trans_9 | The Crestfallen D/Back to Square One

Entry tags:

The Crestfallen D/Back to Square One

Who: Shoutarou and anyone.
Where: Various places
Summary: After the events of SHODAN have passed by, Shou tries to deal with the personal fallout, once the majority of the shipwide fallout has passed..
Warnings: Depressed detective, boozing, angst in general.

The Precinct, mid-morning:
The door to the building opens, and Shoutarou enters with a briefcase and a box in-hand. He's set out to go to the armory - after that scientist guy ran loose in Hydroponics, not keeping the extra Gaia Memories under lock and key was no longer an option - the same with the extra drivers and what of Philip's research into the Memories he could find.

The City, common Stacy areas in general; mid-day through late afternoon:
The rest of the daytime period, Shoutarou can be found in various areas of the ship, either cruising on his motorcycle for patrols, doing so on foot, checking up on the various businesses to make sure everything's going okay, or hitting the cafeteria for lunch. Anyone who encounters him will more than likely be able to tell it's aimless wandering more than anything.

The Drunken Dragon; evening:
At one of the side tables, Shoutarou sits, nursing a mug of the tavern's hard cider, with his chin in one hand, elbow on the table. His hat lays on the middle of the table, and a periodic sigh comes from him, though it's quiet.

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Zouichi caught sight of Shoutarou idling on his motorcycle, pulled his own bike up beside him. "Hey. Isn't your shift over?"

Ellyn didn't need an invitation to go take a seat at Shoutarou's table. She'd just invite herself, plopping down in a flurry of red robes and the faint scent of cigar smoke.

Without preamble, she speaks. "Ya look like hell. Ya been sleepin' at all?" And grunts, which is really continuing her statement, assuming one is fluent in Gruntese, something about working his behind off.

"Hm...?"

The man looked a bit dazed for a second before he finally focused, then turned toward Zouichi. "I guess it is. No harm in a little overtime, though."

Shoutarou straightened up a bit in surprise, then slowly blinked at Ellyn.

"Uh... Little bit," he answered. He wasn't fluent in Gruntese, but he'd been the target of enough poking like that back home to get the general idea of what the pyromancer was getting at. "It's been too quiet to sleep, if that makes any sense."

"Maybe, but it's practically dead right now. You sure you're all right? You're looking a little..."

He paused, trying to think of the right word. Ultimately, he settled on, "...under the weather."

Billy hadn't used the Sensoriums to imagine a better meal for a while. Something about the cold, tasteless slop routine was compelling in its own way. And hey, if he tried hard enough, he could imagine that it was unsweetened oatmeal. Almost.

He searched for a table, piece of tray in hand. Now where should he sit? Ah---he spotted Shoutarou fairly quickly. He was alone. That had never been the usual for him, had it?

It was time for Billy to investigate. He chose that table for a seat, waving his crunchy piece of tray in front of Shoutarou's face. "Hey. Are you going to eat?"

Ellyn grunted and grumbled--it was less coherent than her previous statements, but conveyed a bit of dissatisfaction nonetheless. "I get it, yeah. I thought ya had people ya stayed with, though? Or stayed with you? Close friends."

Something she wouldn't know that much about, being her usual charming, social butterfly of a self. But then Ellyn made another face.

"Wait, they get sent back t' the pods'r somethin'?" She knew that well enough from when her father had had to make that trip.

Everyone who encounters him...who is more socially functional than Punchy. Punchy mostly just notices the motorcycle.

"Boss ride, detective!"

"Dead now, but..." He fiddled with the helmet in his hands a bit, then looked out across the area. "Don't want to get caught off-guard again, y'know?"

The inquiry got him to nod. "Maybe a little tired, but I don't feel ill."

Ellyn's comment was met with quiet - until she put two and two together, and he nods, taking a moment to nurse the mug again. "That's looking like the case. Haven't seen or heard from them since that robot stuff happened."

The detective's daze faded a bit once Billy was waving the tray bit around, further chased off by a quick, sharp shake of the head. The question...requires a bit more thought that is healthy, really, but he eventually answers. "I, uh, already did." At least, he thinks so - he doesn't really feel hungry, though he can't say he's felt that much over the past days.

Even with Punchy's lack of social functionality, there's some charm to the kid - and if there's anything Shoutarou really prides himself on that isn't work, it's looking cool, and...well, even in a daze, an ego-buffing compliment still works - Punchy gets a half-smirk, and a nod. "Thanks, Punchy."

Zouichi shook his head. "Not that the sentiment isn't admirable, but unless you have a way of seeing everywhere at once, there's no way you're going to be able to prevent another SHODAN. Well, unless that's not what you're talking about. Anyway, no point facing whatever the next threat is while you're dead on your feet."

"You going somewhere on those rims or you just spinning 'em?" Because Punchy is totally wanting to challenge Shoutarou to do something daredevilish and silly with that motorcycle.

Ride away, Shou. Ride away while you can.

"You did?"

Billy doesn't really see he evidence of that. No tray, not even crumbs. "Then why are you still here? I can't imagine the atmosphere's appealing."

There was a noise not unlike a grunt of frustration, if it was more subdued. "I can try at least," he answered, stubborn to the end. The comment about being dead on his feet was handily ignored while he leaned over on the handlebars of his bike. "Can't stand to sit idle right now."

Shoutarou nods, then falls quiet for a moment. "That's a good question. Guess I just spaced out a bit," he answers, reaching up to rub his eyes.

There's a slight eyebrow raise at that question. "Going on patrol is about it, really." Good luck convincing him, Punchy - all the stunt-riding is reserved for the fights.

"On the contrary," said Zouichi. "Right after a battle, during the break in the fighting, is precisely when people should be getting their rest. But you should know that. What's really going on here?"

Zouichi was going to guess it was the murders in the pod caverns. Though he'd never seen Shoutarou exhibit this behavior before, nor had the crew ever been subject to deaths of the people around them in exactly those circumstances.

Billy looks concerned. He squints, trying to look for signs of what could be bothering Shoutarou. "You look exhausted. Have you been sleeping? I know it's hard to sleep around here sometimes."

"Right, because you're axing it with security, right? Seen any g's you gotta ice?" Punchy wanders over and strokes the bike. It's shiny.

Hanging out with humans and needing to be sneaky somehow necessitated the ability to tell when someone was mad and someone was upset. Not that Ankh particularly cared; but he was perched on the ceiling of some nondescript building and watching the semi-familiar Kamen Rider meander around. And well, let's be honest, he was kind of bored.

"Hey; what's wrong with you?"

Sometimes, the spark just lit right. Something in her face changed when Shoutarou mentioned the robot attack, and she turned her head away with a grunt.

"Well, ya seemed close-knit, so I think ya would've found out by now if they'd been hurt." Not even Ellyn was callous enough to mention anything worse. Most of the cleanup had been done by that point, hadn't it?

"Ain't gonna tell ya not ta worry, 'cuz that's how ya are, but they might'a jus' needed a rest. An' that means they'll be back at some point, ya know? Ya got a right ta feel like ya do, jus'...I dunno. They'd expect ya ta do yer best whether they were here or not, mebbe?"

Ellyn grimaced, and knocked back some of her whiskey.

So what if he couldn't taste it or technically be effected by it, booze is for winners. Except when booze is being imbibed by sad saps like that guy over there. One more heaving sigh like that and Uva's got half a mind to get up, and ask what's bothering him ~~give him a one-coin tip to fixing it~~ dammit he wishes.

Or maybe just flatten his hat.

Or both.

Shoutarou reaches up, running a hand through his hair, then sighing. "Things are just...too quiet," he answers, making progress toward the root of the problem, but still sidestepping it.

"That, and all that happened with the robots." He draws a breath, then lets it out, frustrated.

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The Crestfallen D/Back to Square One

In the City

Evening at the Dragon

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Mess Hall

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The City

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All these icons and none of him on the bike. Dangit.

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Re: All these icons and none of him on the bike. Dangit.

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The City

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drunken dragon because boozeforever

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