Intro/ No Event/ BYOA
The mirrors, red decorations, plush pillows and beds straight out of a cheesy 70s porno made the message clear enough to the lanky thief-excess, debauchery, greed, and lust reigned king here. Lust at the top of them all. His lips curled into a goofy grin when the realization hit him.
Lupin III, international thief, master of disguise ( Read more... )
"Well, this place seems to enjoy humiliating me more than hurting me. I guess you could say I was somewhat 'lucky'." Jigen sighed, crossing his arms. Lucky wasn't exactly the world he was looking for, but he bet that he had it easier than some of the people there.
"Even though this place is like a maze, do you, hm, want me to show you around or something? Or did you already walked around enough?" Because, Jigen really didn't know what to do now that he found Lupin. The first thing that went through his mind was trying to shove him inside a room and locking him there to protect him from harm, but maybe that wouldn't work. More than once Jigen woke up outside his room or in a completely different place no matter how many precautions he took.
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Yet.
It was a frightening word in its own right.
Lupin shifted his focus from that thought and onto other, more pressing matters. Since his wanderings with that kid Tsutomu earlier that day, Lupin lost track of his location. But, he recognized that look on Jigen's face--that deep unspoken concern which his hat only partially obscured.
He took a drag from his cigarette, and smiled brightly, confidently. Jigen-chan of all people should understand that Lupin III was a big boy who could take care of himself.
"How about you and I get a drink, Jigen. We haven't done that for a while either."
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A drink sounded about right. It had been forever since Jigen did anything to 'loosen up'. He always kept his guard way too high when in that place and only two or three times he really let himself go. and that was because the hotel made him lose his mind, so that really didn't count.
"I guess that's a good idea. There's this room where I'm staying. There's stuff to drink there." Which made him wonder why he never had any of those while sitting there alone. Maybe he didn't feel the motivation needed for such a thing.
"Alright, let me just remember where that stupid room is..." Jigen hated those damn hallways that looked the same. He was always getting lost on them, no matter how long he stayed there.
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Leave it to the gunman to know how to play it safe. Of course he would have access to a private liquor cabinet in a love hotel. It also must have been a good way of maintaining his defenses too--take people into private quarters, do it preemptively before the Hotel decided to play with its guests again.
It was smart.
Lupin let out a sympathetic sound when Jigen grumbled. "Yeah, it is easy to get lost in this place, isn't it...?"
He stayed mum about his predicament. No need to make Jigen worry.
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But with Lupin, it was different. He knew his partner well and was aware that he was able to handle difficult situations just fine. And even have a smile plastered on his face as he did so. In a way Jigen couldn't help but envy the thief on his outlook of life.
At first he tensed at the arm around his body but then let out a sigh. That place had made him so jumpy that everything was an excuse for him to tense up.
"It I remember right it was this way. If all else fails we can always find a new room." Jigen shrugged. Looking for an alternate room became a regular thing for him, since he first arrived. "As far as I know pretty much all rooms are stocked with drinks." And... they couldn't be unlucky enough to find the only one without those, right?
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Lupin couldn't help but grin at the thought of sneaking up on the showering hotties in the building. Maybe he could steal a purple bra, just for Jigen.
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"Not really all of them are identical, but a good amount of them is pretty similar." Jigen explained. Sometimes rooms were extremely bare, with only a bed and drawer. Others were highly complex with many rooms, almost like small apartments. He was never fortunate enough to find one of those to stay inside.
Although, by a strike of luck or something, Jigen actually went the right way and they found his room. The gunman was relieved that they wouldn't have to hunt for a new room. That sometimes proved to be quite tedious.
"Finally, we are here." Jigen got inside, while Lupin still had that arm around his shoulders. He didn't really bother telling his partner to cut that out. It wasn't like Lupin was going to move away anyway, so he wasn't going to waste his time on that.
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"Whoa. Nice digs," Lupin said when they entered. It wasn't very elaborate, but it was simple enough and comfortable enough. It suited the gunman.
Lupin pulled away, and flopped himself onto the bed. "So, what now?"
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Jigen still remembered quite clearly what happened to Goemon during his brief stay there and he was always blaming himself for not being there when his samurai friend needed him, so he wasn't going to let something similar happen to Lupin.
Opening the small cabinet in the corner of the room where all the booze was stocked, Jigen looked at all those intact bottles sitting there. It was almost surreal how he never bothered opening any of those.
"There's pretty much everything here. What do you want?" Jigen looked over his shoulder, eyeing Lupin sitting on the bed.
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He heard the underlying concern in Jigen's tone and, although he was curious, he decided not to push it. Sometimes it was best to let Jigen be the overprotective big brother that he was to their small group. If nothing else, it kept the gunman from getting too cantankerous, and kept everyone else from bickering.
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Getting two glasses and opening the bottle, he poured some wine inside both of them and walked to the bed, handing one to Lupin.
"Here. I honestly don't know if this is good or not, but judging by the label looks like it's good quality, at least." Jigen didn't sound nor look particularly excited about it though. Sure it was nice being there with his friend, but that hotel always seemed to make things seem 'off'.
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"Seems pretty good to me," Lupin said, with a lazy, contented smile. He took another sip, and noted Jigen's indifference and stiff manner. "Lighten up. If anything happens, its not like it's gonna be the worst that's happened between us."
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"Sometimes I wonder if this hotel dragged me here just to make me look like a fool." He took a large gulp from his glass, not really bothering to taste it before chugging it down. For someone who spent almost an year in that place, he should be used to it by now, but that would be quite the achievement for someone like him.
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Psychologically seemed to be a different story. Although he had only been there for less than a day, he had already seen people tormented by what the Hotel did with their lives. The young man Lupin ran into earlier seemed to have compartmentalized his life between home and the hotel, a not necessarily healthy reaction, but healthier than Jigen.
Lupin hated to see Jigen drowning in melancholy.
"Hey," He said softly, "Don't drink too fast when you're in this mood. It's not going to me good for you later."
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"It's not like my mood is going to improve that soon, so I guess it makes no difference when it comes to the way I drink this." He took another large sip and the wine was now gone.
"Heh... I'm probably ruining your mood as well with all this depressive talk." Jigen forced a smile, trying to look a little bit more cheerful as he got up from the bed to refill his glass.
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"Jigen, don't force yourself." Lupin flicked his lighter, and puffed on a new cigarette for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. "It's better to not hold stuff back, if it's bugging you."
He followed Jigen across the room with his eyes, concerned about his friend. A part of him really wanted to ask what all had happened, what had made Jigen this melancholy, but he decided it could wait for a different moment to ask.
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