Murasaki

I doubt furniture can move there, Murasaki-chan. [Lupin sighs, carefully choosing his words. The shift that was happening this week, causing random animals to appear out of nowhere and peoples personalities to drastically change, was affecting him too. He didn't like what it was doing, either.

His grandfather would be so ashamed of him if he knew!

Still, the words tumble out of his mouth unbidden, with surprising casualness even for him.] You're not missing anything, are you?

From:

[She takes a look around her room for a brief moment before answering.]

No. Nothing is missing. I just have the feeling the furniture was moved. Maybe it's just my imagination... [But with so many weird things happening that week, it wouldn't be unlikely for things to be moving on their on.]

From:

Okay, good. [Lupin heaves a sigh, not entirely sure why he did so.] And don't be so quick to make that judgement, Murasaki. We're both new around here, so we don't really know what this place can get up to.

[Considering that Pops blamed the sudden appearance of a panda in his trunk earlier that week on Lupin, and the thief himself wasn't fully remembering everything his hands were doing, he wasn't so skeptical about furniture shifting of their own accord. Maybe her room was haunted by a poltergeist, at the very least.]

From:

[The last few days have largely been spent indoors, showering to obsession. Why? Well, he had inexplicably had a premonition of a romantic encounter, and a man must have a clean body and fresh breath lest he offends the woman he is destined to cuddle with.

It just so happens that he crosses paths with her today - wherever she happens to be - and the instant he lays eyes on her, he stops altogether, gazing in wonder.]

From:

[She was going to ask him why he sounded so 'bummed' but then he mentions this place being strange and that pings her interest.]

Well... strange things did happen to me this week, so maybe that's another part of it... [Murasaki just hopes she doesn't end up eating something rotten. Again.]

From:

[Needless to say, Murasaki is happy to see Goemon, despite everything.

What she isn't happy with is the way he's kind of... staring at her. Riiiight...]

Goemon... Are you feeling OK? [She asks, approaching him. He's smelling... incredibly clean and fresh. It's pretty obvious that he has been showering a lot. God only knows why though.]

From:

[Lupin shrugs.] You get any horoscopes this week? I've heard that some of the strangeness is connected with those. We're...kind of guineea pigs in a lab experiment around here, in case you haven't heard yet.

[His tone darkens a little at this.] ...No. I don't like it either.

From:

[Suminawa Murasaki is none other than the young woman from his vision! Blinking, he surfaces from his thoughts as she prompts him for an answer.]

I am fine... However, there is something important I must ask of you.

[His poker-face dissolves in an instant, a warm, mild smile curling the corners of his lips.]

From:

Oh, yes! I remember getting those. I just found them funny but... didn't pay them... much mind... [Now that she remembers what was written on those, realization hits her.]

AH! Everything written there is really happening! Do you... think they are going to keep sending those things to us? [Now Murasaki is REALLY worried.]

From:

[She's more than glad that he stopped being so... deadpan and is now smiling. It's a relieving thing, after witnessing so many strange things happening that past week.]

Ah, is that so? [She smiles in return.] What is it then?

From:

[His expression sobering suddenly, Goemon bows his head low, holding his position.] Pet me. [Then, after a moment, he adds (with an air of solemnity characteristic of him and a voice that is deep and quietly compelling):] Please.

Edited Date: 2011-12-02 11:54 pm (UTC)

From:

[OK, so we went from 'I don't even know who you are' to 'please pet me'. That's some serious shift of behavior right there. Not to mention that Goemon was never keen on public displays of affection.

Still... it would be nice to get to touch his hair, after such a long time without doing so.

Without further ado, she puts her hand on Goemon's head and pet it, a smile on her lips. She can't she isn't enjoying that change.]

From:

Mn. [The gesture rouses a murmur from deep within his chest. Her touch is pure indulgence, as if this was the one thing he had desperately craved with every fibre of his being for the last few years: his nerves tingle, his scalp prickles and crawls, a little frisson runs down his spine. For as long as she is patting his head, he is entirely spellbound.]

From:

Uh...I wouldn't worry so much about that Murasaki-chan. [He smiles boyishly, using his charm in an attempt to throw off her concern despite the fact that he'd be lying if he also didn't feel a quick jolt of concern at her words himself. As much as theft was his profession and raison d'etre, he didn't like not remembering his actions. His only consolation was that this was different from that time he lost half of his life for two days.]

I've heard that these 'shifts' or whatever they're called are temporary effects. I've also heard that these things change up from time to time, with each 'shift' bringing something different.

From:

[She can definitely feel he's happy. As happy as she ever saw him. And that's quite enough to make her heart flutter a little. Whatever happened for Goemon to have that change of heart, Murasaki didn't want that to change.

Sure it's a little bit strange for her to be petting his head somewhere in the streets like that, but she'll take that over him giving her the cold shoulder any day.

Murasaki feels inclined to say something, but doesn't. For some reason she feels like, if she says something, that whole scenario is going to break, so she remains silent, her fingers brushing against Goemon's hair... Talk about a warming feeling.]

From:

Shifts, hm... [Murasaki stays in silence for a while to think about that. If getting trapped on an unknown world wasn't enough, now there's... something affecting the things and people in that world. No wonder Goemon was acting strange a couple of days ago.]

Maybe that blond guy I met was right. This place might be under some sort of evil spell! [She's being super rational here. What you mean she's been reading too many fantasy books?]

From:

[While wallowing in bliss, he is not unlike a dog receiving a long anticipated belly rub, perpetually craving more - although thankfully, he doesn't go about rolling around on the ground and batting his hands in the air. There comes a point, however, when having his head stroked is no longer enough seems to fully appease his keen desire to be touched.

This will not do.

He impulsively frees his right arm from his sleeve (half of his hakamashita pooling at his waist), thusly encouraging her to trail her fingers over his bare shoulder. Heck, if she could scratch his back, that would be lovely.]

From:

I, uh, wouldn't exactly call it an 'evil spell' there. [Lupin cannot deny that she does have a point. It wouldn't take less than an evil spell or a curse to do what's been done to him that week.

He sighs.] It should be over relatively quickly. At least, that's what I hear people saying. I did promise you that I'd help you figure this place out, didn't I?

From:

[If he started acting like a dog, that would certainly cross the line a little. Hopefully, he didn't.

Still, his next action leaves Murasaki just as perplexed.

In all honesty, Murasaki has a hard time processing just what Goemon is trying to 'tell' her with that. For someone like him who is very prude, it comes off as surprise that he's exposing his skin like that and...

Wait... is he expecting her to touch him on the shoulder and arm?

OK, it does look like that. And it sounds weird. Appealing, but still weird.

Maybe it's not a good idea to do that. He's clearly under the influence of that place and maybe going with that might not be the best course of action. She knows he'll get all flustered afterwards and... what if he starts avoiding her?

Still, it's rather tempting. Looking back at her memories from when they were to marry, Goemon now seemed a lot older than then. And that's certainly drawing her to him.

Hesitantly, Murasaki runs her hand through Goemon's hair and her fingers touch his shoulder. Lightly at first, as if she's scared something bad can come out of it, but then she places her hand on top of it, feeling the warmth of his skin. It's a somewhat familiar feeling, but it seems so far into the past that she can't help but feel overjoyed by that.]

From:

Ah, yes you did. [She smiles at that. It is pretty good that she can count on her friends in an unknown place like that.]

I hope these 'horoscopes' weren't too rough you, Lupin-san.

From:

No, not at all!

[He was a little too quick to respond. The unconscious thefts, the wrestling and running around with Pops, the honesty...

No. Definitely nothing rough.]

From:

[Head lowered to his chest - a muscle rippling in his clenched jaw - he simply waits, waits with fiercely burning impatience to feel her fingers sliding over shivering, goosebumped skin. Then at last, it comes... and despite its cautiousness and softness, her touch produces an intensely vivid, electric sensation that sweeps across the grain of his nerves. He shuts his eyes, shamelessly absorbed in perfectly PG-rated pleasure.]

From:

Hm, if you are saying so... [Murasaki kind of doubts him. That's probably her female intuition gauge going crazy.

She decides to ignore that feeling though.]

As long as you didn't have to eat moldy bread, I guess you did fine...

From:

[Even if he doesn't say anything, she can tell he's overjoyed by her simple action.

Since there was no harm into touching him - and she certainly appreciates that - she keeps on caressing his shoulder, and then goes for his arm.

Is it just her or... does he look a lot physically stronger than before? Not that he was ever weak. Far from that. But something in the back of her mind can't shut up about that impression of him being older.]

From:

[Her intuition is right--Lupin is willfully resisting the urge to complain about what he had 'endured' over the course of the week. He focuses on the next best thing:]

Eww! Your horoscope tricked you into eating moldy bread??

My dear...that's horrible!

From:

[His heartbeat quickens, deepens, as her hand feathers over his shoulder and over faint scars she may or may not remember from whenever she has last caught a glimpse of him in some state of undress. With a sudden, inexplicable urgency, he snatches her wrist – and with no consideration as to whether his boldness would startle her or not, he promptly guides her fingers to his right side. Ribs he had fractured long ago had a habit of aching in cold and damp weather, after all, regardless of whether he threw on layers of clothing or not; and although the pain is dull in the face of stronger sensations, he is most appreciative of this special attention. His grip on her slackens gradually.]

From:

Eh, it was really quite awful! I thought I was going to die! [It almost feels like she still can feel that horrible taste in her mouth, if she thinks about it for too long.]

I was having a blast at one of the bakeries, but the last bagel I tried to eat suddenly turned moldy...

From:

My eternal condolences. There's nothing worse than moldy baked goods!

...be glad it was something that mundane--this horoscope has made non-smokers take up smoking, or cause prescious items to go missing--

[He catches himself again before implying that it was likely by his own unremembered actions. No need to worry the sweet girl!]

From: