S- So is he gay?

R- Not even he knows.

"Seirah, Please. I know these guys in real life, okay? Can you keep your voice down?! What if they come in?!"

Seirah didn't keep her voice down. She had come to visit the band's rehearsal site and she was sitting on the couch in Rock's 'practice station'. Iori's band was probably the strangest workplace he had even been a part of. When it came to seating in their 'office', Iori had just waved vaguely toward one half of the gutted storefront and left him to it.

Over several months (paychecks), Rock Howard had decided he wasn't happy with a folding chair and a concrete floor, and invested in a rug and a couch. Everyone ended up sitting on his sofa, and he complained, so Iori bought eight of them and scattered them around. He even put one outside on the sidewalk, where it was promptly stolen.

"Doesn't knowing them make this kind of thing more interesting?"

"No!"

Rock made a face as he thumbed through one of the more difficult pieces he was learning. Seirah continued, despite his obvious discomfort with the topic. Rock was beginning to think she did this sort of thing on purpose.

"Have you ever asked him about it?"

"No! Why would I?!"

She laughed.

It was three in the afternoon, and the only people here at the moment were Seirah and himself. Jake and Rob had gone home early. The boss was still out to lunch with Kyo Kusanagi, who had showed up at their 'office' a couple of hours ago, and goaded Iori into a fight.

This time they had gone outside to set themselves on fire, and ended up blocking traffic in city central for fifteen minutes before the police and fire-department showed up. They were doused, fined, and were immediately off to eat Taiwanese hot-pot. Iori had invited them to come along, but for whatever reason Seirah seemed uncomfortable around Kyo and begged Rock to reject the offer. He did, and was content not to ask too many questions.

Probably some military stuff that I don't need to know...

They had gone to lunch on their own, and when they arrived back, Seirah took a seat beside him, giggled, and plucked something out of her purse. Rock was certain it was something unwholesome, considering she had been gushing about her homosexual fantasies concerning his boss with his boss's best friend for the past fifteen minutes. Naturally, it made Rock want to cringe in on himself.

"Look! I can totally imagine them like this!"

Rock fixed his eyes directly into his sheet music and did his best to block his peripheral vision from his mind. He could catch just -enough- to know it was that sort of Japanese comic.

"Seirah, I'm serious, please stop."

"Hmph, If you won't look, then I'll read it to you. It's Japanese so I need to translate. I'll even replace the names for you. Ready?!"

"I'm leaving!"

"Ehem, 'Kusanagi! Touch my hair one more time and I'll swear I'll bite your dick off!' said Iori, who was kneeling on-"

Rock walked away with his fingers stuck in his ears. Seirah trailed behind him, narrating as loudly and lasciviously as she could.

Seirah/Whip is a little afraid of Kyo because of that one thing in March of Skeletons where Kyo went nutzo and almost killed everyone. She doesn't really wanna eat lunch with him.

Duckling doesn't need to know. :)

lol, the 'Manga Iori' is just as unromantic as the real one.