006 - Unfinished Business

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Misaki appears, stretched out on a comfortably battered-looking couch. The coffee table that shows up next to it is covered in files, photos and maps. Her hair is down and in a tangled mess; she’s using some wadded up sweatshirts for a pillow. The shadows under her eyes look as dark as bruises. She’s nearly asleep, her hand resting in an open file. Her other arm is in a cast and sling.

She’s lying under a fuzzy blue blanket that is not nearly long enough to cover all of her, or to hide the fact that she is wearing a light-blue tank top and matching pajama pants covered with tiny mallard ducks. Her eyelids flutter shut, and she shifts her weight. The file slides to the ground, sending photos pinwheeling across the Astral floor.

The scene they depict is not pretty.

Two bodies, cut up and arranged to spell the word ‘Naughty’.

She makes a tiny, sleepy sound and drifts off.]

Comments

[twelvemasks.livejournal.com]

[Minato sees the photos on the ground and, as disturbing as they are, decides to gather them up off the floor for the sleepy cop. He then places them in the file that she dropped, and places the file on top of the files strewn about the coffee table that came with her. And then he walks away, content to just let her sleep.]

[contract_star]

[Hei spots her and sighs to himself a little, then starts gathering the spilled photos and files, grimacing at the contents. Once everything has been gathered up, he sets it all in a neat pile next to the couch and prepares to leave. Then he notices the cast.]

Anger and concern flash across his face and he stands there for a moment, silent and staring at the cast. Then he sits down on the Astral floor at one end of the couch to wait for her to wake up. He's prepared to wait for hours if he has to. There's an aura of cold fury around him.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She shifts again, restless. Her breathing deepens and evens out; the mumbles something and rolls over--onto her cast.]

NUGH. [She doesn't cry out, just bolts awake and sits up, cradling her arm and biting down hard on her lower lip.]

[contract_star]

[Hei is on his feet in a second, worry momentarily replacing the anger.]

Misaki...?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Stares.] ...Li-kun? What...

[Ah.

Well, crap.]

I need to be more careful what I let myself think about when I'm tired.

[contract_star]

[Stares back at her, levelly.] I've shown up here by accident on occasion too. It happens to all of us.

What happened to your arm?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She resettles her arm in the sling carefully, wincing a bit.]

I was pursuing a suspect, and he heard me coming. It's not as bad as it was--one of the good things about employing Contractors. I have my last appointment with our Contractor healers this afternoon.

[frigidfourth.livejournal.com]

[Gives them a curious glance and picks one off the ground for a better look, but doesn't seem profoundly affected. Or bothered at all, actually.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She stirs a little and sits up, rubbing her face. She glances at her lap, sees the file missing--and then sees a stranger sifting through crime scene information.]

What the hell do you think you're doing?

[And then she realizes where she is.] God. This can't be happening.

[frigidfourth.livejournal.com]

[Tosses the papers at her as if he finds the contents boring] As I recall, you were the one that dropped them.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

As I realized, after the fact. [She yanks her hair back, dragging it into a ponytail and holding it there with a hairband from around her wrist.] My apologies.

[She sheds the blanked sits around on the couch, scrutinizing the blond-haired newcomer carefully, and also carefully ignoring the fact that her papers are now scattered in a useless mess around the couch.]

Section-Chief Kirihara of Japan's NPA Foreign Affairs. And you are?

[frigidfourth.livejournal.com]

Clearly. [Slightest of shrugs] I am Vexen.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Clasps her hands in front of her her, still giving him a level, appraising look.] And what reality do you come from?

[noking.livejournal.com]

[Initially attracted by the desire of investigate the wounded GAZELLE figure, Shenzi quickly takes notice of the bodies and gets close, though careful not to step on any of them]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Something sets Misaki off--instinct, a bad dream--either way, she is suddenly wide awake with her weapon ready in her good hand.

Hyena. Whut.]

So. There really is one wandering around.

[noking.livejournal.com]

[Shenzi eyes the gun a moment before deciding to ignore it]

You don't look surprised.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I'm too tired to be. [She lowers the weapon, but doesn't put it away.] You must be from an interesting reality. But I suppose it's simply everyday for you.

[noking.livejournal.com]

You look like yours is pretty fun-packed too.

This happen often? [she paws gently at one of the pictures]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Fun-packed. Misaki's face hardens. Hyena, remember, she tells herself. Hyena.]

Fortunately, no. I am trying to stop it from happening again.

[theguv.livejournal.com]

[stares at the pictures on the ground, not speaking, before taking a seat beside where Misaki's sleeping and just begins leafing through the files]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Shudders, whispers something, and then sits bolt upright with a shout.]

No!

[She gasps, clutches at her chest, staring at nothing with a wild-eyed look. And then she sees Gene and blinks, surprised.]

Hunt...san.

[It's obvious now that she's thinned since her first appearance on the Plane. Thin pajama tank-tops don't hide unhealthfully sharp collar bones the same way tailored suits do. She presses one hand to her face, rubbing her eyes under her glasses.]

[theguv.livejournal.com]

[gives her a look, noting the haphazard appearance, and tosses the files back at her] When were you planning on telling me about this?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[The file hits her, and she watches the papers absently as they slide down her stomach and rumple on her lap. She isn't sure what to say, so she settles on the lamest possible excuse of all the lame excuses that come to mind.]

Things have been hectic.

[theguv.livejournal.com]

That doesn't answer my question.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Picks up one of the papers at random, staring at it without reading.] The next time I saw you, I suppose.