Night 60: Sun Room

[vinesofregret]

[From here]Hakkai slipped into the room, playing his flashlight around the wide space to see if there were any foes - or friends. For the moment, though, it looked like he was alone. He stuck close to the wall, keeping an eye out as he skirted the edge of the room to the bulletin board, but still nobody. Had the person he was supposed to be meeting

Comments

sorry for the late!

[fuukaenbujin]

[from here]The room was dark enough, but the glass ceiling overhead let in enough light that Kurama would still have been able to see. He kept the flashlight on, though

pft, I'm not any less late

[vinesofregret]

Hakkai barely managed to keep himself from starting at the sudden presence of someone else by him. He tensed, though, and it was a moment before he could replace the look of surprise with his usual polite smile - though slightly frayed at the edges at the moment.

The man was a stranger to him - the one he was supposed to meet? It was hard to say - he seemed ordinary enough. Very polite, too. Only one way to find out, he supposed.

"Ah, I was. The weather seems quite nice tonight - quite a change from last night."

wow no, I was totally more late than you (nottalking)

[fuukaenbujin]

Kurama's presence must have been as unexpected as the other's to himself, because even in the dimness of the Sun Room with the flashlight pointed away, his slightly more enhanced night vision allowed him to notice that it took a while for the man to recover from his surprise. The fact that it took a while was an indication of something. It either indicated exactly what sort of environment this place was compared to the day... or that there was a specific reason the man before him had reacted in this way. But on the other hand, it seemed that it wasn't only going to be his demon powers that would be limited; Kurama was fairly certain that he should have been able to discern the man's expressions more clearly, but it was now apparent that they must have dulled his senses, as well

this is a game that nobody wins. NOBODY.

[vinesofregret]

Hakkai could feel his heart go just a touch faster. This was it, then - his message board correspondent. He had not been certain what he'd been expecting the person to be like, or even if the reality matched those uncertain explanations. Seimei was polite, though, which was a start, given their conversation. Hakkai did not wish for another fight, right now, but he couldn't let his guard drop entirely.

The smile stayed for the moment, though. "It's a pleasure to meet you, then. I'm Cho Hakkai." He paused for a moment, and then added, "I believe we spoke on the message boards?"

Nope. The dates totally say I was more late, so there. This time, as well. TOO BAD.

[fuukaenbujin]

[Also, sorry for the late. Again. ;_; ]

Well. No indication that he might be attacked anytime soon. So far, so good? The smile stayed on the other man's face though, so it seemed their interactions were to remain civil for the time being. Good. It was much easier to talk things out as opposed to fighting it out. It might work with Hiei or Yusuke, and occasionally, even with Kurama himself, but there were still too many variables with questions marks on them. And Kurama had no way of telling how long this man had been here, either. He hadn't the time to test out his own power limits yet, which was certainly a disadvantage. So yes, it was better to keep it to words.

"Yes, we did," Kurama affirmed. "And likewise, a pleasure to meet you, as well." Cho Hakkai. Somehow, that name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before. He set that aside for now. He'd have time later to think on

And then LJ made me THE LATEST EVER

[vinesofregret]

Hakkai caught the wave in the peripheral of his vision, and managed not to jump - barely. It took him a second to register the other people as familiar, not enemies. He really was on edge right now. He returned the wave with a quick smile that was even more forced than his previous one - but the others had already moved on. Not that it truly mattered, he supposed. Just politeness.

He turned his focus back to his current conversation partner. "Aah, I've met them before. Briefly." And under rather trying circumstances at that, though he didn't want to bring that up - but he had the sneaking suspicion that what had happened last night might surface eventually."

"And no need to apologize - though I think you're rather more concerned about privacy than many here." Observation, rather than criticism, but he had to admit a certain curiosity in the man's ways. He knew that names weren't meaningless, having shed one himself - but he didn't think sharing it would be the key to any particular sort of power over him, either.

By, like, a day, wow. But darn you, Frank. (bah)

[fuukaenbujin]

"Am I?" Kurama replied. So people here were a bit more open than he'd thought. That might be something to note. People who were too secretive would become suspicious. He had a lot to learn about the place. "There are things I would rather most people don't find out about me

[vinesofregret]

"My roommate was asleep when I left - I don't know how deeply, though. Your room may be better for now." It felt a little strange to be called so... formally. How long had it been? Probably not since he was a teacher, and he had been a different man then, in more than one sense of the word. "Cho-san is fine, if you prefer. I don't mind 'Hakkai' either, though."

He trailed just behind the other man, a little relieved to be leaving the Sun Room. Too big, too hard to see in this darkness, even with the flashlights. Not good for his nerves. Though it looked at least as if things weren't going to come to a fight between the two of them, right now. Not that it dismissed the possibility he was being led off to be killed elsewhere - but he'd survived a lot.

He could not, however, quite hide his surprise at the revelation about Shuuichi's name - or names, rather. There was more than one reason for someone to bear multiple names - Sanzo, after all, had been someone else before inheriting his title - but the odd coincidences between himself