A colorful AU!

[crab_rangoon]

The world is gray. Always gray. He had thought once, as a little boy, that the emergence of color would be a wonderful thing. He used to dream that finding that person, that getting to see everything in brilliant Wizard Of Oz technicolor would be something he would always cover until it happened.

But after Ishwari, after the betrayal and the loss, after Ajay and Lakshmana left to America after Mohan's failed assassination attempt, Pagan just gave up on that dream. Love, he decided, was just for those who have given up on themselves. Not worth the trouble.

Yuma became the face of Kyrat after that and Pagan stepped back, letting her handle the death threats and the rebels and all of the bullshit that he just didn't want to deal with. Pagan ruled from the back, tempering Yuma's impulsive bullshit with a cooler head, though no less ruthless. However, the arrangement left him free to roam the world, taking care of his business in Hong Kong and the mainland unmolested. His father might not have had the desire to rule the Triads, but Pagan sure as fuck does. Even if it means he has to go and do things himself.

It's this reason, chasing spineless Hong Kong assholes, that lands him in Japan. He has a small security detail that walks the crowd, but otherwise Pagan is by himself as he walks the streets, checking his phone for his victim's last location.

Comments

[lone_horse]

...well, they do say opposites attract. He's always thought that was insane. But maybe there's something to it.

"That's... surprising."

[crab_rangoon]

He raises a knee and rests his arm on his knee.

"Yes!" he laughs. "How is that surprising?"

[lone_horse]

He considers that for a moment, and after that moment, he has to nod.

"You need someone who is genuine. I guess it isn't surprising when I think of it like that."

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan wants to protest that, but he doesn't. In fact, he can see the wisdom in it completely. It's - almost comforting to think about it in those terms. He needs someone like this.

He hadn't been so poignant when he made his last statement, but he's continuing to learn that when this man speaks, it's always with a purpose.

What a novel concept that Pagan absolutely will not adhere to himself.

"I think you might be right," he says. "But you'll have plenty of time to learn the stories. I do like telling them."

[lone_horse]

Kiryu looks over Pagan.

"I don't. Most of my stories are about loss."

Just... putting that out there. He won't enjoy telling them, for the most part.

"But you deserve to know them."

[crab_rangoon]

"Careful with that word. Deserve. There are a lot of things I deserve. I'm not certain your kindness is one of them yet. But. I have a feeling that I won't be talking you out of that."

He looks away for a moment, then stands. "Shall we meet there in an hour?"

[lone_horse]

"It has nothing to do with kindness," is all he answers before he nods, agreeing to the plan.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan, normally so precise, takes that as a bit of a curiosity.

"Oh? And what does it have to do with?" he wonders, content to talk to him on the way out. He could honestly hear him talk forever - probably because he simply doesn't. Something so rare must be cherished.

[lone_horse]

"You don't trust," he says, "and you're my soulmate. So you need them. And you deserve them. Our fates are entwined."

He keeps walking.

"People who deal in shadows and half-truths need to know what full truths they're working with. So I'll tell you."

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan keeps up with him, walking alongside as much as he can, at his shoulder. "I do trust!" he protests. "But - "

But not enough. Not right now. And so he's right.

[lone_horse]

Kiryu's response to that is just to raise an eyebrow and curl his lips in Pagan's direction. Then he shrugs and keeps going.

[crab_rangoon]

"Oh don't give me that look!" he says, but there's a lightness in his tone as they get down to the street again.

"I'll see you very soon, hm?" He takes out his phone again and gestures to his guard waiting outside. "Oh! This is fucking red," he tells his guard. "Why didn't anyone tell me that this case is fucking red?"

The guard babbles an apology as they walk off.

[lone_horse]

Kiryu just shakes his head and watches him walk off. He's... going to go to a bar. And he's going to sit there and have some scotch, alone, and process... the everything.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan waits for him outside the building later. He's seemingly alone, but of course he most certainly isn't. His eyes are on his phone, but his attention is elsewhere.

[lone_horse]

Kiryu is there, dressed in his usual, and he makes his way over to Pagan. He doesn't have anything with him, at least as far as anyone could tell, and he doesn't say anything as he watches Pagan on his phone. Instead, he settles beside him and waits.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan looks up and feels his chest tighten a little, just for a moment. Strange to be so affected for this time. But Pagan had - missed him. In just that short time. As much as he didn't want to. As much as he tried to tell himself that he is above that.

He tries not to let it show, but Pagan's not one to hide his feelings. "You're here! Now, I guess I'll follow you, hm?"

He slides his phone into his back pocket. He's out of the pink and into a silver shirt and blue trousers, which are no less nice but certainly more subdued.

[lone_horse]

Kiryu is used to a near perpetual state of longing at this point... but even then, this is something else. This is a different kind of pull.

He shrugs and looks over at Pagan, lip curling a little as he starts walking.

"Where am I leading us again?"

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan shrugs. "We had one idea before, but now I don't fucking care," he admits. "So now you're leading me to get a drink. A good drink. Not a hurried, confused drink. I want to see what color brandy is."

[lone_horse]

Kiryu nods... and that's when he'll take him on a slightly longer walk, down Pink Street with it's dancing girls and video displays and past the Champion District where they'd been before. Instead, he ducks down an alley and heads into a place labeled just 'Bar Tender'.

It's a small, intimate little place with a bar tender, an older woman who looks like she makes good money, and plenty of empty spots.

[crab_rangoon]

For the first time since they met, Pagan is actually alone. His guards don't follow, by his orders, and he just trusts Kiryu to watch out for any potential dangers.

The place he leads him to is - quiet, though he doesn't quite see that as detrimental.

"This is exactly what I had in mind," he says with a laugh, letting their shoulders touch just briefly.

[lone_horse]

He'll make his order and the bartender will take Pagan's as well, serving up relatively quickly. There's a little tucked corner that Kiryu ends up in down at the end of the bar that gives visibility to the door and leaves their back to a wall.

Once he's settled in-

"I'm assuming you've been thinking about how you want to handle this."

[crab_rangoon]

"I haven't," he tells him, sitting with his drink and watching it with a bit of fascination. "There's nothing to handle. Not for a few days, I mean."

[lone_horse]

"And after a few days?" he asks with a glance over at Pagan as he looks at his own drink.

[crab_rangoon]

"Doesn't that depend on the next few days?" he counters, taking a long drink. "But I intend to monopolize your time, so, well, plan for that."

[lone_horse]

"Not much planning to do since I'm off assignment," he says with a wry twist of his lips. "I'm not... usually on. They keep me for certain things."

The kind of jobs where they need someone who can get in and get out regardless of the odds. And a surprising amount of diplomatic entreaties. The genuineness he gave off was good at getting talk started.

"I haven't told them yet. About you. I still want to know what you intend to do. Especially since I need to keep... people safe."