Kenren glanced over as his door opened, wondering if someone was going to make him do work. He decided that wasn’t the case when he had to look down to about the level of his own navel before making eye-contact with the visitor. Reassured that work wasn’t in his future, Kenren waved his visitor in and went back to trying to make a house of the cigarette butts that were threatening to overtake his desk.
“What can I do for you, shorty?” Kenren asked as he attempted to create a second floor using a slightly-soggy cigarette that had been prematurely extinguished when he’d accidentally spilled half a bottle of beer on Tenpou the night before.
Goku didn’t answer right away, and that was suspicious. Kenren looked up again, to confirm that he really had seen his newest partner in crime, to see the big brown eyes looking up at him from the other side of his desk. Tenpou probably would have used a world like “balefully” for the expression, but Kenren preferred to think that he didn’t know such big words.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, already standing up and preparing to thump the person responsible. The butt house teetered and threatened to fall.
“Noo....” Goku replied, slowly.
“What, then?”
“Ken nii-chan....I was wondering why Ten-chan was making you take off your pants?”
Kenren’s boots, the ashtray, and most of the house he’d been building fell off the table, the first with a loud thud, the second with a light tinkling noise, and the third simply making a huge mess. ”What?”
If Goku noticed that the way Kenren was barely able to squawk the word out, he didn’t say anything. “Konzen kicked me out, so I was going to come visit you last night, but you seemed to be busy.”
The wheels in Kenren’s brain turned massively, trying to remember what Tenpou had been doing with his pants the night before. He’d been very drunk, he remembered that. But certainly he would remember something like Tenpou forcing him to remove his pants. He was going to have to have serious words with his brain if he didn’t.
“Ten-chan said you should stop now, before you had to give him your pants, too,” Goku elaborated finally.
Ah. Okay. He remembered that part. Thank Kami-sama.
“Oh, that? That was just Tenpou and I playing a little game,” Kenren said, and then pondered if that sounded quite as bad as he thought it did.
“A game?” Goku parroted, brightening. “What sort of game?”
They’d started with Mahjong, and a couple of lackeys, but then the lackeys had left, and Kenren had gotten bored, and depressed, so Tenpou had allowed them to move on to Sci Bo. He had no idea...oh, wait. Yes. He’d given up his pants reasonably late in the night. They weren’t something you gambled lightly.
“It’s a guessing game,” Kenren said. “You play with dice.”
Goku looked contemplative – for about a millisecond – and then bounced on his heels. “Teach me!”
There really couldn’t be any harm in it. He wasn’t that worried about Goku getting his pants. The boy was unlikely to play it safe, and Kenren had the feeling he could make the dangerous bets look much more appealing. He’d keep his pants and it was likely to be entertaining.
A second one. Oops.
Pants
Kenren glanced over as his door opened, wondering if someone was going to make him do work. He decided that wasn’t the case when he had to look down to about the level of his own navel before making eye-contact with the visitor. Reassured that work wasn’t in his future, Kenren waved his visitor in and went back to trying to make a house of the cigarette butts that were threatening to overtake his desk.
“What can I do for you, shorty?” Kenren asked as he attempted to create a second floor using a slightly-soggy cigarette that had been prematurely extinguished when he’d accidentally spilled half a bottle of beer on Tenpou the night before.
Goku didn’t answer right away, and that was suspicious. Kenren looked up again, to confirm that he really had seen his newest partner in crime, to see the big brown eyes looking up at him from the other side of his desk. Tenpou probably would have used a world like “balefully” for the expression, but Kenren preferred to think that he didn’t know such big words.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, already standing up and preparing to thump the person responsible. The butt house teetered and threatened to fall.
“Noo....” Goku replied, slowly.
“What, then?”
“Ken nii-chan....I was wondering why Ten-chan was making you take off your pants?”
Kenren’s boots, the ashtray, and most of the house he’d been building fell off the table, the first with a loud thud, the second with a light tinkling noise, and the third simply making a huge mess. ”What?”
If Goku noticed that the way Kenren was barely able to squawk the word out, he didn’t say anything. “Konzen kicked me out, so I was going to come visit you last night, but you seemed to be busy.”
The wheels in Kenren’s brain turned massively, trying to remember what Tenpou had been doing with his pants the night before. He’d been very drunk, he remembered that. But certainly he would remember something like Tenpou forcing him to remove his pants. He was going to have to have serious words with his brain if he didn’t.
“Ten-chan said you should stop now, before you had to give him your pants, too,” Goku elaborated finally.
Ah. Okay. He remembered that part. Thank Kami-sama.
“Oh, that? That was just Tenpou and I playing a little game,” Kenren said, and then pondered if that sounded quite as bad as he thought it did.
“A game?” Goku parroted, brightening. “What sort of game?”
They’d started with Mahjong, and a couple of lackeys, but then the lackeys had left, and Kenren had gotten bored, and depressed, so Tenpou had allowed them to move on to Sci Bo. He had no idea...oh, wait. Yes. He’d given up his pants reasonably late in the night. They weren’t something you gambled lightly.
“It’s a guessing game,” Kenren said. “You play with dice.”
Goku looked contemplative – for about a millisecond – and then bounced on his heels. “Teach me!”
There really couldn’t be any harm in it. He wasn’t that worried about Goku getting his pants. The boy was unlikely to play it safe, and Kenren had the feeling he could make the dangerous bets look much more appealing. He’d keep his pants and it was likely to be entertaining.
(continued below)