[OPEN!] At least this maze has plenty of escapes...

[fire_water_wood]

((OOC: S-sorry it's taken so long to get this posted, guys!  I really did think I'd done this already...  OTL))

Characters:  Harlequin and the people of the Winding Way
Content:  With this conversation, Harlequin has agreed to help Gintoki with that HVAC project by mapping out the air circulation ducts throughout the ship . . . from the inside . . .

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[fire_water_wood]

The carpenter jumped, head snapping up from his work, then growled as he looked back down. Good - his hand had slipped, but somehow the carving tool had failed to put an unwanted gouge in the design he'd been working into the side of the chest in front of him. Satisfied, he turned that half-glare up on the young intruder. What part of "tomorrow" had he been ambiguous about? He grunted and thumbed over his shoulder at the workbench. "Haven't finished. Told you I wouldn't have. It's over there." He frowned in mild curiosity as he spotted the food bag the kid was carrying. What, had he brought his lunch to come spend with his puppet? ...whatever, so long as the kid didn't get in the way of his work.

Harlequin had been trying to take a nap but been unable to sleep. Then he jumped in surprise and tried to shift to see to the door. W-was...was it really...? "Mr. Ichigo! You...you came back..." Boy, he could not have been happier to see his friend!

He lay, nude, on the table, his right leg still a snapped and splintered mess, the left still missing from the broken knee joint down, a deep crack still visible through the piece that formed his hips. His damaged arm had been removed completely, more of the elaborate joint of his shoulder now discernible in detail. The arm itself, as well as the missing leg-half, lay about a foot away next to largely identical constructs of similar wood, both rather finely-crafted.

[flight_15]

"'Course I did," Ichigo replied. "You think I was just gonna leave you here until tomorrow? Sorry my shift took so long. Here, I brought you lunch." Harlequin had to be hungry by now, and besides, he didn't want to leave the thing alone this whole time. He at least had to come and check on the kid.

"Watanuki made it. 'S good." He leaned on the side of the table, pulling a roll out of the bag and putting it in Harlequin's working hand.

[fire_water_wood]

Well...actually, yes, that was exactly what Harlequin had thought...though he realized he should have known better. He grinned. He'd largely gotten used to the pain by this point - and the damaged arm having been completely removed helped a lot too - though it was still with no small amount of effort that he levered himself upright with one arm and worked himself backwards until he found something he could prop himself on. "No, no, don't apologize! You have other things you need to do too."

His eyes lit up as the roll was placed in his hand - he was famished - and all the more so at the identity of the cook. "Mr. Watanuki? Really? Thank you. And I'll remember to thank him too." He munched happily for a moment before he looked back up at Ichigo. "So how did your shift go? Everything okay?"

[flight_15]

"Yeah, it's quiet here. We're grounded, so there's not really anything for us to do except listen in on broadcasts and keep the lines open in case we get a distress call. Ocelot....well, Ocelot used to spend the time listening to Badlands radio plays." He'd rather have been here. He held out the water flask to Harlequin, too.

"How're you holding up?" Ichigo asked.

[fire_water_wood]

"Heh . . . I'm sure no one could blame him. Thank you." He accepted the flask, working extra carefully with only one arm to get the lip to his mouth and the bag upended a little without spilling any water down his front and swelling the wood. He grinned - a bit wanly, but it was sincere - at the question as he brought the flask down again. "Oh . . . spreading out a bit, making a mess of myself. Well, more properly, having a mess made of me, but hey..." He nodded at the limbs to his right. "Actually, I'd say Mr. Taggart is doing a really good job. He's just waiting for a particular chisel to get back from the blacksmith so he can finish shaping the joints. Heh . . . he really isn't used to working quite so small. Give him another hour at this, and I think he'll be seeking out a jeweler to borrow a magnifier or something," he added with an amused grin.

Actually . . . he wasn't so much amused as he was trying to keep the mood light. He could see all over Ichigo's face how upset he was over this, but the puppet figured - hoped - that if he downplayed things as much as possible, it might help. It helped him too...

[flight_15]

The work looked really good, at least. "That's good," he said. He didn't quite share the lightheartedness -- Ichigo would occasionally do the same thing when dealing with severe stress, but now that Harlequin was being worked on, and was doing okay, he wasn't tense enough to start smiling. "Here, there's more in the bag. You still hungry?" He had some dried fruit with him, too, along with another roll or two. "I'll bring you some more stuff tomorrow morning, too."

He wished there was something he could do around here. Ichigo hated being unable to act.

[fire_water_wood]

"Yes, thank you!" Quin responded with a grin and eager glance at the bag. He'd forgotten to pack snacks to take with him for his overnight excursion, so he'd not eaten since dinner last night. Still, he looked up at Ichigo at the last part. "You don't have to do that, Mr. Ichigo. We're not anywhere near the ship here, right? This must be out of your way to come all the way here." He grinned shyly. "Though I do appreciate it."

He wondered if anyone had even noticed yet that he'd been gone... Probably not, but it was a nice thought. Though it'd mean that more people might be concerned about him if they had. No, perhaps it was best if they didn't know...

[flight_15]

"Man, shut up already," Ichigo muttered. "'Course it's out of my way. Who cares? You're laid up and need food. I'd do the same for anyone else." Especially since it was because of him that Harlequin was in this mess. It was the simple, direct truth.

"Quit worrying about other people when you're the one with half your body in splinters."

[fire_water_wood]

Harlequin ducked, duly chastised. But...but, no, it...it wasn't that he was in trouble. If he thought about it, he knew it. It was just Ichigo's way of . . . worrying about him.

And he had a point.

One might not have thought that painted wood could blush but, on a Living Marionette, it was indeed possible. Harlequin grinned sheepishly up at his friend, good hand rubbing absently at his empty shoulder. "Sorry, Ichigo. Habit, I guess." Really, did it take people so long to internalize and accept that they actually meant something to someone else, or was it a lesson that had to be brought up and drilled in repeatedly before it finally stuck? Heh...I'm just kind of hopeless that way, I suppose, the little puppet thought to himself with a small grin.

[flight_15]

Ichigo relaxed a little after the apology. Though he had to wonder why so many people on this ship always put others before themselves. Not that that was a bad thing, but Harlequin wasn't the only person who did it to excess. "I'll leave the rest of this stuff for you," he said. He'd be willing to stay as long as Harlequin wanted, or until the carpenter kicked him out. There had to be something they could talk about. "How long do you want me to stick around?"

[fire_water_wood]

"Ah..." He glanced the carpenter, who seemed to be studiously ignoring them as he continued his work. Taggart had impressed Harlequin as a good man but one who got annoyed easily, whether or not he really did anything. 'All bark and no bite', perhaps, as the saying went, though the puppet didn't want to test that. "Ah, well...do you have any-" -thing important you need to do this afternoon? was what he'd been about to say, but he caught it before it could earn him another mini-scolding. Instead, he finished near-smoothly, his improv acting coming into play, "- other plans for the afternoon?" If nothing else, maybe Ichigo would let him practice some of the storytelling tales he'd been working up.

[flight_15]

Ichigo shrugged. "Nah, I don't have another shift until tomorrow afternoon."

[fire_water_wood]

Harlequin blinked in mild surprise. "Oh! W-well, heh, I'm sure you'll not want to stay that long, but . . . " But he didn't want Ichigo to leave, n-not yet anyway... "Um...well, I've...been working some of the tales from the books I got for Lunasa. You know, for performing as a storyteller..." He didn't want to seem to pressure Ichigo into agreeing to listen to any by outright asking, so he trailed off at that.

"Or...I know Miss Zeetha's been thinking about what play to put on next..."

[flight_15]

Nah, he wasn't going to stick around overnight. "So you just tell people the stories?" he asked. He'd never really been into street performers, but....he'd give this a shot.

[fire_water_wood]

"Ah...w-well, there's a bit more to it than that, but...yes, essentially. A good storyteller has to be able to bring a story to life and portray all the characters all by himself. It's...kind of like a one-man stage play, usually without props or costuming or anything like that . . . though I've heard of people who keep a collection of hats nearby as a visual aide of sorts. A good storyteller has to be able to pace his narrative and keep the audience's interest."

[flight_15]

Huh. Ichigo figured he probably should have known that, having lived on the Winding Way for a year, but he really hadn't gotten very involved with the ship's theatrical productions, acting as a bouncer or taking a technical position at most. He didn't know that much went into what Harlequin was talking about.

"Okay," he said, "show me." If Harlequin could keep him interested, then he was doing a damn good job. And he was a little curious about it.