The Crestfallen D/Back to Square One

[thisclinchesit]

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.

Comments

[thisclinchesit]

"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."

[zouichi]

"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."

[thisclinchesit]

"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."

[zouichi]

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."

[thisclinchesit]

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."

[zouichi]

"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.

[thisclinchesit]

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.

[zouichi]

Zouichi frowned. "Too quiet? Wait, did someone you know get killed?"

[thisclinchesit]

That got a glance away. "I don't know - I'm pretty sure they're all repodded, since they didn't turn up on the lists."

There's still that lingering uncertainty that bugs him. And having had to go through that attack without knowing for certain.

[zouichi]

Zouichi shook his head. "Medical's got our DNA on file, right? If they were among the fallen..."

Well. He supposed that wasn't much comfort. Even if they were simply repodded, there was no guarantee another SHODAN couldn't happen again. "Look, I'm sure they're okay. People have gone in and come back before."

[thisclinchesit]

"Mmmn." There's a slight frown, a sigh, and eventually a nod. "I know. Guess I can't help but fret some, though."

[zouichi]

Zouichi nodded. "Understandable, but... well, just don't end up like those people wandering the Pod Caverns, all right? The people left on the ship might not know you as well as they did, but they still care about your well-being."

That was a roundabout way of saying Zouichi cared about his well-being.

[thisclinchesit]

Another nod. "No plans for that, and even if I did, there's way too much to be done to waste my time there," he answered, moving to clap Z on the shoulder with a hint of a smile.

"Glad they do - and I care too much about theirs to stay in this rut." Roundabout is fair play - as there's his way of saying thanks.