Double-O [Closed]

[goromical]

Characters: Okita Souji and Gorobei Katayama [closed]
Content: An important chat about important people
Setting: 4423 engine room
Time: Evening
Warnings: Perhaps a little sadness from the two guys and Souji being manly, but other than that, nothing.

Comments

[spannertime]

Souji wasn't the best at dealing with emotions. He'd spent so much of his childhood completely detached from feeling much of anything, and as an adult, he'd become quite adept at simply dismissing anything that threatened to bother him for too long.

Somethings, however, couldn't be shoved away so easily, and so he'd resorted to distracting himself in the only way he really knew how--throwing himself into his work. The 4423 probably hadn't been this well maintained since it had been constructed. It also meant he didn't have to see anyone else for long stretches of time.

He wasn't being actively antisocial, though, so when he heard that familiar voice, he extracted himself from one of the cramped little corners he'd been working in, dirty but smiling.

"Hello, Mister Katayama. Did you need something?" He didn't tend to get visitors while he was working.

[goromical]

After a quick, bright smile, Gorobei held up the food. "It is you who needs something, and as I have taken over the duty of Souji-watching for a short while, I am here to provide." He shook his head snorted a bit, but meant all of it as a lighthearted tease. "You mechanics never could figure out how to take care of yourselves. Always leaving it up to the big samurai to make sure you get your daily nutrients and sleep."

He made his way over to Souji while explaining himself, and sat down in the best cleared and least dirty place he could find. Souji looked a little dirty, but not too traumatized or depressed. Still, Gorobei was a bit worried.

"You are hungry, yeah? I haven't seen you in a while, so you must be working hard."

[spannertime]

A flicker of confusion crossed the young man's face, but it was gone quickly enough. Gorobei did seem to be joking about keeping an eye on him, at least. He'd hate to think anyone had seriously thought he needed babysitters.

"I've been busy," he agreed with a nod. "There are a lot of things I can only work on when the ship's not flying." Which was true enough, though he also had a remarkable talent for finding more work for himself regardless of circumstances. "I could eat, though. Let me get cleaned up a bit." It wouldn't take long, there was a sink and a supply of clean towels he kept around for that purpose.

[goromical]

He noticed Souji's brief confusion, but wasn't really sure what would incite it and chose not to ask. Instead, he waited patiently for Souji to clean, content with keeping himself occupied with all the intricate metal machines in the engine room.

"It would make sense that you've been busy, Souji," he called out as Souji cleaned up for the food. Now that Heihachi was gone, and the first mate, who had also known quite a bit about mechanics, Souji was the one left with all the maintenance duties. "I believe you're the only mechanic we have left around here. Although it's very possible that I could be forgetting someone."

[spannertime]

"More or less," he replied, wiping the last of the accumulated dirt from his hands and face before going to sit near Gorobei. "I have some helping hands, but I know the most about how the ship operates. I don't mind, really. I don't have anything else to do." Working was better than having free time to sit and think, after all.

[goromical]

"I could help you if you ever needed it, Souji." He had helped Heihachi with a mechanical problem once before, although the results were less than stellar. He should probably clear that up. "Of course, I would just be around to act as your samurai muscle, but I am a quick learner." He smacked Souji on the back in his customary man slap, but instead of his usual laugh, which felt out of place, he settled for a bright smile.

"I supposed I should get down to the real reason I'm here, even thought it's probably obvious already." His smile softened. "I wanted to ask how you were doing. Other than being busy with the mechanical work, I mean."

[spannertime]

The slap on the back jolted a cough out of him, but he recovered quickly, and smiled. "Thank you. If I run into something that needs more muscle power than I have, I'll definitely let you know." He managed with the small things, and he was hardly weak, for his size, but there really was a limit to the amount of raw power he could bring to bear.

He had suspected the reason Gorobei had stopped by, somewhat, though he'd been hoping the man really had just decided to check in for some reason. "I'm okay," he replied, shoulders slumping slightly now that there was no real reason to keep up the cheerful facade. "It's a little hard to adjust, that's all."

[goromical]

Gorobei's smile fell a little bit and he murmured a small, "Ah," at Souji's answer. This was the answer he had been expecting, somewhat, and he had tried to prepare himself for it. Now that he was here, and Souji's good spirits seemed to be falling, it was hard for him to articulate the same words he had practiced in his mind. It was times like this when he wished Kambei was around. Or even Heihachi. They were both so much better with words than he could ever hope to be.

"I can see how it would be." Gorobei's smiled picked back up. "It's been weird not having Hijikata around to tease. It must be even stranger for you." His tone was still rather light-hearted, but he was very serious about what he was saying. "I bet that's stressful. Adjusting on your own, I mean."

[spannertime]

Souji folded his hands in his lap, staring down at them for a long moment before he looked back at Gorobei. "It's all right," he replied finally. "I'm an adult now, after all." He knew he'd been a little sheltered, having Hijikata there to shield him from everything long after it should have been necessary. Now he needed to prove he could take care of himself.

[goromical]

"I didn't say you weren't an adult, Souji." Though, when he thought about it, it was true that Gorobei had never said it, but he did treat Souji like he was someone in need of a guardian. He wasn't sure how old Souji actually was, but he had always made Gorobei feel a lot older in comparison. He had considered Souji as someone very young--in need of protection. Even when Hijikata was away, he would try to watch out for Souji, like some sheltering, older brother. In fact, that's basically what he was doing right now. He had done the same thing with Heihachi and gotten in a lot of trouble for it too.

Once he really thought about it, he realized what an ass he had been. "No. That's not right. I owe you an apology, Souji. It seems I have troubles learning from past mistakes. I have treated you as though you were less than able of taking care of yourself, even though you have never shown yourself to be that way.

"I'm very sorry for that, Souji."

[spannertime]

"Please, don't apologize," he replied, looking a little embarrassed. "I haven't always been the most responsible... I'm trying to do better." It was hardly Gorobei's fault, really. People tended to underestimate his age and he knew his behavior only encouraged that assumption. "It's just... Mister Hijikata used to take care of a lot of things for me. I need to start doing them for myself." And maybe that was the one good thing to come out of this separation... he'd let himself be protected and taken care of for eight years. It was long past time he took responsibility for himself.

[goromical]

At least it didn't seem that Souji was angry with him about it all, although Gorobei thought the man had every right to be. "I'll still feel guilty about it unless you allow me to help. I am the boatswain, after all. They allow me to boss people around, and those people, in turn, gain respect of the crew and the captain.

"Though I'd still like to check up on you every now and then. And I do enough stupid things that you might have to watch out for me too. It's okay; friends do that, yeah?"

[spannertime]

"I think I can agree to that," the mechanic replied, mustering a smile. "And... I don't mind if you stop by now and then. It can get a little lonely, sometimes." It would have been less so, of course, if he'd tried to get out a little more, but that meant playing up a certain level of cheerfulness that he hadn't quite been capable, of late. Better to just spend time with the few people he knew well, and knew he didn't have to pretend around. "Keeping you out of trouble might be more work than I can handle, though," he teased.

[goromical]

Gorobei gave a small laugh to Souji's tease. "It's not so hard when you know how to handle me. Just give me a guilt trip every now and then, something to keep me honest. I'm pretty manageable then." At least, that's how the other samurai used to keep him in line. Gorobei probably couldn't honestly say it worked all the time, but he would do his best to listen to Souji, simply because he might feel really bad if he didn't.

There was something still on Gorobei's mind, though, and this seemed like as good as time as any to get it out. "There's something I always wondered about, if you don't mind me asking. Hijikata said you met when you were just a kid. Why did you ever decide to follow that grumpy-looking man around?"

[spannertime]

"I'll do my best, then," he replied. Somehow, he didn't think it would be too arduous a task.

"Oh." He smiled a little wistfully. "You're going to think this is very silly... but he rescued me from some people and... well. He seemed very strong to me. I never have been and... I thought maybe I could learn to be. I couldn't, really, but it was nice to be protected by someone who was."

[goromical]

Gorobei couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Hijikata rushing in as someone's brave, shining samurai. "Not that I always assumed Hijikata to be as much as an ass as he let on, but it never occurred to me that he was the type to go around saving young boys and then allowing them to follow him.

"It's really kind of...cute. Ah, our cute Hijikata." If Gorobei saw Hijikata again, he would make sure that he never lived this down. "I suppose he only shows that side to very few."