soul_campaign | 04 { mar 2: early morning } { video }

[At least half of his suggestion was true. Hey, he'd know Roy a bit by some point. But as he'd been dreading, that doesn't seem to be the case. Kotetsu's admittedly a little speechless, and he doesn't know if he was expecting this or not, whether it's good or bad. All he knows is this... is going to leave one hell of a mess to work with.]

...shit. [Very adult-like assessment, but Kotetsu catches on to the slip up and rubs at his face, trying his best to offer a casual smile.] Just like that, huh? And to think, he couldn't stand vacations. Though I wonder if in this case you'd call it like, a temporary retirement? 'Temporary'. Heh. That's bein' a little generous.

[The curse makes Hughes chuckle.]

Shit indeed. Actually, a forced vacation for him would be great. He's way too serious about work for his own good. The kid deserves some R&R.

...but knowing him, he's probably already working again, hehe. Stubborn idiot, that one.

[They're grown-ups, Kotetsu is allowed to have himself little crude slip-ups once in a while. Frustrations abound, but with a scratch of his head and a heavy sigh he's got his composure again, even offering a little tired laugh.]

Usually you'd think getting hauled out of your own world to another one would get ya to relax for a while but even that's not enough for some people. The reverse obviously doesn't do any good.

The question now is what's gonna happen to all that work he was burying himself in while he was here.

[Yep. Hughes curses a lot more around peers he feels comfortable around anyway.]

Workaholic. That's all I can say, hahaha! Even though he totally takes naps in the records room when he thinks no one else will notice... Ah, well. Not much either of us can do about it now.

Yeah. I imagine taking charge would be a daunting task for anyone. It might take a while to sort out everything. I only wish I could maybe do something to help since I kind of feel...I don't know, responsible? [At least, Hughes had always been used to supporting Roy when his friend needed it.] I'm not part of the Watch or anything though, so... I guess I'm sort of useless, heh.

[Kotetsu chuckles, as it reminds him of when he could recall a handful of times he'd been able to catch Barnaby just slightly dozing off during office hours back home. Never napping, as he'd never been lucky enough to ever catch sight of it, but he still was aware of times when his partner was working himself to the bone in the name of research and Kotetsu couldn't ever really say a thing about it. Earlier times, when he didn't know how much to meddle in.]

Just don't let him hear a word about it, he might get paranoid and then never sleep again.

[He smiles a little sympathetically, shaking his head at Hughes insistence to take some sort of blame for what's happened.] Don't. It was outta your hands. Nothin' anyone here could do about it, let alone you. I'd at least say he's in a better place but that's obviously something I don't know about it. Just what I'd like to think. I'm hopin' a good guy like him'll be fine, just like a trustworthy old man like you can find a way to do the best you can here, whatever that is. Mostly a lot of talking, haha. [He means that the best way possible of course. It's always helpful to have someone chatty like Hughes around. Keeps you from getting too caught up in thinking about the tough times ahead. Speaking of...] You gonna be alright with him gone?

Hehehe. Exactly. He needed it anyway. Though he wasn't always working, the stress was really hard on him.

Yeah. I... I suppose you're right. As for Roy, well, I'm pretty sure he's fine. Things were calming down back on our world for him, so he should be okay. [Hughes chuckles at the comment about a lot of talking. It was true enough. Without his chattiness, reconnaissance would have been a pain. Being able to distract people from their problems was always good, too.] It's an important skill, I'll have you know!

Hm? Ah. I'll be fine. It's going to take a bit to get used to, but... [Well, frankly, he was supposed to be dead, so even getting the chance to talk to Roy again was amazing to Hughes.] I'll be okay. He probably wouldn't want me to get super torn up over it anyway.

...though going out for a drink would be nice. [He sighs faintly.]

Well when you're not working you're probably thinking about working. That's usually the case with me, and that gets pretty tiresome itself. [Any time he ever ended up with some sort of time off, he couldn't help but get impatient to get back to work, especially during those two brief breaks he got from Watch. He couldn't even do what he usually did on his time-off which was call his daughter, which made the whole thing even worse.]

But as long as the two of you do fine then there's nothing to worry about then! [Nothing to worry about that he was aware of. Good thing certain things are meant to be kept to oneself. Kotetsu would not be happy about the extra detail of Hughes' "living circumstances".]

But yeah! We should go out for drinks sometime soon then! Surprised we haven't dragged each other out for that yet. --ah, and if ya don't mind, I can even bring Bunny along. He's not much of a drinker I think but more company's always great! [He'd been about to leave it at that until he recalled something and Kotetsu quickly added on:] Except when you meet him, don't call him Bunny. His name's Barnaby, I just call him Bunny.

Yeah. True enough. Part of being an adult, I suppose.

Hehe.

I know, right? I haven't gone out to the bar in a while, too, so it'd be nice. Hm? Oh, I wouldn't mind at all, hehehe. The more the merrier, right? Ah— Yeah, of course. I'll keep that in mind. [But why did it have to be a cute name like Bunny? That was going to be hard for Hughes to forget...]

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