open to any Go-Busters players from any universe incl Mushverse, ogods what am I doing

[loveenetronkurorin]

I sit back in my chair, tapping a pencil on the desk idly as I think about the latest reports.

We've made so much headway. But there's still so far to go.

Comments

[immaculateimperfection]

There is much to think about, but I have no interest in thinking about any of it at the moment. Instead I walk very casually over to Kuroki's desk.

To be honest, I have no plans as to why I'm here, but seeing a familiar face is always nice.

[loveenetronkurorin]

It's better to see him than I sometimes admit.

He's a nuisance, and a pain. He's kept secrets. But he's also a friend, and not a child I've had to watch grow up and then send into battle.

"Jin," I say quietly in greeting.

[immaculateimperfection]

Taking a short look around, my gaze comes back to him with an amused grin on my face.

"What happened to your entourage? Are you all suppose to be "ever on guard" or something like that?"

It's playful teasing, but an honest question. For this room to be so empty is almost a first since I've started sending my Avatar over.

[loveenetronkurorin]

God forbid he take something seriously. Though there's emotion underneath, I suppose.

"I sent most of them to bed," I say gruffly. "My alpha shift people can be up and working within minutes if necessary."

[immaculateimperfection]

"Impressive, as usual. Everyone works so hard here," a state as I turn and lean against your desk.

If everyone else is asleep, that means we're alone. If only this chance came up with someone worth while. A special "meeting in the lonely office" would have been a choice way to end the day.

"So why are you still here?"

[loveenetronkurorin]

"Yes. They're good kids."

He makes this place look messier merely by standing there. I sigh. "I'm still here because there's still work to do."

[immaculateimperfection]

"Work? Can you not get to sleep Kurorin~?"

The tone is obviously teasing. If he doesn't sleep, how does he expect to lead them? I mean really, it's not that hard.

[hay hay let's just fuck around like crazy okay why not yayaaaaaay]

[greypleather]

I'm still mad about the trapped-in-the-shooter caught-making-out-with-Hiromu situation. So I'm kind of avoiding Takosawa. Which means that when he's in my room waiting for me, my best bet is to lurk into the command center instead.

"Salut, Commander..."

[YES PLEASE I need all the help I can geeeet]

[loveenetronkurorin]

"Etienne," I say briskly, though it's been a long day and I'm nearly as tired as he looks. "Any ill effects from your experiences?"

[greypleather]

I keep in mind that he wasn't even present during the malfunction, so he might not even know the details of what happened, if Takosawa kept his stupid beak shut anyway.

"You mean being stuck in the shooter? Ah, non, no ill effects."

[loveenetronkurorin]

I nod. He looks unsettled anyway, and I don't like it.

I don't want to be involved in the least with these children's romantic lives. None of my business, and they ARE children. But if it affects the team...

"Everything all right with Hiromu?" I ask at last.

[greypleather]

I wince a bit at that, and turn to look at him sheepishly.

"You heard, then?"

[loveenetronkurorin]

"I heard that you were in there together, yes," I say, sighing inwardly. These children need to learn to hide their emotions better. "Is everything all right?"

[Mushverse? or Twinsverse? either or. Or both. Voice testing mostly]

[goldenikemen]

The control room is quiet, the other Busters out on a rare day off, and the junior commanders are also out, probably getting coffee and talking shop, I don't really know. Or care.

All I care about is the fact that Kurorin~ is alone. And still at his desk, still working, long after hours.

"Ne, Kurorin~," I singsong, wandering through the room, past the side desks, until I come up to his.

I hop up, sitting sideways on his desk. My legs crossed at the ankle, one arm back behind me propping me up while I lean toward him. "Why are you still working?"

[gotcha, know that feeling]

[loveenetronkurorin]

I stiffen at the sound of that voice.

Not that I'm entirely unhappy to see him. Far from it. He's a good excuse to take a small break, and I... I miss what it was like with him, thirteen years ago, before it all went to hell.

I could live without him parking his behind on my papers, however. "Because there's work to be done," I say gruffly enough.

[goldenikemen]

I frown deeply, only vaguely mockingly, at him.

Were he anyone else, it would be entirely mockingly, but I have known him too long to be so guarded.

"There is always work to be done," I nod, sliding off the main front part of his desk, to the more inward part, scattering his papers all over everywhere.

My legs are crossed more at the thigh now, though I am still propped back on one arm. "You can't keep working forever."

[loveenetronkurorin]

"There is."

I grumble in dismay as he moves, and my papers go everywhere. I had them in neat stacks, referenced and cross referenced, and I go down out of my chair to a crouch to pick them all up.

"Try me," I say tersely, looking up over the top of the desk to glare at him before I go back to it.

[goldenikemen]

He moves to pick up his papers, and I watch him as he does. He's still the Kurorin I knew thirteen years ago. Has the same eyes, the same shape to his jaw, same curve to his lips.

There are lines on his face that I am still shocked by, some from age, some I know he's far too young to have. Stress and overworking, worry and fatigue. These things take their toll on a body, and I am so sad to see my Kurorin with such marks.

I don't want him to die before his time.

I hop down off his desk, and help him gather his papers, taking the ones he holds in his hands from him before he can protest. I stack them all neatly together and set them down on the desktop.

I turn, leaning back on his desk to he can resume his work, my arms crossed over my chest, head bowed, looking at him through my bangs. "You're working yourself to death."

[loveenetronkurorin]

He hops off lightly, which is faintly annoying given I feel about 100 years old and 100 kilograms some days, and helps me pick up papers.

I sigh as he stacks them neatly before I get a chance to.

So hyperbolic.

"The chil- the Busters could die in the field. Any day. They deserve as much backup, as much information, as I can get for them through any method."

[interpolate]

Waking up their base is no less disorienting the fifth time. Only this time, everyone else is missing. There's no Hiromu lurking, no Etienne sitting further away but watching me with a more cautious eye. No Kotako holding my hand, and thus far still no Takosawa. I have no idea how Etienne has kept his most overbearing of Buddyroids away from the room, but it's for the best.

I need to leave, while they're conspicuously absent.

Of course, I'm still having trouble accessing the subdimension and as such, I will have to try and sneak out.

Good thing they left the door unlocked, wherever they went.

Too bad the hallway isn't empty.

[loveenetronkurorin]

I'm striding briskly along one of the residential corridors, on my way to conference room 3. There are matters I need to discuss with...

"Enter," I say in a harsh, choked, voice, falling back. How-? I reach for a weapon.

[interpolate]

I take a not-at-all graceful step backwards, back towards the relative safety of Etienne's quarters, but I realize quickly that I have no idea whether the door even locks from the inside, and if so, whether I have the capacity or clearance to do so, at least without alerting the rest of the base to my presence.

"Kuroki." The general angles of his face ping something deep in my programming... no, in my memory.

[loveenetronkurorin]

There are footsteps pounding behind me, and I wonder suddenly if the Busters are coming this way. Some of them were called to deal with a small Vaglass issue quickly.

I point the blaster at his face, unwavering, though I know I'm no match for him whatsoever. "What do you want?" I snarl. "How did you get in?"

[interpolate]

I snarl, but I have no bite. I roll my head to one side and after a moment raise both hands, fingers spread. Not the least threatening pose I could take, I know, but it's the closest I can come. I can't exactly feign at being unarmed.

"Your dearly devoted and heroic Red Buster brought me here."

[loveenetronkurorin]

Hiromu, right on cue, belts into view and skids to a stop between me and Enter.

"I can explain," he says, while I'm shouting at him to stand down.