The mirrors, red decorations, plush pillows and beds straight out of a cheesy 70s porno made the message clear enough to the lanky thief-excess, debauchery, greed, and lust reigned king here. Lust at the top of them all. His lips curled into a goofy grin when the realization hit him.
Lupin III, international thief, master of disguise
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Jigen still remembered quite clearly what happened to Goemon during his brief stay there and he was always blaming himself for not being there when his samurai friend needed him, so he wasn't going to let something similar happen to Lupin.
Opening the small cabinet in the corner of the room where all the booze was stocked, Jigen looked at all those intact bottles sitting there. It was almost surreal how he never bothered opening any of those.
"There's pretty much everything here. What do you want?" Jigen looked over his shoulder, eyeing Lupin sitting on the bed.
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He heard the underlying concern in Jigen's tone and, although he was curious, he decided not to push it. Sometimes it was best to let Jigen be the overprotective big brother that he was to their small group. If nothing else, it kept the gunman from getting too cantankerous, and kept everyone else from bickering.
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Getting two glasses and opening the bottle, he poured some wine inside both of them and walked to the bed, handing one to Lupin.
"Here. I honestly don't know if this is good or not, but judging by the label looks like it's good quality, at least." Jigen didn't sound nor look particularly excited about it though. Sure it was nice being there with his friend, but that hotel always seemed to make things seem 'off'.
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"Seems pretty good to me," Lupin said, with a lazy, contented smile. He took another sip, and noted Jigen's indifference and stiff manner. "Lighten up. If anything happens, its not like it's gonna be the worst that's happened between us."
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"Sometimes I wonder if this hotel dragged me here just to make me look like a fool." He took a large gulp from his glass, not really bothering to taste it before chugging it down. For someone who spent almost an year in that place, he should be used to it by now, but that would be quite the achievement for someone like him.
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Psychologically seemed to be a different story. Although he had only been there for less than a day, he had already seen people tormented by what the Hotel did with their lives. The young man Lupin ran into earlier seemed to have compartmentalized his life between home and the hotel, a not necessarily healthy reaction, but healthier than Jigen.
Lupin hated to see Jigen drowning in melancholy.
"Hey," He said softly, "Don't drink too fast when you're in this mood. It's not going to me good for you later."
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"It's not like my mood is going to improve that soon, so I guess it makes no difference when it comes to the way I drink this." He took another large sip and the wine was now gone.
"Heh... I'm probably ruining your mood as well with all this depressive talk." Jigen forced a smile, trying to look a little bit more cheerful as he got up from the bed to refill his glass.
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"Jigen, don't force yourself." Lupin flicked his lighter, and puffed on a new cigarette for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. "It's better to not hold stuff back, if it's bugging you."
He followed Jigen across the room with his eyes, concerned about his friend. A part of him really wanted to ask what all had happened, what had made Jigen this melancholy, but he decided it could wait for a different moment to ask.
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"Guess I'm just tired of this place, that's all. I mean... I did spend almost an year stuck in here." Jigen looked at the bottle of wine for a while before pouring more of that crimson liquid on his glass. Maybe if he got drunk enough he could forget for a moment that he was in such a place. "Maybe I'm starting to get worn off or something." And down went the entire glass of one in one single gulp.
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"It's the past, Jigen," He said. "You can't change it. Don't worry so hard about what might have been." It wasn't often that he got philosphical, but it wasn't like he was incapable of it. Usually he chose not to worry about it.
But, never one to be comfortable with long silences, Lupin felt that he needed to say something. He doubted that a million somethings would be enough.
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"Well...maybe you could take a load off for tonight?" It was a quiet suggestion, perhaps too gentle for the moment. "I mean, I'm here right now, so you don't need to worry about everyting.
"Besides, you're gonna get wrinkles if you frown all the time."
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"Alright, alright. I suppose that as long I'm watching you there's no real reason for me to worry." Jigen filled his glass again but didn't down it in one go this time. He just quietly got the bottle and went back to sitting on the edge of the bed, leaving the bottle by the side of his feet.
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It wasn't very often that Jigen turned into a scary poppa wolf. If he did, it was usually because he feared the worst, or something bad had already happened. Lupin didn't know which of the two was the reason this time.
He followed Jigen, and collected his glass before he sat down next to the gunman. "We're partner, Jigen," Lupin said at length. I've got your back too.
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But it wasn't Jigen's intention to imply that Lupin couldn't take care of himself. On the contrary. The thief probably knew how to deal with - and escape from - complicated situations a lot easier than him. He probably would be able to keep his cool a lot longer to access the situation more properly. Jigen had to admit that, sometimes, his stubbornness and short temper were to blame for some of the things that happened to him.
"I know." Jigen kept on smiling, a little bit more genuinely now, getting the bottle from the floor and refilling Lupin's glass. "And I'm glad we are."
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