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joiedecombatWaking up in the middle of the night in the heat of summer to a sense of someone there was an awkward business. Knee-jerk cop reflexes had Nishi most of the way onto his feet before awareness really kicked in, leaving him poised with his body jangling with adrenaline and his thoughts still sluggish and sleepy, and for a moment he couldn’t tell if he was awake or dreaming.
He took a moment to rub the crud out of his eyes, but Haji didn’t vanish. He just stood there, illuminated by the pale city glow through the apartment’s open windows, looking almost exactly as Nishi remembered him down to the bandage wrapped in layers around the disproportional shape of his right hand, and Nishi decided that he was probably awake after all and wandered off to the kitchen to stand over the sink and splash some cold water onto his face, which helped a little.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you again,” he said as he came back to the other room, dragging his damp fingers absently back through his hair. “Didn't you find who you were looking for?"
Haji's low voice hesitated fractionally over his words, as though he were choosing them carefully. "Saya is... sleeping now."
Nishi couldn't quite tell if that meant 'yes' or 'no.' A couple dozen different questions came immediately to mind, beginning with and what does that mean? and working quickly around toward wondering what it was that had brought Haji back to Hong Kong after this much time and whether or not he should be finding this ominous at all. But what Nishi actually ended up saying was, "Don't tell me you've gone back to starving yourself again or something."
"...no," Haji said, but he looked away, and his face in the wan half-light looked remote and beautiful like a saint in a stained glass window, impossible to read.
It left Nishi feeling uneasy, and not for the first time it occurred to him to wonder just how Haji got the blood that he needed. There couldn't be that many options - none that weren't at least a little disturbing. What was it like, an immortal life of constant hunger, constant self-restraint against the risk of losing control and becoming a murderer?
Haji stood silently, unmoving, a stillness that Nishi thought seemed born of great patience... as though he were waiting for something still a long way off.
He took a moment to rub the crud out of his eyes, but Haji didn’t vanish. He just stood there, illuminated by the pale city glow through the apartment’s open windows, looking almost exactly as Nishi remembered him down to the bandage wrapped in layers around the disproportional shape of his right hand, and Nishi decided that he was probably awake after all and wandered off to the kitchen to stand over the sink and splash some cold water onto his face, which helped a little.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you again,” he said as he came back to the other room, dragging his damp fingers absently back through his hair. “Didn't you find who you were looking for?"
Haji's low voice hesitated fractionally over his words, as though he were choosing them carefully. "Saya is... sleeping now."
Nishi couldn't quite tell if that meant 'yes' or 'no.' A couple dozen different questions came immediately to mind, beginning with and what does that mean? and working quickly around toward wondering what it was that had brought Haji back to Hong Kong after this much time and whether or not he should be finding this ominous at all. But what Nishi actually ended up saying was, "Don't tell me you've gone back to starving yourself again or something."
"...no," Haji said, but he looked away, and his face in the wan half-light looked remote and beautiful like a saint in a stained glass window, impossible to read.
It left Nishi feeling uneasy, and not for the first time it occurred to him to wonder just how Haji got the blood that he needed. There couldn't be that many options - none that weren't at least a little disturbing. What was it like, an immortal life of constant hunger, constant self-restraint against the risk of losing control and becoming a murderer?
Haji stood silently, unmoving, a stillness that Nishi thought seemed born of great patience... as though he were waiting for something still a long way off.
