Who knows? [ Even Majima didn't want to try and untangle the complicated feelings the past year had instilled in him every successive time he'd been forced to take a look at his past, or his future, or what he wanted from both. ]
Heh, maybe with all the bugs and whales from outer space gettin' into my head, I'd rather have a choice about it.
Would ya happen to be at your house? I can bring some snacks by.
[ Sorry, Marco, he had to bring snacks, it was like a rule. Hopefully, the merman could simply reuse them when and if someone else came over and wanted something to eat.
Either way, he'd show up with a small bag of biscuity treats, knocking at the door. ]
[Marco answered the door right away, so either he wasn't in the middle of something or he made sure to stop whatever he was doing just in time. The expression on his face didn't reveal anything either way.
... Well, it did reveal a certain sense of unease, but that wasn't out of the ordinary for him.]
[ And then there was a faint smile from Majima, almost reflexive, at the sight of the man. ]
Thanks. Uh, wasn't plannin' to be in your hair for too long. Can I put these somewhere? [ He asked, holding up the box. They smelled nice, if anything else, a kind of buttery shortbread treat that came with sugar sprinkled on top. ]
And how've ya been? [ He wasn't... avoiding the point of being here, ok. The werewolf was just warming up to things. ]
Oh, please do. Here, the kitchen is this way. [And that's where Marco led him, after closing the door.]
I'm okay, thank you. [A perfectly neutral statement. A sincere one, too. Considering some of the people he ran into at that Christmas party, things could have gone far worse than they did in the end. And nothing too bad had happened outside of it, either, so... December? A pretty alright month. He couldn't complain.
The way Majima approached him made him wonder if other people hadn't been quite so lucky, though. It was with some polite concern that he asked:]
Good and bad. Find a bunch of poaching victims, one of them's your main squeeze... y'know.
[ Ryslig. Majima set down the refreshments, and then something odd happened -- he broke into a big, stupid grin. ]
I got kinda sort of engaged?
[ Once he'd set down the cookies, Marco might be able to catch a glimpse of the insides of his gloves, which were hand-knit with some seriously adorable paw pads on the palms. Big, check. Dumb, check. ]
Oh, uh. But that ain't what I was -- I'm a criminal.
[Oh! Marco opened his mouth to congratulate Majima, but before he could get that out, the man kept talking.
Oh.
At least Marco didn't seem shocked. Stunned, yes, enough that it took him a few moments to put some words back together. But he didn't look like he was about to kick Majima out, at least.]
What... kind of criminal?
[Because Majma had always seemed like a decent man, but lord knew Marco had been wrong before.]
[ He said this simply, like he was used to people knowing what the word meant and what its implications were. ]
They got those back where you're from, right?
[ Generally, they did -- but of course, he was a long way from Tokyo now. If he had to clear up some misconceptions about Tommy guns or yubitsume, Majima supposed he could do that. ]</small
[The look on Marco's face answered the question quite swiftly: yes, he knew what the Yakuza was.
Again, he struggled to find words for a few seconds. Majima really didn't seem like...
...
Okay, no, that was naive of him to even think. Of course Majima looked like the type. But he didn't act like it... Did he? Hadn't he mentioned helping people around his hometown before? Keeping the peace?... Wasn't that exactly what the Yakuza did?]
Sorry-- Sorry, uh, I... I don't really... [He raised a hand, as if to steady himself.] Don't get me wrong, I'm not-- not judging. [Not as hard as he's judged some people before, anyway.] I-I mean, I'm no saint myself.
Yeah, well. Actually, I used to be one, and I was tryin' to get back in. It's been four years by now.
[ Perhaps because he was the one who'd been the gangster, Majima didn't seem all that fazed by the conversation thus far. This was a man, after all, for whom violence was a perfectly valid answer to public confrontation. ]
I'm not saying this to try and scare ya or anythin'. It's just part of who I was. Kamurocho, where I lived, it was the headquarters of the Tojo clan. Biggest yakuza family in Japan.
[If Marco sounded a little out of breath, that was because he was just... trying to take this all in. He'd never heard of Kamurocho, and he certainly didn't know enough about the yakuza to understand what Majima meant by "brother", let alone to be aware of the Tojo clan.]
My sworn brother. Saejima. It's just like it sounds.
[ Majima sort of sensed that Marco was needing a minute, so he'd try and take a pause here to let it sink in a little, although probably his answers only inspired more questions. ]
That's right. After the way our last job turned out, he ended up in prison, and I ended up... it's a long story. But I thought I could make up for that if I could just get back in the business.
[ He had to, according to whatever internal, ridiculous set of morals Majima had rolling around in his yakuzabrain. ]
Get high enough up, and when he got out of the joint, I could make sure he had a place there. If he wanted. Something to show for the years he served.
But maybe it's more accurate to say that's how it used to work. I've been called a dinosaur more than once.
[ But it was the yakuza that Majima had fallen in love with. The one that no longer existed, or maybe had never truly existed except in wistful recollection. ]
These days, a lot of mobsters only care about money and flashy shit.
[ Majima nodded in turn, a serious look on his face. ]
That's right. Even if I get back, I won't be able to see him for a long while. He'll get out, though, eventually. He's that kinda guy.
[ The faith with which Majima said this was... probably not backed up by any real accounting for how the criminal justice system in Japan worked. But it was present, all the same. ]
Anyway, that's where I'm coming from. Didn't mean to come in hot.
[ And though he didn't really have a satisfactory answer for Marco's question, 'did something bring this on', perhaps it could be implicit in his manner: I trust you. ]
No, no, that's fine. [Kind of. "Fine" seemed like a strange word for it, but... Fundamentally, it WAS fine, wasn't it?] I, I just... wasn't expecting to hear that. Er, evidently.
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<marco>
Sure.
What's going on?
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I mean, you can tell me about yourself, too -- I don't wanna seem like I'm makin' it all about myself. It's just that I oughta say something, ya know?
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Don't get me wrong, I don't mind
It's just a little sudden.
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Heh, maybe with all the bugs and whales from outer space gettin' into my head, I'd rather have a choice about it.
Would ya happen to be at your house? I can bring some snacks by.
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[As always, he didn't need the snacks... but it sounded like Majima needed to be as comfortable as possible, so he wasn't about to say that.]
Come by any time, okay?
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[ Sorry, Marco, he had to bring snacks, it was like a rule. Hopefully, the merman could simply reuse them when and if someone else came over and wanted something to eat.
Either way, he'd show up with a small bag of biscuity treats, knocking at the door. ]
Hello? Not in the middle of something, I hope.
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... Well, it did reveal a certain sense of unease, but that wasn't out of the ordinary for him.]
Not at all, not at all. Come in.
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Thanks. Uh, wasn't plannin' to be in your hair for too long. Can I put these somewhere? [ He asked, holding up the box. They smelled nice, if anything else, a kind of buttery shortbread treat that came with sugar sprinkled on top. ]
And how've ya been? [ He wasn't... avoiding the point of being here, ok. The werewolf was just warming up to things. ]
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I'm okay, thank you. [A perfectly neutral statement. A sincere one, too. Considering some of the people he ran into at that Christmas party, things could have gone far worse than they did in the end. And nothing too bad had happened outside of it, either, so... December? A pretty alright month. He couldn't complain.
The way Majima approached him made him wonder if other people hadn't been quite so lucky, though. It was with some polite concern that he asked:]
... What about you?
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[ Ryslig. Majima set down the refreshments, and then something odd happened -- he broke into a big, stupid grin. ]
I got kinda sort of engaged?
[ Once he'd set down the cookies, Marco might be able to catch a glimpse of the insides of his gloves, which were hand-knit with some seriously adorable paw pads on the palms. Big, check. Dumb, check. ]
Oh, uh. But that ain't what I was -- I'm a criminal.
[ What a mess, double check. ]
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Oh.
At least Marco didn't seem shocked. Stunned, yes, enough that it took him a few moments to put some words back together. But he didn't look like he was about to kick Majima out, at least.]
What... kind of criminal?
[Because Majma had always seemed like a decent man, but lord knew Marco had been wrong before.]
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[ He said this simply, like he was used to people knowing what the word meant and what its implications were. ]
They got those back where you're from, right?
[ Generally, they did -- but of course, he was a long way from Tokyo now. If he had to clear up some misconceptions about Tommy guns or yubitsume, Majima supposed he could do that. ]</small
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Again, he struggled to find words for a few seconds. Majima really didn't seem like...
...
Okay, no, that was naive of him to even think. Of course Majima looked like the type. But he didn't act like it... Did he? Hadn't he mentioned helping people around his hometown before? Keeping the peace?... Wasn't that exactly what the Yakuza did?]
Sorry-- Sorry, uh, I... I don't really... [He raised a hand, as if to steady himself.] Don't get me wrong, I'm not-- not judging. [Not as hard as he's judged some people before, anyway.] I-I mean, I'm no saint myself.
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[ Perhaps because he was the one who'd been the gangster, Majima didn't seem all that fazed by the conversation thus far. This was a man, after all, for whom violence was a perfectly valid answer to public confrontation. ]
I'm not saying this to try and scare ya or anythin'. It's just part of who I was. Kamurocho, where I lived, it was the headquarters of the Tojo clan. Biggest yakuza family in Japan.
My brother, he was in it with me.
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[If Marco sounded a little out of breath, that was because he was just... trying to take this all in. He'd never heard of Kamurocho, and he certainly didn't know enough about the yakuza to understand what Majima meant by "brother", let alone to be aware of the Tojo clan.]
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[ Majima sort of sensed that Marco was needing a minute, so he'd try and take a pause here to let it sink in a little, although probably his answers only inspired more questions. ]
Ya sure you're okay?
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[Alright. He had to rewind a little.]
You... wanted to get back into the yakuza?
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[ He had to, according to whatever internal, ridiculous set of morals Majima had rolling around in his yakuzabrain. ]
Get high enough up, and when he got out of the joint, I could make sure he had a place there. If he wanted. Something to show for the years he served.
Or be there if he wanted to kill me.
[ Because that was an option, too. ]
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[Words failed him, frankly, but that wasn't Majima's fault at all. What he was describing was a wholly different world from what Marco was used to.]
So that's how it works in the yakuza, huh.
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But maybe it's more accurate to say that's how it used to work. I've been called a dinosaur more than once.
[ But it was the yakuza that Majima had fallen in love with. The one that no longer existed, or maybe had never truly existed except in wistful recollection. ]
These days, a lot of mobsters only care about money and flashy shit.
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But I'm guessing you ended up here before you could see your brother again.
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That's right. Even if I get back, I won't be able to see him for a long while. He'll get out, though, eventually. He's that kinda guy.
[ The faith with which Majima said this was... probably not backed up by any real accounting for how the criminal justice system in Japan worked. But it was present, all the same. ]
Anyway, that's where I'm coming from. Didn't mean to come in hot.
[ And though he didn't really have a satisfactory answer for Marco's question, 'did something bring this on', perhaps it could be implicit in his manner: I trust you. ]
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[ The look on Majima's face was softer now, maybe even a little wistful. ]
Back when I was in Kamurocho, people'd peg me right away as yakuza, even once I was out. Guess I figured the same was true here.
[ Kind of like an open secret, one that people were too polite to bring up in conversation. A man had once compared him to a knife. ]
...but I mostly just came over to tell ya about the engagement part.
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wanna handwave the end of this, because I have a feeling Majima would want the juicy gossip
SOUNDS GOOD