maskormenacelogs | Copernican Theory and Other Such Things [OPEN]

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Copernican Theory and Other Such Things [OPEN]

WHO: Manabu, any
WHERE: Nonah, out n' about
WHEN: first days in June, GED study, bike thefts, store visits...
WHAT: Idleness is combated, lessons are studied, books are read, bikes are purchased
WARNINGS: ?

o1.
'He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent.'

Whew. That's one way to say "the detective stays laser-focused on detective skills to be a good detective." Once again, Manabu has to stop what he's doing to listen and absorb the meaning, otherwise it's just words filling his ears, completely missing the point. He's done that about three times already in this read-through, having to pause and rewind portions he zoned out of while scratching away at math problems.

This...isn't the best way to absorb as much information as fast as possible, he knows. But the math keeps his hands busy while he sits still to listen. And where he sits -- out here, a grassy patch in the park under a tree -- is change enough from an enclosed room as to combat boredom a little better, he hopes.

He sits up, gently drumming his pencil on the notebook in his lap while he considers the narration playing through the earphones. This detective guy...sure sounds like a jerk, he thinks. At least, that's the way the narrator seems to think. He fidgets and picks up the mp3 player, holding down rewind and playing it again, just in case he missed something again. All the while, he glances about the park, watching early-afternoon joggers and dog-walkers pass along, weaving around less driven folk heading to work or lunch or the like.

o2.
Eating on a shoestring budget has paid off, but only just. Manabu almost regrets quitting that mall ride gig...almost. But finally being able to pass the handful of cash he needed to score a bicycle is quite validating. See? All the nights of the Same Exact Noodle Dish have paid off!

He hums, chipper and excited at the prospect of getting anywhere faster than on foot, and walks the bike out of the shop. Once he's out of the way of other possible customers and commuters on the sidewalk, he takes a knee and sets to inspecting the chain and wheels, just to make sure everything's in proper order before heading along his way.

It's during this harmless moment that poses opportunity for a stranger in a mysterious hurry to, while running down the sidewalk and shoving people out of the way, just snatch the bike by the handlebars and race away with it, hopping on mid-sprint and making a break across a crossing. All the while, Manabu's hands nearly get run over, himself jerking backward with a yelp, and is left sprawled on the ground gobsmacked.

"...Wh--" He sits up, shaking the daze off, and starts to his feet. "Hu-he-HEY! Waitaminute-!"

Seriously?!

o3. [prompt for KANAYA]
Nonah's 'downtown' isn't the dizzying sort of metropolis Manabu's experienced before, so there's no real issues navigating. Remembering the direction address numbers rise or fall is the key -- at least until particular shops become ingrained in his memory. Right now, there's just one Manabu has in mind to memorize.

It's pretty amazing, he thinks, to know someone who's gotten so famous...He's glad Kanaya's doing well for herself. For how long it's been, for how many he knew absent, he's relieved she's still around. Some of the insight she gave on the happenings he missed makes him worry about his chances of making up for the shortcomings he was part of, but...but it's also kind of invigorating. He has a new, higher-set bar to strive for.

Shame Manabu's not the sort to really notice aesthetic, or maybe he'd see the way the storefront suits her. The way things in the windows make perfect sense, that honestly he shouldn't have needed an address to find it on his own.

"Hello," he calls absently, pushing the door open and peeking in, looking around for the familiar face.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's always when Duo is just out and about minding his own business that he happens upon these little wrong-doings, petty thefts and harassment and massive outbreaks of mutated monsters. Okay, well the last one he doesn't happen upon so much anymore, because this world actually seems to have itself mostly together, which is both a blessing and a curse. It makes it much more difficult for him to travel about incognito when he needs to, although that's probably at least partially his fault, being Unregistered and all. His cover as a priest certainly helps him get excuses to travel around though, and that's why he's in Nonah, helping out as he has been at churches and shelters in the various imPort cities, all the while checking them out and gathering information, should he ever need to actually throw down in one of them.

He's considering not helping out at first- he really doesn't need to blow his cover or anything when he's out under cloak, it's just so easy to avoid trouble. But then again, the guy looks so... pitiful. "Ah, what the hell."

Walking on a path to intercept, Duo sticks his invisible arm out as the bike-thief rides by, clotheslining him at a good enough speed that the guy hits the ground backwards, clutching his throat. The guy suddenly slamming into the ground from an invisible force probably looks sort of weird from the outside. And the bike? Well, hopefully it's not hurtling off into traffic...

If the universe well and truly hated Manabu, it would've. And a street cleaner would've driven by and crushed it to useless pieces. But honestly, the universe spins on without much mind of the matter, which is all well and good; the bike clatters against the street light, nearly scraping a woman and her dog. Good on them for having noticed and recoiled out of the way.

The would-be thief, however, is busy sitting up and catching gasping breaths and does not notice Manabu racing up, yelling with his wind-up and kicking him square between the shoulder blades. It's enough to knock the guy flat, winded yet again.

Overkill? Maybe. But, look. This is the second time this has happened, and it's getting stupid.

"Idiot!" Manabu yells, frustrated. "Don't just run off with other people's things! That's illegal! And stupid!"

He has enough sense to not just start beating the guy up, at least. Instead, he stomps around him and grabs for the bike, grumbling irritably. A guy can only take so much of this, you know!

"Honestly...!"

Oof- that looked like it hurt. Duo winces and rubs his inner elbow where he'd struck the guy, glad he wouldn't have to give him another as the thief is knocked right back out again when Manabu comes charging after them. Stepping around the mess to give a free path for him to walk towards his bike, Duo follows after to listen to his grumbling.

"You know, I think assault is kind of illegal, too." Duo grins, uncloaking to Manabu from behind him even as a small crowd of onlookers watched the scene with wariness. Where were imPort heroes when you needed them? Tsk. "Only if you get caught, though. Much like stealing!"

He jerks a thumb at the groaning thief on the ground. "Like this chump."

"Gih-!!"

Manabu twists at the waist in surprise, flinching away lest a stray punch fly his way. He flushes red very quickly as he registers the remark, his grip on the handlebars tightening.

"I-I'm not-!" he starts, grimacing, shooting a look down at the man slowly starting to get back up. Again. Yikes. He should've showed a bit more restraint, even if his frustration is justified.

He shakes his head fast, turning around and guiding the bike away from the crosswalk, preferring to just take the path in front of him.

"I'm just. Just..." Who is he making excuses to? Doesn't matter. "Tired of this..."

Ah, jeez. This guy was having a rough time of it, huh? Duo's expression turns a little more sympathetic as he follows after, arms folded behind his back. It was probably weird for him to be following if he thought about it, but it wasn't like anyone else was going to see the priest that just knocked that guy on his ass following the victim in turn.

"Hey buddy, you okay? You got your bike back, so that's all taken care of. Got something else troubling you?" Maybe nosy of him too, but when Duo sees someone in need (and they don't seem totally crazy), he just can't help getting involved. "I'm used to hearing about people's troubles," he smiles, gesturing to the clerical collar at his throat. Then again, since when do priests wear cowboy hats?

Maybe Duo's lucky: there's an oddly high population of cowboy hats floating around the galaxy Manabu hails from. At this point he'd only bat an eye at it were it someone trying to flaunt one while in active SDF duty.

But it's more the following and the offer that gets to him; Manabu winces a little, peeking over his shoulder at the man pointing at his collar. Oh, man. He blindsided a bike thief in front of a priest...Somehow, in some way, this is going to come back and slap him right in the face. He's going to apply for the police academy and they're going to lean over a desk and squint at him and go Aren't you the one who beat up some guy in the street -- in front of a priest?

Manabu tries to smile before shaking his head and looking straight ahead, feeling nauseous. "I-it's okay," he utters weakly. "I...I just let things get to me a bit, I think! Ha...It's. No big deal. Sorry for the scene..."

Duo has a tendency to open people up, and it was probably bad of him to use it when he didn't have a specific mission he needed to accomplish, no noble goal to reach. Especially when they were trusting him on the premise of his cover as a priest. But damn, if some people didn't just make him curious enough to do it anyway. "Okay," he says after a moment's pause, head tilted in thought. This guy had it bad in some way. "Here, I'll start tossing out some of the common ones, and you just stop me when I hit the mark, alright? Let's see..." He rubs his chin- for effect.

The guy was youngish. Nothing otherwise weird-looking about him, at least on first look. Didn't look like he was much of a fighter, either. Better just start vague.

"Your dog died, your girlfriend dumped you, you lost your job, death in the family-- I guess a dog counts too, you got spun through time and space into an unfamiliar universe where everything sucks, money troubles, bad past catching up with you--am I close yet?"

It's as if Duo's following along as a physical manifestation of guilt: you kicked that guy and you didn't really have to, now this priest is going to float behind you to remind you that you were a jerk.

He has to stop here, too, because the light is red at the crossing. It's here a list of generic tragedies is being listed, where Manabu has to turn and tilt his head, brow knit, troubled. He winces a little at that Import-specific one.

"Um," he starts, hesitating and looking the priest over. "I mean, being an ImPort can be stressful, but really. It's okay. I just--got frustrated." His mouth twitches.

"I mean--that was the second time someone tried to steal a bike from me in so many days..."

"Oh, so I got it right, huh?" His grin brightens. "So you're an ImPort too? Sounds like you're kind of a bad luck magnet. Heh, I know all about that, though, trust me." He reaches over to give the guy a little ribbing elbow in the side of his arm--

It's like some unseen force has taken hold of him in exactly that moment, because suddenly that joking little elbow has become a full-force slam straight into the guy's face. He stares openly at the carnage that results as if in slow motion; it was so unexpected, he's pretty sure his brain actually shut down for that moment.

"Wh--!" As soon as he regains control of himself (in all aspects), Duo puts distance between himself and Manabu faster than his wits can catch up, but once they do his first instinct is to look around and make sure something hadn't just taken control of him. His hand flies into his inner jacket, where he hides his gun, glancing about wildly. This was bad- was it an enemy he hadn't taken stock of yet? Was it Crane? Could someone have followed--

"What the hell was that!?" He cries with all the unbridled exasperation he hasn't belted out in years.

He starts to laugh weakly at the magnet remark, because it's funny he should put it like that, considering--

"Gih-!!"

The bike clatters on the concrete, and Manabu's foot gets caught by a pedal in his stagger. Mercifully, though, there's a lamp post that stops him from falling straight over and into traffic. He manages to cling to the post with one arm while his other hand goes straight to his face, his nose. He can't even feel the full impact yet, but he can already tell there's a break. Again.

This week really is trying his good spirits...

"Jus--" He holds out his hand, ducking his head to spare the view of his face. "Jus' stand bag! Guh--"

Honestly, the best thing he can do is get out of here, lest the poor man try to reach out and help him and wind up giving him a concussion. Manabu shakes his foot out of the bike and staggers around the pole, looking around for a getaway.

His hand closes over the grip of his gun, but he doesn't draw just yet- things could get way worse if whatever that was took control of him again. His expression has changed entirely from the bumbling good-natured priest of a few moments ago, eyes narrowed and scrutinizing every detail around them. "Dammit, if I had just stayed hidden..."

There was no way to tell if whatever that had been was a physical force or something psychic, though- so panicking wasn't going to do any good. He focuses on the guy instead, watching him stumble back and clutch his nose with an expression of sympathy and mild pity returning in the ebb of his initial alert. Wow, this guy really was a bad luck magnet. "Hey, you alright? I have no idea what just happened, but I promise that wasn't on purpose." His hand drops from his jacket, deciding it was better off if something decided to take control of him again.

"I'm not a very strong guy, but you took it full-force, huh?" He takes a step forward towards Manabu, but stops again since he seems pretty shaken. That and, at this rate, the next time Duo got close might actually kill him. "Want me to walk you to a doctor? You really shouldn't go off on your own if you're bleeding like that. And besides, whatever just did that is probably still around!" Duo starts following after him... again. This was probably some magic bullshit. He hated magic bullshit.

"I-I know," he cuts in, holding a hand up when the priest approaches. "Id was an acciden'! Id happens--Id's, id's okay."

Oh, great. He can taste blood in his mouth. Apparently he's just destined to make a scene today, no matter what he does. He just cleaned these gloves, too...

He tries to sniff, slowly backing away, one hand out like trying to soothe a wild animal. "Jus--jus don' ged close again. Id's my power, so..."

"Are you really sure? I mean, that looks kinda... bad... and gross."

Duo's cringe deepens as he watches blood gush from the guy's face, taking another step forward to try and help out before Manabu's insistence stops him again. People were definitely still crowding around and watching, but Duo was acting like he was totally immune to their staring. "Your power is what, exactly? Bleeding everywhere?" Although, come to think of it, that wouldn't even be the weirdest power he'd come across. After you meet someone who makes it rain potato chips...

Oh, wait. "Actually. I think I've heard of this kind of power before. Probability manipulation, I think they called it?" Or maybe he's just being optimistic. It didn't really seem like Manabu was manipulating much of anything other than his nose right now. "Are you actually a black hole of luck?"

Don't mind Duo, just putting a little more distance between himself and Manabu to be safe. Not that he's going to stop following, mind you. He glances down at the trail of blood being left along the sidewalk and follows it down the block, back towards the thief, who was finally starting to pick himself up off the sidewalk. "Wuh-oh."

Black hole of luck isn't a bad way to put it; had Manabu's face not been in the state it's in now, he'd ponder that for a bit. But, no. Now's not the time, not with people starting to step forward in their good nature to try and help. This is just one extended arm away from an accidental brawl.

"It's fine, it's fine!" he repeats, trying to shut down offers from strangers. He turns and starts to trot away and almost straight-up trips over the man on the ground.

"Gyah-!!" He hops into a sidestep, arms flailing, scaring the daylights out of himself and a cab driver just passing by. At least the panic is enough to propel him forward faster, booking it across the street.

"H-hey! What about your bike!?" Duo calls after Manabu as he shoots off across the road, glancing to the shiny new thing still half-propped on the lamppost, sadly forgotten. "...Well, guess it's yours now." He mumbles under his breath, watching the thief finally rolling up after the one-two knockout.

Hmmm. He should just let this go. Guy was obviously spooked enough already, between the bike theft and the being punched in the face. And he didn't have a full understanding of what exactly had caused him to smack the guy.

Aww, that wouldn't be interesting, though. And he really had nothing else planned for today. Good thing there was a brand new bike sitting right next to him.

As Manabu bolts out of the area, he seems to be safe at first. But just about as soon as he slows down again, a voice whistles from a few feet behind him. "Sheesh! And I thought I had it bad." How did this priest guy catch up so fast!? And doesn't he have anything better to do?

One would think. "You forgot your bike, so I brought it for you. Don't worry, I won't knock you out again."

Boy. This is becoming a theme -- daylight beatings, alleyways...hopefully the Blue Beetle wouldn't show up and remark on it again.

Duo speaking up startles him; he whirls around, hand over his mouth and nose to hide the mess, gawking.

"Aa--" he grimaces, stepping backward. Did...did he follow him all this way with the bike?

"Oh...um. Thangyew..." He sniffs. "You didn' haff t'do thad..."

He sure did. Then again, stalking people wasn't exactly hard, with his powers. And he had a bike.

(It was way easier, he always thought, to weave through traffic when the other drivers couldn't see him- not unlike piloting through a busy battlefield.)

"Yeah, no worries. Good deed for the day and all that." He makes a vague gesture upwards and crosses himself- well, spreading good will was sort of his job. "Had to make up the karma of knocking that guy out, anyway. Here--" He steps away from the bike, hands up, so that Manabu could take it without fear of injury.

He's grinning a little at him, looking like there's something else he wants to say, but is holding back. Finally he leans against a nearby signpost. "Your partner's lucky. You're probably more likely to get yourself offed than he is to have anything to do with it."

Finally pegged that voice.

Manabu remains at his distance, a dubious look passing back and forth between man and bike and back again, frowning behind his hand. His eyes wince a little, seeing Duo move so casually and settle on leaning in for a stay. Why? he thinks, despairing. Why is there always a spectator?

He has to succinctly explain his power, his situation, grin and bear the mocking laughter that's bound to happen, and somehow make this all go faster. He has to--

"Eh-?"

His attention snaps back to the present moment, blinking a few times. "My...?" His partner? Is this someone he knows? He gulps, feeling a little knot of guilt in his gut.

"Waid..." A loud sniff. "Who are you?"

Poor kid. He really looks like his day has gone down the crapper- hopefully getting his bike back has helped things out a little. And it doesn't get stolen again.

Duo looks almost surprised for a moment, thinking well, maybe he's told other people about his partner?... Oh, right. Most people don't bother to remember offhand little pieces of information like that- but Duo always remembered when he heard something about Shinigami.

He leans off the wall again and raises his hand in a wave- he would have gone in to offer it for a shake, but that seems like... not such a good idea, considering what happened the last time. "Heya! I'm Shinigami. Nice to meet-meet you." For certain value of nice. "...I mean, preferably I wouldn't have punched you in the face first, but whatcha gonna do."

He points to the bike. "I tightened your chain a little. Got loosened up in all that commotion, and it was new anyway, right? Sorry, I'm a tinkerer, so I just felt like doing it, after giving it a whirl."

"Shin'gami...?"

Bruce always comes to mind first. But after that, he remembers, and that realization gets painted on his face the moment it clicks.

"Aa, you're--!" The mention of the bike cuts him off, throws him off-track. He blinks, looking back at it, as if it just showed up there. "O-oh, thad's...I mean, I--ow!"

There's a very gentle crack that comes with Manabu's flinch; his hands go to his face in response, his nose having popped back into proper place. He sucks in a staggered breath through his teeth and lets it out heavily, punctuated by a bit of a whimper. Why does it have to hurt when it heals?

"Nh...thanks, I mean..." He winces after dragging his carefully under his nose to wipe blood. "Nice...nice to meet you."

Duo visibly winces at the sound of his nose going back into place- God that was gross, he never got used to that no matter how many times he had to hear Heero set bones. At least it was fixed.

"Guess you don't need the doctor anymore. You sure you're gonna be alright?" He leans on his hands, back against the wall behind him, looking extremely skeptical about Manabu's chances of going unscathed the rest of the day. Well, the guy must have stayed alive this long somehow. "'bout talking, I mean. Although I guess I don't gotta ask what's troubling you, anymore."

He'd heard of people having powers that backfired spectacularly, but this was just ridiculous. "Ever tried a power dampener?"

There's a reddish tint growing on Manabu's face -- not punch-blood.

"It's...It's on order," he says, his tone dipping into defeat to match the slouch of his shoulders. "That is, my friend is getting one for me...but there's still some time to wait until then."

But he can't just hide away in a room from the world until then! That's pathetic and also boring. But he should be better about this than he's being this week! So it's double-pathetic and frustrating.

"I'm--usually better at handling this," he says, trying to sound convincing.

Oop. Now probably wouldn't be a good time for Duo to be surprised at how competent that was, would it? His eyes widen just slightly with a quirk of his lips, but other than that, he just nods. "Oh, you are getting one? Well, that's good. This world sure got its shit together about imPorts, if nothin' else." It went in good directions and bad, he supposed. "I heard they can just make the nanomachines suppress our powers, but maybe it's too dangerous for full-time use."

He waves a dismissive hand- nowhere near Manabu, mind- and tries to fix his expression back to a neutral grin again. "Don't worry about it. Power like that? Bound to cause trouble. At least you still were able to remember how to deal with it after you got Ported back in, yanno? Be thankful for the little stuff."

He shifts his glance to the side for a moment, thoughtful, and pauses to remove his hat, run fingers through his slicked-back hair before he goes on. "You a cop? You mentioned your partner and... something about joining the force." Not to die, he'd said. And then he goes and gets stuck with a shinigami as a partner. Huhn.

More naturally distrustful people wouldn't be this easy to converse with when their face is spattered bloody after a comedy of errors orchestrated by the porter and good old-fashioned bad luck. But Manabu isn't so beat down literally and figuratively by his bad hand that he can't at least try to be decent to someone seemingly being fair to him.

Death-god did return his bike, after all...

He nods, scratching self-consciously at his arm. "Mm...Back home. I'm still working on that here. Back to square one, and all..."

Comedy of errors, luckily for Manabu, was something Duo was well-enough acquainted with that even if he was laughing at his pain, a little, it was mostly sympathy humor. Mostly. There wasn't a lot that Duo didn't find any humor in, to be fair.

"Huh. All that paperwork for imPorts and they can't keep training and certification carry-over?" He takes on a slightly guilty look. "I got myself situated with the church pretty well after a couple weeks, but I guess they don't exactly have people leaping to work at shelters and as outreach, all the time. Not like I was expecting to take on a full church, as an outsider with no proof'a seminary."

...Not that he was actually ordained, or really a practicing priest, for that matter. What kind of negative karma did you build up when you lied to an entire diocese? Well, whatever, he figured he had enough of that built up already as the God of Death. "Um, the church is kinda fast and loose in space. So you're gonna rejoin the police here? That's neat. And I guess you... don't gotta worry about them trying to use your power for anything weird." Hopefully.

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