Post Candy Mountain [Open]

[sugarforteatime]

Characters: L Lawliet, Ness and anyone else on the Way
Content: Talking to anyone who has something to say in the aftermath of Candy Mountain
Setting: L's office
Time: After the ship has left Candy Mountain and before it has arrived at Kropmork
Warnings: Nothing yet, possibly excessive Justice
Notes: The Ness and L thread is closed but otherwise

Comments

[the_tank_girl]

The doorknob to L's office turned sharply, and the door was thrust open. Standing in the doorway was a young woman whose hands were covered in blackpowder. A single forelock of blonde hair hung down in front of her eyes. The rest of her head had been shaved recently, though a light fuzz had begun to grow. Dressed in ill-fitting army boots, ragged cut-off shorts, and a plaid tanktop that read "Daddy's Little Angel", the look on her face moved from happy expectation to disappointment as she saw that she was in the wrong room.

"Bollocks!" she exclaimed, about to turn away. "The doors all look the same. How'm I supposed to find my way around here?"

[sugarforteatime]

Well ... that hadn't been his first expectation for someone to come and discuss things with him after the apparent debacle than was the castle expedition.

"There are only a small number of rooms on each floor, each floor divided into two main corridors. First you must determine which floor you are searching for, most of these can be cross-referenced over the ship-secured portions the network. The parallel corridors are lettered, and many of the rooms have either numbers or name plates. Mine, in fact, says 'Ryuzaki Coil - Captain' right next to the door."

Why did he hire her again? Maybe it had been Vash ...

[the_tank_girl]

Tank Girl drummed her fingers on the door frame as he spoke. She'd met others who talked like this. Blah blah, strategy, blah blah, logic. She was all for a good scheme now and again, but planning anything that closely took the fun out of it. "I should make one of my own for what I'm looking for then."

She screwed up her face, as though trying to think of something. Oh yeah, the sheaf of papers in her hand! "Since you're the Captain, here's the list of what's in the armory. All put into categories and everything." The list was indeed written in a precise, blocky script, rather like something that an engineer would use. The margins were doodled in, however, with a theme of kangaroos dominating said decorations. "All sorted out in the armory, too. Everything polished. Needs more ammo, though, and bigger guns."

[sugarforteatime]

L took the sheets of paper and looked each of them over for a few moments, scanning them and taking in the information before putting one sheet after the next on his desk.

"What are you looking for, then?" He asked while he continued to scan through the list. He had made a few similar notes of deficiencies in their arsenal while he had been Quartermaster, but these notes were far more exact, if a little heavy on the suggestions for larger guns.

"We have a few further repair details to attend to, in addition to paying off all of the materials used to construct Gunsmoke, after that, your request for bigger guns will be considered. The ammunition deficiencies will be dealt with first."

[drinkitlovelife]

Kurumi had returned to her disguised form, as it were. It was much easier to carry the candy and the box onto the ship, not to mention people took you more seriously when they weren't in danger of stepping on you. She was currently munching on a chunk of chocolate ground and holding the box in the other hand while knocking on Captain Ryuuzaki's door with her foot.

[sugarforteatime]

L stretched out of his hunched sitting position and went to open the door to his office. He wasn't too surprised to see Kurumi, she was one of the few he had been specifically expecting.

The candy she was eating looked exceptionally good. He was very much looking forward to hearing from some of the Kropmork mages that the candy was authentic and safe.

"Kurumi, please come in." He returned to his own seat and hopped back up. "Thank you for doing your best to not become injured."

[drinkitlovelife]

She obliged and sat down, still munching on the chocolate. "It was nothing. Just having gumballs shot at us." The bruises would hurt for a week, she thought, but the captain was right - at least they hadn't been hurt too badly. "You wanted to look at the box, right?"

[sugarforteatime]

"Yes, I was also speaking of the part where you were accosted by a wizard. That is not a situation that is conducive to remaining uninjured. I am interested in how he behaved and how you perceived him and why he made his demands."

L questioned the wisdom of picking up or carrying around or opening a box given by a suicidal wizard. It was bad enough it was in the same room as him. Being here on the Winding Way certainly made him a little less cautious of his own physical well being than he usually was. Perhaps it was just because the situations were inherently more dangerous, but it was something to be reflected on. It looked like it could open from the top like a gift box, though.

"Can it be opened?"

[eighthmelody]

Ness knew this was coming, and he was prepared for it. No doubt Ryuzaki was upset or angry with him.

Quietly, he knocked on the door to Ryuzaki's office before opening the door.

[sugarforteatime]

"Ness..." L wasn't actually upset or angry, to get into that sort of emotional state was counter-productive, he was disappointed, though. Disappointed in Ness and disappointed in himself for not predicting that Ness might do something like that.

"Please have a seat." He waited for a few moments, thinking about the best way to approach this. "Why do you think I have asked you here?"

[eighthmelody]

Ness did what he was told and sat down in a chair facing Ryuzaki.

"To ask about what happened in the castle," he answered. What else could there be?

[sugarforteatime]

Well, at least that was a start.

"Please begin. I am most interested in the reason you felt your desired course of action was the most appropriate."

He was pretty sure that was the crux of it, he needed to know the logic behind why Ness would even consider killing someone.

[omegalove]

Lucas never thought he would be relieved to be in the air again. Airsickness was better than being chased around by candy cannons. Relief, however, was not happiness, and Lucas' head was spinning with anger, doubt, and just all-around confusion. He didn't like that feeling... He hated being angry.

But he was. And that just frustrated him.

As he moved towards the captain's quarters, he slowed his pace. There were already a lot of people there. Well, that was okay. He didn't need to be there long. He would report in, drop off his basket of candy, and then go back to his room. That would be good.

[sugarforteatime]

The queue at his door was a fluid thing, and L had spoken to a few of his crew members already when Lucas entered.

"Thank you for your work today." He didn't know Lucas very well, yet, but he knew a few words of encouragement made his detectives work better, so clearly that would work in this situation.

[omegalove]

"Oh... Yeah," Lucas replied absentmindedly. He set the basket down by the others. The captain could have it all, or give it to the rest of the crew. Lucas didn't really care. "I'm just sorry I couldn't really do anything." That's how it always was.

[sugarforteatime]

He really wasn't good at being encouraging. Frankly he had a lot of other people on the ship whose job it was to be encouraging.

"Everyone was a contributing factor to the success of the mission." And he did hold a particularly high place in his esteem for Kurumi, Lucas and Giselle, who were no doubt responsible for -- well for Ness not committing murder.

"If you doubt any of your skills you can always undertake additional training with another member of the crew."

[antibutton]

Uryuu still wasn't sure of everything that had happened, but he figured that it would be prudent to check in with the captain regarding their next course of action. He knew that there was more than a little hostility in the skies lately, and had always considered that knowing things would be beneficial.

That, and formulating any type of strategy at all wouldn't be possible without information.

He stood up as straight as possible and knocked on the door, hoping that Ryuzaki wasn't too busy at the moment.

[sugarforteatime]

He was very popular today. "Please come in."

He put the bowl of candy out again and continued to sit in his chair. Thankfully, it seemed like other than the castle, most of the other teams had not had as hard a time and he had already spoken to everyone but Giselle on the matter.

[antibutton]

Uryuu opened the door and walked in, still standing as impeccably straight as possible. "Ah, Captain, you're not busy, good. I wanted to know exactly where we're heading next. I'd heard...several things, really, but the best place to get it from is you."

He tilted his head slightly and waited for the answer.

[[OOC: You'll have to forgive me for being uninformed; it's hard for me to keep up, so leaving Uryuu out of the loop was my easiest option since I just started. D:]

[sugarforteatime]

"Uryuu," he greeted the new strategist by pushing the bowl of candy over towards him. "We are en route to Kropmork. I would like to have our newest cargo tested for safety as well as determine if there is anything that can be done about the wizard. It will also provide an excellent opportunity for the grand opening of the new bar and restaurant that has finished construction on the upper deck - Gunsmoke." Not exactly the classiest of names, but Vash had liked it.

[OOC: Not a problem, L knows he's a newb anyway so it's not a big deal]