Fandom: Detective Conan/Case Closed
Disclaimer: Gin, Vermouth, Vodka, and "Boss" all belong to Gosho Aoyama. Well, everybody here belongs to him, except for Scotch, Cognac, and Absinthe (well, I don't know about the greenie), who are mine.
Story Title: Scarlet Distillation
Chapter Title: A Shot of Green
Notes: I always, oddly, regarded Absinthe as being more of a female name, but it was either this or "Everclear", which I doubt would have sounded nearly as serious. XD
Chapter Summary: Absinthe and Vermouth play games with each other. It's all about the subtext, and figuring out what they're hinting at and playing with.
Chapter Quote: "You say that as if you know the extent of things for me."
Absinthe looked different every time.
Today he was dressed in a standard dark suit, a silver tie clutched at his pale throat. A few dark bangs fell into his hooded eyes, piercing green, and he wore a carefully bored expression on his face as he sipped from a martini. There was little about him that particularly stood out; his features were soft in the mouth and angular in the jaw, his cut of hair was normal and uninteresting, and he didn't look as if he were the boss of the Black Organization.
But Vermouth knew it was him, if not for the strange green of his eyes, then for the particularly maddening drink he had ordered.
She slid into the seat across and placed hit file on the table. Absinthe raised his eyebrow when he recognized the lettering by its tab. "You followed him again," he said, his voice dark and raspy like one of a smoker's. He sounded like Gin today, and Vermouth reined back the hint of a glare that threatened to break past her gaze. He was taunting her again. The smoker's voice, the drink in his hand, and the white curve of his lip. He wasn't outwardly trying to look like his operative, but had added a few notes of resemblance here and there, a few hints by his hand and throat...enough to catch her eye - not nearly enough to make her point it out without throwing suspicions on herself as to why she had even noticed these things.
Bastard.
Vermouth smirked, crossing her legs. "Naturally. It's fun to see him when he's annoyed with me."
"Hmm," said Absinthe dryly. "Then you understand my...behaviors."
"I don't care," she said, putting on a dismissive air. "Whatever you're driving at, it's quite childish."
"So you claim," said Absinthe, and ordered another martini. "How did this one go?"
Vermouth clasped her hands in her lap, donning a carefully bored expression. "It was uninteresting. I was about to get him when your little operative stole him away from me." She recalled her surprise when the bullet had shot past her, barely grazing her shoulder. She had to revise her opinion that Gin wasn't a particularly good shot. The bullet had come a little more close than necessary, and he probably knew that.
"Careful, Vermouth. You might be starting things you can't finish."
She smiled venemously. "You say that as if you know the extent of things for me."
Absinthe looked at her from over the gold rim of his martini glass. "I know enough."
"And so?" she pushed, feeling unusually forward today. Perhaps it was the afterglow of the kill. Even though she hadn't managed to pull the trigger...she remembered the skew of the man's head, unnatural and bent aside. More specifically, though, she remembered Gin's manic, almost delighted expression and the sudden darkness that had crossed his features when he looked at her. Something had changed in an instant, and there had been a strange glint in Gin's eyes. Fury, perhaps, but more likely murderous intent. Extreme bloodlust. It would have explained his odd behavior afterwards, and the strange comment he had made to her. "Does it make you jealous?"
He scoffed at her. "Would you even expect a partially truthful answer from me? If I said yes, it'd be a lie, and if I said no, it'd be a lie. Either way, if you're not careful..." He lazily drew a cigarette from his pouch, eyeing her with faint interest. "You'd end up dead."
He'd dodged the question yet again, noted Vermouth. "You wouldn't kill me."
"You irritate me enough to do so, my little favorite," he smirked. "Sometimes when I look at you, I'd like nothing better than for you to be dead. A little slash at the neck. Blood down your throat. And then," he continued softly, "I'd rid myself from you."
"But you can't."
"I will."
"You still need me."
"Not for forever."
"But for long enough," said Vermouth, leaning back, cat-like, in her chair. Across from her, Absinthe smirked and drew a long breath of smoke. "It doesn't matter to me either way."
"Oh?" said Absinthe, a skeptically curious expression upon his face. "So it doesn't matter if I drop you or maybe...even pull a hit on you?"
Gin and Absinthe. Both had threatened to kill her, the former always with a bit more intent than the latter, the latter always with a bit more of a sadistic smile than the former. Despite the boss's claims that he hated her...Vermouth shifted in her chair. She was a woman, after all, and she noticed certain things that even Absinthe couldn't hide with all his prowress and fastidiousness. Of course, with him, emotions always took a strange turn, so she had no idea how he'd express himself on matters. Either way, she knew.
"Of course not."
A flash of anger seemed to corss his eyes, but then Absinthe laughed. "You're playing with fires beyond your control. What with your actions on Kano and Takemura, you're nearly begging for danger."
"About that," said Vermouth, measuring her tones carefully. "Pull a hit on those two."
Absinthe seemed mildly surprised. "What interest do you have in them?"
"My own."
"Obviously not. You have no connection at all."
"I have more connections to them than you might think, and I'm only asking you to pull a hit on them because..." She paused, and recrossed her legs. "I have information that they might attack us, and even though they're easily removed, they still might prove a hindrance and may get in the way of some bigger goal that you're always pushing at."
"Thank you for the lie. It was very gracious of you."
Vermouth smiled, but felt bitter inside. Even her best poker face was barely enough to cover her feelings. At least he probably didn't suspect the real reason she wanted Kano and Takemura dead. "And I have a second request."
"Pushing your luck, aren't you?' said Absinthe, leaning back on his chair and spreading his arms. "Well, go on."
"Don't give Gin the case. But if he asks for it...grant it to him."
There was a silence as Absinthe processed this, and several emotions flashed across his piercing green gaze. Confusion, at first, then a hint of anger, and possibly a gleam of triumph (but no, thought Vermouth, that wouldn't have made any sense for him to feel that way), before he settled on a neutral stare. "Fine. I must say, though, that you're really begging for danger. Not that this profession beckons anything else, but really, Vermouth, your actions have changed. You're heading somewhere darker than I thought you would."
Vermouth thanked the waiter for her drink - a simple sake. Hot, though, and it burned a heavy trail down her throat. "Danger? Sano and Takemura are mere amateurs - if well-equipped ones."
Absinthe grinned cruelly, his eyes darkening. "I wasn't referring to them."
Vermouth shrugged the suggestion off, nearly surprised by the lack of emotions she felt at the comment. Years earlier, she might have thought about it for days, a panic that she wouldn't admit to having infecting her. But now, she wasn't sure whether she had learned to not take Absinthe's threats seriously or if she simply didn't care anymore. It was an oddly terrifying thought, and she shivered inside, savoring her own hints of fear. "I like the risk. And obviously, so do you. I am still alive, after all. It's...proof enough."
"Proof for what?"
"Certain things." She took the martini from his hands, and smiled when he raised an eyebrow at her. "A secret makes a woman a woman."
Absinthe, in turn, took her sake and trailed the rim of the porcelain cup with his finger as he gave her what could almost be regarded as a lewd gaze. "Again, with that phrase. So dismissive, Vermouth. You never really did have much deference to your superiors. You interest me."
"And I intend for things to stay that way."
"You'd never know if I change my mind. Your behavior of late has been rather...vexing."
He was obviously referring to her exploits with Gin, and she tried to shrug it off. Something, however, dug uncomfortably at her and she wondered if this would be a battle to back off from. But the thought was a fleeting one, and was met by challenge. "Well," she said coyly, "why don't you do something about it, then, if it bothers you so much?"
Absinthe laughed cruelly, the smoke in his voice grating in waves. "Perhaps I will," he said in feral tones, "Perhaps I will."
A/N: Absinthe's fun to write. I hope you enjoyed this chappie. Next up are lots of twists, so I hope you like!
