Author's Notes: Here's an update. Just as a head's up, Schuldig is about 15 in this chapter.
2
1988 A.D.
"I hate you hair like that, you look sleazy," the redheaded teenager muttered at me from the bed his was lounging on. It was spotless in my room, and here he was, unwelcome, uninvited, fucking it up. I glared at his reflection in the mirror, meeting his impassive eyes.
"I'm not exactly trying to look clean-cut and wholesome, here. I don't think I'd ever get any business if I did." I had no idea why I was explaining this to him. He already knew I lived and breathed for the job, my hair was really only a minor counterpoint to it. He shrugged and sidled up behind me, leaning into the mirror and picking at his own feathery hair, blowing a kiss at himself, vain as ever.
"Course not, but you don't have to look like a complete slimeball. I think you look really sexy and dangerous with your hair all mussed. Just don't comb it when you get up in the morning."
"Another word for that is 'disheveled', which is another look I'm trying to avoid." As if it wasn't obvious, with my pale three-piece suits. I was the only man I knew who still bothered wearing a vest, but I couldn't help feeling only half-dressed without it. There was a certain class that came with the vest in a three-piece suit, an old-time air that made it easier for my clients to relax around me, to see me as more than just a grunt for hire. I was more than just a killer…There was a certain amount of con artistry that came with my career…
"You look like Atticus Finch," Schuldig laughed, counting likenesses on his fingers, "Glasses, black hair, three-piece suit…"
"When did you read that book?" I asked as I tried ineffectively to get a piece of my bangs to stay where I put it, but it kept springing back into my face.
"It was on your reading list, remember? I had nothing else to do after you shot the television."
"Then I scared the landlord of a justifiable reason," I murmured back, sighing. I had to be satisfied with this, though I thought perhaps I looked like I was trying to overreach myself. I looked very young still, but that look would leave soon enough. I could already see myself as what I would be just four, five, six years from now…Years, lit and out like matches in their swiftness.
"Anyway, we going or what?" Schuldig was bouncing next to me, two feet shorter than me, but not for long. He was growing still, barely sixteen, and grinned like a killer. It was a shame they'd cut his hair so short, it was taking forever to grow back. Once he had it to the right length he'd look like the perfect red-haired demon he was.
"Little hellion," I muttered and headed out. Schuldig whooped behind me and followed.
Fin Chapter 2
Please Review
Author's Notes: In other news, I saw Sweeney Todd last weekend. A very good play, one I would recommend to anyone. I need to go and buy the soundtrack so I can sing the full songs on the bus and really mess people up.
The 'Atticus Finch' reference is from Harper Lee's book, To Kill A Mockingbird.
To My Readers:
Rori Barton: (smile) It's good to hear from you again. I'm very glad you liked my portrayal of Brad Crawford.
People have issues with him (I can't say why) having emotions, probably because they got most of their information from fandom and not from watching the anime. I haven't watched the entire thing myself, but I do have a variation of sources which told me that while he hides them from his employers and from Esset, he does have the ability to smile, frown, get angry, slap people around, and the like. I like him, he's a complex guy and a challenge to write for. You shall be seeing more of those emotions later, I promise.
eva84: Thank you.