"Oh! Thank you," said Alexis. She studied him for a moment. "You have very good reflexes," she added. She juggled two small boxes in one hand and tried to keep them from falling.
"I'd be a pretty piss-poor gunman if I didn't." Jigen held out the plain brown package.
She ignored his outstretched arm. "Oh, is that your speciality, Mr Jigen?" Alexis looked thoughtfully at him. "I'm a complete berk when it comes to drawing a gun." She bent down and set a bulging green bag on the pavement. It slouched against her leg, threatening to tip over.
"It's all about practise. And it's just 'Jigen'." He tilted his head and flashed one lazy brown eye at her.
"Oh is it, now?" Alexis transferred a stack of parcels to her left arm, cradling them against her body. "Tell me, 'just Jigen', do you have a first name?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but no one uses it." He set the package on the sidewalk at her feet and straightened, taking a long drag on his cigarette.
"Help me with this, will you?" Alexis didn't bother to wait for a reply, but dumped several parcels in his arms. Jigen was too surprised to protest. Carefully, Alexis began organising her purchases. Three bags now lay at her feet, all of them filled nearly to bursting. "So, what is it?" she said, reaching for the biggest box.
"What's what?"
"Your first name." Shuffle shuffle, went the packages. Methodically, Alexis stacked the parcels that were in her own arms, from largest to smallest.
"Daisuke." He held his arms steady as she started to take the boxes from his hands and integrate them into the growing pile. It was like watching her play a life-sized slider puzzle.
Alexis blinked and looked up at him. "Daisuke?" It rolled smoothly off her tongue, and Jigen shivered slightly in the warm Italian breeze. She'd spoken his name with such affection. "That's very Japanese," she said pointedly.
"Yeah, well." He stroked his beard with one rough hand, knowing that his features were about as far from Japanese as they could get. "It's a long story."
"Mm." Her tone was non-committal. The parcels and boxes continued their endless shuffling. "Do you prefer 'Jigen'?"
"It doesn't matter." He gave an exasperated, exaggerated sigh. "Look, what the hell's with all these friggin' packages? Don't you women know when to stop spending money?"
The shuffling stopped. Alexis looked up at him, frowning slightly.
"What do you have against women, Daisuke Jigen?" she demanded. The packages in her arms wobbled threateningly.
"I .. what do you ... nothing!" He reached out to steady the stack, glad to be doing something. "It's just that they're all ..."
"...two-faced, like Fujiko?" Alexis took a step forward, closing the distance between them by several inches. The pile of boxes was held steady between her body and Jigen's hands. He glanced down at her, his lips tightening on his cigarette. He looked as if he were the one in need of steadying. "Ah, I see," Alexis murmured. "Judge the whole by a handful, eh?" She smirked slightly. "What is this, the 'one bad apple' principle at work?"
Jigen took his hands off the stack of packages. He stooped to pick up the bags at Alexis' feet, and slipped them over her waiting fingers. Her smirk turned into a gentle smile.
"Thank you," she said. She bent her knees slightly in a half-curtsey.
"Yeah, no problem." Jigen pulled the cigarette from his mouth and tapped off the ash. As Alexis walked away, he found himself following her. "Hey, do you play darts?"
She stopped and turned to face him. The smile was still there. Jigen felt his heart clench, and swallowed anxiously.
"Mm-hm," she said. "Why?"
Jigen nervously rubbed the back of his neck, pushing his hat even further over his eyes. "Well, there's a great bar at the hotel. And I'm a sucker for good hand-eye coordination." He smiled wryly.
Alexis' eyes widened. "Why, Jigen. Are you asking me on a date?" she teased. "The master misogynist himself is on the pull?"
Jigen frowned. "Hey, I already told you. I'm no misogynist. I just don't .. uh.. trust .."
"...women," Alexis finished, and laughed lightly. "Right." She tilted her head to one side and studied him. "Since you ask, though," she continued, "yes, I do play darts; and yes, I'm quite good." She winked broadly at him. "And yes, I'll kick your scrawny American ass any day of the week."
Jigen grinned. The tight band around his heart loosened. Now he was on familiar ground. "You're on, sister," he shot back. "How about tomorrow night? We're staying at the Excelsior."
Alexis whistled softly. "Only the best for Lupin, eh?" She nodded. "All right. I'll be there tomorrow at seven." She walked away, her hips swaying slightly under the weight of her purchases. Jigen watched her for a moment longer, then dropped his spent cigarette and turned towards the hotel.
