[OPEN]

[alphaspider]

Characters: Kuroro, OPEN
Location: Jailcell
Rating: Gen...?
Time: January 4, Morning to January 10, Evening.
Description: Kuroro's confined in prison for misbehavior. You can visit him, whether he likes it or not.

Comments

January 4 evening [closed]

[ih8spiders]

When Kurapika made the call to out Kuroro to Roy he hadn't been expecting to feel so bad about it after. Getting to send the leader of the group who'd massacred his clan to prison should have been an enjoyable experience, but it wasn't; all he could think of was how Kuroro had stood up off the couch and allowed himself to be led away without so much as a struggle or a look thrown his way. The image gnawed at his conscience, it made him feel all kinds of terrible, more and more as the day wore on--he couldn't even concentrate in Stein's first class, it was that bad.

So yes, the bag of food he was carrying was a peace offering. He'd tried to convince himself to stay away for the entirety of Kuroro's detention, but it was futile. At the very least, he needed to check on his partner's mental state.

His partner. What effect would this have on their partnership? He hadn't had the time to think about it. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that he didn't want to think about it. Just as much as he didn't want to be here, in the visiting

[alphaspider]

He didn't think that Kurapika would visit today, or even tomorrow. Actually, Kuroro hadn't really been thinking much, if at all, except for a few wisps of musing that he resolutely waved out of focus. If there was something relieving about being in prison, it was that he could be left mostly in peace, without his communicator and people constantly moving in his peripheral vision.

When someone had asked him to come out for a visitor, he had declined and assumed that Kurapika would leave. He hadn't counted on the boy actually coming over. Kuroro glanced at him from under the arm he had thrown over his eyes, stretched out and face up on the cot as he was. There was nothing visible on his expression except for a mild sleepiness, all neutrality and boredom present instead.

"What do you want?" he asked, to get this over and done with.

[ih8spiders]

What did he want? He wanted a lot of things. He wanted things to go back to normal, mostly, and to stop feeling like the sturdy platform he'd built under himself after months of strict control, of keeping his feelings and his interaction with his meister at a stasis, neither moving forward nor backward--he wanted to stop feeling like that foothold was crumbling under his feet. But it would be useless giving that as an answer; Kuroro wasn't going to understand, if he could even be bothered to try to understand. That question had "leave me alone" written all over it. Kurapika swallowed an urge to--flinch? Growl? Give vent to his anger? He couldn't even make heads or tails of what he was feeling now--and took the tupperware of beef stew (still too hot to touch comfortably) out of the first paper bag.

"I brought food."

He hoped his voice sounded as neutral as Kuroro's.

[alphaspider]

What did this mean, that Kurapika was back to give him food? It was believable that the blond was worried about him, or concerned -- that he'd sent Kuroro to prison was proof enough of that, because there could have been so many worse ways to deal with Kuroro. But stopping him was different from attempting to coddle him after the fact.

"I'm not hungry," he answered eventually, even though he hadn't eaten in over a day. It was hard to get hungry when one did nothing but roll around in bed.

January 5, evening [open]

[screwtricks]

It was pretty easy to find the thief that broke into his apartment because many people were strangely easy to talk to in Death City. Most of them didn't seem to mind him being a minus and weren't put off by his words. He supposed it was because this was a world used to abnormals and minuses. He spotted a few minuses already during his first few days and there was even one among the welcoming committee.

As he walked to the confinement cells holding the thief, Kumagawa wondered if the person was a minus too.

Re: January 5, evening [open]

[alphaspider]

Now, this was something new. This was the kid who owned that piece of clothing that he'd stolen, wasn't he? The one who always smiled. It was almost interesting enough to sit up for, but after a short moment of judging whether his interest overrode his current lethargy, he decided that it wasn't worth the effort to think and didn't budge.

He did glance at the newcomer from his position stretched out on the narrow cot, hands over his sternum and legs crossed at the ankles.

Re: January 5, evening [open]

[screwtricks]

When Kumagawa spotted the person in the holding cell, he half expected the guy to have a handy trick up his sleeve that would allow him to escape - kind of like the phantom brigade he read about once in a shonen manga.

Unfortunately, there was none of that as the jailed man did not even acknowledge his arrival. Kumagawa didn't really mind though, he was also used to being ignored.

Still, he didn't have anything better to do and he didn't want to waste his trip to this place so he just continued to stare at the other man. He was like a child peering into a bowl to look at his newly bought goldfish.

[alphaspider]

Kuroro did have a few tricks if he really wanted to escape this place. Leaving a meister who could copy any meister's ability while in a jailcell guarded by meisters wasn't the best of ideas. It was fortunate for everyone involved that Kuroro seemed content enough to stay there without fuss.

He ignored the kid and continued staring up at the ceiling; the kid couldn't possibly do anything to him from way over there, and besides, it was interesting to see how long he could stay there for.

Maybe later, he'd reread the notebook Kurapika had brought him. Should he? It seemed useful enough, and all about resonance to boot.

January 5 morning

[ih8spiders]

He woke up telling himself that he wasn't going to visit Kuroro anymore, not after what had happened yesterday, but a nightmare of Nobunaga slitting his throat in his sleep and Shalnark gouging his eyes out and presenting them to Kuroro in prison had left him feeling exhausted, unsettled and ill. He went through breakfast in a daze, and only as he was cleaning up did he realize that he'd made two sandwiches without meaning to, one for himself and another for his absent partner. It would be a waste of good food if he kept it for lunch, probably wouldn't be able to keep it down, anyway. Not that he could be certain that Kuroro wouldn't refuse it like yesterday, but the second sandwich was his. Kurapika had gone through the motions and automatically made a second serving for his partner even without having to think about it

[alphaspider]

He'd eaten the stew and the bread eventually, sometime in the middle of the night when even his lethargy became no match for the instinct to forage for food when hungry, particularly when food was just a few feet away. He'd had the staff in the building heat it for him, eaten everything with avarice, and promptly went back to staring up at the ceiling until morning thinking about nothing in particular.

Kuroro hadn't thought Kurapika would be back today, either, and he blinked at the blond from his place on the bed when Kurapika was shown in (he'd just completely ignored the staff like a boss). It was natural for him to notice things, like the tight paleness of his partner's face. Worrying himself to death, probably, although over what, Kuroro couldn't identify yet.

[ih8spiders]

Kurapika held up the bag containing the turkey sandwich and the thermos of warm milk he'd gone out of his way to heat in a saucepan--but Kuroro didn't have to know that, or that he'd automatically made Kuroro's share without meaning to. "Breakfast. I made too much," he explained stiffly, as if he didn't have neighbors he could easily share with. And he'd learned his lesson; he didn't wait for Kuroro to comment and set both items on the narrow shelf of the opening. He couldn't see any signs of the stew or the bag of bread from yesterday; either Kuroro had eaten it all or had thrown it away, and he wasn't going to ask.

[alphaspider]

Kuroro stared at Kurapika in mild bewilderment, confused at all of this food. On any other day, he would have liked it and would have eaten all of the things being offered on his plate, but what part of wanting to be left alone was so difficult to understand? Kuroro had spent so much time wooing and bothering Kurapika that now that their positions were reversed, he was finding out just how much of a pest he must have been.

He blinked. "I just finished eating what you brought last night," he put in with an eyebrow raised, easing himself up on an elbow to peer at the food on the shelf.

January 6th - Mid-morning

[de_faulty_hero]

Cloud wasn't even sure why he was here, since he didn't particularly find Kuroro a riveting specimen of the human species. They only spoke to each other when their partners were around or on the network. He had realized that they had never actually had a conversation face-to-face alone since they had met. He wasn't actually sure he cared much, but this seemed oddly appropriate.

Of course, apparently Kuroro was the epitome of lazy and couldn't even be bothered to leave the cell for a little while. Given how few people he knew who could be considered 'lazy', he found that an annoyance given how it was opposite to himself. How Kurapika put up with that loafer was always a question in his mind.

Stepping into the cell, he had a box under his arm and looked around the small cell. It was homely, aside from the loafer that was occupying the place. Geez, why was he here again? "I brought you something, lazy-bones. Don't get up or anything. I'll bring it to you," he remarked dryly. He shifted the package and held it out.

Hello! What is in the package...

[alphaspider]

Surprisingly enough, Kuroro had not actually been sleeping the day away unlike other days. Kurapika had left him his notes on Stein's class, and Kuroro had been reading and rereading it through the whole of last night and this morning. He held it up over his head at that moment, absently flipping the pages about.

When they had asked him if he wanted to meet a visitor, Kuroro hadn't responded at all because the end result was the same: they'd just let Kurapika in anyway.

Turned out it wasn't Kurapika at all. Kuroro looked at Cloud curiously from where he was on his back on the bed, and obligingly reached for the package. He and Cloud were rarely in contact with each other that didn't have to do with their partners or the network, and while he personally thought that they would probably be decent conversationalists, the opportunity had never really presented itself.

"What's in it?" he asked without prior greeting, because he and Cloud weren't really the kind to pretend to do that sort of thing. Kuroro did open it, though.

[de_faulty_hero]

He had needed a reason to come that wasn't completely lame, so he had journeyed into the city after morning training to get Kuroro a gift. It wasn't from the heart or anything, just to cheer Kurapika's loafer partner up. He was certain that they might even have a conversation face-to-face, but he wasn't so sure how long it would last.

Of course, the red fuzzy handcuffs inside were actually good quality. He had made sure that they were, and all the fluff covered up how well-made they were, no cheap imitation of handcuffs. At the bottom of the box was a pair of lude panties, red and fuzzy as well. He didn't want them, but apparently they came free with a purchase. Imagine that.

"You indicated that you wanted handcuffs for your arrest. Those are a little late, but I figure you can find some use for them the next time you get bummed out," he reasoned with a shrug of his shoulders. "I think the other part will fit Kurapika, and his face can match the colour when you give it to him."

[alphaspider]

And then a miracle happened: Kuroro laughed. The present was so entirely off the field and surprising that not even his gigantic sulk could help it. Maybe he'd underestimated Cloud's ability to be an interesting person. Or maybe Cloud was just a little off at the head?

He pushed himself to sit, leaving Cloud space on the cot (no chairs, bad for the health), and looked the handcuffs over. "Expensive present, isn't it?" But probably a good retaliation for the apron he'd bought for Cloud. "I'm not sure Kurapika will know how to even put this on, but I suppose I could help him with that."

January 6 late afternoon

[ih8spiders]

Kurapika's state of mind for today was blank and bewildered, as opposed to his strained, choleric mood for the past two days. He'd lost his morning and a good part of the afternoon to Mukuro's strange, strange whims, and for the better part of the day he'd considered not going to visit Kuroro in prison anymore, but his partner was expecting him. There was something about being expected that made him more reluctant about doing whatever was being expected of him, but in the end he'd dragged himself out of his flat and meandered down the now-familiar path to the Watch office, bag of clean clothes in one hand, gift of food for today in the other. He didn't have time to prepare anything, so Kuroro would have to settle for greasy fastfood.

This time around the Watch member in charge immediately shooed him directly into the holding cell area without bothering with the visiting room routine anymore. Kurapika resolutely tried not to think about what that meant.

[alphaspider]

It meant that for all of Kuroro's visitors -- a surprising amount considering -- he had walked out of that cell for no one. The warden had let Cloud into the cell, though; probably because the man was known as a former Watch member. Kuroro wasn't quite sure if he wanted Kurapika in his cell or not, although the idea was becoming more appealing by the day.

He had spent all the time between now and Kurapika's last visit reading the notebook again and again, for the lack of anything better to do. It seemed that he was finally past the point of mindlessly keeping his thoughts blank and had moved on to idle musings and distracted contemplation.

Kuroro waved the notebook up as soon as Kurapika came within sight. It was looking significantly more dog-eared by now. "It says here that on their first try, it's the weapon that guides a meister through resonance." The empty thermos was on the shelf where Kurapika had left it yesterday. The sandwich was gone.

[ih8spiders]

It also said there that only willing wavelengths should be able to resonate, and that emotional upheaval from either party would have resulted in their souls violently and painfully rejecting each other, and a lot of other contradicting facts that made him feel as if his compatibility with Kuroro was one massive accident. By the laws of soul resonating, their partnership should never have existed. Or did all this imply something he'd been struggling to come to terms with the past six months, that under all his objections and denials and resistance, he actually was fine with being partnered to one of his family's killers

[alphaspider]

"It also says a lot of things that don't apply to us," he continued, tossing the notebook lightly back on the cot as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, padding over to the celldoor to pluck the newspapers from the pile. Kuroro wasn't hungry yet, but he'd probably need the food before the next morning. He wasn't looking at the headlines, though, and instead peered at Kurapika with a mild look of curiosity on his face. "Either we've been terrible with self-awareness or we're an oddity out of all these rules. Did you ask Stein if these rules are ironclad? No, that's not right, they wouldn't be -- humanity is practically defined by how different an individual is from another, and in the matter of souls, I find it impossible that a set of rule would apply to the exclusion of others. This must be the general, then, and as expected, we're a cut above the rest