Twelve wakes to the sound of fingers tapping against the keyboard. He's not quite coherent yet, but he can just make out the rays of sunshine on the edges of the horizon in the distance when he looks out the window. Although his senses are still hazy from sleep, but he knows exactly where and who the incessant tapping is coming from. The corners of the brunet's mouth curves downwards slightly as he pulls away his covers and pads down the stairs. He glances at the clock and sees that it's about five minutes to five o'clock in the morning. He knows without having to guess that Nine didn't just wake up early - the idiot didn't sleep at all.
He finds the teen working diligently at the wooden desk, a single lamp illuminating the area. It was apparent that the teen did not notice Twelve behind him, since there was no reaction to his presence. This wasn't odd, and Twelve was aware that his partner became utterly oblivious to the world around him when he concentrated. His earbuds are planted firmly in his ears, and he's playing music loud enough for Twelve to believe that he can hear the echoes of the bass line from up on the loft. There's three mugs and a couple of gum wrappers scattered around the table from what the brunet can see. Twelve knows that at the bottom of each mug is a coffee stain, and that the chewing gum have been long since spit into the trash.
"Nine," he says softly. He steps to Nine's left and places his hands on the desk. A sharp but quiet intake of air comes from the teen as his hands freeze and he looks over to the shorter male with a small glare, and Twelve giggles a little and gives him his signature smile Nine pulls out an earbud, and the cymbals and the snare start bouncing off the walls, followed by an impressive guitar solo. Twelve's heart sinks a little when he hears angry screaming coming from the tiny speakers. Funny thing about Nine, is that the genre of music he listens to depends on his mood. Hearing the bass line so clearly puts Twelve on edge, but since it's keeping Nine away, he doesn't say anything.
"Watcha doin'?" he asks. He's knows exactly with the raven-haired teen is doing, but he needs to hear him say something to help get his mind of their mission and get him to do anything besides work.
"It's preperations for tomorrow," he replies curtly as he looks back to his work and drops the earbud. The white letters against the black screen must be hard on the eyes, and Twelve notes Nine's tired gray eyes and the dark circles forming underneath them.
"You know," Twelve drops the slurred words he usually uses to show he's serious. "You can prepare for tomorrow when it's tomorrow," he responded quietly.
"I can't," Nine counters a bit too soon. There's urgency in his voice, and Twelve can practically feel Nine's nervousness from where he's standing. "Five's already got us figured out. If I don't find a way to get around her, she'll find out about our plans before we can even put them to action." The taller male runs a hand through his already unkempt hair and heaves a sigh. "She's already hacked through my own hacking system, and we were completely caught off-guard by her. If we don't figure out a way to stop her-"
"But she's not going to." Twelve interjects. Nine narrows his eyes as if to asks why, but Twelve doesn't say anything in response With only a smug smile, he wraps his slender fingers around Nine's pale wrist and pushes down the screen of his Macbook.
"Oi, what-"
"Shhh," Twelve has an index finger against his lips and a smirk. "You'll wake Lisa," he whispers playfully. He drags his roommate our of his chair and leads him out of the work room. Nine doesn't particularly struggle against the grip while Twelve drags him around the apartment as the brunet mumbles incoherently but excitedly under his breath. Personally, he isn't sure why he lets him do this since he thinks it's ridiculous, but he's convinced that he won't get a word in edgewise.
They pass by the couch where Lisa's passed out on the way to the staircase on the other side of the room, and the girl stirs awake at the sound of Nine's hushed verbal protests. "H-Hisami-kun? Kokonoe-san?" She rubs her eyes tiredly and drags herself to a sitting position.
"I told you you'd wake her," Twelve pouts as the two stop in their tracks and turn to face their third roommate. He gives her sheepish wave as she looks at them confused.
"Maybe if you'd let me work..." Nine grumbled, but trailed off before finishing. He doesn't make eye contact with the girl because he thinks they're not that close yet. Instead, he stares at the ground, then at the wall, then at the approaching staircase.
"Sorry for waking you Lisa, but since you're up, you might as well come with us," Twelve leans back and grabs her skinny wrist, pulling her to her feet. "Let's go!" He half shouts into the darkness of their apartment. When they get to the top of the Chinese staircase, he lets go of Lisa's hand (Because he knows she won't run away, unlike Nine.) and yanks the metal door wide open. A blast of chilled air comes from the winds outside, and that makes Twelve all the more eager to get the other two out.
He drags Nine all the way to his favourite part of the roof of the ageing building with Lisa in tow, and makes sure they're all exposed to the five AM breeze of Tokyo city before turning back and quietly shutting the door. The taller male's given up on protesting, and merely stares ahead into the distance.
Twelve makes his way towards the fence where they can see the busy streets down below. On the way, he stops next to Nine, and smiles softly. "Take a break once in a while, will ya?" The brunet doesn't wait for a response before walking away. Nine blinks for a second as he ponders the thought, and decides that he's right. He's nervous and shaky all the time because of their goddamned plan, and being brought up to the roof gives him a chance to stop and catch his breath. Having come to this realization puts him a little more at ease, and he relaxes his shoulders a bit. Nine makes his way to the wall, and leans back while rubbing his eyes. The computer screen's really done a number on him - not that he's noticed.
"Lisa, come here!" Twelve suddenly calls from the edge of the building. "I wanna show you somethin' cool!" He grins and beckons Lisa to join him at the fence. The runaway is still standing where the brunet left her, but quietly trots towards Twelve at the sound of her name on his lips. The brunet starts describing the kinds of colours he sees from the engines of cars, the chirping of birds and the cool breeze whistling through the cracks of old buildings.
From the wall, Nine observes the two, Twelve's precise words and the small "o" that Lisa's mouth curves into every time Twelve points to a new sound. He likes how Twelve doesn't use words like "harlequin" or "gamboge", and uses "dark green" or "mustard-y" instead so Lisa can understand him with just the basic knowledge of colours. Even the girl who spends the entire day being anxious looks a little more relaxed than usual when she's listening to Twelve ramble about how he thinks it's funny that the red car would sound like blue. Nine smiles inwardly at the sight, because he's come to realize that Twelve's always there, no matter where and when (and lately because of their latest addition, who), that he's going to be the spot of colour in a black and white world, the joyous shout in a sea of moans and groans and the necessary push when it just seems like a waste of time and energy to even keep trying. Twelve's the one thing that's keeping him going, and frankly, Nine would like to keep it this way for a while. He slides down against the wall until his butt is planted firmly on the cement, and sits there, with his arms propped up by his knees at the elbow, watching the sunrise and listening to Twelve's cheery voice - the brunet made him leave his iPod back inside. He tips his head back and closes his eyes, and suddenly, he doesn't need sleep, because up on the roof, watching the moon and the sun switch places and listening to Twelve go on and on is all he needs to get through the next day.
A/N: Um I really like Terror in Resonance? My heart is in pieces but I really like it? So ye I'm back with this and I hope it has lived up to whatever you guys were expecting.
I'm trying something new with my writing so bear with me for a while. This series will probably be focussed on the relationships between ZnT characters, mainly Nine and Twelve. I want to write some fluffy Lisa stuff but I haven't quite figured out how to properly write her character yet - hopefully I didn't screw it up in this chapter. The one-shots are either going to something I thought of at like 1 am or based off something that relates to the series so idk we'll see. I'll put a note at the top of the chapter saying what episode the oneshot takes place during if there is one.