damned_institute | Day 28: Main Street

...And apparently the object Keman had collided with was a person. Great.

"I think I am," came the slightly muffled voice. "I'd really appreciate a little help."

Must be a real prize-winner to get stuck in his own sweatshirt, Gin mused. He'd had issue with the t-shirts and clothing at Landel's, but while it wasn't anything like his traditional robes, it was still fairly simple and straightforward.

He helped to tug the boy's head free from the sleeve first and out the proper hole. From there it was somewhat simple to pull the arms out. "There now," he smiled, same as always, "that wasn' too hard."

Keman could count on his fingers how many times he'd actually had to dress himself--and most of it was at Landel's. Back home, he could just think of what sort of clothing he ought to be wearing and just shift into it. Because of that, he was still feeling out the...mechanics of the whole process.

With the stranger's help, he managed to free himself from the stupid sweatshirt. The young dragon-turned-halfblood grinned sheepishly and shook the hair out of his eyes, getting a long look at the stranger.

"Thanks." He frowned slightly. "I don't mean to be rude, but...are you one of those Shi...Shini...a-are you like Renji and Rukia? Oh, and I'm Keman, by the way."

[[From Tasty Burger (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/248410.html).]]

Signum really couldn't help noticing the spectacle of the entangled Keman wandering the streets... nor that the terminus of his blind path was Gin. Enemy of her friend...

She drew closer, watching as the silver-haired man helped the boy out of his predicament. Whatever his crimes, he seemed equitable enough with those he didn't know. Plenty of murderers were, of course, but in her line of business you saw more of the power-mad sort that just dripped crazy all over the place. Probably because the same talents that let them level a city block with the equivalent of a very fancy PDA opened up a lot of doors. You had to want something most people didn't, and want it bad, to throw all that away and face the wrath of the TSA, people who could draw their lines in the sand from orbit.

She was interested in him, for Momo's sake. The strength of her reaction was proof enough of his nearness to the heart of her problems. From her hatred he was likely an ally of the man who betrayed her...

But that didn't matter. Information from him could still be used for the young shinigami's sake, and could help Signum navigate the troubles they'd brought with them from their strange home. The mission here came before loyalty to the old causes of those who'd left them behind. Or would, at least, if they were smart.

Gin's smile faltered, though only for a fraction of a second in slight surprise as the boy outed him as one of the other Shinigami. He wasn't a telepath as well, was he? Just how many mind readers were in this place?! The explanation could be as simple as someone having pointed him out to Keman, but if that were the case, he doubted the boy would be quite so polite.

There was no real reason to lie, so he nodded his head, smiling easily. "Shinigami, mm, tha's me. We know each other pretty well back in our world. Name's Gin," he said simply. It seemed most didn't understand which name was a first and which was a last anyway, so he might as well make it simple. "Please t'meetcha Keman."

Okay, maybe that hadn't been the best thing to point out.

"Nice to meet you too, Gin," Keman said brightly. "And I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't have. I can just sort of...tell these things. You carry yourself the same way they do."

He laughed, brushing the last of his hair out of his face.

"You're not going to check my 'soul ribbon' or whatever it's called, are you? Because that was...strange."

Signum couldn't help but feel some interest in the boy too, hearing that. Momo had told her that the manipulation of spirit threads couldn't be felt by humans, but he'd sensed it as she had... and more, besides. But she had her priorities.

The knight jogged up to the pair, acknowledging Gin with a nod and friendly (for her) 'hey' before turning to introduce herself to Keman. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Signum."

She looked at the pair. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Of course, she knew Gin only be reputation, and he likely didn't know her at all except perhaps as someone who was around Momo a lot, but people usually took the path of least resistance if you led them on like this. And even if they didn't, they'd find her hard to get rid of.

"Ara~" he replied as the boy explained things to him. If the others had already tried to find his spirit thread, then perhaps it was something similar for him. Interesting, regardless. A promising ability, even if it wasn't in the most capable of hands.

"No worries," he added, hoping he hadn't put the boy ill at ease. "Ain' gonna try if you wouldn' want me too. 'Sides that sorta thing does give me a headache." That was the truth. Though if he'd already been checked for a spirit thread, there was no real need to try it again. Especially if he was perceptive enough to realize it. Most weren't.

He turned to the new girl who introduced herself as well. He nodded his head, instantly recognizing her as the girl who'd give Kuchiki that nasty punch. She certainly had gained points with him for that, though she was also obviously a friend to little Momo as well, which meant he couldn't let up his guard completely. "Not at all. I was jus' helpin' Keman here with his sweater. Always happy t'see a new face 'round here. What c'n we do f'ya?"

"Thanks." Keman gave Gin a lopsided grin. "It felt kind of...odd, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was Renji and Rukia I was worried about! Their noses started bleeding. I wouldn't want you to get a headache. Not with Nightshift so close. Our powers are restricted enough, you know?"

He turned to the girl who had introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Signum." He blushed. "And...yes. Gin really was nice enough to help me out of that awful thing. I'm not used to these sorts of clothes."

Or clothes in general.

Signum looked up (an activity she generally disliked) at the blushing teenager. At least he wasn't stammering... but between the self-consciousness of the explanation and its subject, ignorance of clothing built on the very simple model of 'holes where people have appendages, cloth elsewhere', she couldn't help but see him as naive.

"I'm sure you'll get used to them," she offered dryly. One would hope...

But there was business to attend to. "Now might not be the best time, but I wish to talk to you about your... people." She addressed Gin matter-of-factly. She by no means meant to take his uncorroborated word as truth, but he seemed to control his emotions better than the other shinigami, and she wanted to hear what he had to say about the mess that had followed them over here.

"Saa, very kind a ya t'warn me Keman-kun," he smiled. "You're right though, best t'hang on to th' little power we got 'fore that, ne?" He shrugged his shoulders simply. At least the boy wasn't as obnoxious as most of the children he'd met over the last couple days.

Had Keman not already mentioned what he was, Gin might've been a little more hesitant to answer anything Signum brought up. As it was, he stood just a little bit straighter. "Mm, well, can't promise t'tell you everythin', but give it a go n' we'll see," he offered.

Again with the weird honorficics! "-kun" was different from "-san"...but Keman didn't know how. Hmm. That was something he'd have to look into.

He nodded. "Definitely." It was bad enough that spells that normally didn't even make him flinch nearly knocked him out. No need to help it along any.

It appeared that Signum had business with Gin, and Keman didn't want to get in the way. If they wanted to think of him as just a normal, simple, naive boy, that would probably be best for him in the long run.

"Oh, I should probably leave you two alone, then." He smiled. "I don't want to be in the way."

"You aren't in my way if you aren't in his." Signum only minded Keman being around to hear what they said if it affected Gin's answers, and she didn't want to chase him off for nothing. Alienating the other prisoners wouldn't help her or them.

"Tell me about the new one, then." She stared at Gin appraisingly as she asked. "Captain Kuchiki."

Gin shrugged openly. For once he didn't mind the child, while he seemed a little slow, he'd at least refrained from being completely obnoxious like many of the others. Though it was probably easiest if the boy found somewhere else to be. "Do as y'like Keman-kun. Was nice t'meet ya though."

He gave a short, humorless laugh. Captain Kuchiki. Of course, he should have guessed. After this morning's incident, it was no real surprise. "I think y'saw for y'self what kinda man he is, ne?" He could elaborate, but he'd prefer not to in front of the child. "Anythin' in particular 'bout him you wanna know?"

Keman smiled. "Well, I'll leave you two alone then," he said brightly. "I really ought to go look for my little sister, anyway. She wandered off somewhere. It was really nice meeting you both!"

With that, he waved and started to walk away.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245151.html?page=4#comments).]

"Exactly how much authority he has over the others and why, whether any are personally loyal or antagonistic to him, whether he's always like that... and, in your opinion, how likely he is to bow to the realities of survival here," Signum enumerated in quick succession once Keman had left.

She wondered how likely he was to answer truthfully. She was asking for information when she had little to offer him. Knowledge would increase her ability to support his alliance with his old enemies, and her gratitude would increase her willingness to do so, but given the shinigami's insularity and that she was a total unknown to him it wasn't much of a return.

And though it would be a risk, he might see some greater profit in misleading her. It was far from impossible... she was good at reading people, but unlike her swordsmanship her pride in the skill was not so great that she thought it infallible.

At least she kept the questions simple enough. Gin sighed as though mulling them over, "His authority I guess is a good starter." He shrugged, "Ain' much t'people here. But t'those from our world, he's pretty high up th' chain. Me n' him b'came captains 'round th' same time, but you put a bit a nobility like Kuchiki up against a piece a street trash like this n' you c'n guess who's got th' more authority no matter th' rank, ne? Kuchiki's one of only four noble houses left. Ain' much higher n' that."

He'd be gracious enough not to barter too heavily for information since they were supposed to be on the same sides. With any luck, she'd see this as a show of good faith on his part, despite the fact that most of it was common knowledge among the shinigami. "I can't say f'sure, but knowin' what I know 'bout Kuchiki, I don' expect him t'bow to much of anythin'. Not 'less you knock his ankles out from under him." Lucky then, that this place had just that effect on most.

"I dunno how far Abarai's loyalty's gonna go, but I'd imagine he's still got some connection t'Kuchiki. He was th' man's vice captain, second in command, ne? Not t'mention there's Kuchiki's little sister. I'd wager both're connected pretty deep whether they know it or not." His grin became just a little bit mischievous, "But if y'lookin' for antagonists, look no further. He wasn' farin' too well after th' last time we met up n' I can't say m' sorry for it."

He shifted his weight as he finished, "'n after hearin' all that, I'd imagine y'gotta pretty good guess as t'how often he's like that. There mighta been a time he wasn', but it's long past."

Oh. She'd struck a noble, then. Belkan chivalry didn't have a lot to say about that, but what it did was pretty clear: don't. Of course, to her admittedly incomplete recollection she'd never actually had cause to employ the portions of the code that dealt with proper social bearings (if you considered 'not smacking your betters' complex enough a concept to get included in that category). Generally anyone with any kind of power or position besides the master had been her enemy, at which point the code shifted to the much-more-agreeable stance that she should smite them with utmost puissance or some such.

She consoled herself with the thought that they probably both more or less counted as generals where they came from. Though in her case the title was a little misleading... she'd only had three subordinates. Two if you didn't count the one who would probably have broken the kneecaps of anyone who dared count her.

Oh well. She'd always been a pragmatist in her own way. Honor was important, but duty came first.

"Yes, about that," she started in response to his claim to have defeated the man. "What exactly did you do?"

If this Kuchiki's combination of authority and ignorance of their situation could divide the shinigami, and with them her army, so could their hatred for the man before her. Both were dangers that needed management, or at least watching.

"Oh tha's an easy one," Gin replied. So far the girl hadn't appeared too shocked by anything she'd heard and despite her outburst this morning seemed fairly good at keeping a level head.

"Stabbed him," Gin tapped the left side of his chest with a couple of thin fingers. "Right 'bout there. Wasn' a partic'larly fair fight, but I don' wanna bore y'with th' details, ne?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he watched the nurses and orderlies begin to round up the other patients. Looks like the time was almost up. Well, if the girl was worried about a little punch, Gin was quite sure he was little higher up on the list of people Kuchiki wanted to see die in agony.

"I meant," Signum said, looking annoyed, "To become his enemy in the first place."

But the nurses were herding more patients their way as they headed for the buses, and soon they'd be part of the crowd. No conditions for a conversation like this.

"Well, tell me some other time." She broke off the conversation and headed away from him as the nurses closed in. She didn't want to seem to friendly with him while Momo might be around. She wasn't sure it'd go over too well.

Day 28: Main Street

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