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]

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."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you should pick fights there, just to learn how to get out of them..." The Shadow gives voice to a whispery, wheezing chuckle that ends in a few coughs. "You pick fights with me."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"You start them." He gives a wry smile. "You're a very stubborn man."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Hmh. It usually serves me well." The Shadow isn't feeling well, in a number of ways, but Ichi has still managed to drag the trace of a smile out of him. "And I'm not an ox. Myra calls me an old tiger, thank you." This time there's a trace of pride. He's grown fond of the nickname.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi's eyebrows raise up at the mention of a woman's name and his eyelids flutter.

"You have a lady-friend?" He chuckles gently. "You didn't strike me as the type, Shadow-san..." Belatedly, he adds: "And you're still an ox as long as you keep calling me a damn yakuza."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

His ears turn faintly pink, and The Shadow is deeply grateful that Ichi can't see it. "She's an agent, and she's young enough to be my daughter." He winces, then, doing the math. "Possibly grand-daughter. I've never allowed myself that kind of distraction, no." The hints of embarrassment in his voice are very subtle indeed, but someone with Ichi's skill just may detect it.

"And it was only the once, and I apologized, didn't I?" A grumpy retort is an easy defense to slide into, and he hopes it will distract Ichi from further conversation about Myra, or his lack of a love-life in general.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi scoffs when The Shadow says never, but lets it drop. He's not here to embarrass him, but he has filed away the information for fodder for a lighter conversation at some other date.

"Fine." Ichi sighs as he rolls his shoulders forward, shifting momentum to allow him to stand awkwardly. He still walks a bit like he's unaccustomed to having eaten so much. "But I think it's time I did the job I came here to do." His tea has been finished for a while.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

Never is an exaggeration, but certainly he has lived like a monk since he took up the mantle of black and started his present career. It is long enough, now, to feel like never. The indiscretions of youth feel like a lifetime ago.

"Mm. I'm not sure I want you giving me a massage while you're angry at me. That sounds hazardous to my health." He coughs, pulling himself to sit up properly and set the dregs of his tea aside. "And I do apologize. Obviously my rein on my temper has been slipping, lately. I'll have to work harder to control that..." Every word rings with honest repentance.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry about it, at least, not around me." Ichi offers a gentle smile as he sits down, placing his cane to the side as sets his hands on The Shadows shoulders, and then starts to carefully work at them. "Anywhere specific that's bothering you?" Once he feels comfortable working with The Shadow's wiry physique, he'll start to apply the usual pressure.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow makes a noncommittal grunt, but turns sideways on the sofa. He is very tense under the first touch, unused to getting a massage from anyone. Ichi may have trouble through the thick sweater, particularly since there's another shirt beneath. It's been cold weather. "...Lower back, I guess. I shouldn't do paperwork at the coffee table so much." He seems awkward with the entire situation, now that his guard is back up again.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

The thick clothing does provide a challenge, but he's dealt with just as many layers on prior patrons, and he's been trained. It gives him a little more leeway with pressure as he starts to work more at The Shadow's middle and lower back. He notices the tension as more than just a sore back, but doesn't give it a second thought. Many people he's massaged have been wary of him.

He does, however, pause long enough to slide his cane up to The Shadow, essentially disarming himself.

"Lower back. Let me know if there's any spots while I'm working that you'd like taken care of." He digs into a tense knot and gives a frustrated grunt and mumbles. "...like massaging a rock."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

However reluctantly, and unaware that it might make his work more of a challenge, The Shadow tugs the sweater up while Ichi's hands are at his lower back, and tugs it off over his head. The cotton shirt beneath is much thinner material, and through it he'll be better able to feel the muscles, bones, and a scattering of scars. "Not... mmmhg... really." The sensation is a mix of pain and relief, but the sound itself is not really a complaint.

He notes the slide of the cane, but does not reach to touch it or move it further out of reach, as a sign of respect on his own part.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi's hands are about as sensitive as his ears, even for all the calluses that cover them from hard labor. He notes anything out of the ordinary, that's now more apparent through the thinner shirt.

"I don't know how you manage to stand up." Another knot, and more pressure. His back tells of years of abuse to Ichi. "I don't think I'll be able to get everything." But he'll be damned if he doesn't try.