Space Funk
Dec. 11th, 2021 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerlatest onmyoji event (uber boss) sucks if you don't have a very specific team :( and i am sad and angry about it
Main Points:
Judgment|Judge Eyes/Cowboy Bebop
Chapter Summary: Kaito feels guilty for arguing with Yagami.
Word Count: 985
Rating: Teen
Kaito feels like a fool. Sure, he got pissed and told Ta-bo to piss off after their fight, but he’s missing the guy now. Masaharu might like trouble as much as the next guy, but he’s found out the hard way he can’t fix everything using his fists, and Yagami’s especially the type to find the kind of excitement that a little violence can’t solve. That’s what they were arguing about in the first place, so what does he go and do? Sends his partner out to find trouble, made all the more likely because he’s not on a job so doesn’t have the precious rules of his to hold him back.
He’d thought better of it a few hours in, when Ta-bo had yet to reappear, at which point he panicked and rushed out to go find him, half expecting to find his dead body in some back alley. Unfortunately, pounding the pavement had yet to find any trace of him. No obvious trouble when he landed, like stuff on fire. No sign of him in the restaurants or little off-the-wall izakaya. Nothing in the bars. He manages to locate a single arcade, because he remembers a quiet remark once, and they’d never heard of him there either. He double checks to see if a new mark hadn’t been called in, and there’s nothing there, either. Just in case, he checks the casinos and other, er, more adult entertainment—none of it sounds like someplace Ta-bo has expressed an interest in, even with how little he talks about his past, but it’s worth a try, given that he’s getting desperate here.
His feet are sore and aching by the time he gives up. Useless legwork was second to stakeouts in his least favorite things while still on the force, and they haven’t gotten any better since then. He’s in the middle of reading a new mag when he hears the tell-tale sounds of Yagami’s Crane come in overhead. He’s still trying to decide how he wants to play this when Ta-bo just saunters in like he was never gone, calmly smug. The smirk grows when he notices Kaito on the couch, and the ex-cop can feel a headache coming on. The weird bit is, he’s wearing a suit, which the ship’s captain knows he absolutely hates. What had he been doing? “Borrowed your drone.” He half expects his partner to just toss the drone casually; that’d be in character. But instead Yagami carefully sets the drone back in its place. If he’s not mistaken, she looks even better than before, though it’s too brief a glimpse to say whether it’s new parts or just a thorough shine.
“The hell, man? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” If he’s not mistaken, that’s a second or two of genuine guilt before it’s quickly tucked away behind the man’s usual air of nonchalance.
He shrugs. “You can call me the breadwinner today.” And with that, he sets down a giant stack of woolongs on the table, right in front of Kaito.
Kaito just blinks, unable to process for a second. Obviously, he hadn’t sold the Pigeon, because it’s right there in front of them, but how— “What did you do, get involved in a bet or something?”
The smug air only deepens as he flops down on the opposite couch, shoes and all. “Well, you said that thing about me being dead weight on the ship. You gotta be careful saying things like that. Someone might go and take them seriously.”
Huh. He sounds like he’s joking, but from the way he always tends to joke about how he’s generally a burden, generally after a scolding from Kaito, maybe he means it after all and isn’t just poking fun. He’s seen it before, something dark in Yagami’s eyes that says, sometimes, he doesn’t care if he lives through this fight. Long as everyone else makes it out, he’d be completely fine if he burned down with their bounty. It’s hard to tell whether he was trying to convince his captain or himself that he was useful, anything but a freeloader.
Kaito reaches out and counts the bills, and yeah, that’s…practically rich, given how things usually go. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Ta-bo preen more and more as he counts, stretching out like a proud cat. He’s only once gotten a bounty this big and practically all of it went to repairs and food. It’ll probably go the same this time, but they’ll be dining like kings. Or, you know, not like the poor down on their luck. “On the contrary, maybe I should say stuff like that more often. We might be able to spring for curry for once.”
Ta-bo’s eyes light up, and he sits up. If Kaito didn’t know how often they had to barely survive on cheap ramen, he’d laugh. “With real meat?”
“I could probably swing it, yeah. Wanna go shopping?” This time, he actually does chuckle a little, because the lazy aura completely disappears as his partner springs to his feet.
“Just, uh, I wouldn’t count on a miracle happening too often,” Yagami cautions, mood deflating, even as he falls into step beside Kaito like they’d never argued in the first place. “If I try to do it too often, I’ll be banned all over again.”
Huh. He’s being awfully cagey, but it’s not like Kaito’s a pro with the drone anyway—sure, he’s got the hang of it, but he’s gotta concentrate a lot more, while Yagami’s handling seems to come naturally.
“Ehh, it’s fine. This’ll go pretty far, partner.” Maybe he should compliment the guy more often—he definitely seems to be responding better to positive reinforcement, pleased enough that might actually be a faint blush on his cheeks. They walk in comfortable silence for a little while before Ta-bo starts humming, quiet but content.
