Sake owed

[evillurks]

The Rettigue apartment has sat empty for a few days, as The Shadow worked out of the Sanctum and another apartment across town, closer to the area he's been watching. With another drug ring at least temporarily stifled, he is ready to migrate back to this place that is the closest thing to a home he has.

He is also likely to arrive late to his own arranged meeting, leaving Ichi to jump at the opening of the door. The muted sounds beyond indicate a quiet hall rather than the outdoors, and the rattling cough that accompanies the entrance should reassure him to who is entering there.

Comments

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

He nods, pleased that at least The Shadow is making some sort of effort to keep out the weather. Shifting so that he stands in front of a chair, he sits in his awkward manner. Chairs have always been a bit of an interesting challenge for him.

"I slept well." He yawns and then gives a shrug. "I'm just not used to the heavy food. Make your tea first, I'm in no hurry."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The floor is not precisely a challenge, but it takes The Shadow slightly longer to get up from it than he'd like. He wheezes as he stands again, and coughs into his sleeve. "Tea, and hot sake... I think Green is forming a conspiracy to feed me." His voice moves away towards the kitchen, and he takes the sake bottles with him. In retrospect he is merely amused, although it doesn't occur to him how bony he probably felt under Ichi's shoulder-rub. Skin and bone and wiry muscle.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi's used to the thick muscles of samurai, but he does occasionally get the skinny variety. They're always the hardest to keep from hurting, in his opinion. Though he'd be hard-pressed to do much in the way of getting the usual shouting response out of someone like The Shadow.

"That's what you get for being so thin. I can't say having a belly like mine gets a much different reaction, though."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

It's a safe bet that whatever Ichi can dish out, The Shadow can take. From the kitchen he makes a grunt of dismissal, filling the teakettle and assuming Ichi can hear him over the running water. "I'm just... busy. I ate more when I was younger." He spins the ring on his left hand, glancing at it, as he puts the kettle down on the stove. He doesn't like to think of himself as self-destructive, but he does tend to push himself hard enough to sacrifice his health, and having it pointed out so often as of late is forcing him to think about it.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Didn't we all?" Ichi gives a half-amused chuckle as he lowers his chin to his chest and spins his cane idly. "Um, Shadow-san? Could I have some tea too, when it's ready?"

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"...Wouldn't know." He hasn't spent much time comparing notes, since he rarely talks about his own younger days. "Of course. Black or green? I don't have much of a selection, here. Or... mm. Hang on..." He rummages in the containers, coming up with a much-diminished package from Myra. "I still have some Puh-erh. Saved for a special occasion..."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

The dismissal earns a confused look from Ichi, but he has decided The Shadow is not one to press for certain details.

"Green sounds good." He honestly doesn't know what a Puh-erh tea is like, but he loves green teas. " So..." He rocks his shoulders slightly. "Is this a social call? Or a business meeting?"

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

There are certain aspects of life, very conventional, normal details, on which his knowledge is strangely lacking.

"...I'm not used to social calls. I don't think I ever had any, until recently." He heats the sake while the kettle is on the stove, doling out tea in two mugs. "I'm not good at being social, except when I'm pretending to be someone else, and then I have ulterior motives." The Shadow comes to lean in the kitchen doorway, unintentionally adopting a similar pose to one his alternate took up when he was last here. "But I wasn't trying to invite you here just to put you to work, either."

It seems he's unsure of the answer to Ichi's question, and slightly awkward over that.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Even so, Ichi smiles toward the voice of The Shadow.

"In that case, first tea, then business. I don't like being paid until after I've done my job."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Hm." He lingers in the doorway, listening to the slowly roiling kettle in the background. "I sometimes wonder why you put up with me." It may be something of a non-sequitur, but to his quickly-moving mind it followed a coherent train of thought.

"I still don't have currency from your world, although I understand there's money-changing machines in the Nexus."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

He snorts at The Shadow's remark. He finds himself wondering the same thing about The Shadow.

"Sake and tea are enough. I'd be buying just that when I go home anyways." Honestly, with what masseurs charge, he'd be buying the cheapest drinks available. One bottle of The Shadow's sake is probably worth more than Ichi's services.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

It's possible they each put up with each other out of sheer amazement that the other one tolerates them.

"I'm wealthy, I can afford to pay you... whatever you need." He waves a hand vaguely, shifting off the doorsill to catch the teakettle as it whistles. Within a few moments he is returning to the living room with a small tray, carrying sake and tea. He restrains the urge to give vent to another brief coughing fit until it is all safely on the table, then sits with a very quiet groan. There's never a good time to come down with a cold. There's a soft clunk as he puts Ichi's mug of tea before him. "Ow."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi picks up his tea, his eyebrows seem to be pinned down today as he turns a concerned ear towards The Shadow. They've been in a fight together, and nearly beaten each other with canes, but this is the first actual expression of pain Ichi has heard from him.

"What hurts, specifically?" With most patrons he's concerned about being paid. He's been stiffed his fee too many times. Tonight though, his concern is helping The Shadow, payment is not the issue.

He drinks the tea in healthy gulps. The sooner he can get to work, the better.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

He gives a cough and a wheeze, and settles back with his tea. "I'm fine. Just an old man with bad lungs. I took a bad bullet months ago, and then they said my lungs are suffering cumulative damage..." The annoyance comes through clearly in his tone. "Not sure I like Green's suggestion, though."

This is the first chest cold he's had since the incident with a collapsed lung, but that minor sound of complaint is all he allows himself. "First cold of the season, I guess. I don't need that getting in the way of my work." He sips his own tea, savouring the steam itself as it eases the congestion. If he takes care of himself now, he can keep it from becoming anything worse than a cold, but he'd rather be out on the streets fighting criminals, even in the rain.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Can't say I like it either." He frowns, pausing as he holds his tea just in front of his face. He seems thoughtful, reflecting on the nexus visit before he speaks. "How's the captive?"

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

There is a brief pause before the answer, as The Shadow gazes thoughtfully into his tea, frowning still. "He's fine. Comparatively speaking. Hauled off to the authorities once we got the information out of him, and he'll probably even get off with a light sentence."

The sigh that follows wheezes and rattles deep in his lungs, and he sinks deeper into the sofa, running a hand through his hair. "I lost my temper. I haven't lost my temper like that in... a long time. I could have killed him. I wanted to kill him." It is not what he did that troubles him, precisely, it's how close he came to doing worse, and why.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi lowers his cup to his lap and hangs his head. He is a man who acts on passions, and is prone to losing his own temper on a nearly regular basis. There's little he could say, he's never tried to exercise the shear control The Shadow has over his actions, but he can at least sympathize with the shock that follows after the rage passes.

"Maybe he'll think twice about what he does with his life when he gets out." It's the best he has to offer in reply.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Maybe, maybe not. And maybe I'll cut him down in self-defense the next time we meet, but that's different." He shuts his eyes, collapsed deep in the plush cushions of the sofa. "He was just a contact man, a lead to the higher-ups of his gang. I wasn't angry at him... not really, and I almost sacrificed the work I put into rounding up his gang just for a few seconds of pointless violence."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

If Ichi could, he would be looking into his cup right now. His face is lowered as he brings the tea up and sips at it thoughtfully. The Shadow's work is so different to what he does, it's difficult to understand much besides the idea of misplaced rage. But the violence, and the mindlessness it brings with it, is something he is only too familiar with..

"What stopped you?"

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

He shrugs, although the gesture makes little noise even against the suede cushions. "Habit? Training? He lost consciousness." He falls silent a moment, the image of the young man's face darkening as he was throttled swimming in his mind. The criminal bears finger-shaped bruises, yet.

"I've devoted my life to what I do, to my focus, not because I have a good heart but because it's all that keeps me from becoming an unstoppable monster."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Killer's instinct." He clutches the cup carefully as he mumbles the words, reciting the phrase that for nearly a week, had vexed him from the lips of a kind-hearted samurai.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"That's a good name for it." The Shadow nods over his tea, sighs and coughs, and sips. "I have a killer's instinct, and I'm a genius, and I could be a master criminal with no match to oppose me." There is a definite tone of dread as he says it, and very little ego. Perhaps that emotion itself is what keeps him from falling to the wrong side.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"A good man I once knew called it that." He sets down his empty cup and calmly picks up his cane, holding it a few inches in the air. "I'm so inclined to let my sword do my talking for me, it's hard to understand how to do anything without it anymore."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Even in the Nexus? It's useless there, you know. It's no threat, because you can't hurt anyone with it, and no one can threaten you in return..." He massages his temples with one hand, then toys with his ring absently. "You could always move to a closely parallel world, you know. One enough like your own to be easy to live in, but where you don't have a reputation to work against you."

Solving Ichi's problems feels easier than dealing with his own.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"That's why I don't pick arguments there. I don't know what I'd do." He leans the cane against his knee and rubs the back of his neck. "The thought never even crossed my mind: about moving. I think I'd still find a way to get myself in trouble, though. I'm always getting into things I shouldn't. I can't mind my own business. Besides, I'd feel like I was running away, or giving up."