink and the conversation. "I do nothing I do not choose to do. I appreciate your gratitude, but I'm not in the habit of believing anyone owes me anything. But..." He takes a slow gulp and sets his tumbler down on the table with a sigh. "My world is not your world. What is it you feel you owe me? What would ease your conscience about the matter?" This time his tone, like his usually impassive face, is more difficult to interpret. Ichi's humility is unfamiliar, despite his knowledge of the cultural background. It irks him mildly to be tied to anyone by any debt, when he is used to thinking of himself as such an entirely independent being.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"See, that's what I keep trying to figure out." Ichi scratches his head in frustration. "I keep thinking about it, and I have nothing really to offer, and it's driving me crazy. I have enough bad karma as it is, I try not to leave any debts unpaid, but this one has me at a loss."

Ichi's very clearly flustered at this riddle he's been posed. Between talking to The Shadow, and now spending time in his rich living area, he knows money isn't the answer, and it's not like he can help solve any of the man's problems. He'd become one if he tried. Ichi had never had this happen before.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow pours another measure of scotch into his own tumbler, and clinks the bottle very lightly against Ichi's sake cup in an offer. It seems for the moment he has outpaced the blind man at drinking. The second sigh rattles very faintly, deep in his chest. His brusque manner seems to have put his newfound ally ill at ease.

"I don't like debts. I could have walked away from the fight." PINpointed away, at any rate, but he assumes he will not be called on this technicality. "If you had asked me to stay and fight, I might feel obligated, but you did not. When I saw a fight coming, I threw myself into it not just for your sake. However morally maladjusted it may be, I like to fight. I chose to take part, knowing you were probably capable of defending yourself, because the rush of battle called to me." His voice drops slightly, in both tone and volume, but it gains a bitter edge. "What I fight these days isn't so black and white anymore. It was almost a relief to know who was in the wrong and strike a killing blow without doubt and regrets."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

At the clink on his cup, Ichi reaches out, finding the other tumbler on the table and holds it up for The Shadow to fill instead. He listens to The Shadow's words, finishing off his cup and then holding the tumbler with both hands, almost like he would a tea cup. His face looks dark, but not quite troubled as he remains silent for a few moments, mulling over the words. He takes a healthy pull from the scotch and gives a short, frustrated huff.

"If it truly meant that much to you..." His hands explore the texture of the tumbler as he speaks. "Then I guess I don't have much choice but to consider it paid." He doesn't sound particularly happy about it, but he can think of no alternative.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

Obligingly, he pours an equal measure into Ichi's tumbler as he did his own. The glass is heavy and solid, roughly twice the size of the sake cups. As he pours there is a slow release of breath, and he winces as a soft wheeze betrays his relief.

"It would mean a great deal to me not to have you feel beholden." While he has not lied, his speech was deliberately intended to turn the situation to an angle where Ichi will not feel there's a debt to be paid. From the swordsman's expression he knows he was not entirely successful in that.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

The Shadow's words help, but it will take Ichi some time to accept the debt as paid. He will not, however, press the issue any further with The Shadow, nor will he pursue it.

"Thank you." The words are quiet as he gives a bow from where he sits. His head gets close to the table top, but never touches it as he sits upright again. He's not entirely certain what to say now, all other chatter that he usually resorts to seems a bit secondary after essentially being absolved of the debt.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow, for his part, is relieved to have the matter resolved no matter how clumsily. "You're welcome, and thank you." He takes a swallow of liquor just to buy himself a moment to think.

"You're in my world now, and at a disadvantage. For me, your world is in the past, and knowledge of history gives me a footing there. Here, we're half the world away and centuries into the future. You must have questions...?" Being a man of insatiable curiosity, he tends to expect that trait in others.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi tends to be less curious and more nosy, so his first reaction is to duck his head as point his face off to the side.

"Shadow-san, I couldn't name half the things I smell and hear just in this room. You'll pardon me if I decide to remain in blind ignorance?" He sips. "Sometimes, it's not so bad, not seeing. Or knowing." He gives a gentle smile and runs a hand along the coffee table, taking in its foreign design and texture.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Hm. Forgiven, but not understood." The words are softened by the hint of a smile in them, and the subtle sounds of his settling back into the sofa again. "On the other hand, I envy your ability to accept that state. I can't remember a moment in my life I haven't been driven to know, to learn, to puzzle out everything I come in contact with and find out more. Sometimes I feel I live at the mercy of the rapacious beast that is my own mind." It's a feeling he is cautious about expressing, aware that most people would take his admitting his own vast intelligence as bragging. He sees it as a disadvantage in as many ways as it is an advantage. His intelligence gets him out of trouble he would never be in if he wasn't driven to his current lifestyle.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"I can only 'see' so much." He waves a hand near his ear with a small smile. "After going blind, I had to learn what was and wasn't important for me to get around." He gives a genial smile now. "I live in a dark room that's always changing. I don't concern myself with what's hanging on the walls."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

A brief chuckle escapes The Shadow's thin lips. "Very wise. I studied with monks and masters, once, but I never could school myself to focus as well as would honour their teachings. And... there isn't much on the walls, here. I don't keep much of anything here that doesn't serve a practical use. There are chairs, if you didn't want to sit on the floor." He has not bothered to mention it before, since the habit is so common in the East. The Shadow doesn't mind it himself, but he is unable to get up quite as easily as he'd like.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"I noticed." Ichi laughs and picks up his cane, tapping it lightly, though pointedly, into a chair leg. The metal rings with the contact as he sets the cane back down next to him. "But I like the floor. It's soft." He finishes off his scotch and sets the tumbler down on the table.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow tilts his head at the sound, feeling chastised for not realizing what a clear take Ichi has of his surroundings. "I don't appreciate it as much as I used to. Maybe I'm going soft... What do you think of the scotch?" He isn't certain if he should offer to refill the glass yet or not.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"S'very good." Ichi smiles as he pushes the tumbler forward a bit. He's trying to politely show he'd like a refill. "Heh, a man who takes down yakuza like that is not going soft."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The hint is quickly taken, as he tosses back the last of his own glass. The Shadow leans forward and refills both tumblers, Ichi's first. "Thank you. I spend more time shooting and less time in hand-to-hand combat than I used to. Come to that... I wouldn't mind learning something of what you do. That underhand technique isn't one I was ever taught much of." This is not to say he's never used a weapon backwards before, out of desperation, but Ichi's skill is something he admires.

"My height tends to put me at a disadvantage in a sword fight, but I can crouch low for short periods to offset it." Keeping very low has always been a useful tactic in his work, regardless of the weaponry involved. Many's the time he's thrust open a door or made his presence known some other fashion while crouched down, only to have a barrage of bullets whizz harmlessly overhead.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

He tucks his chin to his chest shyly as he picks up the tumbler and holds it in his lap carefully.

"It's unconventional, but Banno-sensei thought it would be more natural for me. Iaido is flexible like that, though. So he adapted it." Ichi is quiet, reverent as he speaks of his former teacher. He's almost somber as he tossed back a little of the scotch. "I don't know how well I'd be able to teach it, but if you really want to learn, I'm willing to try."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The emotional charge is noted, but The Shadow does not feel it is his place to pry. There is some sorrow associated with the memories of many of his own teachers, for various reasons.

"Perhaps I didn't adequately express my drive to learn everything..." There is amusement in his tone, as well as preliminary gratitude that Ichi might be a willing teacher. "I don't expect you to turn me into a master swordsman, but I'd appreciate whatever you can pass along. You never know what tricks will help in a pinch, and I get into a lot of those." He takes a swallow of scotch and studies the other man. "When your arm is up to it, of course."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi gives a gentle smile, breaking the melancholy spell that had briefly cast itself over him.

"I may not know everything, but I can't turn down a man like you. My own drive to learn sword craft was insatiable. I would have hounded Sensei if he hadn't accepted me to his Dojo." He laughs. "You'll have to forgive me though, it wont' be as structured as it should be. I'm no samurai."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"I don't have the proper discipline to be a good student, anyway. I'm sure you'll be an excellent teacher for my purposes." The Shadow seems to have relaxed again, his tone easy and amused. He doesn't mind the idea of a teacher who seems to be easily cowed by his own forceful personality. He may be selling himself short on the matter of discipline, however. That he has focused his violent and anti-social tendencies into a heroic career is a testament to his force of will.

"I'm ambidextrous, if that helps any. Whatever you teach me in one hand I can learn just as easily with the other."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Swords don't care how you hold 'em." He laughs and finishes off his glass of scotch, setting it down on the table. "Whichever way is comfortable for you, we'll work with. It'll be a lot of wrist work, compared to the regular way." The Shadow's wrists, used to the .45s, should have little problems with the strength aspect of the technique.

Ichi leans forward slightly, starting to feel that calming buzz that came with the amount of alcohol he'd imbibed. He's certainly not used to the scotch, but he holds his liquor well. He holds out the sake cup with a small nod of his head.

"That scotch is good, but I'd like some more of that sake, please." He'd hate for it to cool too much.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"My wrists are fine. No katana packs the kick a modern firearm does." He smirks faintly, and refills the sake cup for Ichi. "To each his own poison. It's been a long time since I had drinks at all..." He's content with his scotch, for now, which leaves more sake for his companion.

"If there's ever anything you'd like me to teach you, just ask. That way we'll be even..." He'd hate to go incurring debts again, on either side.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

There's a low chuckle from Ichi as he holds his cup.

"Consider it payment for your help." It seems he's finally figured out a way to return the debt. "There, settled?"