Description: It's more than just morbid curiosity that brings Ayame to a wounded Roland's hospital room. And it's more than friendly rivalry that has Southtown Detective, Daniel, waiting nearby for that very thing. Faced with a predator beyond their individual abilities to deal with, an unlikely trio forms to protect their own.
After the last time he was left alone /literally ended in him dying/, Roland's had a complete ban on visitors in his room. There is usually an attendant outside who will make sure that only doctors and nurses with actual business enter the room. It's hardly a thorough check, none of them being guards or the like, but it would take some level of conning or smooth manipulation to manage. Daniel has completely failed in this regard, of course. He is a bit hard to forget, and an explicit description was given that he should not even be in the hospital anymore after all the vodka and porn he tried to give Roland. There's a number of machines still keeping the American cowboy alive, although he's stable and conscious now, no longer in critical condition. Still deathly pale and feeble as a teemo, but it is 'optimistic' he won't die 'within 12 to 24 hours'.
She arrived at the site after it had already become a crime scene. Roland was gone, police standing around, the flashing lights of their parked patrol cars providing flickering illumination that cast ever changing shadows along the street. The ambulance was gone. People were milling about. A couple things were overheard but what was noteworthy was the amount of blood. She wasn't surprised, of course. She had seen the killer's craftmanship more than once now. She wove through the crowd, taking it all in with a cursory glance. There wasn't much to glean from it that she didn't already know, however. The only words that caught her by surprise were mention of a 'missing an arm'. She left not long after. Law enforcement and her weren't on good terms.
The hospital was her next stop. She had hung back, loitering in waiting rooms, a long coat pulled on over her attire, just another worried visitor, though no one was sure who she was there to visit. No one had the time to care, either. For a while, her attention was focused on a netbook on her lap. Packet sniffing the hospital WiFi got her the data she needed to reverse-engineer one of the doctor's logins. With that, she was able to monitor records, review reports, and keep track of the only patient in the building she was interested in.
She would wander off occasionally for brief moments and come back, looking different. Her hair would be hidden under a hat, her coat exchanged for a jacket, her clothes swapped for more mundane, everyday attire that wouldn't stand out. Sometimes she had glasses, other times her hair would be done up in different styles. It was enough to keep anyone from noticing her hanging around too long. It was from beneath a black baseball cap and from behind an open magazine that she had watched Roland's room receive not one but two visitors. The first stood out as quite familiar. The second stirred up quite a commotion in passing through, and in the end the two were ejected from the recovery room.
The medical reports were illuminating, provding her with details about how Roland was cut and about his missing arm. He wasn't supposed to have survived that, she's pretty sure. Did the killer make a mistake? Did he not expect him to live through the ordeal? Or did he not care? She shakes her head, grunting as an attendant gets placed on guard duty. What a hassle. At least those other visitors of his will be out of the way...
Pushing to her feet, Ayame disappears down a hall. Minutes later the latest shift nurse makes her rounds, clipboard in hand, a stack of thin folders under one arm. She approaches the attendant with confidence, flips the clipboard around to show it, "Doctor Perskin requested the patient's propofol drip be reduced by point oh-three millimeters." The line is delivered with all the indifference one who has had to say something similiar thousands of times. The medical request form looks legitimate down to signiture.
Ayame steps into Roland's room with no further issue. Her expression changes from that of a young woman wishing she wasn't stuck on the night shift to one of mild annoyance. This was Roland's fault somehow, she was certain, even if she couldn't figure out quite how.
The folders and clipboard are deposited on a mobile cart near the side of his bed before Ayame begins to walk around the bed and take a look at the wounded man. "Hmph."
When Ayame first got to the hospital, Roland was in no condition to be seen. He was in code blue critical condition; he technically arrived dead, and was far from in easy street after. What she could siphon shows that he lost an arm. 'The arm was not present on the scene.' is a bit more chilling, meaning he had no chance of it being reattached. Apparently he was only struck three times. A gutting blow to the stomach, a vicious slash across the torso, then a blow that took off his right arm. That was more then enough. There's lots of chilling notes. 'Split ribs'. 'Broken ribcage'. 'Shattered sternum'. Freeman knew what he was doing. Not a single artery was nicked or cut. He 'bled out slowly', and was 'likely conscious for quite some time'. The only reason he survived at all was twofold. One, Ayame's quick response after finding out where he was near. And two... Freeman wanted him to suffer. This is not a result of messed up technique. Roland was listed with a 4 percent chance of surviving 12 hours when he arrived. It was still not in two digits twelve hours later. His rugged willpower and determination is what defied the odds.
Daniel had been present before visitors were allowed, meaning Ayame had no chance to sneak in of her own accord. It's only after Daniel and Todoh got kicked out for 'killing him' that the opportunity presents itself. Roland is barely conscious when Ayame enters. Eyes blink towards her, trying to take things in. "Are you here for my spongebath...?" It's actually impossible to tell if he realizes who it is or not. He'd probably say something to that effect either way!!
Inside the room, Ayame's expert eye is better able to take in the situation. Charts are reviewed, the girl glancing over the devices in place keeping the man alive contrary to what must have been the intent. "You'd like that, I'm sure," she replies, her tone distant, distracted even. Why is she even here? It won't do any good. There's nothing Roland could tell her about the butcher that cut him down that she isn't already painfully familiar with. And even if he did tell her something new, what of it? What would she do with it? Try to get revenge? Try to track down Freeman and 'do something about it'? He already said he was done with her. The smartest thing she could possibly do would be to /stay out of it/.
She breathes in then exhales, "Well, I'm glad you didn't die, no thanks to your remarkable talent for ignoring every word I said." She tried to warn him. Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference. The executioner was fast. He found him within minutes of vanishing from her apartment. How long had it taken her to make the same trip? Did he know already? He had tricked the name out of her as his final torment before leaving... He most know a lot about fighters, she muses, to already know more about Roland Brown's patterns faster than she was able to figure them out. "I didn't send him after you, I hope you know." Does he hate her for what happened? Possibly. It would be well within his rights.
She doesn't look at Roland often, finding faux interest in the devices he's hooked up to instead. Now and then a furtive glance is cast all the same, as if searching for something, before looking away again. "Um..." She's never visited someone on a possible deathbed before. She's so rarely at a loss of words. Why does nothing at all come to mind now?
"Ugh. You got me pretty good. Having a psychotic person try to cut me and steal my arm... yeesh. I had no idea you'd be that bitter about a ducked dinner date." Roland has a very monotone voice about this, but it's impressive he can make light of the clear reality given all that went down. A laugh at the prospect of Freeman NOT being sent by Ayame. "A, hack, a likely story! Why else would he go after me? You knew he was coming!!" She'd only confirm how pathetic the man seems by glancing. The stump of an arm. How vividly his stubble shows beneath his pale grey skin. The glazed look of someone drugged and suffering. "So, did you come to pull the plug...? I think it's that one..." He shakily points to a wire. It actually is attached to a light. A light that is not currently on. "But I can't reach it from here..." Feeble attempt.
"Oh please," Ayame grunts when he first starts in on her having sent a psychopath after him, but her focus is on one of the labeled IV drip tubes, taking note of the medication he's on at the moment. Of course she was broke back then and had no prayer of paying the expensive dinner bill. Escaping out of that mess wasn't easy but she hadn't felt spiteful over the incident.
When he seems to challenge her to explain why he was the fiend's target, she darts a glance toward him, eyes narrowed, mouth curled into a scowl, but she doesn't offer anything in way of explanation. She was played. But so what if she had been? If she had seen through the crimson-haired one's deception and resisted offering a name, he would've killed her then, wouldn't he have? "You'd have done the same," she states defensively, arms folding in front of her.
It's only when he starts talking about the plug that he gets a stronger reaction out of her. She glances toward the plug in question then looks back at him, circling around to the right side of his bed. "Yeah? That what you want? You want to pull the plug? Don't look at me. If you want to kill yourself, you can do that well enough on your own. Seems like you were already doing a good enough job of that already when I called you if I remember the details right..." She eyes roll up as she taps her chin, "Something about people asking after you, right? You were worried about that. Sounds like you already had some dangerous people interested in your whereabouts, is that it?" Her bedside manner is terrible.
"I didn't know he would come for you. And so fast. I tried to warn you." What IS she doing here, she asks herself again. Does she want his forgiveness? Has she ever apologized for anything before? She turns to walk over near the curtains, her hand slipping into the pocket of the nurse's jacket she has on. Fiddling for a bit, she brushes her hand over the curtain than wanders back around the room as if pacing. "I don't know if he will try again." she adds. The killer's fancies were whimsical and hard to read. Would he care that Roland survived in the end? Or would that be an incomplete gift offered? Would he obsess over finishing the deed? "If he comes here... well, I won't be far." she finally declares. That seems like the right thing to do, she considers. That's what most people would do, right?
"And neither would I."
Not being too far away. That's what someone like Daniel Jack would do. After Roland died the second time that day, the detective and his mentor had been kicked out. It wasn't Daniel's fault that he made Roland flatline. But Daniel Jack wasn't going to abandon Roland over some rules and regulations. Besides, he had a similar dreadful thought as Ayame.
What if the killer DID return.
After his cold response, the detective stands at the doorway. Daniel wasn't in costume like Nurse Ayame here; he had to procure his own means of sneaking in. Mostly involving Master Todoh's assistant... and the Ancient Traditional Arts of Todoh-Ryuu. When everyone was investigating the crazy man with bear arms, it was as if the detective was just a face in the background. Still, when Danny reached the door and heard voices, he listened. Danny didn't know Ayame had snuck by for meeting. But it wasn't surprising. It might make the wrong impression on the detective. It might make the right. Daniel Jack didn't think Ayame was the killer here.
But frankly, she reeked of something right now.
"Keep your voices down, I heard you in the hallway." The detective mutters, shutting the door behind him. "I gotta say, Ayame, I didn't think you'd be here. I was going to ask Roland about what happened, and some other things. But after killing him earlier today, I decided to ease off." Standing at the door, he crosses his arms. Blocking the easiest exit out of the room. "I think you have a lot of explaining to do. Why are you here."
"And what do you know about what happened to him."
Actually, Roland died three times that day. The third time was caused by Todoh and Daniel. Capitalizing on Todoh's distraction does turn out to give Daniel the means to look inside. His nurse is certainly better suited for a pinup then anything else. "Don't tell me what to do!!" Roland actually manages to grip the wire and yank out the plug. Nothing happens, though. Assumably he knew that. Well, Ayame might hope, at least. "H,hey. There's a big difference between us... and it is..."
Oops, here's Daniel.
Eyes settle on the detective for some moments, before returning to Ayame. "I think you owe me an explanation." he murmurs in agreement. "About how you knew someone was about to rip me into pieces. I had pictured our next meeting after so long going a little differently then it did..." Roland winces, and then does a dopey grin. "Although you were in a nurse outfit in that one, too..."
Ayame stares as Roland pulls the light plug much to no effect as expected. She simply blinks once, whether out of indifference or surprise that he actually did it would be hard to say given her current expression of mild irritation. He starts to say something about the difference between them and her eyebrow arcs, but he never gets to it before they're joined by a third.
Ayame glances over her shoulder as Daniel comes in. She looks defensive but doesn't move from where she's standing currently. "Yeah, I heard about that. Nice work there." she replies dryly with regards to killing Roland earlier in the day. The girl looks away from Daniel back toward Roland then back to Daniel. "I dunno," she answers his first question without hesitation. "I'm not going to hurt him if that's what you're wondering." That's about as specific as she gets as to her purpose there.
Of course Daniel is going to want to know more, she's well aware. He didn't get into his line of business without having an inquisitive mind. And even a dullard would want to know as much as possible about what happened to someone they seem to at least be on some kind of friendly terms with. Roland says something about owing an explanation and Ayame grimaces, the killer's words about her paid debt ringing in her ears once more. She lifts her hand to brush a bit of her hair back over her shoulder, glancing back and forth between the two men, clearly trying to finalize what version of events she was actually going to tell them.
"I knew he was going to rip you to pieces," she turns toward Roland now, addressing him directly. "Because he was in the middle of doing that to me when he told me. Sorta." She closes her eyes for a moment. "It was the second time he attacked me. The first time was a little over a week ago in the Metro City park. I had stumbled across someone else he killed. I was sure he was going to do the same to me but let me go. He promised he would come find me again." She opens her eyes then. "I... just didn't expect it to happen so fast. I thought I would have time to look into him, figure out how to deal with him before he made good on that promise."
Ayame sighs, shoulders sinking a little. "He attacked again last night. But he was just toying with me then. He made it clear you were going to be his next. I called you the second I could." She frowns, glancing back toward Daniel then. "I don't know very much about him. I mean, I could describe him in perfect detail. I guess that will be helpful. But when it comes to what he's doing, I only have ideas, things he's said, bits and pieces...."
Three times? God dammit Roland, make up your mind.
Daniel Jack doesn't leave the post by the door. This was two-fold; he had a feeling that Ayame was the type to mysteriously slip out while they were distracted. The second was that his attention was focused outward, not just inward; it might be important to give the room a warning on an incoming nurse. Still, Daniel Jack continues, repeating the words of relevance to the detective, words that he remembered with utter disgust. The words from someone who came out of a real fight.
"You mean a real killer, Ayame?"
"Someone who's broken mind thinks your guts are hiding something they want and the only way for them to find satisfaction is to carve you open and take a look for themselves." The detective echos, remember the fight between him and Ayame. "I bet Roland was still alive while he was poking around inside him. What was it? Ripping your ribcage apart? You told me that I haven't seen real inhumanity yet."
"Well, I think I've seen it."
Daniel Jack keeps his intense gaze, his intense stance, over watching the duo. "This wasn't about Roland, Ayame. This was about you. My friend, a member of the Todoh-Ryuu Family got torn about because he knew you. That killer let you go once. You knew about that killer when we fought. You gave him information about Roland. There are only two reasons I can see why he came after Roland. You WANTED him to mess Roland up. You set this up, accidently or otherwise. The second is that he did this to hurt you, to make you suffer. To HURT you by hurting the people that were closest to you."
"The people that you love, Ayame."
The detective had Ayame trapped. A dangerous thing to do. Fear makes people desperate. There were a thousand and one ways Daniel could get the answers he wanted out of Ayame, without forcing her hand. The trouble was, Roland got maimed. He may never fight again. He may not even live the night. "I will swear, Ayame. No matter what your answer is, I won't lay a damn hand on you, sweetheart. I'll remember it, and so help me, I may avenge Roland on it. But I want the truth, and if you give it, I'll let you go." Daniel Jack takes a deep breath, and then exhales.
"Who is this killer, Ayame. And what did you tell him to bring this despair on the House of Todoh."
"You damn liar." Roland manages to say in a slurring monotone towards Ayame. "You love hurting me. It's whether you'd kill me or not that's at question here." He's given no attention to the fact pulling the plug has failed to kill him, so assumably it was one of his morbid jokes. Eyes blink, and Ayame is given a once over. She certainly doesn't look like someone in nearly the same state as the hapless cowboy. He'd be in a bad spot even if he weren't permanently missing a limb from the whole thing. "So you were taken off guard... by some murderer...? Damn, Ayame. I thought if nothing else... we had our mind games." After some time, he then blinks. "Wait... that doesn't explain. Why he bothered to come after me. ...Why would he tell you at all? The one person who was, nngh, able to actually warn me?" Most of the pieces have come together. But not all of them!!
Before he suddenly lunges up, and snaps out a hand to grasp Daniel's own. "You watch your fucking mouth." he states, in a sheerly scathing hiss that the other man has never heard before. "I don't regret meeting Ayame. Not even now. Not even laying here lacking an arm. If some sadistic fuck decided to go to town on me for knowing her... then that's just a bad draw of the cards. You understand me?"
He then winces, and heavily slumps back on the bed, vitals once more spiking in a negative fashion. "Heh... the mistake the freak made... was thinking Ayame had anyone she cared about. Must have been... really grasping at straws to try to slice me up to bother her..." There's no sign of this being a joke. A sort of dry amusement at facts.
She's quiet as Roland calls her out for being a liar, mouth twitching a little as she stays focused on him for a moment. She almost looks, for a fleeting moment, a touch amused.
But when Daniel speaks up, the girl shifts her attention to him. "I believe those were my words, yes." She seems nonplussed that Daniel is echoing them back to her. "This butcher will do that and more if he decides you're his next canvas." What was it Freeman had said - painting with her blood? "I don't think you have." she replies to his insistence that he has witnessed inhumanity. She shakes her head, still facing the detective.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Her complexion pales a little. She's thinking too much about that night in the park. The body. His finger slicing into her throat. She takes a breath and closes her eyes before exhaling. "I don't care if you ever do. But if you decide you're going to get your revenge, you better take a small army to take this guy down." Can he die? She isn't sure. He sure as hell can't be injured like a normal person.
She frowns as Roland cuts back in, then turns half to the side, looking back toward the window of the room, arms still folded. She could leave, she tells herself. Oh, sure, Daniel might not make it easy. But she'd get past him in the end, she's pretty sure. She could just leave and disappear. That would be the best thing to do. Just forget about all this. The devil said he was done with her. He must have gotten what he wanted. She could put this behind her and damn to hell whoever he takes interest in next. The easy way out - isn't that always the best option?
Roland continues to muse his way through it. His words about not regretting meeting her stick to her thoughts, but she doesn't show a visible reaction, her side toward him, her eyes toward the curtain-covered window. They want an explanation she doesn't care to give. She could keep lying, force enough pieces together, form a solid story. She could leave. But is that what she wants, she muses. Does she want revenge? Does she want Daniel to get this revenge for her?
"He wanted to know if I thought there was anyone that would miss me when he killed me." she finally states, closing her eyes, picturing the dark room, the executioner looming over her. Opening her eyes again, she turns on Daniel. "I gave him nothing besides a name. I don't know how he found him faster than I could warn him."
She turns on Roland then, "Yeah, who knows, huh? Maybe I lost my mind a little." Why did she say his name? It was the only true name that would get the creature to leave her alone... but why? She's going on the defensive. She's spent too much time feeling vulnerable in the last fourty-eight hours as it is, and she's rapidly reaching her limit. She sucks in her breath then exhales. "I don't know who he is. All I can tell you is what he looks like, what he's said. I'll write it down, all fancy like for you, yeah? He wasn't exactly a gentlemanly sort, didn't even offer his name before he started cutting on me." It wouldn't be hard to tell that she's starting to close down. There probably won't be a lot more to get out of her here and now.
Daniel Jack's glower is unbreakable, unceasing. The butcher. The killer. He could see that Ayame was getting weaker. This presence of Freeman was a ghost, a ghoul. A demon, a monster. It haunted her, it haunted Roland. And now, it was haunting him. The detective intensity was not yielding. The detective keeps his exterior cold, and grim.
But Roland's outburst breaks the outer shell.
Daniel Jack's face softens. His brow furrows. Jaw slack, he begins to move out of the way, giving Ayame her exit as Roland grabs him. The detective... apologizes. "I'm sorry Roland. I'm sorry Ayame"Daniel Jack sighs, reaching around in his coat. "I think I understand now. Yeah, I'll take the description. But it's not my ground to say it aloud. The clues are there, Ayame." He says. And that is all his says on it. Drawing out a notepad and pen, he hands it to Ayame. Eyes soft, he looks at Ayame, before muttering something so soft.
"... You're scared, aren't you."
The detective shakes his head, looking back at Roland. "I'm scared. I'm scared for Roland. I'm scared for you. There isn't any rhyme. Any normal reason for this. This isn't an attempt at a murder. This is a mutilation. This is a ritual. This has a -meaning- to it. To bring misery, to bring an intimate suffering. The body isn't this man's canvas. The suffering is." The detective pauses, looking at Ayame.
"He did it to hurt you."
Daniel looks nervously at the door, licking his lower lip. "... I'm not going to take him on alone. You never face people like that alone. They want you alone. They want to make you alone. They want everything alone. It makes it more intimate." He shakes his head. "No, I got a gang on hand. A few choice. A man short now. But I got enough connections. I won't let myself be alone."
"And you shouldn't either."
The sleuth raises an eyebrow "... You got someplace safe to stay? Brightly lit, with people you can trust? If you don't have it, I can help you get it. You can't pretend this away. He is going to come for you. You're his game. He isn't going to stop, Ayame, until he is done playing with you. Until he can't make you suffer anymore. I can't do this alone. Roland.... Roland, you couldn't do this alone."
"And you can't do this alone, Ayame."
Roland seems content that Daniel has backed off any accusations of Ayame. Even if they were true, that's not his business!! He can deal with backstabbing sexy females on his own discretion, after all. There's just some things that rivals and teammates have no right interjecting themselves before. Badly wanting a smoke and peering around futilely to try to find something, he just gives a lazy shrug of his good shoulder. The other remains in too much pain. "I am not scared, really. I'm resigned to die. Been living that way for many years. But I didn't expect it to be something random." An interesting clue to go with what the drunken Roland said on the phone.
"Well. He meant to kill me. And he failed. Dimes to donuts he'll try to finish things. Probably sooner, rather then later. It got out on the news today. Wasn't repressed in time. You guys found out because you knew me, but now even the monster's going to know. Ayame... does he seem the type to leave things half-finished?" A glance at the girl, genuinely inquiring. "...before you worry about saving her," Roland states to Ayame. "Two things. One, she's MY love interest." He sounds possessive in that respect. "Two, keep him from killing me first. That sound agreeable?"
The notepad is accepted, the pen clicked to useable, and Ayame takes a step back. She glances up from the paper when he declares her scared, eyes narrowing a little, but otherwise offers no reply. She seems defensive still, perhaps considering that she's already said way more than she should have. But when he admits to being scared, she seems to relax a little, shoulders slouching a touch, as if she feels it less necessary to keep her guard up.
He understands now what she was trying to warn indirectly before. The monster that did this... it can't be understood. It really /shouldn't/ be understood. Understanding it, completely, is dangerous. He states it was done to hurt her and she glances back down at the notepad and begins writing. "I know." Her details will be precise. The crimson hair, a seemingly hastily done dye job, the sinewy nature of his body, his height, a close guess on weight. She would slow down on describing his face. "He said he would teach me death by proxy..." she states. So she did know, full well, that this was because of her. She returns to the notepad, trying to focus. How to put a face like his to words?
Daniel says he's not going to take him on alone and Ayame glances back up to make eye contact with the detective, nodding her head slightly. Good. He /definitely/ understands, then, the lethality of the situation. He is the right man to work with after all. He mentions having a gang and she is quiet. That she didn't know, even when she poked around into his affairs before their NDP match, she didn't pick up on that. He asks about a place to stay and she's quiet, offering neither a yes or a no.
She glances at Roland as he says he's not scared. Now there's a dangerous one. He's too stupid to know how to be scared, she decides. "Moron." she grunts at him. But as he continues, she stays quiet. He is right about a lot of what he says. "He doesn't leave anything half-finished." her voice is quiet as she extends the notepad and pen back toward Daniel.
"With you alive, the lesson isn't complete, is it." As he declares her his love interest, however, her mouth curls into a faint smirk, "You have a strange way of showing it." Maybe she IS still sore about the dinner ditching. "I... could use a place to say." she finally states, turning toward Daniel. "Just for a short while, I have other arrangements to make."
Daniel's business was other people's business.
It just depended on who had the highest price.
The detective turns to Roland, as Ayame chips away on the notepad. He grimly watches his rival. If he returned to the fighting ring, it wouldn't be the same. But maybe, just maybe, there might be something for the missing limb. "Woody, you asshole." The detective growls tersely. "You aren't allow to die on me yet. You're going to get out of this, okay? You can call yourself a one-armed bandit; we can get you an artificial limb. Don't sign off on yourself. Never sign off on your life. Believe that no matter what, you are going to live forever. You will always keep your life, never give it away."
"Make them take it from you."
As Ayame finishes the notes, Daniel Jack turns away from Roland, to retrieve the notepad. "Death by proxy. Yeah. This is a game to him. Don't worry about Roland." He states, tucking away the notepad. "He doesn't need to be scared. His only job is to rest, and recover." Daniel ponders. Something to lighten the mood. Looking at Roland, he begins. "He's right, you know. He really likes you, Ayame." The detective's expression is dead serious.
"Why, I'd say he'd give his right arm for you."
Daniel coughs at his own joke. "... I'm gonna set up camp in the waiting room. If living on Gedo Street has taught me anything, that's where the psychos get you." The detective growls. "If this psycho is going to hit someone, it's either going to be one of you two, and until Roland gets checked out of this hospital, I'm not leaving this hospital, no matter what any god damned nurse says." The detective frisks in his pocket, snatching a cellphone. "I'll make a few calls. I'll see if I can pull some people away from Sunshine City. Maybe some of Zaki's girls. Maybe Vyle. Once Roland gets stabilized, things gets a lot easier. Until then, I'm going to hunt down blankets, and maybe some walkie talkies." Daniel Jack begins to head to the door, before pausing. "... It's going to be okay. This nutjob made a mistake when he got me involved. He thinks he can mess with Todoh-Ryuu? He thinks he can mess with my friends?"
"We're going to make him regret ever crossing paths with any of us."
"The hell you talking about, Danny Smalls? I never said I was quitting anything. Don't get too hopeful. I bet people underestimating me because of it will make them even worse off then if I had two." Roland earnestly doesn't sound worried about such things, but he actually couldn't be reliably called 'alive' yet. There's still countless things that could go wrong. Blood clots, system shocks, recurrent bleeding, heart strain... Ayame would still read he's only at 50/50. But that's far, far more then the four percent he started out with.
"..." Roland doesn't look embarrassed by the comment. One would need shame for such a thing. But he doesn't appreciate puns. He facepalms so hard that his vitals spike dangerously once more. Listening to Daniel's rare moment of serious concern and pride for his friends, Roland's comment is simple and to the point. "Ayame's staying at MY Place." A glare is done at the girl, as if daring her to do otherwise. "It's empty until I'm out of here anyway." With that much settled, he eases back down on the bed. "Now unless Ayame is going to give me a sponge bath, both of you get out of here. If I'm going to die suddenly, it's going to be high on morphine."
Ayame is quiet as the relentless detective insists that Roland shouldn't give up on his life, the girl glancing back and forth between the two men. "Yeah," she agrees when he mentions the wounded gambler simply needs to rest and recover, but her timing is such that it sounds like she's agreeing with his statement that comes immediately after - an error that she catches, eyes widening a touch, "W-wait, what?" before buttoning up again. Her grimace to the pun that follows is in perfect synch with Roland's facepalm but the moment passes quickly as Daniel moves on into discussing where things go from there.
She nods slowly as he talks about setting up a camp here. It's the only choice they have, ultimately. The butcher could return at any time and what are a bunch of unprepared attendants against a monster like that? He mentions Sunshine city and Ayame cants her head to the side slightly. He HAD mentioned that during the NDP bout... a curious investigation going on there. The list of names he fires off after that is even more curious still. Zaki? The Seijyun gang leader? /VYLE/? But she doesn't so much as blink at his words, nodding in agreement about not doing anything until Roland was stable.
Daniel turns toward the door and pauses, catching Ayame's attention once again. She opens her mouth to reply but Roland cuts her off, dictating where she'll stay until he recovers. Well, she can't be TOO difficult with him, she did almost get him killed after all. "Fine." The wounded cowboy settles back down into the bed and demands they take this stageshow outside of his room and the girl rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I better go change before someone /really/ needs a medical opinion." She does idly wonder just where the nicknames they have for each other came from... but she decides that's a mystery best explored at a later time.
Sounded like a long, boring night of sitting watch ahead. But she was already too late to save Roland once. If she protects him now, maybe that crushing weight of debt nagging at her mind will go away finally.
She makes her way through the door and vanishes, not having to fight her way out of the room in the end. As to what could possibly happen next, well... she's certain it won't be pleasant. Daniel is unlikely the first to make such a threat but the phantom doesn't seem the sort to be carrying around a lot of regrets.
Even with an arm missing, Roland was just as horny as ever.
"Just keep close. I'll be coming around later with what you need. As of now, the killer could be right around the corner, waiting for his chance." Stepping out in the hallway, the detective groans. How the hell did he get himself in these messes. On the best of terms, Daniel Jack would be spending god knows how many days in a hospital, waiting for an ambush that didn't happen. On the worst terms.....
Well, at least they weren't too far from the morgue.
The detective raises up his cell phone. What Roland and Ayame did behind those doors? Wasn't his business until someone paid him. Sure, he was curious. But it is his job to be curious. Scrolling down the address book, he finally reaches the number he needs. They needed reinforcements. Whoever the psycho was, he seemed to pick off single targets. A predator picks off the weak, the solitary. There was a real strength in numbers here, and not just in a fight; A predator would choose to wait and watch if it looked like there were too many people. That meant he kept close to the action. That would give them a chance to catch him.. before they were ambushed. Bringing the phone to his ear, he speaks. "Hey? This is Daniel."
".. I'm gonna need a favor, sweetheart."
Log created on 22:41:34 05/29/2012 by Ayame, and last modified on 12:20:52 05/31/2012.