A Dark Justicar and a Canned Copper [Thread II]

[Bobbie]

Hitting Lassa so hard had actually hurt Simon’s knuckles, as he promptly began shaking his hand to ease the pain in it. He hadn’t meant to hit him as hard as he did, but it felt like fair game - “You threw a wrench at my face!” he exclaimed, as he watched his opponent get back up, this time not with dread but with relief.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-” he came to a halt in his speech and stared at Lassa as the Devil Fruit was brought out of a bag and raised to his lips. “What?” he stared in horror as a wide mouth was opened. “No, don’t!” he reached a hand out and took a step forward to stop Lassa, but it was too late. His mouth was full of the fruit’s flesh as his jaw began to grind it to a pulp and then swallow it. Following a brief commentary on the fruit's taste, confirming what Simon had heard of them to be absolutely horrendous in flavour, Lassa’s silence was unbearable as Simon’s mouth remained agape, in shock that he actually ate the fruit right in front of him. He had no idea what to expect... Will he grow a second head? An extra two arms? A tail? Will metal hooks tear out through his palms like they did for Annika? Is he going to transform into some odd-looking deadly insect!?

“Why did you do that?” he asked in a whisper, but it seemed that Lassa was fine, apart from being mortified by the taste of the fruit... until cloth seemed to appear out of nowhere, slithering out from under his sleeves and wrapping itself around his hand.

“Are you feeling-” he barely got through his question, his tone filled with nothing but concern, before another barrage began, interrupting his words. Quickly raising his arms, he tried to block as many punches as he could, but he was so much faster this time and quite a number of them got through his defence. He waited for an opening that seemed like it would never come, before he finally managed to rotate his body to dodge to the side, grab one of Lassa’s wrists and redirect his momentum downwards. Sweeping one foot out from beneath him, he tried to throw his entire body into a forward somersault without releasing Lassa’s wrist.

"Stop! I think we've done enough."

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

Working his tongue and mouth to try and do something about the taste, Lassa raised an eyebrow at Simon's attempt to stop him. When he grabbed his wrist, Lassa suddenly went stiff and almost impossible to move, interrupting the attempted throw. Removing his hand from the grip, he suddenly seemed to vanish and reappear a short distance away, raising his hands in a defensive stance. "Alright, alright, we can stop. At the very least it looks like you can handle the average thug, and there's no point in pushing this too far." 

"What's wrong? I know it makes you unable to swim, but honestly, that's not as big a deal as you'd think. There's plenty of Devil Fruit users in the Marines and plenty of Pirates as well. Only real downside is if you get something weird. Which..."

He snapped his hand, and produced a towel, which he tossed to Simon. 

"I don't think I did. Not relatively, anyway." 

The sudden passing rainshower was starting to move on, swept away by the winds of the Grand Line. Lassa began drying himself off as well, taking off his suitcoat and jacket and rubbing the new towel he had produced across his back and head. Thinking for a moment, he focused, and a new shirt, jacket and tie seemed to produce themselves from his body within a moment. 

His face split into a wide grin. "Oh, that is fun. I can think of some good uses for that. Gonna take a bit to get the hang of this, but I am looking forward to finding out." He paused. "Huh. Wonder if I could use this to make sails... or wings." Glancing back at Simon, he chuckled. "Maybe I could take you for a flight someday?"

Not quite realizing how that sounded, he walked over to pick up his slightly crushed hat, popping it back into shape. 

"So. You're still set on this private eye business?" As he spoke, he opened his bag fully to reveal some doctor's supplies, and after a moment of searching, grabbed a tub of ointment. Walking back, he unscrewed the lid and dabbed some on his fingers, before leaning down towards Simon's face. "Here, let me see that."

[Bobbie]

Simon was quite surprised when, all of a sudden, Lassa simply wouldn’t budge. It was like his body became a marble statue and there was no way at all that he could continue his throw. Then he disappeared entirely, and Simon was left staring at the empty space where Lassa previously stood, his hand grabbing nothing but air.

When he reappeared, Simon looked at him, confused, but it wasn’t entirely foreign to him - he had heard of some techniques that could heighten one’s movements to impossible speeds, though he had never seen it in action nor did he understand how. Hearing him agree to bring their scuffle to an end, however, Simon let out a sigh and he leaned forward with his palms on his knees. Oh thank goodness... he thought to himself, expecting more resistance than this. He was glad that this was over, it was exhausting and his body ached, his head throbbing.

“What’s wrong?” he echoed his question after him. “Did you know what that Devil Fruit was going to do before you ate it? Besides, it’s not like you even need it, you can fight pretty well without it, and...” he let his sentence trail off as he stared at Lassa for a moment. Aren’t you mysterious enough as you are?

As the towel was thrown to him, he barely caught it, and he started to dry his hair while avoiding a patch of hair closest to the wound in his forehead - which meant he really didn’t dry it very well. Then he wrapped the towel around his shoulders to try and keep himself warm, soaked to the bone not only from the rain that drummed down on them, but also the puddle he had fallen into. It was astonishing to watch Lassa already manipulate the powers bestowed upon him from the Devil Fruit so expertly, and the way he was having so much fun with it made Simon smile.

“Please don’t try to make wings...” he laughed, convinced it would fail and he would plummet to his death. The warmth that reached his cheeks when Lassa essentially invited him on a flight was surprising, considering how cold he was, but it was for that reason that he didn’t particularly mind the sensation, though he did look away from Lassa. “I don’t want to fly.” he muttered.

But maybe something other than a flight...

Allowing that thought to linger in his head for too long, Lassa posed another question as it seemed Simon lost his chance to extend his thought to an invitation of his own. “Uh, yeah... I mean, I’m still standing. Wasn't that the point of all this?” he chuckled, watching his friend approach with an ointment on his fingers.

Once again getting nervous and jittery by how close Lassa was getting, he quickly raised his hands between them and they began to flail as he smiled, “N-No, no. I’m okay, it’s fine. Just a scratch. Really!” He lied, the shaking of his head already making him feel dizzy and a little woozy, but he was afraid of letting Lassa see the blush that appeared involuntarily.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

"Did I know? Well, yes." Lassa said, as he tried to get the ointment onto Simon regardless, though he'd eventually give up and just hand him the jar after a few tries.

"Devil Fruits take away your ability to swim. Two out of the three kinds let you transform into something, whether animal or element. So, either of those I'd be fine with. Paramecia, they do a lot of things, but again, most of the things I've heard? I'd be fine with." He paused.

"Although I admit, that one where the user turns into a Jacket? That's kind of stupid."

Shrugging, he spread his hands before wiping them off on the towel and then letting it vanish into the dark nothingness beyond. "So, I knew I'd get something that'd make me stronger." He held his hands out, and created a pair of layered fabric cushions to sit down on, keeping them from getting any wetter. 

"You're right. I do fight 'pretty well' without it. But that's the problem. Pretty well isn't good enough. All it takes is one person who's good at fighting, or has something I don't have a counter for, and I'm dead. What if I fight someone who can heat their body up like a flame? I can't punch fire. This gives me more options."

Looking over, he seemed about to say something, then sighed. 

"I'll be honest, I still don't like that you're planning to stick with this idea, but at least it seems like you can handle the basics, and I trust you've realized how easy it is to face someone who's a lot stronger than they appear." Shaking his wet locks, he spun his hat on one finger for a second.

He'd have to look into this family, and see what they're about. He wasn't holding out hope, but maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought. 

"Sounds to me like a setup, but maybe I'm just paranoid. I'd love for this to be a good thing for you, Simon. Just... don't trust too easily. It's risky. I don't want that big heart of yours to get broken, alright?" 

[Bobbie]

As Lassa tried a few times to get the ointment onto Simon’s wound, he was about to give in and just let him do it, before the jar was handed to him instead. “Thank you...” he muttered, regretfully, as he took the jar and peered into a puddle of rainwater to use his reflection to guide his fingers over the wound, wincing at the slightest touch.

I swear it feels worse than it looks... he groaned quietly to himself though he knew it would most likely be a more accurate representation tomorrow. Injuries always looked worse the next day.

Standing up again, he wiped his fingers in the towel that he still had over his shoulders and screwed on the lid while he watched Lassa and just listened to his voice travel through the air with such grace. He enjoyed listening to him speak... he seemed to have such a way with words that even the harshest and most brutal string of insults could be put eloquently and made to sound like music if they rolled off this person’s tongue.

“I guess that makes sense.” he replied as he approached and took one of the cushions, before dropping it onto a puddle-free patch of damp ground atop the roof they were standing on. With a strained sigh, he lowered himself to sit down on it, his body stiff and complaining with resistance to any more exertion. “You know, you’re never going to be prepared for everything.” he looked up at Lassa from his seated position, his knees bent and his elbows on them, before extending an arm up toward him to return the jar of ointment. “What do you plan to do, keep modifying your body until you can take on the entire world?” he asked in a playful tone, although it seemed like a fair question. “It’s just like medicine, isn’t it? You can take one kind to counter an ailment, but they’ve all got side-effects, so you take another kind to take care of those side-effects, and another for those and another for those, until a higher percentage of your body is made up of pills and medicine than actual... body stuff.” he paused, chuckling at how stupidly he worded that, but he hoped Lassa understood what he meant. There had to be a limit.

As the topic shifted over to himself, he straightened his legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles and leaned back on his palms, his arms rigid. This alleviated the chest pain better than leaning forward to his knees. “I’ll be fine...” he reached into his shirt pocket, partly as a distraction and partly because he genuinely wanted its contents, only to find that they were now broken - “probably shouldn’t have left these in here...” despite the tinted lens on the left having a crack in it, he put the sunglasses on anyway, then leaned back again, his gaze falling on the spinning hat, balanced so expertly on Lassa’s finger.

“Will you sit down?” he laughed, patting the damp ground beside him, the dimples burrowed into his cheeks accentuated by the moonlight as he couldn’t help grinning as he watched his companion. “My big heart will survive... I promise you it will still be in tact after whatever my first mission happens to be, and you’ll get it back in one piece.” he paused, and now looked away, aware of how that sounded, but decided not to correct it. “If you’ll still be around.”

That lump in his throat threatened to return. Perhaps his heart will be broken sooner than he thought.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

 He had to snort a little. "Are you actually lecturing a doctor about how medicine works? When did you get so bold." Elbowing Simon playfully as he sat, Lassa shook his head. 

"That... questionable interpretation of medical science aside, I get what you mean. I'm not... planning on modifying my body, though. Not any more than a Devil Fruit. I could become a cyborg I guess, but... my body listens to me. It moves how I want it to move. It becomes iron or paper or wind because I've hammered it into these things." 

Flexing one hand, he grinned. "Never been proud of something like that? Seen something you made and felt the warm glow of 'yes. I did that, and it's amazing'? For me, that's martial arts. And as for taking on the entire world..."

He grew serious again for a moment. 

"You know all those people I mentioned, the powerful who roam the waters of Paradise?"

"In the grand scheme of things, they are nothing."

 Spreading his hands, he gestured to one side. "There's places where swordsmen have cut buildings in half. There's people who can level entire blocks, and even those who can devastate Islands." Folding his hands, he narrowed his eyes.

"Take the bounties I told you about. People worth millions of Berri to the government to be taken out of commission. Now, taking into account the deeds that they performed.... I might be able to beat the weakest of those four. Possibly the second weakest depending on tactics. The strongest of them was worth 92 Million."

"There are plenty of people worth twice that. Worse, there are people who regard that as weaklings to be laughed at."

 Raising a hand, he lifted three fingers. "The Three Navy Admirals, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Four Emperors. These are the powers that rule the Grand Line, and they are so powerful that even their subordinates would barely regard me as a fighter." 

"Of the Lieutenants of people like this, the weakest are worth over 500 million. The strongest? A Billion. And for the likes of the absolute monsters who exist past the Red Line, and in the hell that is the New World? Billions."

Lassa stared out into nothingness, hands clenched. These monsters can run rampant, and nobody has been able to stop them for decades. Even the least bad among them took down the very Marine HQ of Marineford with him when he passed from this world. "I want to see a world where people do not have to live in fear of the Black Flag, a world of order. So... where I am now isn't nearly enough."

(Music Stop)

Sighing, he shook his head. Maybe he had gotten a little too worked up. He didn't want to seem like a zealot, but he did believe that the continued existence of the criminals and monsters who roamed the seas was a threat. He had seen the devastation left behind by pirates, the theft and murder and loss. He had seen the rot of the criminal gangs and others living deeper in the shadows. 

He had also seen the tendrils of greed sitting in the heart of the World Government, but that was another matter entirely. That was far, far in the future, if he could ever tear it at all. Even so, given the option between anarchy and order? He knew which he preferred. 

After a moment, he answered Simon's earlier question. "I won't be around Water 7. Not all the time anyway. My job is a traveling one, and I can't stick around in just one Island. Too much to do." Wait, did Simon say 'get his heart back in one pi-'

Oh. Oooooh, suddenly a few different things made sense. He wondered why-

Oh god he had just taken his shirt off in front of Simon.

Oh GOD he had been answering some questions in very uh-

Lassa's face went studiously neutral for a moment as he fought like a demon to keep his usual control over his facial expressions, not trusting himself with unmonitored ticks for right now. 

This was... Lassa didn't know what to think about this, ignoring the sudden spot of warmth in his chest when he saw Simon smiling at him after that line. Clearing his throat, he decided that, at least at the moment...

This was not a conversation to try and broach after throwing a wrench at Simon's face. Besides, he was going to be away from Water 7 for at least a while, and it was near-impossible to guess what missions he'd get. These were all very valid reasons and not in any way excuses for a man who was currently having a full-on internal debate to rival the Navy HQ trying to decide whose fault it was they didn't gag Roger on the execution stand. 

"Anyway my point is you should probably learn to use a sword or some more moves or something. Dangerous seas, the Grand Line." He said slightly gruffly, in an incredible swerve from his earlier sentence which had been spoken an eternity ago. Approximately 2 seconds, for those not inside Lassa's currently frantic cerebellum.  



 

[Bobbie]

Like a teenage girl with a crush on her idol, Simon’s heart fluttered even at the slightest form of contact upon being elbowed by Lassa. While it brought a smile to his face, he also felt a bit frustrated with himself, but he simply couldn't help it. It was an involuntary reaction that he did not have the masterful control over as Lassa seemed to have over his micro expression.

He had a lot of time to calm down, however, as Lassa explained his goal. It was a long explanation - Lassa seemed to enjoy giving lengthy explanations, but whether he understood everything or not, just listening to his voice go on was- Simon, get a grip on yourself. He only broke his own silence once as he cleared his throat and went back to listening.

It all made sense. Since day one, Lassa was anything but unambitious. He had a fairly impressive goal in mind and it was clear that he had every intention of reaching it in however many steps it took, but steps nonetheless. That meant standing still was not an option for a soul like his, and that brought about a couple of implications for Simon that he didn’t particularly like, but he had to admit that he foresaw. Lassa himself had agreed that Simon was ordinary. He was as ordinary as they come, and there was very little chance - so as not to say no chance whatsoever - that he could fit into a scheme as extraordinary as the one Lassa had planned. Expecting that to happen would be a selfish act of cruelty more than anything else, wouldn’t it? It was just as he said...

It wouldn’t be nearly enough for him...

While Simon had immense difficulty hiding nervousness and shock, his sadness was something that he could hide - though not expertly - more easily behind a smile.

Having his head turned away when the realisation seemed to hit Lassa, it was the silence that followed which brought Simon’s gaze back, as he stared at Lassa through his sunglasses, a large crack across the left half of his vision.

Lassa seemed unnervingly still, a look of absolute neutrality on his face as silence filled the space around them. Simon wasn’t sure for how long - it might have been a matter of seconds, but at that moment, it felt like an eternity. First worrying that he said something he shouldn’t have, then considering the possibility that he may be feeling unwell, he reached over to put a hand on Lassa’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” he was about to ask - but, naturally, it was at that precise moment that Lassa made his final comment, resulting in Simon opening his mouth but making no sound, thus turning his gesture of genuine concern into one heck of an awkward one.

Glad that he kept the sunglasses on to hide a twitch in his eye behind the shaded glass, Simon smiled nervously, giving his shoulder a pat to try and play it off as if that was his original intention, then withdrew his hand.

Good job at being weird about everything, Simon. You’re a natural, 5-star.

It seemed, however, that Simon wasn’t the only one whose behaviour shifted, as Lassa’s voice was uncharacteristically gruff and it was like he turned a full 180 degrees in their conversation. This was also quite possibly the first time he had heard such a fragmented sentence come from his mouth. It was comforting, to see that even such a well-trained individual could have these moments, and before he could stop himself, Simon just started laughing.

“Right, okay. A sword or some more moves or something.” he repeated after Lassa, a grin still on his face, “I did have a Revolver with a pretty nifty modification to electrocute somebody with enough voltage that would cause their muscles to contract and immobilise them, but I don’t have it on me at the moment. I hope it’s not permanently confiscated, I’m trying to fight to get it back. Since it’s been modified by my own expense, it’s not Government property anymore.”

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

 Whether or not Simon realized, Lassa's own awkward attempt at avoiding his sudden realization had blinded him temporarily to the other man's internal panic. 

While he had been trained in infiltration, impersonation, and even some... other forms of convincing, someone having what appeared to be at minimum a minor case of hero worship and possibly even actual romantic feelings for him was not something he anticipated. 

What Lassa felt in return was... something he was very much not taking a look at right now. Much like any Cipher Pol investigation, especially an internal one, this would be conducted in private with the maximum amount of secrecy, deniability, and preferably minimum body count. 

Getting his voice back under control, Lassa nodded. "That revolver sounds like a good tool. Just remember some people might be resistant or immune to electricity. There's probably a Lightning Logia floating around somewhere, for example. Getting some different ammo or backup guns would be a good idea."

When Simon mentioned that it was confiscated, Lassa had to think for a moment. There was a trick to this, right? What was- Ah, yes. "Try... sending them a letter advising them that... as personal property, any withholdance beyond 7 days without established cause constitutes an unlawful seizure, and incurs damages for loss of use of personal property equal to a compounding 10% of the value of lost work per day for any job requiring the item."

He gave a slightly sneaky smirk, and tapped the side of his nose. "As a weapon, especially one modified, that can be potentially anything you want to claim, as long as you can prove you use the weapon in some capacity. Private Detective would qualify. I'm pretty sure they'll hurry up and fork it over after that." 

If you worked with the government long enough, you picked up some tricks for getting past bureaucratic bull. Although.... "Y'know, I'm sure I could find you a job as well. Not everyone's gotta be out on the streets and slinging a gun. Doing interviews, sorting for leads, etc. A lot of investigation needs a good backup team." It was the last reasonable card he could play to try to keep Simon out of the hands of this conniving crime princess. 

Who knew what insane plan had caused her to ensnare the former police officer like this? What craven plot she had that required someone like Simon as a patsy. 

[Bobbie]

Simon nodded, “That shouldn’t be a problem, I’ve got somebody to ask to help me out with that... A very clever genius in a lab who can invent all sorts of things, I’m sure she would have no objections to making a few tweaks and additions.” he replied, considering what other sort of modifications could be made to his gun. It could currently work as a regular gun, or an electric stun gun... “I hear sea prism stone is effective against any Devil Fruit user, but I presume that’s too rare to get my hands on.” he was thinking aloud at that point, but soon shook his head. He didn’t want anything too dangerous.

Turning to Lassa once more, he smiled at the idea on how to get his weapon back. It was brilliant. Of course, nobody would want to face consequences that include some sort of fee, the most basic yet effective deterrent. “That would be smart, I doubt they’d even expect me know that. Well... I guess I didn’t, until now.” Chuckling, he faced forward again to stare at his shoes, and as he felt his wet socks within them - quite possibly the worst feeling to ever suffer through - Simon listened to the proposition of another job opportunity put forward.

He grew silent, seeming to be considering it. It was a nice offer, quite possibly a safer one too, and it sounded like it could consist of the same sort of detective work, more or less. “Thank you, but I think I’ll stick with the Stratonovskis.” He finally said with a light shrug, as he started to sway his feet from side to side. He couldn’t say exactly what he was so drawn to in that family. He assumed that he would be working with Annika’s father more than with Annika herself, but that didn’t remove the possibility of seeing her frequently, so the prospect of getting to enjoy the girl's company all day long couldn't have been it. “Besides, we’ve already gone through most of the paperwork, if not all of it. I’m just waiting for my first job which I should be called in for within a matter of days now. Backing out now would be a pretty ugly thing to do...”

Was he sure of what he was doing? Not at all... but he did believe that he could always count on Annika Stratonovski to have his back, no matter what. Perhaps it was all a pity that he and Lassa didn't have this talk weeks ago...

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

 A clever genius in a lab, huh? She? Was this someone aside from Annika, or was Annika a secret Vegapunk wannabe? There was a lot of mad inventors, and Water 7 had quite a few famous shipwrights in it's history. "Sea Prism Stone is pretty hard to get your hands on, yeah. It's even harder to get made into bullets. Otherwise everyone would be using them, yknow?" He had inquired once about getting a sword made from the stuff, and been informed they weren't even sure if that was possible. 

Simon squirmed uncomfortably for a moment, and Lassa followed his gaze to his wet socks. Hmm. Could he... 

Concentrating for a moment, he considered the size of Simon's feet. A pair of socks appeared... made out of different fabric. "Dammit, no..." Another try produced a pair of fairly simple, but at least matching socks. Tossing them over to Simon, Lassa reached down and grabbed a knife, cutting the sides of his wet ones. With a rip, he tore them out of his shoes, and then produced a new pair within his shoes over his feet.

A genuine smile crossed his face as he looked down at his new dry socks. "Okay, I officially regret nothing, This power is the best." Stretching his legs out, he sighed.

"Bit disappointed you didn't take the offer, but I get it. Just... be careful, okay? You can follow after someone, step by step, and then one day you turn back and you realize you're so far gone from where you started that you can't see the way back anymore. Many Pirates don't start as that bad after all. But greed or desperation overtakes them."

There was no sense rehashing this whole argument. He'd just have to keep an eye on Simon and this Annika, and well... if it turned out they were leading his friend astray... 

He flexed one finger. That was what a mask, Soru, and Shigan were for. After all, gangs shot each other up all the time. A coldness settled over his heart as he made this resolution, and for once, it sat a bit uncomfortably with him. Maybe he should do something about it. 

"... Actually, have you eaten? You look like you've had a long day, and while it's kind of late, some warm food and drink does a lot for getting stuck in a rainshower. And... getting hit in the face with a wrench." He pursed his lips for a moment. "Might have... gone a bit overboard with that one. Flashed back to my own training for a second. I had uh... learned some more defensive techniques at that point." 

[Bobbie]

Nodding in response to Lassa’s anecdote about a time he had enquired about something similar, Simon was listening, but most of his focus was on his wet socks. So much so that he hadn’t noticed what his friend was doing until a pair of socks was tossed over to him.

“What...” with a loud ripping noise, Simon turned to look at what Lassa was doing, his poor socks, while soaked, being handled so viciously. Chuckling, he brought his feet closer, took off his shoes and then replaced his wet socks with the new dry ones. Once the job was done, he returned Lassa’s genuine smile, “Wow, that can really come in handy. Much better, thank you.” he wriggled his toes in their new cozy corners within his shoes.

It stung to hear that his decision disappointed Lassa, he himself quite conflicted about it, but as much as he really wanted to cling to Lassa, he had a feeling that wouldn’t be a good idea. Perhaps he had already let that happen too much. That was also not to mention that he would, without a doubt,  be very sad without Annika, who, somewhere down the line, had become like family to him - she had been with him through his worst moments and, perhaps ironically, the toughest time of his life when he got the news that he could no longer pursue his career as a police officer. Thinking back, he knew he wouldn’t have survived it without her. He wished her very well and genuinely wanted to be a part of her life and her to be a part of his.

Life was cruel enough to put him in such a position where he felt he had to choose one.

All of that aside, however, Lassa made a fair point, most people don’t start off with the intention to be big bad pirates, but get carried away once they’re in it. “Good thing I’m not greedy then, huh? The only thing I’m desperate for right now is a new pair of sunglasses.” he joked to lighten the mood and took the sunglasses off one more time, staring at the crack that ran across his reflection.

At Lassa’s offer of food, Simon’s grin grew wider and he was about to interrupt and instantly take him up on that offer, but then the dreaded wrench was mentioned and he burst out laughing. “Oh, you think?” looking directly at him, he raised his eyebrows and leaned on one arm to raise his other hand and point at the wound, “This hurt. A lot. I’ve never been hit by a metal wrench before, and I can now tell you - it is as painful as it looks. Who randomly carries a wrench around with them, anyway?” he teased before he stood up and put his sunglasses back into his shirt pocket, quite relieved that his his clothes had more or less dried while they sat there.

Extending a hand to help Lassa up, he smiled, “I have not eaten, and I would very much love to grab a bite. Any 24-hour food services of your preferences?” he assumed most places would be closed by now.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

 "Unfortunately, I don't think my new powers can do sunglasses." Lassa said, shrugging slightly. He felt bad, but in fairness... Simon DID leave them in his breast pocket. 

Thankfully, it seemed Simon was in good humor about the whole wrench thing. "Yeah, I uh... I'll be honest, I was aiming to miss you. My teacher for thrown weapons would have my hide, but in my defense, I was more used to knives or similar." When Simon asked who carried a wrench around with them, Lassa blinked.

"Carries a- I grabbed that off the roof! Someone left it up here or something I guess. I know I'm odd but I'm not that odd! That thing was heavy, and I certainly am not about to just lug it around for a bit." Sniffing in feigned offense, he looked around. Where had that wrench gone anyway? He should probably have made sure it didn't have blood on it. Wouldn't want to launch a false murder investigation.

On the other hand... fuck the local police, at least in this case. Shrugging, he stood up, accepting Simon's hand despite the lack of need, and hummed for a moment. "Hmm. Let's see...." Peering over the rooftops, he tilted his head as he sniffed. "Still the odor of cooking food, wind's coming..." Lifting two fingers, he snapped them apart with a small 'sail' of cloth. "From the north... north-east?" Looking in that direction, he scanned up the road. 

"Looks like there's a late-night inn and restaurant up that way. Smells pretty good to me, and places like that usually have a decent variety of comfort food and enough visitors coming in and out that they don't ask questions. Sailors getting in off a late-night cargo ship or similar are usually happy to pay for something good and warm." Hard-earned knowledge, after a few runs undercover as one. 

"Speaking of questions.. given my early investigator work, maybe..." He took a few steps back, slid something out of his suit and drank it, then ran forward and flipped over the edge of the roof. As he fell and swallowed the concoction, he focused on his new powers. Sliding down the edge of the building, the suit jacket and shirt he had created shivered and changed, and when she landed, she was wearing a turtleneck and a peacoat, still somewhat formal but less immediately identifiable as a government agent. 

Reaching out, she gestured, making a 'jump and I'll catch you' motion. There was way too many stairs to be walking that if you didn't have to. 

[Bobbie]

“Huh... well I’m glad it wasn’t a knife you threw at me.” Simon mumbled to himself more than to Lassa, as that alternative could have ended far far worse. Smiling guiltily, Lassa successfully made Simon feel bad for his question, but he couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, so he just let it go, deciding to play it safe... but yes, he knew first hand how heavy that wrench was...

It wasn’t until Lassa pointed out the scent of food in the air that Simon also smelt it, but he really couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from. That was when he really learnt how useful Lassa’s devil fruit could be, this use for it easily topping the mass production of dry socks. “That’s... nifty.” he muttered, watching the cloth bellow in the wind without fail. Turning his head to face the direction that the wind was coming from - once he finally brought himself to look away from the miniature sail on Lassa’s fingers - he nodded.

“Oh, yeah, I think I might know of the place, but never really stepped inside. Never had a reason to.” he shrugged, usually preferring his own home-cooked meals since he ate alone anyway and quite enjoyed cooking, apart from the more recently enjoyed meal at Burger Queen with both Annika and Miguel.

Simon’s jaw dropped at Lassa’s next move, seeing him run to the edge of the roof and launch himself off it. “We’re at least three floors up, what are you doing!?” he called after him in panic and raced to the edge after him, but he was too late. Lassa had jumped. Peering over the edge in horror as he expected to find Lassa with at least three broken bones, he was quite surprised to find Lassa standing at the bottom of it, who not only seemed to be unharmed, but was now a woman. This took his mind back to their first encounter, still a bit embarrassed about how he had actually fainted and he vividly recalled getting too handsy, and Lassa removing his-

Simon quickly shook his head to put a metaphorical brick wall and block off where his thoughts were going, then he shook it again when Lassa gestured for him to jump. “That’s crazy! This is crazy... okay.” he took a deep breath and a few steps back, trying to calm his nerves.

She’ll catch me... she better catch me... here I go!

Running to the edge, he flung himself over it, closing his eyes as he felt his body descend through the air and plummet toward the ground a lot faster and for a greater distance than he’d ever imagined being comfortable with.

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Tokoz]

 Lassa braced herself, and a moment later Simon's fall was arrested by the sudden grabbing of his back and the crook of his legs. She stumbled slightly, but managed to swing him around and deposit him on his feet once again. Brushing herself off, she once again wished she had managed to get the hang of Geppo by now. It would be a pretty big advantage when it came to traversing such distances. 

"Shall we go, then?" She asked somewhat rhetorically, tying her hair back around the nape of her neck to form a loose pony-tail like shape and winking. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a makeup kit and did a quick series of brushes and adjustments, altering the look of her face just a tad. Less austere cheekbones, smile lines, the like. Snapping it shut, she nodded at Simon before striding into the street. 

She still got some looks, it was hard not to, but 9 feet wasn't totally unusual and the slower more clipped walk she was using to allow Simon to keep up did wonders for softening any rough edges. The restaurant in question was right down the street, and she entered, smiling at the waitress passing by the door who happened to look over. 

"Got a table for 2? Preferably by the fire, got caught in the rainshower a few minutes ago." She nodded at Simon who was still clearly a bit damp, and patted her own damp hair. The waitress nodded in understanding and gestured them over to an empty booth in the corner that had just been vacated. A roaring fireplace sat perpendicular to it, and it seemed to be being used to roast a whole hog as well. The flames danced beneath the slowly turning meat, and the smell made Lassa's stomach rumble. 

Sitting down, she nodded. "Could I get a San Faldo Dry, some bread and stew, and a few slices of that when it's done? And whatever he wants?" She placed down a small stack of berris, preferring to pay up front rather than be forced to wait for someone to swing by and settle up later. 

It was cosy in here, and the low but omnipresent conversation prevented any words from carrying for more than a table or two. It was the kind of place that made one reluctant to leave. Fitting, considering the situation. 

[Bobbie]

Simon only opened his eyes once he felt that he was safely in Lassa’s arms before she put him down and set him back onto his feet. His heart still racing from the adrenaline of the fall, he muttered his thanks, and got to arranging his clothes, going through a quick check of his pockets as he did so to make sure nothing was left on the roof.

“Yup! Ready when you are.” he replied, watching Lassa adjust her hairstyle and makeup, his cheeks reddening at the wink she gave him. In a very poor attempt to hide that fact, he cleared his throat and looked away, until they started walking.

She looks nice... he began to regret his own wardrobe decisions.

Simon had never walked beside anyone as tall as Lassa currently was, and keeping up would have been impossible without going into a jog if she hadn’t slowed down for him the way she did. Upon reaching the restaurant, the rich smells and aromas filled his nostrils and he chuckled, “This really was a great choice.” he laughed before the waitress approached them and he smiled politely to her as his company explained the situation.

Once they reached their table, Simon slipped into his seat with the sigh of a tired man who had been kicked in the chest and hit in the face with a wrench. “I’ll have uh...” pausing, he realised that he had no idea what was even served at this place, let alone what was good to order and the prices. “I’ll have what she’s having, please.” he added in, but waited for the waitress to leave as he eyes the stack of beri to estimate how much was in there, before turning to Lassa, “You don't have to pay for my share. In fact I'd love to cover it both of us if you'd let me.”

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Simon: #d2ce2f