The Last Thing We'll Do
Chapter One: The Park
A/N – I don't own Baccano! But I wish I did…. :P
Warning: Claire is a potty mouth… That's about it. Rating might go up depending on future chapters.
Claire smiled and passed the ice cream cone towards Czeslaw. The brunette child stared at the swirling vanilla tower in front of him for a few minutes before he succumbed to his childish adoration for sweets, and snatched the cone from Claire's hands. Czeslaw licked the soft ice cream and glanced up at the unassuming red haired monster, who took a seat on the park bench next to him. There was still a strong tension of fear and twisted desires between the boy and the conductor, but Czeslaw had overcome the seemingly requisite urge to scream and run away. It seemed like every single day Ennis and Czeslaw would go to the park, and every single day, Claire would get Czeslaw alone.
"Where's Ennis this time?" Claire asked, his thick New York accent and lazy mannerisms nearly swallowing up his words and regurgitating it as a jumbled mess.
Czeslaw shrugged his tiny shoulders and mumbled, "She said she wanted to play with the dog," into his ice cream. The boy jumped slightly as Claire shifted in the bench. For a moment Claire chuckled and Czeslaw looked up at him with two large, confused brown eyes.
"I imagine the dog like you. Brown fur, big eyes, a bit shy." Claire explained, then chuckled even more as Czeslaw looked up at him with a frustrated expression. "You've got ice cream all over your face." Claire managed to say through his sprees of laughter. "Here." He declared, trying to snatch the boy's face and clean the mess with a brown paper napkin. Czeslaw scowled and tore the napkin out of Claire's hands. Indignantly, Czeslaw turned around and wiped his face clean.
"You are awful." Czeslaw snapped, his voice low with remnants fear.
"Czes, you hurt my feelings!" Claire pouted, draping an arm over Czeslaw's shoulders. The boy tried to shy away, but realized he was sitting on the very edge of the park bench. "Kid, look at you! You've grown taller, haven't you?" Claire blurted out, purely astounded.
"Nonsense." Czeslaw hissed, slumping over in a childish attempt to slide Claire's arm off of his shoulders. Czeslaw spoke in a tone so low, he could feel his throat clench tight, "You and I both know that I haven't grown, and never will."
"Yeah, yeah, but I like the idea of seeing my kid grow old." Claire added, so nonchalantly Czeslaw barely noticed the fact that Claire had just called the boy his 'kid'.
"I am not your child!" Czeslaw nearly screamed. The old couple on the bench across from them jumped and whispered to each other while the man walking past them stared at Czeslaw and Claire. Claire flashed what was supposed to be a genuine smile (but ultimately turned out to be some sick grin) at the shocked man.
"Who says?" Claire shrugged as he pulled Czeslaw close to him in an awkward embrace. Czeslaw winced and tried push himself free, but his feeble body proved useless. "You're all just little creations of mine. If I want one for myself, I can have one." Claire declared, swooping Czeslaw into a light headlock and mussed the boy's meticulously combed hair with his knuckled. At this point, Czeslaw had completely given up on fighting against Claire. If the psychopath wanted something, he would get it.
"You smell like blood." Czeslaw noted as he flailed about in one final attempt at freedom. "Firo told me you stopped. Does Chane know?" Claire's eyes popped open with surprise, and he looked around in an exaggerated frenzy. Claire pulled up the collar of his black coat and sniffed the fabric.
"Shit, you can smell that?"
"I have a good nose." Czeslaw grumbled, his voice was even more muffled due to the fact that his face was smothered by Claire's coat. "Now let me go. My hair is a mess thanks to you. You know, 230 years ago people cared about their appearance." Czeslaw slipped from out of Claire's lock and frantically fixed his hair.
"Have you thought about my offer?" Claire asked. He leaned back into the bench and rested his arms over the back. Claire looked down at the scowling immortal and smiled with fatherly love.
"That is the last thing I will do." Czeslaw snapped. Czeslaw glanced to his right and noticed Ennis, walking a small brown dog. "Leave me alone." He snapped and turned on his heel.
"Aw, Czes, you know I can't do that!" Claire called after Czeslaw as he marched off towards Ennis. Czeslaw did respond, to Claire's dismay. The young conductor smiled an unusual smile, at least for his own character and stared at Czeslaw's back, as his tiny figure grew smaller with each step. "See ya, kiddo." Claire mumbled to himself.
A/N – Let's get this straight, totally platonic relationship between Claire and Czes. Anyways, I'll get the next chapter up…. When I feel like it. :D Until then, wait. Hope you enjoyed! Comment please! I love constructive criticism, but I hate flame!