02 || is it worth the aggravation

[itscabbagetime]

Who: Tohru Adachi and anyone who comes to say hello!
Where: Police dept., Somni district 4
Style: Either
Status: So very open! Anyone can come and join in!

Adachi had been working hard. He'd done all the paperwork Javert had been hurling at him, he'd made everyone coffee-- he was trying. He'd been kind to Naomi, even working hard at maintaining

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[phantomfenton]

Danny wipes his brow with the back of his arm, frowning when he feels grit. Great--now his face probably has a dirt-smudge, too. Not that it would make a difference if it didn't, of course--the rest of him is more than dirty enough to make up for it.

Danny shivers in a sudden stray breeze, lowering his arm and ignoring the grime. Suddenly he wishes he weren't tired, sweaty, and jacket-less. He hadn't needed the warmth earlier, but now he's too tired to bother with his ghost form, and he's too tired to warm up by trying to exercise more. Stupid Somarium, for letting him get so out of shape. Stupid ghosts for making him need to stay in one.

Danny rounds the corner of another building, far too intent on brooding to notice Adachi right off. He sees him when he almost runs into the man, though.

"Whoa! Look out!" Hi, Adachi. Have a teenager-out-of-nowhere flailing in his kind-of-too-late-attempts to sidestep.

[itscabbagetime]

He hadn't seen Danny coming-- and that was mostly because Adachi was in his own world, finishing up his cigarette. He was deciding what he wanted for lunch; maybe a sandwich, or maybe something else. Either way, his choices were pretty limited, because he didn't really know the area as well as some--

But then he was rudely taken out of his thoughts by a kid with some sort of weird war-type face paints smeared across his face. He felt the boy knock into him and he fell back against the wall with a low 'oof--!'. It wasn't until he'd straightened up and put his cigarette out that he recognized the boy.

"So-sorry, heh, I guess we both weren't paying attention, huh?" He dusted himself off (although it didn't do much good, his shirt was now stained with all types of grit) and pushed himself off of the wall. "... What's with all this dirt..?"

[phantomfenton]

"Sorry, sorry--... oh." Him. "Uh--yeah, uh, seems like." It takes a little effort, but he finds it in himself to be guilty; after all, this guy might be a jerk, but Danny did kind of just ruin his shirt... "Sorry," he adds, looking at it. There. That was enough to appease his concience.

"Uh--I was exploring some old factory. The whole place is filthy, and when I slipped on the stairs..." He shrugs, as though the outcome went without saying. Keep it simple, and then redirect. "What're you doing out here?"

[itscabbagetime]

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, and after he'd brushed himself off enough, he did the exact same thing as Danny did and wiped his face. Oops. "Don't worry about it," he said quickly, shaking his head. "No harm done. Besides, I never look where I'm going, so I know where you're coming from, heh."

He blinked. An old factory? "Are you okay?" At this point, Adachi didn't really care what the kid had been doing, nor did he care if he was okay. In fact, he didn't really care for the kid-- but he knew he had to keep up appearances, for his own sake. At least his voice sounded concerned.

"Oh, I work here. This is the police department-- I'm just on a break." He looked back through the doors and smiled. "I don't think I have much of a break to look forward to, so that's why I started taking up smoking. You get more breaks that way." And all you had to suffer was the bad cough, sore throat and bad taste!

[phantomfenton]

"You've... got some dirt on your face. Right here." How is this guy not bothered by any of this? Danny fights back a grin, but he's not nearly as amused as he would normally be. Sure, this guy's an oblivious moron, and Naomi doesn't like him, but... he hadn't gotten mad, or snapped at him. As much as Danny hates to admit it, he's too nice.

"Yeah, of course," Danny waves it off. A little fall never hurt anyone, least of all a kid.

Danny glances at the building while Adachi explains, before giving him an odd look. "You do know smoking's bad for you, right?"

[itscabbagetime]

"... Oh." He reached up and attempted to wipe the smudge away, looking at him as though asking if he'd got it. He then pointed at him and grinned-- "you too, just there." He pocketed his hands after a long moment of cleaning his face and clothes again. Better the dirt was inside his pocket than all over his face.

There was a smile and a nod with Danny's reassurance. Well, it's good to know the kid will need more than just a shove down the stairs to shut him up.

"Well, yeah, but I figure so is having no breaks. Especially with the Inspector keeping me busy..."

[phantomfenton]

If Adachi was watching carefully, he might have noticed the bemused beginnings of a grin. It dissapears the instant Danny realizes what he's doing, of course (seeing how the remark wasn't even funny or anything) but hey, it was there. Then Danny's half-heartedly scrubbing his shoulder across his face, getting some but not all the dirt off. It's a lost cause, and he obviously knows it.

He thinks that over for a moment, before shrugging. "I guess you're right. What's he making you do, then, paperwork?" Because that's what all cops that aren't on cop-shows do, of course.

[itscabbagetime]

He did notice-- but he didn't react. He let his hands fall to his side and gave up himself; clearly, water and soap was the only way to get this stuff off. He let himself lean up against the wall and let out a small sigh as their conversation slowly waded into his work.

"Yeah, pretty much." He shook his head and smiled wryly. "I get that I'm not the best detective, but you'd think we'd run out of things to write about. I think he's just keeping me busy at this point..."

Adachi looked down at the floor and sighed again. This was his famed puppy-dog-eyed look. It was capable of melting every heart-- apart from Javert's and Dojima's, apparently.

[phantomfenton]

Danny makes a discovery: He, unlike Javert, does not possess Dojima's immunity to the look. After all, he knows what it's like for people to expect him to be useless... Sure, Adachi probably is useless, but that doesn't mean Danny doesn't feel just the tiniest bit sorry for him. Even if he is a jerk.

And even if Naomi doesn't like him.

"It sounds like book reports," Danny mumbles, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He's not sympathising--he's just being polite, that's all. "Teachers always assign stupid stuff to keep us busy, even if we'll never do anything like it again in the 'real world'."

[itscabbagetime]

He nodded-- it sort of was like a book report, only, well, these documents might be used again, so he couldn't even slack off and write something wrong. He shrugged his shoulders and stretched his arms out, covering a quick yawn with his hand.

"I know what you mean." He smiled another wry smile before shaking his head, apparently deep in thought. "I get that I'm pretty klutzy, and I get that I have a habit of running my mouth. I dunno, I guess it's too early to really complain right now. At least I'm being given a chance."

He put on a thoughtful expression and looked aside again.

"I just hope I don't mess it up..."

[phantomfenton]

The boy stays quiet, letting the man list his own faults as much as he wants. Hey, there's no protest on his part--after all, he already agrees with it all.

Then Adachi ends with a dig for reassurance, and Danny (who's caught off guard) struggles for words.

"Uh, well--you... still have time?"

[itscabbagetime]

"Huh? O-oh, sorry, I didn't know you were listening, haha," he rubbed the back of his head and pushed away from the wall. Now that he was standing straight, he was tall and lanky, though he held himself in a way that wasn't threatening in the slightest.

"Hey-- I just... wanted to apologize for the other night. We didn't get on so well, and... well, I figured we may as well try and start afresh, right? They weren't exactly the best circumstances to meet, after all..."

[phantomfenton]

The guy's taller than Danny is, but that's nothing new. He's also clearly non-threatening, so Danny barely takes notice of the differences in height at all.

That other night... Yeah, the one where he kissed Naomi, and wouldn't take a hint that he wasn't wanted.

"You're right," Danny says, any signs of cheer vanishing, "They kind of weren't the greatest circumstances, at all." It's not like he hasn't accidentally seen parts of dreams with worse, but for him to kiss her, then of all times...

[itscabbagetime]

He smiled happily, clearly pleased that his attempt to clear the air had apparently been a success. He held a hand out politely and let out a small sigh. He was totally pleased that they could move on from this.

"Well, yeah," if Danny would let him, he'd shake his hand lightly and then pull back again.

"At least she's okay now, though. But she's still not letting any information slip. Truth is, the reason why I wanted to be on the force is so that I could help find out whatever I can to help track that creep down."

[phantomfenton]

Danny looks at the hand for a moment, before he shakes it once and pulls away, crossing his arms. He doesn't trust Adachi, but if he just wants a second chance...

Sometimes that's all anyone needs, right? Danny doesn't feel right about him, but they did get off at the wrong foot. Maybe Danny's just prejudiced because of how Naomi feels about him?

Squashing his doubts back for now (a second chance, he can do that,) Danny frowns a little, looking unsurprised. "Yeah, I know."

"... Really? That's why you'd joined?"

[itscabbagetime]

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, his head tilting up to look at the sky. His gaze soon shifts onto the castle and he frowns momentarily before his expression goes blank once again.

"Yeah. It makes me feel sick to know there's someone like that here."

He levels a thoughtful gaze at Danny, sighing softly.

"Doesn't the guy have a conscience?"