Did'ja miss me? [Open]

[goromical]

Characters: Gorobei, Toshirou, and whoever they happen to run into.
Content: Gorobei finds Toshi and decides to make the most of their reunion.
Setting: The Silvana
Time: Mid-day
Warnings: Cursing, assery, creepiness, and the like.

Comments

[goromical]

Gorobei's head spun toward Toshirou's voice so quickly he got whiplash. That didn't stop him from quickly moving towards the boy, and giving him a hard slap on the back once he was in arm's reach.

"Toshirou! It's been so long, but not nearly long enough." He laughed at this, but he meant every word. Toshirou looked a bit tired, and - as usual - grumpy, but that didn't stop Gorobei from pouring every last ounce of obnoxiousness into his behavior. "I'm so glad that I managed to run into you. I'll be needing a tour of your new ship. You can introduce me to all of your new friends while we're at it."

He grabbed onto Toshirou's collar, taking care to make sure that the boy didn't try to make a run for it. Anticipating Toshirou's complaints, he finished with, "Either you do this, Toshirou, or prolong my stay aboard this ship and make your life a living hell for quite some time." Sure, he enjoyed annoying Toshirou, but there was a lot worse he could do. He hoped that the smile he currently turned on the boy would convey that. "Sound good?" The no-nonsense approach seemed to be the only one that ever reached Toshirou.

[lilshiro_kun]

Toshirou felt the breath leave his body as Gorobei slapped him hard on the back. It also didn't help that the larger man's hand landed heavily on his still healing wound. It was still very tender. He bit his lip. Hard, and glared up at the dark skinned boatswain. "No. Not nearly long enough." He said through gritted teeth.

Of all the people he least wanted to see today, Gorobei was always near the top of the list, right below Ichimaru. The fact that the other man was on a different ship didn't change the fact that he really didn't want to be around him. Cursing silently as Gorobei kept him from running, Toshirou tried to think of an excuse not to show him around the ship. Unfortunately the older man had already thought of a way around that to.

"You're not leaving me much choice are you?"

OH, HI THAR

[the_katals]

Roaming through the ship after his exploration with Quatre, the newly appointed boatswain was just wandering through the hallways of the Silvana until he heard voices further ahead. He peeked around the corner out of his own curiosity, tilting is head a bit in confusion as he eyed the rather tall fellow who is chatting it up with the moody helmsmen. Judging by how uncomfortable Hitsugaya seemed to be around this guy, Angelo began to wonder more about the cheery stranger. He was quite sure that this man wasn't a officer or anything, Angelo made sure to remember the face and name of very officer aboard the Silvana, so maybe this guy was just another seaman.

"Just because you’re off duty doesn't mean you get to loiter in the halls." The boatswain grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I hope you two don't plan on causing a racket all day!"

"Just because your off duty doesn't mean you get to loiter in the halls." The boatswain grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I hope you two don't plan on causing a racket all day!"

HEEEEY :D

[goromical]

Of course Gorobei wasn't leaving him much of a choice, if he had, the boy would be gone in a second. "That's the idea, kid." His emphasis on the word "kid" brought back the old, familiar age argument. That being, Gorobei would always treat Toshirou like a twelve-year-old, no matter what anyone else said about it.

The new voice was a pleasant surprise for Gorobei. He couldn't exactly get Toshirou to lead him to other crew members, but he had hoped the crew would start coming to the. He ignored the new man's aggravated look and introduced himself as if he had been on board the ship his entire life. "I'm Gorobei, sir! I'm not causing a ruckus, my little friend here just invited me on board the ship and was going to give me a tour." If one of them was going to get in trouble, it sure has hell wasn't going to be Gorobei.

He slung an arm around Toshirou's neck and gave the boy a quick poke on the cheek. "Isn't that right, my littlest Toshi?"

OMG Kill Me NOA!

[lilshiro_kun]

"I'm not a damn kid!" Toshirou shot back, glaring up at the much taller man. At the sound of another voice, the young helmsman started. It seemed that people were already showing up to see what the commotion was about. And the way his luck always seemed to run, it would be an officer who showed up first.

Shooting Angelo an unreadable look, Toshirou reluctantly went along with Gorobei's story about him inviting him onboard. All he wanted was to get away from the taller man. He just prayed he could keep his cool until the dark skinned man left. "Sorry, sir. He's right I was just about to give him a tour if that's not a problem?" He silently hoped it was. Maybe Angelo would kick Gorobei off the ship and Toshirou wouldn't have to deal with him anymore.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Gorobei? It's not Toshi, it's Toshirou!"

[the_katals]

As he pinned a glare on Hitsugaya's friend for brief moment, it was obvious that Angelo is not pleased about the thought of having an unknown civilian wandering the ship. "I do hope you spoke with Ivanova before dragging him on board." The boatswain replied toward Hitsugaya before turning his attention over toward the suspicious fellow.

"What’s your name?”

[goromical]

"Oh, yeah. We've gotten all that taken care of. I paid a small toll to get on board." Gorobei gave a laugh. The new guy looked fairly suspicious of Gorobei, so he was trying to be as light-hearted as possible. He thought he played the role of "ignorant tourist" quite well, but he was unsure if the other man was convinced.

He put out his hand for Angelo to shake. Deciding that he really didn't want any of this coming back to the 4423, he made up an alias for himself. "Gorobei Takahashi. My family owns a farm a ways out of town." His arms were up and motioning toward all that was around them. "I've never been in a ship that was so big before, so my cousin was giving me a tour." There was no one who could possibly look more different from Gorobei than Toshirou, so he quickly added, "Ah, I was adopted."

"But, that doesn't mean I couldn't tell you some great stories about Toshi when he was little." Now that Toshirou was supposedly related to Gorobei, anything the boy said to discredit the man might be turned back on him. At least, that was Gorobei's plan.

[lilshiro_kun]

"Actually he just kind of showed up, unexpectedly." Toshirou said. Which was true. As the young helmsman listened to the loud mouth idiot spin his tale about being related to him, he felt the increasing urge to stab Gorobei. Instead he settled for smacking his forehead. Leave it to Gorobei to come up with something that crazy.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you had been adopted." He muttered darkly. Toshirou started to get a sick feeling in his stomach. There was no telling what Gorobei would say about him. The older man seemed to thuroughly enjoy his misery.

[the_katals]

Angelo just stood there for a moment as he listened to Hitsugaya's cousin banter on and on, with a slight scowl on his face. So this Gorobei guy is supposed to be the helmsman's adoptive cousin? Something about the story did not sit well with the boatswain but he couldn't exactly figure our if this is a fib or not. Instead of asking anymore questions, Angelo decided to just let it go for now.

"Angelo Seragillo." He introduced himself as he gave Gorobei's hand a firm shake. "I don't think your cousin would mind a story or two." He said with a faint smirk for he could tell that the helmsmen is slightly embarrassed.

[goromical]

He shook Angelo's hand, but kept his hand light and without any of its usual strength. After spending years around farmers, he was well accustomed to how they shook hands. He assumed that this trait was the same across the border. "It's nice to meet you. And I would love to tell you a few stories about Toshirou." Still holding onto Toshirou, he motioned for Angelo to walk with him.

"Yup, little Toshi was always getting into trouble when we were younger. I used to babysit him all the time." Kambei was back on the 4423 and Heihachi was having broody, depressing times somewhere else on the ship. No one was here to stop him. He wondered if Toshirou had come to this conclusion as well. Probably not. The boy didn't look nearly horrified enough. Either that, or he had no idea what Gorobei was capable of when he was given full reign.

For a moment, his face, completely out of view from Angelo, but right within Toshirou's periferal vision, morphed into the most wicked look that he was a capable of. But, it was gone almost as quickly as it had come. "I'm sure you're already familiar with Toshirou's interest in swordplay, yes? I bet you never heard the story about how that interest came about, though."

[lilshiro_kun]

Toshirou had resigned himself to his fate of being stuck with Gorobei. He was more than a little irritated that the taller man was keeping such a firm hold on him. As soon as his cousin loosened his grip he was going to run for it.

The young man snorted. It was true that he had gotten into quite a bit of trouble when he was younger, even then he hadn't been able to hold his tongue, and always mouthed off to the wrong people. Catching sight of the wicked grin on Gorobei's face, Toshirou was suddenly hit with the realization that no one was going to step in and stop the older man from whatever he was plotting. Kambei wasn't here, Heihachi was off doing something, and Jushirou was locked up in his room.

Oh shit. He had no idea just how bad this was going to get, and he didn't want to stick around and find out.

[the_katals]

Walking along with the helmsmen and his cousin, Angelo couldn't help but crack a smile at the tall-tale that is about to come. The boatswain honestly has no interest in knowing more about the white-haired boy, other than his strange connection with Jushirou, but he allowed himself to be indulged with a tale or two. Gorobei certainly has a rather flamboyant and cheerful personality in stark contrasts with the broody persona that Hitsugaya eludes; something that Angelo certainly appreciates considering half of his crew is moody as teenagers.

"Yes, he always walks with a sword strapped across his back." Angelo replied to Gorobei, completely missing the devious gaze that the farmer given to his cousin.

"How did he become interested into swordplay, Takahashi?"

Enjoy the tl;dr of Gorobei's long-winded story telling.

[goromical]

Gorobei wasn't very fond of being called by his last name normally because of all the memories it brought with it - well, those that were left. Being called by his pseudonym just confused him, so he quickly corrected Angelo. "Please, call me Gorobei." Kids these days. Too stuffy.

Gorobei's stories usually carried some fantasy element that were so far-fetched, most people had difficulty believing them, which was usually the point. However, with this story, it had to be embarrassing and believable, or Toshirou wouldn't be nearly as embarrassed. "When Toshirou was younger, he liked to care for my mother's garden. The garden was large and made up mostly of vegetables and herbs. Well, that was before Toshirou started visiting. Toshi became so obsessed with the garden that he started buying flower seeds to plant every time he visited.

"Unfortunately, our farm is surrounded by a lot of wild animals, and it takes special care and close watch to make sure our garden isn't destroyed by little woodland creatures. We put up a lot of chicken wire to keep out most of the pests, but Toshi's flowers were still being picked apart, especially his favorite flowers, the poppies.

"After weeks of seeing his flowers slowly disappear, Toshirou decided to take action. He found my father's sword in on of our sheds and kept watch over his flowers for an entire night. It made no difference, though. He couldn't hold up his sword and he usually fell asleep anyway. Still, he would spend every one of his nights out watching the garden, out in the cold. This led to him getting sick every time he visited us, so his parents eventually wouldn't allow him to come anymore.

"He was broken-hearted. I watched him say good-bye to his flowers the last day he came to our farm. He swore that he would return to them even stronger than before. They all died in his absence, but I'm sure they all went with happy thoughts of their knight coming to save them one day."

Gorobei slung his arm around Toshirou's neck, pulling the boy close. "Isn't that adorable?" he cooed.

Thinking this is when Toshi has a heart attack

[lilshiro_kun]

That sick feeling in Toshirou's stomach only got worse as Gorobei opened his mouth and began his tale. The whole thing was so outlandish and absurd, he didn't know how anyone was supposed to be able to believe it.

He had a hard time standing there and letting Gorobei spin his lies. The young man had no way of knowing if Angelo would see through it or not. Shooting his supposed cousin a withering glare, he tried to pull away, only to have Gorobei pull him closer.

"That's a bunch of shit and you know it." He growled.

Gin is lol-ing on the inside here.

[inyourmidst]

Gin didn't often make a habit of stalking his crew mates - not unless he had a particularly good reason to, anyway - but the appearance of a stranger on board coupled with his apparent acquaintance with Hitsugaya had given him reason enough to pause quietly in the next corridor and listen in to the conversation.

The man was a liar. An entertaining one, but a liar nonetheless. Gin knew enough about Hitsugaya's family (or lack thereof) to know both the garden and 'cousin' stories were complete falsehoods. The only question was why the boy wasn't pointing that out to get the stranger kicked off the ship.

Gin could, of course, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

"Really, Hitsugaya-kun, I didn't realize that your love of flowers stretched so far back," he said cheerfully, announcing his presence to those in the corridor. "I remember that lovely little garden you used to keep at Rangiku's...the one you tried to pretend sprung up all on its own."

He gave Gorobei his usual smile - the one intended to be slightly unnerving that gave away nothing. "You should have mentioned your cousin had come to visit. We could have thrown a party."

Aw damn! Its Gin

[the_katals]

Angelo honestly did not know what to think about that little tale about the young helmsmen picking up a sword to guard his poppies but it certainly rang a laugh from him. "Oh God!" The boatswain chuckled as he fought hard to keep himself in line but this was honestly too funny for words. "Hahaha! Poppies, huh? Really?" He snickered for a while longer until he heard another person nearby.

His laughter slowly came to a halt when he saw who it was, that nosy radio operator Ichimaru. A bit of a frown appeared on his face for he remembered the little exchange between him and Histugaya in the lounge some time ago and that time in the ship's dojo. Angelo knew that Hitsugaya really did not appreciate having Ichimaru's company around but the boatswain hoped that the helmsman would keep himself in line.

"Rangiku?" Angelo repeated the name with a bit of curiosity.