184 Near Disasters

[cal_sitter]

Action[Niko is up well before dawn, well before what even he considers a civilized hour, and moving silently through the apartment. He laces his running shoes, pulls on a light jacket over a tee-shirt and jeans, and ties his hair back in a tight tail at the nape of his neck. A relatively light load of weapons--only ten knives and his wakizashi--

Comments

[captainshort]

Niko?

[ooc; action or voice, up to you! holly should be returning to their building after work/mission/idk. :)]

[cal_sitter]

[He pauses in unlocking the doors of the dojo and glances over his shoulder at the elf.]

Captain.

[captainshort]

[Said elf is hovering in the air, sooty visor up, blaster strapped to her hip and obviously more worn from work than she usually is. With good reason. Nevertheless, she hovers before him.]

You're up early.

[... she's one to speak.]

[cal_sitter]

So are you.

[Niko pushes the door open.]

Would you care to come inside?

[starchilde_lost]

[She's not often up at sunrise unless she's been dragged out of bed for some ungodly reason. But after all the rain and excitement she just couldn't sleep so she left the cabin and started walking.]

[ooc; location your choice, feel free to notice she's a bit beat up.]

[cal_sitter]

[Niko is supposed to be making his way back to the apartment. He did tell the others he'd return by dawn, and they'll worry if he fails to do so. Instead, he leaves the Underground late, and heads in the general direction of his dojo.]

[starchilde_lost]

[She hadn't realized she'd wandered so close to the entrance of the Underground until she saw Niko walking away from it. She considered saying nothing, but she figured she owed him an explanation - if he hadn't figured it out already.]

Niko?

[cal_sitter]

[He'd seen her already. Constant awareness of one's environment was among his first rules of life. He simply hadn't intended to stop and speak with her unless she chose to stop him first. That's the sort of mood he's been in since he woke early that morning. Niko stops and turns to face the telepath.]

Rachel.

action; assumedly after Niko's made his way to the dojo

[winewomenand]

[There is a scratching of keys in the door to the dojo before Robin enters with a shake in his fingers that belies a man trusting in espresso to get him through work that day. He walks further in and spots Niko, but while most normal, polite people would ask if they should come back later, Robin only watches Niko work through a kata before turning away, as if he hasn't noticed his presence.

If the Leandros boy wants to talk he will.]

action;

[cal_sitter]

[Niko momentarily chastises himself for not checking the schedule to see who was coming to work and when this morning. He had the paperwork out. He is the owner. He should have known.

Without breaking the rhythm of the prescribed movements, Niko speaks.]

Have you tried sleeping lately?

[He knows it's a hypocritical question, coming from the mouth of a man who barely managed two hours last night.]

action;

[winewomenand]

[Robin notices the hypocrisy, but says nothing. He knows better than to start bringing up that particular vice when he's even more liable to have fingers pointed for it. He stares over his shoulder at Niko for a long moment, before dragging the bottled iced coffee and the newspaper from under his armpit.]

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

[ A considering yawn. That could be a long time. ]

I'll sleep sometime within the next forty-eight hours. I have catching up to do. Notches in my bedpost to make. Cops to ingratiate myself to.

action;

[cal_sitter]

Leave the captain alone. She knows what you prefer to do in the dark and she's not impressed.

[After the trip to the underground, there's no need for a particularly energetic or violent kata, and Niko smoothly transitions to the next movement, modifying a pattern meant for a full length katana to suit the wakizashi.]