Author's Note: I watched Baccano for the first time all in one hit and just loved the whack job characters, all seemingly with violent or destructive intent. The Brooklyn gangster language was a wonderful change to listen to as well; I think it was a well done anime. Now, hope you like the read. ** IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED ALL OF BACCANO, GO WATCH IT NOW,
1934 – New York
"Ya know, for a gal, ya dress all business-man like." Ennis walked in par with Firo down the dully lit street of New York. Surprisingly it wasn't as busy as one would think, it being the Big Apple and all. The street was dead when usually it would be crawling with all kinds of "creatures of the night". The cobblestones were reflecting the lampposts and buildings from the water layered over the top from a previous rain; it was almost pretty considering the street was a hole to look at with broken windows and rubbish lying around everywhere.
Ennis seemed to be in her own world. Either she ignored what Firo had said or didn't hear him. She told him that being an artificial human meant she couldn't feel emotion such as excitement, angst or anger but she has been learning all of these emotions and more since her meeting with both the positive and negative people in her short life so far. Firo explained the feelings for Szilard was hate for that if she loved him, she wouldn't have told Firo how to kill him, let alone stab him herself when he wasn't looking. He also explained that she must feel a fraction of compassion for she had told him that she had given mercy to Isaac and Miria when ordered to kill them, or as Firo joked, rebelliousness against her father. She didn't understand how that made him laugh but it made her smile to herself without knowing. Maybe she could learn emotions like a normal person; it would just take a bit longer.
"Earth to Ennis? Did ya malfunction on m'now doll-face?" Firo ducked in-front of her tipping his fedora up a little so he could see her eyes from under the brim. She came to her senses and shook her head slightly like as if she had an insect land on her nose.
"Sorry, I was just thinking, did you say something?" she blinked a few times as he studied her expression for a bit until he stood back up to normal and tug at his suit loosely to straighten it.
"I said, ya dress like all business-like. Don't ya like ladies' st'ff?" Ennis's face didn't change but she gave it some thought for a bit and scanned her clothes a little before looking back up at him.
"Woman clothes would be impairing my movement. Like if it rained and I had no umbrella to keep me dry, I'd have to run to find shelter and a dress would hind that difficult. Or if I got approached by someone it would be hard to defend myself." Firo chuckled a little at the last part.
"Ya mean defend ya clothes, ya can't die r'memba?" he shook his head in amusement and continued to follow her as she had started walking without him.
"Good es'cuse though, ya win this round gal." he dipped his hat low over his face and looked at his feet. His nicely polished shoes were going to have to dry when he gets home, and polished again. He sighed and his mind pondered a little before Ennis broke the silence.
"Can I ask you something Firo?" she asked in a monotone voice. He lifted his head up and looked in her direction.
"Yeah, wa' is it? He slurred lazily. The boring atmosphere of the dead street was getting to him, and it was getting late too so fatigue was brushing him slightly.
"I don't like it when I get called "doll-face", please don't call me that." Firo looked at her with an eyebrow cocked.
"An' why is that?" Ennis stopped walking for a few seconds and then walked a tad faster than their normal pace, opening her umbrella as rain started to hit them both.
"The word "doll-face" makes me think you are referring to a doll, a lifeless play thing that replicates a human." Firo's heart sunk and knew he had offended her. Well he could always look on the bright side he thought, a smirk appearing on his face as he too opened his umbrella.
"Well I know somethin' now for certain about you then Ennis," he hurried to catch up to her as they reached their apartment front door. "Ya defiantly have emotion, because wha' ya experienced there wa' agitation, a very human emotion." He went through his keys and found the one he needed to unlock the door, shoving it lazily into the key-hole and opening the door.
1934 – Manhattan
Jacuzzi lay on the old timber floor of the house and inhaled the smell of both dust and gunpowder. A hole in the wall from a new bomb that currently was being made let in a lot of light from outside that just so happened to hit him straight in the face making him groan, not wanting to move out of lethargy.
"Stupid sun, go jump in a lake will…" he rolled over so his back faced the sun and he looked down at the floor he was lying on. It was coated in a thin layer of dust. If he didn't get asthma from spending hours just lying in it he knew he must have invincible lungs. Maybe the endless crying made him impenetrable to asthma, but that didn't even make sense. He sighed heavily at his dumb thoughts and finally got up off the ground and shuffled to the door, well he could use one of the holes in the wall but the door seemed a more 'normal' option. One of his men stood outside his door, nearly touching the roof with his head because of his size, Jacuzzi thought to himself as he passed him down the hallway that he was glad he was on his side.
"Hey Jacuzzi you up finally? Come see this hey?" a voice called as he passed a door with heavy feet. He looked at the door beside him and the door to the bathroom at the end of the hall as he felt a tug at his bladder. He rolled his eyes and opened the door the voice came from and walked in.
"Whatcha got for me now Nice?" he slurred as he scratched his side sleepily watching the woman enticed by all the dangerous powders surrounding her table without labels; he just knew that she was asking for trouble just leaving it everywhere for some idiot to come along and knock them over or fiddle with them. Nice turned and noticed him behind her, lifting her glasses and dropping them back down before getting out of her chair to pass her new "play-thing" to Jacuzzi in triumph.
"This lil beauty here is the latest explosive I've whipped up and this time it should work, why don't we go to some gang hideout or charity and try it out hey?" the last part made Jacuzzi wake up for good now as he pictured nuns running around with missing arms and aflame while Nice laughs in amusement of the explosion.
"How could you! You are not going to blow up a charity! Or any other place filled with children or women!" he started ranting on as Nice looked at him puzzled at his reaction.
"Hey, hey Jacuzzi calm down, I was joking! I wouldn't use this sort of thing on a charity." She burst out in laughing as his panicked expression relaxed.
"Its not powerful enough I reckon for that kind of job." She quickly added, making him start ranting in panic again. "Hey you are gullible, but honestly, I wanna try this baby out somewhere or I'm gunna die. Got any big-shot places I can blow up? Jacuzzi sighed at the explosive driven woman. You'd think she'd learn from getting a face full of it when young but noooooo, everyone around him has to be a nut-job. Thinking of that made him look at the scars on her body leading up to her eye-patch and he winced inwardly.
He vividly remembers hearing her screaming when he was going over to see her years ago, finding her curled up on the timber deck of her soot covered house, clutching her eye. He remembered getting help and waiting outside the hospital to see if she would be ok, finding out she had lost her eye in the process and gained permanent scaring on her body. Even worse he remembers when she didn't want anyone to see her including him because she was ashamed. Which being a boy made him think of a dumb way to make her feel better and get a tattoo inked on his face so that people wouldn't just look at her but him too. No normal boy would have done that, maybe buy flowers or sweets, or as your typical man would do, totally ditch her. He takes pride in his dumb decision because it worked anyway.
"Umm Jacuzzi? Jacuuuuuzzi? Ya there?" she lightly slapped his face making him jump a little, waving the explosive in her hand at his face. He took a step back and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger.
"What?" was all he managed to say. Nice rolled her eyes and walked passed him; going through the door he left opened and stopped outside the entrance.
"Well you coming or what?" she said suggestively. He smiled and followed her out.
1934 – New York
Firo shook his umbrella and hung it on a coat hanger placed beside the apartment door, Ennis copying his actions the same but removing her brown leather jacket she was wearing over the top of her, as Firo calls it, "business-man attire", placing it on the coat hanger next to the umbrellas. Firo made his way to the tiny living room and sat on a couch. He propped his feet on the small coffee table placedin-front of the couch and chucked his hat next to him on a cushion. She didn't notice when his shoes came off but they were both separated along his path towards his current perch. She picked them both up and put them under the coffee table along with hers as well, joining him on the couch making sure not to sit on his beloved fedora.
There was silence for a while as both sat side by side on the couch. Despite being immortal, fatigue and tiredness still affects them, hunger as well much to Firo's disappointment.
"Ya's think being immortal would mean ya won't 'ave ta sleep or eat, get hot or cold. I guess it jus' means we don' die I guess, well not permanently." He mumbled as he folded his arms across his chest indicating he was feeling a little chilly. Ennis took what he said as a hint and headed towards a heater located in the corner of the living room so he would feel a little better. She headed to the fridge and opened it to find it empty except for a litre of milk, passed its expiry date by a few days.
"Firo, we forgot to go shopping today." She said bluntly. She heard him moan loudly in disappointment and shuffle amongst the couch leather noisily.
We'll go tomorrow when tha clouds decide to stop pissin' on us. Ennis found herself smiling at his way of speaking. It was like a slur, as if he was permanently intoxicated or so sleepy that he couldn't be bothered forming full words. She lit up the stove and put the kettle on to boil the water, placing the tea-leaves into the water to make a small pot for the both of them despite no milk.
Firo still was processing on how human Ennis was and the extent of what she could achieve to become as close to one as possible. It was certain she could feel simple emotions shown in her agitation before because of something as petty as a word, and she can actually show trains of thinking by herself and even structure slight humour occasionally but that was rare. Then he thought back to the immortal thing. If being immortal meant that their bodies weren't going to age, would that mean they would be infertile? He thought about it, that if being immortal meant a cease in ageing, didn't that mean the body would stop cycles such as for a woman, her menstrual cycle and for a man his sperm production? It made him think that none of the immortals he had met had children except Huey, but he didn't even know if his daughter was human or a homunculus like Ennis. Then he thought if a homunculus would be fertile in the first place, since as far as his brain could process from what Ennis told him, she was made from cells and not the dirty old fashioned way. Too much thinking for one day Firo thought to himself as he ruffled his hair. All of a sudden he had perverted thoughts run through his brain bringing a smirk on his face and then shock when he realized he might not be able to have children. Right at this train of thought the kettle started screaming and Ennis poured their tea through a strainer, straight black and handed him a cup before she sat down beside him.
"Milk's off so it's just black. Hope you don't mind." She told him before taking a sip from her own cup. Firo found himself not listening, still in his own abyss of thought, burnt his mouth on the tea and spilling half of it on his lap from the unexpected pain from the burn. Ennis looked at him strangely, first sign of either amusement of concern as he stood up to brush his clothes. Even though the burn had already healed it still wasn't welcomed.
"M'gunna change out of deese clothes before I spill somethin' else on 'em, be back inna tick." He placed his cup on the table and went down the hall which leads to his room to change. Ennis just sat there in what had been explained to her by Firo as "amusement" and continued to sip her tea until his return.
1934 – Manhattan
Nice seemed excited as she drove the vehicle a little more hectic than usual. To be honest she wasn't the best at driving a car since the only time she got her hands on one, it was stolen and didn't last long anyway. This car was stolen as well, but it hadn't been blown up or riddled with bullets yet so everyone who didn't have a car argued who'd use it so they didn't have to walk everywhere. Jacuzzi looked out the window wondering what poor building would take a hit from Nice's new "toy" and just hoped that no one was in it when it did happen.
"So which place did you have in mind to put into an unfortunate state?" he asked worriedly as they passed a church. Nice slowed down a little as she went around a corner, dodging a few pedestrians and continued on like as if it was nothing. She spotted what looked like a warehouse and pulled up a distance away.
"I've had my eyes on that place for a while. Been driving passed it to see if it's occupied or not and it seems to just be a lumber house. I've been itching to see how this works on it but I need a spectator to marvel the beauty of this lil fella doin' its thing." She lifted her shirt a little to reveal the metal ball that looked to be painted red for God knows what reason. He didn't see the point since it was just going to blow up anyway.
"Well is there anyone inside the place then Nice?" Jacuzzi asked warily as she put the handbrake down and sped off towards the building, one hand on the steering wheel, foot flat on the accelerator and the other hand winding down the window quickly.
"We'll find out soon enough!" she yelled out excitedly as she hauled the explosive out of the window, smashing through a window and sped off, not watching the road but the building to watch the reaction. Jacuzzi nearly shit himself as she missed a lamp-post and the explosion threw shrapnel every-which-way. The whole building caught alight and several smaller explosions started going off like a Mexican wave, blowing the bricks right off the walls. They heard screams and sirens as Nice finally looked away from her work, her eyes filled with ecstasy to escape being spotted by the cops. She drove fast for a while until they were far away from the building and she started whooping and cheering in triumph.
"Did you see THAT? Fan-fucking-tastic man, absolutely gorgeous! We are going to rake in loads of dough with that sort of craftsmanship. Whoooo fuck that was awesome I just want to blow something else up…" Jacuzzi started to sweat all over as he noticed she started to look over other potential buildings.
"That wasn't like any explosion you've made before, it was like as if you had lots of little ones inside of it…" he stuttered out scared shitless. She seemed happy he noticed because her driving got even worse while she was boasting.
"Damn right I did, I made it more flammable too so that it takes up more area and sets off the smaller ones quicker. Ooohhhh man I gotta do that again!" Jacuzzi wondered sometimes if her bombs actually got her aroused. She was similar to this when he fully recuperated from his injuries a while back.
"Hey, you alright Jacuzzi? You seem a little lightheaded, we got away didn't we? You worried about something?" Nice drove at a more normal pace and with both hands now on the steering wheel. Jacuzzi realized he was lost in thought and tried to pretend he wasn't thinking of such things so she wouldn't start interrogating him.
"It's fine, I mean I'm fine, I, lets go home before we, we get discovered." He stuttered terribly, receiving a suspicious look from Nice which indicated she knew she interrupted something that was on his mind.
**I did a lot of thinking about the immortality thing which I have included somewhere here which I'm sure anyone who stopped to think might see that they shouldn't be able to reproduce, and that none of the immortals had children except for Huey, but it never stated in the anime (I haven't read the novels or manga) that his daughter was actually copulated and not a homunculus, but she felt emotions and ages so I'm guessing she is human.