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The market is, objectively speaking, a miserable place. Precious few of the merchandise are happy to be there, nude and bound and collared - sometimes even caged - free for every prospective customer to examine. Few of the customers are happy either. Prices are high, and the press of so many bodies create a stifling atmosphere.

All in all, it is exactly what Jade had expected. He strolls leisurely through the market, not particularly bothered by what is going on around him. It was one of the reasons he had been chosen for this assignment. Today is his first day at the market; he's meant to speak with the vendors, make connections, and walk away with a cheap but handy acquisition.

He's working on the last part now. It's surprisingly difficult to find someone useful and docile, but still with some spirit left - he does not trust the older slaves who are complacent with the system.

It's during his second time looping through the market that someone catches his eye - for all the wrong reasons. He stops, stares at the familiar figure in front of him, an uncharacteristically surprised expression flashing over his face.

Then he's smiling again. He's still unsure if this is a good turn of events, but perhaps he could use this to his advantage.

"My my, I didn't expect to see you here."

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"Then what are they?" He presses. His mental picture of them is even less clear than the ghosts-that-can't-be-touched. But Shinjirou is having trouble describing them as well, so maybe this is just another thing he isn't meant to understand, just like healing artes.

It stings, a little, but Jade is better about accepting his limitations now than he had before.

"You use them to fight." That was the only clear bit of information he managed to glean. "They must have abilities beyond what you're capable of on your own."

"Yeah, they sure do." And he wishes they didn't. At least his -- he wishes the thing would be entirely useless instead of what it is. On the other hand, he can't blame the Persona for what he lacks. The Persona is him, in the end and he's got only himself to blame for these shortcomings.

"Jade?" He takes a deep breath, pulls the blanket up to his shoulders and beneath that, pushes his thumb into one of the many bruises. Managing not to cringe, all that brings is quiet relief. "Why does any of it matter? You wouldn't be able to defend yourself if Castor appeared, even if I told you everything I know."

Unless Jade thinks he can put up a fight, in which case Shinjirou isn't sure if he wants to know any details.

Castor? "Is that the name of your Persona?"

He doesn't answer Shinjirou's question. He can't, not without revealing things he has no intention of revealing. There's no exchange of information going on here, no one-for-one deals. He doesn't expect Shinjirou to accept it unquestioningly, but they'll cross that bridge when they come to it.

"Yes." So, he's not going to get anything out of Jade. Figures, really. There's little disappointment he feels for something he expected anyway. Jade's behavior isn't any more or less suspicious than what's normal for him. Kind of a relief. Makes the conversation almost ordinary.

"Not every Persona is fit to fight. Castor is." And that sucks, but isn't surprising. He's always fought -- with Aki, with the other boys at the orphanage, and he's never been as fair as Aki. Just a reckless idiot kid. Not unlike a kid, he tries to make himself appear smaller, hunching his shoulders and hugging his knees to his chest.

He looks so young like this, little more than a child trying to hide away from the world. Jade has never been any good with children. But, for Shinjirou, he makes the effort - or rather, he would have, if he wasn't busy trying to extricate more information from Shinjirou. He almost has everything he needs now, there are just a few loose ends to tie up.

"What can you tell me about its abilities?" And, more importantly: "Where is it now?"

Shinjirou points at his head, tapping his temples lightly. Weird, when it isn't the cool metal of the Evoker pressing into his skull. "Inside. And before you ask, no, I can't just snap my fingers and make it appear."

He drops his hand to fiddle with the blanket. "Mostly uses physical attacks." If only they weren't lethal to normal humans, he wouldn't mind so much. Combing his hair back, he glances at Jade. "You're not going to drop this, huh."

"There's no need to worry," he reassures him. "I almost have all the information I need."

Satisfying his curiosity aside, Jade doesn't enjoy prying into something so obviously deeply personal, not to mention traumatic. He'll be glad when this is over. But he doesn't rush to finish; despite his words, he's still going over every angle, looking for details he had missed.

"So, if making it appear isn't that easy, what went wrong last night?"

Doesn't matter what Jade says -- Shinjirou's already worried. This isn't something ordinary people should know about, though he wouldn't exactly call Jade ordinary ... well, close enough to normal, he guesses, in comparison to his story.

He swallows around the lump in his throat, a nervous laughter startling even himself. "They, uhm, tend to appear when you're not feeling so good. I mean, Castor does. The others can control theirs." And make it look so easy. "I wasn't feeling all that good."

No, he was frantic, upset, exhausted. Really, the perfect moment for Castor to show up, take over. "I think without the suppressants, by now you'd be," he stops and looks up, slowly, "dead."

And wouldn't that be a shame. Jade thinks he's supposed to feel something, probably fear, but he's never been good at grasping the concept of death, especially his own. He only raises an eyebrow.

"Then I suppose I had better let you keep your suppressants." But he'll take one of them for analysis. He hasn't forgotten what Shinjirou had told him before; the suppressants had caused some problems with his temperature regulation. Jade doesn't doubt that there are other side effects.

He shifts closer, resting a hand against the side of Shinjirou's head, thumb rubbing at the spot Shinjirou had tapped at earlier. "Are you feeling better today?"

Jade's calm and that's good. Jade won't take away is lifeline either and that's even better. There's little to no reason to be agitated, but Shinjirou is and can't shake it off. Curiously, the touch doesn't make him flinch. Eyelids drooping, he nods. Can't even sigh in relief.

"Yeah, a lot better. Bit worn out." His mind is no longer in shambles and while the bruises are bad, they're bearable. "Sorry for causing trouble. Didn't mean to. Guess I underestimated how much, uhm. Attention I'd get."

Physically and mentally draining, it had been a tougher job than expected -- thanks to that asshole. Or, yeah, rather his reaction to the guy. It's his own fault. Part of him still wants to blame someone else. "But you still got what you wanted, right?"

He doesn't answer him directly. "My apologies, I didn't expect the crowd to be that brutal." It's a simple statement, frank, not as regretful as he should be, but Jade is sincere. "You handled it as well as could be expected...although that might have drawn more attention to you."

Not exactly a bad thing, considering his goal is to get Shinjirou noticed, but Shinjirou would be of no use to him if he breaks. And, well, Jade doesn't like to admit it, but he was worried in a way that had nothing to do with the mission. "In the future, I'd appreciate it if you could be more careful."

"I will, I promise." Whether he finds Jade's reply suspicious or not, that's his job they're talking about. Well, his purpose. A job, he'd say, needs a bit more free will than what he's allowed to have. Not that it's a detail that matters to him.

Nor should it matter what exactly Jade's doing with all these people he obviously doesn't like all that much. With his own secret laid out in the open, he can't help his curiosity anymore, though. The second he catches himself frowning at Jade, Shinjirou averts his eyes.

"Gonna make up for it somehow."

"If all goes well, you should have plenty of opportunities." He isn't sure if Shinjirou would consider that a good thing or a bad thing, in his current state, but he'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea. Jade brushes Shinjirou's hair back, the gesture almost fond, then allows his hand to drop back to his side. "But that's in the future. For now, just focus on healing up."

He can almost feel the questions bubbling up inside Shinjirou, and spends a few seconds considering whether or not to invite them. On one hand, he's used to delaying. On the other hand, perhaps it's better to get some of them out of the way now, before they build up to an explosion like so much gas in a bottle.

In the end, he settles with an offhand invitation: "If there's nothing else, Ill leave you to get started on your day."

Plenty makes him want to collapse and sleep for another 24 hours, just to let his mind process everything that's happened, then some more for his body to revitalize. And then there's Jade's reassurance that he'll be given time. He sighs, closing his eyes as he enjoys the gesture. The gentle touch of a warm hand. It's brief, but it's like a band-aid being put over his worries.

"Okay."

Not his questions, though. He feels calmer, less caged. It enables him to think about his next words instead of asking what he knows won't be answered and perhaps even anger Jade. Chewing on his bottom lip, Shinjirou leans forward, lowering his head. If he behaves in a more docile manner, maybe it'll help. It sort of worked with the party guests, didn't it? With Jade, it's not even that difficult.

"You're not like those men. You don't like those men. You want something different than they do. I'm not sure what it is and I'm not asking. Just. Am I right?"

He's quiet for a moment as he debates over the answer, and the silence in itself says yes as loudly as any words could have. Intentionally so.

Finally, Jade nods. "You could say that." And because Shinjirou has learnt his lessons so well, Jade divulges another bit of information. "Our motives may differ, but they have something I need. In order to obtain it, I need to play along with their games."

Eyes narrowing slightly, he looks at Shinjirou. "I don't think I need to tell you to keep this between us."

His skin prickles when there's an actual answer to his question -- and it's more than a hum that could be interpreted either way. No, it's far more than that. Raising his head, he gives a small nod. "Yeah, no. You don't need to tell me. That's safe with me." While he doesn't say as much, he silently hopes Jade will keep his secret as well. The chances for that shouldn't be too bad. Why would he tell anyone about the crazy slave he picked up?

Another thing he feels he's figured out is that despite the other men favoring physical appreciation, Jade likes improved behavior better. Shinjirou bows for him, fingers mentally crossed that it's another good choice he's made. "Thanks."

There are more questions, more than ever now that he's got a glimpse of who Jade is and what his goals are, but he bites his tongue and sits back. "I'll make breakfast now." He slips out of bed, testing if his legs are still wobbly. They aren't; just a bit worn out. He stretches, grimacing from the pinch of pain coursing through his body. Well, that'll be a few fun days. "Any wishes?"

"I'll leave it to you to decide." He watches Shinjirou carefully, noting every shift of expression and twitch of muscle. He's in better shape than expected, but Jade decides to go easy on him today anyway. Everyone could use a break once in awhile, and Shinjirou had been working hard lately.

"But I'd like to give you another checkup afterwards." Except it was Jade's hands on him that had triggered Castor's almost-appearance last night, so he gives Shinjirou a choice: "Only if you want one, of course."

Jade seems awfully nice this morning, which normally would be suspicious -- after all that's happened in the last twenty-four hours, not so much anymore. Shinjirou decides to indulge himself. No need to prepare his body for a party and damn, the more he thinks about breakfast, the hungrier he gets.

He's halfway through the door by the time Jade speaks up again. Turning around, he crosses his arms over his chest. It sounds like a sensible idea to him, no matter how awkward it'll be now that his mind has cleared up. At least he'll be able to communicate what's wrong, if anything's wrong. "Uh-huh. Why not."

"If you're sure." Judging by the smile on Jade's face, he's pleased with the answer. He rises as well, heading towards the door, ready to get started with the day. There's a lot to be done, and even more to think about. He may have managed to squeeze some answers out of Shinjirou, but there's still the question of what to do with those answers, and whether or not they'll compromise the mission.

Risk and reward, he thinks as he heads for his study. Shinjirou is a valuable asset. Jade doesn't know if he'll be able to find someone so tractable again, and besides, he's spent too much time and effort on Shinjirou to let him go so easily.

He'll have the pills analyzed first, then decide on where to go from there.

Preparing breakfast is just as nice as expected. It's a simple task, there's no one around to bother him and the apron even hides some of the worst bruises. There's still the dark-red rings on his wrists that can't be hidden and they itch when he moves his hands too much, but it's not like he hates these reminders. They're just there, doing their job: reminding him that it's not a completely normal morning.

He hasn't had one of these in weeks, has he? Some day, they will be normal, he thinks.

Shaking his head, he drops two pancakes on each plate. The syrup is a lot sweeter than anything he's tasted the last few hours and he licks his fingers clean before washing them. While he sets the table for himself, he takes Jade's plate and balances it on one hand, knocking on his door. If Jade's busy already, Shinjirou figures he'll appreciate getting his food served where he can continue working.

"Come in," he calls, clearing a space on the desk. The pancakes smell good; he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but something like this is nice every once in awhile. He turns to smile at Shinjirou when he enters, but makes no move to get out of the chair.

"Go clean up then wait for me in the bedroom when you're finished eating," he instructs. "Take your time; I might be awhile. Something unexpected came up."

He's wearing his usual enigmatic smile, but other than that, there's no indication of whether this 'something' is good news or bad news.

The instructions are nothing out of the ordinary. Shinjirou smiles back, arms crossed in front of his chest. He's trying to get a peek at what Jade's doing, but he couldn't figure it out last time he did that and he doesn't want to stare and mess up the easy atmosphere.

"If you want a second serving, just call me. Uh. Not like you wouldn't do that anyway." He shrugs and turns around, catching one last glance at Jade's work. "Don't overexert yourself, alright?"

"You had a busy night, too." That's what he assumes, at least. Maybe not physically taxing like his own, but difficult all the same -- now that Shinjirou knows he isn't too far off from the truth, he can't help but poke at the limited knowledge a little.

He bows his head slightly, though, and makes his way towards the door. Intent on following the orders he's been given; I'll be good, he reminds himself.

Being a master of subtle poking and prodding himself, Jade can hardly fail to notice what Shinjirou is trying to do. He hides a smile and feeds him another tidbit of information, much like one would reward a dog with treats.

"Yes, my friend was determined to take a look at all the slaves on display. He was insistent that we sample some of them together." Turning to look at Shinjirou, Jade allows a smile to show, one that's bland yet vaguely foreboding. "I believe you were among his favourites, though."

His smile sharpens. "But if you had time to observe me, then clearly you weren't as focused as you could have been," he says, under the mistaken assumption that Shinjirou had actually been watching him. A distraction when all that stimulation had grown too overwhelming, he theorizes.

"Ugh." It's a bit like suddenly having a wasp attack his ear, hearing Jade talk about that friend of his. Biting his bottom lip from the inside, Shinjirou barely stops himself from groaning in exasperation. He doesn't want to be anyone's favorite, especially not that guy's. Weirdo. Arms crossed over his chest, he turns around and forces a smile.

The smile wavers as he tilts his head, tapping his fingers on the bruises that cover his arms. "I ... think I know you a little. Enough to figure out when you're glad that the only person you have to deal with is someone you can order to leave you alone." How risky of a statement that may be he can't figure out, though, and he waits at the door, not as patient as he'd like to feel.

Why, Shinjirou is growing quite bold. That could prove to be a problem later on. But for the moment, Jade can appreciate his spirit; it's why he had bought him instead of one of those quiet and broken slaves. Not just for the sake of achieving his objectives, but because he'd rather have someone bright and alive living with him, rather than someone who may as well be a dead fish.

He smiles indulgently. "You're correct. However, I'd much prefer not needing to give out orders."

His town is mild, but there's an implied dismissal there as well. He can't give Shinjirou too much leeway.

...And he really wants to get started on the pancakes.

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apologies for the erratic pace lately, still trying to iron out my schedule

no problem, take your time -- I know how that is

ahh ty!

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