paixaorpg | Playing the Game [Active]

Entry tags:

Playing the Game [Active]

Character(s): Lexaeus, Hidan
Content: Hidan is spending the evening at Lexaeus' "place".
Setting: Vocea Condominiums [N-3]
Time: Late Afternoon, early evening
Warnings: Hidan has a potty mouth.

Well, it had certainly been an interesting afternoon between the shift at the hospital that he insisted on taking, to keep up appearances of course, and rescuing Hidan from a life of boredom buried beneath Paixao's streets. And now, here he was, inviting the ninja into his condo. At least he would have interesting things to report about later. Surely there was nothing more interesting than a ninja that couldn't die?

"Feel free to make yourself at home," he commented as he tossed his bag into a chair and headed for the bedroom to get Hidan something to wear. Illusions were all well and good, but they worked better when there was some measure of truth underneath. He came back out and handed the clothes to Hidan. "Bathroom's through that door there." He pointed. "You're welcome to a shower."

And Lexaeus headed into the kitchen to make food. The Nobody figured that Hidan would be hungry after all that time, and a little food never hurt anyone. Keeping up appearances could be annoying sometimes, especially when you didn't get the chance to drop the facade. Right now, he would have to deal. He had brought this situation upon himself.

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"Nice place...." Considering how long he'd spent just wandering, the condo really did seem like quite a home; Hidan had had to make do without amenities or comfort for a long, long time. He supposed a doctor would be able to afford something like it, especially since he didn't have to wander.... Sticking to a single city meant that you definitely could invest in something other than easily carried possessions and cold, hard cash.

"Thanks." He accepted the clothes without a second glance; he'd take anything he could get, at the moment, and it was really only for a day or two anyway..... He could wait to see what the hell he'd look like once he was in the bathroom. He definitely did need a shower; who would want to associate with him as is? He was covered in blood and mud, at the very least. The water started soon after he got in, tossing aside his rags and stepping in for a scalding hot shower to scrub away over a month's worth of battle, burial, and being devoured (and devouring himself, for that matter) alive. Fuck, it felt good to be clean again....

"Thanks," Lexaeus replied. Naturally, in keeping with the image of a doctor, the condo looked like the type of place a doctor would live--nice, comfortable and comforting, and nothing if not a little lavish. After all, even in Paixao, the doctors were paid well. Medical staff were a priceless commodity in any city, after all.

Everything that Lexaeus had taken to cooking at the moment was good for warming a person up. After so long under the ground, he had been surprised that Hidan didn't have hypothermia, or any number of other conditions, infections, or diseases. By all rights, the man should be dead several times over, which made this a very curious situation. He supposed that the ninja's regenerative abilities went a long way to saving his life. Possibly more than he knew.

When Hidan stepped out of the shower, there would be hot soup waiting for him, and coffee. Lexaeus wasn't sure if Hidan's stomach could handle solid food because he couldn't imagine how the man could have eaten buried as he had been. It was better, especially for his doctor persona, to stick with the things he knew people in similar conditions to what Hidan had been in, though without the dismemberment and burial, could eat.

"When you're done, you're more than welcome to dinner." Hopefully, Hidan heard him over the shower.

Hidan took his time in the shower; there was a hell of a lot to get off. And get out, for that matter; a bit of time was spent with a kunai, just digging out some of the lingering bugs that had stubbornly burrowed in and refused to come out. Not as if a little more blood mattered, and he was at least careful to do it in the shower so he wouldn't stain anything or get bug guts all over.... Besides, the gouges healed moments after he'd finished making them. Ah, yet another nice thing about being able to regenerate..... It certainly had made his stay underground easier, even if it could definitely be a pain in the ass in a few regards.

He called out a thanks to the dimly heard invitation as he turned off the water. It hadn't seemed irrational to scrub himself raw; a little momentary pain (hardly even stung, seriously, and it was all fixed in seconds anyway) was preferable to allowing traces of that damned place to stay on him. The outfit was pulled on, shirt and all--damn, but did it feel odd to wear a shirt again....--, with a spare rosary hung around his neck and his ring on his finger once again; being that he hadn't exactly brought any hair products with him into the hole and back out again, he didn't bother trying to style his hair, instead allowing it to fall loose and frame his face. He wondered with some amusement if the others would even recognize him in a getup like this; it was debatable, really. He looked like a civilian, for Jashin-sama's sake; he wasn't even wearing any of his weapons or normal pouches, simply bundling them up in his well-shredded cloak--the clothes too had been washed off as well as he could make them, and flame-dried to prevent dripping--and tucking them under one arm.

Fortunately for him, accepting hospitality didn't make him self-conscious in the least; if he didn't deserve it after all this time, then he could certainly use it. Doubtless none of the hotels would have wanted to let him in, looking like that.... With that thought, he dropped his things under his chair as he sat, taking a sip of coffee and entirely ignoring the way his stomach twinged in protest. He didn't fucking care if it wasn't used to having stuff put into it anymore; he would eat whatever he damned well felt like, and like hell was he going to let himself get sick because of it. "So Lex, where're you from? This place seems to have a thing for blondes." He wasn't stupid, no matter how much Kakuzu might have begged to differ; they hadn't passed a single face here, aside from his gracious host, who had anything other than bright blue eyes and perfectly blonde hair. Almost unnerving, really.....

Lexaeus had to admit, Hidan looked a lot better all cleaned up. If he hadn't seen the shinobi dismembered and covered in dirt, grime, blood, and bugs, he would have thought it hadn't happened at all. Ah well, so much the better. He knew that question would crop up at some point. Hell, he expected it to. However, Lexaeus hadn't considered that Hidan would pick up on it so quickly. It seemed that most of the visitors to Paixao left the matter alone entirely.

The Nobody chuckled at Hidan's observation. "That it does," he admitted, considering what to tell his companion. "I'm from a rather quite place, I guess you could say. All of the cities and towns are named after stars, like the pioneers hoped to draw divine favor to their towns." He looked wistful thinking about it, though only he had to know that appearance was an act. "The medical colleges there were amazing. It was only natural that, when getting dumped here, I'd continue with my practice. There are enough trouble-makers in this city to keep the hospital busy."

Why yes, Hidan knew he was gorgeous--thanks for noticing. ♥ At least, he looked a darn sight better than he had earlier. And why leave a matter alone, when you could find out a probably simple explanation? If Lexaeus even decided to touch on that at all, of course--which he wasn't, not really. And that was fine, he supposed.... After all, it wasn't as if he'd actively asked after it specifically.

"Stars, huh? Sounds nice...." He looked reflective for a moment, almost nostalgic himself. After all, long, long ago, far before the Akatsuki had been a glimmer in Pein's eye--hell, before Pein had been a glimmer in his great great grandfather's eye, or something like that--he had learned how to be a medic too. Back when he'd actually had a home, too; it was amusing to note the similarity, though Lex had obviously continued, whereas he had abandoned and distanced himself from the profession.

The missing-nin stirred his soup as he ate, nodding. "Sounds like there's a hell of a lot of people to keep a steady flow of patients coming in. I would be kind of surprised if none of the others had sent you any yet...." They were a bunch of ninjas, after all; they were predisposed to violence. They killed, maimed, and tortured for fun and profit--oh yeah, and art..... And religion, of course. Couldn't forget Jashin-sama, not ever.

Were he asked, Lexaeus probably would have said that most of the people here were more concerned with finding their friends and getting home than they were with figuring out why the townsfolk were all of an Aryan nature. It was certainly different to hear people taking notice of it.

"Yeah. Used to be able to pick out the constellations at night, even in the cities. It was nice."

Lexaeus nodded. "Much as it sucks, it's nice to have work to do. I'm not sure who is the cause of the patients I treat, just that I have patients to treat. We never ask the whos of the situation, only seek out what happened to result in the injury." Lexaeus shrugged. "That's just the way Aiches is run, I suppose."

There was some irony to that, Hidan was sure. His friends and family? Dead. His partner? Dead. His home? He had none. All he'd really had left was the filthy fucking hole he'd been buried in, everything he'd carried on his person in the hole with him, a vendetta against Konoha (and the Nara clan in particular), and a grudge towards the organization that may or may not have abandoned him. He had very little reason to want to go back, (wouldn't they just bury him again?) so really, why not spend the time figuring out why the natives here were all Aryan? It was as good a pastime as any, he guessed. And being able to see the stars was nice.... Though it also usually meant that Kakuzu had been a cheap bastard and not gotten them an inn room that night.

"Seems like a kind of stupid system, if you ask me...." Hidan mused. "Then again, I guess not bothering to figure out the root cause of the problems would help you guys for repeat business." His journal had come out while he ate and talked--either he was really good at multitasking, or just didn't care if one of the three got neglected for a bit--and he scrolled through the first page of the message board, snorting derisively. "Jashin-sama.... At least half this stuff is fucking ridiculous. They've got a powerful communication tool, and they use it for tripe? I mean, even Deidara is posting fucking nonsense...." That, of course. as a comment to the Muffin-chan poll, which was stupid even if it was amusing.

Lexaeus offered a shrug in response to Hidan's comment. "Our patients are allowed to have their privacy, regardless of why they come into the hospital for treatment. We ask them for the source of their injuries, and some choose to tell us more than what we ask. We leave that to their discretion. Of course, there are cases where we have to ask, like when it's obvious that some kind of domestic violence is involved..."

The Nobody sipped on his own coffee and couldn't help but snort at the comment regarding the journals. "You could consider it cabin fever, if you wanted. People itch to get out of here, to go home or to actually feel the breeze and see the sun, to feel the earth at their feet. They get restless and it leads to inane comments and ridiculous posts on the message boards at times.

"That's also the problem with such a public forum. It can be used for whatever the public chooses to use it for."

"Yeah, I kinda figured.... Seems like the surface here is way too glossy for what must actually happen, once you get to know people." The blondes he'd passed on the street all seemed to be perfectly nice and friendly, if a bit empty-headed. But then again, that could probably describe a bunch of people from Konoha too, so it wasn't particularly confusing. Just vaguely annoying, he supposed, though he could easily take advantage of it. Variety was the spice of life, after all, and those people made the entire town sound as if it was about as interesting as a bowl of gruel.

He nodded in agreement at Lex's comment. "Yeah, the 'public' typically couldn't find their ass with their hands if you cut it off and served it to them on a fucking silver platter with an apple between the cheeks." He finished his soup, fiddling absently with the spoon. "It's a big enough place to roam around in, from the looks of it. And if they're that bored, they ought to be finding something constructive to do, or turning that energy towards going outside like they actually want." No, he wasn't finding himself with a very high initial opinion of the general public that showed up on the message board. Kind of a shame that the one Akatsuki he'd actually liked decently was acting like an idiot, too.....

Lexaeus couldn't help a snort at Hidan's comment. How true it was.

"You would think that," he admitted. "However, it's been my experience that folk prefer to complain about their situations, rather than actually doing something about them. It's annoying, surely, and rather bothersome. I suppose, however, that it's the only legitimate means of channeling their energy. They want to leave, but they don't actually have the means to do so."

He regarded Hidan for a moment. "Are you going to bother to walk the same path? Or are you going to leave it go for now?"

Hidan listened in relative silence as he drained the rest of his coffee. "If most of them that come in are weirdos like I am, I highly doubt that most of them don't have the means to get out. That'd be plain bullshit; they just aren't trying, however much they might want to leave. They're just waiting for an opportunity to fall straight into their damned laps, and whining when they don't show up all labeled and gift-wrapped." Poor pathetic bastards.... If this was all they could muster the energy and care for, he wasn't sure whether to pity them or be just plain disgusted. Maybe both; it was kind of ridiculous, after all. But then, not everyone could be perfect like him, huh? Heh.

Hidan looked back at him over the mug as he set it down; for those who knew him, the expression would have been something of a shock--he looked serious for once, earnestly contemplative rather than mocking and annoyed. "I don't think so..... no, probably not. No sense fucking frittering away energy like that when it's not really anything I'd want, anyway. What've I got back home, a hole in the ground, a group that'll probably fail anyway, and a vendetta that isn't all that important anyhow? You're smarter than most of the yahoos around here anyway, it's a better idea to get comfortable and take this place for what it's worth." And what it was worth, of course, was a second chance. Salvation. A fresh shot at life, rather than a dark, dirty eternity. Jashin-sama had been kind to him, and he wasn't going to ignore that fact by throwing the chance away and getting incapacitated again.

"Leaving the city isn't the difficulty," Lexaeus told Hidan. "It's getting back to their world that becomes the difficulty, regardless of how much you try. However, I do agree. A lot of these people seem to be waiting for things to fall into their laps, rather than actively seeking the means out. I suppose they are spoiled that way."

The Nobody watched Hidan's expression, listening to the ninja's words. It was good that he was considering staying. And it would certainly make it easier to sway Hidan to their side, and Lexaeus was sure that the Organization could utilize a ninja with his particular capabilities.

"You're more than welcome to stay here, if you'd like," he said, considering how to approach the topic of the Organization. "It'll give you a leg up on others in your situation, who often find themselves hard-pressed to find a place to stay. It won't be too hard to get an extra bed, I don't think..."

And the idea hit him. "Would you be interested in helping me out with the things that I need to do? It would certainly take a small load off my shoulders."

"Yeah, that figures. A couple guards aren't that big a deal." Hidan reasoned. They seemed pushy, but more talk than action; probably the most they'd do is grab your arm or try to block your way.... Feh. Hardly even worth bothering with. "They must be. Coincidences are gifts, not a fucking way of life." Idiots.... Who the hell did they think they were, the protagonists of some story? Victory didn't come so easily; you couldn't always rely on practical deus ex machinas to solve all your problems. You didn't always get neat, tidy, 'happily-ever-after' endings. Who on earth would expect them? You had to swear and bleed and suffer and grieve. That was the way things worked; life was a struggle, not a storybook plot.

He considered the offer, half-smiling in genuine amusement; the place was nice enough. The food was good. The company was--well, he wasn't Kakuzu, that was for sure. Lex was nice, and more intelligent than he'd get if he tried for some other roomie, most likely. It would be easy enough to split the rent, or whatever else he needed to do to help with the upkeep of this place. And besides.... after all these years, he really wasn't used to being alone. He liked company, he really did, even if the only company to be found was with a money-grubbing asshole. "Yeah, that sounds good, thanks. Probably easy enough to buy one, and definitely no problem to carry." He had sealing scrolls, after all.

He quirked a brow at the phrasing of the request; Kakuzu could call him stupid all he wanted, but he did pay attention to some stuff. And he might be getting the wrong impression, but 'the things that I need to do' sounded like he wasn't entirely referring to hospital duties..... Which, incidentally, he probably couldn't share anyway; that sort of stuff was generally restricted to those with medical training. And while he did coincidentally have that training, he had yet to breathe a word about it. "Why not? Probably more interesting than whatever other jobs I could get around here.... What exactly did you have in mind?"

Lexaeus was amused by the thought Hidan offered, as if getting past the guards was the hardest task in getting out. However, such a thought was surely mistaken, and it would be amusing to hear stories from those who would try to get off of the island. "No, a couple of guards aren't a big deal. It's what lays beyond them that becomes a problem. Paixao sits on an island barely bigger than the city itself, and no one knows what lies beyond the ocean at its shores."

He smiled. Having one ninja at hand on an almost constant basis would be nothing less than beneficial, both to him and to the Organization. There would be no need to track him down, not really. Yes, it would certainly work out.

"I have some side projects that I've been contracted to work on." Well, that was true. And it wasn't giving more information than necessary. The Nobody wasn't going to outright claim to be a member of the Organization, but if Hidan figured it out, he wasn't going to complain. "I believe I'm going to need assistance in dealing with some of the people that I'll need to find, among other responsibilities for the project."

And when couldn't the Organization use a hand in antagonizing the public? Hidan did look awfully similar to Larxene with his hair slicked back...

"Seems like a load of shit, if you ask me." Dinner finished, Hidan turned that portion of his attention to his journal once again, scanning through the message board with interest--and a grudging hope that some people might have actually put up interesting things instead of trash and redundant shit. It wasn't a well-fulfilled hope, but there were at least a few posts that caught his interest. "For all we know, there could be a mainland not even 50 miles out. After all, who the fuck would come back once they left and found the rest of the world? If they were so eager to leave in the first place, they probably wouldn't be altruistic enough to come tell everyone what the hell is out there even if they did find out."

"And if it is dangerous, they either wouldn't make it at all, or wouldn't risk heading back through all that danger. Anyone here is fucked either way, pretty much, unless someone was forced to go check things out and come back." Didn't seem like it was worth it, to him. Who knew what was out there? And more importantly, who cared? Besides the stupid fuckers desperate to leave but not trying anything, of course. He didn't really care about much of anybody, and he wasn't desperate enough to try and build a boat, so.... Yeah. The others could rot and curse their luck, for all he cared; he was going to make himself comfortable here and enjoy the place and what it had to offer.

"Side projects, huh? Hang on...." For a long moment, there was silence, filled only by the staccato click of keys and whir of tiny cooling fans as his journal worked. He stopped soon enough, considering the information. "Kidnappings, experimentation, torture, monsters, poison in the water supply..... yeah, I guess a doctor could pull most of this shit off, with some help..... So you've got one of the black coats they're freaking out about on this thing, then?" He'd even found Lex's full name, how quaint.... weird fucking spelling, but there it was. He was actually smirking a little; the accusations, true or not, didn't really bother him. And hey, better to be chilling out with the big guns in the city than have them aiming at you, right?

Lexaeus couldn't offer anything but a shrug. To be honest, he was certain that there was nothing but an endless sea that always came back to Paixao. Then again, he wasn't going to investigate it.

"That's on them," he said. "I'm not really concerned with it, regardless. Let them bicker and fight over it. I'm perfectly happy staying put."

Lexaeus smirked inwardly. It took Hidan long enough to put two and two together. "And if I am, are you still going to stay here? Will you still help me out with the things I need to get done?"

"Yeah. Way fucking easier, anyway." And you could always go out to the rest of the island if you wanted to see real plants. He wasn't sure what the hell could be done about real animals--maybe there were some outside, or maybe you'd just have to accept that people were animals and that was the best you could fucking do around here. Who cared, really? As long as they weren't serving you like, a plastic steak or whatever, it didn't really matter.

Had Hidan heard that thought, he might have offered a rude gesture in return--who said someone else in his shoes would have figured it out at all? Some of these posts were pretty fucking buried, and he hadn't been searching for incriminating evidence in the first place. Besides, he'd just been fucking dug up and gotten to shower and eat; those things were both way more important, in his mind, than figuring out that a new friend was either a psychopath or working with psychopaths. Reminded of him of back home, really--he couldn't say much of the Akatsuki was really very sane. It seemed to come with the territory.

Hidan made a show of considering Lex's questions for all of five seconds. "As long as you guys'll patch me back together when stuff gets ripped off, sure; sounds like you don't exactly need help with skipping through flowers or some shit like that. What're those 'side projects' you need to get done?"

"Why give up a good job, anyway?" Lexaeus commented. "It pays well." And he would be stupid to leave it behind, were he not a member of the Organization. It certainly helped his cover, when the group as a whole was worried about their presence in the city when it came to the black coats.

Ah, but here was the thing. Lexaeus knew Hidan to be a smart man, as he equally knew that the ninja had been looking through things on the journals. He himself would have been suspicious of anyone who could have manipulated the earth the way he had done to free Hidan. Then again, that was him, and surely they were two different people. The Nobody knew there were others here who would have jumped to an accusation simply because of the X in his name. But obviously, Hidan wasn't one of them, and that was a good thing.

Psychopaths? No, the Organization was just a group of people working toward a single goal--getting back their hearts. Without them, they did things that could be considered heartless, like the experiments. After all, there was no real moral compass there to guide them anymore. But such was the problem with being a Nobody, and that seemed to be, in the end, what they were trying to fix.

"Patching you back together will be relatively easy," Lexaeus admitted. He'd have no problem doing that. "At the moment, we're just watching, waiting. I don't have specific orders yet, but I'm sure that assistance will be needed in dealing with the "Resistance" that is cropping up, as well as with bringing in folks, as requested. Think you can handle that, with direction?"

"Yeah, unless you had something better waiting for you...." Organization member or not, it was also good to get access to injured people; they would be relatively easy to kill in a hospital bed, wouldn't they? A dirty method, but quick and simple. As for being smart, well..... (thankfully someone was willing to give him credit for that) earth manipulation wasn't something too uncommon among shinobi, even at the skill level with which Lexaeus had displayed. It was, after all, a useful element to learn, and not the rarest of the intrinsic alignments. Who the hell cared about X's, anyway? just because he couldn't think of anyone else he knew with that letter--it was kind of exotic to put into names, truth be told--didn't mean that anyone who had it was a criminal.

The thought of being one of the few people in an organization of heartless, moralless people without emotions was.... a laughable one, at best. Give them Sasori or Deidara's high-flown artistic ideals, give them Zetsu's reverence towards nature, give them Pein's godlike 'morality', give them Tobi's innocence and kindness.... really, it would have taken some thought to choose a worse candidate to act as a moral compass for this group. At least he had his religion, though some people would say it wasn't moral at all--the only worse choices would probably be Kakuzu, driven solely by profit, or Itachi, who would share his personal motivations with nobody.

"Yeah, it is easy--it just needs a second pair of hands." Hidan agreed; his purposeful reading had more or less fallen into idle browsing now, without much else he could deem important to search for. "Yeah, sure; I could pull either of those off, easy. What's this Resistance thing all about, anyway, the kidnappings? Sounds like a glorified Buddy System, if you ask me...." It was more than that, obviously. But still, the idea felt a little bit ludicrous. What were resistance fighters,if not terrorists themselves? The very principle seemed as if it should undermine their values to some extent.

The medical knowledge was more than useful, in its own right. As the situation had called for it, Lexaeus wasn't shy with healing other people. That included the test subjects who had been played with a little too roughly by Larxene...

"I suppose you could consider the Resistance to be "anti-Organization," if you will," Lexaeus told Hidan. "They seem unhappy with their lot in life here, and obviously have too much free time on their hands if they're so willing to try and upset the balance in this city."

"Yeah, it figures." Hidan could only shrug at the information. "There's gotta be something for 'em to do, now that they can't do what they're supposed to, some cause to throw themselves behind. Why not get pissy at you guys, since you're the most visible targets? Kinda obvious conclusion, seeing as you all keep stirring shit up." Not surprising at all, honestly. If he was so inclined, he probably would have done the same thing. But he wasn't, for that matter. And for another, he liked Lex and owed him a big favor. And for another the Akatsuki could go suck balls for all he cared; he didn't give a flying shit if he had so-called "prior commitments". He didn't owe those bastards any crap; he'd served them despite not wanting to, and he'd caught the fucking Nibi like he'd been assigned to. That was it. He was done. He'd done his fair fucking share and then some; the bastards didn't have any claim on him, now that they had what they wanted and had ditched him--purposefully or not, he didn't care, as long as they left him alone now.

Still, he was new here, and newly affiliated with the Organization, which obviously held a lot of power here--that was exciting, and definitely more than Pein had ever managed back home, the arrogant fucker. "So if our Resistance buddies have way too much time on their hands, I presume one of you guys is looking into giving them something to do?" After all, it wouldn't do to leave them all sitting around and bored, right? Idle hands did the devil's work, and left them far too much time to plot and come up with nasty things to try and subvert them with.

Zetsu had taken his leave from the large group easily enough, and without regret; it hadn't seemed dangerous to do so. Sasori and Deidara were more than competent enough to handle anything that came their way; the artists weren't a team for nothing, after all, right? Their ranges, styles, and overall teamwork meshed excellently when they had to fight together. Pride was certainly no threat, nor were Nina or Alexander; Ed didn't seem to be spoiling for a fight either, and Repliku.... well, he seemed to have calmed down. And if he hadn't, then he was only one man. A single man would be childishly simple to take down with those two.

Thus, it was a simple matter for him to simply slip away through the wall of the hotel and sink into the earth, trusting the map in his journal and the address he'd been given. He rose out of the ground not far from the condominiums, and had walked the rest of the way, which wasn't far; the most time-consuming part of the trip, as it turned out, was simply confirming the number he had to find. Zetsu paused outside of the door to Lex's condo and knocked politely, waiting; Lex would find him looking a great deal more confident and business-like than he had been while he had been suffering from amnesia, as well as a fair bit more stoic and reserved.

Now that he knew what he was about.... well, he couldn't help but be a little disgusted with how helpless he had felt, how naively he'd latched onto assistance. At least it had all turned out well in the end.....

"Something like that, I believe," Lexaeus commented. He wasn't really sure at this point, when orders came so scarcely that he was lucky to receive them at all. Oh well, if the orders were really that important, he'd get them at some point.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts and Lexaeus was quick to get up and answer it.

"Ah, Zetsu, how nice to see you."

"Something like that? Geez, sounds like they don't even give you much to do; no wonder you've got to play with those idiots to keep yourself occupied." Sounded like the leader of this group wasn't that great either. Oh, well.... not like he wasn't used to serving under a crappy leader, right? He'd just have to deal, like he always did.

Curious, he perked a little at the knock on the door--who would be coming over at this time in the evening?--and turned to watch Lex go answer it, snickering a little to himself. Zetsu, of course. Figured..... Had that freak figured out he was here already, or was he here for other business?

"And yourself." Zetsu nodded politely to Lexaeus, leaves curling a bit to avoid scraping the top of the doorframe as he stepped in. He spared Hidan little more than a mildly surprised look; he hadn't known the Jashinist was in Paixao at all. And what on earth had he done to himself? He could still spy the ring and rosary, but other than that, he looked jarringly like a civilian, despite being anything but.

Regardless, his presence was filed away in the back of Zetsu's mind for later use, and he returned his gaze to his host, attentive and respectful as any good subordinate was; he was used to being summoned, and even if he had no affiliation with the doctor save a brief treatment, old habits were hard to break. Especially when he saw no real reason to do so; who cared if he was a little more formal than most might be? Most wouldn't walk around with leaves growing out of them and using plural pronouns, either. "You wanted to see us?"

"I did, indeed," Lexaeus commented, a soft smile gracing his face. The plural was duly noted, and it seemed as if Zetsu had recovered from the case of amnesia he had been afflicted with the last time they had met. "Come, sit." There was no reason not to be hospitable, after all, and Lexaeus had a cup of coffee ready for Zetsu, should he want it.

"I wanted to check up on how you were doing," the Nobody told Zetsu. "It's clear your memory has returned." He was also watching the interactions between Hidan and Zetsu, knowing that they were part of the same organization. Lexaeus was more than aware of how Hidan felt about the organization, but he didn't know if there would be trouble with Zetsu because of Hidan's desire to leave... He'd just have to see what happened.

"We hadn't known you were here. Have you contacted anyone yet?"

"Nah." Hidan brushed the question off as casually as he could manage; Zetsu probably wasn't the best to talk about defecting around, not when he was the one who handled all that stuff. "Didn't see the need to. Not like I'm in a hurry, right?"

"It would be the proper thing to do." Zetsu remarked, (not without a hint of reproach) and gave Hidan a long, considering look. He'd known Hidan had never been the most loyal member to begin with, but.... well, if he wanted to leave the group just because they were in a strange new city, then that didn't mean he didn't have to deal with the consequences--Leader-sama was here with them, after all, and hence could dispense judgement as he saw fit.

Zets sat as he was asked to, eyes glowing a little brighter as he looked over the cup; a quick inspection with Byakugan-enhanced sight and chakra-enhanced smell proved there to be nothing wrong with it, so he accepted the hospitality for what it was, taking a cautious sip. "It has. We're doing well, thank you; we were fortunately unaffected by the toxins in the water supply. We hope those gave you no trouble?" Might as well make small talk, if that was all he'd been invited for.....

((OOC: Unless they both have stuff to say, I'll probably collapse the two into one post now.))

Edited 2008-04-16 10:19 (UTC)

Lexaeus listened to the words exchanged between Hidan and Zetsu as they spoke with each other. He knew what it was like to deal with people you didn't necessarily want to. However, Larxene was an unfortunate but necessary evil within the Organization, and it seemed that the Akatsuki had their own Larxene(s).

"I am glad to hear it," he told Zetsu. "And no, I wasn't affected by the toxins in the water supply, though I did have to treat quite a few patients who were." A lie, but it didn't really matter. "They came in complaining of the strangest things...

"I am assuming that you and Hidan know each other quite well, given the conversation you've just had..." He wanted a better gauge of Hidan's relationship with the Akatsuki, and from someone other than Hidan. Zetsu, regardless of the amnesia he had when Lexaeus first met him, seemed like a relatively neutral party in general. His opinion on the matter would be quite useful.

So it seemed indeed; Zetsu didn't usually mind his interactions with the Akatsuki in general, sparing as they often were; working solo meant that any connections you formed tended to be of a purely professional nature, and those were quite bearable. Still, even they could get a trifle annoying at times, with some members....

Zetsu nodded at that, considering; whether he was suspicious or not, it was hard to say, but he did look at least mildly curious. "Fortunate for you; we aren't surprised. What sorts of symptoms did they complain of?"

"We've known Hidan for about three and a half years." Zetsu offered; that statement seemed to him as if it spoke for itself.

"You say that as if you've actually hung out with us." Hidan protested. "He's just some guy that occasionally shows up to clean up after our messes or bring us new orders."

Zetsu didn't look too perturbed by the correction--at least, not yet; he simply rolled his shoulders in a small shrug. "We have been in professional contact with you for that amount of time, then."

Of course, both sides of him wanted to qualify that statement--they always liked to, when such bland facts were offered, especially if he was challenged by someone like Hidan. The black side went first, as it always tended to, sweeping the corners of his mouth up in a half smirk, half sneer that exposed a fair few sharp teeth. "Just because you never see us doesn't mean we don't see you. Who are you to say what we know?" Definitely not a polite voice, that one; it was rougher and darker, rumbling with just an edge of threat.

The expression and tone dissipated as soon as they came, leaving behind a somewhat more pleasant, almost apologetic look, with a gentler voice to accompany it; the white side liked to chase soon after its companion to help smooth things over. "It is necessary that we know more about others than they do about us. Without such understanding, our work would prove more difficult." Neutral party or not--which he did tend to be, actually--even Zetsu had ways of making his opinions known.

Hidan grumbled, but said nothing more, glancing back down at his journal so he didn't have to look at his coworker. Well, that was fucking awkward....

Lexaeus listened again, patiently filing away the things he was told. So Hidan and Zetsu did know each other, and by Zetsu's own comments, the latter knew more about the former than the former would have liked. How interesting. He continued to learn things about the Akatsuki that were both surprising and not so much.

"Some of my patients came in with extra appendages and others were slowly turning transparent. It was quite the difficult situation to deal with."

The differences in personality were noted, documented, and would be considered further in the future.

"It seems like you know each other well enough, then." Lexaeus got up and moved to the kitchen, coming back with a drink that he slid over to Hidan--something with a good bit of liquor in it. He could tell that his new companion wasn't quite comfortable with his coworker here. However, Lexaeus wasn't about to kick Zetsu out, either.

Zetsu lifted his eyebrows at this information. "How strange..... were the conditions permanent, or were you able to stop or reverse any somehow?" Already, it was starting to sound a little fraudulent; he highly doubted that the poison would effect too many people exactly the same way, given what he knew about it....But what cause would there be for the doctor to lie about such things?

"Well enough, we suppose." Zetsu agreed, expression briefly a bit distant, before glancing at Hidan again. The telepathic conversation with Konan had been conducted, quickly and without complications; already he was wondering whether he would need to use force to bring Hidan to heel for this meeting.

Hidan, in the meantime, had remained mostly silent throughout the entire exchange, staring off into space and growing steadily more agitated as his own conversation with Konan progressed. How dare she! How dare that bitch! Who the hell did she think she was?! He didn't take orders from anyone from Jashin-sama! And to insinuate that he was a bad ninja for this..... this shit..... It was an outrage! He'd fucking kill her--slowly. He'd sacrifice her to Jashin-sama. Watch that bitch's face as she screamed while she bled and burned to death from a stomach wound....

He'd lick her blood off his hands and like it. Jashin-sama would be glad to have such a meaningful sacrifice when the time finally came. He was distracted from his musings--and telepathic tirade--by the sound of the drink scraping across the table. "Thanks." Hidan took a pull, tasting the liquor and deciding he didn't care enough to set it aside. If Lexaeus wanted to get him drunk, who was he to argue? After all, what was the worst Lex could do, fuck him? He certainly couldn't be killed, and--exasperated as he already was, combined with the alcohol already doing its work--somehow, he didn't mind the thought of that "worst case scenario" too terribly much. Hell, it might even be fun.

Edited 2008-05-12 05:41 (UTC)

"Some were easy enough to reverse, others not so much," Lexaeus commented. "I dealt with very few of the cases myself, so I only know about those few I saw and the things I have heard from the other doctors. Needless to say, it was an extremely bizzare condition to treat."

Lexaeus noted when first Zetsu and then Hidan grew distant, and then watched the reactions of the latter. By far, he could tell that Hidan was more expressive than Zetsu. He wondered what had happened, and nodded to Hidan when he was thanked for the drink. Hidan might be wondering if Lexaeus intended to get him drunk, but the Nobody only figured that the Jashinist needed a stiff drink in order to deal with some of his... coworkers.

"Is there something wrong, Hidan?"

"Fair enough. With all the citizens and visitors that must have come in, we doubt you would have gotten the bulk of them." Zetsu agreed, nodding at Lex's explanation and deciding simply enough that he was probably being fed a load of hot air. "What would you suggest be done, if there happens to be a recurrence?" That didn't seem to be something a man whom had dealt with such a complex and individualized poison would say, even if he only had treated a few cases. Zetsu would be the first to admit he hadn't exactly tackled a large number himself.... but still, the few he had been presented with suggested the contrary. Still.... if, on the off-chance, Lex had been treating people with something of use, he'd certainly like to know what it was. Why wouldn't a concerned resident want to protect himself, after all?

"Oh, nothing new." He waved Lex's question off with a breezy gesture. "Leader-chan's little bitch-whore is being a sadistic, manipulative cuntface again." Wasn't she always? He'd like to rip that double-edged tongue right out of her head. Wouldn't that be a treat.....

Zetsu said nothing, though he offered his--partial--disapproval of Hidan's words and attitudes through a chiding look and slightly furrowed brows. The expression didn't register fully, though; he deliberately licked his lips as a flicker of something like sly anticipation passed over the rest of his face, a wolfish dare for Hidan to push his luck further and stir up his loyalty enough to give due cause to actively correct him. The schism of emotions and expressions wasn't altogether unusual for him; Zetsu was often enough balancing two very different states of mind, and--despite his more rational intentions--at the moment, the more feral side of him wouldn't at all mind a little scuffle.

The aura of venom around Hidan grew stronger still towards Zetsu, as could only be expected; a cannibal's hardly-veiled threat of eating him did little to improve his mood. Still, his discomfort had faded a fair bit, and he took another drink rather than snap at the plantman; he wasn't afraid of him. He wasn't fucking afraid of anyone. Sure, the overgrown weed-freak could probably take him down--just about all of the Akatsuki (theoretically) knew how to incapacitate him, but they couldn't kill him--he'd welcome it if they somehow did, though--, and they wouldn't dare chop him up and bury him again now that they had him back.... Especially not with how fucking possessive Konan was being now. They couldn't do anything to him that he hadn't stomached before. Whether they admitted it or not, those bastards needed him.

The rest of the admittedly brief business was quick and reasonably peaceful. Lex hadn't been able to offer Zetsu any further advice on the water poisoning, and Hidan, for the most part, had toned himself down since the Akatsuki wasn't mentioned again. Zetsu took his polite leave soon after, carefully making sure the door was shut behind him before he earthmelded to rejoin his companions. Hidan, on the other hand, opted to just go sleep on the couch. After all, the bed was taken; it was the other most comfortable place to be, and he was tired. Who wouldn't be?

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