At the sound of her voice he looked up towards its source, throwing a glance filled with curiosity at the figure that stared back at him. She appeared to be as old as he was, or perhaps even older. He couldn’t quite tell. What had she said to him? Something about his name? With a shy glance towards the dirt ground, the young boy spoke.

“Kushina Jin.”

“Kushina Jin?” At that the girl gave a small smile. “That’s a nice name, Jin.”

“Um, arigato gozaimasu…” Jin replied, feeling a tinge of colour forming on his cheeks. The 8 year old dared to look back up at the girl yet averted his gaze away from her eyes, finding time to look at her flowing ebony hair as it framed her face before looking back down. He then swayed from side to side slightly on the swing he was currently seated in before saying, “What is your name?”

“My name is Michiko Taka.”

The young child nodded in acknowledgment. “Uh, I… I like-”

The young Kushina had no time to finish his words, neither was he quick enough to avoid the object that struck the side of his face with a resounding splat, and causing him to topple out of the swing seat. As Jin hit the ground clumsily he heard the sound of other children cheering and laughing off in the distance, sounds that were all too familiar.

“Jin! Are you alright?” Taka gasped.

“Yeah, we got him!” a different voice cried, belonging to a boy older than Jin himself. It was him that got Jin’s attention instead of Taka, as he rose to his feet and wiped the tomato stain off his face. Two other youths stood next to the perpetrator with huge grins. In the right hand of one of them, Jin noticed, was a tomato.

“Hey, Dosu. I think the freak with yellow eyes is getting mad,” one of the boys mocked.

“Don’t… call me that…” Jin responded, staring back down at the ground meekly, trying to avoid their gazes.

“Why?” Dosu spoke up now, his grin still intact. “Because you’re a yellow-eyed freak? A youkai? (monster)” He accentuated his words with laughter, soon joined by his friends chanting “youkai” in unison.

“Stop it…” Jin spoke a second time with shaking, clenched fists, and eyes squeezed shut. The display only encouraged them to continue, however, stopping long enough to laugh and point at Jin some more.

“Hey, I think he’s gonna cry,” the third boy commented, turning the tomato around in one hand.

“I’ve never seen a youkai cry before,” Dosu grinned, followed by the group of them moving closer. “Let’s see what that’s like.”

“Shut up!” Jin retorted, snapping his eyes open to gaze at them. For a moment the trio was frozen with silence, yet it had not been because of the young Kushina’s words, nor the tone of his voice, but…

“His eyes…” A trace of fear ran across the third child’s face, enough for the tomato to fall from his hand unnoticed. “They’re… they’re…”

“…black…” the second boy added, trailing off.

“…and glowing.” Dosu finished, almost too scared to even move.

“I told you…” Jin spoke forebodingly, never taking his gaze off the three despite the growing expression of fear it created. “…Don’t call me that…”

~*~*~*~*~

Chapter II - Train of Thoughts

-Jin’s Apartment-

Jin awoke with a start, followed by blinking a few times until the feeling of weariness left him.

'A dream,' he spoke mentally. Rather than muse some more on it in his mind, Jin instead dragged himself off the bed and headed out of the bedroom. The moment he opened the door he was greeted with the sound and smell of various different fried foods, which all served to further wake up his senses. Immediately Kushina spied out Natalie in the kitchen, currently oblivious to his presence as she tended to the near-overloaded stove. From what Jin could see, she seemed to have had a shower and gotten fully dressed already; in contrast to just the faded grey tracksuit bottoms he was wearing.

Jin stifled a quick yawn, and then spoke up. "Morning..."

Natalie turned slightly to smile at him over her shoulder,
"Morning! I didn't know what you like for breakfast, so I made all this."
“All this” consisted of bacon, eggs, French toast, pancakes and hash browns.

She was fairly certain he'd like at least one or two things she'd made. She flipped the bacon carefully, trying to avoid getting any grease on her clothes. The look she'd settled on today was a mix of punk and Goth, but not too outrageous. The pants were baggy with buckles and zippers and straps in odd places, but nothing to catch the eye too much. The shirt she wore was grey that faded from dark at the top to light at the bottom, thus it was the only thing she was really concerned about. It didn't surprise her that Jin's kitchen lacked an apron anywhere... he just wasn't the type to ever need one. Placing all the food onto plates, she turned fully to place them on the table.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked. She took note of the slight-puffiness under his eyes and of his tousled hair, and couldn't help but grin. He was cute when he first woke up, she thought. That he was shirtless was also nice, but that was a thought she decided not to dwell on.

"Yes, I did," he replied.
He had indeed slept well, unexpected dream aside. He glanced at the different variety of foods Natalie laid out, almost finding himself a bit taken back by Natalie's hospitality.

"You didn't have to do this, you know," he said whilst walking over towards the table. Making dinner was one thing, but now she was willing to just make breakfast for him like that? For all she knew, he might not have been hungry in the first place, and it would've all been a waste.
"But thank you." With that he sat down and tucked into the French toast and hash browns, followed after by the pancakes and eggs.

She smiled as she watched him eat, sitting down to her own meal, a bit of everything on her plate. "I know," she said.
"And you're welcome. I like to cook sometimes, and see people enjoy good food."
She left out the fact that she also loved to eat, as was obvious by her portions and the contented look she usually displayed when eating. She finished first and placed her plate on the counter along with any other empty plates, then got herself some more juice from the fridge. When she turned, she found herself facing Jin's back as he sat at the table. Her eyes widened a bit when they saw two parallel scars marring the otherwise smooth skin on the back of his left shoulder.

Perhaps five inches long, they extended diagonally over his shoulder blade, the lowest end stopping just short of his spine. Natalie felt a twinge of residual pain in her stomach and back, and one hand reflexively settled over her abdomen. It had been a year, but she remembered the pain well. Now that she thought about it, it seemed natural that someone with Jin's past would be scarred in some way, and it wouldn't have surprised her to see much worse. She did wonder how he got them, due to her natural curiosity. Yet Natalie refrained from asking and instead returned to the table to sit and drink her juice.

"So, have you packed yet? I don't have much... but I guess maybe I should have gotten a bag for it all. I really wish my luggage would hurry up and get here." She pouted a little at that... she didn't want to go to Kyoto with only three sets of clothes.

"Packed?" Jin shook his head in-between mouthfuls.
"I've only just woken up, so..." he left it at that, reaching for the last pancake and finishing it just as quickly. Fortunately for him, he wouldn't have to pack much. Nothing more than a few T-shirts and trousers, at least, especially since they would only be staying at Astaroth's place for just over a week. Last night they had agreed that they would travel to Kyoto by train, taking the Tokaido Shinkansen line, meaning that they would arrive in Kyoto within 3 hours of departure.
"Have you spoken to Astaroth yet? Does he know we're coming?"

Had she had a suitcase, she'd have packed the night before. It didn't surprise her that he hadn't, though. She smirked a little and picked up his plate once her was done, finishing clearing the table.
"I haven't called him yet, but I will. I didn't want to wake him up too early. He sleeps in on the weekends. I'm surprised I got up as early as I did..."

She loaded the dishwasher and set it on short cycle, then turned to him with a smile.
"I think he'll be happy to see us. I have to admit, though, being around both of you at the same time is gonna feel a little weird at first. But good," she said. The last time she'd been around both of them, they had either been trying to capture her, fighting about her, or trying to protect her. It would be refreshing to share a bit of normalcy with both of them.
"Well," she said, looking at the clock,
"I guess I can go ahead and call him. We're leaving at eight, right?"

"Right," Kushina gave a nod to confirm Natalie's words. It made for a nice change, he admitted, to wake up to breakfast instead of going down to Megumi to buy his meal, something that had grown to become a routine.
"I'm gonna get changed now," Kushina announced before moving towards the bathroom.
"If you call your brother in the meantime, tell him I said 'Hello'"

"Ok," she said. As he went to shower and get dressed, Natalie picked up the phone and dialed the number. She waited for the five rings it took for him to answer, then greeted.
"Ohayo, nii-san! Hehe... guess who taught me that?"

On the other end of the line, she heard her brother chuckle. A bit groggy... he'd just woken up from the sound of it.
"I can't imagine. So things have been going well I take it?"

"Yup!" she replied. "I've been staying here at Jin's place since I got here in Tokyo. Gosh, this city is so big... Guess what?"

"You're pregnant already?" came the dry reply.

Natalie flushed red and griped at him.
"No no no. Nothing like that and you know it. We're coming to visit you!" There was silence on the other end of the line as Natalie stood there with an open-mouthed smile that slowly turned to a look of confusion.
"Is that ok?"

"You're coming today?"

"Yup! We'll be there around eleven tonight."

On the other end, he sighed. "Fine. But don't complain about the mess, alright? I’ve been busy."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. And you can cancel any dates you made or plans you have because we're staying for a week!"

"A week?? Both of you? You are aware someone is going to be sleeping on the floor, right?"

"With as short as your couch is, we both will."

"...as long as I don't walk in on anything awkward, it's fine."

"David! Enough with the innuendos. Anyways, Jin said to tell you hello."

"Well he can tell me himself when you both get here," he replied, and she could tell by his voice that he was smiling despite his pessimistic nature. She chuckled.

"Alright. We'll see you then."

"Bye, Nat." She ignored the nickname, said her goodbye and hung up the phone. The doorbell rang a moment later and she answered, delighted to find a young man delivering her lost luggage. She tipped him what she hoped was an appropriate amount, the set about the task of unpacking and reorganizing.

=====

Jin slid the glass shower door open and turned the water on. This time the water wasn’t cold or lukewarm, as it had been yesterday, but was still hot enough to sprinkle a misty haze along his arm. He stepped in and closed the door just as the warm stream flowed over and down his head, briefly reminding him on his hair’s new, shortened length. As his skin gradually became used to the heat Jin let himself relax, allowing the spray of water to douse over his form as if almost therapeutic.

The dream, or latent childhood memory, that seemed unwilling to leave him alone drifted through his mind again. He remembered that day vividly - it had been the first time the innate power of his clan’s namesake had awakened from within him. Fortunately, none of the boys at the orphanage had been hurt, nor did they ever bother him again since then… yet it hadn’t been without a price. Michiko Taka, who had attempted to reach out to him that day, was taken out of the orphanage the next day. Dosu’s words about the incident afterward only caused the other children to shun him further, making him a companion to his own loneliness and the pain it had come with.

A sudden flicker of pain caused Jin to snap out of his thoughts abruptly. He stared over at its source, only to see twin trails of blood trickle from his hand, having subconsciously clenched it into a fist so tight that his fingernails had breached the skin deep enough to draw blood. Without a second thought Jin rinsed his palm under the shower as well as his wrist, where the blood trail had reached before dripping off to meet the rushing water around his feet.

‘Damn…’ Kushina thought bitterly.

He wasn't really sure why the past still caused such strong emotions at times. For the most part, he tried to just accept unpleasant memories as simple fact and move on, yet things like the events in the orphanage had shaped so much of who he turned out to be. It was a large part of why he didn't embrace a more open nature towards others, because most would likely come to fear and avoid him once they knew more about him.

Natalie's voice broke his thoughts, her smile coming into view in his mind's eye, and Jin found himself calming a little at the memory. She had a lot of reasons to be afraid of him, yet she wasn't. Quite the opposite, it seemed...

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Jin reached for the shampoo and went about finishing his shower, ignoring the sting the soap caused against the two cuts in his palm.

=====

While Jin had his shower, Natalie busied herself with making sure all of her things were still in her bags, and nothing had been damaged. She did this by going to his bedroom and unceremoniously dumping out the contents onto the bed, most of which had been rolled up and stuffed into the bag, regardless of wrinkles. Once satisfied, she began repacking her clothes and the few other belongings she had, along with what she'd bought recently. A box of cards marked "Uno" caught her attention, and she picked them up. She'd bought them as a way to pass the time, something she could play with her brother to take up the space of silence that marked many of their conversations. The memory of her last game came to mind instantly…

~*~*~*~*~

The kitchen in David's apartment was small, but big enough to hold the table where brother and sister sat, playing - of all things - Uno. Years ago, Natalie would never have imagined doing something so simple with her last living family member... she hadn't even known he was alive then. Yet here they were, trying to gradually bridge the distance that years of separation had put between them.

Natalie lay down a wild card and called the color, "Red."

Her brother grumbled quietly and drew cards from the deck until he could lay down one of the corresponding color. "I don't like this game," he announced.

His sister giggled, "That's only because you are losing."

Ice blue eyes narrowed at her, but so unlike the dangerous times from before. Now they simply did so out of annoyance. As Natalie put down another card and they continued to play, the man formerly known as Astaroth spoke.
"So, are you going to see him?" It was a casual tone that didn't quite match the cautious look in his eyes. A lot had passed between his best friend and his sister, much of which he did not know.

Natalie stared at her cards thoughtfully for a long moment, an unreadable expression in her eyes. Unusual. "Do you think I should?" It was the core reason of why she returned, but here, in this world, uncertainly and doubts clouded her mind.

"I think he should know you're alive, and alright, at the very least." A soft, slightly wry smile touched his lips. "Besides, I know I'm not the only one you wanted to see."

She flushed slightly and studiously kept her eyes on her cards. "I want to see him. I just... I don't know if he will want to see me."

"He would." It was spoken as a fact, beyond certainty.

"How do you know?" Aside from that fact that Astaroth was, in all honesty, the closest friend Kushina had.

"Because you mattered."

When she did look at him, it was quizzical, and a little afraid of knowing. He continued.
"I admit, at first the only reason he was around you was because I asked him to protect you. But it evolved from that. Natalie, as much as Jin hides... he's not without feeling. Your death," he paused here, cool blue eyes looking down.
"Your death did something to him. And me. For the better, in many ways, because it woke both of us up. You were, and are, the only family I have memory of. I won't presume so much to say what you are to him... but you are not unimportant."

He met her gaze again and thought he saw her eyes glistening, her expression still uncertain.
"I know... it's just that... So much time has passed. He may just want to move on..." The thought crushed her a little, as shown in the sag of her shoulders. David shook his head.
"All things need resolution. Think about it this way; would it be better for you to see him now and let him know you're alive? Or avoid him, and risk seeing him later and making him wonder why you never sought him out? Because you're my sister, he will eventually know. I'd rather it be you that reveals it to him."

Natalie pondered this, and then asked, "Do you think he would still care?"

He smiled, almost bitterly. Vastly different, and so much alike, the two of them were. Had chance or fate brought them together?

His heart knew the answer.

"I think you can only find out from him. But this is what I have found: if you care for someone once… then a part of you will always hold onto that."

She nodded, giving him a shy smile then. "Thanks David. I think I will go see him. Soon."

He nodded in return and watched as she placed another card on the pile... one that he had neither a matching color nor number for. His expression turned sour when he was forced to draw yet more cards, while she laughed.
"But first I'm going to have to try a game with you that you can actually win."

~*~*~*~*~

Moments after Natalie ejected herself out of her thoughts she heard the sound of the bathroom door opening. She looked up, only to then wish that she hadn’t, for Jin stepped out, wearing nothing but a blue towel wrapped snugly around his waist that left his upper frame exposed to her for a second time. Before he could catch her looking at him, Natalie quickly turned back to her suitcase, feeling a rush of colour rise to her cheeks. When she dared to look up again, albeit at his back, she noticed something.

“Your hand…” she trailed off and stood up to focus on it some more. Wrapped around the middle of his left hand was a cloth bandage, something that obviously hadn’t been there this morning.
“What happened to it?”

“This?” Jin spoke with a nonchalant tone as he held up his bandaged hand. “Just an accident. Nothing to worry about.”

‘An accident?’ Natalie was in front of him now.
“Let me see,” she said as she reached for his hand. The fact he was still wearing just a towel didn’t seem to register in her mind anymore.
“I can heal this, you know,” she offered. “Plus it’ll be better than going around with a bandage.”

Before she could touch Jin’s hand, he quickly drew it back.
“I already said it’s nothing to worry about,” he snapped, this time with a blunt tone of voice. Then, as if realizing the ramifications of his words, added softly,
“I appreciate your offer, but it’s nothing too serious. I’ll be fine.”

Natalie sighed, but chose not to press on the matter.
“If you say so…” she said, turning back to packing, whilst Jin went off to get dressed. When she heard his door close, she let her shoulders sag a little. You can't expect too much, too quickly, she told herself and closed the suitcase, finally finished.
 

=====
 

-Later that day-

If Jin had a watch, he would've been staring at it now. Honestly, he didn't know how long he'd been waiting, but it seemed too long for his liking. They had to be at the station by 8PM, and it was already past 7:30. The cab service Natalie had ordered for them was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago. Lateness was something he always disliked, and this was proving to be no exception. At the moment Natalie was on the phone to the service in an attempt to find out what was going on. He observed her as she silently listened to the person on the other end, muttered a 'Thanks' and finally put the phone down.

"Well?" Jin asked. "What did they say?"

"Something about the driver struggling to find the address," Natalie replied flatly. "Five more minutes."

Jin shook his head. ‘Great.’
 

-*-
 

Nearly twenty minutes later they were at the train station and picked up their tickets which Jin had purchased by credit card over the phone on the way to the station to save time. They made it just as the train was about to depart, stepping into the sliding panel doors moments before it began to move. They'd had to practically run all the way from the cab to the train, and now Natalie panted slightly as she followed Jin down the car, trying to find their seats. Three cars down, they found their seats on the right side of the car: a window seat, the middle seat, and the one next to it. Jin didn't make a fuss about her having the window seat, much to her relief. She didn't like being stuck in a middle seat.
"That... was close," she said as she finally settled into her seat, this time clutching her luggage almost protectively.

Taking the outermost seat, Jin rested his jacket on the seat between himself and Natalie before nodding silently, also inwardly relieved to have made it in time. Had Natalie not reached it first Jin himself would've claimed the window seat for himself. Traveling by train often exposed a pleasant, scenic view of Japan's countryside -- even at night -- that he usually liked to stare at, occasionally drifting into thought at the same time. For a while, the pair of them was silent, as if intrigued by the humming sound of the train and stuck for words to say. Had it remained that way for the whole journey, Jin wouldn’t have minded, yet a nagging feeling within his mind urged him to break the silence, lest he make the journey an uncomfortable one.

So he did.

"So..." he began, searching for a topic starter. "Will Astaroth be meeting us at the station? Or not?"

Natalie had been lost in thought when Jin's voice broke the silence between them. She was mildly relieved. She had tried to think of something to say, but wound up just looking out the window at the scenery. She looked from the window to Jin, smiling as she responded,
"Oh, no probably not. I know how to get to his apartment though. We can catch one of the city trains there, and it's not far from the station." She leaned back in the seat, trying to get comfortable and finally set her bag down in front of her legs.
"So what do you want to do while we're in Kyoto?"

“I’m not sure,” Jin shrugged. As he had affirmed to himself already, the only thing of interest Kyoto had to offer to him, personally, was a change of scenery from Tokyo. Outside of visiting Astaroth… but even then it had not been in his plans initially to actively spend some time with him.
“I don’t know a lot about Kyoto. Perhaps your brother will be able to suggest something, since he lives there.”

She nodded.
"I'm sure he can. When I was there, he and I mostly just talked and hung around the apartment, and went out to eat a few times. He did take me to some interesting places though." While she'd stayed with David -- or Astaroth, as Jin still called him -- he had taken her to see an old temple, some historical landmarks, and they had gone to a couple of arcades. Natalie watched the scenery go by as another short silence hung between them, then she spoke again.
"You're off for two weeks right? Are you going to spend the rest of it in Tokyo after our time in Kyoto?" She purposefully used the word "you" simply because she wasn't sure where she'd be after all this, with her brother, or trying to make a living in Tokyo near Jin. She knew she wanted to be close to him... but how did he feel about it?

“Yeah, I will,” he replied. ‘Then there’s always Aomori to go to after this,’ he added silently.

"Okay," was really all she could reply before returning her gaze to the rapidly passing scenery outside. Though it was night by now, moonlight illuminated enough for her to see most of what they were passing. The cityscape had long ago passed into quiet countryside, small towns and hills. For the most part, both were silent the rest of the trip, Jin because conversation seemed no longer necessary to him, and Natalie because she could find nothing suitable to talk about. During the second hour of their trip, Natalie had drifted off, using Jin’s long coat -- after having asked for his permission, leading to a wordless response -- as a blanket. By the time she woke up the train had begun to slow down. She looked across at Jin through bleary eyes, only to see him staring vacantly at his bandaged hand. ‘Accident or not… there’s obviously more to that wound than what he said this morning,’ Natalie concluded, especially the way he’d initially snapped at her when she tried to help him. Maybe it reminded him of a painful memory, she pondered as she continued to observe him, wondering what might just be going though his mind.

The Tokaido Shinkansen finally came to a stop, announcing to its passengers that they had arrived in Kyoto. Before Jin could look up and notice her staring, Natalie quickly feigned being asleep before cracking her eyelids open. “We there already?” she asked, throwing in a yawn for effect.

“Yeah,” Jin replied as he rose up from his seat. “You were asleep for about an hour.”

“Oh, okay,” Natalie said. 'And you? Were you just staring at your bandaged hand for that long as well?' she wanted to add, but thought better of it. “Thanks for lending me your jacket, by the way.”

Jin again gave a wordless response before he took the jacket from her and the pair of them rose up from their seats.
 

-*-
 

A while later, just outside the train station they arrived at after taking one of the local trains, the two of them stopped at Jin's suggestion. Natalie took the time to get a better hold on her luggage, but was interrupted by the cell phone held out to her. "You should call your brother and let him know we're here."

She blinked at the phone, then set her baggage on the sidewalk and took it from him, having to think for a moment to remember the number. She dialed, and Jin listened as she informed her brother that they'd be arriving shortly. Astaroth must have said something that Natalie found amusing, for she chuckled as she flipped the phone closed, ending the call.
"He's as ready as he's going to be. I think he's been cleaning all day," she explained while she handed the phone back and bent to pick up her stuff. As she did, Jin held up his unbandaged hand, "Wait," he said.
"One more thing..."

With some obvious reluctance, the raised hand lowered and the bandaged one was extended to her instead. His quiet voice turned a little sheepish, "Um... if you don't mind..."

Natalie looked at his hand, a small smile forming on her lips as she gently took it. "Not at all... so why'd you change your mind?" she asked as she unwrapped the gauze.

He only offered a shrug and studiously kept from meeting her eyes. "Well, it'll be better than going around with a bandage..."

The single cut she revealed was almost two inches long, curved slightly at each end. Blue eyes narrowed just a little as she tried to figure out what made it, and had her own suspicions. Yet she showed and said nothing as her hands glowed in faintest blue and she ran one finger over the wound, sealing it and leaving only slightly pink, newly healed skin in its place. She released his hand slowly and smiled up at him. "There."

After briefly inspecting his hand, Jin returned her smile with a ghost of his own. "Thanks. So, you know how to get there, yes?" Natalie nodded and picked up her carry-on, while Jin picked up his suitcase as well as hers, to her mild relief.

"This way," she said, leading the way. "It's not far..."
 

-*-
 

About fifteen minutes later, the pair found themselves in the apartment building, which was noticeably not as well kept as the one Jin lived in. The elevator took its time getting to the third floor, and Jin wondered for a moment if they might've been quicker taking the stairs. Finally the doors rattled and groaned their way open, allowing Natalie to lead Jin to apartment twenty, all the way at the end of the hall, on the left. A half-dead potted plant sat outside next to the door. Considering the late hour, Natalie knocked as quietly as she could. A moment later, the door opened, ice-blue eyes a shade lighter than Natalie's own taking in the guests with what the girl guessed was well-hidden enthusiasm. "Have a good trip?"

"David!" Natalie chirped and wrapped him in a hug that nearly bowled him over, mostly due to the thirty-pound carry-on that slapped against his back from where it hung off her right arm. He grunted and returned the embrace a little awkwardly with one arm. Still couldn't quite get used to this sibling thing...

Natalie released her brother to give him breathing room and stepped back, hands clasped in front of her as she waited for the somewhat happy reunion of two best friends.

And waited.

And waited...

The two just stared at each other for a moment, one in the doorway and the other just outside. Astaroth finally raised one brow and mused in a flat tone. "You cut your hair."

Jin, taking in the short length of Astaroth's own hair -- that now fell just below his ears to taper down to the back of his neck in... waves? -- responded in kind.
"So did you... why are you always copying me?" The faintest smirk appeared on the last words, met with a soft snort from the other man, while Natalie just stared open-mouthed as they acted as if nothing more than a few days had separated them.

"You're the one who always copied me, I recall. So, you gonna come in or do the two of you wanna stay at a hotel? There's one that charges by the hour down the street..." He stepped aside to allow room for them to come in, which didn't happen immediately.

Natalie flushed furiously and growled a small retort as she pushed passed him, bumping him intentionally with her bag.
"Knock it off."

Also not missing his friend's meaning, Jin scowled a little and mostly succeeded in not blushing too noticeably. "Funny." As he walked in, lugging along the rest of his and Natalie's stuff, he asked,
"So... got anything worth drinking in this place?"

The door closed on the sound of Astaroth's quiet chuckle.